The effect of terrorism on the global economy Essay

The effect of terrorism on the global economy - Essay Example and all of the countries it trades with. The federal government, in what some might term a ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to the attack, spent unprecedented amounts of money on questionable programs and ventures in an effort to ‘provide security’ to its citizens. â€Å"The President has requested a significant increase in security-related programs in the context of the budget for 2003. Additional spending of $48 billion was proposed for national defense (an increase of 14 percent from the previous year). In addition, the President asked Congress for an appropriation of $38 billion for homeland security, compared to $20 billion spent in 2001† (Looney, 2002). The combination of a stunned economy, a flat-line growth in the job market and dwindling government resources made its affects known worldwide. This paper will examine how the events of 9/11 influenced many aspects of the U.S. economy and examples of its global consequences. The U.S. was enjoying a period of vigorous economic expansion during the second Clinton administration, a period that saw the nation’s first budget surpluses in 40 years. This growth was fueled largely because of a general confidence in the nation’s economic health and an increase in worker’s productivity. This time of prosperity was over by the latter part of the year 2000 as the trend in business appeared to reflect a lessening confidence in the direction of the national economy. Corporations, especially those in the technical industries, began systematically downsizing, outsourcing and employing other means of economizing because of steady revenue losses. The economy had shown signs of weakening the entire year of 1999, and by the end of 2000, the manufacturing segment was also steadily shrinking as was evidenced by the lack of equipment orders, profits and number of employees. This trend was experienced many other industries

Technological Advances in the Last Century Essay Example for Free

Technological Advances in the Last Century Essay In the last century, technology has changed mass media immensely. A hundred years ago, people would use the post office, a rare telephone or word of mouth to communicate across large distances. These were not the most efficient methods of communication. However since then we have developed ways of communicating in faster, more effective ways. In the 1920s, radios started becoming more and more popular. Not only did they produce music for entertainment, they also produced news stories and many advertisements. In the late 1920s, the Great Depression started. It was due to the radio that many people likely heard the news and offers of employment with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. As people were listening to the radio more often they also began to mistrust â€Å"big business†, because people started to feel exploited in all aspects of life by the large businesses. Since a lot of lower class people did not know how to read in those times, newspapers and written advertisements were not the most effective means of communication. This made the radio even more popular, because not only educated people, but also uneducated people could gain knowledge that was previously restricted to those who could read. When the 1930s came around, radio was still just as popular as in the 1920’s, and they also used motion pictures for entertainment and advertising. In the 1940’s the television began to make its appearance on the scene allowing the public to view daily fiction shows, as well as news broadcasts and advertisements. Families began moving from big cities to the suburbs, where being in close vicinity is no longer needed because of the television. Defense technology and satellites began the beginning of the internet as a result of the Vietnam War in 1959. During the 1960s, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) controlled radio and television airwaves, ruling what was appropriate or not for viewers to see or hear. Social issues such as race, class, politics, and prejudice are huge topics for television shows. In the 1970s a great new invention called the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) was introduced and the public could watch pre-recorded movies, documentaries, or biographies of their choice. They could watch something other than a program they did not choose to watch, but were forced to watch, because of the lack of networks and programming. Computer corporations also came out with the microprocessor, which was, and still is, essentially the â€Å"brain† for a computer. When the microprocessor was revealed, computers were about as big as a small room. Computer engineers did not think, at the time, that a computer would ever be smaller than a small living room, because they did not believe it would be possible to create such a huge amount of information in such a small device. As we moved into the 1980s, cable television exploded into a nationwide phenomenon. Cable networks varied from all day long heartfelt movies to 24/7 news broadcasts to any music video you could think of to reality television. The digital era became fully fledged in the 1990s. There were computers in virtually every home, and consumers were able to use dial-up internet to E-Mail individuals, or to use it for business communication around the world. With the computers in the home and advancement of technology came the advent of the laptop. This was essentially a home computer that could fit on the lap of the individual. Individuals weren’t only confined to their own state or country anymore, the movement had become global. Compact Discs (CD) and Digital Video Discs (DVD) were expanding, having movies, music and video games as content. Soon, the population would learn how to use the internet to broadcast news videos and personal videos. As the world passes the turn of the century, movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, and newspapers all converge on the internet. Within 10 years, inventors and major cell phone and computer companies develop â€Å"Smartphones†, or cell phones on steroids. Everything basic that anyone can do from a desktop computer, they can do from the palm of their hand. Soon, those boom into touch screen tablets, where anyone can watch podcasts, play games, write documents, search the web, and communicate more efficiently and instantaneously. As Bill Gates once said â€Å"640KB [of memory] ought to be enough for anybody. † (Adams McCrindle, 2008) This just shows how much our technology has advanced. Some portable devices have up to 64MB for memory, plus extra internal memory as well. That’s 65,536KB, about ten times more than what Bill Gates originally thought would be enough. In conclusion, media literacy is hugely important for consumers in this day in age. People are often on the run, working, exercising, taking kids to school or practice, that they rarely have time to actually sit down and read the paper, or watch the news. If consumers have all that information clipped to their waists, or in their briefcase, when people have a few minutes to relax, they can sit down and take time to do what they enjoy, whether it be watching the news, watching sports highlights, reading, social networking or playing games. Anything they want is at the touch of a finger.

Nursing, ethics and sociology

Nursing, ethics and sociology Introduction: In this essay, I will discuss several issues that seem to bind nursing practice with questions of ethics, sociology and management. Reflective practice is an important aspect of nursing management and in this essay we discuss implications of discrimination in nursing care and examine the importance of anti-discriminatory perspectives in nursing. In this paper, the case study I will elaborate is of an elderly woman who was of a non-British ethnic origin and spoke little English. A junior nurse visited her home to provide care but her attitude towards the patient has been discriminatory and abrupt, a situation that calls for serious reflection on the issues of racial discrimination at the clinical setting. The patient was apparently treated with leg ulcer. The questions that have to be considered here are: Where in the observation did discrimination occur and how this could have affected the delivery of care given? And how has discrimination influenced the lady’s care? The concept of anti-discriminatory practice as a contemporary issue within adult nursing is discussed here considering observational evidence and similar case studies. Reflection in Nursing: Reflective practice in nursing is guided by models of reflection. Reflective practice model serves as a framework within which nursing or other management professions can work. Reflective practice model is also a structural framework or learning model that serves the purposes of a profession and is particularly applicable to health related professions. Any portfolio of practice includes a model of reflection as reflection helps in determining what was positive or negative or a learning experience within the profession. Reflective practice highlights the importance of learning from experiences after thinking about it and relates the practical experiences to the theoretical learning approaches. The four important reflective models that form part of the clinical and nursing portfolio are: Gibbs Model of Reflection 1988 Kolb’s Learning Cycle – 1984 John’s Model of Reflection – 1994 Atkin and Murphy’s Model of Reflection 1994 Theoretical Framework: Gibbs Model of reflection is shown in a cyclical manner and is represented a follows: Gibbs model of reflection (1988) Given by Gibbs, 1988. Source: CPSU, 2005 Unlike Gibbs’ model that has five stages, Kolb’s Learning cycle with four stages is shown as follows: Source; CPSU, 2005 In the Gibbs’ model, the event is reflected upon and includes a description of what happened followed by feelings about the situation, and reflection on what the thoughts and feelings were at that time upon being into the situation. The nursing professional then personally evaluates whether the experience has been good or bad for her and analyses whether she can make any sense to the situation. The conclusions are drawn depending on alternative and what else could have been done with the situation and what were the other options available to tackle the situation better or more appropriately. Proposed and future action plan is thought of and how the situation will be acted upon in the future is also determined. Kolb’s model however stresses on the importance of generalizations of concrete experiences testing the implications in similar situations. Whereas John’s model of reflection emphasizes on the stages of description of the event, reflection on what was aimed at, the factors influencing strategies, alternative strategies to what have been used, and learning from the experience, Atkin’s and Murphy’s model of reflection is on analysis and identification of the learning experience and action planned based on awareness and evaluation of this relevance of knowledge. Considering these models of reflection, we will use only the more popular Gibbs model to evaluate the case study discussed here and the situation of discrimination against the elderly lady Mrs. B as observed. Background and Literature Survey: The importance of reflection as part of the learning experience and using reflection as a means of improving one’s professional skills and future performance by evaluating the situation and the mistakes has been emphasized in many professions including teaching and nursing. In the Kolb cycle, reflective observation is the second phase. Reflection in action or while doing something in the job and reflection on action or some form of evaluation after the job is done, are included within reflective practice. Reflection includes several phases from simple problem solving of individual cases, to analysis of the situation considering relevant literature as well as broader social and political factors. Gustaffsson and Fagerberg (2004) emphasizes on the advantages that could be gained from reflection mainly among registered nurses or RNs. They examine the questions on the implications of nurses’ reflections, the subject matter of their reflection and how they are able to deal with their reflection and how they improve their professional approach through reflection. The authors describe the experiences of the nurses and their reflection in relation to the nursing situations to understand how the nurses use reflection in their daily work. The study included interviewing four registered trained nurses and the qualitative differences of the nurses reflective experiences were categorized. One of these is the category of reflection itself; but the ethical considerations within the nursing care situation and consequence of facing the situation or meeting the requirements of empathy or professional development are also important. The nurse attitudes and opinions on their reflective p ractice, what they thought about the situation and how they feel they will control similar future situations serves a model of future professional development. Gustaffson and Fagerberg point out that reflective practice has relevance for clinical practice as by understanding the contents of nurses’ reflections, it is also possible to understand the advantages of reflective practice and how and when such measures should be used by the nurses for further professional development. Fairley (2005) gives a consultant nurse’ perspective of a clinical role in critical care unit that has evolved as a central feature of all surgical high dependency units (SDHU) in large teaching hospital trusts. Advanced nursing practice is perceived not as the acquisition and application of technical procedures which are usually undertaken by doctors, but also an integration of medicine and nursing where holistic nursing assessment and symptom focused physical examination go hand in hand. Fairley presents a reflective account of practical problems encountered relating to role integration, professional autonomy, legal and consent issues, non-medical prescribing, and role evaluation (Fairley, 2005). The paper successfully describes a model of nursing applied to high dependency units integrating the role of the advanced nurse practitioner within the medical and clinical team an reflective practice plays an important role by being the main method of evaluation of a consultant nur se’ perspective. In a study on the importance of reflective practice in family care, Peden-McAlpine (2005) discusses the design, evaluation and outcomes of a reflective practice intervention (RPI) that was used to train critical care nurses on how to incorporate family intervention into their nursing practice. The benefits and problems of reflective practice are many and most beneficial aspects include improvement of professionalism and better ability to tackle similar situations leading to professional development through experience in nursing. Reflective practice is of experiential nature, it relates to a nurse’s experience and learning from the experience. In the study discussed by Peden-McAlpine, interviews were conducted with eight staff nurse participants after the training of RPI to determine changes in family practice when reflective practice was used. Three essential themes were identified on analysis of the interview texts and the authors have given the three themes relating to exper iences in nursing after participating in the RPI program as follows: (1) acknowledging, re-framing preconceived ideas about families, (2) recognizing meaning of family stress, and (3) incorporating family into nursing care (Peden-McAlpine et al, 2005). The reflective practice intervention program practices by nurses helped them to change their attitudes towards critical care especially in family and enhanced their communication and ability to build proper relationships with families bringing in a new way of understanding family stress or appreciating family values. The nurses thus had a new perspective of family system after their training of reflective practice on family critical care. Considering the benefits of changing nursing attitudes and developing professionalism through reflective practice, many authors have emphasized the need to use reflective practice as a training method within nursing education. Chabeli and Muller (2004) use a qualitative contextual and exploratory descriptive design for theory generation that was used to develop model facilitating reflective thing in clinical nursing education. The authors cited Wilson (1963 and Gift (1997) who provided a theoretical framework for a concept analysis of reflective thinking in nursing education. The paper also gives the case o 12 nurse educators who participated in a focus group interview on how reflective practice can be facilitated in clinical nursing education and the consensus was for a classification of reflective practice recognizing the main elements of practice and a deductive analysis and synthesis after conceptualization of each main concept. The importance of a conceptual meaning has been hig hlighted as theories with well-defined concepts and elements could facilitate reflective practice and can form an important part of clinical nursing education. Guidelines could be developed according to the theoretical framework of reflective practice and can give a new direction nursing education. In a later study, Chabeli and Muller also provided a model of reflective practice that could be used as a theoretical framework in nursing education. However, the authors suggest that ‘ Reflective thinking has become a popular word in nursing education world wide, but its meaning and effective use remains debatable because of lack of clarity in its meaning’ (Mackintosh, 1998:553 cited in Chabeli and Muller, 2004). Case study: The case of our elderly patient Mrs. B suggest that the nurse’s discrimination and ill behavior against the woman, relates to discriminatory practice, something that could be and should be stopped using reflective practice (also see Sheffield et al, 1999). The junior nurse in charge who was responsible for such an incident was given reflective practice as a framework for professional development. She was recommended to go through the Gibbs model of reflection in which she analyzed how and why she behaved the way she did, what she will do in future situations and how she learnt from the experience to not repeat her discriminatory behavior in the future. The implications are that the behavior of the nurse has led to poor quality of care delivery to the patient. The junior nurse who treated Mrs. B badly was recommended to go through reflective practice intervention to change her attitudes towards other races and ethnic minorities. According she participated in reflective practice sessions when she verbally as well as in writing had to describe the events in which she engaged in discriminatory practice and also evaluated her responses and indicated her future course of action and other alternatives for similar situations. Conclusion: In this essay I discussed the implications of reflective practice in nursing considering the theoretical frameworks of reflective practice. All the main models of reflective practice have been discussed and the models were used to consider a discriminatory case of an elderly patient who was wronged by a junior nurse. The patient was being treated for leg ulcer and was reportedly badly and disrespectfully treated by the nurse. The nurse was asked to go through reflective practice and mainly using Gibbs model of reflection, had to complete an exercise in which she described the event, indicated her feelings of the event, evaluated whether it was a good or bad experience, analyzed her own response to the situation, concluded what else she could have done for the situation and finally drew up an action plan for future similar circumstances. Bibliography: Atkins, S. and Murphy, K. (1994) Reflective Practice. Nursing Standard 8(39) 49-56 Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Johns, C. and Graham, J. (1996) Using a Reflective Model of Nursing and Guided Reflection. Nursing Standard 11 (2) 34-38 Haddock, J. and Bassett, C. (1997) Nurses Perceptions of Reflective Practice Nursing Standard 11(32) 39-41 Kolb, D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall, New Jersey Schon, D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Temple Smith: London Sheffield J, Hussain A, Coleshill P. Organizational barriers and ethnicity in the Scottish NHS. J Manag Med. 1999;13(4-5):263-4. Smith A, Jack K. Reflective practice: a meaningful task for students. Nurs Stand. 2005 Mar 9-15;19(26):33-7. Moeti MR, van Niekerk SE, van Velden CE. Perceptions of the clinical competence of newly registered nurses in the North West province. Curationis. 2004 Aug;27(3):72-84. Chabeli M, Muller M. A model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education. Curationis. 2004 Nov;27(4):49-62. Peden-McAlpine C, Tomlinson PS, Forneris SG, Genck G, Meiers SJ. Evaluation of a reflective practice intervention to enhance family care. J Adv Nurs. 2005 Mar;49(5):494-501. Chabeli M, Muller M. Reflective thinking in clinical nursing education: a concept analysis. Curationis. 2004 Nov;27(4):37-48. Fairley D. Discovering the nature of advanced nursing practice in high dependency care: a critical care nurse consultants experience. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2005 Jun;21(3):140-8. Epub 2004 Dec 8. Somerville D, Keeling J. A practical approach to promote reflective practice within nursing. Nurs Times. 2004 Mar 23-29;100(12):42-5. Clouder L, Sellars J. Reflective practice and clinical supervision: an interprofessional perspective. J Adv Nurs. 2004 May;46(3):262-9. Gustafsson C, Fagerberg I. Reflection, the way to professional development? J Clin Nurs. 2004 Mar;13(3):271-80. For diagrams, see Clinical Placements Support Unit – UCE Birmingham http://www.hcc.uce.ac.uk/cpsu/

Approaches to the Study of Religion Essay -- Theology Religion Sociolo

The sociological approach looks at religious belief and practice in relation to the society. Sociologists are interested in two themes, the centrality of religion in society and the diversity of forms it inhabits (Hamilton 1995/2001:1). It regards religion as a social fact subject to empirical observation, which produces empirical evidence (Dillon 2003:7). The sociology of religion is a product of the enlightenment, from which it inherited a tendency to dismiss religion as incompatible with rationality (Dillon 2003:6). This dismissal has had significant impact on the attitude towards religion and it is the basis for the most influential paradigm in the history of the field; secularisation. The secularisation theory claims that religion is or will be on the decrease in society. So profound was its impact that modern sociology often aims to account for the continued presence of religion in society and has generally held a rather negative view of religion as being an unworthy subject o f study(Davies 2007:2). The reason for the secuarlisation can be seen in the fact that sociology is a theory both guided by and aims to build theories (Wuthnow/Dillon 2003:21). Theories require analysis and generalisation. It is impossible to analyse a subject without first defining the subject (Robertson 1970:34). Definition is a contentious issue because different definitions entail different criteria which lead to different patterns being indentified in data. Theories are created by the identification of patterns in data which are then generalised.(Davies 2007:5). Thus a definition will vastly affect the content and concept of a theory. Definitions of religion in sociology fall into two categories, functional and substantive. This essay will assess... ...in the answers but in the question. Works Cited Davie, Grace (2007) The Sociology of Religion. London. Sage Publications Dillon, Michele (2003) Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Cambridge. Cambridge university press Hamilton, Malcom (1995/2001) The Sociology of Religion: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives. 2nd edition. Routledge. London Hunt, Stephen J (2002) Religion in Western Society. London. Palgrave McGuire, Meredith B. (1997) Religion: The Social Context 4th edition. Wadsworth Pickering, W.S.F. (1984) Durkheim’s Sociology of Religion: Themes and Theories. Routledge. London Robertson, Ronald (1970) The Sociological Interpretation of Religion. Blackwell Sociology Series. London Steinsaltz, Adin (2000) A Guide to Jewish Prayer . New York Wuthnow, Robert (2003) ‘Studying Religion, Making it Sociological’ in Dillon (2003) pp.16-30

Hr Planning Assignment

Introduction to Planning Function. Human resource planning is the process whereby organizations determine the staffing support they will need to meet business needs and customer demands. There are a variety of considerations that impact this planning, including impending retirements and transitions, the availability of employees with certain skills sets and changes in the environment that may require training for existing employees. Human resource planning is important and ongoing because of both internal and external environmental changes.Internally, businesses are impacted by turnover and retirements. Externally, they are impacted by changes in technology, changes in the economy, and changes in the industry and consumer demand that may require skills that do not currently exist within the company. All of these impacts have an effect on the type and numbers of employees that are needed for the business to remain successful. MM Distributing Agencies. Company Profile MM Distributing A gencies is engaged in product distributing business for five years in a considerably successful manner.The business was started by Mr. Manjula Madurapperuma. Since the companies’ commencement Mr. Manjula Madurapperuma and Mr. Ajith Jayathunga has contributed in a major aspect to the company to be reached the zenith. Their Vision To have distributing agencies in each district. Their Mission We will be the most successful distributing company in the country. MM Distributing Agencies has three distributing agencies, distributing Unilever and Asian Paints products in several geographical areas.And they have about 65 employees under their distributing agencies running out their working capacity. Each and every agency is consistent with a Branch manager, Sales Manager, Stock Keeper and an IT manager. These managers have authority to plan, and recruit and select candidates to their branches or to the particular section. Primarily what happens in these distributing agencies is storin g and distributing the products of Unilever and Asian Paints Companies to shops in those particular areas. Storage and DistributionEach distributing agency has inventories; Unilever and Asian Paints products are directly sent to these inventories and these inventories are controlled and handled under the supervision of Stock keepers and supervisors. And the information about the products stored in these inventories is entered to the main database by computer operators under the supervision of IT managers and Stock keepers. These agencies use Vans and Lorries to distribute products. On all these vehicles there is an outstanding staff whereas a driver, cash collector and 1 or 3 assistants are supposed to work together.And all the day to day activities, information about distributed products are entered to the main database by computer operators under the supervision of IT managers and Stock keepers. And finally the Top Management retrieves required information from the certain databas e. Competitors Competitors of these agencies are other agencies that distribute products of companies like Hemas, CIC, Multilack, Nipolack, and COSWAY etc. Locations of MM Distributing Agencies. Organizational Structure Mr. Manjula Madurapperuma. Mr. Manjula Madurapperuma. Mr. Ajith Jayathunga Mr. Ajith JayathungaAnuradhapura Branch Manager Anuradhapura Branch Manager Avissawella Branch Manager Avissawella Branch Manager Nuwara Eliya Branch Manager Nuwara Eliya Branch Manager Each and every branch is consistent with a Branch manager, Sales Manager, Stock Keeper and an IT manager. Sales Managers, Stock Keepers and IT managers work under the supervision of their particular branch manager. All these managers have authority to plan, and recruit and select candidates to their branches or to the particular section. Only the management positions are filled under the supervision of Mr.Manjula Madurapperuma and Mr. Ajith Jayathunga Current HR Planning Process at MM Distributing Agencies. Eve n though MM Distributing Agencies is engaged in business in a considerably successful manner, the organization does not have a proper planning process. And also it does not have a HR department. HR managers’ duties are done by the each branch manager. Currently the Sales Managers, Stock Keepers and IT managers at each branch have the authority to plan, and recruit and select candidates to their branches or to the particular section under the supervision of their particular branch manager.When there is a position to be filled these managers ask their current employees for help or they go for recruitment at gate option. According to Avissawella branch manager this organization does not have a HR database and a successful planning process, when they have a vacant position they temporarily hire employees for the particular vacant position until they find a suitable person to hire permanently. And the managers admit that it is a costly process. And also they admit that temporarily hired employees cannot be trusted.Both Avissawella and Nuwara Eliya branch managers have faced problems with temporarily hired workers stealing products from the organization and with their bad behavior. These problems are results of not having HR department, a HR database and a proper planning process in the organization. According to Mr. Manjula Madurapperuma, they have tried to establish two distributing agencies at Kurunegala and Kegalle, but both times they have failed to keep those agencies running. It is clear all those failures were occurred because the organization did not have a proper planning process.These weaknesses can affect the organizations’ success. Current Problems of The HR Planning Process at MM Distributing Agencies. * This organization does not have a HR Department. * Organization does not maintain a HR database. * Does not have a proper planning process. * Managers quickly plan solutions for problems like employee turnover, retirements and market losi ng and they fail at implementing those plans. * Branch managers have to work as HR managers too. * Some managerial solutions like temporarily hiring workers cost a huge amount of money and resources to the organization.Recommendations for improvement * Owners of this organization should hire a HR Manager and required other employees and have a HR Department in this organization. * HR Department should maintain a HR database about available employees to inform them and to hire them when there are vacant positions to be filled. * Owners of MM Distributing agencies should meet their managers time to time and make plans for the future of the organization and should implement them carefully. Otherwise the remaining three branches of MM Distributing agencies will eventually fail.

Acrylic polymer is derived from the monomer methyl metharcrylate or MMA Essay

When modern man discovered plastic and its myriad of uses, there was no turning back. Today, plastics figured prominently in the lives of 21st century people. It is almost impossible to live comfortably without this substance. And among the many kinds of polymer there is perhaps nothing more versatile and very much in demand than acrylic polymers. This paper will look into the chemical properties and the myriad of uses for the compound normally designated as PMMA or Polymethyl methacrylate. Chemistry Acrylic acid (H2C – CHCOOH) was synthesized in 1843 according to Charles Carraher (2003, p. 160). Then he goes to add that ethyl methacrylate (H2C – C(CH3)COOC2H5) was synthesized and polymerized in 1865 and 1877, respectively (2003). With regards to polymerization e.g. acrylic or methacrylic acid, it must be done in an aqueous solution at less than 20-30% concentration (Feldman & Barbalata, 1996). â€Å"Besides water, a conventional recipe involves an initiating system (potassium persulfate and sodium thiosulfate) and chain transfer agent† (Feldman & Barbalata, 1996). Acrylic polymer is derived from the monomer methyl metharcrylate or MMA. Polymers can be divided into two groups: thermoplastics and thermosets. And that majority of them are thermoplastics meaning once the polymer is formed it can be heated and reformed over and over again (see American Chemistry Council, 2007). This major attribute alone is enough to make scientists and businessmen to be very interested in the application of the product. But interestingly there are many more surprises up the sleeves of the thermoplastic polymer. Properties The following attributes can be seen in most polymers and especially so to acrylic polymers: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Has a light transmittancy of about 92% – with particular clarity at lower wavelength of 270 to 350 nm (Whitaker, 1996) 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Has good resistance to weathering 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Good mechanical strength 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dimensional stability along with high tensile and flexural strength (Whitaker, 1996) 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chemical resistance – including salts, bases, aliphatic hydrocarbons, fats and oils, most common gases, and inorganic chemicals as well as dilute and concentrated solutions of most alkali Applications According to Feldman and Barbalatat, the most important usage of acrylic polymer is in the manufacture of adhesives, thickeners, coatings, flocculants, dispersants, fluidizers, in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, ion exchange processes and textile processing (1996). Now, a few years after acrylic polymer was first introduced by the scientific community, the said substance was first used as interlining for automobile windshields (Carraher, 2003). Since acrylic polymers exhibit good resistance to weathering it is widely used in thermoformed signs, aircraft windshields, and bathtubs. Acrylic polymers have long been used in the manufacturing of cuvettes, tubing connectors, speculums,and many other medical devices requiring impact strength, chemical resistance, biocompatibility, and clarity. In fact it occupies a, â€Å"†¦prominent place in the market for clear, disposable plastic – only glass transmits light as well† (Whitaker, 1996). In the medical field, acrylic polymers have shown its versatility and all around usefulness. From the start medical professionals were already well acquainted with the substance because it was used in the manufacture of incubators. In 1955 its range of usage was expanded when the first acrylic prosthesis was implanted. This probably came after its success as a primary material for aircraft canopies during World War II – pilots suffered fewer infections from shards of acrylic than they had from glass (Whitaker, 1996). Aside as an important component of cuvettes and tubing connectors, it is also used to produce test kits, luers, drainage wands, syringes, blood filters, blood pump housings, fluid silos, surgical blade dispensers, surgical trays etc. Finally, acrylic polymers is not only superior in terms of chemical resistance, clarity as a thermoplastic, and durability which is highly prized in the medical field. This substance is also easily recyclable, â€Å"Acrylic burns extremely clean [†¦] with end products of carbon dioxide and water. In addition, the material offers superior recyclability: acrylic can be reground and reused, which results in less material waste during molding† (Whitaker, 1996). But there is more. The said material can be depolymerized back to its monomer, thoroughly purged of its impurities, and then can go full circle back into PMMA. This is a true recycling process, whereas most other recycling processes involve crushing the material and using it in applications with lower specifications (Whitaker, 1996). In the world of plastic, acrylic polymers belong to the top shelf. The range of its applications is a great help in the development of many industries especially in the medical field. Among other things it has provided cost-efficiency and safety concerning the medical practice and other industrial purposes. References American Chemistry Council. (2007). The Basics – Polymer Definition and Properties. PlasticResource.com [online] Accessed 08 May 2007 from http: www.plasticresource.com/s_plasticresource/sec.asp? TRACKID=&CID=124&DID=226 Carraher, C. (2003). Giant Molecules: Essential Materials for Everyday Living and Problem Solving. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Feldman, D. & Barbalata, A. (1996). Synthetic Polymers: Technology, Properties, Applications.    New York: Chapman and Hall. Whitaker, W. (1996). Acrylic Polymers: A Clear Focus. Medical Device Industry [online] Accessed 08 May 2007 from http: www.devicelink.com/mpb/archive/06/01/001.html.

2 Easy Ways to Get Zinc Metal

2 Easy Ways to Get Zinc Metal Zinc is a common metallic element, used to galvanize nails and found in many alloys and foods. However, its not easy to get zinc from most of these sources and you may have trouble finding a store that sells it. Fortunately, its easy to obtain zinc metal from common products. All it takes is a bit of chemistry know-how. Here are two simple methods to try. Where to Find Zinc in a Penny Although pennies look like copper, they are really made with a thin copper shell that is filled with zinc. Its easy to separate the two metals because they have different melting points. Zinc melts at a lower temperature than copper. When you heat a penny, the zinc runs out and can be collected, leaving you with a hollow penny. To get zinc from a penny, you need: United States pennies (minted in 1982 for the right chemical composition)pliersa gas stove or torcha heat-proof container to collect the zinc Extraction Turn on the stove or torch so it will be hot enough to melt the zinc.Hold a penny with pliers and place it in the tip of the flame. This is the hottest part of a flame. If the metal is not melting, make sure its in the right part of the flame.Youll feel the penny start to soften. Hold it over the container and gently squeeze the penny to release the zinc. Be careful with this process, as the molten metal is very hot! Youll end up with zinc in your container and a hollow copper penny in your pliers.Repeat the process with more pennies until you have as much zinc as you need. Allow the metal to cool before handling it. An alternative to using pennies is to heat galvanized nails. To do this, heat the nails until the zinc runs off of them into your container. Use a Zinc-Carbon Lantern Battery Batteries are useful sources of several chemicals, but some types contain acids or hazardous chemicals, so you shouldnt cut into a battery unless you know exactly what kind it is. To get zinc from a battery, you need: a zinc-carbon batterygloves to protect your hands from sharp edgeswire cutterspliers Extraction Basically, youre going to break open the battery and dismantle it. Start by prying the rim or top off the battery.Once the top is removed, youll see four smaller batteries inside the container that are connected to each other by wires. Cut the wires to disconnect the batteries from each other.Next, youll disassemble each battery. Inside each battery is a rod, which is made of carbon. If you want carbon, you can save this part for other projects.After the rod is removed, youll see a black powder. This is a mixture of manganese dioxide and carbon. You can discard it or place it in a labeled plastic bag to use for other science experiments. The powder will not dissolve in water, so it wont do you any good to rinse the battery. Wipe out the powder to reveal the zinc metal. You may need to cut open the battery to completely remove the powder. Zinc is stable in air, so once you have it, you can put it in any container to store it. Safety Information The chemicals in this project are not particularly hazardous, but either method of obtaining zinc should be performed by an adult. Melting pennies presents a burn hazard if youre not careful. Getting zinc from batteries involves sharp tools and edges. Otherwise, this metal is one of the safest chemicals to obtain. Pure zinc metal does not present a health hazard. If all else fails, you could always buy zinc metal online. Its available as a metal ingot or as a metal powder from sellers.

Word Choice Disinterested vs. Uninterested

Word Choice Disinterested vs. Uninterested Word Choice: Disinterested vs. Uninterested Here at Proofed, we see plenty of linguistic mix-ups. However, few cause more confusion than â€Å"disinterested† and â€Å"uninterested.† It’s easy to understand why these words sometimes baffle even native English speakers, as they’re alike in many ways. Both are adjectives related to attention, for example, and the prefixes â€Å"dis-† and â€Å"un-† are sometimes used interchangeably. But â€Å"disinterested† and â€Å"uninterested† have importantly distinct meanings, so it’s vital to use them correctly in academic writing. Disinterested (Objective) The word â€Å"disinterested† implies freedom from bias and self-interest. When we want to take a neutral or objective attitude towards something, we would adopt a â€Å"disinterested approach†: Although he cared about the environment, as a scientist, James knew he had to address climate change disinterestedly. Uninterested (Bored) The word â€Å"uninterested,† by comparison, means â€Å"indifferent† or â€Å"bored.† Thus, if we simply have no concern for something, we are â€Å"uninterested†: Although Jane was a environmentalist, she was uninterested in the science behind climate change. The Prefixes: Dis- and Un- One way to remember the difference between these terms is to consider what the prefix at the beginning of each word means. The prefix â€Å"dis-† implies separation (e.g., disconnected, disjointed). So being â€Å"disinterested† is an attempt to look past your own interests: a deliberate attempt to adopt a neutral attitude. The prefix â€Å"un-† in this case implies a negation (e.g., unhappy, unknown). As such, being â€Å"uninterested† is the opposite of being interested: i.e., a lack of interest rather than a deliberate attempt to approach something without bias. Disinterested or Uninterested? As you can see, there’s a huge difference between the meanings of â€Å"disinterested† and â€Å"uninterested.† To make sure you use these terms correctly, remember the following: Disinterested = Neutral or unbiased Uninterested = Indifferent or bored If you can remember this, you should avoid errors in your writing. But since it’s easy to overlook these things, it never hurts to have a professional check your work. Try sending a 500-word sample to be proofread for free.

A Dream To Work In A Multinational Company Commerce Essay

A Dream To Work In A Multinational Company Commerce Essay it has always been a dream to work in a multinational company such as an oil and gas companies after my M.sc program in other to apply my skills learnt to the sector regarding business unethical practices and negligence of corporate social responsibility(CSR) by this companies in this sector. firstly it would be necessary to define CSR which is a situation where a company provides social benefit to the public which are required by law(Mc William and siegel 2001); while business ethics can be defined as† the study of business situation activities, decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed † (Crane and Matten 2004;8) CSR is highly required all organizations to fill in the short coming of government and provide needs of a community. The aim and objective of this write up is to point out the unethical practices, negligence and ineffective deliverance of CSR by the MNCs focusing on oil companies in Africa to their host communities. Analysis Despite some positive influence of oil companies through CSR like increase in developmental funding in 2001 by $500m(Frynas 2005) previous studies has shown that there are still cases where CSR has not had effect on the required beneficiaries through ineffectiveness , negligence and unethical practices by the companies. This can be proven through various situations in Africa has discussed it the course of this report , it can be seen that most CSR embarked upon by the MNCs are due to public and global pressure such case is that of shell and Ogoni , when visited by observers it was seen that the lack social amenities like Roads and electricity e.t.c.( World Business Council for Sustainable development 2008) despite this protest oil producing regions have not yet benefited from the wealth and are still left in poverty. In a statement by president of movement of survival of Ogoni people (mitte 1995) he says that the communities where not getting enough required social and infrastructures development, he al so pointed out that the companies are taking from the communities and not putting back into it and left in total neglect. this shows a great cases of negligence of CSR to their host environment which they are benefiting from financially, there also citing of abandoned projects which are meant to serve as CSR to the community example is an hospital abandoned by shell in Okoroba village Bayelsa for many years bust was completed due to pressure(Fryans 2005) this suggest that they don’t have good management or department to ensure that project that have been embarked upon by them are not left alone, some previous events indicates that CSR was adopted not for the benefit of the communities but for that of the companies so has to have competitive advantages and get favors from government representatives, In a report ChevronTexaco made a partnership deal of $50million with Us Agency For International Development (USAID) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Angola to coin cide with negotiations for it block O (Fryans 2005) another example is in Ughoton Nigeria (SPDC) built roads and also provided funds for schools and youth empowerment in the village but as soon as it well stop producing oil they also stopped their various projects (okunmadewa et al 2002,p 63) . it shows that it was not meant to benefit to society but the company because it made them look like a company that support development and if the negotiation did not fall through they might have withdrawn their partnership another case is of shell who grant development fund to it managers to put up projects in regions which it has activities so has to maintain peace between them and the communities once this activities are complete it development account is closed and the project are left alone which ever stage it has gotten too. evidence of non functioning project like that of shell which one-third of it project in Nigeria not running or are in operation(Nigeria and shell 2001) duo they are trying to help there is no sign if development due to the lack of smooth operations of this projects. lack of trained managers in CSR has made it difficult for most developmental plans see the light of day Frayans(2005) also confirmed this saying † major contract managers are not development specialist† and even if trained might be wrongly trained for instance British petroleum sent it managers to acquire skills on development in a business school instead of a development school Fraynas(2005) which would put them through all the stages of development , failure to have specialist and conduct investigation relating to what is required could make the aim of CSR not to be achieved e.g. in Angola BP donated condoms during a campaign for AIDS but without adequate investigation and consultation the aim of CSR was not met because the condoms where too small for African men (Fraynas 2005). There has also been cases relating to un ethical practices by the oil companies causing har m and increase level of poverty in the regions which they operate such as Niger Delta according to Eyina and Ukpo(2006) they state that † it will be correct to indicate that the greatest environmental problem with petroleum industry in Nigeria result from spillages†; In the early part of 2008 alone Nigeria recorded 418 spills(Vanguard Oct.29,2008) which affects the ecosystem and increases poverty due to the fact that most people in that region are farmers and fishermen. Further evidence of unethical practices can be seen in the technological method of production adopted by them which releases poisoned gas like CO2 and CO into the atmosphere(Aigbedion et al 2007) also Eyinla and Ukpo(2006) supported this by saying that the †soil ,rivers and creeks are now acidic†. which had influence the people indirectly because there drinking water and fishing occupation have been destroyed impact of oil exploitations has caused the soil not be good for planting and the wate r is contaminated with oil (Adepelum et al 2006).A report by Niger Delta Environmental Survey indicates that drilling activities in Niger delta has negative impact both † socio-economically and ecologically† (Nigeria Sunday Times 1998), Aigebedion(2005) also confirmed this that oil spillages has caused †ecological disturbance† .

Learning English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Learning English - Essay Example   I was born and raised in a Middle Eastern country. one of my uncles was a well-known businessman who had dealings with people from all over the world. As a child, I often heard him interact with them in a different language and at one time, I gained the courage to ask him what language it was. That was the first time that I encountered the word English and I became fascinated with it.   My uncle told me that English, like Arabic, was an international language which was used to communicate with people all over the world, no matter their nationality.   However, in my country, there was little opportunity for learning this language because the medium of teaching in school was mainly in Arabic. Despite this, I resolved that there would come a time when I would learn English and be able to communicate with people from other cultures. My opportunity came when my application to Middle Tennessee State University was accepted and became the turning point because of my desire to learn English came to be satisfied. In America, I met an individual who would not only teach me the English language but also make it possible for me to gain some proficiency in it.  My two friends, Abdullah and Mustafa, and I started taking English classes with Irving Penzo, a renowned English teacher who helped the three of us excel in the language. from the beginning of our classes, we all took to him because he was not only jovial but also a man who was dedicated to the welfare of all of his students.

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Strategic Management - Essay Example It is the process through which organizations follow a certain path to achieve desired short term and long term goals and can maintain a desired level of output. A proper strategic planning can help an organization to develop a clear long term vision and would help the management to visualize where the organization would be after five to ten years or may be even more than that. Strategic Planning can be treated as a milestone for each and every organization. Without strategic planning, the organization can actually never identify the present position in the industry and cannot develop a strategic guidance for the future (Henry, 2008, p. 89). This study has been conducted with a motive to develop a strategic plan for Tesco, one of the large retail supermarkets in the U.K. The study looks to focus all the aspects related to the development of a strategic plan of an organization including the assessment of the mission and vision statement, situation analysis and final development of the strategy to gain competitive advantage over the competitors. Here it needs to be mentioned that the although Tesco is a global retailer, but still the study has been conducted with respect to the UK market as it happens to be the home country and largest market of Tesco compared to other markets in the world. Getting Ready Choosing Organization Tesco PLC. Developing Organizational Profile Tesco PLC is a multinational retail grocery retailer and general merchandiser. The company is headquartered in Chest Hunt, UK. It happens to be the largest retailer in the United Kingdom and the third largest retailer in the world after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. The company was originally founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. As on April 2012, Tesco had 6,351 stores all over the world. The company has 2,975 stores in UK market. According to annual financial report of 2012 the total revenue of the company is ?64.539 billion. Specific issues to be addressed Over the past few years the retail business in the UK has seen a lot of changes. One of the key issues to look for while developing the strategic plan would be the effect of the changes external environmental factors and the impact of those on the company’s day to day business activity. The present industry scenario also plays a major role in the development of the business strategy and hence this has to be taken into account. Along with the external environment assessment, the internal environmental factors would also be reviewed as it would help the company to identify the core competencies, strengths as well as the weaknesses (Kolb, 2008, p. 92). Key Information to be collected To understand the impact of the external environmental changes, political, economic, social and technological factors need to be assessed. Also to understand the present market scenario especially market competitiveness, Porters Five Forces will be analysed. It consists of bargaining power of the buyers and suppliers, industry

WHAT PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY HAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF Essay

WHAT PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY HAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ADDICTION - Essay Example Most methods, however, still maintain that it is the personality trends, whether conscious or unconscious, that drive human behavior. Applying psychodynamics as a tool to analyze the nature of drug addiction can be accomplished with a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical perspectives from recognized leaders in the field. Addiction can be described as a complex process and set of behaviors with multiple determinants and multiple functions. Drug addiction is understood to be an adaptive pursuit for providing relief from painful feelings and to create the illusion of control (Bell et al). Recognizing this type of addiction as a means to mentally alter the perception of reality and as a mechanism to suppress negative emotions can be directly tied to Sigmund Freud, arguably the most influential figure in psychology, theorized that the basis of personality centered around three distinct characteristics in which he labeled the id, the ego, and the superego. Freuds analysis of the dimensions of personality development is that the unconscious (the id) is completely intact from birth and, essentially, acts as the center for subliminal instinct and desire. The ego, on the other hand, acts as a regulatory structure in personality that functions both consciously and unconsciously in order to logically assess the drives of the id. The ego, according to Freud, bridges the gap between id and superego to prevent a person from acting unrealistically to the demands of the external environment. The superego, therefore, is the personality component that weighs morality against decision-making. Each of the traits of these personality constructs theoretically work together to create a harmonious relationship between the unconscious and the conscious. According to Freud, an overactive id would dominate both the ego and superego resulting in behaviors based not on logic, but on satisfying the

Critical review of Rheumatoid arthritis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical review of Rheumatoid arthritis - Essay Example However, RA involves an attack on the body by its own immune cells (auto-immune disease). Different cases may have different causes. Infectious, genetic, and hormonal factors may play a role. The disease can occur at any age, but it begins most often between the ages of 25 and 55. The disease is more common in older people. Women are affected 2.5 times more often than men. Approximately 1-2% of the total population is affected. The course and the severity of the illness can vary considerably. The onset of the disease is usually gradual, with fatigue, morning stiffness (lasting more than one hour), diffuse muscular aches, loss of appetite, and weakness. Eventually, joint pain appears, with warmth, swelling, tenderness, and stiffness of the joint after inactivity. Joint involvement in RA usually affects both sides of the body equally -- the arthritis is therefore referred to as symmetrical. Wrists, fingers, knees, feet, and ankles are the most commonly affected joints. Severe disease is associated with larger joints that contain more synovium (joint lining). When the synovium becomes inflamed, it secretes more fluid and the joint becomes swollen. Later, the cartilage becomes rough and pitted. The underlying bone eventually becomes affected. Joint destruction begins 1-2 years after the appearance of the disease. Characteristic deformities result from cartilage destruction, bone erosions, and tendon inflammation and rupture. A life-threatening joint complication can occur when the cervical spine becomes unstable as a result of RA. Other features of the disease that do not involve the joints may occur. Rheumatoid nodules are painless, hard, round or oval masses that appear under the skin, usually on pressure points, such as the elbow or Achilles tendon. These are present in about 20% of cases and tend to reflect more severe disease. On occasion, they appear in the eye where they sometimes cause inflammation. If they occur in the lungs, inflammation of the lining of the lung (pleurisy) may occur, causing shortness of breath. Anemia may occur due to failure of the bone marrow to produce enough new red cells to make up for the lost ones. Iron supplements will not usually help this condition because iron utilization in the body becomes impaired. Other blood abnormalities can also be found, for example, platelet counts that are either too high or too low. Rheumatoid vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels) is a serious complication of RA and can be life-threatening. It can lead to skin ulcerations (and subsequent infections), bleeding stomach ulcers (which can lead to massive hemorrhage), and neuropathies (nerve problems causing pain, numbness or tingling). Vasculitis may also affect the brain, nerves, and heart causing strokes, sensory neuropathies (numbness and tingling), heart attacks, or heart failure. Heart complications of RA commonly affect the outer lining of the heart. When inflamed, the condition is referred to as pericarditis. Inflammation of heart muscle, called myocarditis, can also develop. Both of these conditions can lead to congestive heart failure characterized by shortness of breath and fluid accumulation in the lung. Lung involvement is frequent in RA. Fibrosis of the lung tissue leads to shortness of breath and has been reported to occur in 20% of patients with RA. Inflammation of the

The Necessary Being with the Idea of God Research Paper

The Necessary Being with the Idea of God - Research Paper Example The premises of Aquinas’ arguments are actually mostly mere assumptions. Firstly, on the first objection, it would not be valid to assume from God’s infinite goodness that there would be no evil. God’s infinite goodness, after all, may actually mean allowing evil to coexist with the good because God is so good that He allows the existence of everything, even that of evil. Secondly, God’s declaration of Himself in the Book of Exodus is actually a mere statement written by a human author, and so it cannot be taken as the word of God Himself. Thirdly, the statement that all things can be reduced to only one principle – that of human reason – is somehow unproven and is merely considered by Aquinas as an a priori statement. Fourthly, in his proofs of the first mover and the first cause, his a priori idea that the series cannot go on to infinity seems to require proof. It seems that it would be impossible for Aquinas to know exactly why something c annot go on to infinity. After all, numbers can go on to infinity, and numbers are used to count the series of efficient causes. Fifthly, although Aquinas has somehow successfully proven the validity of the first mover, the first cause, and the necessary being, it would seem like an entirely different story to use this as valid proofs of God’s existence. Perhaps, what Aquinas has proven was merely the existence of a first mover, first cause and necessary being but not necessarily the existence of God. God must be loftier than a mover, a cause and a necessary being. More importantly, human reason must not be enough to exactly prove God’s existence, if ever God really existed.

WHAT PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY HAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF Essay

WHAT PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY HAS TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ADDICTION - Essay Example Most methods, however, still maintain that it is the personality trends, whether conscious or unconscious, that drive human behavior. Applying psychodynamics as a tool to analyze the nature of drug addiction can be accomplished with a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical perspectives from recognized leaders in the field. Addiction can be described as a complex process and set of behaviors with multiple determinants and multiple functions. Drug addiction is understood to be an adaptive pursuit for providing relief from painful feelings and to create the illusion of control (Bell et al). Recognizing this type of addiction as a means to mentally alter the perception of reality and as a mechanism to suppress negative emotions can be directly tied to Sigmund Freud, arguably the most influential figure in psychology, theorized that the basis of personality centered around three distinct characteristics in which he labeled the id, the ego, and the superego. Freuds analysis of the dimensions of personality development is that the unconscious (the id) is completely intact from birth and, essentially, acts as the center for subliminal instinct and desire. The ego, on the other hand, acts as a regulatory structure in personality that functions both consciously and unconsciously in order to logically assess the drives of the id. The ego, according to Freud, bridges the gap between id and superego to prevent a person from acting unrealistically to the demands of the external environment. The superego, therefore, is the personality component that weighs morality against decision-making. Each of the traits of these personality constructs theoretically work together to create a harmonious relationship between the unconscious and the conscious. According to Freud, an overactive id would dominate both the ego and superego resulting in behaviors based not on logic, but on satisfying the

The Necessary Being with the Idea of God Research Paper

The Necessary Being with the Idea of God - Research Paper Example The premises of Aquinas’ arguments are actually mostly mere assumptions. Firstly, on the first objection, it would not be valid to assume from God’s infinite goodness that there would be no evil. God’s infinite goodness, after all, may actually mean allowing evil to coexist with the good because God is so good that He allows the existence of everything, even that of evil. Secondly, God’s declaration of Himself in the Book of Exodus is actually a mere statement written by a human author, and so it cannot be taken as the word of God Himself. Thirdly, the statement that all things can be reduced to only one principle – that of human reason – is somehow unproven and is merely considered by Aquinas as an a priori statement. Fourthly, in his proofs of the first mover and the first cause, his a priori idea that the series cannot go on to infinity seems to require proof. It seems that it would be impossible for Aquinas to know exactly why something c annot go on to infinity. After all, numbers can go on to infinity, and numbers are used to count the series of efficient causes. Fifthly, although Aquinas has somehow successfully proven the validity of the first mover, the first cause, and the necessary being, it would seem like an entirely different story to use this as valid proofs of God’s existence. Perhaps, what Aquinas has proven was merely the existence of a first mover, first cause and necessary being but not necessarily the existence of God. God must be loftier than a mover, a cause and a necessary being. More importantly, human reason must not be enough to exactly prove God’s existence, if ever God really existed.

Digitizing Accounts Payable Documents Essay Example for Free

Digitizing Accounts Payable Documents Essay When accounting files are sent to the archives at the end of the year, the portion taken up by the accounts payable documents usually exceeds that of all other documents combined. For some companies with high accounts payable files, it is a major expense to remove all the paperwork, box it up and identify it, and ship it off to a warehouse, from which it must be recalled occasionally for various tasks. Digitizing the documents is a means of avoiding the expense of archiving. Digitizing a document means that it is laid on a scanner that converts the document image into an electronic image stored in the computer database, which can be recalled by anyone with access to the database. To digitize a document, there should be a high-speed scanner available that is linked to a computer network. Documents are fed into the scanner and assigned one or more index numbers or codes, so that it will be easy to recall the correct documents from storage. For example, a document can be indexed by its purchase order number, date, or supplier number. A combination of several indexes is the best approach, since one can still recall a document, even if one does not remember the first index number. The document images are usually stored on an optical disk since it can hold enormous amounts of storage space (and digitized documents take up a lot of computer storage space). There will probably be many optical disks to provide a sufficient amount of storage, so the disks are usually stored in a â€Å"jukebox,† which gives the user access to all the data on all the storage disks. Users can then call up the images from any terminal that is linked to the network where the information is stored. There are additional advantages to using digitization of documents. Besides the reduced archiving costs, it is also possible to nearly eliminate the time needed to access documents. With a traditional archiving system, older documents must be requested from a warehousing facility that may require several days to deliver. Even in-house documents may require several minutes to an hour to locate. If customer service is important, and that service is linked to providing rapid access to data, then digitizing documents allows a company to instantly satisfy customer requests for documents by searching the computer fi les for them, no matter how old the documents may be. Another advantage to using digitization is that it avoids having to take out and replace files. Whenever someone removes a file and later returns it, there is a risk that the fi le will be misplaced. Every time a file is misplaced, it will be time-consuming to find it again. By accessing documents through a computer network, there is no need to take out or replace the document—it is always sitting in the same storage location in the computer, and cannot be lost. Yet another advantage is that multiple users can access the same file at the same time. Since it is a digital image, there is no reason why the computer cannot potentially distribute a copy of the digital document to everyone who asks for it, even if they all do so at the same time. Reference link: http://classof1. com/homework-help/accounting-homework-help

Social Networking Sites: The Youth Lifestyle

Social Networking Sites: The Youth Lifestyle The approach, which the researchers adopted for this research was Quantitative approach, investigated the association between the social networking sites and its impacts on youth with the help of descriptive research design. The data for this research was collected through the self-administered questionnaires, which have been filled by generation Y of Pakistan who uses such Social Networking websites. Three different tests were applied including regression, covariance and correlation for analysis. Findings suggest that the positive significant correlation found between Mental Stress and Physical Stress, and Physical Stress and Co Curricular activities, Ease and Online Communication, Ease and Learning Perspective, Online Relationship and Offline Relationship. While the results of covariance and regression had revealed significant predictors (exogenous) as the influencing factors on the use of SNS and its impact. Man is a social animal. Human beings cannot live without social activities, as they want to interact, share and learn which brings changes in them and in their lives. There are different mediums to interact and share like some people likes to interact by calling their loved ones, some write letters to each other, some like to meet face-to-face and mow most of the people go for internet as a medium to share as its the latest ,easy and affordable way . In recent time, people are attracted towards the new medium to interact i.e. Social Networking Sites. Social networking is the combination of two words. The first one is social which means that human society and the other word is networking which means the act of meeting new people in a business or social context. History of social networking is very old but the new shape of social networking in this era is a service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relation among peoples. It is just a kind of social structure, in which people love to interact and communicate with their love ones. (ezinearticles) For youngsters internetworking is almost social networking. From last few years, a large number of populations is diverting from their duties and works to internet; some people use it for their project; some of them use it for online gaming. But majority are using it for social networking just to interact with their friends, relatives, some people are using for making a relationship and many of them using it just for fun but the social networking has some positive and negative impact. (ezinearticles) Social Networking Sites offers people to make new profiles, post pictures, play games and interact with their relatives and friends. Social Networking Sites offers allure due to which people divert from their works and other things, which in return increase stresses in their lifestyle. Being a form of virtual community Social Networking Sites are a great arena, which provides its users to connect, communicate, share information and maintain social relationships among social circles of the people. Finin et al. (2005, p. 419) define a social network as: An explicit representation of the relationship between individuals and groups in the community. Social Networking Sites are also been defined as: An online space that allows people to connect, share, communicate, establish or maintain connection with others. (Cain, 2008) Social Networking Sites are well-liked nowadays. Except from texting and calling, Social Networking Sites are one of the popular and easy ways to keep in touch with a person. Communication is very imperative to keep the friendship and the closeness of people. If you have not communicated within the day, within the week, within the month and within the year, it will have an effect on the closeness. Social Networking Sites are the easy and best way to communicate to those people. It is an excellent way of communicating with the people we recognize. We can also have the possibility of meeting new friends. They can be from within our country, or even from dissimilar parts of the world. These websites help us cooperate with people from distant places. We mail them; we make conversation with them, and even play games with them. Social Networking Websites recommend people to stay in touch, exchange contact information, send immediate message, and stay up to date of friends activities and what they are doing. In a similar fashion as blogs, SNS allow individuals to present themselves to other users using a variety of formats, including text and video. Just like chatting services, SNS incorporate a list of other users with whom individuals share a connection. But unlike any other web service, SNS allow individuals to make visible their list of connections to others and to traverse their social networks (boyd Ellison, 2007). Social Networking Sites have a tendency to share some conservative features. For the most part, individual users are encouraged to make profiles enclosing a variety of information about them. Users can frequently upload snaps of themselves to their profiles, post blog access for others to read, search for other users with comparable interests, and gather and share lists of associates. In addition, user profiles often have a segment dedicated to comments from friends and other users. To guard user privacy, social networks usually have controls that allow users to decide who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of contacts, and so on. In life of todays youth, virtual communities known as Social Networking Sites play a vital role. According to a research, more than 90% of teenagers have access to Internet and more than half use Social Networking Sites. (Moreno, Stoep, al, 2009) 1.1 Statement of the Problem Todays generation is swamped with various Social Networking Sites on the Internet such as Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. These Social Networking Sites are providing centralized virtual world with the attractive opportunities to avail the facilities provided by them such as making friends, chatting, sharing pictures, videos etc. Excessive use of these networking sites is affecting social lifestyle of the peoples. (oclc.org) The current study focused on impact of Social Networking Sites on youth life, further researchers have focused on the lifestyle of the youth of Pakistan due to extensive use of these sites. 1.2 Purpose The purpose of doing this research was: To understand the changing behavior of youth towards login up the accounts on Social Networking Sites. To evaluate the affects of Social Networking Sites on the lifestyle of the Pakistani youth. 1.3 Research Questions What factors influence the youth to use Social Networking Sites? What are the impacts of Social Networking Sites on the youth? What are the future prospects of Social Networking Sites for the youth? 1.4 Significance This study is helpful for the young generation to be aware of the impact of using Social Networking Sites on their life. Through this research, Law enforcement agencies will get aware about the positive and negative impacts of Social Networking Sites on youth. 1.5 Limitation As researcher its difficult for students to invest finance in the research and most importantly researcher found shortage of time in skimming or composing a draft as they are indulge in other academic activities as well. One of the limitations is the burning issue of power breakdowns and during the work researcher becomes the victim of it. 1.6 Operational Definition of Key Terms Social Networking Site: online community that connects people Youth: teenagers or adolescents of nation belonging to age group of 5 to 25 years Impact: reasons or factors that changes an individual set patterns of life 1.7 Summary This chapter discussed the background to the study by describing the context, the problem statement, and the rationale of the study among other details. It also highlighted the methods of investigating and defined important concepts. The next chapter will review the literature germane to the study. Chapter II Literature Review Networking is a way of communication of the 21st century. It comprises of specific grouping of the individuals e.g. Communities or neighborhoods. The most popular way of social networking is online networking. There are several Social Networking Sites, which have fascinated millions of web browsers such social networking websites include Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and Orkut. These websites entirely revolutionized the face of social networking. Social Networking Sites involves a signing up to the site or creating an account which leads to the further steps of creating a profile page which includes the information about the individuals leading to the other applications like photos videos comments etc bounded by the security/privacy settings which can be viewed by everyone in the virtual world. This trend of social networking is new which has been increased in the past decade and is continue to increase with the fast pace. Actually, it all began in 1995, when some early networking sites started. One of the first of such sites was Classmates.com. This site was meant to connect old classmates. Another site called sixdegrees.com became very popular in 1997. This site focused on indirect bind between people. This site allowed users to design their profile and they could mail messages to other user on their friends list. Users were able to network with members who had similar interests. However, the actual explosion in the social networking came after 2004. Many networking sites were commercialized in this time. (ezinearticles) Social network websites allow individuals to interact, share and learn with the people of their interest and help them remain connected. Number of visits to the Social Networking Sites such as Facebook, myspace indicates its popularity in youth. (Cain, 20 08) Communication occur between people when there is an exchange in information in when communicative pattern where the sharing not simply for pleasure-seeking but in order to keep the other person with them to share in return (Boyd and Heer, 2006). Communication is very vital to uphold the friendship and the closeness of people. If you havent communicated within the day, within the week, within the month and within the year it will affect the closeness. Social Networking Sites is the best way to communicate to those person you do not see often, person you cannot mingle with everyday, and person who is outside the country or beyond your reach. You can stay in touch through Social Networking Sites and never miss the important happening of the person you are most concern. There are varieties of reasons why everyone are into Social Networking Sites. People are into Social Networking Sites because they want to keep conversant on the latest happening on the person they are concern, also because they want to stay linked to the person they do not see every day. People are into Social Networking Sites because they want to be having company, to relax and enjoy after their hard hours in school and in the office. People are into Social Networking Sites because of the services and attribute the Social Networking Sites are providing to the user. People similar to journal and with the internet they wanted to share their lives more openly. Initially called web-logs, these personal journals have highly developed. Some personal journals still exist, while other blogs talk about a specific niche or interest. Related to blogs, there is a micro journal of what is occurring right now. These sites can contribute to what is going on in an individual life or can be the information the individual would like to share. Major news events are now breaking online via Microblogs. The best-known Microblog is Twitter. (ezinearticles) Social Networking Sites are now commonly known as the platform for sharing the information. Such information may be shared in the form of photo sharing. It has now become so easy to send pictures by single link. Users tag their photos with keywords linked to the image and allow people to comment on them. Most popular photo sharing sites are Flicker and Picasa. Youtube is the video sharing site that approximately everyone has seen. People can also share videos online to their families and friends. Users can enjoy making comments on those videos that can be searched through keywords added on the sites for searching those videos. Other than these reason people also prefer these sites because they want to relax and be free for a while from all the pressures in the world. People engage in Social Networking Sites mostly for entertainment, for fun and for games. Watching movies, playing at the arcades and family computer are not that entertaining as they used to be many years back. People nowadays are addicted on games online. People would rather stay at home and play games on the internet, would rather watch videos and listen to audios online. Peoples interest is changing so with the mean of entertainment. The entertainment that these sites provide is an influential factor that cannot be neglected. Another influence seems to be the convenience these websites provides to the users by managing their presence while staying at home and keeping up with their daily routine. Different researches have been conducted in order to ascertain the advantages or the benefits these sites provided to its users by these social networking websites. Like (Cain, 2008) found that; Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and other Social Networking Sites require just a valid email address to become a member, thus easy way of joining with lots of attractive features that attract people to join Social Networking Sites. In addition, the past users are already enjoying their features so they are spreading its use resulting in day-by-day increased members on Social Networking Sites. Social Networking Sites are playing an important role in shaping attitude of todays youth. It is also influencing the social lives of people as they are now spending most of their times in browsing Social Networking Sites. It is influencing social lives in the form of identity exploration and resulting in increase interaction among people. (Moreno, Stoep, al, 2009) Moving back to the concept of self, the identity theory defines it as the set of constructed role exhibit the degree to which people explore themselves in some particular societal roles. (Leary M, Cox C, Shah J, et al., 2008) Social Networking Sites provides a platform to individuals to express themselves freely and make them feel connected with the globe. Studies support SNSs within an organizational setting as these sites enable organizations to communicate effectively and keep in touch with each other personal and professional updates as SNSs features self-presentation, i.e., Presentation of self publically but from no w, onwards SNSs have provided their users with the facility of privacy settings so that they can control their self-presentation. This is one of the features, which have encouraged the concept of identity-exploration, as individuals are now feeling free to present their self. Online Social Networks like Facebook, Bebo, Orkut, and myspace has promoted the factors self-identity and self-expression etc which in turn has inculcated in the mind of individuals that they need to interact or login their preferable social communities on daily basis. Thus, are making SNSs as a compulsory component of their lives. Because of such enforcement people now feel their lives incomplete without SNSs and assumes to be something missing even if they are not logged for a day. There are variety of ways individual can present themselves through SNS such as through text and video they can explore themselves as they want and to whom they want to share. (boyd Ellison, 2007). The impact of excessive use social networking sites has generated incompatible results. Based on earlier researcher data from General Social Survey, they find that various ways of surfing internet are differentially associates to social linkups. While nonsocial users of the Internet do not vary drastically in the internet networking size. Social user of internet are spending extensive time on surfing internet has more social attachment than nonusers do. This indicates that heavy users on internet communicate and attach online with people whom they also get in touch offline and these user sustain some of their social ties entirely through online communication. These finding demonstrate for distinguish analyses of usage of internet and impacts on the personal connectivity. (Leary M, Cox C, Shah J, et al. 2008) The invention of internet networking had made possibility for every people to get in touch with each other without having physically interaction. Old means of communication had replaced with the modern means and people feel satisfy and comfortable in interacting online mean of communication and it enabled people to stay connected even though they are situated in different and far places. Online connection has eliminated the time which otherwise spent the time in travelling thats why people feel enthusiastic in interacting online. The foremost chief mode of communication is the internet that permits people to create new social contacts as well as to uphold existing ones. Currently internet entirely replaces the traditional media and sources of offline communication. This shows that people willingly shift from offline network to the online one. (Boyd, d. m., Ellison, N. 2007) Furthermore, the researchers finding demonstrate that size of online network keeps on the same, only the behavior and practices of people communicate changes. Personality characteristics have a great impact in online and offline communication, (Rice Markey, 2009; Saunders Chester, 2008). Social Networking Sites have been described as the relationship facilitator as these sites are facilitating interactions; interaction brings people closer resulting in strong relationships (Cain, 2008). These relationships can later help in different aspects of life such as in finding jobs, meeting school colleagues, strengthens friendships, increase job opportunities through number of contacts. Some significant benefits of Social Networking Sites are that it helps youth in finding their school or college friends with whom there connection was lost. It also gives the benefits of staying in touch at any time and sharing memorable moments in form of pictures and videos. These are some reasons which make the Social Networking Sites appealing. (Cain, 2008) As mentioned before social networking is now becoming the addiction. Every teenager has an account and they login daily to check new updates. They spends hours checking new updates until they understands that they has more important things to do like school works they have missed doing because of signing in into a social network service. Some people are enthusiastic to spend more time being online on these social network services than to spend time studying and working up on school works. This is unpleasant to hear because with all the advantages social networking can provide, there are also disadvantages, like this, that can be or give bad impact to people who exercise them. In educational institutions, achievement is measured by academic performance, or how fine a student meets up standards set out by their educational institution. As career competition grows everyday in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education departments alike. The youth in use social networking sites as a means of interaction, mingling, and for purely entertainment purposes. Students exercise the Internet almost every day, and they use the Internet mainly for entertainment. These websites concern are stuck in these critical factors: the sites are attracting many teens, some of whom are not making good choices or many parents are not paying attention to what their children are posting on the sites. Some teens connect in insecure or irresponsible activities that comprise: unsafe exposà © of personal information, addiction-spending extreme amount of time online, resulting in lack of healthy commitment in major areas of life, such as academics, that become a serious problem in student life. Not only do social networking sites affect ones academic performance negatively, they are also causes of damage in a students chances of being well-off in the future. Social networking in middle and high school can turn into harm to education. Attention and status is the most important for which most of teens tend to misuse social networking sites and use them for gathering and meeting new people as an alternative of using the precious time for educational purposes. It tends to become a disturbance to these teens; they tend to pay more concentration to these sites instead of the teachers. (Yu Angela Yan, 2010) These sites are reasons of distractions, which escort to their low grades; whoever has social networking web site accounts have the same opinion that social networking sites affect ones academic performance adversely. It can be indirect that usage social networking sites can spoil and be an obstacle to students academic careers. Social networking sites are therefore, adversely affecting ones performance in school. Students are so much addicted of these sites that they even dont realize that they are wasting countless time in those sites. Although the users of old media exist teens of this generation is now preferring the new medium for any reason to the old medium but are also connected with the olds. Today teens are too connected with these new medium of communication and using the internet become necessary. (Yu Angela Yan, 2010) There are many effects on using social networking sites such as time consumption, people who used net just to check their mails now using it for entertain themselves, the use of net are increase day by day, and people divert from physical relations to online relations, their social attraction are being less and their interaction with friends and relation through online are going to be increase daily. The confident level of a children and youngsters are increase through social sites, they can say anything about anyone on any topic easily because they have a perception that no one can punish them or give a reward on their action. They get satisfy easily from social networking sites, and can learn more things easily from others through these sites. They use these sites to build their online image among others by making their profiles on facebook, twitter, orkut, hi5 etc. Putting their pictures and tell others about their life styles and other things so that people get to know about them easily. (Yu Angela Yan, 2010) As the influence of using social networking website is increasing among youth so is the negative impact, which is a serious issue of concern. Some of the major negative impacts of Social Networking Sites include the fact that youth spend most of their time staying online and try to be available on the Social Networking Sites, which eventually make them waste their precious time. The young age of a person is considered the age where one is fully active and has a capability to keep him engaged in various physical activities but instead of spending time in healthy activities youth spend their time sitting on one place doing no exercise and make them lazy. Other negative impacts of these websites are the security risks. Websites like these have all the personal information of the user, which can be misused by others through hacking the account. Cheats and frauds nevertheless are one of the most dangerous and sensitive impact of these websites. On the ground of society behavior these websites makes the people go towards individualism instead which void the social moral and cultural values. Faking things gets promotion through these websites, furthermore, these websites has promoted the hatred among the people on the name of freedom of speech and views. Most of the business considers Social Networking Sites as a way of effective advertising and business, the administrations of these websites instead of paying attention towards making these websites as safe to make beyond the reach of hackers, they are emphasizing on e-marketing to earn their profits. (inkingrey) Past researches indicated that Social Networking Sites is also a place where people disclose their personal information to a general public and that can become a risky matter when the information is misused by strangers or unknown people. Thus, publically displayed information i.e. Personal is dangerous to be opened for everyone; it is referred to as risk behavior. Teenagers can avoid or eliminate such risk behaviors by eliminating risk behavior references and by setting profile settings to private as it will allow owners to set their profile information within a protection wall, thus decreases the hazards of Social Networking Sites risk behaviors and provides a complete protection. (Moreno, Stoep, al, 2009) The main criticism on Social Networking Sites are that the youth may open themselves in front of general public which may include strangers who can search them easily and can misuse their personal information which are commonly revealed by Social Networking Sites users. (Cain, 2008) Social Networking Sites are such platform that brings people publically along with their personal information. Thus enables public to intervene in others information so the four characteristics of mediated public are defined as persistence, search-ability, reliability and invisible audience. Conversations, pictures and videos remain linked for years and the common people have access to them even when the user attitude has been matured. (Cain, 2008) There are many controversies about the use of Social Networking Sites as it poses risks such as privacy, safety and revealing personal information to the world. Press has also focused on the negative consequences of Social Networking Sites such as they quoted many cases related to college students who suffered negative outcomes because of the problematic activities in which they were engaged at Social Networking Sites as their private informations were exposed to public easily which is putting their identity at risk. (Cain, 2008) Students have been expelled from their classes mostly because of risky postings on Facebook and some of the students were harassed and faced uninvited guests at their home. Many institutions have implemented restrictions on use of Social Networking Sites in order to deal and avoid disadvantages of Social Networking Sites to protect university image. (Cain, 2008) As per present, there is a huge population of youngsters who holds a profile over these social networking websites. The term of Social Networking Sites has become extremely common in every house. The talks or chit chat of a peer group does not gets completed without having a conversation regarding social networking websites which is a clear fact that these days it has become a daily routine all over the world to go through Social Networking Sites. No one knows what the future holds for social networking websites but because of current and increasing popularity of these websites, one can easily predict the bright and strong future of these websites. Social Networking Sites will become more important in the future holding more applications to make the life of individual more convenient. The social networking websites will become more customized by understanding the interest of the user based on their behavior. After analyzing the research work of different researchers we can conclude that Social Networking Sites have both positive and negative effects on the personality and lifestyle of youth. By doing further research, which we will be, conducting in future will help us to find out the relation of dependent and independent variable. Chapter III Methodology 3.0 Introduction In this chapter, the methodology implemented throughout this research was explained. Through methodology, the logical relationships among variables indentified which helped in interpreting the data and made the research more authentic. This chapter covered the population details, the sampling techniques and procedures, and the method of data collection. The research focused on the impact of social networking sites on the life style of youth. The independent variables identified were the factors that influences youth to use Social Networking Sites and the use of Social Networking Sites as the dependent variable which these factors had its impact on. The underlying most influencing factors that attracted youth to use such sites identified were peer pressure, identity control, entertainment, ease of use of social networking sites, online communication, subjective norm and the learning. On the other hand, the variables that are identified as the impact on the lifestyles of youth by using social networking sites were academic performance, extracurricular activities, mental and physical stress, online and offline relationships, confidence and satisfaction in interaction and personal desires respectively. SNS Model for the present research the factor and impact variables 3.1 Hypotheses H1: Job opportunity, making new or find old friends, and maintaining social gatherings factors influence youth to use Social Networking Sites. H2: Social Networking Sites diversify the virtual societal gathering. H3: Social Networking Sites affect the physical curricular activities and physical gatherings of the youth. 3.2 Research Method The methods available for the researchers are qualitative, quantitative and mixed research in social and educational researches. In this research, quantitative research method is adapted. Quantitative research is a research involving the use of structured questions where the response options have been predetermined and a large number of respondents are involved. By definition, measurement must be objective, quantitative and statistically valid. Simply put, it is about numbers, objective hard data. (http://uk.geocities.com). The reason to choose this method was that quantitative research would quantify the variations identified in this research, which then will give unbiased, accurate and better result. 3.3 Research Design In this research, descriptive study was used. Descriptive study is a scientific method, which involves observing and describing the behaviour of subject without influencing it in any way. Descriptive study creates the associations between the independent and dependent variables. The aim of this research was to determine the association between the social networking sites and its impacts on youth. 3.4 Population and Sample size The population of this research was the youth of Pakistan who uses social networking sites in their daily lives. Generation Y was the target sample (the age between 18-28), the reason to choose this target was that according to Paw Research Centres survey among 87% of the youngsters, 67% uses internet for using social networking sites which is the most likely age group to use significantly the social networking sites. Participants selected randomly and through the email from the sample size of 200 individuals for this research. 3.5 Data collection techniques The collection of data had done through survey method in which the research instrument was questionnaire. An