The K/T Dinosaur Extinction Event

About 65 and a half million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, dinosaurs, the largest, most fearsome creatures ever to rule the planet, died off in vast quantities, along with their cousins, the pterosaurs, and marine reptiles. Although this mass extinction didnt happen literally overnight, in evolutionary terms, it may as well have — within a few thousand years of whatever catastrophe caused their demise, the dinosaurs had been wiped off the face of the Earth. The Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event — or K/T Extinction Event, as its known in scientific shorthand — has spawned a variety of less-than-convincing theories. Up until a few decades ago, paleontologists, climatologists, and assorted cranks blamed everything from epidemic disease to lemming-like suicides to intervention by aliens. That all changed, though, when the Cuban-born physicist Luis Alvarez had an inspired hunch. Did a Meteor Impact Cause the Extinction of the Dinosaurs? In 1980, Alvarez — along with his physicist son, Walter—put forth a startling hypothesis about the K/T Extinction Event. Along with other researchers, the Alvarezes had been investigating sediments laid down all over the world around the time of the K/T boundary 65 million years ago (its generally a straightforward matter to match geologic strata — layers of sediment in rock formations, river beds, etc. — with specific epochs in geologic history, especially in areas of the world where these sediments accumulate in roughly linear fashion). These scientists discovered that the sediments laid down at the K/T boundary were unusually rich in the element iridium. In normal conditions, iridium is extremely rare, leading the Alvarezes to conclude that the Earth was struck 65 million years ago by an iridium-rich meteorite or comet. The iridium residue from the impact object, along with millions of tons of debris from the impact crater, would have quickly spread all over the globe; the massive amounts of dust blotted out the sun, and thus killed the vegetation eaten by herbivorous dinosaurs, the disappearance of which caused the starvation of carnivorous dinosaurs. (Presumably, a similar chain of events led to the extinction of ocean-dwelling mosasaurs and giant pterosaurs like Quetzalcoatlus.) Where Is the K/T Impact Crater? Its one thing to propose a massive meteor impact as the cause of the K/T Extinction, but its quite another to adduce the necessary proof for such a bold hypothesis. The next challenge the Alvarezes faced was to identify the responsible astronomical object, as well as its signature impact crater — not as easy a matter as you might think  since the Earths surface is geologically active and tends to erase evidence of even large meteorite impacts over the course of millions of years. Amazingly, a few years after the Alvarezes published their theory, investigators found the buried remains of a huge crater in the region of Chicxulub, on Mexicos Mayan peninsula. Analysis of its sediments demonstrated that this gigantic (over 100 miles in diameter) crater had been created 65 million years ago — and was clearly caused by an astronomical object, either a comet or a meteor, sufficiently large (anywhere from six to nine miles wide) to occasion the extinction of the dinosaurs. In fact, the size of the crater closely matched the rough estimate proposed by the Alvarezes in their original paper! Was the K/T Impact the Only Factor in Dinosaur Extinction? Today, most paleontologists agree that the K/T meteorite (or comet) was the prime cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs — and in 2010, an international panel of experts endorsed this conclusion after re-examining massive amounts of evidence. However, this doesnt mean there couldnt have been aggravating circumstances: for instance, its possible that the impact was roughly concurrent with an extended period of volcanic activity on the Indian subcontinent, which would have further polluted the atmosphere, or that dinosaurs were dwindling in diversity and ripe for extinction (by the end of the Cretaceous period, there was less variety among dinosaurs than at earlier times in the Mesozoic Era). Its also important to remember that the K/T Extinction Event wasnt the only such catastrophe in the history of life on Earth — or even the worst, statistically speaking. For example, the end of the Permian period, 250 million years ago, witnessed the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, a still-mysterious global catastrophe in which over 70 percent of land-dwelling animals and a whopping 95 percent of marine animals went kaput. Ironically, it was this extinction that cleared the field for the rise of the dinosaurs toward the end of the Triassic period — after which they managed to hold the world stage for a whopping 150 million years, until that unfortunate visit from the Chicxulub comet.

Things Fall Apart Women Essay - 1558 Words

vvIn the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe presents a true reflection the conventional view of women and their roles in the many societies in Africa and across the world. Achebe uses a combination of various writing techniques and literary devices to effectively bring out the theme of the role of women in the novel. The author goes a mile ahead to highlight contextual issues surrounding the usual discussion of the role of women in the society. Inasmuch as most scholars focus on the presentation of women as being weak and subjugated group, the story contains bits of their contrasting depiction as being important, influential and more powerful than even men. Even so, the general perception about the overall position and role of women in†¦show more content†¦The priestess screams at Okonkwo spontaneously shouting that she wants to see her daughter (Achebe 101). Ironically, Okonkwo subdues to her threats and for the first and only time in the novel he pleads with anyone. Th e author reveals that he pleaded with Agbala to return the next morning since Ezinma was asleep at the time (Achebe 101). Pleading, especially to a woman, is not a natural response Okonkwo is expected to take based on his beliefs, character and behaviors. The fact that Achebe allows only a woman to subdue Okonkwo in his novel reveals his perception of the position of women in the society. Women are revered by the society as they are viewed as special beings and constantly being associated with the deity and trusted to perform vital rituals that affect the future of the people and the nature. Ani is believed to be a representation of goddess on earth. She is believed to be able to communicate with the ancestors (Achebe 36). The community performs a ritual before every yam harvest to please goddess Ani, so that their crops can grow (Achebe 30). Without the blessing of the goddess, the society risks their crops not growing. It is apparent that the whole society has placed a great deal of confidence and trust in a woman to elevate their status and give them vital rolesShow MoreRelatedEssay on Role of Women in Things Fall Apart947 Words   |  4 PagesRole of Women in Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart gives us a vivid description of the Igbo culture through the stories of Okonkwo and his village, Umuofia. In regards to Igbo culture, contributions of women cannot be ignored. Although their position and status seems to be underestimated by the people in the novel, women do play an important role in the Igbo culture in four aspects: women take care of the children, do all the housework, serve as priestesses, and build relationshipsRead MoreThe Portrayal of Women in Things Fall Apart Essay1070 Words   |  5 PagesAn image that comes of African women is usually a faceless and a voiceless being. There is always a tendency to look at them more or less than a slave. 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Johnson Wax Free Essays

Case: Johnson Wax: Enhanced Case analysis: Define the problem John Sherman, the product development manager of Johnson Company, had to take a decision about the future of Enhanced, a new instant hair conditioner. The issues faced by Johnson Wax are whether to launch ‘Enhance’ right now, launch it after some modifications or abandon the product. They wanted a new product with the same success that Agree, the company first care product but they also wanted to reduce the costs of the product development process. We will write a custom essay sample on Johnson Wax or any similar topic only for you Order Now Formulate the alternatives 1. Launch Enhance as it is right now 2. Make some modifications to the product or its positioning . Abandon the product Analyze the alternatives Current situation Johnson Wax is successful in a specific segment of the hair conditioning market with his product Agree. So they decided to offer another personal-care product line being Enhanced. This is an instant hair conditioner targeted toward woman 25-45 years old with dry hair and was formulated to appeal to that audience. Market potential The market of the conditioner in which Johnson Wax want to introduce Enhance counts 6 important companies in 1978: Johnson’s Agree (15,2%), Wella Balsam (4,7%), Clairol Condition (9,95), Flex (13,4 %), Tame (5,4%), and Sasson. The firm has previously done Blind-Use test, which actually showed that the consumers don’t distinguish great differences between different brands of conditioner. Tests have shown that one of the most important dimensions for the customers is the conditioning factor. But during the phase of callback the respondents mentioned most frequently manageability and conditioning came third. This means that the company should reposition itself. The market is open for new products that focus on manageability. An incentive to launch the product is that Agree would lose less than half a share point to Enhance. Product design Enhance was available in two sizes for both regular and extra conditioning formulations. It had one facing for each size and formulation. Enhance was offered in 8 and 16 ounce sizes in either clear or opaque plastic bottles with nozzle tops. Research have shown that sampling is not successful and a waste of resources. Another way must be used to promote the product. One way is advertising on TV or in magazines with the use of a celebrity. The downside of this is, that it could be quiet expensive. Distribution channels The distribution channels that Johnson might and should use are wholesalers and retailers through a system of manufacturers’ representatives and factory salesmen. Johnson has created a well established network throughout the years and if they use it to distribute the Enhance product it will reduce transportation cost due to economies of scale. Another benefits will be the reduction of costs through the already established knowledge of the manufacturers’ representatives and factory alesmen. Pricing As suggested in the ‘Trail Estimation’, Enhance was offered in 8 and 16 ounces sizes at $1,31 and $1,94 respectively. With these figures the trial rate of Enhance was estimated at 23%. If we look at the comparison to all ASSESSOR-tested health and beauty aids products, we can see that Enhance can be placed in the group between 20-30 %, which indicates a group percentage of 27,1%. Afte rwards the repeat rate was estimated through telephone call back interviews and they came to the conclusion that the repeat rate among buyers in the laboratory was 60%. If we compare that to the all ASSESSOR-tested health and beauty aids products, we can conclude that Enhance has a high repeat purchase rate. The overall conclusion is that we can set the prices at the level suggested in the ‘Trial Estimation’ because survey have shown that those prices will be accepted by the customers. The steps to the optimal solution 1) Recommend a solution -Abandoning the product is not an option because of the investment already made,e. g. product development and Assesor-test. If we would abandon the product, these costs will be sunk costs. Launching the product as it is now is also not a good option. The MDS, as a result of the ASSESSOR test, was not encouraging about Enhances’ prospects. It is clear that some modifications has to be made. -The optimal solution is to launch Enhance, given the prospective that they will modify the product and subsequently reposition it. Surveys have shown that sampling is not successful so another way of prom otion must be proposed. 2) Plan of action 1. Keep the price at the trial estimations rates, those were very similar to those of the competition( $ 1. 31 and $ 1. 94 for the 8 and 16 ounce sizes. . Sell the product through the existing distribution channels of the Agree line( distributed nationally and overseas to wholesalers and retailers through a system of manufactures’ representatives and factory salesmen. 3. An important step to ensure success of the product is that we make some modifications to the product. The ASSESSOR results in the product acceptance indicates that those who made a repeat purchase will most likely mention manageability as the thing they liked most about Enhance. The company does not really focus on manageability as much as they do on conditioning and cleaning. The relative importance of ‘manageability’ is merely 23% in comparison to 33% for ‘conditioning’. Given the results of the likes and the dislikes of the customer, we can conclude that the company needs to focus more on the ‘manageability’ of Enhance. Manageability needs to be the primary characteristic, followed by conditioning. 4. Given the switch of primary characteristic, the advertising need to be adjusted and thus mainly focussing on the manageability of the product. Advertising needs to focus on the fact that Enhance leaves hair shiny, lustrous, soft and silky, body and fullness. In a nutshell, it makes hair more manageable. This can be realized through advertising in magazines and TV. 3) Contingency plan The prediction trial/repeat model estimated the base shore at 3,9% while the preference model estimates the base share at 3,8%. The Johnson Wax management had set a target market share of 10%. This is about three times as high as the estimations. If we modify the Enhance product we can assume that the market share will increase in the test, hence the adaptations in favor of the likes of the consumer. We will set a base share of 7,5%, which need to be pursuit within two years. If we do not accomplish this objective, we need to abandon the product. How to cite Johnson Wax, Papers

Health of the Sex Workers-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Sex Work and Public Opinion. Answer: Introduction The purpose of the essay is to shed light on the question of whether sex work can be seen as just any other work, which also forms the thesis statement of this essay. Sex work, despite being one of the oldest profession of the world, is still now seen in a very derogatory light and this is the reason for its not being considered as a profession on par with the other reputed professions of the world. This essay makes use of two arguments to show that sex work is a work not like any other work. The essay also employs some counterarguments to this view and at the end of the essay, there is also a refutation of these counterarguments. Finally, in the conclusion the overall arguments as well as counterarguments discussed in the essay, are restated to make the thesis statement more prominent. Discussion A sex worker, can be defined as a person who by the choice of his or her profession indulges in sexual intercourse kind of work. However, it is not often that, it is treated by people as a job on par with other professionals like doctors, engineers and other. Society, stills views prostitution or sex work as a kind of derogatory profession, even though it is the second oldest profession of the world. The health problems related to the work as the social stigma that the workers face are immense and therefore it becomes more important that the sex workers are seen on a par with the other respectable professional of the world. The root cause of this can be ascertained to the fact that sex is seen as a form of taboo since the ancient ages and therefore anything related to sex is generally ostracized from the purview of the society. The main point that this essay tries to address is that sex work is not a common job like any other and thus it cannot be judged through the normal profession al parameters of society. This argument can be supported by the fact that there are various negative impacts of the job on the health of the sex worker as the as the social stigma that the sex workers face. However, there many sex workers who actually enjoy their job. This view, can be refuted by the fact that there are many workers who are forced to do it because of violence and poverty and they do not enjoy it. The first argument commonly given is that women who work in the sex service become vulnerable to a host of different health related problems. The chief health related problem that a sex worker has greater probability of getting is sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as HIV. According to a report sex workers are 10% times more at the risk of getting infected by HIV than the common population ("Protecting the rights of sex workers", 2017)The second health problem faced by the female sex workers is the problem of pregnancy It is not always the circumstances under which they have to work is safe and effective and thus there is always the risk of getting unwanted pregnant. Workers belonging to the lower economic strata of the society are driven by economic needs to work even after getting which might prove to be harmful both for the unborn baby as well as the mother. Substance abuse is another common problem that the workers face. The stressful conditions under which the sex wo rkers do their job often drives many of them to resort to commonly available drugs like weeds, cracks, crystal meth, cocaine and various other ones. In 2010 the total number of women dependent on the drug amphetamines of which only 0.31% were non sex workers (Alexandra Torrico, 2017). The sex workers are also susceptible to various mental problems which can be the result of the violence inflicted by their various male clients (Oram et al.,2012). The poor mental health and substance abuse are actually interconnected as it is seen many times that poor mental health often leads the workers to resort to substance abuse. The second argument is that the sex workers are seen in a very unequal light in society no matter from what cultural, social or educational background they are. Despite being a part of the second oldest profession of the world they are without any social security. They do not have a steady income source, as a matter of fact it is often seen that they able to earn as long as age, physical appearance and health is on their side. They also do not receive any economic or social benefits from the governments end and also the number of organizations working for their benefit and uplift is very less. The condition or the working environment in which they usually work is also not very congenial to their health. They are often forced to work in places like slums or shanties, where there is no scope of any social security. They are generally deprived of all their human rights and it was not until 2003 that New Zealand became the first country in the world to implement the concept of decriminal ization and placed sex work on par with the other well renowned professions of the world(McHugh, 2013). Then there are those who loose even the basic rights like the right of life as the right of freedom after they are smuggled through illegal means and forced into prostitution. The policy of decriminalization implemented by several countries of the world like New Zealand, Australia, Spain and others brought about a radical change in the way in which the sex workers look upon their own profession. According to the findings of a recent survey many sex workers at the present moment do not actually consider their careers as bad as the society normally views it. They, as a matter of fact, even enjoy their work because of its flexible working hours and the amount of easy money that they can make (Maher, Pickering, Gerard, 2012). The flexible work hours allows them to indulge in recreational activities as well as personality development activities which helped them in their job roles as well as can open new avenues to them in the near future. However, many people refute this argument by saying that most of them are forced to continue in this job because of their poor life or limited economic opportunities. Some of them are acquired by means of illegal trafficking and are thus forced to continue in the profession as long as the pimp or the person who owns them wishes them to work and thus the conclusion that the sex workers do not enjoy the kind of work that they do and possible means should be implemented to stop this profession. According to the findings of a recent report, in the year 2012 alone around 5.5 million people worldwide were victims of the machinery of human trafficking (Lee, 2013). It, thus becomes apparent that a very substantial percentage of the sex workers all over the world are not in the profession of prostitution by choice rather they are in the profession are means of force. Conclusion Therefore ,from the above paragraphs it becomes apparent that sex work though apparently a job like any other job is very unlike the other jobs or professions that are normally followed all over the world. This particular though unique in its own context consists of its own advantages as well as disadvantages .The chief two arguments that support the thesis statement of this essay are the negative impacts that the profession causes to the health of the sex workers and the social stigma that the sex workers are normally made to face. The counterarguments to this view are the fact that there are actually some sex workers, who actually enjoy their work. It can be for various reasons like the flexible working hours or the large amount of easy money that they can make. The primary fact that can be upheld as a refutation to this counterargument is the fact that a large number of the sex workers are forced into work either by means of poor economic conditions, illegal trafficking, lack of j ob opportunities and various other factors. Therefore ,it becomes apparent from the discussion that sex work is a job unlike any other job. References Alexandra, R. M., Torrico, M. G. C. (2017). Sex Work and Social Inequalities in the Health of Foreign Migrant Women in Almeria, Spain.Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala,58, 54. Lee, M. (Ed.). (2013).Human trafficking. Routledge. Maher, J., Pickering, S., Gerard, A. (2012). Privileging work not sex: Flexibility and employment in the sexual services industry.The Sociological Review,60(4), 654-675. McHugh, P. (2013).Prostitution and Victorian social reform. Routledge. Oram, S., Stckl, H., Busza, J., Howard, L. M., Zimmerman, C. (2012). Prevalence and risk of violence and the physical, mental, and sexual health problems associated with human trafficking: systematic review.PLoS medicine,9(5), e1001224. Protecting the rights of sex workers. (2017).Unaids.org. Retrieved 1 December 2017, from https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2017/june/20170602_sexwork

100 Years Of Solitude Essays - One Hundred Years Of Solitude

100 Years Of Solitude 100 Years of Solitude Just as Edmund Spenser believes in ?the ever-whirling wheel of Change; that which all mortal things doth sway,? so too does Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Colonel Aureliano Buend?a experiences life and the changes which accompany it. Spenser views human life as a constant change from one stage to another. The change may be either good or bad; but one thing is certain, change is inevitable. Colonel Buend?a is a dynamic character who transforms from an idealistic leader into an increasingly cynical and corrupt man. Toward the end of his life, he isolates himself from the rest of the world. In the beginning of Aureliano's career, he is an idealistic leader who is respected by his peers. He leads an uprising of ?twenty-one men under the age of thirty, armed with table knives and sharpened tools? against the Conservatives occupying Macondo. He adamently disagrees with their form of government and begins the reform movement led by the anticlerical and democratic bourgeoisie. After the Liberal victory, Aureltio becomes ?Colonel Aureliano Buend?a.? Aureliano's leadership parallels his father's leadership of these young men's fathers who helped him found the village of Macondo. Similarly, Aureliano commands respect from his subordinates and has enormous power over other men as well. After being captured by the enemy, Aureliano is not executed because the Conservative firing squad is only too happy to switch sides and follow him into the Liberal army. Colonel Aureliano appears to be immortal and ubiquitous, returning triumphant, surviving numerous assassination attempts, and continuing to hold the loyalty of his friends. When his comrade in-arms and oldest friend, Colonel Gerineldo M?rquez, proposes marriage to Aureliano's sister, Amaranta boldly rejects him because ?[Gerineldo] loves Aureliano so much [he] wants to marry [her] because [he] can't marry [Aureliano].? The Colonel has great allegiance and affection from those below him. However, as Aureliano's attitudes change, he loses their love and respect. After fighting many battles, Aureliano becomes increasingly cynical and corrupt. He comes to understand his own thoughts by writing out his experiences in verse. In this way, he comes to the terrible realization that ?[he] is fighting for pride.? As for what Gerineldo calls the ?Great Liberal party,? Aureliano declares that it ?doesn't mean anything to anybody? because the only difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives is the different hours that each party attends mass. Worse, he determines that his heroic struggle has simply been another Latin American power play. Likewise, Aureliano is a sell-out. He is easily persuaded to give up everything that he has gained for the Liberal cause: land reform, anticlericalism, and the ?aspiration for equality of rights between natural and legitimate children? for money from the Conservatives. The warfare is futile and has caused him to ?rot alive.? Power has gripped the Colonel, distorting his idealism and his values from his earlier days, when he thought it important to redistribute lands and protect civilian lives. In the same way, he orders Gerineldo M?rquez executed because of a trivial matter. He then spends the night trying to break ?the hard shell of his solitude? in order to recover some compassion for others. What results, though, is not love, but a new burst of pride and power. He decides to end the civil war by force rather than negotiation. Aureliano's cynicism and debauched view of the world lead to the final tragic stage of his life. In the latter part of his life, the once glorious Colonel Aureliano Buend?a isolates himself from the world around him. He does not have the capacity to love, and the fact that he has had sex with countless women, without ever learning their names or even waiting for daylight to see their faces, shows his inability to experience true love. He has fathered seventeen ?children of all ages, all colors, but all males and all with a look of solitude that left no doubt as to the relationship.? His indifference to his surroundings and circumstances lead to his loneliness. Like his father before him, the Colonel begins to lose contact with the world. He reaches the extreme of self-isolation when he orders a chalk circle drawn around him and refuses to let anyone, even his mother, come closer than two meters. The futility and desperation of his solitude is shown by his frustrated suicide attempt. After the Conservative victory, he tries to kill himself by aiming the gun to his chest. But the bullet misses all his vital organs. For the

Lost Technology essays

Lost Technology essays The new age of discovery began during the 16th century with the renaissance and western exploration. Great advances in science and medicine were being made and the mechanized world came to life with the industrial revolution. Most of what we consider modern science and ideas has been developed since the 1500s, but the ancient Greeks were making similar discoveries two millennia before that. Due to constant invasions by outside forces and the suppression of Greek learning by the church, many of the teachings and innovations of the ancient Greeks were lost to the western world. The ancient Greeks made discoveries in the sciences such as medicine, astronomy, and technology that were far ahead of what most people associate with the ancient world. In medicine the Greeks studied the brain and human anatomy under the physician Herophilus. Herophilus discovered the human nervous system and was aware that the brain controlled these systems (McKay). The Greeks were also aware of the benefits of drugs to treat illness and used pain relievers such as opium. Despite the great work of some of the Greek physicians, there were still many people who claimed to be able to heal using magic and potions. These abuses caused many Romans to reject Greek medicine and as the Romans became more powerful these medical discoveries were forgotten by most of the western world. Astronomy was another area that the Greeks explored in depth. Without the use of telescopes, the Greek astronomer Aristarchus determined that the earth was not the center of the universe and developed the heliocentric theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun (McKay). Eratosthenes, a Greek scientist from the 3rd century BC, realized that the earth was actually round and was able to calculate its circumference accurately within 200 miles. Eratosthenes made the claim that a ship could sail around the globe to the east 1800 years before Colu ...

International Law and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International Law and Development - Essay Example Compliance with counter terrorism measures has affected the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide assistance based on the principles of neutrality and impartiali...ty. Law and development is a topic that concerns the potential of law as an instrument of social change in developing countries. The key objective of this assignment is to evaluate the impact of public international law in an era which has been affected by changes in policies due to anti-terrorism laws and their affects on development assistance in developing countries. The key problem in this respect is that counter terrorism legislation and other policies have directly affected levels of development assistance, as many donors are now afraid of the consequences of indirectly funding designated entities or individuals. What is Development Aid Assistance? Development assistance can be separated into two sectors – private and public. Private aid is concerned with financial aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social and political development of developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid (public aid) which focuses on long-term poverty alleviation. This assistance ensures that the country can develop instead of sliding back into conflict. Some examples include: the reconstruction of property and infrastructure, the return of displaced security, governance, transport of food and supplies, and the rebuilding of the economy. The aim of development assistance is to help developing countries function on their own and ensure that they can function independently after aid is extended to them. Public aid deals with humanitarian aid and its general aim is to help people in third world countries, particularly the most

Traffic_individual memo Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Traffic_individual memo - Article Example Moreover, the whole scandal which surrounded this project inevitably creates suspicion from the government and publicity on further city incentives. And so, new Boston projects on traffic management should take into account all the previous mistakes in order to be approved and financed. In the current situation, social responsibility and appropriate traffic priorities should be included into the city infrastructure project plans in the future. In fact, the current city projects on traffic management cause more problems than improvements. In spite of tunnel construction, Boston is still in top-10 cities with the worst traffic in America with the congestion score 14.7 evaluated by INRIX (Hess and Weigley). In this context, in 2012 MassDOT spent half a million dollars on construction projects (57). This means that the â€Å"Big Dig† incentive that needed so much money was unable to fix all the city traffic problems. Moreover, Annual Report (2013) of Boston’s Traffic Management Center signalized of 59 incidents on the roads in 2013 that were caused by construction and road works; it is almost every fourth traffic incident in Boston (3). And so, the construction works that are created in order to improve life of Boston’s dwellers in exchange of this cause them injures and inconveniences. In general, it is supposed that lessons obtained from â€Å"Big Dig† project failure show that governmental involvement in city projects is necessary in order to keep them off extra expenses (Fryer). However, the main problem of inadequate response to the social needs is usually seen in the lack of governmental connection with civil society. In this context, the incidents with a woman who died in 2006 because of the project flaws (Fryer) and several injured workers on the tunnel construction indicate of social responsibility that is significant for each project in the area of traffic management. Moreover, public disapproval on high

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 27

Research - Essay Example This data is utilized to explore the existing correlation between variables of interests and diseases. In other words, cross-sectional methodology presents an image of the occurrence of a disease in a population in any time interval. This research technique is preferable in the assessment of diseases that pose as a burden to the population. The information gathered by this technique will assist in the allocation of resources related to health and planning. It entails the study of purely descriptive information. It is utilized in the assessment of occurrence and distribution of a given disease in a specified population. For example, schools randomly sampled across New York can be utilized to assess the prevalence or the burden of Yellow Fever among 12-17 years old. Analytically, the study data may also be utilized to investigate the relations between an alleged risk factor and an outcome of health. Nevertheless, this type is limited in the drawing of valid conclusion regarding possible casualty or association since the presence of outcomes and risk factor are determined simultaneously (Blade, 2001). This makes it hard to evaluate which of the exposure or disease came first. Therefore, it requires a combination of more than one methodology for the technique to be rigorous. Information collection regarding the risk factor is retrospective, hence likelihood of biasness. Information collected regarding outcomes; exposure and disease is not reliable in drawing conclusion in reference to the health status of the sample population. Simultaneous evaluation outcomes and risk factor pose the risk of biasness of the results obtained in the analysis (Pine, 1997). Therefore, it will be difficult to trust that the data obtained is of desired accuracy and precision. Another hindrance of the technique lies in the fact that, the mystifying factors in most cases will not be similarly distributed amongst the various sets of interest in the research. The inequality causes

Novel Planar Nanodevices for Chemical Sensing Applications

Novel Planar Nanodevices for Chemical Sensing Applications In recent years, planar electronic nanodevices have attracted much attention due to their simple architecture, ease of fabrication and low cost of manufacture. Such devices address a wide variety of applications in printed and plastic electronics industry. Using this approach a new type of sensor, which is sensitive to different chemicals, has been developed and reported here. By exploiting the unique characteristics of semiconductor asymmetric nanochannels, a highly selective and sensitive planar nano-transistor based chemical sensor has been realised which can discriminate between wide range of chemical compounds in the ambient atmosphere. The active part of the sensor device was fabricated in a single nanolithography step and was tested using variety of chemicals including polar protic, polar-aprotic and nonpolar solvents. The sensing results showed that, all three solvent categories have exhibited unique chemical signature which could be identified with increased or decreased drain current depending on the analyte used. A significant rise in transistor drain current was observed when the device was exposed to polar aprotic solvents compared to polar protic and nonpolar ones. Further it has been noticed that the exposure of the device to polar protic solvents which has hydroxyl (–OH) functional groups in their molecular frame work has shown very high hysteresis in current voltage measurements. In contrast, the device has exhibited very little hysteresis when exposed to polar aprotic and non-polar solvents with later being the minimum of all. The effect of solvent’s polarity on the sensor’s drain current in terms of adsorption and desorption processes has been studied and reported here. Also the effects of water molecules in ambient air and hydroxyl groups on the device hysteresis behaviour have been investigated. As the gas sensing properties of the sensor are related to the chemisorption of gaseous species at its surface, a detailed understanding of the charge transfer in a chemisorption process is very important; hence most of the discussions in this report focus on explaining this complex phenomenon with a special emphasis on the role of surface states during sensing process. All the measurements were performed at room temperature and the responses were found to be very fast, reversible and reproducible over many cycles of vapour exposure and suggested the stability of the device to be very high. The simple, low-cost, multi-chemical sensing device described in this work could be useful for a variety of applications, such as environmental monitoring, sensing in chemical processing plants, and gas detection for counter-terrorism. Nanofabrication and Characterisation 4.1 Introduction Recent advancements in the area of micro/nanofabrication have created a unique opportunity to manufacture nanometer-sized structures with absolute precision that has wide range of applications ranging from electronic, optical, chemical and biological fields. (Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology Bhushan, Bharat (Ed.)  2nd rev. and extended ed., 2007, XLIV, 1916 p. 1593 illus. in color. With CD-ROM., Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-540-29855-7 This chapter will introduce two of such major top-down fabrication techniques namely photolithography and e-beam lithography followed by a brief description on atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopes which have been used in this project to fabricate and image the planar nanosensors reported in chapter 5. 4.2 Lithography In semiconductor processing area-patterning techniques are very important. Lithography is a process of transferring patterns from medium to the other ( ampere a. tseng, kuan chen, chii d. chen, and kung j. ma ieee transactions on electronics packaging manufacturing, electron beam lithography in nanoscale fabrication: recent developmentvol 26, no 2, april 2003 pp 141-149). These transferred patterns are then subjected to a development process that selectively removes either the exposed or unexposed resist depending on the resist nature. The positive resist removes the exposed part where as unexposed resist is developed away using negative resists as shown in the figure 4.1. The exposure systems may be any of these; ultraviolet light rays, X-rays, ion beams or electron beams. But this section focuses on the systems using ultraviolet and electron beams as their source. 4.2.1 Photolithography Photolithography is the most common patterning method, by which the shape and critical dimensions of a semiconductor device are transformed onto the surface of the wafer (got from lecture notes titled photolithography sly). This is the technique used to define the mesa structures and metallic contacts of the device described in this thesis. A photo sensitive resist is spun on to the substrate and exposed through a mask which transfers the patterns on the sample by means of UV light. Then the sample is developed to get the desired pattern as shown below. Figure 4.1. Typical photolithography process. The substrate (A) is  ¯rst coated by photoresist (B) and then exposed by UV radiation through a mask (C). The latent image is either removed (D) or  ¯xed (E) by a developer solution. Source : M. J. Madou, Fundamentals of microfabrication, 2nd ed., CRC Press (2002), p. 19. 4.2.2 Metal film deposition In order to perform electrical measurements on the device, we need to define the metal patterns, through which it can be connected to the electrical probe station.  So two contacts are formed, ohmic and schottky contacts through a process called lift off as shown in the figure 4.2. The GaAs substrate is coated with photoresist and the patterns are defined by photolithography. First the metal film is thermally evaporated and the unwanted metal laying on the resist is lifted off by dissolving the photoresist in acetone. To facilitate the ‘lift off’ of technique, photoresist edges with undercut profiles are desirable. This can be achieved by the treatment of photoresist with chlorobenzene before the UV exposure. Chlorobenzene swells inside the photoresist and makes its â€Å"skin† harder. After the exposure and the development, the profile of the photoresist edges forms an undercut [M. J. Madou, Fundamentals of microfabrication, 2nd ed., CRC Press (2002), p. 19. an d M. Hatzakis, B. J. Canavello, and J. M. Shaw, IBM J. Res. Develop. 24, 452 (1980).,], as shown in Fig. 3.3E. Source fundamentals of micro fabrication book Figure 4.2. Typical lift-of process. The substrate (A) is coated by photoresist (B) and then prebaked to partially dry the solvents (C). A dip in chlorobenzene follows to make the photoresist skin harder. (D) UV exposure through the mask. The edges of the patterns developed into the photoresist after such process show a typical undercut pro ¯le (E). The metal is evaporated onto the sample, forming a thin  ¯lm (F). The unwanted metal is then lifted o ® by dissolving the remaining photoresist in a solvent (G). Ohmic contacts (obeys Ohm’s law, linear I-V) They are essentially formed by a metal layer deposited on a highly-doped semiconductor. Because of the high-doping concentration a very thin Schottky barrier is formed, and the charge carriers, namely electrons and holes, can easily tunnel through. The substrate used in this research work consists of semiconductor heterostructures in which a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) was confined between undoped GaAs and doped AlGaAs layers. (R. Williams, Modern GaAs processing methods, Artech House (1990), Chapter 11.) The choice of metals for any given application will depend on conductivity, thermal stability, adhesion, nature of electrical contact with semiconductor (work function/barrier height), and ease of patterning. (got it grom sly lecture notes) A thin layer (~ 45-50 nm) of Au/Ge/Ni alloy which is the most common scheme for making alloyed ohmic contacts to n-type GaAs is used for this work and was evaporated onto the substrate surface at temperatures higher than 360 °C. In this alloy, the germanium diffuses into the GaAs and acts as a dopant, while nickel acts as a wetting layer and also assists the diffusion of Ge into the GaAs. Schottky contacts (rectifying, diode like I-V) Depositing a metal film on an undoped, or lightly n-doped, semiconductor whose electronic affinity is lower than the work function of the metal, will form a thick schottky barrier which is typically several hundreds of meV high, and the thermal energy gained by the electrons, about 26 meV at room temperature, is too low to permit thermionic emission over the barrier. (R. Williams, Modern GaAs processing methods, Artech House (1990), Chapter 12). When a bias is applied to the metal, the height of the energy barrier seen by the electrons injected from the metal into the semiconductor does not change, being fixed by the metal work function and the electronic affinity of the semiconductor. On the other hand, the barrier seen by the electrons injected from the semiconductor into the metal is increased/decreased by a negative/positive bias. This mechanism is responsible for the well-known rectifying effect observed in Schottky junctions [V. L. Rideout, Thin Solid Films 48, 261 (1978). [8] A. M. Cowley and S. M. Sze, J. Appl. Phys. 36, 3212 (1965).]. At negative biases, the Schottky junction essentially behaves like a capacitor: in substrates with embedded 2DEGs, it can be utilised as a gate electrode to modulate the 2DEG carrier concentration, e.g., for the fabrication of field-effect transistors. 4.2.2 Electron beam lithography (EBL) One of the modern approaches in dealing with nanoscale structures is e-beam lithography in which, electrons are accelerated by very high voltage, typically of 10s of kV and then focused onto a layer of polymer to create very fine patterns. EBL provides much higher resolution and more precise than photolithography or x-ray lithography: patterns with feature sizes well below 20 nm can be achieved in modern systems. EBL does not require the fabrication of masks as in the photolithographic process. There are two methods to expose e-beam on to the substrate surface (Rainer waser (Ed.) nanoelectronics and information technology, WILEY-VCH chapter 9, pp 234-236) 2005. Direct writing Projection printing Direct writing is the most common EBL approach and used for fabrication of the device reported here. In this approach, a beam of electrons directly impinges on the resist to form the pattern in a serial fashion. As shown in the figure 4.6, a direct writing system consists of a source of electrons, a focusing optics set, a blanker to turn on and off, a deflection system for moving the beam, and a stage for holding the substrate. Where as projection printing is used to project entire pattern simultaneously on to the wafer and can be divided into two ways; SACLPEL (scattering with angular limitation in projection electron beam lithography) and PREVAIL (projection reduction exposure with variable axis immersion lenses). However we will only concentrate on direct writing technique. Fig 4 dose test patterns of an array of self switching diodes (SSDs) fabricated using e-beam direct write. System configuration Figure 4.1. Simplified structure of a SEM column. The blue lines show the trajectory of the electrons. 4.2.4 E-beam process and proximity efect To perform electron beam lithography, PMMA (polymethyl methacrilate) resist was used which can be chemically changed under exposure to the electron beam. Final resolution of patterns in the e-beam resist and their eventual transfer into the substrate can be affected due to the imperfections in electron optics, the magnetic environment interaction, the overall thermal stability, the interaction between the beam and the substrate all play an equally important role in determining the ultimate system performance. When the electron beam strike the polymer film or any solid material, it losses energy via elastic and inelastic collisions collectively know as electron scattering. Elastic collisions change the direction of electron scattering, where as inelastic collisions lead to energy loss. As the electrons penetrate though the resist into the substrate, some of them undergo large angle scattering leading to undesired exposure that form backscattering. This causes additional exposure in the resist and is known as proximity effect. The magnitude of electron scattering depends on the density of the resist and substrate as well as the velocity of the electrons or the accelerating voltage (guozhong cao, nanostructures and nanomaterials, imperial college press, 2004, pp 280-300). (m.a. McCord and m.j.rooks, handbook of microlithoghraphy, micromachininbg and microfabrication, p.rai-choudary, Ed. Bellingham, WA:SPIE Optical engineering, 1997, ch 2, pp 139-249). The proximity effect is more severe in dense patterns, particularly when the separation between adjacent structures is less than 1ÃŽ ¼m. Since the amount of backscattered electrons depends on the substrate material, a dose calibration is necessary each time different substrates and resist thicknesses are used. Electron Scattering in Resist and Substrate The scattered electrons also expose the resist! Electrons, resist and substrates The smallest thing you can write with the ebeam depends on a large number of factors. These are the spot size used, the type of resist used, the thickness of the resist, the density of the features and the substrate material. When electrons are used to expose a pattern in resist it is not a simple process. Electrons enter the resist and hit the atoms of the resist, these will either forward scatter or back scatter. Backscattered electrons from the resist will leave the resist and, in general, do not contribute to the resist exposure, forward scattered electrons continue into the resist and contribute to the exposure. The thicker the resist the larger the forward scattering and the lower the resolution. High energy electrons (in our case 100kV) will go through the resist and deep into the substrate. Here they will again get scattered and will forward and backscatter. In this case the forward scattered electrons will be moving away from the resist and don’t contribute to the exposure, backscattered electrons from the substrate have a large contribution to the exposure. The higher the energy of the incoming electrons the deeper they will penetrate into the resist and hence the contribution to the resist exposure will be reduced. In the figure below you can see that going from 10kV to 20kV increases the penetration depth of the electrons from 1 µm to around 6 µm. At 100kV the penetration depth in Silicon is around 100 µm Figure schematic diagram of inter proximity effect and intra proximity effect The smallest feature sizes that can be achieved are when the features are isolated from one another. As you make your features closer together the backscatter from the neighbouring features will all contribute to the exposure and it will become harder to find the correct dose to correctly expose all your features. This is call proximity effects. There are 2 main effects of this; inter-proximity and intra-proximity. With inter-proximity when two features are close together the electrons from the exposure of on shape contributes to the dose of the neighbouring pattern. The larger and closer the features the worse this effect. With intra-proximity the dose in the centre of the pattern is larger than at the edges, and especially the corners. This is simply a geometric effect as there are less electrons contributing to the dose in the corners of the shape. The electrons need a path to ground. If you are using a conducting (or semi-conducting) substrate the contact with the holder is sufficient to provide a conducting path. If you are using an insulating substrate (fused glass, quartz) you will need to provide a conductive path for the electrons. This is normally done by evaporating a metal layer on top of the or underneath the resist. Aluminium or Chrome is are often good choices as they can often be easily be removed without effecting the resist, but you should check the chemical compatibility of your process with the removal procedure. Performing a Meaningful Dose Test Exposing a pattern correctly usually requires performing a preliminary test exposure referred to as a dose test.  In this test, the pattern is repeated several times on a test substrate.  Each repetition is performed at a different dose or set of doses creating a matrix of different exposure conditions.  Once the pattern is developed and pattern transfer has been performed the correct dose can be obtained through inspection in a suitable inspection tool (scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope, optical microscope, etc).  There are several issues which can impact the usefullness of a dose test.  Here are some guidelines: Use the same type of substrate. If there are films present on the surface of the substrate us a substrate with the identical film stack. For large arrays of features, shooting the entire array as a test is not an efficient use of time.  However, reducing the size of the array to an unrealistically small extent can give incorrent results during the test due to differences in the proximity effect.    ·Ã‚  Expose your patterns so that they are easy to locate.  For example, do not expose a test pattern consisting of a 500 micron x 500 micron array of 50 nm squares in the middle of a 150 mm wafer.  You will probably never find them.  Including some locating features (large lines or a box surounding the pattern) can help tremendously.  If you are exposing an array of patterns use as small of a repeat vector as possible.  This will make locating the entire array easier and minimize the chances of getting lost when travelling in between adjacent elements of the array. Proximity Effect As an electron from the writing beam strikes the surface of a substrate it undergoes various scattering events losing energy and causing the generation of secondary electrons.  The energy range of most secondary electrons falls between 1  and  50 eV.  Secondary electrons that are close to the substrate/resist interface are actually responsible for the bulk of the actual resist exposure process.  While their range in resist is only a few nanometers they create what is known as the proximity effect.  Simply put, the proximity effect is the change in feature size of pattern features as a consequence of nonuniform exposure.   While the dose from the primary beam may be uniform across an entire pattern, the contribution of secondary electrons from the substrate may differ depending on pattern geometry.  Two adjacent features will contribute a background dose of secondary electrons to each other resulting in a higher effective dose.  This causes a broadening of the exposed features.  This is particularly apparent with dense features (e.g. gratings).  Consequently, dense arrays of features may require significantly less dose from the primary beam to print correctly.   Pattern size can also be adjusted to compensate for this effect.  For example, 100 nm lines 100 nm apart are typically drawn in CAD as 90 nm lines 110 nm apart to get them to print correctly.  This strategy stops working at the edges and corners of patterns.  This sometimes requires the  the creation of dummy patterns or devices outside of the primary pattern region to get the main features of interest to print correctly.  One common practice is to draw a box around the pattern to normalize the dose in the primary pattern region. 4.3 Imaging nanostructures Characterisation and manipulation of individual nanostructures requires not only extreme sensitivity and accuracy, but also atomic-level resolution that leads to various microscopes that will play a central role in characterisation and measurements of nanostructured materials (guozhong cao, nanostructures and nanomaterials, imperial college press, 2004, pp 280-300). Nevertheless, when we think of microscopes, we think of optical or electron microscopes that can image an object by focusing electromagnetic radiation, such as photons or electrons, on its surface and gives the image with very high magnifications.   However, the images obtained with these microscopes can only provide the information in the plane horizontal to the surface of the object and do not give any information in vertical dimensions of object’s surface height and depth. This section deals with the imaging of surface topography and surface property measurements of planar sensor using AFM and SEM techniques, which can provide us with all necessary information in both horizontal and vertical planes. (www.afmuniversity.org/pdf/Chapter_1_.pdf pp 1-16) 4.3.1 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) AFM is a very high-resolution type of microscope from the family of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with the resolutions thousand times the better than optical diffraction limit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_force_microscope). Unlike traditional microscopes, AFM does not rely on electromagnetic radiation to create an image. AFM is a mechanical imaging instrument that measures the three dimensional topography as well as physical properties of a surface with a sharpened probe. ((www.afmuniversity.org/pdf/Chapter_1_.pdf pp 1-16) AFM Basic principles It consists of very sharp tip attached to cantilever and is positioned close enough to the surface such that it can interact with the atomic/molecular forces associated with the surface. Then a collimated laser beam focuses onto the cantilever, which scans across the surface such that the forces between the probes remain constant. An image of the surface is then produced by monitoring the precise motion of the probe that can sense the movements as tiny as 0.1 nm. Such high resolution allows to image even single atoms, which are typically 0.5 nm apart in a crystal. Normally the probe is scanned in a raster-like pattern as shown in the figure 4. ((www.afmuniversity.org/pdf/Chapter_1_.pdf pp 1-16) Source : http://www.afmuniversity.org/index.cgi?CONTENT_ID=33 AFM probe: Cantilever and Tip AFM is a force sensor with a sharp tip used to probe the surface. When the tip at the end of the cantilever interacts with the surface, the cantilever bends, and consequently beam path also changes, causing the amount of light in the two photo-detector sections to change. Thus, the electronic output of the force sensor is proportional to the force between the tip and the sample. Tips used for probing the surface is usually made of silicon that have a radius of about 10-20 nm and can be coated by silicon nitride to make them harder, or by noble metals, such as gold and platinum, to locally probe electrical quantities or to induce chemical modifications. Optical detection and Piezo electric scanner In order to detect the cantilever movements, when the AFM is operating in ambient conditions, optical detection is used. Reflected light from the focused laser beam is collected by a photodiode and the cantilever deflection and torsion are detected as a change in the photocurrents of the photodiode elements, as shown in Fig. 4. In the typical AFM configuration the tip is kept still, and the imaging is performed by moving the sample with piezoelectric scanner also referred as piezo tube as shown in the figure 4b. By controlling the bias of one inner and four outer electrodes the piezotube can be moved in three dimensions.  This photosensitive detector measures the change in optical beam position and the change in cantilever height. Feedback control Feedback control is used in AFM for maintaining a  ¬Ã‚ xed relationship, or force, between the probe and the surface. According to the mode used, the feedback loop can be controlled either by the cantilever deflection (contact mode) or by the amplitude of the cantilever oscillation (dynamic modes). The typical feedback system used in contact mode is shown in Fig. 3.11. The feedback control operates by measuring the force between the surface and probe, then controlling a piezoelectric ceramic that establishes the relative position of the probe and surface.  Feedback control is used in many applications; Figure 2-4 illustrates the use of feedback control in an oven. Section 2.3 has a more AFM modes: Tip – sample interactions Depending on separation between tip and the sample a variety of forces can be measured by AFM. At shorter distances van der Waals forces are predominant. Where as these forces become negligible if the tip-sample distance increases.  Forces like electrostatic attraction or repulsion, current induced or static magnetic interactions comes into play at these larger separations. The tip-surface forces (approx.) is given by the following equation Fa = ΔU = 12 B/Z13 – 6A/Z7  attractive Repulsive B and A  are coffecients depend upon the surfaces involved.detectable forces for an AFM 1 nN in the contact regime and 1 pN in the noncontact regime (theory 10-18 N) (r. wiesendanger, â€Å" chapter 11. future sensors.† In h.meixner, r. jones, eds vol 8: micro and nanosensor technology /trends in sensor markets. ) Based on these interactions, AFM usually has two operational modes; contact mode and dynamic mode. Depending on resonant frequency shift of tip-sample, dynamic mode is further divided into tapping mode and non-contact mode. Imaging for this work was carried out in tapping mode. Contact mode Also called as repulsive-static mode, in which, the tip rides on the sample in close with the sample surface (low k). The force produced in the feedback loop is frictional force; hence, the tip might interact with the sample surface. Non-contact mode Also called as attractive-dynamic mode, in which the tip hovers 5-15 nm away from the sample surface. The force generated in the feedback loop is typically van der Waals forces. Applied force (dependent on height z) changes the cantilever oscillation frequency. Figure: AFM Measurement in the figure PSPD represents photosensitive detector. Tapping mode Also called repulsive-dynamic mode, in which the AFM tip taps the surface as it maps the height z. This type of mode eliminates the hysteresis due to the tip sticking on the sample. Also using this method there is less likely to damage the sample. Scanning electron microscopy Scanning electron microscopy is also one of the major techniques for imaging the nanostructures. Although AFM gives high-resolution images with absolute precision, it takes much of time to scan and image the surface area of the sample. Where by SEM can provide an alternative to AFM, which is very fat at imaging the samples in both horizontal and vertical directions. These schematics show the ray traces for two probe-forming lens focusing conditions: small working distance (left) and large working distance (right). Both conditions have the same condenser lens strength and aperture size. However, as the sample is moved further from the lens, the following occurs: the working distance  S  is increased the demagnification decreases the spot size increases the divergence angle  alpha  is decreased The decrease in demagnification is obtained when the lens current is decreased, which in turn increases the focal length  f  of the lens. The resolution of the specimen is decreased with an increased working distance, because the spot size is increased. Conversely, the depth of field is increased with an increased working distance, because the divergence angle is smaller. Comparison between AFM and SEM The AFM is more often compared with the electron beam techniques such as the SEM or TEM. With an AFM, if the probe is good, a good image is measured. (www.afmuniversity.org/pdf/Chapter_1_.pdf pp 1-16) the following comparison between AFM and SEM gives a fair idea of the capabilities for applications A comparison of the some of the major factors follows: FIGURE  1-8 Both  the AFM  and SEM measure  topography. However, both types of microscopes can measure other  surface  physical  properties.  The SEM is good for measuring chemical composition and the AFM is good for measuring mechanical properties of surfaces. Summary This chapter has covered the main processing and imaging techniques used for fabrication of nanosensor reported in chapter 5.  Patterning of metal contacts and mesa structures on to the substrate using photolithography have been discussed in detail. The mechanism for the thin film deposition of Au/Ge/Ni alloy for forming ohmic and schottky contacts have been presented followed by a brief discussion of wet etching for undercut profiles. e-beam lithography which can overcome the resolution limitation in photolithography has been introduced with a description of its basic elements followed a discussion on proximity effect. So overall, this chapter provides the reader with fundamental knowledge to understand the basic fabrication and characterisation process of which serves as a tool for better understanding the fabrication of planar nanodevices discussed in next chapter (i.e chapter 5). Bibliography Introduction The evolution of semiconductor industry has brought a revolutionary change in the way we live today. Right from the invention of germanium transistor in 1947 to the latest sensation graphene transistor, the world has seen some of the spectacular breakthroughs that the human kind had ever imagined few decades ago. In the last fifteen years, more than twelve noble prizes have been awarded for the research based in the field of nanotechnology. 1.1  Sensors and sensor science Life without sensors and sensing would be like an opera without singer or a violin without strings. Such life does not exist. Sensors and sensing, on the contrary, are basic properties of life that are responsible for the closed loop real time control of what is going on inside and how it reacts to the outside situation. From bacteria to plants and animals to human beings, all living organisms use their sensing organs for orientation and communication, for monitoring the environment and for their survival. (sensors and sensing in biology and engineering, springer wien newyork, 2003, friedrich g. barth, joseph a.c. Humphrey, timothy w.secomb pp3-34 chapter1 and 2.) Digital systems however complex and intelligent they are, must receive information from the outside world. Sensors act as an interface between various physical values and electronic circuits that ‘understand’ only a language of moving electrical charges. In other words, sensors are eyes, ears, and noses of silicon chips. Some sensors are relatively simple and some are complex, which operate on fundamental basic principles. Understanding of these devices generally requires an interdisciplinary background in fields such as physics electronics, chemistry etc. Thus, sensors research has brought a unique team of chemists, biologists, physicists electronic engineers, together on one platform, thus making it a truly interdisciplinary field. 1.1.1 The term ‘Sensor’ In this ever-changing world, sensors are becoming ubiquitous in our daily lives and play an important role in this process. Since the early 1990s, semiconductor industry has seen a tremendous growth in the development of variety of sensors. The technological trends in this field have made electronic products not only smaller and sleeker, but also more interactive and powerful.  These sensors with their improving performance–cost ratio will be the key components for the future nanoelectronic devices.(http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insighttop.pag?docid=140061375) The word sensor is derived from the Latin word sentire, which means, â€Å"to perceive†. A sensor i

Brett Farve :: essays research papers

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Meeting this evening as a group Green Bay Packer and NFL fans we recall many unforgettable moments in Packer history. From big hits to miraculous passes, we will have in the back of our minds forever. Every Sunday we are glued to the television watching the Packers. Win or lose our fans have always been there to support the team. It is a privilege to have with us a man who thrilled many spectators. Win or lose he was always there to boost the fans and players moral, Brett Favre. Brett Favre grew up idolizing a pair of Southern quarterbacks, the Saints' Archie Manning and the Cowboys' Staubach. He grew up in Kiln, Mississippi and went to high school in there. His high school, Hancock North Central, honored him this past May by re-naming the field, 'Brett Favre Field,' and unveiling a life-sized statue of the quarterback at the stadium's entrance. The school previously had retired his jersey, Number 10, in 1993. He stayed in the south to go to college where he went to Southern Miss. He became the starter at Southern Miss in his third game of his freshman season. Favre majored in special education. He led his Southern Mississippi team to 29 victories, including two bowl victories, during his four varsity seasons, 1987-90, and climaxed his collegiate career by earning a MVP award in the East-West Shrine game featuring the nation's best seniors. Favre set school records for passing yards (8,193), pass attempts (1,234), completions (656), completion percentage (53 .2), touchdowns (55), and with only 35 interceptions. His production included five 300-yard passing games and five 3-TD performances, while his 7,695 regular-season passing yards ranked him among the top 30 of all-time NCAA passers. His 1.57 interception ratio in 1988 was the lowest among the 50 top-ranked passers in the nation, and his 2.9 interception rate for his four-year career also ranks as one of the best in NCAA history. Also he was the MVP of the All-American Bowl at the conclusion of his senior year. All those records and stats and that was only in college!!! With the thirty-third pick in the 1991 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons choose Brett Favre. A little less than a year later, Atlanta traded Favre to Green Bay for a first round draft choice. Now in his 13th season in the NFL. Behind Favre, Green Bay has had nine playoff appearances including five division titles.

Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror Essay

Throughout history, the motivation of man’s self interest has concluded in the domination of those with little or no power in the absence of the rule of law. The war on terror presents an unpredictable challenge for the United States whereas terrorists are apprehended and deprived of due process. The right of Habeas corpus overrules man’s interpretation, in which allows those accused federal and state court representation before judge, or jury. It asserts that accusers deemed innocent until proven guilty, accusers possessed the right to representation, appear in person, and charges brought forth. This essay will concentrate on the evolution of habeas corpus, and its suspension by the United States, its relevance during the war on terror, and the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation. Nevertheless, these laws are in place to protect every one, moreover to avoid unlawful apprehension, and ensure that habeas corpus works as intended by the Constitution. The historical evolution of habeas corpus born from the Magna Carta, known as the English Bill of Rights began in England in the early 1200s. Under force from English barons, King John of England placed his signature on the Magna Carta in 1215, in which comprised of a list of human rights and civil liberties. It asserted that the King needed consent from his legislative body to impose taxes upon its citizens. Halliday (2011) notes that habeas corpus serves as a writ and a scrabble parchment that a judge ordered a jailer to bring forth a named prisoner to court to face said written charges. This very important document additionally established that trial and due process of law must occur previous to confiscating property or freedom from any free man who resided in England. Instead of King John stepping down from power he agreed to place boundaries on the power of the monarchy, sign the Magna Carta, wherein honored the constitutional rights and privileges of his countrymen. This document serves as a treaty of union, and agreement with the King wherein guaranteed and respected the civil liberties (personal freedoms) (Levin-Waldman, 2012) of its citizens. Only in the presence of rule of law prohibits countrymen from depriving countrymen of basic human rights. Politicians, and citizens augur that this act occurred in America when the national Defense authorization act (NDAA) passed in 2011. Opponents suggests that this bill proves unconstitutional for the reason that it strips away habeas corpus, thus allowing the detainment of American citizens suspected of terrorist activity for an indefinite period devoid of a trial. Other politicians, and citizens consider this act stands as a breach of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1876 in which forbid the Army’s participation in domestic lawful assembly on American soil. The suspension of habeas corpus number in the few for good reason, and presidents, politicians, and Supreme Court justices auger whether or not the Constitution offer provisions to commit such an act. However, the rights of habeas corpus denied by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 during the American Civil War, and in 2006 by President George Bush fighting the war on terror. The reasons for the suspension of habeas corpus by Lincoln and Bush were worlds apart as explained by Foner, (n.d.). Foner notes that Lincoln were perhaps on the threshold of losing a nation; whereas, Bush believe it essential to detain prisoners of war without due process of law after the attacks by terrorists on September 11, 2001. The Military Commissions Act of 2006 signed into law by President Bush gave unlimited authority toward establishing a military commission. On the other hand, Lincoln deemed it vital to protect a stretch of land from Baltimore to Washington DC. This railroad line involved transportation, troop movement, and delivering supplies. Only in the occurrence of rebellion or invasion does the president possess the power to suspend the writ of habeas corpus; however, the terms rebellion, and invasion takes on several meanings, and which undergo litigating through generations to generation. In other words, in grave situations concerning the safety of the public, the federal government can incontestably suspend the privilege or writ of habeas corpus under the Constitution.constitutional right On July 12, 2008 majority justice Kennedy joined by Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter, and Stevens held that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay suspected of committing terrorism possess constitutional rights, in which allows them the process of challenging their detention in the United States civil court of law. The courts only reiterated that before the Bill of Rights appeared in the Constitution, habeas corpus stood as a civil right for prisoners of war. The Bush administration drew heavy scrutiny regard to civil rights from majority justice Kennedy regarding those detained at Guantanamo, in which he concluded that the Constitution warrants nothing less than full habeas corpus. Some members of the Supreme Court consider the act of Denying any prisoner of war, especially Afghan soldiers stands one of those extreme measures in which the government denies habeas corpus, thus committing war crimes under the Geneva Convention. Moreover, the three branches of the United States government collectively re cognize the Geneva Convention as binding (Katyal, Bongiovanni, & Valentini, 2007). On the other hand, for many court justices denying rights to terrorists seems deserving of anyone who sets out to kill innocent people anywhere although not in the act of war; nevertheless, Congress does not possess the power to strike away these rights. However, Congress provided the federal courts will habeas corpus jurisdiction from its inception, and it will take affirmative action to withdraw jurisdiction (Vladeck, 2010). Fighting the war on terror proves the most unconventional war any country face. These individuals entire life consist of killing Americans citizens or anyone (infidels) meaning those who do not accept Islamic faith when and wherever an opportunity present itself. People speculate that should mindless rhetoric, such as this merit traditional representation of the Constitution, and the answer varies throughout the nation. There proves a need for habeas corpus because of its humane connotation. In other words, every form of torture, and some critics make auger that some form of torture considered beneath the conduct of the United States; moreover those that participate in such a manner prove not worthy of wearing the United States military uniform. Many Americans believe the Bush administration proceeded overzealously in the efforts to fight terrorism. Nevertheless; subsequent to terrorists striking down the World Trade Center buildings in New York City, American citizens wanted the United States to strike back immediately with deadly force. Just under 4000 citizens perished in the attacks bestowed on New York City on September 11, 2001, and the Bush administration worked tirelessly to gather intelligence before making decisive maneuvers to bring those responsible to justice. Niday, (2008) notes that in the immediate wake of 9/11 the war receive near unanimous support of the war on terror from both sides of the aisles and the Bush administration employed terms such as illegal combatants, and enemy combatants to bolster its campaign. In times of calamity, Americans, and people throughout the world stand at their best, and pull together in unison to aid one another. One could almost surmise that Americans may fight among each other issues of race, politics, and human rights; however, failed to allow others to come hashed out devastation on other Americans on American soil, or anywhere in the world. Common knowledge demonstrate that wealthier Americans; moreover, the rich in general do not serve equal time in jail for crimes committed as the poor. One have to surmise that people work their entire lives to amass riches to achieve an advantage in the world; even if it means special treatment in regard to unequal justice. Even though Betty v. Bradley deprived lawful representation to accusers charged with a crime; however, unable financially to secure representation in 1942, the Supreme Court ruled that the right of legal representation, and the sixth amendment obligated states to provide legal counsel nonetheless (Levin-Waldman, 2012). The writ of habeas corpus provides everyone the right to judge, jury, and trial. This law protects citizens from tyranny, unlawful arrest, and imprisonment without legal representation. The writ of habeas corpus presently address, or intervene between several procedures, (e.g., post convictions, prisoners not charged with a crime, prisoners awaiting trial, death row inmates, and prisoners serving long sentences than usual. The idea of habeas corpus will materialize often when discussing matters of civil liberties and the Constitution, and obviously people in general believe totally in this fundamental right. In the case of major disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina prove the shortcomings of government, and the incorrect intelligence toward finding weapons of mass destruction only substantiate that government assertions may turn out false. Nevertheless, that proves why the right to habeas corpus (a fair hearing before an impartial judge) proves written in the Constitution. Injustice anywhere prove injustice everywhere, and people in the United States regardless of their stature, and wealth stand guarantee the fundamental rights of due process under the law of habeas corpus. The Constitution of the United States make America the greatest country in the world; however, there are those constantly challenging the weight of the Constitution, pushing amendments to uncharted territories, and denying fundamental rights to those thought less deserving. Nevertheless, American patriots stand proud of the idea of a totally free nation, in which every ethnic group, men, and women can thrive together o n the rule of law. Reference Bradley, C. (2010). Clear statement rules and executive war powers. Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 33(1), 1439-148. Document ID: 1950961981. Foley, B. (2007). Guantanamo and beyond: Dangers of rigging the rules. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 97(4), 1009-10069. Document ID: 1466824931. Retrieved from ProQuest Central database, in the Ashford Online Library. Foner, E. (n.d.). Lincoln’s abuse of the presidential power [Video]. Available from http://www.5min.com/Video/Lincolns-Abuse-of-the-Presidential-Power-294084084 FOR A.tv. (2009). Gitmo and the writ of habeas corpus [Video]. Available from http://www.5min.com/Video/Gitmo-and-the-Writ-of-Habeas-Corpus-516897065 Halliday, P. (2011, March 17). Habeas corpus: From England to Empire [Video]. Available from http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/298560-5 Katyal, N., Bongiovanni, G., & Valentini, C. (2007, December). Terrorism, emergency powers, and the role of the U.S. Supreme Court: An interview with Neal K. Katyal . Ratio Juris, 20(4), 443-455. Retrieved from Academic search Premier (EBSCOhost), in the Ashford Online Library. Levin-Waldman, O. M.

Understanding Simple vs Controlled Experiments

Understanding Simple vs Controlled Experiments An experiment is a scientific procedure used to test a hypothesis, answer a question, or prove a fact. Two common types of experiments are simple experiments and controlled experiments. Then, there are simple controlled experiments and more complex controlled experiments. Simple Experiment Although the phrase simple experiment is tossed around to refer to any easy experiment, its actually a specific type of experiment. Usually, a simple experiment answers a What would happen if...? cause-and-effect type of question. Example: You wonder whether a plant grows better if you mist it with water. You get a sense of how the plant is growing without being misted and then compare this with growth after you start misting it. Why Conduct a Simple Experiment?Simple experiments usually provide quick answers. They can be used to design more complex experiments, typically requiring fewer resources. Sometimes simple experiments are the only type of experiment available, especially if only one sample exists. We conduct simple experiments all the time. We ask and answers questions like, Will this shampoo work better than the one I use?, Is it okay to use margarine instead of butter in this recipe?, If I mix these two colors, what will I get? Controlled Experiment Controlled experiments have two groups of subjects. One group is the experimental group and it is exposed to your test. The other group is the control group, which is not exposed to the test. There are several methods of conducting a controlled experiment, but a simple controlled experiment is the most common. The simple controlled experiment has just the two groups: one exposed to the experimental condition and one not-exposed to it. Example: You want to know whether a plant grows better if you mist it with water. You grow two plants. One you mist with water (your experimental group) and the other you dont mist with water (your control group). Why Conduct a Controlled Experiment?The controlled experiment is considered a better experiment because it is harder for other factors to influence your results, which could lead you to draw an incorrect conclusion. Parts of an Experiment Experiments, no matter how simple or complex, share key factors in common. HypothesisA hypothesis is a prediction of what you expect will happen in an experiment. Its easier to analyze your data and draw a conclusion if you phrase the hypothesis as an If-Then or cause and effect statement. For example, a hypothesis might be, Watering plants with cold coffee will make them grow faster. or Drinking cola after eating Mentos will cause your stomach to explode. You can test either of these hypotheses and gather conclusive data to support or discard a hypothesis.The null hypothesis or no-difference hypothesis is especially useful because it can be used to disprove a hypothesis. For example, if your hypothesis states, Watering plants with coffee will not affect plant growth yet if your plants die, experience stunted growth, or grow better, you can apply statistics to prove your hypothesis incorrect and imply a relationship between the coffee and plant growth does exist.Experimental VariablesEvery experiment has variables. The key variables are the independent and dependent variables. The independent variable is the one you control or change to test its effect on the dependent variable. The dependent variable depends on the independent variable. In an experiment to test whether cats prefer one color of cat food over another, you might state the null hypothesis, Food color does not affect cat food intake. The color of the cat food (e.g., brown, neon pink, blue) would be your independent variable. The amount of cat food eaten would be the dependent variable.Hopefully, you can see how experimental design comes into play. If you offer 10 cats one color of cat food each day and measure how much is eaten by each cat you might get different results than if you put out three bowls of cat food and let the cats choose which bowl to use or you mixed the colors together and looked to see which remained after the meal. DataThe numbers or observations you collect during an experiment are your data. Data are simply facts.ResultsResults are your analysis of the data. Any calculations you perform are included in the results section of a lab report.ConclusionYou conclude whether to accept or reject your hypothesis. Usually, this is followed by an explanation of your reasons. Sometimes you may note other outcomes of the experiment, particularly those that warrant further study. For example, if you are testing colors of cat food and you notice the white areas of all the cats in the study turned pink, you might note this and devise a follow-up experiment to determine whether eating the pink cat food affects coat color.

Study of Basel II and Financial institution strategic management The WritePass Journal

Study of Basel II and Financial institution strategic management INTRODUCTION Study of Basel II and Financial institution strategic management INTRODUCTIONThe Swedish financial market and other factorsDeposits and lending Interest ratesSafe and efficient payment mechanismMortgage marketInternet banking  Monetary policy updateEnvironmental factors in Sweden bankingCash Management FeaturesPayment infrastructure in Sweden  Ã‚  Future Aspects of SwedenNew international regulatory frame workIncreased cross-border workA coherent regulatory framework and cleaner division of roles between authorities in SwedenReferences:Related INTRODUCTION Banks play an important role in central importance for economic growth, credit allocation, financial stability, and the competitiveness and development manufacturing and service firms. The features of Sweden banking systems have changed significantly around the past 20 years. The increased availability of credit has been the corollary of the dismantling of barriers of trade in Sweden financial services. Sweden banking and finance sector went through many considerable changes in recent years which results in competition, not only between old big banks but also among new Swedish and foreign financial institutes. The main characteristics are that banking and finance has been liberalized and deregulated in Sweden. In Sweden banks have long experience in international business and International banks are now highly active. Before entering into the details of the above given reasons, we will be looking at the main structure of the Sweden’s banking system. In Sweden there are three d ifferent types of banks: commercial banks, i.e., limited liability banking companies, savings banks and a few cooperative banks. All these types of banks are entitled to participate in all types of banking activity. Because of mergers the number of banks has declined sharply, a tendency that has been most marked among the savings banks. From some 450 savings banks of the 1950s, the number had decreased to 85 by the late 1990s. Since the middle of the 1980s, however, numerous new banks have been established in Sweden. The two tired market structure can be described as with five large banks (Handelsbanken, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Nordbanken and Fà ¶renings Sparbanken as well as the Swedish subsidiary of a major Danish bank) having a combined market share of about 75–85 percent; the rest market is shared among around 100 smaller banks. The home market for Swedish banks has to a greater extent been seen to cover not only the traditional Nordic area but also the whole regi on surrounding the Baltic Sea. The four major Swedish banks are very broadly held. The largest owners are the Swedish government (less than 20 percent in Nordea), the Wallenberg-led investment company Investor (some 10 percent in SEB), the employees’ pension fund (some 10 percent in Svenska Handelsbanken), and the former savings banks foundations (some 20 percent in Swedbank, which was earlier a savings bank, which merged with a cooperative bank and became a commercial bank). Approximately one third of bank shares are held by non-Swedes. The medium and small-sized banks are generally held by one dominating owner, which in turn may have a widely spread ownership, such as Skandia. All savings banks are non-profit organizations and they are held by foundations. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority is a government authority responsible to the MoF. It exercises supervision over banks, credit market companies, and additionally e.g., insurance companies, insurance brokers and securities companies. The Central Bank Act assigns to the Riksbank the responsibility to ensure a stable and efficient payment system. It also assigns to the Riksbank the responsibility for monetary and exchange rate policy (including the management of the gold and currency reserves), as well as managing the issue of notes and coins, providing a clearing function for banks as well as accepting deposits from banks and granting them loans. The Central Bank also functions as lender of last resort providing financial aid to banks experiencing liquidity problems. Early 1990s, Sweden was in the middle of the most serious economic crisis. During that crisis unemployment has increased dramatically in the course of a few years and as a result the central government finances dropped. The reason behind this was assigned to deregulatory measures taken in 1985 which added to overly repaid credit expansion which contributed to a banking crisis followed by a currency crisis in 1990. The deregulation result was obvious. In just five years, the credit to GDP ratio for private sector moved up from 85 to 135 per cent (Governor Backstrom, 1997). Credit market deregulation in 1985 was important in it, meant that the monetary conditions became more expansionary. This co-occurred, moreover, with rising activity, comparatively high inflation expectations and tax system that favoured borrowing, and remaining exchange controls that held investment in foreign assets. In the absence of a restrictive economic policy to block all this, the free credit market headed t o a quickly growing stock of debt. The credit boom coincided with rising share and real estate prices. In the second half of the 1980s, real aggregate asset prices increased by over 125 per cent. A speculative bubble had been yielded. As time goes on the Swedish economy became increasingly insecure to shocks. In the late 1980s, competitiveness had been eroded by the relatively high inflation which results in an overvalued currency. This made exports to weaken and intended that the fixed exchange rate policy began to be questioned, heading to periods with relatively high interest rates. On the other hand, the tax system was rectified in order to decrease its harmful economic effects but this also added to higher post-tax interest rates. Economic activity turned downwards and asset prices started to fall. From 1990 to 1993 GDP dropped by 6 per cent. Unemployment hit up from 3 to 12 per cent of the labour force and the public sector; grow worse to 12 per cent of GDP. A wave of bankrupt cies was a great blow to the banking sector, which in this period had to plan for loan losses equivalent of 12 per cent of annual GDP. After this crisis when Basel II came into practice than Sweden banking sector’s golden period began, as common International regulation and model for the banking industry, the reliability and development of financial systems and also important for   countries’ economy. One such framework is Basel II which was introduced in 2004. It is grounded on Basel I which comprised of a credit risk measurement guideline and minimum capital requirement. Basel II dwells of three pillars in that minimum capital requirement, the supervision process, and market discipline are regulated (Finansinspektionen 2002). The main purpose of Basel II is to lessen banks capital requirement, by offering them the ability to choose the methods that reflect their calculating risk (BCBS, 2004). A study called the fifth quantitative impact study (QIS 5) presented in 2006 by the Basel committee on banking supervision(BCBS) that was based on data from the fall of 2005 (Finansinspektionen 2006 )and the purpose was to analyse how Basel II affect bank with regard to their capital requirements. The study showed that if we compare Basel I and Basel II, minimum capital requirement could be reduced in Basel II. After QIS 5 BCBS had not presented any other study showing how Basel II had affected the banking industry and mainly study aspires to fulfil part of that gap by analysing how capital ratio, the net credit loss level and the degree of disclosure have progressed for the four largest banks in Sweden during the implementation of Basel II as this has not previously been looked at. Hypothetically the impact Basel II has had on these variables will be presented based on these observation. The Swedish financial market and other factors Efficient and reliable systems for saving, financing, mediating payments, and controlling risk are vital for the well-being of the Swedish economy. These systems are managed by banks, insurance companies, securities companie; other types of enterprise and other credit institutions in the financial sector. The financial industry account for just over four per cent of the country’s total output, defined as its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). More than 90,000 people, about two per cent of the country’s total working population, work in the Swedish financial industry. The financial sector has expanded dramatically during the past decade. Established companies have extended scope of their business, and many new companies have started entering the markets. One crucial change is that banks and insurance companies interfering into each other’s areas, and as a consequence, all of Sweden’s major banks are now in the life insurance business and some insurance companies own their own banks. On the other hand customers are banking more and more via the internet or the phone. These new facilities have changed the development of new services and compounded competition on the banking market through the establishment of new banks. Moreover, Swedes are investing mostly in funds and insurance policies as they turn away from traditional bank saving. Approximately more than 85 per cent of the population in Sweden have some of their savings in funds or equities, which is a very high proportion by international standards. Deposits and lending The core activity of a bank is to accept deposits and provide credit. At the end of 2002, bank deposits from the public (i.e. mainly households and non-financial enterprises) amounted to 1,242 billion kronor. The bulk of these deposits – approximately 42 per cent come from Swedish households. Swedish companies account for around 32 per cent of total deposits and foreign depositors for some 22 per cent. Bank lending has increased in recent years, to reach 1,360 billion kronor by the end of 2002. 47 per cent of this lending to the public goes to the Swedish business sector, while households and foreign borrowers account for 21 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. Interest rates The interest rates banks set for their deposits and credit are largely dependent on the rates prevailing on the money market. Other factors that influence interest rates include the creditworthiness of the borrower, competition among credit institutions, and competition for different types of saving. The average rate of interest paid and charged by the banks has been declining steadily since the beginning of the 1990s. The interest spread – the gap between the average interest rate received on credits and that paid on deposits – has also tended to narrow during the same period. Safe and efficient payment mechanism Another important function of a bank is to provide a means of payment. The Swedish payment system, which includes the bank giro service and the postal giro, is technically rather advanced, and has a reputation for efficiency. This means that payments are transacted quickly, securely and at low cost. Mortgage market In Sweden, mortgage loans are usually provided by specialist credit market companies known as mortgage credit institutions. The total volume of outstanding loans of these institutions amounted to SEK 1,200 billion at the end of 2002. For many years now, lending by mortgage credit institutions has exceeded the volume of bank lending in Sweden. The mortgage credit institutions provide credit primarily for residential property, but also for commercial and office buildings and municipalities. Mortgage loans are secured by collateral, normally in the form of a mortgage on the property. The lending consists of a first mortgage, which involves pledging the property for up to 70-80 percent of its value. Additional credit is then often provided in the form of a second mortgage by the bank that owns the mortgage institution or by another bank with which the institution co-operates. Mortgage institutions offer a wide range of credit facilities at variable or fixed interest rates. Internet banking   Swedish banks are among the most advanced in internet banking services. All major banks in Sweden offer online status on accounts and other assets, online payments, and the possibility to buy and sell units in funds and shares. Corporate customers have been able to bank via the internet for many years. At the end of 2009, there were a total of around 50, 00000 internet banking users and approximately 15million internet payments. Internet surveys show that customers are very pleased with the Bank’s online service. This was confirmed by IBM and Interbred, which ranked FSB as number one in Europe and number two in the World (Swedbank Annual Report, 2009). Monetary policy update The Swedish economy is performing well, and GDP grew by almost 7 per cent in the third quarter of this year, compared with the same quarter last year as the fig shown below. The strength of the Swedish economy is also reflected in the labour market statistics. The labour market has been recovering throughout 2010 and indicators point to a continuing rapid improvement. The world economy is expected to grow by a good 4 per cent a year in the coming years. Economic activity remains good in the emerging economies in Asia and Latin America. In both the United States and the Euro zone, economic prospects look slightly better in the short run than was forecast in the October Monetary Policy Report. At the same time, the global imbalances remain and concern over public finance in several countries has increased. Despite the relatively divided international outlook, the indicators for the Swedish economy point to continued strong growth in the coming period. GDP growth is expected to amount t o 5.5 per cent in 2010 and to over 4 per cent in 2011, and then to decline. The recovery has been relatively rapid and Sweden is also expected to experience higher growth than many other countries in 2011. As the graph below shows that resource utilisation is currently lower than normal, but is expected to be normal or slightly above normal towards the end of the forecast period. Underlying Inflation measured as the CPIF was 1.9 per cent in November. It is expected to fall at the end of 2011 and then rise again towards 2 per cent. Higher mortgage rates will lead to the CPI rising slightly faster than the CPIF and it is expected to exceed 2.5 per cent in 2013. In the longer run, when the repo rate stabilises, the two measures of Inflation will coincide. To stabilise Inflation close to the target of 2 per cent and avoid resource utilisation becoming too high, there is a need to gradually raise the repo rate towards more normal levels. The repo rate is therefore being raised to 1.25 per cent. The forecast for the repo rate remains largely unchanged in relation to the forecast in the October Monetary Policy Report. Environmental factors in Sweden banking Sweden is a democratic monarchy. It is the largest Scandinavia country with over 9 million inhabitants. Sweden has been known for its neutrality and policy of non-alignment with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. It is a member of most international organizations (UN, UNESCO, WHO etc).  Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1995 but decided not to join EMU. A referendum in 2003 rejected the euro by a decisive margin – against the advice of the government and the wishes of business. The Prime Minister stated it was unlikely there would be a new referendum before 2010. Key economic indicators for 2008 estimates (Source: Central Intelligence Agency Country Profiles) 69.6% of the economy is in the services sector, 28.9% industrial and 1.5% agriculture. Population: 9,045,389 GDP: USD 358.4 billion Per capita GDP: USD 39,600 Real GDP growth: 0.9% Unemployment: 6.2% Public debt/GDP: 36.5%    Cash Management Features Activity is highly automated with major activity inside the Bankgirot and Plusgirot systems. Rather than hold accounts in both and maintain liquidity in both, it is possible to hold accounts just at the Nordea group, into which the Plusgirot has been subsumed. The EUR has emerged as a parallel domestic currency for business, notwithstanding Sweden’s rejection in 2003 of EUR membership. The old E-RIX system that was connected to TARGET and used to settle domestic EUR trade has been abolished. EBA is now used to settle EUR transactions.  Group account (Balance netting) is the preferred Liquidity Management technique domestically, and can be used for both single and multi-currency. Zero balancing is also available domestically and is getting more common than earlier due to multinational corporate customer Payment infrastructure in Sweden   Most Swedish companies have a business account in a Swedish bank. The majority of domestic non-cash payments are affected through the two giro systems, PlusGirot and Bankgirot. PlusGirot  -: The PlusGiro system is a part of Nordea. Thus, Nordea is the only bank in Sweden that can provide a connection to both PlusGirot and Bankgirot in SEK or EUR, meaning an all-in-one account for all the payments regardless if they are routed through the PlusGiro or the Bankgiro system. Bankgiro  -: The Bankgiro system is operated by Bankgirocentralen AB (BGC), a bank-owned subcontractor of payment processing services. All banks in Sweden participate in the Bankgiro system. It functions as an automated clearing house (ACH). Payments can be made in SEK or EUR.   Payment Instruments The vast majority of activity clears electronically: there is a high degree of automation. This is supported by very high usage of internet for payment initiation. There is still a form of paper-based credit transfer but the clear growth is in electronic initiation.  This extends to electronic bill presentment, where the debtor can initiate a credit transfer in their electronic banking by clicking through form the bill itself.  In terms of volume, credit transfers and debit cards are the most used, whilst in terms of value it is credit transfers.  Sweden has a high density of ATMs and EFTPOS, and this is the part of the payments market that is growing most dynamically. 1) Cheques 2) Electronic payment ( The RTGS system in Sweden is operated by the Riksbank) 3)   Cards 4)   Internet banking These all are the factors in the Sweden banking environment which make the Sweden banking system much stronger than any other banking system. Sweden is capable of providing all the facilities to its consumers and its partners domestically and internationally and Sweden is having the biggest usage of internet banking amongst all other countries and more advance at this moment.   Future Aspects of Sweden The Riksbank’s financial stability works in 2011 was largely characterised by the financial crisis and its aftermath. After having stabilised in the winter of 2010/11, unease again increased in the financial market in springs 2010 as consequence of the state of the public finances of several countries in the southern Europe. The unease became acute in May in connection with the downgrading of the Greek government’s credit rating. The aftermath of the financial crisis is the extensive work continued of reforming national and international regulatory codes and improving supervision of the financial crisis. An important part of this work in Sweden is to clarify the Riksbank’s responsibility for financial stability. New international regulatory frame work A large part of the Riksbank’s stability work was focused during the year , as in 2010, on studying and influencing   the framing of the future financial regulatory framework of future financial regulatory framework and supervision .since Swedish banks and financial institution are governed by law framed at EU level, which in turn to a great extent are based on guideline drawn up by other international bodies, the Riksbank participated in continued discussions both at EU level and within the bank of international settlement (BIS). During the year a new regulatory framework for financial institution called Basel III was established. Increased cross-border work The financial crisis has shown that there are great differences in the legislation at national level. Because of these differences, during the crisis it was difficult to handle problem in banks that operates in several different countries. Consequently several international projects are in progress that, address how banks with cross border operations are to be dealt with (For Example, First Deputy Governor of the Riksbank Svantà © Oberg).   In 2010 the Riksbank also took part in the preparatory work ahead of the start-up of the new European system risk board (ESRB) in 2011. A coherent regulatory framework and cleaner division of roles between authorities in Sweden In view of the lessons learned from the financial crisis and the extensive regulatory work that is in progress in the international arena, the Riksbank believes that it is important to carry out a thorough overhaul of the financial regulatory framework in Sweden as well. The general Council of the riksbank and the executive board of the riksbank and the executive board of the Riksbank accordingly proposed in a joint submission to the Riksdag that one or several inquiries should be set up to review the regulatory framework in the financial sector. The Swedish banks’ resilience continued to improve in the second half of the year as a result of the economic recovery the situation of the Swedish bank continued to improve. The economic recovery had become stronger than previously expected. Consequently, the Swedish banks loans loss continue to fall and according to Riksbank forecast in the financial stability report in December they were lower than the Riksbank had expected in June.    References: Anonymous, (May 2010). Sweden: financial sector assessment program –detailed assessment of observer of standard and codes, international monetary fund Washington DC. Dec 2010, Monetary policy updates, SVERIGES RIKSBANK. Ekstrom , F., Johansson, E. (2011). The development of the Swedish banking industry during the implementation of Basel II Rai , S. (2007). Central Banking System. A bench marking study of India and Sweden. Sweden Banking Environment www.ibosassociation.com/en/countries/western/europe/sweden (Accessed on 07 April 2011).