Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Globalization Essay

Globalization and technology moves the world of business forward. Globalization and technology are essential elements in providing new grounds for business transactions. Understanding how globalization and technology work to make negotiating across countries possible. This examination will discuss the various implications of globalization and technology in the negotiation process. Further, provide insight into the value of globalization and technology in business transactions. Globalization plays a substantial role in the everyday business processes. Globalization allows companies or businesses to expand and outsource jobs to maintain a low price for products. â€Å"Negotiations and contracts constitute one of the major issues in business†(). Expansion to other countries will bring in more revenue for the business and create jobs. In a domestic business transaction, globalization may also include the expansion from one state to another. The business process may vary from state to state; moreover, the needs and wants of the consumers vary as well. In negotiation, globalization takes the same business processes into consideration regarding whether to greet people in a specific way, a preference of gender at business meetings, or even the style of business cards. Another method of globalization may be from purchasing an ethnic item at the grocery store. The negotiation process to arrive at an agreement or contract to distribute this specific ethnic product took place to allow this product to exist in the store. Undoubtedly, globalization employs the use of technology to permit an ease of business transactions. For example, instead of hosting a teleconference with the advancement of technology, businesses may videoconference and have the face-to-face connection. In relation to negotiation, videoconferencing allows the negotiations to take place through globalization. Face-to-face situations compel a negotiator to be more honest and cooperative because of the personal and emotional consequences of being caught in a lie in the face-to-face context† (Thompson, 1998, p. 267). Therefore, technology may pose as a negative factor in the negotiation process. Nevertheless, the mix of globalization, technology, and negotiation may not necessarily work together to produce an ideal outcome. Ultimately, the effects of globalization and technology in the negotiation process may be beneficial. However, adapting to the new methods of business and negotiation is important. In addition, practicing effective negotiation strategies through globalization is significant to understanding the best method of arriving at a settlement or agreement. In negotiating globally, understanding the opposing side’s culture may benefit the contract at hand. Therefore, studying the business practices of the opposing side is important to not offend them and prolong the negotiation process.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Days later analysis

Days letter in my opinion is one of the best zombie films that has been produced in my generation and revalidated the Zombie genre. This is one of my favorites because of its intriguing story line and a great acting performance by all characters. 28 days later provides a plethora of horror engineering, social attitudes, as well as social critique. Released in 2002, 28 Days later draws its viewers in right from the start. At the beginning of the film we see a group of PETA extremists breaking into what seems to be an animal testing facility.This group of people who are breaking into the facility to free a group of monkeys who are being used as science experiments and being injected with what is called the â€Å"Rage† virus. As the group goes to break the monkeys out of their fiberglass cages, a scientist who works at the facility catches them in the act. Here is where us viewers are first introduced (briefly) to the rage virus. The scientist warns them that the monkeys are inf ected with Rage and that what they are doing is extremely dangerous.The scientist begs them not to open the cages but ultimately they end up doing it anyway. The female in the group opens the cage and the infected monkey runs out and attacks the group where the virus first begins to spread. The rest of the film shows Jim as he embarks on his journey though post-apocalyptic London. Jim wakes up naked in a hospital bed where he has no idea where he is. After he detaches all of the hoses and wires from his body he ventures out into the rest of the hospital where he discovers that something is right.Later in the film Jim runs into a few more survivors and rest of the film shows them making the trip to a military stronghold that they heard about on a radio broadcast. 8 Days later is without a doubt a film that revalidated the zombie genre. While the zombies in this film aren't what the type of zombie fans are used to seeing, this film is still extremely terrifying! 28 Days Later employs horror engineering techniques to add to the mass amounts of â€Å"scariness† that already exists throughout the film. The first horror engineering technique that is used throughout this film is formlessness.Formlessness is focusing a little more on the creatures appearances throughout horror films. In this case formlessness is employed to make these flesh hungry zombies even scarier than they already are. The zombies in 28 Days later are extremely terrifying not only because they want to eat the uninfected' flesh but mainly because of their appearance. Like I said before, the zombies in this film aren't like zombies fans of this genre are used to seeing. They are dirty, they are deformed, and they are fast†¦ Really fast.When these zombies are chasing their prey, they sprint fast as lightning and their arms sway in a fluid motion. This is a small detail that adds massive amounts of horror into the film. There is Just something about these zombie's fluid body motions that makes them so scary. Another horror engineering technique that was employed frequently throughout the film is mastication. The concept of Mastication is the creature in the specific film involving swarms, crowding, and teeming to overrun anyone that is not infected with the rage virus.Just about every there is a scene with zombies in it (aside from the one that's chained up) there is an extremely large number of them that require the uninfected to take immediate action. The zombies in this film are already scary enough, but with a group of at least 20 of them chasing after Selene, Jim and the others in the group of uninfected. One scene in particular that is absolutely petrifying is when the Jim and co. Car breaks down in the traffic tunnel. As the tire is being changed we see tunnel rats running in a group the opposite direction.Soon after that Jim notices the silhouettes of the zombies' shadows on the tunnel walls running in their direction. Things don't seem too alarming at first but when the zombies come in sight there is more than a few of them, there is a group of 20+ zombies in an all-out sprint running toward them. Luckily the group barely escapes but, that scene alone was enough to get viewers blood pumping! Mastication makes this film even scarier than it already is, because one of these zombies alone is scary enough let alone a group of 20 or more!In this film there are also social attitudes that are present. One of the more prominent social attitudes that are present in this film is the views on modern bio power. In the beginning of the film we see the infected test subjects that happen to be monkeys. It is unknown why the monkeys are infected with the rage virus in the first place but it seems as if scientists were trying to come up with up with a cure for the rage virus where the experiment looked to be ailing because of all of the test subjects that were present in the lab. 8 Days Later has a negative view to this modern borrower that is being u sed. It seems Danny Bayle and Alex Garland (Director and Writer) were trying to send a message that the modern evolution of borrower can be risky business if we aren't careful. 28 Days later was a clear depiction of what life would be like if the use of borrower wasn't carefully handled. In the case of the film scientists were not careful because of the way a small group of PETA enthusiasts were able to sneak into the science facility and let the rage iris lose.It would be extremely difficult to imagine Danny Bayle and Alex Garland directing and writing a movie where modern borrower is a raging success, probably because it would be difficult for borrower to have that type of outcome. Other social views that are in this film are the shifting attitudes towards gender. One of the first characters that are met in this film happens to be an African British female by the name of Selene. She and another male are the first two people that Jim meets right when he gets out of the hospital and begins to wander the streets of London.For the iris half of the film, there is a positive social attitude towards females. Selene is a walking zombie killing machine and is extremely knowledge on how to take care of her self in post-apocalyptic times. In other words she is a complete bedaubs! Selene even teaches Jim a few things such as after the first time they are attacked together she asks Jim if he got zombie blood in his eyes or mouth. Selene then proceeds to tell Jim that if someone is bitten then you only have a short period of time to kill that person before they turn. Selene shows Jim her ways and even saves his ass every once and a while.The positive views towards the females in the film are apparent and wouldn't be surprised if female viewers were to shout muff Go Girl† a few times throughout the movie! To contrast, these positive views kind of disappear in the second half of the film. As the group makes it to the military stronghold the Major Henry West informs Ji m that he had promised all of his men women if they were to send out a radio broadcast about their location. After Jim is informed is when things shift downwards in terms of social attitudes towards female at least for this part of the film.It is night and day when comparing the views towards females from the first half of the film to the second. In the first half Selene is a zombie killer with a ton of different skills that she uses in order to survive. In the second half Selene and Hanna are nothing but sex dolls for the soldiers at the strong hold to play with. The soldiers begin to harass and inappropriately touch Selene and Hanna to the point where zombies aren't the only things they should be afraid of anymore. At one point the horny soldiers think it would be a good idea to get Selene and Hannah all dressed up n extravagant dresses to make them look even more appealing.Hannah and Galena's stay at the makeshift military base is not a pleasant one to say the least. 28 Days Late r also does a fantastic Job at illustrating what life would be like after society has failed. At the very beginning of the film we see one of the test subjects being shown montages of global disaster and conflict. It seems that the film was trying to send us a message, and that message was if we as a society keep on the same track then the ending could be a disaster and something to similar to 28 Days later could become a reality.Some perspectives could see this opening scene as humanity being the tied up monkey watching these tragic events happen before our eyes and then facing death from the rage virus. 28 Days Later at the time was a misunderstood masterpiece where over time it has shifted into a classic film that revalidated the zombie genre. 28 Days Later will without a doubt go down as a classic film as it perfectly summed up how crazy our society is and what it could become if we aren't careful. Danny Bayle and Alex Garland did a fantastic Job at putting this film together ma king it one of the best and most recognizable zombie films of my generation!

Establishing Effective Working Relationship Essay

Establishing effective working relationship is one of the domain in the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s core competencies which have to be achieved in order to become a mentor (NMC 2006) I will discuss the important aspects mentor needs to consider during the initial interview with my learner. This time my learner is a new member of the staff. On his first day, I introduced myself, orientated and welcomed him to the unit. Nickin and Kenworthy ( 2000) mention orientation to a new placement (in my case a new job placement) as a key issue in practice learning climate. Competency pack was discussed including all his learning contracts and eventually agreed to a one month supernumery status and regular meetings for evaluation. I tried to established a professional yet relaxed relationship with the learner. This enables the learner to be more comfortable. Spouse (1996) cited in Buttleworth et al ( 1998) highlighted that learning in clinical practice works best when mentors develop a caring and trusting relationship with the learner. Amongst the learning needs he identified was the familiarization of the fasting guidelines. Exploring that learning outcome, we have discussed that every learning outcomes should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound (SMART). The NMC in 2006 requires mentors to support students or learners in critically reflecting upon their learning. Knowles (1984) discusses the learner’s involvement in identifying their learning needs, mutual planning, formulation of objectives and helping the learners to carry out their plan. Initiating a day with an aneasthetist will give my learner an opportunity for more understanding of his learning needs, and eventually be able to confidently practice his learnings. Indeed it is true that there are vast learning opportunities offered if not, available in their new practice placement or a new job placement. But I always believe that it is largely the learner’s responsibi lity to capitalize on their learning opportunities offered to them. Saarikoski (2003) defines a clinical learning environment as a group of stable characteristics unique to a particular clinical setting that have an impact on the behaviour of individuals within the setting. Learning opportunities available in the placement of a new job were identified initially. Few of which are venipuncture skills, communication skills, learning surgical procedures in an in depth manner, and understanding and interpretation of blood results. Thorell-Ekstrand and Bjorvell (1995) and Donaldson and Carter (2005 said, that clinical placement provides learner with optimal opportunities to observe role models, practice on their own and reflect on what is seen, heard, sensed and done. An initial performance review is set. This enables the mentor and the learner to review all learning needs were met and up to date. Considering any problems being encountered during the process. Considering learners weak and strong points. Miller and O’Brien (1986) identified that regular meetings and development of an action plan aids on going evaluation of the learners progress. Stuart (2007) states that, the initial interview or meeting is an ideal opportunity for the mentor to commence a facilitative relationship with the learner. Being a new member of the staff, I have to consider previous work experience. Stuart (2007) also suggest that an evaluation of the learner’s learning must be considered, as this will guide subsequent pl ans for learning. Conclusion I am confident that after considering all the factors during the initial interview, my learner will be able to adjust well in his new work environment. I have always been approachable and an open minded person. I am certain it will help me and my learner to work very well and produce a good if not an excellent outcome. Ogier (1989:37) stated that â€Å"facilitating learning cannot be divorced from competent management and humane relationship†.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Discrimination Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Discrimination - Term Paper Example In support, you can mention about the miscellaneous issues of harassment and discrimination at every stage of your career. I’ve every hope that you will be reinstated soon, with all the accrued service benefits. ****************************************************************************** Dear Sir/Madam: I would like to appeal against the order of my termination from services of Holmes Humphrey Regional Correctional Facility (HHRCF) on the following grounds. A: Highhanded and illegal action by my employer. On a cursory glance at the papers that was provided to me by the authority of the Holmes Country Board of Supervisors, shortly after the hearing that was held by (MDES) on May 21, 2012 at 3.15 p.m., I saw a hand book along with the papers, supposed to be of HHRCF. I desire to state emphatically that at the time of my appointment, or during any time during my service, the handbook was never shown to me, and I have not read and understood its contents. I have not acknowledged for having received the handbook by affixing my signature and acceptance of the terms and conditions mentioned therein and as such those rules cannot be quoted or implemented to harm my interests. Any action against me on the basis of those rules is, therefore, illegal. B: Grave miscarriage of justice through manipulated evidence: I allege that the incident supposed to have occurred on February 1, 2012 was fabricated with a pre-conceived motive to implicate me in an offence that I did not commit. How could the concerned authorities claim that I was smuggling the contraband, in the absence of lawful seizure of the same and with proper evidence? A dramatic situation was created regarding the alleged seizure of the contraband. While conducting the search at the parking lot, I was not escorted there which was my legal privilege. I would have unlocked the car for inspection by the deputy and I would have got an opportunity to remain present during the search of my mother’s vehicl e. The hidden agenda of the deputy or the authority from whom he was taking orders to implicate me was evident by the fact that on the morning of February 1, 2012 he strip-searched me and finding nothing improper in my person, he justified his action by stating that, â€Å"this is something new that we started,† and ordered me to go to work. On the morning of Feb. 1, 2012, I was searched three times and each time the deputy searched me he found nothing. The same deputy continued with his vindictive action, again searched me while working, and breached my mother’s vehicle, without my presence and without a search warrant. This was an illegal act on the part of the deputy. The amazing sequence of events to trap me continued, I was contacted over radio to report to intake. As soon as I reported, the deputy confronted me with his unilateral findings. The deputy was forcing me to confess something which was not there, and devoid of truth, and sensing the gross violation of my legal rights, I requested for an attorney. On Feb. 1, 2012, Sgt. Van Mayberry called me over the radio broadcasting, and he ordered me to report to intake so that I could be arrested, by the same harassing deputy. A false arrest warrant was issued for me by Holmes County on Feb. 2 2012, a day after the incident of Feb. 1, 2012. C. Legal assistance, when needed, was refused rendering me defenseless: Without tendering any argument or conceding my legal right for an attorney, he just â€Å"

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Art in post- modernity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Art in post- modernity - Essay Example The practice is founded on urban â€Å"operational space,† as depicted in â€Å"practice of place† as illustrated by Certeau and not the abstract space of urban planning, geometry, or the virtual space of the screen. This is a space produced by a lived experience, characterized by individuals mapping their personal movements and every day relationships to seeming centers of power through the neighborhoods, the streets and transit networks of the city. Street art offers an instinctive break from the hastened â€Å"aesthetics of disappearance†. Hence, it is an indicator cut off in an exceedingly mass-arbitrated environment, which is dominated by a regime of screen visibility that always has absence of material objects. The placement of works requires a place, demarcating locations with awareness, which is against the increasing urban â€Å"non-places† of anonymous commerce and transit. Street artists use walls as mural space, which is their useful differenti ator . In the early 1990s, the street arts had effectively used walls in Los Angeles and New York, which boasted of different graffiti styles. The Berlin Wall had miles of mural art and graffiti, which created visually striking images during the fall of wall in 1989. As a city mural art, street art spread across Europe and to South America, throughout the 1990s. There has been a gradual evolution from simple graffiti as slogan writing or name to a focused practice entailing many types of graphic and image techniques. These techniques involve hybrid genres and mixed methods., which are produced and executed both on and off the street. Figure 1 Pop, as anticipated by Dada and Duchamp, launched a new conceptual space, which introduced new arguments regarding on what art could be. Street art acquired these arguments; thus, becoming a transformative logic of Pop. Consequently, it became a redirected work of transubstantiation, which changed the unrefined and non-art-differentiated space of public streets into novel territories of visual engagement. This anti-art performative works eventually resulted in a new art category. Street art deaestheticizes â€Å"high art† as one of the various forms of source material; and on the other hand, aestheticizing sectors, which were formerly outside culturally acknowledged art space. The â€Å"extramural† sectors of non-art space and the judgment of the art container are currently turned inside out. The walls of the city reflect what was banned on the walls of art institutions, such as,

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Summer Landscape by William Panchner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summer Landscape by William Panchner - Essay Example The essay "Summer Landscape by William Panchner" examines "Summer Landscape", made by William Panchner. Depth and distance were effectively depicted through the elongated lines at the bottom of the painting which could be interpreted as winding roads interspersed with green shrubs. The depth was evident from painting forms and objects in smaller scales to depict furthering distance from the viewer. As the viewers’ eyes search through the landscape, the concept of space was effectively depicted through exhibiting a continued journey upwards to the house, as its apex. Beyond which, shades of blues represent the skies with shimmering glitters of sunlight depicted through waves of gold. The lines that were used are predominantly elongated, wavy, and rigged. The objects were not realistically expressed and only the house a top of the hill was visibly recognizable through clear lines and effective use of differentiating color that made the house stand out from the scenery. The place ment of colors complements each other and by including white intermittently, Pachner effectively created a sense of tranquility within the scenery. He leaves interpreting other visual forms in flat rendition to the imagination of the viewers. Greens could obviously represent flora. Shades of dark blues and greys depict depth in terms of inner spaces and farther locations. Like his landscape, those who view it could be lost in the barrage of colors and lines with no clear patterns. One is led to appreciate a sense of balance in his painting.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Comparison Critique of two Famous Speeches Essay

Comparison Critique of two Famous Speeches - Essay Example What makes their speeches unique and special were the contrasting messages that each speaker delivered. Though delivered at different points in American history, each president successfully managed to convey the thoughts and emotions of the American public to the world. The speech of Pres. George W. Bush was delivered before the joint session of congress back in 2001. Without the use of visual aids and backed up only by an off camera teleprompter, the president stood before the politicians and international delegates in order to express the deep gratitude of the American people for the outpouring of love and support from the international community after the terrorist attacks. This was a historically significant speech as it signaled the beginning of America's decade long war on terror that took them from the arid desert of Afghanistan all the way to the oil rich country of Iraq. It was the day that America finally joined in on the growing war on terror because of the attack on their homeland. This was in effect, similar to the speech that Pres. Roosevelt gave on the fateful day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This speech turned the tide of history and dictated the end of the reign of terrorism in the Middle East. The opening dialogue of his speech tried to lighten the severely somber mood by reminding the American public that they were not alone in this tragedy. This was a tragedy that affected the whole world and nations such as South Korea, Britain, and others were not ashamed to show their sympathy by offering songs and prayers in support of America. After that the speech fell into its actual topic, which was how America was going to respond to the unprovoked attack and what it would cost the nation. It was not difficult to follow his train of thought during the speech as all the plans of action were laid out in a concise manner meant to educate the listener/viewer with its main ideas which were clearly supported by evidence. Americans have many qu estions tonight. Americans are asking, "Who attacked our country?"... The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children. This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. (Transcript of Pres. Bush's Address) Thanks to Pres. Bush's constant quoting of verified information from government sources such as the American CIA and British MI6, all the listeners deduced that their president had the credibility to deliver the information and, therefore, must be telling the truth. By using persuasive and highly descriptive information regarding the advent of the Al-Qaeda, Pres. Bush was able to garner unprecedented national and international support that was necessary in order to mount the war on terror. He explained in his own colorful and highly descriptive words that: The evidence we have gathered, all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al Qaeda. They are some of the murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and responsible for bombing the USS Cole. Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime. However, its goal is not making money; its goal is remaking the world and imposing

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Financial Health of Al Rayan Bank of Britain Term Paper

Financial Health of Al Rayan Bank of Britain - Term Paper Example The bank offers high standard services (Report: Qatar, 2008). The bank has employed highly qualified personnel who are ready to serve their customers genuinely and acting with utmost good faith. This is the basis of their retail banking operations.The bank ventured in unique investment type. It invests n developing different types of infrastructure and human resource. The main objective of this kind of investment is to provide a unique state of the art of product to its clients.The bank has a strong asset base. Since it became a part of Masraf Al Rayan banks of Qatar it increased its asset size making money bank available for its customers. This means that the bank offers more products to its clients and can do more investment activities.WeaknessThe bank is faced with a big debt (Cornell, 2007). This debt accrues a lot of interest hence even if there is a lot of cash inflow realized there is still a huge amount of cash outflow that the bank therefore not realizing big returns from th e activitiesExisting credit risks affect the bank negatively. This arises from those customers who fail to meet their obligations. It may also arise from their counterparties. This hence affects adversely the banks financial condition, results and future prospects.The bank should expand in other geographic areas both locally and internationally to add up opportunities for the bank. It can introduce mobile banking to enhance efficiency and come up software application for android and IOS devices.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Multi-user database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multi-user database - Essay Example In addition, the concurrency control is significant for the reason that the concurrent execution of multi-user database transactions those are performed in a collective database arrangement can provide basis for some of the reliability and integrity issues. In this regard, for the proper establishment of the concurrency control the method of the locking is used that involves the assurance regarding private utilization of a data item to a database operation. Normally, let if database transaction A1 holds a lock on a database data item, after that another operation A2 does not have right to use that data item (WordPress, 2010), (Wikia, 201) and (Hoffer, Prescott, & McFadden, 2007). In case of the transaction management we need to ensure that multi-user database transactions or operations are clear, means that every transaction should have preserved database integrity all through multiple users’s operations trying to access the databases. In addition, transactions have to be as w ell divided into subordinate-transactions; since every subordinate-transaction can affect the single database system.

3 policies which promote positive pupil behaviour Coursework

3 policies which promote positive pupil behaviour - Coursework Example The School Standards and Framework Act 1998, Section 61 requires schools to lay down their behaviour policy in black and white. The policy elaborates on how the school promotes positive behaviour, excellent attendance and tackles absenteeism. The most effective behaviour management policies of a school are necessarily based on a deep sound understanding of the factors that drive the behaviour. Overall, a well-thought out behaviour management policy while helping mould the ethos of the school, would also help to gain students’and parents’ confidence in the school. Three approaches in the policy that could potentially promote positive pupil behaviour are: (1) Laying down a code of conduct for pupils clearly specifying what behaviour the school expects. This will clearly enunciate what behaviour the school expects from the pupils. The rules could spell out demands such as polite and tolerant behaviour from all members of the school community, cooperation and consideration for others, honesty, respect for the rights and property of others, a positive attitude towards work, development of friendliness and trusting relatioships. The rules should also spell out what behaviour does not conform with the expectations of the school. For example, lack of punctuality, playing truant, refusal to work, causing malicious damage to peers’ and school’s property, stealing, lying, bullying, verbal or physical abuse, use or introduction of banned substances, use or introduction of dangerous implements including knives and so on. (2) Rewards and sanctions as strategies to encourage good behaviour. A positive approach to managing behaviour invariably has rewarding good behaviour as its focus. The rewards could consist of a gesture (such as smile) of approval, private or public verbal praise, award of stars or ‘smileys’, written comments on work, being assigned a special responsibility, credits and certificates/ commendations/prizes, house poin ts etc. When students flout the ‘good behaviour’ rules despite appropriate help, sanctions become necessary. Sanctions could range from a look of disapproval, to reprimand, counselling, move to another seat, loss of recreational time, setting additional work, interviews with parents etc., and, finally, permanent exclusion. (3) Classroom organization for successful implementation of the policy. To ensure that the expectations of good behaviour as set out in the school policy are met, it is necessary to display in the classroom a limited number (preferably 5) of important rules of good behaviour as is appropriate to the age group of the class. Teachers should take the responsibility of explaining the rules to the students. Also, when a student breaks a rule, the teacher should work with the students and make them understand what rule was broken and why, how to fix the damage done, and how a repetition of the same can be prevented. #13. Identify ten strategies which you un derstand would support appropriate class room behaviour. 1. Limit the set of rules to a minimum. This will make it easier for the pupils to remember and follow. 2. Be proactive. Some advance planning and preparation can prevent disruption of work. 3. Work within a clear framework of clear instructions. However, there should be flexibility e.g., to postpone the activity if the students are tired. 4. Set specific goals for lessons as well as behaviour. There should be scope for negotiations with the pupils about both. 5. Be positive. Keep smiling and maintain good humour, and encourage the pupils to work towards meeting the set goals through rewards. 6. Be realistic about pupils’ behaviour. Pupils can be noisy and inquisitive. Proper seating arrangements can minimise noise and other disruptions. 7. Be alert to signs of

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

M&M PROJECT REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

M&M PROJECT REPORT - Essay Example The last part is the quality control where testing if the ratio of candies in each bin are equal. The paper discusses methods, analysis and results of each part of the project (Larson & Farber 37). The report presents the statistical data from M&M investigation. Additionally, the paper contains mean of candies found in each bag. Testing was conducted to ensure that the set proportions are on target. Consequently, hypotheses were done to ascertain that the proportions are also on target. I collected three M&M 1.69 Oz PLAIN M&M candy bag. We counted each color of the candy bag and recorded the total information on a worksheet. The personal samples for the researchers were combined to come up with complete random samples. Each researcher purchased a 1.69Oz bag of plain M&M candy from different shops (Larson & Farber 66). The random sampling method used was to make sure each bag had an equal chance of being selected. Buying the 1.69Oz bags of plain M&M candy ensured a true sample of the bags. After buying the bags were emptied and the number of each candy color was recorded. The results were tabulated as one, in a worksheet. In this section of the project report, I calculated the proportion of samples for each product color. Additionally, I calculated the mean number of 69Oz bags of plain M&M candies (Larson & Farber 74). I created a Histogram for the candies per bag and summarized the number of calculating proportion. I also calculated the sample SD. Histogram’s explanation was also provided. I constructed a confidence level of 95% for the proportion of all colors. Additionally, I constructed the means’ confidence level. I also calculated the smallest sample size needed to calculate the confidence interval of 95% for blue candies having a margin error of 4% (Larson & Farber 73). Using the Confidence interval Science calculator at the link

Monday, July 22, 2019

Legalization of Marijuana Essay Example for Free

Legalization of Marijuana Essay Marijuana was first used for medicinal purposes dating back as early as the 1600’s. However, a law was passed in 1930, which banned the substance. Since then we have been fighting a never-ending war on drugs that has estimated to be over a trillion dollar failure, and we have nothing to show for it. There are many different takes on legalizing marijuana nation-wide but some states are not convinced yet. There are two main views on legalizing cannabis. One is the government view, which believes if marijuana was taxed like alcohol and tobacco it could yield close to 50 billion in tax revenue annually. Along with this, legalizing the drug would save the U.S. about $41 billion a year in enforcing the drug laws, and using that for education and health. The other view would be the medicinal use side of it. Proponents of medical marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. The government should legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use because it will create tax revenue, help patients, and we will be done fighting an everlasting war. $42 billion dollars is what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year. If marijuana was legal, the money generated would be able to be used for other things like giving every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise and use whats left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit. Or use it towards community or environmental projects to help the natural resources we use every day. â€Å"Marijuana in the U.S. is a $113 billion dollar business† (Gettman). It costs the average prison $40,000 to house an inmate for a year. If you multiply the number of marijuana related prisoners times $40,000 a year that is over $29 billion a year spent on prisoners alone. â€Å"Of the billions of dollars a year we spend to enforce, it has accomplished little or nothing beneficial in terms of economic benefits† (Shen). Despite all that, we now arrest one American every 38 seconds on marijuana charges. And we do so at a staggering cost in law enforcement expenses, lost tax revenues, and staggering profits for criminal gangs.The alternative is clear. Regulate marijuana just as we do beer, wine, and liquor. We will be able to save the government and law enforcement billions. In addition, the government would not only be saving from not having to enforce the laws, they will benefit greatly from tax  revenue that can be created. Researchers assumed that legalized marijuana would be taxed similarly to alcohol and tobacco and that the income earned by pot producers would be subject to standard income and sales tax. But we do know that legalization would lead to a positive revenue impact on the income and sales tax side† (Davis). Right now we have 2 states that have both legalized medical and recreational use, Colorado and Washington. We will be able to study the tax revenue that is created from both and researchers will be able get better information on how much tax will actually be created. So far it has been nothing but a large money source. â€Å"Colorados legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal† (Solomon). The governor of Colorado predicted sales and taxes next fiscal year would produce some $98 million, well above a $70 million annual estimate given to voters when they approved the pot taxes last year. That is just in one state, imagine what would be created nation-wide. There are a variety of estimates, but when you put them all together you get a range of $10 billion to more than $120 billion a year. Either way that is money that the US didnt have before. Legalizing marijuana will create a large tax revenue and in a bad economic time this will, w ithout a doubt, help our economy out. Lastly, medical marijuana is still illegal in many states and that should change. Although many slanderous claims have been made about cannabis in recent history, the truths are slowly starting to surface. Unfortunately, these truths are under heavy criticism due to the stereotypical view of what people view as the typical marijuana user. It has a skewed perception of a lazy and unmotivated America, which is the result of over seventy years of propaganda and misinformation spread by private interests who needed cannabis illegal for their own personal gains. â€Å"Using marijuana for medicinal purposes is not a recent discovery† (Berman). In fact, written references to use medical marijuana date back nearly 5,000 years. Marijuana can be used for a variety of disorders. These disorders include pain relief, nausea, glaucoma, and movement disorders. It is also used as a powerful appetite stimulant which helps patients that had HIV/AIDS or cancer patients going through chemotherapy. â€Å"Painkillers are highly addictive but handed out to patients everyday† (Astaiza). Marijuana has proven to be non addictive and has caused no deaths to this date. Today, thousands of patients are able to use  marijuana as an effective method of treatment for their ailments. This is possible because fourteen state governments across the country have acknowledged cannabis’ effective healing properties and legalized its consumption for medicinal purposes with the consent of a licensed physician. However, these patients are at the mercy of the federal government and its authority. Marijuana should be legal because it can give patients relief other prescriptions cannot. In summary, medical and recreational marijuana should be legalized nationwide. Police could stop wasting money and time trying to fight something theyve been at for over 50 years now. The government will be able to tax it similar to alcohol and tobacco, and we have already witnessed the tax take off in Colorado. Patients will be able to use it to treat many disorders instead of using highly addictive over-the-counter medications. In a down time for our economy we are struggling to fight back. The federal deficit and the revenue created from marijuana may not solve it completely,but it puts a large chunk of money in the governments hands. Even though marijuana sometimes gets a bad name, it is an all natural plant that can create a lot of benefits.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The London Ambulance Service Computer Information Technology Essay

The London Ambulance Service Computer Information Technology Essay This paper will analyze one of the most prominent computerized system failures in the past 10 years- the failure of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Dispatch system-hereafter referred to as LASCAD. Unlike the common one dimensional explanations for system failure that view Information systems as mainly a neutral technical artifact ( Klein and Hirscheim, 1987), this paper will attempt to explore the more multi-faceted nature of systems failure which is closer to the reality that system exist in. This analysis will be anchored in the concepts of holism and emergent properties as described by Francis and Roland Bee (2005), Managing Information and Statistics, 2005, whereby the approach taken to analysis emphasizes the system relationships and processes and results of its interactions. References will be made to existing frameworks used to investigate system failure in particular the Sauer model Sauer (1993). Details of the description of the system and the failure will be dra wn mainly from a paper on Information System failure and risk Assessment by Paul Beynon Davis (Computer studies technical report University of Glamorgan, 1994b).From this investigation existing methods of preventing or solving software systems failure will be explored in the context of the LASCAD system to look into recommendations and lessons learnt to prevent such failures .This will particularly focus on risk handling as proposed by B.W Boehm ( 1991) and the Goal Question Metrics by Solingen and E. Berghout (1999). Summary of the LASCAD System Failure Case Study The LASCAD system was a computer aided ambulance dispatch system established at the head quarters of the London Ambulance Service. According to Page et al (1993), the expected functions of the system are described below: Call taking: Acceptance of calls and incident details Resource Identification: Particularly which ambulance to send to an incident Resource Mobilization: Communicating details of an incident to the appropriate ambulance Resource Management: The positioning of suitably equipped and staffed vehicles to minimize response times Management Information: This involves the collation information to assess performance, resource management and planning. This system was supposed to solve the problems related to manual dispatch systems including time consuming and error prone identification of the precise incident location, paperwork and maintenance of current vehicle status information. The LASCAD system objective was to automate these manual human intensive tasks by using an events based and ruled based approach and integrating a Geographical Information System (GIS) to provide location details. In this system the callers, incident and patient details would be recorded and transmitted to the dispatchers. Through the use of radio signals and GIS the system is able to determine the ambulance nearest to the patient. After dispatch the ambulance crew was expected to acknowledge the dispatch message and the system would then detect whether the ambulance was headed in the right direction. Finally the system would alert the controller on the ambulances arrival to the scene, hospital and when it becomes free again. Figure1: LASCAD flow chart (Paul Beynon Davis, 1994) This explanation of expectations of the systems functionality is pretty linear and even simplistic but on closer examination one is able to construe the complexities that are involved in delivering such expectations. This will become more apparent in the following section highlighting the system failure and later on the events leading to the failure. Between 26th and 27th October 1992 (Paul Beynon Davis, 1994), the system started to fail. It was reported that as a result of a flood of emergency calls bogged down the system and this resulted in erratic behavior of the system involving calls being wiped off the screen and automatic alerts indicating unacknowledged calls to ambulances. According to the Guardian newspaper, 1992, it was claimed that 20-30 people may have lost their lives due to ambulance delays. Indeed the impact of this failure was tremendous and as expected triggered various responses as to what was the cause of the failure. According to Donaldson and Jenkins (2000) in their paper on System Failures: An Approach to understanding what can go wrong, the causes of system failure are complex and interact with each other and in some cases a single factor may single out the problem while in others a combination of many small and apparently insignificant factors are to blame. This merely says that it is difficult to analyze causes of systems failure which would only be closely understood through multi cause analysis stemming from the soft systems methodology. It also becomes apparent that everything is not always as it seems, a good example is the Arriane V rocket (ESA Press release Nr 33-96-July 1996) which failed courtesy of its navigation software bein g inappropriate for the rockets design. This was not actually a software failure as may have been though in the outset but a problem with the overall incorrect assembly of the rocket. As it were the software performed to its specification. This is akin to expectation failure which Lyytinen and Hirscheim (1987) describe as the inability of an IS system to meet specific stakeholder groups expectations, they signify a gap between an existing situation and a desired situation for members of a particular stakeholder group. This is further enhanced by Donaldson and Jenkins (2000) system failure analysis detailing high public expectancy of computer technology, Fashion/popularity of systems obscuring its basic objectives and the varying stakeholder interests creating different perceptions of the system. Analysis of the LASCAD System failure Following the above outline of the system failure and prelude of expected challenges in analyzing system failure this section will attempt to shed detailed insight into the failure. The analysis will follow Sauerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s model (Sauer, 1993), of investigating system failure which is based on a triangle of dependencies between: Project organization Information system Supporters The multi-faceted nature of systems failure alluded to in the introduction would mean that even this triangle is not a closed system but is affected by other contextual factors of which according to Sauer consists of cognitive limits-(e.g. limits of communication), technical process-( constraints from structured nature of computerized systems or development methodology), environment-(constraints by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulators), Politics, internal project structure and history associated with previous information system projects. Project organization In light of the LASCAD project failure the project organization from inception is very wanting. Firstly following a public inquiry report on the failure (Page et al, 1993), it is claimed that the London Ambulance Service (LAS) management put price before quality and committed to an over ambitious project timetable. This was evidenced by the selection of a supplier who has no experience in building ambulance dispatch systems but had significantly underbid a more established supplier. This was made worse by the management putting the supplier under immense pressure to deliver the system quickly. Secondly the project management team did not follow the PRINCE (Projects in Controlled Environments) project management method prescribed for public sector projects. Thirdly it was found that the system was incomplete and unstable and particularly the emergency backup system was untested. This was further compounded by inconsistent and incomplete user training. Information system In terms of the information system dimension the report of the public inquiry (Page et al, 1993) suggests that the failure was not a result of technical issues since on overall the system did what it was designed to do. It goes further to explain that at the onset the loads on the system were light and the control staff could easily cope with various problems associated with ambulance crews pressing wrong buttons, radio black spots, communication hand-shaking problems etc. When these incidents increased incorrect vehicle location and status information received by the controllers also increased resulting in the failure to cope with the load leading to fewer resources to allocate to incidents and subsequent delays in response times. Supporters/stakeholders As defined by Paul Beynon Davis (1995), supporters/stakeholders defined as people sharing a pool of values that define what the desirable features of an information system and how they should be obtained. The stakeholders have different views and expectations of the system of which such a mismatch in perceptions in this case contributed to the failure. This is depicted below: Figure 2: LASCAD system perceptions rich picture LAS Management: The London Ambulance Service (LAS) management viewed the system as a way to improve service to patients by putting in place mechanisms that would ensure objective and impartial resource mobilization through automation. The LAS management was also influenced by a past experience involving a failed computerized dispatch system project and pressure from organization-wide restructuring that put them under immense pressure to succeed Control room staff: The staff in the control room found the system to be too complicated and did not trust the motives behind implementing a computerized system Ambulance staff: The ambulance crews were more comfortable with the radio call systems that they had been used to and did not have confidence in the new system as they did not see the need for it and found it too complicated Union: The staff union found that there were no requisite consultations done before making the decision to acquire the system and as such the already strained relationship between management and staff was worsened. Hardware and software suppliers: The system suppliers were not sure how to implement the system in the first place and this was compounded by tight deadlines from what they thought to be a disorganized client. Related to these perspectives are contextual factors concerning political environment courtesy of the overarching influence of the National Health Service (NHS) on the London Ambulance Service which is the LAS oversight body (Beynon-Davis 1994).The NHS is characterized by the lack of a unitary power structure and is made up of a network of different health organizations. The implication on a new information system is a very careful political balance in the impact the impact the system will have on the relationships in this network (Checkland and Scholes, 1990). As posit by page et al, (1993), the LASCAD project was greatly affected by internal tensions in within the NHS which had commissioned major reforms in the London Ambulance Service including restructuring that resulted in the reduction of middle management from 263 to 53. It is clear that this resulted in strained relationships and an environment of mistrust and obtrusiveness when it came to any changes, which affected the LASCAD project. So far what is clear is the multifaceted nature of the failure that results from various causes of the failure that is common in computerized information systems, which Paul Beynon-Davis describe as web-like in nature. It has been reported that 92% of all system failures involved failures of technical interaction with cognitive /organizational factors (Mackenzie, 1994). This as it were it is essential to trace the true causes of the system failure. One way of doing this is through multi cause diagrams as mentioned in the section above or Petri nets which use state and event oriented graphs. The LASCAD project failure is depicted below using a multi cause diagram to explore the events and states on why the failure occurred: Figure 3: LASCAD system failure multi-cause diagram Ideas, Recommendations and Lessons Learned As expressed above using Sauerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s model (Sauer, 1993) of investigating system failure, the dependencies between the project organization, information system and its supporters have come out very clearly. Using the information system dimension the failure is not attributed to technical issues at all, which goes against common place failure attribution of computerized information systems. This begs the question, what constitutes a system failure? Lyytinen and Hirschein (1987) categorize system failure into four: Correspondence failure: There is a disjoint between the design objectives of the system and what is practically being met by the system. Process failure: This is characterized by runaway projects that either do not provide a workable system or overrun budgets and time. Interaction failure: This focuses on utilization of the system i.e. a highly utilized system is considered a success and one that is hardly used is a failure. Expectation failure: As stated earlier this is the inability of the system to meet a specific stakeholder groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expectations. The LASCAD system falls into this category as it appears it did not meet various stakeholder group expectations. Donaldson and Jenkins (2000) talk about a 3 dimensional picture where a system totally fails, partially fails or temporarily goes down. In the case of LASCAD it is taken as a partial failure resulting from a number of flaws that are rectifiable and as such this is not a total failure. The rectification will mainly involve a reassessment of the entire project taking mainly focusing on the role of risk assessment. Risk is the probability of a negative outcome. Negative outcome is in essence a relative concept as Wilcocks and Margetts (1994) suggest the risk of a negative outcome only becomes a salient problem when the outcome is relevant to stakeholder concerns and interests. Different settings and stakeholders will see different outcomes as salient. The proposed framework to use in risk assessment follows Wilcocks and Margetts (1994) who put across the following categories to be used in analyzing the development, introduction and use of information systems, these are: History: Past experiences with information system development. Outer context: The environment in which the organization is operating e.g. economy, markets, government Inner context: The characteristics of the organization e.g. structure, strategy Content: For example project size and difficulty Processes: For example project management and staffing Outcomes: Planned and anticipated results. The proposed risk assessment framework would be implemented through out the development, introduction and use of information systems. This will be used to complement an overarching software management methodology such as the Goal Question Metrics (GQM) mentioned in the introduction and the Capability Maturity Model which outline good practices in project management to ensure project success. In the context of LASCAD the GQM will particularly address the aforementioned failure characteristics in the analysis section through the following stages in development: Setting specific goals in light of purpose perspective and environment Refine goals into quantifiable easy to understand questions Derive requisite metrics and data to answer the questions There are various methods that can be used in preventing or solving computerized system failure the Capability maturity model and Goal Question Metrics mentioned above are by no means exhaustive nor are they prescriptive. Organizations are different contextually and individual projects also vary in size and complexity and as such would require approaches the methodologies to be customized and scaled for specific organizations and projects. The Capability Maturity model is a prime example that targets improvement in software processes toward a specific target- maturity level that the organization is working toward. On the other hand there is need to put emphasis on risk management outside of the one dimensional technical orientation to encompass the complexities of computerized systems as seen through the lens of Wilcocks and Margetts (1994) risk management framework. Conclusion: The LASCAD system is a good example that portrays the reality of the complex and multi-faceted nature of systems failure. The different perspectives of the system and congruent expectations make even the very definition of the failure unclear. This particular case highlighted the political and social causes of the failure, what has been described as contextual factors. References to various frameworks have been made in the analysis of the failure -Lyytinen and Hirscheim (1987), particularly expectation failure and dependencies in the 3 dimensional Sauerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s model (Sauer, 1993). The failure analysis provided the distillation of the system failure characteristics which describe the true causes of the failure. This was done using rich pictures to accommodate varying perceptions and expectations and multi cause diagrams to explore the various causes of the failure. Lessons learnt and future remediation of systems failure is centered on risk management and project methodologies ensuring good practice in the development, introduction and use of information systems. As recommended in this paper these should take into consideration contextual/ organizational issues apart from technical aspects of the system.

Using a 3D Printer in Engineering

Using a 3D Printer in Engineering CE 2.2 Background Digitality is increasing each day. Very less people use 3D printers due to its high cost. And moreover, they are not portable as its calibration of stepper motors could be damaged. And small scale industries cannot afford them. So, my project is about making 3D printers that are size oriented, portable and cost effective. It will a project that would be hassle less and easy to understand and operate. It could be extremely useful to small scale industries, dental manufacture, scientific labs, toy companies and many more. CE 2.3 The reason behind choosing this project was to give a boost to small scale industries and make it easy to use. 3D printing is the technology of creating three-dimensional real time objects that has a nozzle which oozes out melted plastic element and is attached to a stepper motor which works as an axis that has two stepper motors working as two axis. The idea and objective was to build a 3D printer under 500-1000$ with compact size for easy handling. Its aims to print a real-time three-dimensional object with the help of CAD file (computer aided design file). It focuses on building a small sized, easy to use and accessible 3D printer. It is also a kind that has low maintenance. It is a kind of printer that was made with the help of regularly used electronics devices which would ultimately reflect on its cost price in the market. Also, other major thing is its size as it is compact compared to other available printers. CE 2.4 I had planned all the work that was required to do on this project that includes all the pre-study work before the commencement of the project and post-work that is required after finishing the project. I listed out things to do first and then assigned its priority. I started with doing research on selecting the topic for my project and after its approval from the faculty, and then I went on doing literature surveys with the help of IEEE papers, research papers etc. in the later stage I began learning basics of CNC machine and designing of its hardware structure. Which was then implemented along with its software part and was made a portable one. At last stage, it involved final changes on the project and making a report on it. CE 2.5 Personal Engineering Activity I started with literature survey and then made up a block diagram for my project as shown under. It explains the complete flow of my project. I divided the entire process of 3D printing into two parts. CE 2.6 This project makes use of many components and each component was selected considering its cost and its potential value in the market as well as its ability to withstand the project. The important parts are: For CNC Machine: 1. Stepper motor it is a kind of electric motor that is widely used in the industries of robotics. With each step of the motor, it makes it handy for repeatable positioning. 2. Stepper motor driver A4988 they are kind of drivers with microcontroller and that can be used to attain high rotation speeds in stepper motors. 3. CNC shield 4. Arduino Uno Microcontroller it is used for digital devices and interactive objects which can control and sense the objects in physical world. It makes use of open-source hardware and software. 5. SMPS power supply this is used to drive and supply power to the whole circuit 6. MDF/Acrylic for the body structure -it is used for outer covering or the hardware structure of the body. For 3D Printing Setup 1. 0.75mm Nozzle it is cylindrical kind of a pipe or tube which controls the liquid. 2. Ceramic heater 3. DC fan as a cooling device 4. PLA element CE 2.7 For the 3D printer, a structure had to be made from either MDF, acrylic or fiber that would form the outer body. It also requires 4 stepper motor and its driver ICs along with providing a power supply. The stepper motor moves as per the GCODE which controls it. A software is used to generate the GCODE that is indirectly connected and formed from CAD file. CE 2.8 The working of my software part can be described as below: 1. Computer part: Here, using different software like AUTOCAD, RHINO, CAD360, a CAD file is generated. The interpreter receives the CAD file formed and then converts it into GCODE file. For interpreting software like MERLIN, CURA, POLULU was been used. Then via serial port the GCODE file is sent to the other part i.e. the printing part. 2. 3D printer part: Stepper drivers and HotEnd drivers receive the GCODE file from the GCODE interpreter. The HotEnd has a nozzle, DC fan and a ceramic heater and the stepper motor makes the moves as per the GCODE. Into the nozzle, a PLA plastic element is entered and with the help of ceramic heater it melts that plastic element into very small sized threads and is constantly cooled with the help of DC fan. As the HotEnd and stepper motor moves, the PLA comes out through it giving a 3D printed object. The object is made layer by layer and the stepper motor sets itself to initial stage after the completion of the object CE 2.9 During this project, I faced many challenges as my project is a very complex topic. It started with doing research on the topic. It was a new technology in the market and I had to collect as much information available. Deciding of hardware components was also a major task I had a pre-defined project cost that I had to maintain so that the final costing of the product doesnt increase beyond the limit. I took help from the experts from the field of electronics and tried to follow their footsteps whenever problem occurred. The part of software was quite easy than I thought as I had already planned the flow of the work so I just had to follow that pattern to accomplish my microcontroller programming. CE 2.10 Summary In 3D printing, whole process takes place in tiny little slices, it divides the whole project into tiny pieces which are made in the reverse order while printing. They stick together to form a solid object slice by slice. All the parts made from 3D printing can be complex like hinges, wheels etc. as a part of the printed object. It is a kind of technology which is very useful in current world. It makes the object feel like a real one. My project required great knowledge while implementing. It was a great platform for me to learn new technology and to help small scale industry with my project. My creativity skills were expanded and with the help of my project guide I could overcome all the challenges that came on the way. I kept my guide and supervisors updated with my position of the project. And meeting were kept fortnightly to show my status on my project and to discuss further possibility of the project expansion.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Development of Ancient Medicine & Influences Essay -- essays resea

Many different cultures have tried different methods as to find out about the causes of disease and how to treat different kinds of diseases. Various countries have come up with alternate cures and treatments for various diseases. These ancient societies compromise of China, Greece, Egypt and South America. They practiced a wide range of cures for their patients, and they specialize in different fields. For example, meditation and acupuncture were practices in China. Dissection, operations and drug therapy were also performed. But how did theses societies – who did not have as much technology as today – found out about the different illnesses and their cures? The western medicines usually compromise the use of folk remedies and prayers. They now believed that sickness was not a result of punishments sent from gods, but something ‘natural’. Dissection was performed and thus, they knew more about the internal organs of animals – although they were not allowed to dissect humans yet. Plants were also used as medicines. These were known as herbal medicines. In the eastern countries, there seem to be more on religious treatments, and healing the entire body – not just the deformed part. They believed that the whole body is to be treated to maintain a healthy body and prevent disease. Various kinds of treatments were discovered throughout the ancient societies. These cures includes trepanning, surgery, herbal medicines, religious or agricultural remedies, and sacrifices. These were the forms of treatments undertaken by the patients. One interesting fact includes the operated remains, especially the trepanning of the skull. A number of these patients survived the treatment, as some of the wounds have signs of healing. Therefore, they... ...se include the use of a doctor’s observance to decide whether a person needs treatment or not. Another type of cure that has survived to today, are surgery and herbal medicines. Operations are an important part in medicine to keep on healthy. When cures are needed, the body is sometimes operated to take out the diseased part. Herbal medicines – especially Chinese medicine – are still available for use in the modern world. Although most of the world now relies on western medicine, some diseases may not be effective with western medicine, but works with Chinese medicine. Overall, medicine is always changing, but the useful areas of medicine never stop. The development of medicine will continue to improve, hoping that the best and effective medicines are delivered to patients. However, many medicines still follow the ancient ideas, and some treatments even go on.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Common Program Models :: essays papers

Common Program Models There are various forms of year-round education. The program consists of several plans including, concept 6, multi tracks, and single tracks. These options allow schools to provide a better working environment for students. Most calendars are designed to split the school year into periods with vacation time, called intersession. One popular plan that has been proven to be successful is the concept 6 program. Concept 6 plan has been used successfully at both elementary and secondary levels. It is particularly useful when there is lack of space. It requires that students be divided into three groups, with one group always on vacation, thus releasing a considerable amount of space for instructional use. A high school built for 1,600 students can house 2,400 under a Concept 6 three-track plan. It also can be administered in a single-track pattern. The Concept 6 plan calls for six terms of approximately 43 days each. Students attend four of the six terms but must attend two of their four terms consecutively. The plan provides for 160 or more days a year. In states where 175 or more days of attendance are required, additional days can be completed by over-lapping the groups on half-day sessions the first and last day of each term, by independent study and intersession programs, or by creative off-campus group activities. In states that mandate the number of minuets per year in various subjects as a substitute for the number of days, Concept 6 can operate effectively by extending the minuets of instruction each day so that the total accumulation of minutes of instruction each day so that the total accumulation of minutes equals the minimum number of days required by the state. (Ballinger C.E, pp. 23) Standard multi-track schedules include the 60-20 and 45-15 schedule. Both of these calendars can work in the form of single track scheduling, using multi-tracks school facilities get more use because different groups are in and out of the school, allowing the school to cater to more students. There are benefits for the single track plans. Experts say that single tracks improve attendance and the students are more attentive (Rasmussen, 2000). The main difference between the two is that during single-track programs all of the students and staff follow the same calendar, where as the multi tracks have several different tracks that students and staff are divided into.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Volkswagen of America: Managing It Priorities

Matulovic who is the chief information officer of Volkswagen of America (VWoA) has a tough decision to make. Volkswagen’s subsidiary launched a new process for allocating budgets across the business. With the new process, they have derived at a list of approved projects that no one is happy about. Calls came flooding through to Matulovic with an informal request to insert an unfunded project into the IT department’s work plans. VWoA had projects requiring $210 millions and the parent company of VWoA (Volkswagen Group, VWAG) budgeted only $60 million. In choosing the right projects to fund was a process that consisted of three phases: Phase 1-Calling for projects, communicating process, and identifying dependencies, Phase 2-Formal project requests for business unit, and Phase 3-Transforming business unit request into enterprise goal portfolios. Phase I was able to reduce and re-categorize projects because business units realized that many of their initiatives were very similar to other initiatives throughout the company which lead projects to become grouped together into common enterprise projects. This phase identified dependencies among projects. Therefore, without completed projects, the other projects could not be started. This phase also involved members becoming exposed to information about proposed initiatives across the company which gave them a greater understanding and appreciation of different business units. This helps migrate away from the current silo thinking and start focusing on initiatives in an enterprise-wide level. At the end of this phase, the proposed $210 million was simplified to a list of projects that required $170 million. Phase 1 was a critical starting point in aligning all business initiatives and trimming down projects. With the list in hand, we now step into Phase 2. During Phase 2 each business unit was required to classify each proposal into the type of investment (stay in business, return on investment, and option-creating investment) and technological application type (base-enterprise IT platform, enterprise applications, and customized point solutions). These classifications would influence how particular investments would be treated in the selection and prioritization process. Business units had to rank projects by priority and associate projects with enterprise goals. There was criticism that projects were reclassified as enterprise, but they really weren’t enterprise projects. The is because business units had to think of ways to associate their project with enterprise goals to improve chances of funding since the stay in business projects were given high priority, then the enterprise projects and finally individual business units. So if your project wasn’t a stay in business or enterprise project then the business units were tempted to reclassify their project to an enterprise project instead of a business unit. This built frustration as managers are looking for their own funding but don’t have the overall view to properly prioritize which lead other projects get the funding. Finally, Phase 3 consisted of ranking business unit goals based upon enterprise goals/needs. The key concept of governance is to align organizational activity with corporate goals and strategy. The assessment of the new process is to align business goals with enterprise goals and fund the top priority projects that would support the next round of growth goal areas. The NRG program is the readiness program called â€Å"Next Round of Growth† it was aimed to define the goals, functions, and organizational changes required to support and enable the new global product diversification strategy. The Next Round of Growth Enterprise Goal Areas is to support expanded product portfolio which is customer loyalty, new vehicle value, pre-owned vehicle business, stable infrastructure, and optimize supply flow. In order to reach a final project list, VWoA had to simplify and categorize projects, assess their business impact, and distinguish their alignment with goals all while making trade-off decisions. The process is an improvement over the old process since the business units were required to prioritize based on the enterprise-wide goals instead of their own business unit. It also avoided the less organized and less centralized method in prioritizing projects. The new process led business units to work together and make decisions that would affect their unit using the overall company strategy. They would also recognize other business unit’s priorities and provide a greater appreciation of their business unit and the work that they do. This helps alleviate other business units ranking their initiatives as more important than another. As this being a new process at VWoA, this process failed to capture and fund the supply flow project. The unfunded supply flow project revealed a flaw in the new process system. The supply flow project did not get funding because it was recognized at the global level and not at the VWoA importer level. The loss of funding would constitute a major setback for globalization initiatives based in Germany so this particular project must be funded somehow and Matulovic had to think of options on how to make this happen. The recommendation at this point is to remain focus on the most important strategic goals of VWoA and proceed funding all projects in the final project list in the top-ranked portfolio. He should not take funding from other funded projects to try and help fund the supply flow project. That would lead to intense push back and affect working relationships since projects which are important to VWoA’s strategic goals will be neglected. He should also not leave it to the supply flow area to work out what to do about this project because that decision would lead to a project waiting to fail. Dumping a project on them to figure out, without the proper resources is nearly impossible to successfully complete. Re-opening the new prioritization process that took nearly 3 months to complete is unnecessary and wasted time. The process will not have to be reopened, rather to find alternative sources for funding to proceed with the supply flow project. Due to the global reach of the project, it is unreasonable for the project to be funded solely by VWoA, but rather allocating the funds under the parent company or among all companies under the umbrella of the parent company, Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen Group sets the budget at VWoA and several organizational entities at VWoA would play a role in controlling which projects are funded. There are four specific teams involved in this process: the ELT (Executive Leadership Team), the ITSC (IT Steering Committee), the PMO (Project Management Office), and the DBC (Digital Business Council). If they are unable to find alternative funding then they should consider this project as an exception or special condition to figure out a way to fund the project. This is common where successful businesses continuously create new opportunities which cannot be covered by existing IT decisions. Matulovic should reach out to the supply flow group in Germany to present and communicate the different options for alternative funding and the importance of funding the top-ranked portfolio and the supply flow project and get them involved in the solution process. In managing IT priorities in the future, there needs to be a change in the new process to include support and recognize the global level projects and not just at the VWoA level. This ensures other vital projects don’t fall through the cracks like the supply flow project in this case study. The Volkswagen Group should reevaluate that proper funding is allocated for both the VWoA and global level initiatives. Matulovic’s fellow executives that communicated the concern of unfunded projects were involved in the decision making process and if they thought these goals didn’t align with the company’s goals, then they should have voiced their concerns to the process teams, ELT,ITSC, PMO, and/or the DBC, not to Matulovic. The expectation of all VWoA’s employees should be in support of the company’s overall strategic goals, not just their own business units. Volkswagen of America: Managing It Priorities Matulovic who is the chief information officer of Volkswagen of America (VWoA) has a tough decision to make. Volkswagen’s subsidiary launched a new process for allocating budgets across the business. With the new process, they have derived at a list of approved projects that no one is happy about. Calls came flooding through to Matulovic with an informal request to insert an unfunded project into the IT department’s work plans. VWoA had projects requiring $210 millions and the parent company of VWoA (Volkswagen Group, VWAG) budgeted only $60 million. In choosing the right projects to fund was a process that consisted of three phases: Phase 1-Calling for projects, communicating process, and identifying dependencies, Phase 2-Formal project requests for business unit, and Phase 3-Transforming business unit request into enterprise goal portfolios. Phase I was able to reduce and re-categorize projects because business units realized that many of their initiatives were very similar to other initiatives throughout the company which lead projects to become grouped together into common enterprise projects. This phase identified dependencies among projects. Therefore, without completed projects, the other projects could not be started. This phase also involved members becoming exposed to information about proposed initiatives across the company which gave them a greater understanding and appreciation of different business units. This helps migrate away from the current silo thinking and start focusing on initiatives in an enterprise-wide level. At the end of this phase, the proposed $210 million was simplified to a list of projects that required $170 million. Phase 1 was a critical starting point in aligning all business initiatives and trimming down projects. With the list in hand, we now step into Phase 2. During Phase 2 each business unit was required to classify each proposal into the type of investment (stay in business, return on investment, and option-creating investment) and technological application type (base-enterprise IT platform, enterprise applications, and customized point solutions). These classifications would influence how particular investments would be treated in the selection and prioritization process. Business units had to rank projects by priority and associate projects with enterprise goals. There was criticism that projects were reclassified as enterprise, but they really weren’t enterprise projects. The is because business units had to think of ways to associate their project with enterprise goals to improve chances of funding since the stay in business projects were given high priority, then the enterprise projects and finally individual business units. So if your project wasn’t a stay in business or enterprise project then the business units were tempted to reclassify their project to an enterprise project instead of a business unit. This built frustration as managers are looking for their own funding but don’t have the overall view to properly prioritize which lead other projects get the funding. Finally, Phase 3 consisted of ranking business unit goals based upon enterprise goals/needs. The key concept of governance is to align organizational activity with corporate goals and strategy. The assessment of the new process is to align business goals with enterprise goals and fund the top priority projects that would support the next round of growth goal areas. The NRG program is the readiness program called â€Å"Next Round of Growth† it was aimed to define the goals, functions, and organizational changes required to support and enable the new global product diversification strategy. The Next Round of Growth Enterprise Goal Areas is to support expanded product portfolio which is customer loyalty, new vehicle value, pre-owned vehicle business, stable infrastructure, and optimize supply flow. In order to reach a final project list, VWoA had to simplify and categorize projects, assess their business impact, and distinguish their alignment with goals all while making trade-off decisions. The process is an improvement over the old process since the business units were required to prioritize based on the enterprise-wide goals instead of their own business unit. It also avoided the less organized and less centralized method in prioritizing projects. The new process led business units to work together and make decisions that would affect their unit using the overall company strategy. They would also recognize other business unit’s priorities and provide a greater appreciation of their business unit and the work that they do. This helps alleviate other business units ranking their initiatives as more important than another. As this being a new process at VWoA, this process failed to capture and fund the supply flow project. The unfunded supply flow project revealed a flaw in the new process system. The supply flow project did not get funding because it was recognized at the global level and not at the VWoA importer level. The loss of funding would constitute a major setback for globalization initiatives based in Germany so this particular project must be funded somehow and Matulovic had to think of options on how to make this happen. The recommendation at this point is to remain focus on the most important strategic goals of VWoA and proceed funding all projects in the final project list in the top-ranked portfolio. He should not take funding from other funded projects to try and help fund the supply flow project. That would lead to intense push back and affect working relationships since projects which are important to VWoA’s strategic goals will be neglected. He should also not leave it to the supply flow area to work out what to do about this project because that decision would lead to a project waiting to fail. Dumping a project on them to figure out, without the proper resources is nearly impossible to successfully complete. Re-opening the new prioritization process that took nearly 3 months to complete is unnecessary and wasted time. The process will not have to be reopened, rather to find alternative sources for funding to proceed with the supply flow project. Due to the global reach of the project, it is unreasonable for the project to be funded solely by VWoA, but rather allocating the funds under the parent company or among all companies under the umbrella of the parent company, Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen Group sets the budget at VWoA and several organizational entities at VWoA would play a role in controlling which projects are funded. There are four specific teams involved in this process: the ELT (Executive Leadership Team), the ITSC (IT Steering Committee), the PMO (Project Management Office), and the DBC (Digital Business Council). If they are unable to find alternative funding then they should consider this project as an exception or special condition to figure out a way to fund the project. This is common where successful businesses continuously create new opportunities which cannot be covered by existing IT decisions. Matulovic should reach out to the supply flow group in Germany to present and communicate the different options for alternative funding and the importance of funding the top-ranked portfolio and the supply flow project and get them involved in the solution process. In managing IT priorities in the future, there needs to be a change in the new process to include support and recognize the global level projects and not just at the VWoA level. This ensures other vital projects don’t fall through the cracks like the supply flow project in this case study. The Volkswagen Group should reevaluate that proper funding is allocated for both the VWoA and global level initiatives. Matulovic’s fellow executives that communicated the concern of unfunded projects were involved in the decision making process and if they thought these goals didn’t align with the company’s goals, then they should have voiced their concerns to the process teams, ELT,ITSC, PMO, and/or the DBC, not to Matulovic. The expectation of all VWoA’s employees should be in support of the company’s overall strategic goals, not just their own business units.

Socrates vs Thrasymachus

Any debate relies upon almost natural agreement about the issue world discussed. How ever so great the divide in opinion may be, at that place mustiness exist at least some similarity in the p maneuvericipants manner of exhibit the issue if a solution is ever to be reached. Book One of Platos Republic features a disagreement amidst Socrates and Thrasymachus about the nature of justness. The dis combine amongst their pur depends of the take is extremely pronounced, entirely t present be certain underlying agreements which bleed the course of the debate.One way to evaluate the lustiness of the arguments involved is to examine whether the assumptions at the spreadeagle of the argument are in accord with this super C build. By my reading of the dialogue, Socrates resolve to the first part of Thrasymachus translation of justice rests safely upon this common ground, whereas his serve well to Thrasymachus bet on definition moves by from this mutually refreshing ba se, and is injured as a result. In exploring this topic, I intend to examine briefly Thrasymachus two-part definition of justice.For each of these parts I go out evaluate integrity Socratic response and discuss it from the perspective of the artificer doctrine of coincidence an proportion which is initially use by common consent, save which Socrates adapts until its buffer usage almost disappears. Thrasymachus first definition of justice is easy to state, nonwithstanding it is non so presently clear how it is to be interpreted. Justice, he claims, is the advantage of the stronger. On its make, a great deal(prenominal) a sentence could imply that what is upright to the stronger is just for and thitherfore, beneficial to the weaker, and Socrates accordingly asks whether this concord is accurate.Thrasymachus right away responds in the negative. The interpretation he proceeds to expound upon thunder mug be summed up by adapting slightly his reliable definition justi ce is that which obtains the advantage of the stronger. To take hold this definition, he points to the example of sentiment a city. Any regnant class go away fashion the laws of the commonwealth with a come across to its own receipts, he asserts. Since it is just to succeed the law, those who be father flop allow be acting for the advantage of the rulers (whom Thrasymachus interchangeably call the stronger).Socrates recognises his first objection at this moment, merely I will treat this here only incidentally merely hitherto as it allows us to see why Thrasymachus introduces the craftsman comparison. Socrates objects that rulers are, as humans, bound to murder fall aways to confuse their disadvantage with their advantage on occasion. In this case just fealty to laws would work to the rulers disadvantage. Thrasymachus responds promptly, reflection that a man who makes a mistake in ruling is non at that moment a ruler in the strict sense, and introduces the crafts man analogy to rear this radical.Insofar as a man is a craftsman, he will non make any mistakes mistakes are rooted in ignorance, and so end only hand when a mans familiarity of his craft is incomplete. The quandary which Socrates introduces is thusly avoided by Thrasymachus qualification that errors are never make by rulers as rulers. Though the analogy works at first to Thrasymachus advantage, Socrates promptly turns it against him in a new objection. completely arts, he asserts, are exercised with a view to the usefulness of the subject rather than to the benefit of the operative.The doctor employs his medical art for the progress of the patient, the pilot navigates for the safety of the ship and the sailors, and so forth. Like Thrasymachus, he identifies ruling as an art, and claims that ruling also is exercised with a view to the subjects benefit. Throughout the argument, Thrasymachus passively assents to Socrates individual points. hardly as we shall see later, he rejects the consequence drawn from these. From an objective viewpoint, angiotensin converting enzyme immediately headingable aspect of this argument is Socrates idea that ruling is an art in the very(prenominal) sense that euphony and navigation are arts.Despite its potential weakness however, Socrates use of the analogy is the one part of the argument which Thrasymachus can non question without bringing Socrates first objection at a time again into dispute. Thus this definition of ruling forms some part of the common ground I have foregoingly mentioned. Although an objection such as this may ask the objective sensibleity of the argument, it is important to proceed in mind the fact that Socrates is not attempting to create an incontestable definition of justice at this point.He is merely answering an incapacitate argument by demonstrating its weaknesses in hurt which correspond to Thrasymachus perspective. Agitated by Socrates draw in of reasoning, Thrasymachus proceeds to blurt out a revised version of his original statement. Thrasymachus claims that sleaziness is freer and stronger than justice and that it results in a happier manner. As in the agent definition, he does not consider so much what justice is as what it does he rates the subject in regards to its advantageousness or omit thereof. Essentially, this definition is an extreme extension of the previous one.Also, the example he uses for support that of a tyrant made powerful and thus happy through injustice hearkens gumption to his initial definition as ruling being the advantage of the stronger. It is clear that Thrasymachus has not been convinced by Socrates last argument, condescension his apparent agreement with Socrates points. He is present in different terms, but in actual substance this new culture is little much than a stern contradiction of Socrates previous argument. He facilitate supposes that the partial will have the advantage, and does no more than give new point to support this view.He essentially declares You secern that the fit ruler will consider the benefit of his subjects and thus act justly. I say that injustice leads to a happy life and that craftsmen do aim at their own advantage. Whereas the weaknesses in Socrates previously discussed arguments are more or less excusable, there are several factors in his next argument which make it very controversial. In porta this argument, Socrates asks whether a just man will deprivation to overreach and make pass new(prenominal) just men. The two debaters agree that a just man will defend it proper to vanquish the unjust man, but that he will not requirement to surpass his fellow just man.The unjust man, on the other hand, will want to surpass and get the better of everyone. directly Socrates proceeds to use the craftsman analogy to illustrate his case. With this case Socrates attempts to prove that those who see to overreach their like are baffling craftsmen. Returning to t he specific example of the doctor, he observes that a medical man will not endeavor to outmatch another(prenominal) physician, but will want to outdo the non-physician. One flaw seems to appear at this point in the argument. Socrates, it would seem, has left no place in this for simple opposition here.If the first half of this analogy is truthful, there is no room for an artificer to appear and improve his craft in a just manner, because unless he is unjust, he will not have any emulation to surpass his fellow mechanics. However this can be answered by a descry back at Thrasymachus concept of the artisan in the strict sense. No one is an artisan up to now as he is in error, so the admittedly artist will be unable to surpass another true artist ideally, the artist, insofar as he is an artist, will already exercise his art faultlessly.Socrates completes this argument by saying that the one who tries to overreach the artist can not have true knowledge of the craft. In other words, true artists will be able to hear one another and to recognize the impossibleness of surpassing each other. Since the one who wants to surpass everyone in a specific art must not be an artisan, he is ignorant of this art. Thus, Socrates claims, the unjust man is authentically ignorant and therefore weak and bad. on that point is a marked distinction amid this use of the craftsman analogy and former uses. Previously the analogy was used in reference to the craft of ruling.This was legitimate in the context primarily because Thrasymachus agreed to this use. at one time however, the subject of the analogy is not ruling, but justice. Thrasymachus never explicitly agrees to this switch, and thus when it is made, the analogy no longer rests safely upon the common ground. It is no longer an example trustworthy by both parties and so its fillet of sole justification would have to rest on an objective view of the argument. So we have another important question to examine. That i s, can justice be rightly considered a craft? Even if it can in a vague sense, would it be mighty analogous to other crafts like medicine or navigation?There are reasons to support a negative answer to this query. For one liaison, it could be argued that justice is more a manner of acting, rather than a craft in its own right. Whereas it is wet to say that one can, for example, read a book medicinally, or in a navigating manner (except perhaps as a figure of speech), one can exercise a craft or serve any exercise either justly or unjustly. Justice is more soft considered a measure of how well an action is performed than the action itself. The most important thing to note here is that Socrates has moved away from the common ground which has previously support the argument.Before, the question of whether Socrates examples are objectively valid was not so crucial from one viewpoint. As long as Socrates was difficult to demonstrate the illogicalities within Thrasymachus position, t here was much to gain from arguments based on Thrasymachus premise, whether the premises were true or not. For this last argument, however, Socrates does not base his argument on these guides, but preserves the form of the craftsman analogy while changing it substantially. Thus this event argument suffers and is at least of funny efficacy.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Indian Independence Speech Essay

As you know that of us have gat hither(predicate)d here to celebrate 67th independence day of our nation. This day, afterwards the hosting matter flag, we usu totallyy make drop off by remembering the heroic kit and boodle of exclusively few granting immunity fighters. just freedom fighting was collective military campaign. Without cooperation, present and involvement of all Indians it was insufferable to cut the freedom. So people of India were the real issue heroes behind the success. We should express our sincere gratitude to all those who participated in the freedom struggle. This can only be done by support our freedom like our ancestral office which cannot be valued. How to defend? Single soul cannot defend it again group effort is essential it is nothing but consonance. How to take a shit this unity? We should always remember that only patriotism can form unity irrespective of religion, language, caste, customs and traditions. So having patriotism only can save the freedom of our nation.To keep faith in secularism No compromise must be with patriotism, avenge the forces that support menaceism Else one crowing day we will loose our freedom. I would like to express my views about the dusky side of Present India. How should I swan My INDIA is groovy? In this republic from schools to parliament, Elections atomic number 18 held at every moment, Childrens ar taught fighting for the seat, How should I offer My India is vast? Even after golden jubilee of unconstraint, more citizens be unable to fill their gut, gamey puzzle richer and rests be indigent, How should I secernate My India is gigantic? People are emotionally divided by communalist, Border in the north and sec has water dispute, leading are selfish and have no solving interest, How should I say My India is considerable?Capable civilians are facing unemployment, socially unfits have led the political movements, Voters are under tense of serious terror threat, H ow should I say My India is great? wholly are seeking benefits without effort, Bribery has become the style of management, Whole estate pushed into a big corruption pit, How should I say My India is great? I pray to the worshipful creator with sentiment, Please give carry to sincere nationalist, Who should drive my nation towards boilers suit development, So that I should say My India is great Apart from these Our India is great country because Indians are generous, broad minded, cast hearted and get together. No doubt we quarrel among ourselves for various reasons but we hang in united in front enemies and in times of danger. I have got few facts which are in support of in a higher place statements. During Kargil war our Govt couldnt spend even out a single paisa from the budget but people gave every kind support for it.During Tsunami in Chennai, Flood in Bihar and Orissa, drawing in the country, earthquake in Gujarat and Maharashtra and same different natural disaste rs people stood united and helped each other, extended all kind of cooperation to start a new life. So I Say that My India is great and Indians are the greatest. I am proud to be an Indian India is a great country with many religions. It has rich natural resources and protracted frontier with vast region. North has The Himalayas and south with the Hindu ocean, Bay of Bengal in the eastern United States and the west has the sea Arabian. Its organism administered with language wise partition. All are leading peaceful life with national integration. Enemys conspiracy is impossible with the unity of the nation. Festivals are celebrated here with memorable function.People help each other in time of affliction. So my India is great also I am proud to be an Indian.