Inclusive Practice Essay

Inclusive Practice is a term which means the practical things that we do, when we are working with people who use our services, which demonstrate our professional values, standards, and principles in action. In particular Inclusive Practice is about participation, collaboration, and including people: where individuals are fully involved in choices and decisions that affect their lives and in the matters that are important to them. People who use mental health services say that being listened to, having their individual needs taken account of, and staff attitudes and values is a very important part of keeping well (Dunglas Research Project, 2005). The experience of participation is often as important as the end result. Participation itself may be an outcome. Inclusive Practice can benefit staff through sharing knowledge and learning new and effective ways of working with people. People who use services bring new ideas, and we are able to respond from a more informed position. Inclusive Practice is good practice, and is also about a human rights and anti-discriminatory approach to mental health. Inclusive practice underpins anti-discriminatory practice and is the practical way in which we put our equality policies/agenda into action. * The learners. All learners are citizens and have rights and entitlements. They should be treated fairly regardless of race, religion or abilities. This applies no matter: – what they think or say – what type of family they come from – what language(s) they speak – what their parents do – whether they are girls or boys whether they have a disability or whether they are rich or poor. All learners have an equal right to be listened to and valued in the setting. * Equality and diversity My understanding of diversity is broad – it encompasses gender, race, age, disability, linguistic differences, learning abilities, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and cultural background and so much more. Inclusive practice is understood to be attitudes, approaches and strategies taken to ensure that students are not excluded or isolated from the learning environment because of any of these characteristics. As a tutor, my role is to ensure that all students feel welcome, accepted, safe, listened to, valued and confident that they can participate in all activities. I need to be sensitive to the needs of all students. I am the protagonist in setting the culture of my tutorial and thus able to set parameters for creating a learning culture which recognises and honours student diversity. I have very diverse groups of students in my lessons. My approach to this as a tutor is influenced by my own experiences and assumptions and, in some instances, those of other students. It is useful to reflect on this, as perhaps I may carry some negative or fixed ideas into the classroom. I need to be aware (beware) of my own generalisations and stereotypes and those perpetuated by others. I consider these suggestions for inclusive teaching: – When I ask a question, I make eye contact with all students – When listening to a response, I listen attentively – I treat each student as an individual – I call on all students by name where possible – I make an effort to learn names – I intervene when students show disrespect for another student – I use small groups to foster collaborative learning I encourage students to share their varied perspectives and experiences & create a supportive environment in which this can occur – I encourage students to know and listen to each other. – I avoid stories, jokes and comments that denigrate others * Lesson planning The group of learners I teach is a group of individual s who have own needs and abilities as far as learning is concerned. While planning a lesson I take into consideration learners’ needs and their ability to perform during the lesson. To maximize learning opportunity for individuals I differentiate the lesson so that each of learners is not left behind and has a chance to learn something from a lesson. Considering learners’ previous educational experience and various teaching and learning strategies I create a lesson plan to facilitate a learning opportunity. * Teacher as a motivator As mentioned above, being prepared for a lesson through carefully designing lesson plan, a teacher motivates learners to participate in the lesson. Teacher’s attitude is also crucial. Being enthusiastic and positive to what he/she is teaching places learners in a position to class a teacher as an expert of the subject he/she is teaching. Constructive feedback and being a good listener ensures learners that they were listened to. To become a successful teacher, a candidate needs to take interests in learners, needs to find a connection with them by being approachable and accessible at any time they need him. Getting learners involved in the lesson and encouraging them to help each other reinforces their learning and helps to check if they know what they are doing. A teacher is responsible for providing a challenging but supportive learning environment so learners can see how much they know and what skills they need to develop. Using a range of teaching strategies and audio visual aids provides variation to a lesson and helps to deliver it to learners in a meaningful way. References: Dunglas Research Project, 2005 Reece I & Walker S (2003) Teaching, Training and Learning Roffey-Barentsen J & Malthouse R (2009) Reflective Practice in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Learning Matters.

Understanding Downsizing and Rightsizing

DOWNSIZING AND RIGHTSIZING Downsizing: The downward migrations of business applications are often from mainframes to PCs due to low costing of workstation. And also today’s workstations are as powerful as last decade’s mainframes. The result of that is Clients having power at the cost of less money, provides better performance and then system offers flexibility to make other purchase or to increase overall benefits. Rightsizing: Moves the Client/Server applications to the most appropriate server platform, in that case the servers from different vendors can co-exist and the network is known as the ‘system’. Getting the data from the system no longer refers to a single mainframe. As a matter of fact, we probably don’t know where the server physically resides. Upsizing: The bottom-up trend of networking all the standalone PCs and workstations at the department or work group level. Early LANs were implemented to share hardware (printers, scanners, etc. ). But now LANs are being implemented to share data and applications in addition to hardware. Mainframes are being replaced by lesser expensive PC’s on networks. This is called computer downsizing. Companies implementing business process reengineering are downsizing organizationally. This is called business downsizing. All this would result in hundreds of smaller systems, all communicating to each other and serving the need of  local teams as well as individuals working in an organization. This is called cultural downsizing. The net result is distributed computer systems that support decentralized decision-making. This is the client/server revolution of the nineties As client/server technology evolves, the battle cry is now right sizing–design new applications for the platform they are best suited for, as opposed to using a default placement. An application should run in the environment that is most efficient for that application. The client/server model allows applications to be split into tasks and those tasks performed on individual platforms. Developers review all the tasks within an application and determine whether each task is best suited for processing on the server or on the client. In some cases, tasks that involve a great deal of number-crunching are performed on the server and only the results transmitted to the client. In other cases, the workload of the server or the trade-offs between server millions of instructions per second and client millions of instructions per second, together with the communication time and network costs, may not warrant the use of the server for data intensive, number-crunching tasks. Determining how the tasks are split can be the major factor in the success or failure of a client /server application. And if the first client/server application is a failure, for whatever reason, it may be a long time before there is a second. Some variations on this theme are: 1. Downsizing: A host based application is downsized when it is re-engineered to run in a smaller or Local Area Network based environment. Downsizing involves porting applications from mainframe and mid-range computers to a smaller platform or a Local Area Network based client/server architecture. Downsizing is not as easy as buying and installing hardware and software that support client/server computing. This paper presents a case of rightsizing, with an outsourcing approach, of a mainframe based information system. A full downsizing process, is a highly complex process due to the following reasons: * The need to manage, at the same time, the old and the new technology and environment for the parallel periods; * The need to migrate in the new platform the millions of LOC (line of code) of the several applications. In this paper we describe how that process can be performed in an outsourcing framework. We discuss which are the critical factors that assure an efficient process and big savings from the cost/benefit and cost/performance point of view. There are several key factors to be considered in order minimizing the risks of failure and maximizing the success. The paper is organized in the following three parts: * The Rightsizing process; * The case study and the results obtained; * The lessons learned from the experiences done. The rightsizing Generally we can distinguish two main streams of the Rightsizing process: the downsizing and upsizing processes. The downsizing process is characterized by data and process shifting from Mainframe to desktop connected with LAN and WAN network. The following steps, instead, characterize the Upsizing process: * The integration and connection of stand alone workstations or LAN * The development of distributed applications on this new architecture The Rightsizing of the applications and systems, that is their Downsizing or Upsizing, provides a major opportunity for cost savings and improving the flexibility of the information systems. In the following figure we see the rightsizing of the case study. It is from a traditional architecture based on a MVS IBM to a new distributed Client-Server architecture. The new Client-Server applications are executed on several application servers. Down Sizing is nothing but The Process of moving an application from a {main frame ) to cheaper system, typically a (client-server) system. Downsizing and Client/Server Computing Rightsizing and downsizing are strategies used with the client/server model to take advantage of the lower cost of workstation technology. Rightsizing and upsizing may involve the addition of more diverse or more powerful computing resources to an enterprise computing environment. The benefits of rightsizing are reduction in cost and/or increased functionality, performance, and flexibility in the applications of the enterprise. Significant cost savings usually are obtained from a resulting reduction in employee, hardware, software, and maintenance expenses. Additional savings typically accrue from the improved effectiveness of the user community using client/server technology. Downsizing is frequently implemented in concert with a flattening of the organizational hierarchy. Eliminating middle layers of management implies empowerment to the first level of management with the decision-making authority for the whole job. Information provided at the desktop by networked PCs and workstations integrated with existing host (such as mainframe and minicomputer) applications is necessary to facilitate this empowerment. These desktop-host integrated systems house the information required to make decisions quickly. To be effective, the desktop workstation must provide access to this information as part of the normal business practice. Architects and developers must work closely with business decision makers to ensure that new applications and systems are designed to be integrated with effective business processes. Much of the cause of poor return on technology investment is attributable to a lack of understanding by the designers of the day-to-day business impact of their solutions. Downsizing information systems is more than an attempt to use cheaper workstation technologies to replace existing mainframes and minicomputers in use. Although some benefit is obtained by this approach, greater benefit is obtained by reengineering the business processes to really use the capabilities of the desktop environment. Systems solutions are effective only when they are seen by the actual user to add value to the business process. Client/server technology implemented on low-cost standard hardware will drive downsizing. Client/server computing makes the desktop the users' enterprise. As we move from the machine-centered era of computing into the workgroup era, the desktop workstation is empowering the business user to regain ownership of his or her information resource. Client/server computing combines the best of the old with the new—the reliable multiuser access to shared data and resources with the intuitive, powerful desktop workstation. Moving to Open and Client-Server System environments allows organizations to take advantage of several opportunities: the new cost/performance relations for the hardware components, the ? easy to use? graphical interfaces, the portability of the software, the adoption of faster software life cycles like RAD, the use of the information highways (for example internet) and so on . Most of the organizations invest in rightsizing processes to build Client/Server architectures. Actually, upsizing and downsizing process has become a phenomenon of big importance for a lot of organizations. It is possible to preview that the next years the rightsizing tendency will increase very much, and will become a rule. Anyway we must consider, from the point of view of the architectural structure, that a rightsizing process is complex and may imply an increase of complexity of the final system if it is not well planned. A typical distributed Client-Server architecture is characterized by the presence of workstations and personal computers acting as clients, by the interconnection of different groups of these computers through different local and wide networks, by the presence of several servers including eventually a mainframe as a file server. It is typical of the local network that there is a local database; the local stations of the network are able to reach this database instead of the remote database. In order to lower the complexity of the process, an outsourcing of all the IT activities, for the rightsizing period, or even more, can prove effective. The IT system after the outsourcing/rightsizing period (typically from 3 to 5 years) becomes technologically updated and easier to maintain (especially if the outsourcing/rightsizing contract provides strict guidelines for the development of the new software and for the Reverse Engineering projects). The major trend for corporate information systems this decade will be downsizing. In its broadest sense, downsizing means implementing applications traditionally deployed on mainframes or minicomputers, on personal computers and Local Area Network (LAN) platforms. Applications most often involved in downsizing are those designated as mission-critical, the success of these applications is integral to the daily operations of the organization. This shift will enable companies to use the power, affordability and flexibility of the microcomputer as the hub of their information systems, and when appropriate operate cooperatively with existing mainframe or minicomputer investments. Downsizing is enabled by a number of factors: -Powerful cost effective PC platforms. -Mature networking technology providing a communication infrastructure. Software that delivers a robust development environment for the creation of applications with mainframe-like complexity. -Economical migration paths for moving applications to the desktop. -The ability to integrate and synchronize front-end tools and back-end data sources. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. In the 1970s, the prevalent model for information management systems was a centralized hierarchical database platform. Such database s, residing on a mainframe or minicomputer, offered high performance and tight security but little if any end-user access or control. Essentially, the mainframe provided a highly sophisticated server with unintelligent clients, or â€Å"dumb† workstations. For its day, the approach was sound, giving information system managers a way to electronically store huge amounts of information that previously filled volumes of books and ledgers in company storage rooms. But it soon became clear that accessing and manipulating these databases was difficult, as well as prohibitively expensive. The 1980s saw the introduction of PCs that were used by individuals and departments within an enterprise to provide local, easy-to-use decision-making tools. Over time these users became more sophisticated in their usage, their expectations rose and they had a desire to communicate with others in their group and to have greater access to all corporate data. The solution at the time was to link these PCs through Local Area Networks, giving the users increased information access. This approach, which used a â€Å"file server† model in which the server acted as an unintelligent storage device, did offer peripheral sharing but, there was no intelligent data management capability, which severely limited the types and sizes of applications that could be used. The immaturity of this approach was reflected in the lack of well integrated and transparent connectivity to mainframe and minicomputer systems, where much of the corporate data resided (and still remains). In short, workstations were restricted in their ability to handle complex applications and to get at relevant data. Information system managers were highly interested supporting their end-user's desires and in gaining improved access to all their corporate databases through the use of PC technology. A significant concern of these managers though was a guarantee that they could maintain security, integrity of data and accessibility. The existing single platform approach would no longer work, a new model of computing architecture was needed. Downsizing: A Critical Edge By downsizing applications to the desktop, organizations can more easily deliver vital information to its users, providing a competitive edge. With the cooperative processing model these organizations can integrate their applications and information system resources with others throughout the enterprise. This approach, which blends the flexibility and power of the PC (linked more and more through LANS) with the benefits of the resident database management system, offers numerous advantages: An Open Computing Environment. Despite well-intended and energetic attempts to impose a single computing standard on the industry, the truth is that corporate information systems are and will remain heterogeneous. Standards provide for a level playing field where users can invest and be assured that their investments will be protected. And, standards provide a platform for software innovation, a mainstay of the computer industry. Integrating new technologies and approaches with existing standards should be a goal of every company. The challenge in running this type of heterogeneous environment is to find the correct balance between innovation and standards. Therefore, a information system designed to work with existing processing environments, utilize industry standards and be capable of taking advantage of emerging technologies will deliver the most effective business solutions. The desire to balance new technologies and trends with existing resources is a large part of the motivation behind downsizing. By providing a modular architecture and component pieces that easily connect, the cooperative processing model delivers an environment that enables enterprise-wide connectivity and integration of heterogeneous data formats. The alternative is to create a homogeneous environment that by its nature is limited to its native capabilities. Rapid Application Development Part of the attraction of downsizing is the ability to rapidly prototype, develop and implement applications. One of the principle shortcomings of a mainframe or minicomputer-based information management system is the application development time required and the resulting backlogs. Building a mission critical systems at the desktop is literally months and years faster than on a mainframe or minicomputer. Having robust development tools that enable the creation and implementation of systems in weeks rather than months allows organizations to benefit more from their information and realize a significant dollar savings in the process. Leveraging Existing Investments Information management systems that handle mission-critical applications represent investments of millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours of work. When faced with the need to expand or upgrade these systems, scrapping the existing investment and building a new one is simply not a financial option. Nor is it necessarily a wise one. What is required is the ability to responsibility migrate these systems to the desktop by integrating the various platforms. Development Flexibility The purpose of any software application is to provide a service that makes accomplishing a task efficient and economical. Downsizing mainframe and minicomputer applications to the desktop offers the application developer a wide range of PC-based tools to assist them in meeting needs of specific applications. The flexible nature of this environment lets the developer work faster, maintain applications with less effort, and be more responsive to the needs of the organization. Financial Considerations Developing applications on the desktop platform is a much more cost effective than traditional mainframe or minicomputer approaches. PC-based development means your hardware and software investment is less, development time and its related costs are reduced and with the ability to leverage existing information system investments, and you do not incur the large expense of starting from scratch. Other Advantages Downsizing also offers smoother application maintenance; freedom from being locked into proprietary systems that may become outdated; and the ability to scale applications to match the changing needs of the organization. Ultimately, downsizing gives users improved tools and critically needed access to data, which in turn increases productivity and the effectiveness of an organization. Rightsizing is defined as finding the correct platform for your enterprise. Compared with downsizing (moving to a smaller platform) and upsizing (moving to a larger platform), rightsizing lets a company align its information systems to its corporate goals. Rightsizing involves selecting the most appropriate computing resource to perform a task based on location, size, organizational structure, business work flow, and processing requirements.

Is There Still Discrimination Towards Disabled People After the Equali Dissertation

Is There Still Discrimination Towards Disabled People After the Equality Act 2010 - Dissertation Example The primary aim of the Equality Act 2010 is to commingle different laws into a concrete and systematic code that takes into consideration all anti-discrimination laws present in the UK. The purpose of the Equality Act 2010 is to codify both international and local laws such as such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act, the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, the 1976 Race Relations Act and the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.The primary aim of the Equality Act 2010 is to commingle different laws into a concrete and systematic code that takes into consideration all anti-discrimination laws present in the UK. The purpose of the Equality Act 2010 is to codify both international and local laws such as such as the 1970 Equal Pay Act, the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, the 1976 Race Relations Act and the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.   In order to protect disabled people from discrimination, the Act ensures that goods and service providers, landlords and employers are endowed with the responsibilit y of making reasonable modifications to their facilities to ensure access for disabled individuals (Evans 2011, 1).  The Equality Act 2010 does, however, allow service providers, landlords and employers to implement policies and practices that guarantee effective work operations despite appearing discriminatory. Available literature indicates the effectiveness of the law in deterring discrimination.   Since 2010, the UK has been free of discrimination towards disabled people, and this is largely attributable to the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 (Jackson and Banerjee 2013, 181).Literature review The literature review section of this paper analyses an array of available data on the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 in eradicating discrimination towards disabled people since 2010.The Equality Act 2010 ensures all public and private institutions implement the rights of disabled people as enshrined in the Act, as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Pe rsons with Disabilities.   Therefore, the 2010 Act is in line with this Convention on the protecting the rights of people with disabilities (Lawson 2011, 369).  The Act includes additional protection measures such as indirect discrimination.   This has enhanced analysis of disability-specific applications and offered new opportunities for debate regarding the need for greater protection of disabled people (Wallace 2011, 1).     

Business Plan for the coffee shop Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Plan for the coffee shop - Coursework Example Direct competitors include Starbucks, Pref A Manger, Costa, and other coffee shops in the London region. Indirect competitors include bars and restaurants who sell milkshakes and coffee. Saturation in London has prompted key coffee chains to expand regionally. Despite retaining their outlet growth, this has resulted to downward pressure on sales and increased competition. The year 2004 witnessed key coffee shop brands picking off major high traffic sites thus leveraging their powerful brands to compete with other independents and formats. Caffe Nero, Costa, and Starbucks remain to be the dominant players in the United Kingdom coffee shop markets. In 2004, the main competitor was Starbucks and it has more than 400 outlets.2 However, in 2010, Costa Coffee became the market leader and it is the current UK’s preferred coffee shop.3 The coffee shop has competitive advantage over the competitor’s coffee shops. This is because of its good customer service, good location, and g ood product quality and various choices in terms of the interior. Industry Analysis After oil, coffee is the second most traded product in the world. The milkshake and coffee market is highly competitive. The coffee and milkshake market is dominated by international brands such as Starbucks and Costa. Project Cafe10 UK research has revealed that the UK coffee shop market sales have grown by 12 percent in 2010 and branded coffee shop segments such as Pret, Caffe Nero, Costa, and Starbucks recording 1.94 billion Sterling pounds in revenue. Venue choice among the consumers has increased and these venues include non-specialist operators, independents, and branded chains; in 2010, the venues comprised over 14,022 outlets. The market,... The report intends to examine short term and long term aims and objectives such as to make the coffee shop known in the area and gain competitive advantage; to increase customer awareness by 30 percent within a period of three months; to achieve sales worth  £85,000 within a period of one year; to open over 10 shops around the united kingdom within five years; to gain at least 3 percent share of the market within a period of seven years. In order to analyze the business environments, various business analysis tools such as SWOT, competitor analysis, industry analysis etc will be included in the paper. The focus of the coffee shop is on quality and price of the product. The main forms of advertising to be used include online advertising and brand advertising. Online advertising makes use of the internet to advertise the product. Mass media has not proved to be an effective method of advertising. Online advertising is used by most corporations because of its efficiency and cost effec tiveness. On the other hand, brand advertising entails gaining the confidence of the market about a particular product. Its aim is to manipulate demand for a particular product. Unique selling proposition will also be used to advertise the product. Unique selling proposition makes use of a unique ‘slogan’ for a particular product in order to differentiate it from the competitor’s product. The unique selling proposition for the coffee shop is â€Å"Quality and Service to Suit Your Tastes.†

Philosophy and Literature- Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Philosophy and Literature- Macbeth - Essay Example Nights Dream one finds that the plays irrevocably revolve around the human failings of the central characters with the protagonist finally succumbing to the fated end of a tragic death. All the Shakespeare’s plays are fast paced and action packed human drama showcasing a sequence of events involving individuals with distinctive qualities which complement but at the same time clash with each other. This inherent inter-play of emotional turmoil helps dramatise the events and frequently hide the serious undertones of the philosophical ideologies of the author. McGuinn, in his book1 examines the various aspects of Shakespeare’s plays which govern the underlined principles of human life overflowing with bad luck and misery. We would be specially looking at Macbeth for the element of bad luck which follows the protagonist relentlessly till the end and subsequently discussing the Shakespearean philosophy of human misery and tragedy that invariably leads to death. The concept of bad luck implies that without this particular element, life would have been better which of course illustrates a fact recognized and often feared by all. Misfortune can befall anyone but the way one reacts and overcomes them becomes the deciding factor for a happy or miserable future of the person. It is equally true that bad luck brings out the hidden characteristics and suppressed desires of the people which are normally denied because they might lead to disastrous end-results. Shakespeare’s understanding of human nature is displayed in his plays which seem to have an uncanny fascination for creating situations that expose these attributes of the persons resulting in utter misery and tragedy. Macbeth is a high voltage drama involving an ambitious hero in a plot that is full of intrigue, murders, betrayal and revenge resulting in violence and tragic death of the hero. The presence of supernatural elements in the form of witches and ghost add that extra ingredient of Machiavellian thrill

Inoperability Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inoperability - Research Paper Example (2010). All these applications applied individually will support communications through interfaces which demand for constant maintenance and modification due to their dynamism. This as one way of attaining operability has not proved worthwhile. Similarly, there is standardization of an interface can as well be employed in attaining operability since this method eliminates the extra cost which would be incurred when building separate interfaces. The second approach is fuel by the fact that application developers are able to construct applications that are in line with the standardized interfaces, this increases the prospects of interoperability hence reducing cost which also includes reduced maintenance costs since there is a drop in the number of the interfaces to be accorded maintenance. The health level seven (HL7) is an application protocol for exchange of data in the healthcare environment. It is developed to be used to transfer data of healthcare information from department or f unction to the other basing its applications on the vast concept of application to application exchange of message system. The HL7 is the unit in form of an atom that passes data through systems. Or instance, the HL7 facilitates the admission of patience to a hospital or giving a lab order for blood test (Au, S, 2003). Every world real world event is defined by HL7 through an abstract messaging system which is comprised of a group of segments in a defined criterion and the rules and regulations for the construction of such abstract is created by the HL7 developed message framework which comprises of elements which are the building blocks and follows a hierarchy in context. Individually, the elements are associated by the factors like option ability, value set, length and data form that gives a constraint to them. The other components such as segments and segment groups are likely to compose additional elements while sub-components are purely primitive in nature since they are in the position of holding a data value without having a descendant structure Electronic Healthcare Information Security. (2010). HL7 was not there in the past but in the onset of its development, it was basically formed to give room too many dynamic business procedures that face the healthcare industry. However, the wider forms resulted into standardization which in turn created so many optional parts hence the alignment of the implementation of interfaces proved futile. HL7 applications are normally joined in two ways that is point to point or through the middleware which is clearly shown by the interface engine outcomes. Point-to- point applications entails the connection of each pair of applications in an independent way while the middle way application is the process where all the applications are connected centrally to the message broker. The operating system interconnection separates the functions of the protocols into five main layers with every layer having only a function of the layer that is found below it. This is the protocol stack and it is used for implementation in the software or hardware with the lower layers in the hardware and the higher in the software Data Exchange Standards, Health Level Seven Version 2.5 an application protocol for electronic data exchange in healthcare environments. (2009). In a variety

Simien National Park - Ethiopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Simien National Park - Ethiopia - Essay Example At the end of the paper the possible losses, recommendation and conclusion is covered. The Simien National Park is a Natural World Heritage Site. It has been added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1996. There were two main reasons of adding this site to the list i.e. heavy settlement and Walia ibex population decline. It is spread over the area of 13,600ha. â€Å"In northern Ethiopia on the Amhara plateau in the western Simen Mountains, 120km north-east of Gondar. Location: 13 ° 11N, 38 ° 04E. The town of Adi Arkay lies to the north, Debark, on the Gondar-Asmara highway, to the south-west and Deresge to the south east.† (The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Website) The park has jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and precipices. This park has approximately five to ten species of endemism, seasonal Highland biome and four different types of floral vegetation due to geographic variations. The four different floristic vegetations are as follows: Afromontane forest has variety of flora and fauna. The two wet seasons of this park and its typical geographic characteristics adds to the variety of plants and vegetations. Xeromorphic adaptations are common on the high attitudes. Rare species like Walia ibex, Gelada Baboon, Simien wolf and various other species of animals and birds are natural habitants of this park. There are twenty-one species of mammals recorded for this region. Seven species of mammals are listed as endemic species. There are sixty-three species of birds including twelve endemic species. This National Park is not only important for its biodiversity, but also important for its cultural heritage. According to Hurni (1986 as cited on UNEP Website)This region has various features of 18th and 19th centuries. Kirwan (1972 as cited on UNEP Website) claims that cultivators for at least of two thousand years have inhabited Simien region. Population living within the National Park is highly depended on its natural resources.

Myocardial Infarction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Myocardial Infarction - Research Paper Example The infarction site depends on which vessels are involved. For example, if a blockage occurs in a circumflex coronary artery, this leads to lateral MI while blockage of a right coronary artery can lead to right-sided heart failures (Life nurses forum: Nursing care plans For Myocardial infarction). There are many predisposing factors to the higher number of MI cases. Some of these factors can be controlled while others cannot. These factors are; age, gender, positive family history of MI, high blood pressure, obesity, high levels of cholesterol, lack of physical activity, diabetes, stress, hypertension, increased serum triglycerides, excessive intake of saturated fats, salt and carbohydrates (Salim). Other risk factors include sedentary life, increased homocysteine and C -resistance proteins and use of drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine (Life nurses forum: Nursing care plans for myocardial infarction; (Haffner).About 20% of patients with MI have diabetes (Salim). The symptoms of M I includes; arm, epigastric and chest pain, breath shortness, diaphoresis, clammy skin dizziness, nausea, vomiting, angina frequency, fatigue, presence of pericardial friction rub, systolic murmurs, bradycardia, hypertension, absence of jugular vein distension, activity intolerance, decreased cardiac output, anxiety, among other symptoms (Life nurses forum: Nursing care plans for Myocardial infarction). Nursing process in Myocardial infarction. The nursing process is a very important thinking tool and involves a number of stages. Assessment This stage involves collecting and recording of data so as to obtain the necessary information which will help a nurse or a clinician to predict, detect, prevent, manage and eliminate health problems and associated risk factors. During the assessment, the nurse should be able to clarify the expected outcomes and the advantages of the care. These outcomes should be measurable. The nurse should also be able to choose intervention strategies to be u sed in achieving the desired results and promoting patients health (Afaro) Diagnosis Diagnosis is very important as it helps in analyzing and synthesis of data so as to facilitate drawing of conclusions. Diagnosis can be achieved through physical examination of symptoms. Other diagnostic tests which can be used include, detection of elevated levels of homocysteine and C- resistance proteins, electrocardiogram, use of cardiac troponin to differentiate between MI and injury of skeletal muscles. This can also be achieved by looking at the family history to identify if there is the positive relationship. During diagnosis, the nurse should identify patterns and produce a list of suspected problems and also rule out the presence of other health issues. Identification of symptoms is important as this may help the nurse to refer the case to more qualified personnel if need be (Afaro). The nurse should be able to clarify actual and potential health issues and the associated risk factors.

Begay v. United States Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Begay v. United States - Case Study Example The main question in the case was to establish what kind of crimes fall under the category of violent crimes enumerated under the ACCA (1984). In this determination, the court had to establish whether reckless driving or driving while intoxicated as proscribed by the New Mexico’s DUI law could constitute a violent felony in the auspices of the ACCA (1984). In overall, the court had to establish the extent to which a commission of an act threatening the consequence of injury to another person can be treated as a violent crime under ACCA (1984). The Supreme Court under the guidance of Justices Roberts C.J., Stevens Kennedy, Ginsburg J.J. and Scalia J held that driving under the influence of alcohol is not a violent felony as envisioned in The Armed Career Criminal Act (1984). The court further held that the most significant question is not on how the defendant had engaged in previous crimes but on how the statute defines the crime of violent felony. The court was of the opinion that regardless of the risk of injury posed to another person or group of persons, the crime in itself is milder to the example of crimes covered under the ACCA. In arriving at the above decision, the Supreme Court justices considered a strict interpretation of the New Mexico’s Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offense in relation to the benchmarks provided for under the ACCA. The court was convinced that New Mexico’s DWI is not in the ordinary sense a violent felony when interpreted alongside the ACCA residual clause which only encompasses violent and active property crimes that are characteristic of violent criminals, which become more dangerous when committed with a firearm. Begay succeeded in his argument to convince the court that this definition excluded DWI felony as enumerated under the New Mexico Criminal Statute. The argument by Begay’s defense that a violent felony

Husband, Lover and Friend Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Husband, Lover and Friend - Essay Example The husband and the wife are just like a vine intertwined or a branch grafted to another branch, with both branches sustaining one another. A man must also realize the implication of two people spending a lifetime together and sharing a life together even when it entails tremendous amount of tolerance and self-sacrifice. Both husband and wife must fulfill the human needs for love, friendship, family, and companionship the need for affection, recognition, and appreciation. All of these are plain and simple manifestation of love. The role that a husband plays could also be defined by what we expect him to be. Everybody expects a husband to be faithful, dependable, tough, yet tender. A man's faithfulness means so many things. It could mean loyalty, devotion, reliability, and fortitude. A man is faithful not only to the woman but he should also be faithful to his obligations and the tasks that go with being a good husband. A man is devoted to the woman not only with his attention but also in the time that he spends with her. The husband also provides security at home. It is quite burdensome for a man that he must provide all the needs at home. However, in many ways doing this is what really makes a man a man. He was made the stronger sex, physically so that he could protect the woman and spare her from the cumbersome tasks. Most of the time, husbands measure themselves up on the power or authority that they wield in the family. However, a husband needs not a commanding voice or any rule or law because a woman does not adhere to any other kind of influence but love. A woman would surrender her spirit to the man who knows how to love. Bayless Conley could not have been so right when he quoted that "husbands must go all out in love for their wives - a love marked by giving, not getting." He further stated that wives are a reflection of the words husbands speak to them. Conley explains: I can learn a whole lot about a man by just looking at his wife's countenance. I find out what kind of man you are by looking at your wife's face. She is a reflection of the way you treat her and of the words you speak to her. It is written, not all over your face. It is written all over her face. If you are going to be a good lover, you first have to learn to love with words. Compliment rather than criticize. ( 2 ) If it is true that a good wife brings joy and honor to the husband, it must also be true either way for it is the person whom we love and value the most who could shape our character and affect us the most. A woman would look good and look happy if she is treated right. If a husband fulfills the woman's needs, it makes her happy. Finally, the husband was charged to: Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun.

Energy expenditure, intake and balance Essay Example for Free

Energy expenditure, intake and balance Essay Food is a source of energy intake as it contains carbohydrates; there main function is to store energy in the muscles. Carbs are a macronutrient and come in two different forms, simple which are foods like chocolate and sweets these release energy quickly, the other form is complex which are foods like pasta and rice they release energy slower so are better to keep energy for a sustained period of time. There are certain factors that affect energy intake for instance what gender you are affects how much energy you need, a male’s guideline daily amount is 2500 calories where as a female’s is only 2000 calories. Exercise is a form of energy expenditure; it uses up the energy that has been stored in the muscles and causes the body to lose fluids through sweat. There are also factors that affect energy expenditure such as basal metabolism; this is the amount of energy expended when at rest, the higher the metabolism the more calories you burn meaning that certain people will have to replace more energy than others. Climate is another factor that affects expenditure this is because people in hotter climates lose more energy through sweat than people in cooler climates. (200-300 words) Task 2 [M1] Explain why different nutrients have a differing effect on an individual’s energy intake. Different nutrients have a differing effect on an individual’s intake because each nutrient releases a unique amount of energy and also the speed the energy is released varies for each one. For instance the macronutrient carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy intake therefore they release the most energy, but even carbohydrates are split in to two groups when determining the speed the energy is released. The two groups are simple carbs and complex carbs, simple carbs are foods like chocolate and sweets their energy release is very quick giving you a short sharp burst of energy but cannot be sustained for a long period of time. On the other hand complex carbs which are found in bread, rice and potatoes release the energy slowly over a longer period of time at a more consistent rate. When talking about other nutrients that release some kind of energy there are only two others, these are fats and protein, fats are like simple carbs releasing only small amounts of energy in quick bursts but their main function for the body is to protect vital organs and provide insulation. Protein is a last resort for energy intake as the energy has to be taken away from the muscles; this is only in rare cases where there are no carbs or fats in the body. (200 words) Task 3 [P4] Describe the following terms: Body Composition: Body Composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. Because muscular tissue takes up less space in our body than fat tissue, our body composition, as well as our weight, determines leanness. Two people of equal height and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have a different body composition. Fat Free Mass: Fat Free Mass is comprised of the components that have no fat in the human body. It can refer to any body tissue that does not contain fat; these include skeletal muscle, bone and water. (50 words) Lean Body Mass: Lean body mass is the mass of the body minus the fat (lipid). Some methods of working this out require specialised equipment such as hydrostatic weighing or DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). Others are very simple such as skin callipers and bioelectrical impedance. (50 words) Task 4 [P4] Describe the following methods of measuring percentage body fat: Skinfold Analysis- This is a method of measuring body fat percentage by taking measurements of fat at 4 different points of the body using a set of skin callipers, they are taking at the bicep, tricep, waist and subscapular (shoulder blade) doing this finds out your fat layer thickness. These measurements are then converted into body fat percentage using an equation; a male should have around 15% body fat whereas a female should have 20-25% due to them having breasts etc. (100 words) Bioelectrical Impedance- Bioelectrical impedance measures the resistance of body tissues to the flow of a small electrical signal. The proportion of body fat can be calculated due to the current flowing through the parts of the body that are made up of mostly of water such as blood, urine and muscle this is not possible through bone, fat and air. By doing this it is possible to work out how much body fat the person has by combining the bioelectric impendence measurement with factors such as gender, age, height, weight, and fitness level. (100 words) Hydro densitometry- Hydro densitometry (which is also known as hydrostatic weighing) is weighing someone while they are in water, it is considered to be the most accurate form of measuring body fat. A very large tank of water is used for this test, firstly a comparison is made between the underwater weight and the dry weight of a person. Due to fat being less dense than the other tissues in the body, it floats more easily. The more fat a person has on their body, the greater the difference between the dry and wet weights. While this method of measuring is very accurate and considered the best way of measuring body fat, not many people use this method because the equipment and test is highly expensive. (100 words) Task 5 [M2] When comparing skin fold callipers and hydrodensitometry both have their advantages and disadvantages for measuring body composition. The cost of callipers is much less than hydrodensitometry, callipers costing around  £15- £20 whereas hydrodensitometry can cost anything up to  £400. The training needed to use the callipers correctly and accurately takes a minimum of 1000 tries but can be performed by anyone; on the other hand hydrodensitometry needs a qualified scientist to use the equipment correctly. Again skin callipers hold the advantage over hydrodensitometry when comparing the speed of measurement. Hydrodensitometry can vary from an hour to three hours due to travel time, changing time, time in pool and time for the results to be calculated. While callipers take only 5 to 10 minutes to get the results. Callipers are much easier to carry out in a field setting as the measurements can be taken anywhere, whereas hydrodensitometry testing has to be done in a specialist room with all the expensive equipment. The one advantage hydrodensitometry holds over skin callipers is the level of accuracy of the results. Callipers results are still very accurate but do not have the same precision of hydrodensitometry results, you also have to take in account human error as this could affect them and this isn’t possible in hydrodensitometry as computers conclude the results. (250 words) Task 6 [D1] How can knowledge of an athlete’s energy intake and expenditure and monitoring of their body composition be used by a coach/support team to aid an individual’s development with respect to sports performance? Knowledge of an athlete’s energy intake and expenditure and monitoring of their body composition can be used in many ways by a coach to aid an individual’s sport performance. If a coach knows exactly what body fat percentage his athlete has he can determine whether he thinks that is a suitable level for the sport his athlete participates in. For example if a coach of a sumo wrestler sees his athlete has low body fat percentage he can put him on a high calorie diet to give him a better chance of matching his opponent, on the other hand if a coach of a marathon runner sees his athlete has a higher body fat percentage that he’s competitors he can put him on a specialised diet and make him do more intense workouts. Looking at a player’s energy intake can also help out the coach in trying to improve his athlete; he can work out whether his athlete is getting enough energy in his diet and whether it has a suitable energy release time. For instance a sprinter may be eating complex carbs like bread and pasta before a race which wouldn’t be suitable as they release energy slowly, the coach can see this and change it to some simple carbs like chocolate as they release energy In a quick short burst which is much more suitable for a 10 second race. Finally a coach can take into consideration whether his athlete is expending his energy suitably, for example if a football player is going on a 5 mile run before a match the coach can suggest that he reduces the distance as he is wasting energy which he should be saving. Expending too much energy in training can also lead to the risk of injury and fatigue so the coach can keep his training at a suitable level for the athlete he is training. Fruit and veg should take up around 33% of your diet; they contain the micronutrient vitamins and minerals, the role of vitamins is to help maintain a healthy immune system to fight off illness and infection, whereas minerals are needed for body functions such as hair growth and to keep bones strong. Starchy foods such as bread, rice and potatoes should also take up around 33% of your diet; they contain the macronutrient carbohydrates which are required to store energy in the muscles for physical activity. Milk and dairy foods such as cream and cheese should take up around 15% of your diet and contain the mineral calcium which is key for maintaining strong bones and teeth. Non-dairy sources of protein such as meats and fish should make up around 15% of your diet these are rich in protein which is needed for the growth and repair of muscles. Red meats such as beef and lamb also provide the body with iron which helps prevent anaemia. Fats and sugars such as chocolate and sweets should only take up 8% of your diet as consuming to many can lead to health problems. They do however provide the body with insulation and an alternate energy source to carbohydrates.

A Stars Life And Death Sciences Essay

A Stars Life And Death Sciences Essay When we look in the sky at night and see all the stars your eyes can see. We think they are permanent although we may think this technology has given us the chance to see otherwise. Massive telescopes like the Hubble space telescope has let us experience and see the birth and death of stars. Where some stars just burn out and fade away other stars go out with a bang. There are billions upon billions of starts in space and their all different sizes. But only one type of star will collapse in and turn its self into a black hole. A protostar: Lets start from the beginning, the pillars of creation is a piece of a space nebula 7,000 light years away from earth in the eagle nebula it is just one of the billion birth places of stars. What are they made up of well Ill tell you they are made up of dust gas and different elements of the periodic table like hydrogen, helium, calcium oxygen silicone and iron. As gravity forces this dust and gas mixture into a flat disc accretion occurs, a process in which more atoms are added to create a protostar. Now at this stage a star is not yet stable because of the countless reactions occurring within the forming star. For this newly forming star to become stable it must reach equilibrium. Equilibrium is the balancing act between the star and gravity. Equilibrium occurs by gas pressure equaling the force of gravity. Gas pressure occurs by thermonuclear fusion which is the combining of the nuclei of small atoms to form the nuclei of larger ones, with a resulting release of large quantities of energy. For nuclear fusion to begin and equilibrium to occur the core of a protostar has to reach 18 million degrees Fahrenheit. When it reaches this critical temperature it will begin nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. And if nuclear fusion doesnt happen it will end up a brown dwarf. Once nuclear fusion begins a star is born. Main sequence star: A main sequence star is made up of essentially two sections the core where nuclear fusion occurs and the outer gaseous shell. Stars will live out most of their life in the main sequence just as our sun is. Once a star begins nuclear fusion it becomes self luminous it generates its own heat. Now how long will a star live out its life well thats hard to tell it all depends on the stars mass and it turns out that how hot a star is will determine the color of the star like for instance a red dwarf star which is  ½ to 1/10 the mass of our sun. With its surface temperature less than 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit and is also the most common type of star in the universe. However we dont see the small Red stars we see the massive blue main sequence star, its surface temperature is 45,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it is up to 20 times the mass of the sun and up to 10,000 times more luminous than that of our sun. There is however a down side to being a massive blue star. With that being said the less th e mass of a star the less atoms a star has to maintain its equilibrium. The bigger the mass of a star the more atoms a star will have to maintain its equilibrium. With regards to a stars life however the more massive a star the shorter its life will be and the less massive a star the longer its life. This is because in larger stars thermonuclear fusion happens at a much faster rate than that of a smaller star. Once a star has reached equilibrium it has not stopped changing there just isnt a huge amount of change going on, and as we already know a star will live out most of its life in this stage. But we must remember gravity forced the star together to begin with and it also wants to destroy it. The beginning of the end: Once a star has run out of hydrogen to convert to helium, the star will begin to contract so that it can begin to convert helium to carbon so that the star can continue to hold up its equilibrium. For a star to convert helium the internal temperature of the star must reach an astounding 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. at this point the star has now become a red giant or red super giant. As gravity causes the core to contract helium will begin to burn in the core. But rapid hydrogen reactions occur faster in the outer layers of the star. As the temperature of the shell increases the outer layers will begin to swell and expand. Since fusion is releasing more energy in the helium burning stage than in the main sequence the star is a lot less stable. As the star begins to run out of helium it will again contract to convert helium to carbon and oxygen into neon then, magnesium, silicone, sulfur and then iron. As massive stars come to the end of their life it begins to look like an onion i n cross section with the outer layer being hydrogen and the inside being layer after lay after layer of heavier elements. As the massive star tries to convert iron it fails because iron being the stable of all nuclei absorbs energy instead of releasing it. When fusion decreases temperature will also decrease. And the rate of the star collapse increases. As the iron core builds up in the star and gravity contracts it even further the iron core will rebound and smash through the outer layers of the sun kicking of a type 2 super nova. The only thing left of the star is the core left completely intact. Gravity still not giving up on destroying this star will contract it even further and force this core of a star to convert electrons to neutrons only one problem neutrons dont like to be near each other. So now you have a new stable object even smaller and denser. This compact star core becomes a rapid whirling ball of neutrons. Which give the star the name neutron star as gravity compact s this neutron star even further and if at the last moments of the neutron stars death enough matter falls in to its core it will collapse into itself and form a black hole in which nothing escapes not even light. So lets recap we have talked about gravity forcing dust and gas together to form a protostar. Also how nuclear fusion is what makes a star a star and for that to happen the core must reach 18 million degrees Fahrenheit. We also went over that as soon as nuclear fusion begins a star is born. As a star comes to the main sequence it will live here for most of its life. But as soon as the star runs out of hydrogen gravity will contract it until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 million degrees Fahrenheit and will burn helium to keep its equilibrium. The sun will also convert carbon and oxygen into neon then, magnesium, silicone, sulfur and then iron trying to fight off gravities crushing force. But it doesnt happen and the iron core in the star will rebound sending of shock waves causing a type 2 supernova. Leaving the left over core intact and allowing gravity to take over again gravity will force the electrons left over in the core to neutrons and now we have a neutron star tha t gravity will compress and if enough matter falls in the core it will eventually collapse in on itself and form a black hole. All information I used in this speech came from the history channels The Universe Life and death of a star. Season 1 episode 10 and also form http://sunshine.chpc.utah.edu life cycle of a star. Picture of brown dwarf star form http://news.discovery.com/space/rogue-brown-dwarf-lurks-in-our-cosmic-neighborhood.html Picture of Red super giant form http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_784.html Picture of black hole destroying to stars if an artists enactments of the destruction of a black hole picture form http://www.cosmographica.com title Don Dixon space art. All other pictures seen here today were from Hubble space telescope http://hubblesite.org I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to listen to my speech on a stars life and death. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Managing Cultural Dynamics In Global Markets Commerce Essay

Managing Cultural Dynamics In Global Markets Commerce Essay Culture defines a certain way of life. The study of culture is one of the prerequisite for the studies of management and international management in particular. The knowledge of culture is also required for designing products and business strategies for the consumers of a foreign market. Figure 7: Components of Culture The management is a dynamic process and needs constant innovation and changes to accomodate as per economic conditions and cultural influences.The business strategy is formed as result of business effort, economic conditions and other components of culture. In this chapter of thesis, i choose to describe the sensitivity of management to dynamics of culture. It also focuses on origin and elements of cultures in different countries. 2.2 Cultures Pervasive Impact The culture affect the life of an individual from birth to death. It influences the consumption pattern as well as other habits. For example, Spanish are considered sleeping less than other Europeans. The birth rates  [2]  have been severely effected by other religious beliefs. For example, in China, there is more child births in the year of dragon(12 animals) as it is a symbol of good luck. The year witnessed huge sales of toys, diapers etc. So, the managerial decisions need to take account of such things. The below mentioned table shows the different consumption pattern existing across different countries: Table 1- Consumption patterns( annual per capita) Country Cut Flowers Chocolate (Kg) Fish (Kg) Pasta ( Kg) Tobacco (sticks) Wine (Lt) France 81 4.3 27.6 4.6 1375 30.4 Germany 120 8.7 10.2 5.1 1719 21.3 Italy 87 2.5 22.2 20.7 1869 34.4 Netherlands 125 5.0 22.6 2.5 1050 17.9 Spain 33 1.7 37.4 4.4 2288 13.1 United Kingdom 48 10.5 15.4 2.1 973 15.7 Japan 110 1.8 37.8 10.9 2472 6.9 United States 75 5.6 19.0 3.5 1428 5.9 Source: Euro monitor international, 2010 and 2011 From the above table, one can see the British consume highest amount of chocolate. This habit can be attributed to cool British environment, which enables better storage and taste. There is also trends of declining chocolate consumption in Six of European countries with decreasing latitude. Another important thing is about the fish consumption of Japan, as Japanese island is surrounded with water there is a special liking for Fish and seafoods. The Spanish have special liking for fish as well while the flat geography of England is suited for red meat consumption and production. The high noodle consumption of Japan is because of its proximity to China. There is one more interesting table on data related to consequences of consumption. Table 2: Consequences of Consumption Country Birthrate (per 100,000) Life expectancy Heart Disease Liver Diseases Lung Cancer Stomach cancer France 12.3 79 75 16 42 9 Germany 8.2 78 241 22 46 16 Italy 8.6 79 131 19 55 19 Netherlands 10.6 78 113 5 54 11 Spain 8.9 78 100 15 59 15 United Kingdom 10.6 77 162 9 57 12 Japan 9.2 81 59 11 42 41 United States 13.1 78 193 11 55 5 Source: http://www3.who.int/whosis/menu.cfm The longest life of Japanese is attributed to their fish consumption. But high incidence of stomach cancer is because of salty food, like soya sauce and bacterium Helicobacter pylori. This bacteria is because of unhealthy sanitaery conditions in aftermath of world war 2.This has also lead to inventions of some of the best methods to fight stomach cancer in Japan. Similiarly, the high rates of lung cancer among Spanish people is because of their high cigarette consumption. 2.3 Origin of Culture  [3]   To study how the culture of a particular country originated, its needed to study the things like geography, history, social institutions, economy etc. 2.3.1 Geography It is a broad term which includes climate, topography, flora, fauna and micro biology. The presence of large amount of sea water and ports in a country made it a trading hub. Also, Netherlands being a country with lesser colour due to year round snow fall made the people to bring best flowers to country. 2.3.2 History: The historical events have a strong effect on technology, social institutions, cultural values and consumer behavior. The most recent example is of 2003 Middle east conflict. Due to hatred against American product in particular Coca Cola, there were several brands born for example, Mecca Cola, Muslim Up, Arab Cola etc. There are thousands of examples, one is the formation of independent America and its values in 1776 after the publication of Adam Smiths Wealth of Nations. 2.3.3 The Political Economy: The most prominent ways to govern a country was of three types- Fascism. Communism. Democracy. The Fascism collapsed in 1945 followed by communism in 1990s. Another things to affect the political economy was seen in aftermath of September 9/11. The effect of political economy on cultural values will be detailed in next sections of this chapter. Figure 8: Origin elements and Consequences of Culture 2.3.4 Technology: One can easily notice the impact of technology on cultural values in United states. Apart from the inventions of jet, Internet the most influencing technology is the advent of birth control pills in USA. It was because of this that the women participation in United states workforce increased. Although, roman catholic church had criticized the advent of this technology . 2.3.5 Social Institutions  [4]  : The social institutions include family, religion, school, government and organization. These all institutions help people to organize and live collectively. Every culture has its own criterion related to the family, group behavior, men and women equality etc. For example, As Canada is diverse and has various sub cultures, a travel advertisement shows picture of a wife alone for English-speaking Canada and wife with husband for French speaking Canada. 2.3.6 Family: The family types vary around the globe. For example, Nepotism is favored in Chinese and Mexican cultures, while it is criticised in American culture. The size of family do vary with cultures, for example, Japanese mothers tend to care for her children alone and also sleep with them. An American family has parents working hard to support their kids. Also, the kids are taught lessons of individualism very early as they are put in separate bassinette. Also, the higher percentage of boys in India and China are because of the favoritism towards male child. 2.3.7 Religion: Religion is the first social institution a child faces on coming out of his house. The protestants believe in confessing directly to god unlike roman catholics, who confess via church. Some scholars are of thought that the protestants action promote equality among people. So, its important for business managers to understand others religion. It is not an easy task, for example, despite having close to 1.2 billion people following Islam, the MNCs often hurt their sentiments. 2.3.8 School: The school is another important social institution, which helps to shape consumer behavior. There are studies that show strong relation between literacy rates and economic development of a country. The world bank report also supports the above fact as it says that the countries with less than 50 per cent literacy rates are unable to develop properly. The good literacy rates of a country also helps in business communication, which is an important tool for business managers. 2.3.9 The Media: Media is the fourth most influential social institution after school, church and family. This emergence of media in past 30 years comes from the fact that the women have increased their participation in media work force and hence the influence of family has reduced over time. And, on average an American kid attends school 180 days per year. So, leaving plenty of time for too much media exposure and now it is being criticized as well. 2.3.10 Government: The government does not influence the thinking of a child or adolescence. The government has responsibility to effect the mid set of adults. For example, the French government promotes procreation among its citizen and also offers money as birth bonus. The Chinese and Japanese governments are promoting creative thinking by changing school activities and timings. Many times the government is also involved in influencing consumption. For example, after a research showing that drinking caused a lost 2 percent of Irish GDP, the government further tightened the rules to prevent under age drinking. 2.3.11 Organizations: The organizations have a say in media. They have access to global markets and has ability to influence innovation. The organizations can promote a new way of thinking and hence influence a culture. 2.4 Elements of Culture  [5]   As the culture has been defined as a combination of values, rituals, symbols, beliefs, and thought process. The management should give due importance to all of five elements. 2.4.1 Cultural values The cultural values differ from one country to another because of existing diversity across the borders. The study of Geert Hofstede explains how a culture affect the business behavior. His studies covered 90,000 people across 66 countries and he put emphasis on four basic dimensions. The Individualism/Collective Index(IDV). Power Distance Index(PDI). Uncertainity Avoidance Index(UAI). Masculinity/Femininity Index(MAS). The MAS index, which focuses on achievement is least important of above four and i chose to not discuss it in my thesis. Table 3: Hofstedes indexes, Languages, and Linguistic Distance Country IDV Score PDI Score UAI Score Primary Language Distance From English Arab countries 38 80 68 Arabic 5 Australia 90 36 51 English 0 Brazil 38 69 76 Portugese 3 Canada 80 39 48 English 3 Colombia 13 67 80 Spanish 3 Finland 63 33 59 Finnish 4 France 71 68 86 French 3 Germany 67 35 65 German 1 Great Britain 89 35 35 English 0 Greece 35 60 112 Greek 3 Guatemala 6 95 101 Spanish 3 India 48 77 40 Hindi 3 Indonesia 14 78 48 Bahsa 7 Iran 41 58 59 Farsi 3 Japan 46 54 92 Japanese 4 Mexico 30 81 82 Spanish 3 Netherlands 80 38 53 Dutch 1 New Zealand 79 22 49 English 0 Pakistan 14 55 70 Urdu 3 South Korea 18 60 85 Korean 4 Taiwan 17 58 69 Taiwanese 6 Turkey 37 66 85 Turkish 4 United States 91 40 46 English 0 Uruguay 36 61 100 Spanish 3 Venezuela 12 81 76 Spanish 3 Source: From Geert Hofstede, Cultures Consequences,2001. 2.4.1.1 Individualism/Collectivism Index: It shows the behavior which promotes self interests. The cultures that score high on this index promotes individuality by rewarding individual efforts while the low score countries promote group work. Individualism refer to a culture where everyone is independent to other members of family and look after themselves. Although, individualism do promote group work only with the difference that individual performance is identified and rewarded. 2.4.1.2 Power Distance Index: This index is a measure of inequality existing in a society. It generally refer to superiors and sub ordinates relationships. The cultures with higher PDI scores in above table reflect hierarchical organization set up and a sense of privilege for the managers enjoying power. The cultures with low PDI score promote equality. 2.4.1.3Uncertainty Avoidance Index: This index deals with the ease of acceptance of changes by the society. The cultures with high UAI scores are unwelcoming to new ideas. These societies have rules to check anxiety and avoid risks. The countries with lower UAI scores are risk takers. 2.4.1.4 Cultural values and Consumer Behavior: The Hofstede index scores do reflect the cultural values and behaviors existing across different countries. For example, the high scores of United States(91) on IDV reflects that the people like to sit alone and have separate office space etc. While high scores on Hofstede uncertainity avoidance index for Japan(92) and France(86) shows the rejection of risk taking behavior or these citizens might be happier not taking risks in stock markets. Americans have a score of (46) and it signals otherwise. 2.4.1.5 Rituals The rituals include behavior patterns that are learned over a period of time and repeated.For example, Marriages ,funerals or graduation ceremony. The rituals differ across countries. The rituals can be of dinning in a restaurant, in Madrid its common to have dessert first and dinner in midnight, the whole process may last for around three hours. So, the rituals help to form expectation among people. 2.4.1.6 Symbols  [6]   The researcher and anthropolgist Edward T. Hall outlines that culture is a type of communication. He further adds that interpreting symbols around us is an indication of socialization. The child starts listening, watching and learning languages, symbols around him. I start discussing step by step, starting with Language. 2.4.1.7Language The languages are in themselves a social institution and also holds political significance. For Example, in Canada there were political disputes over English/French languages in past. The French people are always trying to maintain purity of their language. In world, many of the languages are on the verge of extinction and the cultural diversity is decreasing with time. The importance of language is for managers, for example, a marketer wanting to sell products in Francemust be familiar with French. So, it is not unfair to say that linguistic distances are a measure of trade affairs among different countries and greater distances accompany with higher transaction costs. With time, the researcher have grouped languages into families, For example, Spanish, Italian, French and Portugese have roots in Latin. However, German, Chinese, Japanese are different branches of a language tree. The distance of these languages from english has been shown in previous table. Also, one can predict and expect different behavior based on the above mentioned index. For example, higher distance from English language is a reflection of lesser individualism. Also, French language has two words for you while English has just one, so English language promotes the equivalence of social status. 2.4 2 Aesthetics as Symbols  [7]   As we know an art has tendency to communicate. For example, in lieu of writing 1000 words one can draw a picture. So, aesthetics become an important issue to be tackled by business managers. Every culture has its own unique myths and metaphors. For example, if one goes to a Japanese restaurant, its common to hear subtle earth tones while if one goes to an ethnic Chinese restaurant, its normal to encounter bright red and yellow lights. The error on aesthetics issues can lead to huge business blunders. These issues are of more importance in deciding advertising, packaging signs of a product. For example, the Japanese word for four is shi, it also means death. In Japan, the teacups are sold in set of five not four. There are a set of different metaphors representing different cultures as shown in below mentioned table. Table 4: Metaphorical of 23 Countries The Thai Kingdom The Traditional British House The Japanese Garden The Malaysian Balik Kampung India: The Dance of Shiva The Nigerian Marketplace Bedouin Jewelry and Saudi Arabia The Israeli Kibbutzim and Moshavim The Turkish Coffeehouse The Italian Opera The Brazilian Samba Belgian Lace The Polish village Church The Mexican Fiesta Kimchi and Korea The Russian Ballet The German Symphony The Spanish Bullfight The Swedish Stuga The Portugese Bullfight Irish Conversations The Chinese Family Altar American Football Source: Martin J Gannon, Understanding global culture 2.4.3 Beliefs  [8]   The human belief is generally formed from reading religious texts. For example, the Western world donot like to use number 13, as they consider it unauspicious. This eminates from the fact that Jesus sat with 12 people in his last supper. There are various secular beliefs as well and they are also called superstition. For Example, the belief of ghosts and demons prevelant in many countries. The Chinese has special significance of number 8, as it denotes prosperity, so the business managers try to put price tags such that they end with number 8. There is another very interesting belief in China, that is of feng shui. It is a way to link a human body to external or driving source of energy, which is responsible for life. The fundamental is to reduce negative energy and ensure good luck, prosperity and good health to owner of the house. The business people often seek the advice of feng shui master to decide entrance of house, day of establishing business etc. In China, people donot like houses having North-West and South-West entrances, as both of the directions are considered to be of devils. This kind of practices must be taken care by business leaders. For Example, Hong-Kong Disney Land is built with the help of a feng shui master. Generally, it is found that some beliefs of a culture are not taken seriously by persons belonging to another culture. Such mistakes should be minimized as beliefs are a culturtal fabric and guide behavior of a society. Thought Processes: Across different cultures around the globe, the thinking method is very different. The book by Richard Nisbett The Geography of Thought is a master work on this issue and shows the existing different thinking patterns prevelant in Asian and Western societies. The author cautions that one should not try to generalize Japanese, Chinese and Korean culture as well as European and American culture. The general findings of the book are consistent with the data used in this thesis. The Nisbetts book shows one very good example of different way to look at a figure by Asians and Europeans. He found that if an Asian sees a picture, he will recall the key figure as well as backlground. But, if an European looks at the same figure, he will only recall the key central figure. This variation of thinking shows wide differences in preferences, values and expectations. The business managers need to be prompt in the above criterion, particularily in case of selling a new product or service. 2.5 Cultural Knowledge  [9]   The cultural knowledge cab be divided into two parts: Factual Knowledge. Interpretive Knowledge. The factual knowledge is associated with the facts which a manager is obliged to learn like, meanings of symbols, colours and tastes. The managers are also required to anticipate various cultural traits. The interpretive knowledge includes learning things like , the peoples attitude towards others, value of time and other cultural patterns. The interpretive knowledge also includes meaning of life in a particular culture etc. 2.5.1 Factual Versus Interpretive Knowledge  [10]   It is very important for managers to have full understanding of factual as well as interpretive knowledge of a society. For example, it is a well known fact that 98 percent of Mexican population is Roman catholic. But, it is also very important to understand that being a catholic in Mexico is different from being a catholic is Spain or Poland. For example, in all catholic countries All souls day is an important festival. The Mexicans also name it as The Day of Dead and believe that the dead persons come to feast and put the favorite food of ancestors on their graves. Its common to see market full of chocolates in the shape of bones etc. Also, the prayers are offered, candles lit. The later activities are catholic but the dead feasting is pre-christain Mexican thinking. The same day is celebrated very differently in other catholic countries. The interpretive knowledge includes the understanding of feelings. Although, this knowledge is dependent on past experiences but should be kept distant from the home countrys self reference criterion(SRC). The managers can be dependent on the text materials related to a culture for learning but the best method of learning is to spend some time in that culture. 2.5.2 Cultural sensitivity and tolerance  [11]   The managers need to analysze objectively any new culture. The managers need to be open in accepting new cultural values. The managers should not judge culture as right or wrong but as a different way of life. One should always keep in mind that for every annoying trait the people see in another culture, there are also some annoying facts in own culture. For Example, It may be a compulsion to use perfumes in one culture while the people in other culture may like to maintain their natural body odor. As the job of managers involve introducing changes and improvements, the managers must be open to accepting or rejecting new ideas and suggestions. The business managers must also be aware of methods to unleash any resistances to change as well. 2.5.2.1 Cultural Change The culture has been defined by many researchers as a living object as it is always going through transformations. The cultures changes in different ways, some culture are influenced by any natural distater or they are influenced by some external disturbances like the case of Japan after world war 2. The societies change to adjust for the changing environment. In order words, a culture is the best way to answer common problems poised by external environment of a society. The cultures also try to diagnose themselves by an activity known as cultural borrowings. This refers to looking into anothers culture for solutions to the problem faced in ones own culture. Another way to solve the problems is through inventions. 2.5.2.2 Cultural Borrowing  [12]   As discussed before, it is a systematic way of looking into another societies to solve the problems being faced in one owns society. For example, nowadays a person living in one country frequently uses the things manufactured in another countries, this is a clear demonstration of a way to solve needs of a society in best way. These cultural facets can be in the form of food, things and habits. It should also be noticed that once a solution is found, it is communicated to next generation and with time becomes a culture heritage. This cultural heritage is an important differenciating factor between human beings and animals. The cultural heritage may contain some borrowed behaviors but it becomes unique for a society and business managers need to demonstrate a clear understanding of them in order to ensure cultural empathy. Similarities: An Illusion The inexperienced business managers get illusive in drawing similarities among cultures which is unexistant. There are several nations in the globe who speak same language, have similar cultural heritage but a product acceptable in one culture might not be acceptable to another culture. That same applies to advertisements as well. Even is English speaking countries like USA and Britain, Although the spoken language is same, there may exists different meanings of a same word or phrase. For example, The Americans call bathroom as toilet in general context but in England bathrooms serve the purpose of only bathing. Another example is that an American asks for elevator and British for lift. Anthropologist Edward Hall says that the world pre assumes similiarities in American and British culture, which is not correct approach. Another interesting event for cultural unification is of Europe, the business managers and MNCs have started to refer them as European customers. Although, the concept of European integration is based on the fact that the barriers to trade and commerce must be reduced but this does not make the business managers to believe that all Europeans have same preferences and tastes. Even in European union, the different countries have their own traditions based on hundreds of years of their heritage. It will not be possible to remove those cultural heritages. The differences exist across a country as well, for example, the East and West Germans have seperate cultural values. In USA, the people in Southern parts have different cultural values than Northern part and so on. The business managers should not formulate common policies based on accepted beliefs, they should focus on the innate needs of individual markets. Although, with time the international markets will integrate and countries will have more economic and social interdependence. The managers need to recognise the pattern of cultural borrowings and keep away from mistakes of cultural unifications. As, culture is a broad term the managers should develop strategies according to the needs of culture . The cultural dynamics will keep on innovating with the help of inside inventions and borrowings, and it will always be an assignment for managers to identify and solve those challenges. 2.6 Resistance to Change  [13]   Although the human behavior, taste, habits and life styles change over years but this change is a gradual process. Any body needs some time to adjust in a new role. So, its usual to notice some resistance to change. The extent to which a change faces resistance depends and varies from one society to another. There are socieites where people readily accept new ideas and habits, geberally in the countries having high scores of high individualism( IDV), lower power distance (PDI) and uncertainity Avoidance index( UAI) like USA, there is special space for innovations. There are some other types of studies which try to find the extent of acceptance of innovation in a society. The research findings indicate that the innovations which resolve the innate needs and interests of a society are most readily acceptable. The best example is the industralization in Europe and the development of methods to make life more productive and the growth of supportive systems like fast food services to support valuable time mentality. Another case is of the rejection of genetically modified food items in Europe. The Europe saw first widespread protests against genetically modified tomatoes where as the other countries of Asia and America had it without any problems untill 2000. It was then that the people started protests and the federal government intervened to define new food standards. With time the resistance  [14]  to change fades away as people become aware for the need to change. Generally, the resistance to new ideas can be overcome in few months but for some complex ideas it may take centuries to overcome resistance. 2.6.1 Planned and Unplanned Cultural Change  [15]   In order to plan the implementation of changes, first it is necessary to identify those cultural factors which are

Community Service: Giving Back to the Community By Volunteering :: Contribution to My Community

â€Å"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.† ― Barack Obama It all started when I was in high-school. I volunteered at Helping Hands, Meals on Wheels, and Habitat for Humanity. These volunteering experiences opened my eyes to the needs of my community and the many opportunities for community service. After high-school, I started volunteering with a variety of organizations. I was involved in projects and activities relating to peace, human rights, environment and HIV/AIDS. It was a great pleasure for me to contribute to the development of my community through volunteering. The impact I was making on my community was visible. I encountered numerous obstacles while volunteering because many people don't value volunteer work. In my community, many people consider volunteering as waste of time. They cannot conceive of the fact that someone would work without receiving compensation. My friends and family advised me on several occasions to stop volunteering. I felt extremely discouraged at one point but I could not stop because I loved doing it. Volunteering was the top priority of my life. I decided to ignore their advice and concentrate on my work. One day, a group of young people came to me and said they had something to say. I was very surprised. They said they were all grateful for the changes I brought into their lives. I was so happy to hear such a statement - it aroused a great joy in my heart. This experience has helped me to understand that when one focuses on what others think, it may be difficult to have a meaningful impact upon the lives of others. There are three elements that permitted me to succeed in life through volunteering: passion, determination and patience. One cannot succeed in life overnight. We have to work hard to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Classroom of the Future Essay -- Teaching Education

Classroom of the Future Essay In ten years, I will be 32 years old. I will be teaching full-time in an elementary school. Things will be a lot different than they are now, technology in particular. Everything that is cutting-edge right now will be widely available. In my classroom of the future, my students will all have helpful technological tools to further enable their learning capabilities. One thing my classroom will have is a smart board. In fact, every classroom will have one. Smart boards, otherwise known as interactive whiteboards, are like big computer screens the size of chalkboards. The screen shows whatever the computer attached to it tells it to, and things can be highlighted and edited by touching the screen. The boards are also able to be written on, and are totally interactive, hence the name interactive whiteboard. These will be really helpful when teaching lessons because of all the things that you can do with them. It’s like a chalkboard that actually responds to you. Smart boards also enable video conferencing. This is great because students can go on virtual tours using these smart board video conferences. They can speak to scientists and tour guides and hundreds of other informed professionals willing to conference with them. This avoids the hassle of regular field trips which involve transportation and permission slips and takes up a lot of time and energy. Now students can have those same benefits of learning from the comfort of their classrooms (EdCompass). Another piece of technology that will benefit students in my future classroom will be cell phones. In ten years, there’s a good possibility that every person in the country will have a cellular phone, students... ...nology to help them with every task. Their learning will be advanced tenfold through the use of what’s known today as cutting-edge technology. And, best of all, classrooms will be improving all the time. Works Cited Daly, J. (2004). Life on the screen. Retrieved Apr. 19, 2005, from Edutopia Magazine Web site: http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=Art_1160&issue=sept_04. Shreve, J. (2005). Let the games begin. Retrieved Apr. 19, 2005, from Edutopia Magazine Web site: http://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=art_1268&issue=apr_05. SMART Technologies Inc., (n.d.). Edcompass. Retrieved Apr. 19, 2005, from Evaluate Technology Web site: http://edcompass.smarttech.com/. Wired Magazine, (2005). Cell phones put to novel use. Retrieved Apr. 19, 2005, from Wired News Web site: http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,66950,00.html.

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Brother of the Bride -- Wedding Toasts

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Brother of the Bride Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Neal, the bride's brother. On behalf of my mother, Mrs. Lian White, I wish to thank you all for coming to celebrate this special occasion with us. We are so happy that so many of our friends and relatives are able to come here to enjoy this splendid occasion with us. Today seems like a magical dream. This morning, I proudly walked my sister down the aisle to marry Paul, the man whom she loves so much. It was so beautiful to watch them exchanging their vows in that beautiful stained glass church. Its marvelous seeing these two good people come together. The Bride and Groom Susie is a gem in our family, a blessing to both her parents and me. She's been a good and faithful daughter to my ...

Alternative economic models Essay

1. If two alternative economic models are offered, other things equal, we would 2. Time-series forecasting models: 3. Consumer expenditure plans is an example of a forecasting method. Which of the general categories best described this example? 4. An example of a time series data set is one for which the: 5. For studying demand relationships for a proposed new product that no one has ever used before, what would be the best method to use? 6. Which of the following barometric indicators would be the most helpful for forecasting future sales for an industry? 7. If Ben Bernanke, Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, begins to tighten monetary policy by raising US interest rates next year, what is the likely impact on the value of the dollar? 8. An appreciation of the U.S. dollar has what impact on Harley-Davidson (HD), a U.S. manufacturer of motorcycles? 9. The purchasing power parity hypothesis implies that an increase in inflation in one country relative to another will over a long period of time 10. In an open economy with few capital restrictions and substantial import-export trade, a rise in interest rates and a decline in the producer price index of inflation will 11. An increase in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar relative to a trading partner can result from 12. The optimal currency area involves a trade-off of reducing transaction costs but the inability to use changes in exchange rates to help ailing regions. If the US, Canada, and Mexico had one single currency (the Peso-Dollar) we would tend to see all of the following EXCEPT: 13. Using demand and supply curves for the Japanese yen based on the $/ ¥ price for yen, an increase in US INFLATION RATES would 14. The isoquants for inputs that are perfect complements for one another consist of a series of: 15. The combinations of inputs costing a constant C dollars is called: 16. In a production process, an excessive amount of the variable input relative to the fixed input is being used to produce the desired output. This statement is true for: 17. If the marginal product of labor is 100 and the price of labor is 10, while the marginal product of capital is 200 and the price of capital is $30, then what should the firm? 18. The isoquants for inputs that are perfect  substitutes for one another consist of a series of: 19. Marginal factor cost is defined as the amount that an additional unit of the variable input adds to ____. 20. What method of inventory valuation should be used for economic decision-making problems? 21. The existence of diseconomies of scale (size) for the firm is hypothesized to result from: 22. ____ are defined as costs which are incurred regardless of the alternative action chosen in a decision-making problem. 23. The cost function is: 24. For a short-run cost function which of the following statements is (are) not true? 25. According to the theory of cost, specialization in the use of variable resources in the short-run results initially in:

Tred Paper

The myth of the prodigal boy started with the jr. intelligence that asked his contract to give him his portion of the familys inheritance then the son got what he wanted and went off on a long journey to a let on-of-town land and began wasting his fortune. When the son ran out of money, he took a handicraft nourishment bruisers. He was so poor that he was willing to eat the food for the pigs. one(a) day, the son realized all his faults and he finally came into his senses.He remembered his sire and clear-cut to return home to ask for mercy and mercy. His father welcomed his son with open arms. ascribable to the fathers happiness, he enjoin his servants to prepare a celebration. Meanwhile, the honest-to-goodness son was not happy when he came home, workings the fields, only to find out that on that point was a arrayy for the return of his younger brother. The father tried to prevent the elderly brother for creation jealous and the father said You are always with me , and everything I have is yours. So, from what I gauge, the younger son was selfish and immature for asking his part of the familys inheritance even if that the father was not dead. Second, when the younger son took the job of feeding the pigs and even eating the pigs food, it shows that he had sunk as low as he could by chance go. The son represents a person life in rebellion to idol. I think that before we come into our sense, we should first take care failures.Third, the father is the image of the Heavenly Father. God is a symbol of love and is patient. He helps us when we return to him with humble hearts. He is not interested from what we have through with(p) in the past but forgives us. Lastly, the sure-enough(a) son represents an image of the Pharisees. By being self-righteousness, they forgot to be a happy when a sinner returns to God. I think that the acerbity and resentment are what kept the older son to forgive his younger brother.