Yoredale Group (Wensleydale Group) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Yoredale Group (Wensleydale Group) - Essay Example (Crain, Spec2000.net). Yoredale Group refers to sediments deposited and first studied in Wensleydale,North Yorkshire. Imagine a combination of layers of sedimentary rocks wherein the lowest level consists of limestone, followed by mudstone, then sandstone, seatearth, and coal. The most commonly observed is the limestone. It is not pure limestone. Instead, clay is found along with linestone in the Yoredale Group, and the impurities (like fragments of fossils) make the limestone look dark gray. But in terms of thickness of sediments, limestone makes up only a small portion of the total sedimentary rock thickness. Oftentimes, carbon is absent in the piles of sediments. Three sediment formations were identified in the Yoredale Group, namely, â€Å"the Tyne Limestone Formation, the Alston Formation, and the Stainmore Formation† starting from the bottom to the top. Waters, C.N., Dean, M.T.,, Jones, N.S., and Somerville, I.D. ([a] 1) identify Yoredale Group as the Northumberland Trou gh which has â€Å"facies deposits† connected â€Å"southward into the relatively deeper water†. However, the Yoredale Group â€Å"extends across the entire Solway Basin and Northumberland Trough† (3). ... Out of that length of time, the available rock analysis technology can compute the estimated time when events took place based on the findings on rocks. Only 440 million years can be traced in the rocks themselves. Up in the north of England, one can find the â€Å"junction between two ancient continents that were once separated by a vast ocean† (Hyslop et. al. 18). It is known as the Lapetus Suture. And the ocean existed 500 million years ago covering 1000 kilometers. There was a continent (named Laurentia) wherein Scotland, Northern England, and North and West Ireland were part of the south eastern boundaries of that continent. The other parts of England came from changes in the tectonic rock formations beneath the ocean, causing the continents of Avalonia and Laurentia to collide. Geologiests identified the mountains of Caledonia as results of that collision. It took place 425 million years ago during the Paleaozoic Era. This should be seen not as an instant event but a ver y gradually evolutionary change in the earth’s structures. Mountains were built by the folding of the ocean floor, â€Å"cleaved and uplifted the rocks during the event termed Caledonian Oregeny† (20). New volcanoes came into existence. Another book wrote about the Paleozoic Era as having lasted for 300 million years when movements of the â€Å"Earth’s continents from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere† took place (Rafferly 29). In the description of Laurentia, the author identified the greater part of that ancient continent as today’s â€Å"North America and Greenland† (33). It also describes the Caledonian Orogeny to have formed â€Å"a mountain chain stretching from present-day eastern North America

Emergency Preparedness and Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emergency Preparedness and Response - Essay Example The laboratory workers identify the pathogen, and physicians notify the local health department and treat the patient (Hughes & Gerberding, 2002, p.1013; Harris & Yeskey, 2011). The latter serve as the early warning system in the prevention and response system (Harris & Yeskey, 2011). Once identified, state and national health agencies must be notified. Hughes and Gerberding (2002) stressed the importance of the â€Å"’golden triangle’ of response between clinicians and clinical microbiologists, the health-care delivery system, and public health officials† (p.1013). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) oversee the golden triangle. They allocate funding across health agencies. In response to the 2001 anthrax attacks, CDC created â€Å"rapid response teams composed of individuals with expertise in field operations, epidemiology, microbiology, data management, and communications† to assist affected areas (Hughes & Gerberding, 2002, p.1014). CDC is in charge of disseminating knowledge of new infections and treatment methods. However, communication is not well developed. Szpiro, Johnson and Buckeridge (2007) argued that early recognition and two – way communication between the health officials and clinics are insufficiently developed in the USA. As a result, a needed prophylactic distribution within three days after an attack cannot be achieved (Szpiro, Johnson & Buckeridge, 2007, 102, p.103). They argue that the health system needs to incorporate syndrome surveillance of all possible biological pathogens affecting humans, so that in case of an attack, symptoms can be recognized. Following the current suit of only few pathogen recognition abilities, most pathogens go unrecognized (Szpiro, Johnson & Buckeridge, 2007, p.103). However, in case of anthrax, since its occurrence dropped to zero after 1900, only one case would be necessary (Szpiro, Johnson & Buckeridge, 2007, p.104). Syndromic

Brief History of Istanbul Essay Example for Free

Brief History of Istanbul Essay Evidences obtained from archaeological remains indicate that people began to inhabit the proximities of contemporary Istanbul for approximately thousands of years ago. At about 5000 B. C. , a thick and sprawling population of individuals inhabited the fertile grounds of Istanbul. The Greek people all the way from Megara and Miletus started to rest upon the soils situated along the coasts of the Black Sea as well as the Bosporus back in the latter years of eight century B. C. The year 660 B. C. witnessed the colonization of Byzantium by Byzas, the founder of the colony whose origins trace to Megarian roots. As expected, the name of the colony was patterned after his name. Due to the strategic location of Byzantium, it easily gained dominance over the region in terms of economy which eventually led to the attention of numerous would-be conquerors. Along the path of the Golden Horn, Byzantium was founded which bestowed it with the most suitable harbour all-over the region. The agricultural prosperity of Byzantium can be largely attributed to the abundance of fish as well as the surrounding countryside which was fertile enough to support plants for agriculture. Next to Byzantium, a safe harbour was efficiently provided for by the inlet of the Golden Horn which was near Bosporus. This area was considered as a major maritime route back in those times as it linked the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. Byzantium eventually found itself struggling amidst the powers trying to conquer and dominate over the city—Persians, Greeks, Spartans and Athenians all drew their swords and took away lives for the sake of taking the city under their control. Such was the major importance of Byzantium during those times where its prosperity was seemingly beyond imagination. Even the Gauls attacked the city during the third century and in 202 B. C. the city sought the help and protection from Rome after being taken over by Macedonians. Eventually, the city was absorbed as a vital part of the Roman empire back in 73 B. C. During 196 A. D. , the city was caught on the wrong side after the creation of a power struggle in the Roman empire. As economically powerful as Byzantium may seem, it was not able to respond and resist the struggle which eventually trickled down the capabilities of the cities as it paid dearly. A large number of the residents were murdered as well as a significant portion of Byzantium was obliterated through the leadership of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus. Apparently, the Rman emperor had to rebuild the entire city starting off with the ruins as the wake of the power struggle. In the process, Byzantium was able to manage itself and continue to progress amidst threats and occurrences of civil wars as well as rebellions which smothered all-over the Roman empire through the many years to follow. However, Constantine I routed his foe, emperor Licinius, on September 18, 324. Constantine I was able to unify the broad territory of the Roman empire and made it follow his leadership. The Roman empire eventually made Byzantium as the prime capital of the region which extended to as far as three continents. Byzantium eventually gained a new name—Constantinople—after being briefly known as the New Rome named in honor of Constantine who was the first Roman ruler to embrace the doctrines of Christianity. During its time, Constantinople gained much reputation and wealth making it one of the world’s most economically advanced cities. The city was almost untouchable in status, having the power to dictate the doctrines of the Christian religion and to amass huge amounts of wealth up until the eleventh century. As the meeting points between the East and the West became largely attributed to Constantinople, it was no surprise that all roads were now focused on the wealthy city of Constantine. In 395 A. D. the whole of the Roman Empire was divided into the West and the East especially after the death of Theodosius. The Eastern Roman Empire adopted Constantinople as its central city or capital which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire as a reminder of its brilliant past. Through the course of time, Constantinople further advanced as the core of the Greek Orthodox Christian realm. With its immense financial resources, the wealth of the Byzantine Empire gave it the capacity to transform Constantinople as a beautiful city far beyond compare. The splendour and majesty of Constantinople is perhaps owed to the well-paid architects who designed majestic churches and splendid palaces as well as artists and sculptors also contributed a large fraction of the city’s aesthetic transformation. One notable structure ever to be erected is the hippodrome which could hold more than a hundred thousand spectators. Eventually, the walls of the city were further built into a seemingly impenetrable protective layer as threats of invasion from rivalling forces never dwindled. Almost half million citizens inhabited Constantinople under the rule of Emperor Justinian from 527 to 565 A.  D. The Emperor took full control of the creation of some of Constantinople’s most majestic buildings which include the Haghia Sophia, one of the largest churches during the height of the prosperity of Constantinople. The Byzantine empire’s capital reached its full blom under the helm of Emperor Justinian. Even though Constantinople continued to supplement its wealthy advancement with protective measures, enemies from the outside were inevitably attracted to the splendour of the city. A few years after, the city was devastated with a plague in 542 A. D. which claimed the lives of three of every five citizens. This, unfortunately, brought the beginning of the city’s fall. As the city weakened in terms of its population both in size and strength, the enemies of Constantinople took the opportunity to besiege the city. Apparently, the enemies were unable to successfully conquer the city as the walls of Constantinople proved impenetrable. Attacks on the city mounted between the seventh and eleventh century A. D. which include forces from Persian Sassanids, Bulgars, Avars, Russians, and Muslim Arabs. At the time of the Fourth Crusade, the Latins were able to break the walls of Constantinople and captured the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 A.  D until 1261 less than a century of captivity when the Byzantine forces reclaimed the capital. At the height of captivity, however, Constantinople was greatly diminished in terms of wealth and infrastructure as the invading forces plundered precious jewels and any other item they deemed were of sufficient value. The entire population diminished to half a hundred thousand during that time, and the citizens suffered greatly from famine. In 1396, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and built a fort on the Asian side of the Bosporus Sea in order to hinder aid from reaching the city. However, the capital would not fall for a few more years. On the 29th day of May, the Ottoman leader Mehmed was able to tear down the city walls and penetrate the city which ultimately signalled the fall of the era of Constantinople’s Christian church and the commencement of Muslim rule over the land. Apparently, the Muslims transformed the Haghia Sophia into a Muslim temple. In 1457, the capital of the Byzantine Empire was already known as Istanbul which later became the central point of the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed began to repopulate the city after the siege and within a few years time, Istanbul gained a considerable increase in population, roughly amounting to approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Ottoman Istanbul was able to achieve its peak during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, and perhaps the most notable buildings ever to be erected during those times, roughly amounting to 300 buildings, were the creations of chief architect Sinan. These efforts to restructure Ottoman Istanbul were significant as it signalled the dawning of a new Istanbul, one which is uniquely Ottoman in identity. Throughout time, Ottoman Istanbul opened its doors to the outside world in order to obtain a harmonious relationship with the other cities and states. This resulted to the expansion of the city’s population, now having a mixture of different races such as Jews, Christians, Armenians and other citizens. Influence on Ottoman Istanbul rule was apparently being influenced by many different forces from these races. Eventually, Istanbul became influenced with the modernization of the world. Europeans began to build a railroad system which connects the whole continent with Istanbul by the 1870s. As a result, the Ottoman empire became placed under the debt of European powers. These would later result to power struggles from within the empire, complicated all the more by the struggling influences from the Europeans to whom they were indebted with. In consequence, these developments in the Ottoman empire especially in Istanbul uring the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would signal the downfall of the Ottoman empire and would mark the commencement of the Turkish Republic. Today, Istanbul remains as a fervent reminder of how a city once so powerful became so absorbed into the desire for power which led to its own subjugation and diminishment of power in the following years.

How Firms Decide Between Risk Retention And Transfer Finance Essay

How Firms Decide Between Risk Retention And Transfer Finance Essay Generally, the purpose of risk management is value maximization for a for-profit organization. In other words, risk management aims to maximize value by minimizing the cost of risk. Total costs of pure risk include costs of control and costs of financing. This essay focuses on risk financing. There are two broad methods of risk financing: risk retention and risk transfer. Risk transfer contains insurance and other contractual risk transfers. At the beginning of this assay, I am going to introduce the concept of retention, insurance, and contractual risk transfers, and their advantages and disadvantages. Then I will discuss how a firm should decide between risk retention and risk transfer, if a captive insurer is not to be employed. Finally, I will discuss how a firm, having a captive insurer, should finance its pure risk losses. With retention, a business retains the obligation to pay for part or all of the losses. When coupled with a formal plan to fund losses for medium-to-large businesses, retention often is called self-insurance. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 12) Retention can be financed via a captive insurance company (an insurance company owned by a non-insurance company which is also its customer), a risk retention group, cash flows from ongoing activities, and general working capital (the excess of the firms liquid assets over its short-term liabilities). In addition, firms can also obtain funds by borrowing, loans, issuing new stock and selling other business asset, such as buildings and cars. Funds to pay retained losses should be large so that there is enough money to pay retained losses. In addition, the retained losses are unpredictable, and they may be large or small. However, there is an opportunity cost for a fund. The opportunity cost is the difference between the return on the fund and the firms normal rate of return. As a result of this, if funds are large, the opportunity costs will be large; if funds are small, they may fail to pay all losses. In addition, there may also be costs incurred in converting non-liquid assets into cash for settling losses. (Dr. David Ayling 2009) Risk transfer includes insurance and contractual risk transfers. Insurance is a form of risk management primarily. A firm could purchase insurance contacts to cover risk losses. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; an insured or policyholder is the person or entity buying the insurance. (Web 1) Firms can transfer some of risk losses to insurance company by insurance contracts. According to Dr. David Ayling (2009), the benefits of insurance include reduction of uncertainty, loss control advice, liquidity of company protected, long term planning mire feasible, and access to large risk combination services. On the other hands, insurance does not cover loss of goodwill, loss of market share, lost customers and suppliers, and so no. In addition, some r isks are not insurable, such as risk losses are too large, risks are not measurable, risks are not predictable, and so on. Firms can also use some contractual risk transfers to transfer risk to another party. For example, if a firm wants to build a house, and hire a construction company to build the house, it could perform some task routinely into contracts, such as if workers or pedestrians are injured by accidence when the house is building, the construction company pay for these losses; and if the house crashes after it is completed, the construction company will be responsible for it. Having introduced risk retention and risk transfer, the following will discuss how a firm should decide between risk retention and risk transfer, if a captive insurer is not to be employed. Both risk retention and risk transfer is important and primary methods for risk financing. How should a firm decide the methods of risk management? The severity and frequency probability of risk losses determine which method should be used to finance risk losses. According to Dr. David Ayling (2009), when the frequency probabilities of pure risks are low and their severities are high, then the method of risk transfer would be better to finance the risk losses, because the severities are high, which means the risk losses may be large. If using risk retention, they need large funds to finance the risk losses so that the opportunity costs of the funds will be large. As a result, the risks could be transferred to insurer or another party by buying insurance or making contracts. However, risk retention may be better, if the frequency probabilities of pure risks are low and their severities are low. Because they need only small funds to cover the risks as both frequency probabilities and s everities are low. In addition, the insurance may be expensive; commonly the price of the insurance is high than the opportunity cost of retention. Even more, the risk losses may not be covered by insurance. When the frequency probabilities of risk losses are high, both retention and insurance are not better methods, because the risk losses will continually happen. As a result, if the severities of the risk losses are high, we should avoid these risks. In the other words, we should abandon these businesses, because they are too dangerous; if the severities of the risk losses are low, we should control it by increasing precautions and limits on risk activity designed to reduce the frequency and severity of accidents. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 23) There is an important factor that may affect firms decision between retention and insurance. The factor is tax. When calculating its taxable income, a noninsurance company can only deduct losses that were paid during the year. In contrast, an insurer can deduct the discounted value of incurred losses, which equals losses paid during the year plus the change during the year in the discounted value of its liability for unpaid claims. This distinction essentially allows insurers to deduct losses earlier than noninsurance companies, which all else equal increases the present value of expected tax deductions if a loss exposure is insured. Although the tax break is granted to insurers, competition among insurers for business will cause most or even the entire tax break to be given to policyholders through lower premiums. (Harrington and Niehaus 1999 Page 218) In practice, many large companies have established captive insurance companies. These companies make payment to their captive insurers, which then pay losses to the large companies. It is an important method of financing losses for large firms, and can be viewed as a special type of retention and self-insurance. If a firm has a captive insurer, the firm should finance risk losses by buy insurance from its captive insurer. A firm could benefit a lot by using a captive insurer. To begin with, the parent company could reduce expected tax payments relative to retention. As I have discussed before, insurance has a tax advantage compared with retention. In addition, Dr. David Ayling (2009) mentioned that the parent company could access to the reinsurance markets through its captive. The parent first buys insurance through its captive, which then purchases reinsurance. Finally, Harrington and Niehaus (1999) said captive also can be used to reduce risk. The parents risk exposures will be poo led with other unrelated companies exposures, if its captive sells insurance or reinsurance to other unrelated companies. Consequently, a large firm will benefit from its captive insurer in reducing expected tax payments, accessing to the reinsurance markets, and reducing risk through the captives transaction. In conclusion, as retention and insurance have their own advantages and disadvantages, the frequency probabilities and severities of risks determine which methods of risk financing should be used. Insurance is a good risk financing method for a low frequency and high severity risk; in contrast, retention is a good risk financing method for a low frequency and low severity risk. For many large companies, using a captive insurer becomes an important method of financing losses. Captives could benefit their parent company from reducing expected tax payments, accessing to the reinsurance markets, and reducing risk through the captives transaction. However, according to Dr. David Ayling (2009), if risk losses could be transferred to someone other than an insurer at a cheaper cost, or can be prevented or reduced at a cost cheaper than insurance, insurance and retention are not the best methods of risk losses financing, because risk management aims to maximize value by minimizing the cost of risk. Bibliography and Reference Dr. David Ayling (2009) Corporate Risk Managements handout, Bangor University. Harrington, S. E, Niehaus, G. R, (1999) Risk Management and Insurance, Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Web 1: Wikipedia (2009) Insurance (Online) Wikimedia Foundations, Inc: USA. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance (Accessed 8/12/09)

El Cid Essay -- essays research papers

An Overview of the Life of a Spanish National Hero   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known best as El Cid, is revered as a great national hero of Spain. The name El Cid comes from the Arabic ‘El Seid’ meaning the Lord. Known to his admiring countrymen as ‘campeador’, or champion, he was a Spanish warrior whom later legend made into a hero and the symbol of chivalry and virtue. El Cid was born in Vivar near Burgos in 1043. His father, Diego Lainez, was a member of the minor nobility, called the ‘infanzones’ of Castile. El Cid was also directly connected on his mother’s side to royalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  History paints two pictures of Rodrigo Diaz. He was an unprincipled adventurer, who battled against both Christians and Moors. And on the other hand, he was also a symbol of romance, legend, and ballad. He is shown as the tender, loving husband and father, the loyal, courageous soldier, and an ever-present inspiration to Spanish patriotism. He stands out as the central figure of the long struggle of Christian Spain against the Muslim threats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fernando I, known as Fernando The Great, died in 1065, and at his death Fernando divided his lands among his three sons: Sancho, Alfonso, and Garcia, and his two daughters: Elvira and Urraca. He also asked them to promise him they would respect his wishes and abide by the divisions. But Sancho, who received the Kingdom of Castile, being the eldest, thought he should have inh...

Imagery Used in Keats Poems Essay example -- John Keats Ode to a Grec

Imagery Used in Keats' Poems Strong imagery is the basis of structure in many poems. Literal and metaphorical imagery words aid the reader with interpreting the main ideal of the poem. Ode to a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale and On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer are three of John Keats’ poems which contain this descriptive imagery to give structure and meaning. Keats makes the decorative language as the medium for the passion that he holds for his subject. Ode to a Grecian Urn is a poem in which Keats makes imagery explain the physical aspects of an urn as well as the message behind its appearance. When explaining the physical attributes of the urn Keats describes its beauty by comparing the urn to places such asâ€Å"†¦Temp† and â€Å"†¦the dales of Arcady† in line seven. Imagery such as lines nineteen and twenty state â€Å"She cannot fade, through thou hast not thy bliss, / For ever wilt though love, and she be fair†. These lines colorfully relay the message that the urn is infinite and the image of life that is presented on it will never commence. This urn is presented...

Cause Marketing Essay

As the world progresses towards globalization and markets integrate to enhance global trading, there is a constant increase in the competition among businesses. Marketing is tool that is used by every business in order to create a name for it and promote its brand among the consumers. The non-profit goals to promote the well being of the society and its people are often foregone by businesses during their quest for a larger market share. This paper would be focusing upon cause marketing. This marketing essay would be analyzing two businesses that implement cause marketing. Moreover, it would elaborate the benefits that this scheme provides to a ‘for profit’ business and a non-profit organization. Discussion Cause marketing is basically the mutual effort of two types of organizations with two contradicting objectives. Cause marketing combines the motives of the non profit organizations with the resources of a business. The motive is generally a social or charitable cause that requires large scale marketing. Cause marketing is a distinction from the normal profit oriented market and it is a positive steps towards working for a good cause, benefiting the society and at the same time benefiting the organization. One of the oldest examples of cause marketing would be the relationship that the Boston Red Sox baseball team and the jimmy fund share. Jimmy fund is a charity that supports cancer care and research at the Dana-Farber cancer institute. The jimmy fund and the Red sox have been collaborating for charity events since almost 6 decades and have worked on numerous projects. The jimmy fund/red sox license plates help to raise funds to fight cancer. The money earned from the sale of these license plates adds the amount to charity. This collaboration is one of the most successful and long lasting examples of cause marketing. The jimmy fund has been gathering charity to work on cancer patients with the help of the promotion made through the Red sox team. Conversely, the team has gained a encouraging and heartfelt support from the people and have managed to maintain their self image in a more compassionate and empathetic fashion. Another company that can be taken as an example for cause marketing can be fisher-price. Fisher-price is a company that produces toys for children and infants. It is a well-known and attractive retailer of children toys, baby gear and parenting guides and aims on projecting a friendly and kindhearted image. Since children have an affinity for animals and are naturally fascinated by them, fisher-price has seized this opportunity to collaborate with an organization that protects the wild life and wild places through conducting educational programs and conservation across the globe, the wild life conservation society. Fisher-price carries out this partnership by creating a new line of ‘precious planet’ toys and baby gear. The sale of these items would set aside amount for donation to sustain the wildlife conservation society. With the help of the financial resources from fisher-price, the wildlife conservation society gains the benefit of having an increased capacity to promote their organization and also, to create greater awareness with the support of fisher-price customer-base. On the other hand, fisher-price gains a positive public image and relations. It would provide the company to improve its customer relations and also help it gain perspective on other marketing prospects. Conclusion Cause marketing is a friendly collaboration of the wellbeing of the society and the achievement of business goals. Non-profit organizations often face the problem of creating awareness and promoting their cause but with the help of large scale well established businesses a larger number of people can be reached. Works Cited Adkins, S. Cause related marketing. Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999. Daw , J. Cause marketing for Nonprofits. Wiley-interscience, 2006.