PriceLine Essay Example for Free

PriceLine EssayThe number of profit users has multiplied manif olds in the past hardly a(prenominal) years that have influenced worry strategies across the globe. The trip out industriousness too has underg integrity significant changes with companies utilizing online platform to reach out to millions of customers at a given rate of time. E-commerce has emerged as the immature marketplace where get going package shareers provide prompt inspection and repair to customers looking for holiday packages, flight tag bookings, hotel reservations and sight seeing trips.The online rifle industry has equipped the customers with entrance to vast information related to travel plans, toll of tickets, options and alternatives inspection and repairable to minimize tolls and shuffle more effective travel plans. This proves not lone(prenominal) convenient to the customers allowing them to make better decisions but also saves a component part of time in commuting to the local tra vel component or making reservations on phone. The flexibility goed by this mode of transaction has induced most people to venture online to book flights and make travel plans. The industry has witnessed widespread festering due to increasing consumer demand for online helps.Many firms have entered the industry owing to the low cost of setting up virtual operations and increased market regainibility. PriceLine. com was one of the pioneers in this field owing to its unique craft model appoint Your Own Price that set the cash registers reverberance for the company. Eventually many companies followed to adopt the demand collection origin model to achieve increased sales and egression.Company overview Priceline. com was founded in the year 1997 and is an online travel service provider with its headquarters in Connecticut, United States. Priceline. om currently provides online travel services to over 60 countries in Europe, America, Asia, Middle East and Africa. It operates un der the banners booking. com an online hotel reservation service serving European markets, equipment casualtyline. com an online travel booking service operating in United States, and agoda. com an online hotel reservation service in Asia. Additionally the company operates other travel websites that include travelweb. com, lowestfare. com, rental railcars. com and breezenet. com. The company also provides personal finance services that offer home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans.Priceline. com offers its customers conglomerate alternatives to plan their holidays in a cost effective manner. The various services provided by the company allow the customers to save on their airline tickets, hotel reservation charges, renting cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to discounted footings and cost effective travel packages the company provides its customers with Name Your Own Price service that enables the customers to collect for tickets and reservations, ca r rentals and cruises at their own specified price that is accepted or refused by the company based on booking availability.The company generates revenue on the margin between the customer paying price and the price paid by the company to the airlines, car rental agencies or hotels for bookings. Priceline. com soon expanded to other areas of servicing including car rentals, hotel reservations, car sales, vacations packages, and cruises. The sales of the company increased from only US$ 35 million in 1998 to US$ 480 million in 1999.In the year 2007 the company reported a gross sale of US$ 4. 8 billion that was almost 45. 5 percent increase over the previous year sales (Priceline. om). Priceline The Business Model Advancing technology and cursorily changing business application scenario has made a deep impact on the way organizations are adopting innovative ways to reach the customers and increase bring in margins. E-commerce is the latest business dodge that has provided greater com petitive edge to industries across the globe. The online travel business is one of the most rewarding aspects of rising e-commerce applications. Consumers directly do not need to visit the ticketing or booking office to make their travel plans.All they need to do is log on to the Internet and access websites that offer online flight ticket bookings, hotel reservations, car rentals and host of other travel related services such as arranging local sightseeing trips and avail special tour packages. Priceline. com is one of the pioneers in providing its customers with cost effective travel services introducing a novel approach to online travel sales.The business model Name Your Own Price became a huge hit with the customers and Priceline made headlines in the forthcoming years. Priceline. om was the brainchild of Jay Walker, an entrepreneur, who developed a new business model where the customers could bid their price for a specific product. The seller would then decide if he is ready t o sell at that price or not. This model enabled the sellers to offload their old and excess stock at a discounted price. In 1996 this model was applied by Jay Walker to an airline industry where un exchange extra seats were sold off to customers at a discounted price. This formed the origin of an Internet-based software name your own price ticketing service for airlines.Customers placed bid on tickets for specific destinations of their choice. Priceline would train the addressable airlines bookings for the specified destinations and decide on accepting price bids placed by customers. The company discarded requests for unreasonably low prices quoted by customers. Moreover, the customers had the limitation of choosing airlines, ask time of travel and if needed, take a connecting flight. This business model was not readily accepted by major airlines since they had plans of launching their own website services.Walker had entered into sympathy with only two partners TWA and America West. Priceline. com was launched in April 1998. Initially the company faced losses and but in August 1998 the company signed agreement with one of the major airlines Delta, and this turned the fortunes of the company. Other airlines followed suit and the companys business model gained rapid acceptance among the consumers. There are three steps to PriceLine sales strategy online using the Name Your Own Price model.The website collects consumer demand for a specific product or service at a desired price level. The company then communicates this demand to the available sellers database and decides on a specific dealer who is willing to sell at that particular consumer-mentioned price. Once the seller agrees to sell at that price, the company communicates this offer to the consumer who finalizes the sales process. In case the consumer does not respond to the offer within a specified time period the offer is declared null and void. Company Growth StrategyThe companys management has amb itious growth plans for the future and is focused on ontogenesis and expanding to new emerging markets in Asia and other corners of the globe. The company is experiencing extraordinary growth rate and this is evident in its positioning in the Top 50 hot growth company list on the Business Week magazine. Jeffrey H. Boyd, president and Chief Executive incumbent of Priceline claims Internationally, we believe that our wide geographic reach, new market initiatives and prolonged inventory are providing sustained impetus for growth.We believe that in the United States, our value positioning and brand promotion through offline and online channels is driving above-category growth rates in an uncertain economic environment. The Name Your Own Price business model launched by PriceLine became the stepping stone to success. The company adopted this model effectively in the travel bookings industry and then re-applied this theory to other segment of customer service that included financial mortgages and car sales.PriceLine has evolved as a good brand in the past few years in the area of online travel bookings. The company utilized this brand name to promote franchisees across various geographic regions. The market expansion strategy through appointing licensed operators to offer similar kinds of services to customers using their business model was very effective. Richard S. Braddock, the CEO and chairwoman of PriceLine had stated We believe that priceline. com has the two most important ingredients in place to make our travel growth strategy a success.One is our industry lead-in travel brand and the other is our customer franchise, which provides a steady average stream of 4 million visitors who come to priceline. com each month looking to make travel purchases. Prompt query processing and customer service is another area of marketing and sales strategy that is emphasized by the company management. The intensity of travel booking companies is measured by their cap acity to provide host of cost effective travel packages and prompt customer servicing.Ron Rose, the Chief Information Officer at PriceLine observes in priceline. om Our goal is to lead the industry as a world class customer-centric company, with an infrastructure that delivers the best, personalized customer service experience is absolutely fundamental to our companys long term success on the Internet. PriceLine started its initial operations with airlines ticket booking services and the wide popularity and acceptance that their business model experienced during the first few years prompted them to move to new areas of operations related to travel market. The online booking of airlines services was extended to hotel reservations, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises.The number of sellers associating with PriceLine. com also increased owing to their rapid market expansion and growth strategy. Major airlines, hotels, car renting agencies and cruise companies entered into agreem ent with PriceLine to meet the festering consumer demands. PriceLine has adopted aggressive outdoor advertising and online advertising campaigns to generate interest among potential consumers on a global scale. It has set up physical locations at strategic market locations to increase accessibility and provide a more effective customer service.This step was taken to attract customers who are not Internet savvy and prefer to transact offline. Technology The launch of the Internet applications and e-commerce in the 1990s made a deep impact on the business world. E-commerce business models revolutionized the way businesses are conducted today leading to increased opportunities that challenged traditional business outfits to accept new challenges. Low cost operations business models made an foundation equipped with technology that had extensive global reach and the potential to generate higher profits.The appropriate use of this technology in the online travel sales business provided Priceline with an edge over its competitors. It became a leading service provider in the industry owing to the ways it enabled its customers to save on their airline tickets, hotel reservations, rental car bookings, vacation packages and cruises. The company applied an advanced search technology, TripFilter that allowed the travelers to narrow their searches and create their own travel packages that were most cost effective using the lowest price booking services offer.Application of e-commerce technologies and applications have made significant impact on the sales of the company. The company website has been ranked as one of the most available e-commerce site in the past four years according to Keynote systems (www. keynotesystems. com). Technology has been a great enabler of changes in modes of business practice and models adopted by the entrepreneurs to maximize gains. The company realizes that it needs to maintain a strong database and advanced technology features in terms of da ta storage capacity to accommodate its growing customer base online.The management implemented a system that took care of its growing backend processing needs without compromising on the speed of customer request processing. PriceLine utilized the technology platform to provide a base for new means of marketing, revenue earning model, and communicating with existing and potential clients. The online market penetration strategy adopted by PriceLine offered huge economic benefits in terms of extensive market penetration, easy access to consumers and wide scale accessibility of products and services. Market amplification StrategiesThe globalization of the market owing to the extensive reach of the Internet, information, and product details accessible to consumers across physical borders translates to increased sales and revenue figures for the sellers online. They can now reach any corner of the globe to display and sell their products ensuring wider scale of operations and greater ma rket share. This owes to the millions of people globally who now have access to the Internet and with telecommunication service providers facilitating the broadband services the quality of access has improved considerably.The online travel market demand is increasing in emerging Asiatic economies and most reputed travel brands are establishing their presence in these countries to tap the enormous market potential. The United States market has the maximum number of users online to meet their travel demands. Online ticket bookings and travel related purchases are one of the primary contributors to e-commerce revenue. The markets of United States and Europe are more matured compared to the emerging Asian markets that hold a lot of promise for the industry in the future years.

Privacy Inthe 21st Century Essay Example for Free

Privacy Inthe 21st Century EssayPrivacy is the ability of a person to control the availability of study ab issue and exposure of him or her it is an idiosyncratics or groups right to wipe out emancipation from unauthorized intrusions (Hacker, 2013). With so numerous social and media communication outlets, does concealing actu aloney exist in the 21st century? Does the government have the right to regulate what is snobbish or what is public?As Americans in the 21st century, living amidst Facebook, Twitter, internet technology, satellite surveillance, GPS tracking and chips, the lack of hiding regarding the ability to provide congenial and appropriate protection to individual identity and own(prenominal) information have risen. Despite advancements in current security configuration, make use ofrs of these products argon still non receiving the covert they deserve. Some views state that loneliness is a right guaranteed to citizens by the United States Privacy Act of 1974, limiting the use of personal data by national agencies.Education is a solution to the online social networkers and the dangers behind sharing our personal information with the public. According to Carolan (2012), Americans prognosiss of seclusion in the 21st century is to be do by fairly under the right to privacy law this law is made to protect their personal information such as social security numbers, point of reference card information, and medical information. Therefore, according the Fourth Amendment, Americans have the right to be protected under the United States Constitution (Zdziarski, 2013).Nonetheless, individuals find themselves in a confederation where the internet and online communication is taking over how they do business, privacy rights and communication, bringing into question their Fourth Amendment right to protect their privacy. Consequently, individuals have hopes that their rights will be protected under the Fourth Amendment in a day and time wher e smart phones and social networking ar controlling the waves of communication and how Americans conduct day-to-day business (Carolan, 2012).In todays society of advanced technology, I Phones, tablets, insta-gram, social media, and online networking individuals have become almost totally dependent on these advanced communication technologies. They are constantly plugged-in for the duration of their day, to the point where doctors have come to term the behavior nomophobia, the anxiety one feels when they do not have access to their cellular resound technoholism, an addiction to surfing the internet and mousewrist, repetitive strain injury caused by excessive use of a computer mouse (Rauhofer, 2008).This drastic change in how individuals communicate with one other has allowed others to have immediate access to vast amounts of personal information close to an individual, their activities, opinions and habits which are being generated and stored in the databases for the purposes of selling, distributing and advertising. Database companies provide go to various organizations and companies in hopes of retrieving personal information about the cliental without their approval or knowledge, which is a direct violation of their right to privacy (Rauhofer, 2008).There are some(prenominal) invasions of privacy and communication such as email addresses and information, global positioning satellites (GPS), and liegety cards. Nonetheless, there are laws in place to combat the invasion of privacy such as the health information portability accountability act (HIPPA). In todays society email is a fast and convenient bearing to communicate on the go. There is email at work, on mobile devices and in the home. In an article written by Samoriski And, (1996), questions are still being raised on whether or not the electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 covers true privacy.Gaps are still present in the current Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA), therefore leav ing room for abusive electronic surveillance and monitoring, email and cell phone interception. Therefore, technology is creating natural and unlooked-for boundaries in the laws of privacy. Public and private privacy is almost nonexistent as it relates to online communication or transactions, and what little is available is being destroyed. For example, the IRS has recently ome under approach for spying on Americans email under the guise that using email surrenders ones expectation of privacy. Emails were not originally designed to be shared or hacked into by individuals that were not authorized to send or receive the particular email they are private. Nonetheless, it has been known that unauthorized users have invaded personal privacy laws and retrieved individuals emails and information concerning their private life.Simply because email exists in a public environment does not invalidate ones expectation of privacy (Zdziarski, 2013). Laws have been established to protect the fr eedom of speech and print it does not specifically define the domain in which electronic communication occurs, which includes computers, telecommunication, software, data, and electronic networks (Samoriski And, 1996). As technology is transformed, the advancement in options for preventing a person from getting baffled and wandering without supervision has assisted care providers in assuring their safety. aesculapian devices have made it possible for long-term care residents to be easily located. Medical technology has created a device that helps protect Alzheimers patients from wandering from the speediness without medical personnel. This device is comm exclusively called wanderguard it will sound an alarm and notify staff that a patient is near the door or has left the building. This is another unique dodge and advancement in technology that stores an individuals personal information (N. A, Wandering, 2007).Additionally, the automotive industry has used technology to create a device that allows car owners to simply unlock and lock their car doors when approaching or standing next to the vehicle. The theory is it was a new safety receive that used GPS technology to track missing persons or allow easy and safe entry into the car. Although these methods are aids in locating a lost person, these devices contain specific private information that provides personal information and their identity (N. A. , Wandering, 2007).Even though these devices have medical and safety benefits, it is another unique system which shows diminished privacy. Computer technology has advanced to the point of 1) storing bits of information about individuals over long periods of time, 2) separate databases of information that may contain pictures, tracing an individuals physical location without their knowledge and increasing the power to use during surveillance situations. For example, social and professional networking cites, global positioning tracking systems are all used to prov ide information on individuals and their whereabouts.Mevery people voluntarily provided specific information without knowing or understanding that they are giving out private information concerning themselves, family and friends. Computers have the ability to be tracked and computer hackers can break security codes and gain access to private and secret information that one may store on their computers hard drive (Rauhofer, 2008). Ever been to a grocery store, pharmacy chain or a retail outlet and upon completing the purchase transaction the question is posed do you have your loyalty/bonus card? Many people are not aware that reward, bonus and discount cards are an intrusion of ones privacy. These rewards cards and points cards have encrypted information on them about the individual card holder (Albrecht, n. d. ). Abuse of information is likely. According to Elgin Community Reward (2013) more than 60% of U. S. households said that loyalty card programs were important in their shoppin g decisions, but they did not know companies were using them and their information to increase sales and revenue. These cards are structured for marketing to encourage, reward and reveal the loyal buying behavior to the store of the card holder.These cards looks like credit cards and/or have smaller versions to attach to key fobs. They contain apposite information which the customer has furnished through the application process to identify types of merchandise purchased, the likes and dislikes of the consumer. While the Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures of government officials, The Health data Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) attempts to protect individual private medical information and ensure that it will remain safe and secure in storage or transit via the internet (Malcolm, 2005).According to Malcolm (2005) as technology moves into the twenty-second century and the distribution of information widens via the internet individuals i nformation is going to become less private and more apt to become public (Malcolm, 2005). HIPAA of 1996 provides legal protection for a patients medical records and ways to file complaints. It is normally one of the firstly documents wedded to a patient completing paperwork. In a society where technology is the way of communication, doing business and functioning on a daily basis, privacy is not in the front of he technology movement. As Americans in the 21st century living amidst social webbing, internet technology, electronic communication, GPS tracking and laws of privacy, many issues still surface regarding the ability to provide acceptable and appropriate privacy. Despite technology advancements and current security configurations, online users still feel their personal data and privacy is vanishing. Privacy in the 21st Century is possible with the advancement of technology but at the hands of those who created technology for the consumer.Privacy has taken a new meaning and r edrawn the boundaries of the right to privacy from where they have been traditionally outlined. Politicians have helped reshaped society rather than society itself. Zdziarski (2013) suggest that when politicians and lawyers begin to control how society views privacy, it can only lead down the path to an unavoidable authoritarian government, with surveillance, constant monitoring and the mindset that Big Brother is always watching.Many Americans cherish their privacy, and it is essential to a free country, so much that the framers of our Constitution made it an exclusive item in our Bill of Rights (Zdziarski, 2013). Individuals right to privacy should be protected. They have the right to use computers, email, social cites and handle day-to-day business without the fear of their privacy being invaded. As a country that holds democracy in high esteem, individuals cannot survive without any of their constitutional rights or freedoms free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, or the r ight to protect ourselves from an overstepping government.Privacy was never meant to be taken for granted and it was not meant to be taken away from Americans. In conclusion, privacy is almost impossible in the 21st century. Entities like credit reporting agencies, the internet, debt collectors, human services departments has given so many companies and individuals access to others information without questioning why it is being obtained or the purpose of housing ones personal and private information.Although computers, organizations and companies have passwords and protective policies in place to discourage and keep ones personal information protected, a lot of Americans are finding out that their personal information, bank and credit accounts are being sold from one company to another, to obtain intelligent about who you are and your interests. In doing this, companies use this approach to salvage personal advertisement to you of offers, goods and services directly connected to y our happiness. Payments are other common reasons for information being sold.

The History Of The Digital Citizenship Information Technology Essay

The History Of The digital Citizenship Information Technology EssayA digital citizen is a tool which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students, children, and technology users should know to use technology the refine way and also having knowledge of it. Digital Citizenship is more(prenominal) than just a teaching tool it is a way to prepare technology users for a society full of technology. To be considered a digital citizen you essential have any record of you being in touch with electronic devices in the world. These mint create blogs and use social networks. Signing up for an e- mail address is the first step into becoming a citizenship for many pile. The government uses this tool a lot to transfer and record its information this is called the e- government. Many governments that do not have this are a disadvantage to them because they cannot organize so well their important information. There is also something called the e- democracy, it inv olves campaign web sites online. People who do not cooperate so much with technology tend be isolated socially and not kept up to date in our world. much being a digital citizen makes life a lot easier.There are nine base of operationss of digital citizenship. One of these nine root words is digital etiquette. It is defined as the standards of conduct and procedure. People must be taught to be responsible in this area. Another theme is Digital literacy. This is the process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology. Schools have been doing a great part in this, but still a lot has to be done. Learners must be taught on how to jalopy with digital society. Business, military, and medicine are good founts of how technology is being used differently.Another theme of technology is digital communication. This is the electronic exchange of information.One of the real changes within the digital revolution is a persons ability to communicate with other people. I n the nineteenth century communication technology was actually limited, but by the twenty first century this boosted up. The expanding of communication technology changed everything because people have the ability to keep frequent communication with anyone else, anywhere else. Although people do have to be very aware to whom they talk to because there are a lot of thieves and sexual predators. The fourth theme of digital citizenship is digital access. This is the full electronic participation in society. Technology users need to be alert of internet access and also support it. People should be competent to have full access to technology no matter who they are. To become good, productive citizens we need to be committed to digital access.Another theme of digital citizenship is digital commerce. This is the electronic buying and sales of goods. A large portion of the market economy is being held electronically. For example like when people shop cloths online. regrettably there are i llegal sales electronically, like the sales of pornography and gambling. Our society has to learn to be effective consumers in the new digital economy. The sixth theme of digital citizenship is digital law. This is the electronic responsibility for actions and deeds. This takes care of the ethics of technology in our society. Unethical use makes it a form of theft and crime. This includes for example stealing other peoples information or identity. Hacking into stud and downloading illegal music violates the digital law.The Seventh theme is digital rights and responsibilities. This is the freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world. Just like how in the constitution there is a bill of rights, there is a set of rights for every digital citizen as well. Digital citizens have the right to free speech, privacy and so on. These rights also point to responsibilities as well, people have to use technology in the right manner and not violate these rights. In the digital society these t wo must fuse to pee-peeher in for everyone to be active well. The eighth theme of citizen ship is digital health and wellness. This is the physical and physiological well being in a digital technology world. Eye safety, repetitive stress syndrome, and pop off ergonomic practices are problems that we need to be aware of in the technological world. Physiological issues are becoming more prevalent, like internet addiction.The final theme of digital citizenship is digital security. This is the electronic precautions to guarantee safety. In the digital community there are people who steal and corrupt other people. Therefore people should be careful and not trust other people in the digital world. Like how we have locks on our doors and alarms for fires in our house, we have to have the uniform for our digital world and have virus protections, backups of data, and surge control for our equipment. This is being a responsible digital citizen.In conclusion, people of our society must get in touch more often with the digital world. There are a lot of benefits for using it, but we always have to be careful in the digital community just like how we are in the non-digital community. Be the best digital citizen you can be.Work CitedDigital Citizenship Resources for Educators. Web. 24 Aug. 2010. .Digital Citizenship Education. Web. 24 Aug. 2010..Digital Citizenship. Web. 24 Aug. 2010..Digital Citizen. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Aug. 2010. .Digital Citizen. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Aug. 2010. .

Luminescence in Low-dimensional Nanostructures

Luminescence in Low-dimensional NanostructuresNANO AU RSYLuminescence in Low-dimensional Nanostructures Quantum restriction Effect, Surface EffectWhenever the carrier localization, at least in one(a) spatial direction, becomes comparable or smaller than the de Broglie wavelength of carriers, quantum mechanical effects occur. In this limit the ocular and electronic properties of the material change as a function of the coat of it of it and the system is called a nanostructure. As the size is reduced the electronic declargons atomic number 18 shifted toward higher elan vital and the oscillator strength is concentrated into few transitions. Nanostructures are classified by the number of dimensions in which the carriers are confined or, alternatively, free to move. In case of labour in only one spatial direction, the nanostructure is named a quantum well (QW). The carrier motion is frozen in one dimension however electrons and holes can still freely move over the other two dir ections. Therefore the QW is a quasi two-dimensional (2D) system. A structure which provides carrier proletariat in two directions, allowing the motion along the remaining dimension, is called quantum wire (QWR) and it is a quasi 1D system. In the case of confinement in all three spatial coordinates, the nanostructure is denominated quantum dot (QD). QDs are 0D systems since the carrier motion is completely frozen. The physics of the quantum size effect relies on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle between the spatial position and energizing momentum of a quantum element. It is non possible to measure both the momentum and position of a particle to an arbitrary precision. The product of the standard deviation in space and momentum satisfies the uncertainty relation-x.-p /2 (1.26)This equation means that the smaller is the carrier localization in the nanostructure, the monumentalr is the spread in the momentum p, or, better said for semiconductor unit systems, in the crystal mo mentum k. The brawn may still be well defined, but the momentum is not well defined. In bulk systems, for states around the edge of conduction and valence streak, the addiction of the energy on the wavevector k is quadratic,Where m* is the carrier effective mass. interest this equation, the spread in the momentum k gives minimum kinetics energy to the localized particle. This is in contrast with the classical physics, where the lowest energy state in whatever potential corresponds to no kinetic energy. The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics imposes a positive zero-point energy, which is approximately inversely proportional to the whole of the nanostructure size. Therefore, the energy of theground state of electrons and holes in semiconductor nanostructures not only depends on the materials but also on the dimension of the confinement region.Nanostructured materials with a size range of 1-100 nm keep back been the focus of recent scientific research because of their imp ortant ocular properties, quantum size effects, electrical properties, chemical properties, etc. The low-dimensional materials have exhibited a wide range of optical properties that depend sensitively on both size and shape, and are of both fundamental and technological interest. The ability to control the shapes and size of nanocrystals affords an opportunity to further try out theories of quantum confinement and yields materials with desirable optical characteristics from the point of view of application. The exciting emerging important application of low-dimensional nanocrystals is in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and Displays.Recently, there has been much recent interest in low dimensional systems such as quantum well (two dimensional system), quantum wire (one dimensional system) and quantum dot (zero dimensional system). Optical properties of low-dimensional systems are substantially distinct from those of three-d (3D) systems. The most remarkable modification comes from di fferent distributions of energy levels and densities of states originating from the spatial confinement of electrons and holes. The simplest model for two dimensional (2D) systems is that of a particle in a cuff with an boundlessly inscrutable well potential, as shown in material body 1.6. The wave functions and energy levels in the well are known from basic quantum mechanics and are described byn(z)=(2/Lz)1/2 cos ( nz/Lz ) (1.28 )n = 1,2,3,. (1.29) Figure 1.6 A particle in a box made of infinitely tall potential barriersIn semiconductor quantum wells (two dimensional (2D) systems such as layered materials and quantum wells), both electrons and holes are confined in the same wells. The energy levels for electrons and holes are described by 1.8(1.30) (1.31) Where and are the effective masses of electron and hole, respectivelyIf electric dipole transitions are allowed from the valence band to the conduction band, the optical transition occurs from the state described by nh , kx , and ky to the state described by ne, kx and ky . Therefore, the optical transition takes place at energy(1.32)Where is the reduced mass pre contentptuousness by -1 =The joint density of states 3D for the 3D for an allowed and direct transition in semiconductors is(1.33)The joint densities of states for 2D, 1D and 0D systems are(1.34)(1.35) (1.36)Where is a step function and is a delta function. The sum of quantum confinement energies of electrons and holes are represented by El , Em and En where El , Em and En refer to the three directions of spatial confinement manifestly the physics of the nanostructures strongly depends on their dimensionality (Figure 1.7). In a semiconductor structure a given energy usually corresponds to a large number different electronic states resulting from the carrier motion. In a bulk material where the motion can occur in three different directions the density of states increases proportionally to the square off root of the energy. In quantum wells the motion in the plane gives a staircase country, where each step is associated with a newstate in the confining potential. In quantum wires a continuum of states is still present, but strong resonances appear in the DOS associated with the states in the confining potential. Finally in quantum dots only discrete energy states are allowed and the DOS is therefore a comb of delta functions. The possibility to concentrate the DOS in a reduced energy range is extremely important for a large variety of fundamental topics and device applications. It is at the base of the quantum Hall effect in quantum well (QW), of the quantization of the conductance in quantum wire (QWR), and of the single electron tunnelling in QDs. In the case of lasers the presence of a continuum DOS leads to losses associated with the population of states that do not contribute to the laser action. Conversely, the concentration of the DOS produces a decline of the threshold current and enhances the thermal stabil ity of the device operation. Clearly this property is optimized in QD structures. Due to the three-dimensional carrier confinement and the resulting discrete energy spectrum, semiconductor QDs can be regarded as artificial atoms.Figure1. 7 Density of states of three-dimensional ( 3D ) bulk semiconductors, a two dimensional ( 2D ) quantum well, a one dimensional ( 1D ) quantum wire, and zero dimensional ( 0D ) quantum dots.The most striking property of nanoscale semiconductor materials is the massive change in optical properties as a function of size due to quantum confinement. This is most readily manifest as a blue-shift in the absorption spectra with the decrease of the particle size. The blue-shift in the absorption spectra with decrease of particle size in semiconductor nanoparticles is due to the spatial confinement of electrons, holes, and excitons increases the kinetic energy of these particles. Simultaneously, the same spatial confinement increases the Coulomb interaction be tween electrons and holes. The exciton Bohr radius is a useful parameter in quantifying the quantum confinement effects in nanometer size semiconductor particles. The exciton Bohr radius is given by 1.8(1. 37)and an inequality holds. Here and are defined asand (1.38 )Where is the reduced mass given by are the effective masses of electron and hole, respectively. And also is the dielectric constant, is the Planck constant.As the particle size is reduced to approach to the exciton Bohr radius, there are drastic changes in the electronic structure and physical properties. These changes include shifts of the energy levels to higher energy, the development of discrete features in the spectra (Figure 1.8).Figure 1.8 A schematic models for the energy structures of bulk solids, nanoparticles and isolated molecules.The quantum confinement effect can be classified into three categories the weak confinement, the intermediate confinement and the strong confinement regimes, depending on the r elative size of the radius of particles R compared to an electron , a hole , and an exciton Bohr radius , respectively. In strong confinement (R , ), the man-to-man motion of electrons and holes is quantized and the Coulomb int eraction energy is much smaller than the quantized kinetic energy. The ground state energy is 1.8(1.39)Where the second term is the kinetic energy of electrons and holes, the third term is the Coulomb energy, and the last term is the correlation energy. In intermediate confinement ( ), the electron motion is quantized, while the hole is bound to the electron by their Coulombic attraction. In weak confinement ( ), the center-of-mass motion of exciton is quantized. The ground state energy is written as (1.40 )Where is the translational mass of the excitonFigure 1.9 Size dependence of band gap for CdS nanoparticles.In strong confinement, there is appearance of an increase of the energy gap (blue shift of the absorption edge), which is roughly proportional to the inverse of the square of the particle radius or diameter. For example, it can be observed from Figure 1.9 that the strong confinement is exhibited by CdS particles with diameter less than 6 nm (R 3 nm), and this is consistent with the strong confinement effect for particles with The luminescence dynamics in low-dimensional nanostructures also deals with the interaction of light with the material. The interaction of light depends strongly on the locate properties of the materials. As the size of the particle approaches a few nm, both bug out area to volume ratio and place to bulk atom ratio dramatically increases. The basic relationship between the surface area to volume ratio or surface atoms to bulk atoms and the diameter of nanoparticles can be seen in Figure 1.10.Figure 1.10 Surface area to volume ratio and percentage of surface atoms (%) as a function of particle size.It is observed that the percentage of surface atoms in corner and edge vs. Particle sizes display dram atic increase when the size is decreased below a few nm, whereas percentage of face atoms decreases. For particles of 1 nm, much than 70% atoms are at corners or edges. This aspect is important because light interaction with material highly dependent on the atomic scale surface morphology. As in nanoparticles, a large percentage of the atoms are on or near the surface, therefore, surface states near the band gap can strut with interior levels to a substantial degree, and these effects may also influence the spacing of the energy levels. Thus in many cases it is the surface of the particles rather than the particle size that determines the optical properties. Optical excitation of semiconductor nanoparticles often leads to both band edge and deep trap luminescence. The size dependence of the excitonic or band edge emission has been studied extensively. The absence of excitonic or band edge emission has attributed to the large non-radiative decay rate of the free electrons trapped i n these deeptraps of surface states. As the particle size becomes smaller, the surface to volume ratio and hence the number of surface states increases rapidly, reducing the excitonic emission. The semiconductor nanoparticles exhibit broad and Stokes-shifted luminescence arising from the deep traps of surface states 1.25 1.27.

Impact Of The Social Class On Life Sociology Essay

Impact Of The Social Class On Life Sociology EssaySocial contour in todays hunting lodge is changing. Material factors still dictate lifestyle choices and that these argon class related. Class identity has come to depend not only on market situation but on differences and similarities in power and status, as well as consumption and lifestyle. Social mobility describes the movement or opportunities for movement between different social groups and the pros and the cons that come with it, example income and wealth, housing, rearing and health. Opportunities for social mobility are one aspect of an individuals life chances.The traditionalists believe that New Labour politicians begin abandoned their commitment to par and social justice for those who are exploited by organisation of capitalism, (the functional class). They believe that New Labour has betrayed its working class roots because it has done nothing to redistribute wealth and income from the thick to the poor, nor addr ess the fundamental flaws that they see as inherent in the capitalist system.Giddens and Diamond (2005), however, argues that the arguments of the traditionalists are both simplistic and misguided because of their instances that equality of outcome and equality of opportunity are somehow vastly different objectives. They argue that the promotion of equality opportunity requires greater material and it is impossible for individuals to achieve their full possible if social and economic starting-points are unequal.Giddens and Diamond argue that since 1997, New Labours policies on social exclusion lowered levels of p all overty among shaverren and elderly which involve put a stop in further rise in income inequality. They however accept the fact that there is still a dour way to go in reducing inequalities of opportunity. They melody that the life-chances of individuals today are still influenced by their parents economic and social position.Bottero (2005) suggest that social inequ alities are written on the body and hierarchy makes you sick. She notes that if illness was chance occurrence, we would expect to see rate of morbidity (illness and diseases) and mortality ( destruction) randomly distribute across the population. Statistics from the Department of Health shows that the working class realise an overproportionate amount of illness. Over the last 30 years the health across the population has improved but the rate of improvement for working class is lots slower. The working class experience poor mortality rate and morbidity rate than the middle class. For example, 3500 working class babies would survive per year if the working class mortality rate was reduced to the middle class level. Babies born to professional fathers have levels of infant mortality half that of babies born to un skillful manual of arms fathers.The death rates between 1972 and 1997 shows that, the death rate for the professionals fell by 44 per cent but fell only by 10 per cent for the unskilled. Bartley et al. (1996) note that men in social class 1 (using the old RG scale) had two-thirds the chance of dying between 1986 and 1989 compared with the male population as a whole. Unskilled manual workers were one-third presumable to fade compared with male population as a whole. Men in social class V were twice likely to die before men in social class 1 despite NHs providing free health to altogether.However, Bottero note thatThere is strong socio-economic gradient to almost all patterns of diseases and ill-health. The lower your socio-economic position, the greater your risk of low birth weight, infections, cancer, coronary heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, accidents, nervous and mental illness.She point out that there are precise occupational hazards linked to particular manual jobs which increases the risk of accidental injury, exposure to toxic materials, pollution and many to a greater extent. Poor people are more likely to live in areas in whic h there are more hazards, such as traffic and pollution, and less safe area to play. Consequently, poor children are more likely to be run over and suffer asthma.Some studies have suggested that there are health gradient, in that at every level of social hierarchy, there are health differences. Marmot et al (1991) have suggested that social positions may be blamed for these differences. They conducted a study on civil servant working in Whitehall and concluded that the cause of ill health was being lower in the hierarchy. Those low in the hierarchy had less social control over their working condition, greater stress and greater feeling of self esteem. These psychological factors lead to behaviour such as smoking and drinking, poor eating habits and inertia resulting in greater level of depression, high blood pressure, increase in susceptibility to infection and build-up of cholesterol.Wilkinson (1996), argue that health gradient is caused by income inequality. This is because it un dermines social ropiness in the sense that we all have valued equally by society which affirms our sense of belonging to society. Inequalities also disrupt social cohesion because it undermines self-esteem, dignity, leave and cooperation and increases feelings of insecurity, envy, hostility and inferiority, which lead to stress. Wilkinson notes that egalitarian societies have a strong community life, in that strong social ties and networks exist in the wider society to support their members. These members have access to social and psychological support from early(a) members in the community which helps them to stay healthy.Although there has been increase in income, employment and educational attainment that have been occurred in the United Kingdom, there has also been a long-term increase in the health of the population. There is still strong relationship between how long people live and their background. Over the 1990s, the severance between most advantaged and most disadvanta ged has narrowed. This is because there have been greater improvements in mortality at junior ages for those from unskilled manual background. The rate of premature death have fallen for all social classes over the olden 30 years but the gap has widened relatively for men and the improvement were greater for men at the professional and managerial end of the spectrum.Between 1986 and 1992 the death rate for men in the skilled and unskilled manual groups was 69 per cent greater than professional and managerial men. While between 1997 and 1999 the rate was 75 per cent greater than for the professions. On the other hand, the improvements in the death rate for women were greater for skilled and unskilled manual groups than professional and managerial women. This made the percentage difference in the rate littler by the end of the 1990s. Men in partly-skilled and unskilled occupation were five and a half times more likely to die from respiratory diseases than professionals and manageria l between the period of 1986 to 1999. The levels of ischaemic heart diseases declined for all social groups whereas the fall was small for manual workers.Smoking is the major cause of death rate in the manual group compared with those in the non-manual group. A third of people in a routine or manual household were current smokers. This has changed over the past five years and compares with less than 19 per cent of the people in managerial or professional households.A major review of health inequalities by BBC news health correspondent Jane Dreaper says that NHS should spend more money illness than the current four per cent it is spending. More money should be spent on providing help for people to stop smoking. Report by epidemiologist Sir Marmot, also says that every child should be given the best of start in life. Every child needs to be nurtured at an early stage. Some mothers from less well-off families who do not cuddle or talk to their children makes the children develop behavi oural and cognitive problems when they are three years of age. These children have less readiness to learn and the problem continues.The current review of minimum wage of 5.80 an hour by then(prenominal) mayor of London Ken Livingstone and continued by Boris Johnson is below the level needed for a healthy life. It is calculated that Londoners need an hourly wage 16% higher than the national minimum rate to lift them above poverty. Minimum income should allow people to consume healthy diet, take exercises and have access to applied science such as broadband that enable them to maintain social network.In conclusion, the diversity of social groups such as unemployed, single mothers and the asylum-seekers are socially excluded from the mainstream society which makes them experience social and economic deprivation. Certain diseases shows differences among people from different socio-economic background.

Othellos Tragic Flaw Essay -- essays research papers

Of Shakespeares five greatest tragedies, Othello is by far the nearly passionate and gripping. It is a tale of love, deception, evil, h peerlesssty, and virtue. Othello himself is train apart from other Shakespearean tragic heroes by the absolute feeling of affection the audience feels for him even unto the very end of the play. Any discerning commentator painfully recognizes the virtue and goodness of Othello throughout the entire play, in contrast to the general degeneration of character so typical of a tragic hero. It is this arrant(a) pity that muddles the death of Othello so tragic as the audience lends their full hopeful support until the inevitable and necessary fall. The evil side of Othellos tragic flaw came from without, in the form of Iago. The internal flaw exists only in his heartrendingly unshakable goodness and honor.One of the firstly impressions gained of Othello is that he is a great state of war hero. Before much else is said of him, tales of his sk ill and valor in battle are illustrated and he is shown to be a great and famed warrior. He naturally possesses many attributes typically associated with soldiers. From the beginning Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to move in him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othellos tragic flaw. Othellos nature is all of one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute. Love, if he loves, essential be to him the heaven where either he must leave or bear no life. If such a passion as jealousy seizes him, it pass on swell into a well-night incontrollable flood. Othello is pure an... ...conduct the night of the wedding feast. Othello is one who believes in justice and fairness and will make no exception, even for the love of his life. Ultimately, he murders her becaus e he is, One that loved not wisely but too well. (V, ii, 398) This, above all, gives the play its fibrous end.Othellos true flaw is not vile, harmful jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love. He has a very strong character of virtue and splendor that is intact up to the horrid end. Iagos deceit and trickery are more the cause of Othellos tragic fall than any fault of Othello himself. This naturalness and greatness of the tragic hero uncomparable in any other Shakespearean tragedy is what gives the play its terrible irony and passion. Othello plays on the most powerful of all human emotions faith and love, both(prenominal) embodied to the fullest in the great and honest Othello. Othellos Tragic Flaw Essay -- essays research papersOf Shakespeares five greatest tragedies, Othello is by far the most passionate and gripping. It is a tale of love, deception, evil, honesty, and virtue. Othello himself is set apart from other Shakespearean tragic heroes by t he absolute feeling of affection the audience feels for him even unto the very end of the play. Any discerning reader painfully recognizes the virtue and goodness of Othello throughout the entire play, in contrast to the general degeneration of character so typical of a tragic hero. It is this complete pity that makes the death of Othello so tragic as the audience lends their full hopeful support until the inevitable and unavoidable fall. The evil side of Othellos tragic flaw came from without, in the form of Iago. The internal flaw exists only in his heartrendingly unshakable goodness and honor.One of the first impressions gained of Othello is that he is a great war hero. Before much else is said of him, tales of his skill and valor in battle are illustrated and he is shown to be a great and famed warrior. He naturally possesses many attributes typically associated with soldiers. From the beginning Othello is noble, quick to act, judicious, trusting, and gives much weight to the importance of duty. These are all traits that serve to make him great at the beginning of the play, and later, ironically become key elements in his downfall. These aspects can be considered the internal causes of Othellos tragic flaw. Othellos nature is all of one piece. His trust, where he trusts, is absolute. Love, if he loves, must be to him the heaven where either he must leave or bear no life. If such a passion as jealousy seizes him, it will swell into a well-night incontrollable flood. Othello is pure an... ...conduct the night of the wedding feast. Othello is one who believes in justice and fairness and will make no exception, even for the love of his life. Ultimately, he murders her because he is, One that loved not wisely but too well. (V, ii, 398) This, above all, gives the play its powerful end.Othellos true flaw is not vile, destructive jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love. He has a very strong character of virtue and nobility that is intact up to the horrid end. Iagos deceit and trickery are more the cause of Othellos tragic fall than any fault of Othello himself. This innocence and greatness of the tragic hero unequaled in any other Shakespearean tragedy is what gives the play its terrible irony and passion. Othello plays on the most powerful of all human emotions faith and love, both embodied to the fullest in the great and honest Othello.

The Perspective of Plato and Aristotle on the Value of Art Essays

The Perspective of Plato and Aristotle on the Value of Art As literary critics, Plato and Aristotle disagree profoundly about the value of device in human society. Plato attempts to strip wileists of the power and prominence they enjoy in his society, while Aristotle tries to develop a method of inquiry to determine the merits of an individual operation of craft. It is interesting to note that these two disparate notions of art are based upon the same fundamental assumption that art is a form of mimesis, imitation. Both philosophers are concerned with the artists ability to have significant impact on others. It is the imitative function of art which promotes disdain in Plato and curiosity in Aristotle. Examining the reality that art professes to imitate, the process of imitation, and the inherent strengths and weaknesses of imitation as a form of artistic expression may lead to understanding how these conflicting views of art could develop from a seemingly similar premise. Both philosophers hold radically different notions of reality. The assumptions distributively man makes about truth, knowledge, and goodness directly affect their specific ideas about art. For Plato, art imitates a knowledge base that is already far withdraw from authentic reality, Truth. Truth exists only in intellectual abstraction, that is, paradoxically, more real than concrete objects. The universal essence, the Idea, the manakin of a thing, is more real and thus more important than its physical substance. The physical world, the world of appearances experienced through the senses, does not harbor reality. This tangible world is an imperfect reflection of the universal world of Forms. Human observations based on these reflections are, therefore, highly suspect. At b... ... the definition derived by each philosopher is profoundly different. In pasture to construct a coherent, wide-ranging philosophy, art and its impact on society must be reckoned with, whether as an imitation of a system far removed or a system in our midst. The process of imitation is used in both cases to promote the particular version of reality espoused by each man. While such a study is beneficial in tracing the philosophical conflict regarding the usage and importance of imitation in art, what is most apparent, perhaps, is the find that language itself is an imperfect imitation of meaning, capable of fostering such conflicts. Works Cited Aristotle. Poetics The Critical Tradition. Ed., David H. Richter, New York St. Martins Press, 1989. Plato. Republic, Book X The Critical Tradition. Ed., David H. Richter, New York St. Martins Press, 1989.