Visiting the BASILICA DI SANT(church+cript+musuem) Essay

Visiting the BASILICA DI SANT(church+cript+musuem) - Essay Example In 12th century the basilica was rebuilt and received its modern look ( «SantAmbrogio, Milan »). The style of the basilica is Romanesque. The basilica is built of bricks and ashlar stones decorated with carving. There are also parts of stone and plastering used in the construction. The composition of the building is symmetrical; all parts of basilica mirror each other. There is an atrium typical for Romanesque buildings; it is surrounded by aisles with pillars. Capitals are decorated with animals, fantastic motifs, human figures and natural ornaments. There are also two bell towers called Monks Tower and Canons Tower; they symbolize two different orders which lived in the basilica. Monks lived in two southern buildings while canons lived in the north. The exterior of basilica is very orderly; rectangular forms dominate the space and support the idea of symmetrical beauty of ancient Roman architecture. The building looks monumental because of its abundant architectural solutions. The interior of the basilica is predetermined by its main purpose. Religious motifs are observed everywhere; mosaics and frescos on the walls and ceiling present religious motifs and portray the lives of Christian Saints. Stylish groined vaults of the ceiling, semi-circular apse and small chapels of the same shape create specific atmosphere in the place. Pillars, clestory windows and semi-columns serve to support the building and add decorum to the place (Schneider). The interior of the basilica is very impressive and unique. Even though it has all typical features of Romanesque art, it is a bit eclectic due to the fact that different parts of the basilica were added, reconstructed or created in different periods of time. The materials used for mosaics and internal decorations are natural; for instance, there are 4 columns made of porphyry and decorated with bar-reliefs depicting religious scenes (Schneider). Golden altar, beautiful sarcophagus, reliefs and other

Segment 10 and 11 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Segment 10 and 11 - Term Paper Example On October 1802, Spain's King Charles IV signed a decree that transferred the Louisiana territory to France and the Spanish representative in New Orleans, following instructions Spanish court, canceled Americans' access to the port's warehouses. These moves angered the United States. Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison worked to attain a feasible resolution through diplomacy, but other factions called for war, so that the U.S. could seize Mississippi and New Orleans. In January 1803, Jefferson recommended that James Monroe accompany Livingston in Paris as minister extraordinary. This would be called the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson wrote to Kentucky's governor, James Garrard, to notify him of Monroe's appointment. Monroe was to offer $10 million for the purchase of New Orleans and all, or part of, the Florida territories. If negotiations failed, Monroe was ordered to try buying New Orleans, or, at the very least, ensure American access to the Mississippi and the p ort. When Monroe got to Paris on April 12, 1803, Livingston informed him of different circumstances. Napoleon agreed with the recommendation of France's minister of finance, Francois de Barbe-Marbois, that it would be more strategic for France to sell Mississippi to the U.S., to avoid for it being seized by Britain, in the event of a future war. Soon, the U.S. purchased Louisiana from France for $0.03 per acre, or $15 million. This added around 252 million more acres to the American territory. The War of 1812 concerned the military conflict between the United States and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815. One of the main issues was Impressment, where the British could take away British sailors in American ships. Napoleon's statement in 1810 that revoked his decrees and British refusals to rescind their orders increased the pressures for the U.S. to go to war. On June 18, 1812, President James Madison approved a declaration of war that Congress passed at his request, although not withou t significant opposition. The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, but it did not resolve the fundamental issues that stimulated the war. The Treaty states that â€Å"all territory, places and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the war† would be reinstated, as they were before the war. No one gained anything and Impressment was not duly addressed. Synopsis of Monroe Doctrine President James Monroe delivered a speech on December 2, 1823 that included the Monroe Doctrine. In his message to Congress, Monroe provided a set of principles of the Monroe Doctrine: 1) The Western Hemisphere can no longer be colonized; 2) The political system of the Americas differs from Europe; 3) The United States will consider all intrusions in Western hemispheric affairs as a danger to its security; and 4) The United States will cease from participating in European wars and would not agitate European colonies in the Western Hemisphere. What was Monroe trying to ac hieve with his Monroe Doctrine? Monroe wanted to deal with potential threats to the U.S., specifically that which comes from the interests of European powers in colonizing territories in the New World and to ensure that diplomacy is used first before engaging in any war against other nations. SEGMENT 11 Summary The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, during the 18th century. In the U.S., the industrial revolution started in the nineteenth century. During this time, the

Applying Sociology to Public Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Applying Sociology to Public Practice - Essay Example Sociology is defined as the 'scientific' study of the relationship between human social organization and human behavioural processes. Its early proponents and even sociologists today believe that they can develop a scientific way of studying mankind and his social nature in the same way as natural scientists have formulated a scientific approach to explain the physical world. Fundamental to the field is the notion that the relationship between human organization and social behaviour are subject to law-like processes and forces which can be revealed thru a systematic and careful observation and study. The theoretical models of causality should also be subject to empirical tests. (James, 1996) The problem with sociology which can be observed in the article authored by Francis et al (2007) entitled "Attitude toward Christianity among secondary school pupils in Northern Ireland: shifts in denominational differences" is that sociology tends to become unscientific. Sociology attempts to understand human behaviour not thru a set of a step-by-step analysis of characteristics of individuals but on the influence of interactions among individuals. It emphasizes the social forces present in a certain group which cannot be generalized to other groups much like the way scientific laws work. Social forces cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from human behaviour. In other words, there is no assurance that an observed and analyzed social phenomenon could be applied on another set of events. For example, the case for the article can only be found in Ireland. Sociology, therefore, becomes ambiguous. There is no finality in sociological pursuits because it is subjected to change and what is much more pressing is that mechanisms are often unidentifiable. Even if it was identified, there is always the question of finality. In the article by Francis et al, one can note that there was not even an attempt to determine the mechanism which caused the change in the regard for Christianity by male and female Irish children. All they did was to determine whether there was a change without even attempting to identify whether this was expected or whether it followed some kind of process. There was not even a discussion of a theoretical background discussing the mechanism of change for religious perception. They even conveniently stated that they did not deem it proper to know the underlying cause because it was out of the limits they have set. While it is good to know that there is an improvement in religious perception, wouldn't it have been more useful if one knows what is causing the chan ge so that it may be further developed Sociology will only assume the science mantle when it shakes off its reliance on first person subjective evaluations and surveys. The article itself depends widely on previous studies for comparison and does not even provide a scale of similarity with the procedures used. Most sociologists have little or no understanding of calculus yet they often present least-squares results as with the article. Sociology is for the most part verbal rather than quantitative. (James, 1996) Competing Perspectives As can be deduced from the previous discussion, there is a tendency for sociological knowledge to become of little value. According to Levin (2006), while there are indeed sociological researches that

Investigation on Hertfordshire Water Supply Contamination Essay

Investigation on Hertfordshire Water Supply Contamination - Essay Example In order to maintain the admissible levels of contaminants and to supply water that is safe for the common people, there are drinking water standards that different water supply systems are required to follow (Zaslow & Herman, 1996). Such an issue of water contamination is also reflected by the case of Hertfordshire water supply, the Chalk Aquifer where a public water supply system got affected by bromated contamination that posed problems with leakage in the site in the year 2000. The accepted standard for bromated in water is 10Â µg/l (Quevauiller & Thompson, 2006, p.40), while in the concerned case, the concentration has been known to reach a level of around 150Â µg/l (Fitzpatrick et al, n.d.). Bromate contamination is of serious concern it is a carcinogenic in nature and pollutes the water drastically (Hill, 2010, p.292). Thus the bromate contamination in the case of Hertfordshire water supply and the leakage in the site of Sandridge near St Albans calls for significant investi gation and study to understand the causes, the situation as well as to find out relevant recommendations for the recovery of the condition, which is the primary concern of the current research and study. The Investigation and Assessment of the Contaminated Site: The investigation and assessment of the contaminated site in the case of Hertfordshire water supply would include the following major steps: (a) identifying the process that has been used in the plant, (b) identifying and assessing how the spillage of bromate occurred, (c) using the different parameters - process indicators, the notification of occurrence of unwanted events, and indicators related to public health – to understand how the plant might have been negligent in some respects that led to the incident, (d) assessing the monitoring measures applied in the plant, and (e) identifying how the plant might have responded to the occurrence of the incident. (a) Process used in the Hertfordshire Water Supply: Studies reflect that the Chalk Aquifer presents a huge source of drinking water (Dassargues, 2000, p.195) for a major part of Greater London. The water is primarily supplied from the rainfall in the region of Hertfordshire (Ellis & Bertrand-Krajewski, 2009, p.112). If an overview of Hertfordshire’s present situation related to the water supply and treatment can be presented, it would reflect the status as in the following figure (Figure 1). Status Current Status Future Expectation Water Framework Directive Moderate Good status has been obtained by around 24 percent of the water bodies. The Hertfordshire rivers determine the low or high quality of the water bodies It is expected that the water bodies in the region have plans to satisfy the ecological needs of the environment by 2027. Quality of Water Moderate The river lengths that have been achieving high grades have shown increase since 1990. The water bodies have been focused on the appropriate treatment of the sewages. Serious rec ords of pollution have not been obtained since 2009. Diffuse pollution risks are still high. Plans to reduce the risks of diffuse pollution. Absolutely no records of serious pollution and reduction of any pollution incidents. Continue with the sewage treatment measures. Figure 1: Overview of Hertfordshire’s water supply and treatment (Allum & Dixon, 2010, pp.3-4). This study reflects a serious factor that the water supply system in the Hertfordshire is concerned about the pollution and the contamination and thus the processes followed are focused on the reduction of such incidents. This also hints that when the bromate contamination

Working Capital and Financial Environment Case Study

Working Capital and Financial Environment - Case Study Example in this case, the most important elements in the environment are the other actors involved either directly or indirectly with a production process. In assessing the internal environment, the professionals try to identify all the relevant actors paying attention to stated goals and strategies. Abbott and Merck requires huge financial resources on research and development and financial internal control helps to evaluate and analyze financial situation and investments risks. In 2006, Abbott has $24.11 billion revenue while Merck has $23.34 billion. Merck operating margin is 24.48% while in Abbott operating margin is 17.84% (Abbott Laboratories 2007; Merck and Co. 2007). Internal control suggests that all activities are reasonably under control from the perspective of costs. Cost variances can be controlled by establishing a good change control process and sticking to it. First, all requests for changes are documented. The requests describe the impact of the change on costs, the schedule , the technical integrity of the deliverable, and other work being carried out. Once they are properly formulated, they are reviewed by a panel of players who are charged with overseeing progress on the activities.

Bombs Bursting in Air Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Bombs Bursting in Air - Assignment Example But we still hear the â€Å"bombs† going off in our lives and we are afraid or lost because of what is going on. Rather than shielding us from reality, our parents and teachers should instead help us understand why these â€Å"bombs† go off in some peoples lives and not in others. The importance of these life lessons cannot be stressed enough and just like the essay explains, our parents and other adults will no longer be able to shield us from that reality. So the question that we should ask ourselves is â€Å"how young is too young to understand lifes realities?†. In the modern age of the internet and 24/7 news media, the innocence of young people is stolen faster than parents can cover up the situations. Perhaps the time has come for parents to acknowledge that the children of today, if spoken to and explained to in a proper manner, can actually prove to be far more mature than their parents and teachers actually think they

Role of currency futures in risk management Essay

Role of currency futures in risk management - Essay Example Forward contracts have certain advantages over currency futures but their disadvantages cannot supersede the advantages provided by currency futures. Because of their standardized features and a high liquidity in the market, currency futures have gained widespread importance. Even with the advent of sophisticated derivative instruments such as options, yet the currency futures lie ahead of them because of the cost factors and their advantages in providing superior performances in covered hedges. Introduction In the contemporary world, currency risk management is gaining a widespread importance because of the globalization. Companies and individuals who are exposed to foreign exchange risk, which implies that either they have imports or exports which will cause their domestic purchasing power to decline by converting a foreign currency to a home currency will always aim to minimize this risk. These currency risks arise during certain conditions; when the firm or businesses have assets or liabilities which are expressed in terms of foreign currency. We can define foreign exchange risk more specifically as the risk faced due to fluctuating exchange rates. For instance, if a Malaysian businessman exports palm oil to one of the European countries and if he expects payments to be made in Euros, than he is exposed to considerable amount of foreign exchange risk if the Euro depreciates against the Malaysian Ringgit. In case if it happens, the Malaysian trader will get fewer amounts of Ringgits in exchange of Euros thus a successful business venture might turn out to a blunder because of poor risk management practices. The trade transactions are shelved between the countries as businesses are unwilling to bear foreign exchange risk. As the fear of foreign currency risk looms over the businesses, it can reduce its trade with these countries. But as the world has stepped ahead in the technological breakthroughs, so it has been able to develop financial tools which can hel p the traders to minimize the risk faced in the businesses. The derivatives market primarily consists of many instruments such as forwards, futures, swaps and options. The aim of this paper is to discuss about the role of currency futures and how they provide an advantage over other derivative instruments in managing foreign exchange risk. A currency futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy a particular currency at a specific rate in the future. Future contracts are identical to forward contracts but they differ in a sense that they are traded on the exchange and are more liquid than forwards. Futures are liquid as they have a formal exchange like stocks where you can trade your legal contracts. Similarly, they are standardized contracts like shares and you can remove them from your portfolio in certain chunks. We can illustrate futures currency with the help of an example involving two parties who are exposed to foreign exchange risk. The party which is exposed t o the risk of an appreciation of value in a currency will buy futures to protect. These are usually parties who have revenues or exports and they feel that the value of their home currency appreciates making the currency in which the sales are denominated weak thus resulting in lower revenues. To hedge their position, they enter in to a futures contract and buy a certain amount of