East and West in Antony and Cleopatra Essay

Shakespeare used as his source for the play North’s translation of Plutarch’s ‘Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans.’ Plutarch, along with other Greek and Roman authors, saw an opposition between the conquering West, standing for moral and political virtue, and the conquered East, representing luxury and decadence.  Do you agree that this is essentially how Shakespeare presents the opposition between East and West in ‘Antony and Cleopatra?’ ‘Rome’ and ‘Egypt’ have significance far beyond physical locations; they symbolize two oppositional value systems essential within both society and the psyche. The world of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ is riddled with polarised opposites, such as civilisation and nature, public and private, and, perhaps most importantly, passion and honour.  The inability of the East and West to reconcile their values inevitably causes conflict, forcing Antony, the tragic protagonist, to choose between the spheres. In suicide, he transcends the limitations the world thrusts upon him; joined later by Cleopatra, who finally discovers the significance of Western values, in a triumphant death. The notion of either sphere having moral superiority to the other is moot; Shakespeare passes no concrete judgement, and no simple platitude of ‘good and evil’ could suffice to explain the complex behaviour of the principal characters.  Neither Egypt nor Rome seems to be truly virtuous, despite the moralising of the Roman characters. In Rome the traditional system of honour is rapidly being subjugated beneath Caesar’s cold quest for individual supremacy. Loyalty now belongs only to the winner, and individuals such as Lepidus and Pompey are sacrificed in the imperialistic drive of Octavius. A certain misogyny is Rome, with women denounced as ‘whores,’ and the harsh treatment that Cleopatra would have faced as a captive indicates the presence of violence in the Roman psyche. Nor is Egypt an ideal of purity. A society ‘wrinkled deep in time’, its preoccupation with emotion leads it to recklessness (such as when Cleopatra flees the Battle of Actium). Theatrical and dramatic, the lifestyle at court is extremely decadent, often approaching vulgarity. Cleopatra is cosseted by her courtiers, and encouraged towards vanity, narcissism, pettiness and self-indulgence,  The notion of a duality is more important than the probity of either force; by being opposites, ‘East’ and ‘West’ become inextricable. Without ‘East’ there would be no concept of ‘West,’ and vice versa, and this pattern is applicable to all the converses that the antithetical spheres represent. Both are equally important in the development of full humanity – the values that ‘West’ and ‘East’ represent should be in harmony within both society and the human psyche. In ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ they seem to be inherently conflicted, and the subsequent polarisation causes the demise of the lovers, which allows them to, paradoxically, conquer the hearts of a world that has tried to conquer and restrict them. The structure of the play serves to highlight the antithesis, with frequent changes between the machinations of Rome and the hyperbole of Cleopatra’s court emphasizing both the opposition of the value systems and the effect that exposure to both has upon Antony.

Promotional mix Essay

Element of the promotional mix for innocent smoothies may include this such as: Advertising is used to communicate with the public about their products and services, this can be expensive and businesses must ensure that they spend their advertising budget carefully methods include: moving image, print, ambient such as advertising on buses, digital and audio. Sales promotion is used to encourage customers to purchase your products or for distribution channels to stock your goods . methods are: price promotion (discounts), coupons, competitions, money refunds, loyalty incentives. Personal selling is when a representative of the company interacts directly with a potential customer using skills called closing a sale. Methods are: face to face, telephone, email, and video or web conferencing. Public relations are activities a business carries out to place information in the media without paying for it directly activities might include: exhibitions, sponsorship and press relations Direct marketing is when a business communicates directly with a customer, establishing an individual relationship between the business and the customer, methods are: direct mail, mail order catalogue, magazines and telemarketing. Advertising is used by innocent most effectively than other methods of the promotional mix, methods of advertising they use is they have links with popular children’s websites such as ‘club penguin’ , Innocent also put adverts on the TV. Another method of advertising Innocent use is that they sell magnets along with their smoothies this is effective as it appeals to their target audience. Innocent use advertising most effectively out of the promotional mix as they appeal to their target audience. Innocent use advertising as they are a new company who need recognition so their TV adverts are memorable and funny and they show their personality this links to matching their target audience well with how they advertise. Innocent use sales promotion effectively as they have used promotions such as the free magnets ad club penguin deals, as if they are linked with things such as club penguin people who use club penguin will be more likely to buy their pouts as I benefits them and linking with a big business like Disney which runs club penguin means that it helps appeal to more of their target audience, while giving them a better image and giving them a funnier personality. The innocent website ad Facebook page work effectively with their sales promotion as it uses fun ad games to promote their products while appealing to their audience at the same time. Innocent also use other methods of the promotional mix such as public relations. Innocent use this to get more sales for example inviting the press to a release of a new product so that they report about it and notify the public this will then help increase their audience ad gain more customers. The press an affect the sales a business makes as if they give a bad review and the company gets bad press they will lose customers instead of gaining them. This is effective because customers can get an unbiased opinion of the products, however it is a risky element of the promotional mix as the product/ company might get a bad review and loose customers but if the public like the product then it will gain sales. Elements of the promotional mix that innocent do not use: Things such as direct marketing and personal selling are not used as effectively by innocent because they sell straight to the store such as Tesco or a wholesaler because it keeps their products staying fresher, they will sell more as they will become more reliable as they are always in the shops unlike Avon which you have to wait weeks until you get your product and chose your products and thy well have a wider customer base, this is why they use advertising so effectively as It continues to get their items bought from the wholesaler. An example of personal selling is a car salesperson persuading you to buy a car, innocent do not use this as it would not be worth it, as they would have to pay for a person to sell the products and they would have to sell a lot before they make a large profit. A person would also have to walk around all day with the produce in the heat which can affect the produce. Innocent don’t use direct marketing as they sell their goods to big supermarkets and they don’t have to sell to the customers so it’s up to the supermarket to tell the customer about the products and deals etc. The promotional mix is used well by innocent as their adverts help get them customers and raise awareness of their brand, and appeal to their target audience. Innocent don’t use direct marketing or persona selling as they don’t sell to the customers personally they sell it to supermarkets instead or the wholesaler. Once they have sold their products to the wholesaler or  supermarkets they no longer will have to sell their produce however they do have to still advertise as they need the customers to want to buy their products from the supermarkets etc. so then the supermarket will continue to stock their brand. They use the distribution channels the way they do to make sure their products stay fresh for the customer and they are kept in good condition and by selling to supermarkets before the customer it will help show their brand to a wider audience and help increase awareness of their brand. The promotional mix used by innocent is appropriate because it has worked and their business is expanding and getting larger, they also have a reliable customer base in England which will help them if they decide to sell in America. This is because they have advertised their business a lot and because of their uses of advertising this means they have a wider audience which ranges from children to adults and any gender.

The Proteinuria In Childhood Health And Social Care Essay

Proteins are a major constituent of all our organic structure parts, including musculuss, castanetss, hair, and nails. Proteins that circulate in our blood stream besides carry out a figure of of import maps. They help to keep our organic structure maps such as protecting from infection, blood curdling and maintaining the right sum of fluid go arounding around our organic structures, so it is indispensable to keep the right degrees of proteins in our organic structures because of that albuminuria should go a disease which we should pay much attending. The prevalence of stray albuminuria ( symptomless albuminuria ) detected by everyday uranalysis of kids who aged 7-15 old ages were shown to be approximately 10 % although this decreases to 0.1 per centum at repeated testing ( 1 ) . A survey numbering mass showing of school-aged kids in Asia revealed similar findings. The happening increases with age, extremums during adolescence, and is higher in misss. The of import thing is distinction the kid who has proteinuria associated to nephritic diseases, if non healthy kid with transient or benign status of albuminuria. Research shows that type and the degree of albuminuria is a good index of the grade of kidney harm and an earlier warning of developing progressive kidney disease. I hope to discourse about the pathophysiology, etiology, measurings, mark and symptoms, direction and new clinical probes sing albuminuria.What is albuminuria ( in kids ) ?Albuminurias means presence of proteins in inordinate sum, transcending their normal scope in piss. The undermentioned chart shows normal scope of protein elimination harmonizing to the age preferring their organic structure size. Children have somewhat higher usual rate of protein elimination than grownups. Age group Entire protein ( mg per 24 hours ) Entire protein ( mg per M2 per 24 hours ) 95 per centum assurance bounds ( mg per M2 per 24 hours ) 5 to 30 twenty-four hours ( premature ) 29 182 88 to 377 7 to 30 yearss ( full term ) 32 145 68 to 309 2 to 12 months ( baby ) 38 109 48 to 244 2 to 4 old ages ( kid ) 49 91 37 to 223 4 to 10 old ages 71 85 31 to 234 10 to 16 old ages 83 63 22 to 181 Physiologically most healthy kids excrete little sums of protein in their piss. Newborn babies shows highest sum of protein elimination, when corrected for organic structure surface country. Then it decreases with the age until late adolescence. Urinary proteins consist of many of import proteins such as albumen, other plasma proteins, proteins arising in the kidney and urinary piece of land, and chiefly Tamm-Horsfall protein ( uromodulin ) . The normal mention scope of childhood albuminuria is 100mg/m3/day.Mechanism of albuminuria in kidsIn the kidney, fluid that resembles plasma is filtrated from the glomerular capillaries into the nephritic tubules which called as glomerular filtration. This glomerular barrier consists of three beds. They are, Capillary endothelium The cellar membrane Specialized epithelial tissue of the capsule which is made up of Podocytes. In the healthy persons, negligible protein sum is filtrated because of both size selectivity and the charge. Filtration barrier contains negatively charged proteins named sialoproteins and proteoglycans such as heparan sulphate. So this barrier can drive the negatively charged proteins. Fixed collagen net within cellar membrane, podocytes with their interdigitating processes serve as successful size barrier. Low molecular weight proteins can be filtrated by the glomerulus and absorbed by proximal nephritic tubules. Some of them are microglobulin, ? microglobulin, vitamin A1 adhering protein like insulin ( 3, 4 ) . Most of the protein in urine comes from caducous cannular cells ( 5 ) . We can categorise albuminurias harmonizing to mechanism of albuminuria under three headers. They are glomerular albuminurias, cannular albuminuria, secretory albuminuria. Glomerular albuminuria Glomerular albuminuria is caused by increasing permeableness of capillary endothelium. This may run from & A ; lt ; 1g to & A ; gt ; 30g/24hr ( 1 ) . This can be categorized into selective and nonselective glomerular albuminuria. In selective glomerular albuminurias low molecular weight plasma proteins can be loss, together with albumen. In non selective glomerular albuminuria, proteins with big molecular weight such as IgG can be loss. Mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis, amylodosis, segmental glomeruloclerosis, membranous kidney disease are some of the upset characters of glomerular albuminuria. Acute and chronic glomerulonephritis can be due to damage glomerular cellar membrane, increasing the permeableness for plasma proteins. In inborn or minimum nephrotic syndrome, diminishing anionic charge of glomerular cellar membrane can do to loss of albumen. In recent yesteryear, patients who have proteinuria with reduced nephritic mass besides can be found in a great trade of attention-grabbing. Experiments sing this reveal that staying uriniferous tubules are affecting in hyperfiltration taking to progressive glomeruloclerosis ( 7 ) . Glomerular albuminuria should be suspected by first forenoon urine protein/creatinine ratio & A ; gt ; 1.0 or albuminurias with any degree, together with hydrops, high blood pressure, nephritic disfunction and haematuria. Tubular albuminuria In healthy people great sum of proteins which has low molecular weight than albumens such as ?2 microglobulin, Ig visible radiation ironss, retinal binding protein and amino acids are filtrated and later reabsorbed by the proximal tubules ( 8 ) . In tubulointerstitial diseases, these filtered protein are lost in the piss due to a defect in cannular epithelial. Tubular albuminuria can be inherited or acquired upset may be with glycosuria, aminoaciduria and phosphaturia. The relatively high protein elimination can be observed in newborns represents cannular albuminurias owing to immatureness of their nephritic map. Glomerular albuminuria and cannular albuminurias can be distinguished by cataphoresis of the protein sample. Not like the glomerular albuminuria in cannular albuminurias really small sum of albumen can be detected. Secretory albuminuria Secretory albuminuria is owing to oversecretion of tissue proteins in the tubules, particularly oversecretion of Tamm-Horsfall protein from the epithelial cell of the cringle in Henle. Tamm- Horsfall protein has been shown to leak into the inerstium inexperimental reflux kidney disease, clogging uropathy and some tubulointerstitial upsets ( 8 ) .Measurements of albuminuriaThe dipstick trial The urine dipstick trial gives a qualitative judgement of urinary protein elimination. The tetrabromophenol bluish colorimetric method is used by the urine dipstick trial, which is by and large used as testing method. The strength of coloring material alterations from yellow to blue correlatives with the sum of protein in the piss. Albuminuria is chiefly detected by this trial and less sensitive to other signifiers of proteins specially which has low molecular weight. This trial is sensitive to albumin concentration every bit low as 15mg/dL. But it is non satisfactorily sensitive for mensurating albumen in the scope of microalbuminuria. The dipstick is reported as negative, hint ( 10-20 milligram per deciliter ) , 1+ ( 30 milligram per deciliter ) , 2+ ( 100 milligram per deciliter ) , 3+ ( 300 milligram per deciliter ) , and 4+ ( 1,000 milligram per deciliter or greater ) ( 6 ) . But with the dilute piss ( specific gravitation & A ; lt ; 1.002 ) and acidic piss which has low pH valu e than 4.5 and in a disease status which the major urine protein is non albumin can give false negative consequences. False positive consequences can be given with alkalic piss ( pH & A ; gt ; 8 ) , concentrated piss ( specific gravitation & A ; gt ; 1.030 ) , gross haematuria, bacteriuria, taint with antiseptic agents. A dipstick should be considered positive for protein if it registers & A ; gt ; 1+ ( 30 mg/dL ) in urine sample in which the particular gravitation is & A ; lt ; 1.015. If the specific gravitation is & A ; gt ; 1.015, the dipstick must read & amp ; gt ; 2+ to be considered clinically important. Sulfosalicylic acid trial To corroborate the positive consequences of the dipstick trial another trial must be done by utilizing sulfosalicylic acid. Because this trial can observe all categories of proteins. In the trial three beads of sulfosalicylic acid are added to 5 milliliter of piss. So this causes to change over the solution into acidic taking to the precipitation of proteins. But this besides can give false negative consequences due to diluite urine. False positive consequences can take topographic point owing to happening of radiographic contrast stuffs ( 9 ) . Spot urine protein/creatinine ( UPr/Cr ) trial Children with positive consequences for dipstick trial with relentless albuminuria should travel through the more precise topographic point urine protein/creatinine ( UPr/Cr ) trial which gives quantitative measuring of proteins in the piss. The normal ratio for random urine protein/creatinine ratio in younger kids than 2 old ages is & A ; lt ; 0.5, in kids 2 twelvemonth of age or older is & A ; lt ; 0.2. A ratio & A ; gt ; 3 reveals the nephrotic scope of albuminuria. If a kid is given ( UPr/Cr ) 2 & A ; gt ; ratio & A ; gt ; 0.2, it is required to obtain a 24 hour urine aggregation. It has found that in kids with terrible malnutrition, serum and urine creatinine degrees depend on musculus mass, because of that the ratio is non valid. However acquiring random protein/creatinine ratio is a convenient method for gauging urine protein elimination alternatively of acquiring a 24-hour piss aggregation which gives more precise information. But it may be a ground to inaccurate consequences because 20 four-hour urine aggregations are non practical in kids in nappies, and although the kid is potty-trained. To measure the truth of the 24 hr urine sample, it may be helpful in mensurating the sum of creatinine. Steady-state day-to-day creatinine elimination is 20 mg/kg in kids from 1 to 12 old ages of age and 22 to 25 mg/kg in older kids. Girls show lower values in creatinine elimination. Normal protein elimination in kids in 24 hr urine aggregation is defined as & A ; lt ; 4 mg/m2/hr, unnatural is defined as 4-40 mg/m2/hr, nephrotic scope albuminuria is defined as & A ; gt ; 40 mg/m2/hr ( 9 ) . other methods Another of import and most normally used quantitative methods in mensurating protein eliminations are the Coomassie Brilliant Blue dye-binding methods, the Ponceau-S method and Benzethonium chloride method. Low-molecular-weight proteins such as ?2 microglobulin can be straight ditected by Urinary protein cataphoresis. But this will be done in particular state of affairss and it is non a portion of the everyday rating of a kid with albuminuria. Similarly, the finding of microalbuminuria in diabetic kids requires the usage of more sensitive methods such as radioimmunoassay or enzyme-linked immunosorbent check ( 10 ) .The etiologyThe etiology of albuminuria in kids is varied, but harmonizing to the clinical timing and frequence of the job, albuminuria can be categorized under three conditions. They are transeunt albuminurias, orthostatic albuminuria and relentless albuminuria. The orthostatic and transeunt signifiers are benign and more common. Persistent albuminuria may be associated w ith implicit in nephritic diseases and requires farther probes. Transient albuminuria Transient albuminuria is impermanent and 30 % – 50 % of the kids with albuminuria belong to this class ( 10 ) . This can go on owing to strenuous exercising, febrility, emphasis, exposure to cold, abdominal surgery, ictuss, desiccation, heat failure and besides due to hemodynamic changes in glomerular blood flow. After stoping of those factors transient albuminuria resolutenesss impetuously. So any therapy or intervention is non needed for kids who have this benign status. Children who have symptomless isolated albuminuria, dipstick trial demands to be repeated hebdomadal no less than two occasions to make up one's mind the albuminuria was non transeunt. If the albuminuria disappears on repetition testing, so it is likely transient. Orthostatic albuminuria Orthostatic albuminuria or postural albuminuria is frequent in kids. Orthostatic albuminuria is affecting in 60 % of all instances of symptomless albuminuria reported in kids. Children with orthostatic albuminurias excrete negligible sum of proteins in supine place. But in the unsloped place protein elimination with the piss is raised up to 10 creases, up to 1000mg/24hr ( 1 ) . Hypertension, nephritic disfunction, hypoalbuminaemia, and haematurias are non present. If all research lab trials are normal apart from persistently elevated protein elimination, farther experiments should be done to govern out or corroborate orthostatic albuminuria. The kid is asked to empty his/her vesica, merely earlier traveling to bed at dark and collects the first urine sample in the following forenoon instantly after originating. Orthostatic albuminuria will be confirmed by the absence of proteins in the first urine sample for three back-to-back yearss. If the early forenoon urine protein/creatinine ( UPr/Cr ) ratio is & A ; lt ; 0.2 mg/mg or the protein elimination in the piss collected from lying/supine place is & A ; lt ; 60mg/m2/day are declarative values of orthostatic albuminurias ( 11 ) . The cause of orthostatic albuminuria is unknown ; nevertheless, partial nephritic vena obstructors in the unsloped place and nephritic hemodynamic alterations have been suggested. Persistent albuminuria Persistent albuminurias can be verified by first urine sample on three back-to-back yearss. Valuess of relentless albuminurias are, protein elimination greater than 4 mg/m2/hr in a 24 hr urine aggregation or topographic point urine protein/creatinine ratio greater than 0.2 mg/mg ) in a urine sample ( 1 ) . This can be pointed out under glomerular or cannular beginning, which I have discussed earlier. Further experiments are needed, to except relentless albuminurias from any implicit in nephritic pathology. Causes for albuminurias are more common than tubulointerstitial causes for albuminuria. We can acknowledge so many different implicit in causes for relentless albuminuria. Specially diabetes mellitus and high blood force per unit area can do harm to the kidney which lead to albuminurias, but they are non outstanding in kids. Research workers have shown that race and ethnicity besides have some consequence on developing albuminuria. African, American, Hispanic, Native American and P acific Islanders illustrations are more likely than Whites to hold albuminurias ( 12 ) . Other causes include, primary and secondary glomerulonephropathy, Collagen vascular disease, medicines, injury, toxic conditions, infections, malignances and immune system upsets. Multiple myeloma and amyloidosis can besides take to proteinuria by increasing production of proteins ( 11 ) . Examples for some of them are listed below.Cause to relentless albuminuria and its clinical characteristics.Glomerular diseases Clinical characteristics Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis haematuria, high blood pressure, oliguria, presence of ruddy blood cells, white blood cells, and cellular dramatis personaes in urine, nephrotic-range albuminuria, hypoalbuminaemia, lipemia Congenital nephrotic syndrome hydrops at birth or during first hebdomad of life, hypoalbuminaemia, lipemia IgA kidney disease Normally older than 10 old ages, haematuria, high blood pressure, oliguria, presence of ruddy blood cells, white blood cells, and cellular dramatis personaes in piss. Membranoproliferative glomerulonepritis haematuria, high blood pressure, oliguria, presence of ruddy blood cells, white blood cells, and cellular dramatis personaes in piss Henoch-Sch & A ; ouml ; nlein purpura cellular dramatis personaes on uranalysis Diabetess mellitus elevated fasting blood glucose, glycosuria, weight loss Malignancies weight loss, cachexy Tubular disease Acute cannular mortification nephritic cannular epithelial cell dramatis personaes on uranalysis, elevated serum creatinine Acute tubulointerstitial Bright's disease acute rise in serum creatinine degree, eosinophilia, white blood cells casts on uranalysis Polycystic kidney disease haematuria, high blood pressure, nephritic inadequacy, nephromegaly, ruddy blood cells on uranalysis, elevated serum creatinine Toxins elevated degree of the toxin Proximal nephritic cannular acidosis acidic piss, glycosuria, aminoaciduria, growing failure, polyuriaSymptoms and marks in kids with albuminuriaClinical characteristics which related to the causes of the albuminuria, can be taken as symptoms and marks associated with relevant conditions of albuminuria, which were given in the tabular array above. Research shows most of the kids with albuminurias will non detect any unnatural mark or symptoms sing this. In kids, differential diagnosing of albuminuria has a big assortment of symptoms and marks. But in inordinate grade of albuminuria, it has some common characteristics related to nephritic disease. Some of them are edema, growing failure and high blood pressure. Their piss may look foamy in lavatories, due to presence of big sums of protein. Although edema formation is non good understood, it can explicate like this. In most cases, monolithic protein loss with urine consequences in hypoproteinaemia and hypoalbuminaemia, which leads to cut down the plasma oncotic force per unit area and transudate of fluid from the intravascular compartment to the interstitial infinite, leads to roll up hydrops fluid in tissues result in periorbital, presacral, venereal, or ankle hydrops. The decrease in intravascular volume decreases nephritic perfusion force per unit area, triping the rennin-angiotensin system. This system acts on adrenal secretory organs to release aldosterone. Both rennin-angiotensin system and aldosterone stimulate the cannular resorption of Na and H2O which leads to high blood pressure.Management of albuminuria in childhoodA complete history of the kid must be taken as the initial rating of albuminuria. History of the nephritic disease, alterations in urine end product, alterations in weight, gross haematuria and re cent upper respiratory infections, should be included for a complete history. First a quantitative measuring should be come into procedure utilizing random or 24 hr aggregation for the UPr/Cr ratio. Parents can liberate from concern if the albuminuria is transeunt or orthostatic and the kid is symptomless. But the kid should be followed by sing a physician and must take the ratio UPR /Cr in each visit. If relentless albuminuria is recognized, intervention procedure depends on the sum of proteins in the piss. If the entire protein elimination is & A ; lt ; 1g/24hr or UPR / Cr is less than 1.0, kid should see physician one time for six months. If the albuminuria exists more than a twelvemonth, kid should travel through a nephritic biopsy. If the entire protein elimination is & A ; gt ; 1g/24hr, a uranalysis should be performed and the physical scrutiny should be done, which consists of measurings of tallness, designation of hydrops, ascites, weight and blood force per unit area, skin lividness and tactual exploration of the kidneys in newborn babies. Then a blood sample must be taken for finding of electrolytes, creatinine, complete blood count, blood urea N and entire protein albumen every six to 12 months. The intervention of relentless albuminurias should be aimed towards the implicit in cause. Renal echography may be helpful to separate anatomical or inborn abnormalcies such as p olycystic kidneys in immature kids ( less than six old ages of age ) . If a kid shows elevated creatinine degrees or hypocomplementaemia or haematuria, a chronic glomerular disease may be present. When urinary protein elimination is in the nephrotic scope ( UPr/Cr & A ; gt ; 3.0 ) , even without hydrops, and the kid is younger than six old ages of age, idiopathic nephrotic syndrome can be expected and a test of corticosteroid therapy should be performed. So a kid with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome should be given a test of Orasone ( 2 mg/kg/day, or 60 mg/m2/day to a upper limit of 80 mg/day ) in up to three divided doses for four to six hebdomads, followed by intervention on other every twenty-four hours for another four to six hebdomads ( 13 ) . Second-line therapy ( cyclophosphamide, Leukeran [ Leukeran ] , cyclosporine [ Sandimmune ] ) may be necessary if steroid intervention fails or inauspicious effects are intolerable ( 7 ) . If the patient has nephrotic scope protein elimination and if that kid is older than six twelvemonth of age, idiopathic nephrotic syndrome can non be expected. So the type of the disease responsible for the nephrotic syndrome can be identified by a nephritic biopsy and a referral to a paediatric nephrologist. Angiotensin-converting enzyme ( ACE ) inhibitor and/or angiotensin-II receptor blocker can be given to the patient with albuminuria as a consequence of nephritic disfunction. It will assist to decrease albuminurias and slow patterned advance of nephritic disease. The kid should travel through a farther unequivocal diagnosing, which is done by a paediatric nephrologist. In recent National Guidelines for the direction of kidney disease NICE ( National institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ) recommends that people with kidney disease and albuminuria should hold systolic blood force per unit area between 120mmHg and 130mmHg and the diastolic blood force per unit area to be less than 80mmHg, as it helps to protect the kidney ( 14 ) . Excessive limitations on the kid ‘s day-to-day life and physical activity are non required. It has been recognized dietetic protein supplementation to reconstruct the loss of protein is non recommended as it may be harmful. Taking inordinate sums of salt is non desirable and if edema develops, precise salt limitation may be necessary.New clinical probeResearch workers in Canada late reported that high doses of the anti-hypertensive drug ; Candesartan Cilexetil could cut down albuminurias. This drug is an angiotensin-II receptor blocker. It besides has an consequence on fibrosis and redness in the kidney which helps to decelerate the kidney failure in this disease status ( 15 ) . Nutcracker syndrome may be an of import disease status of orthostatic albuminuria in kids. The patients with orthostatic albuminurias have unnatural degrees of anteroposterior diameter and peak speed at the hilar and aorto-mesenteric part of the left nephritic vena. This has been investigated by Doppler echography ( 16 ) . An albumin elimination in the scope of microalbuminuria is now known to be an early index of diabetic glomerular disease and systemic endothelial disfunction and is a utile predictive marker for future cardiovascular events ( 17 ) .DecisionProteinuria is a common research lab determination in kids. Pathophysiology of albuminurias can chiefly depend on either glomerular or cannular defects. A speedy but qualitative appraisal of albuminurias can be taken utilizing dipstick and sulfosalicylic acid methods. More accurate quantitation is obtained by mensurating protein elimination in 24-hour urine samples or by taking the protein/creatinine ratio in random urine samples. Frequently it can be recognized as either a transient or orthostatic in the signifier of benign status. Orthostatic albuminuria is characterized by the presence of protein in urine samples collected in the unsloped place. Persistent albuminuria is associated with serious nephritic diseases. Clinical characteristics from t he history, physical scrutiny, and research lab trials help to happen out the cause of albuminuria. If the albuminuria is transeunt or orthostatic, particular interventions are non required. But farther interventions and research lab trials are mandatory, when refering about the implicit in disease, if the status is relentless.

Strategic-Alternative Bundles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategic-Alternative Bundles - Essay Example The question is directed to the whole alternative and not just certain components. On the other hand, if the check established that the strategic-alternatives are not mutually exclusive, for instance, one may have a thought to combine the first and the second strategy. Second, the bundles need to be plausible. One needs to determine if there are good alternatives and not mediocre ones, whether there are other to put into consideration. This will enable the manager of an organization to be in a better position to establish if the course of action proposed by a certain bundle is doable. Lastly, the strategic-alternative bundles need to be worthwhile. This will determine if implementing every one of them will result to success. Success means realizing a strategic intent and becoming stronger. Creating more than a few bundles is very difficult because they are not just alternatives but business models with alternative visions. This implies that these models can are extremely difficult to implement in the business. Strategic-alternative bundles need to have objective, advantage, and scope, as well as core competencies. Scope entails who the customer is offering and geographic scope. Following this further, advantage involves a sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, choosing alternative strategies is similar to choosing alternative bundles (Stead, Stead, & Starik,

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Reflection Paper - Essay Example Hence, a student can be able to achieve success in some aspects of their life while at school. For example, there are students who will excel in sports, socialization, and other different aspects of development while failing to pose excellent grades in class. In effect, qualifying such students as failures and branding them as such is not appropriate. To me, I think I have been an overall good student this far. However, the adjective ‘good’ is relative since there have been incidences whereby I think I have not done my best to be a good student. In effect, this reflection paper analyses my student life and the adjustments that I can make to turn my failures into successes while make the successes only better to help me achieve a lot in future. Assignments and school projects form the foundation of a student’s life in school. In this case, the assignments and projects ensure that a student is graded and their progress determined depending on the grades they obtaine d. In effect, a student who fails many of their assignments is branded a failure once they fail to post good grades in their examinations while those who posted impressive grades become successful. For me, I value the challenge posed by assignments and projects since they have been important in ensuring that I posted good grades. In this case, I have been able to hand in my assignments and projects on time. However, I am not happy with the approach that I was taking towards completing these assignments. In this case, I used to work on my assignments a few days, or even hours, before the submission deadline. In effect, I do not think that the level of hard work and research I was putting on these assignments helped me produce and realize my full potential. I feel that the grades were not a reflection of the best that I could have done, which effectively means that the grades are far from what I should have achieved. On the other hand, group projects have been influential since I have been able to interact with diverse people and gain self-confidence. However, we did not conduct our group’s projects in an approach that brought the best out of every member. In this case, I feel that I was not a good a student since I did not speak to my colleagues about this issue. Rather, I chose to remain silent instead of asking my group members to change the way we engaged each other since we were not achieving our full potential. Maintaining silence was not reflective of the behavior that a good student should have observed and I regret this approach. In effect, I want to ensure that I adjusted the approach that we used to conduct our group activities so that I can achieve success as a student in the United States. I realized that I relied more on fellow students than I relied on my instructors. In line with this, relying on my fellow students was beneficial since I gained insights that helped me during my studies. However, I think that I should have engaged my instru ctors more than my fellow students in order to obtain informative insights due to the experience that instructors have in comparison to students. I want to adjust this aspect in order to become a successful student in the United States. Overall, I am a good student although there are some aspects of a good student that I have to accomplish. In this regard, I realize that I have not engaged in extra-curricular activities throughout the course of my

Gladiators. Significance of Gladiatorial Combat Research Paper

Gladiators. Significance of Gladiatorial Combat - Research Paper Example The first century BC historian, Nicolaus of Damascus, claims that the Romans borrowed the custom of gladiatorial combat from the Etruscans, and Suetonius preserves a tradition which held that the Etruscan king, Tarquinius Priscus, was first to introduce the spectacle to Rome (Futrell, 1997). G Ville in ‘La gladiature’ has argued that gladiation was of Osco-Samnite origin and then was adopted by the Etruscans at the end of the fourth century or early third BC from whom the Romans imported the custom (cited in Futrell 1997). Futrell, however, has criticized Ville's thesis and tentatively renewed the argument in favor of an Etruscan origin, while other have suggested that the Greeks in Campania may have influenced the development of Italian funerary games, including armed combat. But it is unlikely that gladiation came to Rome from a single source (cited in Futrell 1997). Furthermore, once adopted in Rome, the institution underwent significant changes and evolution. Whateve r its origin or origins, roman gladiatorial combat was not a desperate and chaotic spectacle of killing and dying. Body For the last two hundred years of the republic, gladiatorial combats were presented in association with the funerals of great men. Tertullian states that these funerary gladiatorial combats evolved from actual human sacrifices at the tomb.... Indeed, that Tertullian perceived gladiatorial combats as a threat indicates their religious significance. But the origins and nature of g1adiation were debatable even in antiquity, and there is little reason to suppose that we can uncover them today. We have already seen that conflicting opinions placed the source of g1adiation in either Campania or Etruria; likewise in antiquity there seems to have existed a debate over whether or not gladiatorial combat was a form of human sacrifice. For example, a passage in the Historia Augusta provides the two sides of this debate: there were some who believed that gladiatorial combats given before a military campaign were a form of human sacrifice meant to appease Nemesis and ensure victory in the impending war, while others believed that the sight of combat, wounds, and death were primarily intended to desensitize the soldiers and prepare them for battle (Versnel, 1996; Futrell, 1997). Some scholars have renewed the argument for gladiatorial combats as a form of human sacrifice (Versnel, 1996; Futrell, 1997). The truth, however, probably lies somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, it is difficult to deny the religiosity of gladiatorial combats; during the republic, they were fought in connection with the funerals of great men, while during the empire they came to be associated with the imperial cult. In this connection, we may also consider the ritual significance of a gladiator's blood (Futrell, 1997). On the other hand, the bloody and often fatal nature of gladiatorial combat readily lent itself to interpretation-or reinterpretation-as human sacrifice, especially by those who would attack the institution, and this ought to rouse our suspicions. Rives has shown

Tin roof(bar)Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tin roof(bar)Marketing - Essay Example Social media marketing does not face any hindrance concerning geographical setting hence customers from whatever geographical location can be reached. Social media builds brand, product awareness, a brand is a long-term picture of a given commodity, and it is that which makes a product be known for quite some time. The intensity of a brand has the implication of enabling individuals know a product more, it can be used to create new customers by letting them know about the business. Secondly, letting them be your friends, making of friends is something quite hard given its procedural; on the contrary, it is quite easier through the social media (Keillor pg. 13). This will enable them buy from Tin Roof (bar) as their brand of choice. Social media marketing is worth investing in because of several reasons, which include and is not restricted to the following. It is in social media where customers are easily found as everyone in the target market use social media in one way or another. F ace book, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and  mobile apps and games  have all become favorite pastimes across the world (Schepp and Debra pg. 112). ... ts the products and brands on a platform as well as the product messages to be shared; this leads to awareness hence many individuals would know the product. Interest is also developed on a product hence creating customer loyalty, and sales improvement, which leads to increased revenue, and hence the profit and company image will as well increase. (Keillor pg. 45). The company should therefore use this method to widen the operation base of the company. In the world of competition, the use of social media has the impact of leveling the playing field, as Tin Roof (Bar) Company will be in the position of receiving enquiries from big and small prospective clients alike. The company will be in the position of achieving the set marketing objectives using similar tools like the others and applying the same rules. This means social media sites are both less costly and easy to access irrespective of whether the company is a big one or a small one. This is despite the fact that such companies would still own a bigger chunk of the platform depending on their resource base. Another reason that Tin Roof (Bar) will find social media helpful in marketing is that social media is searchable and it would aid consumers to look for its products and services through online searches. This is because, through social media the company’s organic Google search results will be affected and hence provide entry to the website of the company. This form of interlinking the platform used whether, face book, twitter, Skype or any other platform has the impact of creating value for the company’s products (Schepp and Debra pg. 72-5). Furthermore, social media content is sharable. One of the major purposes of a social media platform is to find contents and share them irrespective of where they find

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Corporate finance - Essay Example Business firms generally find difficulty in raising capital for their further expansion.In the case of very big business projects,the founder alone cannot meet the firm’s initial capital requirements.Under such circumstances,companies issue shares of specific value to the general public with intent to raise capital for meeting business operation expenses. Share price refers to the price of a single share that company issues for subscription. While taking decision on share subscription, an investor compares the share price with company’s financial statements. If a company cannot raise an attractive surplus from its operation, it cannot fix a high price for its shares. It is observed that the market stature of a company has a direct impact on its share price. Every firm aims at maximizing its share value by improving profitability. Empirical evidences suggest that share prices may be affected by an array of factors. Share price is mainly categorized into two such as inter nal and external variables. This paper will explore how these factors affect share prices. Internal variables affecting share prices Internal variables are the strengths or weaknesses of a business which may largely affect the share prices more than any other factor. Profitability, leverage, size, bonus issue, and warrant exercise are the main internal variables that influence the share price to a large extent. They are described below in detail. 1. Profitability Obviously, the ultimate objective of every business is wealth maximization. Therefore, an investor is always curious about the economical status of the company in which he wishes to invest. A firm’s audited financial statements prepared at the end of the fiscal year give vital information to investors and other shareholders. An investor mainly considers the company’s total revenue, expenses, and profitability so as to assess its current market position. For making an investment decision, an investor may give h igh emphasis on the firm’s Earning Per Share (EPS) that represents rate of return on a share at the end of the financial year. In other words, when the EPS rises, investors are more likely to invest with the company. 2. Leverage Leverage is a business term that indicates the amount of money borrowed to finance the purchase of assets; and it can be determined by calculating Debt-to-equity ratio. Although leverage is beneficial for the company to promote growth through the purchase of assets, a high leverage would raise high risks including the drop of share price. An investor would never like to purchase the assets of a company that owes huge debts to other entities because investors are less likely to support a risky venture. Hence, a low leverage may benefit the business to maximize its share price. For instance, as Chatterjee (2011) reports, the Reliance Communications have recently cut down share price target for December by 49 percent to 82 rupees mainly as a result of hi gh leverage. 3. Size Fernando, Gatchev, and Spindt argues that the size of the firm can directly influence the share price; an increase in firm’ size causes a proportional increase in share price and vice versa. Generally, it is believed that huge firms would have abundant potential financial sources that can be effectively employed to meet different business needs. Similarly, large sized firms would probably maintain many potential market segments which would assist the firm to confront with difficulties in times of business contingencies. Moreover, large firms would be well established in the market and therefore, they can keep stable market demand to some extent regardless of the changes in market trends. These factors offer a minimum profit guarantee to investors even if the business faces unexpected losses. Schutts points out that Wal-Mart’s large size has assisted the firm maintain its share price steadily. 4. Bonus issue Bonus issue indicates the act of issuing additional shares to the firm’

What would you consider to be distinctive features of US approaches to Essay

What would you consider to be distinctive features of US approaches to HRM, and what extent do you think these would be exportable to the rest of the world - Essay Example al nuisance, more so when the economy is not that encouraging boosting trade ties between stakeholders, different organizations and so on and so forth. The corporate strategy plays a significant role at building a bridge between the company’s inner policies and the undertakings it has with the various stakeholders, who could be from the human resources management settings. (Korzeniowski, 2001) Human resources management in a developing country like India is much different than it is in a developed nation – United States for example. The differences arise in the way works are done as well as the manner in which people are held accountable and answerable for their respective tasks and job natures. Conducting business within USA is also different because it has a distinct culture of its own. Its people speak different languages, adapt to a number of traditions and have family make-ups of a completely distinct proposition. (Enright, 2000) Human resources management in different venues of the world is a difficult yet interesting proposition. What might be hailed as a suitable entity in one location could be judged as a sheer loser in another country or business marketplace for that matter. Thus human resources management takes care of the social and cultural concepts of the place. Thus it is pertinent to note that different business markets of the world have differences in them nonetheless. A developing country has a developing market and the business which is widespread in its environs is something that has just started or remained within the realms of its exploration. On the other hand, a developed business environment – that of the US for instance, sustains growth and the profitability from the business standpoint is a part and parcel thing. Misunderstandings are an understood notion in a society such as of USA where people adhered to an agreed and applied culture but did not actually know the facets of the followed traditions and the cultural history. It was

Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) Essay

Contemporary Issues in Business (Individual Report) - Essay Example Over long periods of geological time, the earth’s climate has been constantly changing in response to the tilt and shape of the earth’s orbit as it moves around the sun, the strength and intensity of the sun coupled with the composition of the earth’s atmosphere, the basic shape and position of the continents. There has been strong evidence that some human activities such as the use of fossil fuels are responsible for the constant emission of harmful greenhouse gases that are now causing an increase in the earths temperate in addition to other changes in climate (Richter 2010). Greenhouse emissions are currently projected to increase significantly within the next few decades which will cause an increase in global temperatures and subsequently put to great risk the human society and natural environment worldwide (Pedersen and Nordic Council of Ministers 2000). Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect The temperature on the surface of the earth is largely determine d by the balance between the energy that is constantly re-radiated to space from the earth mostly in the form of infra-red radiation and the energy that comes from the sun which is seen to be in the form of visible radiation (sunlight). When the sunlight passes through the earth’s atmosphere, it has relatively very little warming effect but when it finally manages to come into contact with the earth’s surface, it warms it and the earth in turn warms the atmosphere by both convection and via emission of infra-red radiation which are absorbed by the greenhouse gases (R.I.C. Publications 2007). The greenhouse gases eventually return some of the infra-red radiation back to the earth’s surface which ends up further warming the earth’s surface. An analogy of this chain of events is often made with reference to greenhouses which generally allow sunshine to pass through their clear plastic or glass which in turns stop the heat that is inside the green house from escaping into the atmosphere and hence the use of the term â€Å"greenhouse effect† (R.I.C. Publications 2007). Fossil Fuels and the change in Climate System Fossil fuels are formed when the bodies of living organisms die and remain compressed and heated over extremely long periods of time to form natural gases, oil and coal. When burned, fossil fuels are seen to produce significant amounts of energy a factor which causes them to be considered as an extremely valuable energy source. However, the burning of these fossil fuels produces the emission of carbon dioxide, resulting in the introduction into the carbon cycle of carbon that would have otherwise still remained trapped in the earth’s geosphere (Downie, Brash and Vaughan 2009). It is currently estimated that the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for adding to the atmosphere an estimated 3.2 billion metric tons of carbon. Because the earth’s carbon cycle is unable to absorb all of this excess carbon bein g released into the atmospher

Halifax & Bank of Scotland Essay Example for Free

Halifax Bank of Scotland Essay The UK has one of the most diverse and dynamic banking sectors in the world. Banking is now a highly competitive industry. Financial consumers are now more sophisticated as they are now more aware of available banking options. The assets of the UK banking system were i 3,441bn (August 2001), which were dominated by a dozen or so retail banks, with national networks, mostly serving domestic, personal and corporate customers. Currently, the big four banks HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, dominate retail and business banking, jointly accounting for 68% of all UK current accounts. Both Halifax, founded in 1853, and 306-year-old Bank of Scotland are seen as business icons in their regions. Halifax is based in England, while the Bank of Scotland has very few branches south of the border. A merger between these firms would increase the geographic scope for potential customers. Halifax started as a building society and is now more widely known as a big mortgage lender. In the wider community, the Halifax Bank has a very active community-banking sector catering for charity and non-profit organizations including housing associations, credit unions and community development operations. In comparison, the Bank of Scotlands strength lies in the corporate market. It would seem very likely that both firms would like to achieve higher profitability and growth opportunity through cross-selling products to each others customers. For example, the products developed by Halifax could be marketed effectively to Bank of Scotlands customers and vice versa. Because both banks operate complementary activities, it is possible the combining of both firms will result in synergies, which may also result in increased efficiency. There may also be opportunities to achieve savings through cutting some unnecessary costs. For example, the amount of staff needed for the combined firm is likely to be reduced. By merging together, the size of the combined firm will certainly increase, thus leveraging the combined spend to negotiate better deals. The market position of the combined firm will be strengthened. Its market share within the industry will increase, maybe even enough to compete with the big-four banks, thus increasing the competition within the banking industry. In reality, there are wide ranges of techniques that can help analyse a firms performance some firms may base their performance on sales, whereas others through the quality of products. Economists usually analyse a firms performance based on the amount of profit it is making. For a thorough analysis, this paper will be looking at the firms: market value, profitability, stability, value for shareholders, efficiency, and capital adequacy. It must be noted that firms within the banking sector are subject to many economic uncertainties, which can influence how well a firm is doing from year to year. In this case, these uncertainties include: interest rates, employment rates, as well as the condition of the equity markets. For example, the base rate in January 2000 was 5.75%, however, at January 2002, the base rate was at 4. 00%5. To analyse the performance of the banks before and after the merger, the firms financial accounts will be examined and ratios will also be calculated. 6 The main performance indicators that will be analysed include: Profit before tax; Total assets; Dividends and Earnings per share. In addition, the return on equity, cost:income ratio and the firms capital strength will be examined. These ratios will give a clear assessment of the firms performance compared with that of other firms. Before the merger, in 2000, Halifax and Bank of Scotland had market values of $22,105million and $11,762million respectively. Post-merger, in 2002, HBOS then had a market value in excess of $31billion7. This immediately signifies the success of the merger, as the combined company is worth now worth a lot more in the market. Figure 1 Profit before tax From an economic point of view, it is important that a firm makes a profit otherwise there would be no point of the existence of the firm. The Profit Loss account of a firm shows the results of trading over the previous 12 months. It shows the net effect of income less expenses. The reason that profit before tax is analysed rather than profit after tax is due to the fact that interest rates and inflation changes could affect the amount of tax that is paid each year. In 2000, Halifax made i 1,715million profit (before tax), compared with Bank of Scotland, which made i 911million. It would be expected that when both companies have merged together, the pre-tax profit should increase. Figure 1 shows that in 2002, HBOS made a pre-tax profit of i 2,909million, which is more than the separate firms pre-tax profit added together. This shows that HBOS are actually performing better than the previously separate firms.

Role of the church in secular concerns of its congregants Essay Example for Free

Role of the church in secular concerns of its congregants Essay As notable and important as the role of the Black church in inspiring community service by its congregants is the service provided by the church for its congregants’ secular concerns. Church programs can often encompass all areas of a congregant’s secular life. Social interaction and personal relationships are fostered among the congregation; social services such as youth ministry and care for adolescents, literacy programs, economic development programs and physical and mental health programs are provided; traditional pastoral services such as grief counseling and marriage counseling are also benefits of the membership in the Black church. Many of these services have been the subject of study and inquiry in recent years, and a review of extant literature can provide insight into the role of the modern Black church. PHYSICAL HEALTH PROGRAMS Health and preventative care programs are some of the most important secular program offered by Black churches to their congregations. The health picture of African-Americans is grim: higher rates of diabetes and heart disease, lower birth rates and life expectancies, higher infant mortality, and higher rates of psychological problems are all exacerbated by lower levels of health insurance coverage and racial discrimination in health care (NEEDS CITE). Church-based health programs are a vital resource for the underserved population of the church community. The Los Angeles Mammography Promotion in Churches Program, a Los Angeles area health initiative sponsored by the RAND Corporation, which targeted an underserved population (older Black women) for health screening care including mammograms, ran from 1996 to 1998, with 18 Black churches participating. The aims of the study were twofold: one, to determine the feasibility of churches as focal points for community health programs; and two, to test the effectiveness of church-based programs aimed at increasing preventative health care access to underserved populations. The authors considered that â€Å"the church can be an important conduit through which to inform racial/ethnic minorities about preventative care, and that the Black church, because of its ethic of service to others, is particularly well-suited for health promotion (Markens , 2005, 805). The authors of the study, Markens, Fox, Teub and Gilbert (2002), surveyed the pastors of 16 of the churches upon completion of the program to determine the effectiveness of the program and its implementation. The survey illuminated not only the effectiveness and importance of church-based health care programs for the Black community, but many of the problems with implementation and participation in these programs. The authors note that â€Å"given its historical and ongoing roles within the Black community, the church is an ideal setting in which to offer health promotion activities for African-Americans (2002, 805). † In order to obtain answers about the church leader’s perspective on the effectiveness of the program, the authors of the study interviewed sixteen of eighteen pastors of the church where the program was implemented; two of the pastors were excluded due to their short tenure with their churches, which meant that they had not been substantially involved in the program. The authors found that most of the pastors were generally enthusiastic and positive about the program and their church’s participation in it; however, there were also a number of criticisms of the study. The authors noted that what drew many of the pastors to participate in the study was their holistic approach to ministry. One participant, Reverend Henry, said: I try to have a holistic ministry, one that not only deals with the soul but the body as well†¦ there are many facets to us that make up whole people, and each one needs to be dealt with and the church can be a focal point in dealing with the needs of the whole person†¦ I feel very strongly that the physical wellbeing of the person is as important as their spiritual wellbeing. (Markens , 2002, 807). Some participants in the study went even further than Reverend Henry, expressing a dislike of the idea of the separation of spiritual and secular concerns and explicitly linking spiritual and physical health. Reverend Ellington, another participant, remarks: †¦there are a lot of people because of a spiritual mentality, they believe that the Lord will do everything and they†¦ really don’t have to be overzealous about doing anything†¦ so you have to keep telling them that the doctor is there because God put him here. So then you’re supposed to utilize that source. And so that’s my kind of emphasis, that I keep people interested in their whole body. (Markens , 2002, 807). More pragmatically, many participants recognized that physical health was important to the congregation because it could affect spiritual goals. Reverend Henry noted â€Å"if you don’t keep people alive, you’re not going to have a congregation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  All the respondents to the study took the health of their congregation seriously, and considered it to be a matter of pastoral concern, disputing the idea that it was a secular matter (Markens , 2002, 808). One participant in the study, Reverend Hill, echoed a common sentiment when he remarked â€Å"the only reason for a church to be in existence is to better the community†¦ otherwise, it’s not a church† (Markens , 2002, 807). The eagerness and appreciation of community projects was a common attitude among the survey respondents. In a number of churches, the Los Angeles Mammography Promotion in Churches Program served as a gatekeeper for other church-based community health programs, often instigated or arranged by church members and pastors who observed the success of the mammography program. Programs such as diabetes and blood pressure screenings, health fairs and even the establishment of permanent Health Committees and Bible aerobics (a combination of a low-impact aerobics program with Bible study) were put into place in the participating churches, widening the congregation’s access to preventative health screening and care (Markens , 2002, 807). Not all of the responses to Marken’s study were positive. There were a number of barriers to care and the success of the program cited in the pastoral survey. The most common thread was lack of time on the part of the pastor to oversee the program; the responses speak to a larger problem within the church, that of high-stress leadership positions within the church. Reverend Hill stated: †¦ pastoring is one of the most stressful positions in America†¦ Mainly because you’re constantly on the go and consistently on call†¦ in the electronic age, you have a beeper on either side, you have a cell phone in your hand. You gotta check your email every day. And every time the phone rings you’re concerned†¦ you’re looking at a stressful society. (Markens , 2002, 808). At the same time, the presence of the pastor is extremely important – â€Å"in the Black church, people want to hear the voice of the leader†¦ some things just cannot be delegated ((Markens , 2002, 808). † There were other problems with the study that did not depend on the amount of time the pastor could devote to overseeing it. The smaller churches in the study didn’t have a lot of resources to draw on for financial support, which complicated administration of the program (many of the pastors worked second jobs in addition to overseeing the administration of the church. ) As the authors note, â€Å"Ironically, then, the Black church’s history of involvement in community and secular activities that makes them ideal sites for health interventions can at the same time possibly affect a pastor’s willingness to participate in new health programs (808). † Finally, the very lack of formal programs and secular support for the congregation’s health care affected the involvement of the congregation in the health intervention program. The combination of a lack of accustomed medical care, particularly preventative care and screening available to more affluent members of society, and a history of exploitation and abuse among the group resulted in an unwillingness to participate in a research study, regardless of how worthy it was (Markens , 2002, 809). The power of the Black church, although considerable, is not always enough to overcome the external pressure of the dominant culture. Another project that undertook a community health initiative within a Black church was Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together). Project DIRECT, a federally funded research project sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Reid , 569). Project DIRECT was founded in 1994 in southeast Raleigh, North Carolina,, with the intended purpose of providing community care, education, screening and prevention resources in order to reduce the high rate of type II diabetes experienced within the African-American community in the region. This research project also examined the influence of another African-American institution, the historically Black university North Carolina Central University (NCCU), located in Raleigh, as a resource for community health programs. Reid state, â€Å"Historically, African American people have turned to the church for information about services of value and importance to them (571). † The authors note that the study was designed to take into account the fact that churches often have limited resources and are often overwhelmed with requests to participate in community health studies; careful organization of the study was required to avoid negatively impacting the pastor and outreach ability. The demographic profile of the church was considered more important for targeting church participation than the denomination of the church; however, there was no easy way to determine the demographic profile of any given church. In order to determine this, NCCU students participating in the study attended services at the church (with the pastor’s prior knowledge), and introduced themselves as Project DIRECT staffers during the fellowship time, discussing the project with those who showed an interest in it. The researcher observation allowed the Project to create a congregational health assessment tool (CHAT) used to determine the needs of the demographic served by the particular church, followed by a congregational health action plan (CHAP), customized to the church’s demographic. Church leaders were then engaged in providing their congregation with the appropriate contacts for education and management of type II diabetes within their congregation. The authors note that the outcome was positive: several churches reorganized or supplemented their health and social ministries on the findings of the CHAT and CHAP, and pastor response was positive. The interaction between the NCCU students and the church leaders and congregation was also noted as a positive outcome by the researchers: the Project DIRECT experience precipitated the founding of an interdepartmental master’s program in Community Health at NCCU, using the lessons learned to create a professional community health coordinator skill set within the community.

Discrimination Against Indians In Singapore Cultural Studies Essay

Discrimination Against Indians In Singapore Cultural Studies Essay Singapore may be highly advanced in terms of education and technology however there remain social fault lines that need to be addressed. This paper aims to outline a common form of racism against Singaporean Indians and how this affects the particular individual and the society. The paper will also cross-reference to the USA and discuss the situation of American-Indians living there. Recommendations to solve this problem will also be further discussed. Section II THE ISSUES AND WHO ARE INVOLVED The population in Singapore is about 4.9 million people, 3.7 million people are Singaporeans and Permanent Residents while the rest are foreigners. The ethnic distribution of Singaporeans is as follows, 9.2% of Singapores population is Indians, 13.4% of Singapores population is Malays, 74.2 % of Singapores population are Chinese, while the remaining 3.2% of Singapores population are Eurasians. (http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2010.pdf) From the above mentioned statistics Indians are one the minority groups in Singapore while the Singapore population is dominated by the Chinese race. The following paper will highlight the racism against Indians in Singapore from the majority race which is the Chinese population. This topic has been chosen because the author has experienced racism in many forms from the Chinese population in Singapore, thus the author is able to relate to this topic better and give better suggestions to solve the problem on hand. According to Nadra Kareem, one of the major causes of racism is because of the skin colour, where the minorities are rejected by the society and suffer verbal abuse because of their ethnic background. (http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/a/internalizedracism.htm) The following are two quotes taken from interviews (conducted by me) to strengthened Nadra Kareems statement. Vinodini, 25 I was about 13 years old when this incident happened, I went to the swimming school with my female group of friends. I and my friends did not really know how to swim, we just went for the sake to try out something new. My group of friends were wearing our swimming costume and we were about to enter the pool when a Chinese man said to his wife Charcoal coming inside the pool lets go. At that point I felt so insulted. I did not know whether to scold him or just simply run away to escape the humiliation. From that day onwards I lost the interest in swimming and I have never worn a swimming costume. The following statement illustrates the point that colour is a cause of racism, naturally swimming costumes tends to show more of the body and the Chinese man had to comment on her colour as charcoal. The respondents body is shamed by being referred to as charcoal (in relation to its black colour) and on a worse note the Chinese man felt that by the respondent entering the pool it meant that the man and his wife should leave the pool and that they cannot be in the same pool together. On a whole this incident is extremely damaging to Indians confidence in their body. Thevandran, 16 During primary school there was an incident whereby a Chinese boy from my class would cover his nose and encourage other students to cover their noses because he thought I was smelly and dirty. When I confronted him he told me that it was his parents who told him that Indians dont bathe at all. That day I convinced myself that I did not want to socialize with the Chinese. In both instances it can be noted that there are actually racially-motivated racism by the Chinese against the Indians in Singapore based on their colour. The multiple disgraceful terms such charcoal and dirty is mainly to mock the Indian body as inferior to theirs. Ardis C. Martin, M.D. states that if ones culture continues to be devalued it results in low self-esteem. (http://ap.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/32/4/338) In both cases above, the respondents felt insulted by the remarks that they received. Vinodini did not ever want to swim again while Thevandran did not want to socialise with Chinese to ease his pain. Section III WHY THIS PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION AFFECT SOCIETY AND IS IMPORTANT The racism of Chinese against Indians in Singapore should not be treated lightly and must be treated seriously. One only has to look back into Singapores history and remember of the two racial events that nearly tore apart Singapore The Maria-Hertogh Riots and 1964 Race Riots. On 11 of December 1950 the court decided to award custody of Maria Hertogh (who was raised by Muslims) her biological Catholic parents. Outraged Muslims protested the decision which eventually led to rioting when images showing Maria Hertogh kneeling before a statue of Mother Mary were published. Rioting in Singapore lasted 3days. Many properties were destroyed but more importantly 173 people were injured and 18 were killed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Hertogh_riots) The 1964 Race Riots was a series of riots that took place in Singapore in July and September between Chinese and Malay racial groups. The racial violence killed 36 people and a further 556 people were injured. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_race_riots_in_Singapore) The following two events illustrate how racial conflicts can destroy Singapore. To deal with this situation the government has continuously and actively promoted racial harmony as the key pillar of the nation through various policies and measures emphasizing tolerance, understanding and respect among the different races and religions in Singapore. (http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100429-213067.html) Singaporeans are also constantly regularly reminded in official speeches of the racial in events in Singapores history and how it threatened to engulf the nation in turmoil. (http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/sp/nationaldayrally2009/090817_hard_work_on_harmony.html) The situation in Britain/United Kingdom will now be discussed, whereby Indians there are one of the minority race groups and they are discriminated violently and viciously by the majority groups. Even though the situation in Singapore regarding the racism against Indians by the Chinese may be seem as tame as compared to the situation in Britain/United Kingdom, lessons has to be learnt from those countries to prevent our nations future from becoming bleak as Britain and United Kingdom. Section IV WHERE CAN WE START TO FIX THE PROBLEM Racism of Indians by the Chinese in Singapore results in marginalisation between the two groups and thus creates divide within the multi-racial society within Singapore. (http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100429-213067.html) There are many measures put in place by the government to tackle the issue of racism between the different racial groups. During Mr Lee Hsien Loong National Day Rally speech in 2009 he mentioned about Singapores efforts at fostering harmony among the different races and religions. (http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/sp/nationaldayrally2009/090817_hard_work_on_harmony.html). The reason for doing so is to create social interaction between different races and thus promote cultural diversity among them. Examples to promote national integration between the different races include through promotion of public housing, national service, educational policies, the mass media and grassroots organizations. One such measure I suggest to tackle the issue of racism against the Indians by the Chinese is to implement a system in primary schools whereby for one day a Indian student will have to live a Chinese students house. The next day the Chinese student will have to live in the Indian students house. This thus creates the social interaction required to foster harmony between the different racial groups. The reason for implementing this system during primary school is because young children are impressionable and through interaction at this age it will continue a trend to interact with other races as they grow up. Martin Luther King once said I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I totally agree with him, through the implementation of my idea it will help Chinese in Singapore to judge Indians based on their character and nothing else, thus creating a harmonious and multi-racial Singapore for all to see.

Long and Short Term Causes of WWI :: World War I History

Long and Short Term Causes of WWI There were several long-term events that led to the outbreak of World War One. The most prominent factors include: nationalism, militarism, imperialism, the Balkan and Morocco crises, and the alliance system. Ironically, these things were either started in response to, or upheld because of, one of the other factors. The alliance system was one of the last factors to emerge before the war. Consequentially, the contributions of this system to the beginning of the Great War have to be considered. Although the alliance system was a main cause of the First World War, it arose because of several other factors, and did not cause the war single handedly. Nationalism, the love and support of one's country, has always existed. In this era, however, it was to take part in the creation of one of the most famous wars in history. Since so much pride was devoted to countries, it made the possibilities of peace between past rivals less probable. It also meant that most nations, especially the great powers, would rather fight a war than back down from a rival's diplomatic provocation. In effect, nationalism was also a contributing factor to the alliance system. No country feels comfortable being in a war alone, and with the growing militaries in almost every country, allies provided much comfort. The supreme present of militarism, "a policy of aggressive military preparedness" , in this period of time gave all countries great reason to feel the heavy weight of an oncoming war. Great Britain's naval policy (to always be twice as big as the next two largest navies put together), along with the predominate feeling of war provided countries with a strong reason to try and create an incredibly strong military force. This led to an arms race, which made the impending war seem inevitable. The military planning in some countries also caused an increased fear of war. Since military machines were being developed, each country was appointing a general staff of experts. The greatest problem with this was that there was a fear that "some chief of staff, in order to maintain the schedule on his 'timetable', might force an order of mobilization and thus precipitate war." These two factors also led, in part, to the alliance system. If two or more countries are allied with each other then the y have a better chance of defeating their common enemy if war is declared.

George Orwells 1984 :: essays research papers

George Orwell's 1984 Introduction- This story takes place in a state called Oceania. The main characters introduced are Winston Smith who is a worker on one of the four branches of government on Oceania. This four branches are â€Å"The Ministry of Truth† where they falsificate or remove all past documents such as books, newspapers, magazines, records, tapes and anything containing information about the past and are rewritten with the â€Å"accurate† meaning of whatever the Government (known as â€Å" Big Brother†) wants it to be. All past records are erased and everyone must believe what the new ones say or else they are caught by the Thought Police. The Thought Police are a group of modern people who are like the police of our time except that this police can see you every single second of your life through special devices that look like T.V.'s called Telescreens. This Telescreens are placed in the houses of people, outside buildings, parks, walls, anywhere they could be put and are always turned on. The Telescreens are constantly giving you information of the wars won and also telling you what to do and always watching every movement you do, no expressions are admitted in Oceania other than hatred or the one â€Å"Big Brother† tells you to. The second branch is called â€Å"The Ministry of Love† where people were punished, tortured and were taught to hate each other. The third branch is called â€Å"The Ministry of Plenty† where economic affairs were handled, they decided who got how much of something almost always being too little of a ration. The last branch is called â€Å"The Ministry of Peace† which handled all the war affairs such as where the next bomb they launched would hit and who they needed to destroy next. Big Brother had a slogan that read â€Å"WAR IS PEACE†, â€Å"FREEDOM IS SLAVERY† and â€Å"IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH†. Winston worked in the Ministry of truth where he's job was to rewrite the news on the newspaper called Times. Another character is O'Brien who helps Winston love Big Brother for Winston hated Big Brother. Julia is the girl that falls in love (which is a very big crime) with Winston. Katharine is Winston's wife though he hasn't seen her for three years. Eastasia and Eurasia are the two other states fighting for power with Oceania. The proles are the only people who are not controlled so much by Big Brother, they act as we do and can have their own believes, thoughts, feelings or anything they feel like. Emmanuel Goldstein is the boss of an underground brotherhood that wants to destroy Big Brother.

Comparing Obsession in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Aldous Huxley’s

Comparing Obsession in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Aldous Huxley’s After Many A Summer Dies the Swan Authors leave fingerprints on the works they write. Underneath the story, hidden amidst the words, lies a worldview, a concept of humanity, a message. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is an entertaining story meant to give the reader goose bumps late at night, but the telling of the story also reveals Shelley’s concept about the basic fabric of human nature. In the same way Aldous Huxley in After Many A Summer Dies the Swan weaves a tale that is part story and part commentary on how humans interact and think and self- destruct. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays obsession as an anomalous aspect of human behavior resulting when people move away from their basically good nature, while Aldous Huxley portrays obsession as the most intrinsic of all human qualities. This paper will contrast the basic views presented in each book about the origin of obsession and its relation to human nature, giving examples of how the authors’ views are embodied in their characters. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley presents a view of human nature that is largely positive so long as it does not wander into the dangerous realm of obsession. She speaks of human endeavors and discoveries as being valuable and good. The young Victor is enchanted by scientists who have â€Å"performed miracles† by â€Å"penetrating the recesses of nature† (45). The discovery and contemplation of the natural world is a means by which characters find serenity and calm, and thus come in tune with the beauty of their humanity. In the midst of the sublime wilderness, even Victor contemplates â€Å"divine ideals of liberty and self-sacrifice† (1... ...nts human nature as basically good aside from the selfish obsession perpetuated by withdrawal from normal society and human behavior. Huxley offers a bleaker view, portraying self- obsession as an innate quality ensnaring all of his characters unless they are freed to transcend their humanity and seek another level of consciousness. If Shelley and Huxley were here today, debating the merits of their stance, Shelley may might utter the words of Pete Boone, â€Å"I suppose I’ve been too optimistic.† And Huxley, adjusting his thick glasses, might reply as Propter did, â€Å"Too optimistic in certain directions, and at the same time too pessimistic in others† (188). Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. After Many a Summer Dies the Swan. Mattituck, New York: American Reprint Company, 1976. Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics. 2003.

Government-operated Gambling

Over the past few years, government operated gambling has grown into a massive business, there has been much controversy around the topic of weather or not Gambling should be regulated. In this essay I will explain my point of view on this topic and give examples that support my ideas. So, what should the state’s policy towards gambling? I believe that the state should not regulate gambling because of three main reasons. My first reason is people’s rights and freedoms.Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry over the pas few years; the centre for addiction and mental health stated in their Gambling Policy framework in 2011 â€Å"Government-operated gambling has steadily expanded in Ontario in the past two decades, revenues reaching $4. 7 billion in 2009. † (2). This shows that Gambling has grown to become a major industry in today’s economy and by doing so it has helped society in several different aspects, the growth of the gambling industry has l ead to an increase in revenue for the government, thus resulting in more social benefits towards the public.Finally, The gambling industry has lead to many job opportunities in north America, offering a beacon of hope to those in need of jobs during a recession. In modern society, freedom is not only supported but also cherished, people should be given the freedom to live their lives as they please, weather they choose to live their lives in a healthy way or not that is up to them. However, they must be given the right to live as they please. In the United States, groups such as the KKK are protected under the first amendment, which protects their freedom of speech, no matter how ludicrous it may be, they have the right to say as they please.The same should be applied to life. People should have the choice to live their lives as they please without being watched over by the government. Since gambling does require participants to be of legal age, we know that the people gambling are adults. These grown ups should be able to have control over their own lives, its their responsibility to understand the chances they are taking when gambling. Some may argue that certain people can’t control their gambling problems and have gotten too addicted to gambling and that casinos take advantage of these people.These claims are supported by some statistics given in the centre for addiction and mental health, which states, â€Å"it is estimated that between 30% and 40% of Ontario’s gambling revenues come from the 3% of the population with gambling problems† (2). This statistic shows that the gambling industry does heavily depend of the people addicted to the game. I would respond by expressing two points. First, the people with gambling problems of which they cannot control are a minority, in Jonathan Wolff’s â€Å"Ethics and public policy A Philosophical inquiry†, the author states that â€Å"between 0. and 0. 8 of the UK adult population could be classified as problem gambles† (59). Furthermore, in the centre for addiction and mental health’s Gambling Policy framework in 2011 that â€Å"just over 3% of the province’s population experiences moderate to severe gambling problems. †(57). These numbers do not justify having to discipline an entire industry that would affect hundreds of thousands of people that work in it and making their living off jobs in that industry.Second, increasing government regulations on casinos and lotteries will not stop these problem gamblers from gambling. Jonathan Wolff states â€Å"in the late 1950s there were towns about 25 percent of the adult population gambled illegally on a regular basis. †(55). Taking this point into perspective, it could be inferred that if the government increases the regulations on legal casinos and lotteries that would make it harder for people with an addiction to gamble, these people will find other ways to feed their addictio n.This is a severe problem because when these people begin to gamble illegally they will put their money into other illegal activities, which could include drugs, weapons or violence. In fact, many large gangs could use this opportunity to fund their illegal activities, which would lead to more trouble in society; another point to be made towards this issue would be that of money, not only would these gamblers be putting their lives at risk when gambling illegally and dealing with gangs, but they could also be keeping this money out of the government’s hand which could go government programs to help the less fortunate.This brings me to my next point and that is that gambling has become a major source of revenue for the government. Government regulated gambling has grown into a massive industry which generates a significant amount of revenue each year of which most ends up in the government as funding for many different organizations. in the paper named â€Å"Gambling: Its Pl easure and costs† by Lorne Tepperman it states that â€Å"The industry group’s report †¦ says 57 per cent of gambling revenue – $8. 7 billion- supported government services and charities. (9). Tepperman also states that gambling is the â€Å"most financially significant† (9) segment in entertainment and that it contributes â€Å"$15. 3 billion a year to the economy, according to the Canadian Gaming Association. † (9). Ronald Pavalko also states in his paper titled â€Å"gambling and public policy† â€Å"State revenues from casino taxes totaled nearly $3. 5 billion. † (336). The reality is that today, we are in a recession we can’t afford to decrease that revenue by implementing harsh restrictions on gambling.It is argued that even though gambling is a major source of revenue for the government, it is also a source of misery for people with gambling addictions. The centre for Addiction and Mental health states that â€Å"F or these individuals, a range of harms may occur, resulting in heavy social, economic, and health costs such as crime, dysfunctional relationships, and bankruptcy. † (2). However, the solution to this problem is not adding restrictions to gambling but is actually using the money made from gambling towards a better cause.As I have previously stated, people addicted to gambling will not be cured from their addiction by regulating legal gambling because they will find other means to feed their addiction. I believe that the best solution to these people’s gambling problem would be using the revenue that they generate for the government in taxes could be used to create social programs for people with serious addictions to gambling that would help them quit.I believe this solution would be ideal because the minority of people with gambling addictions will be treated in a proper healthy way in order to get over their addiction, the left over revenue could still be used in othe r social programs and finally, the money and profit that the casinos and lotteries generate will still flow which would result in more jobs, another source of income to the economy and would prevent people from getting fired from their jobs if harsh restrictions were to be applied to gambling agencies.My final argument for this essay is that of employment. As previously stated, gambling generates a huge amount of revenue for the government, Gambling is a growing industry and with its growth it creates several opportunities for jobs for people in need. Gambling generates many jobs that help the economy grow in this time of need. Gambling generates jobs of all sorts, from the engineers and architects that build and design the casinos, to the people who sell lottery tickets, to those who actually work in casinos.All of these people generate their income because of the gambling industry. Tepperman states that in Canada gambling accounts for â€Å"267,000 full time jobs. † (6). Pa valko also states in his paper that in only eleven states a total of 370,207 people are employed in casinos, In a country with a current unemployment rate of 8%, the Gambling industry should be seen as a source for solutions to a much more serious problem than an addiction to gambling. Expanding the gambling industry will in return create more job opportunities and help decrease the unemployment rate dramatically.However, if the government begins to set harsher policies towards gambling and casinos are required to cut costs, the unemployment rate might increase which would create even more social issue, which could result in protests and riots from the workers who have lost their jobs due to the harsh policy towards gambling. Some might argue that Gambling still creates harm towards many people and even though it can create jobs it can also result in many people losing their jobs. I would respond by quoting Lorne Tepperman â€Å"A majority of adults gamble responsible; only a small minority of the population experiences gambling related harm. (1). I believe that gambling will create more jobs that it will end and that that is just a minor side effect that could be easily cured by the revenue that gambling will generate for the government, this money could be put back into society and produce new projects that create new job opportunities and these jobs could be offered to those who had lost their previous jobs. In conclusion I would say that I do not believe that the government should regulate gambling because of the reasons that I have stated earlier in this essay.First, Gambling is a choice and freedom. It a civil right and the government should not be able to decide weather or not you are allowed to gamble or how much you are allowed to gamble. Second, Gambling has grown into a major industry and has become a major source of revenue to the government. Gambling has helped fund many government programs used to help the less fortunate, even though gambling do es create certain people who are addicted to it, they are nowhere near as many as the people whom gambling helps.In this situation the pros drastically outweigh the cons and as previously stated, the revenue generated from gambling could go towards social programs made to help people with gambling addictions, that way these people will eventually cure themselves of their addiction and the hundreds of thousands of people whom depend on gambling a source of income would not be affected, which is what I believe is a win-win situation. This brings me to my final argument, employment.The gambling industry has created hundreds of thousands of job opportunities to many of those who need it, especially in a recession where millions struggle to find an income support for them and their families. I would say that the government should encourage gambling businesses to grow. However, as Christiane Pouline states in his paper titled â€Å"Gambling† that â€Å"Decisions on policy pertaini ng to gambling need to be based on a full accounting of the health, economic and social benefits and costs of gambling. (1208). Which is why the policy towards gambling should be set to help both the gambler and the Casinos. That policy should state that a majority of the profit that is generated from Casinos should go towards social programs that will benefit society; these social programs should include programs made to help gambling addicts with their problems. James Doughney perfectly sums up this policy in his book titled â€Å"The poker machine state†.Doughney says, â€Å"Try to do good; but even when you cannot at least do not knowingly cause harm. † (1). Over the past several years, gambling has grown into the largest sector of the entertainment industry, creating the most amount of revenue to the government. Our society should be scared of this phenomenon and try to regulate it, we should actually take advantage of it and use it to help make the most the most of this opportunity by using the money made from gambling to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.

Fire Safety Case Analysis

TO: Mike Carey – Vice President of Marketing FROM: Cristian Oana – Marketing Consultant DATE: 28/01/2001 SUBJECT: Pricing strategy of future FSI product line. Purpose and Overview Please review the following sections based on your current pricing strategy and market research as well as future recommendations. The report contains a SWOT analysis that will highlight the need for a switch in pricing strategy from the current Value Based pricing to Price leadership. FSI is the only manufacturer of the HERO line product having only one competitor (Guardian) which currently holds a market share of 42%.This fact underlines our company standing as an Oligopoly and allows us to lead the way in price determination. Summary of Past and Current Situations Self-contained breathing apparatus systems are worn by fire and rescue personnel in hazardous situations where smoke, poisonous gas or low levels of oxygen inhibit search and rescue operations. FSI has been the leading provider of the digital breathing apparatus system since 1990 holding a consistent price of 1485$ per unit. Almost 100% of FSI’s business is conducted with U.S. fire and rescue departments that belong to regional purchasing organizations. Contracts are one year in length with the exception of the California Region. In 2001 FSI increased the price by 5% to increase revenue. In 1995 Guardian introduced their own product line-up and managed to capture up to 42% market share. Their current cost is 1500$/unit. The challenges FSI currently faces is weather a further increase in price will keep its current market share despite competition and maximise revenues for the future.An appropriate pricing strategy must be chosen to ensure the HERO lines’ life cycle. Based on the items highlighted in bold in the following SWOT analysis, a price leadership strategy is recommended. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS * Unique product line that uses reliable digital equipment. * Fire Safety Inc. has a very wel l established brand name in the domestic market * Fire Safety Inc. provides the highest quality equipment at an affordable 1560$/ unit. * Increased sales despite 5% price increase * Since Fire Safety Inc. s very successful in the domestic market it established financial resources to possibly expand to foreign markets * Current market situations indicate an Oligopolistic environment * Product is familiar to US consumers – identified need for future equipment as stated by law| WEAKNESSES * The established ten year market perception for the price of the product. * No significant product line changes or updates which the competition may take advantage of. * No patent protection which may yield more emerging competition in the future. * HERO – brand name is not well known outside the domestic market. Company’s variable cost per unit of $560 may be high. | OPPORTUNITIES * New standards require fire and rescue departments to convert to digital technology. * Opportuniti es for gaining market further share and profit maximization. * Opportunities to achieve higher level of profit * New product innovations that can be incorporated into existing product line * Opportunity to expand to other foreign markets * Extending contracts to 3 years across the US to guarantee constant sales. | THREATS * Guardian has a manufacturing cost advantage compared to FSI that resulting from sophisticated production equipment.. FSI may experience loss of market share due to only one year contracts. * Loss of profitability due to increased prices. * Difficulty in gaining market share from competitors. * Guardian is offering a very similar product at a similar price| Assumptions on Which the Strategy is Based a. The market will remain an oligopoly. b. FSI will remain the leader of digital breathing apparatus systems. c. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health will not change legislation regarding safety in the near future. d. Guardian may increase pricing a s well due to FSI’s price increase. e.The state of limited competition will be retained for the following year. f. Proven reliability and results may capture further market share despite price increase. Pricing Strategies That Emerge From SWOT Fire Safety Inc. has a very well established brand name in the domestic market holding a leading market share of 58%. FSI estimates that the market will grow by 44% in 2002. For the past 11 years, the HERO lineup has enjoyed increased sales year to year by providing top of the line Digital Breathing Apparatus Systems. Currently, FSI is the leading manufacturer and distributor of these systems.Despite the 5% increase in price for 2001, sales have increased showing no signs of market response. Our competition has their product line set at a slightly lower price (1500$/unit) which indicates a clear weakness in an established market led by our company. Price leadership â€Å"An observation made of oligopolistic business behaviour in which one company, usually the dominant competitor among several, leads the way in determining prices, the others soon following. The context is a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers. This pricing strategy is perfect for FSI, having only one competitor and a successful sales record. Summary and Request for Action A further price increase is recommended for 2002 taking into account the above highlighted facts. There is no reason to believe that FSI’s market share will drop and based on the previous year’s sales adding $3,548,625 to the bottom line it is a clear indication that a Price Leadership strategy is crucial to the company’s success. In an Oligopolistic environment, it is the ideal choice.