Organic Food vs. Non Organic Food Essay

In today’s society you walk into a grocery store and you always have the option of organic or non organic food. There are even grocery stores dedicated to organic foods like Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and Whole Food market. I personally have gone organic and will never go back to eating or drinking non organic food. Organic food may be pricey but less hormones, less cow puss and blood in your milk, and less pesticides. The controversies about organic food vs non organic food is it worth it? My answer is 100 percent yes organic is the way to go. The fruits and vegetables you get at a normal grocery store that are non organic have several pesticides on it. According to the daily green, ‘ eating organic means avoiding the pesticide residue left on foods. † Though there are mixed reviews on if consuming pesticides hurt your immune system, pregnant women are taking the cautionary steps on making sure their future child will be born healthy and not be exposed to pesticides at an early age. On the Dirty Dozen list, apples are the number 1 food source of 2011, with over 40 known pesticides in just 1 apple. Not surprisingly, pesticide residue is also found in apple juice and apple sauce, making all apple products smart foods to buy organic. Strawberries have over 60 pesticides on it, so while you â€Å"wash† your strawberries remember you are eating pesticide residue remains on those strawberries you bought at the food market. 93% of Americans tested by the CDC had metabolites of chlorpyrifos a nuerotoxic insecticide in their urine. Banned from home use because of its risks to children, chlorpyrifos is part of a family of pesticides (organophosphates) linked to ADHD. Women who were exposed to DDT as girls are 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer, according to Panna. Several people are allergic to the growth hormone farmers put in their animals, but are able to eat organic meats because animals raised organically are not allowed to be fed antibiotics, the bovine human growth hormone (rbGH), or other artificial drugs. Animals are also not allowed to eat genetically modified foods. Organic meat the animals are also killed more humane than non organic animals. The animals are raised in a healthier environment, fed organic feed, and often eat a wider range of nutrients than those raised in factory farms (such as would be the case of free-range chickens and ranch cattle). Cbn. com stated, â€Å"In a recent poll, two-thirds of Americans surveyed stated they would like to be able to fit organic foods into their budgets. † Organic food may cost more but less exposure to unnecessary hormones and pesticides is worth it. Organic is the way to go, lower pesticide levels, more nutrients, no antibiotics, no added growth hormones, and environmental responsibility. Although research findings about benefits of organic produce are not conclusive, it is definite that organic stuff is safer than the produce with traces of pesticides. Organic milk, vegetables and fruits are much more expensive than the non-organic but if you can afford it then go for it. If more people start buying organic food then gradually their prices will gradually come down.

Elizabethan era architecture and interior design outline

Elizabethan era architecture and interior design outline BY Stucco 5 Architecture and Interior Design Outline Introduction The houses of the 19th century were considered as out nodded and poorly decorated. 1 . The main idea for a family home in the 19th century was an opened floor plan. 2. The main floor of a Victorian house included the porch, living room, and a dining kitchen. 3. Before the 19th century each room served its own purpose, such as a parlor, library, and 4. The number of sitting rooms. Bedrooms upstairs decreased because it was the new trend to have smaller families. The more smaller rooms you had in your house the warmer it would stay. B. During the 19th century rooms were decorated and painted in bold colors with wooden floors. 1 . Windows no longer carried long drapes that came down to the floor. 2. Bookshelves and wardrobes were then being built in. 3. This left the floor nice and clear for rearrangement of furniture and to hold various activities. 4. In Mission St yle homes wood furniture was suited best by complimenting the home. 5. The wooden furniture was also most affordable to the middle class and less fortunate. 6.The furniture lacked in comfort so people had to add throw pillows to the seats, and backs of the chairs, but the furniture did make up in durability. 7. This furniture was also used in schools, because of their durability. B. -continued- The art Nouveau Style of decoration was much more expensive so it was often found in the homes of the wealthy. 1. The designer of the furniture was the son of the most popular American Jeweler and silversmith. 2. The designers name was Louis Comfort Tiffany. 3. The decorative age â€Å"American Renaissance† took over in 1875, Louis C. Tiffany was a large factor in this takeover, with expensive taste. 5. Tiffany studied at New York City's National Academy of Arts and design. 6. Tiffany became an interior designer, who specialized in tiles, wall hangings, murals, and stained glass. 7. Hi s Job was to give character and personality to Victorian mansions, theaters, and churches. 8. Tiffany was very well paid. 9. His name soon became known as the biggest name in design and decoration. 10. The Tiffany were a father and son group. 11. The father (Charles Lewis Tiffany) owned Tiffany . C.For building the buildings during this time period they made the transition from iron frame to steel frame in 1880. 1 . During this time architects wanted to expand their creations so they started making the buildings taller. 2. In Chicago the first skyscraper was built. 3. The definition off skyscraper to an architect is † a metal frame building at least one-hundred feet tall. † 4. The home insurance building was the worlds first skyscraper, with only 12 stories. 5. Compared to the buildings now this nothing. 6. The Home Insurance Building was demolished in 1884.

Created in the Image of God Essay

The theme â€Å"Created in the Image of God† is saying that everyone is special and no human life should be wasted because God loves us all equally and has a plan for everyone. This theme also explains that everyone is created differently for a reason. The song Don’t Laugh at Me is about the people in the world that are made fun of and Mark Wills is saying that in God’s were all the same. The song Don’t Laugh at Me represents the theme â€Å"Created in the image of God† because Mark Wills is explaining that God made us all different for a reason and he loves us all equally and we shouldn’t be treated different because we have braces or because we are blind; we should all be treated the same. The theme of Narcissism is a self-centered love. Narcissism is when you love the way you look more than you love others, it is being obsessed with the way you look. The TV show Jersey Shore is a show where there are eight people living in a house and they go partying every night and they are all obsessed with the way they look. The TV show Jersey Shore represents the theme of Narcissism because the cast members of Jersey shore are all obsessed with the way they look, they go to the gym every day, they spend way too much time on their hair and on their clothes. The theme â€Å"When Love Goes Wrong† is explaining to us when we should know that your relationship is not good anymore and if we realize these things happening in our relationship, we should get out of the relationship. The song The Best Days of Your Life is about a guy cheating on his girlfriend and he got the other girl pregnant. His girlfriend is now trying to get over him. The song The Best Days of Your Life represents the theme â€Å"When Love Goes Wrong† because the couple in the song, their relationship was ruined when the boyfriend cheated on his girlfriend. The theme of inclusivity is including everyone and making them feel welcome even if you aren’t best friends with them. The picture I chose of children playing shows the three children sitting down playing and one child standing and it represents the three children letting the one child play with them. The picture of children playing represents the theme of Inclusivity because these children are letting the one child play with them even though they may not like that child, they are being nice and letting him play with them, because they are doing the catholic thing to do by letting him play with them.

Contract Investment Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Contract Investment Strategies - Essay Example Hedging can be considered a source of financing for post-loss investment opportunities. Hedging has other dimensions besides financing the post-loss investment; it addresses the asset substitution and under investment problems, reduces the probability of insolvency, permits more effective managerial compensation contracts, and may help reduce tax liabilities when tax functions are convex. In nutshell hedging, is 1 - Taking a position in a futures market opposite to a position held in the cash market to minimize the risk of financial loss from an adverse price change. 2 - A purchase or sale of futures as a temporary substitute for a cash transaction which will occur later. (http://www.cme.com/edu/ai/trdwthr/weatherbackground11784.html) For example, let us take the example of a hedger. A soybean grower must plan production based on some idea of a market price. There are, however, no guarantee against the decline of soybean prices once planting has begun. If prices drops once production is under way, future sale proceeds of soybeans may not be enough to cover the production cost, thus putting in jeopardy the financial health of the grower. Hedging can protect the farmer against this type of price uncertainty. Very similar is the case of weather derivatives. Weather derivatives cover low-risk, high probability events, while weather, insurance typically covers high-risk, low-probability events, as defined in highly tailored or customized policies. For example, a company might use a weather derivative to hedge against a winter that forecasters thought would be 5 Fahrenheit warmer than the historical average (a low risk, high probability event) since the company knows its revenues would be affected by that kind of weath er. However, the same company would most likely purchase an insurance policy for protection against damages caused by a flood or hurricane (high-risk, low-probability events.) (http://www.cme.com/edu/ai/trdwthr/weatherbackground11784.html) In the example of the soybean grower, by locking in a floor price through the purchase of a soybean put option, the grower would for example, at least know that no matter where the future market price of Soybeans is at harvest time, He/she will be able to sell the soybeans at the strike price. Of course, to establish this future price floor, the grower must pay a premium to purchase the put options, but this cost can be priced into production at the outset like any other cost of production. An owner of an asset will loose mosey when the price of the asset falls. Value of a put option rises when the asset price falls. What happens to the value of a portfolio containing both the asset and the put when the asset price falls Clearly, the answer depends on the ratio of assets to options in the portfolio. If the ratio is equal to zero, the value rises, whereas if the ratio is infinity, the value falls. Somewhere between these two extremes is a ratio at which a small movement in the asset does not results in any movement in the value of the portfolio. Such a portfolio is risk free. The reduction of risk by taking advantage of such correlations between the asset and the option price movements is called hedging. This is the one example how options are used in hedging. Call options can also be used for hedging. When using put options to hedge, various strike prices exist for an option on a specific stock index and for a specific expiration date. For example, put options on the

Questions about Asia Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Questions about Asia - Assignment Example In a family, it is the number of persons divided by the available arable land. Rate of natural population increase refers to the total birthrates minus the total death rates in a given population. In a family setting, the rate increases with a figure and decline if the figure is negative. Doubling time refers to the period required to achieve a double population growth rate. Doubling time involves dividing the growth rate percentage into 70. A growth rate of 3.5 shows a doubling time of 20 years. Gobi desert, a cold desert and the fifth largest in the world is Asia’s largest desert (Man 8). The desert constitutes of bare rocks unlike many other deserts that are sandy. The desert has a historic treasure for fossils, pre-historic tools and early dinosaur eggs. Gobi desert has extreme environment with temperatures of over 100 degrees in summer and below – 40 degrees in winter. The desert has rapid climatic changes and little rainfall. The desert homes many animals and drought resistant shrubs. Gobi is semi desert and desert and is expanding at a high rate. The desert has a history of human habitation by mostly nomads. The desert has strong dusty winds during the fall and spring and has a water oasis. Gobi is a Mongolian name which means ‘very large and dry’. The Himalaya Mountains block the desert from receiving enough rainfall (Man 10). Taklimakan desert is a dry and hot desert. It is the largest in China and has vast salt accumulation. The desert is sandy and contains crescent shaped sand dunes that can reach 300 meters high. This desert is one of the world’s largest shifting sand deserts. The desert has frigid temperatures. The desert is moving to the neighboring areas due to a shift in the sand caused by strong winds. South Asia has several mountains examples being Himalayas and Mount Everest. The Himalaya Mountains are the highest in the world. The

Discussion paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discussion paper - Essay Example Moderate Thai climate enhances the beauty of tourist resorts and provides ideal pre and post treatment environment. Spas are the main post treatment care places in the Thailand. Body massage and message of any body organ relieves the patients from different worries. Traditional massage, massage for beauty and massage for health are the main categories of massages in spas. Day’s spas help business people to lessen the stress during pause in the business activities. Thailand also provides treatment for cardiac problems in its tourist hospitals. Bumrungrad hospital Bangkok, Bangkok hospital Pattaya, Chaophya hospital and Chiangmai ram hospital are the important cardiac treatment hospitals available across the country. Over 1.2 million local and foreign patients are treated for bypass and heart transplantation. Physician who has treated more than 200 knee patients with a good record are preferred over other doctors in the country. 1.4 million Tourists for knee and hip treatment are expected to visit Thailand this year. This figure is higher than 1.2 million Orthopaedic treatments in 2010. Orthopaedic and other treatments are 20% cheaper than Singapore, India and UK. Cheap treatment encourages the patients to take along blood relatives for personal care as attendants. That is why 6 million US tourists visited Thailand in 2010. Cosmetic surgery is free of insurance policy that helps visitors to explore Thailand in detail. Private hospitals located mainly in the capita Bangkok are leading in surgery with state of the art technology and highly qualified staff. Spas offer post surgery massage for better looks after the surgery. Cosmetic surgery in Thailand ranges from simple face-lifts and tummy tucks to breast growth and sex reassignment surgery. Breast augmentation in Thailand costs about 3000 US$ against 9000 US$ in US. Almost same cost differences exist for face-lifts and tummy tucks. It is the cheapest from Canada, Australia and Germany. Doctor

Terrorism and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Terrorism and the Law - Essay Example An analysis of the problem of terrorism in USA, covering both the aspect of international and domestic has been considered and the study of the law incorporated by the government in handling matters of terrorism has been considered. Terrorism was largely held as an international and the foreign policy of the organizations. However various terrorist groups started focusing all its attention towards the United States from the beginning of this decade. In the year 2001, almost 63% of all the terror attacks were aimed at the citizens of the United States (Perl, 2003). Terror attacks have not only occurred in the United States but the citizens of the country have been massively affected in other parts of the world also. The catastrophic event in the World trade center is by far the worst terror attack which mankind has experienced. However US started experiencing the threat of terror much before the disaster in the World Trade Center. The country had also faced numerous cases of domestic terrorism, carried out by the citizens of US between the periods of 1980 to 2000. United States of America was seriously affected by domestic terrorism in various parts of Arizona, California, and Illinois. The areas were massively affected by such acts of terror and the government had a hard time bringing the situations under their control. Even the accused of the terror attacks which took place in California were convicted and several domestic extremist were arrested but such acts of terror were never under the control. Domestic terrorism spread in the country because of the right wing extremist and for the attainment of various political reasons in the country. However in recent times the act of domestic terrorism has been overshadowed by the international terrorism. The domestic terrorists based in US carry out the attacks not only on the human beings but

Review a concert about jazz performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review a concert about jazz performance - Essay Example Interestingly, even though most true jazz musicians seek to distance themselves from the understanding the jazz is ultimately a form of dance music, society’s perception of jazz continues to be concentric upon the belief that jazz is ultimately an early form of modern dance music. Some various jazz songs could be said to incorporate this element where the musicians thought it would be healthier to do something different instead of the ordinary music production. Likewise, for purposes of this performance review, the author will focus upon the following pieces and analyze how they were played and how this author reacted to the music: Andy Page’s â€Å"Up-End Adam† and â€Å"Jazzin’ in Jazz Town†, Brian Heater’s â€Å"Imagination†, and Mitch Rivet’s â€Å"Dancing with Pinkie†. The first two pieces to be discussed, those composed by Andy Page was magnificent in that the audience instantly engaged with the content. The trumpet was the lead instrument in this performance, which appeared to guide the artists. It carried the melody of every tune. This was an interesting dynamic to note due to the fact that regardless of the musical genre that one seeks to discuss, ultimately a single instrument or a group of instruments will seek to differentiate themselves from the others as a means of providing a firm and solid lead. Oftentimes within classical music this is realized within the lead violin or other instrument. Similarly, within rock ‘n roll this is oftentimes realized with regards to the lead guitar. Invariably, jazz exhibits the same constraints and allows different instruments to perform the lead even within the same song; thereby helping to set jazz apart from the other forms of music that a previously been listed by way of the fact that it is able to integrate and incorporate a number of instruments within any given piece that all can serve as the lead instrument. The second song, also of Andy P age was not about the sharp nines, flat fives, substitutes’ chord or metric subdivisions. The feeling, message and honesty the artists gave the crowd was just phenomenal. What gave the performance an intellectual aspect was the emotional ends. A person could feel connected to the artist and his message. The mental aspect of the song was that, in the middle, it gave someone a funky feeling through the solos, which included drums beats, as well as the saxophones, being played unaccompanied. It was within this very performance that the impacts of jazz upon modern music could be seen. Although the saxophone is not necessarily seen as a contemporary instrument within popular music, the means by which the saxophone solo was utilized to invoke strong melodic realizations and a differentiation from the remainder of the piece was munch it can to the way that modern singers perform a capello segments within their own songs. Though jazz oftentimes incorporates a vocalist, the utilizatio n of the saxophone is almost indistinguishable from the way that a vocalist might operate within a jazz band. The trumpet, in this performance, was the loudest, cutting instrument, above all others. The instruments guided other soloists in carrying out their performances. It was like the "alpha" instrument. The fourth piece which will herein be discussed is that of Brian Heater’

Government and Business (ECONOMICS) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Government and Business (ECONOMICS) - Case Study Example In order to fully understand and explore the question of whether Microsoft has the monopoly over the personal computer operating system or not, one must understand the dynamics behind the market structure of monopoly besides understanding what anti-competitive practices have been employed by Microsoft to capture the market and gain the leading position in operating systems market in the world. Further, it is also critical to understand that the question of Microsoft monopoly shall also be viewed in a broader perspective of antitrust laws and regulations and the perceived role of government in creating legislative environment which discourages such practices. This paper will attempt to understand and explore the question of whether the Microsoft has the monopoly power in the PC operating systems market in the world. And if yes, did Microsoft maintain this through using anticompetitive practices. "Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a range of software products for computing devices." (NY TIMES). This description of Microsoft virtually covers everything for which the firm is famous for. Technically, Microsoft is a software developer which develops different software such as operating systems to run the personal computer machines, Office suites including helping to accomplish different tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet analyses, presentations etc. It is however, critical to mention that Microsoft has successfully developed itself as a firm with diversified portfolio of software as well as hardware products. It not only has huge presence in software market but also manufactures and develops Xbox- a gaming portal and Zune- a new MP3 player. Established in 1975 as Microsoft by Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen, the new company was initially established in order to provide DOS based operating system to IBM's newly developed personal computer. Microsoft developed its first Windows bases operating system during 1983. This new operating system was potentially aimed at removing the deficiencies of the old MS- DOS and provide a more flexible and robust operating system which can cater to the needs of different users according to their own requirements. It is critical to note that at the time of introduction of this new Windows based operating system which worked on the Graphical User Interface (GUI) basis, Apple Computers was already in the market and was developing its own operating system to be sold with its own brand of personal computers. As the market for personal computers market soared, the demand for the Microsoft's operating system increased because of its relative ease and platform free nature which allowed Microsoft Windows to run on any personal computer machine. The era of 1990's saw an unprecedented growth in personal computers market and with the introduction of Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft virtually started its journey towards dominating the operating systems market in the world. The rapid increase in the demand for personal computers and relative ease and inexpensive nature of MS Windows software made a very explosive combination for users to get a comprehensive package. What is however, crit

Systematic Comparison between Traditional and Agile Methods Essay

Systematic Comparison between Traditional and Agile Methods - Essay Example Some do not go through all the stages while others may pass through one stage more than once. The Traditional approach involves designing a detailed plan before the start of the project and strictly adhering to it. Therefore, the whole project is clear to the developers before it is started. Agile project management is a collaborative approach in which all the team members are involved in the project. It involves an iterative process in which managers facilitate the working of the team and it requires regular adaptation to changing situations. The project plan is flexible and is not developed at the beginning of the project. Instead, it is developed throughout the project. The end result of the project is not predictable. This discussion explores the comparison between traditional and agile project management approaches. Traditional Project Management Approaches The traditional approach to project management consists of five components namely initiation, planning, execution, monitori ng and control, closure. Some traditional project management methods include linear and incremental project management lifecycle. Linear project management lifecycle does not allow any changes in the project plan. ... Scheduling the whole project before starting it gives the team a clear picture of what is expected to be done and who is responsible for each task. Moreover, details about the resources necessary for the completion of the project are known from the beginning. This approach does not require people with a lot of skills and supervision is not necessary as all the project details are written down. Co-location of team members is not necessary as each person has details of the part he/she is expected to play. It also has disadvantages. This model does not allow for changes. It is also very costly. It does not produce deliverables until in the late stages of the project. In addition, preparing a complete plan beforehand is time wasting. The process is rigid and there is no going back to make changes. This model is focused on the timely completion of the project within the available budget but not on client value (Wysocki 2011). Incremental project management life cycle consists of several d ependent increments, each with the lifecycle components of execution, monitoring, and project closure. These increments are accomplished in a prearranged sequence. The characteristics of the incremental project management lifecycle method are similar to those of the linear approach. The deliverables in this model are released against a schedule that is more aggressive. Advantages include the following: The business value is produced early and not at the end of the project like in linear approach. This model can allow for some changes in the scope of the project. It focuses on the client value more than the linear approach. It also facilitates the scheduling of few resources better. Some disadvantages include the following: Team members can be lost in between increments. It

Investment In Social Media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Investment In Social Media - Research Paper Example As such, business owners and online shoppers are finding it irresistible. However, even as more business owners continue to use social media for business, they face the challenge of measuring the time they should consume online and assessing the value of social media investment (Ghali, 2011). Specifically, business owners lack the knowledge of determining the Return on Investment (ROI) with respect to social media investment (Burg, 2013). This paper seeks to address ROI in perspective of social media and equally draw the relationship between social media, E-commerce and social commerce. Moreover, the paper will also discuss marketing through social media. It is quite clear that business owners encounter various challenges with respect to investing in social media. Among the social media challenges they face include lack of time, lack of knowledge on how to determine the return on investment, and absence of social media operational skills. Nevertheless, determining the social media RO I remains as the fundamental problem to most business owners (Kelly, 2012). In addressing this challenge, we should first define ROI. ROI is the most common profitability ratio that establishes the efficiency of an investment. In this context, ROI will measure the returns from a social media investment. However, it is factual that calculating ROI is difficult, may not be perfect, and depends on the applied returns and costs. Actually, there is no universal way of measuring the ROI of the social media commitments (Kelly, 2012). As such, some business owners tend to count how many Facebook fans and Twitter followers they have or how many retweets and likes they enjoy. However, this may not be an effective measure of ROI. We can measure ROI using metric tools that foster conversion measurement and  optimized CPM, which enables Facebook ads to reach the target audience (Burg, 2013). This enables the investor to know who clicked through their ads thus enhancing future business planning . In addition, we can measure ROI by analyzing interactions by multiplying the number of received likes by the number of friends of those likes witnessed the action. This defines how far the advert went. Moreover, we can analyze traffic to determine the ROI in social media efforts (Harden & Heyman, 2011). Indeed, different social media understand the business owners need to evaluate their ROI in social media and thus there is a provision for built-in analytics tools for following engagement, likes, and shares (Burg, 2013). This helps the marketers to determine how often people find the marketer’s page through the social sites. For example, on Facebook, one can analyze the comment to like a ratio of posts while on Twitter, one can analyze the retweets to tweet ratio. Notably, the higher the ratios, the higher the ROI is. In addition, we can analyze the website analytics against pay per click or the average cost of those PPC campaigns per person in relation to the free social m edia placements (Burg, 2013). This derives a clear picture of the effectiveness of the social media investment. Another mode of measuring ROI is by determining the number of people that has a potential of interacting with the marketer while using the social media (Ghali, 2011). This enables th

Education Is Not the Key to Success Essay Example for Free

Education Is Not the Key to Success Essay

Defining And Evaluating Methods Of Measuring Performance Accounting Essay

Defining And Evaluating Methods Of Measuring Performance Accounting Essay Performance measurement is the performance-based management process which is flowing from the organizational mission and the strategic planning process. Performance measurement are includes the objective and subjective assessments of the performance of both individuals and subunits of an organization such as divisions or departments. Performance measurement are effective in ensure that a strategy of organisation is successfully implemented by monitor an organisations effectiveness in satisfying its own predetermined goals or stakeholder desires. Performance measures may be based on non-financial as well as on financial information. The Return on Investment (ROI) Two measures of divisional performance are commonly used is ROI and RI. ROI is the most common profitability ratio. Nowadays, most of companies concentrate on the return on investment (ROI) of a division that is profit as a percentage in direct relation to investment of division which instead of focusing on the size of a divisions profits. ROI addressed divisional profit as a percentage of the assets employed in the division. Assets employed can be defined as total divisional assets, assets controllable by the divisional manager, or net assets. The main advantage of using ROI is provides a valuable information about the overall approximation on the success of a firms past investment policy by providing a abstract of the ex post return on capital invested. According to Kaplan and Atkinson, they state that however, lack of some form of measurement of the ex post returns on capital, there is still useful for accurate estimates of future cash flows during the capital budgeting process. When ROI is used as a managerial performance measure, Measuring returns on invested capital also focuses managers attention on the impact of levels of working capital (in particular, stocks and debtors) on the ROI. It can lead to decisions making that are optimal for individual divisions but sub-optimal for the company. ROI focuses on short-term profitability, looking only at the last quarter or last year for performance evaluation. This time horizon may not be long enough for many projects to be evaluated. According to Daiva BurkÃ…Â ¡aitienÄ-, a further attraction of ROI is that it can compare the return of different businesses field for example division within the company or competitors by adopting it as a common denominator. Therefore, corporate managers want their divisional managers to focus on ROI so that their performance measure is congruent with outsiders measure of the companys overall economic performance. However, the used of ROI for evaluating the economic performance of a division is more appropriate than evaluating the managerial performance, since controllable profit and assets are not exposed in external published financial statements. For comparing the economic performance of a division, net income is likely to be the preferred profit measure to be used as the numerator to compute ROI in order to ensure consistency with the measures that are derived from the financial reports of similar companies outside of the group. ROI has been most widely used financial mea sure for many years in all types of companies. ROI is also a useful medium to communicate the ROI to those who have varying degrees of financial knowledge. The ROI concept allows managers to speak the same language when handle project goals in financial terms across several departments in a corporation as well Information Technology (IT) vendors use ROI as a sales tool to easily convey the economic value of their products. The residual income (RI) Residual income overcomes the dysfunctional aspect of ROI. It is because the use of ROI as a performance measurement can lead to under-investment. For example a manager currently achieving a high rate of return( say 30 percen) may not wish to pursue a project yielding a lower rate of return ( say 20 percen) even thought such as a project may be desirable to a company which can raise capital at an even lower rate ( say 15 percent) (David Otley, n.d). Thus, used RI is better than ROI. The purpose of evaluating the performance of divisional managers, RI is defined as controllable contribution less a cost of capital charge on the investment controllable by the divisional manager. For evaluating the economic performance of the division RI can be defined as divisional contribution less a cost of capital charge on the total investment in assets employed by the division. Besides, RI is favour than ROI and it more flexible because different cost of capital percentage rates can be applied to investments that have different levels of risk. There is not only will the cost of capital of divisions that have different levels of risk differ so may the risk and cost of capital of assets within the same division. The RI measure enables to calculate the different risk-adjusted in capital cost while ROI cannot incorporate these differences. The economic value added ROI and RI cannot stand alone as a financial measure of divisional performance. One of the factors contribute to a companys long-run objectives is short-run profit ability. ROI and RI are short-run concepts that deal only with the current reporting period whereas managerial performance measures should focus on future results that can be expected because of present actions. RI has been refined and re-named as economic value added (EVA) by the Stern Stewart Co. EVA is a financial performance measure based on operating income after taxes, the investment in assets required to generate that income and the cost of the investment in assets (or, weighted average cost of capital). The objective of EVA is to develop a performance measure that find the ways in which company value can be added or lost. The EVA concept extends the traditional residual income measure by incorporating adjustments to the divisional financial performance measure for distortions introduced by GAAP. Thus, by linking divisional performance to EVA, managers are motivated to focus on increasing shareholder value. The objective of developed EVA is producing an overall financial measure that encourages senior managers to focus on the delivery of shareholder value. According to Stern Stewart Co. the aim of companies managers whose shares are traded in the stock market should be to maximize shareholder value. Therefore, financial measurement is an important key used to measure divisional or company performance should be congruent with shareholder value. They claim that compared with other financial measures, EVA is more likely to meet this requirement and also to reduce dysfunctional behaviour. EVA is not just a performance measure but can be the major part of an integrated financial management system leading to decentralised decision making. . It leads the each different department managers to make the best decision lies to the companys goals. Thus adoption of EVA should indirectly bring changes in management which in turn can enhance company value (Stern, Stewart and Chew, 1991). It can be proved by an article in an issue of Fortune magazine (1993) described the apparent success that many companies had derived from using EVA to motivate and evaluate corporate and divisional managers. In fact, companies which have adopted EVA as the basis of management performance measurement have experienced a significant increase in their shareholders wealth. Limitations of financial performance measures Financial performance measures are generally based on short-term measurement periods and this can encourage managers to become short-term oriented. For example, relying on short-term measurement periods may encourage managers to reject positive NPV investments that have an initial adverse impact on the divisional performance measure but have high payoffs in later periods. Financial performance measures are as lagging indicators (Eccles and Pyburn, 1992) by time lag between actions and results. They state the outcomes of managements actions after a period of time, produce too late to influence current decisions. Therefore, its hard to understand or know what the manager did caused what to happen. Hard to know, what the manager did that makes the thing going well or bad as well. Financial performance measures are limited to current reporting period only and it needs to be supplemented by non financial information such as customer satisfaction and quality while Managerial performance measures focus and expect what will be the future result. The major problem is obtaining profit measures are based on the historical cost concept and thus tend to be poor estimates of economic performance. Companies tend to rely on financial accounting-based information for internal performance measurement (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). This information may be appropriate for external reporting but it is doubtful for internal performance measurement and evaluation. In particular, using GAAP requires that discretionary expenses are treated as period costs, resulting in managers having to bear the full cost in the period in which they are incurred. Many traditional measurement and evaluation methods such as ROI, EVA, ROCE and so on have failed to yield an appropriate estimate of the pay back from these complex systems (Barua et al., 1996). Some claim these performance indicators have a high reliance on financial perspectives and thus portrait only one facet of the organisation. Balance scorecard (BSC) BSC was introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992) to overcome the shortcomings of traditional management accounting and control which fails to signal changes in the companys economic value as an organization makes substantial investments or depletes past investments in intangible assets. The scorecard contains four different perspective which is financial performance, customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. These perspectives reflect the interests of the key stakeholders of companies involving shareholders, customers and employees (Mooraj et al., 1999). There are several benefits of adoption the balanced scorecard highlight by Kaplan and Norton 1992. One of the benefits is focusing the entire company on the few key things needed to create breakthrough performance. A balanced scorecard might show that an organisation is only weak in a couple of areas but that these areas are impeding its overall success. By focusing everyone in the organisation on improving those areas, overall performance gets better. Next, it assists to integrate different company activities such as quality and customer service. By looking at different organisational programmes or units from different perspectives can be a way of getting everyone singing from the same song sheet. If the balanced scorecard shows customer service to be weak, focusing on everybodys customer service performance behaviours will lead to small improvements in each department or unit; the overall effect will be a bigger improvement in the organisations customer service performance across the board. Lastly, managers and employees both know what is required to achieve excellent overall performance by breaking down strategic measures to lower levels of the organisation. For example, an organisation might have overall goals to increase productivity by 5 per cent. By breaking down its productivity measures to granular levels of the organisation as part of a balanced scorecard, every member of the organisation will have clear targets that achieve their overall goals. Performance Prism The Performance Prism was developed by (Andy Neely and Adams, 2000) takes a drastically different look at performance measurement and sets out clearly to recognize how managers can use measurement data to improve business performance. It has a much more comprehensive view of different stakeholders for example investors, customers, employees, regulators and suppliers than other frameworks. It must be considering the wants and needs of stakeholders first before the strategies can be formulated (Neely et al., 2001). Thus, the stakeholders and their needs have been clearly identified, if not, it is impossible to form a proper strategy for company. According to Andy Neely, now lots of measurement frameworks for example like the balanced scorecard tends to take a fairly narrow view of stakeholders which refer to shareholders and customers. However, it ignores employees, suppliers, regulators and in todays society organisations cant afford to ignore those different pressure groups. Those di fferent groups of stakeholders that might be interested in the business. The strength of this conceptual framework is that it first questions the companys existing strategy before the process of selecting measures is started. In this way, the framework ensures that the performance measures have a strong foundation. The performance prism also considers new stakeholders (such as employees, suppliers, alliance partners or intermediaries) who are usually neglected when forming performance measures. It is structured to throw light on the complexity of an organisations relationships with its multiple stakeholders within the context of its particular operating environment. It provides an innovative and holistic framework that directs management attention to what is important for long term success and viability and helps organisations to design, build, operate and refresh their performance measurement systems in a way that is relevant to the specific conditions of their operating environment. (Andy Neely, Chris Adams, Mike Kennerley, 2002). Lastly, the performance Prism has considered the stakeholder satisfaction and stakeholder contribution compare to other performance measurement dont consider it. Now a way of thinking about this is that as a stakeholder in an organisation as a customer of an organisation, there are certain things I want from the organisation. Conclusion Divisional performance measurement should be based on a combination of financial and non-financial measures. Financial performance measures cannot stand alone as a measure of divisional performance. Profitability is only one of the factors contributing to a companys objectives. An incorporation of non-financial measures, such as competitiveness, product leadership, productivity, quality, innovation and flexibility in responding to changes in demand, creates the need to link financial and non-financial measures of performance.

Applications of Developmental Psychology to Practice

Applications of Developmental Psychology to Practice Title: Within your chosen topic area, Health Psychology In Action: Children and the development, (chapter 3 by Tony Cassidy) discuss the ways in which developmental psychology can inform practice. Psychology is a cumulative scientific study of the mind based on empirically driven theories that link experience, behaviour and the brain. Health psychology, despite being a relatively new branch of applied psychology, is following that exact path. It is the study of the psychological processes of health, illness and healthcare systems (Cassidy 2006). While the breadth of the discipline is far reaching, its core goal is the use psychological theories and interventions to prevent damaging behaviour. Perhaps the mind begins as a blank slate and we start of as perfect idiots. At the other extreme, it could be like a Swiss-army knife, a collection of innately structured neural modules or perhaps it starts off undifferentiated and becomes modular. Is it our cultural learning or meta-representation that shapes our behaviour? (Wexler 2006) There is no shortage of one-line theories of human nature. However, when it comes to children there is very little room for error. There is overwhelming evidence documenting the effect of early childhood experiences with their long term health and associated behaviours. For example, stress in early life can inhibit neurogenesis in later adulthood (Tucker 2002; Karten et al 2005), but to what extent does such developmental theory actually inform real life practice? Or in other words, are the current initiatives used by health psychologists working in the way theories predict? There isnt room for an exhaustive search here and so this piece will focus on a few practical examples. More than 400 million adults worldwide are obese according to the World Health Organization (2004) and children from many difference socio-cultural backgrounds are at risk (Cassidy 2006). There are a barrage of studies contemplating how our surroundings are responsible for the growing obesity problem (Brownell 2004). These papers all point towards two key issues: (a) The easy availability of foods that are high in fat. (b) Poor opportunities for exercise. While it is intuitively obvious why people become obese, the relationship between weight and behaviour is still highly complex and health psychology has attempted to identify some of the reasons behind the obesity epidemic. For example, a large body of evidence suggests that the family environment is the major source of influence over childhood eating behaviour (Rivett 2008). Psychologists have attempted to influence childrens food choices through the application of social learning theory in programmes such as The Food Dudes Program (Tucker 2002). The researchers developed a video of four older children who appeared to gain super powers for eating fruit and vegetables. The basic premiss being that a child is more likely to imitate the behaviour of a person they admire and is consistent with a behaviouralist approach because there are rewards for behaviours which are desirable. Similar programs have borrowed from Gratton et al (2007) and have used the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a framework to promote childrens fruit and vegetable consumption. TPB posits that behavioural intentions are the proximal determinants of actual behaviour, with the perception of control being an important co-determinant of behaviour (Gratton et al 2007). The programme simply took two groups of children and showed one group ways in which they could make time in the day to eat five-a-day and another group on how they could overcome motivational barriers to achieving this goal. Both interventions were found to be successful. Similar programmes encouraging children to take exercise also exist (Cassidy 2006). Despite some success stories, the effects have been disappointing in the long-term with such programmes (Brownell 2004). Surrounded by a social construct implying that being overweight is normal and acceptable, psychologists are presented with a constant struggle. However, by improving childrens own understanding of illness, this can promote healthy actions by groups and in tandem with a new TPB framework, help improve future lifestyle choices (Williams Binnie 2002). The focus of preventive intervention is also a key area of theoretical implementation in health psychology. This fits with a biopsychosocial model where biological, psychological and social factors are implicated in both health and illness. Prevention cannot focus on only a single factor. For example, drug misuse in adolescence, both legal and illegal, is an issue across the developed world which can be tied into other more serious health concerns (Cassidy 2006). Three aspects of family background have been found to predict risk of drug use: parental involvement in crime, poor relationships with parents and unsupportive child-parent interactions (Mazanov Byrne 2008). Interventions have sought to use social inoculation theory developed by McGuire in the 1960s the basic ideology being that decisions are made in the context of social pressure. More recent work has attempted to model what makes an adolescent successfully quit smoking and found that past behaviour explained more than four times the variance of other factors (Mazanov Byrne 2008). On the other hand, family environment is evidently a key area of theoretical and subsequent practical intervention. Recent research has proposed that family therapy is currently undergoing radical change, but this change seems to be driven by more contextual factors as opposed to new theoretical advances. (Rivett 2008) However, any interventions are often clouded by the prevalence of problematic behaviour patterns including impulsivity and rebelliousness making behaviour difficult to predict: The 14 year old has a very simple decision to make. When he sees a light out of the corner of his eye, he is supposed to ignore it. (Powell 2006, p. 865) This is an extremely easy task and even 8 year olds can do it correctly half of the time, but it requires suppressing a natural impulse not the strong point of most teenagers. In this simple test the teenager performs as well as adults do, but inside his head, a lot more cognitive effort is required, as shown by recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies (Powell 2006). Are outdated theories keeping up with new physiological knowledge or should health care be expanded amongst the young moving away from traditional approaches and into the community? (Williams et al 2002) Health psychology is a new and exciting discipline and is constantly surprising both the academics and applied psychological communities. From enhanced wound healing after an emotional disclosure intervention (Weinman et al 2008) to simply using a distraction intervention to ease the pain of pre-school children undergoing injections (Dahlquist et al 2002), there is a constant stream of new theories and interventions. However, no one theory is going to answer and treat all our health problems and there is always an inherent danger when generalizing to large populations. There is a tendency for fragmentation within modern applied psychology that inevitably results from the growth and development of individual areas. References Brownell, D. K. (2004) Food Fight, London: McGraw-Hill Cassidy, T. (2006). Health Psychology: children and development. In Wood et al. (eds) Developmental Psychology in Action. Blackwell Publishing. p. 101-135 Dahlquist, M. L., Pendley, S. J., Landthrip, S. D., Jones, L. C., Steuber, P. C. (2002) Distraction intervention for preschoolers undergoing intramuscular injections and subcutaneous port access. Health Psychology, 21 (1), 94-99 Gratton, L., Povey, R., Carter, D. (2007). Promoting childrens fruit and vegetable consumption: Interventions using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework. British Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 639-650 Karten, J. G. Y., Olariu, A., Cameron, A. (2005). Stress in early life inhibits neurogenesis in adulthood. Trends in Neuroscience, 28 (4), 171-172 Powell, K. (2006). How does the teenage brain work? Nature, 442 (24), 865-867 Rivett, M. (2008). Towards a metamorphosis: current developments in the theory and practice of family therapy. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 13 (3), 102-106 Tucker, M. C. (2002). Expanding pediatric psychology beyond hospital walls to meet the health care needs of ethnic minority children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27 (4), 315-323 Weinman, J., Ebrecht, M., Suzanne, S., Walburn, J., Dyson, M. (2008). Enhanced wound healing after emotional disclosure intervention. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 95-102 Williams, M. J., Binnie, M. L. (2002). Childrens concepts of illness: An intervention to improve knowledge. British Journal of Health Psychology, 7, 129-147

The Tragic Figures in Sophocles Antigone :: Antigone essays

Tragic Figures in Antigone      Ã‚   A good working definition of a tragic figure, in the Greek mythological sense, would be a person who, through a character flaw, is brought lower than that flaw would merit. The person with the flaw is usually royal, or at least noble. Greek tragedies were not written about common people.    Antigone may be a tragic figure in the modern, common sense of the word; that is, she was someone who has something bad happen to her. "Oh," someone might say when they discover Antigone's fate, "how tragic." Nevertheless, they do not mean that Antigone is tragic in the classical Greek sense; rather they just mean that Antigone got a bad lot that she didn't deserve. Antigone cannot be a tragic figure in the classical Greek sense because she didn't have any character faults. She was brought low for other reasons -- in this case, she died because she was obedient to the will of the gods. That isn't a fault, it's a virtue. Throughout the play she shows herself to be kind, generous, and giving. Again, those are hardly vices.    This leaves Creon as the only possible tragic figure in Antigone. And he does make an ideal tragic figure in the classical sense! His flaw that brings him low is a sense of narrow-minded pride. Although in some sense he may be justified in what he is doing through his claim that he is doing it for the good of the state, this does not completely excuse or ameliorate his actions in the eyes of the gods.    The fact that Creon persists in his actions despite the warnings of others (Tiresias, Antigone, Haemon, etc.) is part of what makes the tragedy so tragic -- he had chance after chance to back out. Antigone tries her best to persuade him, saying, "Surely, to think yours the only wisdom, / And yours the only word, the only will, / Betrays a shallow spirit, an empty heart," but Creon dismisses this because she is a woman. Haemon tries to tell his father that the people are not in agreement with him, but his father accuses him of being a weakling and arguing only to protect his fiancee. Finally, Tiresias the seer tries to warn Creon that what he is doing is not in accordance with the will of the gods, but Creon accuses him of lying for profit, saying, "Money! Money's the curse of man, none greater. The Tragic Figures in Sophocles' Antigone :: Antigone essays Tragic Figures in Antigone      Ã‚   A good working definition of a tragic figure, in the Greek mythological sense, would be a person who, through a character flaw, is brought lower than that flaw would merit. The person with the flaw is usually royal, or at least noble. Greek tragedies were not written about common people.    Antigone may be a tragic figure in the modern, common sense of the word; that is, she was someone who has something bad happen to her. "Oh," someone might say when they discover Antigone's fate, "how tragic." Nevertheless, they do not mean that Antigone is tragic in the classical Greek sense; rather they just mean that Antigone got a bad lot that she didn't deserve. Antigone cannot be a tragic figure in the classical Greek sense because she didn't have any character faults. She was brought low for other reasons -- in this case, she died because she was obedient to the will of the gods. That isn't a fault, it's a virtue. Throughout the play she shows herself to be kind, generous, and giving. Again, those are hardly vices.    This leaves Creon as the only possible tragic figure in Antigone. And he does make an ideal tragic figure in the classical sense! His flaw that brings him low is a sense of narrow-minded pride. Although in some sense he may be justified in what he is doing through his claim that he is doing it for the good of the state, this does not completely excuse or ameliorate his actions in the eyes of the gods.    The fact that Creon persists in his actions despite the warnings of others (Tiresias, Antigone, Haemon, etc.) is part of what makes the tragedy so tragic -- he had chance after chance to back out. Antigone tries her best to persuade him, saying, "Surely, to think yours the only wisdom, / And yours the only word, the only will, / Betrays a shallow spirit, an empty heart," but Creon dismisses this because she is a woman. Haemon tries to tell his father that the people are not in agreement with him, but his father accuses him of being a weakling and arguing only to protect his fiancee. Finally, Tiresias the seer tries to warn Creon that what he is doing is not in accordance with the will of the gods, but Creon accuses him of lying for profit, saying, "Money! Money's the curse of man, none greater.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: The Young Lovers -- Midsummer Nights

The Young Lovers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream  Ã‚      For the proper view of the plight of the young lovers of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we should look to other characters in the play. We are invited to sympathize with their situation, but to see as rather ridiculous the posturing to which it leads. This is evident in their language which is often highly formal in use of rhetorical devices, and in Lysander's and Hermia's generalizing of "the course of true love" (the "reasons" they give why love does not "run smooth" clearly do not refer to their own particular problems: they are not "different in blood", nor mismatched "in respect of years"). Pyramus and Thisbe is not only Shakespeare's parody of the work of other playwrights but also a mock-tragic illustration of Lysander's famous remark. This is evident in a number of similarities to the scenes in the Dream in which the young lovers are present.    Before the play begins, and at its end, as Demetrius loves Helena, we see two happy couples; but Demetrius' loss of love for Helena (arising from, or leading to, his infatuation with Hermia) disturbs the equilibrium. That Demetrius really does re-discover his love for Helena in the wood (as opposed to continuing merely in a dotage induced by the juice of love-in-idleness) is clear from his speech on waking. Unlike his "goddess, nymph, divine" outburst, this defence of his love and repentance for his infatuation with Hermia (likened to a sickness) is measured and persuasive. The critic who objects to the absence of any stage direction for the giving to Demetrius of Dian's bud, the antidote to Cupid's flower, can be answered thus: in a performance, the audience is not likely to detect the omission; we may supp... ...mbered but, in its many confusions (changes of desire, seeming betrayals, quarrels, voices from nowhere) thought of as a dream. This view is anticipated by the pair of six-line stanzas spoken by Helena and Hermia at the end of Act 3. Each is a moving expression of despair and resignation (though Helena's "O weary night, O long and tedious night" has a hint of Pyramus's "O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black!" about it. If Puck hints at how we are to see the lovers in the wood, Theseus is able, in the final act, to articulate our happiness at the comic resolution: "Joy, gentle friends, joy and fresh days of love/Accompany your hearts", while we inwardly endorse the fairies' blessing and Oberon's promise that the lovers' "issue" shall "ever...be fortunate", the couples "ever true in loving". We rejoice to see Lysander's pessimistic utterance contradicted.    A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: The Young Lovers -- Midsummer Night's The Young Lovers of A Midsummer Night’s Dream  Ã‚      For the proper view of the plight of the young lovers of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we should look to other characters in the play. We are invited to sympathize with their situation, but to see as rather ridiculous the posturing to which it leads. This is evident in their language which is often highly formal in use of rhetorical devices, and in Lysander's and Hermia's generalizing of "the course of true love" (the "reasons" they give why love does not "run smooth" clearly do not refer to their own particular problems: they are not "different in blood", nor mismatched "in respect of years"). Pyramus and Thisbe is not only Shakespeare's parody of the work of other playwrights but also a mock-tragic illustration of Lysander's famous remark. This is evident in a number of similarities to the scenes in the Dream in which the young lovers are present.    Before the play begins, and at its end, as Demetrius loves Helena, we see two happy couples; but Demetrius' loss of love for Helena (arising from, or leading to, his infatuation with Hermia) disturbs the equilibrium. That Demetrius really does re-discover his love for Helena in the wood (as opposed to continuing merely in a dotage induced by the juice of love-in-idleness) is clear from his speech on waking. Unlike his "goddess, nymph, divine" outburst, this defence of his love and repentance for his infatuation with Hermia (likened to a sickness) is measured and persuasive. The critic who objects to the absence of any stage direction for the giving to Demetrius of Dian's bud, the antidote to Cupid's flower, can be answered thus: in a performance, the audience is not likely to detect the omission; we may supp... ...mbered but, in its many confusions (changes of desire, seeming betrayals, quarrels, voices from nowhere) thought of as a dream. This view is anticipated by the pair of six-line stanzas spoken by Helena and Hermia at the end of Act 3. Each is a moving expression of despair and resignation (though Helena's "O weary night, O long and tedious night" has a hint of Pyramus's "O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black!" about it. If Puck hints at how we are to see the lovers in the wood, Theseus is able, in the final act, to articulate our happiness at the comic resolution: "Joy, gentle friends, joy and fresh days of love/Accompany your hearts", while we inwardly endorse the fairies' blessing and Oberon's promise that the lovers' "issue" shall "ever...be fortunate", the couples "ever true in loving". We rejoice to see Lysander's pessimistic utterance contradicted.   

Barriers to communication Essay

Some communication barriers happen when the person doesn’t know if someone is deaf, blind etc. So this may make things a lot difficult as the person trying to understand the message being sent may think they are ignoring them or just trying to use signals to get them to understand that they may not be able to hear or see them. Communication between people is mainly about sharing new information to one another. For example someone may ask someone what number bus they might need to catch or if they can have a glass of water. Sometimes communication will be complex. A relative may want to know something about wanting to fund for care. Communication involving funding may involve complex communication. In a situation like this then it would be important to make sure that the relative understands the information that has been provided. Most care workers like to build a strong relationship with someone to get a better understanding of them which can provide emotional support. Most communication involves emotional issues being difficult or sensitive. There would be no advice or information that would be useful to a person if they are feeling overwhelmed by most people do like the comfort of other people at these emotional times. Difficult or sensitive situation is focused on the person’s emotional issues rather than giving them information on stuff they don’t feel like talking about. Sometimes by creating a caring relationship with someone then it is about being able to understand the person feelings that they may be experiencing at that moment in time. Sometimes being with a person who is often lonely, anxious or depressed can provide them with comfort. Sometimes using nonverbal communication about how you are feeling then it can be more effective than words being spoken. Most care workers like to create their own barriers as they feel stressed by listening to the emotional needs of the people that they work with. Mainly listening to other people’s emotional needs can be often frightening or depressing. Most carers will sometimes stop listening in order to not hear about their painful emotions. Tiredness and lack of time to avoid the emotional stress of others can create a barrier from providing a caring environment. Building an understanding of another person can be rather difficult if their personality or self-esteem is low and they need to create  a barrier. People who may be depressed or anxious can experience negative thoughts that can just come to them. By attempting these thoughts and feelings can make them try to find a way through a brick wall. It may make them feel like there is an emotional barrier stopping them from experiencing some positive emotions. Some people may have a preferred language that they like to use to communicate with others. This preferred language will sometimes be obvious to that person. Most people in different communities will use their own language. Some people will use jargon, dialect or slang to communicate effectively with the people of their own language. These sometimes can create barriers to an understanding. Sensory impairment means that people’s senses do not work effectively. Impairments can create the first kind of communication barrier when information isn’t fully or received or misunderstood. A disability is not the same as impairment. But some people experiencing the barriers may be different as they may have a communication disability by not being able to say what they want to say. For example, a deaf person will have no problem communicating to a person who is good at sign language as they will understand them. But the person may not be able to communicate with people who only use spoken English without the aid of an interpreter. Building an understanding of other people’s needs will take some time and effort. Making assumptions may cause people to misinterpret what another person might be trying to communicate. For example, people might believe that they don’t need to listen to what another person has to say because they might already know what their needs might be. Most care workers who might use the communication cycle are less likely to make assumptions as they will check that they understand. Assumptions can create barriers as people can stop listening and might stop checking that they understand other people’s communication. Many people make assumptions based on people who have a disability which can mean that they are damaged as a normal person. When disabled people are seen this way then they may get ignored. Some people who have communication difficulties are sometimes assumed to be mentally impaired. People who are older will sometimes be seen as demented or confused if they are not able to answer questions quickly, correctly or clearly. Many care workers do not bother to check their assumptions about  people, but those assumptions can be turned into prejudices. Prejudices can lead into discrimination against someone. When a person experience strong emotions or if their self-esteem gets threatened then that person may become aggressive and may use submissive communication so they will be creating their own barriers. Most barriers are associated with cultural variation culture which refers to the different customs and assumptions that many communities of people adopt. Different ethnic and religious groups may have different cultures, different ages, occupational and geographical groups which can also make different cultural assumptions. Using words and non-verbal communication can be interpreted differently depending on the context and the culture of the person using them. For example, the word ‘hot’ may have different meanings depending on the context in which the person is using it. Using formal context, ‘hot’ can also refer to someone having a high temperature. In other speech communities an object may be hot if it has been stolen or if it is desirable. Also a hot person might be very good at something, or maybe someone who has overcome a certain desire. Communication may be interpreted by a fixed cultural standpoint, where serious misunderstanding may occur. To make sense of spoken and non-verbal language then people need to understand the context of the person they are communicating with. An example of non-verbal cultural variation might be someone communicating by using hand gestures in which the palm is held up and facing forward. It is also important that people do not make assumptions about non-verbal messages as they should always be checked. Non-verbal messages can mean different things depending on the circumstance s if the people sending the messages. Also if someone cannot control or make decisions about their own life then they may fail to develop or they might lose their sense of wellbeing. If care workers control someone then their self-esteem may get damaged. Care workers should seek to empower people who also use that service. Empowerment means giving power to other people. Also people who may use that service should be empowered to believe that they are allowed to make their own choices and to make sure they take control of their own life. Many people have different belief systems about what is important in their life and how people should live their lives. The values and principles that we think as being important or valuable, show’s how we live our lives. When people have different belief systems and values then  it may be easy for them to misinterpret someone else’s intentions when attempting to communicate. Many assumptions, belief systems and values can therefore create barriers for an understanding. Also it is important that people try to learn about other people’s beliefs and values in order to make an understanding of what they are trying to communicate. The use and abuse of power requires that all workers respect one another and support the people who use the same services and to be able to control their own lives. However, there is always danger that if a care worker is short of time then they will seek to control the people they work with. Also it may be an abuse power if care workers deliberately control others. People who use alcohol and drugs can influence a person’s ability to send a clear verbal or non-verbal message. Drugs that affect the functioning of the central nervous system can then result in messages not being received or misunderstood and can also distort interpretations of the messages. Alcohol and drug abuse can therefore create all barriers to commu nication as it can cause people to become frustrated or aggressive when trying to communicate.

EEI Corporation (EEI) Essay

EEI Corporation (EEI) was incorporated on April 17, 1931 as a machinery and mills supply house for the mining industry. The Company eventually expanded into provisioning construction services and a broader range of industrial machinery and systems. EEI is a member of the Yuchengco Group of Companies, a conglomerate with interests in banking, financial services and property development. EEI has been involved in the installation, construction and erection of power generating and transmission facilities, oil refineries, chemical production plants, cement plants, food and beverage manufacturing facilities, semiconductor assembly plants, road, rail and bridge infrastructures, and high rise landmarks. It also operates a steel fabrication plant. EEI’s subsidiaries includes EEI (BVI) Ltd. & Subsidiaries; EEI Construction and Marine, Inc.; EEI Power Corporation; EEI Realty Corporation; Equipment Engineers, Inc.; Gulf Asia International Corporation; Bagumbayan Equipment & Industrial Plant, Inc.; Philrock Construction and Services, Inc.; Philmark, Inc.; EEI Corporation (Guam), Inc.; and EEI Subic Corporation. The Company has also been involved in several joint venture companies through ECW Joint Venture, Inc. and Al Rushaid Construction Company Ltd. Board of Directors

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research Paper

An arising problem in today’s world is the destruction of the ozone layer because of the emissions and harmful gases that vehicles are giving off. Forget ethanol or biodiesel. The next big thing in automotive fuel may very well be hydrogen. Automakers rapidly are closing in on making hydrogen fuel cell vehicles an everyday fact of life, with several test models set to debut over the next few years. Hydrogen fuel cells to power vehicles are desirable, experts say, because hydrogen is a renewable fuel that can be used to create electricity to run cars. A chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen produces the electric power, and when pure hydrogen is used, the only emission from the tailpipe is harmless water vapor. Many people are asking, â€Å"Why fuel cells? † The gasoline engine in a conventional car is less than 20% efficient in converting the chemical energy in gasoline into power that moves the vehicle, under normal driving conditions. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which use electric motors, are much more energy efficient and use 40-60 percent of membrane to the other side of the cell, the stream of negatively-charged electrons follows an external circuit to the cathode. You can read also Thin Film Solar Cell This flow of electrons is electricity that can be used to do work, such as power a motor. On the other side of the cell, oxygen gas, typically drawn from the outside air, flows through channels to the cathode. When the electrons return from doing work, they react with oxygen and the hydrogen protons (which have moved through the membrane) at the cathode to form water. This union is an exothermic reaction, generating heat that can be used outside the fuel cell. The future of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles depends on advances in four areas: the hydrogen source, the distribution infrastructure, the on-board fuel tank and the on-board fuel cell. Hydrogen must be made from carbon-free renewable sources before fuel-cell vehicles can make a dent in the climate problem. One idea is to make the hydrogen by splitting water using electricity from wind farms, or solar panels. Once the hydrogen is made, it must be distributed via special pipelines and tankers to an extensive network of hydrogen refueling stations, which have yet to be created yet. Once in the tank, fuel cell vehicles must store enough hydrogen to go several hundred kilometers between refueling stops. Liquid hydrogen requires insulated tanks at -253*C. so most companies have chosen to compress the hydrogen inside high-strength carbon fiber tanks. The purpose of the fuel cell is to convert hydrogen to electric power. The challenge is to make it light, cheap, robust and durable — yet powerful enough to run the engine, lights and air conditioning. Hydrogen fuel cells, while about twice as efficient as internal-combustion engines using gas, cost nearly 100 times as much per unit of power produced, critics note. And hydrogen is explosive. It ignites at a wider range of concentrations than natural gas and requires less energy to ignite, Michael D. Amiridis, chair of the chemical engineering department at the University of South Carolina, told the Web site and gas-electric hybrid cars advocate hybridcars. com. â€Å"It’s scary – you cannot see the flame,† Amiridis said. Still, automakers are pushing ahead. â€Å"What we can do from our side is to show that technology is mainly feasible, and we have many corporate projects in this area,† said BMW’s corporate communications manager Andreas Klugescheid. It’s North America Engineering and Emission Test Center in California, for example, has been testing two BMW Hydrogen 7 prototypes that run on both hydrogen and gasoline, using a dual-fuel engine and two separate fuel tanks. With the push of a button on its steering wheel, the Hydrogen 7 can run on either hydrogen or gasoline. It can go 125 miles on its hydrogen mode and 300 on its gasoline mode, thus limiting the possibility that its driver might be stranded, given that there’s only one hydrogen filling station in California, near Los Angeles. Along with the hydrogen fuel cells' high efficiency (from 40-70%), the possibility of utilizing both heat and electricity from them will make a significant contribution to reducing atmospheric emissions. For example, a fuel cell operating at 60% efficiency would emit 35-60% less CO2 at the fossil fuel stage and 80% less from hydrogen. Both GM and Honda are hoping to bypass concerns about the lack and cost of developing hydrogen filling stations by creating home hydrogen refueling devices that would allow cars to be refilled overnight in garages. Much of the push for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles is aimed at putting the public at ease through demonstration models and projects Energy sources of the future will have to be cleaner and more efficient than current sources – fuel cells fulfill these requirements. Several challenges remain before we will see wide-spread commercialization, mainly because of restrictions with size, cost, reliability and safety, but an environmentally-friendly source of power is definitely on its way.

Food Prices and Supply

Food Prices and Supply Kirk Condyles for The New York Times Updated: July 26, 2012 In the summer of 2012, scorching heat and the worst drought in nearly a half-century sent food prices up, spooking consumers and leading to worries about global food costs. On July 25, the United States government said it expected the record-breaking weather to drive up the price for groceries in 2013, including milk, beef, chicken and pork. The drought has affected 88 percent of the corn crop, a staple of processed foods and animal feed as well as the nation’s leading farm export.The government’s forecast, based on a consumer price index for food, estimated that prices would rise 4 to 5 percent for beef in 2013, with slightly lower increases for pork, eggs and dairy products. The drought comes along with heat. So far, 2012 is the hottest year ever recorded in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose records date to 1895. That has sapped t he production of corn, soybeans and other crops, afflicting poultry and livestock in turn.The impact of the hot and dry weather on the nation’s farmers has put new pressure on Congress to move ahead on a pending five-year farm bill. But House Republican leaders have been reluctant to act because of divisions within the party’s rank-and-file about the cost of the nearly $1 trillion bill. The legislation includes several federal agriculture programs that farmers have come to expect, though it does not include any specific drought assistance. Several important disaster relief programs expired at the end of 2011, leaving farmers and ranchers who have lost cattle or grazing land with few options without Congressional action.For now, analysts said they expected the broader economic impact of rising food prices to be modest. Americans spend just 13 percent of their household budgets on food. Economists fear a far greater impact outside of the United States because America is a major exporter of a broad variety of agricultural products. Experts Warn of a Global Spike in Food Prices In early September, agricultural experts  urged international action to prevent the global spike in food prices from causing global hunger.The directors of three major United Nations food and agriculture programs sounded the alarm both on the immediate problem of high food prices and the â€Å"long-term issue of how we produce, trade and consume food in an age of increasing population, demand and climate change. † Agricultural production fell in a number of major crop exporters during summer 2012. Besides damaging the corn crop in the United States, droughts also hit Russia and Ukraine, hurting the wheat harvest, as well as Brazil, affecting soybean production.Low yields have translated into high prices. In late August, the World Bank reported that food prices climbed 10 percent from June to July, with the price of both corn and wheat jumping 25 percent to records. So ybean prices climbed 17 percent over the same period, and rice prices declined moderately, the Washington-based institution said. The World Bank and the United Nations food agencies — along with other development and aid groups — have urged countries to prepare for what seems likely to become the third food price shock in five years.Low-income countries that rely on agricultural imports should invest in safety-net programs for the poor, they recommended. They also urged countries to bolster local production. Groups including the World Bank and the United Nations have also warned against trade protectionist policies in light of climbing food prices. International groups increasingly see inconsistent yields and drastic swings in food prices as a problem driven by climate change — and a global challenge that is not intermittent, but here to stay.Since the food crisis in 2007 and 2008, they have bolstered international cooperation to help foster more stable food sup plies and keep the most vulnerable countries prepared. Oxfam, the international nonprofit, issued a report in early September estimating how extreme weather events might affect food prices in the coming decades — forecasting that the prices of a number of food staples could surge far beyond the projected increases. The United Nations agencies warned that too few countries were producing too large a proportion of staple crops — leaving the world more vulnerable to droughts and floods.

Philosophy Questions Essay

Question One A causal claim, by definition, is a statement about the causes of things. Regular (non-causal) claims are considered to be any declarative statement. While the regular claim can simply be made about anything as long as it is a declaration, causal statements require a certain sense of cause and effect. Causal claims examine the complex processes in which people, forces, events, and other things interact to cause certain phenomena. Causal claims rarely are proven due to the different things that may happen to cause things. Feedback: I agree with the answer because causal claims are definitively hard to prove. It depends on how you look at the event in question. Impartiality is a virtue when exploring causal claims and is often hard to keep when personally involved in the matter. Question Two A real life example of common thread reasoning in advertising is Listerine. Listerine is a mouthwash that claims to kill more germs than any other leading mouthwash. In actuality, mouthwash does not actually kill germs and the rate of germs killed does not meet FDA standards for antiseptics. The common thread would be that all mouthwashes claim to kill germs and they really do not. Most of them also claim they are antiseptics when they do not meet current FDA standards. Feedback: Listerine is a mouthwash which makes false claims as does many mouthwash companies. The common theme among these companies is their determination to market a product with falsehoods. If all of these companies make false claim, then what are they to be called?

Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Assignment - Research Paper Example ish to preserve changes done to a FILE while Save as is a command used to preserve changes to a FILE and at the same time specify the location in the COMPUTER system where the FILE should be stored. e) Folder and FILE: a folder is a storage location given a specific name where FILEs can be stored while a FILE is an entity containing data and information of a specific program and is stored in a COMPUTER system. f) Windows XP and office XP: windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft windows to run on COMPUTERs while office XP is an application programs suite developed by Microsoft to run various common user applications such as word processing and presentations. g) BIOS boot and Soft boot: BIOS boot happens when the computer is started or restarted by pressing the restart/start button on the hardware while soft boot is initiated using computer software (operating system). i) DVI and HDMI:DVI can be used to connect a computer monitor to other graphical output devices. It only carries video/visual signals. HDMI can be used to carry both audio and video signals from a computer system to other output devices separate from the computer. 9. Main memory is that part of a computer where instructions and data of programs being executed are loaded. The computer’s CPU fetches instructions and data from this memory and loads them in its internal registers for execution to take place. Temporary data and output from the executing processes is also stored in this

Remote sensing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Remote sensing - Essay Example 239) have defined the remote sensing as a field of science or art that makes use of energy reflected from the Earth that is later processed, evaluated and applied in order to assist one in retrieving information regarding the surface of Earth without physically having to be on it. Sun is the fundamental source of energy for all the creatures on earth. Sun rays falling on earth are partly reflected which are captured by the satellites for generating information. The first condition without which, the process of remote sensing can not take place, is the provision of electromagnetic energy as waves to a specific place or to a study area. Although there are many electromagnetic energy sources, yet the sun is fundamentally the best source of energy. Basically, the energy travels from a source to a target through a medium or vacuum. When it comes to the earth, the energy interacts with the atmosphere, and this interaction gets repeated when the energy is reflected from the study area to the sensor. After the electromagnetic waves have passed the atmosphere from some source, they interact with the study area. This interaction depends on the characteristics of the study area and also on the electromagnetic radiation sent to it. After the electromagnetic waves interact with the study area, part of them is absorbed and the rest is reflected back to the space. Recording and collecting the reflected electromagnetic waves requires a special type of sensor which is familiar with the reflective waves. The last step of this operation is to understand, disclose and apply the information that has been retrieved from the study area. The problem can be solved by conducting its comparison with the real information. In 1864, the British physicist Clark Maxell predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves and supposed that the magnetic and electric fields work together to produce radiant energy. In addition to that, he described the visible light to be composed of

Plan for Establishing a Career Development Function HRD 420 Research Paper

Plan for Establishing a Career Development Function HRD 420 - Research Paper Example In this discussion, I will provide comprehensive information concerning my plans for the development of career function in the Transliners Company. I am a Human Resource Manager at a Company known as the Transliners; it is a transport Company that offers the Public local transportation services by use of Buses and Cars that are hired. The Company also transports luggage and other goods; I have conducted substantial research and found out that the transportation business is a very crucial and sensitive sector that requires personnel with properly developed careers. This will be the first step I will take in the development of the careers of the employees at the Transliners Company. It shall involve identification of the available capacities, knowledge and skills that are currently possessed by the employees (Rouda 2008). This assessment shall be undertaken through different five imperative steps involving: Conducting a gap analysis study which will provide data on available and lacking pertinent career development aspects. The second stage under needs assessment will be identification of the Company’s interests as well as the priority and the need for career development among the employees. Consequently, the third step will encompass identification of the possible employee performance challenges that may arise due to poor career planning. This step shall be followed by, undertaking a comparison by finding out future challenges that may occur among the employees if the career development function is not conducted. Finally, I will communi cate my findings to the top managers on the importance of a proper career development function in the Company. This shall involve the identification and evaluation of new ideologies, skills, experiences and knowledge that various employees possess and those that they would like to acquire. The objective of formulating the goals shall be driven by several questions such as:

Medical School Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Medical School Essays - Essay Example This has entailed preparing activities that would help them deal with critical juvenile issues such as drugs, peer pressure and violence. Another would be my membership the Chicanos in Health Education, in which I helped organize the annual Raza Health Fair; this allowed me to develop leadership skills and at the same time reinforce my interest in the healthcare profession. My membership to the Center for Science Excellence has given me the opportunity to share my knowledge in Chemistry and microbiology to fellow students through tutoring sessions. My volunteer experience with the American Red Cross Bloodmobile has allowed me to interact with a multicultural community, and to use my proficiency in the Spanish language in helping patients comprehend instructions or clarify their issues. These have helped strengthen my resolve of pursuing a medical degree. 2) Among the service activities that you listed on your AMCAS application, in which activity did you feel that you truly made an impact on someone else? What was the impact on you? This short question is limited to 1000 characters only, including spaces. – characters with spaces – 908 I have worked as a tutor-mentor at the Making Changes Freedom School, which is a completely volunteer-run, grassroots movement of community members who sincerely want to make an authentic, positive difference in lives of elementary and high school students. This opportunity has allowed me to interact with a diverse, multicultural group, and be passionately involved in helping these youths bravely confront the challenges of their day, including drugs, peer pressure, violence and alcohol. Apart from academic excellence, I have independently designed activities that helped instill in them the values of assertiveness, responsibility, and a can-do attitude. I take profound pride in seeing that I have imparted to them the importance of academic excellence and of making value-driven decisions; I

Business Ethics Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Business Ethics - Article Example In this way they make money. The SEC put out a warning that they will be looking closing at hedge funds that make over 3%. Is it right for the SEC to do this? There are a bunch of moral questions involved in this issue. One could place moral questions on the role of hedge funds. Is it right for hedge funds to purchase stocks expecting to make a profit because they know the stock's value is overly price. 2. The SEC should not put out such warnings because they will be capping the profit initiative, the ability of people to make a profit whenever they see it. This sounds more like a right under our free market system. Another argument is that it is not possible to truely regulate the market without be unfair to those who have made an earnest buck in the market. Some investors may be lucky, or some hedge fund operators may have done good due diligence research and they should be awarded whatever profit that comes their way. 3. The SEC should put out such warnings. Hedge funds have been known to create create market changes based on pure speculation, resulting in market busts where a lot of people lose their money.

The relationship between reason and democracy Essay

The relationship between reason and democracy - Essay Example In this time period, the Enlightenment, people began to believe that rationality was the most important thing, indeed, Immanuel Kant said at the beginning of his work â€Å"What is the Enlightenment?† that having â€Å"courage to use your own reason† was the â€Å"motto of the Enlightenment† (Kant 1). In this kind of classical liberal thinking about democracy, there is no way to separate the idea of democracy from the idea of idea of reason – democracy could only be successful as a form of government because the people who are choosing the leaders are acting in a rational way – either for their own self interest or because of morality or for some other, rational reason. Yet there might be other reasons why democracy is successful that these thinkers do not cover. So essentially, whether or not democracy relies on reason depends on whether or not one believes in the classical idea of the reasons for democracy. Under classical conceptions of democracy , where it exists as a kind of contract between the leaders and the people they lead, democracy cannot exist without reason; I would argue, however, that classical ideas do not actually describe why democracy is successful, and that alternative explanations could allow for democracy to exist and succeed without reason or rationality being involved in any way shape or form. Classical understandings of democracy come from the Enlightenment, and this classical understanding must be understood in its hirtorical context. This was a time when many rulers ruled by divine right – the monarchy was still the most powerful thing in Europe, and these monarchs used considerable power to shape and even abuse the people who they were in control of, for their own gain. As Locke notes the ability to â€Å"compel by the sword† was the power of the civil magistrate alone, which essentially means that the ruler is the only person who is able to force his people to do something based on fo rce and violence (Locke 2). Through this understanding, it was important to provide a basis for a new system of government that made a lot of sense in theory as well as working in practice, and the theory behind democracy relied on the idea that every person was reasonable. When trying to convince people that they should not be led by their current leaders (the kind of leaders who had been in control of the world for essentially the entire history of the world), one had to convince everyone that there was a better system, not just an alternate system. And the â€Å"betterness† of democracy relies on the idea that each person is rational and can act rationally when choosing a leader or deciding what is best for them – and will do so. So the basic idea of democracy, from a classical perspective, relies on reason in a very strong way, and so cannot be separated from reason – the classical defenses of democracy would fall apart if people were not reasonable. But thi s does not mean that the classical justification for democracy was the reason that democracy is a good system of government. I would argue that one of the main reasons democracy is a good system of government is that it does not give any one group or person the ability to form a tyranny, to get into complete control and begin making everything better for them

Organization development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Organization development - Essay Example In addition, it differs from other change programs because it emphasizes on process instead of problems. It focuses on identifying behavioral patterns and interactions that cause and sustain problems. Change often causes strong feelings of unease when people sense that they have victims to external forces and lost power over their working lives. Leaders should win over other employees to avoid rebelling the change. These major forces are significant in helping a leader to identify necessary course of action to deal with the mixed reactions. They help leaders to turn the opposing forces to their advantage rather than meeting them head on. Purpose is the most important because once it is communicated; people remain steadfast about the change despite the inevitable difficulties. However, success is the least important because it takes time to nurture success and the people can still resist change. In my opinion, the preferable mode for an effective OD program is consensus mode. it creates a climate here feelings are honestly and truly shared the OD program. Decisions are often made through continuous sharing of feelings and perceptions openly on organizational effectiveness and self fulfillment. To some degree, all key partners are involved in the OD program thus ensuring effectiveness and support of the