Wednesday, July 31, 2019

The Re-Occupation of Rhineland

This source is suggesting that Hitler was only sending troops to his land which already belongs to Germany. He had right to do this as if you have a garden you are allowed to go there. We can agree with this source because the Rhineland was part of Germany but it had been demilitarised under the Treaty off Versailles. Many people felt the Treaty was unfair and harsh on Germany. Hitler’s actions were reasonable as he was not invading another country.Some people thought though it was breaking the Treaty but doesn’t mean it is going to lead to war. Some of the British also support and hostile to fascist Hitler because they were more concerned about communist Stalin’s Russia. People also thought to believe that Hitler was a peaceful man who wants peace and not a threat to the Britain. British people also trusted Hitler because they made a naval Agreement with him in 1935. They took far more notice of Hitler’s promises.It is reliable because the source is from a British politician so he would know the position of the government and why they have taken no action over the breaking of the Treaty of Versailles. He is trying to explain to the public why the government has taken no action against Hitler. He is trying to justify the government’s decision to do nothing. However the source is not valid because there were lots of other reasons why Britain didn’t oppose against Hitler.Economic trouble during the early 1930s meant Britain had reduced their spending on Arms and their military. Previous to the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, Britain had followed a policy of disarmament which left them vulnerable. Britain believed that even combined with France, they did not have enough power to overcome Germany, not only that but also that they had already met to discuss the possibility of future remilitarisation but had decided against taking any action should it occur.Britain's first priority was to protect their Empire therefore a W ar was not in their best interests as it would mean that the Navy would have to concentrate on other countries instead of the Empire. The policy of appeasement meant Britain wished to avoid War, and the fear that a possible European War could occur also prevented them from conflict as this would help to form an alliance between two powerful fascist leaders, Hitler and Mussolini which was a dangerous risk that Britain was not prepared to take.Britain was also concerned about with the actions of Japan and Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia. Overall nobody wanted another war because people could still remember the casualties of First World War. Finally I don’t agree with what this source is suggesting was the main reason that British did not oppose Hitler’s remilitarisation Rhineland in 1936. As we know this source is reliable because many people in Britain at the time thought Hitler was a man of peace and he is only sending troops to Rhineland which belongs to Germ any anyway.However the reason is not completely valid. So with the benefit of hindsight we also know so many things that many public didn’t know at that time. As I mentioned above Britain was behind on rearming. They were more concerned about Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia. Britain was also going through economic depression as the America’s Wall Street crashed in 1929. Finally there was a little Britain could do to Stop Germany because nobody wanted another war at any cost.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The traditional British seaside resort is in the danger of extinction

What do I think of as the traditional British seaside resort? Crowded beaches, with screaming children, buckets and spades, candy floss and donkey rides. A holiday by the sea has been a traditional break from the bustling city life since the 1840's, before which it was exclusive to the middle and upper classes. People could escape from their working lives- to experience the fresh air and relaxed atmosphere in places such as Bournemouth and Brighton. Blackpool also was a definite traditional seaside resort. After the railway arrived in 1846, Blackpool became an easily accessible destination only an hour or so from the smoggy cities such as Manchester and Bolton. With the arrival of cars and coaches Blackpool became even more thriving; by 1980 it was attracting over a million visitors every year. The 11km of white sandy beach was one attraction along with the famous tower, the pleasure beach and the piers. Another resort which shared this huge popularity, even with the royals, was Southend on Sea. From the 1800's onwards it was a popular destination for the tourists, with the beach, the amusement arcades and the longest pleasure pier in the world. It's within close proximity to London, and with the railway being built in 1854 it became even more accessible, throughout the 20th centaury its popularity continued with working and middle class day trippers and in the 1960's and 1970's the bank holiday invasions began. However these two resorts, along with many others have been hit by decline over the last few decades. They have been overtaken by tourists moving further from home. Cheap package holidays to destinations in the sun have proved too much of a temptation and today as many Britons take their main holiday abroad as do within Britain. The general public are choosing more adventurous holidays, further a field, they are much more aware of the possibilities they have through advertising and travel agencies. Also today's wealthier population have taken to spending their money to pamper themselves, which so often involves lounging in the guaranteed sunshine of the Mediterranean or some other foreign destination. The number of visitors spending time and money at Blackpool has fallen dramatically over the last 30 years. Families have stopped visiting and the tourists are falling into the ranks of â€Å"clubbers† and old age pensioners. The clubbers are bringing with them disruption, noise, violence, drugs and a general feeling of unrest and disturbance, this in turn is deterring the old age pensioners visiting, who are trying to find some peace and quiet and enjoy romantic strolls along the shore. This has caused the halt of the cash flowing into the area, so hotels are downgrading to hostels and restaurants are being replaced with fast-food joints. The beach has become littered and not desirable for children to play on. The social status of Southend on Sea has plummeted noticeably through the ages; the once fashionable resort has changed to the tacky stereotypical seaside resort. With the influx of Mods and Rockers â€Å"coming off the trains and having to have their shoe laces and belts confiscated by the police to restrict the violence†. Since the decline of the resort it has also become the â€Å"dumping ground† for refugees. Southend has an estimate of 6-7000 Kosovan refugees and 3-4000 Londoners sent down by social services. The reputation of the refugees has led to a further decline and an even more dramatic drop in visitors. The only visitors it now receives are the occasional day trippers- conceding to only do day trips as they don't like â€Å"the sound of the place at night†. However, the seaside resort is not in total decline, over the last few years the government has made a stand and the regeneration process is underway in many areas. They are attempting to bring the resorts back onto their feet. â€Å"We have turned our backs on our heritage in a lot of these places, and many fell into decay. But now, people are rediscovering the rich history associated with the seaside holiday resorts† (Steve Hayler, of Canterbury Church university college) Local towns, local councils and businesses are cleaning up beaches, improving facilities and rejuvenating traditional attractions. This year a record number of the UK's beaches were awarded the â€Å"blue flag† for meeting exacting standards of cleanliness and management demanded by the European clean-up scheme. 7 beaches made the grade, compared to 41 last year. Hopefully this is attracting people back to the beaches. Some areas are taking more drastic measures e. g. Newquay and Bournemouth with the prospect of building an artificial reef that would guarantee bigger waves. This would boost the already booming trend of surfers flocking to the beaches to catch the waves. This year an expected 100,000 are expected to turn up at the annual â€Å"Rip Curl Newquay Boardmasters festival†. Blackpool is considering a complete change in image. To transform the Lancashire town into a British version of Las Vegas. â€Å"We see huge opportunity; we want to see a year-round resort with year-round jobs that can be the centre of a larger regenerated Blackpool† (Alan Cazill the economic development officer at Blackpool Council). However some resorts are taking the more conventional route, just trying to improve on what they've got. For example Brighton's west pier ravaged by fire, was for decades a ghostly remnant of the past slowly falling into the sea. As part of the refurbishment, the underwater supports have been shored up and the decaying pier is floodlit at night. True the â€Å"Traditional† British seaside resort may be in danger of extinction, but in no way is the new and different seaside resort dying out its only just getting started. Despite the lure of foreign climate and the growth of cheap package holidays, this year for the first time in long time Britons are choosing once more for the pebbly shores close to home. The number of people heading for the seaside for four nights or more- 30 million a year- is the same as in 1965. Some 110 million day-trippers also make for the coast each year. In conclusion: has the British seaside resort come to the end of the line? Do people only want the guaranteed sun found in Europe and other countries? Or do people look for more in a beach holiday. Seaside may never return to how they were, but that does not mean they will die out, they may return in a brand new regenerated new fashion.

Hospitality and Destiny in the Odyssey and Sundiata Essay

Princeton’s Wordnet defines hospitality as â€Å"[the act of] cordial reception: [or] kindness in welcoming guests or strangers.† Since the start of this semester, we have read about two different journeys in which hospitality plays an important role in fulfilling the destiny of the main character. In Homer’s Odyssey, many examples of this are apparent, whether they are for the benefit or the downfall of the protagonist Odysseus. However, Odysseus is not the only one whom hospitality rules. His son Telemachus also is affected by his hospitality towards others. In Niane’s Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, the theme of hospitality runs thick throughout the narrative, as Sundiata is greatly affected by how the other characters receive him. If it were not for the hospitable acts shown to both of the weary travelers, Odysseus and Sundiata may not have been able to return to their homeland. The extreme observance of hospitality in the two texts may be compared with the golden rule: treat others, as you would like to be treated. The rule of hospitality may also be applied to the gods. In the time of Odysseus, gods or deities could take the form of humans or alter human appearance. If a stranger showed up at your door, you might not know whether they are mortal or immortal. If you turned away a god or someone loved by the gods, this could anger them and in turn they could avenge your inhospitable act. The gods might respond with not giving you a good harvest or make your life a complete hell, as Poseidon did to the journey of Odysseus. Good hospitality was to be displayed towards everyone, no matter age or gender. In The Odyssey, not only was Odysseus treated well by the lords of the lands he visited, but, his young son, Telemachus, was treated with respect. In Sundiata, hospitality was not only showed towards men, but also women. When Sassouma forced Sogolon into exile, the neighboring lands and kings she and her children encountered treated them with generosity. In The Odyssey many hospitable acts were displayed before kings even knew who had ventured to their land. When Telemachus travels to Pylos seeking information about his father, King Nestor treated him and Pallas Athena with much respect. As they approached the citadel King Nestor and his son spotted them. â€Å"As soon as they saw the strangers, all came crowding down, urging  them to sit. Nestor’s son Pisistratus, first to reach them, grasped their hands and sat them down at the feast on fleecy throws† (Homer 108, lines 39-44). This demonstrates how welcoming the Pylians are towards strangers. This is truly a hospitable greeting because the Pylians were not just carousing around, but in fact were involved in a feast in honor of the god Poseidon. They invited these foreign guests in as if they were members of the royal family to take part in the feast. Menelaus, like Nestor, treated his guest as part of the royal family before knowing their names. Menelaus provided Telemachus and Pisistratus with food but not just any food but, â€Å"He passed them a fat rich loin with his own hands, the choicest part, that he’d been served himself† (Homer 126, 74-75). The Greeks loved to eat and what an honor it would have been to be given the kings slab of meat. He also had women bathe them, rub them with oil, and provide them with warm fleece and shirts to wear. Before Telemachus was to leave, Menelaus insisted on giving him many gifts but Odysseus’ young son respectfully declined any such gifts. Menelaus insisted on giving him a mixing bowl forged to perfection made of solid silver with a lip of gold made by Hephaestus himself (Homer 144, 692-694). The hospitality shown by Menelaus is a great example of treating others as you would like to be treated. Menelaus, the great and lustrous king, showered his guest with the best of everything, as he would have wanted done for him. Not only in The Odyssey and ancient Greece was hospitality shown towards strangers, but it also occurred in Sundiata. The first stop on the exile journey of Sundiata was Djedeba. The king there received them with a little mistrust, but mentioned that everywhere the stranger enjoys the right to hospitality (Niane 29). The stay with the king of Djedeba lasted two months and not much is mentioned in the novel of what was given to Sundiata and his family. But the stay with Djedeba emphasizes the point that even though someone may be wary of allowing strangers to stay with them, the act of hospitality is entitled to all strangers who need a place to stay. Those who were members of the highest social class were not the only ones expected to practice hospitality. Hospitable acts were to be practiced by  and towards all social classes. When Odysseus returned to Ithaca, Athena disguised him by dressing him in beggar clothes. She directed him towards the swineherd’s establishment. The swineherd had to save the king from his beastly dogs and after this invited him into his home. The swineherd, Eumeaus, told Odysseus, â€Å"It’s wrong, my friend, to send any stranger packing-even one who arrives in worse shape than you† (Homer 303, 64-65). Odysseus told him, â€Å"May Zeus and the other gods give you your hearts desire for the royal welcome you have shown me here† (Homer 303, 60-62). The hospitality that was shown towards the beloved king no doubt pleased the gods. Even though the swineherd could not provide the extravagant baths, bedding, and food of kings, he still gave Odysseus the best of what he had. Odysseus was invited by the swineherd to sit down on a pile of brush and twigs covered with the skin of a shaggy wild goat, which was the swineherd’s own good bedding. He fed the king scrawny pigs that were freshly slaughtered. This was the best food that could be offered by the swineherd because the suitors who overran the home of Odysseus took the fattened pigs. The hospitality shown by the swineherd proves that one does not have to offer the best of things to show hospitality towards strangers. Hospitable acts were not expected only to be shown towards the living, but the deceased deserved the same rights. In Sundiata, when it came time to leave Mema and return to Mali, Sogolon passed away. Sundiata said to the king, â€Å"King, you gave me hospitality at your court when I was without shelter†¦In any case, allow me to bury my mother before I go† (Niane 46). The king was outraged that Sundiata wanted to leave his country and at first refused. But either it was fear, or out of respect he had for Sundiata, or a combination of both, Sundiata got his wish. Burial grounds were provided for Sogolon in the country of Mema. Showing hospitality towards the dead is as important towards showing it towards the living. Hospitality was not to go unnoticed either; hospitable acts were expected to be repaid when the time arose. A great example of repaying hospitality came from Menelaus. Telemachus and Nestor’s son arrived outside the gates of  Menelaus’ estate and lord Eteoneus runs through the halls and delivers the news to the battle-hardened king and ask, â€Å"Should we unhitch their team for them or send them to someone free to host them well†(Homer 125, 33-34)? Menelaus responds hastily, â€Å"Just think of the hospitality we enjoyed at the hands of other men before we made it home†¦And bring them in strangers, guest, to share our flowing feast†(Homer 125, 38-39, 41-42). Menelaus wants to show the same hospitality to those who visit his land just as the rulers showed him when he was in need. Political alliances also proved to be good situations to practice hospitality. One of the stops on the exile journey of Sundiata and his family was the region of Ghana. When they arrived they were greeted by the king’s brother who made them comfortable and brought water for them to quench their thirst. After Sogolon explained where they were from and why they were in exile the king, Soumamba, responded, â€Å"No one has ever found our hospitality wanting. My court is your court and my palace is yours† (Niane 34). The reason for easy welcoming of the strangers was the history of the relationship between Mali and Ghana. The king also said to his brother, â€Å"Brother, look after our guests. Let Sogolon and her children be royally treated and from tomorrow let the princes of Mali sit among our children† (Niane 34). Another hospitable act in Sundiata, which involved alliances between nations, happened again in Mema. This alliance had to do with the family relationship of two kings. Upon their arrival at Mema, the sister of the king greeted Sogolon and her family and housed them in a wing of the palace. They were recommended by Soumaba to come to Mema, and after showing the king of Mema, Moussa Tounkara, a letter from Soumamba the king said, â€Å"My cousin Soumaba recommends you and that is enough. You are at home. Stay here as long as you wish† (Niane 36). Sundiata became so beloved by the people and the king that he became viceroy and even secured a spot as heir to the throne of Mema. This is example of hospitality starts out as a friendly gesture, and evolves into a new set of hierarchal position for the traveling family. The hospitality shown by the people of Mema allowed the exiled royal family of Mali to become pretty much citizens of this new country. The act of hospitality is prevalent in both the Odyssey and Sundiata. Not  only do kings of regions and countries practice this act, but hospitality is expected to be practiced by everyone regardless of their social class. Hospitality should be shown towards everyone regardless how the two parties affiliate with one another. Hospitality goes along way in the stories of Odysseus and Sundiata. It creates relationships with lands that others fear, like the region of Ghana in Sundiata. It also creates relationships with those who have no prior relationships to those of foreign lands, like Telemachus creates with the comrades of his father. If only this type of hospitality was prevalent in society today our world would be a much more friendly and fearless place to live. Fagles, Robert. The Odyssey. New York: Penguin, 1996. Niane, D. T. Sundiata: an Epic of Old Mali. Harlow: Longman, 2006.

Monday, July 29, 2019

CIPD DIPLOMA 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CIPD DIPLOMA 2 - Essay Example that encouraged two-way communication, hence giving the students an opportunity to participate in class, which contributed positively to the learning process. The learning institution had adequate classrooms, which ensured that the class had a reasonable number of students. Consequent to this, I was able to interact with all the students in the class at a personal level. This also helped me to form personal relationships with the students, thus making follow up very easy for me. More to this, I had enough instruction materials. This equipped me adequately as I was able to deliver the requirements of the sessions with much ease. Therefore, I handled the training successfully, thus accomplishing the objectives of the training. Successful learning requires the presence of a positive environment. I achieved this by setting rules and norms for the class. The rules and norms were set in collaboration with the students, which ensured that the students expressed how they wanted to be treated. I also got an opportunity to communicate amicably to the students on how I expected them to treat the learning sessions, hence gaining a common ground on how the sessions were to be conducted. This promoted a positive environment, as the sessions were orderly, and full of respect, which boosted the concentration of the students. Getting to nurture good relationships with the students also helped in creating a positive environment. I welcomed them to the class with a greeting each time we had a session, and took a few minutes to enquire on how they had been since our last session. This created a caring atmosphere, hence drawing the attention of the students to learn what I had for them. Additionally, I mastered the names of the students, and addressed them by their names, whenever I asked a question. More to these, I showed concern by asking about their personal lives from time to time, and encouraged them, whenever the need arose. This helped them develop positive feelings about

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The Global Environment of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

The Global Environment of Business - Essay Example He decided to venture into employment as a freelance designer and simultaneously opened a sportswear company that collapsed in less than a year due to financial inefficiencies. He then joined Jordache fashion house as a designer as a blue jeans designer where he was able to meet Murjani. On his part, Mohan Murjani was hansdling a failing business and was in need of a new idea. Although he was one of the main brains behind the blue jeans craze in the 70s, his own venture, the Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans was not doing quite well. He sought Hilfiger to design for his company; the Murjani International. His move was targeted at resurrecting the jeans craze that was once a Phenomenon in the 1970s. Furthermore, he wanted to introduce new clothing designs that were less expensive and with a high appeal to the youthful generation. 1988, Murjani, Hilfiger and two other investors bought out Murjani International due to its financial woes and changed the name to Tommy Hilfiger.They moved their head quarters to Hong Kong due to the business connections of one of the partners in Asia. This business venture clicked and sales begun to come quickly and they eventually joined the New York Stock exchange in 1992 although this came to an end in 2006 as it was privatized by the Apax partner fund in London. Consequently, their headquarters were relocated to the Netherlands. Currently, it is considered to be one of the most successful fashion brands in the world. Its profits are believed to be around the region of $1.8 billion per annum. It is rated as one of the most creative and influential design companies in the modern times. Their logo is considered to be one of the most recognizable in the world. Almost each an every adult can be able to recognize the blue, red and white colors of the logo. For this reason, he has been able to expand his local and international appeal through his ever improving and unique

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Immigration and Nationality Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Immigration and Nationality Law - Essay Example e is a possible occurrence that a person may be treated in a way, in their country of origin, that would be classed as a breach of the HRA in the UK; this breach would be imputed back to the UK through its act of deportation, therefore causing a breach in the HRA. These persons are not technically asylum seekers as they are making a claim under the Refugee Convention; therefore this adds additional, albeit limited protections, to persons in fear of abuse. So for the purposes of this discussion they will be defined as asylum seekers. Persons who are looking for a safe place to enjoy their life and freedoms and in some cases obtain their basic needs, i.e., food, water, education†¦ The HRA does not protect a right to basic necessities. This essay begins by focusing on founding human rights principles and the central question that will be discussed is; whether the legal framework of human rights, through the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) and the European Convention of Human Rights (EC HR), uphold the principles that these pieces of law were founded upon. This is a similar reaction in other European countries and the most prevalent are the Roma Gypsies and Eastern Europeans; the following discussion will consider this case study to show that immigration law can and has been used to assert racist policies by classing them as economic migrants rather than asylum seekers, which means their financial status will exclude them and the persecution does not meet the standard posed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Natural rights are the basis for the international human rights of today, however the theory of modern human rights is slightly different as it is no longer purely concerns democratic government, but aims to ensure that gross human rights violations in the world as a whole will be held accountable and hopefully eliminated. Dworkin describes human rights as trumps1 that indicate a powerful set of principles individuals can rely on to protect them from

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Nurse And The Old Mans Hospital Room Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Nurse And The Old Mans Hospital Room - Essay Example The nurse was exemplary because she illustrated the characteristics of an excellent nurse- sympathetic, tolerant, and intelligent. While the nurse was outstanding, the hospital room was ordinary, but the gifts and contents that surrounded my Uncle made it look like a part of our home. The room was plain in colors and design. It had white walls with crumbling paint, some cracks in the walls, and simple layout of a bed and a table, which was common for public hospitals. It was white and clean. It was similar to every other hospital I had been too. Though the room was a familiar sight, everything else from our family and friends brought it to life. Uncle’s wife brought another table and some chairs. The table had two transparent cabinets, and one could see the packs of biscuits, chips, and candies inside, for the visitors. Another layer had dried fruits and sachets of coffee and chocolate drinks. At the side of the table were bags of home-cooked food, such as stewed fish and vege tables, rice, and tilapia in coconut milk. There were also baskets of fruits of every color- watermelon, bananas, apples, and oranges. I could smell the food fighting away the scents of alcohol, medicine, and antiseptics. Apart from food, pots, and bouquets of flowers were everywhere. My favorite was a bouquet of yellow flowers with pink edges. They looked brightly colorful and smelled wonderful. My Aunt put this in a vase and placed it on the table. Then, some vivid blue and green balloons were nearby too, as well as piles of cards and letters.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Trace the historical deveopment of payment systems from cash to Research Paper

Trace the historical deveopment of payment systems from cash to negotiable instruments to electonic funds transfer and debit cards - Research Paper Example s related to payment systems for the business transactions (Economy Watch, â€Å"Global Economy†) In this regard, organizations and inhabitants are able to undertake the operations nationally as well as in a global context with better efficiency and effectiveness. The transactions include transfer of goods and/or services, investment and fund among others. Thus, in the modern day context numerous transactions take place on a daily basis. These transactions deal with acquisition of financial assets, goods and other services. In this regards, a well defined payment system significantly aids to recognize as an important function in order to eliminate the fictions in the trading environment (BSP, â€Å"What is a payment system?†). Payment system comprises of various instruments, banking procedures along with the interbank transfer of funds to regulate the transfer of funds both nationally and internationally environment. Banking transaction between the parties is an important medium in the developed economy for making payments. Besides, the payment system is an important part of the economic and financial infrastructure. The effective functioning of the payment system enables the transaction to be completed safely and within the time. Moreover, the payment system is highly affected due to the high exposure of risk to the parties to the contract. Thus, the consideration of the proper security measure in order to control the feature of payment system is also very important to mitigate the risk related to it (CPSS 431-449) Correspondingly, the payment system allows the buyers and sellers to complete the transaction in very safe and timely manner in electronic forms. In this regard, it can also be affirmed that t he payment system is the key determinant of financial markets to settle the trading agreements that include government securities, stocks, foreign exchange, commercial paper and bonds among others. Likewise, there are various risks attached to the payment system

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Strategic Sourcing - Assignmet Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Sourcing - Assignmet - Case Study Example A quality analyst should have a high level of training and have exceptional analytical abilities along with broad knowledge. He should also be creative and be a quick learner in order to solve problems easily. The quality analyst is always supposed to work with other people as an analysis of the process of production entails an analysis of the people involved along with the technology. The applicant should demonstrate that he has an ability to cooperate and interrelate with other employees efficiently. Â  This question aims to understand whether the candidate has the necessary skills that are needed to report and make effective presentations that associated with the position through oral or written communication. The candidate should be able to demonstrate that he can make effective presentations of problems and proposed means of dealing with them. He should also show that he can freely interact with the rest of the employees and clients with exceptional oral and written skills The candidate should broadly explain how he would be able to efficiently use his skills and experience if he is selected for the job. He should demonstrate his motivation, abilities to deal with challenges and be flexible in handling challenging situations. The ideal candidate should possess a bachelor’s degree in quality control a related field so that he can demonstrate competency with essential skills that provide a wide range of knowledge for success as a professional. The candidate should be able to demonstrate that he possesses exceptional analytical skills that are needed to perform the tasks associated with the position efficiently. He must also show an ability to rely on his skills in the various responsibilities associated with the position. The ideal candidate should be one that is willing to learn from his mistakes and one who regularly seeks to get more knowledge on his field through seminars and workshops as well as other forms

Personnel management vs. human resource management Essay

Personnel management vs. human resource management - Essay Example The philosophy ingrained behind HRM is that humans are the assets of an organization just like information and other. As such, pre-planned strategies have to be chalked out to properly manage the employees at work. It thus takes into account all internal or external factors that have a bearing on the performance levels of employees namely culture of organization, structure, value system, dependency on other departments and cross-functional teams, psychological traits of employees, peer and social group, etc. It is thus an inter-related strategic function focused primarily on quality of human output achieved (IQPC 2006). Evolution of HRM from Personnel Management As mentioned before, HRM has evolved from personnel management through successive stages. Initially, personnel management was just rephrased as human resources management with no major difference in understanding or practice. With increased impetus on enhanced performance demands, coherent people structure and need for a cent ral workforce policy, personnel management was re-conceptualized and named as human resources management with specific attention on four major employee areas- work systems, reward systems, employee influence and human resource flow (Poole 1999:98). However, with shifting focus from cost minimization to utility maximization, personnel management was made distinctive from human resources management as strategy crept into the latter. Thus, while personnel management regards people as workforce and treats matters on superficial levels reactively, human resources management adopts a proactive approach and considers people as assets and primary resource of an organization. Similarities between... Any new initiative in a business scenario first starts at operational level but with continued success and evident results;it turns strategic in its scope,implications,and implementations.One such management function is personnel management which started decades back as a mere administrative tool to control operational activities of workforce.With the change in mindset of businessmen and policy makers and with the consideration of workforce as human assets for an organization, personnel management turned strategic with incorporation of other ‘soft’ factors like performance, motivation, quality, behavior patterns, non-monetary benefits and above all, linkage between organizational objectives and human resource objectives.After analyzing the similarities and differences between personnel management and human resources management, it is pretty much obvious that differences outweigh the similarities. Similarities between the two are of very general nature which cannot serve as the basis for any academic analysis or discussion. It is the differing side which actually initiates the development of an opinion regarding how personnel management and human resources management and related. In modern context when globalization is taking the world by storm and responsibility of sustained competitive edge stays on people, these gaps between personnel management and human resources management will be widened.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Recycling Should Be Mandatory for Everyone Essay

Recycling Should Be Mandatory for Everyone - Essay Example Recycling is beneficial to the environment, is cost-effective and must be made mandatory in order to succeed. The environmental benefits of recycling are well-documented and beyond doubt. Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals, prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials, saves energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change and helps create new well-paying jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States (EPA). The common method of dealing with waste is landfilling. This method is an inefficient waste of resources: The EPA asserts that the largest single component of landfills is packaging material which is 100 percent recyclable. One out of every 100 pounds dumped in U.S. landfills consists of the highly recyclable junk mail. Landfills also contribute to global warming through the release of methane into the atmosphere and by the pollution of groundwater and waterways. Recycling is an efficient alternative to la ndfills. Contrary to popular perception, recycling is cost-effective. The major argument put forward by critics of recycling is that it is often comparatively more expensive than landfilling. This argument is highly misleading. As Edward Humes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author says, â€Å"You could similarly argue that paying to go to the dentist is always more expensive than not going. Or that we sure could have saved on the military if only we had surrendered after Pearl Harbor rather than declaring war.† Critics of recycling conveniently fail to take into consideration the long term financial costs of addressing the costs of pollution caused by landfilling.                 Ã‚  

Monday, July 22, 2019

Torture in the United States Essay Example for Free

Torture in the United States Essay Torture has existed all over the world for millennia but what is torture in America today? The C. I. A. and the F. B. I. have recently used torture against terrorists who were suspected to have vital information concerning American safety. Since torture is illegal in the United States, most of this torture took place at Guantanamo Bay in the southeastern corner of Cuba. Detainees at the detention camp were not entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva Convention due to the fact that Guantanamo Bay is not considered to be within legal jurisdiction of the United States. Captives at the camp were subject to horrendous â€Å"enhanced interrogation† techniques such as waterboarding, hypothermia, stress positions, and sleep deprivation. Martin describes torture as â€Å"†¦ a stain on our great country. † Even though torture has been known to produce answers and in return save lives, it is still an immoral act. The point of torture in Guantanamo Bay is to extract information from prisoners of war to aid the war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq. Waterboarding is an â€Å"enhanced interrogation† technique used by the C. I. A. and other military groups. When one is water boarded, water is poured over the face to simulate the effects of drowning. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage, and lasting psychological effects. Molin describes how waterboarding works: â€Å"The individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual’s feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers both the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth. This causes an increase in carbon dioxide level in the individual’s blood. This increase in the carbon dioxide level stimulates increased effort to breathe. This effort plus the cloth produces the perception of ‘suffocation and incipient panic,’ i. e. , the perception of drowning† (Molin). â€Å"Cold cell† torture is another torture technique used by government officials. Also known as hypothermic torture, Bardes tells us, â€Å"Government operatives praised hypothermic torture as the most effective of all the techniques they employed. † Inmates are put in an air conditioned cell that blasts cold air until they are forced to shiver for hours. The body temperature of the captives drops and can cause brain damage and heart failure. A stress position, or submission position, places the human body in such a way that a great amount of weight is placed on just one or two muscles. For example, a subject may be forced to stand on the balls of his feet and then squat so that his thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates an intense amount of pressure on the legs, leading first to pain and then muscle failure. Sleep deprivation, another commonly used technique, has been used to keep prisoners awake from twenty-four hours up to six days. Houk explains, â€Å"It’s a primary method that is used around the world because it breaks people. It is effective because it induces severe harm. † Enhanced interrogation is ineffective at producing reliable information. The most common technique, waterboarding, does not yield reliable information on a regular basis. Extreme pain and stress can actually impair one’s ability to tell the truth. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a torture subject connected to Al-Quada at Guantanamo Bay, was water boarded more than 150 times. He was thought to have known the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden or his courier. During his torture sessions, Mohammed gave false names and places just to end his torture. Mohammed was also witnessed counting seconds until the torture ended on his fingers because he memorized how long it would last. While Khalid Sheikh Mohammad did eventually talk to interrogators, the information he gave was deemed unreliable. Extreme pain and stress can actually make it harder for a victim to tell the truth. Punishing duress can affect the brain’s ability for cognitive function and memory processes, therefore doing the opposite of that intended by â€Å"enhanced interrogation. † Some people say that torturing prisoners of war is acceptable because it can save lives of soldiers and citizens alike. This is simply not true. The opposition or enemy is more likely to be outraged when they find out that their friends and fellow combatants are being tortured. For example, one reason many Iraqis despise Americans is because the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Abu Ghraib was a prisoner of war camp in Iraq in which American soldiers tortured and abused suspected combatants and terrorists. Captives were electrocuted, beaten, put in stress positions, sexually abused, and deprived of sleep in order to force information out of them. Pictures taken of this abuse showed captives were forced to stack on top of each other naked, creating a pile of living bodies. In another instance at Abu Ghraib, a prisoner had his hands bound and hung from the ceiling with a bag over his head. He eventually suffocated and his body was destroyed, leaving his family with no body to bury. This infuriated the community when the pictures were released. An American citizen contracted to work in Iraq was captured by insurgents and was decapitated on video as a direct result of the mistreatment at Abu Ghraib. In the video, masked men explain that they would not stop slaughtering Americans until the torture at Abu Ghraib had been redeemed with blood and souls. It is time to end torture. Some torture leads to more torture. Torture in China has spread like wildfire and has been subjected to almost 4 million people in â€Å"re-education† camps. Watts elaborates on Chinese torture, â€Å"†¦brutality and degradation are common in Chinese prisons. † One thinks of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, and Rwanda when he thinks of crimes against humanity. If the United States wishes to avoid such company, it must completely reject the crimes against humanity rather than defending or rationalizing them. Americans must realize that torture is unacceptable, immoral, and cannot be justified by war.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Analysis of Proteins in Fish Muscle Tissue

Analysis of Proteins in Fish Muscle Tissue Introduction In vertebrates, the muscular system is an anatomical organ system controlled through the nervous system. Derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells, these contractile tissues-of skeletal, smooth, or cardiac origin-are responsible for blood circulation, internal organ function, heat production, and organ protection.[1] With the skeletal system integrated, voluntary and reflexive movement, as well as posture and body position, become possible. Surrounded by an epimysium, skeletal muscles are composed of many long muscle fibers lined with endomysium, which are bound together by perimysium into bundles called fascicles.[2] Within these myocytes, there are smaller strands of myofibrils that contain myofilaments (or sarcomeres) the basic unit of a striated muscle tissue. These repeating sarcomeres contract in response to nerve signals by means of sliding filaments: actin and myosin. The thin filaments consist of two chains of spherical actin proteins twisted in a helical co nformation and troponin as a contraction regulator.[2] Each actin molecule has a myosin-binding site that is covered by tropomyosin during muscle relaxation. Having a head and tail region, myosin II proteins generally form the thick filaments with its six polypeptide chains and can cross bridge with actin filaments due to their elasticity and contractibility properties. Specifically, the motor domain of its two heavy chains adopt an ÃŽÂ ±-helical coiled coil configuration and couple ATP hydrolysis with its motion while its two light chains-which wrap around the neck region of each heavy chain at the IQ sequence motif-have regulatory roles[1]. Although this major multi-subunit protein has remained greatly stabile across the animal kingdom over time, myosin light chains have undergone evolutionary divergences for different species; however, the essential structure and functions have remained highly conserved.[3] Caused by genetic mutations, only favorable variations are passed thro ugh this process allows for specialization, speciation, and evolution that eventually increases survival ability: DNA (genes)  ® RNA ® Protein  ® Trait  ® Evolution. Protein gel electrophoresis and western blotting can be used to compare myosin light chains of different species by identifying any commonalities or alterations in specific subunits. Since proteins reflect changes in the gene pool, the phenotype and function as well as form of an organism can be identified, allowing for the study of their physiological adaptations to the environment. Through comparative proteomics-defined as the analysis of differentially expressed proteins with comparison between at least two protein profiles-changes in the proteome that have been caused by development, diseases, and the environment can be identified allowing for assessment of biological variability and dataset comparability.[4] The objective of this lab was to extract proteins from unknown samples of fish muscle tissue and then qualitatively analyze this protein mixture by performing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) twice. The protein bands of the first gel-representing the total amount of proteins found in the tissue homogenate-were stained and visualized at 595nm with the Bio-Safe Coomassie Blue G-250 dye at 595nm while the fractionated proteins of the second gel were electroblotted onto a nitrocellulose membrane via Western blotting where the specific protein of interest was selectively immuno-detected by chemiluminescence with a horseshoe radish peroxidase-linked secondary antibody. [3,4] Accordingly, the goal of this report is to identify the different types of proteins found in fish muscle-specifically of shark, tilapia, skitter, and salmon-required for muscle contraction and movement and to establish whether they are highly conserved or variable across all animal species. Consequently, information about the environment, niche, or physiological stresses faced by the organism can be elucidated as specific protein modifications that alter muscle function and performance work to increase their fitness and adaptiveness.[2] Differences in proteins may reveal information about the evolutionary relationships among various organisms and by understanding this diversity in the natural world, many biological problems can be solved to improve the quality of human life.       Materials and Methods First, unknown tissue samples from two different fish species were prepared for protein extraction: in a 1.5mL microcentrifuge tube, 250ÃŽÂ ¼L of Laemmli (1x SDS) sample buffer was added as well as the minced tissue. After gently agitating the contents by flicking the tube, it was left to incubate at room temperature for five minutes. Next, the tube was centrifuged to pellet the tissue; this allowed for transfer of the supernatant buffer to a new 1.5mL screw cap tube, which was then boiled at 95 °C for five minutes. Second, SDS PAGE was performed on two separate precast TGX gels (purchased from Bio-Rad) since both Coomassie Blue staining and Western blotting were required. Refer to the BIO314 experiment 7 lab manual for instructions on how the gel apparatus was assembled with the Mini-Protean gels and tetra cell. When this was completed, the loading scheme for Coomassie staining involved pipetting the protein ladder (Biorad cat #161-0375) in lane 1 (at 7 ÃŽÂ ¼L/line) and the actin/myosin standards in lane 6 (at 5 ÃŽÂ ¼L/line). The rest of the lanes were used to load the samples (at 10ÃŽÂ ¼L/line). The same set-up was done for the immunoblotting gel, except only 5ÃŽÂ ¼L/line of each boiled sample was loaded. Refer to the BIO314 experiment 7 lab manual for instructions on how these solutions were loaded. After all of the samples have been loaded, the gel box lid was connected to the electrode assembly by matching the red and black leads with their corresponding electrodes. Then, the leads were plugged into the power supply, which was subsequently turned on and set to run at a constant voltage of 200V. This process was terminated at 30 minutes when the loading dye started to exit the gel. Refer to the BIO314 experiment 7 lab manual for instructions on how the gels were removed. Third, Bio-Safe Coomassie staining was done on the appropriate gel-with samples loaded at 10ÃŽÂ ¼L/line-which was peeled from the plate: it was then inserted into a container of deionized water and washed for 5 minutes on a rocking platform. Afterwards, the gel was transferred to another container with Coomassie staining solution again, this was left on a rocking platform for 15 minutes. Upon completion, the stained gel was put in deionized water (destaining solution) and the lid was capped onto this container, which was placed onto the rocking platform for 15 minutes. Fourth, the immunoblot was prepared and transferred: with blunt-ended tweezers, the PVDF membrane and bottom stack was placed on the cassette base; the membrane was left facing up. Any air bubbles seen were immediately removed with a blot roller. Since one mini gel was employed, the stack was centered in the cassette. Then, the second gel-with samples loaded at 5ÃŽÂ ¼L/line-was peeled from the plate (from the SD S-PAGE step) and stacked over-top of the PVDF membrane. Any air bubbles present were subsequently removed using a blot roller. Next, a second wetted top-ion transfer stack was placed above this gel. This assembled sandwich was rolled thoroughly with a blot roller to prevent any air bubbles from being trapped. Finally, the lid was closed and locked onto the cassette and this was set inside the turbo blotter to initiate the transfer. When the electro-transfer process was finished, the blots were dismantled and stored (at -20 °C) according to the instructions written in the BIO314 experiment 7 lab manual. After one week, the Western blot-that had been rocked on a platform with block solution A for 1 hour-was placed into 10mL of blocking solution B and 5ÃŽÂ ¼L of primary antibody was added on that solution with swirling; this was incubated for 20 minutes. Upon completion, the gel was washed with 15mL of wash buffer (three times, each with 10 minutes of incubation); then 15mL of blo cking solution B and 5ÃŽÂ ¼L of secondary antibody was added and incubated at 15 minutes. The three wash steps were repeated. With the wash buffer drained, the membrane was put on a plastic paper protector (with the protein side up) and 400ÃŽÂ ¼L of substrate (made by mixing reagent A and B in 1:1 ratio, 200ÃŽÂ ¼L each) was spread evenly across the middle of the blot. A plastic protector was then added over it and this was imaged with a digital imager for chemiluminescence detection and analyzed using the BioRad ChemiDOC-MP Imaging System for the molecular weight and signal intensity of the protein bands (refer to the instructions posted on blackboard on how this program was operated). Results and Discussion According to the Coomassie-stained gel, the variability in the staining intensity of the protein bands in lanes 2, 3, 4 and 5-for skeletal muscle tissue samples from shark, tilapia, skitter, and salmon-signify the difference in the relative abundance of individual polypeptides in each organism (note that lane 5, band 11 was used as the reference). Influenced by factors such as protein expression and control, these species have generated different quantities of proteins with similar masses in their muscle tissues as they have adapted to specific environmental and biochemical interactions.[5] In figure 1, the potential mass and intensity values of myosin-light chain (MLC) are as follows: shark (15.43kDa at 0.37, 17.65 at 1.71, 20.64 at 1.09, 21.60 at 0.25, 23.05 at 0.69, 23.79 at 0.92, and 25.54 at 1.02); tilapia (15.33kDa at 1.34, 16.42 at 0.75, 19.02 at 0.35, 20.37 at 1.56, 21.47 at 0.34, and 23.79 at 0.36); skitter (15.92kDa at 2.09, 17.99 at 0.94, 20.12 at 0.48, and 23.75 at 0.55) and salmon (16.07kDa at 1.13, 20.12 at 0.31, 21.08 at 0.64, 21.76 at 0.26, and 24.92 at 0.34). Due to selective immunodetection of MLC proteins in Western blotting by a primary antibody, the various protein bands lying in the general MLC range of 15-25kDa in the Coomassie gel can be narrowed to: shark (23.94kDa at 1.33); tilapia (24.47 at 0.70); skitter (24.47 at 0.36); salmon (24.47 at 0.22) and myosin marker (24.47 at 2.40) all of which resemble the myosin light chain isoform I (>20kDa) as isoforms II (20kDa) and III (15kDa) have lower masses; with a greater variability of myosin, tilapia has an additional band of 20.68kDa at 0.39 that resembles isoform II. [5] The other bands were dismissed as non-specific background interferences (note that lane 4, band 5 was used as the reference for the immunoblot). The high specificity of primary antibodies in probing their target allows for its wide-use in proteomic research as a reliable immunodetection technique; since proteins can indica te evolutionary relatedness or the presence of genetic diseases, their role as biomarkers has allowed for measurements of physiological changes as well as their quantifications.[6] In the appendix, all of the protein bands for the four species have been assigned a protein that corresponds to its molecular weight. From this, it can be denoted that sharks are more closely related to salmons than tilapia and skitters, both of which are tied for second place. However, based on fish phylogeny: sharks and skitters-belonging to the same class called Chondrichthyes-have diverged prior to the class of Actinopterygiis, which include both salmon and tilapia.[7] In terms of classification relative to the order, sharks (of Elasmobranchii) have the greatest evolutionary relationship with skitters (of Rajiformes), then salmons (of Salmoniformes), and lastly tilapia (of Perciformes).[7] As a hexameric ATPase cellular motor protein, myosin is composed of four light chains (MLC)-two non-phosphorylatable essential alkali chains, two phosphorylatable regulatory chains-and two heavy chains (MHC). Specifically, the protein bands of these light chains have a molecular weight as a range from 15 to 25kDa; this diversity in the masses occur largely from alternative RNA splicing mechanisms that generate multiple tissue-/developmental stage-specific isoforms.[7] Although these polymorphic variations do not significantly alter the actin-activated ATPase activity of the myosin-heavy chain, they affect the actin-filament sliding velocities and kinetics-leading to different force-generating abilities.[8] In an evolutionary context, the existence of these hybrid molecules has been adopted by muscles-in response to changing functional demands-to shorten this translocation time in order to increase their overall fitness. Consequently, numerous variants of slow and fast light chains we re developed despite the underlying plasticity of striated muscles.[7] Voluntary muscles are divided into slow twitch and fast twitch muscles. The main difference is that the former red muscle contracts for longer periods of time with little force, require an oxygen-rich operating environment, and contain only two distinct light chains while the latter white type contracts quickly and powerfully for only short bursts of anaerobic activity as they become exhausted due to lactic acid buildup, have glycogenolytic capacity, and possess three different light chain subunits.[8] Over 90% of swimming muscles from sharks are composed of myotomes that can create massive propulsive forces by contracting their high numbers of white fibres; only a few such as the Great White incorporate bands of red muscle to elevate endurance over strength.[9] Accordingly, this explains why the MLC band on the Western blot has the greatest intensity of 1.33 relative to the other species. Conversely, fish species are generally composed of endothermic red-segmented muscles in their t runk musculature-allowing for their stiff-bodied, slow undulatory swimming motions.[6] Due to their decreased mass of white muscles, MLC bands of tilapia, skitter, and salmon are of lower intensity at 0.70, 0.36, and 0.22 respectively. Relative to mammals, fish myosins share the same light chain patterns but have higher variability in MLC mass and quantity due to adaptive differences in movement between red and white myofibrils.[6] Since they have larger phylogenetic diversity, there is an enormous range of contraction speeds and swimming styles among homologous muscles.[6] For example, fast twitch muscles of rabbit, sheep, and chicken have three light chain components at 250kDa-whereas only one is found homologous at 180kDa among pike, dogfish, mackerel, angler-fish, and carp.[5] Moreover, their poikilothermic-nature may have contributed to these light chain divergences as they were forced to adjust to fluctuating environment temperatures that required specific muscle responses fo r survival.[9] Sources of errors with the techniques employed contributed in hindering the accuracy of the results. First, the amount of protein stained with Coomassie dye varied greatly between the sample replicates since the dye may complex with the anionic detergent in its free cationic form interfering with protein concentration estimates. Moreover, this dye selectively targets amino acid resides arginine, tryptophan, tyrosine, histidine, and phenylalanine; however, the assay performed responds primarily to arginine residues eight-times higher than other ones listed above.[2] Second, reproducibility of the sample preparation and protein extraction steps was an issue due to variability among the skills of the student, which may have caused the quantity differences seen among the replicates. For example: if more tissues were added for one specie, the increased concentration of proteins loaded into the lane would be misled for a true difference in expression among or between the species. To over come these problems: one, an automated protein extraction systems should be employed since its robotic liquid handing technology can control for errors and contaminations leading to greater reproducibility and accuracy; two, silver staining can be substituted for Coomassie due to its higher sensitivity (0.2ng versus 7ng respectively); third, adjustable single-/multi-channel Rainin electronic pipettes should be used as its fully automated and repetitive micro-pipetting has superior consistency allowing for higher throughput work.[4,5,6,9] Overall, it has been discovered that-irrespective of muscle tissue origin-myosin light chain molecules are heterogeneous in mass and intensity and the existence of phasically active fast muscles versus slow tonic muscles has led to characteristic light chain patterns among different fish species. Based on similarities and divergences in the overall protein content and intensities of the different fish species mentioned above, sharks are deemed to be more closely related to salmons than tilapia and skitters both of which are tied for second place. However, according to fish phylogeny, sharks and skitters have diverged before salmon and tilapia, leading to an order classification of sharks (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) having the greatest evolutionary relationship with skitters (Chondrichthyes, Rajiformes), then salmons (Actinopterygiis, Salmoniformes), and lastly tilapia (Actinopterygiis, Perciformes). Radical alterations in their muscle proteome may have originated from adaptive responses to environmental stresses-i.e. osmotic, anaerobic, and thermal condition changes- or during symbiosis and development since cells can make different sets of proteins based on its specific spatial-temporal conditions.[5] The inferences made in this lab come with great uncertainty due many accuracy and reproducibility problems. Thus, fluorescence two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis can be substituted for SDS-PAGE; high-throughput proteomic technologies like micro arrays, mass spectrometry-based methods, protein chips, and reverse-phased protein-microarrays can be used for protein profiling and detection; and hybrid separation-analysis techniques such as reversed-phase chromatography-ESI ionization online analysis systems can be utilized for greater sensitivity, accuracy, and precision all of which allow an experimenter to draw firmer conclusions. References Bandman, E. et al. Developmental Appearance of Myosin Heavy and Light Chain Isoforms in-Vitro and in-Vivo in Chicken Skeletal Muscle. Developmental Biology. 1982, 2, 508-518. Chatfield, S. Experiment 7: Extraction and Electrophoresis of Proteins: Immunoblot Preparation. BIO 314 Laboratory Manual. 2017. Chatfield, S. Experiment 8: Development of Immunoblots (Western Blots). BIO 314 Laboratory Manual. 2017. Focant, B. et al. Subunit Composition of Fish Myofibrils: The Light Chains of Myosin. Journal of Biochemistry. 1976, 110-120. Lowey, S. et al. Function of Skeletal Muscle Myosin Heavy and Light Chain Isoforms by an in Vitro Motility Assay. The Journal of Biological Chemistry.1993, 268, 20414-20418. Lowey, S. et al. Light Chains from Fast and Slow Muscle Myosins. Nature. 1971, 81-85. Syme, D. et al. Red Muscle Function in Stiff-Bodied Swimmers: There and Almost Back Again. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2011, 1507-1515. Tomanek, L. et al. Environmental Proteomics: Changes in the Proteome of Marine Organisms in Response to Environmental Stress, Pollutants, Infection, Symbiosis, and Development. Journal of Animal Science. 2003, 373-390. Young, R. et al. Structural Analysis of Myosin Genes Using Recombinant DNA Techniques. Journal of Animal Science. 1968, 259-268.

An Analysis Of The Savoy Hotel

An Analysis Of The Savoy Hotel The Savoy hotel is a luxurious hotel in the heart of Britain, which is located on the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London. In 1989, the hotel opened by impresario Richard DOyly Carte. It was the first Savoy Group of hotels and restaurants, which introducing electric lights in all over the hotels, electric lifts, bathrooms including expensive furnitures, hot and cold water facilities and many other innovations. The hotel became most successful venture for Cartes. Its bands Savoy Orphans and Savoy Havana Band became famous with entertainers included George Gershwin, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and Noel Coward. They have some famous guests as well, which included Edward VII, Enrico Caruso, Charlie Chaplin, Harry Truman, Judy Garland, Babe Ruth, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand, The Beatles and many more. In 2005, The Savoy Hotel was sold out and is now managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It has been called Londons most famous hotel (Prynn J. 2009). They are most prestigious and opulent hotel including 268 rooms and there is panoramic view of Themes River across the hotel. In 2007, The Savoy Hotel was close down for their extensive refurbishment, which budgeted was about  £100 million. The hotel conducted a sale of 3,000 items of its famous furnishings and memorabilia. (Davis M. 2007) In 2010, The Savoy hotel was reopened their business and providing good quality service. The ownership and management of the Hotel with The Berkeley, The Claridges, and The Connaught remain unchanged The Savoy Hotel 2| Page 1. Situation Analysis 1.1 Analyse the roles of public, private and voluntary sectors in tourism and hospitality? The public sector in tourism and hospitality industry plays important role in the development of small businesses. This sector is highly important in micro sector development of the industry. The services of public sector of the tourism and hospitality industry include strategic directions that are important for the overall coherent development of the industry (Teo, 2003). The private sector of the tourism and hospitality industry plays important role in the active and passive development of the industry. This sector plays important role for transforming money from one country to the other. This sector is highly important for the economic development of tourism and hospitality industry (Teo, 2003). The third sector of tourism and hospitality industry is voluntary tourism which refers to paid activities such as formal businesses (Teo, 2003). This sector play role in terms of local communities such as difficulties regarding resident involvement. 1.2 Evaluate a range of different tourism and hospitality sectors and the organization that operate within them The tourism and hospitality industry is very broad industry which also includes service sectors such as restaurants, logging, event management, theme parks, transportations and other additional fields. The tourism and hospitality industry accounts for several billions across the world which depends on the disposal income of customers to facilitate them in leisure time. On the other hand, hospitality sector of the tourism and hospitality industry such as hotel, restaurant and other groups may also be included. The Savoy Hotel 3| Page On the whole, the tourism and hospitality industry can be divided into eight major segments. These are: Accommodation Events and Conferences Adventure Tourism and Recreation Tourism Services Attractions Transportation Food and Beverage Travel Trade Analyze stakeholders roles within tourism and hospitality industry The individuals, organizations or groups that have interest or stake in an organization are termed as stakeholders. Practices of organizations can have long lasting impact on the interests of stakeholders. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the interests of stakeholders. In tourism and hospitality industry, the organizations or individuals who have put capital or efforts in the establishment or development of the industry can be referred to stakeholders of the industry. In addition to this, different stakeholders in private and public sector organizations in tourism and hospitality industry can exist (Belinda, 2008). Businesses in tourism, government and communities can have stake in the tourism and hospitality industry. Tourists cannot be considered as actual stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry because they do not make significant money through this industry. On the other hand, they can influence the practices of the tourism and hospitality industry because they are involved in the industry from different aspects. Some of the stakeholders of the Savoy Hotel are as follows: The Savoy Hotel 4| Page Government: The most important stakeholder of the Savoy Hotel is government because policies and regulations of the tourism and hospitality industry are shaped by the government. In context of overall tourism and hospitality industry, government influences the practices of organizations in following respects (Belinda, 2008): By consultation with the private sector and other communities, it plans the policies of the tourism industry It ensures that the organizations in tourism and hospitality industry follow the planned policies and regulations It provides support in financial terms and guidance to the companies in tourism and hospitality industry It ensures that stability and law and order situation of the country for attracting tourists Industrialists: Industrialists are also very important stakeholders of the Savoy Hotel. Industrialists include travel agencies, organizations in the industry, and transport agencies. The organizations in the tourism and hospitality industry include hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. The practices of all these organizations can affect the operations of the tourism and hospitality industry, as a whole. Industrialists can have following interests in the tourism and hospitality industry: To make investment in the tourism and hospitality industry To market their products and services in different organizations in tourism and hospitality industry such as hotels, restaurants and shopping centers To influence the companies for promoting their products and services The Savoy Hotel 5| Page Customers/tourists: Customers or tourists are also important stakeholders in the Savoy Hotel. This group of stakeholders demands value, quality and high customer care. These are the major source of money for the organizations operating in the tourism and hospitality industry (Belinda, 2008). Employees: Employees are the internal stakeholders of the Savoy Hotel. They have high level interest in the internal policies of the tourism and hospitality industry. They demand quality work environment, job security, compensation and truthful communication in the organizations (Belinda, 2008). Local Communities: In Savoy Hotel, local communities are important stakeholders. This is because they attract tourists and impact on their intentions of visiting a particular place. They can have stake in the tourism and hospitality industry in terms of job security, environment protection, promotion of local products and services and promotion of local culture and values. 1.4 Analyze the nature of changes to the structure of tourism industry over last 15 years? Over the last fifteen years, several changes have occurred in the Savoy Hotel.These changes may include: change in oil prices which led to changes in charges of fuel in airlines Increased capacity of aviation on different routes which attract tourists to the tourism and hospitality industry The Savoy Hotel 6| Page low international airfares and cheap packages of travel with discounts which attract tourists towards the tourism and hospitality industry Trends in consumer demographics which change the behavior of customers for tourism law and order situation in different countries Terrorism factor which reduces the tourism in certain countries On the whole, trends in demographics of customers impact the consumer behavior in the tourism and hospitality industry. It is important for the Savoy Hotel in the tourism and hospitality industry to make important steps regarding strategic management relevant to these changes. Organizations should make relevant policies to attract customers. Marketing Report 2.1 Analyse issues around sustainability and sustainable development in tourism and apply management strategies accordingly The sustainable issues in the Savoy Hotel refer to the environment protection. It is important for the hotel to apply certain policies regarding these issues to resolve the problems and disagreements. In the global context, the sustainability issues are very important. Organizations need to develop relevant strategies regarding the sustainable development. On the long term basis, organizations need to develop local as well as global strategies for attracting customers and ensuring sustainable development. The Savoy Hotel 7| Page This is because of integration of sustainable issues across the world. There are many issues in local context which may impact the sustainability in global aspects. Therefore, hotel should integrate their local and global strategies for ensuring sustainability in global tourism and hospitality industry. 2.2 Evaluate certain ways in which tourism can be managed in a sustainable way with reference to given examples There are three major ways through which sustainability issues in global tourism and hospitality industry. These are: Resource based tradition: In this method limitations to growth in hospitality industry are evaluated in resource context Activity based tradition: This refers to the transformation of hospitality industry on dynamic activities Community based tradition: This refers to the integration of resources and activities in the hospitality industry 2.3 Apply principles of corporate social responsibility to a chosen tourism business The corporate social responsibility refers to the commitment of the business to ethical and economic development. In Savoy Hotel, corporate social responsibility issues are highly important. These issues relate to the health and safety conditions. Moreover, commitment towards employees, customers and shareholders are also included in this context (Bhattacharya, 2011). The Savoy Hotel needs to be commitment towards environment in broad sense to fulfill its responsibility towards society. The Savoy Hotel 8| Page On the whole, Savoy Hotel needs to show its responsibility towards following sectors: Workplace Community Marketplace Environment Market Research 3.1 Apply PESTLE analysis to describe the main trends in global tourism industry A business tool that evaluates the different factors of external environment of an organization is termed as PESTEL analysis. This tool analyzes the political, environmental, social, technological, legal and economic perspectives of the environment in which organizations operate. In perspective of tourism and hospitality industry, this tool determines that whether the industry is suitable or not for investment (Miriam, 2011). The PESTEL analysis of global tourism and hospitality industry is as follows: Political Factors Political factors refer to the extent to which government impacts the operations of the organizations in the tourism and hospitality industry. The important political factors such as health protection laws, tax rates, law and order situation and political stability can influence the Savoy Hotel in the tourism and hospitality industry. In the global context, political situation in the Middle East can impact the tourism. Moreover, in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where terrorism threats are high, tourism and hospitality industry is declining. The Savoy Hotel 9| Page Economic Factors Economic factors can also the operations of the tourism and hospitality industry. These factors can influence the revenues and expenses of the hotels operating in the tourism and hospitality industry. The prices of products, raw materials and inflation can impact the industry. Rates of interest and exchange rates can also influence the hotel as well. Financial downturn in the world decreased the purchasing power of the customers and tourists. In this way, overall revenues of the Savoy Hotel were impacted in that financial crisis. Social Factors Social factors may have long lasting impact on the practices of organizations in the tourism and hospitality industry. Health conscious behavior of customers may impact their purchasing behavior in the hotels and restaurant segment of the tourism and hospitality industry (Butler, 2004). Culture and religious practices of people in a particular country may also impact the practices of the Savoy Hotel in tourism and hospitality industry. Technological Factors Technological practices impact the demand and supply factors in the tourism and hospitality industry. Technological efficiency in the tourism and hospitality industry may enhance the demand. If the food technology is efficient in the tourism and hospitality industry, organizations in the restaurants and hotels can have high demand from customers. Organizations can prepare food quickly to meet the demand. Technology may also impact the relationship of hotels with the customers. Efficient technologies can impact customer relationship management in the Savoy Hotel. The Savoy Hotel 10| Page Environmental Issues There are several environmental factors which influence the practices of hotels in tourism and hospitality industry. Packaging decisions are the major considerations in the tourism and hospitality industry. The practices of organizations in the tourism and hospitality industry which cause pollution may impact the image of the organizations in global context. Global warming, climatic conditions in different regions can also influence the practices of Savoy Hotel in tourism and hospitality industry. Legal Issues There are many legal issues which impact the policies of tourism and hospitality industry. Rules and regulations regarding food practices can impact the hotels in restaurant sector of the tourism and hospitality industry. Laws regarding operating business in a foreign country can also impact the operations of hotel in the tourism and hospitality industry. 3.2 Distinguish between the elements of macro and micro environment The macro environment of an organization is a broad environment which aims at the investigation of major issues. This environment is basically refers to PESTEL environment analysis that allows the researchers to focus at the factors which impact a business in external and broad environment context. These factors may include economic, social, technological, political, environmental and legal factors. These factors impact the hotel in different contexts. It is very important for the hotel to adapt to these factors in an effective manner. The results of PESTEL analysis allow the organization to see the factors where its strengths can be capitalized. The Savoy Hotel 11| Page Micro environment refers to a small environment which aims at investigation of a research problem in a small perspective. This environment refers to new patterns of organizations. This environment may include internal and small external environment of an organization. Internal environment may include employees and management. On the other hand, external environment may include suppliers, customers, and competitors. Both types of environment are highly important for the hotels to see their effectiveness for the operations of the business. 3.3 Analyze the effects of macro and micro environmental factors on tourism organization Political factors: Improvement in the trade barriers and opening of new tourism avenues can enhance the scope of Sovay Hotel for tourism (McKercher, 1993) Economic factors: Low bargaining power of customers and clients reduce the tourism revenues of Savoy Hotel. Environmental factors: high concerns of environment such as pollution influence the Savoy Hotel to meld its practices in environment friendly mode Legal factors: Laws and regulations in tourism industry impact the Sovay Hotel to mold its practices according to laws Social factors: behaviors of customers towards healthy food impacts the policies of Sovay Hotel to offer healthy food to customers Technological factors: improvement in technologies and transportation influence the Sovay Hotel to reframe its practices for attracting customers and tourists. The Savoy Hotel 12| Page Sustainability Corporate Social Responsibility 4.1 Evaluate the stages of market research process Defining the Problem or Need: The first stage of the market research process is defining the problem or need. Before conducting the market research, the Savoy Hotel in the tourism and hospitality industry need to identify the main problem or need of the research. They need to conduct investigation to discuss the need of conducting research and define the problems of the organizations. This stage defines the problems or issues that prevail in the organizations and hinder its performance. In order to find the solution of the problems, research is conducted. Deciding the researcher After defining the problem or need of the research in the hotel, the next stage is to decide about the researcher who will conduct the research to resolve the prevailing issues. This stage refers to the formulation of analytical framework or methodology for conducting the research. The researcher creates case studies of the hotel to make exact framework for the research. Deciding the methodology After defining problem and researcher, the next step is to decide about the methodology of the research. This stage refers to the exploration of different methodologies and frameworks for conducting research. These frameworks may include interview, survey or secondary data. It is very important to decide appropriate methodology relevant to the need of the market research. Relevant methodology aims at finding exact solution of the prevailing problems of the organizations (Baker, 2000). The Savoy Hotel 13| Page There can be qualitative or qualitative methodology for conducting the research. In qualitative methods, discussions are conducted with the relevant members for finding the solution of the prevailing problems. Qualitative methodology refers to the investigation of the problems in theoretical manner. On the other hand, quantitative methodology aims at finding the solution f research problems in quantitative terms. This methodology aims at investigating the research problems in numeric terms. Survey is the best tool for conducting quantitative research. There is another methodology which is used to conduct market research. This methodology is mix f qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Many researchers suggest that mixed methodology is effective for finding the justified and logical answers of research questions. Data Collection Process After deciding the research methodology and researcher, the next stage is the data collection process. At this stage, research design is produced for the research. This stage defines the appropriate framework through which research is planned. Aims and objectives of the research are defined at this stage of market research (Saunders et al., 2009). This stage defines that what type of data is to be included in the research. Basically, there are two types of data i.e. primary and secondary. Primary data is the data which does not exists in the earlier records. This type of data is collected for the first time. This data is the most fresh and recent data. Researchers need this data to find the solution of problems. The advantages of this type of data are low biasness, relevance and logical results of research problems. On the other hand, secondary data is the data which exists in the earlier records. This type of data exists in the books, articles and other data bases. Researchers inclu de this data in the research to investigate the issues in theoretical terms. In order to investigate the research problem through secondary data, researchers study existing theories and models regarding the problem. The Savoy Hotel 14| Page This data is easy to collect. There are specific tools for collecting primary and secondary data. In order to collect primary data, survey, interview, focus group discussions or observations are used. On the other hand, secondary data can be collected through books, articles, newspapers and reports. Whatever the data is, the important consideration is to adopt relevant data tool which can investigate the research problem in effective manner. Data Analysis After collection of data, the next stage is to analyze data to find the answers if research questions in an effective manner. At this stage, data analysis techniques are discussed and decided. Data analysis must be relevant to the aims and objectives and research methodology. If data analysis technique is irrelevant to research methodology, justified and logical answers of research question cannot be obtained. Before analyzing data, it is important to present data in tables and appropriate transcripts so that reader can get deep insight of the research. Data analysis must be very effective so that relevant individuals can get benefits from the research findings. If analysis is not appropriate, management cannot get benefit from the market research to decide the solution of problems prevailing in the organizations. Conclusion and Presenting the Report The last stage of market research process is presentation of data and conclusion. This stage is highly important for the researchers as well as for management who are responsible for deriving answers of research questions. It is very important for the researchers to present the findings in an effective manner so that management can take decisions regarding the prevailing problems in the organization. The researcher needs to communicate the findings of the research in an effective manner. The Savoy Hotel 15| Page In market research, management does not take interest in the details of the research process but takes high interest in the findings and conclusion. This is because management has to take decisions regarding prevailing organizational problems. Therefore, if findings are not presented logically and effectively, managements effectiveness in decision making is impact. It is very important for the researcher to present logical and justified recommendations regarding the research problems so that management can take help in decision making. 4.2 Provide a justified proposal for a suitable market research plan for a given organization For the Savoy Hotel, following research plan is proposed in the following stages: Aim and Objectives Data Collection Data Analysis Results and Conclusion Recommendations In analyzing services provided by Savoy hotel elegant dà ©cor services with stylish Italian architecture for key attraction has been provided. The Florence atmosphere with classic marble and mosaic bathrooms with enjoyable and exhilarating experience attracts customers all around. 4.3 Understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative research and evaluate when each might be appropriate Qualitative research is basically exploratory research which aims at obtaining reasons, motivations and opinions regarding the research questions. This type of research is conducted through development of hypothesis in quantitative terms (Saunders et al., 2009). The Savoy Hotel 16| Page This research is used to discover the thoughts, trends and opinions regarding a particular research problem. Qualitative research methods investigate a particular problem in theoretical terms; there are different methods which are used to conduct qualitative research. These methods may include semi structured interviews, observations and focus group discussions. In order to conduct qualitative research, small research sample is selected from the entire population. On the other hand, quantitative research codifies the research problem through numerical data which can be converted into appropriate statistics. This research method is applied in market research to identify the attitudes, behaviors, opinions and suggestions in quantitative terms. The aim of this type of research is to generalize the results on a large sample (Russ and Preskill, 2001). Quantitative research is used to uncover the aims and objectives of the research in quantitative terms. There are several methods through which quantitative research can be conducted. These methods may include surveys, face to face interviews, website interceptors and online polls. This type of research focuses on quantities and numeric for finding the solution of research problems. On the basis of statistics and numeric analysis, quantitative research finds the answers of research questions. On the other hand, qualitative research focuses on qualities such as behaviors and attitudes in real manner. The results of qualitative research are presented theoretically rather than numerically (Russ and Preskill, 2001). Quantitative research is applied at the scenarios where aim is to generalize the result on a large population. On the other hand, qualitative research methods are applied on the scenarios where aim is to discover problem in an organizational setting and find solution of problems. The Savoy Hotel 17| Page 4.4 Evaluate different research methodologies based upon a given scenario There are different types of research methodologies which are implemented on particular scenarios. Each research methodology focuses on particular aims and objectives (Saunders et al., 2009). Some of the research methodologies are as follows: Quaitative research This is first type of qualitative research methodology which refers to investigation of the research problem in theoretical terms. This type of research methodology aims at investigation of research problem in words. In social sciences, qualitative research is conducted. This type of research is conducted in a natural setting so that researchers can get deep insight of the research problem. Quantitative research The second type of research methodology is quantitative research which is used to determine the relationship between different factors. The nature of relationship is quantitative. Mixed research Mixed methodology refers to mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. This type of research methodology is recommended by the researchers for finding logical and justified answers of research questions. Action research This research model refers to studying a particular problem and accomplishing its aims at the same time (Saunders et al, 2009). The Savoy Hotel 18| Page Conclusion Recommendation Explain each of the 7PS and apply them to a chosen organization Product: The Sovay hotel offers services to customers with hotel, restaurants and accommodation service that manage business activities in effective manner. Hotels Restaurants Spas Amigo BocconiRistorante Browns Hotel Browns Lincontro Charles hotel Augustine HIX Mayfair Hotel De Russie Verdura Golf and Spa Verdura Golf and Spa Verdura Golf Spa Resort Rocco Forte hotel Parioli The Balmoral Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte Hotel Hotel Astoria Astoria Gusto Rocco Forte hotel The Savoy Hotel 19| Page Price: The price of room, suites and halls varies with consumer demand. The Edwardian Elegance Suite package 785  £ Every ones an original winter offer 300 £ Savoy festive package 395 £ Savoy Splendor 295 £ Savoy Suite Treat 775 £ Sundays at the Savoy package 250 £ Bed breakfast package 305 £ Cabaret Theatre package 540 £ Impression package 495 £ The Savoy element package 825 £ Top hat theatre package 465 £ The variance in prices in accordance with consumer demand present effective ways of accommodation, theatre package, dinner manage global event and meeting solution. The Savoy Hotel 20| Page Placement: The strategies regarding placement are as follows: Savoy family Suite One king and two twin beds Junior Suite One king bed Deluxe Junior Suite One king bed Savoy Suite One king or one queen bed River view junior suite One king bed Edwardian Suite One Queen bed Art Deco Suite One king bed Art Deco two bedroom suite One king bed River view deluxe suite One king bed Personality Suite One king bed Personality Art Deco Suite One king bed Promotion: 24 hour Butler service, tea and coffee service, Audio i-pod service, unpacking service of arrival, fresh flower, daily news paper , magazine selection, leather desk manage to gather effective promotion services. In perspective of consumer demand dining , meetings and activities were offered. Global event and meeting solutions relevant to prestigious revenue services, divine dances with family oriented, personal or signature packages entertain customers. The Savoy Hotel 21| Page Fairmont Gold Guests, honor bar, relaxing comfort , continental breakfast services were offered Family travel Mayan, Hawaiian culture with resort, games and museum attractions were offered Fairmont Golf Luxury, lodging and property facility for elegant accommodation Fairmont gift cards Award winning restaurants, denomination and currency spas Celebration life Favorable places for positive celebration of life experience Physical Evidence: The services of hot

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Causality among Financial Liberalization, Poverty and Income Inequality

Kappel, V (2009) explored the impact of financial liberalization on poverty and income inequality by using panel and cross country data of developed and developing countries. By applying OLS and 2SLS significant negative relationship is found between financial development and income inequality. In developed countries weak evidence was found for financial development to decrease income inequality whereas in developing countries financial liberalization was found to increase income inequality. Pradhan (2010) examines the causal relationship among economic growth, financial development and poverty reduction in India during the period of 1951 to 2008. The empirical analysis deploys cointegration and dynamic Granger’s causality. Long run equilibrium relationship is found to be present among financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction .The Granger’s causality test shows that there is unidirectional causality from poverty reduction to economic growth, economic growth to financial development, and financial development to poverty reduction and economic growth to poverty reduction. It also shows the presence of no causality between financial development and economic growth, and poverty reduction and financial development. The research study recommends that economic growth is of prime importance to stimulate financial development and both could play a pivotal role in reducing poverty. Jeanneney and Kpodar (2006) examine how financial development is useful in reducing by poverty on one hand by McKinnon conduit effect and on the other by promoting economic growth. The study is conducted on a panel of developing countries during the period of 1966 to 2000 first by employing OLS and then by Dynamic panel Generalized Met... .... The bank of Albania (2009) inspects the causative association between financial development and economic growth for the Albanian economy using the Granger causality test for five different proxies for financial development. For the non-stationary and non-cointegrated series, the VAR model has been constructed and later, the above test has been applied. For non-stationary series but with a cointegrating relationship, the Granger-causality test has been applied after the construction of the vector error correction model (VECM). The empirical findings of the study show that there is a positive relation between all indicators measuring the financial development and economic growth in the long term. While in the short term, this relation is quite vague since different indicators provide different results. The data used in this paper belong to the period 1996-2007.

Friday, July 19, 2019

My Arrest and Rebirth :: Law College Admissions Essays

My Arrest and Rebirth With great embarrassment and pain, I must tell you that I have once been arrested; it was over a fight with my brother Jacob. The police attribute Jake's behavior to chemical dependence; my parents blame it on some unknown incident while he was at school. I don't know, myself; I do know that I returned from Israel to find Jake had taken over my room, as well as anything else in the house he could manipulate or control. The TV, VCR and computer were his absolute domain; I missed a calculus final because he took the car without permission. He refused to engage in any conversation at all with my parents. His "conversations" with me and Sol were primarily a barrage of put-downs and insults. He kept lists of "crimes" other people had committed, for which he sought revenge, by stealing things or just hiding them. Nothing was secure or safe at home; I didn't feel secure or safe there. Home was worse hell than the army had ever been. How can I explain how traumatic this was for me? Imagine being asleep on the sofa (the only bed I had) and being awakened in the middle of the night by the blasting of the TV. If I complained, I would be either ignored or screamed at. If I pretended interest, he would start changing channels, or switch to the stereo. If I called my parents, my "crime" got added to his list for later revenge. I pleaded with my parents to intervene, but they just called me selfish; couldn't I see that I had a sick brother, that I had to "help" him by tolerating his behavior until he magically got well? "Magically" because we couldn't seek any help; that would require letting an "outsider" know We had a problem. After he beat up my brother Sol, my father ordered Jake to leave until he cooled off, the first time he had ever intervened. But Jake called my father's bluff; he disappeared for two weeks. This pattern of violence, abusiveness, drinking and disappearing escalated throughout the summer. After one particularly violent outburst, I finally tried to show my parents that by refusing to deal with Jake's illness, they were hurting Sol and me. I staged a suicide attempt with sugar pills I had placed in an aspirin bottle.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Baque-Manalang Dental Clinic Online Reservation Essay

Introduction The use of online services nowadays becomes more necessary in the various fields. It is because of the advantage and useful effects to many people when it comes to online reservation because our society is facing rapid growths of need, availability and development of different commercial web-based application. The online reservation services differ from the traditional mode in the capacity to provide services regardless of temporal and spatial constraints. They are also different from traditional interpersonal services that are delivered face-to-face. It allows persons to employ Information Technology without being tied to a single location. This technology enables users to access the site at any time in any location. A suitable use of the online reservation services and wireless technology allows new application, management and reservation for dental clinic via online services. The objective of online reservation is to reduce the effort and the time for the customers to set appointm ent and to receive services and improved the reservation validation efficiency. Background of the study Baque-Manalang Clinic is a dental clinic located at Hilario St., Ligtasan, Tarlac, Tarlac. It is owned by Dr. Eillen B. Manalang, DMD, established since 1992. The said clinic is operated by one dentist, two dental assistants, one dental photographer, four front desk staff, and one dental technician. It offers teeth maintenance, enhancement techniques and cosmetic dentistry services. The clinic’s operating hours is 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays and 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturdays. Daily they are accommodating an estimated 15 to 20 patients from Tarlac and nearby provinces. Despite its popularity, the said clinic is still using traditional reservation system. Statement of the Objective Despite its popularity, the said dental clinic is still using traditional reservation system which is time consuming and prone to problems like long waiting line and crowded queue. So in line with it, the following objectives are enumerated to cognate the problems. Specifically, it aims to accomplish the following: 1. To design and develop an online reservation system that aims to strengthen the weakness found in existing traditional reservation system. 2. To validate the developed system in terms of: 3.1. Effectiveness and efficiency 3.2. User friendliness 3.3. Security of data 3. To determine the proposed system feasible through Cost Benefits Analysis. Scope of the Study The scope of this study will focus on the patients, who will use the system to make the appointment via online service. The prototype can be used by the staff and dentist to manage the appointment for the dental clinic via online system for those who would like to set an appointment anytime, anywhere. This study is mainly focused on providing a website for Baque – Manalang Dental Clinic. The said website includes: * Online reservation or scheduling exclusively for registered patients. * Clinic information – address, site map, profile of dentist, etc. * List and price of services offered and the time allotted for services to be consumed. * Services-directory where the patients can view the information about the preferred service to take. * Information and tips on how to prevent dental problems. Delimitations The proponents limit this study for Baque – Manalang Dental Clinic only. Only current patients with previous transactions are given with accounts for the online reservation system. Only trained personnel can conduct the site maintenance of the proposed system. Significance of the Study This study is viewed to be valuable to following: Clinic. The proposed system will simplify and automate the clinic task inline with reservation to provide the clients with better service. Dentist and Staff. The proposed system will help the dentist easily identify the patients as scheduled online. Patients. The proposed system will help patients reduce their waiting time and provide them assurance to be accommodated as scheduled online. Definition of Terms In order to provide an adequate channel of communication between the researcher and the readers, the following terms arranged alphabetically and defined conceptually. Access. Access is to obtain entry to a particular program; with records and network entry procedure. Computer. Machine that performs a wide variety of activities with reliability, accuracy, speed and tasks, such as mathematical calculations or electronic communication, under a control of a set of instructions called a program. Internet. A means of connecting a computer to any other computer anywhere in the world via dedicated routers and server. Online. Activated and ready for operation; capable of communicating with or being controlled by a computer. Prototype. An original, full-scale, and usually working model of a new product or new version on an existing product. System. Any collection of component elements that work together to perform a task. Website. The file of information located on a server connected to World Wide Web (WWW). It includes text, photographs, illustrations and video, music and computer programs. It also often include links to other sites in the form of hypertext, highlighted or colored text that the user can click on with their mouse, instructing their computer to jump to the new site. Reservation System. A system that involves the process of reserving and booking of appointments on a specific date and time. CHAPTER 2 Review of related Literature and Studies This chapter presents a review of conceptual literature which is supported by studies relevant to this study. The review of literature focuses on online reservation for Baque-Dental Clinic. Related Literature Foreign Eric Richard (2012) .Consumers these days almost expects an online presence from a company or business. In fact, they may look past businesses that are not online or consider another provider. Convenience is a big factor in an individual’s decision-making process, and not offering customers what they want can put a business at a big disadvantage, especially if their  competitors offer this benefit. Convenience plays a big role in our â€Å"24-7† world. Many people simply do not have the time to pick up a phone during business hours to book an appointment. Some would much rather go online and schedule it when it’s most convenient for them. Online scheduling software makes it easy to accomplish this. Once a business sets up its scheduler, it can then add a button or link on its Web site for customers to access its online scheduler. Once on the scheduler page, customers typically can view and select available appointment or reservation times and dates, as well as other information such as services and specific staff members. Depending on internal preferences set by the business operator, the scheduler may also require the customer to register to use the service. Even businesses without a Web site can implement online scheduling into their operations. Once a business creates an account and scheduler, the service will issue it a URL link. In essence, the scheduler itself is a Web site. Entering this link in a Web browser will take a user directly to the scheduling application. Businesses can simply provide this link to customers. Eric Richard (2012) .For many service oriented business, accurate and timely reservations are necessity to ensure proper service and a positive customer experience. From tour operators and boat rental providers to managers of athletic fields and facilities, these groups must have a proven reservation system in place, not only for internal scheduling processes, but also for the convenience of their customers. Traditional reservation procedures often come up short in both regards. And it’s for these reasons that many business, organizations and individuals are incorporating online reservation systems into their operations. Booking and managing customer reservations, although a vital component of many service-based groups is generally viewed as time-consuming and tedious. The traditional manner of scheduling reservations doesn’t help refute this statement: It usually involves booking reservation over the phone and by e-mail, then recording and managing the dates, times, services and customer contact information in separate appointment books, files, spreadsheets or folders. Not only does this method require a considerable amount of staff time, it also does not give customers the ability to book their reservations when it’s most convenient for them. Many individuals simply do not have the time to call in a reservations or appointment during normal business hours. This can lead to two different scenarios: The person  can either book the reservation online (if the service provider offers this option), or he or she can leave a voice message, in which case the provider must take the time to follow up with the individual (and possibly engage in a game of â€Å"phone-tag† until a specific reservation time is agree upon). Most will agree that the former is the more appealing of these two schemes. An online reservation system is generally the best option for these service-providers to automate and improve their booking processes. Commonly referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud-computing applications, this technology is accessible through any Internet connection and typically does not require any installations, downloads or expensive hardware. SaaS is software delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a Web-based service. Software as a Service allow organizations to access business functionality at a cost typically less than paying for licensed applications since SaaS pricing is based on a monthly fee. Also, because the software is hosted remotely, users don’t need to invest in additional hardware. Software as a Service removes the need for organization to handle the installation, set up and often daily upkeep and maintenance. Software as a service may also be referred to a simply hosted application. Both the service provider and its customers access is in the same manner as any Web page. Like online data storage and document uploads applications, online reservation systems are securely housed online and not confined to an individual computer terminal or network. This characteristic not only makes it possible for customers to book reservations online, it also give service providers and their staff the ability to access their reservation calendar and customer details from any Internet connection, a valuable benefit for those individuals who must have access to this information from outside their office. Booking customer reservations with a pen and paper appointment book simply doesn’t cut it in today’s busy, 24-7 world. Technology has caught up with all office procedures, including booking processes, and service providers that tap into these online reservation systems can expect a significant improvement in their overall operations. And on top of that, they’ll have more satisfied customers. Local Alice Adams (2011).Kabayan Hotel Cubao has recently integrated a reservation  system in its website for a more efficient online booking. Through this technology, travellers worldwide save time and effort in reserving accommodations as the user-friendly booking engine makes the whole process a simple and effortless activity. Online hotel reservations are becoming popular method for booking hotel rooms, and Kabayan Hotel Cubao takes this opportunity to ensure fast reservations for guests from different parts of the world. This easy-to-use system, powered by DirectWithHotels, is now fully functioning at its website, http://www.kabayanhotel.com.ph/cubao.php. With this, guest only have to go through a very short booking process to be entitled of a comfortable stay at this budget hotel. Upon clicking the â€Å"Reserve Now † button, visitors can immediately select arrival and departure dates, navigate their way to their preferred guestrooms, and view the inclusive amenities and room rates. And after paying a 10% deposit, which is certified by Trust wave and secured by VeriSign, they instantly receive confirmation directly from the hotel via e-mail. With just a few clicks of the mouse, guests are guaranteed to experience amazing ease and warm Filipino hospitality at this budget hotel in Quezon City, Philippines. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation (2012). BooktoEat.ph now offers the opportunity to book restaurants online, in real-time just like booking in a hotel or an airline. The days of waiting hours for a restaurant to open, call back, respond to an e-mail or a telephone message will soon be over. A real-time reservation completely automates the reservation process. When making a reservation using BookToEat.ph the reservation is instantly confirmed in the restaurant’s Electronic Reservation System. This is the same Reservation System that used by the restaurant to manage all of its bookings so it automatically checks for real-time availability. The difference between BookToEat.ph and most other restaurant reservation services that we are genuinely â€Å"real-time† so no more busy signals, waiting until the restaurant opens or waiting hours for an e-mail response. BookToEat.ph now allows you to book your favourite restaurants on online in real-time just like booking in a hotel or an airline. The soon introduction of real-time bookings into Philippines presents a significant development for the restaurant industry. The concept has been hugely successful in the USA and UK markets, and in 2008 over 36 million bookings were made online in real-time. Related studies The application of modern information technology dominated so far by the use of internet websites and online reservation systems, gives competitive advance to other with same establishment. However the potential competitive advantage can be transformed into real advantage if only the websites have proper design. As a result, the advocator conducted research on the facts related to the system that might be helpful to its development. Foreign StormSource (2002).An online reservation system has booked over 50 million appointments and reservations since its launch in 2002. Over 4,000 businesses throughout the United States, Canada and 10 other countries rely on the software for such tasks as online reservation system of customer services, booking rooms, facilities and equipment, accepting online payments, sending reminders, and e-marketing. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based technology firm specializing in the development of online appointment software for a wide variety of applications and industries. Geared primarily toward small businesses such as doctors’ offices, spas, health clubs and massage therapists, users of Appointment-Plus also include Fortune 500 companies; colleges and universities; healthcare agencies and facilities; federal and local government; and freight and delivery services. Scharl, Wà ¶ber and Bauer (2003).Evaluate the effectiveness of hotel websites. Authors identify personal, system and media factors that contribute to hotel website adoption. In the system factors group, that is more controllable by the hotel management compared to personal and media factors, they identify the perceived utility of the product, speed of the system, intelligence, layout, services, navigation, interactivity, reliability of the system. Michael Pearce (2012). The online program at ksoutdoors.com – click on â€Å"reservations† – is part of the Reserve America system, which is used by about 20 states and 30 private groups to help customers reserve camping spots. Reservations for Kansas parks also can be made by calling 620-672-5911. The new system gets money into state park coffers quicker, and also saves time that the state park staff would have spent handling the money. Those are huge benefits for the department, which is constantly battling budget and staffing issues. Lanterman said it also allows the department to better study the demographics of its users. Adjustments can  then be made to make sure the public is best served. Wilson State Park is getting the most online reservations; Cheney and El Dorado State Parks are about tied for second place. Lanterman said usually no more than about half of the camping spots can be reserved online. The rest are first-come, first-served, as they have been for years. She said a few campers have been frustrated to arrive at a park and see their favourite site empty but reserved by another camper. Park managers, though, say support for the reservation system is strong and growing. â€Å"People like that they can go online, reserve the site they want, and when they show up it’s ready,† said Ryan Stucky, Cheney State Park manager. â€Å"Most are figuring out the system and that it’s more convenient for them.† Local Studies â€Å"An online inquiry and reservation system with virtual tour for La Maja Rica Hotel and Restaurant Tarlac City† a thesis conducted by Duenias, Kathleen Joy J., Ilagan, Keneth D. and Tolenceda, Niccolo Andrei P. AMA Computer College Tarlac City (March 2010), allows management for their hotel and restaurant to be more organized in terms of reservation, inquiry and customer avail of the available services and inquire for the details even without personal appearances which they can spare time, money and efforts. The Thesis entitled â€Å"Online Cagayan Valley Economic Zone Authority Information System† by Anwar Saludsong (April 2002), discuss the advantage of web-based application to allow user acquire information through online that is accessible through any internet. â€Å"Luisita Gold And Country Club Online Reservation† a Study conducted by Rina Lyn C. Burgos and Rowena S. Cortez at AMA Computer College Tarlac City (Aug 2005) discuss the capabilities of the internet and modern application to update users about the advantage and reliability of features of an online reservation system.A real-time reservation that completely automates the reservation process and reduce the effort and the time consume of customer. Theoretical Framework The proponents proposed system is a program that has a set of elements that work together to understand some objective that will help the Baque- Manalang Dental Clinic with regards to their manual reservation. One of the problems in most clinics nowadays is how to accommodate and serve  as many patients as possible, where patients do not need to go to the clinic for appointment scheduling. An online reservation system is generally the best option for these service-providers to automate and improve their booking processes. Not only that, this will also avoid patients not to experience a longer waiting time. Online reservations also assure the availability of schedule as these are shown online and security of information is provided. The literature has its similarity to the proponents propose system in the sense of both project utilize the internet function such as the availability of date and time which is one of the features that the proponents included in the study. The proponents are looking forward that the propose system will improve the manual reservation of the Baque- Manalang Dental Clinic. Conceptual Framework Below is the research paradigm which states the input data that will process to produce an output. Research, works, books, interviews, publication, net-surfing and studies are the researches mean gathering and compiling information and data that can help in the investigation improvement and development of the system