Early Chinese-Americans and Manifest Destiny Essay

Early Chinese-Americans and Manifest Destiny - Essay Example From the image, it shows two races, the Chinese and the American in the nineteen Century. The photo depicts anti-Chinese racial prejudices by the Americans during the years 1820s to the end of the Century when the Chinese immigrants arrived in America. The American is represented by the woman who cuts the Chinese man hair to represent hate, resentment, prejudice of the Chinese Culture during this era. The early Chinese immigrants came from the south China’s Guangdong Province to in 1820 to America to escaping the political and economic instability experienced under the Qing Dynasty government, internal attack from the Taiping Rebels and external pressures from the Opium Wars. Their population increased from 325 men in 1849 (before the Californian Gold Rush) to 25,000 by 1852 and 105,465 by 1880 during the transcontinental railroad (Carlisle 29). They provided cheap labor compared to the Americans during the time. However they were mistreated, highly taxed, worked under harsh c onditions during the summer heat and also during cold winter days. Most of them lost their lives but for those who survived, settled in America for what its worth. In conclusion, although the Chinese were a source of cheap labor they were overworked under very harsh conditions in the mines field, received little pay were highly taxed. They were seen by the Americans as an inferior race of people, with differing language, color and physical appearance (short, plump, the male had kept strange long hair which the Americans represented by the lady in the image cutting

Analysis of the Critical Theorists View on Domination Term Paper

Analysis of the Critical Theorists View on Domination - Term Paper Example The Concept of Domination Due to the radical perspective of the critical theorists, the social notions presented had effects that can be attributed to the concept of domination. Domination is defined as a form of influence to an individual that results in the confirmation of goals, purposes, and actions to what had been prescribed or dictated (Held, p.149). This can affect the society in terms of different aspects that comprise the social institutions such as the culture industry aspect, the technology and consumption aspect, the nature of corporate capitalism, and the authoritarian personality. Each of these components can affect the manner by which a society functions, thus, these are included in the essential factors within the critical theory (Craib, 1992; Miles, 2006). Domination is the main concept that links the different points of views of the different advocates of the critical theory but is considered as the uniting factor in the critical theory. ...210). Due to the differe nt views of the critical theorists, the whole perspective of the group regarding domination is composed of the different components. Domination and the Culture Industry The view of domination in relation to the culture industry is the main perspective of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. It explores the role the nature of the culture which according to them is a ‘capitalist industry.’ This can be attributed to the fact that what is termed as enlightenment can be considered as mass deception. This is due to the fact that capitalist industry dominates the culture. Thus, instead of triggering a check and balance effect to the dominating effect of the capital, the interactions within the society such as work and even leisure is completely controlled (Szeman and Kaposy, 2010, p.40). The theory perceives the society dominated by the capitalist industry to be in a vicious cycle. Upon looking at the said perspective, it is clear that it is one of the reasons that the critical theory is considered radical because it questions the whole social structure.

The Public Health Infrastructure, and the Status of World Essay

The Public Health Infrastructure, and the Status of World - Essay Example Discussed below is an agenda that Afghanistan can apply to improve the health situation. The various applicable programs in Afghanistan are; Meeting basic health care wants, mainly in rural regions, putting up primary health infrastructures, planning and monitoring, endorsing research and methodology progress, control of contagious diseases, national free health systems, protecting defenseless groups, meeting the town health problem, decreasing health risks from ecological effluence and hazards, and meeting basic health care wants, mainly in rural regions The Afghanistan government should aim towards food security, with priority sited on the eradication of food contagion; inclusive and sustainable water plans to ensure secure drinking water and cleanliness to prevent both chemical and microbial pollution, and endorsement of health teaching, vaccination and provision of vital medicine (Wright, 2009). Education and proper services concerning responsible setting up of family size, with value for religious, cultural, and social ways, in keeping with liberty, self-esteem and personal principles, and taking into consideration cultural and ethical considerations, also add to these activities. The Afghanistan Government and the local system, with the endorsement of pertinent non-governmental organizations, as well as worldwide organizations, in the luminosity of countries precise conditions and wants, should reinforce their health area programs, with particular attention to achieving the following. (i) Establish and strengthen basic health care systems that are realistic, community-based, logically sound, socially suitable and appropriate to their wants and that meet vital health needs for safe food, clean water, and sanitation (ii) Endorse the application and strengthening of methods that develop harmonization between health and related segments at all suitable

Proposal assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Proposal - Assignment Example Visit to the industrial site will enable the students to understand and observe practically what is taught in their engineering class. Practical is part of the work that the students should observe after class work for better understanding of what was taught. Trips to different industrial sites are part learning for those pursuing engineering courses. Since the institution does not own the industrial site, the students are forced to travel outside the institution and visit one of the industrial sites for them to learn. When the students complete their studies, they will be employed in the industrial sites, which is necessary for them to understand practically the processes taking place in the industrial sites. It will be disadvantageous for the students who will be employed in various industrial sites without any practical knowledge of the processes taking place in the site. Field trips or a visit to industrials sites is part of learning. The industrial site will be constructed at the University. Construction will start immediately after the responsible officials in the institution have approved the proposal. It is important for the learning institution to have one of the industrial sites in the compound to be used by the engineering students during their practical. It will be convenient and cheaper to the institution as compared to travelling or visiting industrial sites outside the institution. It is because the institution will spend more funds to organize for the trip and even the charges required to be allowed to visit different places in the industrial site. When the institution constructs one of the industrial sites in the compound, it will be expensive to initiate but they will spend once during construction. The subsequent years will be only repairs, which will be cheaper. Availability of the industrial site in the institution will save time for the students and lecturers. It is because

Contract law problem scenario Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contract law problem scenario - Case Study Example Equity has always sought to protect the weaker of two parties from oppression and from exploitation. In the context of a mortgage, equity will seek to intervene where the mortgage terms are oppressive. In order to answer this question it needs to consider presumed undue influence, which was defined in Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA v Aboody1. In this case the Court held that there was a relationship of trust and confidence between the parties of such a nature that it is fair to presume that the trust and confidence of the claimant were abused. Ginger is mother of Seamus, so the case falls in Class 2A types presumed undue influence for specific relationship. In Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No. 2)2, the principle judgement was given by Lord Nicholls. In this case Ginger is especially proud of Seamus, who is a real success in her eyes. Lord Nicholls considered that a bank or any financial institution lending money should take steps to ensure that the claimant receives legal advice by asking for the name of the claimant's legal adviser. Here Northern Bank sends Miss Bindie with all the necessary paperwork but she did not provide adequate information. On the other hand Miss Bindie advised for solicitor or accountant to explain details of legal responsibilities and risks involved before sign papers. In order to answer this question it is also necessary to argue whether the contract was unconscionable or not. Here the contract was unconscionable for Ginger. Ginger is a pensioner, and has no other income. In Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio3, in the High Court, it was held that the transaction should be set as side on the grounds that the bank's behaviour was unconscionable. An English court might well have reached the same conclusion on these facts by the application of the rules of undue influence. In Portman Building Society v Dusangh4, a father borrowed money on mortgage from the claimants so as to fund a loan to his son who was planning to buy a supermarket. The father was 72, retired, illiterate in English and spoke it poorly. No fraud or undue influence on the part of the son was alleged and the son was not in financial difficulties at the time of the loan. The father, the son and the building society sought to enforce the mortgage and the father argued that the tr ansaction as unconscionable was not excluded but on the facts the transaction was held not to be unconscionable. In Barclays Bank plc v O'Brien5, Mrs O'Brien sought to set aside the mortgage transaction on the ground that she signed the documents under undue influence and misrepresentation. It was held that the mortgage had been obtained either by her husband's misrepresentation or because of undue influence over her and the court ordered it to be set aside. Ginger can apply to the under s.14 of Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA), whereby the court may make any order, including one not to sell (unlike the old s.30 of the Law of Property Act 1925, where sale was often the required way to resolve any dispute unless the purposes for which the property was

The Great Depression - Main Causes Essay Example for Free

The Great Depression Main Causes Essay Introduction Like us, many of you had a loved one that lived during the Great Depression. Many of us have heard stories from our parents or grandparents of the horrific times of the depression; stories that told us how hard it was to find a job, put food on the table, and to provide shelter for the family. Learning how to live without things was a battle all by itself. Hearing the stories made me grateful to be born in a different era. However, each era has its own battles to fight that will change the direction of the economy and maybe the world. Many people feel that we are in a depression. Unemployment rising, business closing its doors, and poverty in the United States on a rise, would make you think that we are in a depression. However, after careful research from articles, books, videotape, and previously conducted surveys, on the main causes of the depression, we realize that the recession that we are in is far from the Great Depression. Our research also uncovered the impacts of the depression that played a role in reforming the economy. Also, our research will show us how Franklin D. Roosevelt solved the depression and got the economy rolling again. Finally, there were many lessons learned by banks, business owners, and the government. We hope that the details of the Great Depression will enlighten you with comparisons on our current recession. Main Causes The main causes for the Great Depression were a combination of unequally distributed wealth, the stock market crash, and eventually the bank failures. The unequal distribution of wealth existed on many levels. Money was distributed unequally between the rich and the middle class, between industry and agriculture within the US, and between the US and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculations kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the unequal distribution of wealth, and bank failures, caused the American economy to collapse. The distribution of national income became increasingly skewed in the 1920s. The nations total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929. However, the prosperity was not divided evenly amongst all Americans. According to a study done by the Brookings Institute in 1929, the top .1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%. That same top .1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a staggering 75% increase in per capita disposable income. A major reason for this gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output through this period. Thus, wages increased 25% as fast as productivity increased. As production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained constant. In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%. The large and growing gap in wealth made the US economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In the 1920s there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus of products was not wanted, but those who really needed them, could not afford them. The federal government also contributed to the growing gap between the rich and middle-class. Andrew Mellon, Coolidges Secretary of the Treasury, was the main force behind tax cuts that lowered federal taxes such that a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,000. Our textbooks would indicate that the purpose behind this would be that $400,000 would be spent, thus stimulating the economy. Instead, they invested it into the stock market, and lost everything. The federal government favored the new industries (radio and automotive) as opposed to agriculture. During World War 1, the government subsidized farms and paid higher prices for what and other grains. Because the government was feeding the US and Europe, they encouraged farmers to buy more land, invest  in modern methods, and to produce more food. However, when the war was over, the US stopped helping farmers. During the war, the government paid $2 a bushel for wheat, but by 1920, wheat prices fell as low as 67 cents a bushel. Farmers fell into debt; farm prices and food prices tumbled. The federal government left American farmers in the cold. The problem with having large concentrations of wealth and dependence upon two industries is the economy relies on those industries to expand, grow, and invest in order to prosper. At the time, the main problem with the automotive and radio industries was that they could not expand because people could and would only buy so many cars and radios. When those industries went down, they took the American economy with them. In 1929, 1,124,800,410 shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. From 1928 to 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from 191 to 381. This profit was attractive to investors. Company earnings were not important as long as stock process continued to rise, and huge profits could be made. Through the convenience of buying stocks on margin, one could buy stocks without money to purchase them. By mid 1929, the total of outstanding brokers loans was over $7 billion, in the next three months, that number would increase to $8.5 billion. Interest rates for brokers loans were as high as 20%! Prices had been dropping since September 3, 1929, but people were still optimistic. Hopeful investors continued to flock the market. Then on Monday October 21, 1929, prices started to fall quickly. The volume was so high that the ticker fell behind. Finally, investors were afraid! Knowing that prices were falling but because the ticker was behind, they could not tell how far they had fallen, so they started to sell quickly. This caused the collapse to happen faster. The market stabilized for a few days, and then on Monday October 28, 1929 prices started dropping again. By the end of the day, the market had fallen 13%. On Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, 16.4 million shares were exchanged. Although many were disturbed by the stock market crash, few realized that the  Great Depression was ahead. The Bank Failures would make the near future of the US economy clear. Trying to benefit from the investment boom, like many investors, banks tied their money (customer deposits) up in the stock market. When the market collapsed, brokers began calling in margin accounts, many banks were forced into bankruptcy closing their doors to depositors. Failures of individual banks generated runs on other banks as depositors became nervous about the security of their accounts. A high rate of insolvencies hit the banking industry and the nations stock of money in circulation plummeted. These developments prompted a rapid tumble of the GNP that was the defining characteristic of the Great Depression. This speculation and the resulting stock market crashes, acted as a trigger to the unstable US economy. More jobs were lost, more banks went under, and more factories closed. Unemployment would grow to almost 13 million by 1932. The Great Depression had begun. Impact of the Economy There were many psychological, cultural, and political repercussions of the Great Depression. These impacts played a major role in reforming the American economy for the future that was to come. During the horrific times of the depression, everyone in America got a glimpse, whether short or prolonged, to how the United States would be under an economic crash. As you can see from the main causes of the depression, numerous amounts of people lost their jobs, the prosperity rate significantly increased, businesses failed, and the overall condition of America was faced with pure turmoil and suffering. Among each major impact that the depression had on the American economy, the most extravagant circumstance was the rapid decrease in overall business. For instance, there were more than 100,000 businesses that failed as an impact of the depression. By 1933, more than 5,000 banks had failed. Not  only did this affect the government, but the general public and the entire economy felt the hit also. Within every bank that closed, there were public savings and checking accounts that were also demolished. With no type of security in place to protect their investments and or savings, peoples money and sometimes even life savings, were gone. This decline created a continuing affect that spread throughout the economy. As a result, the national income fell by 54 percent. Close to 90 percent of industrial production ceased. The foreign trade decreased by 70 percent, and new investment in plants and equipment had plummeted by 98 percent. Hundreds of thousands of home and farm mortgages foreclo sed, and there was no decent food, clothing, or shelter to be purchased. Obviously, due to the circumstances, business was put on hold for what seemed like forever to the American economy. Consequently to the many business failures that occurred during the depression, along with the steadily decreasing income and tremendous rise in unemployment, many people were forced to live in horrible, strict, confined, and discouraging circumstances. People were living on the streets of America striving to survive. As a result, starvation and malnutrition was a major factor that affected the general public. Thousands of people starved in the streets while unsold food piled up or went bad on the nations farms, due to the need for profit. More than 2 million Americans moved from cities to farms in the hope of being able to at least feed themselves. Despair overcame millions of people who survived the distress but could not find work for months or even years. Others were forced to work in fields in order to make the little money they could. Family tensions increased as many people lacked jobs, resulting in a major increase in mental health problems, and family violence. The loss of money and personal belongings resulted in the number of relatives in one household or apartment, doubling within a short amount of time. These situations developed very confined living conditions resulting in unhealthy and unhappy circumstances. Many children had to leave their schools because they lacked clothing or the local school boards simply could not afford to maintain buildings or pay teachers. Children were forced to provide for themselves,  and their family. Uncertainty and unhappiness increased over the years. The overall living conditions of the depression were very unstable and unsatisfying to the American public. Feelings of distrust towards the government and the economy emerged from every single individual. The depression had a major impact on not just the current situation, future thoughts and actions were affected as well. Along with distrust from the public towards the economy, grew an extreme realization of poverty and distress for American society. The experience brought about a change in the viewpoints toward many aspects of life and business. Everyone was forced with making critical decisions that would forever change life situations. Ultimately, there was not one industry, bank, agricultural, or government aspect that was not noticeably affected by the depression. The impacts were felt at home in our society as well as across seas in other countries. Everyones living standards and situations suffered due to the depression. There was no true understanding of how these circumstances could have begun, and no knowledge of when it would end. Solving the Depression During the early years of the depression in the United States of America, President Herbert Hoover and his administration believed, as did many bankers, economists, and financial leaders, that left alone, the economy would eventually right itself. Business leaders operating through the spirit of competition would restore Americas prosperity and economic vitality. When the economy, during the depression, did not improve during Hoovers administration, Americans began looking for a new leader, a leader who would take decisive action against the economy. The people found a new leader in Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, when they elected him president in a landside election. Roosevelt believed that the federal government should take bold steps to improve the economy. He blamed financial leaders and big business for Americas economic (depression conditions) and recommended government regulation of banks and industry. President Roosevelt had many accomplishments during his term of president during the time of the depression. Some of his accomplishments were:  ·Social Security Act provided for state-administered, federally funded unemployment insurance, welfare benefits, administered old age, and survivors pensions. Prior to this passage few states provided old age pensions and un-employment insurance.  ·Relations Act (Wagner Act) gave new life to the National Industrial Recovery Act. That act gave workers the right to collectively bargain and established the National Labor Relations Board to supervise union elections and investigate unfair labor practices by companies.  ·Revenue Tax Act increased income taxes on the wealthy and on corporations.  ·Banking act of 1935 gave the federal government additional control over the Federal Reserve System.  ·Public Utility Holding Company Act placed power, water, and other utility companies under the regulation of the newly created Securities and Exchange Commission.  ·The Farm Act came in three stages. First the administration was empowered to adjust farm production to effective demand as a means of restoring the farmers purchasing power. Second was an accompanying authorization to refinance and readjust farm mortgage payments. Third the part of the act was the power for controlled inflation.  ·Emergency Farm Mortgage Act (1993) funded loans for farmers in immediate danger of losing their farms.  ·Wagner-Steagal Housing Act gave 500 million in loans for low-cost housing.  ·Youth Administration was established to equalize opportunity for youth. It  was setup to give economically disadvantage youth opportunities that were previously denied them.  ·Tennessee Valley Authority Act Aubrey Williams stated Major Problems in the Rehabilitation of the South, address to the Southern Tenant Farmers Union and the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America, Memphis, Tennessee, September 26, 1937. This act provided federal funding for the development of the Tennessee Valley.  ·Rural Rehabilitation Division of FERA later called Resettlement Administration funded work-study jobs, teachers salaries, free lunch program and construction of new schools.  ·Works Relief Act provided immediate increase in employment and corresponding stimulation to private industry by purchase of supplies.  ·Works Progress Administration (WPA) put 3.5 million jobless Americans to work on roads, parks, and public building. Moreover, the WPA provided jobs for artists, writers, musicians, and authors as well as laborers.  ·National Recovery Act encouraged business leaders to work together to create codes that would control wages and prices.  ·Gold Reserve Act was signed on Roosevelts birthday. This gave the Treasury greater control of credit and currency. In 1933, Roosevelt pushed toward a three-month period called Hundred Days when Congress enacted the most sweeping program of reform. Fifteen major laws went on the books; they dealt with banking, the gold standard, relief, mortgages, hydroelectric power and regional planning, the stock market, and reorganizing industry and agriculture. Roosevelt throughout his term during the depression years encouraged cooperation and optimism with his speeches, fireside chats, and press conferences, which made a powerful impression on many Americans. Lessons Learned The Great Depression caused enormous hardship for virtually the entire industrialized world. As we look back over the many causes of the Great Depression, there were many lessons to be learned. The depression started because of the unequal distribution of wealth and the extensive stock market crash. The economy was affected by the failure of a large portion of the nations banks, businesses, and farms. There were many lessons learned in the financial aspect of the depression. First, there was massive government protection to banks in the form of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. This was brought on by the turmoil that was felt in the banking sector. By implementing government protection the banking institutes were insured against withdrawals and the suspension of convertibility. In addition, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations main benefit was having the central bank as the ultimate guarantor of the insurance system. As a result, during a pending financial collapse the bank removes any element of discretion about the behavior of its policymakers. Therefore, the central bank learned lessons regarding the function of the lender of last resort for short-term stabilization of the financial system. The reasons that stemmed government protection was noticeable bank weakness, poor depositor discipline, the unwilling of private associations to protect solvent banks from the threat of unwarranted runs, and the favorable agreement to have deposit insurance on economic grounds. Second, there was failure of the interwar gold standard. There were certain countries that caused the world money stock to decline substantially and rapidly. This brought about the fixed exchange rates and full currency unions. The gold standard of the interwar was referred to as a gold exchange standard and its main purpose was to establish and maintain a system of fixed exchange rates. Third, there was international trade and tariffs. Trade and payment policies were becoming very close and began to intertwine. In addition, when tariffs began they usually ended with trading blocs, bilateralism, and exchange controls. The lesson learned in this situation implies that deflation effects international trade through its impact on the real value of tariffs. Another lesson learned involved worldwide catastrophes. There was the use of cheap foreign labor to lower cost and improve profits, which drove imports of foreign made products and pushed labor offshore. There was a decline in domestic employment and it intensified the problems of the depression to the point in which caused a backlash. Then that is when the start of labor-union protectionism began. The lesson in this situation indicated that the 1930s protectionism assisted in the destruction of globalize. Eventually, the depression transformed national politics by vastly expanding government, which was increasingly expected to stabilize the economy and to prevent suffering. In order to create a stabilized economy, new plans, and policies for Social Security, unemployment insurance, and federal family assistance were established. In sum, the Great Depression was caused by the stock market crash, in which led to a poor banking system, causing low interest rates, brought on by an ineffective Federal Reserve policy. Therefore, knowing and understanding these lessons listed and many others, it is safe to say that as far as our current policies today, deflation is extremely costly and a gold standard is very dangerous. Conclusion The experience of the Great Depression brought about change in how we conduct business. For many people the depression brought on distrust in banks and our government; a trust that our government set out to regain in many years to come. Our government implemented federal laws and banking regulations  that would stabilize the economy for many years. Reorganizing industries, the stock market, and agriculture provided stability that lead to trust. Each era has had its own battles that has shaped and reshaped America into what it is today. Learning from battles such as racism, terrorism, and recessions will continue to form America into a better place. Works Cited Bender, David L. The Great Depression Opposing Viewpoints, 1994 Greenhaven Press, Inc. San Diego, CA Gerdes, Louise I. The Great Depression, Great Speeches in History, 2002 Greenhaven Press, Inc. San Diego, CA Gustmorino, Paul A III. Main Causes of the Great Depression. Gusmorino World. May 13, 1996. Online. James, Harold. The End of Globalization: Lessons From The Great Depression. Cambridge; London: Harvard University Press, 2001 Jeffries, John W., Nash, Gary B., Segrue, Katherine L., The Great Depression and WWII, 1929-1945. Encyclopedia of American History. Kutler, Stanley I. Dictionary Of American History. Third Edition. Charles Scribners Sons, Inc. May 2003. Kutler, Stanley K., Dallek, Robert, Hollinger, David A., McCraw, Thomas K., Kirkwood, Judith. The Great Depression, 1929-1939. Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century. Volume III. Watkins, T.H. The Great Depression America in the 1930s. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1993.

Future Trends In Wireless Sensor Networks Information Technology Essay

Future Trends In Wireless Sensor Networks Information Technology Essay With the advances in the technology of micro-electromechanical system (MEMS), developments in wireless communications and WSNs have also emerged. WSNs have become the one of the most interesting areas of research in the past few years. Here, we look into the recent advances and future trends in WSNs. WSNs are usually composed of small, low-cost devices that communicate wirelessly and have the capabilities of processing, sensing and storing. The development of WSNs was motivated by military applications such as battlefield surveillance. WSN are being used in many industrial and civilian application areas, including industrial process monitoring and control [1, 2], machine health monitoring [3], environment and habitat monitoring, healthcare applications, home automation, and traffic control [1, 4]. A WSN generally consists of a base-station (also called as gateway sometimes) that can communicate with a number of wireless sensors via a radio link. Wireless sensor nodes collect the data, compress it, and transmit it to the gateway directly or indirectly with the help of other nodes. The transmitted data is then presented to the system by the gateway connection. This paper discusses the recent advances in WSNs that enable a wide range of applications and future development in applications like underwater acoustic sensor systems; sensing based cyber-physical systems, time-critical applications, cognitive sensing and spectrum management, and security and privacy management. Rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the recent advances in WSNs. We discuss future trends in WSN in Section 3. Section 4 describes the research challenges for WSN. Finally Section 5 presents the conclusion. RECENT ADVANCES Recent advances in wireless and electronic technologies have enabled a wide range of applications of WSNs in military sensing, traffic surveillance, target tracking, environment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, and so on. Here we describe such type advances in WSN and their applications in various fields. Sensor Localization and Location-Aware Services Smart Home/Smart Office Smart home environments can provide custom behaviors for a given individual. Considerable amount of research has been devoted to this topic. The research on smart homes is now starting to make its way into the market. It takes a considerable amount of work and planning to create a smart home. There are many examples of products currently on the market which can perform individual functions that are considered to be part of a smart home. Several useful applications which take advantage of information collected by WSN are presented in [5]. Military New and emerging technologies, such as networks, support military operations by delivering critical information rapidly and dependably to the right individual or organization at the right time. This improves the efficiency of combat operations. The new technologies must be integrated quickly into a comprehensive architecture to meet the requirements of present time. Improvement in situation awareness [6] is must requirement. Other important application is detection of enemy units movements on land/sea, sensing intruders on bases, chemical/biological threats and offering logistics in urban warfare [7]. Command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting systems are well described in [8]. Industrial Commercial Since the long time wireless transmission of data is being done in industrial applications, but recently it has gained importance. Successful use of wireless sensors in systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition has proved that these devices could effectively address the needs of industrial applications. The critical process applications of WSNs in industry are monitoring temperature, flow-level, and pressure parameters. With the rapidly increasing technological advances in wireless technology and its subsequently decreasing prices, numerous wireless applications are being developed in industry. WSN in manufacturing industries can monitor and optimize quality control. Traffic Management and Monitoring Every big city is suffering from traffic congestion around the world. A sincere effort is being made to solve the traffic congestion. Congestion can be alleviated by planning managing traffic. A real-time automatic traffic data collection must be employed for efficient management of rush-hour traffic. Research on this topic is considered as part of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) research community. ITS is the application of the computers, communications, and sensor technology to surface transportation [9]. The vehicle tracking application is to locate a specific vehicle or moving object and monitor its movement. This work also describes design of WSN for vehicular monitoring. As the power source (battery) is limited, it is important that a design of sensor node is power efficient. Structural Healthcare Structures are inspected at regular time intervals, and repairing or replacing based on the time of use, rather than on their working conditions. Sensors embedded into structures enable condition-based maintenance of these assets [10]. Wireless sensing will allow assets to be inspected when the sensors indicate that there may be a problem. This will reduce the cost of maintenance and preventing harmful failure. These applications include sensors mounted on heavy duty bridges, within concrete and composite materials [11], and big buildings. Agriculture Agriculture can also be benefited by the deployment of WSN to get the information regarding soil degradation and water scarcity [12]. With help of WSNs we can check the clean water consumed in irrigation and manage it. Topology and Coverage Control Topology control is one of the fundamental problems in WSNs. It has great importance for prolong lifetime, reducing radio interference, increasing the efficiency of media access control protocols and routing protocols. It also ensures the quality of connectivity coverage and increase in the network service as well. A significant progress in research can be seen in WSNs topology control. Many topology control algorithms have been developed till date, but problems such as lack of definite and practical algorithm, lack of efficient measurement of network performance and idealness of mathematical model still exist. Several graph models used in topology control, the present hot spots and the future trends on the research of topology control are presented in [13]. Quality of Service (QoS) Provision QoS support is challenging due to severe energy and computational resource constrains of wireless sensors. Various service properties such as the delay, reliability, network lifetime, and quality of data may conflict; for example, multi-path routing can improve the reliability, however it can increase the energy consumption and delay due to duplicate transmissions. Modeling such relationships, measuring the provided quality, and providing means to control the balance is essential for QoS support. There are various research opportunities in enhancing the QoS of WSNs. One of the researches is the project described in [14] that analyzes and enhances the performance of a WSN by deploying a simple max-min fairness bandwidth allocation technique. Mobility management Mobility is one of the most important issues in next generation networks. As WSNs are becoming the next elements of the future Internet, it is crucial to study new models that also support mobility of these nodes. WSNs are applicable in variety of cases that make it difficult to produce a standard mobility scenario. Following are some cases where the mobile support is necessary [15]. Intra-WSN device movement is probably the most common scenario in WSNs architectures, where each sensor node has the ability to change from its local position at run time without losing the connectivity with the sensor router (SR). In the case of inter-WSN device movement, sensor nodes move between different sensor networks, each one with its SR responsible to configure and manage all the aggregated devices. A research project of IETF working group NEMO [16] is an example of WSN movement. Sensor network deployed in a moving bus is a real scenario of this type. It is possible to have a scenario where a sensor network can use another sensor network in order to be connected through Internet. MANEMO [17] project is also an example. Security and Privacy Concern The field that paid less attention is the privacy concern on information being collected, transmitted, and analyzed in a WSN. Such private information of concern may include payload data collected by sensors and transmitted through the network to a centralized data processing server. The location of a sensor initiating data communication, and other such context information, may also be the focus of privacy concerns. In real world applications of WSNs, effective countermeasures against the disclosure of both data and context-oriented private information are indispensable prerequisites. Privacy protection in various fields related to WSNs, such as wired and wireless networking, databases and data mining, has been extensively studied in [18]. Effective privacy-preserving techniques are needed for the unique challenges of WSN security. Biomedical/Medical The uses of WSNs in biomedical and medical are in growing phase. Biomedical wireless sensor networks (BWSNs) show the future opportunities for supporting mobility while monitoring vital body functions in hospital and home care. There is a requirement for BWSN to develop in order to cover security handling, improved signal integration and visualization. They can also be used to achieve extended mobility outside the surgery room, monitoring of several patients/persons at the same time, and further adaptations to medical experts needs for information. As the Internet usage has become popular among people, e-services for the healthcare which is commonly known as e-Health, have recently attracted significant attention within both the research society and industry. Followings are several ongoing projects for healthcare using WSN: CodeBlue [19] an architecture proposed for tracking and monitoring of patients. ALARM-NET [20] a WSN built for assisted-living and residential monitoring. AMON [21] a Wireless Body Area Sensor Network System GlucoWatch G2 [22] use WSN to research wearable personal health system that will monitor and evaluate human vital signs. FUTURE TRENDS The future developments in sensor nodes must produce very powerful and cost-effective devices, so that they may be used in applications like underwater acoustic sensor systems, sensing based cyber-physical systems, time-critical applications, cognitive sensing and spectrum management, and security and privacy management. In this section we will look into all possibilities of further development in WSN applications. Cognitive Sensing Cognitive sensor networks are used for acquiring localized and situated information of the sensing environment by the deploying a large number of sensors intelligently and autonomically. Managing a large number of wireless sensors is a complex task. A significant research interest can be seen in bio-inspired sensing [23] and networking. Two well known examples of cognitive sensing are swarm intelligence and quorum sensing: Swarm intelligence is developed in artificial intelligence for studying the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems. Quorum sensing is an example of bio-inspired sensing and networking. Quorum sensing is the ability of bacteria to communicate and coordinate behavior via signaling molecules. Spectrum Management As application of low-power wireless protocols is increasing, we can envision a future in which wireless devices, such as wireless keyboards, power-point presenters, cell phone headsets, and health monitoring sensors will be ubiquitous. But the pervasiveness of these devices leads to increased interference and congestion within as well as between networks, because of overlapping physical frequencies. Cognitive radios and multi-frequency MACs are some approaches that have been developed to utilize multiple frequencies for parallel communication. A generic solution is provided by SAS [24]: a Self-Adaptive Spectrum Management middleware for WSNs, which can be easily integrated with an existing single frequency. The inherent nature of WSNs makes them deployable in a variety of circumstances. They have the potential to be everywhere, on roads, in our homes and offices, forests, battlefields, disaster struck areas, and even underwater in oceans. This paper surveys the application areas where WSNs have been deployed such as military sensing, traffic surveillance, target tracking, environment monitoring, and healthcare monitoring as summarized in Table 2. The paper also surveys the various fields where WSNs may be deployed in the near future as underwater acoustic sensor systems, sensing based cyber-physical systems, time-critical applications, cognitive sensing and spectrum management, and security and privacy management. These application areas are being researched extensively by various people across the industry and academician [7, 9, 22, 24, 28].