Middle east Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Middle east - Research Paper Example First of all, the crude form of IS (say, the Islamic State) was established in the year 1999, known as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. This group was formed in Jordan, under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Axel Hunsicker stated that, â€Å"Zarqavi and his group helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Iraqi resistance† (420). Besides, this organization played an important role in creating internal problems in the Middle Eastern context during the time of insurgency in Iraq. One can see that the presence of foreign fighters in this group proves its effectiveness, beyond its decentralized leadership. In the year 2004, this group decided to extend its influence by affiliating itself to international terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda. For instance, the group’s name underwent transformation as Taná ºâ€œim QaÊ »idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn. One can see that the insurgency in Iraq was not over during 2000s. So, the primary aim of this group was to take an active role in the internal politics of Iraq by taking arms against the coalition forces. Again in the year 2006, this group changed its name into Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). To be specific, this transformation is important because the Mujahedeen leadership decided to co-ordinate different insurgent groups under a single leadership. Besides, the core leadership was in decentralized form to overcome unexpected deaths of important leaders.

Critical evaluation of the mechanisms by which the line-manager Essay

Critical evaluation of the mechanisms by which the line-manager encourages employee buy-in ( case study) - Essay Example h, a primary recommendation that could be given to Great Pharmaceuticals is that it seek to actively involve the employees in whatever changes it seeks to make. The underlying rational behind this is that those employees that are involved in creating a change will likely work more effectively to see such a change effectively engaged; as compared to those employees that are merely told to enact a given change (Paco & Nave, 2013). As has been noted throughout the course lectures, the degree of involvement that is exhibited by a firm has a direct correlation to the degree of loyalty that the stakeholders will likely exhibit in the future (De Oliveira et al., 2013). With loyalty maximized, it stands to reason that whatever change is prescribed will likely experience a much stronger chance of overall success as compared to an alternative strategy being utilized (Christ et al., 2012). Many firms contract other firms to provide high priced assessments of potential means by which efficiency could be maximized; however, the fact of the matter is that many of these prescriptions for change are oftentimes available free of charge at the base organizational level. As such, Great Pharmaceuticals should be aware of the fact that they have an invaluable resource of subject matter expertise at their disposal in the rank and file of their own employees. By engaging these assets and encouraging them to relate their own ideas, the firm could easily come up with new and insightful means by which leadership could craft a path ahead (Kupka et al., 2009). Once again, this works hand in glove with the recommendation for involvement. By leveraging these resources and encouraging the stakeholders to provide a level of intellectual engagement, the degree and extent to which these employees will be likely to support the future direction of the firm will be increased. Moreover, even if the course of action is not agreed upon by all, these stakeholders will come to appreciate the fact

Lone Wolf Terrorism and National Security Research Paper

Lone Wolf Terrorism and National Security - Research Paper Example A security officer died in that incidence. In early 2010, a protestor flew a plane into an office of IRS in Austin, Texas, injuring 13 bystanders and killing himself. 2009’S Christmas Day attempt to fell a jetliner using a bomb and a 2000 failed car bombing in Times Square were allegedly done by one person. In addition, the following incidents were connected to a single person, a 2010 effort to bomb New York subway lines, a plot in 2010 to blow up the residence of former president George W. Bush in Dallas, the shooting of Congresswoman for Arizona, and some of her followers in Tucson, and an attempt by a bomber to blow himself up in 2012 inside the building. The episodes have created serious concern at the top of the political order, and the apparent threat of unrelated terrorism has prompted crucial changes in requirements for hindering its occurrence, which include the beginning of a â€Å"lone wolf provision†. The provision was introduced into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of America. The phrase ‘lone wolf’ was made popular in the 1990s by white supremacists Alex Curtis and Tom Metzger in order to encourage other racists to take action alone for security  reasons when performing violent crimes. Other phrases used to depict similar types of political violence are ‘leaderless resistance’, ‘freelance terrorism’ and ‘individual terrorism’. In modern days, the media and US law enforcement agencies use the term "lone wolf" to refer to people undertaking brutal terrorist acts outside an authority structure. The lone wolf operates to advance the philosophical or ideological faiths of an extremist group (Michael, 2012). The lone wolf methods and tactics are directed on their own. In many cases, a lone wolf never has contact with any group they have links with.     

Physics And Engineering In I.T. Power Management Essay Example for Free

Physics And Engineering In I.T. Power Management Essay The cost of energy continues to increase with shrinking in corporate budgets and need for more energy input. At times like this, even IT industry is affected and the stakeholders are starting to look for new ways of cutting down the cost as they keep the quality of work high and efficiency maximized. Implementation of a good energy policy in an organization’s premises can lead to reduced costs of ICT infrastructural costs in terms of capital required in setting up servers and cooling systems. If the right energy saving and proper utilization habits are adopted and effective construction and installation ideas implemented in natural air flow optimization and proper heat insulation can lead to less cooling facilities requirements, cutting on costs (Greenguard, 2009). Efforts of energy conservation in IT infrastructure have been initiated through: †¢ Technologies like PoE (Power over internet) and midspans; this is a technology that enables gadgets like phones to receive power together with data through the Ethernet connection. Midspans are stand alone gadgets that are used to interface the Ethernet switch with the power sources for optimized power distribution to the ports as required. †¢ Implementation of Smart energy and lighting technology in huge company premises with many workers using ICT equipments. †¢ Efforts of IEEE-the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, to set standards for manufacturers of electronic and electrical gadgets (IEEE 802. 3-at) to ensure optimized energy utilization at the design level. †¢ IT technology in energy auditing and virtualization of power management †¢ Use of Integrated circuits (ICs) to control magnetic and pulse width modulators for external power connection in devices. †¢ Use of Power Source Equipment (PSE) and Power Devices (PD) in network classification during powering of new connections to ensure only PoE connections are powered in wireless and telecom devices. Electrical Power With the introduction of Power over Ethernet (PoE), many electronic devices that work in direct connection with computers through Ethernet cables have shifted from use of external power cables to reception of power together with data on the Ethernet connection. The (IEEE) has established some standards (IEEE 802. 3-at) for such technology, contributing to encouraging the manufactures of electrical and electronic products to contribute in efforts of making ICT infrastructure environment friendly, through less energy consumption. This is a strategy which if adopted can lead to very improved efficiency in power delivery in devices’ interconnection. The manufacturers of such devices, for example Texas Instruments, are manufacturing devices with power capabilities of choosing either to use PoE or switch to standard mode when the option is not available. This is in the effort to become compliant with the IEEE 802. 3-at. Even when PoE is a better option than external cables, a more detailed power saving strategy can be applied through use of midspans, which interface the switches with power sources, injecting power to the ports using way much better technology and hence more efficient. Such consciousness is needed in order to contribute to the overall infrastructure. According to (Conner, 2008), for the manufacturers of the gadgets, the design of PoE can contribute to making of smaller boards and reduce the cost of inputs on large scale. The technology shift there in the physics of electronic gadgets is the replacement of impedance power reduction through dissipation with the magnetic and switching methods in pulse width modulators, controlled through ICs. In efforts to increase power efficiency, the cost of production is also bound to reduce in the long run. The application of PSEs and PDs in network in power control centers gives an option to do power budgets and determine the proper management strategies to be applied. These are such refined levels of control that give the way to streamline and generally control power use. With the current state of globalization in online business, the ICT infrastructure has grown to very complex networks, especially with emergent of mobile devices. Power systems for these networks are as huge as the extents of the networks while management is done manually at physical points of contact. The samples provided in the cases of Highmark and the University of Minnesota (Greenguard, 2009) form a small part of the global business ICT infrastructure that interact with the environment. Educating people/employees A huge effort should go to changing the habits of power use in a working environment. The employees can too contribute to the efforts of a greener ICT infrastructure by ensuring proper use of power. Switching off devices when not in use can help accumulate huge power savings with time. This is not a common thing in most IT departments and will take the initiative of the management to organist fro training of the power users on good use of energy sources. When organization becomes too huge with thousands of employees, energy efficiency becomes a major issue. Such a high number of users of the infrastructure can accumulate a high energy demand and proper management for cost effective and sustainable operation. An example of such a firm is the Highmark with 11000 employees. Energy Computations and Software Virtualization Right from the Physics hardware, the availability of interfacing in ports control to enable remote power on and power off (Ronen, 2009) in PoE makes complex networks manageable. In the Highmark case the Company strategized on extra careful management method on using software technology like energy auditing tools and virtualization as well as new technology in smart energy and lighting systems (Greenguard, 2009). According to the report, there has been increase in need for organizations to use power consuming ICT infrastructure with new technologies to do business as compared to the traditional methods. This has led to ratings of about â€Å"61 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006† by data centers (Greenguard, 2009). The figures could even increase with more ICT use, alarming the corporate to strategize on conservation and efficiency. Owing to this, there have been numerous instances of application of IT solution in power management. Highmark installed a system for collecting rain water and using it in a datacenter cooling system and virtualized the servers to monitor PC usage by employees. This strategy helped adopt the method of remote powering down of equipment not in use, to minimize wastage. The company consulted with IBM to do computations of server spacing for maximum utilization of cooling systems. It appears clearly that many organizations have massive equipments powered up even when not in use because of poor management policy. From these results, it is important to carry each of these computation and software analysis methods with weigh while considering efforts to manage such massive data infrastructures. In many cases, the companies rely on employees to be reliable in implementing the energy conservation policies but even that cannot be enough. If software methods are used to monitor use of powered resources and power them down remotely, a great deal of energy could be saved. A perfect example here is the IT organization of the University of Minnesota which could â€Å"switch off about 25,000 devices each night† (Greenguard, 2009). Conclusion The IT infrastructure comprises of billions of gadgets that use electrical power to operate and network equipment to keep them connected. Power consumption is therefore starts from a single device’s design and connection to the system and spans to the networking level. The physical electronic power consumption can be managed and through standardization methods such as those by IEEE. It is at such low levels that interaction with the environment can be analyzed and energy consumption optimized. The physical arrangement of power consuming data facilities is also of significance importance as clogging them closely together reduces the ability of natural air flow to take care of cooling done by electrical motors in fans. The relationship between IT and these physical sciences is so direct when it comes to practical application fields. The application of software power computation, management and control also helps ICT fit into the practical idea of conservation and greener infrastructure. From the cases analyzed, there is enough evidence that application of technology from the physics and engineering of devices and systems, software tools and ICT infrastructure can be managed in away that can lead to more environment friendly use. References Conner, M. (2008). PoE for high-powered applications. Electronics Weekly, (2263), 18 Retrieved from: http://search. ebscohost. com/login. aspx? direct=truedb=cphAN=36122010loginpage=Login. aspsite=ehost-live Sani Ronen, (2009) Midspans for next-gen PoE,An inside look at technologies and standards, Tech update, Available: www. networkworld. com Samuel Greengard, (2009), Building an Energy-Efficient IT Infrastructure, Baseline Magazine Available: http://www. baselinemag. com

Essay --

Bees are vital to our ecosystem and human society. They provide economically valuable pollination service. Roughly 90% of the world’s plant species are pollinated by bees. Without pollination by animals, most flowering plants would not reproduce sexually and humans would lose food and other plant products. In particular, honeybees remain the most valuable pollinators of crop monocultures worldwide. However, in recent years there has been an observation of honeybee decline. Around 2006 many beekeepers around the world began to notice that their honeybees are disappearing. This was a mystery that caught scientists’ attention. They entitled this mystery: colony-collapse disorder (CCD) (Walsh 2013). This disturbing trend continues until now - honeybees are still dying progressively. One - third of U.S. honeybee colonies disappeared during the past winter. Beekeepers experienced tremendous losses that went above 42%. As a result, the colony loss is putting intense pressure on the industry and agriculture. Scientific investigations of CCD suggest that microbial pathogens are causally involved (Suryanarayanan 2013). Different scientific studies that have identified different sets of associated microbial pathogens have suggested that the discovered pathogens are secondary infections, with the primary cause yet to be found. Scientists have been suggesting many theories on bee decline. Agricultural pesticides were considered as the most obvious suspects and specifically popular chemicals known as Neonicotinoids. Other theories were focused on bee killing pests or a varroa destructor - a parasitic mite that has ravaged honeybee colonies since it was accidentally introduced in U.S. in the 1980s. (Walsh 2013). The imp... ...erdose of insecticides near the hives of the bees. Adolescent bees, living in hives contaminated by pesticide, have their body surfaces and fat tissues poisoned with these substances. Besides leading to bee deaths, insecticides used in agriculture for combat work also causes the problem of residues remaining from chemicals used as varroacides. Bromopropylate, coumaphos (perizin) and melathion are typical examples of varroacides, whose residues have been examined in bee products such as honey. These chemical are oil-soluble and volatile. The impact of parasites and viruses on bees The varroa mite or varroa distracter is currently the most serious parasitic mite on honeybees. This parasite is feeding on the hemolymph of immature and adult bees (Harbo and Harris, 2001) .It causes many biological effects like weight loss, malformation and short lifespan of honeybees.

Counselling Interview skills Essay

I declare that this assessment is my own work, based on my own personal research/study . I also declare that this assessment, nor parts of it, has not been previously submitted for any other unit/module or course, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of another student and/or persons. I have read the ACAP Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy and understand its implications. I also declare, if this is a practical skills assessment, that a Client/Interviewee Consent Form has been read and signed by both parties, and where applicable parental consent has been obtained. 1. Briefly explain how you would go about gathering information to assess Tim’s current developmental and mental health status. I would go about gathering information about Tim’s developmental and mental health status by using active listening skills. I would be paying attention to Tim’s body language and taking note of such things, as his difficulty in maintaining eye contact. I would be asking Tim open questions to help him talk in more detail about his mental health issues, an example of an open question I would ask is ‘can you tell me more about that?’, and ‘could you tell me about the time you overdosed on drugs?’, so that I can have a deeper understanding of the key points regarding Tim’s mental health. I would also be asking Tim some closed questions to obtain specific information regarding Tim’s current mental state, an example of this is ‘are you still on medication for depression?’, and ‘are you still feeling depressed?’, and depending on whether or not Tim’s overdose was an attempted suicide, I could also ask, ‘have you had any thoughts about taking your life?’, so that I know his current mental state. I would be paraphrasing during our session so that Tim knows that I understand what he is saying and how he is feeling. I would be taking notes in this session so that I can refer to key points. I would summarise what Tim’s key issues are, so that he has a chance to add any further information that may have been missed, and that may be important. 2. Identify and briefly describe two of Tim’s mental and/ or developmental health issues. Two of Tim’s developmental and mental health issues are, his past and or current state of depression and the fact that Tim may have attempted suicide. Although Tim spent six months in hospital as an in-patient and has now been home for three months, he may still be struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, if his drug overdose was an attempted suicide. Tim is experiencing moodiness and irregular sleep patterns, as well as a lack of focus and motivation, he also has trouble maintaining eye contact. These symptoms may be the result of his depression or suicidal ideation, or they could be a sign of a developmental problem brought about by Tim’s drug overdose. As Tim was given drugs for his depression, his symptoms could also be the result of side effects from the drugs he has been taking. 3. If you do not have the capability or authority to assess Tim’s current mental or developmental health status, briefly explain how you would consult the appropriate person.  If I did not have the capability or authority to assess Tim’s current mental or developmental health status, I could do two things. I could consult with my supervisor. I would ask Tim for his permission to discuss his concerns with my supervisor to gain advice from someone who has more experience than I do, so that his current mental health is assessed correctly. I could also consider referring Tim onto another health care professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Another option would be to ask Tim for permission to contact Tim’s previous psychiatrist and request from them, either a letter of referral or Tim’s client records, pertaining to Tim’s current mental health status. 4. Describe what factors you would take into account that may have impacted on the appearance and behaviour of Tim in relation to counselling services to be delivered. The factors I would be taking into account regarding the appearance and behaviour of Tim in relation to counselling services to be delivered would be, the fact that Tim has suffered from depression in the past and may still be currently experiencing depression. Tim may have attempted suicide by overdosing on drugs or his drug overdose could have been accidental. Tim’s confidence has been shattered. This could explain why he has trouble maintaining eye contact or it could be the result of developmental delay due to Tim’s drug overdose. Or he could be experiencing side effects from his medication. 5. Briefly explain how you would clarify whether the counselling you can offer is suitable for Tim. I would have to evaluate my own level of experience and the area of counselling I am currently working in. Tim’s needs are the most important factor to consider. Tim has been hospitalised in the past and has seen a psychiatrist. While Tim was in hospital he was assigned milieu therapy, given drugs and also assigned to group therapy. I would be taking all of  these things into account when evaluating whether to refer Tim. I think I would like to work with Tim, as he has already had the above mentioned treatments and found them to be unhelpful. I think Tim may benefit from counselling that offers a client centred approach. I would explain to Tim how the client centred approach to counselling works, so that Tim can decide if this type of counselling approach would be something he feels comfortable pursuing. 6. Briefly describe how you would recognise and refer potentially serious issues for Tim in line with organisation requirements. I would be able to recognise and refer serious issues for Tim by familiarising myself with my organisations protocols, their referral procedures and referral lists. The type of organisation I worked for, and the type of counselling that is offered, would be a factor when deciding if Tim should be referred on to another organisation or professional. Things to consider would be Tim’s age, gender, the nature/and or seriousness of Tim’s issues. If Tim did intend to take his own life and still has suicidal thoughts he would need to be referred to a mental health facility or possibly referred back to the hospital that was treating Tim three months ago. If Tim was to be referred on, I would organise this as early as possible, so as not to make it harder on Tim to transfer to someone else. 7. Briefly describe the skills you would use with Tim to help clarify his problems and develop a counselling relationship. When meeting Tim for the first time, I would introduce myself, I would be open, friendly and informal. I would be trying to put Tim at ease so that he feels welcome and safe. I would have noticed that Tim has trouble maintaining eye contact, so I would be very casual in the first few minutes, allowing Tim to get familiar with his surroundings. After all the formalities have been explained to Tim and he has accepted them and decided to stay, I would say ‘what is it you would like to talk to me about today?’ I would then tune in to Tim and listen with interest. I would be using minimal responses, paraphrasing, and summarising skills to let Tim know that I am understanding him and caring about what he is saying. The first few sessions with Tim would be all about building rapport, and developing our  relationship. After this has been established, I would use zooming out skills to help Tim see that he is not alone and that he has people in his life that care about him, and are able to offer their support. I would be asking open and closed questions to determine Tim’s current mental state, an example would be ‘can you tell me a little more about the drug overdose’ so that I could clarify if it was accidental or an attempted suicide. I would work with Tim on developing a list of what he feels are the key issues he would like to work on. This will help Tim clarify for the both of us what the key issues are. 8. Briefly describe how you would consult with Tim’s parents or significant others to gather information, if the need presented itself. If the need presented itself I would introduce the idea of inviting Tim’s parents along to one of our counselling sessions to Tim. I would explain to Tim that ‘sometimes it can be helpful to ask those who are close to you to come along to counselling with you, so that we can have more insight into how the relationships at home have been affected by all that has happened, and so that we have another point of view of the situation’. I would only go ahead with this if Tim consented. 9. Briefly describe what records and notes you would record for this client. Notes on next page. Clients Name: Tim Clients Age: 25 Date of Session: 20/11/14 Session # 1 Session Duration: 60 minutes Others Present: Nil Status of Session: Kept Location: Office Information given by client: Tim is a 25 yr. old male. In final yr. of uni hospitalised for drug overdose during a bout of depression. In-patient at hospital 6 mths. Assigned milieu therapy, given drugs for depression, saw psychiatrist occasionally, also  assigned group therapy, which proved to be aimless. Been home for 3 mths. Living with parents, says they worry about his moodiness and irregular sleep patterns. Finds it hard to focus and lacks motivation to finish uni, but wants to one day. Feels confidence was shattered. Has trouble maintaining eye contact. Looking for part time work, avoids full-time work for fears of being asked about his past. Feels he has a terrible secret he has to keep form everyone. Summary of clients issues: Overdosed on drugs, during a bout of depression. May/may not have been attempt at suicide. Hospitalised and kept as an in-patient for 6 mths. Had milieu therapy and group therapy. Saw psychiatrist occasionally, prescribed drugs. Tim’s confidence is shattered. Parents worry about Tim’s moodiness/irregular sleep patterns. No motivation/focus to finish uni. Avoids full time work, fears talking about past (embarrassed). Feels he has to keep his past secret from everyone (ashamed). Notes of counsellor: I feel that Tim may benefit from a client centred approach to his counselling. The key issues for this client are outlined above.

Digital Divide in US Essay

The Digital Divide in US seems to be decreasing due to increase in the use of internet and awareness about the benefits of the technology. Moreover the US government is providing internet access to poor areas of the countries. This can be asserted from the fact that there are 2 million new internet users each month in US. (Dickard, 2002, pg. 1) But at the same time the technological divide between the ethnic groups is still there. The internet access to blacks and Hispanics is half that of Whites and Asians. This is because Hispanics come from poor backgrounds with less income and less access to education. Therefore they lack the basic computer skills to take avail the opportunities of the technological age. However realizing the great potential market that Hispanics provide, marketers are now focusing their attention on this segment and this has resulted in high internet penetration among Hispanics. Yet, affordability and skills to use the technology still remains a problem for this segment. The level of education is also an important factor in US in distinguishing between digital haves and haves not. Only a few of the people from those who didn’t pass high school had internet access but nearly half of the graduates have the digital access and this figure increases with the levels of qualifications. The level on income also has an impact. According to a study only 25% of the poor US households are online compared to 80% of the rich households. (Whipp, 2005) Digital Divide in the World There is wide digital divide between rich and poor nations of the world. The western world including America, Europe and other northern states have wide access to information technology whereas this access is limited in southern regions of the world like Africa, India, Pakistan and other regions of South Asia. The reason for this digital divide among then nations is that the poor nations are already burdened with multiple economic and social problems like debt, hunger, poor health and education structure and therefore cannot benefit from the technological advancements. These countries cannot afford the high cost of investment in technology and its maintenance. Their already limited resources are spent in fulfilling their basic needs. (Ryder, 2003) However economic aspect is not the only cause of digital divide issue. The education levels and illiteracy is another explanation for the digital gap. Third world countries lack the skills to use the digital technology due to poor educational background. Majority of the people in this part of the world are illiterate and want easy solutions to their problems and often find the new technology too confusing and complex to use. (Rossi, 2007) The digital gap also exists because people do not take full advantage of the technology even if they can afford it and are literate enough to use it. They are simply not interested to use it. For example many people still prefer to go to physical stores for shopping even though online shopping option saves them money and time. (Nielsen, 2006) Bridging the Digital Divide One major solution to narrow down the digital gap is to reduce cost of technology which includes setup cost and maintenance costs and also the prices of PCs. This would result in more people having access to information and technology as they would be able to afford the access to internet. Another factor which is important is the development of technology skills and increasing technology literacy so that people know how to use the technology in right way even if they can afford it. But this can only be done if basic literacy is given through proper education structure. Another solution is providing content for users that are far away from technological access like Hispanics and South Asians. There is very little content online for many minority groups. Not only providing content for such users but also content that is in their local language. (Carvin, 2000) Many third world countries who are already struggling for basic needs do not welcome technology as they do not see it providing their basic needs and instead find it complex. To overcome this technology must be implemented so that it can help in their development and addresses their basic needs. Savishinsky, 2000) Overcoming this global digital gap is just not the role of one group. Public and Private organizations and NGOs need to work together to bridge the gap. Government needs to provide basic education structure to improve the literacy levels and also provide opportunities for technological investments. Private organizations and NGOs need to help in providing digital access to rural areas where people cannot afford the technology and are not mastered enough to use. They can do this by funding schools and households and proving basic technological skills. Role of IT Companies and Professionals IT companies and professionals can play an important role in bridging the digital gap. IT companies can focus on providing technology in low income and low literacy areas of their society. This can be done by providing technological devices at lower costs. Also IT professionals can train local people in using the technology and create high quality content that caters to the needs of the community. Conclusion Digital Divide is one of the greatest challenges faced by the governments of the world. On one side information and technology is helping the part of a society that afford digital access but on the other hand the other part of society is continuously being deprived of the benefits of technology. Digital Divide due to economic and educational divide seems to be widening. Therefore steps must be taken to narrow this gap so that everyone can utilize the benefits of the new digital age.