Contract and procurement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11500 words

Agreement and obtainment - Essay Example The contractual worker is to complete the work tenaciously without breaking any things or offices of the organization. The offices are then conveniently organized in Site B simply a similar way they were in Site A. given Site A had a 1000 square meters of office space and Site B is 1600 square meters of office space, the offices ought to be changed in accordance with fit the expressed space.Location of work The entire agreement will be performed inside the two premises. There will be a physical development from Site A to Site B. in any case, the gathering with the temporary worker will occur in Site A where headquarter was at first based. This is the place the marking of the agreement will happen. The physical area of Site B is arranged four kilometers from Site A, so the separation to be secured while moving the offices will be considered in the contract.Period of performance The agreement should be performed inside a predefined time. As an organization, we need a quick migratio n of inside about fourteen days comprehensive of the arranging of exercises and executing them. Day by day work will begin from 8am toward the beginning of the day and finishes at 4pm at night so as to take into account groundwork for the following day’s work and furthermore to maintain a strategic distance from loss of things of the organization. Practically speaking, there might be 8 working hours permitted in a day for the agreement. The charging will likewise be done dependent on the quantity of hours worked in a day. Some other action planned should be performed inside the working hours allocated.The organization expects a migration administration to be performed by the temporary worker. By and large, we expect the entire headquarter moved to Site B. a portion of the points of interest to be moved include: the 15 work areas in the present organization; three couches, three end tables, ten rockers; 15 PCs; between 120 to 160 cardboard boxes; and 34 surrounded pictures. Ea ch organization thing ought to be moved at stretches starting with work areas, PCs, cardboard boxes, and surrounded pictures. The time passable has been expressed previously.

More About The 1968 Tet Offensive Essays - Vietnam War,

Progressively About The 1968 Tet Offensive For a few thousand years, Vietnamese Lunar New Year has been a conventional festival that brings the Vietnamese a feeling of bliss, expectation and harmony. Be that as it may, as of late, It too bring back an unpleasant memory loaded with tears. It reminds them the 1968 carnage, a bloodiest military battle of the Vietnam War the North Communists propelled against the South. The general hostile and general uprising of the north stamped the sharp turn of the Vietnam War. Today there have been an incredible number of works about this occasion. In any case, it appears that numerous key realities in the Communist battle are still confounded or disregarded. In the mid-80, living in Saigon in the wake of being discharged from the Socialist re-instruction camp, I read a book distributed in the mid 1980's in America about the narrative of the 1968 Tet Hostile. It said that the North Vietnamese Army preeminent order had imitated one of the best legends of Vietnam, King Quang Trung, who prevailed upon the most tremendous triumph the Chinese aggressors in the 1789 counter-assault - in arranging the 1968 activities. The book cited King Quang Trung's strategy of shock. He let the troops commend the 1789 Tet Festival one day ahead with the goal that he could dispatch the assaults on the initial three days of the lunar new year while the Chinese soldiers were all the while devouring and not prepared to arrange their guard. The individuals who guaranteed the similitude between the two crusades surely didn't have the foggiest idea about every bit of relevant information, yet hopped into end with wild creative mind subsequent to discovering that the North Vietnamese assaulting units likewise observed Tet one day ahead prior to the assaults. Truth be told, the Tet Offensive broke out on the Tet's Eve - in the early morning of January 30, 1968 at numerous urban communities of Central Vietnam, for example, Da Nang and Qui Nhon, just as urban areas in the focal seaside and good country regions, that existed in the Socialist fifth Military Region.. Different urban communities toward the south that included Saigon, were assaulted 24 hours after the fact at the little long periods of January 31. Therefore the hostile lost its component of aggregate shock that each strategist needs to regard. In any case, It astonished me that some in the American media were still unconscious of such sad story. The story began exactly 5 months already. On August 8, 1967, the North Vietnam government endorsed a lunar schedule explicitly ordered for the seventh time zone that covers all Vietnam, supplanting the customary lunar schedule that had been being used in Asia for a long time. That old schedule was determined for the eighth time zone that Beijing falls directly in the center. It was acknowledged by and large by a couple of countries, for example, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and to some degree in Japan and Korea, for the most part for customary festivals what's more, strict purposes. South Vietnam utilized this schedule. With normal social root, these nations required not have their own schedule, especially it has not been utilized for logical and managerial exercises. The North Vietnam new lunar schedule varies from the normal schedule about certain dates, for example, the jump a very long time of certain year (1984 and 1987) and the Tet's Eve of the three Lunar New A long time: Mau Than (1968), Ky Dau (1969) and At Suu (1985). South Vietnam commended the primary day of the Mau Than lunar year on January 30, 1968, while North Vietnam commended it on Jan 29, 1968. It was clearly that the North Vietnamese pioneers had requested the offensives to be propelled the evening of the main day of Tet to take the destinations by all out shock. By some explanation, the North Vietnamese Army Supreme Command didn't know about the reality that there were various dates for Tet among North and South Vietnam. Accordingly, most NVA units in the Communist fifth Military Locale - closer to North Vietnam - most likely utilized North Vietnamese schedule, and directed their assaults in the night between Jan 29 furthermore, 30, while their companions more remote toward the south assaulted in the night from Jan 30 to 31. Numerous in the knowledge part of the South Vietnamese Armed Powers were very much aware of the motivation behind why the Communist powers propelled their assaults at two unique dates. Data from sources among NVA detainees of war and ralliers about the new schedule of North Vietnam ought to have been dismissed by the American side. The data was likewise accessible in communicated from Hanoi Radio. In military activities, nothing is a higher priority than shock. So the Communist powers lost their preferred position of shock on additional than half of the goals. Had the Vietnamese Communists led their planned assaults at a similar H-hour, South Vietnam would have

MIA MPA Curriculum COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

MIA MPA Curriculum COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog A popular question we hear is about core courses and whether or not someone can take core courses for their concentration (not just core courses for the degree curriculum)   in the first semester. It is definitely possible. Most people take at least CF (Conceptual Foundation)/POP (Politics of Policymaking) and Econ their first semester (although there are a smattering of students who complete these their second year).   Most people tend to spread their core courses throughout the four semesters, concentrating more in the first year. To give you an idea, this is what Nancys SIPA schedule looked like; the courses that count toward the core are (*),   in parenthesis   are courses that would count toward Nancys specialization, concentration and co-curricular requirements.     This is a somewhat typical (except maybe the semester where most of her classes were at other CU schools) schedule. Hope this helps! Fall 1 Econ 4200* Quant Analysis (Stats I)* POP* Elections and Political Development Women and  Power in the 21st Century (Half Semester, Management, Gender Policy) Spring 1 Econ* Budgeting for Non-Profits* Campaign Management (USP and Management) Statistical Races and Public Policy (USP) Women and Global  Leadership (Half Semester, Management, Gender Policy) Fall 2 Effective Management in the Public Sector* (Management- although I dont think this counts for you guys anymore) Gender Mainstreaming (Gender Policy) Elections (in the Poli Sci PhD Dept, USP) Election Law (at CLS, USP) Money in Politics (1/2 semester at the J-school, USP) Spring 2 Capstone with UN Women Work/Family Policy in Industrialized Countries (USP Core Course, Gender Policy, Management) Writing for Policy Womens Human Rights (Gender) For a sample of the MIA and MPA curriculum, you may visit our website at:   http://new.sipa.columbia.edu/academic-advising.

Crude Awakening Of Fossil Fuels And A Bright Replacement

Atlee Carr Professor Penwell ENGL 1102 17 November 2016 Crude awakening of fossil fuels and a bright replacement In the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, a large explosion in an oil drilling company caused an estimated 5 million barrels of oil to be dumped into the water. Many sea turtles and dolphins have been found dead since the oil spill started. This spill is one of the worst oil spills recorded and cost an estimate of 12.5 billion dollars after considering the cleanup and extra expenses. Oil is a popular fossil fuel used to power machines. However, in the process of utilizing fossil fuels such as oil, we are putting our world and environment at a risk. Oil can be very damaging to life when spilled in water. In contrast, by using alternative forms of energy, such as solar energy, we are helping our planet by keeping it healthier. Solar energy does not pose a threat to our environment and health as fossil fuels such as oil have in recent years. Our society should focus on solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels due to the decreasing cost of solar panels, the reduced environmental damages of ai r pollution, deforestation, and water pollution. Solar energy is constantly improving, whether that be financially or more efficiently. As a result, solar panels, a large focus in solar technology, are becoming less expensive. The price of producing panels has decreased dramatically. However, a popular belief is that solar energy is more expensive than fossil fuels. A recent ArabiaShow MoreRelatedCrude Awakening Of Fossil Fuels And A Bright Replacement Essay1759 Words   |  8 Pages1102 30 November 2016 Crude Awakening of Fossil Fuels and a Bright Replacement In the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, a large explosion in an oil drilling company caused an estimated 5 million barrels of oil to be dumped into the water. Many sea turtles and dolphins have been found dead since the oil spill started. This spill is one of the worst oil spills recorded and cost an estimate of 12.5 billion dollars after considering the cleanup and extra expenses. Oil is a popular fossil fuel used to power machines

New Step by Step Roadmap for Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples

New Step by Step Roadmap for Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples Get the Scoop on Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples Before You're Too Late Without having the ability to express emotions in an appropriate way, it is an impossible task to succeed in any sphere of life. Expressing emotions in an adequate manner is an art which is worth studying. The theory mainly focuses on the characters individuals want to enhance so they can become fantastic and great individuals. Ethics are different for each individual, but for the large part, folks are interested in being known as a great individual. People today empower members of the criminal justice system because they don't need the responsibility. Now, it's very tough to define some ethical standards because people do not understand what should function as the foundation for ethical standards. The new public management is quite supportive in the thought of privatization. It's so broad that there's quite literally, hardly any sets of rules that could control every sector sensibly and in equal measure. Without the support and comprehension of ethics at work, situations can get incredibly really hard for not just the staff but also for the patients involved. The matter of handling industrial waste by many corporations has ever been at the forefront of several environmental organizations. Why Almost Everything You've Learned About Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples Is Wrong The second is known as the rights approach. You should try and think about the present issue that has not yet been covered by other people. If your topic is racism, don't just speak about racism, speak about the racism in a particular country or inside a definite period. So, you can search for ethics essay example in your individual place. Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples for Dummies The second weakne ss credited to the theory comprises the difficulty in establishing the essence of virtues. It's not essential to create the last variant of your thesis at the same time. In the end, the theory is reported to be limited since it concentrates on only quite a few virtues. The third strength credited to the virtue ethics theory is that it's agent-centered. In your ethics composition, it is going to allow narrowing down the subject of research. At length, the previous one is the virtue strategy. Another approach is known as the fairness or justice strategy. If your organization does not have any well-defined culture, then you're likely to have clicks within many of culture extremes. Ethics essays highlight the deep comprehension of the writer. Morality and ethics make up different faces of the exact same body. Fallacies are just mistakes or defects which occur in arguments. Life decisions have both positive and negative outcomes. It consists of choices. It does not have wrong choices. Everybody has a different set of ethical codes and a number of opinions about how certain issues ought to be addressed. Based on the advancement of your research, the major question could possibly be altered several times. Moreover, one needs to have experience in dealing with all sorts of ethical troubles. While no person could address all ethical dilemmas, it is necessary to know there is support and resources out there for engineers in need. The Basics of Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples In the subject of academic study, the significant intention of ethics can be formulated as an endeavor to answer certain moral questions so as to increase communication between men and women in different social environments and to stimulate them to behave based on norms accepted in a specific community. The worth of ethics in accounting practices generates a considerable struct ure of involving the enterprise to develop into functional and trustworthy. To be able to be productive, ethical business practices want to get supported by the culture of the enterprise. The intent of using accounting practices is to find out the correct and accurate method of computing a particular numerical figure that represents the worth of an item or a facility. The Ugly Side of Ethics Essay Conclusion Samples This kind of action is deemed unethical. That means you should can set the whole idea into one sentence. The conclusion is probably going to be false. The previous point to observe is the way to compose a conclusion for an expository essay. Critical thinking is demanded! Your conclusion has to be persuasive, so that readers don't have any further questions on the situation. To start with, plan what you're likely to write about.

Critical Reasoning Free Essays

Critical Reasoning Assignment I (Exercise 2) 1. Sappho- The type or style of writing that Sappho used in â€Å"To Absent Lovers’† was poetry. This literary work was very familiar to me and was fairly easy to comprehend. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Reasoning or any similar topic only for you Order Now The basic subject matter of this story was about two people that seemed to be in love with one another that eventually had to separate in the end. Ban Zhao- In the passage â€Å"Admonitions For Women,† it basically tells us about the way of the woman in ancient medieval China. This was a very informative outlook on the way the women were viewed and treated in China. It is a very recognizable literary work, but it is different from anything I have read. The way the modern woman is viewed today in the U. S. is very different than the way they were viewed in China. They were pretty much expected to do their part and do whatever the men needed done. If a woman was to mess up, they were expected to confess and admit it. If they did something good, they were expected not to mention it. Lady Murasaki- The type or style of â€Å"The Tale of Genji† was mainly romance. I have never seen a literary work that was quite like this. To me, it was hard to understand and comprehend. It did, however, give a good deal of information about the outlook on romance in Japanese cultures. Anna Comnena- The style of writing in the passage â€Å"The Alexiad† was basically just describing different people. It went in to great detail of describing every little thing about each person. Marie de France- I honestly did not understand this passage very well. For some reason it was harder to understand than the others. It obviously was a romantic story but I didn’t get it. 2. After reading the five passages, I found some similarities and some differences in the writers and their work. I found that three of the five passages were about romance. This tells me that these passages were obviously written in a romantic time in history. I think Ban Zhao tended to be more different from any of the other writers. In the passage she wrote, â€Å"Admonitions For Women,† she basically described the role of the woman in the ancient medieval China rather than romance. 3. In my opinion, I think there certainly is a uniquely feminine perspective. The reason for this is most of the time women have a different point of view or mind-set than men. Women tend to view things differently than men and that is just a natural trait. For example, something that means nothing to a man could mean the world to a woman. After reading â€Å"A Night’s Tale,† I think the tone is slightly different. I don’t think anyone could draw a conclusion to this simply because there are so many opinions and you couldn’t base your opinions on one passage. . The passage I enjoyed the most was â€Å"Admonitions For Women† by Ban Zhao. Something that really appealed to me in this passage was the way she elaborated on how the women of China used to be treated. It gave me a great sense of visualization and allowed me to really see what women had to go through. It also showed me how much different the role of the woman in China was rather than in the U. S. The reason I preferred reading this passage rather than the others was it was easier for me to read and it was very interesting in every aspect. How to cite Critical Reasoning, Papers

There is Nothing LikeVisiting Narva free essay sample

# 1055 ; # 1086 ; # 1076 ; # 1075 ; # 1086 ; # 1090 ; # 1086 ; # 1074 ; # 1080 ; # 1083 ; # 1057 ; # 1077 ; # 1088 ; # 1075 ; # 1077 ; # 1081 ; # 1043 ; # 1086 ; # 1083 ; # 1091 ; # 1073 ; # 1077 ; # 1074 ; Last month I went to Narva with jaunt. And I like it really much. The town is located in Northern Estonia, on the boundary line between Estonia and Russia, 200 kilometer from Tallinn and 150 kilometer from St.Petersburg. Like every town has its ain face which sets it apart from all other topographic points, as for me, Narva differs from others for its beauty and cleanliness. I have neer seen so alone position of two ancient frontier fortresses confronting each other across a river. One is Hermann Castle and the 2nd is Ivangorod Castle which situated over on the Russia side. If you have neer earlier seen Swedish medieval munitions, in Narva you will happen those which antecedently enclosed the town, doing it one of the most powerful fortresses in Europe. There are many topographic points in Narva to see. The chief sights for those who interested in the history, is sing the Narva Museum, housed in the celebrated Tall Herman Tower. We will write a custom essay sample on There is Nothing LikeVisiting Narva or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page There people can introduce themselves with shows about the history of Narva, its prewar architecture, and the family implemen T of its citizens. And for art-lovers, sing Narva Art Gallery, a really cozy and pleasant topographic point, located on the Gloria Bastion in the former military barracks , will be interestingly. The chief exhibition country holds the art aggregation of merchandiser named Lavretsov, and there are regular impermanent exhibitions of art from Estonia every bit good as from other states. One rubber-necking that amaze me by its immense district were the edifices Kreenholm mill which is the best illustration of the industrial architecture of the 19thcentury. The mill, the biggest cotton endeavor in Estonia, is located on Krenholm Island, which divides the Narva river into two weaponries. There are many other topographic points to see like The Dark Garden, where I have walked, The House of Boron Velio, which was built in the early nineteenth century. The mill, the biggest cotton endeavor in Estonia, is located on Krenholm Island, which divides the Narva river into two weaponries. There ar e many other topographic points to see like The Dark Garden, where I have walked, The House of Boron Velio, which was built in the early 19thcentury and much more. I grew my cognition, sing this topographic points, of the history, as in the past Narva was one of the most celebrated metropoliss of Europe. century and much more. I grew my cognition, sing this topographic points, of the history, as in the past Narva was one of the most celebrated metropoliss of Europe. I liked Narva, and wish the others to travel at that place and have a remainder at the seaboard and see many interesting rubber-necking of Narva.

An Object in Java Represents a Real-World Object

An Object in Java Represents a Real-World Object An object in Java  - and any other object-oriented language  - is the basic building block of all Java applications and represents any real-world object you might find around you: an apple, a cat, a car or a human. The two characteristics that an object always has are state and behavior. Consider a person object. Its state might include hair color, sex, height, and weight, but also feelings of anger, frustration or love. Its behavior could include walking, sleeping, cooking, working, or anything else that a person might do. Objects form the very core of any object-oriented programming language. What is Object Oriented Programming? Hundreds of books have been written to describe the intricacies of object-oriented programming, but basically, OOP is based on a holistic approach emphasizing  re-use and inheritance, which streamlines development time.  More traditional procedural languages, such as Fortran, COBOL, and C, take a top-down approach, breaking down the task or problem into a logical, orderly series of functions. For example, consider a simple ATM application used by a bank. Before writing any code, a Java developer first will create a roadmap or plan on how to proceed, usually beginning with a list of all the objects that need to be created and how they will interact. Developers may use a class diagram to clarify the relationships between objects. Objects required for use in an ATM transaction might be Money, Card, Balance, Receipt, Withdrawal, Deposit and so on.  These objects need to work together to complete the transaction: making a deposit should result in a balance report and perhaps a receipt, for instance. Objects will pass messages between them in order to get things done. Objects and Classes An object is an instance of a class: here is the crux of object-oriented programming and the idea of re-use. Before an object can exist, a class on which it can be based must exist.   Perhaps we want a book object: to be precise, we want the book The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. We first need to create a class Book. This class could be the basis for any book in the world. It might look something like this: public class Book {String title;String author;   //methodspublic String getTitle({return title;}public void setTitle(){return title;}public int getAuthor(){return author;}   Ã‚  public int setAuthor(){return author;}// etc.} The class Book has a title and an author with methods that allow you to set or get either of these items (it would have more elements as well, but this example is just an excerpt). But this is not yet an object  - a Java application cant yet do anything with it.  It needs to be instantiated to become an object that can be used.   Creating an Object The relationship between an object and a class  is such that many objects can be created using one class. Each object has its own data but its underlying structure (i.e., the type of data it stores and  its behaviors) are defined by the class. We can create several objects from a book class. Each object is called an instance of the class. Book HitchHiker new Book(The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams);Book ShortHistory new Book(A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson);Book IceStation new Book(Ice Station Zebra, Alistair MacLean); These three objects can now be used: they can be read, purchased, borrowed or shared.

ACT Guessing Strategy The Top Mistake Students Make

ACT Guessing Strategy The Top Mistake Students Make SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The ACT doesn't penalize guessing, so you should never leave any answer blank even if you have to take a completely blind guess. Even with this information, students still make one huge mistake. Here we expose the biggest ACT guessing strategy mistake students make, and suggest a much better approach. We've seen students improve 1-2 points immediately after applying this 5-minute strategy. The Biggest ACT Strategy Mistake ACT takers already know not to leave any questions blank – after all, the ACT doesn't penalize guessing. But many students take this to mean that they should spend substantial time on each question. These mistaken students think, "if I have to answer all questions, doesn't it make sense to spend at least 20-30 seconds looking at each?" The answer is a big, fat NO. Let me be clear: you have to give an answer for each question, but you DO NOT need to spend 20-30 seconds looking at each question. I am a strong advocate of blind guessing for many students on many types of questions. First, What Is Blind Guessing? Blind guessing is exactly what it sounds like guessing on a question without even reading it. Just filling in "C" or "G" at random. This might sound crazy, but for many students this is not a bad strategy. How and Why to Use Blind Guessing In particular, you should always blind guess when you encounter a problem way beyond your difficulty threshold. For example if you usually score a 15 on the math section, then most of the problems in the "hard" towards the end of the section will be way above your skill level. You get .20 points (in expectancy) just for blind guessing, which means you have a 1-in-5 chance of getting it right. And it takes 1 second! Now, since these are hard questions, and you usually score a 15, it may take you 2 minutes just to understand each question, and another 2 minutes to eliminate a couple of answer choices. This is a really bad use of four minutes to just get .4 extra points (in expectancy). Besides, you may not even eliminate correctly. Who Should Not Blind Guess: High Scorers High scorers, those with above a 20 on all sections, should not be using Blind Guessing. That's because, to maximize their points, they need to be spending time trying all of the questions. In such a case, since you're reading and understanding all questions anyway, you might as well make a more educated guess by eliminating some answers. When Everyone Should Not Blind Guess: Easy Questions For easy questions (those toward the beginning of the section), everyone should be trying them even if you're a low scorer, these are the questions that will give you your baseline points. On these questions, blind guessing is a big no-no. Recap As a recap, a holistic ACT guessing strategy is made up of three parts: 1. Always answer all questions, even if it means blind guessing last minute. Never leave them blank! 2. If you read a question, make an educated guess by eliminating answers you think are wrong. 3. Do not spend time on all questions: for ones that you know are much too hard for you, intend to blind guess. Read More! How is the ACT scored? Is the ACT easier than the SAT? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Optimality Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Optimality Theory - Essay Example Joseph Paul Stemberger And Barbara Handford Bernhardt "The Emergence of Faithfulness" http://www.linguistics.ubc.ca/People/Stemberger/S_B_1999.pdf. Stemberger & Bernhardt, 1999 asserted "The basis of OT is the use of constraints rather than rules. Rules within language are procedures that construct representations and alter them in particular ways. Constraints, in contrast, are limitations on what is possible in a system. Constraints can also lead to the alteration of a representation such that information is lost or added. From a cognitive-psychological perspective, however, the mechanisms are quite different". (Stemberger & Bernhardt, 1999, pp. 417-446) If we conceptualize phonology as part of the process for producing and understanding language, the phonological properties of language must result from the fact that it is an extremely practiced behavior linked with the vocal tract of human beings. To move away from the more theoretical views of phonology, it is perhaps helpful to compare speaking to other moderately complex but repetitive neuron-motor activities, such as playing the piano. While a person learns to play the piano, he or she learns not just to strike notes, but to strike notes in sequence. Every piece of music has its own sequence of notes that should be learned. Practice is essential; the motor patterns that guide to the fluent, striking of longer and longer sequences of notes should be automated for a piece to begin to sound like music. With practice, the transitions linking the notes become more fluent, and the speed of execution mechanically increases. In order to maintain the correct rhythm and tempo, the player should at times hold back and not play every note as fast as doable. Several analogies with the acquisition and use of phonology are observable. Children learn phonological sequences as parts of words, never separately of words. Articulatory routines that are by now mastered are called forth for the production of new words, leading to a propensity of children to expand their vocabulary by obtaining words that are phonologically comparable to those they already know (Ferguson and Farwell 1975, Lindblom 1992). This propensity leads to the structuring of the phonological sequences across words and the restrictive of the potentially massive phonetic inventory. Put another way, the repetition of gestures and sequences across words permits relations of identity and similarity to expand in stretches of speech, giving rise to segment, syllable, and foot-sized units. Through practice, speakers become more fluent in stringing words together and this fluency and automation is typified by the smoothing of transitions and overlapping of movements forced by the need to retain information value. Several repeated sequences become highly automated and abridged in form. At the same time, speakers should be able to access and recruit sequences into new combinations to state their thoughts and intentions. With practice, t

Standard costing and the relationship it may have with other Essay

Standard costing and the relationship it may have with other management accounting development - Essay Example Standard costs are pre-determined or forecast estimates of cost to manufacture a single unit, or a number of units of a product, during a specific immediate future period. They are usually the planned costs of the products under current and anticipated conditions, but sometimes they are the costs under normal or ideal conditions of efficiency, based on an assumed given output, and having regard to current conditions. They are revised to conform to super-normal or sub-normal conditions, but ore practically to allow for persisting alterations in the prices of material and labour. Therefore, a standard cost can be defined as â€Å"A pre-determined cost calculated with respect to a prescribed set of working conditions, correlating technical specifications and scientific measurements of materials and labour to the price and wage rates expected to apply during the period to which the standard cost is expected to relate, with an addition of an appropriate share of budgeted overhead. Its main objective is to provide bases of control through variance accounting for the valuation of stocks and work-in-progress and in exceptional cases for fixing selling prices.† The use of standards facilitates many business functions. Standards are very useful in the monitoring and controlling of business activities in general. The need for standard costs arises as a result of the benefits it provides for a business, such as Cost control does not merely refer to minimization of costs. Cost control means identifying costs with their benefits and ensuring that the costs are justified, given the benefits that are derived. Standard costs provide a very useful framework for cost control. The great value of standards in cost control is that they provide the ability to compare actual costs with desired costs on a timely basis. Timely reporting of difference i.e. monthly, weekly, daily or for each work shift etc, between actual and standard costs allows managers to take

Compressive Sensing: Performance Comparison of Measurement

Compressive Sensing: Performance Comparison of Measurement Compressive Sensing: A Performance Comparison of Measurement Matrices Y. Arjoune, N. Kaabouch, H. El Ghazi, and A. Tamtaoui AbstractCompressive sensing paradigm involves three main processes: sparse representation, measurement, and sparse recovery process. This theory deals with sparse signals using the fact that most of the real world signals are sparse. Thus, it uses a measurement matrix to sample only the components that best represent the sparse signal. The choice of the measurement matrix affects the success of the sparse recovery process. Hence, the design of an accurate measurement matrix is an important process in compressive sensing. Over the last decades, several measurement matrices have been proposed. Therefore, a detailed review of these measurement matrices and a comparison of their performances is needed. This paper gives an overview on compressive sensing and highlights the process of measurement. Then, proposes a three-level measurement matrix classification and compares the performance of eight measurement matrices after presenting the mathematical model of each matrix. Several experimen ts are performed to compare these measurement matrices using four evaluation metrics which are sparse recovery error, processing time, covariance, and phase transition diagram. Results show that Circulant, Toeplitz, and Partial Hadamard measurement matrices allow fast reconstruction of sparse signals with small recovery errors. Index Terms Compressive sensing, sparse representation, measurement matrix, random matrix, deterministic matrix, sparse recovery. TRADITIONAL data acquisition techniques acquire N samples of a given signal sampled at a rate at least twice the Nyquist rate in order to guarantee perfect signal reconstruction. After data acquisition, data compression is needed to reduce the high number of samples because most of the signals are sparse and need few samples to be represented. This process is time consuming because of the large number of samples acquired. In addition, devices are often not able to store the amount of data generated. Therefore, compressing sensing is necessary to reduce the processing time and the number of samples to be stored. This sensing technique includes data acquisition and data compression in one process. It exploits the sparsity of the signal to recover the original sparse signal from a small set of measurements [1]. A signal is sparse if only a few components of this signal are nonzero.   Compressive sensing has proven itself as a promising solution for high-density signals and has major a pplications ranging from image processing [2] to wireless sensor networks [3-4], spectrum sensing in cognitive radio [5-8], and channel estimation [9-10].   As shown in Fig. 1. compressive sensing involves three main processes: sparse representation, measurement, and sparse recovery process. If signals are not sparse, sparse representation projects the signal on a suitable basis so the signal can be sparse. Examples of sparse representation techniques are Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) [11]. The measurement process consists of selecting a few measurements,   from the sparse signal that best represents the signal where. Mathematically, this process consists of multiplying the sparse signal by a measurement matrix. This matrix has to have a small mutual coherence or satisfy the Restricted Isometry Property. The sparse recovery process aims at recovering the sparse signal from the few measurements selected in the measurement process given the measurement matrix ÃŽ ¦. Thus, the sparse recovery problem is an undetermined system of linear equations, which has an inf inite number of solutions. However, sparsity of the signal and the small mutual coherence of the measurement matrix ensure a unique solution to this problem, which can be formulated as a linear optimization problem. Several algorithms have been proposed to solve this sparse recovery problem. These algorithms can be classified into three main categories: Convex and Relaxation category [12-14], Greedy category [15-20], and Bayesian category [21-23]. Techniques under the Convex and Relaxation category solve the sparse recovery problem through optimization algorithms such as Gradient Descent and Basis Pursuit. These techniques are complex and have a high recovery time. As an alternative solution to reduce the processing time and speed up the recovery, Greedy techniques have been proposed which build the solution iteratively. Examples of these techniques include Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and its derivatives. These Greedy techniques are faster but sometimes inefficient. Bayesian b ased techniques which use a prior knowledge of the sparse signal to recover the original sparse signal can be a good approach to solve sparse recovery problem. Examples of these techniques include Bayesian via Laplace Prior (BSC-LP), Bayesian via Relevance Vector Machine (BSC-RVM), and Bayesian via Belief Propagation (BSC-BP). In general, the existence and the uniqueness of the solution are guaranteed as soon as the measurement matrix used to sample the sparse signal satisfies some criteria. The two well-known criteria are the Mutual Coherence Property (MIP) and the Restricted Isometry Property (RIP) [24]. Therefore, the design of measurement matrices is an important process in compressive sensing. It involves two fundamental steps: 1) selection of a measurement matrix and 2) determination of the number of measurements necessary to sample the sparse signal without losing the information stored in it. A number of measurement matrices have been proposed. These matrices can be classified into two main categories: random and deterministic. Random matrices are generated by identical or independent distributions such as Gaussian, Bernoulli, and random Fourier ensembles. These matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured.  Ã‚   Unstructured type matrices are generated randomly following a given distribution. Example of these matrices include Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform. These matrices are easy to construct and satisfy the RIP with high probability [26]; however, because of the randomness, they present some drawbacks such as high computation and costly hardware implementation [27]. Structured type matrices are generated following a given structure. Examples of matrices of this type include the random partial Fourier and the random partial Hadamard. On the other hand, deterministic matrices are constructed deterministically to have a small mutual coherence or satisfy the RIP. Matrices of this category are of two types: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. Semi-deterministic type matrices have a deterministic construction that involves the randomness in the process of construction. Example of semi-deterministic type matrices are Toeplitz and Circulant matrices [31]. Full-deterministic type matrices have a pure deterministic construction. Examples of this type measurement matrices include second-order Reed-Muller codes [28], Chirp sensing matrices [29], binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes [30], and quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check code (QC-LDPC) matrix [32]. Several papers that provide a performance comparison of deterministic and random matrices have been published. For instance, Monajemi et al. [43] describe some semi-deterministic matrices such as Toeplitz and Circulant and show that their phase transition diagrams are similar as those of the random Gaussian matrices. In [11], the authors provide a survey on the applications of compressive sensing, highlight the drawbacks of unstructured random measurement matrices, and they present the advantages of some full-deterministic measurement matrices. In [27], the authors provide a survey on full-deterministic matrices (Chirp, second order Reed-Muller matrices, and Binary BCH matrices) and their comparison with unstructured random matrices (Gaussian, Bernoulli, Uniform matrices). All these papers provide comparisons between two types of matrices of the same category or from two types of two different categories. However, to the best of knowledge, no previous work compared the performances of measurement matrices from the two categories and all types: random unstructured, random structured, semi-deterministic, and full-deterministic. Thus, this paper addresses this gap of knowledge by providing an in depth overview of the measurement process and comparing the performances of eight measurement matrices, two from each type. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we give the mathematical model behind compressive sensing. In Section 3, we provide a three-level classification of measurement matrices. Section 4 gives the mathematical model of each of the eight measurement matrices. Section 5 describes the experiment setup, defines the evaluation metrics used for the performance comparison, and discusses the experimental results. In section 6, conclusions and perspectives are given. Compressive sensing exploits the sparsity and compresses a k-sparse signal by multiplying it by a measurement matrix where. The resulting vector    is called the measurement vector. If the signal is not sparse, a simple projection of this signal on a suitable basis, can make it sparse i.e. where. The sparse recovery process aims at recovering the sparse signal given the measurement matrix and the vector of measurements. Thus, the sparse recovery problem, which is an undetermined system of linear equations, can be stated as: (1) Where is the, is a sparse signal in the basis , is the measurement matrix, and   is the set of measurements. For the next of this paper, we consider that the signals are sparse i.e. and . The problem (1) then can be written as: (2) This problem is an NP-hard problem; it cannot be solved in practice. Instead, its convex relaxation is considered by replacing the by the . Thus, this sparse recovery problem can be stated as: (3) Where is the -norm, is the k-parse signal, the measurement matrix and is the set of measurements. Having the solution of problem (3) is guaranteed as soon as the measurement matrix has a small mutual coherence or satisfies RIP of order. Definition 1: The coherence measures the maximum correlation between any two columns of the measurement matrix . If is a matrix with normalized column vector , each is of unit length. Then the mutual coherence Constant (MIC) is defined as: (4) Compressive sensing is concerned with matrices that have low coherence, which means that a few samples are required for a perfect recovery of the sparse signal. Definition 2: A measurement matrix satisfies the Restricted Isometry Property if there exist a constant such as: (5) Where is the and is called the Restricted Isometry Constant (RIC) of which should be much smaller than 1. As shown in the Fig .2, measurement matrices can be classified into two main categories: random and deterministic. Matrices of the first category are generated at random, easy to construct, and satisfy the RIP with a high probability. Random matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured. Matrices of the unstructured random type are generated at random following a given distribution. For example, Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform are unstructured random type matrices that are generated following Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform distribution, respectively. Matrices of the second type, structured random, their entries are generated following a given function or specific structure. Then the randomness comes into play by selecting random rows from the generated matrix. Examples of structured random matrices are the Random Partial Fourier and the Random Partial Hadamard matrices. Matrices of the second category, deterministic, are highly desirable because they are constructed deter ministically to satisfy the RIP or to have a small mutual coherence. Deterministic matrices are also of two types: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. The generation of semi-deterministic type matrices are done in two steps: the first step consists of the generation of the entries of the first column randomly and the second step generates the entries of the rest of the columns of this matrix based on the first column by applying a simple transformation on it such as shifting the element of the first columns. Examples of these matrices include Circulant and Toeplitz matrices [24]. Full-deterministic matrices have a pure deterministic construction. Binary BCH, second-order Reed-Solomon, Chirp sensing, and quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check code (QC-LDPC) matrices are examples of full-deterministic type matrices. Based on the classification provided in the previous section, eight measurement matrices were implemented: two from each category with two from each type. The following matrices were implemented: Gaussian and Bernoulli measurement matrices from the structured random type, random partial Fourier and Hadamard measurement matrices from the unstructured random type, Toeplitz and Circulant measurement matrices from the semi-deterministic type, and finally Chirp and Binary BCH measurement matrices from the full-deterministic type. In the following, the mathematical model of each of these eight measurement matrices is described. A. Random Measurement Matrices Random matrices are generated by identical or independent distributions such as normal, Bernoulli, and random Fourier ensembles. These random matrices are of two types: unstructured and structured measurement random matrices. 1) Unstructured random type matrices Unstructured random type measurement matrices are generated randomly following a given distribution. The generated matrix is of size . Then M rows is randomly selected from N. Examples of this type of matrices include Gaussian, Bernoulli, and Uniform. In this work, we selected the Random Gaussian and Random Bernoulli matrix for the implementation. The mathematical model of each of these two measurement matrices is given below. a) Random Gaussian matrix The entries of a Gaussian matrix are independent and follow a normal distribution with expectation 0 and variance. The probability density function of a normal distribution is: (6) Where is the mean or the expectation of the distribution, is the standard deviation, and is the variance. This random Gaussian matrix satisfies the RIP with probability at least given that the sparsity satisfy the following formula: (7) Where is the sparsity of the signal, is the number of measurements, and is the length of the sparse signal [36]. b) Random Bernoulli matrix A random Bernoulli matrix is a matrix whose entries take the value or with equal probabilities. It, therefore, follows a Bernoulli distribution which has two possible outcomes labeled by n=0 and n=1.   The outcome n=1 occurs with the probability p=1/2 and n=0 occurs with the probability q=1-p=1/2. Thus, the probability density function is: (8) The Random Bernoulli matrix satisfies the RIP with the same probability as the Random Gaussian matrix [36]. 2) Structured Random Type matrices The Gaussian or other unstructured matrices have the disadvantage of being slow; thus, large-scale problems are not practicable with Gaussian or Bernoulli matrices. Even the implementation in term of hardware of an unstructured matrix is more difficult and requires significant space memory space. On the other hand, random structured matrices are generated following a given structure, which reduce the randomness, memory storage, and processing time. Two structured matrices are selected to be implemented in this work: Random Partial Fourier and Partial Hadamard matrix. The mathematical model of each of these two measurement matrices is described below: a) Random Partial Fourier matrix The Discrete Fourier matrix is a matrix whose entry is given by the equation: (9) Where. Random Partial Fourier matrix which consists of choosing random M rows of the Discrete Fourier matrix satisfies the RIP with a probability of at least , if: (10) Where M is the number of measurements, K is the sparsity, and N is the length of the sparse signal [36]. b) Random Partial Hadamard matrix The Hadamard measurement matrix is a matrix whose entries are 1 and -1. The columns of this matrix are orthogonal. Given a matrix H of order n, H is said to be a Hadamard matrix if the transpose of the matrix H is closely related to its inverse. This can be expressed by: (11) Where is the identity matrix, is the transpose of the matrix. The Random Partial Hadamard matrix consists of taking random rows from the Hadamard matrix. This measurement matrix satisfies the RIP with probability at least provided    with and as positive constants, K is the sparsity of the signal, N is its length and M is the number of measurements [35]. B. Deterministic measurement matrices Deterministic measurement matrices are matrices that are designed following a deterministic construction to satisfy the RIP or to have a low mutual coherence. Several deterministic measurement matrices have been proposed to solve the problems of the random matrices. These matrices are of two types as mentioned in the previous section: semi-deterministic and full-deterministic. In the following, we investigate and present matrices from both types in terms of coherence and RIP. 1) Semi-deterministic type matrices To generate a semi-deterministic type measurement matrix, two steps are required. The first step is randomly generating the first columns and the second step is generating the full matrix by applying a simple transformation on the first column such as a rotation to generate each row of the matrix. Examples of matrices of this type are the Circulant and Toeplitz matrices. In the following, the mathematical models of these two measurement matrices are given. a) Circulant matrix For a given vector, its associated circulant matrix whose entry is given by: (11) Where. Thus, Circulant matrix has the following form: C= If we choose a random subset of cardinality, then the partial circulant submatrix that consists of the rows indexed by achieves the RIP with high probability given that: (12) Where is the length of the sparse signal and its sparsity [34]. b) Toeplitz matrix The Toeplitz matrix, which is associated to a vector    whose entry is given by: (13) Where. The Toeplitz matrix is a Circulant matrix with a constant diagonal i.e. .   Thus, the Toeplitz matrix has the following form: T= If we randomly select a subset of cardinality , the Restricted Isometry Constant of the Toeplitz matrix restricted to the rows indexed by the set S satisfies with a high probability provided (14) Where is the sparsity of the signal and is its length [34]. 2) Full-deterministic type matrices Full-deterministic type matrices are matrices that have pure deterministic constructions based on the mutual coherence or on the RIP property. In the following, two examples of deterministic construction of measurements matrices are given which are the Chirp and Binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes matrices. a) Chirp Sensing Matrices The Chirp Sensing matrices are matrices their columns are given by the chirp signal. A discrete chirp signal of length à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡ has the form:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (15) The full chirp measurement matrix can be written as: (16) Where is an matrix with columns are given by the chirp signals with a fixed and base frequency   values that vary from 0 to m-1. To illustrate this process, let us assume that and Given , The full chirp matrix is as follows: In order to calculate, the matrices and should be calculated. Using the chirp signal, the entries of these matrices are calculated and given as: ; Thus, we get the chirp measurement matrix as: Given that is a -sparse signal with chirp code measurements and is the length of the chirp code. If (17) then is the unique solution to the sparse recovery algorithms. The complexity of the computation of the chirp measurement matrix is. The main limitation of this matrix is the restriction of the number of measurements to    [29]. b) Binary BCH matrices Let denote as a divisor of for some integer an

The Great Power of Hellsberry!

As the chilled whisper of wind hits the side of my face, I realised how dazzling, and inspiring this village I was in, really was. The moon shone brightly and luxurious in the sky. It was like a slice of cheese sitting there, ready for it to be taken, and eaten up whole. The colour of blues in the mid-night atmosphere, made it look like the deep ocean. Gentle and tranquil, it stood there, for people's eyes to gleam up, with the brightest of tones that it revealed to the world. The stars stood out of place, with its glittering and scintillating sparkle of light, like a Christmas tree ready for the blissful times to come in life. The folks looked up and gasped how astonishing the heavens looked, on this crisp and cold night. The gigantic mountains were covered with white gleaming snow. It lay there, waiting for the hands of children to pick it up, and be thrown at one another. The snow as I picked it up, rubbed against the smoothness of my hands. Making them feel bitterly cold, which sent shivers and tingles right through the tips of my fingers. The black night sky looked very gloomy, as the mist disguised the peak of the mountains. The dull mist made the mountains look very icy and dangerous for anyone bidding to enter this treacherous unknown land. It appeared very ‘alien', as you did not know where the sky ended and where the darkness of the land started. The village folk were kept warm as they had their fires alight. The glow from the fires shone through the windows of every house, which reflected a stream of ripples on the surface of the snow, making tiny little crystals glisten and sparkle, just like diamonds. Lanterns glow by the sides of beds, shinning through the rooms, making the village beam with warmth, against the background of the dreary hours of darkness. The eye of the beholder could see how magnificent the snow really was. There was a sign of some kind that was partly rotted, and had been blown down by fierce winds. It was covered in snow, and on the edges icicles had formed. I wondered to myself what this mysterious piece of wood was. I scraped the snow and ice off with my bare hands, and it said Welcome to Hellsberry! The name of this place sounded very familiar, I knew I had heard it before, but where? Then it came into my mind. An old and wise woman once told me about a cave that was near the heart of Hellsberry. A small and mystical cave that lay hidden away in the mountains, near a lake that was frozen all through the year, even in summer. Dead rotting trees lay helpless around the lake, with their brown crinkled leaves blown away by the cold and ferocious winds. No animals strolled through this desolate place any more. It used to be a beautiful and tranquil place. The valley was green and lush, with brightly coloured and sweet smelling flowers which danced happily to the gentle breeze. Here, all types of animals would come and graze on the long green grass, and laze around under the warmth of the sun shinning above. The deep blue river was plentiful with lots of different sized fish. With its fresh clear water slashing against the side of rocks, making ripples as it gently meandered down hill. The waterfall cascaded over rocks, by the side where tropical flowers grew. Deers would stride up to the lake to drink from it, while birds would be flying around, chirping and singing to each other. I wanted to find out if this story she told me was really true or not. I arrived at the foot of the mountains, which were a dangerous and risky place for any of mankind to face, after it came and made home in the mountains. Even if mankind were the strongest and bravest on earth, nothing could outwit and defeat this creature of wisdom, fire and great power. It was a creature that many of the villagers were afraid of. After it came, the place of so much beauty turned to something dark and dismal. Leaves dropped off rotted trees, animals ran like their enemy was chasing after them, the waterfall turned brown and died, flowers were crushed and damaged; the river froze over as the chilled air passed through it. The creature did this but for how long would it carry on? Every full moon for the last 300 years, as the night grew dark, and the bright elegant stars appeared in the mid-night sky, a ball of raging fire would move about the black night background. A glowing of bright and angry colours made the village come to light as it reflected down on this innocent and helpless place. It grew bigger and brighter every time it appeared in the eyes of the people, and also the people grew more scared every time it was upon them. They had fought bravely against this creature, but failed to keep it away or even destroy it. I was going to change this. The creature lived in the caves upon the white glossy snow of the mountains. The caves ran for miles along the ridge of the mountains, with numerous turns and winding passage ways. Fire lived in the centre of this mountain, it was the biggest and tallest of all. Hell was placed here for no one to find and seek. The cave was cut deep down amongst snow and ice. Around the area of this large mountain, were frequent snow blizzards. This gave the creature vital protection, as no mankind could reach it. I advanced towards this unknown mountain. There was a collage of deep, dark, grey clouds that gradually got bigger and more furious by the minute, with its forceful power waiting to grasp at anybody entering this place of immorality. As I advanced further up the mountain I could feel the ice cold snow against the side of my face. I forced myself through the extreme weather conditions of the blizzard. The snow was dragging me to the centre of hell. The pain of the cold grew within me. The noise of the screeching wind passed through the inside of my red frozen ears, like a thousand animals running from what they are a most afraid of in their lives. I ran towards the jagged shaped mouth in the cave, with my soul being pulled back behind me to the centre of the storm. The snow got heavier and heavier, as I got further to the cave. There I saw a glimmer of light, making the cave light up through the white background. I got further to the middle of hell where this powerful and unpredictable creature awaits. Its life time was about to end. The cave smelled of dead human remains that had been there for centuries, blood was splattered against the sides of the rough toothed rocks. Bones lay in the corner, one on top of each other, I felt more fearful as time went on, and as I discovered more about the secrets behind the cave. There lay a fire in the middle of the walls. I started to feel vibration under my feet. Something big was coming towards me, I did not know what to expect. It appeared from behind me, a tall dark mysterious figure. It moved closer and closer. I moved back, tripping up over a rock, with blood on it. I banged my head. I was on the floor. My head lay there. I couldn't move. The creature moved even closer. Blood poured down the side of my head. I felt faint. A black figure was in front of me. My eyes closed. I thought to myself what was it?

Can Documentary Films Really Create Change

After seeing a gripping documentary film, it’s not uncommon to feel motivated to take action. But does social change actually occur as a result of a documentary? According to sociologists, documentary films may indeed play a key role in raising awareness of social issues and increasing political mobilization. Key Takeaways: Documentaries and Social Change A team of sociologists sought to investigate whether documentary films can be linked to political and social change.Researchers found that Gasland, and anti-fracking documentary, was linked to increases in discussion about fracking.Gasland was also linked to anti-fracking political mobilizations. Gasland and the Anti-Fracking Movement For a long time, many have assumed that documentary films about issues that affect society are able to motivate people to create change, but this was just an assumption, as there was no hard evidence to show such a connection. However, a 2015 sociology paper tested this theory with empirical research and found that documentary films can in fact motivate conversation around issues, promote political action, and spark social change. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Ion Bogdan Vasi of the University of Iowa, focused on the case of the 2010 film  Gasland—about the negative impacts of drilling for natural gas, or fracking—and its potential connection to the anti-fracking movement in the U.S. For their study published in American Sociological Review, the researchers looked for behaviors consistent with an anti-fracking mindset  around the time period when the film was first released (June 2010), and when it was nominated for an Academy Award (February 2011). They found that web searches for Gasland and social media chatter related to both fracking and the film spiked around those times. Speaking about the study results, Vasi said, In June 2010, the number of searches for Gasland was four times higher than the number of searches for fracking, indicating that the documentary created significant interest in the topic among the general public. Can Documentaries Help Shape the Conversation? The researchers found that attention to fracking on Twitter increased over time and received large bumps (6 and 9 percent respectively) with the films release and its award nomination. They also saw a similar increase in mass media attention to the issue, and by studying newspaper articles, found that the majority of news coverage of fracking also mentioned the film in June 2010 and January 2011. Documentaries and Political Action The researchers found a clear connection between screenings of  Gasland  and anti-fracking actions like protests, demonstrations, and civil disobedience in communities where screenings took place. These anti-fracking actions—what sociologists call mobilizations—helped fuel policy changes related to fracking the Marcellus Shale (a region that spans Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and West Virginia). Implications for Social Movements Ultimately, the study shows that a documentary film associated with a social movement—or perhaps another kind of cultural product like art or music—can have real effects at both national and local levels. In this particular case, the researchers found that the film  Gasland  had the effect of changing how the conversation around fracking was framed, from one that suggested that the practice is safe, to one that focused on the risks associated with it. This is an important finding because it suggests that documentary films (and maybe cultural products generally) can serve as important tools for social and political change. This fact could have a real impact on willingness of investors and foundations that award grants to support documentary filmmakers. This knowledge about documentary films, and the possibility of increased support for them, could lead to a rise in the production, prominence, and circulation of them. Its possible that this could also have an impact on funding for investigative journalism—a practice that has mostly fallen away as re-reporting and entertainment-focused news has skyrocketed over the last couple of decades. In the written report about the study, the researchers concluded by encouraging others to study the connections between documentary films and social movements. They suggest that there may be important lessons learned for filmmakers and activists alike by understanding why some films fail to catalyze social action while others succeed. References Diedrich, Sara. â€Å"The Power of Film.† University of Iowa: Department of Sociology and Criminology, 2 Sep. 2015. https://clas.uiowa.edu/sociology/newsletter/power-filmVasi, Ion Bogdan, et al. ‘No Fracking Way!’ Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition Against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010 to 2013.  American Sociological Review, vol.  80, no. 5, 2015, pp. 934-959. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122415598534

Active Voice in Grammar