Performance Management in a Human Resources Framework Essay Example for Free

Performance Management in a charitable Resources Framework EssayPerformance Management in a Human Resources Framework Introduction The purpose of this assignment to is to consider Performance Management in a Human Resources Framework. Firstly, the assignment testament look at the fancy of Human Resources Management as a holistic strategic set about to managing the relationship between employer and employee that goes beyond the bounds of mere personnel office Management.Secondly, in light of the statement from Cooke and Armstrong (1990, cited in Rudman, 2002) that Human resources strategies exist to ensure that the culture, values and structure of the organisation and the quality, motivation and commitment of its members contribute fully to the achievement of its objectives (p. 7), I will examine the extent to which my schools performance appraisal and professional development policy and practice fit into a kind resources framework.Lastly, these examples will be used to ide ntify some of the potential and pitfalls of performance appraisal and professional development for an educational organisation. Human Resources Management a holistic approach Human resource management (HRM) can be viewed as a holistic approach to managing the relationships in an organisation between the employer and employee.Rudmans (2002) definition of HRM implies this holistic approach, in that HRM covers all the concepts, strategies, policies and practices which organisations use to manage and develop the people who work for them (p. 3). Several authors (Macky Johnson 2000 McGraw, 1997 Rudman, 2002 Smith, 1998) acknowledge that HRM is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most value assets the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation.The terms human resource management (HRM), human resources (HR) and even strategic human resource management (SHRM) have largel y replaced the term force-out management as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organisations during the decades of the mid-eighties and 1990s (McGraw, 1997 Rudman, 2002). People have been making personnel decisions since the earliest of times (Rudman, 2002, p. 2), however, from a historical perspective, the modern form of personnel management was founded from the time of the industrial revolution on two main beliefs 1) the employers concern for the welfare of its workers, and 2) the organisations need for control (Rudman, 2002). Over the last century personnel management evolved through the changing responses between these two beliefs and altered because of influences through scientific management, the industrial welfare and human relations movements, the development of trade unions and collective bargaining, and the growth of employment-related legislation (Rudman, 2002).Today, personnel management is associated with the functional aspects of people in organisations, whereas HRM is associated with the strategic aspects of people in organisations (Rudman, 2002). In practice the distinction between Personnel and Human Resource Management is often blurred because organisations need both function and strategic direction for managing and developing people (McGraw, 1997). Personnel management (PM) is then often used to describe the work related with administering policies and procedures for staff appointments, salaries, training and other employer/employee interactions.

The deleterious effects, and the risks of GM food Essay Example for Free

The deleterious do, and the risks of GM nourishment EssayIts been said that valet be what they eat. The relationship humans rich person with diet is unappreciated. Food is the fuel that keeps humans going, gives them the energy needed to be creative and productive it is the building block of society, after wholly, it wasnt until the Neolithic Era, when humans figured out a way to domesticate plants and animals, that any form of organized society formed. Even during the previous hunter-gathitherr foraging era, humans were very committed to the nutriment they ate understanding where it came and having an appraisal of how it came to be was crucial to knowing what was vital to survive. In this time, food sources like grains, fruits, and vegetables were naturally abundant, whole. Humans could choose amid many different types of nutritious food because there were thousands of varieties of species. Unfortunately, as populations grew and more civilized societies formed, vario us farming techniques were created, and a vast majority of these species became extinct to cite way for the harvesting of a select few (Pringle). In the industrial era, societies around the world, especially western ones, emphasized the importance of technological advancements. With this pursuit of technology, personality became something to control rather than live with an attempt at making life simpler, better. Breaching the gap between record and technology is optimization. It is this obsession with optimization that most accurately characterizes contemporary America. Undoubtedly, it comes with great costs. As it turns out, optimization is a business, and a pro holdable one. Thus, the costs and arranges of optimization are often hidden from the public by industrial leaders in an effort to maintain profits. They control the businesses they run and protect themselves by dumping millions of dollars into politics. Today, it seems that the gap between nature and technology has bee n breached with the annexe of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The aliens that now fill supermarkets nationwide represent the ultimate disconnect from natural, whole foods necessary for a good for you(p) lifestyle. People are comparatively uninformed almost GM foods, issues include their benefits, the examination and safety, the harmful do they back tooth have on the body and environment, the governments role as overseer, the labeling controversy, and the substantially equivalent principle all of these issues are conveniently hidden vitalities in understanding the danger, the deleterious effects, and the risks of GM foods. In tackling these issues, an surplus understandingof the historic background of how GMOs came to be is equally important.Advocates for the rapid advance of technology will cite the numerous positive breakthroughs, the internet, healthcare, the numerous inventions its hard to argue with, which is wherefore when addressing GM foods, the emphasis should be placed on the relationship between technology and nature, specifically within the food industry, and how this relationship has plump too intimate, to the pinnacle where its difficult to differentiate between technology and nature. The courtship leading to the marriage between technology and nature is exemplified in Peter Pringles book, Food, Inc., in which he discusses the 1960s Green Revolution, a turning point in agriculture during which producers moved from traditional to monoculture systems of farming. This vastly change magnitude crop give ways. But how? Farmers had postgraduate yields because they started to use fertilisers and pesticides containing chemicals like nitrogen, left over from World War II explosives. clean irrigation systems were introduced and animals replaced some human labor in order to handle the vainglorious crop fields and monoculture agriculture provided food relief to starving nations post-war (Pringle). Farmers experienced a rude awakening when yields started to decline due to a number of unexpected or unaddressed consequences. Although the Green Revolution saved or im beard millions of lives during the 1960s, small-scale consideration was given to the future effects it could have on environmental sustainability.The lack of food plant diversity notwithstandingtually led to multiple problems, like the mass destruction of crops that had contracted disease or succumbed to pesticide-resistant insects, chemically arrant(a) and overly watered soils, and an inevitable decline in production yields (Pringle). Obviously, the United States needed to find a solution to this problem. By the late 1900s, many scientists and biotechnologists approve and advocated genetic engineering as the most viable solution. This process is best described by Lauren and Robin Ticciati in their book, Genetically Modified Foods Are They pencil eraser? You Decide. According to the Ticciatis, scientists planned to take a gene from one completely diff erent organism and insert it into the plant in order to make it yield a desired outcome (Ticciati). The goal was to create food plants that could grow and withstand harsh conditions like pesticides, infertile soil, unfavorable climates, andgeographical locations. Despite forethought from skeptical environmentalists about the unknown future effects of genetic food engineering, the companies who profit from this new food technology proclaimed it to be the wave of the future. As the Ticciatis consequenced, in 1996, when the FDA ratified the use of genetically engineered foods with no special label requirements, the GM foods were introduced on grocery market shelves with relatively no consumer awareness. This is sightly a nonher example of how society is non clueless by choice. If this seems a harsh diagnosis, take into context what Kathleen Hart exemplified in her book, Eating in the shabbiness a survey which took place just a couple years after GM foods were released revealed ab out two-thirds of the Ameri cease adult population had no idea that supermarkets were carrying such items (Hart). Since then, GMOs have become part of the fasten food products in the diets of the everyday consumer.Part of the problem is that nobody is exactly sure how harmful GM foods are, but there is substantial evidence to show that they can have a devastating effect on the economy, the human body, and the environment. In Food, Inc., Pringle discusses the farming method of artificial hybrid breeding which became a huge success in the mid-1900s and attracted a lot of commercial attention, spawning the term agribusiness. Scientists found that by crossing-breeding two varieties of a species of plant that had been inbred, and fertilized by their own pollen for three or four generations showed a tremendous leap in hybrid vigor, with grain yields up to 50 percent high than the natural bred variety (Pringle).Unfortunately, when naturally crossed in the farmers fields, the hybrids stre ngth did not withstand, so farmers had to rely on industry-produced super seeds. An economic boom occurred within the seed and fertilizer industries, with businesses rapidly sprouting up like the crops they helped produce. A few decades later the early warnings of genetic uniformity suddenly became a reality, (Pringle). One alarming denudation was the fact that since simply one type of species was being harvested in a given area, if a crop contracted a disease, the entire field was wiped out, which meant no income that season for many farmers (Pringle). The companies who were invested in this new agricultural era and had seen the enormous profit potential in having a hand in controlling the food chain were not going to just quit. They pushedfurther into science, seeking ways to alter a species genetic make-up in order for it to conform to optimization, instead of considering natural solutions to these problems (Pringle). Today, there are GM super foods that are so genetically mod ified that they differ starkly from their ancestors. It is a teeter-totter industry every profits are extremely high (like they have been for so long) or the industry fails and profits cease to exist. The latter doesnt look like its going to occur any time soon because the government is firmly grasped by the biotech food companies that control the GM food industry. The most prominent of these companies, Monsanto, wrong advocates the necessity for GM foods, with the real motive the preservation of profits. Monsanto executive Hugh Grant claims they GM foods can help feed the world and preserve the environment by trim down the need for pesticides, (Harvest of Fear). Others advocate the hope that GM technology can save lives, like scientist Charles Arntzen, who is working on GM techniques to make edible vaccines to combat viruses in developing countries, (Harvest of Fear). More recently, companies like AquaBounty Technologies are working to develop genetically engineered animals. Aqua Bountys AquAdvantage salmon has been touted as as safe as food from stuffy Atlantic salmon, by the FDA, but is still being met with numerous opposition (Pollack). The salmon contain a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon and a genetic switch from the ocean pout that turns on an antifreeze gene, which allows the salmon to make growth hormone in cold weather, whereas they usually produce it only in warm weather, (Pollack).Genetic manipulation is causing drastic changes in the natural behavior of the organisms its implemented on, and it is believed that this could have multiple adverse effects on the environment and society. Those who have similar concerns, these cautious enemies to GM foods, can find strength in recent studies that are beginning to expose the numerous harmful effects of GM foods. In a study done by Gilles-Eric Sralini at the University of Caen in France, 200 rats were fed either genetically engineered corn or the herbicide Roundup and observed for two years, their entire life cycle and not just the normal ninety day period. It was found that they had an increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage, and dying prematurely (Pollack, GMO Global Alert). Additional animal studies have shown other serious health risks associated with GM foodconsumption infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen, and gastrointestinal system (Genetic Roulette). To exemplify how this is portrayed in humans, statistical evidence shows that after 1996, when GMOs increased in the American diet, disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation, gastrointestinal infections, Crohns disease, and gastroephageal reflux have all risen dramatically and consistently (Genetic Roulette). Further evidence indicates that GMOs cause food allergies, have increased toxicity, decreased nutritional value, and promote antibiotic resistance (UMN). Not only do GM foods have a great pote ntial for negatively effecting humans, they are harmful to the environment. Companies like Monsanto claim that genetically modifying foods is environmentally friendly, but this has been proven wrong on a large number of levels. There is lack of nutrients found in soil in which GM crops are planted (Ticciati). These crops hurt the soil and the food chain. The chemicals found in pesticides were not only killing pests but also small animals, especially birds, were also facing extinction (Robbins). Tampering with natural selection creates a domino effect and damages the entire ecosystem. Imposing an unnatural element in the form of GM foods changes the equation and disrupts natural balance, even if things balance out, they will be unendingly different, even this is dangerous. Although GM foods are responsible for massive crop yields and the increased food supply, the industry is precariously perched given the increasing amount of deleterious effects that are being exposed more and mor e each day. For this reason, the government needs to take action. This is another dilemma it is easy to wonder how the government can do anything when it has such close relationships with the companies that all the fingers are being pointed at.The primary antagonist in this story is the company Monsanto, the inventor of saccharin, an artificial sweetener, and many additional products. Monsanto accounts for over two-thirds of genetically engineered soy, corn, and canola crops worldwide (Robbins). Hendrik Verfaillie, Monsantos Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, described the companys aggressive strategy with, The biggest mistake that anyone can make is moving slowly, because the game is going to be over before you start,(Robbins). It is understandable that a company this big has a profoundly large daze on government rulings regarding its industry. With Monsantos Roundup herbicide bringing in billions of dollars, the industry convinced the Supreme Court to allow the pa tenting of genetically engineered seeds so that the offspring would become the property of the seed manufacturer. In Genetic Engineering, Food and Our Environment, Luke Anderson exemplifies the impact of this ruling by stressing the profound repercussions it will have on the future of living organisms This wondrous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court heralded a new era. Once a shared heritage, the gene pool of plants, animals, and humans was now a commodity waiting to be bought and sold (Anderson). What appears to be mainly a business venture is an extremely important political issue, with companies pouring millions into politics to stick to afloat. This is exemplified by the following quote, from the documentary The Future of Food. Here, director D.K. Garcia focuses on the 2000 Presidential Election and the biotechnology issue Agricultural biotechnology will find a support occupying the White House next year, regardless of which candidate wins the election in November (Garcia). Th e Future of Food reveals top ranking officials from the Supreme Court, such as Justice Clarence Thomas who previously represented Monsanto as their Lawyer for Regulatory Affairs, to Donald Rumsfeld, The Secretary of Defense, who was previously the President of Searle, a Monsanto subsidiary. Given their backgrounds, it is difficult to ignore the likelihood that their political stances would not be swayed.Even worse is Linda Fisher, who has switched roles between the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and Monsanto a number of times she was Monsantos Executive Vice President for nearly a decade and Deputy Administrator for the EPA as well as Commissioner for George Bushs administration (Garcia). Its frightening that the EPA, which acknowledges and regulates pesticides emitted into the environment, is likely to be biased in regards to the approval of genetically modified organisms into the environment. Needless to say, its shocking to see the connections that pose how much of an appa rent influence Monsanto and the other leading biotech companies have on government regulations of GMOs. demo of this influence is presented in Seeds of Deception, in which Micah Sifry states, the four leaders of the biotech industry Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, and Novartis gave more than $3.5 million in PAC, soft-money, andlarge indivi three-fold contributions between 1995 and 2000, three-quarters of it to Republicans (Smith). Stricter guidelines and extensive testing are not required because the companies have such strong political ties that they can influence the polity that is implemented upon them. In 1992, former U.S. Vice President, Dan Quayle, exemplifies this in his idiom on behalf of the Council of Competitiveness, We will ensure that biotech products will receive the same oversight as other products, instead of being hampered by unnecessary regulation (Garcia). The FDA approved genetically modified foods with a high sense of hesitant reluctance. Consumers are supposed to rel y on the FDA to determine if food is safe for consumption the representation is supposed to be a protective one. This was a landmark decision for the FDA, a decision which required strong political influence for the agency to settle against its own principles. This is evidenced in The Future of Food Dan Quayle and the Bush administration appointed Michael Taylor as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, which Andrew Kimbrell divulges in an interview, noting that Taylor was formerly Monsantos Senior Counsel at the King and Spaulding law firm. Taylor instituted a no-regulation policy and left it to the biotech companies to determine whether or not genetically modified food was deemed safe for human consumption (Garcia). As the examples presented indicate, the successful clearance of GM foods has been engineered by companies like Monsanto and politicians, almost as much as the foods themselves. With the FDA swept out of the way, the companies that dominated the biotech industry were free to wrap as they pleased, testing at their fingertips. How can the consumers trust Monsanto to act in their best interest, especially when the companys Director of Corporate Communication, Phil Angell, says things like Monsanto should not have to vouchsafe the safety of biotech food. Our interest is in selling as much of it as possible. Assuring its safety is the FDAs job, (Robbins). Without extensive testing, which would almost sure enough yield new truths about the harmful effects of GM foods, Monsanto can achieve its goal of selling as much as possible slice disregarding the consequences this has on society and the environment.Testing is probably the biggest grey area of them all. The FDA has a persona of an overseer and protector, meaning that people generally believe that allfood undergoes tests by the FDA to ensure their safety. Unfortunately, this couldnt be further from the truth. Testing genetically modified foods is dependent on the words of the companies that develop them . According to Consumer Unions dungaree Halloran, When a company comes in with data, the FDA looks at it and writes a letter saying, Dear Monsanto, you supplied information regarding the safety of corn variety X and we are confident about what youve shown, It is your responsibility, (CBS). The FDA is in a difficult position. It is presented with its initial objective of protecting the American people but now, with biotechnology and GM foods, it is faced with a decision of whether or not to promote the biotech industry. The FDA regulates GM foods as part of the coordinated framework of federal agencies that also includes the EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture (Bashshur).The problem is that this framework has been the study of critical analysis and calls for redesign it is outdated, with the FDA policy unchanged since 1992. It is available online and contains a searchable database that covers genetically engineered crop plants intended for food or feed that have e ffected all recommended or required reviews, (Bashshur). The policy places responsibility on the producer or manufacturer to assure the safety of the food, explicitly relying on the producer or manufacturer to do so Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the producer of a new food to evaluate the safety of the food and assure that the safety requirement of character 402(a)(1) of the act is met, (Bashshur). It is also this policy that establishes that the substantially equivalent concept, with which the FDA judges most GM crops as substantially equivalent to non-GM crops. In these cases, GM crops are designated as Generally Recognized as Safe under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and do not require pre-market approval, (Federation of American Scientists). Although these products are described as substantially equivalent, their manufacturers stress that they are different so that they can patent them and continue to profit. In this situation, the consumer must take the producers angle. Their products are dramatically different their genetic composition is very different in comparison with that of their ancestral forms. In deciding whether or not to ingest these products, the consumer must clear that if the companies that produce them stress they are dramatically different, and there is minimal testing done on them, these GM food products could be extremely dangerous. Currently, there is no regulatory scheme requiring GM foods to be tested to see if it is safe for humans to eat or not. FDA guidance to the industry issued in 1997 covered freewill consultation procedures, but still relied on the developer of the product to provide safety data, (Bashshur). There are numerous pieces of evidence that indicate that GM food testing is completely unregulated. The FDAs policy is outdated and weak, substantially equivalent cannot be justified when such a small level of testing has been done. The fact that this policy has remained unchanged for two deca des is staggering theres probably a lot of money keeping it that way. In tackling what Ramona Bashshur describes as the FDAs dual mission, rational thought is vital. Although the FDA cannot ignore the opportunity to make scientific advances with the potential to better society, it must reflect on its original role, as a protector. magic spell scientific advances with GMOs are rapidly continuing, there hasnt been enough testing on them to determine how dangerous they are. If testing was done and the foods proved safe, which they probably wouldnt, there would be nothing wrong with promoting it. In the meantime, as more and more harmful aspects of GM foods come to the surface, it would be smart for the FDA to revise its policy, improve the completion of testing done on these foods, so that America can move forward in science with the assurance that it wont hurt its citizens. This is a difficult task there is so much political influence on the industry that it may never occur.If the p olicy for testing cannot be amended, there is action that can be taken that could have a similar outcome. Specialized labeling for GM foods would set them apart from normal foods and make it easier for consumers to make healthy choices. In the United States, they arent label, while in Europe, Russia, China, and other countries, they are. This is an extremely popular movement in the United States. An example is Californias hypnotism 37, which wouldve required labeling on raw or processed food offered for sale to consumers if make from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specified ways. And it would prohibit market such food, or other processed food, as natural, (Bittman). The numbers dont lie people supported Proposition 37 roughly 65% for to 20% against, with 15% undecided. From a national perspective on the labeling issue, 91% ofvoters believe that the FDA should require that foods which have been genetically engineered or containing genetically engineered ingredi ents to be labeled to indicate that, (Bittman). With these numbers as a reference for the support that Proposition 37 had, its hard to believe that it was struck down. Again, this is an instance of money having the loudest phonate in the room. Money flew in from both sides, but the food companies that stood to lose in the situation, like Monsanto and The Hershey Co., contributed to what was eventually a $44 million windfall for No on Prop 37, while proponents were only able to raise $7.3 million, (Almendrala). According to MapLight, an organization that tracks campaign contributions, biotech companies amassed $46 million to defeat the measure, with Monsanto contributing $8.1 million and kraft paper Foods, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola each contributing at least $1.7 million (Pollack). In contrast, those who backed Proposition 37 were only able to contribute $9.2 million money made the difference. Proposition 37 was close, garnering 47% of the vote, with campaigns like the online based Just Label It collecting signatures and comments on a petition to the FDA, requesting rules similar to those in the European Union, Japan, China, India and Australia, stating what transgenic food is in the package, (Moskin). The biggest thing about Proposition 37 is that it had national implications it wasnt just California that the food conglomerates were worried about. If it passed, it couldve been the beginning of a national labeling revolution, potentially the beginning of an even greater revolution.Throughout history, organisms have developed through a recurrence of genetic mutations that have naturally selected the organisms that are most fit for survival. The rise of GMOs can be viewed through the same lens. GMOs arose from the conditions following the monoculture agricultural shift in the 1960s Green Revolution. The key here is that they are not natural. The mutations that have aided the rise of GMOs are manmade, manufactured, and abnormal. GMOs are a result of the American obse ssion with optimization, which manifests itself in technology. After World War II and end-to-end the Green Revolution, America sought numerous technological advancements as it relished its role as a world power. With GMOs, America breached the gap between technology and nature in an effort to optimize food. Companies likeMonsanto, with their growing number of political connections, began using their funds to pave the way for GMOs to become and remain a staple contingent of the American diet. Today, GM foods are still privately and minimally tested and they remain unlabeled in the United States. While the FDA stands by its outdated 1992 policy, claiming that GM foods are substantially equivalent, the producers stress that they are different in an effort to obtain patents. America cannot trust the sources it looks to for accurate information because there has been little testing but there is hope on the horizon after California nearly passed a law forcing GM foods to be labeled. As i nterested parties seek an answer, they must first look towards labeling these foods, sparking a chain reaction that causes uninformed consumers to ask questions like, Why are these foods specially labeled? and What makes these foods different? Labeling could prove to be the beginning of a further revolution to enhance regulation of GM foods. This revolution, though currently nonexistent, must occur before this problem mutates even further, before not just the American people, but the entire world, reaps the consequences for playing the role of Creator.Anderson, L. (1999). Genetic engineering, food, and our environment. Vermont Chelsea Green Publishing.Clark, E. A. Lehman, H. (2001). Assessment of GM crops in commercial agriculture. diary of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 14 (1), 3-28. Retrieved October 26, 2006, from ProQuest Research Library. Guidance for industry Voluntary labeling indicating whether foods have or have not Been developed using bioengineering. (2001) Retr ieved November 8, 2006, from http//www.cfsan.fda.gov/dms/biolabgu.html. Garcia, D. K. (Director, Producer, Writer). (2004). The future of food. DVD. hero sandwich Valley Lily Films.Hart, K. (2002). Eating in the dark. New York Pantheon Books. Pascalev, A. (2003). You are what you eat genetically modified foods, integrity, and society. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 16 (1), 583-594. Retrieved October 29, 2006, from ProQuest Research Library. Pringle, P.(2003). Food inc. New York Simon Schuster. Robbins, J. (2001). The food revolution How your diet can help save your life and the world. Berkeley Conari Press.Smith. J. (2003). Seeds of deception. Vermont Chelsea Green Publishing. Ticciati, L. Ticciati, R. (1998). Genetically engineered foods. Are they safe? You decide. New Canaan Keats Publishing.http//documentarylovers.com/genetic-roulette-gamble-our-lives/ http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njd0RugGjAgfeature=related http//www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/business/gene-alt ered-fish-moves-closer-to-federal-approval.html?pagewanted=all_r=0 http//www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/a-suit-airs-debate-on-organic-vs-modified-crops.html http//opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/g-m-o-s-lets-label-em/?_r=0 http//www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/business/energy-environment/21salmon.html http//www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/health/policy/04salmon.html http//www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/business/california-bid-to-label-genetically-modified-crops.html http//www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/http//www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/business/energy-environment/disputed-study-links-modified-corn-to-greater-health-risks.html?_r=0 http//enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/gm/harmful.htmlhttp//www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10004920-2.htmlhttp//www.americanbar.org/content/newsletter/publications/aba_health_esource_home/aba_health_law_esource_1302_bashshur.html http//www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/prop-37-defeated-californ_n_2088402.html http//www.fas.org/biosecurity/education/dualuse-agricultu re/2.-agricultural-biotechnology/us-regulation-of-genetically-engineered-crops.html http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njd0RugGjAgfeature=related

The Concept Of Microfinance

The Concept Of MicrofinanceIn the recent years, most of the countries across the globe atomic issuing 18 in a sweeping mood to promote microfinance not yet as a positive rural development noise but too as a rural development panacea. As a result, the developmental economists in at a lower placedeveloped and developing economies have increasingly become enthusiastic in promotion and development of microfinance as one of the rural development initiatives. The advise of such an initiative is to promote the welfare of the society as a whole by targeting the most talked developmental objectives of poverty botheviation (Shah,2008) and balanced regional development (Barman et al. , 2009).Micro-finance today though has become one of the most debated topics but it is a much confused buzz news show among the canters and the policy makers. Micro-finance is more than just a word as it has much wider meaning and implications. It is an instrument and a tool that has power to collectively address poverty, empower the socially poor, address gender issues and thereby streng consequently the society as a whole. Micro-finance has therefore emerged as a powerful mechanism which ensures the social and economical empowerment of poor (Sriram, 2004).Concept of MicrofinanceMicrofinance, gibe to McGuire and Conroy (2000), is the provision of pecuniary run, primarily savings and recognise, to poor households that do not have access to bollock financial institutions. The Task Force on confirmatory Policy and Regulatory Framework for Microfinance serve up by NABARD in November 1998 defined microfinance as the provision of thrift, opinion and other(a) financial service and products of real small follows to the poor in rural, semi urban or urban areas, for enabling them to raise their income levels and improve living standards (Sharma, 2001 Reddy, 2005, Reji, 2009). These financial services, according to Satish (2005) and Dasgupta (2006), generally take deposits, im s ort outwords, payment services, money transfers, and insurance policy to poor and low income households and their microenterprises. However, the expression microfinance according to Torre and Vento (2006) denotes offering the financial services to Zero or low income beneficiaries.Wanchoo (2007) defines microfinance as whatever activity that accepts the provision of financial services such as credit, savings, and insurance to low income individuals who either fall on a lower floor the nationally defined poverty nervous strain or fall just above that, with the goal of creating social value. The creation of social value substance making efforts in direction of eradication of poverty, upward(a) livelihood opportunities for the poor through the provision of capital for micro-enterprise, promotion of savings for poor so that current bothers and future risks can be minimized. However, how much below or above the poverty line has not been defined anywhere in the writings so far.Arab i (2009) and Satish (2005) defines microfinance as small scale financial services primarily credit and deposits that are give upd to plurality who farm, fish or herd and adds that it operates small or microenterprises both in urban and rural areas. According to Dinesha and Jayasheela (2009), these financial services are provided by financial institutions to the poor to extend to their normal financial inevitably life cycle, economic opportunity and emergency. In the words of Dhandapani (2009) microfinance means extension of small loans to the poor, especially women to start commercial enterprise, invest in self employment works with the aim to increase their income and standard of living. As per the definition of Nagayya and Rao (2009), microfinance refers to total range of financial and non-financial services including skill upgradation and entrepreneurial development of poor.Sehrawat etal. (2011) however, defines microfinance as a financial service provided by financial inst itutions to the poor which may complicate savings, credit, insurance, leasing, money transfer, equity transaction, etc. to meet their normal financial ask like life cycle, economic opportunity and emergency.In con, it can be tell that the concept of microfinance involves money boxing for the poor and Banking with the poor. Such banking initiatives open doors of finance for innocent(p) and underprivileged people who otherwise do not have access to finance from formal financial sources out-of-pocket to lack of collateral security (Nagayya and Rao, 2009 Barman et al. 2009). Microfinance targets the poorest segment of clients. They are self-employed and household-based entrepreneurs. Their diverse micro-enterprise includes small retail shops, street vending, artisanal manufacture, etc.Components of Microfinance (Microfinance vs Microcredit)The condition microfinance and microcredit are often used interchangeably but in reality there is the difference among the two. Microcredit is the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to metamorphose for handed-down bank loans. Microfinance is a broader concept encompassing not only the extension of credit to the poor, but also the provision of other financial services like savings, cash withdrawals and insurance (Dasgupta, 2006 Nagayya and Rao, 2009). Microcredit is the component of microfinance. There are four components of microfinanceMicrocredit It is a small amount of money lent to a client by a bank or other institution. Microcredit can be offered, often without collateral, to an individual or through group change. The purpose of such a loan is to provide credit to those who require it.Microsavings These are small sums of money that allow poor people to save small amounts of money for future use. These saving visors are often without minimum balance extremitys. It helps low households to save in order to meet un evaluate expenses and figure for future investments. These are the means of collate ral to microcredit (Sinha, 2005).Microinsurance It is an economic instrument characterised by low premium designed to service low income people not served by typical social or commercial insurance schemes and helps in mitigating risks affecting property and health (Khandelwal A.K., 2007).Remittances These are transfers of funds from people in one place to people in another, usually across borders to family and friends (Khandelwal A.K., 2007).The pilfer of Microfinance faecal matter / the Beginnings of MicrofinanceThe concept of Microfinance is not new as it has had its prevalence in the considerable past. The imprints of microfinance can be traced back to Indonesia which points towards the formation of Indonesian Peoples Credit Banks which were set up in 1895 and which had close to 9000 units. Later, efforts were made to bring about revolution in Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by Akhtar Hameed Khan in 1959 in form of formation of academy for arcadian culture (Khandelwal, 2007).In t he late 1970s, the economists round the world recognised that poor lack access to financial services (McGuire and Conroy, 2000 Tiwari and Fahad,1997 Barman et al., 2009). From this developed a new emphasis on establishing better financial systems which could direct credit to poor clients on a more sustainable basis than had been possible under previous discredited schemes of directed credit (McGuire and Conroy, 2000).At that time, Professor Muhammad Yunus popularised the concept of microloans as he believed that peace prevails only when hunger is quelled (Shetty and Veershekharappa, 2009). He started Grammeen Bank in 1976 in the outskirts of Chittagong University campus in the village of Jobra, Bangladesh with only a meagre amount of $27 as loan and made it a target to subsidization loans to the poorest of the poor. He felt concerned for the miserable landless women who were labouring for other people. He reasoned that if these women could work for themselves instead of working fo r others, they could retain much of the pleonastic generated by their labours, currently enjoyed by others. He started giving loans to even beggars. He was also of the view that if beggars can go to houses for getting money, they can go to houses to address a product also.The Grameen Bank lending procedures are simple and effective. The runner and foremost step in receipt of credit is the formation of the group of quint members that gather once a week for loan repayment (Dasgupta, 2001). Loans are initially made to two individuals in the group, who are then under press from the rest of the members to repay in good time. The borrower has to repay the loan in weekly instalments spread over a year. The functioning of Grameen Bank also involves fascinating of 16 Decisions at the start of their weekly session. These decisions include production of fruits and vegetables in kitchen gardens, investment for improvement of housing and education for children, use of latrines and safe dri nking irrigate for better health, rejection of dowry in marriages etc. Although observance of these decisions is not mandatory, in actual come it has become a requirement for receiving a loan (Tiwari and Fahad, 1997).In order to promote thrift habit, it is compulsory for every member to save one Taka per week which is accumulated in the Group Fund. This account is managed by the group. The amount in the Fund is deposited with Grameen Bank and earns interest. A member can borrow from this fund for consumption, sickness, social ceremony or even for investment (if allowed by all group members). In case of default in repayment or failure to attend meetings, the defaulters may be charged with a fine or may be expelled. The members are free to leave the group before the loan is fully repaid however, the obligation to pay the balance falls on the rest group members.Some of the key strategies adopted by the Grameen Bank are listed belowI) There is an exclusive strain on the poorest of the poor. This is exclusivity ensured byestablishing clearly the eligibility criteria for option of targeted clientele and adopting practical measures to screen out those who do not meet them.in delivering credit, priority has been increasingly assigned to women.the obstetrical delivery system is geared to meet the diverse socio-economic development needs of the poor.2) Borrowers are organized into small homogeneous groups. Such characteristics facilitate group solidarity as well as participatory interaction. Organizing the primary(a) groups of five members and federating them into centers. The Centers are functionally linked to the Grameen Bank, whose field workers have to attend Centre meetings every week.3) Special loan conditions which are particularly suitable for the poor. These includea) very small amounts of loans given without any collateralb) loans repayable in weekly instalments spread over a yearc) eligibility for a subsequent loan depends upon repayment of first loan d) individual, self-chosen, quick income-generating activities which employ the skills that harrowers already posses.e) close supervision of credit by the groupf) stress on collective borrower responsibility or accomplice pressureg) special safeguards through compulsory and military volunteer savings to minimize the risks that the poor confront.h) Undertaking of social development agenda addressing grassroots needs of the clientele. This is reflected in the sixteen decisions adopted by Grameen borrowers.Thus, the lending operations of Grameeen Bank include the use of group guarantees, inculcating compulsory savings habit and transparency of credit transactions (Mcguire and Conroy, 2000). A still more interesting feature is the ingenious manner of grant of credit without any collateral security. The availability of lending outlets near the clients, simple application procedures, and quick disbursement of loans are the special techniques to ensure good repayment rates (Tiwari and Fahad,1997 ).The Grameen Bank is now lending loan size of $ 800 million a year with an average loan size of almost $130, the bank has 7 million borrowers, 97 percent of them are women and an singular repayment rate of 98 percent(Tiwari and Fahad,1997 Singh and Kumar,2008). The microloans not only helped the poor in getting finance in Bangladesh and facilitated the lives of millions of poor but also earned Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Prize in the year 2006.Evolution of microfinance in IndiaThe Grameen Bank model of microfinance based on joint liability of members has received wide international bring up and popularity in numerous emerging economies like India. In fact the developing economies have even tried to replicate these models for developing small scale business and reducing poverty levels (Jha, 2002 Idolor and Imhanlahimi, 2011). The evolution of Indian MF can be broadly divided into four distinct phasesPhase 1 The Cooperative Movement (1900-1960)During this phase, there was d ominance of two sources of credit viz. institutional sources and non-institutional sources. The non institutional sources catered to 93 percent of credit requirement in the year 1951-52 and institutional sources accounted to 7 percent of total credit requirements pertaining to that year. The preponderance of informal sources of credit was due to provision of loans for both productive and non productive purposes as well as for short term and long term purposes and simple procedures of lending adopted. But they involved several malpractices like charging high rates of interest, denial of repayment, misappropriation of collaterals, etc.At that time, government considered cooperatives as an instrument of economic development of disadvantaged masses. The credit cooperatives were vehicles to extend subsidized credit to poor under government sponsorship. They were characterized as non exploitative, voluntary membership and decentralized decision making. The Primary Agricultural societies ( PACS) provide mainly short term and medium term loans and Land Development Banks provide long term loans as a part of cooperative relocation.Phase 2 Subsidized Social Banking (1960s 1990)It was observed that cooperatives could not do much as was expected of them. With failure of cooperatives, All India awkward Credit Survey Committee in 1969 emphasized the adoption of Multiagency Approach to Institutional Credit which assigned an important section to the commercial banks in addition to cooperatives. Even Indian programners in fifth five year plan (1974-79), emphasised Garibi Hatao (Removal of poverty) and the growth with social justice. It was due to this woo that in 1969, 14 leading banks were nationalized and later on five regional rural banks were set up for the purpose on October 2, 1975 at Moradabad and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Bhiwani in Haryana ,Jaipur in Rajasthan and Malda in West Bengal. Hence, as a result of Multiagency approach and other planning initiatives, Go vernment focused on measures such as nationalization of Banks (Shetty and Veerashekharappa, 2009 Sriram, 2005), expansion of rural branch networks, establishment of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and the setting up of apex institutions such as the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the Small Scale Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the central bank of the country played a crucial occasion by giving overall direction for providing credit and financial support to national bank for its operations. Therefore, after the multiagency approach, the commercial banks and regional rural banks assumed a major role in providing both short term and long term funds for serving the poorest of poor.Despite, the multiagency approach adopted, a very large number of the poorest of the poor hold ond to outride outside the fold of the formal banking system(Reddy and Manak, 2005 Singh and Kumar, 2008 Nagayya and Rao, 2009 Shetty and Veershekharappa, 2009). While these steps led to reaching a large population, the period was characterized by big misuse of credit, creating a negative perception about the credibility of micro borrowers among bankers, thus further hindering access to banking services for the low-income people. However the gap between demand and supply of financial services still prevailed due to shortcomings of institutional credit system as it provides funds only for productive purposes, requirement of collateral, abundant paper work leading to inordinate delays. As a response to failure of formal financial system in reaching the poor and destitute masses, the micro finance through Self-help groups was innovated and institutionalized in the Indian scenario.While no definitive date has been determined for the actual conception and propagation of SHGs, the practice of small groups of rural and urban people banding together to form a savings and credit organization is well established in India. In the early stages, NGOs played a pivotal role in innovating the SHG model and in implementing the model to develop the process fully (Reddy and Manak2005).The first step towards Micro-finance intervention was establishment of Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA), non formal organization owned by women of petty trade groups. It was established on the cooperative principle in 1974 in Gujarat. This initiative was undertaken for providing banking services to the poor women employed in unorganized sector of Ahmadabad. Shree Mahila Sahkari Bank was set up as urban cooperative bank. At national level, SHG movement involves NGOs helping in the formation of the groups.During this time, the planners and policy makers were desperately searching for the viable ways of poverty alleviation. Around that time, the Government of India launched the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP), a large poverty alleviation credit program, with the purpose of providing credit to poor and under-priv ileged which involved provision of government subsidized credit through banks to the poor. But the IRDP was a supply led programme and the clients had no choice over the purpose and the amount. At this stage, it was realised that the poor really necessitate better access to these services and products, rather than cheap subsidized credit. That is when the experts started talking about microfinance, rather than microcredit.Keeping in view the economic scenario of those days, a heavy need was felt for alternative policies, procedures, savings and loan products, other complementary services, and new delivery mechanisms, which would fulfil the requirements of the poorest, especially of the women members of such households ( Barman et al. 2009 Shetty and Veerashekharappa, 2009). It was during this time, NABARD conducted a serial of research studies independently and in association with MYRADA, a leading NGO from Southern India, which showed that a very large number of poor continued t o remain outside the fold of the formal banking system (Reddy and Manak, 2005). Later on PRADAN in its Madurai projects started forming women SHG groups (Satish, 2005).During 1988-89, NABARD in association with Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) undertook a survey of 43 NGOs in 11 states in India, to study the functioning of microfinance SHGs and their collaboration possibilities with formal banking system (Satish P, 2005 Shetty and Veerashekharappa, 2009). Both these research projects laid the foundation pitfall for the initiation of a pilot project called the SHG linkage project (Satish P, 2005).Phase 3 SHG-Bank linkage Program (1990 2000)The failure of subsidized social banking lead to delivery of credit with NABARD initiating the Self Help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage Programme in 1992 (SBLP), aiming to link informal womens groups to formal banks. This was the first official attempt in linking informal groups with formal lending structures. To initiat e this project NABARD held extensive consultations with the RBI. This resulted the RBI issuing a policy circular in 1991 to all Commercial Banks to come in and extend finance to SHGs (RBI, 1991). This was the first instance of mature SHGs that were directly financed by a commercial bank. The informal thrift and credit groups of poor were recognized as bankable clients. Soon after, the RBI advised Commercial Banks to consider lending to SHGs as part of their rural credit operations thus creating SHG Bank Linkage ( Reddy and Manak,2005).The program has been extremely useful in increasing banking system outreach to unreached people. The programme has been extremely advantageous due to reduction of transaction approach due to less paper work and record keeping as group lending rather than individual lending is involved (Barman et al. 2009). The SHG bank linkage is a strong method of financial inclusion, providing unbanked rural clientele with access to formal financial services from t he existing banking infrastructure. The major benefit by linking SHGs with the banks is that it helps in overcoming the problem of high transaction cost of banks as the responsibility of loan appraisal, follow up, recovery of loans are left to poor themselves. On the other side, SHGs gain by enjoying larger and cheaper sources (Varman, 2005).Later, the planners in Ninth Five year plan (1997-2002) laid emphasis on Growth with Social Justice and comparability. The objective of Ninth plan as approved by the National Development Council explicitly states as followsPromoting and developing participatory institutions like Panchayati Raj Institutions, cooperatives and Self -Help Groups.Hence, it was ninth five year plan that expressly laid down the objective of establishment of Self Help Groups in order to achieve the objective of Growth with Social Justice and Equality as a part of microfinance initiative. Meanwhile, in 1999, the Government of India merged various credit programs togethe r, refined them and launched a new programme called Swaranjayanti Gram Swarazagar Yojana (SGSY). The aim of SGSY was to continue to provide subsidized credit to the poor through the banking sector to generate self-employment through a Self-Help Group approach (Sriram, 2005).Phase 4 Commercialization of Microfinance The first decade of the new millenniumThis stage involves greater participation of new microfinance institutions that started taking interest in the sector not only as part of their corporate social responsibility but also as a new business line. A number of institutions have been set up extra time which were required to meet the credit requirements of the new society and downtrodden.At present Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) aims at Towards More and Inclusive Growth. The word inclusive growth means including and considering those who are somehow excluded from the benefits which they (poor) should avail. Microfinance is a step towards inclusive growth via inclusive fi nance which moves around serving the financial needs and non financial needs of poor in order to improve level of living of rural masses.Demand and Supply forces of microfinance1.5.1 The Demand for MicrofinanceTraditionally the targets of microfinance meant the poorest of the poor and the poor. More, recently, microfinance focus is changing as it has now started serving people who, although, not living in poverty, have general difficulty in carrying the credit (Torre and Vento, 2006). This is on account of socio-economic changes that have put forward potential new microfinance clients. In this way, modern microfinance is expanding its horizon from poorest of poor to the victims of financial inclusion. The phenomenon of financial inclusion has been defined in literature as inability to access finance in an appropriate way ( ). These victims of financial inclusion involve disadvantaged individuals who are unable to bear the cost and conditions of financial products offered. Another c ategory of microfinance targets included the marginalised people who mainly comprise of small scale entrepreneurs who are running small businesses, self-employed workers and individuals who unable to obtain credit (Torre and Vento, 2006). In this category, women assume major significance. This is due to the more responsible nature of women who are more responsible in repayment of loan then men. The continuing involvement of poorest of the poor, poor, disadvantaged and marginalised people determines the greater complexity of the supply forces of Indian microfinance structure and thus, a more decisive move away from traditional pattern of credit.1.5.2 The Supply of MicrofinanceIn any economy, most of the day-to-day activities require finance. Finance is required both for productive and non productive purposes. The productive purposes include requirement of fixed capital for commencement of business, funds for working capital requirement to meet day today activities, trade related emer gencies, exploring investment opportunities etc. On the other hand, finance may be needed for non productive purposes, such as for celebration of marriages, births and deaths, for litigation. In order to satisfy in above needs there are two available sources of credit available to the poor institutional sources or formal sources, non-institutional sources or informal sources.Formal institutions are the registered entities rout to all relevant laws. These include commercial banks (including public and private sector banks), regional rural banks and cooperative banks. Recognizing the potential of micro finance to positively square off the development of the poor, the Reserve Bank, NABARD and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have taken several initiatives over the years to give elevation to the micro finance movement in India. The Commercial Banks and Regional Rural Banks provide both short term and long term funds for serving the poorest of poor. The Primary Agricu ltural societies (PACS) provide mainly short term and medium term loans and Land Development Banks provide long term loans.The National Bank of Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) is the apex institution at national level for agricultural credit and refinance assistance to the agencies mentioned above .The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the central bank of the country plays a crucial role by giving overall direction for providing credit and financial support to national bank for its operations. On the other hand, government owned societies like Rashtriya Mahila Kosh(RMK), Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies, private sector companies like specialized NBFCs are also involved in providing credit to the poor.Informal institutions include self help groups, money lenders, traders, relatives, commission agents. They are providers of microfinance services on a voluntary basis and are not orbit to any kind of regulation.1.6 Self Help Groups DefinedA Self Help Group is a basic unit of micro-finance which comprises of 15 to 20 people having homogeneous social and economic background (Singh and Kumar, 2008) that voluntarily come together to save small amounts regularly and mutually agree to contribute a habitual fund. The aim of such formation is to meet present and emergency needs of the members on mutual help, solidarity and joint responsibility basis.Self Help Groups (SHGs) are requisite to overcome exploitation, create confidence and creation of feeling of self worth for the economic and social self-reliance of rural poor, particularly among women who are mostly infrared in the social structure. The Self Help Groups are the basis for further action and change which help members become self reliant economically and socially. It also helps building of stable relationship for mutual trust between the promoting organization and the rural poor (Singh and Kumar, 2008).Though loan repayment is a joint liability of the group but, in reality, individual liability is stressed upon (Singh and Kumar, 2008). Maintaining group reputation leads to the application of tremendous peer pressure. The group members use collective wisdom and peer pressure to ensure proper utilization of credit and its timely repayment thereof. In fact, peer pressure has been recognized as an effective substitute for collaterals (Barman et al. , 2009).

Effect of Globalization on Arabic Culture

Effect of Globalization on Arabic market-gardeningGlobalization may be delimit as the set of social, economic, political, technological, ethnical arrangement and procedures resulting from the altering characteristic of production, demand and marketing of products and services which includes the base of multinational political economies. These changes or alteration atomic number 18 multinational and transnational dynamics which pose great impact on the ultimate objective accomplishment in the determination of business environment, global pot regulations etc (Globalisation). There are four key features of globalization which are as followsGlobalization is the integration of various national economies into global market.It transits the economy from high batch in to high value it is possible through increase in the number of exhaustive products and services information.It vanish the traditionalistic clash of capitalism and communism and bipolarity.It leads to the configuration and integration of new business alliance (Globalisation).Introduction to Arabic CultureThe Arabs are considered as the ethnic group of people, we can identify them from their received cultural values, language and ancestral civilization. The origin of Arab people is from Arabia and their original language was Semitic being Semites. The Arab Culture comprises of the unique features of Arabian people including language, food, dressing modes, rites and rituals, deities, music, dance, fraud and craft, literature, social structures etc. The Poetry Composition is a unique feature of Arabian literature which has been revealed through the holy Quran. Arabian music prefers melody and euphony in comparison to harmony. The Arabian Cuisines were prepared mostly by rice, barley, dates, and meat and yoghurt products. The dress ups of Arabian people provides them unique identity in the world, the Arabian women use to wear robes and always prefer to cover their hairs and faces, and Arabian men also wear robes along with the turbans (Najjar, 2005).Effect on LanguageLanguage is considered to be the most prominent furcate of any finis because people use to communicate with the help of it, and communication plays an important role in transferring the cultural attributes from whizz generation to another. Due to the over interference of western culture and globalization in the Arab their language shunned and changed towards the English. As English is simple to learn easily and quickly, it captured and air in the Arab region and surpassed the Arabic language. Most of the Arab people prefer English over Arab language which leads to the Arabic languages deterioration and make it the secondary language. English has been best-loved by the Arabian youths and on the contrary Arab language opposed by them as they considered English as superior language which provide them honorable billet in the society (John A. Morrow, 2007).Effect on mode of DressingThe mode of dressing which was fol lowed by the Arab people traditionally revealed their modesty. But due to the globalization the traditional dressing mode has been replaced by western dressing patterns, and the original ethnic dress ups of Arab people have been preserved for old aged people. The present progeny generalization of Arab have been influenced by globalization a lot, they generally prefers dresses of western culture like jeans, t shirts, and other dresses which leads to too much exposure in comparison with traditional Arab dresses. It posses significant negative impact on the Arabic cultural and ethnic values, beliefs, and norms as the globalization leads to over dominance of western culture on the Arab people and their dressing mode, which ultimately affects the identity and original dress ups of Arab (Najjar, 2005).Effect on IdentityWith the emergence of globalization, Arabs have lost the major part of their traditional conventional culture due to its regional market penetration by western culture cou ntries. The identity of individuals lies in their traditions and culture which includes values, beliefs, customs, rites, rituals, dress ups, language, food, arts and crafts, dance and music etc., culture can be observe in the individuals characteristics. Globalization has led to the desertion of various aforementioned features of Arabian Culture which leads to devastation of the Arab Culture as a whole. It leads to various problems like difficulty in identifying and discriminated Arab people on the basis of cultural aspects as they follow other cultural values. If these conditions would not going to change, the traditional culture of Arab get disappear entirely which leads to loss of rich cultural heritage (Najjar, 2005) .Effect on Arab Heritage CultureThe globalization, modernization and secularization provide various significant benefits to the Arabs in terms of technology, economic development, and political scenario. Apart from these benefits globalization leads to harm the t raditional culture heritage of Arabs. The conventional art and craft, music and dance, language and literature, food and dressing mode have been replaced by the western cultural attributes (Najjar, 2005).ConclusionThe Arabian youth do not understand the significance of their conventional culture and its preservation. Globalization has affected the Arabian Culture tremendously through internet, films, music, art and literature, so the strategies pertaining to transformation of Arabian Culture should be taken as early as possible so as to retain its original identity and overcome the losses of globalization.

The Importance Of Flood Inundation Modeling Environmental Sciences Essay

The Importance Of Flood Inundation mannikin Environmental Sciences EssayIn late years, downpour tide alluvion imitates get important increasingly in both gourmandize forecasting and damage regard as it provides the basis for the decision making of flood stake management. such(prenominal)(prenominal) lays ar master(prenominal)ly utilise to simulate flood urinespout extent and depths at distinct sections of the studied flood rivers. With their help, hydrologists argon able to study and decompose the hydrologic systems of floods well.This project was initiated to further understand the flood model Lisflood-FP global climate change and predict the future intensity of precipitation and temperature in Singapore. This will vacate engineers and opposite professionals to gauge the intensity of the future weather and conduct unavoidable works to prevent unwanted event like flooding, from happening.BackgroundFloods argon the near destructive and recurring natural disaste rs all over the world and a wide range of the world population and their spot is at the risk of flooding. Thus, matchless of the crucial tasks in quantifying the damage estimation of the flood events is that determining the reliable prediction of potential extent and urine depth of flood alluvial deposit. In General, flood inundation predications are used to service the decision-making in design urban planning in future. The principle of predication are derived from single realisation of mathematical hydraulic models and applied on a forward-modeling theoretical account (BatesandDe Roo, 2000). Despite calibration studies are underway to determine a single parameter set that optimises the model fit to some observed data, the confidence level of the predicted results becomes a major problem for decision makers.If the ir colonization is considered in cost of remark parameters (e.g. geographical information, hydrological data, hydraulics parameters, and boundary conditions), o nly a itsy-bitsy portion of a typical neck might be regarded as certain or deterministic. The rest ineluctably contains uncertainty that arises from the complexity of the system, lack of knowledge or charitable-induced errors.In previous studies, the uncertainty sources associated with the flood inundation modeling form been generalised into three categories, such as input data, hydraulics parameters and model structures (Bales and Wagner, 2009). Different uncertainty techniques (e.g. Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation) have been applied into the flood inundation modelling to tax the uncertainty derived from sensation or multiple factors. However, limited studies have been further discussed the sensitivity of uncertainty sources like roughness coefficients. Moreover, the uncertainty analysis methods applied in previous studies relied healObjective and ScopeThis report is a write up on the investigate of Final Year Project, Flood Inundation Modeling under stochasti c uncertainty, had been carried on by the author for the last 10 months. The objective of this project is to systematically study and analyse the impact or personal personal effects of uncertainties associated with parameter of roughness coefficient in flood inundation modeling, which is Lisflood-FP Modeling. The predicted data jakes be used for the predication of future flood inundation and damage estimation under risk analysis.In this report, the following preliminary study works will be cover.To review the one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) hydraulic models for flood inundation modeling, and to review the uncertainty sources associated with the flood inundation modeling process and the available uncertainty analysis methods.To conduct a Monte Carlo simulation to assess the de nonation of uncertainty associated with roughness coefficients to the results of flood inundation modeling, in terms of wet depths and inundation extent.The scope of this project includes a c omprehensive literature review on flood inundation modeling process and recognition of the uncertainty effects from confused sources. On the basis of literature review, the impact of the uncertainty of roughness coefficients is to be analysed a hypothetical study case. A conclusion will be made according to the preliminary data analysis and the ideas for futures work will be shaped.Methodology (GLUE)Annual reports of companies and information from public domain were reviewed extensively to identify current GHG emissions reduction measures that are adopted by shipping companies. Academic research papers and reports from agencies such as IMO, DNV and World Shipping Council (WSC) were examined to gather information on the potential and effectiveness of the measures and to identify critical issues. Primary research was conducted finished a two-pronged set out of surveys and interviews. Survey questions were designed in accordance to the objective of this study and the questionnaires were posted to container liner shipping companies, both with and without offices in Singapore. A small number of survey repartees were anticipated and therefore the surveys were used to capture ground information. The interviews with governmental agency, classification societies and selected shipping companies serve as the second pillar of the first-string information collection in this study.Report grammatical constructionFigure 1. Report structureThis report includes 5 chapters as shown in Error Reference source not found. A list of abbreviations and a glossary arealso included.This report harps of 6 chapters shown in Figure 1.1. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction of scene and scope of this study. Chapter 2 reviews the hydraulic models used for flood inundation modeling, the associated uncertainty sources and the uncertainty analysis methods. In Chapter 3, a 2-D hydraulic model is established for a study case adapted from a real world river system, where the model configuratio n and simulation results are introduced. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 discuss the effects of the uncertainty of the roughness coefficients on flood inundation modeling. In Chapter 6, a summary is made and the ideas for future studies are presented.CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEWSThe information acquired through various literature reviews are discussed in this chapter to understand the background of floods and flood hazards, as well as the importance of flood inundation modeling. On the other hand, the 1-D/2-D hydro dynamic models for simulating both deal and floodplain descends were reviewed respectively. Subsequently, an overview of this chapter is provided.2.1 Introduction2.1.1 FloodsThroughout the long gay history, floods are the most frequently occurring natural hydrological phenomena, which consist of the futures such as body of water depth, meld stop number, and temporal and spatial dynamics. The regular-magnitude floods occur every year at the evaluate stream flow range. It is beneficial to provide fertilise soil with nutrients, direct large quantities of sediment and deposit on the floodplain, and clean-up a river with any stagnant contaminates. However, some floods become disasters due to the extreme events, which happen suddenly without any warning, such as storm, dam break, storm surge and tsunami. As a result, their signifi guttert impacts pull in imponderable damage on human society and ecosystems, particularly in terms of life loss and property damage.Flood can be delimitate as water body rises to overflow the lands where is not normally submerse with the perspective of flooding wave advancement (Ward, 1978). This rendering includes two main flood types, namely river floods and costal floods. River floods are mostly arising from excessively or long-drawn-out rainfall, frankincense the river discharge flow exceeding the stream demarcations capacity and overtopping the banks and embankments. Especially in urban reach, floods may also take plac e at the cloaca drains when the heavy storms water surcharged in and overflow the drains. In addition, some natural or man-induced catastrophe could result in the water level is risen up suddenly and then overflow the river bank or dam.The reasons why the costal floods appear are usually originated from the disgustful cyclonic weather systems in terms of a combination of high tides, elevated sea level and storm surges with large waves. The inundation at coastal areas may results from the overflowing as the water level exceeds the crest level of defense, or from the overtopping as the waves run up and break over the defense, or defense structure failure itself (Reeve and Burgess, 1994). Furthermore, tsunami can cause long ocean waves due to the great earthquake and resulting in coastal floods.2.1.2 The flood hazardFlood hazard is defined that those floods generate pop-up threats to the life and properties of human beings at the flood-prone areas where man had encroached into. The h azard level is validated by a combination of physical exposure and human vulnerability to the flood inundation process.Floods have been regarded as the top of the most destructive hazards from everlasting. In China, floods account for about 1/3 of all the natural catastrophes and responsible for 30% of the overall stinting losses (Cheng, 2009). Furthermore, some south-east Asian countries are flood-prone areas, such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar, which are bearing the disasters from the frequent river and coastal floods. In 2004, the mega-quake, which exceeds magnitude of 9.0, induced a series of destructive tsunamis with the highest wave of 30 meters along the coasts b set uping the Indian Ocean. There were over 230,000 victims lost their lives in around 14 countries. Hence, Indonesia was the hardest hit, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand (Paris et al., 2007). Moreover, the tropical cyclone Nargis happened on 2nd May, 2008 attacked the Southwest Coast of Myanmar. The re were 24 million people been affected and tryly 50,000 to 100,000 people been killed (Kenneth, 2008).However, flooding is not only the critical issue in Asian, but also in the entire world. In 1927, the United States met the most devastating flooding of the Mississippi River in American history. The levee system was worried out and submerged 27,000 km2. Because of millions of population living along the Mississippi River, it led over 400 million US dollars in loss and 246 human deaths (Barry, 1998). In Europe, Netherlands had affected by the critical river floods in the past years since the most areas are at a lower place the sea level. The worst flood disaster happened in 1953 killed 1,835 people, covered almost 200,000 hectares of land, destroyed 3,000 family houses and 200 farms, and drowned 47,000 heads of cattle (Lamb and Knud, 1991).The facts mentioned above proven that the global flooding management is increasingly vital to protect millions of worldwide population from t he severe threat. However, because of the high costs and inherent uncertainties, it is impossible and unsustainable to build up the absolute flood protection system, but it can be managed to fell the hazard to lives and property by the most cost-effective measures. Therefore, flood inundation models become the most useful predictive tools which are used to evaluate and analyse the flood hazards, as well as to improve and mitigate the flood risk management.2.1.3 The Importance of flood inundation modelingFrom the perspectives of physical processes and anthropogenic influence, the floodplain is a dynamic flow environment. Since it is much difficult to handle the confliction amongst maximising benefit-over-cost ratio and minimising the human impact, the application of inundation modeling becomes the most in all likelihood moderate approach for flood management strategy. Actually, the final objective of flood inundation studies could be minimise susceptibility and vulnerability to lo ss in both economy and human lives aspects (Parker, 1995). Therefore, it is necessary to use flood inundation models to simulate and predict the possible impacts of floodplain development.The principle of flood inundation models is to allow the upstream flood flow to discharge directly to the downstream flood extent. Those models become much valuable and helpful flood predictive tools which are able to apply in different real and virtual scenarios for analysis. In comparison with those traditional statistical models, which are according to all the numeral data observations of past flood events, the largest advantages of physically-based inundation models are their capability of spatial and temporal variables in terms of discharge, water level, velocity, flow duration and inundation extent, on the processive flood events. Meanwhile, they also support the hydro-system operation, flood warning, risk quantification and decision making for the design and planning of flood mitigation meas ures.Besides, the flood risk maps are able to be determined on the basis of the flood inundation modeling results. They are static two-dimensional maps indicating the flood probability with flood depth and extents, which is usually generated through flood uncertainty quantification techniques, i.e. Monte Carlo Simulation. They are widely adopted by government and insurance company to delineate areas of land at high risk and guide the investment and emergency response strategies.2.2 LISFLOOD-FP Flood Inundation ModelA flood inundation model is an intergraded flood simulation model-chain which includes an estimation of stochastic rainfall, a simulation of rainfall-runoff and an inundation model of flood development (McMillan and Brasington, 2008). For stochastic rainfall estimation of certain catchment, according to the available precipitation records, a long synthetic rainfall series could be created. Hereafter, these series are applied into a rainfall-runoff model to generate the c orresponding discharge estimation series. And the estimations of discharge are imported into a 2-D hydrodynamic model, which utilizes high-resolution elevation data to enable urban floodplain modeling at the smallest scales and paves the way for additional modules for vulnerability and damage assessment. Finally, the flood inundation model is expected to run within a proven uncertainty estimation framework and subsequently to compare with the real-world scenarios for model calibration and allow explicit uncertainties analysis.LISFLOOD-FP model is one of the most popular flood inundation models all over the world (Bates and De Roo, 2000). It is a coupled 1D/2D hydraulic model on the basis of a raster grid. LISFLOOD-FP model treats the flooding as an intelligent batch-filling process from the perspective of hydraulic principles by embodying the key physical notions of mass conservation and hydraulic connectivity.2.2.1Principles of LISFLOOD-FP Model2.2.1.1Model Structure and ConceptsT he basic components of the LISFLOOD-FP model is a raster Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (Bates and De Roo, 2000) of resolution and accuracy sufcient to identify surface roughness for both the bear (location and slope) and those elements of the oodplain topography (dykes, embankments, depressions and former channels) considered necessary to ood inundation prediction.A ood consists of a large, low amplitude wave propagating down valley (Bates and De Roo, 2000). When the bankful ow depth is reached, water stops to be contained only in the main river channel and water spills onto adjacent shallow gradient oodplains. These oodplains act either as temporary stores for this water or additional routes for ow conveyance.CUsersDaniel SunAppDataRoamingTencentUsers703775521QQWinTempRichOleemailprotected)LAKXA1$UE8M8AV.jpgFigure 1 Conceptual model of the LISFLOOD-FP flood inundation model (Wilson, 2003a 2003b)2.2.1.2 Assumptions for LISFLOOD-FP ModelIn order to design a physical model simulating the flood development and to only the numerical computation, the assumptions are stated as followingsThe flow within channel can be represented by the kinematic wave approximations.The channel is assumed to be so wide and shallow that the wetted perimeter is approximated by the channel width.The flood flow can be gradually varied.Both In-channel and Out-of-channel flooding flow are treated as raster grids by development a series of storage discretised cellular telephones.Flow amidst storage cells can be calculated using uninflected uniform flow formulas, i.e. the Saint-Venant and Manning equations.There is no exchange of nervous impulse between main channel and floodplain flows, only mass is exchanged.2.2.2 In-Channel FlowThe hydraulic models consist of two main processes, representing the flow within the channel (In-channel Flow) and flow on the floodplain (Out-of-channel Flow). But we ignore the effects at the channel-oodplain interface development of piercing shear layers leads to a strongly turbulent and three-dimensional ow eld. In this project, one of the objectives is to quantify the uncertainty associated with the inundation process.In-channel Flow is defined that the channel flow is below bankful depth. Thus, the flow process is represented by using a classical one-dimensional hydraulic routine approach (1-D approach), which is described in terms of a simplification of the full one-dimensional St. Venant equation system (Knight and Shiono, 1996), which leads to a kinematic wave approximation obtained by eliminating local acceleration, convective acceleration and pressure terms in the urge equation.2.2.2.1 Saint-Venant EquationsDue to simplicity of computation and ease of parameterization, the one-dimensional (1-D) Saint-Venant equations have been the most widely adopted approach for unsteady open channel flow. The partial derivative instrument Saint-Venant equations comprise the continuity and momentum equations under the following assumpti ons (Chow et al. 1988)Flow is 1-D, and depth and velocity vary only in the longitudinal direction of the channel.Velocity is constant, and the water surface is horizontal across, any section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.Flow varies gradually along the channel so that hydrostatic pressure prevails and vertical accelerations can be neglected.The longitudinal axis of the channel is approximated as a straight line.The bottom slope of the channel is small and the channel bed is fixed. The effects of abrase and deposition are negligible.Resistance coefficients for steady uniform turbulent flow are applicable so that relationships (e.g. Mannings equation) can be used to describe subway effects.The fluid is incompressible and constant density throughout the flow.Therefore, the continuity equation states that the change in discharge with distance downstream (), and the change in the cross-sectional area of flow over time () are in balance. Thus, the lateral inflow ( ) to or from the channel and floodplain can be expressed as (Wilson, 2004).(2.1)where Q is the volumetric discharge in channel L3/T, x is the longitudinal distance along the channel L, t is time interval T, A is the cross-sectional area of flow L2 and q is the lateral inflow from other sources per unit length along channel L2/T.The momentum equation states that total applied forces is equal to the rate of momentum change in each unit of flow, plus the net outflow of momentum (Chow et al. 1988). For this project, the full dynamic wave equations can be simplified in terms of kinematic wave model. The assumptions are that local acceleration, convective acceleration and pressure terms are ignored, and the flow gravitational forces are equal to the frictional resistance force. The momentum equation can be written as(2.2)where is the down-slope of the bed - and is the slope of friction -Roughness coefficients are defined as the resistance to flood flows in channels and floodplains. To introduce Manni ngs roughness ( n ), the Manning Equation is chosen. Therefore, the friction slope in the momentum equation can be described as(2.3)where R is hydraulic radius L. Substituting the hydraulic radius, the momentum equation can be written as(2.4)where n is the Mannings coefficient of friction and Pis the wetted perimeter of the flow L.However, for the Equation (2.4), there are some limitations such as only considering the down gradient hydraulic characteristics, and neglecting the backwater effects and shock waves.2.2.2.2 Numerical SolutionThe 1-D Saint-Venant Equations are discretized using numerical methods of a finite difference approximation (Chow, 1988). Stream flow and cross section values are calculated with a simple(a) linear scheme that uses a backward-difference method to derive the finite difference equations. Therefore, they are combined to obtain the following equations(2.5)where Q is the volumetric discharge in channel L3/T, x is the longitudinal distance along the channe l L, t is time interval T, q is the lateral inflow from other sources per unit length along channel L2/T, and is the geometry and frication factor of channel which is written as(2.6)where is the Manning friction coefficient T/ L1/3, is the channel width L, and is the channel slope.Meanwhile, the finite difference equation can be set up in order to calculate the quantity Qi,j at each node (i, j), where i represents the space and j the time (2.7)(2.8)in order to create a linear equation, the value of Q in the expression of Equation (2.5) is found by averaging the following values (2.9)Note All Equations variables refer to the definitions in Figure 2CUsersDaniel SunAppDataRoamingTencentUsers703775521QQWinTempRichOleH37F%N4L(VS%DNUGX_(I4E.jpgFigure 2 Finite difference box for the linear kinematic wave equation2.2.3. Channel Discretisation by Mesh GenerationIn order to conduct the kinematic wave simulation, the flow domain is spatially discretised into discrete elements or grid cells to represent the arbitrary modling area by numerical mesh genesis process. It starts at the inflow point of each grid cell with indicator of the direction to the next downstream cell. With the help of Airborne Laser Altimetry (LiDAR) and Stereo Air-photogrammetry, the high-resolution DEM grid cells are able to contain topographic data, such as channel width, bed slope, manning friction coefcient and bankful depth. Therefore, the numerical solution can be approximate obtained with the advantage of high-performance digital computers and high numerical stability. In this project, the regular high resolution rectangular grids mesh generation is adopted. However, despite that the mesh resolution in the region is increased, it resulted in less smooth of friction coefficients. This is because the polygonal area over which the various friction contributions were averaged was reduced.2.2.4 Out-of-Channel FlowOut-of-Channel flow (i.e. Floodplain Flow) is defined that water is transferred from t he channel to the adjacent overlying floodplain areas when bankful depth is exceeded by flood. However, the 1-D approach is not suitable to simulate the floodplain flows due to its incapability of capturing velocity variations and free surface across the channel. Thus, floodplain flows can be similarly described in terms of classical continuity and momentum equations, discretized over a grid of square cells, which allows the model to represent 2-dimensional dynamic flow on the floodplain. Therefore, we assume that each cell is treated as a storage volume and the change in cell volume over time is therefore equal to the uxes into and out of it during the time step (See Figure 3, Wilson, 2003a 2003b).(2.10)where is the volume variation L3 of each cell during time T, and , , and are the volumetric flow rate L3/T respectively coming from the up, the down, the left and the right adjacent cells of the grid.CUsersDaniel SunAppDataRoamingTencentUsers703775521QQWinTempRichOle7L0)O%E(emailpro tectedFigure 3 Flows between cells on the floodplain with LISFLOOD-FP(Wilson, 2003a 2003b)Flow between two cells is assumed to be simply a function of the free surface height difference between these cells, hence the following discretisation of continuity Equation (2.1) (See Figure 4 5)(2.11)(2.12)(2.13)where is the water free surface height L at the cell node (i,j), and are the cell dimensions L, is the effective grid scale Mannings friction coefficient for the floodplain, andanddescribe the volumetric flow rates L3/T between the floodplain cell node (i,j).CUsersuserDesktop1.jpgFigure 4 Discretization scheme for floodplain gridCUsersDaniel SunAppDataRoamingTencentUsers703775521QQWinTempRichOleMG%D63ODY2$7)H3G4O7OQ.jpgFigure 5 Floodplain Flows between Two CellsThe flow depth,hflow, represents the depth through which water can flow between two cells, and is defined as the difference between the highest water free surface in the two cells and the highest bed elevation (this definiti on has been found to give sensible results for both wetting cells and for flows linking floodplain and channel cells).2.3 Uncertainty in flooding inundation modelingIt is the key factor to reduce or prevent the level of flood hazards that ensuring prediction accurately of the flood inundation area and providing reliable information of risk. In general, the result produced by flood models is only a single deterministic prediction for the peak flow of the flood. However, the confidence level of the output results would be affected by the uncertainty of input data in terms of peak flow, the topographic data, and the model parameters. As a result, the uncertainty associated with the flood inundation modeling is seldom quantified, It most likely because that the sources of uncertainty are not totally realised and lack of available data to study uncertainty.Uncertainty analysis of LISFLOOD-FP modeling has been studied in recent years. From those reports, the sources of uncertainty can be summarised into three major catalogues in terms of model data inputs, hydraulics parameters and model structures.2.3.1Model data inputs2.3.1.1 Hydrologic and meteorological data hotshot of the most dominant input parameters is the design flow, which comes from flood frequency analysis and provides the boundary condition. However, the uncertainty of steamflow is inherent since it is derived from the stage-discharge rating curves on the basis of flood records, particularly for the high-return-period flow events. In summary, there are four types of uncertainties associated with the hydrograph of steamflows, namely (1) watershed characteristics (2) storm precipitation dynamics (3) infiltration and (4) antecedent conditions. However, the storm precipitation dynamics has the largest impact on the prediction. Furthermore, the overall prediction of hydrologic models could be increase due to uncertainty-added by lacking of understanding of the spatial and temporal variability in precipitati on, evapotranspiration, and infiltration.2.3.1.2 topographic dataThe topographic data is including both land surface digital elevation model (DEM) and river bed bathymetry. It is one of the dominant factors to predict the flood inundation area accurately. It does not only influence the hydrologic modeling process, but also the mapping water surface elevations. Firstly, the extraction of watershed characteristics (e.g. slope, streams and watershed boundaries) from DEM is affected by its resolution, leading to varied discharge values estimated from the hydrologic model. Secondly, the resolution of DEM and the accuracy of bathymetry affect the cross sections extracted for 1-D channel flow simulation and the interpolated meshes (or grids) for 2-D overland flow simulation. Thirdly, Bales and Wagner (2009) investigated the squat River basin and revealed that high-quality topographic data, along with the appropriate application of hydraulic models are likely the most important factors aff ecting the horizontal extent and vertical water surface elevations of flood inundation maps.2.3.2 Model structuresThe flood inundation models are also sensitive to the channel geometry in terms of cross sections number, cross-sectional position in between, finite-element mesh quality and hydraulic structures. Additionally, the type of model (1-D, 2-D or coupled) used in simulating the river hydrodynamics also brings uncertainty to the overall results. The geometry representation of channel is more critical to 2-D and (three-D) models since the elevation is defined at each mesh node distributed throughout the channel and floodplains. Moreover, the mesh generation strategies will affect 2- and 3-D models not only in the prediction of inundation area, but also the computational time (Horritt et al. 2006).2.3.3 Hydraulics parametersHydraulic models (e.g. 1-D, 2-D or coupled) used to simulate the river hydrodynamics and water surface elevation in floodplain are sensitive to a set of mo del parameters. Friction values (Mannings roughness coefficient, n), accounting for effects of variable cross sections, non-uniform slope, vegetation and structures at the sub-grid scale, have a significant impact on hydraulic simulations (Merwade et al., 2008).Mannings roughness coefficient (n), which is commonly assigned by using standard look-up tables for different substrate types, can range from 0.035 to 0.065 in the main channel, and 0.080 to 0.150 in the floodplains (Chow et al. 1988). Distributed data throughout the floodplain are seldom available as a basis for estimating friction values for the model domain. Many of the uncertainties in hydraulic models are lumped in the Mannings n value, such that the models can be correct through adjusting such a parameter. The difference in magnitude and changing channel conditions will cause the optimal set of parameters to be found in a slightly different area of the parameter space for each different flood event.Wohl (1998) analysed the uncertainty of Mannings n relative to a commonly used step-backwater model for channel reaches in five canyon rivers. The results indicated that the uncertainties in discharge estimation resulting from the roughness coefficients in step-backwater modeling of paleo-floods were comparable to or lower than those associated with other methods of indirectly estimation flood discharges. Pappenberger et al. (2005) analysed the uncertainty caused by Mannings n (range from 0.001 to 0.9) in the unsteady flow component of the 1-D model HEC-RAS. The results showed that many parameter sets could perform every bit well even with extreme values. However, this was dependent on the model region and boundary conditions. Pappenberger et al. (2007) employed a fuzzy set approach for calibrating flood inundation models under the uncertainties of roughness and cross-section. The roughness of channel has been identified as more sensitive than the standard deviation of the cross-section.2.4 Integrated modeling and uncertainty analysis frameworkFlood risk maps are critical to help manage the risk of inundation, which are generated based on good understanding of the uncertainty associated with the various variables problematical in flood inundation modeling. A sequential process is normally adopted, where hydrologic analysis starts first, and then hydraulic analysis and geospatial processing will follow.Merwade et al. (2008) proposed a abstract fr

Morality Essay -- Character Analysis, Gawain

We as humans often gauge ourselves and our perceived virtues on the scale of our peers it is hard for us to form an authentic self view without the moral ruler of others. The obvious problem with this universal human practice is that our analysis depends greatly on the company we keep. In Sir Gawain and the Green nickname the poet explores Sir Gawains moral development throughout his ordeal, often juxtaposing his supposed virtues against those of others, but finally, when he is alone, Gawain gains a sense of his true moral standing.The very moment of Gawains introduction, the commentator begins to center up his virtues. From his own mouth Gawain explains why he should accept the Green Knights gainsay in place of the kingI am the weakest, the most absentminded in wisdom, I know,And my life, if lost, would be least missed, truly.Only through your being my uncle, am I to be valuedNo bounty but your profligate in my body do I know. (Sir Gawain 34) Gawain bases his arguments i n comparison between his traits and those of the other knights. These arguments, although self-depraving, paradoxically increase the readers estimation of him. His humility is striking, and the fact that he agrees to the challenge while the others - whom Gawain previously described as No braver knights when battle is joined (Sir Gawain 34) - did not, casts doubt on the validity of him being the supposed worst among them. The author gives the reader no indication that anyone in the court attempts to refute Gawains bleak assertion saying only Then wisely they whispered of it,And after, all said the said(prenominal)That the crowned King should be quit,And Gawain given the game. (Sir Gawain 34)This suggests that the common opi... ...y. When he returns donning the ladys green sash as a reminder of his sin, the poet juxtaposes Gawains shame of this token The burden he dons for being caught by cowardice and covetousness (Sir Gawain 114) with the courts reactionAnd all the lords an d ladies belonging to the TableLaughed at it loudly, and concluded amiablyThat each brave man of the brotherhood should bear a baldricA band, obliquely about him, of bright green,Of the same hue as Sir Gawains and for his sake wear it.So it ranked as repute to the Round Table,And an everlasting honour to him who had it, (Sir Gawain 114-115)This comparison truly shows that Gawain has escaped the moral mediocrity and obsession with image that seems to permeate King Arthurs Court. He no continuing measures his virtue on the scale of others and hence, has reached moral fulfillment.