Business Environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Environment - Assignment Example In addition, the current economic, political, social and environmental factors significantly determine the organizational structure as well as financial performance of businesses. In order to address the needs of all the supply chain partners including the producers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, employees and customers among others, companies have embarked on creating an environment that enables the participation of all the stakeholders. This paper keenly analyzes how the current economic situations have shaped the operations of Coca-Cola and Body Shop Companies in the local and international markets. Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola Company is an American based firm that is headquartered in Atlanta. Being the market leader in the soft drinks industry, Coca-Cola specializes in the production of wide range of non-alcoholic beverages. The company operates in more than 200 countries. In order to meet the demands of all its customers, Coca-Cola has wide range of products that include Coke, Nestea, Fanta, C2 Cola, Dasani water and Sprite among others. The purpose of Coca Cola is outlined in its mission that include creating customers value and making a difference, refreshing the world as well as generating moments of happiness and optimism in the contemporary world. In the same way, the company aims at involving its partners including the bottling companies in its global operations. Ownership of Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola is a public limited company. This means that for an individual to own a share of the company he or she should buy the company’s stock. In its effort to strengthen its capital base, Coca-Cola shares are quoted in various stock exchanges that include New York Stock Exchange, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston as well as Pacific (George 9). Responsibilities The responsibility of Coca-Cola is to instigate healthy living among its consumers and members of the public in general. In order to achieve its objectives, the company has undertaken various corporate social responsibilities including sponsoring of Olympic Games in Canada and Vancouver among other places. In addition, the company is focused at improving the environment through adoption of various initiatives such as the use of recyclable bottles and reduction of footprints within its premises and surrounding environment. Organizational structure In order to effectively serve its large number of customers, Coca-Cola has established various market segments which include Latin America Group, Far East and Middle Groups, North America Groups, Europe Groups, Minute Maid Company and the African Group (Aaker 26). The well experienced human resources under the leadership of Muhtar Kent, the company CEO has led to high sales and increased profitability in the international market. The corporate human resource is responsible for designing of procedures and policies that are followed by the company. On the other hand, the duty of local human resources department is to implement the various human resources systems that are put in place by the company. Shareholders and Shareholders objectives Being a limited company, Coca-Cola does not restrict members of the public from being its shareholder. As mentioned earlier, the company stocks are sold in various exchange ma rkets thus allowing high number of investors to be part of the company ownership. The main objective of the Coca-Cola shareholders is to attain high returns on their investments. Similarly, the shareholders aim at increasing their quarterly dividend. In order to meet the objectives of the shareholders, Coca-Cola uses the services of

Reliability and Validity Essay Example for Free

Reliability and Validity Essay Reliability is defined as the consistency of the measurement. The term can also be defined as the extent to which one instrument can be used in a similar way, every time it is utilized under similar circumstance, and with similar subjects. This is what it means to say that the measurements or the instruments are reliable. It is also the repeatability of measurement. Any measurement is considered reliable where the results of the same test are the same. It is crucial to note that reliability cannot be measured, but it is given as an estimate. To find out the reliability of a measurement, it is important to carry out an experiment more than once or use the same instrument for similar experiments. There are two basic kinds of reliability: test/retest and internal consistency. The first type is the most traditional approach in estimating reliability. The argument behind this approach is that there should be similar results in test 1 and test 2. The three basic concepts of this approach are: the measuring instrument should be implemented in two differing tests for every subject; the relationship between the two tests should be accurately computed; and the assumption that the fundamental condition should be made between the two tests. The other approach is the estimation of reliability by listing queries in a questionnaire that gauge the same concept. For instant, two groups of three queries can be written that gauge the same concept. Then the relationship between the two sets of three queries can be run to evaluate the reliability of the instrument. It is important to know how reliability test ought to be. Some of the guidelines to reliability are . 90 indicates high reliability, . 80 indicates moderate reliability, and . 70 indicates low reliability. High reliability is revealed where the majority of standardized tests show a score of . 90. For majority tests, low reliability is where for majority of standardized tests reveal a score of . 70. This is equivalent to 49 percent consistent variation. Reliability estimate of . 80 are moderate, where the estimate is below . 60, it is usually considered inappropriately low (Worthen, Borg and White, 1993). Validity refers to the strength of conclusions, deductions and proposals. A more formal definition by Cook and Campbell (1979) is that validity is the best estimate of the accuracy and inaccuracy available, of a provided deduction, proposal or conclusion. It is basically the degree to which a test does what it is supposed to do. It is the subjective finding that is based on experimentation and empirical pointers. There are two basic types of validity: face validity and construct validity. The face validity is the most basic and must be supported by other types. What is refers to is whether on the surface the measure seems to measure does what it is supposed to do. Face validity is the beginning point, and it is not valid for any use. The test has been used to indicate high reliability in punishing witches. From this test, it is estimated that 100,000 women argued to be witches were condemned and burnt. A measure that has construct validity is one that has been proved to measure what it is supposed to gauge. Criterion, which includes predictive and concurrent; convergence, and discriminative validity are elements that contributive to construct validity. Validity and reliability of the development of experimental evaluations is a basic part of the scientific method. Without a reliable and valid method, accurate scientific results and deductions cannot be obtained (Worthen, Borg and White, 1993). Freuds Theory of Personality vs. Neo-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theories Sigmund Freud was the first individual to come up with the theory that explains how the mind or psyche operates. He developed his ideas from working with people suffering from psychological disorders. He held the belief that personality is made up of three basic structures. The three are the id, the ego and the superego. The id according to Freud is the structure that has instincts. He argued that this structure is totally unconscious. This means that the id does not have any contact with the realism (Mischel, 1999). The second structure of personality comes up as a child experiences the demands and limitations of the realism. This structure is what Freud referred to as the ego. This according to Freud is the structure of personality that emerges to deal with the stresses and the constraints of the reality. It is considered the executive structure of personality. This is due to the fact that it utilizes reason in decision making. According to Freud the ego and the id lack morality. They do not take into consideration what is wrong or right. The moral structure of personality according to Freud is the superego. It is the branch that takes into consideration if an act is right or wrong. It is what is basically known as the conscience. The consideration of Freud about personality is that it is similar to an iceberg. This means that most of our personality is in existence beneath our degree of consciousness. His argument is that most of the personality exists in this form. In examining people’s personality, there is revelation of the evidence of ego and superego. Where the two are partly unconscious and partly conscious, the id is the unconscious, which means that it is one that exists below our awareness. The ego utilizes the defense mechanism to solve the conflict between wishes of the id and the limitations of the superego. Freud added that it is the contradicting demands of the personality structures that lead to anxiety. According to Freud, oppression is the strongest and most persistent defense mechanism. It is the mechanism that pushes the unacceptable demands of the id out of consciousness. It is basically the foundation of all the other defense mechanisms (Mitchell and Black, 1995). Neo-Freudian theorists are those who were in agreement with the ideas of Freud, but transformed them and used them to come up with their own theories. The ideas of Freud, though controversial have influenced a lot of theorists. Most of the theorists support the idea of the unconscious psyche and its significance in childhood. There are other ideas that the theorists did not agree with. Some of these thinkers include Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Erik Erikson and Karen Horney. Jung was in agreement with the idea of the unconscious mind. There are various reasons as to why most of these theorists disagreed with Freud. Erikson disagreed with the idea that personality is developed entirely from childhood experiences. There are a number of general similarities between the ideas of Freud and those of the neo-Freudian theorists. There was agreement with the fact that the unconscious is the key influence of character (Mischel, 1999). They also agreed that there is influence on personality from childhood events. The Neo-Freudian theorist like Jung agreed with the ideas of defense mechanism and dream interpretation. The neo-Freudian theorists disagreed with the argument that development stopped at age five or six. They also did not agree with instinctual drives. The other thing that they failed to agree on is the emphasis on the pathological factions of personality, degrading and pessimistic. From the point of view of one of the neo-Freudian theorists, the paper will evaluate Alfred Adler. He agreed with Freud on the importance of the initial years of one’s life. He also agreed with the unconsciousness of what drives us. He also agreed on the ideas of Freud on dream interpretation and analysis. His disagreement was based on the influence of the parents in a child’s development, people actively establishing their own destiny; availability of therapy goals; and the influence of superiority, not sexuality (Mitchell and Black, 1995). The Situation versus Trait Controversy The situation versus trait controversy is a topic that has been assessed, discussed, analyzed and resolved by very many psychologists in the past few years. This controversy is basically the disagreement on whether it the situation or traits that are responsible for the character of a person. The debate is said to have been started by Walter Mischel in his title Personality and Assessment. The book offered to empirical arguments about the approach to personality. His first argument was that character traits have a relationship of approximately 0. 30 with the way individuals behave in specific situations. The other argument is that the cross-situational constancy of character is about 0. 20 to 0. 30. His conclusion was that character traits are not positive predictors of the way people behave. He added that situations are more significant in people’s behavior. He also claimed that character traits do not exist in reality. This was supported by the argument that behavior changes with situation. His ideas arose a lot of debates on the issue with some people in support and others opposing. During this time, there were psychologists who were already carrying out researches to measure personality. The ideas of Mischel were supported by the critics of personality. They were basically behaviorism theorists who claimed that the best explanation of behavior was the environment. They based this argument on the notion of psychology being a science of tangibles and observables as opposed to intangibles like emotions, character traits and thoughts. For some time this idea was adapted quite a number of psychologists (Mischel, 1999). The other side of the debate took effect from the 70s, where psychologists began accepting the innate states like cognitions that influence how people behave. From this point of view, it is argued that the character traits are the ones that determine how people behave. This is the side of the debate that garnered more support that the situation one. Many of the psychologists now are in agreement with the fact that character traits exists in reality and that it is best suited in predicting behavior that the environment. The agreement is that both of the experimental arguments by Mischel were partially accurate, but the relationships approximations of 0. 30 between character traits and the way people behave, and behavior across environments, were given by other psychological researchers to be 0. 40. The supporters of the situation side of argument did not anticipate questions about the interpretation of their empirical results. It was not possible to tell whether it was 0. 30 or 0. 40 that was the small correlation (Fleeson and Noftle, 2009). It was also not possible to tell how this compared to the relationship between environments and how people behave. The answers were provided by two supporters of trait psychology, David Funder and Dan Ozer. They provided the answers by reviewing the different standard experiments in social psychology. These experiments were aimed at establishing how behavior is affected by environment. One of the studies evaluated was by Stanley Milgram. This is the study on obedience that employed counterfeit electric shocks to establish the way individuals reacting to hurting others. Here Funder and Ozer realized that the relationship between environments and the way people behave was from 0. 36-0. 42. This was almost similar to predictive capability of character traits. Another study that nullified the work of Mischel was the findings of Seymour Epstein. His findings suggested that in one complete behavior over a considerable period of time, as opposed to viewing single situations, the cross-situational constancy of the way people behave can be normally as high as 0. 80 to 0. 90. This means that the trait side of the controversy seemed to carry more weight than the situation side. The trait side of explaining behavior is what is followed by most psychologists currently, although studies are always being carried out (Fleeson and Noftle, 2009). References: Fleeson, W. , Noftle, E. E. (2009). The End of the Person-Situation Debate: an Emerging Synthesis in the Answer to the Consistency Question, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2 (4), 1667-1684. Mischel, W. (1999). Introduction to Personality. Sixth edition. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace. Mitchell, S. Black, M. J. (1995). Freud and Beyond: a History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. New York: Basic Books. Worthen, B. R. , Borg, W. R. , and White, K. R. (1993). Measurement and Evaluation in the School. New York: Longman.

Point of View and Theme in Heart of Darkness Essay example -- Heart Da

Point of View and Theme in Heart of Darkness       In Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness the story of Marlow, an Englishman travelling physically up an unnamed river in Africa and psychologically into the human possibility, is related to the reader through several narrational voices. The primary first-person narrator is an Englishman aboard the yawl, the 'Nellie', who relates the story as it is told to him by Marlow. Within Marlow's narrative are several instances when Marlow relies upon others, such as the Russian, the brickmaker and the Manager at the central station, for information. Therefore, through complicated narrational structure resulting from the polyphonous account, Conrad can already represent to the reader the theme of the shifting nature of reality. As each narrator relates what is important to them, the audience must realise that each voice edits, absents information and is affected by their own experiences and the culture and ideology within which they judge and respond. Therefore the text reveals itself as non-essentialist. It is also seen through the narratorial voices, who are all significantly European males, although challenging the received view of imperial praxis as glorious and daring, a racist and patriarchal text, which eventually, through Marlow's own assimilation of the ideology of his time, reinscribes and replicates that which it attempts to criticise:   European action in Africa.       Marlow quickly interrogates colonialism through his statement:    "The conquest of the world which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much."    So that t... ...hrough the confident and mediating narrative account the reader receives through Marlow and the unnamed First narration Conrad is able to interrogate the theme of the corruption and economic motivations behind colonids praxis in the novel Heart of Darkness. It is, however, unconsciously, also made clear that this text, its narrator and its author are products of their time and ideology, as it consistantly represents characters and situations in racist and patriarchal terms, so that the reader is also aware of the Eurocentric and ethnocentric themes running through the novella.    Bibliography    Conrad, J.   Heart of Darkness. London: Penguin Group.   1995    Cole, David W., and Kenneth B. Grant. "Conrad's Heart of Darkness." The Explicator 54.1 1995.    Jean-Aubry, George. Joseph Conrad: Life and Letters. Vol. 1. New York: Page, 1966.   

Cayman Islands History :: Historical Cayman Island Essays

Cayman Islands History Over the last five hundred years the Cayman Islands have had a rich and diverse history. They grew from being very isolated islands inhabited mostly by crocodiles and turtles to being one of the worlds premier tourist and financial centers. Being so small and isolated has given the Caymanians a strong sense of history and culture that is distinct, even from their Caribbean neighbors. They enjoyed a relative sense of insulation from many of the problems that plagued the rest of the region. The Caymans were â€Å"discovered† by the west by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final voyage to the new world. His two ships, the Capitana and the Santiago sighted two small islands on May 10, 1503. These islands he called â€Å"Las Tortugas† because of their abundance of sea turtles, these islands eventually became Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Columbus’ ships were off course when they sighted the islands and did not set foot on the islands. Columbus was an unintentional witness to the yearly gathering of sea turtles to mate and lay eggs. They were so abundant that their shells were mistaken for large rocks on the beaches. The turtles yearly migration was a large influence on the islands early history. Due to the lack of farm able land the Caymans were overlooked by the Spanish and became populated much later than many of the other Caribbean islands. Grand Cayman was not populated until the 1730's and Cayman Brac was not permanently settled until 1833. The first settlements were seasonal turtling outposts. The islands were a popular stop for passing pirates because of a few natural fresh water wells and the abundance of turtles and other animals that could be used for provisions. The low-lying Caymans have always been a challenge to ships navigating the region. All three islands have reefs surrounding the majority of their coasts, and the islands themselves being so low; they are very difficult for approaching ships to see, especially at night. The islands are also located on several popular shipping routes used from colonial times to today. Ships leaving Central America passed the Caymans on their way to the Gulf of Mexico and the strait of Florida, allowing the Gulf Stream to carry them out to the Atlantic. Large numbers of ships and dangerous reef lined islands is a recipe for shipwrecks and the Caymans have seen more than their fair share. Cayman Islands History :: Historical Cayman Island Essays Cayman Islands History Over the last five hundred years the Cayman Islands have had a rich and diverse history. They grew from being very isolated islands inhabited mostly by crocodiles and turtles to being one of the worlds premier tourist and financial centers. Being so small and isolated has given the Caymanians a strong sense of history and culture that is distinct, even from their Caribbean neighbors. They enjoyed a relative sense of insulation from many of the problems that plagued the rest of the region. The Caymans were â€Å"discovered† by the west by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final voyage to the new world. His two ships, the Capitana and the Santiago sighted two small islands on May 10, 1503. These islands he called â€Å"Las Tortugas† because of their abundance of sea turtles, these islands eventually became Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Columbus’ ships were off course when they sighted the islands and did not set foot on the islands. Columbus was an unintentional witness to the yearly gathering of sea turtles to mate and lay eggs. They were so abundant that their shells were mistaken for large rocks on the beaches. The turtles yearly migration was a large influence on the islands early history. Due to the lack of farm able land the Caymans were overlooked by the Spanish and became populated much later than many of the other Caribbean islands. Grand Cayman was not populated until the 1730's and Cayman Brac was not permanently settled until 1833. The first settlements were seasonal turtling outposts. The islands were a popular stop for passing pirates because of a few natural fresh water wells and the abundance of turtles and other animals that could be used for provisions. The low-lying Caymans have always been a challenge to ships navigating the region. All three islands have reefs surrounding the majority of their coasts, and the islands themselves being so low; they are very difficult for approaching ships to see, especially at night. The islands are also located on several popular shipping routes used from colonial times to today. Ships leaving Central America passed the Caymans on their way to the Gulf of Mexico and the strait of Florida, allowing the Gulf Stream to carry them out to the Atlantic. Large numbers of ships and dangerous reef lined islands is a recipe for shipwrecks and the Caymans have seen more than their fair share.

Crossing the Wire Essay

I will recommend this book to my friends because it is full of excitement and tough challenges. Back Description of Major Characters Victor Flores- a 15 year old boy living in central Mexico full of perseverance and determination to cross the Mexican – American border to find work in the united states to support his family. Rico- Victor’s best friend who must cross the border to support his parents living in central Mexico. Miguel- a wise young father of four Victor met in his journey. Victor tags along with Miguel as they cross the border until they run into border patrol and get split up. Julio- a street wise kid who earns pocket money with Victor in a cramped border town until he decides to move on and cross the border through a drainage tunnel that ends up in the U.S. when it rains. Summary This book starts out in central Mexico but when 15 year old Victor Flores’ family needs money victor has to cross the border to find work in the states. On Victor’s journey he meets a man named Miguel and together they try to cross the border into the states. On their journey the run into the border patrol and get split up. Later on victor meets Julio and together they work on the streets trying to put together their plan to cross the border. One day it started raining and Julio knew that it was the perfect opportunity to float through the drainage tunnel that ends on the other side of the border. Victor decides not to go. A few weeks later Victor notices an old friend standing in line at the soup kitchen. It was Rico! Victor couldn’t believe it he’d thought that Rico had already crossed the border. So they spent a few days catching up and planning their journey across the border. They set off a few days later as mules with a few other people. During their trip as mules they heard that they were going to be killed at the end so they had to escape. They made it all the way to the highway and then they hitched a ride to Tucson where Rico’s brother lived. When they got to Rico’s brother’s house they went to the front door and rang the doorbell but they discovered that his brother had left. Now they didn’t know what to do. They decided to go to La Perra Flaca to look for work in the onion fields. There wasn’t any work left there so they were sent to Washington to work in asparagus fields and finally there was work. About a month later they got there first paychecks and they sent them home alas. Rico wasn’t a very good field worker and he wanted to go home and go to school. So a few days later he went home but Victor stayed for work.

Free Essays on Interest Groups

Interest Groups Interest groups are a group of people who share common traits, attitudes, beliefs, and/or objectives who have formed a formal organization to serve specific common interests of the membership. Examples of interest groups would include such disparate organizations as the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the elementary school P.T.A., the Teamsters Union, the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Numismatics Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Brangus Breeders Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cosa Nostra, and the Benevolent Order of Elks. Interest groups typically have formal admission to membership, dues, elected officers, by-laws and regular meetings, and they often provide information and regular opportunities for communication through newsletters or magazines, sponsor recreational or educational activities, organize volunteer public service projects, make deals for g roup discounts or group insurance and so on. Larger interest group organizations may have full-time paid officers or professional staff to manage and to supplement the efforts of member-volunteers in furthering the work of the organization. Many interest groups at least occasionally engage in some form of lobbying or other political activities with respect to issues that touch directly on the common interests that are the organization's reason for being for example, the PTA may organize support for a bond issue election to pay for erecting a new school building. Some interest groups have political activity as their principal or only reason for being in the first place. Interest groups that exist primarily for exerting political influence as a means of affecting government policies or legislation are often referred to by the narrower term pressure groups. Since more and more activities have become politicized with the expansion of... Free Essays on Interest Groups Free Essays on Interest Groups Interest Groups Interest groups are a group of people who share common traits, attitudes, beliefs, and/or objectives who have formed a formal organization to serve specific common interests of the membership. Examples of interest groups would include such disparate organizations as the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the elementary school P.T.A., the Teamsters Union, the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Numismatics Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Brangus Breeders Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Cosa Nostra, and the Benevolent Order of Elks. Interest groups typically have formal admission to membership, dues, elected officers, by-laws and regular meetings, and they often provide information and regular opportunities for communication through newsletters or magazines, sponsor recreational or educational activities, organize volunteer public service projects, make deals for g roup discounts or group insurance and so on. Larger interest group organizations may have full-time paid officers or professional staff to manage and to supplement the efforts of member-volunteers in furthering the work of the organization. Many interest groups at least occasionally engage in some form of lobbying or other political activities with respect to issues that touch directly on the common interests that are the organization's reason for being for example, the PTA may organize support for a bond issue election to pay for erecting a new school building. Some interest groups have political activity as their principal or only reason for being in the first place. Interest groups that exist primarily for exerting political influence as a means of affecting government policies or legislation are often referred to by the narrower term pressure groups. Since more and more activities have become politicized with the expansion of...

Hampton Roads essays

Hampton Roads essays The Battle of Hampton Roads The battle of Hampton Roads often called the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac was a naval battle (a battle fought using ships, which mainly occurred at sea.) The American Civil war taking place from March 8 to March 9 off Sewells Point a place near Hampton Roads, Virginia. There were a total of five ships engaged in the battle. From the US Navy, there were four ships, the USS Congress, USS Minnesota, USS Cumberland, and the USS Monitor. The CS Navy had only one ship the CSS Merrimack. On March 8, 1862 when the first Confederate ironclad steamed down the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads to attack the wooden sided USS Cumberlands. After ramming and sinking the twenty four gun wooden Cumberland the Merrimac headed for the fifty-gun frigate Congress. The Merrimac fired shots into the Congress with terrific aim while the shots from the congress hit the iron without any injury. The result of the first day of fighting proved the superiority of iron over wood. The next day the U.S.S Monitor arrived on the scene prepared with iron against iron. The Confederate ironclad carried more guns than the Union monitor, but it was very slow, clumsy, and had many engine problems. The Union was the fastest ironclad but it lack rebels and power. Since bot h ships we iron neither one of them had any greater power over each other. Neither ironclad seriously damaged the other in their one day of fighting. The results of the battle were inconclusive, neither side could claim victory. The Union lost about 409 sailors and the Confederacy lost about 24 sailors. ...

To what extent can the 1936 popular front government be seen as a missed opportunity for social transformation

To what extent can the 1936 popular front government be seen as a missed opportunity for social transformation Through a frustration with the right-wing leagues and an attempt to quell the growing menace of fascism, the left-wing Popular Front, led by Socialist LeÂÆ'Â ³n Blum, was elected into power. As Blum later reflected, it was a 'reflex of instinctive defence against the dangers which threatened French Republican institutions, and liberty itself'. In the two years the Popular Front held office they were tasked with dealing with the inherited budgetary, Treasury and currency difficulties amid rising international tension. This essay aims to critically examine the extent to which the Popular Front failed to meet the public and moreover its own expectations of achieving social transformation.The Third Republic had brought France victorious through the First Word War and Andre Tardieu had become the dominant political figure from 1929 to 1932, with the pre-war generation led by PoincarÂÆ'Â © being replaced. The franc was at unprecedented strength and the economy had never been more buoya nt.Robert Blum’s Great Decorative Painting in Janua...It is believed by many that 1930 was the peak of economic prosperity; its index of industrial production was skyrocketing and the consumer price index reached its highest level in December 1930. However it was still a predominantly rural, ageing society with a static population. Between 1900 and 1939 'its population had increased by 3%, largely due to immigration and no country in the world had a higher proportion of people over sixty' (Jackson, p.18). Tardieu was obligated to carry out a series of long overdue reforms, incorporating advancements in technology and establishment of a welfare state. Jackson referred to it as a "period of transatlantic ideas of rationalisation an economic modernisation" (Jackson p.18). At the beginning of 1931 France, like the rest of the world, began to be affected by the depression, though it acted as more as a 'paralysis than a cataclysmic blow'. Tardieu resigned...

Discuss William Shakespeare's Othello, the Moor of Venice as a Tragedy Essay

Discuss William Shakespeare's Othello, the Moor of Venice as a Tragedy - Essay Example A person of great stature can be a tragic hero not anyone else and these guidelines were followed by almost all the great writers, this goes to show a lot about Aristotle and his achievements. William Shakespeare also incorporated Aristotle’s guidelines in his tragedies. Hamlet is a classic example of the same, Hamlet suffers all along in the tragedy, he was the tragic hero because he was a person with great stature, the Prince of Denmark. Aristotle also wrote about tragic flaws and how the same affected the tragic hero. This paper will shed light upon Othello and how the tragic hero suffers excessively in the tragedy. Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare is a household name and he has become a household name because of his exquisite work in literature. Othello is a masterpiece written by Shakespeare and this paper will shed more light upon this tragedy. Othello- The Tragic Hero The role of jealousy is crucial in Othello, human beings have a ll been gifted with very powerful emotions and jealousy is one really strong emotion which can have a lasting impact in a relationship, it can completely destroy a beautiful relationship and the same happens in Othello. The seed of jealousy once planted can have serious ramifications on a relationship. The most important thing is that jealousy does not remain jealousy in Othello, it very soon turns into anger and the same has serious impact on the lives of the characters in the tragedy. Everything revolves around the tragic hero and in this game the tragic hero is none other than Othello, his jealous and extremely possessive nature causes trouble beyond imagination in the tragedy. How Jealousy takes a toll on the Characters Every tragic hero suffers from a tragic flaw and the very same tragic flaw leads to the downfall of the tragic hero, it causes excessive suffering and pain beyond imagination. The tragic hero or the protagonist in this tragedy Othello suffers from the tragic flaw of jealously in the tragedy. Other characters are well aware that he is a very jealous man and they exploit his weakness to the fullest. Iago is the mastermind in the tragedy who tries to dethrone Othello; he exploits the jealous nature of Othello to turn his people against him. He creates several misunderstandings to put Othello in a fix and he succeeds in doing so on numerous occasions. Othello is very extremely possessive of his wife Desdemona and he often says â€Å"My Desdemona† in the tragedy. These words clearly show his obsession for his wife and the same obsession causes a lot of trouble in the tragedy. He firmly believes that he has won her; she was more like a trophy to him than a wife. Possessiveness is also a very big sign of jealously. This again goes to show the jealous nature of Othello, a major reason for his downfall was his jealous nature and there are no two ways about it. He is also an extremist and his behavior is also violent in the tragedy at times. H e loses his head when the handkerchief goes missing; his impulsive nature leads to his destructions. He is of swaying nature; he thinks that his wife has been unfaithful to him which again goes to show how he can easily be influenced by other people who he considers his well-wishers. His jealous nature comes to the forefront after the intervention of Iago, before his intervention there are no

Project 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Project 1 - Essay Example The density in each case remained the same for the full candy bar and half candy bar. It is due to the fact, that with the change in the volume, the mass of the candy bar also changed and thus the ratio between the mass and volume remained the same. Both the candy bars have lower densities. The densities in full candy bar and half candy bar remained the same in both the two cases. Both the candy bars have higher volumes and lower masses that made the cars less dense. 3. Explain how buoyancy and density are related in why some things float and others sink. To answer this question completely, use additional resources such as the internet or library. MUST cite your source(s). Buoyancy is the property of an object that keeps it floating instead of sinking. Buoyancy and density are closely related to each other as density is the property of an object that enables it float. If the object has fairly large volume with respect of its mass, it will have less density that enables the object to float over water. In the similar manner, if the object has large mass with respect to its volume, it will sink. In order to float over water, the object should have a density lesser than density of water (Editions.sciencetechnologyaction.com). 5. If measured accurately, your densities should be very close to each other when comparing the whole candy bar to the same half candy bar. What factors would influence your calculations between the densities to be completely different (assuming your measurements weren’t close)? Make a

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

Riordan - Essay Example nformation, and products over the internet and includes aspects like establishment of new markets, money transfer, and ordering of products, services or information. For Riordan, E-business considerations include identifying organizational requirements which in this case include reduction of costs and to promote growth and profits. The company also focuses on exceeding ISO 9000 standards and leading in R&D while offering innovative solutions and establishing long term relations with customers. In establishing long term relations with clients located in different geographic locations like Vancouver and New York where the company is not present, long term relationships with this customer and others will be required (Yasin, Czuchry, Gonzales, & Bayes, 2006). Additionally, having introducing e-business will mean creation of new markets since the company already has a strong brand in the manufacture of medical supplies and stents, bottler and beverage containers, airplane parts, automotiv e part s and others. The presence of the right professionals is needed such that the right implementation taskforce of experts is present and representing all company departments. Given that the bottles are to be delivered long distances from the manufacturing facility, e-business consideration needed is to ensure that customer is well informed about production and delivery at all times. Riordan also needs to collect information from the customer about potential markets in Canada and New York while gathering information about other similar manufacturing companies in the regions (Yasin, Czuchry, Gonzales, & Bayes, 2006). This way, Riordan will develop the ability to sense and respond to market needs, as well as stimulate market demand and search for new markets. For customers located far and wide, the manufacturing process of the organization will shift to customized just-in-time manufacturing or demand-driven production. This way, Riordan will manage to provide customers with

Education in the patient care setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Education in the patient care setting - Essay Example Before the means to develop and enhance the learning in my area of professional practice for a patient can be established, it is important to discuss first the different principles of learning which relate to the quality of feedback, individualization, relevance, and their applicability to practice. There are eight principles of learning which have to be considered in health education. These principles include: multi-sense learning, active learning, primacy and recency, tell them what you are going to tell them/tell them what you have told them, feedback, reward, practice and repetition, meaningful material, and holistic learning (Egle, 2007, pp. 4-5). In multi-sense learning, two or more senses are utilized, allowing the students to hear, to see, and touch, and to do (Kroehnert, 2000, p. 10). By using various techniques, it is possible to provide visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic outlets for more effective learning. Another principle – active learning also refers to learning by doing (Martyn, 2007, p. 71). This principle sets forth fact that as participants become more actively engaged in their learning, they are also likely to be engaged in the learning and application, as well as in the problem solving, and in case studies (Egle, 2007, p. 4). The third principle, primacy and recency – discusses that learners often remember the first and the last experiences (Castel, 2008, p. 429). A thorough and comprehensive introduction and conclusion are therefore important aspects of learning. The principle of telling them what you are going to tell them, and telling them what you have told discusses the fact that chunking or dividing lessons into mini-sessions can improve the learning process (Egle, 2007, p. 4). The fourth principle, that of feedback sets forth the importance of feedback from learners and trainers (Office of Assessment, Teaching, and Learning, 2010, p. 46). The message is ac tually the feedback; participants need feedback to assess their progress and the leaders need feedback to evaluate the sessions. The fifth principle is reward. This is about experiencing success and reward. Most people feel better when they are rewarded for their efforts and feeling good about themselves often leads to more improved efforts in their activities (Egle, 2007, p. 5). The sixth principle is reward, revision, and reinforcement (Sutton, 1999, p. 2). This principle sets forth that memory needs repetition of materials; the more it is repeated, the more it is ingrained in one’s memory. The seventh principle is on meaningful material. This principle basically sets forth that materials are related to previous knowledge and that participants are likely to learn best with materials which are relevant (Egle, 2007, p. 5). The last principle is on holistic learning. This principle s

Ethical Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Ethical Dilemma - Essay Example It is possible that the latter might reveal additional information. One would make no mistake that codes of conduct that are promoted among athletic directors strictly forbid them to conceal such important information as true medical state of a person. That is why if I decide to help Matt, I will clearly violate the code of conduct which will show my lack of professionalism. Contrary to that, I believe that Matt is a rather promising young man who should be given a chance to pursuit his dream. In spite of the fact that I believe in him, I think that the diagnosis will not allow him to become a successful athlete. I think that the situation is really difficult; so, I might benefit from contacting my peers. There is no doubt that other athletic directors would support me in refusing to conceal the health condition of Matt since this will not only endanger him and me, but also other people and show my lack of professionalism. So, there are basically several options: one – I agree not to inform the coach about Matt’s disease and two – I tell the coach right away and Matt does not play sports in the future. It is extremely hard to find a win win situation in this case. However, I assume that the second option will bring more benefit to Matt since in this case he will be able to direct all his efforts on treatment of the virus. I am strongly convinced that my family would support my decision since they know that I am always willing to help people and will never harm them in any way. Indeed, though there might be some negative consequences for Matt in the short run, in the long perspective he will probably benefit. Having examined all the options, I believe that the correct decision in this case would be to tell the coach about Matt’s health condition. Some people might think that I am being insensitive and not helpful, since the young man

Market entry strategy of retailer in China - The case of Walmart Dissertation

Market entry strategy of retailer in China - The case of Walmart - Dissertation Example This area of research was of immense interest because global chain had achieved success and failures in different markets. To evaluate the entry mode choice Wal-Mart was selected for this study, being the largest global retailer. China was selected as the location because of the phenomenal economic growth in recent decades and the high consumer base, both of which have been attracting foreign retailers. Thus, three objectives were set at the beginning of the study. All the three objectives have been achieved based on a study with qualitative data and qualitative analysis. The study finds that both push and pull factors motivated Wal-Mart to entre China. Its home market was saturated and Wal-Mart was driven by the sheer size of China’s consumer base. Since the outcome of any foreign venture depends upon the initial entry mode, Wal-Mart’s entry mode has been evaluated. The study finds that during the time that Wal-Mart entered China it had no alternative but to enter into joint venture but it appears that Wal-Mart did not assess several factors before entering the market. For instance, it did not conduct a proper research on the partner characteristics and the expected synergies; it did not take into account the local business environment, the consumer characteristics and the government regulations. ... While the timing of the entry was perfect (weak retail sector and high potential in China), Wal-Mart tried to impose its home market strategies which did not work in the Chinese business environment. Wal-Mart attempted standardizing operations across countries but this is not feasible in a retail environment. The entry choice of Wal-Mart into China does not conform to the theories governing entry mode choice. This suggests that no single entry mode can be generalized to be the right entry mode. Literature on the subject amply suggests that different factors influence the entry mode choice. This study confirms that different factors have to be taken into account when evaluating the entry mode, without which the expected synergies may not be achieved. The outcome of this study is expected to benefit the retailers that plan expansion into emerging economies. Based on the limitations, the study recommends other areas of research on the subject. Contents Chapter I Introduction 1 1.1 Backg round – Globalization and Retail Sector 1 1.2 China’s Retail Sector 2 1.3 International Retailers’ Presence in China 3 1.4 Wal-Mart in China 4 1.5 International Market Entry Strategy 5 1.6 Rationale for Research 5 1.7 Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.8 Structure of the Study 8 Chapter II Literature Review 10 2.1 Chapter Overview 10 2.2 Motives for Internationalization 10 2.3 Policy Framework in China 12 2.4 Internationalization Theories 13 2.4.1 International Market Selection 13 2.4.2 Market Challenges faced by International Retailers 14 2.4.3 Foreign Market Entry Modes 16 2.4.4 Theories Governing Market Entry Mode Decision 19 2.4.5 The Uppsala Stage Theory of Internationalization 21

Transporting Changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Transporting Changes - Essay Example One of the primary ways in which these changes were brought about was through changes in the city’s modes of transport, from the old days of walking, bicycling, trams and els, to the new mode of individual vehicular traffic and high-speed underground trains. In constructing the necessary amenities for these sorts of changes, it was necessary to break some of the old ways of doing things, either through the destruction of previously apportioned space or through novel approaches to cutting through traffic. Before one can understand how current conceptions of New York were shaped by these changing forms of transport, it is necessary to understand what is meant by the concept of place and then to observe how this concept shifted and changed with each new introduction to the city’s landscape. In his article â€Å"Defining Places† (2004), Tim Cresswell presents a general examination of how the term ‘place’ might be defined in a variety of different context s. Foremost among these is the idea that the term ‘place’ doesn’t simply refer to a specific location but is instead used to refer to a variety of ideas and concepts that are tied up in our conception of place.

Market entry strategy of retailer in China - The case of Walmart Dissertation

Market entry strategy of retailer in China - The case of Walmart - Dissertation Example This area of research was of immense interest because global chain had achieved success and failures in different markets. To evaluate the entry mode choice Wal-Mart was selected for this study, being the largest global retailer. China was selected as the location because of the phenomenal economic growth in recent decades and the high consumer base, both of which have been attracting foreign retailers. Thus, three objectives were set at the beginning of the study. All the three objectives have been achieved based on a study with qualitative data and qualitative analysis. The study finds that both push and pull factors motivated Wal-Mart to entre China. Its home market was saturated and Wal-Mart was driven by the sheer size of China’s consumer base. Since the outcome of any foreign venture depends upon the initial entry mode, Wal-Mart’s entry mode has been evaluated. The study finds that during the time that Wal-Mart entered China it had no alternative but to enter into joint venture but it appears that Wal-Mart did not assess several factors before entering the market. For instance, it did not conduct a proper research on the partner characteristics and the expected synergies; it did not take into account the local business environment, the consumer characteristics and the government regulations. ... While the timing of the entry was perfect (weak retail sector and high potential in China), Wal-Mart tried to impose its home market strategies which did not work in the Chinese business environment. Wal-Mart attempted standardizing operations across countries but this is not feasible in a retail environment. The entry choice of Wal-Mart into China does not conform to the theories governing entry mode choice. This suggests that no single entry mode can be generalized to be the right entry mode. Literature on the subject amply suggests that different factors influence the entry mode choice. This study confirms that different factors have to be taken into account when evaluating the entry mode, without which the expected synergies may not be achieved. The outcome of this study is expected to benefit the retailers that plan expansion into emerging economies. Based on the limitations, the study recommends other areas of research on the subject. Contents Chapter I Introduction 1 1.1 Backg round – Globalization and Retail Sector 1 1.2 China’s Retail Sector 2 1.3 International Retailers’ Presence in China 3 1.4 Wal-Mart in China 4 1.5 International Market Entry Strategy 5 1.6 Rationale for Research 5 1.7 Research Aims and Objectives 7 1.8 Structure of the Study 8 Chapter II Literature Review 10 2.1 Chapter Overview 10 2.2 Motives for Internationalization 10 2.3 Policy Framework in China 12 2.4 Internationalization Theories 13 2.4.1 International Market Selection 13 2.4.2 Market Challenges faced by International Retailers 14 2.4.3 Foreign Market Entry Modes 16 2.4.4 Theories Governing Market Entry Mode Decision 19 2.4.5 The Uppsala Stage Theory of Internationalization 21

Educational Research Essay Example for Free

Educational Research Essay The research study explores the influence of technological developments to student motivation and positive learning outcomes. Educational institutions have started to incorporate the use of technology as an instructional tool to facilitate teaching and learning. One of the most recent additions to instructional tools used for classroom instruction is the employment of mobile technology. These technologies include the use of SMS or Short Message Service, e-mail, online forums and discussion boards. The purpose of the research is to probe deeper on the effects of these technologies to motivational learning, pressure within the learning environment, and the outcomes of performance. The result of the study proved that the use of internet and mobile communications lessens the pressure that students feel within the learning environment. Therefore, motivating the students to learn and feel comfortable during classroom instruction. Moreover, mobile communications opens up other alternatives for students to communicate with their teachers without any hesitations at all. Although the research acknowledged the benefits of employing mobile communication combined with internet tools, it still suggests that further studies be conducted on the topic. Critical Evaluation The research study is yet again one of the many proofs on how technology is becoming an integral part of education and is influential in producing positive learning outcomes. With the addition of mobile communication still it remains to be a motivational factor for students to learn and reflect that they actually have been learning by coming up with high grades during evaluation and assessment. This means that with the employment of mobile communications, students are able to produce desirable learning outcomes. Perhaps one of the things that make technology a motivational tool is because of its widespread use in almost every aspect of life. People, especially the younger generation, regard technology as a trend. Incorporating the technologies that students are familiar of makes it a powerful instructional tool to arouse the interest of the learners. Learning is not limited to the confines of the educational institution because mobile communication allows learning to extend beyond the four walls of the classroom. Moreover, communication is best facilitated, especially with students who are not good oral communicators, through online communication. These observations allow educational institutions to consider the employment of mobile technology to their curriculum and their instructional tools, perhaps, also considering the emergence of globalization.

Analysis of Liver Disease in Europe

Analysis of Liver Disease in Europe To what extent does alcohol contribute to liver disease in Europe? Alcoholic liver disease is the major complication of chronic alcohol abuse, with cirrhosis (with or without portal hypertension), being the most common end-point of the spectrum of complications. This association is seen throughout virtually all populations, demographic groups and clinical sub-sets. (Walsh K et al. 2000) It is notable that the incidence of the disease process is changing on a world-wide consideration, with countries such as India and Japan recently seeing a rapid escalation in numbers of cases of cirrhosis, from their traditionally low baseline of prevalence of the disease. This essay however, will primarily consider the situation in Europe. Considerations of safe limits to alcohol consumption have to be prefaced with the comments that they are controversial, and that there is no common agreement on a minimum safe level. In the UK, the Royal College of Physicians suggest a weekly limit of 21 units (210 g) of alcohol in men and 14 units in women as being the upper limit of â€Å"safe† use. This has to be seen in the context that the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys General Household Survey found that 27% of men and 13% of women in the UK were found to be exceeding these limits in 2004 (OPCS 2004) This can be contrasted with the findings of an Italian study (Bellentani S et al. 1997) which suggested that the â€Å"significant risk threshold† for the subsequent development of alcoholic liver disease in an Italian population was only 30g of ethanol per day and that the risk escalated with progressively higher levels of intake. The authors also noted that, for a given level of intake, women had a significantly higher risk of developing alcoholic liver disease than did age-matched men. On a critical note, one must concede that this was a prospective non-randomised study with a moderate (6,500) entry cohort. This can be compared with a larger Danish study (13,000 entry cohort) which demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the risk of alcoholic liver disease at levels of intake above 14 27 units per week in males and 7 13 units in females. (Becker U et al. 1996) One cannot conclude, from this data, that different European populations have different susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease. One of the major practical difficulties in mounting a major prospective study of this nature is the control of the huge number of variables that may influence the outcome, not least of which is the fact that no individual person drinks a uniform quantity of alcohol per day over many years. There are also considerations of the possibility of variation of effect of different proprietary brands of alcohol-containing drinks as well as the (largely under researched) area of the long term effect of binge drinking. Virtually all studies however, demonstrate a steep dose dependent increase in alcoholic liver disease above a threshold level of alcohol intake with women having a greater incidence of the disease than men at a given age range and level of intake. The reasons for this sex difference is not completely clear with Kwo et al. demonstrating that if one adjusts for body mass and liver size, then both men and women have equivalent biological rates of alcohol degradation. (Kwo P Y et al. 1998) A number of authorities (viz. Teli M R et al. 2005) suggest that these gender differences in susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease may be due to primarily to pharmacokinetic reasons including differences in the rates of ethanol absorption or alternatively, differences in the degree of response of the liver to alcohol induced injury such as that caused by oxidative by-products of ethanol metabolism in the liver. If one accepts the difficulties inherent in trying to define the lower margins of â€Å"safe† levels of alcohol drinking, then it is also appropriate to consider the problem from the other end of the spectrum. There are many studies in the literature which have considered the incidence and natural history of alcoholic liver disease in a population of heavy drinkers who, by definition, will show a much higher prevalence of the disease process. A comparatively old study by La Vecchia et al. showed a Europe-wide reducing trend in alcoholic liver disease in the recent past (La Vecchia, C et al. 1994) and this should be compared with data which shows that the deaths from alcoholic liver disease are actually increasing in the UK (CMO 2001). More specific recent data shows that this increase is disproportionately represented by the young adult and middle aged population in the UK showing an 8-fold rise since the 1970s (Leon, D. A et al. 2006) There is a general perception that end-stage alcoholic liver disease (in the form of cirrhosis) is only seen in those patients who demonstrate alcohol dependence syndrome (viz. Smith et al. 2004 and Luca A et al. 2007). There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that this may not actually be the case. If one considers one of the landmark papers on alcohol dependence and related disease processes, one could cite the classification of Jellinek who categorised five â€Å"sub-species† of alcoholism in his authoritative work in the area. (Jellinek, E. M. 1960 A). The current significance of his initial classification is that he identified two specific types of â€Å"alcoholics†, the ‘ß alcoholics’ who are not alcohol dependant, but who have a disproportionately high incidence of alcohol-related diseases, such as cirrhosis and contrasted this to the gamma alcoholics who were typically highly physically dependent, demonstrated frequent behavioural problems and had a high incidence of sociological complications. Jellinek made deductions about why these groups had different drinking patterns suggesting that the tendency towards heavy drinking in the ß alcoholic group was related to the customs and peer pressures within their social group, whereas gamma alcoholism was characterised, in part, by drinking to relieve a psychological craving and a physical addiction. (Jellinek, E. M. 1960 B). In the context of this examination, one can intuitively suggest that the customs, peer pressures and social groupings may be one of the more salient causes of different patterns of alcohol use across the various national cultures of Europe. There is a further difficulty in that, a brief overview of the literature on the subject of alcoholic liver disease shows that, in the context of Jellinek’s theoretical framework, which describes the population of drinkers who present to healthcare professionals with liver disease as a distinctly separate (although overlapping) population from those who present with alcohol dependence, there is a comparative paucity of studies which look at the drinking patterns, social factors and attitudes in patients with alcoholic liver disease when one compares it with the wealth of literature on alcohol dependence. This may seem to be an academic inference, but one can cite the authority of the often quoted Wodak study which identified significant differences between the population of typical patients with alcoholic liver disease and a population of patients who were recruited from an alcohol treatment centre for dependence, presenting evidence that only 18% of patients who had clinical alcoholic liver disease were severely dependent on alcohol and this contrasted with 56% of the attendees at the alcohol treatment centres. The authors also found that 63% of the patients who were found to have alcoholic liver disease had only a mild or moderate dependence on alcohol. (Wodak, A. D. et al. 1983). If one looks beyond the confines of Europe, one can cite the authority of an Indian study (Sarin, S. K et al. 1998) which found broadly similar results. More recent studies using liver transplant patients (viz. Burra, P. et al. 2000) have also produced similar results, although there is an obvious source of potential selection bias in such studies in the desire of certain patients to be accepted onto a transplant programme and this bias will (intuitively) vary between the different patterns of medical care provided across Europe. The problem confronting many researchers is the difficulty in clinically defining alcoholic liver disease. Many patients may be unaware that they are developing significant problems until the time of presentation. The first presentation may be with acute upper gastrointestinal tract haemorrhage or with alcoholic hepatitis. Both conditions frequently present in the absence of warning signs of a developing alcohol dependence. (Vorobioff J et al. 1996). The Harry et al. study reporting that the first presentation of alcoholic liver disease may actually be fatal with uncontrollable bleeding oesophageal varices carrying an immediate 25% mortality rate, (Harry, R. et al. 2002), a finding also found in the Brett study. (Brett, B. T. et al. 2001). Mathurin suggests that in patients who present with severe alcoholic hepatitis, over 50% may die. (Mathurin, P et al. 1996) If one considers data from other European centres, the Italian Loguercio study considered the pattern of drinking in indigenous Italians who had Hepatitis C. (Loguercio C et al. 2000). This is particularly significant in the Italian population as their prevalence of Hepatitis C is the highest in Europe. (De Bac, C. et al. 2004). It is well known that Hepatitis C infection is associated with a higher incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, but it is not know the extent to which subsequent alcohol intake influences the natural progression of the disease process. The Loguercio study sought to explore this feature and makes the observation that only 4 5% of all manuscripts submitted to â€Å"Hepatology† deal with alcohol-related liver disease, which exemplifies the point made earlier. In direct consideration of the thrust of this examination, the extent to which alcohol contributes to liver disease is modified by the presence of complicating factors such as Hepatitis B and C. Loguercio et al. suggest that there is a direct interaction between alcohol and the viruses, other authorities (viz. Ostapowicz, G et al. 1998) suggest that an additional mechanism of disease modification is that the presence of alcohol affects the response to interferon therapy (IFN). The latter belief has a poor evidence base as Mabee points to the fact that, without exception, none of the controlled trials published thus far on the efficacy of IFN treatment of Hepatitis C-related liver disease have determined the alcohol intake levels prior to therapy. ((Mabee, C. L. et al. 2008) Lieberman has shown that chronic alcohol intake levels correlate well with gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GT) levels. (Lieberman, M. W. et al. 1995) and these levels have been shown by Camps to be extremely predictive of treatment (Camps, J. et al. 1993). In this way it is possible to make the direct connection that alcohol intake clearly directly influences the rate of progression of hepatic pathology, a claim that has been further strengthened by the large retrospective analysis by Pol et al. who examined and correlated the rate of progression of the disease process (in Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS hepatitis, with the overall intake of alcohol. (Pol, S. et al. 1998). The authors demonstrated that alcohol intake of the patient directly influences their gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GT) plasma levels and the rate of progression of the disease process. There is further evidence of the degree to which alcohol influences liver disease, at a histological level, in the form of the Scheuer paper. (Scheuer, P. J. et al. 2001). In congruence with the thrust of this segment of the paper, we can cite the authority of Scheuer who correlated the degree of fibrosis and steatosis with the average levels of alcohol intake and Pessione who noted that the degree of fibrosis in patients with Hepatitis C chronic hepatitis was related to the history of alcohol intake. (Pessione, F. et al. 1998) To return to the Loguercio study, the authors comment that the Italian cohort was typical for the country, (but atypical for Europe) as there is known to be a high alcohol intake per head of the population in Italy, even after making allowances for the fact that alcohol intake has fallen in the last decade (SPE 2004). In an attempt to evaluate the effects of alcohol on the population with alcoholic liver disease the study considered three important markers namely : (1) To estimate how many subjects in our country misused alcohol before and after being diagnosed as having HCV-related chronic liver disease (2) To determine if their drinking habits affected the principal aspects of this disease: routine laboratory data (particularly GT plasma levels), histological pattern (particularly liver steatosis and fibrosis), HCV RNA levels, and response to IFN therapy; (3) To compare results from this and a previous study (Aricà ² et al., 1994) to determine if CLD subjects have modified their drinking habits since a decrease was observed in the general population. (Loguercio C et al. 2000). The study is both long and complex, with rigorous statistical analysis. In essence, the authors were able to demonstrate that the majority of patients with Hepatitis C liver disease still regularly drank significant amounts of alcohol. Patients with hepatitis were more likely to drink alcohol than those with cirrhosis. They were also able to confirm that there were significantly higher levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GT) and greater levels of fibrosis associated with higher levels of alcohol in male subjects. Interestingly, women had higher levels of fibrosis than men even if they were total abstainers or less than 40 g/daily of alcohol, but their gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GT) levels did reflect the overall alcohol intake. This is very supportive of the hypothesis that women appear to have lower levels of defence against the oxidative insult produced by alcohol intake and may therefore develop a more marked fibrotic infiltration. We know, from other evidence that clinic ally, women appear to have more severe and rapidly progressive hepatitic disease processes than men. (Watson, R. R. ed. 2001) To consider a more general overview of the Europe-wide situation, one can consider the Rehm review paper which considers the implications of alcohol usage and mortality rates across the European continent. (Rehm J et al. 2007). The review itself is in commendable depth and provides an excellent evidence base for the area of investigation. The main points presented can be summarised. There is still a general all-cause mortality gradient from west to east across Europe which is more pronounced in males. (Zatonski W et al. 2000). In statistical terms, the western (old EU) countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and UK) had a male life expectancy of 75.7 yrs and a female life expectancy of 81.5 yrs. In the central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) these expectancy figures have fallen to 70.9 and 78.7 respectively. In the new Baltic states (Estonia, L atvia, and Lithuania) it is 65.3 and 76.8 yrs respectively and in the Russian Federation it was 58.3 for men and 71.8 for women. It can be seen from these figures that the life expectancy for men varies by 17.4 years and 9.7 yrs for women. It should be noted that a later, but less exhaustive, study by Vagero demonstrated that by 2005, while life expectancies were slightly higher, the overall gradient and pattern of mortality remained unchanged. (Vagero D 2007). A number of authorities (viz. Men T et al. 2003 and McKee M et al. 2001) have highlighted the levels of alcohol consumption, in addition to smoking and poor nutrition, as being the main determinants of this gradient. Rhem has also identified alcohol as being the prime determinant of premature mortality in the Russian federation. (Rehm J et al. 2003 A) Rhem presents a systematic analysis of alcohol-attributable mortality and disease burden by country, and considers two major aspects in each case namely, both the level of consumption and the patterns of drinking, the latter mainly referring to irregular heavy drinking occasions. (Rehm J et al. 2007). These two aspects are not straightforward, as an illustrative example of France and Sweden demonstrates. France has a traditional wine drinking culture with overall high levels of alcohol consumption but a relatively low proportion of people drinking to intoxication, Sweden, by contrast, has an increasing, but still relatively low level of overall alcohol consumption but a social tradition of irregular heavy drinking. The study highlights Hungary as being notable for having the highest mortality rates in the EU for several alcohol-related pathologies such as liver cirrhosis, together with malignant neoplasms of lip, oral cavity and pharynx. It is reported that for the age range 20 64 yrs, alcohol plays a part in premature deaths of 25% of the population of Hungary. Cirrhosis is particularly high in Hungary and it is postulated that the high consumption of home made spirits may be a relevant factor. (Szucs S et al. 2005). It is also recognised that the culturally acceptable pattern of drinking in Hungary to a high level of alcohol intake with many heavy drinking occasions. The study gives a graphic breakdown of alcohol-related indices across the continent thus: New EU member states Old EU member states Czech Republic Hungary Lithuania Poland France Sweden UK Russia Adult per capita in l pure alcohol 17.0 14.9 17.2 11.7 14.5 9.9 13.4 15.5 Recorded in l pure alcohol 16.0 11.9 12.3 8.7 13.5 6.9 11.4 10.6 Unrecorded in l pure alcohol 1.0 3.0 4.9 3.0 1.0 3.0 2.0 4.9 Patterns of drinkinga 2 3 3 3 1 3 3 4 Preferred beverage beer wine/beer/spirits beer/spirits spirits/beer wine beer beer spirits Men % abstention/very light drinking 9.0 12.0 10.0 16.4 7.3 10.0 9.2 13.8 % >40 g/dayb 59.4 47.0 41.0 38.5 50.8 18.3 38.6 53.1 Women % abstention/very light drinking 19.1 27.0 28.0 34.3 11.1 16.0 14.3 27.5 % >40 g/day 7.0 16.0 8.0 9.0 7.0 3.8 10.3 8.4 aEstimated average pattern of drinking (1–4 with 4 being the most detrimental pattern; see text for more explanation and13 for the full algorithm used). b>40 g/day on average correspond to more than 3–4 drinks on average per day (1 drink is one can of beers of 0.33 l or one small glass of wine or one shot of spirits). (After Rehm J et al. 2007). There is considerable discussion surrounding the issue of alcohol-attributable mortality and death rates in the various European regions with Russia yielding the highest figures (29.0/10,000 person-years). An unexplained anomaly was found in that France and the UK show consistently higher rates of alcohol-attributable mortality in women than the general trend in the other countries when compared to the equivalent male rates. The overall alcohol-attributable mortality is greater in the male population with the ratio difference being much greater in the new EU member states, where the culture dictates that a smaller proportion of the alcohol produced is consumed by women Alcohol has been defined as only one of the causes of premature mortality (see above). Rehm suggests that alcohol is the major factor as, if the alcohol-related mortality is removed and the mortality figures adjusted, then the premature mortality rates between the highest and lowest rated countries become much more similar. Premature alcohol-attributable deaths in eight European countries by sex and age groups as proportions (in %) of all deaths, for the year 2002 New EU member states Old EU member states Age group Czech Republic Hungary Lithuania Poland France Sweden UK Russiab Men 20–44 28.5 39.4 38.4 26.0 22.9 19.2 22.2 30.7 45–64 14.0 22.2 16.4 10.2 16.6 7.1 7.6 11.9 20–64 16.3 25.2 22.8 13.6 18.0 9.3 10.7 17.9 Women 20–44 14.2 19.5 21.4 10.7 10.9 6.9 12.5 19.9 45–64 4.5 12.7 10.1 2.1 9.6 2.2 4.6 4.9 20–64 5.8 13.7 12.4 3.6 9.9 2.9 6.0 8.5 The estimates for Russia are underestimates, as several disease categories could not be included because of the different classification system of diseases (After Rehm J et al. 2007). It has to be acknowledged that with all of the papers cited in this examination, there are a number of potential shortcomings as data from different countries is inevitably subject to different categorisations and different modes of collection. Equally, differential rates of confounding factors such as Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, smoking and nutritional differences, all of which impact on the clinical presentation of the alcoholic liver disease process are difficult to completely isolate and account for. An additional complicating factor is that it has long been recognised that small amounts of alcohol have a cardio protective effect (Rehm J et al. 2003 B), irregular heavy drinking occasions (binge drinking) adding up to the same average volume of drinking over a period of time are associated with increased risk of vascular events. This increased risk is hard to separate from the increased risk of mortality from alcoholic liver disease. This is particularly the case with the Russian experience where drinking typically follows irregular heavy drinking patterns and the cardioprotective effect is probably negligible on a population-wide assessment. (Nicholson A et al. 2005) In overview, one can conclude that alcohol plays a substantial, and geographically variable role in premature adult mortality across Europe with 15% of all deaths in the 20 64 yr age range being attributable to this risk with men comprising a higher proportion than women in this total. (Rehm J et al. 2006). References Aricà ², S., Galatola, G., Tabone, M. and Corrao, G. (1994) Amount and duration of alcohol intake in patients with chronic liver disease. An Italian Multicentric Study. Italian Journal of Gastroenterology 26, 59 – 65. Becker U, Deis A, Sorensen T I A, et al. (1996) Prediction of risk of liver disease by alcohol intake, sex and age : a prospective population study. Hepatology 1996; 23 : 1025 1029 Bellentani S, Saccoccio G, Costa G, et al. (1997) Drinking habits as cofactors of risk for alcohol induced liver damage. Gut 1997; 41 : 845 850 Brett, B. T., Hayes, P. C. and Jalan, R. (2001) Primary prophylaxis of variceal bleeding in cirrhosis. European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 13, 349 – 358 Burra, P., Mioni, D., Cillo, U. et al. (2000) Long-term medical and psycho-social evaluation of patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation for alcoholic liver disease. Transplant International 13, S 174 – S 178 Camps, J., Crisostomo, S., Garcia-Granero, M., Riezu-Boj, J. I., Civeira, M. P. and Prieto, J. (1993) Prediction of the response of chronic hepatitis C to interferon alfa: a statistical analysis of pretreatment variables. Gut 34, 1714 – 1717 CMO (2001) Chief Medical Officer. On the State of the Public Health: Chief Medical Officers Annual Report 2001. Department of Health, HMSO : London; De Bac, C., Stroffolini, T., Gaeta, G. B., Taliani, G. and Giusti, G. (2004) Pathogenetic factors in cirrhosis with and without hepatocellular carcinoma: a multicenter Italian study. Hepatology 20, 1225 – 1230 Harry, R. and Wendon, J. (2002) Management of variceal bleeding. Current Opinions in Critical Care 8, 164 – 170. Loguercio C, Di Pierro M, Di Marino M P, Federico A, Disalvo D,, Cradta E, Tuccillo C, Baldi F, Del Vecchio Blanco C (2000) Drinking habits of subjects with Hepatitis C virus related chronic liver disease : Prevalence and effect on clinical, virological and pathological aspects. Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 296 301, 2000 Jellinek, E. M. (1960a) Alcoholism, a genus and some of its species. Canadian Medical Association Journal 83, 1341–1345 Jellinek, E. M. (1960b) The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, pp. 36 – 41. Hillhouse Press, New Haven, CT. Kwo P Y, Ramchandani V A, OConnor S, et al. (1998) Gender differences in alcohol metabolism: relationship to liver volume and effect of adjusting for body mass. Gastroenterology 1998; 115 : 1552 1557 La Vecchia, C., Levi, F., Lucchini, F. et al. (1994) Worldwide patterns and trends in mortality from liver cirrhosis, 1955 to 1990. Annals of Epidemiology 4, 480 – 486. Leon, D. A. and McCambridge, J. (2006) Liver cirrhosis mortality rates in Britain from 1950 to 2002: an analysis of routine data. Lancet 367, 52 – 56 Lieberman, M. W., Barrios, R. and Carter, B. Z. (1995)Gamma -Glutamyl transpeptidase. What does the organization and expression of a multipromoter gene tell us about its functions? American Journal of Pathology 147, 1175 – 1185. Luca A, Carles Garcia-Pagan J, Bosch J, et al. (2007) Effects of ethanol consumption on hepatic hemodynamics in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Gastroenterology 2007; 112 : 1284 1289 Nicholson A, Bobak M, Murphy M, Rose R, Marmot M. Alcohol consumption and increased mortality in Russian men and women: a cohort study based on the mortality of relatives. Bulletin of the WHO (2005) 83 : 803 Mabee, C. L., Crippin, J. S. and Lee, W. M. (2008) Review article : interferon and hepatitis C-factors predicting therapeutic outcome. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics 12, 509 – 518. Mathurin, P., Duchatelle, V., Ramond, M. J. et al. (1996) Survival and prognostic factors in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis treated with prednisolone. Gastroenterology 110, 1847 – 1853 McKee M, Shkolnikov V. (2001) Understanding the toll of premature death among men in eastern europe. Br Med J (2001) 323 : 1051 – 55 Men T, Brennan P, Boffetta P, Zaridze D. (2003) Russian mortality trends for 1991 – 2001 : analysis by cause and region. Br Med J (2003) 327 : 964. OPCS (2004) Office of Population Censuses and Surveys General Household Survey : HMSO London 2004 Ostapowicz, G., Watson, J. R., Locarnini, S. A. and Desmond, P. V. (1998) Role of alcohol in the progression of liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatology 27, 1730 – 1735 Pessione, F., Degos, F. and Marcellin, P. (1998) Effect of alcohol consumption on serum hepatitis C virus RNA and histological lesions in chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology 27, 1717 – 1722 Pol, S., Lamorthe, B. and Trinh Thi, N. (1998) Retrospective analysis of the impact of HIV infection and alcohol use on chronic hepatitis C in a large cohort of drug users. Journal of Hepatology 28, 945 – 950 Rehm J, Room R, Monteiro M, et al

Development of Business Strategies Essay -- Business Development Strat

The paper below responds to the following three prompts: 1. â€Å"The six forces model of strategy helps firms develop externally coherent business strategies†. Discuss applying the model to real cases. 2. Explain strategic posture and how it helps firms make strategy in uncertain business environments. 3. Evaluate the role of mergers and acquisitions in corporate strategy. 1. â€Å"The six forces model of strategy helps firms develop externally coherent business strategies†. Discuss applying the model to real cases. The six forces model is an extension to Michael Porter's Five Forces Model. The six forces analyze different areas in an industry. The forces in this model are: a. Competition- Analysis that if there are a lot of competitors. If so, are there any dominant players in the market. b. New entrants- To analyze if it is easy for new entrants to enter the market and compete? c. End users/buyers- Is the price easily affected by the buyers? Can the company work with a specific potential buyer? or to analyze their strength of their position in their relationship with the buyers d. Suppliers- Study the number of suppliers if it is a monopoly and if not, how many suppliers are there in the market. e. Substitutes- To study how easily a product can be substituted and how easily these substitutes are available f. Complementary products- Effect of complementary products and services on the market. The six forces model is used to study the strategic position of a company in a concerned industry and in a given market place. It is also applied to calculate the market effectiveness of a company with regard to competition and profitability. Let us take FedEx as an example. FedEx is one of the largest global courier... ...gy. †¢ Adam Hartung(2014), Three Smart Lessons From Facebook's Purchase Of WhatsApp http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2014/02/24/zuckerbergs-3-smart-leadership-lessons-from-facebook-buying-whatsapp/ †¢ Ibrahim AKGÃâ€"BEK, Mergers and Acquisitions as a Growth Strategy http://psrcentre.org/images/extraimages/412031.pdf †¢ PALO ALTO, CA and HOUSTON, TX (2001), Hewlett-Packard and Compaq agree to merge, creating $87 billion global technology leader http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=230610#.U00iUvmSy50 †¢ Wikipedia, Tata Group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Group †¢ Sebastian Spaeth, Nina Geilinger, Corporate Strategy Mergers & Acquisitions http://www.smi.ethz.ch/education/courses/corporatestrategy/Slides_2012/CS_06_MA.pdf †¢ KENT RHODES, Merger and Acquisition Strategies http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/merger-and-acquisition-strategies/

Nuclear Core :: Earth Science Essays

Nuclear Core The Earth’s core is a massive nuclear fission reactor. The core uses the process of nuclear fission to burn it’s fuel of uranium 235 into lighter elements, or fission byproducts. This core is also responsible for producing much of the geological phenomenon observed on the Earth. Phenomena such as geomagnetism and the periodic shutting down of the Earth’s magnetic field are examples of phenomena that are directly attributed to fission within the Earth. There is also substantial reason to believe that the center of the Earth is a massive nuclear reactor from the empirical data gathered from observations, testing, and logical evidence to support this idea. The traditional theory about the Earth’s core suggest that the core of the Earth is a solid nickel and iron sphere surrounded by a fluid metallic magma. The rotation of the Earth is believed to create massive columns of magma to swirl in the core. These columns are believed to produce the Earth’s magnetic field. This theory is based on the assumption that the Earth’s core is cooling and will eventually cool completely and cease to produce energy and a magnetic field. However, this theory does not answer many ongoing mysteries about the Earth, such as why the Earth’s magnetic field periodically shuts down, and questions about the energy production of the Earth. It was apparent that a new theory was needed to explain the mystery of the Earth’s core. The concept of nuclear fission within the earth started in the fifties. Geophysicists began to question whether natural occurring nuclear fission was possible. It seemed that it was a definite possibility and eventually, empirical evidence presented itself. In 1972 at the Oklo uranium mine in western Africa, a natural nuclear fission reactor was discovered deep within the earth. It was later determined that this reactor had been burning for almost two million years (Earth’s Core). The discovery provided an answer to the possibility of naturally occurring nuclear fission in the earth. The answer was yes. This led to more questions, however. What were the implications of such a process occurring naturally inside of the Earth? As time progressed, scientists learned more about naturally occurring reactors and new theories developed. Through observations of other planets, and observing the Earth in respect to the solar system, some bold new theories arose.

Paleozoic Era in the geology of Indiana Essay

Paleozoic Era means â€Å"time of ancient life†. It is estimated to have occurred somewhere around 544 and 245 million years ago. During this time period, the Paleozoic era, there was a great increase in variety and development of life. Animal fauna were abundant during the Paleozoic era. It is a time when different types and forms of plants and animals flourished and became diverse and plentiful. Many with hard shells and exoskeletons appeared. As a result more organisms formed into fossils which left trail of history behind for scientists to study. This era is very important in that is entails an explosion of animal growth in which nearly all living animals appeared and then at the end of the Paleozoic era, during the Permian sub era, suddenly a mass extinction wiped out nearly 90% of all living matter. Much research continues into the reasons why these two extreme situations occurred. (Palmer and Geismann Nov 2002) Subdivisions of the Paleozoic era are; in order of time period most recent to oldest, Permian is also referred to as the age of dinosaurs and Pangea. Pangea was the name when the earth was considered a supercontinent. The majority of the plates had massed together and had just one ocean. The land was relatively dry and had few glaciers. Next came the sub-era, Carboniferous Pennsylvanian (high carboniferous) and Mississippian (lower carboniferous) depicted mostly by the large coal deposits in the area of modern day Pennsylvania with many coal swamps which then spread towards the Mississippi river and became more limestone. The stratigraphy (the study of strata or layers) of the two areas is quite different as a result. This area today called Indiana is in the upper Mississippi River valley. It was mostly made up of Limestone and since sea covered much of the continent at this time, there was a large marine population. Many remnants left over were lime marked by green algae and calcium carbonate which has been eroded and formed by waves and sea water. Then came the Devonian sub era, in which small plants began to appear in the beginning and by the end large trees emerged. Also, tetra pods (considered the first vertebrates to exist on earth) or vertebrates began to inhabit the land. Arthropods (an invertebrate having an exoskeleton, segmented body and jointed appendages), insects and arachnids (eight legged and jointed invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata) also came about during the Devonian time period. Echinoderms (creature with a limited nervous system) and a wide variety of fish also became plentiful. The Silurian era was marked by great changes in the physical makeup of the earth. The basic climates over the earth stabilized and glaciers and their formations melted and the seas levels rose. As a result, the fish population grew by leaps and bounds. Corals reefs developed and marine life continued to thrive. Freshwater varieties and fish with jaws occurred for the first time. The Ordovician sub era was a period during the Paleozoic era when much of the northern hemisphere as mostly underwater and a large land mass was in the south called Gondwana. The land was moist and had migrated close to the South Pole. It is known for its marine invertebrates and limited plants on land. Glaciers ultimately formed and much of the land froze and formed glaciers. This ended with mass extinction of 60% of marine life. The Cambrian era was considered the explosion where a grand diversity of life on earth boomed all of a sudden. Various types of rock were formed during the Paleozoic era. The earth was six large land masses at this time. Modern day continents were relocated and divided later on. Therefore different rocks and formations existed. Limestone and coal are two examples of rock formed during the Paleozoic era. Sedimentary and Cambrian rock and fossils dating back to the Paleozoic era can be found in the state of Indiana. It was close to the equator during the Pangea and lay in a shallow sea of water. Later as the land changed, sand from the Acadian Mountains washed over the rocks and land in the sea. Mollusks, Crinoids, bryozoans, brachiopods, gastropods, bivalves, which are two half shelled filter-feeders, gastropods (snails) and trace fossils can be found as remnants of that time period in the state. Much of the large amounts of plants from the delta are where the large amount of coal originated from. Plants included ferns, seed ferns, moss and many types of swamp plants which also contributed to the large deposits of coal. Plant fossils from the late Paleozoic era include Lepidodendron, Sigillaria, Calamites, Pecopteris, Annularia and Asterphyllities. (Polly, David 2007) Currently, Indiana is rich in limestone, aggregates (crushed limestone dolomite, sand and gravel), aglime (agricultural lime) and other minerals and rock forms. It also has siliciclastic (made from broken pieces of silica rocks) and carbonate rocks (sedimentary rocks made up of mostly carbonate minerals) and coal. These rocks have all evolved from the Paleozoic era through the rock cycle of erosion, deposition, temperature and pressure. Older rocks are altered and become slightly different and newer younger versions. Lingulella  © 2003 Milwaukee Public Museum Works Cited Collins, Allen (1994) last updated in 1999 The Paleozoic Era Web Geological Time Machine Accessed on May 31, 2010 Polly, David (2007) Historical Geology Paleozoic Fossils II Accessed on May 31, 2010 Freebee, M. J. (2002) Paleobiology: The Early Paleozoic Accessed on June1, 2010 UCMP The Paleontology Portal Indiana, U. S. Accessed on May 31, 2010

Erikson Stages of Development Essay

Eric Erikson was primarily a neoanalytic theorist, and in his contention, one’s ego interacts constantly with other individuals within the society, and can be affected by them, as also by the prevalent culture of his society, and ‘Ego’, in this case, refers to an individual’s sense of his own self and his core personality. One must remember that it was Sigmund Freud who initially conceived of the theory of the five developmental stages that an individual goes through during the course of his life, extending from his early childhood to his adolescence, while it was Eric Erikson who expanded and refined Freud’s theory, and extended it to last from early childhood to old age, and stated that an individual passes through eight stages and not a mere five. Erikson conceived of the ‘epigenetic principle’ according to which an individual develops through the eight stages of his life by a predetermined unfolding of his personality, and by accomplishing each one of the tasks that he is expected to complete at each stage. Also referred to as ‘developmental tasks’, unless one is able to accomplish these tasks, one would have to face the negative outcome of not having completed the tasks in a given stage. One example is that of a child in grammar school, who has to be an industrious learner at this stage in his life. If he fails to become so, he may develop an inferiority complex, states Erikson. Furthermore, an individual has to contend with the interaction of opposites that occurs at each stage of his life, and also with the psychosocial conflict that may arise as a result. If the child is able to resolve the crisis at grammar school, he would in all probability remain an extremely confident individual, ready to face challenges, through his life. On the other hand, if he were unable to resolve the conflict, he may feel guilty all his life. Therefore, this can mean that developmental tasks can be psychosocial in nature, and although one’s ego may be inborn, it would be shaped in later stages through the society that one lives in and interacts with. Ego, therefore, must be nurtured within the cultural and social environment of the individual, like for example, his family, and his school. These are the eight stages of life, according to Erikson: infant stage from 0 to 1 year, toddler stage at 2 to 3 years, preschooler at 3 to 6 years, school age at 7 to 12 years, adolescence at 12 to 20 years, young adult at 20’s, middle adult stage at late 20’s to 50’s, older adult stage at 50 to old age. (Hergenhahn, B. R. , & Olson, M. H. (2007) According to Eric Erikson, the stage in life that one enters into immediately after the ‘intimacy vs. isolation stage’ is that of ‘generativity vs. tagnation’ when the young adult starts to assume responsibilities at the age of late 20’s, until he is about 50 years or older. I am a 40 year old divorced female, single parent of two, and I work two jobs and go to school full time. I am also working toward a BA in psychology and have future plans to go on to law school. It is at this stage that I have a strong sense of creativity, and a need to ‘make a mark’ on the world. I need to make sure that the next generation, in this case my children, have a safe and secure life, and I must work hard towards this, in what Erikson refers to as ‘care’. I feel a love for my children that is boundless and unlimited, and I expect nothing at all in return. In my estimation, this is the stage that represents my current life situation, as I have to struggle everyday with my job and my studies, and I also have to take care of my children, and yet I do feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence at having managed to overcome the hurdles in may way to make sure that the world is not a threatening place for the next generation. Perhaps, if I had not been able to pass through the early stages of life with success, like for example in the trust vs. istrust and in the autonomy vs. shame stages, I would not have been the confident individual that I am today. I am thankful that I am not ‘stagnating’ at this stage of my life, because this would mean that I have not done anything at all to help the next generation along. If I had been stagnating, then I would feel great ‘despair’ during the next stage of my life, after I turn fifty or so. Today, I am sure that I will be able to look back at this stage of my life when I am an older person, and feel a sense of ‘integrity’. I will also possess a positive outlook towards my life, and I can look back upon my life and feel gladness that I have spent it well, and better than my neighbor Mike who is an unhappy and gloomy person at heart, perhaps because of the fact that he was not able to resolve the crises that arose at each stage of his life, due to circumstances, or because of his own ego. He is a restless person, who has no sense of security, and who is afraid of taking any sot of risks, because he is afraid to face the outcome. If I too had not been able to cope with the stages of my life, then perhaps I too would have remained a sad and dismal personality, but since I have managed to cross each stage into the next stage with the positive outcomes that I needed to make me into the positive individual that I am today, I have no regrets, and I will continue to do what I am doing today, taking care of my children, working two jobs, and studying full time. Perhaps Mike my neighbor would benefit a great deal by taking a close look at the common developmental issues that an individual of his age faces at this stage of life. (Niolon, Richard (n. d. )