Friday, November 29, 2019

Shooting an Elephant

In the essay â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†, Orwell tries to put across the dilemma of a white man in a position of power in the imperialistic Britain, who does not quite identify with the evils of imperialism.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Shooting an Elephant specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This often leads him in to uncomfortable situations requiring him to take actions against his will. Although it might seem that this means carrying out British orders even when he does not agree with them, â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† shows that it could also mean living up to the expectations placed on a white man by the locals, even though it may be against his conscious. In the essay, Orwell realizes that he must shoot the elephant because as a representative of the British imperialism in the small town, not doing so would have shown the British Empire to be a foreign oppressor that could not be trusted to pr otect the locals when needed. Orwell makes its very clear at the outset that even though he represented the British imperialism, he had already decided that â€Å"imperialism was an evil thing† (para 2) and secretly sided with the Burmese in their fight against the British oppression. So even though the Burmese saw him as an enemy and tried to harm him in inconspicuous ways, Orwell actually empathized with their cause. As such, his duties as police officer often meant that he had to carry out orders that at a personal level he found distasteful. It also meant that the locals, who had no way of knowing how he really felt, judged him based on the actions that he carried out as an instrument of the British rule. According to Bertonneau, â€Å"The â€Å"British Empire† is never present in and of itself, because it is an abstraction, a system; it only appears through its agents† (para 3), the agent in this case being Orwell. As a result, Orwell realizes that he must always act in way that is expected of a white man, even though he may not personally agree with those actions. This need to always behave in a way expected of him is not because of any pressure from the empire or his superiors but because as a representative of the British ruler, he must do everything he can to â€Å"impress the ‘natives’ and so in every crisis he has got to do what the ‘natives’ expect of him† (para 7).Advertising Looking for essay on british literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Killing the elephant was not only morally wrong since it was a source of income to its owner but even legally it bordered on the gray. Orwell was well aware of this even before he laid his eyes on the elephant. He never really intended to kill the elephant and when he borrowed the elephant rifle, it was more as an act of self defense than with any intention to shoot at the elephant. Yet, once he had got the gun, the natives expected him to kill the elephant and protect them from the â€Å"crazy† animal. As more and more natives gathered, the pressure to do what was expected of him and impress the natives grew, until Orwell was left with no other option but to shoot the elephant, against his better judgment. Orwell’s actions show that even though as a person he may not want to kill the elephant, as a white man, â€Å"he wears a mask† of the colonizer and hence must live up to the expectations placed on a white colonizer, that is, make sure that â€Å"his face grows to fit† the said mask. As a white man in the colony, he is by definition supposed to be superior to those he colonizes. He cannot afford to show any kind of weakness which would in any way compromise his superiority over the colonized. As a result, even though he believes that imperialism is evil, he â€Å"ultimately fails to see beyond the ‘yellow faces’ of the Burmansâ €  (Tyner 266). His â€Å"white mask† of the colonizer is juxtaposed against the â€Å"yellow mask† of the colonized and the white man must always come across as the superior. If he had not killed the elephant, he would have come across as a weak person and become a laughing stock among the locals. As Orwell mentions, their â€Å"hideous laughter† and â€Å"sneering yellow faces† (para 1) were getting on his nerves and he could not allow them to get another opportunity to laugh at him. By killing the elephant, he made sure that the superior white mask of the colonizer that he wore in his interactions with natives remained firmly in place. Thus, Orwell contends that even though he was supposedly the free white man ruling the native Burmans, in reality he was not really free as he could not do what he really wanted to do but must always to what was expected of him as a representative of the British government.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Shooting an Elephant specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The British Empire is just an abstract system but it is the actual people, whether the colonized or the colonizer, who must give up their freedom in order to live within this system. In killing the elephant, Orwell stopped being a â€Å"person† and become just an agent of the British Empire, thus losing his freedom as an individual. Works Cited Bertonneau, Thomas. â€Å"An overview of â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†.† Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. Orwell, George. â€Å"Shooting an Elephant† 1931. Web. Tyner, James A. â€Å"Landscape and the mask of self in George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an elephant’.† Area 37.3 (2005): 260-267. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. This essay on Shooting an Elephant was written and submitted by user Jonas Brady to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

A streetcar named desire by Tenessee Williams.

A streetcar named desire by Tenessee Williams. Tennessee Williams was once quoted as saying "Symbols arenothing but the natural speech of drama...the purestlanguage of plays" (Adler 30). This is clearly evident in "A Streetcar Named Desire", one of Williams's many plays. In analyzing the main character of the story, BlancheDuBois, it is crucial to use both the literal text as wellas the symbols of the story to get a complete and thoroughunderstanding of her.Before one can understand Blanche's character, one mustunderstand the reason why she moves to New Orleans andjoins her sister, Stella, and brother-in-law, Stanley. Byanalyzing the symbolism in the first scene, one canunderstand what prompted Blanche to move. Her appearance inthe first scene "suggests a moth" (Williams 96). Inliterature a moth represents the soul, so it is possible tosee her entire voyage as the journey of her soul (QuirinoCropped screenshot of Vivien Leigh from the traile...63). Later in the same scene she describes her voyage:"They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, and thentransfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks andget off at Elysian Fields" (Quirino 63). Taken literallythis does not seam to add much to the story; however, ifone investigate Blanche's past one, can truly understandwhat this quotation symbolizes. Blanche left her home tojoin her sister, because her life was a miserable wreck inher former place of residence. She admits, at one point inthe story, that "after the death of Allan (her husband)intimacies with strangers was all I seemed able to fill myempty heart with" (Williams, 178). She had sexual relationswith anyone who would agree to it. This is the first stepin her voyage-"Desire". She said that she was forced intothis situation because death was immanent and...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

International Business Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Business Assignment - Essay Example For instance, Ricarodo-Millian viewpoint indicated, not only did the United States make productivity gains by free trade with Eastern nations even the Eastern nations were able to improve their per capita income, though only up to a fraction of the United States’ per capita income. Moreover, free trading nations could harness the potential of each other’s strengths in exchange for weaknesses. This concept emerged from the way United States traded for certain products, like agricultural produce and manufacturing, with Eastern nations that had huge potential for production of these items, it also exported electronic and technical goods to the Eastern nations that were relatively less evolved in terms of those goods. Classical economics about free trade proposes that such trading actually nullifies all potential imbalances that would eventually follow increased trading between nations. As per Ricardian principles, unemployment is temporary. However, this temporary phase ca nnot be defined as the US labor force has been experiencing job losses for more than 3 decades, which started when the US started free trade with neighboring nations through the NAFTA during 1994 by outsourcing manufacturing jobs to Mexico (Iyer, 2005). This resulted in loss of more than 750,000 jobs in the US. Considering that the same scenario continued with other NAFTA members such as the Philippines, Canada, and some European countries. This resulted in an increased number of exports from these countries into the US, thereby addressing all their economic deficit issues. Following job losses in the manufacturing units of the US, even the service industry began outsourcing jobs to Eastern developing countries like India. This increased job losses for most of the IT and IT enabled service personnel in the US. These shifts in economics and labor markets from economics perspective resulted in bringing about balance between different nations in terms of growth, GDP and per capita inco me. Samuelson (2004) asserts that free trade has only lowered the labor-market by clearing real wages because the market moved to places with high supply of labor at lower wages. However, Giddens (2011) points out that the global electronic economy provides such opportunities to individuals at one corner of the world to actually shake up what once seemed as rock-solid economies. Globalization has pushed many economies downwards by pressurizing local autonomy, as incase of the US and European companies. Some economists believed that job losses would not render people of the rich countries to be idle, but would push them harder towards new inventions, which would benefit their economy. Although inventions have happened in the US, these inventions were insufficient to provide jobs for all jobless people; this further increased economic inequalities in rich nations, like the US, too. Free trade policies have undoubtedly improved living standards of most of the people in developing natio ns, which has thus resulted in an increase in consumption, costs, and demand for manufactured products, natural resources and agricultural produces. Most of the developing nations have liberalized regulations on foreign direct investment, which has given greater push for retailers to expand into newer

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Yahoos industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Yahoos industry - Essay Example With time and advent of another search engine Google, Yahoos popularity is now confined to Yahoo News, Sports and Finance while Yahoo is now-a-days is not a preferred choice as a search engine and Google has emerged as the most preferred search engine for web searching, electronic messages (e-mails), chats, blogs etc because of its user friendly approach and fast results. Visitors do visit Yahoo especially for those attributes which are not offered by Google else if Google offers them they have a preference for Google over Yahoo. The underlying concept is Google appears to be the chief set of connections for maintaining follow-up of diverse social associations, acquaintances and interfaces. The chief reason that could be assessed- most of the individuals have MyBlogLog, MySpace, Facebook and other social accounts which aid in staying in contact with friends and acquaintances. Yahoo offers sites for commercial purposes such as Finance, Yahoo Answers : Q&A, Backlink Reporting, Flickr for photo uploading as well as sharing, for entertainment, privacy and local search. Yahoo is therefore preferred for its wider domain and for the features which are lacking in Google and least preferred for the features that are present with

Monday, November 18, 2019

Charting trip across the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Charting trip across the US - Essay Example We were making an adventurers religious journey organized by the Presbyterian churches of USA. It entailed all youth members around the nation. This was back in 1856, when the Natives’ policies in the United States of America were not fully defined. We began the train in an open caravan of the time at around 8pm. We were to follow the direction as shown in the diagram below. One of the most demanding moments was when we got to the famous Gunnison National Forest. This is a forest known to have poisonous serpents, and other large animals. Therefore, we had to camp on the western side of the forest, to facilitates the continuation of the journey the following morning. At around 3am, we continued with the journey, hoping for the best. At Utah, State at the central region as one approaches west; we met a group of youths having their way to Reno. They looked hostile and unfriendly, so we kept a safe distance as they were three times the members of my group. They were Indians and Mexicans, just like most of us; this meant that they had come from the southern-west boarder. Between the two regions, the journey was excellent as we met other three groups a distance of 102KM from the Capital of Utah. The trail took us 4 days, and we arrived to the destination point safe and sound. Reno was familiar to me, as this was my home area; I learnt in Roselle Park, and luckily got and employment in the same region. 1. The Concentration Policy – this was an idea to concentrate these native in one large reservation. It was to prevent them from interfering with the white settlers in their railroad constructions and other travelling adventures. The policy affected the trail in a great way; we had to get a permit. It came to a success because the initiators of the trip were white religious leaders (Marger 36). 2. Termination Policy – it is the policy that ended the Bureau of Indian Affair. It also ended the government’s social responsibilities.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Information systems in organisations

Information systems in organisations Abstract Successful system roll-out is not a task that can easily be achieved. As many organisations and governments have found to their cost, it is not simply the case that they can throw money at an information system in the hope that it will be successful. The primary case study used is that of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch system. After looking at the background of the case the implementation and subsequent failure are discussed. The reasons for failure are explained, which show the project as essentially being doomed from the start. Although system failure is a common occurrence many organisations do not seem to learn from the mistakes of the past, resulting in several other high profile cases. There are some strategies, however, that can be adopted in order to combat against failure, which mainly side on the softer aspects of system design such as management, organisational culture and human relations. What are the major causes of systems roll-out success or failure? What strategies can organisations take to ensure the success? To answer this question fully we must first understand what an information system (IS) is; and more importantly, what constitutes the success and, or failure of an IS. An information system in an organization provides processes and information useful to its members and clients (Avison Fitzgerald, 2003). Flynn (1992) also describes it as An information system provides procedures to record and make available information, concerning part of an organization, to assist organizations-related activities. An IS is made up of a complex set of factors, including human, organisational, technical, political and financial factors (Flowers, 1996). The interaction between these can give rise to either the success or failure of a system roll-out. The success of an IS is measured mainly on whether or not it meets the productivity target of being developed on time and to budget, and the quality target of meeting the clients requirements. A successful system is one that meets its targets of quality and productivity (Flynn, 1992). An IS is deemed unsuccessful if it fails either one, or both of its targets. In some instances the system is never actually delivered to the end user, which obviously is another case of system failure. An unsuccessful system is one that fails to meet either its quality or its productivity targets (Flynn, 1992). Successful system roll-out is not the easiest of tasks, with many governments and companies finding this out to their cost. In some cases these cost have run into hundreds of millions of pounds. The latest Standish Group report CHAOS Summary 2009 shows that more projects than ever are failing, and also that the number of successful projects is on the decrease. Only 32% of projects met their targets and could be classed as successful; with 44% of systems meeting either only some or none of their targets and 24% were never completed (The Standish Group, 2009). There are estimates that the cost of project failure in the U.S. alone is well in excess of $100 billion; emphasising just how costly a problem system roll-out can be if not done correctly. One reason as to why there are so many instances of IS failure is partly due to the fact that a lot of the time they are constructed without a full understanding or anticipation of reality (Xalles Limited, 2005). This is known as the Vacuum Mentality syndrome (Xalles Limited, 2005). These realities include changes in technology, changes made by the user community, reorganisations, changes of needs, change of key players and project sponsors, issues with resources and changes of processes (Xalles Limited, 2005). This idea is backed up by Maddison Darnton (1996) who explain that human issues are usually more important than technical ones in determining success or failure. Highlighting the fact that it is not necessarily technical issues with an IS that are the main problems during the development process, but instead ones regarding human incompetence. One of the most dramatic IS failures reported in recent years is that of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch (LASCAD) system. The LAS is the biggest ambulance service in the world, dealing with over 2,500 emergency calls a day. This inevitably put massive strains on the manual paper-based system that was being used, which already had several major problems with it. This led to the standards of performance falling below the ones agreed to as part of the national standards for ambulance response. It was, therefore, imperative that a new, more effective computer aided despatch system was introduced in order to meet the performance levels. The new system worked by a Control Assistant receiving an emergency call and entering the details given by the caller into the CAD system. Using call-box identifier and mapping systems, the exact location of the caller was calculated. Based on the information on the incident the CAD then worked out a level for the emergency, thus informing the Control Assistant on the appropriate specialist vehicles and skills that should be deployed to the emergency. The most appropriate and closest vehicle to the incident was then pinpointed via the use of mobile data terminals and the vehicle tracking system, and despatched to the emergency. The CAD system sent details of the incident to the vehicle via the on-board computer. Throughout dealing with the incident the crew were constantly updating the CAD system as to their arrival at the scene, their depart ure from it, their arrival at the hospital, and finally when they were free to deal with another call (Flowers, 1996). The intention of the CAD system was to eradicate the inefficiencies of the old paper-based system. However, as the LAS soon found out this was far from the case. On Monday 26th October 1992 the entire LASCAD system went live. It became quickly apparent, however, that it could note cope with the volume of calls. A number of calls were somehow getting lost in the system, leading to duplicate calls being made (Flowers, 1996). This meant that people who were in emergency situations had to wait, in some cases, for 30 minutes for their call to be dealt with. Even when the calls were dealt with, the ambulance allocation system had also failed meaning this had to be done manually, resulting in further delays. Amidst the confusion, it was even reported in some cases that two ambulances turned up to a single emergency, or that one never turned up at all (Flowers, 1996). As the day progressed, the number of calls increased, putting even more pressure on the already faltering system. The newer calls were now overwriting the earlier calls, resulting in even more incidents not being dealt with. The situation became that bad that all the queues were cleared in an attempt to decongest the system. However, this only succeeded in making the problem even worse, as a new flood of calls that were previously lost came through (Flowers, 1996). It was only Tuesday afternoon when the system was eventually shut down as a result of the escalating situation (Finkelstein, 1993). The LAS were instead forced to revert to a former part computerised system. Just over a week later they were back using the fully manual system. It is impossible to consider all of the factors that contributed to the demise of the CAD system. However, there are several major issues which could, ultimately, be seen as the contributing factors towards its failure. Flowers (1996) states that the primary reasons behind the failure were those of the design of the system, the management ethos, the procurement process and the timetable to which the system was developed. The system had been designed without sufficient testing, and on the basis that it would be operating in a perfect world where everything goes according to plan. It relied solely on the requirement that all the information received was perfect. In reality this was far from the case, and so the system was unable to sufficiently despatch resources to the incidents. As highlighted in the official inquiry into the failure: It is probable that the development team did not have full appreciation of the importance of these elements or, at least, of the consequences of failure, or less than perfect performance, of any one part (Finkelstein, 1993). The management ethos at the LAS was one that was inward looking and old-fashioned (Flowers, 1996). As a result of the recent restructuring which had been forced upon the LAS by the National Health Service, there were reported high levels of stress amongst senior management, which had seen a great number of previously loyal staff quitting (Mellor, 1994). In the years leading up to this there was a distinct lack of investment in areas such as the training and development of managers. During the implementation process a report was commissioned by the LAS into staff attitudes. It was clear to see from the results that staff had little faith in the management and were not satisfied with their jobs. This view had already been exposed from the result from a survey conducted in 1989 (Flowers, 1996). The official inquiry also highlighted a culture within the organisation that bred a fear of failure amongst the employees; whereby the success of the system was the one and only consideration (Flowers, 1996). This created an atmosphere in which people were scared to mention any problems or doubts they had with the system. As a result the system had become a sacred cow, in the fact that it became unreasonably immune to criticism from anyone associated with it. Senior managers believed that the system could be developed at a cost of just  £1.5 million. To meet the stringent financial restrictions regarding the purchase of the system, it was recommended by the selection team that the LAS accept the lowest offer, no matter who the tender was; unless they believed they had good and sufficient reason on the contrary (Flowers, 1996). The consequence of being forced to accept a tender in this manner was that the one with the lowest offer was an inexperienced small software company that had gravely underestimated that task at hand; hence the reason for their offer being considerably lower than all others. Having never worked on a project of this kind the companys resources were massively stretched, leading to falling standards in areas such as quality assurance, resulting in several mistakes being made with the development of the software. The inflexible time scale of just 6 months to which the system was set was far less than the industry average of 18 months for a project of this scale. It was believed by a vast majority within the LAS that the time scale was highly unrealistic. Inquiry Team member Paul Williams stated that The timetable was impossible (Mellor, 1994). Staff complained of the inadequacy of the training received for the system. There were major doubts about the quality of the training received and that it was provided long before the system was actually implemented; meaning it was not as effective as it could have been. The situation was made even worse by the fact that the control room staff were trained separately to the ambulance staff, which caused the potential for miscommunication. Other reasons include the fact that it had been decided by management that there was to be a trade off between the performance of the system and usability. The system was developed with little input from system users such as ambulance crews, with no LAS staff being assigned full time to the project (Mellor, 1994). These, therefore, were not ideal conditions in which to launch the new CAD system. Flowers (1996), on the other hand, argues that there is never an ideal time to introduce a major new computer system. However, he does also go on to say that rarely has such a large scale information system ever been introduced under such difficult circumstances (Flowers, 1996). This was not the first time that the LAS had tried to implement a CAD system for ambulances. Beginning in the early 1980s the system was doomed after tests revealed it would not be able to deal with the sheer volume of calls and so was abandoned in 1990 at a cost of  £7.5 million. For a system roll-out to be successful it must contain these four phases: Implementation Planning, Implementation Delivery, Post-Implementation Support, Post-Implementation Analysis (Xalles Limited, 2005). These implementation methods are based on a number of principles and assumptions. The approach by management to the project should be disciplined. As the case of the LASCAD has shown; strong and effective management is essential for the success of a system. Managers should be able to competently handle and issues or problems that develop during the implementation of the system. Accurate and concentrated documentation is needed in order to effectively communicate throughout each of the implementation phases. The end user(s) should be kept in mind throughout the development process so that the System Requirement Specification can be met. It is essential that organisations learn from the mistakes of others regarding the roll-out of an information system. However, this can pose quite difficult as many organisations, if they have difficulties, tend to keep these problems in-house, as not to bring any negative press to themselves. In conclusion it is clear to see that the roll-out of a successful IS is not an easy achievement, with organisations not always learning from the mistakes of others. After reading several case studies of high profile IS failures including LASCAD, TAURUS and Heathrow Terminal 5, it shows that the price of failure are extremely high with these companies losing tens of millions of pounds between them, and in the case of the LASCAD people losing their lives. These cases also highlighted that the main contributing factors towards the demise of each project were in fact from poor management, rather than technical difficulties. It is argued that the main factors for success comprise of timing and budget, perceived usefulness and ease of use, fitting the organisations business strategy and objectives, the management culture and human relations, and lastly acceptance of the system by the user(s) (Maddison Darnton, 1996). In order for a system roll-out to be successful all of this must be ta ken into consideration. Bibliography Avison, D. Fitzgerald, G. (2003). Information Systems Develolpment: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools Third Edition. Mcgraw Publishsing Flynn, D. J. (1992). Information Systems Requirements: Determination and Analysis. McGraw-Hill International Flowers, S. (1996). Software Failure: Management Failure: Amazing Stories and Cautionary Tales. John Wiley Sons Ltd. Finkelstein, A (1993). Report of the Inquiry Into The London Ambulance Service. International Workshop on Software Specification and Design Case Study. The Communications Directorate. Finkelstein, A Dowell, J. A Comedy of Errors: the London Ambulance Service case study. School of Informatics, City University. Lin, A (2009). Information Systems in Organisations. Department of Information Studies, The University of Sheffield. Maddison, R. Darnton, G. (1996). Information systems in organizations: improving business processes. Chapman Hall. Mellor, P. (1994). CAD: Computer-Aided Disaster (High Integrity Systems). Vol. 1, 2, pp. 101-156. The Standish Group (2009). New Standish Group report shows more project failing and less successful projects [Online]. http://www.standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php [Accessed 1 January 2010]. University College London (2009). Unit 3: Case Study London Ambulance Service CAD System [Online]. http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/A.Finkelstein/advmsc/3.pdf [Accessed 5 January 2010]. Xalles Limited (2005). Successful Systems Implementation [Online]. http://www.xalles.com/reports/Successful%20Systems%20Implementation.pdf [Accessed 30 December 2009].

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Brain Based Early Learning Programs: Education, Society, and National P

The science of neurobiology and technology of brain-imaging are rapidly advancing the understanding of cognition: how people think and learn. Brain-imaging techniques allow access into the mysterious mechanisms of the brain, and it is now possible to observe what occurs in the brain â€Å"as it performs tasks such as solving a math problem, reading a book, or improvising a melody† (Limb). This neurobiological research also indicates that, in the brain, emotion and intelligence are intricately synchronized processes (â€Å"Social-Emotional†). Brain-based learning programs apply this principle of simultaneous cognitive and social-emotional development by emphasizing how the brain learns innately, and are based on what is currently known about the â€Å"physical structure and function† of the human brain at varying stages of development (Wilson). Scientists and educators agree that this educational model has proven to be most effective in the earliest, formative years of the brain, priming the brain both for learning and social relationships. There is significant and ample evidence documenting that early childhood education can generate substantial gains in children's learning and development. However, long-term advantages are predominantly recognized only in high-quality early childhood education programs (Swartout-Corbeil). Consequently, the availability of high-quality programs is limited, and high-quality programs are usually not affordable for most families (Swartout-Corbeil). Brain-based early learning programs represent the definitive in early childhood curriculum, and mandating for these cutting-edge programs on a national level has the potential to produce not only smarter and more creative learners, but also a society of compassi... ...a of Children's Health. â€Å"Early Childhood Education.† Web. 5 Apr. 2012. US House of Representatives. Committee on Education and the, Workforce. Education Regulations: Burying Schools In Paperwork. Hearing Before The Subcommittee On Early Childhood, Elementary And Secondary Education Of The Committee On Education And The Workforce. U.S. House Of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session (March 15, 2011). Serial Number 112-12. US House of Representatives, 2011. ERIC. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. Wentzel, K. R., Weinberger, D. A., Ford, M. E., & Feldman, S. S. (1989, March). â€Å"Academic achievement in preadolescence: The role of motivational, affective, and self-regulatory processes.† Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco. Wilson, Leslie Owen. â€Å"Overview of Brain-based Education.† Web. 7 Apr. 2012.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Competition in the Chinese Automobile Industry Essay

There are many scientific inventions in our world. Some of these inventions are even in the houses that we live in. There are inventions such as computer games, the microwave oven, and even the Moto vehicle. These inventions make our lives much easier but it destroys the world as well. Everything and everyone gets harmed some way by these inventions. Let’s start off with this. The computer is entertaining but yet dangerous to our eyes. Children of our world love being on the computer. But they shouldn’t love it too much, because if you stare and are too close to the computer for far too long, your eyes begin to hurt and you become shot sighted. This is so because your brain decides that you don’t need to be able to see things far away and only see thing that are close to you. The computer is one of the best inventions because it helps you with a lot of things. Number one is work. It allows us to save all our important document and keeps them in a private file. The microwave oven. This is a machine that heats thing. It’s great in homes for when you want to heat foods. About 1/3 of the world has one. I’ll say this; microwave oven heats your foods but also destroys your health. As the microwave heats up, it sends of radiation inside and out. Your foods become polluted with radiation and if you’re too close to it you as well. Who likes eating cold food? I mean we all like food nice and hot, so we should have a microwave oven in our houses. I personally can’t go without a microwave. It one of my favorite scientific inventions. One of the most used scientific inventions would be the motor vehicle. Now this is brilliant! The motor vehicle or should I say, cars are very common to our modern day lives. EVERYBODY has one. Well if you have a license of course. Now cars are a complex piece of machinery. It’s like you’re basically holding a fully loaded gun. Almost every day there is an accident that occurs. We may not see it, but it happens. People get greatly injured or even die from car accidents. On the positive side, cars do have its advantages. People use cars to transport themselves around. It takes you from one place to another. Instead of having to walk, you drive. Another thing about cars, it pollutes the air badly. This is so because cars give off a great deal of smoke sometimes. This affects the greenhouse gases and even worse, the ozone layer. If the air is completely contaminated people with die. People that believe these machines are not good for our lives are somewhat correct but wrong. I believe that it has made our lives really easy and less complex. I think it has done wonders to the world and we should all appreciate the advantage we get from this.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

The Phospolipid Bilayer essays

The Phospolipid Bilayer essays Our cell membrane is made up of a dispersion of different proteins onto a 2 dimensional fluid of lipids, compounded mainly of phospholipids, a class of membrane lipids that are amphipathic in their properties, meaning that they are both hydrophilic and hydrophobic (Ratto, 2002). Of all the phospholipids, the most common type that makes up most cell membranes is phosphatidylcholine, which has a hydrophilic head group and two hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails (Alberts et al, 1998, p349). Because of their hydrophobic nature, the hydrocarbon tails resist against the aqueous environment, thus, forcing away from it leaving the hydrophilic head groups exposed to the aqueous environment, hence, forming a bilayer (Alberts et al, 1998, p350). The hydrophilic head groups face the outside environment and the hydrophobic tails face each other (Hanke and Schlue, 1993). The main focus is, however, the fluidity of the phospholipid bilayer and a disease involving the phospholipid bilayer called Antip hospholipid Syndrome. The phospholipids in membranes are fluid because they can move laterally from one place to another in the plane of the bilayer without being restrained (Alberts et al, 1998, p352); hence, scientists named the phospholipid bilayer The Fluid Mosaic Model (Hanke and Schlue 1993). The only movement that they cannot do is flip-flop from one leaflet of the membrane to another; therefore, in order for the phospholipids to be transferred from one leaflet to another, the enzyme flipase is required to catalyze this transfer (Alberts et al, 1998, p352). One experiment that scientists manipulated to prove this was the Fluorescent Recovery After Photo-Bleaching (FRAP) experiment (Bultmann, T. et al, 1991). On a region of the cell surface, scientists labeled it by fluoresce and by doing this, the fluorochrome of the dye will covalently attach to the lipid or protein molecules. When this region is illumina ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Marketing plan for Aleve

Marketing plan for Aleve Using Aleve now that Vioxx and Bextra have been taken off the market Company overview Aleve is a drug that is produced by Bayer HealthCare LLC. This company operates all over the world. It has its headquarters in Leverkusen Germany. The company operates in over a hundred countries in the world and employs over a hundred and ten thousand individuals throughout its channels of operation (Mackenzie, 2011b, para.2). The company deals in a variety of products that are further grouped into different divisions.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Marketing plan for Aleve specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These include Animal health, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Care and Medical care (Mackenzie, 2011a, para.1). The headquarters of these divisions are located differently. The division of Pharmaceuticals and Animal health are based in Germany whereas those of consumer car and medical care are found in the US, (Bayer Healthcar e, 2011b, para.1). Aleve is a product in the consumer care category. The company makes use of the local companies in the different parts of world where it has its establishment to help in product distribution. These local companies liaise with the local authorities and other regulators to ensure that the company operates within the legal procedures for business. Executive summary of a marketing plan Bayer HealthCare LLC is a company that deals in a variety of health products for human and animals as well (Mackenzie, 2011b, para.1). The company was established in 1863 by Friedrich Bayer and Johann Friedrich Weskott as a dyestuff factory. The company has seen various developments to be the current dealer in health products. The company’s clients are human patients as well as animal keepers. It currently deals in a range of products that are doing well in the market. The company had massive sales in the last financial year. The best sold product last year was Betaferon ®/ Beta seron ® with sales of about â‚ ¬1206 million (Bayer healthcare, 2011a). Aleve was one of the twenty best selling products of the company last year with total sales of â‚ ¬273 million (Bayer healthcare, 2011a). The company has been out to provide quality health care products for human and animal health. It has been the concern of the management to provide products that conform to health requirements as provided by legislation on health matters. This is aimed at positioning their products well above the others in the markets. To improve on the overall sales, the company has made improvements on certain products in the consumer care division. The new products will be available in qualities and quantities that are considered improvements on the previous product.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company shall adopt a marketing strategy that will be u sed to expos the new product in the market and increase sales. The plan will go for one year after which it may be adopted depending on the performance. Description of the target market Aleve is in a pharmacological class of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Aleve is used to relieve pain and inflammation of the body tissues. Aleve can be used for minor aches, pains, or fever. It is appropriate for the managing pain in arthritis, tendonitis, menstrual camps, gouts, and many others (Drugs.com, 2011, para.2). Thus, the targeted customers for the products are the individuals with such problems. The dosage for this product also differs depending on the nature of the health problem to be managed. Aleve drug has side effects and it is not recommended for use by some groups of individuals. These include young children, pregnant mothers, and nursing mothers. These groups are not included in the target market. The drug is also not recommended for use by individuals with history of heart problems, stroke, high blood pressure, liver or kidney disease, asthma, or bleeding disorder. These individuals may use the drugs under the directions of a physician (Drugs.com, 2011, para.7). Due to the probable side effects even on the recommended users, there is a need to take the dosage as directed by the physician. The medication should not be taken in large quantities and neither should it be used for a long period. In the event that the drug has to be used for a long time, there is need to consult with the doctor who will check if there are side effects following the prolonged use of the drug. Description of the competitors Competition in consumer care products is intensified by factors like the prices of the drugs, their availability to the customers, their suitability and effectiveness in pain relief, and their side effects on the users. Some of the key competitors include Pfizer, Johnson Johnson, and BASF SE among others (Mackenzie, 2011b, para.3). T he companies would always want to medical drugs that have little or no side effects on the users.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Marketing plan for Aleve specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The contraindications will also limit the individuals who would use the drugs thereby narrowing the market. The dosages of the different drugs also differ among individuals. This necessitates packaging in different sizes to accommodate all the users. The company that issues products in varying sizes will have a better market than the others with fixed package sizes will. Several health products were available that can be used for the relief of pain just like Aleve. Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra fall in a category of drugs called Cox-2 inhibitors. These fall in a broader category termed as Non-Steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that also include Aleve (Drugs.com, 2011, para.1). Fortunately, some of these products have been eliminated in the market following the adverse side effects that they had on the users. Some of the drugs that have been eliminated in the market had fixed packages that were to be used by every individual regardless of the level of the pain and other factors like body weight that determine dosage. Drugs like Bextra were associated with serious side effects like severe skin reactions that would result into deaths (Cohen, 2004, para.4) the drug is also contraindicated on the individuals who are allergic to sulfa drugs. The drugs have been found to be no better than the old NSAIDs. Drugs like Bextra came in one size that was to be used for everyone. This is different from the older NSAIDs that came in different sizes. It is important to recognize the fact that contraindications of drugs have a high association with the dosage. The contraindication can be reduced by using the lowest dosage that is allowed (Cohen, 2004, para.7). This is achievable if there are smaller packs of the drugs. With the differential packaging, individuals are able to get the lowest dosage for the relief of their pain and inflammation. Description of product or services The company has understood the changing trend in the market for the consumer care product. It has noted some of the weaknesses that saw some competing products being withdrawn from the market. Drugs like Celebrex had effects similar to Vioxx and Bextra creating a possibility of withdrawal as well. The company has improved on its manufacturing processes to reduce the contraindications of the drugs.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company produces various brands of Aleve (Naproxen) namely Aleve, Anaprox, EC-Naprosyn, Naprelan, and Naprosyn (Drugs.com, 2011). However, the company has opted to center more on the production of two main brands Anaprox and Naprosyn. The drugs will only be available as tablets. Due to the differential needs of the users, the two brands shall be provided in varying sizes. The sizes will be 200mg, 300mg, or 400mg. The smallest size is a reduction of the initial tablets that were 220g. The physiological effects of the drugs have been fully established and the drugs could be obtained over the counter. Cases of minor aches and pain can be managed by the drug without a prescription from the doctor as long as the user follows the directives that accompany each package. However, there are certain individuals who have to consult a physician even for the management of a minor ache by these drugs. These include individuals who have history of a heart problem, hypertension, asthma, stroke, respiratory problems, or other related disorders. The drug need not be used by patients who have undergone some surgical operation related to the heart and neither should the drugs be used before such operations. All conditions under which the drugs cannot be used are provided as user directives attached to the packs of the drugs. Marketing budget The current products to be promoted in the market are improvements on the previous products that the company has been dealing in. To get the clients to understand the improvements on the products require an extensive advertisement and product promotions. Much appeal on the adverts will emphasize on the improved contraindication of the drugs on patients and their availability in smaller packages that could be used for any level of dosage. The nature of this appeal requires more of a visual impression. In this regard, the company has scheduled to use four main modes of advertisement. The first priority will be given to advertisement on tele vision. This will be followed by advertisement on press (newspapers and magazines). The other batch of the advertisement funds shall be channeled to internet advertisement. Lastly, the company will have a direct communication with the potential clients to notify them of the latest development of the products. The advertisement through the different media will be carried extensively in the first month following the launch of the new products. During the first month, the company will also provide offers for purchases of large amounts of the drugs. Products like Aleve T-Shirts, drinking water, washing soaps and body lotion will be provided for purchases worth â‚ ¬20 or more. The company will also sponsor an athletics competition drawing key participants from all over the world. The event that is scheduled to take four days will be held in the first week of the marketing period at the headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany. The company has set aside â‚ ¬40 million for the purpose of advertisements, sales promotion, and the athletics championships. The amounts shall be distributed among the different tasks as follows: Amounts in millions Advertisement on television†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â‚ ¬12.5 Advertisements on newspapers and magazines†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â‚ ¬8.0 Advertisement through Internet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..â‚ ¬5.0 Direct mails†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â‚ ¬5.0 Product offers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â‚ ¬2.0 Athletics championships †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â‚ ¬10.0 Other expenses†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â‚ ¬2.5 An allowance of â‚ ¬2.5 million is put aside for the other expenses that might emerge in the marketing period. It could be used for filling the gaps caused by a deviation in the estimated expenses. Other adjustments might also be made depending on the circumstances that will be identified in the due course. Description of location The company (commonly termed as Bayer Group) has locations in the five different continents in the world. It has major offices at its headquarters in Germany and in the United States. There are retail stores in over 100 countries in the world with some 315 operating companies (Mackenzie, 2011b, para.1). The products are readily available in these retail stores. There are arrangements with the local companies to distribute the products to clients in different parts of a given country. The clients that require large amounts of drugs like health institutions can be served easily through this mode. The company has also established an online retail shop. Through this mode, a client can order for products from any part of the regions online. By quoting the order quantity and the physical address, the management of the company will arrange for shipment of these products from the regional retail stores to the clients. All the transactions of this purchase will be carried out online. The clients may be required to take part in the distribution depending on their physical location from the company’s nearest retail store. Pricing strategy The company will offer products at relatively competitive prices. The products will be available in packets containing 100 tablets of each of the sizes (200mg, 300mg, and 400mg). A 200gm packet will go for â‚ ¬6.0; a packet of 300gm will be available at â‚ ¬8.5 whereas a packet containing 400gm tablets will go for â‚ ¬10. A 5% discount will be provided for cash sales throughout the first month of the new pro duct in the market. Another 5% discount will be provided for large purchases throughout the product’s period in the market. Summary and implementation There are competitors all over the world that deals in the same drugs. For instance, there are companies producing painkillers in countries like India. These provide challenges to the operations of the company in those regions. With the identification of the trend in the health products and making the necessary adjustments, the new products are bound to perform well in the market. The varying sizes of the tablets are and the subsequent differential prices will provide a strong advantage to the products over the competitors. The promotional strategy is developed depending on the popularity of the media and the kind of information that is to be delivered. The strategy is likely to expose the improved products to the targets. The sports event drawing individuals across the globe will attract a global audience thereby adding on the popularity of the products. With the proper management at, these advertisement and promotion, strategies will be implemented and the marketing objectives achieved. The new products will be launched at the beginning of the last quarter of this year (October 1, 2011) and the plan will be used for a period of one year. A sales analysis will be performed in the first two months after the launch. Sales report will be obtained from twenty retails stores form each of the continents. The retail stores will be selected to ensure that the different regions are presented to provide information that is more reliable. The progress of the plan towards achieving the marketing objectives will be revealed by this sales analysis. A significant deviation from the set targets will require an intervention by the sales team. References Bayer HealthCare. (2011a). Bayer HealthCare Products. Web. Bayer HealthCare. (2011b). Bayer HealthCare Worldwide. Web. Cohen, J. (2004). What Now for Users of Vioxx, Cele brex, and Bextra? MedicationSense.com. Web. Drug.com. (2011). Aleve Consumer Information. Web. Mackenzie, K. (2011a). Bayer HealthCare AG. Hoover’s Company Records, p. 116564. Austin. Retrieved from Proquest. Mackenzie, K. (2011b). Bayer AG. Hoover’s Company Records. Austin. p. 41808 Retrieved from Proquest.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Raymond Carver - Short Stories with Depth Research Paper

Raymond Carver - Short Stories with Depth - Research Paper Example Precisely why we have very few accomplished short story writers in English literature. In this essay we are going to analyse two stories written by one such accomplished writer Raymond Carver. We are going to compare and contrast these stories and also discuss Raymond Carver’s style of writing. The stories we are going to compare are, ‘Nobody said anything’ and ‘Will you please be quiet please?’ Life of Raymond carver Carver was born in Oregon, in a small mill town. His father was a skilled sawmill worker. His mother supported the family by working as a waitress and retail clerk. Carver got married when he was nineteen and his wife was barely sixteen. Their first child, a daughter was born six months after they got married and a son followed next year. All this time Carver supported his family by doing odd jobs. He later moved to California where he completed his BA and also attended a creative writing workshop conducted by John Gardner. Gardner held profound influence on Carver’s life and career. Carver kept moving his family from one state to another. His wife supported him by doing various odd jobs such as cocktail waitress, salesperson, administrative assistant and even as local school teacher. She supported Carver’s heavy drinking and life as a writer even though he kept teaching in universities across America. She also completed her degree and began to do better jobs to support Carver. Carver took to bottle and by his own admission has stated that in those years of heavy drinking he rarely wrote and only immersed himself in alcohol. Even when his friend Cheever stopped drinking due to diagnosis of cancer, Carver continued to drink. He had resorted to drinking so much that he needed medical assistance thrice to help him back to life. Eventually with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous Carver stopped drinking and took control of his life again. He divorced his first wife and married Tess Gallagher in the year 1982 . He died at the age of fifty due to cancer. Reflection of his life in his work Carver came from a blue collared working family. He came typically from lower middle class background which is seen in his stories. He saw life of blue collared workers very closely. Like couple of his contemporaries Carver painted a picture of lower middle class people on his writing. He highlighted their misery, their problems, their losses, love, relationships, and compromises all in his stories and poetry. He developed a matter of fact approach of stating their lives in his works. For a writer it is difficult to overcome the influences of his life while writing. Personal experiences and feelings do find place in the work they produce. One has to look beyond words to understand and feel what the writer actually wants to convey as deeper meaning to the picture he is creating. All his life till forty Carver struggled with his life by doing odd jobs, teaching and writing. He saw life from close end of th e pavilion and hence all those experiences found place in his work. Carver’s style of writing Carver is said to have a style of ‘dirty realism’ in his work. He was a minimalist writer using words only when necessary. John Gardner whose writing workshop Carver attended mentored Carver to use minimum words required to express him. It was Carver’s publisher Gordon Lish who pushed this minimalist writing to the brim by further cutting down the number of words Carver wrote. Carver later broke the agreement with Lish

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Energy drinks effect Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Energy drinks effect - Research Paper Example The main loss of water from the body is due to perspiration According to various studies if one loses water up to two or more percent of ones body weight (water makes 60% of the body weight) due to sweating (If a man/woman weigh 50 Kilograms and if s/he loses one liter sweat), that will lead to a drop in blood volume. This will force the heart to work harder to pump the blood through the arteries. This is the extreme situation of dehydration. This leads to muscle cramps. The functioning of the brain heavily depends on water. Thus dehydration affects the brain leading to fatigue and dizziness. If not re-hydrated immediately this situation may even lead to heat illnesses like Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustion. In addition to excessive sweating, other causes of dehydration are inadequate fluid intake, failure to replace fluid losses during and after the exercises, working out in dry hot weather, in the open, and drinking only when one is thirsty. There was a time when water was the only or one of the few sources of hydration. But water as a hydrant was found to have a lot of limitations. The major draw back of water as a hydrant is that it doesn’t replace the salts or electrolytes lost during perspiration. Water easily quenches thirst even before the body gets re-hydrated. Only few people like the taste of the water; most find the taste relatively bland. More over, drinking too much water can, though rarely, cause hyponatremia or water intoxication. It was these limitations of water as a hydrant that forced researchers to develop energy drinks especially for sports. Energy drinks or Sports drinks with their typical sweet-tart taste combination don’t quench thirst. So one is likely to drink larger volumes of energy/ sports drinks, compared to water which helps to maintain a better level of hydration. POSITIVE EFFECTS: Electrolytes or salts and Carbohydrates are the major components of an energy drink or sports drink. Protein is another component