Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Notion of Type and its Importance in the 20th Century Essay

The Notion of Type and its Importance in the 20th Century - Essay Example Deutscher Werkbund was established in 1907 by Hermann Muthesius and Friendrich Naumann in order to consolidate art and industry . The debates surrounding Werkbund focused on Muthesius' concept of â€Å"Typisierung†. According to Muthesius, mass production denoted standardization; however, he combined the economic concept of standardization with Platonic ideal types. Muthesius' ideas were heavily criticized by a number of artists and architects. The debate between him and Van de Velde was not about mechanization, but on the role of the artist. Whereas Muthesius asserted that the artist was separated and abstracted from the production process, Van de Velde advocated the artistic freedom and creativity . Muthesius and Werkbund did not care much about the Fordist aspects of the mass production, rather they tried to bring organization to the otherwise chaotic world of the mass production ruled by fashion, individualism and arbitrariness. Peter Behrens' designs for AEG, which were c alled Types, epitomized the various tendencies within the Werkbund. Behrens's workplace in Berlin has become an atelier for many young architects including Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, who would shape the Modern Movement. They learned architecture directly from Behrens. As Curtis noted Le Corbusier practicality and idealism was enhanced through his work for Peter Behrens, who saw mechanization as a vital force in creation of the modern culture.5 Figure 1, Peter Behrens, Types, AEG, 1912. The Werkbund's approach was influential until the end of World War I. However, later on, both Gropius and Le Corbusier abandoned the theoretical approaches of the Werkbund. Before 1914, debates were focused on the design of commodities. After 1920, the architectural issues have increasingly become the focus. Adolf Loos holds a special place in the history of modern architecture, not just as a pioneering figure of the Modern movement, but also as a critic of the Werkebund. In his influential article â€Å"Ornament and Crime† (1908) he argued that elimination of ornaments from the useful objects was beneficial to culture â€Å"reducing the time spent on manual labour and releasing energy for the life of the mind†6. This article can be regarded as an attack to the Werkebund in a sense that it was unacceptable for Loos to give the artist a form-giving role7. He did not believe that the artist is the creator of everyday useful objects8.According to him, style was the outcome of several economic and cultural conditions. Hence he also criticized Muthesius on the ground that he substituted form for ornament9. As Kenneth Frampton indicated , for Loos â€Å"all culture depended on a certain continuity with the past; above all, on a consensus as to a

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Network operating systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Network operating systems - Essay Example Novell was licensing Novell Directory Services to all comers, the idea being to seed the market and make NDS a de facto standard that will increase demand for Novell's directory-enabled applications. While these licensing deals didn't expected to produce much revenue at this point, that might change down the road if third parties start including NDS in products instead of building their own directories. As Robert Harbison says, "That's where Microsoft is really great. Microsoft shipped NT 4.0 with a sampler CD full of third-party applications from its ISVs. Novell has to do a lot more to help promote NDS applications." Distinguishing feature of Novell's approach to network operating systems is understanding of importance of middleware technologies, for example NDS' unparalleled cross-platform support is particularly appealing to Tivoli. "Microsoft has traditionally misunderstood the importance of certain middleware technologies and how important it is for them to be cross-platform in nature," says Tom Bishop. "Active Directory is fine for pure NT shops, but Novell's NDS strategy has some real appeal in the more heterogeneous environments that we target." It is mentioned by Breidenbach that NDS is now available on Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX, IBM's AIX, Caldera's Linux and The Santa Cruz Operation's Unix, Sun Solaris and IBM's S/390. NT is already supported by NDS, but only in environments with at least one NetWare server. A version of NDS that runs directly on NT without NetWare was due out in summer of 1999; it would enable users to build pure NT networks but still employ NDS. This approach of Novell differs a lot from Microsoft's Active Directory Technology that is available only for Windows platform. As a result, Novell's NDS can be implemented on various operating systems but do not help to promote Novell's operating system Novell Netware, while software products of Microsoft run only in Microsoft Windows environment. Another distinguishing feature of Novell's approach to network operating systems is collaboration with switch vendors. As Breidenbach writes, part of Novell's strategy for boosting NDS' role in enterprise nets is getting switch vendors on board. The company has been scoring big with the likes of Lucent, Nortel Networks and Cisco announcing varying degrees of support for NDS. At the same time Microsoft do not work with switch vendors so close. 2 Given all this good technical stuff, why is Novell close to bankruptcy and Microsoft Networks are taking over the planet I think that the main reason of Novell's difficult financial situation is thoughtless marketing strategy. It was a mistake trying to enter desktop operating systems market. Failure in this attempt had caused loss of trust of many potential customers. Breidenbach writes about this in the article. "Novell was on top and got dethroned," says high-tech marketing guru Geoffrey Moore. "When that happens, the market is extremely reluctant to reenfranchise such a company, even if it has the best product." "And the number of ISVs is meaningless," Moore adds. "The issue is what the power players are doing. Cisco and Microsoft have the strongest positions, so a solution that doesn't have their endorsement isn't likely to get very

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Theory of Heteronuclear NMR Spectroscopy and its Application

Theory of Heteronuclear NMR Spectroscopy and its Application SYED MASOOD HASSAN AKBARI Question 1: Describe theory of heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy and its use in pharmaceutical analysis. Current strategies for determining the structures of membrane proteins in lipid environments by NMR spectroscopy rely on the anisotropy of nuclear spin interactions, which are experimentally accessible through experiments performed on weakly and completely aligned samples. Importantly, the anisotropy of nuclear spin interactions results in a mapping of structure to the resonance frequencies and splatting’s observed in NMR spectra. Distinctive wheel-like patterns are observed in two-dimensional 1H–15N heteronuclear dipolar/15N chemical shift PISEMA (polarization inversion spin-exchange at the magic angle) spectra of helical membrane proteins in highly aligned lipid bilayer samples (Marassi and Opella, 2000; Wang et al., 2000). One dimensional dipolar waves are an extension of two-dimensional PISA (polarity index slant angle) wheels that map protein structures in NMR spectra of both weakly and completely aligned samples (Marassi and Opella, 2000). Dipolar waves describe t he periodic wave-like variations of the magnitudes of the heteronuclear dipolar couplings as a function of residue number in the absence of chemical shift effects. Since weakly aligned samples of proteins display these same effects, primarily as residual dipolar couplings, in solution NMR spectra, this represents a convergence of solid-state and solution NMR approaches to structure determination (Marassi and Opella, 2000). NMR structural studies of proteins There are three principal spectroscopic considerations for NMR structural studies of proteins: the overall rotational correlation time of the protein, the extent of alignment of the protein in the sample, and the strategy for assignment of the resonances to sites in the protein. Each of these considerations needs to be taken into account in the development of NMR for structural studies of membrane proteins (Opella, 1997). For relatively small globular proteins, the sample conditions, instrumentation, experiments, and calculations that lead to structure determination are well established (Cavanagh et al., 1996). The chief requirement for structure determination of globular proteins is that samples can be prepared of isotopically labelled polypeptides that are folded in their native conformation and reorient relatively rapidly in solution. Such samples have been prepared for many hundreds of proteins, and it is likely that this can be done for thousands more of the polypeptide sequence s found in genomes (Wuthrich, 1998). This is not yet the case for membrane proteins. Resonance assignments The traditional approach to protein structure determination is based on the same overall principles, whether solution NMR or solid-state NMR methods are used and whether the sample is aligned or not. This involves the resolution of resonances through the use of isotopic labels and multidimensional NMR experiments, the measurement of spectral parameters associated with individual resonances, for example, NOEs, J couplings, dipolar couplings, or chemical shift frequencies, the assignment of all resonance to specific sites in the protein, and then the calculation of structures. There are examples of the application of this approach to membrane proteins in micelles (Almeida and Opella, 1997) and bilayers (Opella et al., 1999). The availability of orientation information associated with individual resonances means that it is now possible to make effective use of limited amounts of assignment information, for example, some residue-type assignments or a few sequential assignments. It may al so be feasible to implement an â€Å"assignment-free† approach. The use of either limited or no assignment information prior to calculating structures would greatly speed the process of structure determination by NMR spectroscopy, especially in the case of membrane proteins where assignments are difficult to make in nearly all situations due to overlap of resonances and unfavourable relaxation parameters. Dipole–dipole interaction The local field, which results from the interaction between two nearby nuclei, is a direct source of structural information. Pake’s (1948) seminal paper demonstrated that the dipole–dipole interaction between two spin S = 1/2 nuclei is manifested as a doublet in NMR spectra, with the frequency difference a function of not only the distance between the two nuclei but also the angle between the internuclear vector and the direction of the applied magnetic field. The dipole–dipole interaction provides direct access to geometrical parameters that can be translated into molecular structures. Moreover, it is important for many aspects of solid-state NMR spectroscopy; for example, it is essential to minimize its influence through decoupling to obtain well-resolved spectra. In this regard, it is generally easier to deal with heteronuclear rather than homonuclear dipolar couplings. Heteronuclear dipolar couplings are used extensively to determine the structures of protein s, in particular the 1H–15N interaction at the amide sites in the protein backbone. Uniform labelling with 15N is particularly valuable in proteins because the properties of a â€Å"dilute spin† are retained, since the next nearest amide nitrogen is separated by two carbon atoms in the polypeptide backbone (Cross et al., 1982). In addition, each 15N label in an amide site provides three spin interactions for analysis: the 15N chemical shift, the 1H chemical shift, and, of course, the 1H–15N heteronuclear dipolar coupling between the two directly bonded nuclei. The dipole–dipole interaction is anisotropic; therefore, the value of the splitting varies with molecular orientation. It is maximal for an N–H bond parallel to the field, half-maximal when the bond is perpendicular to the field, and zero when the bond is at the â€Å"magic angle†. All of these possibilities are observed in experimental data from aligned proteins. The 1H–15N het eronuclear dipolar interaction has the dual roles of providing a mechanism for resolving among resonances with N–H bonds at different orientations and of providing the input for structure determination in the form of frequency measurements that can be translated into angles between individual bonds and the external axis imposed by the magnetic field. The angular information can then be used in conjunction with the well-established geometry of peptide planes to determine the three-dimensional structure of the polypeptide backbone (Opella et al., 1987). These methods can be extended to additional nitrogen and carbon sites for characterization of side chain conformations. Separated local field spectroscopy (Waugh 1976) combines several of the elements of high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy to average out the unwanted broadening influences of homonuclear dipolar couplings and double resonance and multidimensional spectroscopy to average out and separate the heteronuclear dipolar couplings in different parts of the experiment. The chemical shift dimension in two-dimensional separated local field spectra is intrinsically high resolution because it is obtained while decoupling the hydrogens to remove the broadening due to heteronuclear dipolar couplings. Homonuclear dipolar couplings are minimal among the dilute nuclei and generally do not require attention. This enables the dipolar couplings between bonded pairs of 1H and 15N nuclei to be measured for individual 15N sites with different chemical shift frequencies. The original versions of separated local field spectroscopy have more than adequate resolution for studies of peptides or specifically or selectively labelled proteins. However, further improvements in resolution were needed for studies of uniformly 15N labelled proteins. PISEMA (polarization inversion spin-exchange at the magic angle) (Wu et al., 1994) is a high-resolution version of separated local field spectroscopy. Line widths in the key dipolar frequency dimension are reduced by more than one order of magnitude compared with the conventional separated local field experiment. The combination of narrow lines and favourable scaling factor has such a dramatic effect on the appearance of the spectra that it is now feasible to formulate solid-state NMR experiments where heteronuclear dipolar coupling frequencies complement chemical shifts as a mechanism for spectroscopic resolution as well as the measurement of readily interpretable orientationally dependent frequencies. PISA (polarity index slant angle) wheels The secondary structure and topology of a membrane protein can be described by the patterns of resonances observed in two-dimensional PISEMA spectra of uniformly 15N labelled polypeptides in aligned bilayers (Marassi and Opella, 2000; Wang et al., 2000). The characteristic â€Å"wheel-like† patterns observed in these spectra reflect helical wheel projections of residues in both transmembrane and in-plane helices. Therefore, PISA wheels provide direct indices of both secondary structure and topology. The resonance frequencies in both the 1H–15N heteronuclear dipolar and 15N chemical shift dimensions in PISEMA spectra of aligned samples of membrane proteins depend on helix orientation as well as on backbone dihedral angles, the magnitudes and orientations of the principal elements of the amide 15N chemical shift tensor, and the N–H bond length. It is possible to calculate spectra for any protein structure (Bak et al., 2002). The principals involved in the PISA whee l analysis of helices (Marassi and Opella, 2000) are illustrated in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2A, the projection down the axis of a helical wheel shows that the 3.6 residues per turn periodicity characteristic of an ÃŽ ±-helix results in an arc of 100 ° between adjacent residues. The drawing of a peptide plane in Fig. 2B shows the orientations of the principal axes of the three operative spin interactions at the 15N-labelled amide site. The 17 ° difference between the N–H bond axis and the ÏÆ'33 principal element of the amide 15N chemical shift tensor is of particular importance because of its impact on the spectral appearance of a PISA wheel. The striking wheel-like pattern of resonances calculated from a two-dimensional PISEMA spectrum of an ideal helix is shown in Fig. 2C. A PISA wheel reflects the slant angle (tilt) of the helix, and the assignment of the resonances reflects the polarity index (rotation) of the helix. When the helix axis is parallel to the bilayer normal, all of the amide sites have an identical orientation relative to the direction of the applied magnetic field, and therefore, all of the resonances overlap with the same dipolar coupling and chemical shift frequencies. Tilting the helix away from the membrane normal results in variations in the orientations of the amide N–H bond vectors relative to the field. This is seen in the spectra as dispersions of both the heteronuclear dipolar coupling and the chemical shift frequencies. Nearly all transmembrane helices are tilted with respect to the bilayer normal, and it is the combination of the tilt and the 17 ° difference between the tensor orientations in the molecular frame that makes it possible to resolve many resonances from residues in otherwise uniform helices and is responsible for the wheel-like pattern in PISEMA spectra, such as that illustrated in Fig. 2C. Figure 1: Illustrates principles of PISA wheels (Marassi and Opella, 2000). (A) Helical wheel showing the 100 ° arc between adjacent residues that is a consequence of the periodicity of 3.6 residues per turn in an ÃŽ ±-helix; (B) orientations of the principal elements of the spin interaction tensors associated with 15N in a peptide bond; (C) PISA wheel for an ideal ÃŽ ±-helix; (D) dipolar wave for an ideal ÃŽ ±-helix. Question 2: Structure Elucidation for C11H15NO.HCl Mw = 213.70 FT-IR Shows a sharp peak at 1690cm-1 which is representative of a C=O functional group. There is a broad peak turning up at the 3500cm-1 representative of a C-H group. 1H NMR Shows a cluster of peaks from 7.62-8.02ppm showing up as 5H. This means that the benzene ring is branched at one location. 5.25ppm shows up as a 1H this is the CH group 2.97-3.03ppm are the 2CH ­Ã‚ ­3 groups bonded to the Nitrogen. 1.64ppm comes up as a doublet with 3H this means that it is a methyl. The strong peak at the 4.80ppm is representative of the amine. 13C NMR The useful information gathered from this spectra is as there are negative peaks showing up so the angle at which this spectra was got was at 1350 clearly showing the CH2 in the ring and the benzene facing down. 196.51ppm shows the negative peak of the benzene ring. 136.69ppm shows the CH2 groups in the benzene ring. The peaks ranging from 128.54-131.90 are of the symmetrical benzene ring carbons. 69.57ppm is the CH3 group close to the ketone. 41.29ppm is the CH group which is beside the ketone. 14.46ppm is the 2 CH3 groups bonded to the amine. EI-MS Shows a small signal at 29 m/z which is representative of a CHO group. And the signal at 72 m/z is representative of a H3CHC=N+(CH ­3)2 ion. Chemical Structure Figure 1: Shows the structure of C11H15NO.HCl. References Almeida FCL, Opella SJ. fd coat protein structure in membrane environments: structural dynamics of a loop connecting a hydrophobic trans-membrane helix and an amphiapathic helix in a membrane protein.J. Mol. Biol.1997;270:481–495.[PubMed] Bak M, Schultz R, Vosegaard T, Nielsen NC. Specification and visualization of anisotropic interaction tensors in polypeptides and numerical simulations in biological solid-state NMR.J. Magn. Reson.2002;154:28–45.[PubMed] Bax A, Kontaxis G, Tjandra N. Dipolar couplings in macromolecular structure determination.Methods Enzymol.2001;330:127–172.[PubMed] Cavanagh J, Fairbrother WJ, Palmer AG, Skelton NS.Protein NMR spectroscopy.New York: Academic Press; 1996. Chou JJ, Kaufman JD, Stahl SJ, Wingfield PT, Bax A. Micelle-induced curvature in a water-insoluble HIV-1 Env peptide revealed by NMR dipolar coupling measurement in stretched polyacrylamide gel.J. Am. Chem. Soc.2002;124:2450–2451.[PubMed] Cross TA, DiVerdi JA, Opella SJ. Strategy for nitrogen NMR of biopolymers.J. Am. Chem. Soc.1982;104:1759–1761. Griffin RG. Dipolar recoupling in MAS spectra of biological solids.Nat. Struct. Biol. NMR Suppl.1998;II:508–512.[PubMed] Howard KP, Opella SJ. High resolution solid-state NMR spectra of integral membrane proteins reconstituted into magnetically oriented phospholic bilayers.J. Magn. Reson.1996;112:91–94.[PubMed] Ma C, Opella SJ. Lanthanide ions bind specifically to an added â€Å"EF-hand† and orient a membrane protein in micelles for solution NMR spectroscopy.J. Magn. Reson.2000;146:381–384.[PubMed] Marassi FM, Opella SJ. A solid-state NMR index of helical membrane protein structure and topology.J. Magn. Reson.2000;144:150–155.[PMC free article][PubMed] Marassi FM, Ramamoorthy A, Opella SJ. Complete resolution of the solid-state NMR spectrum of a uniformly15N-labeled membrane protein in phospholipid bilayers.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. A.1997;94:8551–8556.[PMC free article][PubMed] McDonnell PA, Opella SJ. Effect of detergent concentration on multidimensional solution NMR spectra of membrane proteins in micelles.J. Magn. Reson.1993;B102:120–125. Mesleh MF, Veglia G, DeSilva TM, Marassi FM, Opella SJ. Dipolar waves as NMR maps of protein structure.J. Am. Chem. Soc.2002;124:4206–4207.[PMC free article][PubMed] Opella SJ. NMR and membrane proteins.Nat. Struct. Biol. NMR Suppl.1997;I:845–848.[PubMed] Opella SJ, Stewart PL, Valentine KG. Structural analysis of solid-state NMR measurement of peptides and proteins.Q. Rev. Biophys.1987;19:7–49.[PubMed] Opella SJ, Marassi FM, Gesell JJ, Valente AP, Kim Y, Oblatt-Montal M, Montal M. Structures of the M2 channel-lining segments from nicotinic acetylcholine and NMDA receptors by NMR spectroscopy.Nat. Struct. Biol.1999;6:374–379.[PMC free article][PubMed] Pake GE. Nuclear resonance absorption in hydrated crystals: fine structure of proton line.J. Chem. Phys.1948;16:327–336. Sanders CR, Hare BJ, Howard K, Prestegard JH. Magnetically-oriented phospholipid micelles as a tool for the study of membrane-associated molecules.Prog. NMR Spectrosc.1993;26:421–444. Veglia G, Opella SJ. Lanthanide ion binding to adventitious sites aligns membrane proteins in micelles for solution NMR spectroscopy.J. Am. Chem. Soc.2000;122:11 733–11 734. Wang J, Denny J, Tian C, Kim S, Mo Y, Kovacs F, Song Z, Nishimura K, Gan Z, Fu R, Quine JR, Cross TA. Imaging membrane protein helical wheels.J. Magn. Reson.2000;144:162–167.[PubMed] Waugh JS. Uncoupling of local field spectra in nuclear magnetic resonance: determination of atomic positions in solids.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. A.1976;78:1894–1897.[PMC free article][PubMed] Wu CH, Ramamoorthy A, Opella SJ. High-resolution heteronuclear dipolae solid-state NMR spectroscopy.J. Magn. Reson.1994;A109:270–272. Wuthrich K. The second decade-into the third millennium.Nat. Struct. Biol. NMR. Suppl.1998;II:492–495.[PubMed]

Friday, October 25, 2019

Shays Rebellion :: American History

Shays Rebellion 1) Shays' Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary clash between New England farmers and merchants that tested the precarious institutions of the new republic, threatened to plunge the "disunited states" into a civil war. The rebellion arose in Massachusetts in 1786, spread to other states, and culminated in an abortive attack on a federal arsenal. It wound down in 1787 with the election of a more popular governor, an economic upswing, and the creation of the Constitution of the United States in Philadelphia. Shay's Rebellion was the first armed uprising of the new nation. It was caused by the absence of debt relief legislation in Massachusetts. When the Revolution ended, merchants and creditors lobbied for high taxes and against paper money. They were successful. These procreditor polices underminded farmers' finances. The legislation, including foreclosure laws, were extremely taxing to farmers and caused many to go into great debt. Many farmers were dragged to court where they faced high legal fees and threats of imprisonment because of their debt. In 1786, farmers in Massachusetts attended extralegal meetings where they protested against high taxes and aggressive eastern creditors. Bands of angry farmers joined together to close law courts with force and freed debtors and fellow protesters from jail. Resistance to the legislation climbed to a full-scale revolt. John Adams, president at the time, answered with the Riot Act, which outlawed illegal assemblies. The rebellion was suppresse d by military force. The rebellion prompted leaders with national perspective to redouble their efforts and create a stronger central government. 2) Economic crisis: high taxes, mounting debt A series of tax revolts by Massachusetts farmers against the Massachusetts legislature in 1786-1787. After the Revolutionary War, the Massachusetts legislature imposed high taxes to pay war debts. Rural farmers could not pay their taxes and faced forfeiture of their farms. Resentment of the taxes increased to the point that the farmers began to break up court sessions to prevent judges from ruling that specific farms should be sold to pay tax bills. These minor acts of rebellion turned violent in January 1787 when Daniel Shays, a farmer and Revolutionary War veteran, led 1200 people into Springfield to seize weapons from a national government arsenal. Massachusetts State military troops quickly put down the rebellion, but the event shocked the nation at the time. Shays' Rebellion hinted that law and order were seriously breaking down across the new United States to the extent that the national government, under the Articles of Confederation, could not even protect its own arsenal.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Comparison: Hector in Iliad vs. Hector in Troy

Heroes possess five timeless qualities. They are always willing to accept a challenge, they are courageous, self-sacrificing, they can overcome struggle with strength and dignity, and they have superior yet human qualities. Over different eras, other qualities that are attributed to heroes change based on society’s changing morals and ethics. The two versions of Hector display the many differences between the Greeks perspective on heroes and the modern contemporary perspective on heroes.To begin with, it is implied that modern heroes are sympathetic and do not love to kill, while heroes in Greek perspectives love basking in glory over defeat of any of their enemies. Hector in the Iliad gloats over the sight of dying Patroclus, taunting him in his last moments alive, whereas Hector in Troy is remorseful when he finds out that it was not Achilles who he fought. He kills Patroclus to stop his suffering and says that it is enough fighting for one day, even though the war has just barely begun. This shows how modern heroes are dutiful to their cause, while not truly liking the violence involved.On the other hand, heroes in Greek perspectives are shown to be individuals who lust to kill and feel no compassion as long as they achieve victory. This ties into how the respect shown towards rivals differs greatly from one time period to another. Hector in the Iliad does not show respect to his enemies, therefore continuously taunting Patroclus. This is unlike Hector in the film who displays his respect for Patroclus by killing him. Hector’s respect in the modern version versus his lack of respect is evidence as to how heroes were believed to feel after defeating their enemy.Finally, these versions show that heroes by Greek definitions are opportunists, while modern heroes will complete a task through their own physical power. Hector in the Iliad is presented as an opportunist, diving in to kill Patroclus after Apollo has already injured him. This is unlike H ector in the film who fights Patroclus all on his own. This shows how the dependency of heroes has changed over time. Even though there are many differences between the perspectives of the Greeks and the modern contemporary, there are also quite a few similarities.First of all, both versions of Hector are displayed as fierce individuals. We can see this from the Hector in the Iliad through the diction used when describing him stabbing Patroclus. Their situation is compared to one of a lion and a tireless wild boar, where the â€Å"lion beats him down with sheer brute force as the boar fights for breath (Line 963-964). † By comparing Hector to such a tough animal and using â€Å"sheer brute force† when explaining how he stabbed Patroclus, his strength is shown. As well, showing that Hector has defeated a â€Å"wild boar† also contributes to showing his superiority.In Troy, just by his leadership and methods of fighting, one can see that he is very powerful. In ad dition, both are very loyal to their cities. They fight with courage and stay focused toward their goal. Even if Hector in the film commands the war to be over for the day, he still knows he has to be faithful to his city and fight again. Hector in the Iliad being the opportunist that he is, also shows his loyalty by finishing off his enemies with pride. All in all, through observing the attitudes and behaviors of the two versions of Hector, it is easy to interpret how these time periods felt about heroes.All heroes possess five timeless qualities in addition to other qualities which are believed to be important during their own time period. Sometimes, one may see that these qualities are quite similar, and other times, they are the exact opposite of each other. In conclusion, descriptions of heroes are created by looking at what will appeal to the readers or viewers based on morals and ethics valued during that time. For this reason, the two versions of Hector possess some of the s ame qualities, but also some very different ones.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Motivation Factors at Tesco Essay

The history of labour relations in the UK is a story of the gradual empowerment of the working classes. The system of industrial relations in the United Kingdom (UK) is traditionally characterised by voluntary relations between the social partners, with a minimal level of interference from the state. In the context of very early industrialisation and a liberal political culture in which the state seldom intervened in the affairs of private actors, trade unions gradually consolidated their membership and power base throughout the 19th century. Various legislative developments also allowed trade unions the right to organise workers and engage in industrial action. In 1868, the UK Trades Union Congress (TUC), the confederal umbrella body for UK trade unions, was formed. The 1871 Trade Union Act recognised trade unions as legal entities as corporations and granted them the right to strike. Subsequently, the 1875 Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act allowed the right to peaceful picketing, while the 1906 Trade Disputes Act allowed UK trade unions to engage in industrial action without the threat of being sued for damages. In addition to this body of legislation, a minimal level of legal regulation that stipulated basic health and safety conditions in workplaces was also built up during the 19th century. The economic context throughout this time was also favourable to the development of trade unionism. Owing to the pace of industrialisation and the existence of substantial colonial markets for UK industry, the 19th century and early 20th century were characterised by extensive economic growth. This economic climate facilitated the development of a system in which some of the fruits of economic development could be designated for collectively bargained wage increases. In terms of the role of the law, collective bargaining was far more important than the influence of legal regulation. For employers and trade unions, the role of statute law was to support and extend collective bargaining rather than to comprehensively regulate the system. Notably, the law provided trade unions with a series of ‘immunities’ from UK common law. These immunities covered the right of trade unions to engage in industrial action with employers, which would otherwise have been illegal under UK common law. The membership of UK trade unions grew markedly in the post-war years. The era also represented the golden age of British ‘pluralism’, where the role of trade unions in securing industrial peace and efficiency was emphasised. In the private and public sectors, sectoral level collective agreements were also typically reached that covered whole industries. By the late 1960s, however, concerns emerged about the efficacy of a system in which shop floor industrial unrest appeared to be rising. This led to the Donovan Commission, a government commission that attempted to investigate the causes of workplace disputes. Industrial conflict grew markedly in the 1970s, partly as a result of the economic crisis that affected western countries after the 1973 ‘oil shock’. The era was characterised by trade union militancy and high levels of industrial action, and attempts by successive left-wing and right-wing governments to regulate the system largely met with failure. The period culminated in the 1978–1979 ‘winter of discontent’, where public sector trade unions engaged in regular and lengthy industrial action over the incumbent Labour government’s policy of public sector pay restraint. A conservative government, led by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was elected in 1979 on an anti-trade union, neo-liberal platform. Successive governments of this political stripe pursued a legislative programme that placed legal restrictions on trade unions’ ability to engage in industrial action, and that privatised many areas of the public sector, while managing the public sector in an anti-union fashion. During this period, trade union membership also declined markedly, and the majority of sectoral collective agreements in the private sector were dismantled as companies abandoned them. A ‘New Labour’ government, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, was elected in 1997, offering a moderately conciliatory approach to the trade unions. The cornerstone of the Blair government’s approach to employment relations was the use of legal individual employment rights to protect workers. Most notably, a national minimum wage was introduced. Many of these legal rights emanated from the level of European Union, and the post-1997 period saw a marked increase in the influence of legal regulation in the employment relationship. Nonetheless, trade union membership continued to decline, and in 2008 trade union density stood at 28%. As of 2009, the UK system of industrial relations would appear to exhibit a mixture of  characteristics. While the old tradition of the state not intervening in relations between the social partners is still manifest in the non-legally binding nature of collective agreements and in the fact that trade unions and employer organisations have little statutory involvement in public policy and little recourse to bipartite or tripartite forums at the national level, legally established employment rights would now appear to be a permanent feature of the UK system. The global 2008 economic crisis has particularly affected the UK. Unemployment rates have increased markedly, and several financial institutions have had to be rescued by the UK government. As of 2009, the effect of the crisis on the development of the UK system of industrial relations is unclear. Trade unions have responded to the crisis by calling for greater government intervention to support employment levels. At the same time, collective agreements have been concluded by the UK social partners at company level with the aim of reducing working time in order to preserve employment levels (UK0811029I). However, as of 2009, it is too early to identify any concrete trends. Main actors Trade unions Trade union density has fallen markedly in the UK since a peak of 56.3% in 1980. Despite occasional small rises in membership since 1997, statistics over the past decade would suggest that union density has reached one of its lowest levels at just under 30%. A large difference in trade union density rates is evident between the private and public sectors. As of 2008, trade union density in the private sector was 16.1%, while it reached 59% in the public sector (Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform, 2008). Trade unions in the UK are organised both horizontally and vertically, with some organising particular occupations, such as teachers; others organise in particular industries, while a few operate in particular companies. The sole trade union confederation in the UK is the TUC. There are 6, 471,030 members in TUC affiliated unions, down from a peak of 12,172,508 members in 1980. However, the TUC does not conclude or have the power to conclude collective agreements at any level. In response to declining membership figures, UK trade unions have engaged in many mergers in recent years. In 2008, there were 167 trade unions in the UK – this was down from 238 unions in 1998 and 326 in 1988. In 2007, the UK trade unions Amicus and the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) merged to form Unite the Union (Unite). This is the UK’s largest union, with a membership of about 1,900,000 workers. The largest public sector trade union is Unison, which has a membership of 1,344,000 persons and organises workers in all areas of the public sector. Employer organisations The TUC is paralleled on the employers’ side by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Like the TUC, the CBI has no mandate to collectively bargain and bind its affiliates. In general, the CBI represents large companies in the private sector and is regarded by the government as its main interlocutor with business. Its members comprise individual companies (currently about 3,000) and trade associations (around 150). Owing to the largely decentralised nature of employment relations in the UK, the role of employer organisations in the country’s industrial relations is not overtly prominent. Their role in collective bargaining declined notably during the 1980s, when many existing national sectoral level agreements ceased to function and companies began to negotiate with trade unions at lower levels. Some organisations have disbanded, while others have stopped trying to regulate employment conditions. Current employer organisations that do engage in social and employment affairs are the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF) and the Local Government Association (LGA). Employer organisation density in the UK is approximately 40%. Industrial relations Collective bargaining In the UK, the dominant level for the setting of pay and working time is the company or plant level in the private sector. In areas of the public sector – and in a small section of the private sector – sectoral level agreements are concluded. There are no national intersectoral agreements in the UK, nor  is there any tradition of this, aside from a very brief period in the 1970s. In 2008, the coverage rate of collective agreements in the UK was 34.6%. There is a large discrepancy between figures for the public and private sectors, with collective bargaining coverage for the public sector reaching 72% in 2008, compared with 20% for the private sector (Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform, 2008). Compared with other west European countries, the UK is notable for the disorganised nature of its levels of collective bargaining and the lack of legal backing and promotion that collective agreements are subject to. In line with the UK voluntarist tradition, collective agreements are voluntary instruments that are ‘binding in honour only’. However, the terms of collective agreements are normally incorporated into individual contracts of employment that are then legally enforceable. Collective agreements are subsequently never extended by legislation, and there are no voluntary mechanisms for the extension of collective agreements. Moreover, no formal mechanisms exist for the coordination of wage bargaining levels in the UK. However, in practice, trade unions in different companies and sectors often share information with one another, and agreements in certain companies and sectors often act as informal ‘benchmarks’ for negotiators in other areas. Collective bargaining in the UK has become far more decentralised since the 1970s and 1980s. In this period, many companies in the private sector left sectoral agreements and, in the public sector, collective bargaining also became more decentralised. According to one study (Visser, 2004), the degree of bargaining centralisation in the UK stands at just 13%. Other issues in collective agreements Collective agreements on issues besides pay and working time are not widespread. While vocational education and training is strong in some professional and technical sectors, it has been historically weak in others. Recent attempts have been made to regularise vocational training through National Vocational Qualifications, and these have been supplemented by further moves to establish lifelong learning routes – especially through the  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœuniversity for industry’ initiative. However, much of the provision of skills training is decentralised to the newly formed Sector Skills Councils (SSC). Currently, there are 25 SSCs in the UK; all of the councils are employer-led, independent organisations, each covering a specific area of the UK. Industrial conflict The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) is the main body involved in conciliation and arbitration in the UK. It is an autonomous, tripartite body established by statute and its task is to improve industrial relations. The largest part of ACAS’s work is individual conciliation. The amount of individual litigations and employment tribunal cases has increased considerably within the UK in the past decade or so. Arbitration is a relatively small part of its work, mainly because it has no powers to arbitrate without the consent of both sides. Arbitration is neither compulsory nor legally binding. The latest available official statistics show that, in a 12-month period to October 2008, some 147 work stoppages were recorded, in which 677,000 workers took part and 837,700 working days were lost. This marked a decline from the figures for the 12 months until October 2007, where 210 stoppages were recorded, involving 878,000 workers and resulting in 989,000 lost working days. These figures are also historically very low. In 1988, for example, there were 781 stoppages recorded, in which 790,000 workers were involved and 3,702,000 working days were lost. The figures for this year also represent a typical year for this period. The general decline in labour disputes in the UK is likely to be attributable to falling trade union density rates, and to the anti-union laws of the 1980s and 1990s. In 2008, large industrial actions occurred in the UK public sector over the government’s policy on public sector pay restraint. More complete statistics are available for 2007 regarding the sectors involved in strikes. In 2007, of the 142 stoppages recorded, 55 occurred in the transport, storage and communication sector, while 21 took place in the education sector, and 20  were recorded in public administration, defence and the compulsory social security sector, making these the three sectors most affected by strikes during the year. These sectors were also the most adversely affected in terms of working days lost and workers involved (Office for National Statistics, 2008a). Tripartite concertation Owing to the UK voluntarist tradition, policy concertation has been uncommon, and there are currently few formal mechanisms or forums for tripartite concertation in this country. From 1962, a tripartite National Economic Development Council existed, in which the government and UK social partners discussed economic policy; however, this was abolished in 1992. In the late 1970s, consultation between government, employers and trade unions was also growing in importance. However, the Thatcher government, which was elected in 1979, sought to eradicate any forms of corporatism. Since then, tripartism or corporatism has not been re-introduced on a comprehensive or formal basis. However, the UK social partners are regularly consulted by the public authorities on the direction of public policy in the country on an ad hoc basis; they are also represented in a series of committees that are of a tripartite nature. For example, the social partners are represented on the Low Pay Commission (LPC), an independent UK body that issues recommendations for increases in the national minimum wage. The LPC board consists of nine members – three trade union representatives, three employers and three labour market relations experts. At the sectoral level, the UK social partners are involved in the aforementioned SSCs, which seek to improve the skills of workers in the UK. Workplace representation Traditionally, there have been no statutory works councils in the UK. In line with the voluntarist tradition, workplace representation was solely achieved through trade union presence in the workplace and was not enshrined through the law. As previously mentioned, a considerable decline in trade union presence and power has occurred in the UK over the last 25 years. In 2008,  46.6% of workplaces had some sort of trade union representation (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, 2008). The EU information and consultation Directive of 2002 (Directive 2002/14/EC) was implemented in the UK in 2004 as the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations. The regulations lay down statutory procedures for workplace representation, and stipulate that workplaces with 50 or more employees must have a body for the information and consultation of employees in place. Employee rights Employee rights are enforced in the UK through a variety of mechanisms. Firstly, employees have access to employment tribunals that determine whether the rights of employees have been infringed. Trade unions are responsible for the monitoring of collective agreements, and the right of trade unions to engage in strike action is decided by the UK civil courts. Health and safety conditions in workplaces are monitored by the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), while compliance with the national minimum wage is monitored by the country’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department. Pay and working time developments Minimum wage A national minimum wage has been in place in the UK since 1997. The rate is set by the LPC, which advises the government on low pay and recommends appropriate rates. The current minimum wage in the UK – as set in October 2008 – for adults aged 22 years or older is GBP 5.52 (about â‚ ¬6.38 as at 7 July 2009) an hour. For workers aged between 18 and 21 years, the minimum wage is GBP 4.77 (â‚ ¬5.52) an hour. The minimum hourly wage for all workers under 18 years of age – who are, in addition, no longer of compulsory school age – is GBP 3.53 (â‚ ¬4.08). Some workers undertaking apprenticeships or accredited training may not be considered eligible to receive the national minimum wage for a certain period of time, which varies according to their age and length of time in employment. Other categories of workers who are exempt include au pairs, share fishermen, members of the clergy, those in the armed forces, prisoners and some people working in family businesses.  Moreover, the rate payable under the national minimum wage can, in all cases, be reduced where accommodation is provided to the worker. Pay developments In April 2008, the average gross annual earnings in the UK were GBP 25,100. In April 2007, the equivalent figure was GBP 24,020 (Income Data Services, 2008). An increase of 4.5% was therefore recorded. In November 2008, the percentage annual rise in collectively agreed average weekly earnings was 3.8%. In November 2007, this figure amounted to 3.4% (Labour Research Department, 2009). In terms of gender, the average gender pay gap in the UK in 2008 was 12.8%. This gap is measured in the UK on the basis of median hourly earnings, excluding overtime. In 2008, median hourly earnings excluding overtime for men was GBP 12.50, and for women GBP 10.91. Between 2007 and 2008, the gender pay gap in the UK rose by 0.3 percentage points from 12.5% to 12.8%. However, the gender pay gap stood at 17.4% in 1998, so the figure has substantially fallen over the last decade.