Malham Field UK Essay Example for Free

Malham Field UK Essay Malham field is very vast piece of land situated the northern eastern of the England. It lies within the Yorkshire part of England. The region has wide variations of geographical features which contribute to the attractiveness of the region as centre of tourism attraction. The region has therefore been a region of great importance in the development of geographical learning and other linked course such as agricultures, tourism as well as fishing. (Raistrick, 1972) The geology The Malham field is a region famous of geological activities. One of the most famous geological activities in the sites lies with the presence of limestone features of their own uniqueness. The place is well known because of the wide variety of features, however, the site has is deeply significant in geological work through the understanding of limestone. Generally, Malham is speculated to be a region of useful limestone minerals. The region has been of unique shape which is attributed to the endowment of limestone. The presence of the limestone of the nature of KARST in this portion of land has led to the spectacular landscape. (O’Connor 1964): Due to the nature of limestone present, the region experiences underground drainage more often rather than surface drainage and run offs. Therefore, like in many other areas where KARST occurs, the underground drainage forms a main feature in the region. The presence of limestone in region makes it possible in the formation of different geographical feature. These physical geographical features formed in the region depend on the chemical properties of calcium carbonate. The rocks are readily dissolved by rainwater. As result of this kind of rock the cover the land, the reactions of the rock with rainwater leads to the formation of sinkholes. Usually, sinkholes which are salient features in the regions occur with surface water disappearing underground hence leaving behind dry valleys and stream less. The nature of the rock in the area also prevents ease formation of the soils. The rock has very high rate of dissolving which renders the processes of soils formation quite impossible. While soils are not easily formed on soluble rocks, then the place has vast lands with bare rocks. In addition to bare rocks, other common salient features in the regions includes crags and pavements Figure 1 The figure above shows the presence of several feature found in the region. Bare rock s and other features are clearly indicated. Scree slopes and crags are shown in the figure with varying ways. This figure was retrieve from http://www. malhamdale. com/geology. htm on 21 February, 2009 Landforms and soils The part of Malham has several features which are formed through different activities. There are two major activities which are involved in the formation of the various landforms in the region. Perhaps, there are three most distinct ways in which these features are attained. One of these is the glaciations process which is believed to have taken place during the era of ice ages. The place of Malham is said to have been covered with glaciers at about 15000 years ago. The sheet of ice that covered Malham glaciated leading to scoured and modified KARST landscape. This made the place to come to be referred to as GLACIOKARST landscape. The process led to the formation of limestone pavement with exposed rocks to the element of the environment. (Burek et al,1998) The figure 2 below shows an example of limestone pavement. Retrieved from http://www. malhamdale. com/cove. htm on 21 February, 2009 The figure above shows a Malham cove which is said to be an inspiration to numerous art and literature work. The Malham cove is a huge shaped cliff formed of limestone rock. The top of the cove is covered by classical limestone pavement. The high of the vertical face of the cliff is 260 feet. The cove is deeply eroded at the top. (Muir 1991) The other kind of features and landscapes can result through erosion and solution processes. Generally, these processes are likely to create feature of tourism attraction such as the Gordale Scar. This is a huge gorge that existed since the ice ages in which water melted forming a cavern that gradually collapsed resulting to waterfall and a gorge (Sweeting, 1972) Vegetation and drainage The Malham part has mostly underground drainage system. This is because the rock allows the formation of such systems more easily than any other drainage systems. Most of the rivers in this region remain as dry river bed due to percolation of the surface water from the surface. Most rivers become surface drainage systems only with heavy rainfall. Despite that the region has several underground water systems; the Malham tarn is salient feature within the region. While most of the drainage systems are naturally salty, the Malham Tarn system has been very significant in the provision of freshwater. The Malham tarn lake draws off its contents to the small stream of Malham water. This system of the Malham water enters to the limestone where it disappears at water sinks. The system continues with its course by adopting the common way of underground channel before it reappears at the Airehead Springs in the southern part of Malham. (Smith and Atkinson, 1977) Figure 3 Malham Tarn lake drainage system This is the famous largest freshwater lake in the United Kingdom Climate The region of Malham experiences four climatic seasons in a year. However, there has been some change in the recent times which is not only being experienced in this region but is a matter that is causing an alarm allover the world. The Malham region is being affected by the global warming process which is taking place in whole world. The winter season is portrayed to have the extreme of temperature increase, implying that there is the least frost and ground air at such a time. During the summer period, the amount of rainfall is more or less that received during the winter time. However, there has a tendency of drier summers and wetter winters in the past few decades. (Manley, 1979)

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features

Defining SMEs and Identifying their features Governmental committee findings and research schemes have different approaches about the definition and the characteristics of small and medium businesses. Regarding performance of SMEs Westhead Storey have mentioned the small firm is not a scaled down version of a large firm. In short, theories relating to SMEs must consider the motivations, constraints and uncertainties facing smaller firms and recognize that these differ from those facing large firms. There are so many criteria either qualitative or quantitative to decide what form an enterprise is. In case of quantitative measures; staffing level, turnover and asset can be mentioned while others carry qualitative approach. Not only there is a large number of prospects regarding the features of SMEs but also governmental viewpoints conduct a numerous of SMEs definitions depending on the county being considered. For example the report which has been issued by Wiltshire Committee in Australia has shown this flexible definition of any SMEs (Meredith, 1994) Small business is one in which one or two persons are required to make all of the critical decisions (such as finance, accounting, personnel, inventory, production, servicing, marketing and selling decisions) without the aid of internal (employed) specialists and with owners only having specific knowledge in one or two functional areas of management. United states pay more attention to the position of organization within the overall marketplace. According to United States Small Business Administration (SBA) SMEs have the following definition An SME shall be deemed to be one which is independently owned and operated and which is not dominant in its field of operation. On the other hand the quantitative attitude has been emerged in United Kingdom, defining an SME as: Having fewer than 50 employees and is not a subsidiary of any other company. Small and medium enterprises have their own characteristics and applying large-scaled companies features to SMEs is not suitable. The studies which have done by Reynolds et al., (1994), Murphy (1996), Bunker MacGregor (2000) show differences in management style between large business and SMEs. These studies have illustrated SMEs tend to have a small management team rather than a group of people (often prefer to have one or two individuals), they are strictly monitored by owner of the firm and they have little control over their environment and responsibilities and the wish they could be independent. Differences between SMEs and larger firms are magnified even more when they move toward IT (Bunker and MacGregor 2000). Khan and khan (1992) mentioned that SMEs prefer not to run complicated applications on their computers. According to a general point of view of literature, a summary of features of SMEs has been reported by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) which is illustrated in Table. SMEs characteristics can be categorized either internal or external. Internal features embrace management, decision making and planning processes, and acquisition of resources on the other hand external characteristics are associated to the market (products/services and customers) and external environment. ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT1 SMEs have small and centralized management with a short range perspective. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor(2002) Welsh white (1981) INT2 SMEs have poor management skills. Blili Raymond (1993) INT3 SMEs have informal and inadequate planning and record keeping processes. Reynolds et al., (1994) Tetteh Burn (2001) Miller Besser (2000) Rotch (1981) INT4 SMEs exhibit a strong desire for independence and avoid business ventures which impinge on their independence. Dennis (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) INT5 The SMEs owner(s) has/have a strong influence in the decision making process Reynolds et al., (1994) Murphy (1996) Munker MacGregor (2000) INT6 SMEs owners often withhold information from colleagues. Dennis (2000) INT7 The decision making process in SMEs is intuitive, rather than bases on detailed planning and exhaustive study. Reynolds et al.. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) INT8 Intrusion of family values and concerns in decision making processes. Dennis (2000) Bunker MacGregor (2000) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by INT9 SMEs are more intent on improving day-to-day procedures SMEs face difficulties obtaining finance and other resources, and as a result have fewer resources. MacGregor et al., (1998) Cragg King (1993) Welsh White (1981) Gaskill Gibbs (1994) Reynolds et al. (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) INT 10 SMEs are more reluctant to spend on information technology and therefore have limited use of technology. Walczuch et al. (2000) Dennis (2000) MacGregor Bunker (1996) Poon Swatman (1997) Abell Limm (1996) INT11 SMEs have a lack of technical knowledge and specialist staff and provide little IT training for staff. Martin Matlay (2001) Cragg King (1993) Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al., (1994) Blili Raymond (1993) Table 1: Internal characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) ID Characteristics of SMEs Reported by EXT 1 SMEs have a narrow product/service range. Bunker MacGregor (2000) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT2 SMEs have a limited share of the market (often confined toward a niche market) and therefore heavily rely on few customer. Hadjimonolis (1999) Lawrence (1997) Quayle (2002) Reynolds et al. (1994) EXT3 SMEs are product oriented, while large businesses are more customer oriented. Reynolds et al. (1994) Bunker MacGregor (2000) MacGregor et al(1998) EXT4 SMEs are not interested in large shares of the market. Reynolds et al. (1994) MacGregor et al. (1998) EXT5 SMEs are unable to compete with their larger counterparts. Lawrence (1997) EXT6 SMEs have lower control over their external environment than larger businesses and therefore face more uncertainty. Westhead Storey (1996) Hill Stewart(2000) EXT7 SMEs face more risks than large businesses because the failure rates of SMEs are higher. Brigham Smith (1967) Delone (1988) Cochran (1981) Table 2: External characteristics of SMEs categorized by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) Obviously, the most significant SMEs feature which clarifies border between small businesses and their larger counterpart is uncertainty the characteristic which has been come up by Westhead Storey (1996) and Hill Stewart (2000). It takes root in lacking control over external environment and this feature shows differences between large enterprises and their small counterparts. Electronic Commerce As the term electronic commerce is still an emerging concept, the definition varies between different contexts. Generally electronic commerce refers to the replacement of physical economic processes with electronic ones and the creation of new models for collaboration among trading partners. According to Tuunainen (1999) E-commerce consists of transaction oriented internet base functions (e.g. on-line catalogs, purchasing and payment).For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used. There are a numerous studies regarding E-commerce so there are so many definitions for E-commerce.Turban et al. (2002) have expressed this definition as an emerging concept that describes the process of buying, selling or exchanging services and information via computer networks. Cummings and LeMaire (2005) described the meaning of E-commerce as an online system that allows customers to perform transactions over Internet. This process consists of whole business steps from ordering to delivery. Raymond (2001) specified E-commerce as functions of information exchange and commercial transaction support that operate on telecommunications networks linking business partners (typically customers and suppliers). Another definition which has been mentioned by MacGregor and Vrazalic (2004) is one of which presented by Damanpour (2001) as any net business activity that transforms internal and external relationships to create value and exploit market opportunities driven by new rules of the connected economy. Zwass (1996) identified another definition for E-commerce as sharing of business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks. An e-commerce and development report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) anticipated total value of world e-commerce in 2002 at about US$2.3 trillion, and it came to US$12.8 trillion by 2006 (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002) so in the words of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations: E-commerce is one of the most visible examples of the way in which information and communication technologies (ICT) can contribute to economic growth. It helps countries improve trade efficiency and facilitates the integration of developing countries into the global economy. It allows businesses become more competitive. And it provides jobs, thereby creating wealth (E-commerce and Development Report, 2002).

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre as a Coming of Age Story Essay -- Jane Ey

Jane Eyre as a Coming of Age Story   Charlotte Bronte's classic, Jane Eyre, is a "coming of age" story. The main character, Jane, travels from the innocence of childhood through the maturity of adulthood. During this journey, Jane goes through the battle of education vs. containment, where she attempts to learn about herself and about the world. She must constantly battle a containment of sorts, however, whether it be a true physical containment or a mental one. This battle of education vs. containment can be seen by following Jane through her different places of residence, including Gateshead Hall, Lowood Institution, Thornfield, Moor House and Morton, and Ferndean Manor, where she is, finally, fully educated and escapes the feeling of containment which she held throughout the novel. The story begins as Jane lives with the Reed family in their home at Gateshead Hall. Here, the theme of education vs. containment develops immediately, as Jane is kept confined indoors on a cold winter day. The other children (Eliza, John, and Giorgiana) are "clustered round their mamma in the drawing-room" (Bronte: 39) being educated, as Jane had been excluded from the group. Jane tries to educate herself by reading from Berwick's History of British Birds, but once again, she is held back from her attempt at enlightenment by the abuse of John Reed, who castigates her and throws the heavy book at her. In anger, Jane cries out, "You are like a murderer - you are like a slave-driver - you are like the Roman emperors" (Bronte: 43). In this passage, Jane compares John Reed to a slave-driver because, like a slave-driver, he deprives Jane of her attempt at education and keeps her suppressed. Afterwards, Jane is blamed for the entire incident and... ...ome of the modern woman, as she manages a perfect balance between both, the spiritual and the physical, which is what she really wanted in life. Works Cited and Consulted Beaty, Jerome. Misreading Jane Eyre. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1996. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1991 Bronte, Charlotte. "Charlotte Bronte's Letters". New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971. Dowta, Dr. Allyson. Women and the Written Word. Trenton: Prentice Hall, 1992. Fraser, Rebecca. The Brontes. 1st ed. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Crown Publishers, 1988.    Gates, Barbara Timm, ed. Critical Essays on Charlotte Bronte. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990.    Jane Eyre. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsborough, and Anna Paquin. 1996    Jane Eyre. Dir. Julian Aymes. Perf. Timothy Dalton, Zelah Clarke. 1983   

Personal Narrative: Death in a Dream Essay -- Narrative Essay Dying De

Dream a Little Dream My grandmother always said, â€Å"you cannot choose between life or death while sleeping†. When you are sleeping, your body practically doesn’t belong to you. Its almost as though you have no control over anything that might happen to you in your dreams, especially if it is something dangerous. When I ask people why this happens, they theorize that a powerful force or being has entrapped your body. You could end up dying in your dreams, thus leading to your death or illness in reality. It’s possible for someone to suffer a heart attack from what they dreamt, depending on how frightening the situation was. I’ve heard of people going to bed one night and, the next morning, waking up not remembering who they are or actually becoming insane. It is with these mysterious beliefs that one becomes afraid to dream anymore. I had never actually experienced a life and death situation while sleeping, at least not until recently. It was in early November of 2001, if I remember correctly, on a Thursday night, when I was just closing my eyes to enjoy a nice peaceful sleep. I could feel myself floating almost like someone was taking me from my room. I couldn’t feel anything, since I was literally out cold. Suddenly, I was awake with my eyes closed and my body unmoved. I tried to open my eyes, but they could not open, I tried to move my body, but I would not stir. My efforts were futile; I eventuall...

Pollution and Culture in Greenland :: Greenland Environment Ecology Pollute Essays

Greenland is contaminated with considerable amounts of pollution, caused by large-scale atmospheric circulations, especially in winter. The pollutants in the Arctic are primarily sulfur, which is highly acidic, in both gas and aerosol form. Most of these pollutants are from anthropogenic sources deriving mainly from industrialized areas in the Eurasian continent. In addition to threatening environmental stability, pollution is speeding the unraveling of traditional Inuit culture in Greenland. Climate change is affecting the entire world, yet Greenland is especially sensitive to slight fluctuations due to its dependency of the natives’ traditional lifestyles on the environment. Melting ice and permafrost restrict access to hunting grounds making a traditional way of life consisting of hunting seal and caribou more difficult.2 Every four years, the Inuit living in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia convene the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) to discuss issues of concern. The ICC lobbied successfully to ban a dozen organic pollutants, carried north by winds, that do not evaporate in the Arctic cold. These pollutants were infecting meat and berries, staples of the Inuit diet, as well as the breast milk of nursing mothers.3 There are many more problems facing the sustainability of Greenland, such as trans-boundary pollution and the fact that the Inuit are not an effective lobbying group due to differences in culture, dialect, and lack of communication. In November of 2004, a report by 250 scientists warned that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, which threatens to wipe out several species including polar bears, and melt summer ice around the North Pole by 2100.4 One of the reasons for the increased warming is that the dark water and ground in the arctic soak up more heat from the atmosphere than ice or snow. The levels of carbon dioxide today are about 379ppm and increasing, a comparable level to 55 million years ago when there was no ice on the planet due to the warmth of the atmosphere.5 If the Greenland ice cap melts, the sea level will rise six or seven meters. Although this is a worst-case scenario, it seems clear that steps must be taken to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in our atmosphere. Investigations of pollutants in Greenland during the past fifteen years show that the troposphere is burdened with high levels of trans-boundary pollution. The major anthropogenic contributors to this â€Å"Arctic haze† are central Europe, and northern Russia.

BADM 3601 †Operations Management Assignmen

Caroline Walsh BADM 3601 – Operations Management Assignment # 4? Due: Monday November 12th ? 5:00 PM (a) Â  A study? aid desk manned by a graduate student has been established to answer student’s questions and help in working problems in your OM course. The desk is staffed eight hours per day. The dean wants to know how the facility is working. Statistics show that students arrive at a rate of four per hour, and the distribution is approximately Poisson. Assistance time averages 10 minutes, distributed exponentially. Assume population and line length can be infinite and queue discipline is FCFS.Using this information, answer the following questions. i. Calculate the percent of utilization of the graduate student P= 4/6 = 2/3 = . 6667 percent utilization ii. Determine the average number of students in the system ?= 4 per hour ?= 6 students helped an hour Ls= 4/ 6-4 = 4/2 = 2 students in the system on average. iii. Calculate the average time in the system Ws= 1/ 6-4 = ? = . 5 hours average time in the system iv. Find out the probability of four or more students being in line or being served P0= 1 – 4/6 = 1- 2/3 = . 33 probability that there are 4 or more students being in line or being served. . Before a test, the arrival of students increases to five per hour on the average. ?Compute the average number of students waiting under this scenario. Lq= 4^2 / 6 (6-4) = 16/ 12= 1. 33 student waiting in line on average. (b) Â  What are the three characteristics of a waiting? line system? 1. Arrivals or inputs to the system: these have characteristics such as population size, behavior, and a statistical distribution. 2. Queue discipline, or the waiting line itself: characteristics of the queue include whether is it limited or unlimited in length and the discipline of people or items in it. . The service facility: its characteristics include its design and the statistical distribution of service times. —————— ———————————————————————– Question 2. Radovilsky’s Department Store in Haywood, California, maintains a successful catalog sales department in which a clerk takes orders by telephone. If the clerk is occupied on one line, incoming phone calls to the catalog department are answered automatically by a recording machine and asked to wait.As soon as the clerk is free, the party who has waited the longest is transferred and serviced first. Calls come in at a rate of about 12 per hour. The clerk can take an order in an average of 4 minutes. Calls tend to follow a Poisson distribution, and service times tend to be exponential. The cost of the clerk is $10 per hour, but because of lost goodwill and sales, Radovilsky’s loses about $25 per hour of customer time spent waiting for the clerk to take an order. ?= 12 ? = 15 (a) What is the average time that catalog customers must wait before their calls are transferred to the order clerk?Wq= 12/ 15 (15-12) = . 2667 average time to wait before transferred (b) What is the average number of callers waiting to place an order? Lq = 12^2 / 15 (15- 12) = 3. 2 average number of callers waiting to place an order (c) Radovilsky’s is considering adding a second clerk to take calls. The store’s cost would be the same $10 per hour. Should it hire another clerk? Explain your decision. Yes they should hire another clerk because the customer average wait time and average number of callers waiting to place an order indicate that a second representative is needed.

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes Essay

â€Å"Mother to Son†, published in 1922 by Langston Hughes, was one of the most famous poems he had written. Hughes was African-American and was born in 1902. While living in the 1900’s Hughes and his family experienced the hardships of racism, discrimination, and slavery. Therefore, this poem is not only words of encouragement from a mother to a son, but also words of encouragement to the entire African American community. This poem of inspiration let the community know that the difficulties that they all had to endure at the time were felt by all and that they were not alone in the struggle. Hughes wrote this from the standpoint of a mother encouraging her son to keep going no matter what hardships he may experience. She explained that life is hard and he is not the only one who has had to endure the experience of life’s hard lessons. The poem passes on a message from a mother to her son instructing him that he must remain optimistic despite the obstacles that life can bring. The mother compares her life to a set of old broken down wooden stairs. Using the metaphor that â€Å"life for me has not been any set of crystal stairs† (2, 20), she implies to her son that her life has not been easy or pleasant either. The mother continues to tell her son of the obstacles that she has overcome by describing the old wooden stairs. She says â€Å"it has had tacks in it and splinters and boards torn up and places with no carpet on the floor – bare.† (3-7) The tacks on the stairs were placed there by another person representing the wrong doings to her by another person and the splinters may have been the result of her actions. These tacks and splinters symbolize the cruel reality of life, as opposed to the ideal fantasy life, such as having a set of â€Å"crystal stairs†. Through the voice of the mother, Hughes uses the set of stairs as a metaphor for life and the hardships that they can bring. In spite of these obstacles the mother has moved up the stairs and has overcome them. She tells him she has â€Å"been a climbin’ on, and reachin’ landin’s, and turnin’ corners, and sometimes going in the dark when there ain’t been no light† (9-13). She means here that sometimes she was blind to where the  stairs or her life was leading her and the direction was unknown, but she still continued. The mother continues to encourage her son by telling him â€Å"not to turn back or set down on the steps ’cause you finds it’s kinder hard† (14-16). She is telling her him not to give up regardless of how hard things may seem at the time and if he continues on he will eventually overcome these obstacles that are causing him such despair. She believes that once you stop it is harder to get started again and she encourages him by telling him how she’s â€Å"still goin, honey and I’se sill climin’ and that life for me ain’t been no crystal stair† (18-20). She also tells him that she has made it and still has to encounter these obstacles even in her golden years and she did not give up and has not given up and if she is strong enough to make it then so can he. Through a mother’s voice Hughes uses metaphors, symbolism, and imagery. He also conveys a message of encouragement. Durring the time this he wrote this poem the message may have been directed towards the African American community; however, today the message is directed to all who feel like giving into the hard times that life can and will bring. Hughes also reminds us that we are not alone in these hard times and that everyone experiences the same hard times in some form or another. Langston Hughes’ died in 1967; I hope he knew that this poem spoke words of encouragement not only to the African American race but also to the rest of us needing some inspiration. His poem reminds up to be hopeful and to not give up on ourselves.