Qualitative Analysis Lab Essay

The purpose of the experiment is to identify every cation present in an unknown solution by performing specific chemical tests. Chemical tests such as adding specific chemicals to make precipitates, adding strong and highly concentrated acids and bases, centrifuging the precipitate from the supernate, and performing a flame test are carried out to determine the presence or absence of the ions in each group. Experimental Procedure: Separation of Group I Cations: Ten drops of the unknown solution C were placed into a small test tube. Four drops of 6 M HCl were added to the unknown solution. After being stirred, the yellowish unknown developed a white, cloudy precipitate. The solution was centrifuged and a white precipitate sunk to the bottom of the test tube. One drop of 6 M HCl was added to the solution making the clear yellow supernate cloudy, which showed that not all of the Group I ions precipitated. Two more centrifuges were performed until no more precipitate formed. The clear yellow supernate was decanted into a clean dry test tube. The yellowish white precipitate was rinsed with five drops of cold tap water and stirred. This solution was then centrifuged and added to the supernate in the other test tube. Fifteen drops of tap water were added to the washed precipitate and the test tube was placed in a hot-water bath. The solution was stirred in the water bath for one minute. The now clear purplish liquid was centrifuged and there was no precipitate formed which confirmed the absence of Ag+. Three drops of 1 M K2CrO4 were added to the purple supernate, and a thick, cloudy yellow precipitate formed confirming the presence of Pb2+. Separation of Group III Cations: Five drops of 2 M NH4Cl were added to the test tube containing the clear yellow supernate from group I. The solution was stirred. Then, seven drops of 15 M NH3 were added until the solution was basic and the litmus paper turned blue. The addition of NH3 caused a light-orange precipitate to form. The two additional drops of NH3 and the twenty drops of water created a reddish-brown precipitate and a clear supernate. The solution was stirred and centrifuged. The light blue supernate was decanted from the caramel brown precipitate. Twelve drops of 12 M HCl and five drops of 16 M HNO3 were added to the brown precipitate. The mixture was carefully stirred and turned into a clear yellow liquid. The test tube was heated in a hot-water bath for about forty-five seconds to dissolve any remaining precipitate. Ten drops of water were added to the solution and was centrifuged. There was no remaining precipitate, and the clear yellow supernate was divided into two separate test tubes. Two drops of 0.2 M KSCN were added to one of the test tubes containing the yellow supernate. The solution turned to a deep, blood-red which confirmed the presence of Fe3+. After fifty drops of 6 M NH3 were added to the second test tube of the yellow supernate, the solution remained acidic and it only caused the solution to turn a paler yellow. Five drops of 15 M NH3 were added to make the solution basic by turning the litmus paper blue. The addition of the 15 M NH3 also caused an orange precipitate to form in the solution. The solution was centrifuged and decanted into a separate test tube to remove the precipitate. Four drops of dimethylglyoxime reagent was added to the solution which was then stirred. The solution turned a deep pink with the formation of a pink precipitate which confirms the presence of Ni2+. Separation of Group IV Cations: Eight drops of 6 M CH3CO2H and one drop of 1 M K2CrO4 were added to the light blue supernate from the Group III procedure. The mixture was stirred and turned to a clear yellow color with no precipitate which confirms the absence of Ba2+. Four drops of 15 M NH3 were added to the yellow supernate from the previous step to make it basic and turn the litmus paper blue. The solution retained its yellow color with no precipitate. Seven drops of 0.1 m K2C2O4 were added which caused the formation of a small amount of white precipitate. The small amount of precipitate was dissolved in ten drops of 6 M HCl. A small sponge was used to soak up a small amount of solution. Using a Bunsen burner, the solution soaked sponge was placed into the top of the blue flame. The flame was initially orange and then had sporadic bursts of red flame which confirmed the presence of Ca2+. A small amount of the original unknown solution C is absorbed by a section of sponge. A flame test is performed using a Bunsen burner. The solution soaked sponge produced an orange-yellow flame; however, the yellow was not very prominent. The solution did contain Na+, but not in a substantially large amount. 2 mL of original unknown solution C and 2 mL of 6 M NaOH were combined in an evaporating dish. Litmus paper was wetted with water and placed on the bottom of a watch glass. The litmus paper watch glass was placed over the evaporating dish. The litmus paper without extra heating immediately turned blue which confirms the presence of basic NH4+. Results: Table for Unknown C Pb2+| Ag+| Fe3+| Ni2+| Ba2+| Ca2+| NH4+| Na+| Yes| No| Yes | Yes| No| Yes| Yes| Yes| Discussion: The lead ion was found by making a supernate from water and the precipitate formed by mixing the unknown solution and 6 M HCl and decanting out the supernate. The unknown solution and HCl were added to a test tube and centrifuged to separate the precipitate from the supernate. The supernate was then decanted from the precipitate. Water was added to the precipitate and put into a hot-water bath. There was no precipitate formed after the solution was heated and centrifuged which confirmed the absence of the silver ion. The addition of K2CrO4 caused a yellow precipitate to form in the supernate. The formation of the yellow cloudy precipitate confirmed the presence of the lead ion. The iron ion was found by taking the supernate from group I and making a precipitate by mixing it with 2 M NH4Cl and 15 M NH3. The precipitate was mixed with 12 M HCl and 16 M HNO3 and heated in a hot water bath until the precipitate was completely dissolved. The supernate was then divided equally into two test tubes. One of the samples was combined with 0.2 M KSCN to form a blood-red precipitate which confirmed the presence of the iron ion. The second supernate sample was used in confirming the presence of nickel. 6 M NH3 was added to the supernate, but 15 M NH3 had to be used to make the solution basic. After centrifuging and decanting out the precipitate formed, the dimethylglyoxime reagent was added to the supernate and created a deep pink precipitate that confirmed the presence of nickel. The supernate from the group III sample was mixed with 6 M CH3CO2H and 1 M K2CrO4. There was no precipitate that formed which confirmed the absence of the barium ion. The calcium ion was found by using the supernate from the previous test and adding 15 M NH3 until the solution was basic. The precipitate was then centrifuged out and discarded. The addition of 0.1 M K2C2O4 created a small amount of white precipitate that suggested the presence of the calcium ion, but a flame test was conducted to confirm the presence of calcium. The expected red-orange flame produced by a solution soaked sponge confirmed the presence of calcium in the unknown solution. Ammonium ions were found by combining the original unknown solution and 6 M NaOH in an evaporating dish and testing if the fumes were basic. Moist litmus paper was stuck to the bottom of a watch glass which was then placed over the top of the evaporating dish. The litmus paper immediately turning blue proves the existence of ammonium ions. The sodium ion was found by performing a flame test on the original unknown solution. The original solution was added to a sponge which was put into a flame which showed a yellow-orange flame which shows the presence of sodium ions, but the intensity of the yellow did not suggest that there was a significant amount of sodium. The flame tests seem to be not as accurate since the sponge alone would burn an orange flame. Attention to the small bursts of reds and yellows in the dominate orange flame had to be highly focused since it was one of the only indications of which ions were present in the unknown solution. Conclusion: Through the formation of precipitates and supernates, the additions of acids and bases, the additions of highly concentrated solutions, and flame tests specific ions were separated out in order to determine the characteristics of the unknown solution. Unknown solution C was found in conclusion to the experiment to contain the cations lead, iron, nickel, calcium, ammonium, and sodium.

Use Of Statin Therapy Health And Social Care Essay

Morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) are two to five times higher in patients with type 2 diabetes. With mortality rates of up to 80 % among the diabetic population, CVD is considered to be the primary complication of type 2 diabetes. The usage of pharmacological agents and lifestyle alterations to better glycemic control have demonstrated a decrease in hazard of the microvascular complications associated with type 2 diabetes, nevertheless, the consequence these have in cut downing the hazard of macrovascular complications remains ill-defined. It has hence been suggested that hydroxymethylglutaryl- CoA reductase inhibitors ( lipid-lowering medicines ) are indicated for the primary bar of CVD in all patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Lipid-lowering medicines work by suppressing the HMG-COA enzyme which catalyses the transition of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid, an early measure in cholesterin synthesis. This produces effects which result in the decrease of enti re cholesterin, LDL cholesterin and triglyceride. Other benefits reported ensuing from the usage of long term lipid-lowering medicine therapy include: suppression of arterial smooth musculus cell proliferation, bar of oxidization of LDL cholesterin, plaque stabilisation effects on macrophages, betterment of endothelial map and anti thrombotic and anti inflammatory effects all of which contribute to the bar of cardiovascular events. A recent meta analysis conducted by the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists ‘ Confederates ( 2008 ) analysed statin therapy in 17 220 persons with type 2 diabetes within 14 indiscriminately controlled tests ( RCTs ) with a average continuance of follow up was 4.3 old ages. The writers reported a 21 % decrease in major cardiovascular events per mmol/l decrease of LDL-C. It was besides found that the effects of statin therapy were similar regardless of any pre bing history of CVD and other baseline features. It was concluded that statin therapy should be considered for all persons who are at high hazard of CVD. The meta analysis survey design allows the writers to show the over all consequence the intercession of lipid-lowering medicine therapy has on the bar of CVD in patients with type 2 diabetes. The inclusion of merely randomly controlled tests ( RCTs ) is a strength of the analysis as they are considered to be the ‘gold criterion ‘ in reasearch design as the minimise the possibility of systematic prejudice. However in a meta analysis whether or non a RCT was genuinely random or non to a great extent relies on the writers reading of the methodological analysis. One restriction of this survey is the possible for publication prejudice by the knowing exclusion of surveies which demonstrate conflicting consequences. However the writers addressed this by discoursing two surveies which demonstrated no important decreases in primary results in patients having statin therapy and concluded that including them in the analysis would hold made no important diference to the overall conse quences of the survey. The Heart Protection Study, 2003 aimed to look into the effects of cholesterin take downing with Zocor in people with diabetes. The paper describes a randomized placebo controlled test in which 5963 ( 90 % of which had type 2 diabetes ) people with diabetes and 14, 573 people with arterial occlusive disease but no diabetes were indiscriminately allocated to have 40mg of simvastatin day-to-day or a placebo drug. The primary result for analysis was fatal or non fatal vascular event. Following induction of statin therapy participants were seen for modus operandi follow up cheques at 4, 8 and 12 months until the concluding follow up visits which averaged at 4.6 old ages. ( bosom protection survey ) Findingss related to patients with diabetes demonstrated 25 % decrease in the incidence of first primary result. The writers concluded due to the broad scope of diabetic patients surveies that the consequences provided grounds that cholesterin take downing therapy is good for people with diabetes even if they do non hold pre bing cardiovascular disease or high cholesterin concentrations and hence statin therapy should be considered routinely for all diabetic patients. ( HPS and Role of lipid-lowering medicines ) The HPS RCT design allows both the Zocor group and the placebo group to be followed up and analysed in footings of the results defined at the beginning of the survey. As the writers provided baseline features such as cholesterin, age and continuance of diabetes guaranting the groups were every bit similar as possible, the results can hence be attributed to the intercession of Zocor. Prior to the Heart protection survey similar RCTs had included a upper limit of 1500 patients with diabetes. The big sample size of 5963 patients with diabetes produced a good balance between the two groups and allowed the writers to successfully observe a important statistical difference between the results of Zocor and the placebo. The 4 twelvemonth follow up period demonstrated that these effects were sustained. The writers of the survey were besides responsible for the survey design, informations aggregation, information analysis, informations reading and authorship of the study, which minimises the possibility of any possible struggle of involvement. The Collaberative Lipitor diabetes study ( CARDS ) , 2003, was similar to the HPS in footings of its purposes and findings but was the first test to measure statin therapy specifically in patients with type 2 diabetes. The CARDS test was a random placebo controlled survey in which 2838 patients aged between 40 and 75 were indiscriminately allocated to have either 10mg of atorvastatin day-to-day or a placebo with an intended follow up period of 6 old ages. The inclusion standard was no history of cardiovascular disease, an LDL-cholesterol concentration of 4 & A ; Acirc ; Â ·14 mmol/L or lower, a fasting triglyceride sum of 6 & A ; Acirc ; Â ·78 mmol/L or less, and at least one other hazard factor. The primary end point was clip to first happening of the followers: acute coronary bosom found disease events, coronary revascularisation, or shot. The writers reported that the group treated with Lipitor had an mean decrease of 26 % in entire cholesterin and a 40 % decrease in LDL-C. The hazard decrease for primary end points was reduced by 37 % with atorvastatin day-to-day compared with placebo. The writers concluded that Atorvastatin daily is safe an in cut downing the hazard of first cardiovascular disease events, in patients with type 2 diabetes irrespective of low baseline LDL-C degrees and that patients with type 2 diabetes should reciecve lipid-lowering medicine therapy regardless of LDL- C degrees. As with The HPS one of the chief strengths of the CARDS test was the survey design. The random allotment of participants to groups helped to minimise systematic prejudice and the similarity in the baseline features described between each group increased the internal cogency of the consequences. As this piece of research was original in footings of the fact that it was the first survey to specifically look into the effects of statin therapy specifically in patients with type 2 diabetes the significance of the consequences themselves are another strength of the survey and played a major function in the development of the American diabetes association guidelines which now recommend that all grownups over the age of 40 with diabetes should have lipid-lowering medicine therapy. At the 2nd interim analysis a important difference was reported in favor of Lipitor at and following reccomendations from the safety supervising board the tests was terminated 2 old ages earlier than anticipated. H ad the test been allowed to go on the consequences may hold showed even greater benefits of lipid-lowering medicine therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes and more clearly demonstrated the sustainability of these effects. The multicenter facet of the survey design should hold allowed for a wider scope of population groups ( e.g. people from different cultural, environmental or cultural backgrounds ) and the ability to compare consequences among Centres, all of which would increase the generalizability of the survey. However participants included in the CARDS test were 78 % male and 95 % white which may non be representative of the type 2 diabetic population in the UK and Ireland and which question the dependability of any decisions made from the survey findings. The CARDS test was partially funded by Pfizer Incooperated an atorvastatin maker who were besides responsible for planing the computing machine generated randomization codifications and pre boxing all the drugs used in the survey. Although the study itself was prepared independently of support beginnings, while Pfizer Incooperated have an involvement in showing the benefits of atorvastatin struggle of involvement can non be ruled out. The Atorvastatin Study for Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease Endpoints ( ASPEN ) , 2006 once more, aimed to look into the consequence of 10mg of Lipitor versus a placebo on cardiovascular bar in patients with type 2 diabetes and LDL-C degrees below the current guideline marks. This paper describes a survey which was originally designed as a randomized dual blind placebo controlled analysis. 2410 participants were indiscriminately assigned to have either 10mg of atorvastatin day-to-day or a placebo drug with a follow up continuance of 4 old ages. Inclusion standards were work forces and adult females with diagnosed type 2 diabetes and LDL-C degrees of less than3.6 mmol/l. The primary end points for analysis were cardiovascular related decease or major cardiovascular event such as: myocardial infarction or shot. The writers found that those participants allocated to have 10mg of atorvastatin day-to-day demonstrated a average decrease of about 0.9 mmol/l and a 10 % decrease in primary results over the 4 twelvemonth follow up period. The writers concluded that although the ASPEN survey did non corroborate the benefit of lipid-lowering medicine therapy it does non alter the fact that the bulk of diabetic patients are at hazard of cardiovascular disease and merit LDL cholesterin take downing to recommended marks. The dual blind survey design strengthened the dependability of the ASPEN test findings as both the participants and the research workers were incognizant of who had been allocated to which intervention group. This minimized the possibility of research worker prejudice which could hold potentially invalidated the consequences. The survey had an extended exclusion standards including with type 1 diabetics and any patient who had experienced a myocardial infarction, interventional processs or episode of unstable angina 3 months prior to the start of the survey. This resulted in a sample of participants with fewer hazard factors than in old surveies which meant that the consequences can be more confidently attributed to the intervention. ? ? ? However patients with implicit in vascular disease were included in the survey therefore theintervention of lipid-lowering medicine therapy could be considered secondary bar which could potentially impact consequences. The survey was conducted 14 different states in 4 continents nevertheless the writers mention no analysis to find the baseline similarity in baseline features of the sample. The sample was 84 % white and 64 % male which is unrepresentative people with type 2 diabetes worldwide and therefore it is hard generalise the findings of this survey. Another survey which questioned the the justification for current guidelines associating to statin therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes was conducted by Wanner et Al. ( 2005 ) . The test was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, prospective survey of 1255 topics with type 2 diabetes having care haemodialysis. Participant were indiscriminately assigned to have either 20 milligram of atorvastatin per twenty-four hours or a duplicate placebo. The primary terminal points were cardiovascular related mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and shot. The survey found that Lipitor had no important consequence on the decrease of primary terminal points in those patients allocated to have atorvastatin day-to-day. The writers concluded that everyday lipid-lowering medicine intervention to forestall the cardiovascular hazard factors associated with type 2 diabetes is non warranted in patients who are having care hemodialysis. Similar to old surveies the design of this test maximized the dependability and cogency of its findings by utilizing a dual blind method to cut down the possibility of research worker prejudice. The usage of a control group besides allowed comparings to be made between the effects of Lipitor and the placebo. The sample size of 1255 was calculated to be suffcient to let a 90 % power to observe a 27 % decrease in primary terminal points and the follow up period of 4 old ages demonstrated the permanent consequence of these consequences. The survey sample included a broad age scope of people between the ages of 18 and 80 from 178 Centres across Germany increasing the representativeness of the findings. Despite the fact that the survey demonstrated no cardiovascular hazard decrease, the possibility that the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events in patients having hemodialysis possibly different from those patients with type 2 diabetes but no terminal phase nephritic disease must be consid ered when pulling decisions sing the bar of CVD utilizing statin therapy.

School Placement Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

School Placement Research - Essay Example Moreover, it is observed that some of the students are keen to speak and interact with teachers in English. This enables the students to learn the language more effectively. The teacher is also recognized to motivate the students, who show interest in learning the language. The motivated students demonstrate more interest to learn the language. Further, the other students of the classroom on observing the interest of some of the students and the motivation from their teacher also attempts to learn the language. These students also makes attempt to learn the language. This creates a learning environment in the class with regard to English language. Learning of English language is extremely important from the perspective of the development of the students. The students would be able to communicate with the people of other nations. The students would be able to communicate with people who are incapable in speaking in Chinese language. Moreover, learning the International language Englis h is of significant benefit to the students when they would undertake higher educational degrees at foreign universities. The learning of International language is one of the key factors that lead to the overall personal developments of the students. During the period of volunteering in a bilingual elementary school, it is observed that some of the students are unable to understand the instructions from the math teacher. The math teacher although speaks in the native languages to the students, but at the time of teaching, the teacher uses English language. The students are not the native speakers of English and are unaware of several words and phrases in English. The teacher at the time of teaching uses some of the words or phrases or others that the students are unable to understand. This creates a communication gap between the teacher and the students. This leads the students to be deprived of some of the teaching instructions. The students as a result of such are

Post 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Post 3 - Essay Example There have been numerous researches that have been published concerning the link between genes effect on IQ, group dissimilarity in IQ, race as well as impact of the environment on IQ. Specifically belligerent in the continuing argument has been the characterisation of concept of race and that of intelligence, particularly if they can be defined in an objective manner while being operationalized. Even though a number of environmental factors have been considered to influence differences in groups’ intelligence, there is no proof that they can elucidate the whole inconsistency. Nevertheless, there are no genetic factors that have conclusively demonstrated a casual association with group difference as far as intelligence test scores are concerned. Recent reviews concerning the debate have called for more research to be directed at the topic to define the relative influence of the environment and genetic factors in clarifying the superficial inconsistency in IQ among racial group s. The best evidence demonstrates that there exists no widespread change in the proportion of Americans who select multiracial identities. Additionally, practices that deal with racial self-classification have a lower likelihood of having considerable repercussions in relation to the direction of social policies than the acts of social classification. Social classifications entails the manner in which people are observed and considered racially as well as ethically by others. The chances that an individual has in life are hugely influenced by the manner in which others consider and position them than the person’s own choice of racial classification. The physical characteristics possessed by a person and the interpretation of these attributes by others are in most cases the key factors that dictate how they will be treated by others. Variations seen in racial identity that are produced by changing meaning of morphology as well as ancestry are in most

Understanding Religious Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding Religious Diversity - Essay Example Considering a person as even a part of Allah’s qualities for worship is forbidden. Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (S.A.A.W) is a man and last prophet of the only god Allah. In Christian religion there are mainly three figure possessing divine powers as god has; Holy mother referred as Maryam (A.S) in Islam, Jesus the son of god is referred as messenger like Muhammad (S.A.A.W) and a simple human being with a blessed soul given by Allah; third figure is god itself. Synonym to god in Islam is Allah. There are only two physical worships or you can say rituals mainly performed by every Muslim all over the world. One is praying to Allah in the same way as Messenger of Allah (S.A.A.W) did. Other is fasting. Fasting is not a unique phenomenon as Jews and Christians are also familiar to fasting. I perform both worships as it is obligatory for every Muslim to perform them. Another ritual called Jihad has two types; one the fight of man within itself against personal fears and evil deeds. Other one is Jihad with sword or weapon; Jihad of person with itself is given more importance than others. Jihad with sword is only an obligation to Muslims when they are attacked by foreign power or fight with them on the basis of religion. Also it is only allowed when given permission by ruler of Muslim country or permission from wife and mother. Terrorists that are propagated as Islamic fighters over the media are not Muslims. The oneness of god and limited obligations to man makes in my opinion more satisfied and brave in character; also Islam provides guidance in every aspect of life from personal to society figure of it. Modern phenomenon as organizational behaviors, business ethics, family and child care and war ethics that are introduced into modern world were taught by Islam 1400 years ago. These are enough proofs to believe in truthfulness of Islam and are the main motivation

Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Art History - Essay Example Gauguin’s ia orana Maria (Hail Mary) of 1891 and Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy character derived from his popular manga series in Japan which was first released in the year 1952 but has been followed by a series of renditions over the years as the character grew more popular (Gordon 52). These two pieces of art can be said to be as different as they can get from one another and portray the various changes that have occurred in the world of art over the years. P. Gauguin, Ia orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891. Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka Cultural Context The cultural context of P. Gauguin’s painting is quite clearly based on the Christian religion as the name itself suggests and is based on the holy mother Mary and her son Jesus in a Tahitian setting. The angel on the left of the painting revealing these two characters to two onlookers (two women) further depicts the religious inspiration that was used to bring this piece of work into being. The garb won by the characters in the painting (that is, pareus which are made of cotton with printed design and is draped around the waist) also exhibits the traditional nature of the painting. The background shows no modern influence and focuses clearly on an inspiration from past events. The Astro boy art work on the other hand is very different from the first painting and depicts a largely transformed society from the one that individuals are used to where robotic boys flying around the place is the order of the day. The piece of art which was done years after P. Gauguin’s tries to display how the artist sees the future will be like. The background content depicting various other planets shows how high the main character (Astro boy) has flown thus in a way displaying the level of technology that will be in place at that time. Stylistic characteristics The stylistic characteristics that are used art works can also be used to define the category of the art work as well (Gordon 68). The first point of note t hat can be made is the material that was used in the creation of the art works. In P. Gauguin†s Ia orana Maria (Hail Mary), oil paintings and a canvas were the basic materials used while the creation of Astro boy’s image relied mainly on computer graphics and other modern technology. This can be seen in the various characteristics of both art works such as the lines, in the Ia orana Maria there is a smoothness and sense of curvature in the lines used to paint the characters while the lines in Astro Boys depiction are sharper and clearly structured giving it a more defined looked. The same goes for the colors in both illustrations as Ia orana Maria’s colors have a warmer tone as compared to Astro boy whose colors have more depth and are clearly defined from one another unlike the older painting which exudes a sense of blending in. The shapes are more defined in the Astro boy illustration as well thanks to the clearer lines used in the drawing. Subject matter The s ubject matter is another topic where these two pieces of art greatly defer from one another. Whereas in P. Gauguin’s Ia orana Maria the subject is based on religion shown by the depiction of the son of God and his holy mother, the Astro boy art is mainly based on the future and progressing technology shown by the depiction of a flying robotic boy. The older painting can be said to display a sense of the author’s beliefs while the second more recent art work can be said to di

Vodafone Group Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Vodafone Group - Case Study Example Vodafone Group Plc is the world largest telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Far East through the Company’s subsidiary undertakings and investments. It provides an extensive range of mobile telecommunications services, including voice and data communications. The Group's mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name 'Vodafone'. In the United States the Group's associated undertaking operates as Verizon Wireless. During the last two financial years, the Group has also entered into arrangements with network operators in countries where the Group does not hold an equity stake. Under the terms of these Partner Network Agreements, the Group and its partner networks co-operate in the development and marketing of global services under dual brand logos. Aims & Objectives: -> Vodafone’s vision is to be the world’s communication leader – enriching customer’s life, helpi ng individuals, businesses and communities be more connected in a mobile world. -> Enhance the customer services being provided. -> Enhance the relationships with the stakeholders and deliver value. -> Increase the net profit – expansion of international business.... The eight markets where it has more than ten million proportionate customers are the United Kingdom, Germany,India,Italy, Spain, Turkey, Egypt and the United States. In the U.S., these customers come via its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, and in the other seven markets Vodafone has majority-controlled subsidiaries. Organization structure of Vodafone Group The type of structure adopted by an organization depends on several factorsincluding: the size and complexity of the organization the diversity of the products and services produced or provided the geographical spread of the organization the activities performed by the organization and the objectives and goals which are set out by the organization. Vodafone follows the hierarchical structure model. The communication flow takes the form of top-bottom approach. Every unit or department works as an entity and have its own significance and importance. Given below is a critical approach to the Finance, Marketing and HRM departments of Vodafone Group. Finance: The year 2007 had been so far a successful year for Vodafone, a comparative approach reveals an excellent progress in reducing costs across the business, and clear signs of sustainable revenue growth was also indicated. The year indicated an increase in the market share of new business. A comparative approach taken on the financial condition of the group for the last three years clearly indicates that there had been a significant increase in the finance sector of the firm. This is reflected in the figure below: The key highlights of the profit performance for the six months - Sep 2007 are - - Group revenue of 17.0 billion, an increase of 9.0%, with

The understanding of modern urban life and the place of a man in Essay

The understanding of modern urban life and the place of a man in modern city - Essay Example In this work Simmel underlined that in conditions of modern city and urban society an individual can successfully develop his skills and abilities, as the economical and political situation of modern and post-modern community promotes individual freedom and flexibility. Simmel underlined that "the city conspires to erase difference by assaulting the individual with an overwhelming and never-ending stream of visual stimuli" (Byram, 2002). This vision is inherent to the spacing theory of scientific rationalism, modern and post-modern experience that fills the space with giant cubic forms suppressing the consciousness of people and their freedom. In Simmel's opinion, our society consists of individuals who interact with each other, and this interacting forms features and specificity of our society: "While there is no perception of society until individuals begin to interact, once formed by the interaction of individuals, the society affects the individuals as an outside force" (Crow Ch. , et al., 2000). Benjamin considered modern urban experience and a new politics of vision through the development of technologies. He underlined that "because of mechanical reproduction, art loses its authenticity. Simmel also underlined that metropolis allows individuals to develop their freedom and art. But in the other hand, Simmel asserted that post-modern urban spirit threats individuality (see above). As well as Simmel, Benjamin had positive attitude to communications development: "Benjamin is positive about new technologies, emphasizing their liberating, democratising influences. Simmel gave more social approach to the communication technologies as interactions between people asserting that they form our society, but Benjamin wrote about the positive attitude to such technologies as film and photography: "New media technologies such as phonographs, epic theatre, and especially film and photography, not only destroy art's 'aura' but demystifies the process of creating art, making available rad ical new access and roles for art in mass culture" (Bicket, 2001). With the development of photography and film human perception is changed, and the understanding of modern and post-modern urban reality is also transformed. The paper has demonstrated two authors' positions on modern and post-modern urban experience and their attitude to mass media and technology development. Both Simmel and Benjamin underlined the importance of technological development and its influence on art, culture and our understanding of social environment. They underlined positive and negative approaches of modern and post-modern urban experience and explained the influence of urban life on people. Simmel's views are more approached to the negative and depressing influence of urban life on individuals, while those of Benjamin are more inclined to the positive perception of technological and cultural aspects of modern and pos

Revelation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Revelation - Essay Example The comprehension of Flannery O’Connor’s battle with lupus, as well as her belief in Roman Catholic ideologies, adds to the appreciation of her writing. This paper will use the biographical theory to critique O’Connor’s short story Revelation. O’Connor’s background influenced her writing of Revelation. The plot centers on O’Connor’s experiences and thoughts, for instance, a notable inspiration of her story is her Southern upbringing. In her lifetime, Southerners were prejudicial towards people on account of their races and lifestyles. Southerners believed that people less fortunate than them were inferior to them, thereby, labeling people as different things. Southerners offered O’Connor necessary images to construct the characters, for instance, in Revelation, character identification occurs on the basis of their physical features and race. For example, Mrs. Turpin makes racially prejudicial statements referring to chara cters such as a classy woman as â€Å"well-dressed and pleasant†, a teenager as â€Å"ugly†, a poor woman as â€Å"white trash† and her black workers as â€Å"niggers†. The characteristics that Mrs. Turpin uses to label characters exemplify O’Connor’s Southern lifestyle. ... However, the most substantial influence on Revelation is O’Connor’s religion. Religion is one of the most prominent themes of the story. O’Connor’s Catholic heritage is the main influencer of this theme. Similar to other authors, O’Connor appears fascinated by the subject of the actuality of sin, as well as its effects on humans. Through the story, O’Connor demonstrates reality and personal qualities as determinants of people’s destiny and fate, which ultimately uncovers social truths. This background, a plausible plot, convincing characterization and viable literary devices, enable O’Connor to develop themes such as religion and the essence appreciating people for their deeds rather than exterior. In order to develop these themes, O’Connor establishes a credible plot using social conflict, an unhappy ending and the element of surprise. Revelation has both minor and serious social conflicts, for instance; the minor confli ct is essentially between Mrs. Turpin and the woman dubbed white-trash. This conflict emanates from Mrs. Turpin’s belief that she is of a superior socioeconomic rank than the other woman. The story’s serious conflict is between the teenage girl and Mrs. Turpin, which accelerates in the story, particularly through Mrs. Turpin’s facial expressions and rude gestures and remarks towards the teenager. For instance, Mrs. Turpin considers the teenager’s face as the â€Å"ugliest face she has ever seen anyone make† (O’Connor 394). In order to develop the story’s themes further, O’Connor uses clear motivation, plausibility and unswerving behavior to fortify the story’s convincing characterizations. Mrs. Turpin is always curious and observant of those around and victimizes other characters. Mrs. Turpin gains her

Impact of Patient Confidentiality on Carers of People Who Have a Mental Disorder Essay Example for Free

Impact of Patient Confidentiality on Carers of People Who Have a Mental Disorder Essay Patients disclose important information to their attending physician or health care professionals because of this patient-physician confidentiality. This information should not be divulged as much as possible so that the patients would continue trusting their attending physician. With this confidentiality, carers are hindered to get the needed information about their patients. The article, â€Å"Impact of Patient Confidentiality on Carers on People Who Have a Mental Disorder,† authored by Dianne Wynaden and Angelica Orb, is about the effect of absolute confidentiality of patients’ pertinent health information. With the help of 27 carers, the authors were able to justify the not-so-good effects of health care professionals not sharing the health information of patients with mental disorder to their carers. Summary Sharing information is necessary. Health care professionals value the legality of patient-physician confidentiality agreement. However, carers need information about their patients in order to help carers attend to the needs of the patients. Health care professionals and carers must work together in order to assist or guide their patients. Regarding legality, the authors suggested to have the patient-physician confidentiality agreement reviewed in order to include the rights of carers to know the pertinent health information of their patients. Generally, carers find it difficult to ask assistance from health care professionals. Carers are not usually health care professionals. Carers are anyone interested or willing to provide assistance to patients. They can be family members, friends, or neighbors. For this reason, health care professionals must be willing to share information to carers. Analysis Psychosis is one mental disorder. It affects the way an affected person’s perception, cognition, mood, personality, behavior, and movement. Hallucinations or seeing things or hearing sounds that are not really present characterize hallucinations. (Psychosis 2006) Symptoms of psychosis include disconnected thoughts, difficulty in concentrating, mood swings, and having thoughts of death or suicide. (Psychosis Mental Health Fact Sheet 2001) A person with mental disorder needs special care and attention. Normally today, these persons are â€Å"confined† inside their houses and there are carers attending to their needs. Carers could be their family members, friends, or neighbors. Most likely, carers have little or no background at all in providing medical aid to ill persons. So, health care professionals must guide carers in attending the needs of their patients. One help health care professionals could offer is the pertinent health information of the patients. However, due to the existing patient-physician confidentiality agreement, carers could not get the health information they need to know about their patients. To substantiate the effect of not sharing vital information to carers, the authors had interviewed 27 carers. The results of the interview were identical making the findings credible. The carer participants have related almost the same stories in terms of acquiring information from health care professionals. They have experienced difficulty in getting information from health care professionals. Carers believe that there are important pieces of information that should be shared to them in order to perform their tasks well. Because limited bits of information are provided to carers, they could not attend to all the needs of their patients. Worst, their patients’ recovery is at stake because of unshared information. Why is it so hard for health care professionals to share information to carers? Again we go back to patient-physician confidentiality agreement. In legal terms, the parties or persons involved in the confidentiality agreement must abide by it. This means no information must be divulged to anyone, even to carers. No one must breach the agreement, in respect to both parties. This is the reason health care professionals are hesitant in giving information to carers about their patients. In ethical means, not sharing information to carers could worsen the condition of the patients. Since carers have no complete information about the real condition of their patients, carers could miss some important details that could affect the health of their patients. Applying ethics, we need to stand firm on the agreement. No matter what, the parties involved must respect what they have agreed upon. Applying ethics also, both the health care professionals and the carers must consider the recovery of their patients. They must help one another. Conclusion Patient-physician confidentiality agreement is both guarded by legal and ethical issues. But one thing is important—how to help the patients with mental disorder? Since carers have difficulty in acquiring information for their patients due to patient-physician confidentiality agreement, patients must be informed of the importance of sharing information to carers. Health care professionals must work together with carers in order to provide the needs of their patients. The patient-physician confidentiality agreement must be reviewed so that information could also be shared to carers. Patients should be informed that carers could attend best to their needs if they are well-versed of their condition. Also, carers can adapt fast to the patients’ needs when all information are properly accounted for. Patients are important. Sharing information between health care professionals and carers is also important.

Titanium And Titanium Alloys Engineering Essay

Titanium And Titanium Alloys Engineering Essay Material selection in manufacturing process is an important stage because proper selection of material not only can prevent catastrophic events from happening, but it allows a product to be manufactured in an efficient and effective way at low cost while meeting product performance objective. In this assignment, we are going to research into two material topics and identify the usage of these materials and overview some of the properties as to why they are chosen for specific application over the others and manufacturing processes. Topic1: Titanium and Titanium Alloys 1.1 Applications of Titanium Alloys Titanium and its alloys are widely used in variety of areas. These areas include aerospace industry, marine operation, automobile, bio-medical applications, etc. Figure 1: Applications of titanium alloy 1.2 Automobile Connecting Rod One application of titanium alloy is applied in producing connecting rod for automobile in order to achieve high performance for high end racing vehicle. Connecting rods are one of the most important automotive components as it responsible for changing the reciprocating motion of piston into rotary motion so that the power generated by the chemical energy can be transmitted from piston to crankshaft and finally producing forces driving the vehicle. 1.3 Material Properties require for Connecting Rod Weight is always an important factor to consider in racing sport competition, therefore in racing sport arena, car builders always try to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle so that every single drop of power generated by the engine can be utilized in providing motion for the vehicle rather than carry its own weight. This result in many of the car components are replaced by materials which are light, robust without compromising other materials properties like tensile strength, compression strength, damping capability, creep, fatigue, etc. This includes the connecting rod for the engine. The weight of the connecting rod is important because it influences the performance of the engine is terms of forces generated and response of the engine. If the connecting rod is made lighter, it is usually better as less weight enable the throttle action and acceleration can be carry out more smoothly and effectively, thus enhance the engine efficiency. However, strength and other aspect of mat erials properties are equally important owing to the reciprocating load generated by the movement of piston inside the cylinder and crankshaft. For every revolution of engine rotation, the connecting rod is under huge amount of compression and tensile forces. Hence, it is necessary that the connecting rods strong enough to handle all the power produced by the engine and withstand all the forces that tend to pull the rod apart during exhaust and crumble the rod during compression which results in irrepairable engine failure. Since the engine is operating at high temperature and needed to sustain a sudden force caused by the explosion of chemical happen within the cylinder, as a result it is very important that connecting rod possess high fatigue strength, high fracture toughness at elevated temperature, high shock resistance, etc. Summarizing the needs for connecting rod, materials properties requires for a connecting rod include: High strength to density ratio Low density Low thermal expansion High fatigue strength in elevated temperature High fracture toughness in elevated temperature High shock resistance Low ductile-to-brittle transition at low temperature High melting point 1.4 Manufacturing Processes of Connecting Rod In general, connecting rods are produced by conventional forging method Figure 2: Conventional Forging Manufacturing Processes for Connecting Rod 1.5 Conventional Forging Method 1.5.1 Material Titanium is extracted from titanium ore by Kroll Extraction process follow by blending, melting, casting, forming and heat treatment to produce the required material for connecting rod. 1.5.2 Cutting to length of material The material is cut to the length near the final end product. 1.5.3 Billet Heating Alloy is heated to make it malleable prior to forming operation. 1.5.4 Hot Forging Red hot alloys which are in plastic condition are shaped into connecting rod by using compressive force. The alloys gone through the heating process is placed into die block and compressive force is imposed on the material by a hammer to strike it into the shape of connecting rod. 1.5.5 Trimming After the forging process, the ledge of excess material is removed by trimmer machine. 1.5.6 Piercing The material in the center of the holes is removed. 1.5.7 Shot Peening Shot peening is used to produce a residue compressive force to modify the mechanical properties of the surface to further improve the fatigue resistance. 1.5.8 Machining Machining process include deburring, milling, grinding, polishing, drilling, boring and inspection are carried out to produce the final connecting rod. 1.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Titanium Alloys 1.6.1 Advantages of Titanium Alloys High strength-to-density ratio allows titanium alloy to replace steel and other materials in many areas. Figure 3 and 4 reveals the superior structural efficiency of titanium alloys compared to other alloys, especially as service temperatures increase. Figure 3: Structural Efficiency at Elevated Figure 4: Density Comparison for various Temperature Metal Specific Strength of Titanium Alloys is generally higher than any other alloy at elevated temperature. Figure 5: Specific Strength for several alloy at elevated temperature Titanium alloys have better fatigue strength than other lightweight alloys. For instance, aluminium, magnesium, etc. The corrosion resistance of titanium alloys also far better than steel and even aluminium alloys. This enables titanium alloy product suitable to be used in caustic environment. The high reactivity of titanium with oxygen enable immediate forming of oxide layer which protect the material from corrosion. The primary reasons why titanium alloys are attractive materials in many areas is because it exhibits excellent strength to density ratio, low density and corrosion resistance. Other aspect of material properties including the following: High fatigue strength in air and chloride environments   High fracture toughness in air and chloride environments   Low modulus of elasticity   Low thermal expansion coefficient   High melting point   High intrinsic shock resistance   High ballistic resistance-to-density ratio   Nontoxic, non-allergenic and fully biocompatible   Excellent cryogenic properties 1.6.2 Disadvantages of Titanium Alloys Titanium extraction process is difficult and expensive. Titanium alloys have much higher flow stress than Al alloys or steels, thereby requiring much higher forging pressure capacity. Titanium and its alloys are more difficult to machine especially beta phase titanium alloys in comparison with steels and aluminum alloys for conventional methods such as milling, turning, drilling, etc. Titaniums has low thermal conductivity which reduces heat dissipation at the metal work-piece interface causing tools lifetime reduce and decreased welding or galling at tool and work-piece interface. 1.7 Structure and properties Titanium alloys are classified according to the amount of alpha and beta resides in the structure at room temperature. 1.7.1 Alpha titanium alloy The single phase alpha inhibits the heat treatment process. However it ensures weldability of the alloy. The strength and corrosion resistance at elevated temperature for alpha titanium alloys very much dependent upon the Aluminium and Oxygen element in the alloys. Figure 6: Ti-5% Al-2.5% Sn alloy in sheet form Figure 7: Commercially Pure Plate,0.03% iron Air cool at 732C/30Min 1.7.2 Alpha beta titanium alloy Beta stabilizing element results some beta phase to persist below the Beta Transus temperature which leading to two phase system. Two phase system enable Titanium alloy to be strengthened by heat treatment for example quenching, annealing, aging. Figure 8: Titanium Phase Diagram Figure 9 :Ti-6AL-4V Alpha-beta alloy plate air cool at 788/15 min 1.7.3 Beta titanium alloy Beta titanium alloys possess Body Center Cubic, BCC crystal structure is readily cold worked in the beta phase field. This allows solution heat treating follow by quenching giving high strength for the alloy. Figure 10: Ti-13V-11Cr-3AL alloy solution heat Figure 11: Flow stress for Titanium alloys treated at 788C/30min and water quenched Topic 2: Ceramic Coating 2.1 Ceramic Coating and Application Ceramic coating is one of the coating techniques developed for spraying ceramic material on the surface of object of interest to further improve the mechanical and physical properties for a readily available product made from certain materials so that the component life can further be extended. The typical application of ceramic coating is applied to create the thermal barrier for gas turbine engine blade, exhaust system, intake manifold and reduces the surface friction between two different materials to improve the wear resistant as well as making the interface between two materials more compatible. 2.2 Automobile Exhaust Manifold Exhaust manifold serves as a system to vent the exhaust gases away from an engine so that new round of cycle can begin. In automobile, we always wanted the engine to perform work with as high efficiency as possible, however most of the conventional exhaust manifold is usually made from cast iron alloy and other material. These materials usually having good thermal conductivity. This is not preferable because high heat dissipation rate can contribute to loss of energy which reduce the efficiency of the engine. With ceramic thermal coating applied on the exhaust system, engine performance improves in a number of ways. Firstly, they protect the exhaust system from rust and corrosion. Secondly, they reduce heat loss which can be translated into engine output. This can be viewed from several aspects. Ceramic coating insulates the heat of exhaust gases from the environment thereby keeping the exhaust gases hot which allow the gases flow more smoothly and these aids in cylinder scavenging. Next, by retaining the hot exhaust gases in the system, it reduces the engine bay temperature which results in intake air temperature reduced. Drop in intake air temperature can lead to less fuel usage and therefore increase the engine efficiency. For vehicle with turbocharger installed, the hot exhaust gases allow the turbocharger spool up more quickly making the engine more responsive. 2.3 Processes for Ceramic Coating 2.3.1. Surface Cleaning Before the manifold surface receive the ceramic coating, degreasing chemical would be used or material would be heated to high temperature to remove or burn off any foreign particle exist on the surface. The manifold will then be place in the oven at around 450 for around half an hour. 2.3.2 Coating Ceramic coatings are mainly manufactured by using atmospheric plasma spray method, APS. APS using the strong electric arc that generated between a positively charged electrode and negatively charged electrode to ionize the flowing gases into plasma state, then followed by injecting powdered ceramic into the plasma jet in order to melt the powder materials and propelling them onto the work-piece surface. This process allows the metal substrate to be coated with ceramic leaving a smooth protective layer. Figure 14: Atmospheric Plasma Spray Coating Technique 2.3.3 Finishing The manifold is then allowed to air dry for around 20 minutes before placing it in the oven to set the coating. Once it has bakes, the manifold is polished with a steel wool brush. 2.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Ceramic Coating 2.4.1 Advantages of Ceramic Coating Ceramic coating protect the metal surface against rust and corrosion which extends the components life Ceramic coating create thermal barrier which reduces heat lost which enhance the engine performance and reduces the engine bay temperature. Ceramic coating can sustain high temperature up to 1100 which make it suitable for high heat application in aerospace as well as automobile industry. Ceramic coating can survive bending and shock without crack, peel or forming chip Ceramic coating comes in a variety range of colour which in turn improves the aesthetic for the component. Ceramic coating can be removed easily 2.4.2 Disadvantages of ceramic coating ceramic coating can be a costly process uniformity of coating thickness can be quite difficult to maintain might be difficult to apply to complex shape component owing to inside corned can have low film thickness according to Faraday Cage Effect 2.5 Microstructure of ceramic coating by Atmospheric Plasma Spray, APS Figure 15: (a) (b) Microstructure of ceramic from literature (c) Ceramic microstructure with thichness measured.

Watching the Story Unfold Essay -- Television Series

Whether it is finding out â€Å"who shot J.R.† on Dallas or how Dr. Doug Ross will leave County General on E.R. it is the serialized storytelling format that has continually grasped the attention of television viewers around the world. What is it about these shows that keep viewers coming back for more? This essay will be answering that question and more by taking a look at how serialized stories came to be, and more importantly what shows made it the success that it has become in television. This will be done by looking at where the genera has gone, what struggles it has faced, and will finish with a look towards the future to see where the genera is headed. To begin this discussion it is important to first understand what exactly a serialized story is. A serial according to the Encarta Dictionary is defined as â€Å"a story that is published or broadcast in parts, normally at regular intervals†. Because of the broadness of that definition this paper will be specifically focusing on those series that air at night in what has been deemed a ‘Primetime’ slot. The serialized format was not a revolutionary concept that was invented for television. On-going stories have been around since the mid 1800’s as English writers released stories in what was called Penny Dreadfuls which were released in eight-page installments (Pollick). The format however has since evolved. In 1929 it made its first splash into radio with a program called The Smith Family (University of Minnesota.). This show lasted only a week, but helped lay the foundation for the late Irna Philips to build upon and ultimately revolutionize the genera. Irna Philips has been considered by many to be the mother of the serialized format due to the success of her work on both radio a... ...geek.com/what-is-a-penny-dreadful.htm>. Television AU. Home and Away. 19 January 2008. 05 December 2010 . TelevisionAU. Neighbours. 26 July 2006. 05 December 2010 . Tv Series Finale. Soap TV Show. 05 December 2010 . Ultimate Dallas. Introduction to the TV series Dallas. 05 December 2010 . —. TNT announce new Dallas pilot episode. JR Ewing is back. 9 September 2010. 05 December 2010 . University of Minnesota. 1920-1929 : Media History Project : U of M. 30 September 2008. 05 December 2010 . "Who Done It?" Dallas. 21 November 1980.

Premature Infants Essay -- Health, NICU

Thousands of infants are born prematurely on an annual basis, and it is a challenge in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to facilitate parent-child attachment while still providing the safest clinical environment for the infant. One significant area of research where premature infants are concerned is the effect of early skin to skin contact (SSC), or kangaroo care, between the parent(s) and child during their stay in the NICU. Although it has been found that early and frequent SSC promotes positive physiological responses in preterm infants, there is mostly speculative data regarding the long-term psychosocial effects where parent-infant bonding is concerned. An important question for the clinician working in this specialty area to find a quantifiable answer for is, â€Å"Do parents who are permitted to touch and/or hold their infant in the NICU bond with their infant better than those who are not able to do this?† This type of question is structured in the PICO mod el, which is one of the most common models used in evidenced-based practice (EBP). The question is structured in a way that the patient population and practice or intervention are clearly identified, making it easier for the researcher to find relevant research data using the internet and databases. More specifically, PICO can be broken down into: P (patient population or condition of interest), I (intervention of interest), C (comparison of interest), and O (outcome of interest). (Schmidt & Brown, 2012) For the question at hand, the P (population) was parents of infants in the NICU, the I (intervention of interest) considered was the ability to touch and/or hold their infant, C (comparison) was parents who were not permitted physical contact with their infant,... ...es have to realize that they are not just caring for a premature infant, but also a new family. It is also important for the nurse to understand that the mothers’ and fathers’ approach to touching and bonding with their infant may differ. Although quantitative data from Chiu and Anderson (2009) did not reveal significant differences between the control group and the SSC group at 18 months, the data from Latva et al. (2008) showed significant behavioral differences at six years old when infants were touched as newborns and formed a secure attachment. Therefore, for the health and well-being of both parents and child, time and opportunity to have SSC and bonding experiences must be priorities in the plan of care for infants in the NICU. As one mother stated, â€Å"I need to be allowed to feel that he is mine.† (Fegran, Helseth, & Fagermoen, 2007, pg. 813)

Gender Studies :: essays research papers

Gender Studies My decision to take the extracts from literary discourse to illustrate the differences between the male and female manner of writing was dictated by the fact that it is more interesting to search for such differences in this very discourse, then in scientific or newspaper, where there are strict rules of how to write (non-personal narration, non-emotiveness, usage of terms; laconic phrases, etc.) In literary discourse one may write whatever one wishes. (Jane Austen. Pride Prejudice) After a week spent in professions of love and schemes of felicity, Mr Collins was called from his amiable Charlotte by the arrival of Saturday. The pain of separation, might be alleviated on his side, by preparations for the reception of his bride; as he had reason to hope, that shortly after his next return into the Hertfordshire, the day would be fixed that was to make him the happiest of men. He took leave of his relations at Longbourn with as much solemnity as before; wished his fair cousins health and happiness again, and promised their father another letter for thanks. (F. Scott Fitzgelald. Tender is the Night) Rosemary had another dinner date, a birthday party for a member of the company. Dick ran into a Collis Clay in the lobby, but he wanted to dine alone and pretended an engagement at the Excelsior. He drank a cocktail with Collis and his vague dissatisfaction crystallized as impatience – he no longer had an excuse for playing truant to the clinic. This was less an infatuation than a romantic memory. Nicole was his girl – too often he was sick at heart about her, yet she was his girl. Time with Rosemary was self-indulgence – time with Collis was nothing plus nothing. Already from the structure of the passage it is visible which passage was written by a woman and which by a man. Austen writes the events without any consequence, together with her thoughts and comments, whereas Fitzgerald, by contrast, enumerates the events in strict consecutive order. In addition, Austen uses more emotional and subjective adjectives to describe people and their state. It was counted that the female author uses verbs almost half less then the male author does (7:13). In the domain of punctuation, the gender differences are the most conspicuous: Jane Austen tends to the idiosyncratic usage of semi-columns; she does not use dashes in the given passage, whereas F. Scott Fitzgelald uses three dashes (as the indicator of reason-result understanding of events; ٭he prefers to explain the human behavior using a dash) and not a single semi-column.

The Hunters: Phantom Chapter 37

The next morning found them al back at the boardinghouse. After the previous night's rain, the sunshine had a fresh quality to it, and everything felt bright and damp and clean, despite the smel of smoke that permeated the boardinghouse and the charred remains of the garage that could be glimpsed through the windows of the den. Elena sat on the couch, leaning against Stefan. He traced the burn lines, nearly entirely faded, on the back of her hand. â€Å"How do they feel, heroine?† he asked. â€Å"They hardly hurt at al , thanks to Damon.† Damon, on the other side of Stefan, gave her a brief, blinding smile but said nothing. They were al being careful of one another, Elena thought. She felt – and she thought everyone else probably did, too like the day looked: shining and freshly washed, but slightly fragile. There was a lot of quiet murmuring back and forth, exchanged smiles, comfortable pauses. It was like they had completed a long journey or a difficult task together, and now it was time to rest. Celia, dressed in pale linen trousers and a silk dove-gray top, elegant and poised as always, cleared her throat. â€Å"I'm leaving today,† she said when they al looked up at her. Her bags sat neatly on the floor beside her feet. â€Å"There's a train to Boston in forty-five minutes, if someone wil drive me to the station.† â€Å"Of course I'l take you,† Alaric said promptly, getting to his feet. Elena glanced at Meredith, but Meredith was frowning at Celia in concern. â€Å"You don't have to go, you know,† she told her. â€Å"We'd al like it if you stayed.† Celia shrugged expressively and gave a little sigh. â€Å"Thank you, but it is time I get going. Despite the fact that we destroyed a priceless rare book and I wil probably never be al owed on the Dalcrest campus again, I wouldn't have missed this whole experience for the world.† Meredith grinned at her and raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Even the brushes with death?† Celia raised an eyebrow of her own. â€Å"Was there a part that wasn't a brush with death?† They laughed, and Elena was grateful to see that the tension between them had evaporated. â€Å"We'l be glad to have you anytime you want to come back, dear,† Mrs. Flowers said to Celia earnestly. â€Å"I wil always have a room for you.† â€Å"Thank you,† Celia said, looking touched. â€Å"I hope I can come back and see you al again someday.† She and Alaric left the room, and soon the rest of them heard the sounds of the outside door shutting and a car starting up. â€Å"Good-bye, Celia,† Bonnie chirped. â€Å"She turned out to be okay in the end, though, didn't she?† She went on without waiting for an answer. â€Å"What are we going to do today? We need to have an adventure before summer ends.† â€Å"You haven't had enough adventure yet?† Matt asked her disbelievingly from where he was sprawled on a rocking chair in the corner. â€Å"I mean a fun, summery kind of adventure,† she said. â€Å"Not al doom and gloom and battles to the death, but fun-in-thesun stuff. Do you realize we've got only about three weeks before it's time to start school again? If we don't want our only real memories of this summer in Fel ‘s Church to be one disastrous picnic and a horrific battle with a phantom, we'd better get started. I vote we go out to the county fair today. Come on!† she urged them, bouncing in her seat. â€Å"Rol er coasters! Fun houses! Fried dough! Cotton candy! Damon can win me a big stuffed animal and take me through the Tunnel of Love! It'l be an adventure!† She fluttered her eyelashes at Damon flirtatiously, but he didn't take her up on her teasing. In fact, he was gazing down into his lap with a strained expression. â€Å"You've done very wel , children,† said Mrs. Flowers approvingly. â€Å"You certainly deserve some time to relax.† No one answered. Damon's tense silence was fil ing the room, drawing everyone's eyes to him. Final y, Stefan cleared his throat. â€Å"Damon?† he asked cautiously. Damon clenched his jaw and raised his eyes to meet theirs. Elena frowned. Was that guilt on Damon's face? Damon didn't do guilt – remorse wasn't one of his many qualities. â€Å"Listen,† he said abruptly. â€Å"I realized†¦ while I was making my way back from the Dark Dimension†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He stopped again. Elena exchanged an anxious glance with Stefan. Again, stammering and having trouble finding the words to say what he wanted to say were not typical of Damon. Damon shook his head and col ected himself. â€Å"While I was remembering who I was, while I was barely alive again, and then while I was getting ready to come back to Fel ‘s Church, and everything was so painful and difficult,† he said, â€Å"al I could think of was how we – how Elena – had moved heaven and earth to find Stefan. She wouldn't give up her hunt, no matter what obstacles she faced. I'd helped her – I'd risked everything to do so – and we were successful. We found Stefan and we brought him home, safe and sound. But when it was my turn to be lost, you al left me on that moon alone.† â€Å"But Damon,† said Elena, reaching out to him, â€Å"we thought you were dead.† â€Å"And we did try to move heaven and earth to save you,† Bonnie said earnestly, her big brown eyes fil ing with tears. â€Å"You know that. Elena tried everything to bribe the Guardians to get you back. She almost went crazy with grief. They just kept saying that when a vampire died, he or she was gone for good.† â€Å"I know that now,† Damon said. â€Å"I'm not angry anymore. I haven't been angry about it for what seems like ages. That's not why I'm tel ing you this.† He glanced guiltily at Elena. â€Å"I need to apologize to al of you.† There was a tiny col ective gasp. Damon just didn't apologize. Ever. Elena frowned. â€Å"What for?† Damon shrugged, and the ghost of a smirk passed over his face. â€Å"What not for, my princess.† He sobered. â€Å"The truth is, I didn't deserve saving. I've done terrible things to you al as a vampire, and even when I became human again. I fought Meredith; I endangered Bonnie in the Dark Dimension. I endangered al of you.† He looked around the room. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said to everyone, a note of sincerity and regret in his voice. Bonnie's lips trembled; then she threw her arms around Damon. â€Å"I forgive you!† Damon smiled and awkwardly patted her hair. He exchanged a solemn nod with Meredith that seemed to indicate that she also forgave him – this time. â€Å"Damon,† said Matt, shaking his head. â€Å"Are you sure you're not possessed? You seem a little†¦ off. You're never polite to any of us but Elena.† â€Å"Wel ,† said Damon, looking relieved at having gotten the confession off his chest, â€Å"don't get used to it. Matt.† Matt looked so startled and pleased that Damon had cal ed him the right name for a change, instead of â€Å"Mutt† or nothing at al , that Damon might as wel have given him a present. Elena saw Stefan give his brother a sly, affectionate nudge, and Damon elbowed him back. No, she wouldn't get used to it. Damon, temporarily drained of his jealousies and resentments, was as beautiful and intriguing as ever, but a heck of a lot easier to get along with. It wouldn't last, but she could enjoy it for now. She took a moment to real y look at them, the Salvatore brothers. The vampires she loved. Stefan with his soft dark curls and sea green eyes, his long limbs and the sensitive curve of his mouth that she always longed to kiss. Sweetness and solidity and a sorrow she'd had a hand in lightening. Damon, leather and silk and fine chiseled features. Mercurial and devastating. She loved them both. She couldn't be sorry, couldn't be anything other than sincerely, whol y grateful for the fat e that had thrown them in her path. But it wouldn't be easy. She couldn't imagine what would happen when this new comfort and friendliness between the brothers, between al of them, ended. She didn't doubt that it would dissolve. Irritations and jealousies were just a part of life, and they would build up again. She squeezed Stefan's hand in hers and smiled past him at Damon, whose dark eyes warmed. Inwardly, she sighed a little, then smiled more widely. Bonnie was right: Col ege was just around the corner, a whole new adventure. Until then, they should take their pleasures where they could find them. â€Å"Cotton candy?† she said. â€Å"I can't remember the last time I had cotton candy. I'm definitely up for Bonnie's idea of adventure.† Stefan brushed his lips against hers in a kiss that was as sweet and light as cotton candy itself, and she leaned into the comfort of his arms. It couldn't last. Elena knew it. But she was very happy. Stefan was himself again, not angry or fearful or grieving, but himself, the one she loved. And Damon was alive, and safe, and with them. Al her friends were around her. She was truly home at last.

Descriptive essay: Harry Potter Essay

The soft white carpet that stretches throughout the house stops, at the doorway of the room. The chocolate brown and polished, wooden floor takes the place of the carpet. The room is surrounded by earth tone colored walls giving it a feel of nature. On top of the walls are uniquely designed molding frames that present a stylish statement. Abundant natural light shines through wooden blinds of the window which is located on the left side of the room. The full sized bed is against the wall and has floral sheets, fluffy pillows, and pattern designs that complement the theme of the room. The desk next to the bed is cluttered with scraps of paper, workbooks, and erasers crumbs. Pencils, pens, and markers are neatly placed in a purple pencil box at the left corner of the desk. Two feet away from the desk stands a tall built in closet that is six feet away from the foot of the bed. Across the closet is the wall that has an entire section filled nearly dozens of collages of captured memories. There is a fleeting aroma of a collection of different fragrances purchased at Bath and Body Works. The perfumes and lotions are lined up on top of the bookshelf. The first row of the bookshelf has a music player and two picture frames of family and friends. The second row is stacks of school textbooks starting with Pre-Calculus to AP Psychology and ending with SAT workbooks. The last row has boxes filled with old photos, colorful paper, and an old, rusty pile of old school assignments. Next to the shelf is an old ladder that protrudes from the wall adjacent to the keyboard. Accessories like rings, necklaces, and bracelets are either hanged or placed carefully on the ladder. The black and gray keyboard stands next to the ladder and has an assortment of dusts lying on the surface of the white and black keys. The top pile of clothes touch the right side of the keyboard and the clothes, are stacked on the comfy white couch waiting to be washed. The white couch sits idly against the wall, and a taller white bookshelf is next to it. The first row of the bookshelf has different albums with genres like country, pop, and rock music standing up. The next three rows has books in an arrangement of books starting with childhood favorites, progressing to chapter books, and a collection of many different series of books like Harry Potter, all the way to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The final row consists of colorful and creatively designed scrapbooks and yearbooks. This tall shelf is also the shelf next to the door, and ends the exploration of the personalized bedroom.

Language Arts Lesson Essay

Allyssa Satin Capucilli’s Biscuit and the Nest (2008) which is part of the Biscuit Phonics Fun series will be used in this lesson to teach Language Arts to Grade 1 level students. This lesson aims to meet the Sunshine State Standards which are to make students: (1) identify the sounds of vowels in printed words; (2) apply letter-sound knowledge to decode phonetically regular words quickly and accurately in isolation and in context; (3) retell the main events and identify the characters and setting in a story; (4) edit for correct use of common spelling patterns and conventional spelling of high frequency words and for correct use of capital letters for the pronoun I and proper nouns; and (5) communicate effectively when relating experiences or retelling stories heard or read. After the teacher reads aloud the story to the class, the students will perform the succeeding activities. First, students will be paired off and each pair will complete a story frame which goes this way. The story takes place in ________. A character in the story is ________who ________Another character in the story is ________who ________. A problem occurs when ________. After that, ________and ________. The problem is solved when ________. The story ends with ________. Second, the students will complete a Word Sort. They will get and divide a sheet of paper into two columns. At the top of the first column, they write â€Å"vowel sound /e/† and at the second column, â€Å"not vowel sound /e/†. Then, students select words from the story and write these in the columns. Third, students will accomplish a Picture Match. They are to read the words below the picture and tell whether it is a pen or a pin, mien or men, leg or league, nit or net, rid or red, tin or ten, etc. Fourth, students will describe their pet or a pet they would like to have (if they do not have one yet) in writing. They need to write 3 to 5 sentences. Lastly, they will individually narrate to the class a story of their own pet or someone else’s pet. The students will be assessed through the following assessment tools: (1) Students’ writing development will be assessed through their use of capitalization and use of appropriate punctuation marks in their written output in the first and fourth activity. (2) Students’ grammar skills are evaluated when they are able to correctly write the correct setting, character, or event in the story frame and when they properly use subject-verb agreement in their descriptions in the fourth activity as well as in their stories in the last activity. (3) Students’ spelling skills will be assessed through a written spelling assessment to be given after the second and third activity. The teacher will read aloud ten words with the short vowel sound /e/ and ask the students to write them on a piece of paper. Another way to assess their spelling skills is through their written stories in the fourth activity. The spelling pattern that the students will be taught in relation to the story is the short vowel sound /e/. Word examples of the short vowel sound /e/ are egg, fell, nest, get, help, etc. Throughout the activities, the students will use three cueing systems in order to arrive at comprehension. These cueing systems are semantic, syntactic and graphophonic systems. The semantic system refers to language features that bring about meanings to the reader. This is used in the classroom to make students know and understand the correct meaning of a word. The syntactic system includes the interrelationship of the words in a sentence and the sentences in a text. When students are able to complete the story frame activity, they use the syntactic system. The graphophonic system includes the spelling and sound structure of the language and the relationship of these two. This will be taught to the students by demonstrating how words are pronounced based on their spelling or word patterns. References Capucilli, A. S. & Schories, P. (2008). I Can Read! Phonics: Biscuit and the Nest. New York: Harper Collins. Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2009). Florida K-12 Reading and Language Arts Standards. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://etc. usf. edu/flstandards/la/new-pdfs/elp-1. pdf.

Reading habits Essay

A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur unconsciously. Habits can be categories as either good habits or bad habits. Bad habits are negative behavior pattern. Examples of bad habits are gambling, smoking, overspending, and procrastination. Whereas, good habits are behavior that is beneficial to one’s physical and mental health and often linked to a high level of discipline and self-control. For example, regular exercise, balanced diet, and reading are good habits. The quote â€Å"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us† from an English poet, John Dryden. It means at first we are in control of our behavior and we can determine which habits we would like to practice. But, when we practice the habits, it will influence our life no matter it is good habit or bad habit. Thus, it is better for everyone to foster the good habits and break the bad habits. And, the best time to correct a bad habit is immediately. If you have a bad habit like gambling, then it is better to quit it now before you become bankrupt due to this bad habit. However, if you have good reading habit, you should continue this practice. Reading is the process of recognizing the written words and understands their meaning. It is a complex interaction between text and reader. Reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude and language are related to the reading process. People can have their reading through book, magazine, newspaper, and electronic displays such as mobile phones or e-readers. There are many benefits of reading habits. Reasons why reading habits is good and important: 1. Expose to new things By reading, we expose ourselves to new knowledge and information. We learn the new ways to solve a problem and new ways to achieve our goals. Besides that, we also can develop our new hobbies through reading. For instance, when read cuisine book, it may influence our interest in cooking. We improve our knowledge in various fields and expand our thinking to wider views. In  addition, exploration begins from reading and understanding. For example, a backpacker start his travel experience by reading travelling magazines and understand more about the culture and environment of the country before his exploration from one country to another country. 2. Self-improvement Self-improvement is the improvement of one’s knowledge, status, or character by one’s own efforts. People can improve themselves by practice reading habits. Reading habits help us to build self-confidence. It helps us to become a better person. We improve ourselves by reading newspaper, novels, and historical books. All the books we read will be the assets in our mind. And, reading variety of books also known as one type of investment on ourselves. Through reading, we create a structured path towards a better understanding of ourselves and know the better choices to make in our life. 3. Mental stimulation Reading helps to keep our brain active and prevent it from losing power. That is because brain is functioned when we are reading. Sometimes, we also need to think and try to understand what we are reading. The reading process is the good way to stimulate our mental and enhance our cognitive mental ability. Thus, reading habits can prevent older age diseases and slow down the progress of Alzheimer’s. 4. Stress reduction Reading habit is a relaxing hobby. People choose to read when they feel stress and tension from their routine work and daily life. For example, reading a well-written novel can transport the reader to other realms. It can take you away from reality and drain away the pressures. Many people prefer to read a book and forget all their cares and worries for a while as they experiences and enjoy the peace and tranquility through reading. 5. Stronger analytical and thinking skills When read an amazing mystery novel, we put on analytical and critical thinking skills throughout the reading. We improve our ability by analyzing the plots and try to figure out the developing plot or mystery. Sometimes, the writer use high-context in their writing. As a reader, we need to analyze the deeper meanings behind the story. Every story gives different  learning outcomes and it depends on how the reader analyze on it. 6. Boost imagination and creativity Books are beyond imagination. It likes a huge spider web, where you keep linking to more new things and knowledge. By practicing reading habits, we expand our thinking from a narrow angle to wider angle. We explore a different perspectives to see the things and understand how different actions lead to different results. Reading is vital for children to develop imagination and creativity. Fairy tales in the story book give the children to imagine what going on in the story although it is not happened in reality. 7. Better writing skills The more you read, the more words you exposure to and the more you understand about one thing. The vocabulary words and knowledge in certain field improve our writing skills. People come out with many ideas when they read more and know more vocabulary. For them, writing an essay within a short time just a piece of cake. 8. Memory improvement Reading improves the memory and helps to exercise and boost your memory powers. When we read, the reading materials will enter our memory system and when we able to remember back what we reading before. The reading habits improve our memory and enhance our ability to memorize things. For instance, students read the reference books during exam and able to memorize the important points when they are sitting for the examination. Day by day, their memory ability is improved and they able to apply what they learned in their daily life. Business Growth of Hussain by reading habits Based on the case study, reading habits help Hussain to grow faster in the business world. Initially, Hussain sold chocolate in the market every morning in order to earn income for his family. Due to his unique habits of reading, his uncle offered a classical book for him to read. After Hussain finished reading the book, he got an offer from an old man to sell that book at double price. For gaining more money, he bought two more copies of the same book and managed to sell them within three hours. He noticed that  people are in need of good books. Hence, he decided to sell books along with his chocolate business. When Hussain realized the profits earned from book sales much better than the chocolate sales, he stopped his chocolate business. He distributed free chocolate as the marketing strategy for his new business of selling books. He was a good reader as well as a good trader. He bought the books from small hawkers or vendors and successfully sold the books with double profits. He still practices his reading habits while selling the books in the market. However, he faced the problem of lacking a shop to keep all the books. Hussain was an ambitious person. He looked at things differently by believing the book sales can gain more profits in the future. He asked his uncle to convert his father’s steel workshop into a bookshop. He owned his bookshop and it was the first bookshop in that area. This made him became the monopoly in that market since he is the sole bookseller at there. No competitors and competition with others for his business. Besides that, Hussain knew his products well. He had good knowledge of all the available books in his bookshop. In addition, Hussain able to answer his customers questions regarding any book in his bookshop. This ability increased the customer satisfaction and encouraged their loyalty to his business. Hussain managed to build good relationship with the customers and retain the customers for their next visiting to his bookshop. Hussain had a kind personality and behaved like a sophisticated person with his teachers. His teachers used to visit his bookshop and became his valuable customers. By helping teachers to buy gifts near his bookshop, he got the inspiration of providing additional products in his bookshop. He expanded his bookshop’s products from books to gifts such as notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. Thus, his business started to satisfy all the schools’ needs and he became popular in many schools. By signing a contract with his uncle, Hussain get his new stores. He was able  to buy in bulk and became the main supplier of books to many schools. Moreover, providing the schools’ needs led him to think of the students’ needs such as bags, ruler, erasers, and sharpeners. Therefore, Hussain converted the bookshop concept to a wider concept where all the schools’, teachers’, and students’ needs were met. He expanded his target markets to teachers and students. Unfortunately, Hussain lost his bookshop due to a big fire which caused by an electric short circuit. After his secondary education, he restarted his business of supplying educational goods. Hussain employed two assistants to help him run for the bookshop business. His business started picking up and received huge demands from many schools due to the good location of his bookshop where it closed to various schools. The strategic location of his new bookshop was convenient to the customers and be the success factor of his business. At the same time, Hussain applied to work in the government as a store keeper. He could convince his sponsor to supply the needed office stationery at a low price. Since there was no specific buyer for the stationery with good system in servicing orders and delivering products, Hussain’s bookshop became the only office supplier for the government services. Many government departments, offices, and companies became his valuable customers. Thus, the high growth in demand led four times expansions to its first size of the business. Due to the need of money to cover the purchase in bulk from China, Hussain decided to sell his bookshop. When Hussain solved his financial problems, he established his new company for office supplies near the bookshop. He informed all his previous customers about his new option of setting up a company which specialized in stationery. He left his job as a store keeper and rented a small office equipped with fax and telephone. His employed two workers and found an appropriate store in a cheap location near the office. This change reduced the cost to the lowest. He started to buy stationery abroad. By applying JIT techniques, his company’s revenues and profits increased dramatically. The customer service was well managed and the  company focused on wholesale orders. Hussain leased back his ex-bookshop at a lower rental price. He reopened the bookshop in an innovative way by providing all the educational products required by individuals. He closed the new office and relocated it inside the bookshop. The bookshop served individual customers, whereas the office served wholesale orders. By doing so, Hussain’s business served for both types of customers. Moreover, the products were displayed in the bookshop and facilitated the wholesale buyers to see the products physically and test them before taking orders. The advantage of testing the products created value added to his business. Furthermore, Hussain be the first who use the new technology that just entered into the country. He bought the computer with Windows95 for reducing transaction time. It is a solution to feed all customers’ data, accelerate the delivery of customer’s orders, and get typed invoices. Hussain managed to achieve his dream of converting bookshop into a big company for office supplies. Hussain felt that he could provide new office equipment such as photocopiers, printers, and other related devices. In conclusion, Hussain’s reading habits help him to go through all the challenges and struggles in his life and make him grow faster in the business world. His business grew from the initial small chocolate business to a big company for office supplies with new technology. Hence, books are forever friends to human. Reading habits change the life of Hussain as well as his business. All leaders and successful people never stop reading. That is because the day we stop learning is the day we stop growing. There is a quote from an American academic, Charles W. Eliot, â€Å"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends, they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.† The reading habits definitely can give benefits and grow us up from day to day. Thus, we should make books be our loyal friend companion. References Dictionary.com. Ambitious. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ambitious Dictionary.com. Inspiration. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inspiration Goodreads. Quotes about reading habits. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/reading-habits IndiaStudyChannel.com. (23 July 2012). How can reading habit make a difference in our lives? Retrieved from http://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/95694-How-can-reading-habit-make-a-difference-in-our-lives.aspx Inspiration Boost. (n.d.). 8 Reasons Why Reading is so important. Retrieved from http://inspirationboost.com/8-reasons-why-reading-is-so-important Self Help 4 Self Developmet. (n.d.). Relax and Enjoy the Many Therapeutic Benefits of Reading. Retrieved from http://selfhelpfix.com/benefits-of-reading.php Lana Winter Hebert. (n.d.). Ten Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-benefits-reading-why-you-should-read-everyday.html

A Comparison of Quality and Business Excellence Programs in the World Assignment

A Comparison of Quality and Business Excellence Programs in the World - Assignment Example ms are organized for specific missions such as best practice sharing, continuous management and quality initiatives, promotion, recognition of top performers, understanding performance excellence requirements, etc. Core values and concepts related to awards keeps on changing with companies. There are certain common core values like social responsibility, leadership, customer, people, management, learning, innovation, etc (Miguel, 2005). Awards have specific categories for individuals and this helps them to remain competitive in long run. In sessions there has been discussion on quality management and its significant benefits. Quality management is not only related to enhanced machinery productivity but is also closely knitted with overall organizational productivity. Team members are motivated through award programs and this even helps to upgrade corporate image. The criteria categories indicate dimensions of award programs like customer, information and data, performance and measurement, people, resources, processes, society, results and strategies. Award level is distinct in different geographical regions. European award level has categories such as award winner, finalist, prize winner, etc. On the other hand, Wales’s quality award has levels like gold, platinum, bronze and silver. The article analyzed the different criteria’s for awards across the globe. Process improvement, benchmark and performance excellence are key objectives of award programs. This statement has been well supported by varying criteria’s across award programs. Figure 3 clearly indicates that communication and best practice sharing are common objectives or award mission. This proves that there is a common ground for designing award programs. These criteria’s are aligned with Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Business excellence depends on certain quality dimensions as described in figure 6. These dimensions are customer, people, leadership, strategies, results and

Contemporary corporate governance issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Contemporary corporate governance issues - Essay Example The emergence of the concept shareholders value arose from the concept of separation of ownership and control which is also known as fragmentation of ownership. The concept focussed on how the owners of the company usurp the company’s profits for personal interest. The concept of shareholders emerged to enhance the betterment of the company. The relationships between the banks and the companies in UK prevented concentrated share ownership of certain companies in UK. The prevalent laissez –faire policy in the UK focussed on the non economic interest of the company and wanted to underpin the emerging corporate economy. There were sudden changes in the policies of the company where there was minimum government intervention and the concept of shareholders value evolved. The concept revolved around the fact that individual private owners of the company are the shareholders of the company, and managers have to act in accordance with their decisions. Whenever shareholders were unavailable for decision making in a meeting, the managers of the company would make the decisions on the shareholders behalf (European Investment Bank, 2012c). This ensured that the divergence between the interests of shareholders and managers did not become too extreme. The modern day business practices regard shareholders as the owners of the company. They usually buy the shares of the company (European Investment Bank, 2012a). There is no specific amount of shares that need to be bought in order to become a shareholder of the company. Shareholders can exercise their voting rights in the company. There are some exceptions, like the Kuala Lampur Stock Exchange prohibits the shareholders from exercising their voting rights. Shareholders regard the annual meeting as a serious event as they can question the management regarding issues which are pertaining to the company and are included and excluded in the annual report.