International B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International B - Essay Example The specific Forum reflects the trends in globalisation as developed both in the literature and the empirical field – i.e. the daily activities and policies of governmental and non-governmental organizations. The concept of globalisation has been considered to include seven different forces: in this paper, emphasis is given on the globalisation of markets – one of the seven forces mentioned above. The trends on the globalisation of markets – as highlighted in relevant studies – could help to understand the importance of this concept for the increase of the effectiveness of governmental and commercial strategies. The globalisation of markets has affected the strategies and performance of governmental and non-governmental organizations – referring especially to the commercial firms – both positively and negatively. The specific issue is highlighted in the study of Perrone et al. (2010) who focus on the effects of globalisation on small and medium enterprises – a study which can be used also in order to evaluate the effects of globalisation on large and multinational firms. In accordance with Perrone et al. (2010) ‘globalisation represents a threat, since new emerging companies are entering their domestic market, but on the other hand, it represents the opportunity to enter new emerging and growing markets’ (Perrone et al., 2010, p.356). From another point of view, globalisation can highly affect a speficic part of commercial firms: the corporate governance (Berry, 2010, 234); the different principles and cultures of the global market and the national market c ould negatively affect the firms that try to enter the global market. The importance of culture, the social ethics and the political system – actually referring to the traditions, the social principles and the politics of a specific country - on the success of the efforts for entering the global market is also highlighted in the study of Standing et al. (2010, p. 56). The above

Shell Oil Company and the Technology Management Issues That It Faces Research Proposal

Shell Oil Company and the Technology Management Issues That It Faces - Research Proposal Example This report stresses that Shell uses a wide variety of technologies to deliver hydrocarbon fuels that are essential for all types of transport systems on which humanity has come to depend upon so heavily. The unquenchable thirst for hydrocarbon fuels has today forced oil firms to produce in deep oceans, but it makes sense to try to develop radically new systems, especially for transport. After all, hydrocarbon fuels are responsible for climate change and environmental degradation that cannot be sustained. Thus, radical new ideas are needed for new transport systems. However, the array of technology on which Shell depends is so vast that it is impossible for this company to assist in developing everything. Immediate benefits are possible from technology improvements in areas that are of interest to Shell production and operation, but being an energy company with a transport focus Shell is likely to benefit from anything that can reshape energy systems for transport. This paper makes a conclusion that Shell can continue to identify and develop the best and most promising, but it should also try to invest in the long-term future of humankind. Energy, the environment and climate are the long-term future because with the best of the previously mentioned, it will be difficult to continue to have a secure future. Multinationals must now try to look beyond the immediate future and their short-term profits. Attempts have to be made to try to develop solutions for the long term and efforts cannot remain confined to government or the public sector only.

Potassium Sorbate as a Biocide | Evaluation

Potassium Sorbate as a Biocide | Evaluation Evaluation of Potassium Sorbate as a Biocide to Reduce Viability of Total Airborne Fungi in a Higher Educational Building of Computer Studies Chin Ming Er1,a *, N. M. Sunar 2,b, Abdul Mutalib Leman2,c, Othman Norzila1,d, Quin Emparan1,e, Umi Kalthsom1,f, Paran Gani1,g, Nurul Azreen Jamal1,h 1Department of Water And Environmental Engineering (DWEE), Faculty of Civil And Environmental Engineering (FKAAS), University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia 2Department of Chemical Engineering Technology, Faculty of Engineering Technology (FTK), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia Keywords: Indoor Air Quality, mold remediation, bioactive compounds. Abstract In countries which are humid throughout the year, mold is a common problem that can occur even on a computer keyboard. It is smelly and may damage the computer keyboards. It is caused by fungal spores in the air. It can also affect occupants’ healthiness. This study is aimed to evaluate the efficiency of potassium sorbate to reduce viability of indoor airborne fungi in a higher educational building of computer studies of a university located at Southern Peninsular Malaysia. Malt extract agar (MEA) was incorporated with the biocide and was used for air sampling of fungi at 3 different sites of the building including outdoors. The effectiveness of the biocide was evaluated by comparing the treated agar against the untreated agar. It was clearly shown that the biocide can effectively reduce the numbers of colony forming units of the airborne fungi at all 3 tested sites (>70% averagely) on the treated culture media, while the untreated media at all three sites was colonized by fun gi with different concentration. Introduction Indoor airborne fungal contamination is a very common issue nowadays. Its presence brings a lot of problems to indoor occupants, building owners or managers as it affects the indoor air quality (IAQ) of those infected buildings and it has been associated with unhealthy symptoms including headache, asthma, allergy and irritant effects, respiratory problems, mycoses (fungal diseases) and several other non-specific health problems [1]. IAQ is defined as the air quality within an enclosed building that leads to the comfort and healthiness of its occupiers [2]. It is a major concern as most people in the developed and developing countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and others, spent most of their time indoor in either offices, factories, homes or educational buildings. It has been estimated that approximate 10% of people worldwide and 5% of the population in industrial countries have fungal allergies [3,4]. Some fungi such as Aspergillus versicolor and Stachybotrys chartarum are able to produce mycotoxins and have been associated with sick building syndrome [1] Many animal studies have confirmed that mycotoxins are associated with carcinogenic, immune-suppressive, and other properties [5]. Fungi release tiny spores that float through the air and land on other locations to reproduce. When they settle on moist surfaces, the spores can form new mold colonies. If these airborne fungal spores or mycotoxins are inhaled into bronchia and alveoli, they will be lysed and the human body thereby exposed to the primary and secondary metabolites [6]. Inhalation exposure has been suggested to cause acute kidney failure, damage of the upper respiratory tract, and central nervous system damage [7]. Thus, the existence of these fungi is intolerable in indoor enviro nment. Fungi can grow anywhere over a wide-ranging temperature with sufficient nutrients and moisture [8]. Therefore, indoor mold problem has long existed in yearlong warm and humid countries like Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. In previous research, airborne fungi growth was found in a high humid room (relative humidity ~87%) in a higher educational building of computer studies after conventional remediation such as detergent-cleaning and changing of the affected ceiling boards [9]. It is dangerous since researchers suggested that the chances of transmitting the contaminating microbes through using of computers in a university setting is potentially great due to the enormous usage of computer keyboards that are not routinely sanitized by numerous users daily [10]. The study also shows that the conventional remediation is not a long term solution to circumvent the indoor airborne fungal contamination. However, green solutions are needed to reduce the viability of the airborne fungi and thereby the existence of secondary metabolites of fungi in indoor setting in order to secure the quality of teaching and learning among educators and students in a university building. Lately, a bioactive compound from food industry, potassium sorbate had been shown to be able to control the growth of two fungus species (Chaetomium globosum and Alternaria alternate) isolated from an indoor waterborne coating [11]. It is suggested to be effective against airborne fungi too. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the ability of potassium sorbate as a biocide to render the viability of indoor airborne fungi in a higher educational building of computer studies of a university located at Southern Peninsular Malaysia. Materials and Methods Selection of Testing Sites. The indoor airborne fungal samples were taken from a new commissioning higher educational building of computer studies of a university in Johor, Malaysia that had been identified of having microbial growth in indoor environment from previous research [9]. Three sites were selected by walk through inspection. They were each to represent a microbial-contaminated site (A), relatively mildly-contaminated site (B) and outdoors (O) of the building. The location for outdoor sampling was as close as possible to the outdoor air intake for the primary air handling system for the building [12]. Biocide Antifungal Activity. The antifungal activity of the potassium sorbate as a biocide was evaluated by air sampling with biocide-treated and untreated culture media which takes into account that the concentration of the viable fungi can be represented by colony forming unit (CFU) analysis as the calculation below: CFU/m3 = [Number of colonies x 1000] à · [Sampling time (min) x Flow rate (L/min)]. (1) The airborne fungi samples were collected using a BioStage single-stage viable cascade impactor (SKC, USA) attached to a SKC QuickTake 30 Sample Pump (SKC, USA) onto Malt Extract Agar (MEA) plates with 0.03% (w/v) biocide at a flow rate of 28.3 L/min as per requirement of National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) stated in method NIOSH Manual Analytical Standard Method (NMAM 0800). The impactor was located at the centre of the sampling location at a height of 1.0 to 1.5 meter above the floor. Every sample was obtained over 5 minute periods. The same procedure was carried out with control MEA without biocides. Both kinds of sampling with treated and untreated MEA were done in triplicate at each site on the same day during office hours and in the presence of indoor occupants. The air samplings at different sites were carried out on different week. The samples were analysed for total airborne fungi count by incubating them at 37 °C for 5 days and counting of the col ony formed was done thereafter. Results and Discussions The viability of total airborne fungi on the biocide-treated MEA was successfully reduced by 76.2% averagely if compared to their viability on control MEA without biocide (Fig. 1). Notably, potassium sorbate showed the best performance at the mildly-contaminated site, which had the lowest total airborne fungi on control MEA, by successfully reducing the viability of total indoor airborne fungi by 84.2% on biocide-treated MEA. Meanwhile, its performance dropped when the mean concentrations of total airborne fungi on control MEA increase. The percentage of reduction of viability of total airborne fungi at the contaminated site and outdoors of the building are 63.9% and 80.4% respectively. The results indicate that potassium sorbate can show the best performance to control total indoor airborne fungi concentrations if it is applied in a clean environment. This is in accordance with the function of potassium sorbate in wine-making industry to prevent a second fermentation through renderi ng any surviving yeast incapable of metabolizing and multiplying [13]. Hence, it is suggested that this biocide is very suitable to be applied together with and after conventional remediation of indoor fungal contamination periodically. Fig. 1: Comparison of viability of total airborne fungi on biocide-treated and untreated MEA. According to Industry Code of Practice on Indoor Air Quality (ICOP-IAQ 2010) set by Department of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia, the maximum exposure limit of total indoor airborne fungi concentrations is 1000 CFU/m3. Any value of the concentrations of indoor airborne fungi that approaches or over 500 CFU/m3 can be also considered as a possible health hazard. In this study, this number was successfully reduced to below 100 CFU/m3 at two of the three testing sites and below 200 CFU/m3 at the contaminated site. These reductions might be due to high solubility of this biocide in water of growth media to convert to sorbic acid that exhibits potent antifungal properties with various mode of action such as genetic changes, alteration of morphological structure of cell, inhibition of enzymes and cell transport processes [14]. All of these after-treatment’s numbers suggests that potassium sorbate is a proper biocide to maintain the concentrations of total indoor airborne fun gi at an acceptable healthy level for human beings. In a higher educational building of computer studies, computers are always shared. Touches of computer parts especially computer keyboards by students always occur without practicing of hand hygiene. The sweats or dirt on the hands and fingers of students left on the computer parts after they using them. This in turn provides nutrients and breeding sites for airborne fungi that settle on these computer parts. The reduction of the viability of indoor airborne fungi on the biocide-treated media indicates that the airborne fungi are unable to grow on the substrate that are treated with potassium sorbate and thus suggesting that this biocide can be applied on various wall coatings, surfaces of furniture and electrical appliances including these computer parts. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that potassium sorbate is fit to be applied as a biocide in a higher educational building of computer studies to reduce the viability of indoor airborne fungi. This in turn reduces the amounts of secondary metabolites of fungi such as mycotoxin and fungal spores that can induce sick building syndrome and other unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling of indoor occupants. Acknowledgement The authors greatly appreciate Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and the supporting Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) 1479 for facilitating the work and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (NIOSH) for providing technical assistance. References Kuhn, D. M., Ghannoum, M. A. (2003). Indoor mold, toxigenic fungi, and Stachybotrys chartarum: infectious disease perspective. Clinical microbiology reviews, 16(1), 144-172. Yau, Y.H.; Chew, B.T.; and Saifullah, A.Z.A. (2012) Studies on the indoor air quality of Pharmaceutical Laboratories in Malaysia. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 1, 110–124. Pasanen, A. L., Lappalainen, S., Pasanen, P. (1996). Volatile organic metabolites associated with some toxic fungi and their mycotoxins.Analyst, 121(12), 1949-1953. Hardin, B.D., Kelman, B.J. and Saxon, A. (2003) Adverse human health effects associated with molds in the indoor environment. J Occup Environ Med 45, 470–478. Robbins, C. A., Swenson, L. J., Nealley, M. L., Kelman, B. J., Gots, R. E. (2000). Health effects of mycotoxins in indoor air: a critical review.Applied occupational and environmental hygiene,15(10), 773-784. Fischer, G., Dott, W. (2003). Relevance of airborne fungi and their secondary metabolites for environmental, occupational and indoor hygiene.Archives of Microbiology,179(2), 75-82. Miller, J. D. (1992). Fungi as contaminants in indoor air.Atmospheric Environment. Part A. General Topics,26(12), 2163-2172. Dangman, K. H., Schenck, P., DeBernardo, R. L., Yang, C. S., Bracker, A., Hodgson, M. J. (2004).Guidance for clinicians on the recognition and management of health effects related to mold exposure and moisture indoors. Farmington, CT: University of Connecticut Health Center, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Center for Indoor Environments and Health. Er, C. M., Sunar, N. M., Mutalib, A., Norzila, O., Emparan, Q., Kalthsom, U., Gani, P., Jamal, N. A., Ideris, N. A. (2014). The Evaluation of Indoor Microbial Air Quality in a Southern Malaysia University’s New Commissioning Buildings. Applied Mechanics and Materials (in press). Anderson, G., Palombo, E. A. (2009). Microbial contamination of computer keyboards in a university setting.American journal of infection control,37(6), 507-509. Bellotti, N., Salvatore, L., Deyà ¡, C., Del Panno, M. T., del Amo, B., Romagnoli, R. (2013). The application of bioactive compounds from the food industry to control mold growth in indoor waterborne coatings. Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces, 104, 140–4. Reynolds, S. J., Black, D. W., Borin, S. S., Breuer, G., Burmeister, L. F., Fuortes, L. J., Whitten, P. (2001). Indoor environmental quality in six commercial office buildings in the midwest United States.Applied occupational and environmental hygiene,16(11), 1065-1077. Cojocaru, G. A., Antoce, A. O. (2012). Chemical And Biochemical Mechanisms of Preservatives Used in Wine: A Review.dio,1, 100. Smilanick, J. L., Mansour, M. F., Gabler, F. M., Sorenson, D. (2008). Control of citrus postharvest green mold and sour rot by potassium sorbate combined with heat and fungicides.Postharvest Biology and Technology,47(2), 226-238.

Implications of Modernist Thought in Tender Is the Night Essay

Implications of Modernist Thought in Tender Is the Night      Ã‚   The implications of modernist thought in F. Scott Fitzgeralds' Tender Is the Night, become apparent when conceptualizing crime and punishment. Besides the murder of the Negro in the Parisian hotel, the idea of crime is plastic; adultery, deceit, moral depravity barely have consequences. Actions committed with good intentions often end in despair, such as the marriage of Dick and Nicole Diver. Similarly, seduction and dissimulation are not often met with ensuing punishment. Actions, whether they be morally right or wrong, tend to remain in a staid state without the traditional response. The modernists place characters in various moments and situations that do not necessarily conclude in the set conception of "punishment."    Nicole and Dick Diver both commit "crimes" of infidelity during their marriage. While Dick's tryst with Rosemary ceases without any succinct culmination, Nicole sleeps with Tommy and ends her marriage to elope with him. Neither crime however, is met with a punishment. While Dick slowly loses his manner of attraction and wiles with women, he sinks into apathy and alcoholism. Fitzgerald does not seem to be punishing Dick in any way for his fleeting romance with Rosemary; rather, his empty life is almost an inevitability, another set of moments without weighty cause or effect. Nicole's actual instant of infidelity is described as a "moment" - not as a crime, a moral dilemma or anything deserving traditional punishment. She drifts into her affair in the same way she tends to her garden or glances at her children. Her love for Tommy Barban is simply situational; Dick was no longer fulfilling her in the manner she expect... ...s vision of Rosemary and his undying need for her body in his arms, he calls Nicole and demands that they have dinner and see a play in the evening. The crime is masked completely by the conventions that surround their lives. The punishment, therefore, remains unclear. They both continue a farce of a relationship while lying to themselves and negating any concept of criminality in their own actions. The moments come and go, the crimes and punishments are vague and ephemeral. The crimes of each of all the characters eventually effect their own psyches - their lives are damaged by their apparent neglect of reality. Living in each moment without bearing the consequences has a acute effect on Dick, but mostly leaves Nicole, Tommy and Rosemary unbroken.    Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Tender is the Night" Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1933.   

Kudler Fine Foods IT Security Report and Presentation †Top Threats

Kudler Fine Foods IT Security Report and Presentation – Top Threats Team B has been commissioned to examine the Kudler Fine Foods’ (KFF), frequent shopper, Customer Loyalty Program that is currently in development. The team has also been asked to direct the system development team to ensure the system is established securely so that it properly protects company data and customer information throughout all stages of the system development process. In week 2, the team will examine the Customer Loyalty Program for vulnerabilities in different areas of the system. The study will define the possible threats that exist to the security of the organization’s and the customers’ data and information, the potential vulnerabilities each threat may exploit, and area of the system affected by the threats. Additionally, a summary of the most critical threats to Kudler’s Customer Loyalty Program will be provided. The following table presents the possible threats, t he potential vulnerabilities each threat may exploit, and area of the system effected by the threats: Area of SystemsThreat Potential Vulnerability Networks Unauthorized access Unsecured equipment roomConfidentiality breach E-mail that doesn't employ scanning of messagesDenial of Service Lack of inside firewall can lead to worm spreadNatural Disaster Potential issues from lack of redundancySniffing Network infiltration via wireless access point Workstations Unauthorized access Patches not currentSniffing Old software versionsNatural Disaster Firewall not active Servers Unauthorized access Patches not currentSniffing Old software versionsNatural Disaster Firewall not active Employees Social Engineering Training not currentCorruption UnhappyMalicious behavior poor work ethic Data Corruption Non securedDeletion Unencrypted data Software Corruption Non-securedDeletion Software that does not employee authorized user access Building Tailgating Front door that doesn't have employee securit y guardUnauthorized access Compromised key card accessOf the possible threats to Kudler Fine Foods’ Customer Loyalty Program there are two critical threats discovered during our assessment that warrents Kudler’s immediate attention. The first of these threats is Social Engineering. Social Engineering according to Social-Engineer.org (2013), is â€Å"the act of influencing a person to accomplish goals that may or may not be in the ‘target’s’ best interest. This may include obtaining information, gaining access, or getting the target to take certain action.† The employees themselves are the area of the system affected by this threat. Social Engineering exploits their naivety. General lack of experience in recognizing this type of attack is a major reason for its success. Education on what Social Engineering is and how to recognize attacks coupled with company policies written, put into place, and enforced to prevent individuals from divulging o r even having access to certain information no matter the scenario is the recommended course of action.Next is Denial of Service. According to Conklin, White, Williams, Davis, and Cothren (2012), a Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an attack intended to disrupt a system or service from operating normally. The attacker will attempt, through means of crashing the system, closing out a logged on session, or overwhelming a machine with multiple requests that causes the machine to freeze up or as  stated crash. Kudler’s Customer Loyalty Program information could be affected because the program that accesses customer information could be made unavailable by such a DoS attack.This could cause events such as slow terminal responses, systems going offline while updating customer files, and causing system reboots to return to normal operation. This type of attack exploits the weakness of either not having a firewall running in the terminal or server background or a poorly set up fire wall allowing too many network requests to be handled by the system. Kudler’s IT department should be aware of this and conduct a system check to ensure that the firewall allows requests from only internal or authorized external sources.As requested by Kudler Fine Foods, Team B has conducted an examination of the Customer Loyalty Program concerning the possible threats and vulnerabilities to their system. A table presenting these threats and vulnerabilities as well as the areas of the system affected has been made available for review. In addition, a summary of the top two critical threats that must be addressed by Kudler Fine Foods has been provided.

The Roles of Tonal and Segmental Information in Mandarin Spoken

Assignment 1 – Article Summary In their article, â€Å"the roles of tonal and segmental information in Mandarin spoken word recognition: an eyetracking study†, Malins and Joanisse investigate how suprasegmental features affect on-line auditory word perception. Current speech perception models have fallen short in accounting for suprasegmental features because all have been based on Indo-European languages. In this study, Malins and Joanisse extend the potential of suprasegmental features by examining the role of tone in auditory word recognition.Preliminary studies on which Malins and Joanisse based their study show that features of stress alone could not account for word constraint activation. One of the reasons that stress was a poor candidate for word constraint during lexical priming tasks was that they were situated within polysyllabic structures. Tone features, on the other hand, are situated within monosyllabic structures. Listeners of tonal languages are require d to make distinctions based on these features alone. In addition, these preliminary studies showed that tonal information was processed after segmental information.However, these propositions were brought into question as Liu and Samuel (2007) discovered that most of the preliminary studies in speech perception did not utilize contextual constraints. More recent studies seem to show that tonal features are more effective in constraining word activation when in a sentential context and segmental features more effective in word constraint in a lack of contextual information. Malins and Joanisse set out to examine the role of tonal features in Mandarin word recognition by employing the visual world paradigm.This would allow the use of eye tracking which would measure the on-line auditory processing among four competitor categories – segmental, cohort, rhyme and tonal. The segmental category shared all phonemic features except for tones, the cohort shared all but word final phon emes, the rhyme differed in onset consonant, and the tonal shared only tone. The following was hypothesized: tonal and segmental information would be accessed at very similar points in time and share equal potential for word recognition constraint.Additionally, rhyme competitors would be viewed more than unrelated items and that tonal categories would produce little interference effect with target items. Twenty-four native Mandarin speakers were chosen as participants in this study. The mean age was 28, although seven were excluded from the study due to excessive use of peripheral vision (lack of eye movement data). Experimental stimuli comprised of 27 monosyllabic Mandarin words. The unrelated distractor tones were comprised of phonologically unrelated segments.A picture array was shown on screen for 1. 5s followed by a . 5 second transition at which point the central fixation point appeared. Participants focused on the fixation point while selecting the correct target picture for the spoken utterance. When the auditory stimulus was provided, the time course was measured through observing eye movements. If there were significant interference between tone and segment, then processing times would be increased therefore suggesting comparable roles in constraining word activation.The pictures in the array provided conceptual constraint. This ensured that sub-lexical access was being observed. This visual word picture matching task was used to create an environment that demanded lexical access using conceptual constraint. This method would supplement the hypothesis by leading participants to utilize tonal information. In the tasks, the act of pressing a button demanded lexical access and the four competitor pictures provided the conceptual constraint. There were 280 experimental trials.The experimental setting was kept monolingual as to eliminate the potential for confounding effects of bilingual interference. The results of this study show that the competition be tween target words and competitors was greatest for the segmental and cohort categories. This is crucial because the segmental category diverged from the cohort in tonal information only and the cohort category diverged in segmental information. This supports the hypothesis that both tonal and segmental information show an equal role in word recognition.Furthermore, the time course information for both cohort and segmental categories were similar. This seemed to indicate that segmental and tonal information are both accessed at the same time. There were no data supporting the claim that rhyme competitors would be looked at more than the distractors. This went against the second hypothesis and was likely a result of a discontinuity between rhyming features in Mandarin compared to English. This study could help improve existing models of speech perception by providing a firmer basis for tonal processing in auditory word recognition.This might raise the question of how tonal informatio n should be represented in a speech perception model. Ye and Connine (1999) have proposed the use of ‘tonemes’ since they act as contrastive units that can be categorically perceived like their segmental counterparts. Through summarizing, I have come to a better understanding of how this study would influence the TRACE model. Particularly, how different levels of word representations are shaped by spreading activation — tonemes possibly being the newest.By accounting for suprasegmental features, a speech perception model would be much more robust and functional. One particular thought that has arisen as a result of this study is how tone recognition contrasts between the modalities of speech vs. music. Do they share overlapping neurological locations and functions? Also of interest is whether individuals with amusia (tone deafness) are able to utilize tones as contrastive units in a language? References Liu, S. , & Samuel, A. G. (2007).The role of Mandarin lexica l tones in lexical access under different contextual conditions. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22(4), 566–594. Malins, G. M. & Joanisse, M. F. (2010). The roles of tonal and segmental information in Mandarin spoken word recognition: an eyetracking study. Journal of Memory and Language, 62(4), 407-420. Ye, Y. , & Connine, C. M. (1999). Processing spoken Chinese: The role of tone information. Language and Cognitive Processes Special Issue: Processing East Asian Languages, 14(5–6), 609–630.

Decimal Degrees Versus Minutes, Seconds

Decimal Degrees Versus Minutes, Seconds When you hear about metric measurements, usually you are bombarded with terms denoting length, height or volume, depending on your industry. Outside of formal schooling, you almost never hear about the geographical side of measurement - specifically, those ever-present invisible lines of latitude and longitude. This article will explore how some metrics are shown in geographical terms, who uses traditional Degrees/Minutes/Seconds, and what the future may hold.   A Brief History of U.S. Metrics Originating in France in the 1790s, the metric system (officially known as SI, short for Le Systeme International dUnites) grew in popularity due to increasing global commerce. Through trade with Europe, the U.S. awareness of metrics trickled into existence, eventually prompting Congress to permit its use in 1866. It was legal but voluntary. The first official legislation concerning metric conversion was passed by Congress in 1974, adding metrics to our elementary and secondary education curriculum. One year later (in 1975), Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, declaring that the U.S. federal government should use metrics as its preferred measurement system, as evidenced by a box sitting in my cubicle whose labeling instructions tell of letters that must be 3.81cm (1.5 inches) high. The nutritional information on any package of food is also a good example, showing grams (instead of ounces) of fat, carbs, vitamins, etc. Ever since its beginnings, the U.S. government has striven to promote and stabilize metrication, with limited results: mostly those in the sciences, military, engineering, manufacturing and other technical fields use the metric system. The general public, however, continues to show comparatively overwhelming disinterest in adopting grams, litres, and meters over the traditional ounces, quarts, and feet. The United States is the only remaining industrialized country whose general population does not use metrics as its primary measurement system. Metrics and Geography Despite the average American laypersons apathy for metrics, those of us who use geographic coordinates on a daily basis see plenty of evidence that decimals are out in full force. On any given day Ill see a few handfuls of engineering site surveys (and sometimes other data) come across my desk, 98% of which have a decimal somewhere in the latitude or longitude. As technology has developed over the years, allowing more accurate measurements, the number of ways that we geography people get to read those coordinates has increased. The three most popular types of Lat/Lon displays are: Traditional degrees/minutes/seconds (D/M/S), usually with decimal secondsDegrees with decimal minutes, no secondsDecimal degrees, no minutes, no seconds Doing the Math No matter how you choose to display them, any converted coordinates will get you to the same point, basically - its simply a matter of preference. If you are one of those people who grew up learning only D/M/S like me, you might break into a cold sweat the first time you see the second or third decimal variations (bulleted above), if only from the memory of your high school algebra classes. But fear not, for there are a boatload of conversion programs and websites that will do the math for you. A majority of these sites convert between D/M/S and decimal degrees, leaving out the less popular but still available decimal minutes. There are other sites for those who dont mind/enjoy algebra, or who are naturally intrepid souls and simply wish to brave the longhand algebraic equations. If you are ready to break out the Texas Instruments calculator and go for it, you might try the Montana Natural Resource Information System, which shows conversion equation examples, but also has an automatic converter.   Finally Rubbing Off? Within the past few years, more and more Americans seem to be warming up to the concept and have begun using decimals in their everyday lives. Certainly, the growing number of metric labels on many foods, drinks, health care, cleaners and other various products are clear indicators that the average American consumer should probably start learning to accept decimal numbers. This goes for geography as well. GPS unit sales to the nonmilitary population are on the rise and most (if not all) GPS units display a location using decimals. One can expect hiking, boating, driving, or any other type of navigational information to be in this same format, no matter the scale, map projection, or elevation. As the rest of the world moves forward with metric standards, the United States government will most likely feel more pressure (especially from Europe) to go totally metric for global trading purposes. Once the population finally accepts that change is coming, decimal numbers will be even more abundant and it will filter down through every aspect of American industry. Don't Panic For those hikers, boaters, drivers, orienteering students, land surveyors and others who may be used to using only D/M/S, dont worry. The conversions are out there, and its easier than you think to get results from them. Latitude and longitude lines certainly arent going anywhere - well always have those to rely on - so for now, get ready and warm up that calculator! Len Morse earned a B.S. in Geography from Towson State University and has been with the FAA for approximately 14.61 years.