Non-Invasive Diagnostic Techniques

Non-Invasive diagnostic techniques| | X-rays| An X-ray machine is essentially a camera. Instead of visible light, however, it uses X-rays to expose the film. X-rays are like light in that they are electromagnetic waves, but they are more energetic so they can penetrate many materials to varying degrees. When the X-rays hit the film, they expose it just as light would. Since bone, fat, muscle, tumors and other masses all absorb X-rays at different levels, the image on the film lets you see different (distinct) structures inside the body because of the different levels of exposure on the film. Ultrasound| Ultrasound or ultrasonography is a medical imaging technique that uses high frequency sound waves and their echoes. The technique is similar to the echolocation used by bats, whales and dolphins, as well as SONAR used by submarines. | Thermography| | MRI| MRI scanners vary in size and shape, and some newer models have a greater degree of openness around the sides. Still, the basic des ign is the same, and the patient is pushed into a tube that's only about 24 inches (60 centimetres) in diameter.The biggest and most important component of an MRI system is the magnet. There is a horizontal tube — the same one the patient enters — running through the magnet from front to back. This tube is known as the bore. But this isn't just any magnet — we're dealing with an incredibly strong system here, one capable of producing a large, stable magnetic field. The strength of a magnet in an MRI system is rated using a unit of measure known as a tesla.Another unit of measure commonly used with magnets is the gauss (1 tesla = 10,000 gauss). The magnets in use today in MRI systems create a magnetic field of 0. 5-tesla to 2. 0-tesla, or 5,000 to 20,000 gauss. When you realize that the Earth's magnetic field measures 0. 5 gauss, you can see how powerful these magnets are. Most MRI systems use a superconducting magnet, which consists of many coils or windings of wire through which a current of electricity is passed, creating a magnetic field of up to 2. 0 tesla.Maintaining such a large magnetic field requires a good deal of energy, which is accomplished by superconductivity, or reducing the resistance in the wires to almost zero. To do this, the wires are continually bathed in liquid helium at 452. 4 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (269. 1 below zero degrees Celsius) [source: Coyne]. This cold is insulated by a vacuum. While superconductive magnets are expensive, the strong magnetic field allows for the highest-quality imaging, and superconductivity keeps the system economical to operate. |

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay

In the play written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are several instances of irony. Dramatic irony, or tragic irony as some critics would prefer to call it, usually means a situation in which the character of the play has limited knowledge and says or does something in which they have no idea of the significance. The audience, however, already has the knowledge of what is going to occur or what the consequences of the characters actions will be. The degree of irony and the effect it has depends upon the readers’ grasp and recognition of some discrepancy between two things. Our first taste of dramatic irony comes very early into the play when Oedipus vows to bring to justice the killer of Laius, which is in reality himself. When he learns that the bringing of justice of Laius’ killer will rid the city of a terrible plague, he sets forth with a plan to track down the killer. Oedipus begins to curse the killer and vows: Oedipus: As for the criminal, I pray to God – Whether it be a lurking thief, or one of a number – I pray that that man’s life be consumed in evil and wretchedness. And as for me, this curse applies no less (968) This is very ironic, as Oedipus is indeed, without knowledge of the truth, talking about himself. Another example of dramatic irony is the power of fate and Oedipus’ powerlessness against it. Throughout the play we are aware of Oedipus’ fate and we realize there is nothing that he can do to change it. When Oedipus tells his city after listening to their plea for help against the terrible sickness and plague that has taken over the city: Oedipus: I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I. (963) The audience understands the truth and the irony in that statement. Oedipus should not worry about himself becoming ‘sick’ for he is already infested with the sickness. A third example of the irony of Oedipus is the fact that Oedipus seemed to be blind and deaf to the truth. He appears to be on a valiant search for the truth and justice of the killer of Laius, yet refuses to hear the truth when it is spoken to him. In order to hear the truth Oedipus needed to be able to hear and interpret it, yet he only heard what he wanted to hear. Therefore rendering him unable to understand the mystery of who he truly was. In this play there seems to be a constant string of ironies throughout. Oedipus is in denial of the truth. In his dramatic speeches he misconstrues the information that he has been given by Teiresias, as well as Creon and Iocaste. The horrifying realization that the prophecy of the Sphinx is in fact the truth, causes Oedipus to blind himself. The audience therefore pities him, which is a result of the use of dramatic irony. The use of irony in a play allows the writer to make their audience want to see how the events which are occurring, mentally affect the main character, even if they already know how the story will end, as in Oedipus the King. Kennedy, X.J., and Gioia Dana. â€Å"Oedipus the King† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. 960-1005.

Modern Chinese Fashion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modern Chinese Fashion - Research Paper Example The paper "Modern Chinese Fashion" focuses on modern Chinese fashion and is basically meant to discuss the changing fashion patterns seen at festivals and traditions, how traditional and festive Chinese clothing differ from each other, mainstream Chinese fashion designers, popular dress trends, and how wealth produces influence on the type of clothes worn by the Chinese people. Integrating the creative and priceless knowledge gained from places which are considered to be centers of fashion like New York, Paris, and Milan in the native system to create modern clothes sensitively customized to the culture of China is not an easy challenge to fulfill. Chinese fashion designers are astute and sensitive enough to acknowledge the changing economical trends in the country and design their clothes while keeping the national economical state of the country in their minds so that everyone would be able to wear stylish clothes irrespective of class difference. Basic Chinese fashion elements der ive from the Tang and Song dynasties and Shiatzy Chen is one such fashion label in China run by Wang Chen which relies heavily on materials such as silk and satin. In words of Chen, â€Å"I wanted to create something that reflects Chinese culture, yet manages to achieve global recognition; a brand that would make China proud†. Class difference, though not as pronounced now as it was previously in Chinese clothing, also presents challenges for Chinese fashion designers on some levels. In the past, these elements of class difference.... Distinction made by clothes between rich and poor was undeniably so obvious in the ancient China as compared to the modern China that no one could possibly remain oblivious to it. The wealthy members of the society were identified by the richness reflecting from their royal clothes which were almost always made out of silk, while the middle class and poor people relied on wearing very simple clothes made out of cotton. But irrespective of past and modern times, silk has throughout served as a resolute status symbol in the Chinese society and has always remained the material of choice to be worn for the rich and elite Chinese people in traditional terms. It is also the general consensus among the Chinese people, fashion designers, and critics that silk has a wide range of application in both festive and ordinary clothing. From being integrated in women’s blouses and scarves to men’s dress shirts and ties, silk is recognized as the material of choice for the fashion desig ners too who design clothes in accordance with common public’s demands and tastes. The modern Chinese fashion wear largely refines the more conventional clothing approach as seen in old Chinese pictures and present day popular trends can also be considered as a major reflection of orthodox dressing trends. In the ancient days during the Tang and Song dynasties, fabrics popular in China were gauze, damask, crepe, and brocade (Csanyi). Women wore loose robes with long sleeves and used decorative cloth on the lower hems (Hua 16). Incorporation of classic Chinese symbols in the clothing is vividly apparent in the ancient Chinese clothing culture. To the present day clothing culture, symbolism still serves as one of the primarily important elements considered by the fashion designers while designing

Digital marketing plan - Quality Pet Care Essay

Digital marketing plan - Quality Pet Care - Essay Example Hence, the company has planned to shift their focus towards reframing their digital marketing strategies along with the modification of their product line and services. The further discussion will detail the current business and market situation of the organisation along with the key marketing issues and major objectives for future growth. It will also detail the strategic digital marketing plan through proper market segmentation and proposition. The situational analysis will detail the current condition and impact of the macro and micro environment of the business. The analysis will detail the company, its competitors, core market, external business climate and customers (Myers and Tauber, 2011). The pet food and accessories retail market in Britain can be considered as one of the strong market due to increased preference of population to provide healthier food and hygienic living condition. The total yearly value of the pet care market has been estimated approximately  £4.8 billion, out of which  £2.1 billion is served by the pet food market. Dog food value sales have demonstrated a growth of 15.6% during 2007 to 2012. Alternatively, during this period, cat food value sales increased by 21% (Mintel Group Ltd., 2013). The dog food market has been forecasted to demonstrate a steady performance during the span of 2013 to 2017, while, the cat food market has been estimated to grow rapidly (Mintel Group Ltd., 2014). QPC mainly deals in traditional pet food. The organisation is also indulged in the marketing and sales of pet accessories which is responsible for almost 16% of their annual revenue. Due to their gradual decrease in the sales volume as well as increased market competition, the organisation has redecorated their stores and offerings (Case Study). They are widely expanding their products and services which include: The UK wet and dry pet food retail market is one of the highly competitive market which

Delegating Responsibilities Is the Key to Effective Management Assignment - 1

Delegating Responsibilities Is the Key to Effective Management - Assignment Example This study outlines that delegating ensures that the manager has adequate time for other responsibilities such as monitoring progress, supervision, and decision-making. According to Dubrin, delegation helps the manager to delegate tasks that are low priority and not urgent, which give the manager adequate time to accomplish high priority projects that have short deadlines. The delegation also assists the manager in completing tasks at a faster pace. For example, if the manager is undertaking a project that requires research, he can delegate portions of the research topic to the employees. The employees can perform the research while he concentrates on analyzing the findings, drawing conclusions and making the decisions. Similarly, when undertaking a project, the group is able to complete the project swiftly because the manager breaks down the work and assigns it to different people ensuring that the project gets done quickly and the team can move on to another project. From this paper, it is clear that delegation ensures that the team undertakes more projects which increases productivity. During the delegation process, the manager must pair a task to the individual that can perform it best. For instance, the task to analyze media content about the company cannot be assigned to an individual that hardly has an online presence. Similarly, it would be a waste of time to ask the head of the IT department to complete that task. However, a young intern would be enthusiastic about spending their day online analyze the citing or media appearances of the company online. Matching an individual with the correct skills for the correct task increases the productivity level because everyone produces the best results for the assigned task.

Individual Differences in Human Sexuality Research Paper - 1

Individual Differences in Human Sexuality - Research Paper Example In addition, some scholars argue that resource allocation under free market is skewed to select sector of the economy. Therefore, government must regulation that can help bridge the gap between the unequal distributions. For this purpose, regulation are important, and help make a better society. In addition, businesses need some regulation to ensure that their operation in done in a cohesive and fair manner. Therefore, government need to regulate unfair completion, as well as malpractices among traders. The debate always revolves for and against legislation in the business world. However, it is the case of how well a politician argue their cases because bot extreme are important when applied moderately. For this reason, it is advisable for the government to interviews in cases that can bring down the economy if left at the hand of business people and corporations (Jarvis, 2011). Government should be allowed to monitor the market and introduce regulations to check

Power & Privilege - Gender & Sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Power & Privilege - Gender & Sexuality - Essay Example I found it most interesting that he linked his perception of women’s place in society, as well as the social convention of the day, with the law. To quote, â€Å"[t]he paramount destiny and mission of woman are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator. And the rules of civil society [83 U.S. 130, 142] must be adapted to the general constitution of things...† (Bradwell 135). A more egregious circumstance of exercising power and privilege over a disfavored class of persons would be hard to imagine. Here, since the laws of God and the conventions of society required women as a class to stay at home and be â€Å"timid and frail,† the laws of the courts must follow along and prevent a woman from being a lawyer. Men should, and many men do, support gender equality because it fulfills the humanity of us all. The fact that through the course of civilization men have dominated women and established power structures that favor themselves notwithstanding, there is a shared benefit between men and women when men perceive women as peers to be respected and not as subordinates to be protected. This ethic is slowly-but-surely emerging in society. The key benefit to men who embrace gender equality is the fact that all relationships; family, work, or recreational, become partnerships where the benefits of both gender perspectives can be appreciated and employed. When men respect women as equals, and validate their input into solving a problem or engaging in a behavior, the resulting cooperation makes solutions more workable and lends the strength of partnership. It is for this reason that all people should be valued equally and embraced because of their differences rather than in spite of them.

Diversity in organization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diversity in organization - Research Paper Example Hence proper management of diverse workforce is acutely necessary for the organizations. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 The evolving concept of diversity 4 Multiculturalism 5 Benefits of diversity in workforce for for-profit business organizations 6 Challenges faced by the organization due to diverse workforce 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction The world is changing rapidly and the concept of diversity has become a truism in current times (Rosado, 2006). Change in the view of the world is more vividly visible since the onset of the twenty-first century. At present diversity has been acknowledged in social and business layers, which include variety in labor force, civil rights of the human being, their property right and living and working conditions of the people. In the different industrialized countries across the globe, instances of demographically diversified labor force are increasing. In many countries gender relations are changing swiftly and the ef fect of this change is visible in the business sphere. With rapid globalization, the number of emigrant workers is increasing and recent trend shows that immigration is taking place into the developed countries of the world (Dumont, Spielvogel & Widmaier, 2010). The structure of labor population is also changing with the aging population in the developed countries, due to which the labor intensive organizations are facing higher diversity in their workforce. Increased diversification within workgroups or labor force has to be dealt sincerely through efficient diversity management. Such changes cast potentially important impact on group performance within organizations. According to Bleijenbergh, Peters and Poutsma (2010) diversity management in an organization further encourages the organization to attain their strategic goals. It allows inclusion of diverse employee categories and provides scope to the organization to allow individual development of its employees. Diversity managem ent in business supports creation and retention â€Å"of equal opportunities† (Bleijenbergh, Peters & Poutsma, 2010, p. 414). In the long term it helps to create a sustainable employment situation and leads to profitable business. The evolving concept of diversity The needs of this century pose the demand for a mass of citizens â€Å"that is culturally sensitive and internationally focused, with an orientation toward the future rather than the past† (Rosado, 2006, p. 1). Recent research works reveal that diversity management has come through over the years. There has been a gradual change in the purpose of diversity management from the ‘purpose of exclusion’ to the ‘purpose of inclusion’. In the beginning of the twenty-first century there was no definite established pattern or model for the organizations to follow while dealing with diversity related to physical, biological and social or cultural differences. Any behavior or attitude that belo nged to outside of the ‘norm’ prevalent in the particular society were identified as diversity and were dealt with the policy of â€Å"exclusion and control† (Rosado, 2006, p. 4). With the passage of time, particularly in the profit oriented corporate firms, organizational policy of dealing with diversity has changed; today in order to realize the maximum potential

The Case of Misbehaving Data or the Proverbial Plan B Essay

The Case of Misbehaving Data or the Proverbial Plan B - Essay Example Furthermore, while parametric tests most likely require numerical scores, responses in a nonparametric test are usually categorized. It should then be noted that putting responses under these classifications entail that these data involve measurement on nominal or ordinal scales and thus, cannot produce numerical values that can be used to calculate means and variances. This would mean that data for a number of nonparametric tests are simply frequencies. An example of a nonparametric test is the Mann-Whitney test which is used for testing differences between means when there are two conditions and different subjects have been used in each condition. For example, an experiment may be carried out to investigate the depressant effects of certain recreational drugs (Leech, Barett, & Morgan, 2005). Twenty clubbers are tested with 10 clubbers given an ecstasy tablet to take on a Saturday night while 10 are allowed only to drink alcohol. Then, their levels of depression are measured. In using SPSS to analyze the given data, it should be noted that the data must be inputed using a coding variable. Thus, the data editor will have three columns of data where the first column is the coding variable with two codes (for example, 1 = ecstasy and 2 = alcohol). The second column will contain values of the dependent variable while the third column will contain values of the independent variable. An exploratory analysis in SPSS will reveal that the data is not normally distributed, indicating that a nonparametric test should be used. To run the analysis, the main dialog box should be accessed by using Analyze, followed by Nonparametric Tests, followed by 2 Independent Samples. The dependent and independent variables should then be placed in their corresponding boxes and the coding variable should be placed in the box labeled â€Å"Grouping variable.† the corresponding numeric codes should then be inputed and after clicking OK, SPSS

Marketing startegies of kfc Essay Example for Free

Marketing startegies of kfc Essay Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana. His father died when he was five years old, forcing his mother to work at a canning plant, and leaving her eldest son to care for his two younger siblings. After he reached seven years of age, his mother taught him how to cook. After leaving the family home at the age of 12, Sanders passed through several professions, with mixed success. In 1930, he took over a Shell filling station on U. S. Route 25 just outside North Corbin, a small city on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. It was here that he first served to travelers the recipes that he had learned as a boy: fried chicken and other dishes such as steaks, country ham, and pancakes. Originally using his own dining room table, in 1934, he purchased the larger filling station on the other side of the road and expanded to six tables By 1936, this had proved successful enough for Sanders to be given the honorary title of Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon. The following year he expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he purchased across the street, naming it Sanders Court Cafà ©. Sanders was dissatisfied with the 30-minute duration it took to prepare his chicken in an iron frying pan, but he refused to sacrifice quality by deep frying the product. If he pre-prepared the chicken in advance of an order, there was inevitably wastage. In 1939, the first commercial pressure cookers were released onto the market, predominantly designed for steaming vegetables. Sanders bought one, and modified it into a pressure fryer, which he then used to fry chicken. As well as reducing production time to be comparable with deep frying, the new method produced flakier, moister chicken. In 1940, Sanders finalized what came to be known as his Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices. Although he never publicly revealed the recipe, he admitted to the use of salt and pepper, and claimed that the ingredients stand on everybodys shelf. After being recommissioned as a Kentucky colonel in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing a goatee and wearing a black frock coat (later switched to a white suit), a string tie, and referring to himself as Colonel. His associates went along with the title change, jokingly at first and then in earnest, according to biographer Josh Ozersky. History KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a fast food restaurant chain which specializes in fried chicken and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. It is the worlds second largest restaurant chain overall (as measured by sales) after McDonalds, with over 18,000 outlets in 120 countries and territories as of December 2012. The company is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company which also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurant chains. KFC was founded by Harland Sanders, a colorful figure who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the Great Depression. Sanders identified the potential of the restaurant franchising concept, and the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in Utah in 1952. KFC popularized chicken in the fast food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger. By branding himself as Colonel Sanders, Harland became a legendary figure of American cultural history, and his image remains prominent in KFC advertising. However, the companys rapid expansion saw it grow too large for Sanders to manage, and in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown, Jr. and Jack C. Massey. KFC was one of the first fast food chains to expand internationally, opening outlets in England, Mexico and Jamaica by the mid-1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, KFC experienced mixed fortunes domestically, as it went through a series of changes in corporate ownership with little or no experience in the restaurant business. In the early 1970s, KFC was sold to the spirits distributor Heublein, who were taken over by the R.J. Reynolds food and tobacco conglomerate, who sold the chain to PepsiCo. The chain continued to expand overseas however, and in 1987 KFC became the first Western restaurant chain to open in China. The chain has since expanded rapidly in China, and the country is now the companys most profitable market. PepsiCo spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands. KFC primarily sells fried chicken pieces and variations such as chicken fillet burgers (chicken sandwiches [US]) and wraps, salads and side dishes such as French fries and coleslaw, desserts and soft drinks, often supplied by  PepsiCo. Its most famous product is pressure fried chicken pieces, seasoned with Sanders Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices. The exact nature of these ingredients is unknown, and represents a notable trade secret. Larger portions of fried chicken are served in a distinctive cardboard bucket, which has become a signature product of the chain since being introduced by franchisee Pete Harman in 1957. KFC is known for the slogan finger lickin good, which has since been replaced by Nobody does chicken like KFC and So good. Marketing Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a critical business function for attracting customers. From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a society’s material requirements and its economic patterns of response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships. It is the process of communicating the value of a product or service through positioning to customers. Marketing can be looked at as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering and communicating value to customers, and managing customer relationships in ways that also benefit the organization and its shareholders. Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer buying behavior and providing superior customer value. There are five competing concepts under which organizations can choose to operate their business; the production concept, the product concept, the selling concept, the marketing concept, and the holistic marketing concept. The four components of holistic marketing are relationship marketing, internal marketing, integrated marketing, and socially responsive marketing. The set of engagements necessary for successful marketing management includes, capturing marketing insights, connecting with customers, building strong brands, shaping the market offerings, delivering and communicating value, creating long-term growth, and developing marketing strategies and plans. Marketing Strategies Marketing strategy is defined by David Aaker as a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its resources on the optimal opportunities with the goals of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing strategy includes all basic and long-term activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives. Marketing Strategies of KFC KFC IS synonymous with chicken. It has to be because chicken is its flagship product. The latest they have on offer is the marinated hot and crispy chicken that is crrrrisp and crunchy on the outside, and soft and juicy on the inside. It gives you a regular Pepsi with this at nothing more than just Rs. 39. But make no mistake, while this is a rage across the world, and in our very own Bangalore, KFC has made sure one other thing: it doesnt want to alienate the vegetarian community that gave birth to the vegetarian menu. It means you can be veg and yet be at KFC. KFC offers a wide range of vegetarian products such as the tangy, lip-smacking paneer tikka wrap n roll, the veg de-lite burger, and the veg crispy burger. There are munchies such as the crisp golden veg fingers and crunchy golden fries served with tangy sauces. If you are veg and looking for a meal, you can combine the veg fingers with steaming, peppery rice and a spice curry. The mayonnaise and sauces dont have egg in them. Sharanita Keswani, Director, KFC Marketing, says the vegetarian menu in India came about when KFC found the country had about 35 per cent vegetarians, and in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai, almost 50 per cent. The non-vegetarian is the obvious target customer because, as Ms. Sharanita points out, Bangalore and the rest of south India have over 70 per cent non-vegetarians. But she also observes that chicken is KFCs strength. KFCs vegetarian menu is almost exclusive to India and is the most extensive. Most countries either do not have a vegetarian menu, and some which do, have a burger at the most. Contrary to affecting chicken sales, the presence of a vegetarian menu has made the brand more relevant to a wider cross-section of the consumer society. This is essential as we grow the brand across the country, says Ms. Sharanita. The KFC menu strategy is to balance standardisation and localisation. The localisation works in two ways: to modify a standard chicken product with a different topping or sauce; and to have a vegetarian menu, where necessary, along with the flagship product, chicken. The localisation exercise is undertaken in every country. The U.S. and European markets have a traditional KFC menu based on chicken burgers and wraps, while Asian markets like India have been more experimental and adventurous. Here, they have rice meals, wraps, and sides. The change is imperative as Asian tastes can be very different from Western ones, Ms. Sharanita observes, adding that KFC learnt very early the high demand for vegetarian products in India. KFC has taken care to maintain safeguards on the production of its non-vegetarian products in response to observations by People For Ethical Treatment of Animals that chicken were not being treated humanely by suppliers. The debate has been on for years now and animal rights activists have prompted companies to adopt stringent measures. Pankaj Batra, Director, Marketing, Indian Sub-Continent, Yum! Restaurants International, observes: KFC is committed to the well being and humane treatment of chickens. We require all our suppliers to follow welfare guidelines developed by Yum! Restaurants International, U.S.A., with leading experts on their Animal Welfare Advisory Council. In India, we source chicken from Venkateshwara Hatcheries Limited (Venkys), which is one of the leading and respected organised players in the poultry farming business. They also supply chicken to several reputed hotel and restaurant chains in the country. We respect the Indian law and our guidelines completely adhere to them. Ms. Sharanita points out that while KFCs brand standard products are their strength throughout the world, KFC works around the core and gives consumers products with a familiar taste, especially important in a country like India that is home to such distinct and different food habits. All KFC outlets offer its customers with various forms of incentives to buy its Chicken. Using coupons that one can acquire after spending a particular amount over a period of fixed time, customers can enjoy the benefits of free meals or free add-ons. Additionally they provide meal vouchers and exciting offers in their print ads, which the customer must cut and bring along. KFC in India The first Indian KFC opened in Bangalore in June 1995.[198] Protests ensued from left wing, anti-globalisation and environmental campaigners, as well as local farmers, who objected to the chain bypassing local producers.[199] Many Indians were concerned about the onslaught of consumerism, the loss of national self-sufficiency, and the disruption of indigenous traditions.[200] The protests came to a head in August 1995, when the Bangalore outlet was repeatedly ransacked.[198] KFC Bangalore demanded, and received, a police van permanently parked outside for a year.[199] Rural activist M. D. Nanjundaswamy subsequently claimed KFC would adversely affect the health of the impoverished, by diverting grain from poor people to make the more profitable animal feed.[201] Former environment minister Maneka Gandhi joined the anti-KFC movement.[201] KFC was also accused of using illegally high amounts of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and frying its food in pork fat.[202] A second store opened in Delhi, but was closed by the authorities soon afterwards, purportedly for health reasons, but more likely to avoid a repetition of the Bangalore incident. The two stores only managed to attract a limited, affluent clientele, and KFC decided to abandon the Indian market. KFC returned to India in 1999, with a new Bangalore outlet. This was the sole KFC in India until 2004, when the chain began to expand, albeit with a makeover and a range of new vegetarian dishes. As of December 2012, there were 280 KFCs in the Indian market. As well as the standard KFC offerings, the chain sells a chickpea burger and hot wings with chilli lemon sprinkles.

Educational Psychology: Quantitative Research Methods

Educational Psychology: Quantitative Research Methods Rachel Price Select a psychological discipline and Identify the primary research methods and designs  used in that discipline, and consider why that may be the case. This assignment will look at a number research methods and designs used in Educational Psychology. While there are numerous research methods and designs used in Educational Psychology this assignment will focus on the use of quantitative research in the forms of interviews, questionnaires and case studies and will also discuss quantitative research in the form of psychometric testing used in the assessment of dyslexia such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Wechsler 1949) and the Kaufman assessment battery for children (Kaufman Kaufman, 1983) and why each of the methods discussed are used, while looking at the validity and limitations of the methods and design. Educational Psychology is defined by Wittrock (1989) as the scientific discipline concerned with the development, evaluation, application and principles and theories of human learning. Educational Psychologists complete research when they examine the cognitive development of young children, explore the relationship between teachers preferences, educational experiences and classroom performance, and manipulate the structural features of lessons and study that result in student participation levels or explore the issues associated with the interaction of teachers and learners and learning contexts in situations (Berliner Calfee, 2004). Alexander and Winne, (2006) suggest all of these areas of research contribute to the science of learning and help develop guidelines for effective class room practises. The two research methods that influence scientific educational research are quantitative and qualitative approaches. Educational research tends to be a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (Williams, 2011). Quantitative research methods are primarily experimental in nature and concerned with the causal relationships between dependent and independent variables, whereas qualitative research methods are primarily non-experimental and concerned with identifying and describing themes underlying human experience or the experience of a particular phenomenon (Della Porta Keating, 2008). Willis (2008) argues that quantitative and qualitative research methods are often borrow elements or techniques from each other. For example, program-evaluation research, action research, and teacher-as-researcher methods are forms of mixed educational research design that use elements of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies (Johnson, Christensen, 2008). Educational psychologists rely on quantitative based research methods to help them make decisions about school programs and practices (Slavin, 2002). Stanovich and Stanovich (2003) define quantitative based research as a form of study that uses systematic methods that draw on careful observation or experimentation in order to make valid, credible and reliable, conclusions. The science part of educational psychology seeks to sort fact from fiction by using particular strategies for obtaining information (Johnson Christensen, 2000; Kawachi, Kennedy Glass, 1999). Wolfe (2010) argues that the art of educational psychology lies in translating scientifically valid and reliable information into viable and effective classroom practice. Quantitative research is objective, testable, and systematic ( Kothari, 2011). Gravetter and Forzano, (2015) suggest that It reduces the likelihood that information will be based on personal beliefs, feelings and opinions. Quantitative research is based on the scientific method, an approach that can be used to discover accurate information. It includes these steps: conceptualize the problem, collect data, draw conclusions, and revise research conclusions and theory( Cronbach, 1957).Once data has been collected, educational psychologists use statistical procedures to understand the meaning of their quantitative data to help draw conclusions. They also compare their findings with what others have discovered about the same issue. The final step in the scientific method is revising research conclusions and theory (Mertens, 2014).Slavin and Davis, (2006) suggest that educational psychologists have generated a number of theories about the best ways for students to learn McInerney, (2005) suggests that when an educational psychologist wants to test a hypothesis they can choose from many methods, such as observation .Scientific observation is highly systematic. It requires knowing what is being looked for, conducting observations in an unbiased manner, accurately recording and categorizing what was seen, and effectively communicating these observations (Hersen, Haynes Heiby, 2003). A common way to record observations is to write them down, using shorthand or symbols. In addition, tape recorders, video cameras, special coding sheets, one-way mirrors, and computers can be used to make observations more efficient. (Coolican, 2009). Educational psychologists conduct research in laboratories at the universities where they work and teach, although laboratories often help researchers gain more control in their studies, they have been criticized as being artificial. In representational observation, behaviour is observed out in the real world (McInerney, 2005 ).Educational psychologists conduct representational observations of children in classrooms, at museums, on playgrounds, in homes, in neighbourhoods, and in other settings (Gà ¶ncà ¼, Jain Tuermer, 2007). Educational psychologists use interviews and questionnaires to find out about students’ and teachers’ experiences (Vaughn, Schumm Sinagub, 1996). Interviews normally take place face-to-face, although they can be done over the phone or the Internet whereas questionnaires are usually given to individuals in printed form and can be filled out in many ways, such as in person, by mail, or via the Internet (Coolican, 2009). Good interviews and surveys involve concrete, specific, and unambiguous questions and some means of checking the authenticity of the respondents’ replies (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls Ormston, 2013). However Fowler (2008) argues that interviews and surveys are not without problems. One crucial limitation is that many individuals give socially desirable answers, responding in a way they think is most socially acceptable and desirable rather than how they truly think or feel. For example, some teachers, when interviewed or asked to fill out a questionna ire about their teaching practices, hesitate to admit honestly how frequently they chide or criticize their students (Loughran, 2002). Skilled interviewing techniques and questions that increase forthright responses are crucial to obtaining accurate information. Another problem with interviews and surveys is that the respondents sometimes simply lie (Coolican, 2009). Another type of research method used by educational psychologists are case studies (Woolfson, 2011). Crosling Webb, ( 2002) define case studies as descriptions of â€Å"real-life† experiences that illustrate important concepts and issues in a field of study . In other words, a case study is an in-depth examination of an individual or situation A case study presents a unique method for combining theory and practice in a problem-solving framework. Case studies differ from spoken or written statements, in that they typically do not contain outcomes or conclusions, but leave the reader to contemplate the most appropriate course of action (Crosling Webb, 2002).Traditionally, case studies have been associated with business, medicine, and law. Recently, however, case studies increasingly have been used in education to help teachers and teacher-candidates develop essential problem recognition and resolution skills (Clandinin Connelly, 2000; Elliott, Woloshyn, DiPetta, Bennett, 200 0). Educational Psychologists use psychometric testing during the assessment for dyslexia. Lyon, Shaywitz and Shaywitz (2003) define dyslexia as a specific learning difficulty that is unexpected in relation to an individuals cognitive abilities. Psychometric testing methods such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) (Wechsler 1949), which is an individually administered intelligence test designed for children between the ages of six and sixteen (Cohen, 2011) and contains fifteen subtests that provide a comprehensive assessment of intellectual ability which are divided into ten core subtests and five supplemental subtests (Grizzle, 2011). The Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT) (Wechsler, 1992) is also used, and is a comprehensive test that assesses academic achievement by testing the ability to apply cognitive skills and knowledge to graded expectations It alsoincludes nine subtests designed to assess specific areas within the areas of reading, mathematics, writ ten language, and oral language (Johnson, 2011) Another psychometric test used in the assessment of dyslexia is the Kaufman assessment battery for children (KABC)( Kaufman Kaufman, 1983), which is a consistent and valid measure of cognitive abilities for children aged three to eighteen (Hall Noggle, 2011). Psychometric tests are defined by Coolican (2009) as instruments that measure mental measurement and include personality scales and also include measures of mental ability such as intelligence, linguistic ability, creative thinking etc. Psychometric tests are mainly used in educational settings to help identify students who may need additional learning support (Stapleton, 2001). Vernon and Parry (1949) argue that the variables that psychometric tests such as the WISC and KABC scales, use, are always the best measures, and for educational purposes most of the relevant variables are measured by well accepted tests. They also suggest that this is one of the main arguments for the use of psychometric testing over interviews or recommendations from teachers (Vernon Parry, 1949). Mislevy, Behrens, Dicerbo and Levy (2012) suggest that psychometrics is the measurement of educational and psychological construct. As the WISC-V, WIAT-II and KABC-II scales are all variations on pervious scales (i.e. the WISC scale is currently on version five) and have been validated by comparison with previous models they have concurrent validity (Coolican, 2009).Coolican (2009) also suggests that new personality and IQ tests are often compared with older but similar models that have been known to have good validity. Stapleton (2001) suggests that if an assessment score can is closely correlated with future performance, then the assessment used is said to have predictive validity, and that in turn the assessment can be used to predict the likelihood of future academic success or failure. However Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith and Bem (1993) argue that the degree of correlation between IQ scores and psychometric testing and people’s academic achievement declines as a student moves up from primary school to higher education. Moreno (2011) states that group intelligence tests are more practical than individual intelligence tests as they are designed to assess several students simultaneously, however due to their tendency to be less accurate than individual intelligence tests, some authorities do not administer the use of group IQ tests. Due to numerous technical problems with IQ calculations, such as the fact that chronological age increases indefinably, mental age does not, deviation IQ scores are used to interpret the results of IQ tests (Kline, 2013). References Alexander, P., Winne, P. (2006).  Handbook of educational psychology. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum. Atkinson, R.L., Atkinson, R.C., Smith, E.E., Bem, D.J. (1993). Introduction to Psychology (11th ed.). Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch. Berliner, D., Calfee, R. (2004).  Handbook of educational psychology. New York: Routledge. Clandinin, D. J., Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. Cohen, M. J. (2011).  Children’s memory scale(pp. 556-559). Springer New York. Coolican, H. (2009).  Research methods and statistics in psychology. London: Hodder Education. Cronbach, L. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology.  American psychologist, 12(11), 671. Crosling, G., Webb, G. (2002).  Supporting student learning. London: Kogan Page. Della Porta, D., Keating, M. (2008).  Approaches and methodologies in the social sciences. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. Elliott, A., Woloshyn, V., DiPetta., Bennett, S (2002). Instructors manual for stories from Canadian classrooms. Toronto, ON : Pearson Education. Fowler Jr, F. J. (2008).  Survey research methods. Sage publications. Gà ¶ncà ¼, A., Jain, J., Tuermer, U. (2007). Children’s play as cultural interpretation.Play and development: Evolutionary, sociocultural, and functional perspectives, 155-178. Gravetter, F., Forzano, L. (2015).  Research methods for the behavioural sciences (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Grizzle, R. (2011). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. In  Encyclopaedia of Child Behaviour and Development(pp. 1553-1555). Springer US Hall, J. J., Noggle, C. A. (2011). Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. In  Encyclopaedia of Child Behaviour and Development(pp. 853-854). Springer US. Hersen, M., Haynes, S., Heiby, E. (2003).  Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment. New York: Wiley. Johnson, K. L. (2011). Wechsler Individual Achievement Test. In  Encyclopaedia of Clinical Neuropsychology(pp. 2681-2682). Springer New York. Johnson, B., Christensen, L. (2000).  Educational research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Allyn Bacon. Johnson, B., Christensen, L. (2008).  Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Sage. Kaufman, A. S., Kaufman, N. L. (1983).  K-ABC: Kaufman assessment battery for children: Interpretive manual. American Guidance Service. Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B. P., Glass, R. (1999). Social capital and self-rated health: a contextual analysis.American journal of public health, 89(8), 1187-1193. Kline, P. (2013).  Handbook of psychological testing. Routledge Kothari, C. R. (2011).  Research methodology: methods and techniques. New Age International. Loughran, J. J. (2002).  Developing reflective practice: Learning about teaching and learning through modelling. Routledge. Lyon, G., Shaywitz, S., Shaywitz, B. (2003). A definition of dyslexia.Annals Of Dyslexia, 53(1), 1-14 McInerney, D. M. (2005). Educational Psychology–Theory, Research, and Teaching: A 25 year retrospective.Educational Psychology, 25(6), 585-599 Mertens, D. M. (2014).  Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Sage Publications. Mislevy, R. J., Behrens, J. T., Dicerbo, K. E., Levy, R. (2012). Design and discovery in educational assessment: evidence-centred design, psychometrics, and educational data mining.  JEDM-Journal of Educational Data Mining, 4(1), 11-48. Moreno, R. (2010).Educational psychology. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C. M., Ormston, R. (Eds.). (2013).  Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage. Slavin, R. E. (2002). Evidence-based education policies: Transforming educational practice and research.  Educational researcher, 31(7), 15-21. Slavin, R. E., Davis, N. (2006). Educational psychology: Theory and practice .Stanovich, P. J., Stanovich, K. E. (2003). Using research and reason in education: How teachers can use scientifically based research to make curricular instructional decisions. Washington, DC: US Department of Education Stapleton, M. (2001). Education. London: Hodder Stoughton. Vaughn, S., Schumm, J. S., Sinagub, J. M. (1996).  Focus group interviews in education and psychology. Sage Publications. Vernon, P. E., Parry, J. B. (1949). Personnel selection in the British forces. Wechsler, D. (1949). Wechsler intelligence scale for children. Wechsler, D. (1992). Wechsler individual achievement test Psychological Corporation.  San Antonio. Williams, C. (2011). Research methods.Journal of Business Economics Research (JBER), 5(3). Willis, J. (Ed.). (2008).  Qualitative research methods in education and educational technology. IAP. Wittrock, M. C. (1989). Generative processes of comprehension.  Educational psychologist, 24(4), 345-376. Wolfe, P. (2010).  Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practice. ASCD.

A Violation of Rights-School Uniforms Essays -- essays research papers

I believe all people have the right to express themselves. However, with rights come responsibility, a concept most people ignore. Having a "right" is to be free to express one's self. Consequentially, having a "responsibility" is doing it constructively, in such a way as to not violate policies, laws, and others' rights. There is a definite difference between a dress code and a school uniform. I support enforcing a school dress code, but is implementing a school uniform necessary? No matter how students dress, they will still pass judgments on their peers, uniforms do not necessarily save money, and children are forced to conform to the same standards. While in school, teachers have a responsibility to teach and students have the responsibility to learn. Both have the right to exist in their environment without harassment and the right to express their individuality. Some people have found some expressions crude, obnoxious, and distracting. To combat the problem , the idea of mandating school uniforms was introduced. This notion of making everyone appear "uniformed" in order to cut down on violence and negativity in school, is absolutely mislaid. School was designed to equally teach all children not only book knowledge but also offer practice in cooperation with others on a social scale. The home was designed to teach children right from wrong, to respect and obey authority, and how to socially function properly with others. Sadly, the parents ...

Use of Humor in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: William Shakespeare

Use of Humor in Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. One, could give many reasons as to why this play became such a huge success, but one of the most important reasons could be the use of humour in the play. The main reason for doing this could be to relieve the tensions in the play, and to entertain and keep the Elizabethan audience interested. Humour plays a very significant part in the play as it allows Shakespeare to create a lot of contrasts and moods, as and when he wants to. In Romeo and Juliet humour occurs in three forms. The first being, humour by the use of puns, irony and jokes. The second being through the actions of characters and by their behaviour and the third by the incidents of the play. Shakespeare uses characters like Mercutio and the Nurse to bring out the comical element of the play, and each character does this in a different way. One of Shakespeare's tools used to evoke humour is the mockery that is aimed at a particular character. Some of the funniest moments are when one character is sarcastic to another. One of the best examples of this is when Capulet asks Lady Capulet for a sword and she replies "A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?" In this line the mockery of Capulet is obvious and appealing to the audience as it is direct. Shakespeare is known to be fond of puns and uses them quite regularly but he doesn't use them as often as the Elizabethan audience expected him to. Shakespeare starts of the play with a lot of humour, with the conversation between Sampson and Gregory, both of them using a lot of puns. This type of punning, for example on the words "coals," "collier," " choler," "collar", goes on till the end of the play. The Elizabethan audience used to like puns and hence although Shakespeare has used many vulgar puns, it still has a positive effect on the popularity of the play. Although in the Act I Scene 1 there is a fight between the families the humour in the scene makes us forget the seriousness of the fight.

The Impact of Race, Geographic Location, and Time on the Prevalence of Diabetes :: Descriptive Epidemiology Project, Diabetes

1. What is the outcome of interest? The outcome of interest for my epidemiology project is the prevalence of diabetes in a national population (United States), and how factors such as race, geographic location, and time, have an impact on the outcome. 2. Briefly define and describe your outcome. You may want to do a bit of research on some of the characteristics of your outcome. For example, what is diabetes? Or, how do we define cases of HIV, and what are some of the health implications? Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar (or glucose) levels are above what they should be in a normal person. Through various biological processes, our body turns carbohydrates into glucose, or sugar, for our body to then use as energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). While there are three different types of diabetes (diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2, and gestational diabetes) men and women can develop diabetes at any age. Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, usually develops in young people; but, type 1 diabetes can also develop in adults. In type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin or enough insulin because the body’s immune system, and other harmful substances, attacked and destroyed the cells that make insulin (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called â€Å"adult-onset diabetes†, can affect people at any age, even children. However, type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older people. People who are overweight and inactive are also more likely to develop it. In type 2 diabetes, fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin to carry glucose into the body’s cells to use for energy—a term denoted as insulin resistance. While the pancreas initially keeps up with the added demand by making more insulin, over time, the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin when blood sugar levels increase (Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011).Gestational diabetes can develop when a woman is pregnant. Pregnant women make hormones that can lead to insulin resistance. All women have insulin resistance late in their pregnancy. If the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin during pregnancy, a woman develops gestational diabetes.

Destin Brass Products Co. Case Study Essay

Destin Brass Products Co. has been established and grown to produce valves (24% of the company revenue), pumps (55% of the company revenue), and flow controllers (21% of the company revenue). This paper will illustrate the recommended solutions for the management of the company that are trying to evaluate the competitive trends of the market for the mentioned products, and trying to start new strategies to deal with these trends. Finance and accounting, as mentioned by Ambler (2008) are the essentials and basis to the short and long existence of any type of companies. The high competitiveness of market requires that all types of businesses have a comprehensive understanding to the costs and profits in much detail in order to facilitate decision making process. In Destin Brass case, the company tried to establish a high brand name for producing the valves, but later as an expansion to the business, the company included two new product lines which are the pumps and the flow controllers keeping in mind the similarities of productions and the availability of the productions capacity. Destin Brass did not have a distinguished competitor in the valves market because of the high quality of the valves produced, but there is a massive competition in the pump and flow controllers market. This paper will capture a time of the company business where there is a high competition on the pumps’ prices and the solution of increasing the prices of the flow controllers did not change the market. The management is in need to reconsider its financial strategy in order to face competition. The financial analysis After evaluating the current financial situation of Destin Brass, The analysis hereby will collaborate to answer the management questions, and examples of the below solutions had been used by business and it proved to have an influence of decision making process regarding the company strategy. The solutions are as follows: Product costs as per the ABC information From the given information in the case study, there is a connection between the products costs and the costs incurred by the activities related to the productions of each product line. The answer to this issue is to prepare cost estimates for the three products by applying the essentials of the  activity based costing, table 1 shows that the ABC costs of the valves is 37.8, the pumps is 48.82, and the flow controllers is $100.63. The ABC method tries to connect the indirect costs to the products, and consequently treat them as direct costs. Based on the case study financial information, the calculations in table 1 have been prepared by using the following: Creating a cost pool for the machine depreciation and maintenance cost, and allocate the products based on machine hours. Creating a cost pool for receiving and material handling costs by calculating the number of transactions consumed for every product. Creating a cost pool for engineering costs by calculating how much engineering is consumed by each product. Comparing the ABC with the standard and the revised unit costs In this comparison, it will appear the cost of each product under the three types of costing calculation methods and the reason why they are different. Table 2 shows the comparison. The three costing methods treat direct costs which are run labour and material, in the same way. Moreover, financial experts support the idea that direct costs is not the actual problem as this can be tracked to the product, but the issue is that costing calculations gets complicated when trying to allocate the overheads (Indirect costs). The allocation of overheads is where the differences in costs come under the three costing methods. In the standard cost accounting there is no effort made to track the overhead costs to the products. It is believed that indirect costs can not be related with the products that’s why they are summarised and then allocated to the products based on the given allocation factor (cost driver). In Destin Brass case, the overheads which include the receiving and materials handling, packing and shipping, and depreciation and maintenance for $680.000 per month, are allocated based on the run labour dollars. Consequently, every product is allocated a percentage of the overheads in the same ratio that the product consume of labour (valves 0.5 run hours per unit, pumps 0.5 run per unit, and flow controllers 0.4 run per unit). See table 3 for details. The revised cost accounting makes part of the indirect costs as direct. The material and handling costs are treated in a separate way, but not the best cost driver had been chosen (direct material dollars), as it would be seen in the ABC. Moreover, setup labour is assigned directly based on the setup hours for which information is available. The remaining overheads are allocated on the basis of machine  hours. As mentioned by Peggy Alford, this gives an idea why competitors are cutting prices on pumps. It is now clear that costs of the pumps is overstated using the standard costing method while the costs of the valves are understated. But, costing can be improved especially that the flow controllers’ price is not really explained that they are cheaper to produce than it was calculated by the standard costing method. The ABC method tracks as much as possible of the indirect expenses of the products and services. So any expense incurred of a product is directly charged to that particular product rather than spreading the expense over all the products. When expenses incurred of a number of products, they are gathered and allocated based on a proper cost driver. In this way, the allocation will be done in proportion to the real costs consumption by all the products. Table 1 had shown the ABC costs calculations for the three products. Now, we can see that flow controllers have been subsidised by pumps and selling them for $97.07 is loss making (cost $100.63) rather than at 42% gross margin. But, subsidising flow controllers had made pumps less profitable while selling price of $81.26 corresponds to 43.37% gross margin. The costs of the valves are the same under both the standard and the ABC methods. Strategic implications of the financial analysis According to Bhimani et la (2008), highly competition business environment requires a comprehensive costs understanding, and a proper costing strategy is essential to facilitate decision making. In Destin Brass case, the management is facing a decision whether to go on in the pumps market in spite of the prices fall and decreasing profit margins or to cut this business line and concentrate only on the valves and the flow controller’s products which are profitable. But, making a decision following the standard costing method would have caused disastrous consequences for the company as it would cut the profitable product and concentrate on products that are selling at a loss. Destin Brass is an ideal example of how vital is to have an accurate costing method to follow to provide strategic decision making. But, in spite of the importance of the financial and accounting information that the costing method will provide, the management vision should be supported by the information not only dictated by the accounting information. The next month results In the time where cost accounting does not matter for the cost allocation to determine the costs of the products, it does not affect the bottom line. Here, assuming that the quantities of the productions and the sales, inventory, selling prices stay the same, and the prices of material, labour, handling remains the same. The net profit would be the same as the net profit of the last month. The bottom line will be affected in case the results showing in the ABC method are considered and the selling prices are adjusted. Conclusion The costing methods used to identify the strengths and weakness of the business performance helps management to decide whether operations require any improvements. This indicates that the inaccurate costing allocation can lead to either over or under pricing. Consequently, this will prevent the management from leading the company to make higher profit, retain customers or lead the company to wrong strategic decisions.

The Afterlife

My life ended just as hers was beginning. At the exact second my car hit a patch of black ice, spun, and collided with a tree, she was emerging from the sanctuary of her mother's womb. My soul was knocked from my body, just as hers breathed its first breath. I never thought death would be like this. From birth I had been raised as a Christian, believing in all that Christians do: Heaven, Hell, and all the rest. These were, to my way of thinking, the only destinations in the afterlife. Whether I was saved or condemned, I believed that death would signal the end of my earthly responsibilities. Now, I know better. At first, I didn't understand what had happened. I remembered the car spinning uncontrollably, the view out the window blurry until the tree loomed in the night. There had been a horrible crunching noise, like walking on packed snow, except much louder. My life did not flash before my eyes in what I now know were the last few seconds of my life. There was the spinning, the blur, the crunch — and then black. Not the kind of blackness that appears when you close your eyes — no, even then little speckles, little neon clouds appear. This darkness was consuming. It was absolute. For a second I felt absolute terror. I remember wondering if this was what it was like to be in a coma, or if the glass from my shattered windscreen had blinded me. In my finitely human mind, I didn't consider that I might be dead. Then I heard a voice. It seemed the voice came out of nowhere, or at least from some unidentifiable place in the blackness. It evoked in me the strangest sensation: in all my earthly life, I knew I'd never heard that voice before. Yet, a part of me responded to it in a way I didn't understand. The first thing the voice — the being — told me was that I had just died. That, to put it mildly, was a shock. A moment passed as the being gave me time to register this fact. Too stunned to even feel disbelief, I couldn't seem to reply. In truth, what could I have said? There is nothing on earth to prepare someone for that knowledge. The next thing the voice told me was that I owed a debt to God. It did not say this cruelly, or even judgementally; rather, it spoke objectively, with no trace of human emotion clouding its delivery. It was difficult — indeed, impossible — to discern anything about the being. I couldn't see it, couldn't touch it — I had no idea where it was. All I could do was listen as it explained what would become of me. Throughout my somewhat short life, the being said, I had offended and even hurt God on many occasions. I was not unique in this aspect; in fact, such was the case for most who had ever dwelt on the earth. A lucky, selfless few spent their lives pleasing God, and at death they were free. They owed nothing. I, however, did, and the debt for my sometimes sinful life had to be repaid. The only question was how. The second I had that thought, I felt an enormous shift come over my body — or soul, whatever I was made of. There was a brief falling sensation, like descending the first big dip of a roller coaster. The scene in front of me flicked from the void of blackness to an unfamiliar scene. I was watching events in suspended animation, in what seemed to be a hospital delivery room. My confusion mounted. ‘Why am I here?' I asked, directing my question to the being's presence somewhere beside me. I looked at the doctors in their green garb, their bodies inclined towards a woman on a bed, frozen in a picture of agony. The baby the doctors were lifting from her body had just been about to take its first breath. I tried to see what the scene had to do with me, but I could make no connection with any of the room's occupants. The last time I'd been in a place like this was during my own birth. ‘Do I know these people?' ‘No,' the being replied, tonelessly. ‘You've never met any of them. But. some will become very familiar to you.' ‘How can they?' I asked. ‘You've just told me – I'm dead.' Somehow, with the mental equivalent of a hand gesture, the being drew my attention towards the newborn, framed by the circle of doctors. It was then that I learned how my debt was to be repaid. ‘This,' it said, ‘is your charge.' ‘My . . . charge?' I didn't understand. ‘You know you have a debt to repay to God,' I was told. ‘This is how. This child has just been born, as you have just died. On birth, every child is appointed a guardian, one of those who owe God.' Something changed in the voice then, a shift so small I only just noticed. Its tone changed, softened; disembodied and ethereal as it was, it somehow became more human. I looked at the child – a girl – as I felt the being do the same. ‘You must look after this child every moment of her life. Before her birth, the child was tied to her mother: she found all the protection she needed in her womb. Now, that is your responsibility. You will not always be able to protect her, but you must never stop offering her your guidance, your comfort, all the days of her life. Your eternal presence alone is usually enough.' Looking back, I wonder if the option was there to refuse. That's not to say I wanted to, but perhaps some have. Regardless, the only feeling I distinctly remember was of great surprise. Never in my life had I thought this was what happened after death. The question that had plagued mankind had been answered for me – but there was no one to tell. The only thing left to do was accept. I looked at the child, frozen under the gaze of assorted doctors, the being, and me. I directed my thought towards the being. For some reason, I needed no deliberation. ‘Yes.' At that, the scene in front of me unfroze. The baby breathed, and with her breath came her first cries. Her mother simultaneously groaned and sighed in relief, a sigh echoed around her by the doctors. The baby's life had begun. In retrospect, I wonder why, at that moment, I didn't feel a surge of panic. What did I know about being a guardian? I'd never looked after a child while I was alive, yet here I was, ready to protect this tiny being for the rest of her natural life — however long that might be. Yet I found an odd acceptance of my new duty — perhaps because I didn't have anything else. My own life had ended. Coming out of my reverie, I realized the being was still beside me. I felt it watch with me as the little girl was wrapped in a blanket and given to her smiling mother. Strangely, there seemed to be a sense of sadness emanating from the being's presence, something barely tangible but at the same time undeniably present. It was odd given its earlier detachment. ‘Is it hard?' I asked as the mother cuddled her child for the first time. ‘Is it hard to be a guardian?' ‘Harder than anything you've ever done,' the being replied. ‘No matter how long she lives, it is always hard. But it must be done.' The being's voice changed again, swelling suddenly with emotion. ‘You will come to care very much for that child. No one will ever know her in the way that you will, because you will always be with her.' I was almost sure I felt the being sigh inwardly. ‘Always, until the end of her life. Then you will show her what to do. as I have shown you.' It was only then that I realized who the being was, why I had instinctively known its voice. Elated, I felt my mind reel with a thousand questions. But it was too late. As soon as the revelation had came, the being had gone. For a moment I felt a crushing sadness that I would never know him or her — someone who'd been there for me through every second of my life. But there wasn't time to dwell. Looking at the yawning baby a few feet away from me, I felt the first stirrings of affection. It had been a long time since I'd felt such a clear sense of purpose. Inwardly, I promised I would do for her what the being, the presence who'd just left, had done for me.

Biology Phylum Notes

Biology of Animals Dermatomes develop anus from plasterer Promotes develop mouth from plasterer. Presentation: Overview of Prokaryote, Protests, and Fungi l. Prokaryote (ex. Bacteria) Characteristics -unicellular -Small (0. 5-mum) salt. Pedagogical, Gram stain, virulence. Gram positive bacteria take up the Gram stain and turn purple, Pedagogical traps crystal violet, very thick cell wall made up of sugars.Gram negative bacteria crystal violet is easily rinsed away revealing dye. Have a carbohydrate portion of alphanumerically then an outer membrane, prototypical layer then plasma membrane. Salt acts as a balance for equilibrium. To absorb moisture and preserve. -Structure pig. 98, 558 (Familiar, a surrounding of prokaryote that act as an attachment structure) Inside the familiar is the capsules followed by the cell wall distinguish eukaryote from prokaryote. A typical rod shaped bacterium.Motility-known as flagella is famous because it is extremely complex of many proteins. Multi por tion motor, taxis is another term for the movement it makes. Chemo towards light Know structure and basic functions of the prokaryote. A. Characteristics -Genome- ca. Xx smaller than eukaryotic genomes, contained within the nucleoli, plasmids. Page 559. -Single Circular Chromosome-within the nucleoli, does not have a physical structure, is Just where you find DNA. -Plasmids-accessory DNA. The cause of antibiotic resistance.Some bacteria do not have plasmids. Plasmids are not always found In a living thing. Also Xx less Information than eukaryotic. Can be transferred by transcription. -Endoscopes, Bacillus anthracic (anthrax). Page 560. What Is wealth the endoscope Is the genetic material. Everything else goes Into a suspended sleep. The genetic Information gets protected In the endoscope. Not all bacteria have the ability to make endoscopes, allows them to survive harsh environments. Allows to just wait even for

Reflective Journal on Ethical Issues for Case Studies Essay

As nurses, we encounter ethical situations everyday regarding patient care. How we handle these situations promote equality while seeking rationality. After reading the two case studies presented, I will discuss in my reflective journal how the ethical issues were presented, the steps taken in the decision-making process to ethically address the issues, the lenses used and how these lenses influenced the decisions made, and also how these can relate to the workplace. The Baird Decision Model is a five step process that guides us through that decision-making process when making ethical decisions. The steps include, being attentive to what is happening, being intelligent, reasonable, responsible, and reflective. In the first case simulation, Rachel a sixteen year old is giving birth to her first child. The ethical issues presented are that she is a minor, parents are requesting minimal medications during delivery, and the situation could gradually worsen at any moment. The decision-making process involves deciding who is highly impacted from the outcomes of the decisions made by the parents and health care staff. From there, the use of the Rights/Responsibility lens were used to help make my decisions. Based on these lenses, you must recognize your duties as caregiver. We as nurses must always follow rules and policies. By advocating for the patient, accommodation of parents harming her is not the right choice. The best care possible must be given to prevent harm to Rachel or the baby. By informing the parents of any risks and benefits regarding Rachel’s care, this allows them to make informative decisions. During this process, the parents values are maintained and the patient receives effective care. By using these lenses, the nurse is also trusted to provide safe care to the patient and safe delivery for the baby without unnecessary pain. My decision was influenced by these lenses because they help determine the value of the stakeholders and the impact it made. In my workplace, concepts from this situation would help because we encounter patients who are minors and patients who have relative with control over their plan of care, such as a POA, or power of attorney. This would guide us toward the right direction for providing safe and competent care, respecting the wishes of the patient, and preventing harm. In the second case simulation, Allen was brought to the ER by his same sex domestic partner, Yves. The ethical issues presented are as follows, Allen has remained unconscious in ICU without a diagnosis for almost a day and Yves has been prevented from visiting him in ICU by the shift supervisor, per policy. Yves has shown minimal proof that they are actual domestic partners. The issue remains how to best assure access for gay partners of Seva’s patients on equal footing with straight couples. The decision-making process involves identifying the basic rights and liberties. These rights are as follows, the right to notice or know what the rules entail, the right to voice or share concerns, and the right to have agreements honored and not change at any given moment. The lenses used in this case are Relationship/Reputation lenses. The relationship lens establishes fairness by using authority properly. The reputation lens sorts through the problem and maintains one’s basic liberties. These lenses influenced my decision because I practice fairness regardless of who you are. The best option to fulfill the requirements of both lenses for me were to leave a note on Allen’s chart that the policy was not being followed and Yves is getting access to visit Allen. We have to be careful because there is a thin line that could easily cross over into discrimination which cases regarding same sex couples. We would want to maintain our integrity with the community in regards to similar situations but also abide by the law concerning release of patient information. The concepts in this simulation relate to the workplace every day. As we take care of our patients, visitors come and go around the clock. Many visitors inquire about the patient’s status. It is our duty to provide safe care and preserve the patient’s right to privacy. HIPAA is governed by state laws. It is a privacy regulation that ensures the safety and confidentiality of health information. As I encourage visitation, I also remind visitors of patient privacy regarding their health records. So as we continue taking care of patients, we must handle diversity, represent company values, and practice fairness. References What is HIPAA?. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.dhcs.ca.gov

Whither the unskilled worker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Whither the unskilled worker - Research Paper Example as a whole has become a knowledge based society where knowledge based workers dominate the workforce and having access to specialized knowledge and skills sets provides an additional advantage to the workers. Workers having access to such knowledge and skills not only get higher salaries but also get a well-defined path thus making their careers to grow faster. In an environment where skilled workers are finding it difficult to obtain jobs and earns consistently, unskilled workers may not have the relevant skills as well as education to break into the labor force of the economy. Unskilled workers therefore are at disadvantage due to their lack of skills and expertise in any given field of work or specialty. In such a scenario, what could be the possible place of an unskilled worker? How can an unskilled worker actually fit into the overall scenario where skilled workers are more demanded as compared to the unskilled worker? This paper will therefore discuss whither the unskilled worker. Labor is considered as one of the important part of the free market system and is also one of the key factors of production. In order to achieve higher level of productivity and output, it is important for businesses to actually define proper labor strategies. It is critical to understand that in any general economy there are two kind of labors i.e. the skilled and the unskilled. Skilled labor or workers are that portion of the overall workforce which has skills, technical knowledge as well as business knowledge which relevant to perform any assigned task. For examples, doctors, engineers, drivers, computer programmers are considered as skilled workers because they possess the unique set of skills which are not available to everyone. Having those set of skills therefore make them relatively at more advantage as compared to the persons who do not possess these skills. Further, skilled workers provide value and increase the productivity of the tasks they are involved in. It is

Public Relations - interview with a facility manager of the nursing Essay

Public Relations - interview with a facility manager of the nursing home - Essay Example So I presented myself in Mr. Russell's chamber in the nursing home. He appeared to be an amicable man of perfection and he answered all my questions with patience. According to Mr. Russell, Mother Mary Nursing Home was very small as its former infrastructure is concerned. There were just 20 beds and 2 chambers for doctors. Today the whole scenario presents above 200 beds and 15 private chambers for the doctors. Like any other nursing home or hospital there are both outdoor and indoor facilities. People can come for personal check ups by the physicians who attend the outdoor section. On the other hand, there are also facilities for the patients who are directly admitted in the nursing home. As a Facility Manager, it is Mr. Russell's duty to look after whether the patients are getting all the facilities for which the authority has promised to them. He mentions some of the facilities that are unique in this nursing home and he further adds that these unique features have helped the nursing home to ensure its popularity. First of all there is an insurance facility every patient, which is very rare in the nursing homes. The patient can apply for the insurance with a certain amount of money that has to be deposited in the nursing home bank. This also helps the patients to get facilities in case they are admitted in future. Insurances are also helpful if someone from their families is admitted there. Mother Mary Nursing Home keeps all the tracks of the past records of the patients who are admitted here. These computerized records are very helpful to the doctors in case someone is admitted again in the future. Physicians can get all the details about the medical history of the patient and this helps in the process of diagnosis. There is free breakfast in every morning for the patients and tea and coffee for the visitors. The nursing home authority makes it a point so that no issue regarding the hygiene of the patient can be raised. The foods are healthy and applicable for all the patients no matter what disease they are suffering from. There are also special arrangements for the patients whose conditions are more critical than the others. All the patients are kept in separate rooms and there is no dormitory in the nursing home where privacy of the patients may get disturbed. Attendants are very regular in their job. All the rooms are cleaned up from time to time. Hygiene is in the culture of the nursing home and this is why patients are highly satisfied with the kind of services they are provided with in this organization. Politeness and cooperative nature of the attendants is focused so that the patients never feel lonely in this building. This homelike situation is the main thing which has brought success to Mother Mary Nursing Home. When asked about the financial expenditure of the nursing home Mr. Russell clearly said that they always try that services from this organization should be within the reach of the middle class people who arrive here for treatment. Of course some of the bills may seem to be expensive to them but when someone looks back to the kind of atmosphere and extra facilities which he/she had

John F. Kennedy's Historical Leadership Term Paper

John F. Kennedy's Historical Leadership - Term Paper Example Because of his strong desire to improve social welfare and civil rights, many people loved him. He was also a strong advocate of education and sponsored bills for federal financial aid. John F. Kennedy was a humble and peaceful president but was willing to go to war if necessary to defend America. This was further proven during the Cuban missile crisis between October 14-28, 1962 in which he imposed a naval blockade and positioned 125,000 army soldiers in Florida ready to invade Cuba if the soviet ships carrying weapons did not turn back or refused to be searched. John F. Kennedy had vision, integrity, was wise, passionate, compassionate, charismatic, a great communicator, persistent, daring, and disciplined, all the characteristics of a great leader. These are the reasons I chose John F. Kennedy for my research. John F. Kennedy’s Historical Leadership Introduction Transforming and influential leadership depends upon effectively leading the followers to become an effective lea der. Effective leadership sets such goals which nation wants to achieve by following their leader. Vision, decision-making style and delegation are the strong traits that a national leader must possess. John f Kennedy was the son of Joseph Kennedy and was born in 1917. During the Second World War, he toured Europe and critically observed the current international affairs (Reeves, 1993). He marked beginning of his political career by winning a senate seat in elections held in 1952. He influenced the youths of the nation and became president in the age of only 44. His short presidential period of almost 2 years is one of the most remembered administrations. He was the pioneer of launching moon mission in America. Credit of one of the US diplomatic success â€Å"Bay of pigs invasion† goes to his visionary leadership. Because of his calm attitude, leadership qualities, vision, style and policies, he is known as the natural leader. He was most assertive during his presidential; pe riod and knew what others did not know. This power made him the president having great qualities (Leaming, 2006). More leadership characteristics, leadership styles and traits will be discussed in this paper. John F. Kennedy and Leadership He was against the nuclear arms race as a leader and always committed himself to minimize the chances of any nuclear misadventure between America and Soviet Union. He negotiated limited test ban treaty with Soviet Union to stop proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Leaming, 2006). President Kennedy proved himself as a visionary leader by giving the concept of â€Å"New Frontier† in a speech in 1960. The concept of â€Å"New frontier† carried a lot many challenges for the nation. This concept was test of courage in the fields of economic growth, space, science and foreign affairs. He used this concept to energize people to contribute in nation building. This new concept gave the American nation a new launch pad to progress in the world. He wanted Americans to lead the world and leaving soviet far behind especially in the fields of space science. Thornberry said that vivid description is necessary part of vision. New frontier had set that image of the president before the inaugural (Reeves, 1993). He set the new goals for American nation in his inaugural address as a president. Analyst of today claims the inaugural address of Kennedy ideal for modern leaders. He greatly emphasized on foreign policy

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 32

Case Study Example KFC does not face any micro political risk, which arises from environmental and economic changes for outlets in foreign countries. Micro risks are inherent in United States KFC adaptation strategy involves adaptation of Chinese culture. This is observed in its involvement with Chinese governing bodies, and hiring of local staffs in it operation. Its goes further to incorporate Chinese food in its Menu, a rare feature and valuable strategy for business to thrive and survive. It strives to identify itself with locals in all processes, though it is an entity situated in a foreign land. Feeding of birds genetically to enhance their growth rate results to ailments Among them include extreme obesity, fatty livers and kidneys, heart attacks and other ailments. Overcrowding of birds to an extreme where some of them break wings, and hanging of chickens with conveyor belts while they are still alive are unethical practices observed in KFC business

What are the The Possible Contributors to the Great Recession in Essay

What are the The Possible Contributors to the Great Recession in relation with Mortgage - Essay Example Starting as a liquidity crisis which can be in a layman term defined as, â€Å"A state in which there is a short supply of cash to lend to businesses and consumers and interest rates are high.† (Caouette, 25) This gravely caused an imbalance that resonated great economic crisis all around the world. This global crisis also gave a room to policy makers to intervene, as it was being quite difficult for the economic experts to handle this situation. However, the after effects of the Great Recession are still perpetuating in the global economy and have also limited the economic growth in 2012-2013 and have not completely recovered from the Great Recession. How Great Recession was stimulated? The major causes of the Great Recession date back to the start of 2007, however, the world wasn’t fully aware of the crisis until mid-2008, which could also be the main reason why it couldn’t recover from the crisis because it took a lot of time to look into what caused this cris isand rectify it. The root cause can be highlighted as the decline in the US consumers’ demand because of the gradual decrease in the Federal Reserve’s interest which was predicted to reach nearly zero and it was believed to occur by the year 2008, therefore they could not provide debts for people who called for refinancing. What triggered the economic crisis on a level of instability was the breakdown of mortgage-backed security. Moving on, another cause that resulted in this crisis can be pointed as the massive debt levels, which has long been acknowledged as an agent and a contributive factor for recessions that further led to the domino effect and perturbed the entire economic situation. Other causes were believed to be Government deregulation, over-leveraging, credit default swaps, collateralizing debt obligations, increase in the oil prices, and overproduction of goods as resulted by the Globalization. These were the main factors due to which the process of the e conomic crisis was accelerated. What Great Recession resulted in? The three regions globally affected by the Great Recession were Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in economy of Australia being an adequate example. The rate of employment was gravely affected which could also be noticed in the survey conducted in late 2009, which showed a high rate of job dismissals from 3.5% in 2008 to 5.4% in 2009. The types of workers that were affected due to this as usually suspected to be are the low-skilled workers and labors working in the informal sector, instead it was the working who were the full-time employers relating to skilled occupations. Globally, the Trade & Industrial production went through a complete manufacturing crisis. Environment was adversely affected and the rate of pollution increased as the industrial emissions gradually sped up. Unemployment increased in the US as the employment rate then was 4.9%. Tourism, insurance, small-business lending and political instability stimulated throughout the globe because of the economic and financial crisis. Mortgage Lending Practices – How they were affected? Mortgage loan can be defined as, â€Å"A loan on real estate that is usually secured by a mortgage.† (Jacobus& Thomas, 567). This could also be used as a generic term for loan. Demand is absent in recessionary periods so the interest rates are brought down to trigger it, lower interest rates entice people to get new mortgages and previous ones refinanced at a lower rate. Real estate lending crisis was triggered by the subprime lending mechanism, i.e. below normal rates. Financial institutions offered real estate at

Scientific paper about reconstructing 3D models of buildings Essay

Scientific paper about reconstructing 3D models of buildings - Essay Example First, most of it is unorganized, uncalibrated, have uncontrolled illumination, image quality and resolution and is widely variable. In essence, coming up with a computer vision technique that can work with most of these images has proved to be a challenge for most researchers. Now how can researchers work with this huge resource; this paper proposes solution such as Image Based Rendering algorithm and Structure from Motion. While a few other researchers such as Brown and Lowe (Lowe 395) have used Structure from Motion to tackle the above problems, the technique used in this paper has several modifications. Structure from Motion is effective in 3D visualization and scene modeling and can operate on hundreds of images obtained from keyword queries (photo tourism). Through photo tourism, it is possible to reconstruct many world sites. In effect, an algorithm that can work effectively on internet photos can enable vital applications such as 3D visualization, communication/media sharing, and localization. Two recent breakthroughs in the field of computer vision namely Structure from Motion and Feature Matching will be the backbone of this paper. Through these techniques, it is possible to reconstruct buildings in 3D to offer virtual and interactive tours for internet users. You can also evaluate the current state of a building and identify degradation and areas that may require renovation or reconstruction. Further, we can come up with creations or display of any building of interest as long as we have its image. Sparse geometry and camera reconstruction The browsing and visualization components of this system requires exact information in regards to the orientation, relative location and inherent parameters like focal lengths for each photo in a collection and sparse three dimension scene geometry. The system also requires a geo-referenced coordinate frame. For the most part, this information can be obtained through electronic components and Global Positioning Sys tem gadgets over the internet. Image files in EXIF tags often have this data though the vast majority of these sources are mostly inaccurate. As such, this system will compute this data via computer vision techniques. First, we will detect feature points in every image after which the system will equate feature points between pairs of images. Finally, the system will run an iterative Structure from Motion procedure to retrieve the camera parameters. Since Structure from Motion procedure will only produce estimates and our system requires absolute values, the system will run iterative procedure to acquire better estimates. How this whole procedure unfolds is detailed below. Detecting feature points will be done using SIFT keypoint detector (Lowe 411). This technique has better invariance to image alteration. The next step is matching keypoint descriptors using the approximate bordering neighbors. For instance, if we want to match two images I and J, first we will create a kd-tree obt ained from element descriptors in J. Next, for each element in I we will locate an adjacent neighbor in J using the kd-tree. For effectiveness, we can use ANN’s priority search algorithm. This technique limits each query to visit a maximum of two hundred bins in the kd-tree. Alternatively, we can use a technique described by Lowe (Lowe 95). In the technique, for each

Write an essay on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House in which you

Write an on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House in which you either support or oppose Nora Helmer's decision at the conclusion of the play to leave her family - Essay Example She is heroic and not selfish as most critics conclude. Critics of Nora Helmer’s decision to leave her family at the end of the play point out that she was too impulsive. An example in the play is Mrs. Linde who decides that she ought to take care of the man she loves for her to be contented with herself (Ibsen & Henrietta 6). Her character is a complete opposite of Nora’s character in terms of attitudes and emotions. The character of Mrs. Linde clearly shows that Nora’s decision to leave her family was not the only decision available to women in her situation. Other critics who have read the book like the Swedish playwright August Strindberg attack Nora’s decision to leave her family as unacceptable (Billington 1). This is because the marriage covenant was considered holy. He condemns Nora’s behavior and deems her as irresponsible and selfish since she decides to leave her children because they do not have to pay for the mistakes of their father. The times depicted in the play do not support Noraâ€⠄¢s behavior since no true woman would ever make such a choice at that time in history. Nora Helmer is not only a victim of male domination, but also a master of the domestic world. She is dedicated enough to take care of her sick husband, courageous enough to forge her father’s signature and confident enough to pay back all her debts no matter how tough the situation gets (Unwin & Ibsen 10). Nora Helmer cannot be blamed for her desire of the ‘wonderful thing’; the ideal union where both husband and wife regard each other as rational individuals aware of the society they live in and they can also fulfill their individual duties. Her ideation of what marriage ought to be bringings her to the awareness of the flaws in her own marriage. This awareness is what finally drives her to leave her husband as her husband’s firm decision not to compromise his integrity for the sake of love ignites her decision and she leaves, slamming the door. This is