Role of the Public Relations Professional Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role of the Public Relations Professional - Essay Example public relations department help increase the customer base of a company and it helps build a better corporate image which indirectly helps the marketing department. This paper discusses public relations and its impact in the corporate world. Public relations activities can either be perform in-house or by an external public relations agency. There are many successful businesses out there in the global economy. These companies may be good at their expertise, but most of them do not have the functional business knowledge to perform an adequate job with specific business functions such as public relations. Due to this business reality public relation agency such as 5W Public Relations exist. 5W is one of the 25 largest public relations agencies in the United States whose goal is to successful deliver their client’s messages to the target audiences (5wpr, 2009). Some of the corporate clients that enjoy the services of 5W are rapper Ice Cube, Barnes & Noble, Harrahs, Nice, Phillips Van Hausen Corporation, and McDonalds. Many of these corporate clients choose to outsource their public relations activities to public relations a public relation agency such as 5W because it more cost effective to contract them than to perform these types of activities themselves. For example in order to be successful with media relation you have good contacts with news and media channels to get media players to participate in your media initiatives. It is much easier for public relation agency to deal with the networking, than for a sole corporation or specific client to do it themselves. Public relations can have a high level of importance for corporation when they get into trouble due to bad corporate action that hurt the brand image of a firm. An example of a company that needed major help from its public relations activities after mishandling its international activities was Nike Corporation. In the late 1990’s Nike got involved in manufacturing activities in developing nation

Compare and contrast the ways that social media marketing can help Essay

Compare and contrast the ways that social media marketing can help organizations to market their products - Essay Example At the final section of the report, it has been analysed and observed that social media marketing not only helps in marketing products/services efficiently, but also provides immense facilities of creating long term and healthy relationship benefits with the existing as well as potential customers. In the modern age, social media has become one of the essential parts of human lives. It is often observed that more than 250 million people are the users of social media sites today. Perhaps it is owing to the benefits offered by social media as one of the most effective and convenient forms of communication between the people. With a similar consent, the business organisation has been using social media as their marketing tool for their products. Notably, social media marketing was in some way present from the traditional business module itself. Few of the traditional social media used for the promotion of the product are newspapers, radio and magazines, which were also denoted as the modern one-way communication tools at often instances. However, at a certain point of time, the feel for the development of newer social media marketing tools motivated organisations to perform better due to the number of such instances. For example, in the traditional era of social media development s, it was perceived to be impossible for the customers to give their feedbacks or comments to the organisation. However, in case of modern social media tools and the organisations adopting those, it has helped the business organisation to create their own contents for successful promotion of the product gaining better flexibility in their approach. Apparently, it aids the business organisation in promoting their products in a cost effective manner and allow its customers to view the product for free through easy access to the social networking sites (Zarrella, 2010). It has been

Constitutional Law of the European Union Essay Example for Free

Constitutional Law of the European Union Essay The European Court of Justice is the driving force behind European integration. The ECJ had elaborately defined the doctrines of supremacy and direct effect of the EC Law and provided remedies for damages caused by breach of EC Law by a Member State . Despite the initiatives of the ECJ, there have been conflicts between Community law and national law. Moreover, the ECJ made it clear that the EC law had supremacy over national law in the event of conflict as evidenced in the case of Costa v ENEL, wherein it held that a preliminary ruling by the Italian courts based on their national law would be of no significance. In Simmenthal, the ECJ clarified that the Community law was to take precedence over national law and that any provision of the national law that contravened the Community Law would be rescinded by it. Moreover, the ECJ prohibited the implementation of any national law that was in conflict with the Community law. The ECJ further ruled that no fundamental provision of any national law could challenge the supremacy of a directly applicable Community rule . This supremacy of Community law is one of the constitutive principles of the integration of the European Community legal order and it has been well embedded in the Treaty that established a Constitution for the European Union. The doctrine of supremacy of Community law, the principles of direct effect and uniform applicability are the primary ingredients of the Community. They are fundamental to the promotion of an effective Community legal order and form the unseen pillars of the European Constitution. Further, the doctrine of supremacy is the actual concrete personification of this constitutional power . The national constitutional courts of Member States found it very difficult to adopt the doctrine of supremacy and in the initial stages the Italian and German constitutional courts almost refused to adopt this doctrine into their respective national legislations, because they felt that they would be surrendering their power of constitutional review of secondary community law. Subsequently, the enlargement of the European Union provided a new paradigm to this doctrine of supremacy. This doctrine of supremacy was enforced by the ECJ in Costa v ENEL . This doctrine is a jurisprudential creation of the ECJ. Further, the Court clarified that the EEC Treaty had adopted a new legal system, which the Member States had integrated into their national legislation. Accordingly, the national courts were required to apply the Community law without any deviation and this generated a number of debates in the Member States. Ultimately, it was accepted by the Member States. However, total supremacy over the national constitutional provisions has not been achieved . In Frontini the Italian Constitutional Court had opined that the 1957 Act, which had accepted the provisions of the EEC Treaty, did not breach the Constitution. Moreover, the Italian court reserved to itself the right to review the continuing compatibility of the Treaty with the Constitution . In another case the Italian Constitutional Court, while accepting the precedence of Community law, maintained that the court had competence over any aspect of the relationship between Community law and municipal law . These decisions clearly established that the national constitutional courts had not completely accepted the supremacy of Community law. The German Constitutional Courts voiced their concern over the protection of fundamental rights in the decisions given in Solange I and II and introduced the concept of Kompetenz – Kompetenze. Even in the Banana case the German constitutional Court declined to give up its power to review secondary community legislation in order to protect fundamental rights . In the United Kingdom this doctrine created several problems, because the UK constitution bestows absolute power on Parliament. Further, the UK ratified a dualist policy concerning the relationship between international treaties and national law. Although such treaties were signed by the UK, they were not incorporated into the domestic law of the UK. In order to incorporate the treaties into national laws, the Parliament had to ratify them and this resulted in a problem in respect of accepting the doctrine of supremacy of Community law over national law. In the famous Factortame case the concept of the supremacy of Community law was subjected to a vast amount of discussion. In that case Spanish fishermen had argued that the norms for registering vessels under the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 were discriminatory and in conflict with the provisions of the EC Treaty. The House of Lords refused to grant any interim injunction against the Crown. The applicants in this case claimed that this would violate the Community law and the result was that a reference was made to the ECJ, which ruled in favour of these applicants. The ECJ further held that any piece of legislation in the national law that prevented a court from issuing interim relief would be tantamount to the violation of the Community law . The EOC case dealt with the suitability of the UK statute regarding unfair dismissal and redundancy pay in the broader context of the EC law . The UK law provided different benefits to employees working in full –time and part – time jobs. The appellant in the case, the Equal Opportunities Commission, opined that the statute was discriminating against female employees, which was in contravention of Article 141 of the EC Treaty and to other Community directives. The House of Lords held that the national legislation had violated the EC law and upheld the contention of the EOC. The approach of the European Court of Justice is at variance with the customary doctrine of precedent that is entrenched in domestic law. The objective of the ECJ is to bring about a European Union that follows the same law throughout its Member States and to this end it constantly endeavours to promote the EC Treaty. This could result in a change in the interpretation of legal principle over a period of time. Moreover, the ECJ bases its decisions on the extant circumstances and not on precedent. National courts of Member States in the European Union can obtain a preliminary ruling regarding the interpretation of European Union Law from the ECJ on the basis of the provisions inherent in Article 234 of the EC Treaty. However, it is not the primary objective of the ECJ to take decisions regarding the compatibility between the domestic and European laws. Further, it is also not the primary aim of the ECJ to apply the European Union Law to some specific facts of a case . The ECJ indicates the principle to be applied in a particular case and the case will have to be decided in the originating court, however, the ECJ ruling will have to be implemented by such a court. In the absence of an appeal from a national court, a reference will have to be made by the originating court, in case it is of the opinion that a clarification in respect of European Union Law is required. Nevertheless, there are instances where an ET, EAT or Appellate Court has to make a reference to the ECJ in order to pronounce judgement that is in accordance with the EU law. The function of the advocates general is to aid the judges in their judicial work. They do this by submitting analyses and recommendations regarding the issues raised in a particular case . In addition to the rights conferred on the nationals of the EU Member States by their respective national constitutions, the EU law comprises of another source that grants rights to them. As such the European Union law constitutes a legal system that in addition to being independent also, perhaps more importantly, takes precedence over the national laws of the Member States of the European Union. This European Union law comprises of treaties, which constitute primary legislation and regulations and directives that constitute secondary legislation. The importance of regulations is that they directly require compliance from the Member States without having to be codified into the national laws. However, in respect of the Directives, which are also legally binding, the onus of implementing them rests squarely with the Member States and these Member States have to do so by resorting to the relevant national law legislation on or before the final date set by the EU for such implementation. Accordingly, Article 189 of the European Economic Treaty states that â€Å"A Directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods. The European Court of Justice, subsequent to taking cognizance of the fact that Directives have to be implemented by the Member States, declared that individuals were well within their rights to ensure the implementation of Directives even in the event of failure by the Member States to meet the deadline set by the EU. In addition, individuals were permitted to enforce such rights in the national courts. The Van Gend en Loos decision unequivocally established the fact that in addition to creating obligations for the Member States to implement the Directives it also creates rights for the individual citizens of these Member States . The right of the Member States and the European Commission to proceed against other Member States before the European Court of Justice does not prohibit the lodging of complaints by individuals against the Member State to which they belong in their national courts. In this context, the European Court of Justice ruled that Article 12 of the EEC results in direct effect, which in turn result in the creation of rights for individuals and that these rights had to perforce protected by the national courts. Consequently, individuals have been empowered to ensure that rights granted by the Directives are enforced in the national courts . The offshoot of this is that individuals can ensure the implementation of human rights by resorting to legal action. In the Becker case it was clarified that if there is unconditionality and adequate precision in the provisions of a Directive that bestows individual rights, then individuals can resort to such provisions to contest the relevant national law . Furthermore, in the Francovich case the European Court of Justice established a test in three parts, which was to be utilized in order to ascertain whether the provisions that were inherent in a Directive, were sufficiently precise and unconditional in creating a right that was applicable to individuals. The ECJ has to consider the identity of the persons who are supported by the guarantee and the content of the guarantee. The identity of the person in breach and who is liable to pay the guarantee has also to be ascertained. Private persons and institutes cannot be subjected to the provisions of the Directives, because it is only the state that is subject to the Directives. The decision in the case of Francovich served to establish that damages could be claimed by an individual in a national court, in the event of a Member State’s failure to implement a Directive properly. The ECJ clarified that the spirit of the European law and the protection of rights would become ineffective if an individual failed to secure compensation. Moreover, the States are required to implement Directives wholly and properly. The ECJ decided in Brasserie du Pecheur v. Germany that there must be a sufficiently serious breach by the State in order to determine its liability. This dictum applies to situations where national legislation is implemented improperly and inconsistently with a Directive. In order to determine whether Community law was breached with sufficient seriousness, it is sufficient to demonstrate that the Member State or Community institution had seriously and knowingly ignored the limits to its discretionary power. Some of the factors that the court has to consider are the exactitude and clarity of the rule that was breached, the amount of discretion allowed to the national or Community authorities, whether the damage caused was intentional or not and whether there had been any adoption or rejection of measures that were in violation of the Community law . Member States for whom the Directives are specifically issued should be bound by them. Sometimes Directives can be addressed to one Member State or a group of them, but in general Directives are addressed to all the Member States. The exception to this practice is in respect of Directives that pertain to Common Agricultural Policy. The European Commission initiates a binding legal action in situations where a Member State fails to incorporate the provisions of a Directive into their national legislation or if the national legislation fails to properly fulfill the requirements of the Directive. Previously, the Directives were not adequately binding upon the Member States in their implementation. To address this problem, the ECJ promoted the doctrine of direct effect. Thus even if a Member States fails implement the Directives there is legal initiation under the principle of direct effect. This was clearly established in the case of Francovich v Italy. In that case, the ECJ attributed liability to Italy for its failure to implement a Directive. The Easytalk was a private limited company that had been formed with help from the UK government. It was established in order to encourage students in the EU to come to the UK in order to learn English. This company advertised all over the EU universities by means of pamphlets, in which it was stated that the course instructors would be highly qualified scholars in English with a great deal of teaching experience. A Directive was issued by the EU that prohibited the issuance of advertisements that misled and imparted false information. This Directive was to be implemented by January 2007. However, the UK government failed to implement this Directive by this deadline and in effect this Directive had been ignored by the UK government, because the latter was of the opinion that this Directive was unlawful. Subsequently, a French student, Antoine came to the UK and registered for a course that taught English. However, once the classes commenced, Antoine realized that the faculty comprised of students who were not qualified teachers of English as a foreign language. On being approached, the institute where he had enrolled refused to refund the fees paid by him. The direct effect of directives has been restrained by the concepts of vertical and horizontal effect. Van Duyn and Ratti affirmed that directives only have vertical effect so that an individual who is affected by the states’ failure to implement a directive properly or not at all only has rights against the state and not against a non-state entity or other individuals, as the directive imposes the obligation of implementation upon the state. Therefore a horizontal limitation was placed upon the scope of the direct effect of directives. This principle was addressed in Marshall v Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority , in which the applicant who was employed by the Health authority, was required to retire at the age of sixty – two years, while men doing the same work did not have to retire until the age of sixty – five years. Although under national law, by virtue of the Sex Discrimination Act, this was not discriminatory, she succeeded in her claim for unfair dismissal by relying on the Equal Treatment directive, which had not been implemented in the UK. This directive was sufficiently clear to have direct effect but the courts took the opportunity to confirm that a directive may not of itself impose obligations on an individual and that a provision may not be relied upon as such against such a person. Therefore since the health authority was an organ of the state, the directive had vertical direct effect. Since the respondent in this problem is a private limited company, the claimant cannot approach the Commission under the vertical direct effect. However, he can seek justice under the EU law by resorting to the procedure of indirect effect. Since, the UK government had not implemented the Directive; the claimant can approach the national courts of the UK to compel the government to apply the Directive. In respect of damages, the ECJ further held in R v H. M. Treasury, ex parte British Telecommunications plc that parties who had sustained loss as a result of incorrect implementation of a directive by a state, could claim damages for the loss sustained on such an account. In contrast to this, if a state has failed to fulfill its obligations regarding Directives, whether by non-implementation or incorrect implementation, an individual cannot request invocation of the horizontal direct effect of a directive against another individual. Similarly the effectiveness of non-implemented or incorrectly-implemented directives that do not have direct effect through the horizontal limitation has been enhanced through the doctrine of indirect effect, which emerged from Von Colson . In this case the ECJ held that national courts are required to interpret their national law in light of the wording and the purpose of the directive so that the directive is given some effect despite the absence of proper domestic implementation. This principle may be used under two circumstances; first, where the defendant is a state entity but a directive is not vertically directly effective as its provisions are insufficiently precise, conditional and require further state action for their implementation. Second, the provisions of a directive could be indirectly enforced against a non-state entity i. e. it could be applied horizontally as between individuals. The court was confronted with a ‘horizontal’ situation in Marleasing , in which this position was confirmed. Therefore, if national law was in existence that could be read in conformity with a non-implemented directive, then an individual could enforce a legal remedy against another individual through the interpretative route without seeking to enforce the directive directly and encountering the barrier to horizontal effect. In respect of the Easytalk institute the claimant can file a case for breach of contract and false representation in the UK courts in order to obtain redressal for the loss, damage and frustration caused to him. The question arises as to whether the aggrieved individuals can claim damages against the state in the national courts. The ECJ clarified that the state had to pay compensation for the damages caused due to non – implementation of a Directive and that the conditions laid down for such claim of damages must not be less reasonable than what was specified for a domestic claim. Furthermore, the Member State should not unduly complicate the claim process.

Solution of a System of Linear Equations for INTELx64

Solution of a System of Linear Equations for INTELx64 A multi core hyper-threaded solution of a system of linear equations for INTELx64 architecture Richa Singhal ABSTRACT. A system of linear equations forms a very fundamental principal of linear algebra with very wide spread applications involving fields such as physics, chemistry and even electronics. With systems growing in complexity and demand of ever increasing precision for results it becomes the need of the hour to have methodologies which can solve a large system of such equations to accuracy with fastest performance. On the other hand as frequency scaling is becoming limiting factor to achieve performance improvement of processors modern architectures are deploying multi core approach with features like hyper threading to meet performance requirements. The paper targets solving a system of linear equations for a multi core INTELx64 architecture with hyper threading using standard LU decomposition methodology. This paper also presents a Forward seek LU decomposition approach which gives better performance by effectively utilizing L1 cache of each processor in the multi core architectu re. The sample uses as input a matrix of 40004000 double precision floating point representation of the system. 1. INTRODUCTION A system of linear equations is a collection of linear equations of same variable. A system of linear equations forms a very fundamental principal of linear algebra with very wide spread applications involving fields such as physics, chemistry and even electronics. With systems growing in complexity and demand of ever increasing precision for results it becomes the need of the hour to have methodologies which can solve a large system of such equations to accuracy with fastest performance. On the other hand as frequency scaling is becoming limiting factor to achieve performance improvement. With increasing clock frequency the power consumption goes up P = C x V2 x F P is power consumption V is voltage F is frequency It was because of this factor only that INTEL had to cancel its Tejas and Jayhawk processors. A newer approach is to deploy multiple cores which are capable to parallel process mutually exclusive tasks of a job to achieve the requisite performance improvement. Hyper threading is another method which makes a single core appears as two by using some additional registers. Having said that it requires that traditional algorithms which are sequential in nature to be reworked and factorized so that they can efficiently utilize the processing power offered by these architectures. This paper aims to provide an implementation for standard LU decomposition method used to solve system of linear equations adopting a forward seek methodology to efficiently solve a system of double precision system of linear equations with 4000 variable set. The proposed solution addresses all aspects of problem solving starting from file I/O to read the input system of equations to actually solving the system to generate required output using multi core techniques. The solution assumes that the input problem has one and only one unique solution possible. 2. CHALLENGES The primary challenge is to rework the sequential LU decomposition method so that the revised framework can be decomposed into a set of independent problems which can be solved independently as far as possible. Then use this LU decomposition output and apply standard techniques of forward and backward substitution each again using multi core techniques to reach the final output. Another challenge associated is cache management. Since a set of 4000 floating point variable will take a memory approximately 32KB of memory and there will 4000 different equations put up together, hence efficiently managing all data in cache becomes a challenge. A forward seek methodology was used in LU decomposition which tries to keep the relevant data at L1 cache before it is required to be processed. It also tries to maximise operations on set of data once it is in cache so that cache misses are minimum. 3. IMPACT With a 40 core INTEXx64 machine with hyper threading the proposed method could achieve an acceleration of ~72X in performance as compared to a standard sequential implementation. 4. STATE OF THE ART The proposed solution uses state of the art programming techniques available for multithreaded architecture. It also uses INTEX ADVANCED VECTOR SET (AVX) intrinsic instruction set to achieve maximum hyper threading. Native POSIX threads were used for the purpose. Efficient disk IO was made possible by mapping input vector file to RAM directly using mmap. 5. PROPOSED SOLUTION A system of linear equations representing CURRENT / VOLTAGE relationship for a set of resistances is defined as [R][I] = [V] Steps to solve this can be illustrated as Decompose [R] into [L] and [U] Solve [L][Z] = [V] for [Z] Solve [U][I] = [Z] for [I] Resistance matrix is modelled as an array 40004000 of double precision floating type elements. The memory address being 16 byte aligned so that RAM access speeds up for read and write operations. FLOAT RES[MATRIX_SIZE*MATRIX_SIZE] __attribute__((aligned(0x1000))); Voltage matrix is modelled as an array 40001 of double precision floating type elements. The memory address being 16 byte aligned so that RAM access speeds up for read and write operations. FLOAT V [MATRIX_SIZE] _attribute__ ((aligned(0x1000))); LU Decomposition To solve the basic model of parallel LU decomposition as suggested above was adopted. Here as we move along the diagonal of the main matrix we calculate the factor values for Lower triangular matrix. Simultaneously each row operation updates elements for upper triangular matrix. Basic routine to do row operation This routine is the innermost level routine which updates the rows which will eventually determine the upper triangular matrix. For each element of row there is one subtraction and one multiplication operation (highlighted). LOOP B designates row major operation, while LOOP A designates column major operation. Basic Algorithm SUB LUDECOM (A, N) DO K = 1, n – 1 DO I = K+1, N Ai, k = Ai, k / Ak, j DO j = K + 1, N Ai, j = Ai, j Ai, k * Ak, j END DO END DO END DO END LUDECOM Each row major operation (LOOP B) iteration can be independently executed on a separate core. This was achieved by using POSIX threads which were non-blocking in nature. Because of mutual exclusion over the set of data MUTEX locks are not required provided we keep the column major operation (LOOP A) sequential. Also for 2 consecutive elements in one row operation 2 subtraction and 2 multiplication operations are done. These 2 operations each are done in single step using Single Instruction Multiple Data instructions (Hyper threading) Multi core Algorithm SUB LUDECOM_BLOCK (A, K, BLOCK_START, BLOCK_END) DO I = BLOCK_START, BLOCK_END Ai, K = Ai, K / AK, K DO j = K + 1, N Ai, j = Ai, j Ai, K * Ak, K END DO END DO END LUDECOM_BLOCK SUB LUDECOM (A, N) DO K = 1, N – 1 BLOCK_SIZE = (N – K) / MAX_THREADS Thread = 0 WHILE (Thread P_THREAD ( LUDECOMPOSITION_BLOCK (A, K, Thread*BLOCK_SIZE, Thread*(BLOCK_SIZE + 1) ) ENDWHILE END DO END LUDECOM Forward substitution Once LU decomposition is done, forward substitution gives matrix [Z]. Here again Single Instruction Multiple Data instructions are used [L][Z] = [V] for [Z] Backward substitution After forward substitution final step of backward substitution gives current matrix [I] [U][I] = [Z] for [I] Here again Single Instruction Multiple Data instructions are used 5. CACHE IMPROVEMENTS On profiling it is observed that the core processing in above solution happens to be LU decomposition. However if we create threads equal in number to available cores the result was improving but not in same proportion to the number of cores. A VALGRIND analysis of cache performance reveals that because of large size of matrix each row operation was suffering a performance hit due to cache misses happening. If we observe above solution it could be observed any jth is processed for (j – 1) columns. So (j – 1) threads are forked for each iteration of column major operation (LOOP A). The data to be processed refers to same memory location but by the time next operation or thread is forked for the same row the corresponding memory data had been pushed out of lower level caches. Thus cache miss happens. To solve this we adopted a forward seek approach wherein we first pre-process a set of columns sequentially thus enabling more operations on a row to be performed in the same thread. Now the data happens to be at lower level cache as we do not have to wait for another thread to process the same row. Multi core Algorithm with forward seek operation SUB LUDECOM_BLOCK_SEEK (A, K, S, BLOCK_START, BLOCK_END) DO I = BLOCK_START, BLOCK_END DO U = 1, S M = K + U -1 Ai, M = Ai, M / AM, j DO j = K + M + 1, N Ai, j = Ai, j Ai, M * AK, M END DO END DO END DO END LUDECOM_BLOCK SUB LUDECOM (A, N) K = 1 WHILE (K //Forward seek DO J = K, K + F_SEEK LU_DECOM_BLOCK_SEEK (A, J, 0, J, J+F_SEEK) END DO //Multi core K = K + F_SEEK DO L = 1, N – 1 BLOCK_SIZE = (N – L) / MAX_THREADS Thread = 0 WHILE (Thread P_THREAD ( LUDECOMPOSITION_BLOCK (A, L, F_SEEK, Thread*BLOCK_SIZE, Thread*(BLOCK_SIZE + 1) ) ENDWHILE END DO END WHILE END LUDECOM CONCLUSION Results For purpose of computation a sample array of double precision floating point matrix of size 40004000 was taken. Performance numbers were generated on an 8 core INTEL architecture machine. TABLE 4.i A programmer that writes implicitly parallel code does not need to worry about task division or process communication, focusing instead in the problem that his or her program is intended to solve. Implicit parallelism generally facilitates the design of parallel programs and therefore results in a substantial improvement of programmer productivity. Many of the constructs necessary to support this also add simplicity or clarity even in the absence of actual parallelism. The example above, of List comprehension in the sin() function, is a useful feature in of itself. By using implicit parallelism, languages effectively have to provide such useful constructs to users simply to support required functionality (a language without a decent for loop, for example, is one few programmers will use). Languages with implicit parallelism reduce the control that the programmer has over the parallel execution of the program, resulting sometimes in less-than-optimal solution The makers of the Oz programming language also note that their early experiments with implicit parallelism showed that implicit parallelism made debugging difficult and object models unnecessarily awkward.[2] A larger issue is that every program has some parallel and some serial logic. Binary I/O, for example, requires support for such serial operations as Write() and Seek(). If implicit parallelism is desired, this creates a new requirement for constructs and keywords to support code that cannot be threaded or distributed. REFERENCES Gottlieb, Allan; Almasi, George S. (1989).Highly parallel computing. Redwood City, Calif.: Benjamin/Cummings.ISBN0-8053-0177-1. S.V. Adve et al. (November 2008).Parallel Computing Research at Illinois: The UPCRC Agenda(PDF). [emailprotected], University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The main techniques for these performance benefits– increased clock frequency and smarter but increasingly complex architectures– are now hitting the so-called power wall. The computer industry has accepted that future performance increases must largely come from increasing the number of processors (or cores) on a die, rather than making a single core go faster. Asanovic et al. Old [conventional wisdom]: Power is free, but transistors are expensive. New [conventional wisdom] is [that] power is expensive, but transistors are free Bunch, James R.;Hopcroft, John(1974), Triangular factorization and inversion by fast matrix multiplication,Mathematics of Computation28: 231–236,doi:10.2307/2005828,ISSN0025-5718. Cormen, Thomas H.;Leiserson, Charles E.;Rivest, Ronald L.;Stein, Clifford(2001),Introduction to Algorithms, MIT Press and McGraw-Hill,ISBN978-0-262-03293-3. Golub, Gene H.;Van Loan, Charles F.(1996),Matrix Computations(3rd ed.), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins,ISBN978-0-8018-5414-9.

Dangers With Living in Close Proximity to Power Lines

Dangers With Living in Close Proximity to Power Lines Research Task: ASSESSMENT OF DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH LIVING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO POWER LINES GAËLLE ROBERTSON Introduction There have been several deliberations about the biological effects of exposure to electric and magnetic fields (EMF) and their possible detrimental effects on the health of humans and animals over the years. Illnesses attributed to power lines include abnormal heart pulses, leukaemia, cancers, miscarriages, birth defects, and other conditions that might lead to premature death. Regardless of the conclusions of many studies that find no evident risks, many people remain uncertain about the safety of power lines. The aim of this investigation is to determine and discuss the ethical issues behind power lines in residential areas and whether there are dangers that should be seriously considered. Research Question Are electromagnetic fields around power lines harmful to people living in close proximity to them? Hypothesis Those exposed to power lines in close proximity for long periods of time may obtain health problems however the power lines are not the main cause of the health issue but rather a factor. The reason for this is that there is not sufficient research conducted to prove that power lines are dangerous and that no health programmes have advised people to refrain from living near power lines or protected them from them either. There are many possible risks associated with electromagnetic radiation as it is not only available from power lines but also from apparatus such as microwave ovens, computers, wireless networks and cell phones. However these are more powerful forms of electromagnetic fields that are essentially more detrimental to human health than power lines. Data Research All electricity is generated, transmitted, or used and electric and magnetic fields are created due to the existence and motion of electric charges. (Gledhill, 2014) An electromagnetic field (EMF) has two components: an electric field and a magnetic field. When two objects have a voltage difference between them, an electric field is created. There is an electric field between a power line and the ground below because the power line is at a large voltage relative to the ground. (Nedlands, 2006)The electric field is measured in volts per meter (V/m) or in kilovolts per meter (kV/m). (See Figure 1 below) A magnetic field exists when electric current flows through a wire. Thus magnetic fields surround the power lines conducting current from the power station to residential areas. (Geoff Cackett, 1979)Transformers decrease these high voltages for local distribution to homes and businesses. Figure 1 – Graph indicating the relationship between the Magnetic Field and Distance from the High-Voltage Power Line (Runge, 2011) The magnetic field from a power line can vary extensively because the current in the wires depends on the amount of power expended. In contrast, the electric field from a power line varies very little because the voltage fundamentally remains constant. In general, these fields are time-varying vector quantities categorised by a number of constraints which include their frequency, phase, direction, and magnitude. (Portier, 1998) Electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) are areas of energy that are invisible and connected with the usage of electrical power(Birnbaum, 2014)EMFs are characterized by wavelength or frequency into one of two radioactive categories: non-ionizing and ionizing.( See Figure 2 below) High-voltage power lines that transmit electricity expose anything nearby to electromagnetic radiation as they create electromagnetic fields around them. (Goldberg, 2014) Electromagnetic radiation is any form of energy that is sent as waves or rays between two places. Electricity and magnetism are both jointly responsible for many kinds of radiation. (Knapp, 2002) Figure 2 Table indicating differences between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation types (Gledhill, 2014) The strongest EMFs are found around those major transmissioned lines that carry the highest voltages and currents. EMFs are also present around suburban distribution systems that carry large currents but at much lower voltages,. (Nedlands, 2006) Electric and magnetic fields are also different in the way they interact with our bodies. Electric fields have very little penetration, while magnetic fields can penetrate to our inner organs. (Toufexis, 1989) A biological effect is any change that could occur either short term or long term in the physical state of the human body. (Runge, 2011) EMF’s are able to induce the conductive matter of the human body and may result in observed changes in the human health. The epidemiological studies have inspired laboratory research into how EMFs could be associated with cancer. It is generally recognised by researchers that EMFs cannot initiate a cancer. They suggest instead that EMFs may play a part in promoting the growth of an existing cancer. Researchers from the University of Tasmania and Britains Bristol University(See Figure 3 below) found that in a study of 850 lymphoma, leukaemia and cancer related conditions that living for an elongated period near high-voltage power lines increased the risk for these conditions much later in life (Zeman, 2011). However, the British Medical Journal published a paper on the investigation of the effect of 50 Hz magnetic fields on the existence of several types of cancer and concluded by stating that the extremely low frequency magnetic fields of high voltage power lines at typical residential levels do not appear to be associated with an increase in cancer among various adults; this also pertains for the haematological malignancies and for tumours of the nervous system as well as for the male and female hormone related cancers in genitals. (Verkasalo., 1996) As for specific cancer types, the presence of extremely low frequency magnetic fields remains indefinite. Numerous studies appea r to display a weak association between incidence of some cancers and the exposure to power-frequency magnetic fields. The reason for this is that the electromagnetic energy from power lines are of extremely low frequency and therefore low energy. They are evidently different in frequency from ionizing radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays and are non-ionizing. Biological material absorbs the energy from higher-frequency more readily. In contrast, extremely low frequency EMF does not have enough energy to heat body tissues or cause ionization. Generally, the evidence that power line fields cause or donate to cancer is weak to non-existent according to most scientists. Figure 3 – The study conducted by the University of Tasmania and Britains Bristol University produced these results. (Zeman, 2011) According to ESKOM and several other studies, electric fields of the intensity encountered close to power lines, cannot damage crops. (See Figure 4 below) Laboratory studies that expose animals to electromagnetic fields, looking for variations in body function, chemistry, behaviour or general health and have also concluded that they have no effect on the fertility, behaviour, carcass quality, reproduction, meat, milk and egg production or the development of their offspring. (Rayleigh, 2006) Figure 4 – Table indicating results of various investigations conducted on the effects of power lines on crops (Rayleigh, 2006) Disadvantages of power lines in residential areas: Recent studies approve a reported association between eminent long term health risks (e.g. cancer) and proximity to residential power lines, but it is not certain if the observation is coincidental or not. Physical impossibility of any health effect has been argued by scientists due to weak levels of EMFs, while others uphold that the potential health risks should not be terminated. (Zeman, 2011) The World Health Organization (WHO) publications state that EMF such as those from power lines, can also cause short term symptoms such as headaches, fatigue,anxiety, insomnia, prickling and/or burning skin, rashesand muscle pain. (Verkasalo., 1996) Power lines are not visually appealing in residential areas and are more prone to external damage as they are exposed to people living around them. Advantages of power lines in residential areas: House prices are less expensive closer to power lines as people usually look for homes without obstructions. Any technical or maintenance problems are fixed as soon as possible as many people depend on the residential power lines. There is no compelling evidence of health hazards from power lines as many forms or research indicate that some health risks are associated with power lines in close proximity but it does not prove that they are the direct cause of any biological dangers. (Goldberg, 2014) CONCLUSION Therefore there are known health risks that appear to relate to power lines and their electromagnetic fields emitted but no evidence completely proves that biological effects have been conclusively demonstrated to be caused by living near high-voltage power lines. Many scientists believe that exposure to the low-level EMFs near power lines is safe, but some scientists continue research to look for possible health risks associated with these fields. The risks are clearly small if there are any risks associated with living near power lines. References Birnbaum, L. S., 2014. Department of Health and Human Services. [Online] Available at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/od/index.cfm [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Geoff Cackett, R. K. A. S., 1979. Core Physics. In: C. Ratray, ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 211. Gledhill, M., 2014. Electromagnetic fields (EMF). [Online] Available at: http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/ [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Goldberg, R. B., 2014. Environment, Health and Safety. [Online] Available at: http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/emf.htm [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Knapp, B., 2002. Visual Science Encyclopedia. In: M. Sanders, ed. Heat and Energy. Danbury: Grolier Educational, pp. 13-14. Nedlands, 2006. Powerlines, Electromagnetic Fields and Health. [Online] Available at: http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/cproot/1372/2/Powerlines_Electromagnetic_Fields_and_Health.pdf [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Portier, C. J., 1998. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. [Online] Available at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_a_e/emf1.pdf [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Rayleigh, R., 2006. EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL FIELDS, IONS AND NOISE. [Online] Available at: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/coarc/sites/default/files/publication/88 DC lines cattle crops (88).pdf [Accessed 2 August 2014]. Runge, K., 2011. Eskom Fact Sheet. [Online] Available at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/emfrapid. [Accessed 3 August 2014]. Toufexis, A., 1989. Health: Panic Over Power Lines. Times Magazine, 127 July , pp. 40-42. Verkasalo., D., 1996. British Medical Journal. [Online] Available at: http://www.bmj.com/content/313/7064/1047.abstract [Accessed 3 August 2014]. Zeman, G., 2011. Health Physics Society. [Online] Available at: http://hps.org/hpspublications/articles/powerlines.html [Accessed 3 August 2014]. Glossary Plagiarism Checker 1 | Page

Burnt by the Sun :: Nikita Mikhalkov Burnt by the Sun Movies Essays

Burnt by the Sun Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun was released in 1994, a year in which over seven decades of communism were undoubtedly still a vivid memory in the eyes of the Russian people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy left them with no choice but to try and disregard their past in order to better accept the many changes that the future would bring. In Burnt by the Sun, however, the director focuses on the characters' human emotions rather than condemn their ideology or their motivations. He thus brings us close to these individuals who are clutching the remnants of the ideals they originally fought for, and who, with the return of an old friend, are suddenly forced to simultaneously confront their future and search through their past. Throughout the whole movie this is the main theme the viewer is given to reflect on: the clash between the sweet, safe, nostalgic past and the forthcoming of a bitter, dangerous, uncertain future. This theme is particularly alive in the sequence 'Arrival of Summer Santa'. By analyzing the opening segment of this sequence, we realize that it is the editing which renders the conflict so palpable. From one cut to the next, we learn Nadia and Mitia's implicit memories and desires; during their conversation, the cutting alone makes us realize what will happen; near the end of the sequence, one simple cut says more than a minute-long scene ever could have done. Thanks to the editing, we become involved with the characters, and grow fully aware of the symbolic opposition between Nadia and Mitia, between past and future. The sequence opens with various shots of the Red Army pioneers marching along the road. We gradually move to the back of the parade until we see Mitia, in disguise, marching with them. However, the camera only stays with him for a brief instant. It tilts down to reveal a young boy who is probably the same age as Nadia, and right after that we cut to a shot of her, at the gate, saluting the pioneers. That single cut reveals the entire essence of Nadia's character. She has one desire: to be a pioneer. She has been raised in a family that cultivates the memory of an idealistic communist regime, in which unity and devotion prevail. Nadia embodies the memories and desires of her people: memories of a past utopia, and desires to keep that utopia alive. Burnt by the Sun :: Nikita Mikhalkov Burnt by the Sun Movies Essays Burnt by the Sun Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun was released in 1994, a year in which over seven decades of communism were undoubtedly still a vivid memory in the eyes of the Russian people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy left them with no choice but to try and disregard their past in order to better accept the many changes that the future would bring. In Burnt by the Sun, however, the director focuses on the characters' human emotions rather than condemn their ideology or their motivations. He thus brings us close to these individuals who are clutching the remnants of the ideals they originally fought for, and who, with the return of an old friend, are suddenly forced to simultaneously confront their future and search through their past. Throughout the whole movie this is the main theme the viewer is given to reflect on: the clash between the sweet, safe, nostalgic past and the forthcoming of a bitter, dangerous, uncertain future. This theme is particularly alive in the sequence 'Arrival of Summer Santa'. By analyzing the opening segment of this sequence, we realize that it is the editing which renders the conflict so palpable. From one cut to the next, we learn Nadia and Mitia's implicit memories and desires; during their conversation, the cutting alone makes us realize what will happen; near the end of the sequence, one simple cut says more than a minute-long scene ever could have done. Thanks to the editing, we become involved with the characters, and grow fully aware of the symbolic opposition between Nadia and Mitia, between past and future. The sequence opens with various shots of the Red Army pioneers marching along the road. We gradually move to the back of the parade until we see Mitia, in disguise, marching with them. However, the camera only stays with him for a brief instant. It tilts down to reveal a young boy who is probably the same age as Nadia, and right after that we cut to a shot of her, at the gate, saluting the pioneers. That single cut reveals the entire essence of Nadia's character. She has one desire: to be a pioneer. She has been raised in a family that cultivates the memory of an idealistic communist regime, in which unity and devotion prevail. Nadia embodies the memories and desires of her people: memories of a past utopia, and desires to keep that utopia alive.

Affirmative Action and Higher Education Essay -- Critical Thinking Essa

Affirmative Action and Higher Education    Two people stand in a room looking at a vibrant painting and receive a totally different image. This is something we all realize can happen. It is our different perspectives that make us valuable too each other. When trying to solve a problem or create a new idea, we need each other to bring forth considerations and concepts that would never occur otherwise. This concept is something most of us grasp in theory, yet it never ceases to confound and confuse us if someone draws a conclusion tangent from ours when presented with the same information. This situation lies at the heart of the argument over affirmative action. Policies that are viewed by some as righting past wrongs are viewed by others as creating a level playing field or even instigating a new phase of unjust discrimination. Part of this confusion is because the range of views not only shifts between people, but also over time. Policies that once appeared to be necessary can, in a few decades, seem excessive. When Justice P owell, along with the rest of the United States Supreme Court, handed down the decision in Regents of University of California v. Bakke in 1978, he attempted to give a rational for affirmative action in higher education that did not rely on retribution for one race; however, over time modest progress improving minority representation in schools have combined with the frustrations of a new generation to create a present situation that puts the past's policies under new political and legal scrutiny. When the Bakke decision was handed down it set standards for what affirmative action programs should be like. Specifically, it referred to the Harvard process (Schauer 592), but abstractly it was more gener... ...ronicle. November 5, 1998. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/11/05/MN16107.DTL. National Center for Policy Analysis. "Racial Preferences Don't Help Students Graduate." Idea House. June 11, 1997. http://www.ncpa.org/pd/affirm/pdaa/pdaa12.html. Regents of the University of California. "Text of Resolutions SP-1 and SP-2." Representations Online. Summer 1996. http://violet.berkeley.edu:7000/R55/regents.html. Schauer, Frederick and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. The Philosophy of Law. Harcourt Brace College Publishers: Austin. 1996. Sparks. District Judge. Hopwood v. The State of Texas. August 19, 1994. http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/hopwood/hoptxt.htm. Sowell, Thomas. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. "Body Count versus Education." AEI On the Issues. August 1997. http://www.aei.org/oti/oti7919.htm.