Do countries really benefit from international trade

Battle of Gazala in World War II

Battle of Gazala in World War II The Battle of Gazala was fought May 26 to June 21, 1942, during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II (1939-1945). Despite having been thrown back in late 1941, General Erwin Rommel began pushing east across Libya early the following year. Responding, Allied forces constructed a fortified line at Gazala which extended south from the Mediterranean coast. On May 26, Rommel opened operations against this position by attempting to flank it from the south with the goal of trapping Allied forces near the coast. In nearly a month of fighting, Rommel was able to shatter the Gazala line and send the Allies retreating back into Egypt. Background In the wake of Operation Crusader in late 1941, General Erwin Rommels German and Italian forces were compelled to retreat west to at El Agheila. Assuming a new position behind a strong line of fortifications, Rommels Panzer Army Afrika was not attacked by British forces under General Sir Claude Auchinleck and Major General Neil Ritchie. This was largely due to the British need to consolidate their gains and build a logistical network after an advance of over 500 miles. Largely pleased with the offensive, the two British commanders had succeeded in relieving the siege of Tobruk (Map). Major General Neil Ritchie (center) addressing other officers in North Africa, May 31, 1942. Public Domain As a result of the need to improve their supply lines, the British reduced their frontline troop strength in the area of El Agheila. Probing the Allied lines in January 1942, Rommel found little opposition and began a limited offensive east. Retaking Benghazi (January 28) and Timimi (February 3), he pushed on towards Tobruk. Rushing to consolidate their forces, the British formed a new line west of Tobruk and extending south from Gazala. Beginning at the coast, the Gazala line extended 50 miles south where it was anchored on the town of Bir Hakeim. To cover this line, Auchinleck and Ritchie deployed their troops in brigade-strength boxes which were linked by barbed wire and minefields. The bulk of the Allied troops were placed near the coast with progressively fewer as the line extended into the desert. The defense of Bir Hakeim was assigned to a brigade of the 1st Free French Division. As the spring progressed, both sides took time to resupply and refit. On the Allied side, this saw the arrival of new General Grant tanks which could match the German Panzer IV as well as improvements in coordination between the Desert Air Force and troops on the ground. Rommels Plan Assessing the situation, Rommel devised a plan for a sweeping flank attack around Bir Hakeim designed to destroy the British armor and cut off those divisions along the Gazala Line. To execute this offensive, he intended the Italian 132nd Armored Division Ariete to assault Bir Hakeim while the 21st and 15th Panzer Divisions swung around the Allied flank to attack their rear. This maneuver would be supported by the 90th Light Afrika Division Battle Group which was to move around the Allied flank to El Adem to block reinforcements from joining the battle. Fast Facts: Battle of Gazala Conflict: World War II (1939-1945)Dates: May 26-June 21, 1942Armies Commanders:AlliesGeneral Sir Claude AuchinleckMajor General Neil Ritchie175,000 men, 843 tanksAxisGeneral Erwin Rommel80,000 men, 560 tanksCasualties:Allies: approx. 98,000 men killed, wounded, and captured as well as around 540 tanksAxis: approx. 32,000 casualties and 114 tanks Fighting Begins To complete the attack, elements of the Italian XX Motorized Corps and 101st Motorized Division Trieste were to clear a path through the minefields north of Bir Hakeim and near the Sidi Muftah box to supply the armored advance. To hold Allied troops in place, the Italian X and XXI Corps would assault the Gazala Line near the coast. At 2:00 PM on May 26, these formations moved forward. That night, Rommel personally led his mobile forces as they began the flanking maneuver. Almost immediately the plan began to unravel as the French mounted a vigorous defense of Bir Hakeim, repelling the Italians (Map). A short distance to the southeast, Rommels forces were held up for several hours by the 7th Armoured Divisions 3rd Indian Motor Brigade. Though they were forced to withdraw, they inflicted heavy losses on the attackers. By midday on the 27th, the momentum of Rommels attack was faltering as British armor entered the battle and Bir Hakeim held out. Only the 90th Light had clear success, over-running the 7th Armoured Divisions advance headquarters and reaching the El Adem area. As fighting raged over the next several days, Rommels forces became trapped in an area known as The Cauldron (Map). Turning the Tide This area saw his men trapped by Bir Hakeim to the south, Tobruk to the north, and the minefields of the original Allied line to the west. Under constant assault by Allied armor from the north and east, Rommels supply situation was reaching critical levels and he began to contemplate surrender. These thoughts were erased when early on May 29 supply trucks, supported by the Italian Trieste and Ariete Divisions, breached the minefields north Bir Hakeim. Able to re-supply, Rommel attacked west on May 30 to link up with the Italian X Corps. Destroying the Sidi Muftah box, he was able to split the Allied front in two. On June 1, Rommel dispatched the 90th Light and Trieste divisions to reduce Bir Hakeim, but their efforts were repulsed. At the British headquarters, Auchinleck, fueled by overly-optimistic intelligence assessments, pushed Ritchie to counterattack along the coast to reach Timimi. Rather than oblige his superior, Ritchie instead focused on covering Tobruk and reinforcing the box around El Adem. On June 5 a counterattack did move forward, but Eighth Army made no progress. That afternoon, Rommel decided to attack east towards Bir el Hatmat and north against the Knightsbridge Box. Italian Ariete Division tanks at the Battle of Gazala, June 10, 1942. Public Domain The former succeeded in overrunning the tactical headquarters of two British divisions leading to a breakdown of command and control in the area. As a result, several units were severely beaten through the afternoon and on June 6. Continuing to build strength in the Cauldron, Rommel conducted several attacks on Bir Hakeim between June 6 and 8, significantly reducing the French perimeter. By June 10 their defenses had been shattered and Ritchie ordered them to evacuate. In a series of attacks around the Knightsbridge and El Adem boxes on June 11-13, Rommels forces dealt the British armor a severe defeat. After abandoning Knightsbridge on the evening of the 13, Ritchie was authorized to retreat from the Gazala Line the next day. With Allied forces holding the El Adem area, the 1st South African Division was able to retreat along the coast road intact, though the 50th (Northumbrian) Division was forced to attack south into the desert before turning east to reach friendly lines. The boxes at El Adem and Sidi Rezegh were evacuated on June 17 and the garrison at Tobruk was left to defend itself. Though ordered to hold a line west of Tobruk at Acroma, this proved unfeasible and Ritchie began a long retreat back to Mersa Matruh in Egypt. Though Allied leaders expected Tobruk to be able to hold out for two or three months on existing supplies, it was surrendered on June 21. Captured Allied soldiers march out of Tobruk, June 1942. Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-785-0294-32A / Tannenberg / CC-BY-SA 3.0 Aftermath The Battle of Gazala cost the Allies around 98,000 men killed, wounded, and captured as well as around 540 tanks. Axis losses were approximately 32,000 casualties and 114 tanks. For his victory and the capture of Tobruk, Rommel was promoted to field marshal by Hitler. Assessing the position at Mersa Matruh, Auchinleck decided to abandon it in favor of a stronger one at El Alamein. Rommel assaulted this position in July but made no progress. A final effort was made the Battle of Alam Halfa in late August with no results.

How Stereotypes Affect Us Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Stereotypes Affect Us - Assignment Example The safety and equality of the blacks are still not unconditional. Steele writes, â€Å"They come from the way a society, at a given time, is organized around an identity like me. That organization reflects the place, as well as the ongoing individual and group competition for an opportunity and the good life.†(3) An undeclared engagement is going on at every stage, in every segment of life of blacks and whites. Its emphasis and intensity may vary, nevertheless it is there, and it has not been erased from the social norms of the people of America. This position gives room for some to enjoy at the cost of suffering of others. Those others are mainly blacks. Defined and undefined activities related to ethnic segregation move together at the cost of the blacks. Stereotype threat is real. Its impact is more in the educational institutions, the abode of combustible younger generation, both whites and blacks. They have the knowledge of American history, whose pages are daubed in the bloodshed of racism. Explaining through an example, the author elaborates the nature of fear psychosis born out of stereotype threat, by citing the experience of Brent Staples, a psychology graduate student walking down the streets of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighbourhood. â€Å"I became an expert in the language of fear. Couples locked arms or reached for each other’s hand when they saw me. Some crossed to the other side of the street. People who were carrying on conversations went mute and stared straight ahead, as though avoiding my eyes would save them.†(6) By educating an individual, you are educating a generation. Therefore, educational institutions, where students of different ethnic groups, blacks and whites meet for a common purpose, are t he right places to initiate the process of reconciliation. Steele also highlights the importance of role models and argues, â€Å"They dramatically reduced stereotype threats impairment of women’s math performance by reminding them just before the test, the positive women role models.†(94)  Ã‚  

Why does 'Capturing the Friedmans' divide audiences so often Is this Essay

Why does 'Capturing the Friedmans' divide audiences so often Is this the result of its subject matter or how the film presents its material - Essay Example It is a fact to state that the material of the movie is the major cause for the division of the audience. There may be slight connection to the subject matter but if the documentary had revealed the facts in accord with truth without tempering with it than the audience may have not been divided themselves in to two different perspectives (Leadership Council, 2002). However, before the paper matures in to an argument it is essential to be familiar with all details of the case. The following paper is weaved using authentic websites, documents, books, and journal articles in order to present an argument which is solid in its essence and is impressionable. However, the use of websites is in excess in order to gain insight into the minds of its audience, who holds a conflicting view either with the documentary or a conflict of view among themselves. The conflict in my opinion after extensive research, occurs due to the material of the documentary, otherwise the case stands clear (Richard Webster, 2004). From today, 25 years ago the police officials came to the doorstep of the Friedmans to arrest Arnold Friedman for sexually abusing children. Arnold was soon exposed to the charges that were levied on him due to rapping dozens of boys inside his house form his computer class that he conducted at home. Although, the police was able to find the pornographic magazines there were no other such as physical evidence, found that would stand as a solid proof of the crimes that Arnold was convicted. Moreover, the movie did not show that there were any complaints before Arnold was convicted with the crime (Leadership Council, 2002). Before the giving a verdict it is imperative to take in to consideration the way the truth was moulded and fashioned and also to consider the arguments presented by the director in order to provide a statement to the critics. It is

Short proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Short proposal - Essay Example I also do have confidence that my group members will provide me help. Conclusion Parking lots are an important part of institutions but their mismanagement or their use by other customers can make institutional implications. The outcome for this parking dilemma appears as a burden both on community managers and on parking lots. It consumes time, waste energy, enforce financial burdens, and increase the management of traffic. Many customers, students, and passengers have to make their parking after a cumbersome travel in the vicinities of the main parking lots and sometimes, this become a real dilemma. Some vicinity areas are so plagued and there is chance to be obstructed by someone trying to rob passengers. The situation also becomes highly vulnerable for people with disabilities. Students of University of Colorado Denver and Metro State College are really in trouble as they even paid to RTD parking but still can’t get transited through mass transit. I would like to request M rs. Zambon, to provide permission so that we can implement our study design to investigate on the RTD parking issues. The study is very feasible and has instrumented every aspect to make results an invaluable contribution to the community development.

Luminescence in Low-dimensional Nanostructures

Luminescence in Low-dimensional Nanostructures NANO AU RSY Luminescence in Low-dimensional Nanostructures: Quantum Confinement Effect, Surface Effect Whenever the carrier localization, at least in one spatial direction, becomes comparable or smaller than the de Broglie wavelength of carriers, quantum mechanical effects occur. In this limit the optical and electronic properties of the material change as a function of the size and the system is called a nanostructure. As the size is reduced the electronic states are shifted toward higher energy 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 confinement in only one spatial direction, the nanostructure is named a quantum well (QW). The carrier motion is frozen in one dimension but electrons and holes can still freely move over the other two directions. Therefore the QW is a quasi two-dimensional (2D) system. A structure which provides carrier confinement in two directions, allowing the motion along the remaining dimension, is calle d 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 kinetic momentum of a quantum particle. It is not 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: à ¢- ³x.à ¢- ³p ≠¥ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ /2 (1.26) This equation means that the smaller is the carrier localization in the nanostructure, the larger is the spread in the momentum p, or, better said for semiconductor systems, in the crystal momentum à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ k. The energy may still be well defined, but the momentum is not well defined. In bulk systems, for states around the edge of conduction and valence band, the dependence of the energy on the wavevector k is quadratic, Where m* is the carrier effective mass. Following this equation, the spread in the momentum à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ 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 square 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 have been the focus of recent scientific research because of their important optical 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 test 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 different from those of three-dimensional (3D) systems. The most remarkable modification comes from different 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 box with an infinitely deep well potential, as shown in Figure 1.6. The wave functions and energy levels in the well are known from basic quantum mechanics and are described by: ÃŽ ¨n(z)=(2/Lz)1/2 cos ( nÏ€z/Lz ) (1.28 ) n = 1,2,3,†¦. (1.29) Figure 1.6: A particle in a box made of infinitely tall potential barriers In 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, respectively If 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 ÃŽ ¼ is the reduced mass given by ÃŽ ¼-1 = The joint density of states Ï 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 ÃŽ ¸ is a step function and ÃŽ ´ 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 Obviously 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 root of the energy. In quantum wells the motion in the plane gives a staircase DOS, 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 Hal l 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 reduction of the threshold current and enhances the thermal stability 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 between 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 as: and (1.38 ) Where ÃŽ ¼ is the reduced mass given by are the effective masses of electron and hole, respectively. And also ÃŽ µ is the dielectric constant, à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚  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 relative size of the radius of particles R compared to an electron , a hole , and an exciton Bohr radius , respectively. In strong confinement (R , ), the individual 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 exciton Figure 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 surface properties of the materials. As the size of the particle approaches a few nm, both surface area to volume ratio and surface 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 dramatic increase when the size is decreased below a few nm, whereas percentage of face atoms decreases. For particles of ~1 nm, more 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 mix 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 in 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].

The Eyes of the Dragon Essays -- essays research papers

â€Å"A kingdom is in turmoil as the old King Roland dies and its worthy successor, Prince Peter, must do battle to claim what is rightly his. Plotting against him is the evil Flagg and his pawn, young Prince Thomas. Yet with every plan there are holes – like Thomas’s terrible secret. And the determined Prince Peter, who is planning a daring escape from his imprisonment†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (very first page)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sequence of events that occur in the plot go like this: Two sons are born from Queen Sasha and King Roland, Prince Peter then Prince Thomas. Fearing that the Queen Sasha would ruin his plans, Flagg, the several hundred years old magician and royal advisor succeeded in deposing of her when Peter is only five. Eleven years later, after Peter served the King his nightly glass of vine, Flagg came in and killed Roland by offering him a second glass of wine that was poison. Peter was found guilty of the murder, as Flagg had planned, and was sentenced to life imprisonment atop a tower called the Needle by Anders Peyna, the Judge-General. Peter would spend a good five years in the Needle until he decides to make a successful escape, only to encounter Flagg for a final confrontation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thomas, one of the main characters, is a particularly interesting character for several reasons. First the narrator, portrayed as a storyteller, describes Thomas as the weak, vulnerable, sad, confused, lonely younger brother of Prince Peter, who was the heir of...