Case Assignment Benzene exposure

Introduction Benzene which is also known as benzol is an organic compound that is colorless, highly flammable and with a sweet odor. It tends to evaporate quickly when left exposed. It is a chemical compound that is normally formed by a natural process such as volcanic formation or forest fires. It is also formed from hydrocarbons. It was said to be present as a â€Å"component of the cigarette smoke† (ACS, 2008). Some of it physical properties are a relatively high melting point and high solubility in water.It is mostly use as a solvent in most chemical industries. It functions ranges from the production of drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber to dyes production where it mostly serves as the precursors of such industrial products. Route of exposure Benzene exposure has a lot of health impact and there are mostly three ways in which an individual can be exposed to benzene toxicity, these are inhalational route, ingestion and transdermal absorption (Media Fact, 2008). Inhalation o f benzene is usually as a result of the breathing of the benzene fumes.Benzene fumes are inhaled easily because benzene is an extremely volatile organic compound and this kind of exposure is one of the deadliest because of it immediate contact with the lung parenchyma. This then elicit a lot neurological symptoms such as headache, dizziness, tachycardia (increase in heart rate), tremors and subsequent death if untreated on time. Benzene ingestion result from eating of benzene laden foods or beverages and its noticeable symtoms are neurological while those of transdermal route usually result from contact with the benzene or benzene laden materials (Media Fact, 2008).The health problems cause by this route of benzene exposure â€Å"are erythema (reddening of the skin), scaling dermatitis, suppression of the hematopoietic system and pancytopenia† (Media Fact, 2008) Sources of Benzene Exposure The major sources of human exposure to benzene are environmental, occupational and cons umer products. Benzene is usually released into air from sources like gasoline filling stations, underground leakage of petroleum, vehicular exhaust, cigarette smoke, waste products or sewage and some food products.Most of the occupational related benzene exposure are seen mainly in industries like those involve in rubber production, chemical plants, refineries and shipments and retail shops. Other sources include consumer products that are made of benzene such as glues, adhesives, cigarettes, paint and varnishes e. t. c Short and long term effects The short term effects of benzene exposure are â€Å"drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, tremors, confusion and unconsciousness† (ACS, 2008).The previous symptoms are as a result of exposure of about 700-300ppm while acute exposure of high dose results in vomiting, irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, narcolepsy, convulsion and tachycardia. In extreme cases of high dose ingestion death usually results. The long term effect of be nzene toxicity has been attributed to the interference with the normal blood cell production i. e. the hematopoietic cells. The sequeale of this is anemia and leucopenia. An individual with this will be immunocompromised hence such individual will be prone to opportunistic diseases.The long term effect can also be seen to result in reproductive organ dysfunction. Precautionary measures 1. The use of personal protective equipment such as gloves, apron and some other clothing materials. 2. Special training on equipments handling and usage 3. If there is accidental release of the benzene quick evacuation of such laboratory must be done urgently 4. Proper ventilation of the laboratory References ACS, (2008). Benzene. Prevention and early detection Retrieved Sept 4, 2008 From www. cancer. org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_3X_Benzene. asp

Virgin Mobile Marketing Metrics

Virgin Mobile’s business model consists of several different strategies for success. On July 2002, Virgin launched its new cellular service company, mostly geared for individuals ages 15- 19. The UK-based company had plans to acquire new clientele by tapping the youth market with the following tactics: Text messaging bundles: Virgin believed text messaging was a key selling point for youth as kids would often communicate with friends or family through this medium as it was cheaper than daytime minutes and a more discrete form of communication while in class.Ring Tones: Virgin offered a large selection of favourite and popular tunes and music that could be set as your cellular ringtone. Fun Clips: Are audio clippings of new gossip, sports information, jokes and other information that teens generally have interest in and have the time to review. Other features such as Music Messenger allowed cell phone users to share their favourite music with their friends and classmates.These features appealed more to the youth market and generated additional cell phone usage (if not by using minutes) and customer loyalty. Virgin believed that these mediums would bond customers to their phones therefore creating more interest. Virgin signed contracts with several phone manufacturers such as: Kyocera, Nokia, LG and more to enable a variety of phones to choose from; each providing a different benefit that would appeal to the youth.By adding these features and targeting the 15-24 market, as well as being a contract-free cell phone provider, this generated more interest in the market because the ones under 18 would have had to use their parents to sign a contract for them in order to have a wireless device, this way, Virgin enables customers the freedom. Assuming the number of customers is 5 in year one, and retention rate is 75% the decline in customers yearly thereafter will be deducted by the same percentage.By taking the number of effective customers in 2001 and multiply ing it by retention rates we acquire the pattern or deduction. (copy and pasting the formula along the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006; the five-year wireless contract). | | | | | | Retention rate was calculated by assuming the number of total customers was 100. 25 customers left to another service provider. 100-25 = 75. (75/100) *100 = 75% Retention. Tab 1 of spreadsheet Tab 2 of spreadsheet

ANALYSIS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

ANALYSIS ON THE EUROPEAN UNION - Essay Example A Commissioner can be responsible for policy areas that belong to different DGs. Cabinet portfolios are basically function-based. National officials are invited by the Commission to participate on expert and advisory committees in the preparatory stages of a policy process. They attend as area experts, and do not formally represent their governments (Docksey and Williams, 1997, p. 141). Interest group participation is functionally based. The geographical principle is apparent in several respects. At the apex of the organization, the College of Commissioners is comprised of persons proposed by the member governments. They are served by personal secretariats that are composed of compatriots of the respective commissioners. For the Commission services, the recruitment of officials is drawn from national quotas but merit criteria is also applied. The EU has 27 member countries. ... (since 2004-05-01), Lithuania (since 2004-05-01), Luxembourg (EUR), Malta (since 2004-05-01) (EUR: 2008-01-01), the Netherlands (EUR), Poland (since 2004-05-01),Portugal (EUR), Romania (since 2007-01-01),Slovakia (since 2004-05-01) (EUR: 2009-01-01), Slovenia (since 2004-05-01) (EUR) , Spain (EUR), Sweden (since 1995-01-01) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. III. Economic Total Value of Trade The EU has a tremendous trading partnership with various countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The total value of EU trade with the ACP countries reached approximately 80 billion for 2007. The breakdown of trade transactions reflected figures of EU importation worth 40.2 billion and EU export figures of 39.7 billion. For the African countries, the EU is their largest trading partner.In terms of trade composition, the profile of key products which are currently traded are as follows: the ACP countries export petroleum (42% of total exports), cocoa beans, (5%) and diamonds (5%). The EU exports machinery (22%), oil (11%), vehicles (7%), boats (7%), and medicines (3%). The EU also poured considerable foreign direct investment to the ACP countries which had increased from 1,922 million in 1996 to 4,319 million in 2002. This value of investment represents approximately 3.3% share out of the total investment outflows of the EU.In terms of foreign direct investment breakdown, foreign dirext investment flows to ACP Africa peaked from 1,532 million in 1995 to 2,799 million in 2002. Hence, the ACP has increasingly become a destination for investment by the EU.According to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson (2008), the continued prosperity of Europe hinges on business certainty, tariff predictability,

Is Taiwan a Country Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Is Taiwan a Country - Research Paper Example Taiwan Island is separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait and borders the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea to the south, the East China Sea in the north, and the Pacific Ocean in the west (Wikipedia, 2006a). The perennial debate over â€Å"independence† versus â€Å"unification† in Taiwan is a case in point. This paper discusses some facts with respect to the question of whether Taiwan is an independent country or not. Though Taiwan has a distinct boundary of its own, the United States and most other significant nations recognize one China and thus include the boundaries of Taiwan as being part of the boundaries of China (Rosenberg, 2006b) Taiwan is home to almost 23 million people, making it the 48th largest "county" in the world, with a population slightly smaller than North Korea but larger than Romania (Rosenberg, 2006b). Over the past few decades, the average age of Taiwan’s population has increased by 1.8 percent. The population is one of the criteria for an independent country and since people live in Taiwan on an ongoing basis satisfies this criterion. Education is compulsory and Taiwan has more than 150 institutions of higher learning. Taiwan is home to the Palace Museum, which houses over 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain. In the past few decades, Taiwan is recognized as a growing economy. It has become one of the newly industrialized countries (NICs). In 1983 the GNP of the country approached US$50 billion and its per capita income reached US$2,444. Taiwan is one of the top 15 trading nations. Taiwan has gained in terms of its economy but has substantially waned in terms of its international status (Weng, 1984). Besides, Taiwan is an economic powerhouse - its one of the four economic tigers of Southeast Asia (They have included South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.). Its GDP per capita is among the top 30 of the world.     

Corporate Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Governance - Essay Example This notion of corporate governance is similar with the explanation provided by Cadbury (1992). Fine corporate governance is linked with a lesser cost of capital, elevated returns on equity, better efficiency, consideration of the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors, integrity and ethical behaviour, disclosure and transparency and more constructive handling and equitable treatment of each and everyone of the shareholders in a firm such as respect for the rights of shareholders and recognition that the company has legal and other obligations to all legitimate stakeholders (Claessens, 2006), unlike in this case study. David and Victoria are the directors of the Becksville Limited and own between them sixty five per cent of the shares. There are two other shareholders who take little or no part in the running of the company. Both David and Victoria are also the directors of Worldspice Limited which is a company, like Becksville Limited, that deals with sporting and entertainment activities. Worldspice Limited went into a creditors voluntary winding up and there is a substantial deficit such that the creditors expect no more than 10 pence in the pound. Worldspice Limited had become insolvent mainly as a result of many speculative investments in attempting to develop the company’s activities. This speculative attitude was also adopted by David and Victoria in the running of Becksville Limited and this company has suffered losses resulting in the company being unable to pay a dividend for the past three years. David and Victoria have taken  £25,000 per year each by way of Directors remunerat ion during this period. David and Victoria have also in 2004 and 2005 made considerable donations amounting to  £100,000 to various charities. The minority shareholders of Becksville Limited have now discovered that David and Victoria in June 2005

Privacy Concerns of Sensor Networks Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Privacy Concerns of Sensor Networks - Coursework Example This is necessary to protect the privacy of all involved. Information that is sent over the networks may be modified by hackers, rendering it unavailable. The time synchronization of sensor networks may also be thwarted by adversaries by masquerade attacks, replay attacks, and delay attacks. (Bojkovic, 2008, pp. 107, 112). An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is one way of combating threats. The IDS protects the WSN by monitoring it, alerting the user that an attack has occurred and reconfiguring the network and marking the root of the malicious problem. The IDS works either by preventing known attacks by matching attack signatures against the monitored system, or by anomaly detection, in which anomalies in data profiles are identified. The first of these solutions have the drawback of not recognizing new attacks; the second has the drawback of creating a high number of false alarms. One of the problems with sensor networks is the risk of data misrepresentation, as all relevant information is impossible to gather in the sensornet environment, as all data that is collected represents data from a discrete time and space, hence it might be taken out of context. Also, the readings are only approximate for the same reason – that the data collected represent the state of the world at a particular time and space, which is the time and space where the samples were acquired. Therefore, the accuracy of the data that is acquired is subject to misrepresentation and inaccuracies even in situations where security is not compromised.

A short review of Nancy Folbre, Valuing Domestic Product New York Term Paper

A short review of Nancy Folbre, Valuing Domestic Product New York Times, May 28, 2012 - Term Paper Example One of its major points is the significant economic effects of domestic work to the economy. This is because the unpaid domestic workers offers a supplementary role to the employed member of households, roles that would have been paid for if they were for example taken over by a house help. The article illustrates this with the example of marrying a paid worker thereby ceasing to pay. This will reduce the gross domestic product while a divorce in the arrangement to effect payments for the services would increase the gross domestic product. This identifies the significance of unpaid domestic work to the gross domestic product (Folbre, 2012). Another identified issue in the article is the undervaluation of the value of unpaid domestic works. One of the reasons for the underestimation of the unpaid domestic work is its equivalent rating with average rate for commercial household workers. The difference in family based skills, and probably self-interest in the unpaid domestic work, howev er illustrates a higher value for the unpaid work. As a result, published estimates are less than the actual value of unpaid domestic work. ... Similarly, those who still dedicate to it have a reduced invested time in the work. The reason for such reduced time is the technological developments that provide time efficiencies and cheaper substitutes. These have also led to loss of significance of unpaid domestic work (Folbre, 2012). The article also explains the role of homemakers, as unpaid domestic workers, as social and economic equalizers. This is because their shift from the domestic chores into paid works leads to a significant difference across households a factor because of the less volatility in the value of domestic chores as compared to employment opportunities (Folbre, 2012). Why full time homemakers are income equalizers Full time homemakers are income equalizers because the value of domestic roles and domestically generated products are less volatile that the value in employment opportunities and market products. This means that the homemakers generate almost equal utility levels to harmonize the differences from the breadwinners’ market income. The transition from full time homemakers to the employment market however increases wage rate inequality. Similarly, the shift from a full time homemaker into an employee means that market products whose values are highly volatile substitute the almost uniformly valued domestically produced products. The volatility factor that is less significant in domestic roles than in the market therefore explains the role of full time homemakers as income equalizers (Folbre, 2012). Unpaid household work in Canada The value of unpaid household work in Canada is estimated to fall within the range of between 35 percent and 55 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (Perelman, 2011).