Successful business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Successful business plan - Assignment Example They have designed their business to halt the speeding industry of car abandoning and transfer this momentum to speed up their business of recycling the abandoned cars and reselling their spare parts. They have targeted the middle class locals and expats who look around for savings with quality control (Othman, 2010). Zug Al Arbat Customers would be allowed to enjoy quality spare parts as it aims to stand the market for long as the suppliers of spare parts. The story prides itself in processing a trouble free solution for those looking for disposing off their cars and finally producing it to produce useable spare parts at the most reasonable price possible. The market feasibility is really strong and progressive since transportation industry of Saudi Arabia is growing real fast. The management team has five representatives. They all have invested in the business and stand as the shareholders. 2. Company Description Zug Al Arbat is a new name in automobile industry that aims at abando ned vehicle collection and its disposal through performing the entire processing of this activity. The totally worn out vehicles would be crushed for recycling and others with a stand able position would be used for refining their spare parts and fixing to other vehicles (Alaska Department of Administration, 2011). Zug Al Arbat aims at targeting the middle class of the local Saudis and majorly the expats who have been to the foreign land of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to earn and save. Majority of these expats do not spend lavishly on their lifestyles. They look for quality affordability that can be maintained for a longer time period at relatively lower costs (Saad A.H. Al Gadhi, Rasin K Mufti and Daniel F. Malick, 2002). The unique selling preposition of this business would be quality to the cost conscious category that aims not for luxury but quality with low costs. Through its extensive contacts and market knowledge, the company has an idea that this gap has as yet not been filed pr operly by any company (United states Environment Protection Industry, 2011). The detailed activities that Zug Al Arbat aims to cater starts from abandoned Vehicle’s Transportation to its workshop, where the vehicle would be safely examined and then preceded for Fluid Removal or the removal of any hazardous metals for instance, deposited mercury (Writing Club , 2009) . The totally worn out vehicles would be than preceded for crushing. After that, the vehicle would be shredded and finally the metal would be ready for recycling (Seatlle, 2013). 3. Strategic Development The biggest advantage Zug Al Arbat aims at providing is to reduce the car abandonment ratio. After digging in to the reasons of car abandonment, they aim at targeting those people, for instance, expats who cannot afford to pay back car loans to call Zug Al Arbat helpline and sale the car at a scrap value. Another big advantage that the company can expect to have for itself is a good government support, since vehic le abandoning is a major nuisance issue for the government of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at an increasing rate (Saad A.H. Al Gadhi, Rasin K Mufti and Daniel F. Malick, 2002). 3.1 Business Constraints: The working feasibility of the company depends upon the some of the following factors effecting the cost and revenue: The price of the scrap metal. Proximity of the metal recycles. The further away the metal recycler is, the higher the cost of transporting the vehicle. During the initial days

Schools Meet The Holistic Needs Of Every Child Education Essay

Schools Meet The Holistic Needs Of Every Child Education Essay Schools and teachers, in my belief, act as in loco parentis, which means that they take over all the responsibility of the child as a parent. Under The Children Act (1989) and The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), teachers have a duty of care towards their pupils. Although, this does not bind them to have parental responsibility, teachers are expected to promote the welfare and wellbeing of children in their care as any responsible parent would do. In doing so, a teacher ought to be aware of the holistic needs of every child. This does not only include academic needs but physical, mental, social and emotional aspect as well. Ideally, the aim to meet these requirements should be reflected through the schools polices and the adaptability towards different approaches throughout the school. Before analysing my subject in detail, I would like to explore my subject in context of Maslows Hierarchy of needs starting from physiological as the basic requirement building gradually to the psychological elements of concerns. (Maslow, A. 1987) Many schools, according to the demand of the children, provide extended school provisions such as breakfast clubs to meet basic physiological needs. Moreover, as statutory framework for EYFS (2012) emphasises on the provision of healthy meals, snacks and drinks as necessary and fresh drinking water being available and accessible at all times. The psychological aspect covers mainly the mental, emotional and social needs. These are generally met according to the criteria set by different schools i.e. their policies and approaches. Its effectiveness however, depends on the implementation of these approaches throughout the school, within the classroom and towards an individual child. As it is not possible to cover all these aspects of concern, my focus in this essay would be on social needs of an EAL child in a classroom. In order to evaluate my subject, I will be using examples from my previous school experiences in school B. Being larger than an average primary school; every year a reasonable number of children join school B with no exposure to English. Looking into the school policies and approaches; I will explore its relation to the classroom environment and its impact on that particular child. My aim will be to produce an evaluation based on evidence and critical analysis of effectiveness of schools policies with supporting evidence throughout. As school Bs policies (appendix 1) strongly advocate the idea of individuality and being inclusive, hence providing a social friendly environment for its pupils. Their mission statement, every piece of puzzle is needed to complete the whole picture and celebrating success together is a true representation of their policies. (School website, online) Many of these policies are highly influenced by government documents such as, Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfES 2006) and Bradford Safeguarding Children Board Procedures (2007) as mentioned in their policies (appendix 2). In addition, various national initiatives have been taken into consideration along with these policies, which has moulded the ideology of the school B. A very recent example of which is the Every Child Matters (DfES 2003) initiative which focuses on the basic individual needs of children. Although, ECM is not a legal requirement for schools anymore, its principles are still deeply embedded in the school in the form of a program Every Child Counts. The key areas that ECM covered were generally about safety, integrating locally, regionally and nationally and to be able to make a positive contribution in society. Other than that, Pugh, G. (2006) highlighted that there was a stronger focus on parenting and families as a part of an ECM factor that enabled many schools to develop connection between the school and the community. Considering these elements, school B established strong terms with the parents by encouraging their participation in school activities. This was done by inviting them in school assemblies and other celebrations throughout the year. Having this open door policy, parents/carers and local agencies were welcomed to visit the school at all times. This interaction not only helped school to identify individual needs but also helped parents/carers to develop a healthy relationship between the school, teachers and the pupils. I believe that this relationship plays a vital role in the childrens development as a whole. Pollard (2005), on the other hand, perceives an even deeper meaning to this relationship. This perspective on parents/carers is one that views them as partners with teachers in their childrens development, with parents/carers and teachers in regular contact. (Pollard, A. 2005) Apart from that, the social and emotional aspect of learning known as SEAL is one of the most emphasised programs in school B. This program is a whole school approach to promote effective learning and positive behaviour by supporting social and emotional skills of individuals (DfES 2005). The competences of SEAL has not only shaped the general ethos and environment of the school, but is also deeply embedded in the teaching of these skills within the classroom. This is done by implicating its elements into the curriculum especially through PSHCE, where these needs are addressed in a more assertive manner. Although, PSHCE is not statutory, it is still a very integral part of the curriculum, which reflects the ideology of school B towards social and emotional wellbeing of every child. As school B signifies the importance of inclusion, the general feel of the school is very welcoming to the EAL pupil and parents. Schools motto, greetings and instructions throughout the school are translated into different languages to create a socially friendly environment. To meet the needs of EAL pupils academically, school B has assigned a language support team which not only provide these children with extra guidance throughout the curriculum but also equip them with the a basic tool of language to socialize. However, the success of these policies depends on the teacher to adapt them according to the needs of children and to develop a well structured approach to address them appropriately. In doing so, the teacher in classroom 1 of school B, emphasises on being inclusive and active participation of every child in the classroom. In order to do that the teacher has adopted various methodologies to meet the social needs of the classroom in general. Basic socializing skills like listening, speaking, empathising and collaborating with other pupils are encouraged at all times within the classroom. By making children talk in pairs during the lesson, making small groups to carry out various tasks and through introducing purposeful games within the lesson, these skills are embedded in their daily routine. In realizing the need to develop social skills amongst pupils, the teacher in classroom 1, encourages discussions and expression of ideas in every form. She organizes activities around the curric ulum such as role play and drama. This in turn, encourages children to share different ideas and develop them together in collaboration (Chilver, P 1982). These activities provide a platform for EAL students to express themselves openly, hence enhancing their confidence in classroom participation. On the other hand, this approach enables rest of the class to develop an understanding amongst each other which helps to remove any social barriers between them and EAL pupil. These implications in my opinion, supports children specially EAL pupils to access learning by creating a responsive environment. Although, schools and teachers are working very hard to provide a purposeful environment for children, its effectiveness depends on how every child benefits from it. As social needs of individuals could differ remarkably from one person to another, they are addressed in a more personalized way in classroom 1. To elaborate my point, I will refer to a case of child A in this classroom, who was new to English and had joined the class in the middle of the year. Being, relatively new to the country and to the language, child X found it increasingly frustrating to participate in class activities. Seeing his discomfort, the teacher appointed a boy from a similar cultural background to accompany him in the classroom and in the playground. This technique, in my point of view, worked effectively in helping child A settle into the classroom. The fact that the child he was paired up with was from the same ethnic background, created a friendlier and more comfortable environment for child A as he was able to communicate with him conveniently. However, this should have been even more useful if the child A was later on paired up with another child with a completely different background. Having this experience could have expanded his understanding of the society, thus developing his social skills. Realizing that the language barrier was a hindrance in child As progress, he was provided with extra help from the EAL support team. As a part of his daily routine, child A was sent out of the classroom for the language sessions with the support teacher during the English and phonics lessons. As this approach was introduced to enhance his language development, in doing so it excluded him from the learning environment and the overall classroom experience. To my understanding the school policies in this case, did help to recognize the specific requirement of child X and provided him with an exclusive support to meet his needs. On the other hand, it also took away the opportunities to experience an inclusive learning environment which I believe is a basic right of every child. Although, I do take into consideration the point of view that this practice was essential for child X to provide him with the basic understanding of the language. However, similar sort of support could be provided within the classroom by differentiation and one to one guidance. To provide an inclusive learning environment, other lessons were adapted by providing extra visual aids to encourage child As classroom participation. The activities were differentiated throughout the lessons for child A by encouraging the use of ICT to help develop his listening, speaking and reading skills. Provision of an adult support in the classroom, assisted him throughout the lessons to improve his understanding. As the school policy emphasises on adaptation of SEAL, its implications could be seen during the PSHCE lessons in classroom 1. Part of the lesson was incorporated into a whole class activity to encourage social interaction. Even though, execution of the lesson was very effective in addressing the social needs in classroom, in my opinion it did not attend to the requirements of child A. Looking into school Bs policies mentioned above, it could be seen that many are heavily influenced by the government. Basic school policies such as health and safety and child protection are legal requirements for every school to provide. Other than that the national initiatives such as ECM, in my belief plays a very vital role in identifying individual needs and to address them effectively. As it is seen that the principles of ECM initiative are deeply rooted in school Bs policies and is reflected through the provision of interventions throughout the school. As looking specifically into the social needs of EAL, I discussed earlier about the introduction of language support group within the classroom. The purpose of these interventions is to target the specific needs of every child hence, following the ECM agenda. I believe that a particular need of child X was addressed through the intervention; however, in doing so it failed to address his needs holistically. It is seen that the interpretation of school policies is well conducted in the classroom B through the class rules, general environment and discipline. Katherine Weare (2000) in her point of view explains the implication of school policies in an affective way. Social and affective education need to be tackled in a way that suits the nature and ethos of each individual school, and be adapted by individual teachers to fit their own style of working. (Weare K. 2000, pg.36) A similar, outcome is extracted from the above study which insinuates that meeting the holistic needs of a particular child depends on how the teacher implicates her ideology into practice. In my opinion, school Bs policies did influence the general understanding of the teacher in classroom 1. However, it was the teacher rather than the school policies, who contributed the most towards meeting the holistic needs of child A. By looking into my past experiences through this essay, it has made me realize that more than school policies; it is the teachers beliefs that make a difference in a childs life.

Death of a Tumor Essay -- Biology Cancer

Cell Background Animal cells are eukaryotic and have a very complex structure. A eukaryotic cell is composed of many membrane-enclosed organelles. Organelles are compartments that perform different functions inside the cell. An organelle called the nucleus contains the genetic material, or DNA, and is the most vital organelle of the cell because it is responsible for carrying the genes that make up the body. A cell's membrane is composed of two layers that regulate the flow of materials in and out of the cell. Along the membrane are several kinds of receptor proteins that detect foreign materials. A cell replicates by a process called mitosis. In this process the chromosomes pair up and when the cell divides and each cell is genetically identical. Any mistakes in this process can lead to cancer. If somewhere along the line, the normal regulation of mitosis is broken and the cell divides continuously and out of control. This is how tumors are created. There are many reasons for the mitotic cycle to break such as the loss of certain checkpoints, which make sure the cell is dividing normally. Without these checkpoints in the cycle of mitosis, the cell does not divide normally, and this usually leads to the growth of tumors. Tumor Prevention There are several ways to prevent cancer, but some of the time cancer is a genetic defect that cannot be prevented. Overexposure to sunlight or tanning salons may cause skin cancer. Clothing and sunscreen protects the skin from the sun and can decrease the chances of skin cancer. To decrease the risk of developing cancer, one should not smoke. Smoking increases the risk of developing cancer of the lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, panc... ...s showed that Raf-1 had indeed prevented angiogenesis from occurring by making apoptosis successful in destroying the tumor. TUNNEL had shown that the nearby dead blood vessels had self- destructed leaving behind signs of apoptosis in tumor cells. This supported what the scientists had confirmed that each blood vessel has the ability to support 50-100 tumor cells. When the blood vessel dies, so do the tumor cells, thus crumbling into a concentric ring. Resources & Links: [1]Cancer Research UK. Catrin Pritchard, Ed. University of Leicester. http://science.cancerresearchuk.org/research/loc/ leicester/leicester_univ/pritchardc/pritchardcover?version=1 Purves, William, Sadava, David, and H. Craig Heller, eds. The Science of Biology. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2001. Signal Transduction. Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology.

Definition of SWOT Analysis Essay

–In Human Resource Management SWOT analysis refers to a useful tool by identifying advantage or disadvantage of a company. Also help company thoroughly evaluating pros and cons before formulating its development strategies. Each letter in â€Å"SWOT† stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats respectively. In this four points, â€Å"S† and â€Å"W† are internal factors that a company can do such as capacity and human resources. O and T, however, are external factors which a company may do such as laws and different culture. This method focuses on their own actual strengths of an enterprise as well as comparison with competitors. Therefore, this serious tool can help to decrease difficulties in corporate decision-making and make a more clearly human resource planning. But how we process a SWOT analysis? Firstly, make use of a variety of survey research methods in order to analyze various environmental factors including internal and external factors according to history and current situations of an organization. Secondly, list the investigation result ordered by importance level. At last, take four dimensions in the SWOT analysis into account, in this way we can build a SWOT matrix. For example, Haier, a famous multi-national enterprise that produce household appliance such as TV, refrigerator, washing machine and so on. The following diagram is a typical SWOT analysis for Haier.

Capacity planning Essay

WHAT IS CAPACITY PLANNING? Capacity can be defined as the ability to hold, receive, store, or accommodate; a measure of an organization’s ability to provide customers with the demanded services or goods in the amount requested and in a timely manner. Capacity planning is the process of determining the production capacity needed by an organization to meet changing demand for its products. The objectives of capacity planning are: To identify and solve capacity problem in a timely manner to meet consumer needs. To maintain a balance between required capacity and available capacity. The goal of capacity planning is to minimize this discrepancy. Capacity is calculated: (number of machines or workers) Ãâ€" (number of shifts) Ãâ€" (utilization) Ãâ€" (efficiency). THE NEED FOR CAPACITY PLANNING: Capacity planning is the first step when an organization decided to produce more or a new product. Once capacity is evaluated and a need for a new expanded facility is determined, facility location and process technology activities occur. Too much capacity would require exploring ways to reduce capacity, such as temporarily closing, selling, or consolidating facilities. Consolidation might involve relocation, a combining of technologies, or a rearrangement of equipment and processes. Capacity planning is done in order to estimate whether the demand is higher than capacity or lower than  capacity. That is compare demand versus capacity. It helps an organization to identify and plan the actions necessary to meet customer’s present and future demand. HOW IS CAPACITY MEASURED? For some organization capacity is simple to measure. General Motors Corporation can use â€Å"numbers of automobiles per year.† But what about organization whose product lines are more diverse? For these firms, it is hard to find a common unit of output. As a substitute, capacity can be expressed in terms of input. A legal office may express capacity in terms of the number of attorneys employed per year. A custom job shop or an auto repair shop may express capacity in terms of available labour hours and/or machine hours per week, month, or year. Capacity can be expressed in terms of input & output, depending on the nature of business. Organization Measure Output Automobile manufacturer Numbers of autos Steel producer Tones of steel Power company Megawatts of electricity Input Airline Numbers of seat Hospital Number of beds Tax office Number of accountants CAPACITY PLANNING DECISION: Capacity planning normally involves the following activities: Assessing existing capacity. Forecasting capacity needs. Identifying alternative ways to modify capacity. Evaluating financial, economical, and technological capacity alternatives. Selecting a capacity alternative most suited to achieving strategic mission. THREE STEPS OF CAPACITY PLANNING: Determine Service Level Requirements: The first step on the capacity planning process is to categorize the work done by systems and to quantify users’ expectation for how the work gets down. Define workloads Determine the unit of work Identify service levels for each workload Analyze current capacity: Next, the current capacity of the system must be analyzed to determine how it is meeting the needs of the users. Measure service levels and compare to objectives Measure overall resources usages. Measure resource usages by workload Identify components of response time Planning for future: Finally, using forecasts of future business activity, future system requirements are determined. Implementing the required changes in system configuring will ensure that sufficient capacity will be available to maintain service level, even as circumstanced change in the future. Determine future processing requirements Plan future system configuration STRATIGES FOR MODIFYING CAPACITY: After existing and future capacity requirements are assessed, alternative ways of modifying capacity must be identified. Capacity refers to a system’s potential for producing goods or delivering services over a specified time interval. Capacity planning involves long-term and short term considerations. Long-term considerations relate to the overall level of capacity; short-term considerations relate to variations in capacity  requirements due to seasonal, random, and irregular fluctuations in demand. Excess capacity arises when actual production is less than what is achievable or optimal for a firm. This often means that the demand in the market for the product is below what the firm could potentially supply to the market. Excess capacity is inefficient and will cause manufacturers to incur extra costs or lose market share. Short-term Responses- For short-term periods of up to one year, fundamental capacity id fixed. Major facilities are seldom opened or closed on a regular monthly or yearly basis. Many short-term adjustments for increasing or decreasing capacity are possible, however. Which adjustment to make depended on whether the conversion process is primarily labour-or capital-intensive and whether the product is one that can be stored in inventory. Long-term Responses- Expansion from World War II through the 1960s, the U.S. economy was one of abundance and growth. Since the 1970s the United States has encountered problems of scarce resources and a more competitive economy. Organization today cannot be locked into thinking only about expanding the resource base; they must also consider optimal approaches to contracting it. Example:- A warehousing operation foresees the need for an additional 100,000 square feet of space by the end of the next five year. One option is to add an additional 50,000 square feet now and another 50,000 square feet two year from now. Another option is to add the entire 100,000 square feet now. Estimated costs for building the entire addition now are $50/square foot. If expanded incrementally, the initial 50,000 square feet will cost $60/square foot. The 50,000 square feet to be added later are estimated at $80/square foot. Which alternative is better? At a minimum, the lower construction costs plus excess capacity costs of total construction now must be compared with higher costs of deferred construction. The operation manager must consider the costs, benefits, and risks of each option. WHAT ARE THE MODELS AND TECHNIQUES THAT ARE USEFUL FOR CAPACITY PLANNING? Present value analysis: It is used to evaluate the time of capital investment and fund flows. Aggregate planning models: it is useful for examining the way of using the examining the way of using the existing capacity in the short terms. Break even analysis: to determine the minimum break even volumes of production. Linear programming: this is helpful in determining the optimum product mix for maximizing contribution, considering the capacity constraints. Computers simulation: it is helpful to determine the effects of various scheduling policies. Decision tree analysis: this can be applied for long term capacity problems. WHAT ARE ECONOMIES OF SCALE? It is well known principle of economics. It indicates the relationship between cost and capacity in an operating system. When output increases in an operating system, the system is likely to experience cost advantages on account several factors. Due the following reasons the average unit cost begins to fall with the rise in output level : Spreading the fixed costs of capacity over a larger output Improved utilization of several resources in the system Cost benefit in procurement on account of increased volume. Efficient use of supervisory and management staff. The economies of scale cease to occur beyond a level of production or output. This is called ‘Diseconomies of scale’. There can be several reasons for this: Inefficient management due to largeness of operation and resultant lack of coordination. Overuse of machineries and break down of material handling equipments Over hiring of employees, or excessive overtime. Service slowdowns due to increasing complexities Increase in quality problems because of mismanagement and lack of focus. EFFECIENY AND UTILIZATION: Utilisation = Actual Output Design capacity Both measures expressed in percentage Example:- Design capacity= 50 trucks/day Effective capacity= 40 trucks/day Actual output= 36 units/day

Hunchback Of Notre Dame Essays - Fiction, Literature, Free Essays

Hunchback Of Notre Dame Essays - Fiction, Literature, Free Essays Hunchback Of Notre Dame Everyday, the people of Paris are accustomed to waking to the bells of Notre Dame. Today, the 6th of January, was different though. It is to be a hectic and eventful for the ambassadors of Flanders would arrive to discuss the marriage of the price to Margaret of Flanders. Coincidentally that same day was the Epiphany and the well-renowned Festival of Fools. As the citizens of Paris awoke, they assembled in the great hall with different expectations. Many came to watch the crowning of the Pope of Fools; others are anxiously awaiting the start of a melodrama. Astoundingly, the great hall is filled beyond capacity when tensions break and the crowd orders that the promised play to begin at once. It is here where we meet an important plot developer, Gringoire the poet, who has drafted the play and as any good playwright would, is tremendously happy about his masterpiece. However, to his arrant horror everyone present in the great mass of Parisians losses interest in his production when the ambassadors and other dignitaries arrive with the archbishop. Determined to have his piece performed, Gringoire pressures the four actors to continue. Unfortunately, his attempts are vain. Some time afterwards a crowd rallies together and begins the election of the Pope of Fools. The crowd becomes boisterous, even his own actors are drawn to the election. Soon Gringoire is left alone. His hopes and expectations vanquished, the storys playwright departs into the streets as the rest of the city parades its newfound Pope of Fools, the opprobrious, grotesque, Quasimodo. As people of all ages presented their hideous grimaces in hopes of being elected Pope, the notorious hunchback of Notre Dame Cathedral was spotted amongst the assemblage and crowned the most hideous creature on earth. Afterwards, Quasimodo is raised above the crowd and is ridiculed. However, he perceives the crowd is paying homage to his crown. Penniless, without shelter, food and nowhere to turn, Gringoire continues to gape the streets wondering where he will get his next meal and cursing the people of Paris and their Festival of Fools. As he roams, he finds an interesting distraction, that of La Esmeraldas show. The most beautiful of gypsies, this charming, slender young woman was per ceived as a witch and sorceress because of her exotic show and well-trained goat. In actuality La Esmeralda was simply an extremely keen and generous person whose generosity and kindness left everyone she came in contact with entranced. Among the thunderstruck by her charms and resplendent beauty were the newly elected Pope, a distraught poet and a sinister and twisted priest. From atop the shoulders of the masses, Quasimodo has an excellent view of the glowing Esmeralda as she performs her dances. Her astounding beauty immediately attracts Quasimodo. He is awakened from his reverie only when his transport comes to a sudden stop at the orders of a stern and feeble priest. Suddenly the massive Pope lowers from his thrown and hurls his powerful body at the feet of the slender old priest. Astonished by the humility of their Pope, the crowd fails to realize that they have lost their entertainment for the night. Some time afterwards, we find Gringoire following La Esmeralda in hope that he might find some source of support. He is thwarted however when a tall, shadowy figure assaults the gypsy princess; and he is confronted by the powerful fists of Quasimodo. Like all damsels in distress, Esmeralda requires the help of a knight in shining armor, she finds her hero in the form of Captain Phoebus de Chateauprs. Meanwhile, Gringoire continues on his way meeting several beggars. He fails to recognize his location in a very dangerous part of Paris. He is attacked and kidnapped by the same beggars. He is taken to the dreaded Court of Miracles where the blind can see, and the lame run. There he is told that the only escape from death was that he joins them as a member of slang, or a woman can choose to marry him. He fails the tests miserly but is saved when La Esmeralda is touched with pity as the noose is placed around his neck. She offers to marry the

Summary of Unnatural Killers by John Grisham essays

Summary of Unnatural Killers by John Grisham essays In the article Unnatural Killers John talks about two horrific acts of violence. He draws a coalition between a murder in Hernando, Mississippi and one in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, both towns being connected by an interstate. On March 7-8, 1995 Bill Savage and Patsy Byers were both murdered. Although no one knew it at the time, a young man named Benjamin Darras, age eighteen, murdered Bill Savage. However Patsy Byers murder was caught on tape. The young woman was latter identified as Sarah Edmonson age nineteen. The two teens were involved in a relationship together. When they were caught Sarahs lawyers reached an immunity agreement [pg. 359] with the prosecuting attorneys. For here immunity she had to testify against Ben [pg. 359]. In her testimony she recalled the events of and leading up to March 7 and 8. One statement in particular was that they had watched the movie Natural Born Killers before they left on the sixth of March. The movie is about two young people that drive around the southwest part of the country killing people. The movie also portrays that they become famous for these killings and are last seen happily rambling down the highway [pg. 359]. Also in her testimony she speaks of how Ben spoke openly of killing people [pg. 360], and how he was quite anxious to kill someone [pg. 360]. She tells how he shot and killed Bill Savage and pressed her repeatedly to kill someone herself [pg. 360]. She told investigators that he said, the feeling of killing was powerful [pg. 360]. Sarah goes on to tell that she did not want to rob the store [pg. 361], she was made to do it and then made to kill Patsy Byers. John goes on to conclude on one thought, Can fault be shared [pg. 361]? He tells that the two teens had never been mixed up in violence. He blames the movie for making fun of murder an...

5 Slang Words That May Never Be Legit

5 Slang Words That May Never Be Legit 5 Slang Words That May Never Be Legit 5 Slang Words That May Never Be Legit By Mark Nichol OK, like, OMG, I’m totally not bagging on you for tweeting or FBing or blogging these words, but they are so bogus in formal writing. LOL 1. Amirite This trendy favorite of commenters on pop-culture Web sites, meant to suggest a glibly tossed â€Å"Am I right?† I figured that out after initially wondering what the heck uh-mere-uh-tee meant has about as much chance of making it into the dictionary as fuhgeddaboudit. Save it for the fanboys you can do better than that. 2. Craptastic/craptacular These mash-ups of, respectively, crap and fantastic and crap and spectacular first cropped up in snarky online lambasting of overhyped pop-culture phenomena in the 1990s. I chuckled the first couple of times I came across them, but though they are ideal terms for assuming a sarcastic tone, they are best used in moderation and are not, and perhaps will never become, mainstream expressions of derision. Safer alternatives for general publication include absurd, laughable, ludicrous, preposterous, ridiculous, and risible. 3. Genius Out of seemingly nowhere, online correspondents began to use this as a short form of ingenious, as in â€Å"That’s such a genius move.† It has not acquired legitimacy, and in other than jocular usage, you don’t have to be a genius to avoid it. 4. Ginormous This collision of gigantic and enormous, dating from the 1990s, is a vivid term, but it is superfluous, considering that humongous, which also seemed to appear spontaneously in casual usage when it came on the scene in the 1960s, has already acquired a respectability the newer term as yet lacks. Plenty of words meaning â€Å"extremely large† exist: colossal, gargantuan, gigantic, immense, mammoth, massive, monstrous, prodigious, titanic, and vast, for starters. None of them has the neologistic cachet of ginormous, but the latter is for now only suitable in informal writing. 5. A Slang Word That Isn’t The adjective cliche, used in place of cliched, as in â€Å"That’s so cliche,† was originally on this list, until I looked it up and discovered, to my surprise, that it is a legitimate variant. Its sudden recent vogue lured me into thinking it was being misused in an affected manner much like the adjective genius (see above) is. It’s correct, but you’re welcome to use one of many synonyms, like hackneyed or trite. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?Homogeneous vs. HeterogeneousComment, Suggestion, and Feedback

How Influenza A causes Epidemics and Pandemics Essay - 1

How Influenza A causes Epidemics and Pandemics - Essay Example The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic which was the most distressful outbreak of influenza in history and considered as one of the most critical disease pandemics ever experienced came about as a result of H1N1 which is a subtype of influenza A virus (Hays, 2005). During this time the pandemic was known to kill over 25 million people globally (Ricks, 2009; p. 34). This essay will address the antigenic drift and the antigenic shift of the virus and how it has affected people globally. Influenza which is commonly referred to as flu is a contagious disease of mammals and birds which is caused by family orthomyxoviridae and RNA viruses. In human beings the signs and symptoms of the disease range from sore throat, severe headache, coughing, fever to fatigue and weakness (Shors, 2009). In more severe scenarios the influenza leads to pneumonia which can be deadly especially in infants and the elderly (Stanberry, 2008). Whilst at times it might be taken for common cold. There are different types of viruses making it to for the pandemic to be contained easily. Flu viruses regularly vary via a method known as antigenic drift. This is the unsystematic accretion of mutations in the HA and to the least degree NA genes which are detected by the system of immune. It is observable in influenza A viruses (Kurstak, 1990). Just like the normal cases of RNA viruses, mutations in the flu viruses take place often due to the replication machinery of the viruses which lacks a proofreading system. Whenever such variations result into mutations in the sites occupied by the antigens of HA or NA that are responsible for the reduction or inhibition of the bond of neutralizing antibodies, the immune system might be avoided by the viruses (Sompayrac, 2002). This procedure gives an explanation of the incident of serial flu epidemics in the course of winter in climatic zones that have temperate conditions and incident of epidemics of varying relentlessness and age groups affect (Betts, Penn

THE REALCO BREADMASTER & A BUMPY ROAD FOR TOYOTA Research Paper

THE REALCO BREADMASTER & A BUMPY ROAD FOR TOYOTA - Research Paper Example Table of master production schedule The forecasted inventory is ideally low whereas the available to promise figures are sparingly low for the first five weeks compared to the last three weeks. It is clear that Realco overpromised customers in the last three weeks of production. From the evidence, there are no products to supply to meet demand. This will eventually lead to high level of customer dissatisfaction as the customers are disappointed in the long run since their orders are not availed. From my point of view, Realco needs to re-evaluate its projection or the total production figures. This influences customer satisfaction and builds strong thrust between the organization and the customers since customers are not disappointed. In almost all organization customer satisfaction is the key to their success (Boston 102). Business organizations have systems, which enhances, close level of communications targeting customers in order to meet customers’ needs and demands. Customers are satisfied and hence the organization meets or maintains its growth target. This is made possible by establishing a strong relationship through networking as a marketing goal. When customers are satisfied, they would have no option but to remain loyal to the organization since all their demands and need are taken care off. This will eventually ensures the organization has a large customer base and has a bigger market share. As a critical success factor, Realco adheres to the needs of the customers. This can only be achieved by ensuring that target projection meets those of the customers. This will not only increase revenue but also improves customer loyalty. Jack’s focus on order promising is truly ideal and strategic. This is because it ensures that customers are not swayed to pick other products from his competitors. By virtue of giving an allowance of one week, ensures that in case of disruption of the production

Hard rock cafe and chili's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hard rock cafe and chili's - Essay Example According to McCollum (2004, p.36), quality is an essential factor in achieving competitive advantage because organizations delivering good quality are capable of generating satisfied customers. The satisfied customers in return reward the organization with continuous support and positive advertising through the word-of-mouth, which provokes exemplary external performance for the organization (McCollum 2004, p.36). Quality in manufacturing operations involves the processes that combine and transform resources in the production subsystem of an organization into value added products or even services. Therefore, quality ensures the conversion of various inputs to the desired products or services at the required degree of quality. In manufacturing, quality involves conforming to set specifications (Mahadevan 2010, p.249). Therefore, manufacturing process motivates quality manager to establish mechanisms that guarantee attaining the specifications. All components of a manufactured product have specifications and provided that the provisions are met, the quality objectives are also met. Such a definition is essential in manufacturing since it enables management to establish unambiguous instructions for employees in maintain quality. Moreover, quality in manufacturing encompasses the process of attaining the specifications by collecting information from customers regarding a product and their prefere nces before the specifications are set. Also in manufacturing quality is defined in terms of â€Å"fitness to use† because it demands an organization to understand the favoured method for use by customers over a prolonged period. Therefore, to develop an understanding, organizations focus on customer relations, design, and manufacturing processes (Mahadevan 2010, p.249). The main objectives in service operations involve provision of good service to customers

Conclusion on Private Equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conclusion on Private Equity - Essay Example After the buyouts, the private equity firms are able to manage the companies in to making profits, after which they are sold to other investors. The private equity firms do a financial refurbishment of the companies facing a crisis. The Private equity firms also rebuilt the financial structures so that the companies get the ability of becoming productive financially. The major aim of the private equity firms is to make substantial returns to investors and to make their profits from the capsizing companies (Cendrowski, 2011 p89). The Blackstone Group is firm that deals with private equity it is based in America in the New York state. The investment company has got interests in vital businesses across the world. Blackstone is one of the largest firms that deal in a leveraged buyout transactions. They also have an interest to the real estate sector more so the commercial real estate business. The company is able to buyout a failing company, restructure the management of the company, put in a few investors and then they are able to turn around the financial status of the company in remarkably little time. The firm will then take out profits in the form of commissions that are deducted for the management of the company, and they also charge a performance fee that they will use to quantify their profits. The Southern Cross Healthcare is among the top companies that provides healthcare to the United Kingdom community. The Southern Cross have specialized their health care to care for the elderly people and those suffering from mental health in the residential and long term nursing homes. The Southern Cross business is also specialized in offering health care services to people who are suffering from brain injuries, and psychiatric issues. The company owns more than one hundred and sixty homes. Southern Cross was faring well under the management of John Moreton until the buyout of West Private Equity and Health care investments came along. Blackstone acquired Southern C ross by a buyout that was done in 2004 for a tune of ?162 million. They operated more than one hundred and sixty two homes whereby a majority of the homes were leased. Blackstone then put down its management skills on Southern Cross and invested in the company to make it one of the best health care providers in the United Kingdom. They also managed to acquire the Nursing Home Properties which were put under Southern Cross; this increased the portfolio of Southern Cross and made the health care provider become the largest health care provider in the United Kingdom. Later in 2005, Blackstone also acquired the Ashbourne Group which they also included in to the portfolio of Southern Cross. This still increased the financial credibility of Southern Cross, and this was at the same time increasing the quality of the services that they were giving to the people. Blackstone acquired the Ashbourne group with the aim of increasing the quality of services to Southern Cross. So far, the manageme nt methods of Blackstone to Southern were being done correctly, and the company was raking massive profits to investors, and management of the company was also benefiting. Apart from the management and the investors benefiting, the society was getting value for their money in terms of the

Computer Hardware, Systems Software & Networking Essay

Computer Hardware, Systems Software & Networking - Essay Example U) and its associated registers that hold the data that is being operated upon and a memory area referred to as Random access memory (RAM) in which any memory location can be read or written upon. The CPU is capable of differentiating the type of content that is stored in memory i.e. whether they are instructions or data. Schematic presentation of the sequential architecture can be exhibited by the figure on the left. A raster graphic is created by combining many small points of information. An easy way to think of a raster graphic is to picture an image in a comic book that is made up of many small dots of color. Depending on the number of dots, the quality of the picture is determined. The raster graphic arrangement can also be referred to as an arrangement of an array of pixels that combine to display an image. A vector graphic is also a picture but the information is communicated in another way. To use another childish example, a vector graphic is like a dot-to-dot. It uses geometrical primitives such points, lines, curves and shapes or polygons which are all based on mathematical equations to represent images. Thus, it has important points that determine what the picture will look like. In Flash, we create vector graphics when we turn pictures into symbols. Since the computer only has to store the information about the key points in the graphic, the size of these images is much smaller than that of a raster graphic which stores information about each individual point. For conversion to Hexa decimal we have to make groups of 4 digits. For integer portion the orientation is right to left with padded zeros on the left most sides. For fractional portion the orientation of grouping is reversed ie from right to left considering point (.) as origin. The chart is given as reference. 6. Reduced instruction set computers provide a large number of general-purpose registers and very few memory access instructions. Most instructions use registers instead of

The Holocaust Museam Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Holocaust Museam Report - Essay Example The Museum, through static displays, brings history alive by explaining how the Nazi Party inflicted mayhem and cruelty out of sheer feelings of hatred and abhorrence for the Jews. The museum also takes great care to explain that women, elderly, and over one million children were killed in cold blood, in order to take revenge for the alleged support rendered by some European Jews to the enemies of Germany during WWI. It is believed that nearly six million Jews were massacred by different means during these twelve years, and that other cruelties were inflicted upon other racial communities. Between 1941 and 1945, five to six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime, its allies, and its surrogates in Nazi-occupied territories. Yet, despite the extraordinary scale and intensity of this genocide, its prominence in recent decades was far from preordained. Hatred can be overcome only if an honest, non-political approach is used towards those who may be affected or who m ay instigate the violence. Hatred, undeclared violence towards others left unchecked, can lead others to disregard their understanding of their own humanity. To dislike somebody or something is understandable; however, to do so in such an intense manner to somebody or something that evokes feelings of anger, hostility, or animosity, is wrong. To know hatred, there first must be an understanding of what forms of hate can influence our actions and theits effects on history. Once hatred is identified, hopefully through education, solutions can be implemented in ways to intervene and negate such actions. The Jewish Holocaust, a depressing subject, helps to shed light on the darkness of humanity in the modern age. Although other holocausts have occurred throughout history, it is often the victor of such tragedies who writes history. Thus, such tragedies are often relegated through time, and their long-term impact can be eroded. The museum helps to educate and serve as a venue of historie s past. Most individuals have never seen a dead body in person in a non-clinical setting. Imagine witnessing such an atrocity as someone being murdered. Try to comprehend this tragedy and multiply it by six million. This idea, with the use of pictures and the personal accounts displayed in the museum, illustrates this dark chapter of humanity with the use of personal details and artifacts of the Jewish-American immigrants who survived. The efforts by the museum can only help to teach, in a non-partisan way, what has happened and could continue to happen if efforts to stop such tragedies are not undertaken. As the WWII generation can no longer tell their story due to old-age, the Holocaust Museum will speak on their behalf for many years after their voices fall silent. The Holocaust Museum demonstrates the overall history of the solution through the logical sequence of Jewish migration. The museum displays explain that it is not easy to order a fighting soldier to take 25 innocent pr isoners and kill them. Social, political, and religious ideological understandings must be in place to activate such atrocities. Throughout history, evil persuasion has influenced others to act inhumanely. Although such instances are rare and difficult, history has proved that genocide has occurred

Computer Hardware, Systems Software & Networking Essay

Computer Hardware, Systems Software & Networking - Essay Example U) and its associated registers that hold the data that is being operated upon and a memory area referred to as Random access memory (RAM) in which any memory location can be read or written upon. The CPU is capable of differentiating the type of content that is stored in memory i.e. whether they are instructions or data. Schematic presentation of the sequential architecture can be exhibited by the figure on the left. A raster graphic is created by combining many small points of information. An easy way to think of a raster graphic is to picture an image in a comic book that is made up of many small dots of color. Depending on the number of dots, the quality of the picture is determined. The raster graphic arrangement can also be referred to as an arrangement of an array of pixels that combine to display an image. A vector graphic is also a picture but the information is communicated in another way. To use another childish example, a vector graphic is like a dot-to-dot. It uses geometrical primitives such points, lines, curves and shapes or polygons which are all based on mathematical equations to represent images. Thus, it has important points that determine what the picture will look like. In Flash, we create vector graphics when we turn pictures into symbols. Since the computer only has to store the information about the key points in the graphic, the size of these images is much smaller than that of a raster graphic which stores information about each individual point. For conversion to Hexa decimal we have to make groups of 4 digits. For integer portion the orientation is right to left with padded zeros on the left most sides. For fractional portion the orientation of grouping is reversed ie from right to left considering point (.) as origin. The chart is given as reference. 6. Reduced instruction set computers provide a large number of general-purpose registers and very few memory access instructions. Most instructions use registers instead of

Development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Development - Coursework Example At the 1995 women’s conference in Beijing, so many promises were made on gender mainstreaming. The most important one was to get more women into leadership positions in private and public organisations and the government, as well as involve them in scientific and industrial development initiatives. This was to be done to bring about gender equality, not at the expense of men as some people have reported (Fischer, 2012:569). The ultimate goal of gender mainstreaming was to bring gender equality at all levels of private and public sectors. The aim was to enter the millennium with significant progress having been made in terms of putting women in key positions in the society and cultivating and a better understanding of gender mainstreaming and equality among men (Razavi, 2009:146). However, this has not happened. A 2013 research cosponsored by the US department of education and various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) showed that despite the hype and hullabaloo surrounding the topic, men still dominated major positions in the government and the private sector (Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa, 2010:14) In fact, most governments created a front for gender mainstreaming and equality but their underbellies were rife with gender inequality and imbalance. The Obama Administration, for example, has made several attempts to include as many women as possible in its policymaking and leadership positions (Kantola, 2010:54). However, this is what the public and some naà ¯ve NGOs see and think that progress is being made. For example, the study showed that in departments which were headed by women, there were still more male employees working in senior and influential positions that women should have according to gender mainstreaming advocates. In addition, the findings of the study showed that men’s perception of women has still

L. Chinense Growth Conditions and Artificial Pollination

L. Chinense Growth Conditions and Artificial Pollination INTRODUCTION The genus Liriodendron is a distinctive and valuable hardwood that has great ecological and economic values. It grows fast and the wood is light and soft, so it is cultivated in many temperate mountains of the world for wood production [1-4] and it’s recommended for waste landfill remediation [5]. Its a flowering plant with beautiful leaves and hence used for urban landscaping as it provides shading as well. Besides, the tree genus Liriodendron is valued as materials source for honey production, chemical extracts [6-8], biomass and biofuels [9, 10]. The genus Liriodendron survived from the last Ice Age and was distributed in large geographical ranges of North American and East Asian respectively. Currently it comprises only two morphologically similar species, Liriodendron tulipifera L. and Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl.) Sarg. [11]. However L. chinense (Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl.) Sarg.) has been regarded as a rare and endangered plant because it occurs in small, isolated and thinly scattered populations [12]. L. chinense was listed in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Plants in China [13], and has currently been classified as a lower risk or near-threatened species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/). In the process of L. chinense sexual reproduction, the low seed setting percentage is a marked trait. After years of statistics, the setting percentage of L. chinense is not more than 10% in natural state, and it is hard to find the seedling in natural environment [14]. In the last two decades, many researchers have conducted studies, such as examining the relative contribution of the pollen fertility and transfer, availability of resources, flower or seed predation and genetics, to find out why L. chinense only produce few seeds [15-18]. Unfortunately, there has been no consistent conclusion. Pollination, as a key event in reproductive process of plants, especially in rare or endangered plant species like L. chinense that have low seed production, is probably one of the weak links in the reproductive cycle. Any barrier occurring between pollen and stigma interaction will lead to low seed production, however, few studies have focused on the pollination in L. chinense. Zhou and Fan ex amined the pollen quality, pollen germination and growth on stigma using fluorochroma method. The results indicated that in vivo the pollen grains can load on about 64% pistils of the gynoecium, but the rate of pollen tube passing the style is low, only 24% [19]. In addition to few pollen tubes passing the style, the pollen tubes may grow twined or in no direction, suggesting that only a smaller percent of the pollen tubes penetrates the micropyle and enter into ovule [20, 21]. These results show that the interaction between pollen and stigma occurs in different phases after pollen grains loading on stigma, and there are different barriers distributed in stigma surface, style and ovule during pollen tube growth. In self-compatible plants, the pollen-stigma interaction comprises six stages between pollen and pistil: pollen capture and adhesion, pollen hydration, pollen germination, penetration, growth of pollen tube through the stigma and style, pollen tube enter into the ovule and discharge the sperm cells [22]. After the pollen-stigma interaction, the nuclei of two gametes fuse to form the zygote. However, in self-incompatible plants, no matter the barriers occurs in which stage of interaction, there is no formation of a viable zygote. Previous studies in L. chinense showed that many pollen grains germinated on pistils of the gynoecium but few pollen tubes could penetrate the pistil style, and most of the pollen tube couldn’t pass through micropyle and enter into ovule. This phenomenon suggests that there might be other factors affecting pollen-stigma interaction in L. chinense. To verify this hypothesis, we conducted a systematic morphological and proteomic analysis on the pistil of L. chinense during pollination. The result provides new insights in the mechanism underlying sexual reproduction in L. chinense. MATERIALS AND METHODS L. chinense growth conditions and artificial pollination The L. chinense plants was grown in Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the flowering season, which extends from late April to May, the branches with flower buds which were about to open were cut from the tree and cultivated with half-strength Hoagland’s nutrient solution in greenhouse under 14 h light (400-800ÃŽ ¼molm-2s-1) at 26 ±2oC and 10 h darkness at 20 ±2 oC [23]. The relative humidity was maintained at 60-70% [19]. The flower buds with an opening on top and a probability of opening the following day were chosen and the androecium was emasculated at night before pollination. Artificial pollination was done the next afternoon as follow: Mature pollen grains were harvested from open flowers and then were smeared on the pistils without androecium using a soft brush. This artificially pollinated pistil was cut from the flower 30 minutes after pollination and stored in liquid nitrogen. Similarly, the pistil after 1 h pollination was harvested, sto red in liquid nitrogen. The harvested un-pollinated pistil was stored in liquid nitrogen. All three of these samples were named as S2, S3, and S1 respectively and stored in -80 oC freezer. All three treatments (S1, S2, and S3) were repeated five times respectively. Paraffin section Anthers and pistils were fixed in FAA solution containing 5% glacial acetic acid, 5% formaldehyde, 70% ethanol at room temperature for 24 h. After dehydration and infiltration, the samples were embedded in paraffin and cut into 10- µm-thick sections by Rotary Microtome Leica RM2265 (Germany). Then the sections were sealed by neutral balsam and photographed by Olympus-BX51 (Japan). Gel-based proteomics in L. chinense Protein extraction and 2-DE Proteins of pistils were extracted as previously described [24]. Briefly, 0.25-0.3 g of pistils were ground in 2 ml pre-cooled homogenization buffer which contains 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH7.5), 250 mM sucrose, 10mM EGTA, 1% Triton X-100, 1 mM PMSF, and 1 mM DTT. The homogenate was shifted into a centrifugal tube and centrifuged at 12000Ãâ€"g for 30 min at 4 oC. The supernatant was collected in new centrifugal tube and mixed with 3 volumes cold acetone. The tube was kept at -20 oC at least 2 h, and then centrifuged at 12000Ãâ€"g for 30 min at 4 oC, and the precipitate was collected and washed with cold acetone three times. After centrifugation, the pellet was vacuum-dried. The immobilized pH gradient strips (17 cm, pH 4-7 linear, Bio-Rad, USA) were loaded with 350 ÃŽ ¼l sample buffer containing 800 ÃŽ ¼g sample proteins at room temperature in tray for 16 h. Isoelectric focusing was performed with the PROTEAN IEF system (Bio-Rad, USA) for a total 80000 V-hr. Then the strips were equilibrat ed in equilibration buffer I (6 M urea, 2% SDS, 0.375 M Tris-HCl pH 8.8, 20% glycerol, and 130 mM dithiothreitol) for 15 min and equilibration buffer II (6 M urea, 2% SDS, 0.375 M Tris-HCl pH 8.8, 20% glycerol, and 135 mM iodoacetamide) for 15 min sequentially. After equilibration, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was carried out with 12% acrylamide gels. The 2-DE gels were stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250. Image analysis of 2-DE gels The 2-DE gels were scanned at 600 DPI resolutions with an EPSON PERFECTIONTM V700 PHOTO scanner (Epson (china) Co., Ltd.). The images were analyzed with PDQuestTM 2-DE Analysis Software (Version 8.0, Bio-Rad, USA). Spot volumes were normalized by total spot volumes per gel to avoid experimental variations among 2-DE gels. Comparisons and statistical analysis were performed using the calculated average values of each biological replicate among the three different treatments. The protein spots with more than a two fold change among treatments and that passed a Student’s t-test (P Protein identification by MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS The significant differentially expressed spots were excised from the gel manually, and washed with double distilled water twice for 20 min, then distained with 100 ÃŽ ¼l of 50 mM NH4HCO3 in 50% v/v acetonitrile (ACN) for 1 h until the gel is mostly colorless at room temperature. The liquid was removed and 50 ÃŽ ¼l ACN was added to dehydrate the gel. After drying the gel, 25 mM NH4HCO3 containing 10 pmol trypsin (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) was added to the tube and kept at 4 oC for 1 h, and then it was kept at 37 oC overnight. The proteins were then digested according to the method described before [25]. The peptides were extracted and collected using three kinds of solution (0.1% TFA/99.9% acetonitrile, 0.1% TFA/99.9% H2O, 0.1% TFA/50% acetonitrile/49.9% H2O) from gel spot. The peptide solution was concentrated to 10 ÃŽ ¼l, and then desalted by ZipTip C18â„ ¢ pipette tips (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA). After trypsin digestion, the protein peptides were dried by SpeedVac. Then pept ides were dissolved in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, and then 1 ÃŽ ¼l of the sample solution was loaded on Anchor Chip Standard (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany). After the Anchor Chip drying, the matrix solution (20 g/L HCCA, TA 95%) was loaded on point corresponding to the location of the sample to a target spot. Through ultrafleXtreme (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany) Operation, the PMF data was obtained. The instrument parameters for MS acquisition were list as follows: laser intensity was 20%-26%, reflector detector voltage was 2438 V. Protein identification using MS/MS raw data was performed with flexAnalysis software (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany) coupled with Mascot Server software (version 2.4.01) based on the NCBI protein database and SwissPort database of green plants. The searching parameters were set as follows: peptide masses were assumed to be monoisotopic, 100 ppm was used as mass accuracy, a maximum of one missing cleavage site, and modifications which included Carbamidom ethy and Oxidation were considered. (The timestamp of NCBI protein database is 2011/11/09, there were 949,856 sequences of Green Plants and 5,512,397,590 redundant total sequences in NCBI database; the timestamp of SwissPort 57.15, there were 28,783 sequences of Green Plants and 515,203 sequences non-redundant total sequences in SwissPort). The proteins which scores greater than 42 (NCBI) or 26 (SwissPort) (P Gel-free proteomics in L. chinense Protein extraction The protein samples for iTRAQ were recovered in lysis buffer (30 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, and 4% [w/v] CHAPS) by phenol extraction and methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation as described previously [26]. The protein pellets were resuspended in buffer (7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4 % CHAPS and 10 mM DTT) in a minimal volume and protein was quantified using BCA protein assay kit (Pierce, USA). Digestion and iTRAQ labeling About 100 ÃŽ ¼g proteins of each sample per tube were prepared. Then it was reduced by adding DTT to a final concentration of 12 mM and incubated for 1 h at 37 oC. Subsequently, iodoacetamide was added to a final concentration of 50 mM, and the mixture was incubated for 1 h at room temperature in the dark. Then the mixture was transferred to centrifugal units (VN01H02, Sartorius, Germany) and centrifuged at 12,000Ãâ€"g for 20 min, and then the filtrate was discarded. Subsequently, 8 mM urea solution was added into the centrifugal units and centrifuged, repeated this step twice. After that, 100 ÃŽ ¼l dilute buffer (50 mM triethylammonium bicarbonate) was added into the centrifugal units and centrifuged. Then 50 ÃŽ ¼l dilute buffer containing 2 ÃŽ ¼g modified trypsin (Promega) was added into the centrifugal units at 37 oC overnight. The resulting peptides were then labeled with iTRAQ reagents (AB Sciex, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For each time point (i.e ., S1, S2, and S3), each sample was iTRAQ labeled 3 times except S3. (i.e., 113-, 116-, 119-iTRAQ tags for S1 3 replicates. 114-, 117-, 121-iTRAQ tags for S2 3 replicates. 115-, 118- iTRAQ tags for S3 2 replicates.) MS/MS Analysis Then the mixture of labeled peptides was concentrated and acidified to a total volume of 2 mL. Labeled peptides were desalted with C18-solid phase extraction and dissolved in strong cation exchange (SCX) solvent A (25% (v/v) acetonitrile, 10 mM ammonium formate, and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid (pH 2.8). The peptides were fractionated using an Agilent HPLC system 1260 with a polysulfoethylA column (2.1 Ãâ€" 100 mm, 5  µm, 300 Ã…; PolyLC, Columbia, MD, USA). Peptides were eluted with a linear gradient of 0–20% solvent B (25% (v/v) acetonitrile and 500 mM ammonium formate (pH 6.8) over 50 min followed by ramping up to 100% solvent B in 5 min. The absorbance at 280 nm was monitored, and a total of 37 fractions were collected. The fractions were combined into 12 final fractions and lyophilized. A quadrupole time-of-flight (LTQ Orbitrap XL) MS system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany) was applied as described previously [27]. It interfaced with an Eksigentnano-LC AS2 syste m (Eksigent Technologies, LLC, Dublin, CA) using high energy collision dissociation (HCD). Each fraction was loaded onto an Agilent Zorbax 300SB-C18 trap column (0.3 mm id Ãâ€" 5 mm length, 5  µm particle size) with a flow rate of 5  µl/min for 10 min. Reversed-phase C18chromatographic separation of peptides was carried out on a pre-packed BetaBasic C18PicoFrit column (75  µm id Ãâ€" 10 cm length, New Objective, Woburn, MA) at 300 nl/min using the following gradient: 5% B for 1 min as an equilibration status; 60% B for 99 min as a gradient; 90% B for 5 min as a washing status; 5% B for 10 min as an equilibration status (solvent A: 0.1% formic acid in 97% water, 3% ACN; solvent B: 0.1% formic acid in 97% ACN, 3% water). Database Search and Quantification The MS/MS data were processed by a thorough search considering biological modification and amino acid substitution against non-redundant NCBI green plants 20131014.fasta (1,544,439 contigs) under the Sequest ®algorithm of Proteome Discoverer.1.4 software (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.). Protein function analysis by blast2go software (http://www.blast2go.com/b2ghome) was conducted according to the early literature [28-31]. The search results were passed through additional filters before exporting the data. For protein identification, the filters were set as follows: significance threshold Phttp://mascot-pc/mascot/help/quant_config_help.html); S2/S1 or S3/S1 ratios >2 and

History of the Internet :: Computer Network

A Free Net The Internet has revolutionized the communication world in unprecedented ways. It allows worldwide broadcasting, global distribution of information, and it is a medium for the interaction and communication of individuals without regard for geographic location. Thirty years ago, America?s principal Cold War think-tank, the RAND Corporation, faced a strategic dilemma: how could the United States authorities successfully communicate after a nuclear war? The solution was a network of individual nodes, computer units that would send and receive information in a random manner. If one area of nodes were destroyed the message would bounce between the others. After the Cold War ended, and the threat of nuclear war subsided, the potential for this ?internet? was realized. Of course, in the beginning, it was small and difficult to make use of, but as more corporations and different social groups began to possess powerful computers, the network grew and became more useful. As with the growth of fax machines in the early 1990?s, the Internet was only practical if someone else had one to communicate with. Today, the Internet has moved out of its original base in the military and research institutions and into schools and learning centers, public libraries and commercial sectors. It is now a vast system of millions of computers, not only corporate and military, but personal as well. The Internet can be used for the purpose of gathering information and communicating. The Internet enables users to surpass the distance barrier and Page 2 communicate with anyone on the face of the planet, provided that they have access to a computer. According to recent research, the world?s Internet population is only expanding. By the year 2002, it is estimated that 490 million people will have Internet access. At the end of this year, the United States will have 135.7 million users - that?s 36.2% of the total world users (CyberAtlas). Lately there has been another addition to the usefulness of the Internet, the sales of products and services. These transactions are known as e-commerce, the ?e? standing for electronic. In 1998 a three-year moratorium banned the taxing of Internet use and on- line spending. Currently, a new law is looking to extend this ban another five years. There are currently 7,500 state and local tax systems throughout the United States. These numbers could be significantly increased if state and local governments were able to tax e-commerce. On-line businesses would be buried in costly paperwork trying to meet the terms of conflicting tax clauses. Under the current system, it is difficult to determine the locality from which an order was placed and it is unclear where an Internet

Online communites :: Technology Internet Computers Papers

Online communites The advance in technology during the past decade has made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another. Online communities consist of groups of people communicating to one another through the use of a computer. A number of online communities exist, anywhere from Jewish teen groups to Ultima Online, a communication game in where thousands of people may play at any given time. Groups ranging in size from a few people to thousands or even millions of people are forming communities in cyberspace. Online communities are a great way for people to communicate to one another. People have the potential to learn leadership, communication patterns, group boundaries, cohesion, alliances and subgroupings. Online groups are quite different than in-person groups. The fact that communication is through the use of text only, hiding or altering ones identity, and equalization of status are all unique benefits to joining an online community. Children with learning or develo pmental disabilities are areas of extraordinary interest. I currently teach a first through third grade class for the learning disabled at a local elementary school. Recently, a six year-old boy who has Autism has been enrolled in my class. His mother has been struggling, and has had much difficulty in raising him on her own as a single mother. Because Julian has recently been diagnosed, his mother is confused, and needs much support from her sons school and the surrounding community in which she lives. The tears of sadness in which poured from Juians mothers eyes, is what led me to want to dedicate my time as a teacher, joining support groups and chatrooms, to gather all of the resources I can to help Julian and his mother. My search will include participating in conversations with parents who have children with disabilities and other people in the community who might be able to provide some information and advice as well as various resources to, hopefully create a positive change in Julians life. Autism is a disorder in which I do not have an abundance of experience with. My knowledge of autism is unique to each child, and that brain scans will show up abnormal, where the chemicals in their brains will appear to be different than that of a healthy child. I am also aware that children with Autism have many behaviors that may be exhibited, such as repetitive behaviors where a child may repeatedly touch his or her head or different parts of the body.

Introduction speech

My name is Sally and I'm a full-time student in Aviation Management & Services. It is an honor to stand here today, representing the class of 2014. First of all, congratulates to all fellow graduates for our success in TAP. The three years of hard work have finally paid off and now, we are ready to embark on a new chapter In our lives. How many of you still remember your very first day when you step Into the campus? Do you feel lost? Do you still remember when was the first occasion when you talked to that someone who is presently your closest friend? I believe many of you do encounter the problem of heart racing when you couldn't find your classroom on your first week of school and was still struggling to try to get used to the new people and new environment around you. However, this tough period has past and in a blink of an eye, we have all got closer with our classmates and have together created tons of wonderful memories during these three years. I guess what I will miss most af ter graduation will be the times here I had to rush for project deadlines with my group mates. It was almost every week that we had to stay back after school and also, spending countless sleepless nights to complete the projects.Indeed, it was a stressful period of time, but it trains us to work as a team and the sense of achievement and satisfaction after submitting a project that was well done is really indescribable. 4 Our time in TAP has been truly a great experience. The significant milestones that we had made were truly memorable. Recall back to the first orientation camp that we .NET to, our first presentation inferno of the class and our final year internship and major project has really shaped us to who we are today.A wise man once said that a journey Is best measured In smiles, rather than miles. I believe I wouldn't be what I am currently without the advice and support of many of the people here today. On behalf of Class of 2014, I would like to take this opportunity to t hank all the lecturers, tutors, family and friends who have supported us throughout the previous three 5 As we move on to the next phase of our lives, remember that graduation arks the end of one entryway and the opening of another.The future may be uncertain and surprise us, but here's some advice from Harvey McKay. He said: ‘ Find something you love to do, and you will never work a day in your life. † That is pretty much(virtually) what TAP taught me as well, ‘ Love what you do, and you will be doing what you love. ‘ As we spread our wings to take off higher, let's all remember that we have come this far through hardwood, cooperation and discipline. Thank you ladies and gentlemen and to my fellow graduates, Happy Graduation!

Is deception ever justified

Deception is sometimes justified. People shouldn't be satisfied with themselves sees when they play this card every time they can, but it is true that sometimes it is require red. It shouldn't be used following a mean purpose as human ethic dictates; Actually it dictate s that lies shouldn't even exist in our thoughts. However people deceive, ignoring with t hat action this principle. The best relationships are based in always telling the truth.That can get us star Eng ointment towards friends or causes, so strong that we would be willing to lie to protect them. Lying in order to cover a friend or an important cause is often consider De as a good action depending on the scenario. Jose Marti, the most remarkable character I n Cuban History, once said that there are some things that in order to realize them you have to keep them in the shadows. Moreover, probably he had to lie one or two times to ca err on with the Cuban revolution after all, but no one would dare to say that he was a mean an just because of that.The feeling of guiltiness when you lie must not be lost. If that happen You'll g et used to the shortcuts that a lie can provide, and therefore become ‘addict' to it. Yes, lying deliberately can get those who don't know when it's better to say the truth in a hole eve hard to come out . Like a friend I have that is always customizing his stories making g them so glorious that seem out of this world. At the end we always discover that those stories are lies, ND he is trying to make us think that he is amazing. Ultimately we just stoop De believing what he said; whether it is true or not. Now, it is so hard to trust in whatever came out of his mouth. There is the difference between using deception because it's necessary and f or a major good, or because you like it. I would like to believe that will always tell the true the, unless there is a life or death matter on the table that requires me to lie, of course.

Internet Piracy

Internet Piracy has become a worldwide phenomenon. In the U. S. alone more than 100 songs are downloaded every minute. With this growing problem, 3 main groups suffer. The recording artist suffers financially, the RIAA (The Recording Association of America) also suffers financially and finally the downloader suffers if caught. This catch 22 tool has been a thorn in the side of technology since its introduction in 1999. Since then, downloading- or peer-2-peer sharing- has become one of the worst acts of technology affecting the world at large. Since the introduction of Napster back in the year 2000, many more P2P sharing networks have been invented to keep the illegal industry alive that left the RIAA in a fix. However, in the light of such programs there has also been uproar of other legal P2P programs that offer the same speed for a price. Many people don’t believe in paying a price to get their music. The RIAA, which collectively represents every major and minor artist out in the market right now has been slapped with programs taking profits from the artist as well as the industry it self. In an effort to control pirating, the RIAA, according to an article in Information Week, the RIAA has been trying to pressure people to stop downloading by sending out more than â€Å"†¦400 letters to 13 U. S. universities advising of potential copyright infringement lawsuits against students†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Adegoke. 2007. ) The issue here is though, the letters are just half the solution. What happens to the finances of the artist. Times have changed and unlike back in the time of a young Michael Jackson, artists don’t make their money in music sales. It used to be- before the threat of P2P networks- that records were being certified 8 and 10 times platinum because of sales. Now a days artists like Mariah Carey, who had a 2005 comeback debut with the Emancipation of Mimi, make the majority of their profits with the sale of tickets for concerts. Mariah Carey who experienced international success with the album went on to get a certification of three times platinum with in just two months of release. (Billboard. 2007. ) This certification however doesn’t take into consideration the number of downloads that were happening before the release up to the date of certification. As the RIAA cracks down on scaring people to get their act together and to purchase songs legally, other programs like iTunes, the operating program behind the ipod and also one of the main (legal) online music providers in the world, has provided an inexpensive way to legally get songs from an internet based program with out all the repercussions of dealing with the RIAA. Although it’s more common now to use iTunes as a music staple, there are people who despite the legality and popularity of the program prefer and advertise the use of the compact disc in its entirety. In An article by Valerie Block of Craines New York Business, she states that’s she wasn’t into the free and dangerous downloading websites and programs (Block. 2007. ) But as iTunes became so popular, she enjoyed the ease of â€Å"†¦Buying singles for 99 cents and albums for 10 bucks. † Like Block, many consumers don’t enjoy forking over almost twenty dollars for a disc of material when in fact all they want is one song. Doug Morris, who is the head of Universal Music Group, wants to- as said by Block- â€Å"weaken the four-year-old e-tailer's (iTunes’) grip on digital music sales. (Block. 2007. ) Just as there are people who have a fond opinion about downloading music for free, there are also people who believe that programs like iTunes are taking away the meaning of the entire piece of material by just downloading single tracks. Personally, as someone who has been downloading music from both iTunes and Ares Pro, I fail to see why it would af fect the artist in such a manner. To my knowledge, all the artist cares about is the opportunity for their fans to enjoy their material and also to be able to make a profit from it. Block, who is an avid iTunes downloader states that rapper turned business mogul Jay-Z has refused to put his latest work in the iTunes store. (Block. 2007. ) The rapper who just released a theme C. D. called American Gangster based on the theme of the movie featuring Denzel Washington, stated in the article, â€Å"his album should be purchased in its entirety, like, say, a Picasso†. (qtd. in Block. ) The issue of downloading programs legality has- in my opinion- been blown way out of proportion in many ways. These efforts don’t do anything for the artists, as they are depriving the consumers a chance to enjoy the material that the artist have worked hard for them to enjoy. Besides, who is the recording industry kidding, no matter the amount of downloads that go on in a day, artists still make money. Between every time a song is played on the radio, played as an advertisement stunt in the next Pantene commercial, modeling gigs and appearances and other business endorsements they are making more money than many people. Further more, the RIAA only seems to be irecting their line of downloading prejudice to the programs that are in the front, both neglecting the less popular programs such as Bear Share and online forums that offer both tracks off the latest compact discs as well as the disc in its entirety. As a challenge to the RIAA and artists like Jay-Z, a change in pricy pieces of material should be looked into to avoid both the issue of legality in downloading as well as the issu e of finances amongst the artists. Works cited Arney, Juliane. â€Å"Become a music master: here's what you need to know about downloading music for the internet. IDEA Health & Fitness Source 22. 5 (May 2004): 63(3). Academic OneFile. Gale. Albertus Magnus College. 5 Dec. 2007 . Crawford, Kate. â€Å"Adaptation: tracking the ecologies of music and peer-to-peer networks. † Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy 114 (Feb 2005): 30(10). Academic OneFile. Gale. Albertus Magnus College. 5 Dec. 2007 . Siegfried, Robert M. â€Å"Student Attitudes on Software Piracy and Related Issues of Computer Ethics. (Author abstract). † Ethics and Information Technology 6. 4 (Dec 2004): 215(8). Academic OneFile. Gale. Albertus Magnus College. Dec. 2007 . Smiles, Robin V. â€Å"Technology's pros and cons. † Black Issues in Higher Education 21. 2 (March 11, 2004): 4(1). Academic OneFile. Gale. Albertus Magnus College. 5 Dec. 2007 http://find. galegroup. com/i tx/retrieve. do? contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C11%29downloading%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D%28TX%2CNone%2C18%29downloading+music+%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T002&prodId=AONE&searchId=R2¤tPosition=41&userGroupName=27001&docId=A114697869&docType=IAC

Program Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Program Theory - Essay Example Funnell and Rogers (2011, 58) stated that an effective social policy/ program needs to be able to overcome constraints arising from institutions, human resource, finance, and even politics that might be involved. In developing a social policy/ program, Funnell and Rogers (2011, 75-77) further noted that a theory is usually developed around the policy/ program, and it presents a feasible and plausible plan for improving the underlying social problem; this theory is usually known as the program theory. This present paper will focus on a social problem and the social program theory that has been proposed as a likely remedy to the social problem. More in particular, the paper will discuss the social problem that needs to be fixed, the solution that has been proposed to fix the problem, the likely outcomes after fixing the social problem, and how one can tell whether this social program has been fixed or not. The social problem The social problem that this present study proposes to fix is unemployment among graduate students. The root of this problem can be traced back to the economic recession that hit the United States in the period of 2008 to 2010, resulting into many job losses (Rushe, 2013). Moreover, in the run up to the last Presidential elections in the United States, the candidates were put to task on the social policies/ programs that they will implement to solve this problem, which has far-reaching detrimental consequences if it remains unresolved. Rushe (2013) stated that so far the Obama administration has been able to reduced the unemployment rate in the country because in the month of August, the rate of unemployment had decreased to 7.30%, which was an improvement compared to the previous rate that stood at 7.40% (Rushe, 2013). However, it is of essence to note that this rate is still quite high considering that the average rate of unemployment in the U.S was only 5.82% in the period of 1948 to 2013, and 1953 marked a record low of 2.5% while 1982 ma rked a record high of 10.82% (Rushe, 2013). Therefore, there is still a dire need of creating more jobs in order to absorb the unemployed, and even resolve some of the vices that are associated with unemployment within the society. According to Rushe (2013), this social problem is relevant in justifying the development of a new policy because creating more jobs will improve the living standards for American citizens, it will reduce the social crimes attributed to unemployment, and it will contribute to economic growth for the country. The program theory In relation to the social problem that has been identified above, this present study, proposed a program theory that reads as follows; â€Å"employed an engineering student is USA.† This theory acknowledges the social need that graduates need to find gainful employment in order up lift their living standard and make worthwhile contribution to the economic development of the country. The input that is under this program theory is for America to nurture more engineering students. Therefore, the output of this program is that the more engineers the U.S has the less the country will experience issues of unemployment. The impact of the program theory is increased rate of employment and the long-term goal is improved living standards for Americans and even improved economic development. The program theory is based on the premise that the engineering profession and in particular science and engineering has led to the creation of new

Shouldice Hopsital Limited Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Shouldice Hopsital Limited - Research Paper Example The bed capacity later increased from 36 to 89. Dr. Shouldice died in 1965, and the facility was taken over by Dr. Nicholas Obney. Dr. Obney became the chairman and the surgeon-in-chief of the institution. Under the leadership of Dr. Obney the hospital started to operate both hospital facilities and clinical facilities. The hospital generally follows the business model of focus on a single standardized service (James & Mona, 2006). This enables the hospital to have a narrow target of clients. Quick, convenient, and reliable cure for external types of abdominal hernias is the main operation line for the hospital. The institution uses its own technique of enabling a relatively short period of recovering after undergoing an operation (James & Mona, 2006). This technique is called the Shouldice method. The basis of this technique was the incorporation of operative and posts operative processes, for instance, using local anesthetics, the nature of the operation process, the design of a fa cility to enable comfortable movement, and design and communication of the regimen by the medical staff. This communication enabled early ambulation. This whole process has cut down number of days a patient would stay in hospital. To the patients this was the most affordable option (James & Mona, 2006). ... More than 300,000 patients have been operated by the surgeons at the hospital. The success rate of operation at the hospital has been more than 99%. Operations of primary inguinal indirect hernia by the surgeons at the hospital are almost 100% (Heskett, 1987). Experience of the Doctors The hospital boosts of twelve surgeons who work on a full time basis. There are eight assistant surgeons working on a part time basis. The operations are carried in teams (Heskett, 2009). Each operation team comprises of four members. These are a senior surgeon, an assistant surgeon, a scrub nurse, and a circulating nurse. Experience of the nurses According to Heskett (2009), total of thirty four nurses are usually on duty at the hospital in a period of 24 hours. The number of nurses available in the facilities during the periods when no operation is in progress is six. These usually carry out counseling to the patients. Work distribution The number of operations carried out in a single day ranges betw een thirty patients to thirty-six patients (Heskett, 2009). The number of patients that a surgeon can operate in a day is three or four at most. A surgeon on day shift ends his or her day at 4 p.m. Hospital facilities The institution operates two facilities namely hospital and clinic in one building. The compound at the institution is divided into three levels. Level one comprises of the kitchen facilities and the dining room. The second level is composed of lounge area, an office for admission, and rooms for patients. The third level in the compound consists of additional rooms for patients and recreational areas (Heskett, 1987). How the hospital operates. The facility deals with two kinds of patients. These are local patients and patients coming from

The Financial and Economic Environment of a US website business Essay

The Financial and Economic Environment of a US website business targeting South African students - Essay Example The services provided are universities/colleges details with their respective courses, course details, and online resources, career counseling through emails, telephone and online-conferencing, and student visa assistance. Price: The price charged from the students is based on the type of membership. There are two types of membership- Basic and Premium. The services for the Premium members are in addition to the services which Basic members will avail. The membership fee is US$30 for Basic members and US$50 for Premium members on annual basis. Place: The customer will be able to subscribe and pay online. According to the membership, the customer will be provided with a login id and password from which it can access the services offered to him/her. Promotion: As this is an online service, the target group of customers can be reached out through advertising in career magazines, local newspapers, online via social networking sites, and promotional campaigns setup in the schools and coll eges campus. Financial & Economic Environment South Africa has a well-developed financial and legal environment with its stock exchange the world’s 18th largest exchange, ranked 17th with market value $1.013 trillion in 2010. It is one the most advanced developing countries on African continent. It is a middle-income economy with abundant natural resources. The country’s former fiscal policy was conservative mainly focused on controlling inflation and reducing budget deficit. The policies still exist but the recent global recession has put pressure to provide with the basic services to poorer sections and provide for employment guarantees. The unemployment stands at 25% which is high as compared to other economies such as US and UK which are at 107... The paper tells that South Africa has a well-developed financial and legal environment with its stock exchange the world’s 18th largest exchange, ranked 17th with market value $1.013 trillion in 2010. It is one the most advanced developing countries on African continent. It is a middle-income economy with abundant natural resources. The country’s former fiscal policy was conservative mainly focused on controlling inflation and reducing budget deficit. The policies still exist but the recent global recession has put pressure to provide with the basic services to poorer sections and provide for employment guarantees. The unemployment stands at 25% which is high as compared to other economies such as US and UK which are at 107 and 87 respectively. In 2000 population below poverty lines was 50%. South Africa is ranked 30th in terms of Foreign Direct investment at home. South Africa’s main trading partners include China, Germany US, Japan and UK. The country was the h ost for 2010 FIFA World Cup which boosted its business revenues and infrastructure. USA is the market-oriented economy with the most advanced technology. In many previous years the country has been the net importer of the goods and services being the number 1 importer in the world and ranked 4th in exports. Its population below poverty line stands at 15.1% and unemployment rate at 9.6% in 2010. The country is also the largest consumer of oil. The US and South Africa signed a $120 million investment fund protocol under OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) in 1996 for equity investments in South Africa.

Relationship Marketing Individual Assignment Essay

Relationship Marketing Individual Assignment - Essay Example For many theorists, relationship marketing appears to be a new concept, but a few others have been keen to identify that relationship marketing has always existed as a critical part of many traditional marketing theories. The main objective of adopting the relationship marketing is to ensure that an organization has a well-established and long-term relationship with its stakeholders. Most importantly, organizations focus on the most critical stakeholders who are the customers. This is because a business cannot exist without customers who are the consumers of the products and services the business provides. With the global business front becoming highly competitive, there is a salient need for businesses to adopt the relationship marketing as one of the outstanding strategies of maintaining the customer loyalty. Traditional marketing theories focus on convincing customers for the first time. On the contrary, relationship marketing intents to maintain an esteemed relationship between the customer and the business. The Starbucks Company has exhibited its commitment to using relationship marketing in an effort to develop meaningful relationships with different stakeholders. This explains why the company prides itself with a remarkable number of loyal customers. This paper will focus on describing the theoretical frameworks that define relationship marketing and how the Starbucks Company has been applying these theoretical concepts in an effort to develop meaningful relationships with stakeholders. The Starbucks Company began as a small coffee house in Seattle in 1971. However, over the decades, Starbucks Company has risen to become a giant coffee company exerting its impact across the globe. The company has received recognition as a leading company and has appeared in the top 100 Forbes companies several times (Angrisani 2013, p. 12). Over the years, Starbucks Company has