Sunday, January 26, 2020

Book of Galatians

Book of Galatians Introduction The Book of Galatians highly believed to be written by Apostle Paul was written in its original form as instructions to the Christians in southern Galatia, which was a Roman province in what is now Turkey. Galatia was the area where on his first missionary journey Paul established the congregations in Pisidia Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe . Although there have been several other books written by bible scholars alike on Pauls   letter to the Galatians but that of Ralph Martin and Julie Wu under review is by normal standard one of the best annotated books of understanding. The book is explicit and clear in its outline with the use of interesting pictures and boxes to highlight points in a very concise manner, the colour combination is attractive and makes the book appeal to reading and learning. Authorship and date Paul was attributed to have written no fewer than thirteen epistles in the New Testament. Out of this thirteen, seven are almost universally accepted, three are considered in some academic circles as other than Pauline for textual and grammatical reasons, and the other three are in dispute in those same circles. It was gathered that Paul writing documented today in the book of Galatians was a dictation through a secretary (or amanuensis), who would usually paraphrase the gist of his message, as was the practice among first-century scribes. It was also gathered that the message in the book of Galatians was first circulated among the Christians, where they were read aloud by members of the church along with other works. That was why some bible scholars regard Pauls epistles which was said to have been written between 50-62 to be one of the earliest-written books, if not the first written book of the New Testament as they were cited around c. 96 by Clement of Rome. It must be emphasised that this letter which was largely traceable to Paul was part of the intensive trips/missions to the east and west of the Aegean Sea†¦during which he concentrated in the succession of the provinces of Galatia, Macedona, Achaia and Asia Although, scholars have not agreed on a specific date because the exact year is difficult to determine, but some placed the date of Pauls writing his letter to the Galatians between 48 to 52 AD. To some scholars the date was a time when Pauls writing was put before the Jerusalem Council. According to then, the materials before the Council dealt with the issue of circumcision and the Law of Moses and whether such issue is relevant in view of the New Testament teachings. The argument here is that Pauls letter to the Galatians did not mention the Jerusalem Council and that if the council had met before the date of Pauls writing his letter, Paul would have mentioned the decisions of the apostolic council in Jerusalem. Before of this assumption, scholars believed Paul must have written this letter to the Galatians before the Jerusalem Council, which was around 48 to 49 AD. Expectedly, there is another group of scholars who argued that Pauls Galatian letter should be dated at a date after the Jerusalem Council. According to this group, Paul began his second missionary journey after the Council had met. This group cited Acts 16:4 where it was recorded that Paul revisited the churches of Galatia to deliver the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in the Jerusalem Council. They also argued that it was after this date that Paul went to Greece to teach for close to two years while on his second missionary journey, this would place the date of its being written around 52 AD. Purpose Galatians purpose was primarily to resolve the dispute among churches in Galatians. During Pauls mission in Corinth, false teachers were overturning the decision of the Jerusalem Council by claiming that the Gentile Christians must be circumcised according to the Law of Moses to be saved. To try to settle the matter, Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians from Corinth, where he was unable to leave his missionary work at the time. In other words, Paul wrote his letter to Galatians while in Corinth. Another purpose is for Paul to counter the Judaizer view. Paul was particularly interested in refuting the false teachers spread by false teachers and to remind the Galatians of the roots of their faith. The three issues surrounding false teaching Paul was trying to tackle include: That Paul was not a true apostle and did not have the full backing of the church in Jerusalem and that they (the false teachers) are the true apostle accredited by James; That while Paul brought the Galatians the gospel of Jesus Christ, he had failed to give them the full undiluted gospel and that; Without adherence to the Jewish Law, the church would have no ethical guidelines and would fall into immorality. Structure The book of Galatians has 6 Chapters, and was written in polemical style and tone, yet with a clear rhetorical structure and deep pastoral concern for the readers, to enforce the twin themes of faith and freedom (9). The book is carefully structured into five distinct parts. The first part contained greetings and introduction (Galatians 1:1-10). The second part (Galatians 1:11-2:21) was used to defend Paul apostolic ministry of the pure gospel as against the false teachers. The third part was used to defend the gospel of justification and salvation by grace and faith alone (Galatians 3:1-4:31) while the fourth part was dedicated to defending the freedom Christians have to love one another and live by the Spirit. Galatians 5:1-6:10. The last part includes conclusion and summation (Galatians 6:11-18). Conclusion This work has been to review Pauls letters to the Galatians at the time the false prophets and teachers were spreading fake counsels and heresies about Paul and his teachings. The book was structurally crafted to treat the purpose and intent of Paul in a very clear manner. Pauls Galatians is regarded as his very first epistle in the New Testament.

Friday, January 17, 2020

The Brake System of a Motor Vehicle

With advances in automobile technology, braking systems have also been constantly evolving to offer precision braking facility in modern cars. The two prime braking technologies developed over the course of time are drum brakes and disc brakes. In the following essay I am going to describe the two different types and point out the advantages and disadvantages of drum and disc brakes. Before we make a distinction between discs and drums, let me explain the basic working principle of any braking system installed in cars. When brakes are applied, vehicles come to a halt through application of friction against the wheels. Heat is generated in the process. The conversion of kinetic energy of the rotating wheels into heat slows down the wheel. Early automotive brake systems used a drum design at all four wheels. They were called drum brakes because the components were housed in a round drum that rotated along with the wheel. Inside was a set of shoes that, when the brake pedal was pressed, would force the shoes against the drum and slow the wheel. Fluid was used to transfer the movement of the brake pedal into the movement of the brake shoes. The newer one, the disc brake, works on the same basic principles to slow a vehicle, but their design is far superior to that of drum brakes. Instead of housing the major components within a metal drum, disc brakes use a slim rotor and small caliper to halt wheel movement. Within the caliper are two brake pads, one on each side of the rotor, that clamp together when the brake pedal is pressed. Once again, fluid is used to transfer the movement of the brake pedal into the movement of the brake pads. Now I will highlight the difference between drum and disc brakes. Which brake system are better and why, if any?! Disc brakes operate better than drum brakes because of the difference in dissipation of heat in both systems. The drum brake is an internal system, with the brake pads being held inside of the brake drum. As such, it is easy for heat to build up inside the unit. When heat builds up, the brakes fade and loose their stopping power. Disc brakes, on the other hand, are more exposed. This allows for the brake disc and pads to cool much easier and for the brakes to hold their stopping power. Disc brakes also perform better in wet weather, because centrifugal force tends to fling water off the brake disc and keep it dry, whereas drum brakes will collect some water on the inside surface where the brake shoes contact. The advantage of drum brakes is that they are much cheaper to manufacture than disc brakes. Also when having brake work done, the replacement of drums or shoes is less expensive than that of calipers or discs. As well, drums can double as a parking brake, further reducing the cost of production of a vehicle. With disc brakes on all four wheels, manufacturers have to build a separate parking brake in the brake rotor, adding to its cost. All in all, the main reason that drum brakes are still in use is because of cost. Today most cars have a combination of disc brakes and drum brakes in their functioning. Braking causes the car's weight to shift forward, and as a result about 70% of the work is done by the front brakes. By fitting disc brakes to the front wheels and drum brakes to the rear wheels, manufacturers can provide most of the benefits of disc brakes while lowering costs.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Tundra Biome - The Habitat Encyclopedia

The tundra is a terrestrial biome that is characterized by extreme cold, low biological diversity, long winters, brief growing seasons, and limited drainage. The harsh climate of the tundra imposes such formidable conditions on life that only the hardiest plants and animals can survive in this environment. The vegetation that grows on the tundra is restricted to a low diversity of small, ground-hugging plants that are well-adapted to survive in nutrient-poor soils. The animals that inhabit the tundra are, in most cases, migratory—they visit the tundra during the growing season to breed but then retreat to warmer, more southern latitudes or lower elevations when temperatures drop. Tundra habitat occurs in regions of the world that are both very cold and very dry. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Arctic lies between the North Pole and the boreal forest. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Antarctic tundra occurs on the Antarctic peninsula and on the remote islands that lie off  the coast of Antarctica (such as the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands). Outside of the polar regions, there is another type of tundra—alpine tundra—which occurs at at high altitudes on mountains, above the treeline. The soils that blanket the tundra are mineral-deprived and nutrient-poor. Animal droppings and dead organic matter provide the bulk of what nourishment is present in tundra soil. The growing season is so brief that only the topmost layer of soil thaws during the warm months. Any soils below a few inches deep remain permanently frozen, creating a layer of earth known as permafrost. This permafrost layer forms a water-barrier that prevents drainage of meltwater. During the summer, any water that thaws in the upper layers of the soil is trapped, forming a patchwork of lakes and marshes across the tundra. Tundra habitats are vulnerable to the effects of climate change and scientists fear that as global temperatures rise, tundra habitats might play a role in accelerating the rise in atmospheric carbon. Tundra habitats are traditionally carbon sinks—places that store more carbon than they release. As global temperatures rise, tundra habitats  may shift from storing carbon to releasing it in massive volumes. During the summer growing season, tundra plants grow quickly and, in doing so, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The carbon remains trapped because when the growing season ends, the plant material freezes before it can decay and release the carbon back into the environment. As temperatures rise and areas of permafrost thaw, the tundra releases  the carbon it has stored for millennia back into the atmosphere. Key Characteristics The following are the key characteristics of tundra habitats: extreme coldlow biological diversitylong wintersbrief growing seasonlimited precipitationpoor drainagenutrient-poor soilspermafrost Classification The tundra biome is classified within the following habitat hierarchy: Biomes of the World Tundra Biome The tundra biome is divided into the following habitats: Arctic and Antarctic tundra - Arctic tundra is located in the Northern Hemisphere between the North Pole and the boreal forest. Antarctic tundra is located in the Southern Hemisphere on remote islands off the coast of Antarctica—such as the South Shetland Islands and the South Orkney Islands—and on the Antarctic peninsula. Arctic and Antarctic tundra supports about 1,700 species of plants including mosses, lichens, sedges, shrubs, and grasses.Alpine tundra - Alpine tundra is a high-altitude habitat that occurs on mountains around the world. Alpine tundra occurs at elevations that lie above the tree line. Alpine tundra soils differ from the tundra soils in polar regions in that they are usually well-drained. Alpine tundra supports tussock grasses, heaths, small shrubs, and dwarf trees. Animals of the Tundra Biome Some of the animals that inhabit the tundra biome include: Northern bog lemming (Synaptomys borealis) - The northern bog lemming is a small rodent that inhabits the tundra, bogs, and boreal forests of northern Canada and Alaska. Northern bog lemmings eat a variety of plants including grasses, mosses, and sedges. They also feed on some invertebrates such as snails and slugs. Northern bog lemmings are prey for owls, hawks, and mustelids.Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) - The arctic fox is a carnivore that inhabits the Arctic tundra. Arctic foxes feed on a variety of prey animals that includes lemmings, voles, birds, and fish. Arctic foxes have a number of adaptations to deal with the cold temperatures they must endure—including long, thick fur and an insulating layer of body fat.Wolverine (Gulo golo) - The wolverine is a large mustelid that lives in boreal forest, alpine tundra, and Arctic tundra habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Wolverines are powerful predators that feed on many different mammal prey including rabbits, voles, le mmings, caribou, deer, moose, and elk. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) - The polar bear inhabits the icecaps and Arctic tundra habitats in the Northern Hemisphere including areas of Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the Svalbard Archipelago. Polar bears are large carnivores that feed primarily on ringed seas and bearded seals. Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) - The muskox is large hoofed mammals that live in the Arctic tundra. Muskoxen have a sturdy, bison-like appearance, short legs and long, thick fur. Muskoxen are herbivores that feed on grasses, shrubs and woody vegetation. They also eat moss and lichens.Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) - The snow bunting is a perching bird that breeds in the Arctic tundra and in some areas of alpine tundra such as the Cairngorms in Scotland and the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. Snow buntings migrate south during the winter months to escape the tundras coldest temperatures.Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) - The Arctic tern is a shorebird t hat breeds in the Arctic tundra and migrates 12,000 miles to over-winter along the coast of Antarctica. Arctic terns feed on fish and invertebrates such as crabs, krill, mollusks, and marine worms.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Leading fashion retailer - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1547 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Introduction Next is one of the leading fashion retailer based in United Kingdom having more than 500 stores in UK and Ireland. Next offers stylish and quality products including clothing, footwear, accessories and home products. It also has an extensive catalogue retailing division and launched online retailing in 1999. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Leading fashion retailer" essay for you Create order Being one of the very successful retail companies in UK, it is has got more than franchise branches in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Next started its retail business in 1982 by opening a womenswear store. However the origin of its business can be traced in 1864 when J Hepworth Son, Gentlemans Tailors was established in Leeds. By 1985 , there were 52 stores and apart from womenswear, it started selling menswear, shoes and soft home furnishings. It was 1986 when the company changed its original name from J Hepworth Son to Next Plc after acquisition of Grattan plc, a mail order company. The company launched mail-order shopping system by launching acatalogue containing 350 pages. Since then, the company has been growing and now they are doing business from other countries as well. It opened its first Scandinavian store in Denmark in 2004 offering menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. Now they also have online shopping facility. Literature Review Every organization exist in a dynamic and complex environment. The business environment refers to those factors which have great impact on organization and its activities. These factors can be within the organization or outside the organization. The internal factors such as competitors, customers, stakeholders, suppliers, etc which are considered to be controllable by the organization. On the other hand, the external environment which is not controlled by the organization consists of economical, technological, political, legal, social and cultural factors. Since all these elements of the business environment keep changing, the organization faces lots of problems to run its operations and achieve its targets. One of the major determinant for organizational change is globalization. Today, the world has become a single market place. Different organizations and people from different countries share their ideas, knowledge, culture, behavior through communication and trade. globalizat ion has a serious impact on the organization as it has close relationship with the organizational forces like cultural, technological, political, social, environmetal. Etc. Globalization Globalization is one of the highly debated issue for a long time. Globalization refers to a process by which the people and the organizations move toward a more integrated and interdependent world economy. According to Thomas Friedman, Globalization is the interweaving of markets, technology, information systems and telecommunications systems in a way that is shrinking the world from a size medium to a size small, and enabling each of us to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper, and cheaper than ever before, and enabling the world to reach into each of us farther, faster, deeper, cheaper than ever before. With the advancement of growing technology, this process has speeded as the technology helped the people to move around, communicate with each other and expand their business internationally. This has increased the competition among the organizations but it has also provided with the opportunities. Some people stand for pro-globalization, who think globalization helps to have many opportunities where as some people stand for anti- globalization as they think it is not beneficial for the people, organization and the country. Pro- globalists or the supporters of globalization think that it brings positive things into economy. They think it helps to increase the economic growth and brings lots of opportunities. If there is free trade among the countries, there will be more employment opportunities, higher output and higher living standard. The developing countries and the people can have best chance to improve their lives. The great advantage of globalisation is that countries that have a deficiency in a specific resource or skill can make use of foreign skills or resources to resolve their needs. The idea of free trade allows each country to contribute its assets to the global market, encouraging competition and providing developing countries with sources of certain products that they cant produce. On the other hand, Some people consider globali zation as a bad thing which is called anti-globalization. Most of the people argue that globalization is harmful to the developing nations as it brings more poverty, violence, unemployment, prostitutions, injustice and even a war. The anti- globalists believe that the poor countries suffer more from globalization. The local companies can not face the strong competition with multinational companies and they are likely to disappear. It is also believed that the local culture, traditions and values can be in danger because of globalization. Some people think it may be either a good thing or a bad thing while some think it is an inevitable. It could be good for the developed countries but can be harmful for the developing countries. Globalisation has both positive and negative impacts. For example, Japan is considered one of those countries who are benefited from globalisation in economic terms. But even in Japan, the drawbacks of globalization can be seen. There are some people who think it can not be a good or bad thing but it depends on how it is accepted and implemented in a particular country. Unfortunately, in developing countries, some big companies tend to exploit the people as well as the resources of their country to fulfill the demand for cheap products and other necessities of western life. it is easy to blame the large multinationals companies, but in fact, it is consumer demand for these products that drives such exploitation. Looking back over the past 20 years, globalization has improved and affected everyone. For example, the cell phones with which we are always been able to be in touch with everyone whether they are next door to us or around the world. Computers are able to store and organize mass amount of information in one place. Along with the computers, the internet has allowed to connect with each other and learn about every aspect of every culture in the world. Even in the urban community, globalization has appeared. In urban areas, e-mail is the official form of communication as they can reach and communicate faster than flies or postals and many of the urban colleges and campuses, there has been an emphasis to study abroad in another countries. The colleges address the importance of learning other countries cultures, customs and traditions. The cultures of other countries have also been brought into campuses. We can see different people of different ages, colour and background talking and eating together. These are just few examples of how globalization has affected all of us. The economies of world is becoming more independent. What happens in one economy affects what happens in other economy. In Europe, 25 nations with different culture and identities have come together to form the European Union(EU). Most countries have now market economies. Since the failure of communism in late 1980s, many former communist countries have adopted market systems. They are having mixed success. For example, the level of development in Russia and Ukraine dropped between 1990 and 2001. China and Vietnam both have improved. There are still vast differences in the quality of life between rich and poor nations. However people have started to improve their quality of life no matter how slowly. Similarly, between 1978 and 1998, average life expectancy has improved. This was because fewer children were dying before their first birthday. Income level have also increased in most places. But the income of people in rich countries have increased much more than the income of people in poor nations. In addition, globalization has a huge impact on employment market. The jobs are now being traded because of globalization. Some people argue that the globalization is leading more and more job loss. The nations where the labour cost is very high are tend to seek employees from other countries where labour cost is low. It leads to many job losses, income inequality, and work intensification which create too much pr essure and anxiety on workers and unions. The unemployment rate increases in developed countries and there will be shortage of high skilled manpower in developing nations as they work for bigger companies from developed countries at comparatively low wage. Many jobs have been lost in United states because of out sourcing . In UK, both the private and public sector organizations have recruited many people from developing countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Phillippines, South Africa and other English speaking countries to fulfill the requirement of different positions in different workplace such as teaching, healthcare, and IT. UK railway industry have recruited many skilled workforce from India to fulfill the skill shortages. Indian railway workers are providing a solution to the growing recruitment problems in the railway industry in the UK, e.g., firms have gone to India to recruit signal engineer, a skill which is in short supply world-wide (People Management, 2000). Globalization has made easy to transfer the goods and services from one place to another place across the world. There is also free movement of factors of production which has created new forms of economic activities in different nations. Today many manufacturing industries are transforming into service industries and it has reduced the union membership in developed countries. Because of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in some developing countries, the wage rate has increased and resulted in more income inequality.