Problems Facing Breeder Reactors as a Future Energy Source Essay

Breeder Reactors: A Foreseeable Option? Abstract: Fission of nuclear particles has the potential to produce massive amounts of energy and electricity to help mankind. Breeder reactors bring forth modern technology at its finest; mankind is becoming more and more creative to make reactors which can be optimally efficient and cost-effective at the same time. By being able to harness plutonium-239 with a blanket of uranium and start chain reactions consistently, breeders seem to be a viable option to help produce electricity for a bigger population. However, maintenance and operation costs are big problems to deal with, and these are some of the ramifications that factors into the decision of realizing if breeders could potentially be our next alternative energy source. Introduction: Non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels have been used up by society on a daily basis and have forced the world to find a new, clean energy source. The rising price of oil and the constant emission of carbon dioxide are proof that in the future our lives will be much harder to live. One answer to this problem is nuclear power, which has shown its efficiency during the times of World War II but has not been used commercially due to the challenges of dealing with nuclear waste and proliferation. In today?s modern era, nuclear power has been used in liquid metal fast breeder reactors, reactors that use uranium-238 to produce plutonium-239. Historical Background: Nuclear energy was first achieved through Enrico Fermi?s experiment of nuclear fission where he and his team shot neutrons towards uranium atoms, which confirmed Albert Einstein?s theory of relativity that mass could be converted into energy. The first nuclear reactor was built by... ... 2008 . 11. "Plutonium for Everybody." Plutonium obtained from nuclear waste can be used. 28 July 2008 . 12. Gagnon, Steve, ed. "Jefferson Lab." It's Elemental. 28 July 2008 13. "JAEA R&D Review." Ideal Fuel Cladding Materials for Fast Breeder Reactor Irradiated at Highest Temperature in the World. 28 July 2008 http://http://jolisfukyu.tokai-sc.jaea.go.jp/fukyu/mirai-en/2007/1_2.html 14. "Plutonium End Game." Chapter 2: A Brief History of Commercial Plutonium. Jan. 2001. 28 July 2008 . 15. www.cameco.com/common/pdfs/media_gateway/factsheets_publications/nuclear_facts-canada.pdf) 16. http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/plutonium.htm0

Dulce et Decorum Est :: English Literature

Dulce et Decorum Est Wilfred Owen Owen's poem Dulce et Decorum Est is a passionate expression of outrage at the horrors of war and of pity for the young soldiers sacrificed in it. From the title of this poem people back home would have expected an understanding poem, helping to overcome their grief at the loss of a loved one, instead what they got was a poem expressing outrage at the lies surrounding the ‘Great’ War. The quote by Horace translates as ‘It is sweet and right to die for ones’ country’, but the poem is about proving to people at home that this isn’t a sweet and honourable way to die (if there is any). It goes through the worst parts of the war and describes them in detail. The horrors in these descriptions contradict the glorification of the war The poem consists of four stanzas, the first describes the soldiers, the second a gas attack, the third Owen’s nightmares and last an accusation to the people back home. Owen’s poems are suffused with the horror of battle, and yet finely structured and innovative. The first stanza sets the scene as it describes the conditions the men fought in and their feelings. Owen immediately shocks the readers by describing the young soldiers as ‘bent double’ emphasising their exhaustion and the way they slump along, deformed by fatigue, I think this is an effective simile because no one back home will be expecting their proud soldiers described as beggars. The simile ‘coughing like hags’ was used because the men who went into battle were relatively young, yet after battle they looked old and ugly, hence hags. With this one sentence Owen implies health conditions that no one at home would ever dream of. Words like Hags, Cursed and Haunting are used as they all have connotations of evil to emphasise the misery and hardship of the front lines. Owen chooses his word carefully using ones the readers will understand to describe processes they can’t, ‘Drunk with fatigue’ (Line 7), comparing the effects of being drunk to being overly tired, for example the wavering walk, tripping and stumbling. This is effective because everyone reading would know what it’s like to be drunk. The ‘tired, outstripped Five-Nines’ being a type of gun, but also the soldiers being sent from the trenches for some rest and relaxation. He uses words like We, Our to show that he is part of this mayhem. He seems almost detached as if he has seen this so often, that to him it has lost the horror value that we feel. In the second stanza there is a dramatic change in pace to demonstrate

I-Function, Pain And Memory :: Biology Essays Research Papers

I-Function, Pain And Memory Pain is capable of leaving a long lasting effect on ones life and in ones memory. It can literally "change" who "you" are. "You" change according to the input that your nervous system receives and reacts to. Permanent changes can be seen in long-term memories with the manufacturing of new proteins stored in the memory that account for the inputs. Pain can be an extremely powerful input to the nervous system with varying effects that could lay dormant for many years, stored in long-term memory. Several questions that could be posed concerning pain and long term memory involve the I-function. Can the I-function be turned off during a painful experience, but still be stored in long-term memory, able to be recalled later such as under hypnosis? Could pain cause a separation of the I-function from the physical self or a loss of ones sense of self? Many examples of pain can be quickly imagined and recalled from long or short-term memory. Certain types of pain reside deep inside the stored memory in the brain and require a special state of consciousness to bring out those memories. Pain memories associated with various actions such as rape and circumcision have been found to exist in long term memory. These painful experiences at different stages in life are separate in the way that they are remembered and recalled, but both involve feelings later of a physical violation and mental trauma due to the lack of consent. Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin over the penis, was long thought to be a painless experience for an infant and was treated accordingly with little or no anesthesia. Most of the times during the surgical procedure, the babies cry very forcefully. This was for a long time thought to be normal and healthy. Other times, they lie still without making a sound from either shock or the act of passing out from the pain (1). This unresponsiveness was always thought to be from undeveloped pain receptors, or Nociceptors in the Somatosensory system (2) . These pain receptors send information to the spinal cord, then to the brain stem, thalamus, and somatosensory cortex. Modulation can occur through these pathways by way of suppression using large mechanosensitive fibers that enter the spinal cord or by endorphine release. This modulation involves changing the information about the pain to lessen the perception of its magnitude. I-Function, Pain And Memory :: Biology Essays Research Papers I-Function, Pain And Memory Pain is capable of leaving a long lasting effect on ones life and in ones memory. It can literally "change" who "you" are. "You" change according to the input that your nervous system receives and reacts to. Permanent changes can be seen in long-term memories with the manufacturing of new proteins stored in the memory that account for the inputs. Pain can be an extremely powerful input to the nervous system with varying effects that could lay dormant for many years, stored in long-term memory. Several questions that could be posed concerning pain and long term memory involve the I-function. Can the I-function be turned off during a painful experience, but still be stored in long-term memory, able to be recalled later such as under hypnosis? Could pain cause a separation of the I-function from the physical self or a loss of ones sense of self? Many examples of pain can be quickly imagined and recalled from long or short-term memory. Certain types of pain reside deep inside the stored memory in the brain and require a special state of consciousness to bring out those memories. Pain memories associated with various actions such as rape and circumcision have been found to exist in long term memory. These painful experiences at different stages in life are separate in the way that they are remembered and recalled, but both involve feelings later of a physical violation and mental trauma due to the lack of consent. Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin over the penis, was long thought to be a painless experience for an infant and was treated accordingly with little or no anesthesia. Most of the times during the surgical procedure, the babies cry very forcefully. This was for a long time thought to be normal and healthy. Other times, they lie still without making a sound from either shock or the act of passing out from the pain (1). This unresponsiveness was always thought to be from undeveloped pain receptors, or Nociceptors in the Somatosensory system (2) . These pain receptors send information to the spinal cord, then to the brain stem, thalamus, and somatosensory cortex. Modulation can occur through these pathways by way of suppression using large mechanosensitive fibers that enter the spinal cord or by endorphine release. This modulation involves changing the information about the pain to lessen the perception of its magnitude.

Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chain

Supply Chain Class Module 2, Lesson 3 Question #1 Develop a small group consensus on the impact (increases, decreases, no effect) of the Bullwhip Effect on two of the following six supply chain performance measures: manufacturing cost, inventory cost, replenishment lead time, transportation cost, shipping and receiving cost, level of product availability profitability. One of the two measures that your team chooses must be inventory cost. For inventory costs, be certain to be specific about the kinds of inventory costs impacted (in-storage cycle stock carrying costs, ordering costs, stockout costs, or safety stock carrying costs).Clearly explain your group’s reasoning or rationale for the impact you have agreed to; that is carefully explain why the bullwhip effect either increases, decreases of has no effect on the given performance measure. In each of your explanations, drill down into the factors that drive each measure, explaining how those factors are affected by the Bullw hip effect. MANUFACTURING COSTS It is the consensus of Team 10 that the bullwhip effect increases costs associated with the manufacturing of products.We know that the bullwhip effect results in an amplification of the variation of product and material demand as one travels upstream in the supply chain from consumer to material suppliers. In most cases the manufacturer of products will be removed from the actual consumer by multiple layers in the supply chain. The variation in demand (variation in orders) that the manufacturer will experience will be significantly greater than the variation in demand from the actual consumers. There are several costs incurred in the manufacturing of products. Among these costs are direct material costs, direct labor costs and overhead costs.The increased variability in quantity of products demanded from the manufacturer has an impact on each of these items. For most manufactured products, the cost of materials is a significant portion of the cost of the end item. As the demand for products varies from the manufacturer, these swings in demand are amplified and passed on to the material suppliers and various other sub-suppliers. During periods of high demand, the manufacturer is more likely to be forced to pay the material suppliers and sub-suppliers additional fees to expedite shipments.During periods of low demand, the manufacturer is more likely to find itself with a huge stock of unused material on hand. These variations also make it more difficult to negotiate competitive prices with the suppliers, further adding to the cost of the bullwhip effect. In an effort to protect against some of this variation, manufacturers will often stockpile materials, adding further warehousing and capital costs. Labor costs are another key component of the total cost of most products, including products which may be manufactured offshore in low-wage countries.In periods of extremely high demand, manufacturers are faced with an option of either hiring more employees or working their existing employee’s longer hours and paying overtime. Most companies are extremely reluctant to hire additional workers, particularly if they have reason to believe that the spike in demand will only be temporary. As a result, companies will typically choose to work longer hours and pay overtime wages to their employees. Paying overtime is costly, not only from a wage standpoint but also from an effectiveness standpoint.Employees are not robots, and diminishing marginal return should be expected when working employees longer hours. As hours go up, productivity typically declines at a rate that increases as the severity of the work schedule increases. The result is an increasing cost per unit of the products produced. Likewise, when product demand is extremely low, employees are not able to be utilized as effectively and labor cost per unit also increases. Further, there are the overhead costs which are affected by the variation in deman d amplified by the bullwhip effect.When manufacturers create facilities and purchase processing equipment, they often â€Å"size† their operations based upon what they believe will be the highest levels of demand for their products. When demand for products varies greatly, the frequent result is that the processes, equipment and facilities are excessively large (and costly) compared to what the â€Å"legitimate† demand might actually require. This results not only in excessive costs to set up these operations, but it also can create a scenario where it becomes difficult to operate these facilities efficiently when the production requirements are lower.Another element for consideration is the â€Å"cost of quality. † Manufacturing operations thrive on consistency. When manufacturers have to contend with wildly-varying production schedules, there is an increase in the â€Å"state of flux† in the operations. This can take the form of delayed maintenance on m achines, fatigued workers, using alternate suppliers for materials, etc. All of these elements that are exacerbated by large swings in production schedule can contribute to higher scrap rates, manufacturing errors, equipment downtime and, potentially, product defects that reach the consumer.INVENTORY COSTS Demand variability amplification can have a significant impact on increasing inventory costs. Business Dictionary. com defines inventory costs as the cost of holding goods in stock. Expressed usually as a percentage of the inventory value, it includes capital, warehousing, depreciation, insurance, taxation, obsolescence, and shrinkage costs. Typically, the inventory costs increase due to excessive or obsolete inventory as a result of poor demand forecasting. This situation is clearly defined in an article about Cisco’s need to write-off $2. billion in inventory in 2001. However, one must dive deeper into specific inventory performance measures to better understand the effec ts of the bullwhip effect on inventory costs. Safety Stock Safety stock can be defined as inventory held as buffer against mismatch between forecasted and actual consumption or demand, between expected and actual delivery time, and unforeseen emergencies. From a positive standpoint, safety stock can help to potentially reduce stock out situations however is also contributes to the bullwhip effect.Specifically with demand forecast updating using exponential smoothing, ordering of safety stock will create larger swings for suppliers and even move for orders placed to the manufacturer (Lee, p 95). Furthermore, poorly ordered safety stock that becomes excess or obsolete can lead to increased expense or in a worst-case scenario, written-off or scrapped completely. Stockout Cost Stockout cost, also called shortage cost, is defined as the economic consequences of not being able to meet an internal or external demand from the current inventory. Such costs consist of internal costs (delays, labor time wastage, lost production, etc. and external costs (loss of profit from lost sales, and loss of future profit due to loss of goodwill). One cause of stockout cost can be attributed to poorly updated demand forecast where the appropriate amount of inventory was not planned for the current demand. This is in contrast to the safety stock example which leads to an increase in inventory and excess or obsolete material. Another cause is rationing and shortage gaming where the demand for the product exceeded the supply (Lee, p97). The stockout cost is the expense of the lost sales or the potential of losing the customer loyalty completely to a fierce competitor.Module 2, Lesson 3 Question #2 At the end of the article â€Å"Bullwhip Effect in Supply Chains† by Lee, et. al. , is Table 1. In this table Lee presents a number of initiatives, such as vendor-managed inventory, for counteracting the four causes of the Bullwhip Effect. Select one or more of the initiatives and deve lop a small group consensus on a list of the top five impediments to the initiatives that you have selected; five impediments in total, not five impediments for each initiative that you select. Select two impediments and for each impediment please explicitly explain why the impediment is difficult to overcome.Finally in your group’s opinion, which of your impediments is typically the most difficult to overcome? Please explain why. BULLWHIP EFFECT COUNTERMEASURES; EDI, VMI, ECHELON-BASED INVENTORY SYSTEMS There is a range of initiatives to mitigate the effects of the â€Å"bullwhip effect,† or amplified distortions in replenishing orders. Through EDI and vendor –managed inventory (VMI), distortions may be reduced through transparent sharing of real time demand information through the entire supply chain. Demand distortion begins with faulty assumptions underlying future demand projections.One counter-measure for this challenge is real time exchange of information and increased transparency at point of sale. Many retailers use data generated at point of sale to automatically adjust their inventories and trigger reorder as inventories are depleted. Simultaneous transmission of this data to the supplier would facilitate a clearer view of consumption and retail inventory. Point of sale EDI shared across the supply chain from the manufacturer to retail outlet, would smooth the orders and prevent demand distortion that occurs with regression driven forecasts.Increased control of the total inventory can be achieved with echelon inventory management, through cooperative information sharing and a jointly agreed upon single point of inventory control. One model for this is vendor-managed inventory (VMI) which is a continuous replenishment of inventory based upon a push from the supply to the retail outlet based on EDI signals at point of sale and inventory depletion. ECHELON-BASED INVENTORY SYSTEMS Echelon-based inventory systems allow transparency o f the inventory flow of the down-stream levels in the supply chain by the upstream levels.This acts to reduce the bullwhip effect by preventing exaggeration of demand fluctuations by multiple levels in the chain. This is a useful policy, but it can be difficult to implement. First, one must consider the integrity of the source of the information. If an upstream member of the chain intends to rely on reports generated by the downstream member, trust must be a mutual component of the relationship. The downstream company may feel that it doesn’t want to share the information about their own inventory and/or demand, especially if it engages (or has any intention of engaging) in a practice of shortage gaming.Some elements of the shared data can be filtered, if this is found to be helpful to the downstream member. If the downstream member engages in price hedging or shortage gaming, the increased transparency to the upstream member would inhibit or completely prevent the downstream company from harnessing the perceived buffer that the practice enables. Some elements of the shared data can be filtered, if mutually agreeable to all members of the supply chain. Through non-disclosure agreements and data parsing, streams of proprietary data can be â€Å"cleansed† to be less sensitive.Connectivity of various operating systems is another hurdle. Many suppliers and retailers will not allow â€Å"direct feed† of data into their core operating systems, requiring a data merge in a safe environment that then can share data between the operating systems of the companies exchanging data. The work of scrubbing data and developing the necessary connectivity also requires IT resources. One must also consider the utility of information that is constantly changing. The value of inventory data to the upstream member could be limited as it changes continuously and obsolesces almost as soon as it’s generated.The upstream member must always be willing to loose ly interpret the inventory and demand data since an unusually large order, or an unusual decline in orders, could occur at any time. Also, downstream members’ transparency leads the upstream member to increase the frequency with which they update their demand forecasting. Frequently updating these forecasts is itself a bullwhip effect-exacerbating practice, so the upstream member would need to exercise discretion in its policies on how it reacts to the information that it receives from downstream.Implementation of these initiatives requires addressing and overcoming certain impediments:   Trust between supply chain partners or perceived competitive risk Data integrity challenges with changing/obsolete data Reduced downstream gaming ability (shortage and price hedge forward buying) Information technology resources to facilitate connectivity Increased frequency of upstream re-forecast due to downstream transparency The two most difficult impediments are the first two; trust a mongst supply chain partners, and the challenges of sharing meaningful data.Trust – Perceived Competitive Risk The challenge with establishing trust amongst supply chain partners is one of competitive risk. The real time data on point of sale, inventories held, or pricing activities engaged are all considered proprietary. The sharing of that data requires trust through the entire supply chain, and a willingness to incur significant legal, technological, and analytical resources to develop and deliver data that is accurate and meaningful.Lack of transparency and trust on the part of down stream members is the primary driver of the shortage and price gaming, to build inventories and prevent stock-outs or hedge for future price increases. In order to share transparent information through the supply chain, legal and technological hurdles must be addressed to reduce competitive risk, and allow necessary trust through protective agreements (NDA) and safe systems connectivity. Throu gh non-disclosure agreements and data parsing streams of proprietary data can be â€Å"cleansed† to be less sensitive and reduced competitive risk. ) Data Integrity – Changing and Obsolete Information The real time exchange of information supports accurate forecasts and timely order replenishment only if that data is meaningful. Data is meaningful if it clearly conveys the supply/demand picture. Upstream suppliers must be able to see the sale/demand data and existing inventory data in real time in order to push order replenishment. If downstream members obscure the inventories to retain shortage gaming power, this will impact the accuracy of the inventory replenishment trigger to the upstream supplier.Connected systems are susceptible to cross-system failures. Errant data in one system pollutes the forecast assumptions of the connected systems. Cadence of exchange, or timing of the data flows is a factor in relevance. If sales or order cancellations have changed invent ories significantly since the last update, the information exchanged can be obsolete. The â€Å"bullwhip effect† is culmination of iterative forecast variations, and self-protecting defensive actions on the part of supply chain members to hedge uncertainty. With increased trust and transparency, the forecast variations and uncertainty can be reduced.With collaboration through the entire supply chain, trust can be built, real time, meaningful data exchanged, and the cost of surplus inventories taken out of the chain. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Comments on Information Distortion in a Supply Chain: The Bullwhip Effect† by Lee, H. L. Padmanabhan, V. and Whang, S. , p 1888 [ 2 ]. http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/safety-stock. html#ixzz286djGuPB). [ 3 ]. http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/stockout-costs. html#ixzz286iDNySD

Assessing a Underachieving Employee Essay

Executive Summary This is a short study about measuring an underachieving employee that I personally had to cover with. It discusses the jobs that arose. I analysed them and so put into topographic point a twosome of solutions. The most debatable work state of affairs that I personally encountered was with a work co-worker who was a immature lady working at the Cooperative nutrient group and she was underperforming. This relates to the constructs of book2. An debut to human resource direction in concern. session 4 Assessing and developing people at work. When my work co-worker foremost started working at the Cooperative she was an first-class worker who gave 100 % all the clip. She had worked at the Cooperative for merely over two old ages and we were in the procedure of believing about advancing her from a client service helper to a supervisor. She started to do errors at the check-out procedure. our director noticed hard currency deficits. losing dealing paperwork and errors on the lottery and paypoint terminuss. As a supervisor my director asked me to supervise the state of affairs over a two hebdomad period and to compose down any errors or hard currency deficits and put the day of the months they happened so that our director could make up one's mind what the following class of action would be. Measuring a Underachieving EmployeeThe analysis of the jobs that arose. I am utilizing constructs from book 2. An debut to human resource direction in concern. session 4. assessing and developing people at work. These errors that my work co-worker were doing could be go oning for a figure of grounds. She could be holding fiscal troubles so she has stolen the money that is why there are hard currency deficits. nevertheless that does non explicate why the other errors have occurred on the lottery and paypoint terminuss and it’s really easy to leap to the incorrect decision when analyzing this. I believe the chief point to be about public presentation direction as it states in book 2. session 4. 1. public presentation direction â€Å"ensuring that staff are motivated† . I don’t believe she is motivated any longer. as when she is at work she is stuck on a check-out procedure for really long periods of clip. There is no assortment in her occupation function to maintain her motivated. and to be absolutely honest when other members of staff are busy she does acquire forgotten approximately and if she does non inquire the other members of staff she would non even acquire her interruptions as they forget about her. Making the same thing twenty-four hours in twenty-four hours and twenty-four hours out can go a spot humdrum. This is why her public presentation has started to endure as she feels deflated and demotivated. It is as though she has given up on this occupation and merely turns up because she has to and she needs the money. As it states in book 2. session 4. 2 Measuring public presentation â€Å"the individual may miss way or be working to less than full capacity† . Which in this instance I believe to be true. This will impact how the concern is run if non cover with as other members of staff could get down to make the same. Customers will non desire to shop at that place if t he staff don’t show an involvement. The criterions that were one time at that place will get down to drop ensuing in a negative impact on the concern. A solution to the jobs that occurredThe first thing I would make would be to put up a record of meetings with this work co-worker and our director. This is a treatment about what is go oning and it is recorded for future mention. At this meeting I would discourse how we can travel frontward together as a squad. I would explicate to her the importance of her occupation function and how of import it is to acquire it right. I would put her little accomplishable marks to take for with wagess given when achieved. Arranging regular meetings is besides a good thought ; this could be done as a public presentation assessment. As it states in book 2. session 4. 4. table 4. 2. it has the â€Å"Opportunity to actuate staff by recognizing achievements† . I believe this is what is needed in this state of affairs. she needs to experience like a valued squad member. this would so give her the motive needed to make her occupation right and to her full capacity. the concern will so be more prod uctive as it stated in book 2. session 4. 2 Assessing public presentation. I may so look into whether she would be interested in altering her occupation function a small. for illustration. stock refilling. and bringing bringings in. look intoing day of the months on merchandises. that kind of thing. This would give her some assortment in her occupation and hopefully actuate her once more. This would necessitate more preparation and cost the concern. nevertheless if she is merely on the check-out procedures and non been monitored she is bing the concern money anyhow through the errors she is doing. Some of this preparation would be done externally. through preparation classs. nevertheless most of the preparation would be done by training. As it states in book 2. session 4. 6. Developing is non merely preparation classs. â€Å"coaching ; a manner of reassigning cognition and accomplishment from a more experient individual to a less experient person† . I think this is the best manner frontward for this work co-worker in this state of affairs.Research fr om the Internet I looked on the cyberspace and did some research to see how to develop underperformers at work. I found two the first 1 was Yourbusiness. azcentral. com. It fundamentally states that underperformers inhibit teamwork and lower morale of other staff members. It besides says you need to organize relationships with employees. so you can make a willingness to assist the person. It besides says to put incremental ends for the employee. What this web site was stating made sense. nevertheless I’m non certain how dependable this beginning is as it wants me to subscribe to them. The following 1 I looked at was World Wide Web. acas. org. uk. I found this website really interesting as it gives a full list of different signifiers that you can publish including appraisal signifiers. absence record sheets and tonss of information about how to pull off public presentation. I believe this to be a dependable beginning as this administration is devoted to forestalling and deciding employment iss ues. besides it wasn’t seeking to sell me anything. Tutor group forumI peculiarly enjoyed the coach group forum activity 2. 1 – Work Pleasure or Pain? It was nice that most people thought the same as me. in that they enjoyed their work. My hubby hates work and ne'er understands how I can bask traveling to work. I wholly agreed with what Mark Pickering said in that work is a pleasance and that it allows me to accomplish my ends in life. while supplying for my household. Mentions Book 2 ( 2012 ) ‘An debut to human resource direction in business’ The Open University. Milton Keynes. Study Companion ( 2012 ) . The Open University. Milton Keynes.Yourbusiness. azcentral. com.World Wide Web. acas. org. United Kingdom

Julius Caesar ACT II Study Guide Questions Essay

1. Through the analogy of a ladder, how does Brutus explain what happens when someone gains power? 2. To what does Brutus compare Caesar? Why does Brutus feel that he must kill Caesar immediately? 3. What day is it? Why is this significant? 4. Brutus explains that he has not been able to sleep. How does he explain what happens to a man’s conscience between the â€Å"acting of a dreadful thing / And the first motion†? 5. How are Cassius and Brutus related? 6. Why does Brutus insist that the men do not need an oath? 7. Why do the men want Cicero on their side at first? Why do they change their minds? 8. Who does Cassius want to murder in addition to Caesar? 9. What is Brutus’s response to this idea? 10. How does Decius plan to get Caesar to come to the Capitol? 11. What has Portia noticed about Brutus’s recent behavior? 12. What reasons does Portia give to insist that Brutus reveal his feelings to her? 13. What does Portia do to prove her strength to Brutus? What is your reaction to this act? BONUS: An anachronism is when an author unknowingly or purposefully inserts something from a different period of time into his or her writing. Shakespeare uses an anachronism in this scene. See if you can find it. Why do you think Shakespeare might have used this anachronism? Scene Two 1. Why has Calpurnia been unable to sleep? About what omens does Calpurnia tell Caesar? 2. Why does Caesar insist on leaving the house? 3. On what evidence do the priests (â€Å"augerers†) recommend that Caesar not leave the house? 4. How does Decius convince Caesar to leave? 5. Caesar instructs his men to keep close to him. What is the irony? Scene Three 1. Artemidorus reads from a letter at the beginning of this scene. Who wrote the letter and what does Artemidorus plan to do with it?

Police and Critical Thinking

As a police officer it is our role to observe, think about, and solve problems objectively and systematically. Police officers attend a variety of scenarios when working as a general duties officers it is our job to discover the truth; this requires the use of critical thinking and the scientific method of investigation to find the truth. When attending a job and conducting an investigation into a crime or offence police must utilise these skills as critical thinking and the scientific method of investigation go hand in hand with one another. In particular, to be able to make effective use of the scientific model, you need to be a critical thinker (Osterburg & Ward 1992 pp 11). Using the Scientific Method of Investigation requires police to identify the problem on arrival, then to form a hypothesis as to what has happened as well as possible suspects and motives. By collecting further data, police can then review their original hypothesis and start to make an evidence based conclusion on the incident at hand. The whole point of police investigations whatever the crime or incident is to arrive at the truth (Miller,L & Connelly,M. 1996). There are six steps to the scientific method of investigation. (Becker, RF, 2000, p. 7) The six steps are state the problem, create a hypothesis, collect all data, test the hypothesis, continue to collect data and finally arrive at a theory. By adhering to this method it provides framework that best assists police in discovering the truth about what happened in a structural, factual and reliable way. PPP232 Topic 3) In this essay I will be critiquing the way the police officers have investigated the assault on Mr Lee that took place and how the officers have used both critical thinking and the scientific method of Investigation, to gather all evidence available to find the truth, in an ethical manner. When applying the first stage of the investigation to the scenario the officers attending the scene are approached by the licensee of the Chiefly Hotel. Denis e Spence informs Senior Constable Baltrow that a barman who works in her hotel has been assaulted. Previous experience and observations are both factors which aid us in identifying a problem; this is known as ‘inductive reasoning. ’ In this case, I believe, both factors come into play for Senior Constable Baltrow. Senior constable Baltrow then begins to question the licensee. During the questioning process a male appears from down the street who seems to be out of breath. This male Gary Rawlings, states to police he has just chased a male who assaulted Dan Lee. It appears Mr Rawlings has a lot of valuable information about the assault. By using Denise and Gary’s evidence the Officer in charge is able to identify that a male has been assaulted and taken to Bathurst hospital. The problem has now been identified and the Officers can use their initial observations and the current information they have gathered to begin to form the hypothesis. â€Å"A working hypothesis is like an incomplete puzzle that comes together a piece at a time. † (Becker, 2000. pp. 4). After forming a logical hypothesis that the victim was assaulted by a male, it is now up to the officers to â€Å"Collect Further Data†. Whilst collecting data the Officers will be identifying, utilizing and evaluating various sources of information and evidence collected at the scene to help support their hypothesis. Both the statements give evidence to prove the assault took place but police have no information as to why the assault happened. Constable Buchman points out to Senior constable Baltrow that there is CCTV footage available. In collecting data it is also crucial for the police to be able to link all the evidence presented from witness, victim and available evidence from the crime scene. The next step in the investigation is to interpret the data and test the hypothesis. The statements made by the witnesses may change the officer’s hypothesis from ‘was the assault carried out intentionally or was in self-defence, the CCTV footage will provide officers with valuable evidence to support their hypothesis. For the officers to come to a decision, about their initial hypothesis, it requires critical thinking about their line of investigation. Critical thinking is an integral part of the scientific method of investigation. It is the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not. (Nixon, Stefanovic, & O’Conner, 2009, p. 74). The concept of critical thinking includes inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is the process of arriving at a conclusion based on a set of observations. In itself it is not a valid piece of evidence as it can lead to assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices about a suspect. It can also lead to tunnel vision. Deductive reasoning is using the evidence and information at hand to create specific facts and ideas about what occurred during an incident. Its use can help create a hypothesis to help investigators advance in an investigation. It is a starting point for an investigation not a conclusion and an integral part of the scientific method of investigation (PPP232 Module 3). It is not your job to punish: your job is to discover the; who, what, where, when, how and why of an event, and then to report the matter to another authority (Court, Coroner, DPP, Workcover etc). This is the key role of investigation – discovering the truth of the matter and this subject strives to expand your knowledge and skills so you become an effective, professional and ethical investigator. The data that the investigating police were provided with through the investigation process was able to offer police with a sequence of events, before, during and after the incident. The data collected by the police has ensured that the witnesses version of events, matched up with the CCTV footage at the scene. This shows how important evidence is in the investigation process as it allows police to correctly identify and charge suspects according to law. The officers in the scenario believe they are dealing with an assault. To help investigate the crime further the officers will now gather additional data. The officers collect the CCTV footage which will play vital part in the investigation. A description of the suspect is given to Senior constable Baltrow and is broadcasted over the police radio. The officer in charge then proceeds further into the investigation when he is informed about a piece of wood which was used in the assault. The Officer locates the piece of wood and records, photographs and collects this evidence. The next stage of the investigation is to take statements from the witnesses, victim, to obtain a copy of the CCTV footage, and search the area for further witnesses or evidence. Police would then send out Forensic service Group to see if there is any further evidence they can obtain from the scene. The CCTV footage obtained will confirm the witness’s versions. The police now attend Bathurst Hospital to speak with Mr Lee and Catherine James about what occurred at the Chiefly Hotel. Their statements will be a vital part of the investigation. Police observations of Mr Lee’s injuries are consistent with the statements gathered. Police take statements which confirm and support the facts gathered about the assault. Over the radio police get a call stating that a male has been caught trespassing on a property. On arrival the person of interest appears to match the description of the accused involved in the assault at the Chiefly hotel. Applying critical thinking to the new evidence given about a male attempting to break into a property at Bathurst, police now have the suspect allowing for the investigation to begin. The officers are able to caution the offender and begin questioning Jason Priest about the assault. During the questioning process the accused states that the victim came up to him and assaulted him with the piece of wood. Using the CCTV footage the police will now have to view the footage to test this theory. At this stage of the investigation the officers believe they have sufficient data to support their decision on arresting the accused. The Officers will now need to collate any further evidence which would be beneficial to their case such as the victim and witness statements, CCTV footage, forensic evidence from the scenes and the photo identification back at Bathurst Police Station. The data which has been collected is all evidence that meets the description and identifies the suspect. Now that the police have obtained vital information they are able to place the two men out the front of the Chiefly hotel. The victim and first witness supplied important information to the Officers which allowed them to start the investigation, the officers were able to obtain sufficient data to support what type of offence was committed. The only barrier could be the witnesses may drawback from an investigation as they could be affected by emotion, threats, or fear to give their true account on what happened. The responding officers are in a position not only to influence the victim’s feelings, perceptions and assessments regarding the victimisation experience, but whether the victim will assist in the prosecution of the case. ’ In this prosecution the CCTV is important as it shows who has the piece of wood and the method in which it was used, intent or self-defence. The CCTV footage helps the officers comprehend what has occurred and collaborate the versions that hav e been represented by the witnesses. Police have obtained 3 forms of evidence: Real, Original and Documentary. Real evidence is an object, something tangible that is found at a crime scene or is related to an offence. In this scenario an example of real evidence is the piece of wood that was used by the accused as a weapon in the assault. Original evidence is evidence given by a witness, a statement and anything said by a person in relation to the offence and what they saw. Police obtained statements from Denise, Catherine James and Mr Lee. Documentary evidence is anything that can be classed as a document. Relating to this scenario the officers took photos of the weapon in the assault and collected CCTV footage from Denise the licensee of the hotel. From gathering and assessing all evidence police can now â€Å"Draw an Evidence Based Conclusion†. It is now up to the officers to use critical thinking to link all pieces of evidence to the crime to find the truth. By individualising each piece of evidence found, the officers can identify what each piece of evidence means, determine the reliability of the evidence and what range of conclusions can be drawn from it. By collecting further data, police can then review their original hypothesis and start to make an evidence based conclusion. When undertaking any role as a police officer it is important to maintain professionalism by acting in an ethical manner, The† Code of Conduct and Ethics† and â€Å"Statement of Values† provide guide lines for police to adhere to when undertaking this role. Police must always act in an ethical manner throughout their role as a police officer. Everything a police officer does is under scrutiny from fellow officers, victims, witnesses and of course the public, which is why it crucial that police act in an ethically sound manner. The â€Å"Code of Conduct and Ethics (CCE)† and â€Å"Statement of Values (SOV)† provides a framework in which the police are to operate. In this scenario the police have embraced the expectations from both the CCE and the SOV. The 3 main points of the CCE addressed in the scenario are: the officers â€Å"behaved honestly and in a way that upholds the values and the good reputation of the NSW police† and â€Å"acted with care and diligence†. The officers throughout the incident acted professionally, and made numerous decisions during the investigation some ethically correct and others which could have been dealt with differently. One of the decisions made which I believe to be unethical was not to IPE the person of interest. Section 201(2)(c) of LEPRA clearly states an officer must inform a person of their name, place of duty and give evidence that they are police officers if not in uniform before exercising any power. Failure to abide by this legislation deems all powers that are exercised unlawful. Due to the officers failing to abide by this safeguard the arrest would be considered unlawful. This could possibly see the collapse of the case in court and see a crime go unpunished. Another factor is that tunnel vision occurred when the officer in charge was questioning the witness at the scene. An example of the officers not thinking critically and letting tunnel vision take over is when the officer in charge broadcasted the description of the male wanted for the assault. At that stage the officers only assumed that an assault has occurred. Police also broadcasted a description of the accused over police radio, this was done without fully investigating and assuming that the witness was telling the truth. Police should have reviewed the CCTV footage from the hotel to ascertain that an assault had occurred and the description of the accused was correct. It seemed to me that officers performed fairly well. They sufficiently investigated the matter and were able to arrest the suspect for further in It is easy for us to watch this scenario unfold on DVD and criticise the actions and decisions of the two officers. However when you are placed in real life situation you need to focus on what will be in the public’s best interest and what ethical decisions will need to be made. It is important to remember that investigation is not a game with winners or losers it is a search for the truth based on the gathering of information in a fair and ethical manner. I believe that the Officers were able to provide a framework that best assisted them to the truth of the crime. In conclusion â€Å"Critical thinking† and the â€Å"Scientific Method of Investigation† are fundamental partners in criminal investigation. Together they form a â€Å"logical and scientific format† (Activity 6. 1) that enables an investigator to form logical conclusions based on the collected evidence. Critical thinking allows for conclusions coming forth from a number of different perspectives. Together this way of thinking is important in investigations as it aides investigators in answering questions and reconstructing the past. Often police are placed in a situation that requires them to solve a crime or identify an offender who committed an offence. The fact that the community have placed police in that role means it is the police who are accountable for finding the truth, and this is the basis of investigation – for police to search for the truth.