Saturday, August 31, 2019

Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan

What power bases did Bernie Ebbers and Scott Sullivan rely on to get away with accounting fraud? The power bases are legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, referent power. Case Study Bernie Ebbers built WorldCom Inc into one of the largest telecommunication firms. Yet he and CFO Scott Sullivan have become better known for creating a massive corporate accouting fraud that led to the largest bankruptcy in US history. Two investigative reports and subsequent court cases concluded that WorldCom executoves were responsible for billions in fraudulent or unsupported accouting entries.How did this mammoth accouting scandal occur without anyone raising the alarm? Evidence suggests that Ebbers and Sullivan help considerable power and influence that prevented accouting staff from complaining, or even knowing, about the fraud. Ebber's inner circle held tight control over the flow of all financial information. The geographically dispersed accouting groups were discouraged f rom sharing information. Ebber's group also restricted distribution of company – level financial reports and prevented sensitive reports from being prepared at all.Accountants didn't even have access to the computer files in which some of the largest fraudulent entries were mde. As a result, employees had to rely on Ebber's executive team to justify the accounting entries that were requested. Another reason why employeees complied with questionable accoutong practices was that CFO Scott Sullivan wielded immense personal power. He was considered a "whiz kid" with impeccable integrity who had won the prestigious "CFO Excellence Award. quot; Thus, when Sullivan's office asked staff to make questionable entries, some accountants assumed Sullivan had found an innovative and legal accouunting loophole. If Sullivan's influence didn't work, other executives took a more coercive approach. Employees cited incidents where they were publicly berated for questioning headqua rters decisions and intimidated if they asked for more information. When one employer at a branch refused to alter an accouting entry , WorldCom's contoller threatened to fly in from WorldCom's Mississippi headquarters to make the change himself.The employ changed the entry. Ebber's has similar influence over WorldCom's board of directors. Sources indicate that his personal charisma and intolerance of dissention produced a passive board that rubber-stamped most of his recommendations. As one report concluded: ;The Board of Directord appears to have embraced suggestions by Mr. Ebbers without question or dissent, even under circumstances where its members now readily acknowledge they had significant misgivings regarding his recommendedd couse of action. ;

Friday, August 30, 2019

Pocari Sweat Essay

This assignment deals with advertising and it’s concepts. So to start off we’d like to explain certain terms: Advertising is more than just a means of disseminating product information. It is a primary communication tool of our economic system and our culture. In other words it could be defined as † a purposive communication to a target market, which assists in selling by drawing attention to the characteristics of a product which will appeal to the buying motives of customers in the target segment of the market†. Advertising is mainly used for the following purposes: To support sales increase; To encourage trial; To create awareness; To inform about a feature or benefit; To create an image; To modify attitudes; To gain trade and sales staff support. There are three different kinds of advertisements: (1) Informative advertisement: This advertisement conveys information and raises consumer awareness of the product. These are common in early stages of the product life cycle. (2) Persuasive advertising: This advertisement is concerned with creating a desire for the product and stimulating actual purchase. This is mostly used for well-established products, which are in growth/maturity stages of the  product life cycle. (3) Reminding advertising: It is to remind consumers about the product or organization, or the benefits they (consumers) are receiving from buying the product. Advertising has an ethical and moral responsibility to deal honestly with its portrayal of society. Individual companies are judged by their own advertising, and the effectiveness of advertising is dependent on the overall attitude of customers towards advertising generally. (Q) What does advertising do for consumers? One of the most important roles of advertising is showing people how to solve problems. Effective advertising must start from premises, â€Å"Does my product help people?† The major trend in modern advertising is making the consumer the focus of the marketing process. Organizations find that starting with the consumer creates a relationship in which products are designed for the consumers rather than having to convince consumers that a preexisting product is the one they want. (Q) What does advertising does for business? Without advertising, businesses would not be able to bring new products to the attention of enough consumers fast enough to make the enormous cost of creating, developing, manufacturing, and distributing the products practical. In other words, advertising is both a tool and requirement of an abundant economy. (Q) What does advertising does for society? Advertising has both intended and unintended results. Obviously, the intended result of most advertising is to contribute to the profitable sales of product. In addition to its economic role, advertising revenues support a diverse and independent press system protected from government and special  interest control. As a key communication link in the process, it also is a major stimulant to vigorous economic growth and stability. However, there is a growing awareness that advertising must move beyond single-minded concerns with profitability. There is increasing agreement that advertising must be created in an atmosphere that considers a number of ethical factors. A recent survey of advertising agency executives found that they faced six major ethical considerations in conducting business: 1. Treating clients fairly; 2. Creating honest, no misleading, socially desirable ads; 3. Representing unhealthy, useless, or unethical products; 4. Representing clients whose products/services are unhealthy and unneeded; 5. Treating suppliers, vendors, and media fairly; 6. Treating other agencies fairly. It is to the benefit of advertising and society in general that ethical issues are in the forefront of discussion concerning the practice of advertising. Now that we have seen what advertising is and how it deals with various people and organizations it is easy to set the objectives of advertising. These are likely to be the following: To communicate certain information about a product. This is perhaps the most important objective. To highlight specific features of a product which make it different from the  competitors. The concept of the unique selling proposition (USP) is that by emphasizing a unique feature, which appeals to a customer need. To build up a brand or company image through corporate advertising. To reinforce customer behavior. Influencing dealers and resellers to stock the items (on as much shelf-space as possible). In case of government advertising. To achieve a policy objective. A successful ad: The content of an advertisement is determined largely by the objective of the advertising and the motivation of the potential customer. An advertisement should present information, which leads to a greater awareness of the product. It should be an attention-getter and may excite amusement or emotions such as fear, but inciting these feelings should not be allowed to be the only effect of the advertisement. Advertising will be most successful if the following conditions apply: a) The product should have characteristics, which lend themselves to advertising. 1. It should be distinctive and identifiable. 2. It should stimulate emotional buying. 3. If at point of sale a customer can refute an advertisement claim simply by inspecting the product, advertising will achieve no sales at all. b) There should be consistency throughout the sales operation. Advertising, the activities of salesperson and dealers, branding, packaging and pricing should all promote the same product image. c) There should be co-operation between advertising staff and all other  activities in the company. Product design, production, distribution, selling and financial operations should all combine to achieve customer orientation and maximum selling efficiency. After all the facts now let’s move on to our product and its advertisement. We have chosen POCARI SWEAT as our product. A Japanese company known as Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. launched Pocari Sweat in 1980. Under the company philosophy, â€Å"Otsuka – meaning – people creating new products for better health worldwide†, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is an R&D-oriented corporation with a central focus on pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Through innovative products, OPC hopes to make a difference in curing illnesses and maintaining people’s everyday health. The name POCARI SWEAT is a JAPLISH word (Japanese & English). ‘POCARI’ sounds relaxing, easeful, and light to Japanese people. It doesn’t mean any English word. We know that ‘SWEAT’ has dirty image in English. Then why did the company use such a word?† Actually ‘SWEAT’ has meanings of diligence, efforts, and refreshing ness in Japan, which shows their importance to work, their culture and belief. So that’s how the word came – POCARI SWEAT! Most of Japanese people call POCARI SWEAT as â€Å"POCARI.† We rarely call its full name. We suppose that people have western-like image to â€Å"sweat† especially; Since, POCARI SWEAT has been a very famous and popular name, they (the company) cannot change its name. This company also manufactures various other products like: Ornamin-C (Energy Drink), Calorie Meter (Diet Drink), Energen and Fast Break (energy drinks). Company Name Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Head Office 2-9 Kanda Tsukasa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8535, Japan Phone: +81-3-3292-0021 Date Established August 10, 1964 President Tatsuo Higuchi Capital 6 billion yen Employees 5,224 (As of April 1, 2002) Business Description Manufacturing, Distributing, Exporting, Importing of pharmaceuticals, Clinical testing equipment, Medical equipment, and Food products. Domestic Establishments 17 branch offices/50 district offices 16 research institutions 2 clinical research laboratory 6 factories POCARI SWEAT A WORLDWIDE BRAND! DID YOU KNOW The human body has a very high water content: 60% for the average adult, and approximately 70% for a child. This water component is known as body fluid, and contains electrolytes such as sodium and potassium ions. WATER content in a child and adult body. The composition of POCARI SWEAT is similar to that of our own body fluids. It contains just the right amount of those electrolytes – such as sodium and potassium ions – that our body loses when it loses water. It’s also gentler on our body and more easily absorbed than ordinary water. And it doesn’t  harm the important balance of body fluids. CONTENTS OF POCARI SWEAT Pocari Sweat plays a vital role in human body after consuming it. Every day we loose about 2.5 liters of water through urinating, sweating and breathing, while we intake approximately the same amount through food and drink. Body fluids automatically regulate this loss and intake of water: balancing the two is vital to the maintenance of a healthy body. Pocari does just that after playing sports, working out in a gym, practicing yoga or long tiring dances lessons. This will be clear from the following diagram: Graph showing daily loss and intake of water in a human body Now that we have seen various graphs that how dangerous can it be if we loose water in plenty. Well now that OPC (the company) has launched Pocari Sweat there is no fear of loosing excess water. Consuming Pocari not only gives a refreshing feeling but also prevents loss of fluid from our body. It will be clear from another graph, which follows: Comparison of how Pocari Sweat prevents the loss of body fluids The composition of POCARI SWEAT is similar to that of our own body fluids. It contains just the right amount of electrolytes – such as sodium and potassium ions – that your body loses when it loses water. It’s also gentler on our body and more easily absorbed than ordinary water. And it doesn’t harm the important balance of body fluids. This graph shows clearly the performance of POCARI SWEAT. POCARI SWEAT COMPETITION By now you’d wonder that who are competitors of POCARI SWEAT? Well the real answer according to Otsuka Pharmaceuticals is that POCARI SWEAT  real competitor is PLAIN WATER and not energy drinks! Many would disagree to it but it’s the truth. People would say that Pocari faces a huge competition with the energy drinks available in the U.A.E like the Red-Bull, Isostar, Blue Ox, Flying Horse etc. Well according the product agencies in the U.A.E. they mention that Pocari is not an energy drink but it’s a REHYDRATION DRINK. The product (Pocari Sweat) agents in U.A.E are AL MAYA LAL’S LLC. To prove the above statement that Pocari Sweat is a rehydration drink the following picture of Pocari’s can, which clearly shows it: In reality, Pocari Sweat is a rehydration drink, which is very similar to baby rehydration fluid. The label on the bottle clarifies: This close up is taken from the can Past advertisements Pocari Sweat had made many ads in Japan, which is shown mainly in other Eastern Asian countries, they were a huge hit there but the company have failed to make an impact with them in the Western countries, that is why the product is not much known and the popularity is not much as it have in Japan and other neighboring countries. The companies previous ads were focused mainly on sports, they had many famous celebrities, models and artists in their ads, some of them are: Cindy Crawford (model), Nancy Adrew (stunt actress and model), Tikeshi (model), and Myo Chin Haut (model) etc. The concepts, which the company wanted to show people through its ad, were amazing and very creative, shot very beautifully under water. The first which showed two men playing tennis under water; the second big ad was during the Football World Cup held in Japan, which obviously had to be a soccer ad. Lately, the company has shot an ad keeping in mind how trendy and energetic are today’s teenagers; they have a skate boarder skating (which are attached with color cans), as he goes two and fro on the ramp it creates  graffiti. (This ad is not available on the net; the concept was taken from the following link: http://spotlight.iridas.com/200303/colorado) this site also contains previous football ads made by the company. In-short after our research we feel that the company and the agents of POCARI SWEAT in the U.A.E and the Middle East should emphasize more on advertising. The product is doing fine as we can see that most of our samples drink it after some activity, with 1-2 cans at a time, they find it really refreshing and energetic, and end up with the results as â€Å"good overall performance†. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Newspapers/Magazines: Gulf News, Khaleej Times, Fortune 500, Forbes. Text Books: Advertising and Sales Promotion Techniques by Gerard J. Tellis Advertising Procedure by J. Thomas Russell, W. Ronald, 14th Edition Marketing Management by Philip Kotler 11th Edition Marketing HND/HNC Edexcel textbook, BPP Publishing Websites: http://www.google.com http://www.yahoo.com http://www.ask.com http://www.otsuka.co.jp/pocari_e/pocari1.htm http://spotlight.iridas.com/200303/colorado www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/?link=top http://www.oranda.or.jp/index/english/embassy/agriculture/PDF/productmakerhit.htm http://www.videor.co.jp/eng/jdata/market/99tvcmtr.html

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Is the media machine an asset or an obstacle for peace activists Essay

Is the media machine an asset or an obstacle for peace activists - Essay Example The peace movement, being a social movement, is aimed at achieving or maintaining world peace by ending situations that bring conflicts in the human society. In this respect, they work towards ending wars and minimizing the use of violence to resolve disputes. This is accomplished by use of alternatives such as diplomacy, non-violent resistance, pacifism, peaceful demonstrations, supporting political candidates who denounce violence, moral purchasing, and lobbying for certain legislations to be enacted to promote peace. The media, both electronic and print, has been a great asset to peace activists who use it to pass their points across to the general public (Chatfield and Kleidman, 1992). On the other hand, it has also acted as an obstacle to peaceful missions around the world. This paper seeks to analyze how much of an asset and obstacle the media has been to peace activists. The reason WPP (Women Peacemakers Program) and other organizations are putting so much effort to get mainstream media’s attention is because the media’s attention towards peace has been wanting (Woman Peacemakers Program, 2004). In many cases, the media applies only limited effort towards training specialists to cover peace related activities. Compared to sports, humour, business news and fashion which never seem to have shortage of specialist journalists, security and peace issues have very few specialist journalists. Most media companies avoid the trouble of having their journalists specialize only in peace issues. Peace activities to them do not sell and hence are likely to be shunned in most times. The situation is made worse by the meagre financial incentives accorded to peace journalists. Specialists in this area who stick to journalism are in fact viewed as minority. During the cold war period subjects like NATO and Communism came to public focus (Chatfield, 1973). Peace activists at this time, unfortunately, were subject to stereotypical

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Oraganzation behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Oraganzation behavior - Essay Example Moreover, with respect to the question of what role common sense and intutino plays with regards to the management of individual team members, it must be understood that whereas studies in management and organizational behavior can go a long way in helping to delineate the correct path that should be taken, there is no substitute for common sense and intuition (Rostein 17). However, with that being said, it must be stated that both common sense and intuition are subjective human interpretations of the world; so they are not useful in each and every situation and should not be trusted to apply to each individual in the same way that it does to the individual manager/leader who employs it. 2. One of the first perceptional biases that can be noted is with regards to how the United States press is so keen to take statements out of context and perceive them to be something that they are not. This was recently noted with regards to President of Russia’s opinion editorial in the New York Times concerning Syria. However, instead of taking this op-ed for what it was, the American press instead sought to sum up the entire opinion editorial by emblazoning headlines with phrases such as â€Å"Putin laughs at American Exceptionalism†; a statement that was ludicrous compared to what was actually said by the Russian President (DeWayne 1). Another recent news bias is with regards to the expectation that the gunman in the Washington DC shootings must have been a Muslim; prior to any information coming out as to who he was and why he might have done such a thing. Finally, sticking with the motif of the news, it can also be noted that a strong perceptional bias exists with regards to the conflict in Syria. 3. Firms such as Yahoo have recently found it difficult to juxtapose the creative energies and talents of a multigenerational workforce. As many firms have noted, seeking to maximize the potential of a diverse group of people does not allow for any one approach to be used by itself. In this way, some of the tech giants, Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, and others, have opted for created a more relaxed atmosphere where millenials and other inter-generational employees can work at their own pace without the more rigid and structured approach that had been deemed so useful to the past generation of employees (Jain et al. 47). Rather than seeing this as good or bad, it is necessary for the individual to merely understand such a reaction as one that seeks to take into account the needs of different individuals and seeks to maximize utility and productivity accordingly. 4. Without question values affect the way in which individuals integrate with different situations. However, rather than making the mistake of viewing values as synonymous with attitude, it must be understood that an individual’s attitude is likely to change and morph at various times throughout their professional career; however, values are more innate and are unlikely to experien ce a major shift as an individual progresses within their career. Nevertheless, attitude is one of the most important factors of performance and happiness/job satisfaction. One distinct situation stands out in my own mind with regards to a given task

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The articles by Livers and Culver, Glen, and Morison, et al Essay

The articles by Livers and Culver, Glen, and Morison, et al - Essay Example In my view Livers and Cavers in their article have provided a way through which blacks can be lead differently from how they are being treated in the corporate sector these days. The problems faced by the black population have been increasing because of their cultural ethnicity. The problems that the blacks are facing in the workplace become an issue and these blacks have to suffer from the problem of ‘miasma’ as laid down by Cavers. Miasma is a problem suffered by the blacks and this can lead to discouragement of these workers. The ideas given by Livers and Cavers can be implemented in a daily life setting so that the morale of the employees can be boosted. Self development is a solution for black employees which can be targeted in a workplace. This self development would help them to know about themselves and get used to the environment that they face in all kinds of settings. In a practical environment it is important that a person who has knowledge about miasma is ma de the leader so that the morale and performance of the black employees can be enhanced. Secondly Glen in his article provides a brief overview about technology and geeks. He gives an insight as to how these geeks can be helpful in a working environment. Geeks have become a source of knowledge for the corporate sector and they have to be used in the right manner. Leadership qualities are acquired and they should be used in the right manner so that the performance of the employees can be enhanced. In a practical setting it is important that the leaders know how to take advantage of technology and geeks. It is important that the leaders who are hired for this purpose should look after geeks but these leaders should ensure that they do not discriminate between workers. It is important that the leaders know how to handle these geeks properly so that they can benefit the workplace. Leadership skills to sort out geeks and technology are possible in the environment today. Moreover one can ensure that the leader knows how to use geeks and technology so that the productivity and creativity of the workplace is increased.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Critical Analysis of Lee Smith's All the Days of Our Lives Essay

Critical Analysis of Lee Smith's All the Days of Our Lives - Essay Example But the scene she sets is dreamy and romantic, full of color, yet devoid of emotion. The reader is made more aware that Helen lives life in a haze of Salem cigarette smoke, romantic daydreams and unrealistic perceptions. The picture she paints of her ex-husband Howard firmly places him in a tidy, orderly, realistic place, with a similar personality, her opposite, it emerges. She cries in bouts of self-pity throughout the story, but there is unconscious humor in the picture painted of a lonely, old lady cutting frozen dinners in two. And still we are in Helen's car, as she segues into the image of herself as a nurse, all in white. Her stream of consciousness has deftly moved the reader from the hot interior of an automobile to the cool, dark sea, and back again to the mundane reality of a divorced woman with too much on her mind, a vivid imagination and a way with words. The 'solid sun', coupled with the 'pest control man' lend an air of irritation and frustration, and her character begins to emerge as less empathetic when she refuses to respond to her apparently helpful neighbor. Within the setting of her home, her attitude to her children, her soap on TV, her lack of impetus, all serve to further dispel the idea of a woman with some spirit. Her 15 year old daughter, Denise, appears to have more common-sense, determination and grasp on reality than her mother. "In some funny way, she is not young at all" and "Denise will never have a ball in her life, and both of them know it." (Smith, p. 3) The reality of the toddler, the put-upon teenager and angry little boy, all gathered in a small, chaotic domesticity are not to her liking, but she can block them out with the imaginary drama, the luxury and wealth on the screen which she prefers to immerse herself in. The question arises as to whether Helen is selfish, weak, ineffectual or a victim of circumstances beyond her control. The answer may be that she is all of these. The atmosphere she soaks up from her TV serves to remove her from the reality of her life. She gives desultory attention to real people, avid interest to soap actors. It becomes more apparent when Judy, her childless sister arrives, that Helen is dependent on others. Judy faces life as it is and she acts as a catalyst to bring Helen down to earth for a time, reminding her of the eccentricities of Howard. She takes off Helen's 'rose-tinted spectacles', with honesty and humor and the result is that: "Even tragic Helen has to laugh." (Smith, p. 6) Their interaction has defined the differences in the sisters and the roles they play for each other. It has made Helen think about marriages, her sister's, her parent's and shows the reader that despite negative experience, Helen's perceptions remain detached from reality. "Helen had known all about marriage anyway, that it was like a beautiful pastel country out there, waiting for her to

Sunday, August 25, 2019

How and why did the U.S. emerge as a world superpower between World Essay

How and why did the U.S. emerge as a world superpower between World War Two and 1991 - Essay Example America gained its super power status immediately after the Second World War which saw America and the Soviet Union emerges stronger from the war than before they entered. The period between world war two and 1991 saw major events take place that led to the decline of previous great powers to the emergence of new superpowers. This was the â€Å"cold war† period. Cold war was a state of military and political tension between western bloc and eastern bloc. The western bloc was led by America and its NATO allies while the eastern bloc was led by the Soviet Union and its allies who were in the Warsaw pact. The war was described as â€Å"cold† because it was marked with no large scale direct fights but with regional wars that were supported with the two blocs. Some of the countries that experienced wars were Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea. Cold war was defined by several events that prompted the two superpowers to demonstrate their influence in their allied countries. Some of the events that shaped this war were consolidation of the eastern states by the Soviet Union which saw America retaliate by giving financial and military aid to the anti-communist side in the Greek civil war. Other events that marked this period are the Chinese civil war, Korean War, Cuban missile crisis, berlin crisis, Suez crisis and the Vietnam War. These events shaped the cold war and hence bringing to the fore the emergence of America as the superpower with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The subsequent paragraphs will explore how and why America gained the superpower status between the period after world war two and 1991. Most of the war was fought far away from America’s boundaries. This gave it a competitive advantage over the other powers like Britain, France, and Germany who were close or experienced the war on their soil. With the war taking place away from their national boundaries, America did not suffer major losses and destruction

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Reflection essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Reflection - Essay Example The State presented the second charge on grounds that it was in general public interest that Bell be kept behind bars. The State supported their information that Bell had been convicted of First degree robbery, Third degree robbery, and possession of narcotics with the intent of selling them (STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. ARNOLD BELL, 2011). The State also presented information that Bell was released on supervision from Court when he was charged with the murder of Fumiati. So, the trial court heard the case for the second charge â€Å"whether the history of Bell conducted was of nature that he should be kept behind bars for an extended period† (STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. ARNOLD BELL, 2011). The trial court decided that it would be of best interest that Bell be kept behind bars for an extended period under 53a-35a. Bell appealed to this decision of the court claiming that it had violated his basic constitutional rights and that it was under the jury to decide whether to prolong the sentence rather than the trial court. The court agreed to Bell’s claim that it was indeed unconstitutional and remanded the second part of the case for a new hearing. The remand trial was unsuccessful as the jury failed to come up to a unanimous verdict, so a new trial was ordered. Bell asked for the second charge to be lifted on grounds that it was unconstitutional. On the new trial, both parties presented their justifications however, the jury concluded that there was sufficient evidence that Bell was guilty of crime and should serve a prolong sentence in view of public interest i.e. forty years imprisonment. The case’s decision on the first part i.e. the defendant was found guilty of murder and crime was justified as sufficient evidence was provided by the State on the matter. The trial court’s decision on the second part was indeed unconstitutional, and it needed the consent of the jury to prolong

Analyse and research of area related to criminology (based on Essay

Analyse and research of area related to criminology (based on article)) - Essay Example The purpose of this research is to examine the use of the internet as a tool for sexual predation, particularly by women. Following a literature review on the topic, 50 participants from the North-East of England to examine how much of a danger female sex offenders are perceived to be in the context of cyber-crime. Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) established that females do indeed use the internet to target children as part of a sex offence. However, the area has not received much attention, and therefore there can be a taboo about female sex offenders and it can be difficult for criminal investigations to come to a solid conclusion, as the area is poorly understood. Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) describe the use of the internet by female sex offenders as an ‘emerging problem’ (p1) which needs to be addressed in a criminological manner to fully understand the consequences and significance of the problem. It is perhaps important to define what constitutes child abuse in an electronic manner to fully understand the context of the article. Child sexual abuse in a cybercrime context can include (but is not limited to) sharing and downloading of sexual photography of underage individuals, the use of explicit language in chat rooms and through other online media, and the approaching of minors with the aim of starting a sexual relationship in the ‘real world’ (Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor, 2010, p2). The internet allows these activities to be conducted with a degree of secrecy, which means that children are often more at risk of these activities online than they are in the ‘real world’, although the effects may be just as damaging. The research involved in the work of Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) consisted of an exploratory method involving collection of qualitative data from open interviews with 15 female sex offenders post-arrest. These

Friday, August 23, 2019

Nursing Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing Research Paper - Essay Example A number of researches have been made for the past years focusing on assessment tool, healthcare delivery, and different treatment modalities. Others focused on special groups or populations such as the children, men or women, adults, and elderly. An example of topic made in nursing research is the urinary continence experienced among elderly. Despite advances made in the field of nursing regarding urinary incontinence, the risk of incidence among elderly is still increasing (Pringle-Specht, 2005, 58); thus, the author had thought of what might still possibly cause increase in incidence of urinary incontinence among elderly and how could the current quality of care provided be improved. In line with this, the paper will provide an overview of what the research will look like, as well as the goals for the activity undertaken. In addition, the paper will identify the problem, the significance of addressing the problem, and the search terms used in the review of literatures. Furthermore , the author will present the summary of the two selected research articles, the evidence of gaps between the literature and the research problem, the research question, approach and design, the research hypothesis, concepts or variables under investigation, the target and accessible population, the sampling procedure, the researchability and feasibility of the study, the challenges of conducting the research, and a conclusion. Goal The overall goal of the research activity is to identify whether the use of catheters and diapers as interventions increase the risk of urinary incontinence among elderly patients. The specific goals or purposes of the study are: (1) to identify other treatment modalities to prevent or control urinary incontinence among elderly patients; (2) to test the hypothesis concerning the relative risks of using diapers and catheters among urinary incontinent elderly patients; and (3) to use the findings to develop recommendations for possible changes in intervent ions for urinary incontinence. Problem Statement Use of urinary catheters and diapers while in the hospital increases the risk of urinary incontinence among elderly patients, and interventions to date found that diapers and catheters are often used as a first-line treatment for urinary incontinence (Schnelle & Smith, 2001, 754). Other treatment modalities are to be identified to reduce increasing risks of urinary incontinence among elderly. Significance of Addressing the Problem The study is significant to the geriatric patients as the risk of developing urinary incontinence due to catheters and diaper would be prevented. In addition, diminishing the use of diapers and catheters in elderly will boost their self-esteem and facilitate routine urination. The result of the study would benefit the nurses and the nursing profession because of addressing the changes that should be made in common nursing practice which is frequent use of catheters and diapers in geriatric patients as this m ay further contribute to urinary incontinence. Researchers from the related field would also benefit from the study for providing information about one of the causes of urinary incontinence among geriatric patients. Search Terms in Literature Databases from CINAHL, PubMed, Medline, NCBI, and Google Scholar were used in search of related

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Overview of eZediaMX Essay Example for Free

Overview of eZediaMX Essay The main objective of eZediaMX is to allow both Windows and Micorsoft users to author, edit and publish multimedia content with a UI that caters without discrimination to general and expert users. The development of the program is considered as another indication of the market’s demand of ease in migrating and publishing between platforms. The UI of eZediaMX tries to create a common ground for both Windows and Mac users by combining functions and commands and at the same time functioning as an independent interface between the two operating systems. The setup of the buttons and layout of the workspace borrows elements arbitrarily and at the same time, there is use of elements or functions unique to the eZediaMX either as means or resolving conflicts between sytems or to establish features unique to the program. Mersereau (2002) points out that eZediaMX do not require any significant technology literacy and is very flexible. However, Hanno (2003) implies that there should the need for familiarity in media production and interface distinctions between platforms available. Figure modeling for example can be done through time sequence or the use coding and macros. According to the company’s website, the objective is not to position eZediaMX as a substitute programs for franchise media programs but allow users the opportunity publish arbitrarily between operating systems. Thus, the focus is on the media produced rather than the process (eZedia, 2007). In the review done by Roy (2003), there may still be conflicts regarding language both of the media produced and the program itself because of macro and security issues, there has not been any significant issues raised by users.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Business Plan For A Handicraft Business In UK Marketing Essay

Business Plan For A Handicraft Business In UK Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION The objective of this report is to study and prepare the business plan for a handicraft business in UK. This business plan deals with the feasibility analysis, idea generation, and industry analysis at both the local and global level to understand the market and business factors. The market analysis is also done, primarily through the secondary sources to capture the potential demand of handicrafts in the UK market and the trends which the customer are looking for in this industry. After analyzing the demand, the technical analysis was done for the business. For the success of any business, it is necessary that the idea or the basis of the plan should be strong. But it is also imperative that the plan should take into account a true picture of financials to have a strong foundation on which the business can be built upon. Therefore in the report, a detailed preparation of cash flow analysis, profitability analysis and the expected expenditure in the business has been taken care of. The report has taken into consideration the risk factor also which the business needs to consider before commencing on the work. Handicraft is a business which needs not only financial capital but also human capital and it is necessary that skilled labour is available in plenty. The attrition rate is low in this industry provided they are provided with adequate support and wages. In the report I have tried to touch upon that issue as well. Also the manner in which the products would be sold and promoted in the market would be taken care of. We would not be opening our own stores for now and would be selling on to other retailers. However the idea of opening the stores is not discarded as whole for now and would be seen as an option at a later stage in the life of the business. Heavy spending is planned to promote the products in the initial phase of the business and various media vehicles would be tried upon to promote the products well in the market. The business as of now focusing primarily on the UK market and later on in the later stage, the business can be expanded further. Contents Introduction Handicraft Industry The handicraft industry is one of the most productive sectors in the economy. The reason being that this sector not only uses the raw materials but also give employment opportunities to a number of people. Thus not only financial capital and raw material is employed but also a lot of human capital is also used in this business (Garrison, 2008). According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Symposium on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Crafts and the International Market: Trade and customs codificationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , Manila, Philippines, October 1997. Handicrafts can be defined as products which are produced either completely by hand or with the help of tools. Mechanical tools may be used as long as the direct manual contribution of the artisan remains the most substantial component of the finished product. Handicrafts are made from the raw materials and can be produced in unlimited numbers. Such products can be utilitarian, aesthetic, cultural, artistic and may have a social, religious and symbolic significance (Robertson, 2002). Industry Analysis UK has been a country with a rich and diverse culture. Lot of migrant population also resides in various parts of the country. It is because of this that handicraft industry has played an important role in this country. The industry provides economic advantage much because of the demand from various strata of the population (Mathias, 2001). Handicrafts have always attracted people much because of their cultural importance and it crosses barriers too. The customers in any market look for handicrafts from not only the local market but also from the other countries (Barlow, 1991). Therefore both the cultural and financial values are attached to this industry. This industry by its mass and production scale lies in the middle class as not much finance and manufacturing facilities are needed in this business. The industry is decentralized and is labour intensive. Not many players fight in this market and only small players operate in this area. The sector employs a lot of people and thus acts as a medium of employment for lot of people. The sector has seen an increase in growth much due to the fact that people have been more open to the culture of other countries and are accepting it more often. The era of globalization has helped in the revival of this industry not only in the UK market but also in other markets too (Andrews , 2009). Classification of Handicrafts Industry Handicraft products can be distinguished into the following: Metal ware Wood ware Hand printed textiles Embroidered and crocheted goods Shawls Carpets Embroidered goods Bamboo products Zari goods Earthenware and jute products Miscellaneous handicrafts SWOT Analysis of Handicraft Industry Strengths Market is diversified and has huge potential Presence of large product variety because of various cultures Low capital investment Flexibility in production of goods as per market demand Low barriers to the entry of new players Products sold are high value ones and have diversified usage Weakness Lack of coordination between government bodies and companies Inadequate information on the current market trends Lack of skilled labour Opportunities Development of domestic tourism sector which helps in boosting sales. Usage of internet and other technologies in boosting the market potential Rising demand because of people becoming more open to cultures Threats Lack of branding opportunities in this sector Threats from the developing countries like India and China in terms of resources Business Proposition We would be dealing in the limited set of handicraft industry as many products come under its purview. Our company would serve the needs of the customers in only the wooden handicrafts market. The reason for choosing this is that in UK market these products are used almost in every home. Products like decorative chairs, desks, beds, sofas which are made by hand are seen as high value products in the market as customers look for something different. Particularly for the UK customer, they need products which not only serve their functional purpose but also add something extra. It is with this that we plan to enter in this industry with this specific set of products. Wooden handicrafts refer to a wide range of wooden items carrying utilitarian and artistic value that are made by hand o with the use of simple tools. They are made by unmatched workmanship, have fine designs and have subtle elegance. The products require low capital investment to manufacture. The wooden handicraft sector provides a high ratio of value addition and has emerged as one of the major sources of foreign exchange in the country too. (Sumption, 2010) Market Analysis Majority of the current players in the market deal in almost all the product categories in the wooden handicraft industry. (Macleod, 2006) Retailing is not done by them and they deal in mostly the production part. They have retailing contracts with other partners which help them sell the products Monthly production units are majorly in the range of thousands of units for all the products combined Wooden and glass handicrafts are majorly in demand in the UK market. (John, 2006) Inventories are usually kept low as these products are sold and produced in lower units in the market. Almost all the players in the market hire the labor at a contractual basis rather than on a permanent basis. Many of the players take the route of exhibition to promote their products to the customers. (Mathias, 2001) These products are high margin products as they are mainly value based ones. Hence high margin and medium volume is generally the trend in the industry Competition The following players currently operate in the market and sell wooden handicrafts in the market. World Art and Crafts Ltd. Java Art Elements Ltd. Demand Analysis and Forecasting During our study we also analysed the demand pattern for the various products in the wooden handicraft market and it came to around 50000 units per month on approximation. There is a demand supply gap in the market as according to our supply the current players in the market are able to provide close to 30000 units only. Hence we consider a huge potential to be catch up in the market.(Boseley,2009) The market is growing closely at an annual rate of 15%. Hence it is decided that the capacity would be initially 60% for the first year and then it will grow accordingly. Marketing Channel As mentioned before, our business involves only manufacturing the products. Therefore we would use a network of retailers called partners to sell our products in the market. These would be mainly big retailers like WalMart, Tesco etc. Strategic Marketing Plan Wooden handicraft particularly the furniture part is an unbranded commodity and hence manufacturers generally do not have to spend too much on the promotional part. It is better for them to increase the margin given to the retailers so that they push the company product more in front of the customers. However in order to differentiate our offering and to capture the customer base, it is necessary to have a basic strategic marketing plan. The following would be the strategies used by us: Steady supply with timely delivery to fulfill the demand in the market thereby providing products with high quality Products would be given emphasis on the design front. Designs would be based on several themes Orders would also be taken online from the customers apart from being available in the retail The company plans to both manufactures the products locally in the UK market as well as import some of it from the Indian market. Indians play a vital role in UK both in terms of trade and demographics and thus there is a market to serve the Indian community. The other reasons to source the products from India are: The demand for Indian wooden handicrafts is evergreen. It is both difficult for the labour in UK to produce these handicrafts as the design in Indian art work is quite intricate. Hence it is decided that some portion of our products would be sourced directly from the Indian producers, mainly based in states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Indian being a developing country, both the labour and raw materials are quite cheap as compared to other developed countries. Hence it makes sense to outsource some of the production work. Indian artisans are well known around the world. British make a major portion of the people visiting India every year and hence they come in contact with Indian art and culture too. Thus getting products from market like India helps in understanding the customer taste and keep the product portfolio up to date. Some of the Indian players which have been shortlisted and considered for sourcing of the products are as follows: Khan Arts India Madnik International Goyal India Indus Trade Handmade Crafts Antiquity Handicrafts All the products in the portfolio would be sourced from these six major exporters in India. These players have been selected after thorough search of their business and their financials. They enjoy good reputation in the Indian market and also export to other players in different countries. It is decided to have business with six players as it will help us diversify our risk and help us maintain a steady flow of products from India. These players are from different parts of the country and thus the products served by them would have different designs as India being a vast country has many sub cultures which attract many people worldwide. Technical Analysis Wood carving is a time consuming process as craftsmen take time to make every piece. The process may take a week to months depending upon the level of intricacy in the design. The process use a lot of different tools also like saw, lathes, drills, chain saws etc. Machinery Involved The following machinery would be used by the workers in the business: Chemical treatment plant Seasoning plant Surface planner Grinder Driller Gaze machine Sanding machine Structure and Civil Work Sr.No. Particulars Area (Sq. feet) Amount (British Pounds) 1 Factory shed 1800 6000 2 2 stock room 360 1050 3 Guard room 80 250 4 Power room 80 250 5 Boundary wall 3200 6 Washroom 48 150 5 labour quarters 7 Rooms 120 18000 8 Wash rooms 48 700 9 Office rooms 180 550 10 Fire fittings 600 Total 30750 Labour Requirements Handicraft is a labour intensive product and thus a lot depends on the kind of labour employed. Employees Number Annual Salary (British pounds) Production supervisor 1 25000 Accountant 1 25000 Skilled workers 5 20000 Semi skilled workers 8 16000 Unskilled workers 3 13000 Peon 1 10000 Guard 1 10000 Total 20 119000 Financial Analysis Particulars Land and site development Building Plant and Machinery Other fixed assets Preoperative expenses Preliminary expenses Provision for contigency WC Margin Total Means of Finance Particulars Promoterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital Long/Medium term loan from banks Total Basic Assumptions underlying the financial projections The construction period will last one year The company would work 365 days a year The expected capacity utilization will be 60% in first year, 65% in second year and the increment based on past performance. The term loan would be re-paid in 14 equal half-yearly installments. The interest rate on the outstanding term loan would be 12% The bank finance for working capital will cost interest rate 12% The depreciation rates for company law purpose would be Building 3.34% Plant and Machinery 8% Misc fixed assets 5% The suppliers for raw material would provide credit for 15 days The salvage value is assumed to be 5% of fixed assets. Sales Forecast Sales Forecast (units) Year 2010 2011 Units 9500 12000 Conclusion The business plan has been prepared keeping in mind all the factors and taking financials to the best of the present picture. It is therefore expected that the actual outcome would represent the true picture of this outlined plan. Finally, my personal interest in this field will lead to establish my own business. These will result in successful and sustainable business. References Andrews, J.(2009).Handel allinglese, Playbill,. Accessed from: http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/4236.html (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) Barlow, I.( (1991) Metropolitan Government. Accessed from: http:// www.new.wales.co.uk (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) Boseley, S (2009). The question: Whats behind the baby boom? The Guardian. Accessed from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/14/familyandrelationships.women (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) Garrison, Webb B. (2008).Why You Say It. Accessed from: http://www.readbooksonline.net (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) MacLeod, Donald (2006). Britain second in world research rankings. The Guardian. Accessed from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/mar/21/highereducation.uk4 (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) Mathias.P (2001). The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain. Accessed from: http://www.johnbirchall-economist.com (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010) Mathias.P (2001).The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain. Published by: Routledge, ed.2, pp. 56-58 Mensah. J (2006). British culture on a high rise. Robertson, Kirsty (2006), How to Knit an Academic Paper. Queens University, 30 March 2006 Sumption, M.(2010). The UKs new Europeans: Progress and challenges five years after accession. Equality and Human Rights Commission. Accessed from: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com (Last Accessed: 5th March 2010)

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Industrial Process Validation of Tablets: A Review

Industrial Process Validation of Tablets: A Review Abstract Tablets are used most in health care. They must be manufactured to the best quality. Process validation can assure the tablet products meet the pre-determined quality and can be reproduced consistently within the established limits. This review gives an introduction and general overview on process validation of tablet formulation. It is a requirement for good manufacturing practice and other regulatory requirements. Keywords: Process validation, Tablets, Validation protocol, Process design Introduction Tablets are the most widely used solid dosage form of medicament. It has number of advantages over other dosage forms, such as: simplicity, lowest cost, high convenience, dosage accuracy and stability of drug substance. Tablet as a dosage form comprises a mixture of active substances and excipients, usually in powder form, pressed or compacted into a solid dose. The excipients can include diluents, binders or granulating agents, glidants and lubricants to ensure efficient tabletting; disintegrants to promote tablet break-up in the digestive tract; sweeteners or flavors to enhance taste; and pigments to make the tablets visually attractive. A film coating is often applied to confer specific advances, including protection of the drug from the surrounding, modifying drug release, masking unpleasant taste or odour of the drug, improving product appearance, making it easier to swallow and so on [1]. Process validation is required by the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) to consistently produce a desired quality product. In FDA guidance, process validation is defined as the collection and evaluation of data, from the process design stage through commercial production, which establishes scientific evidence that a process is capable of consistently delivering quality product 2]. Process validation involves a series of activities taking place over the lifecycle of the product and process. Thus it requires the manufacturer to collect data throughout the whole product lifecycle and evaluate it scientifically and assess if it supports a quality process. Process validation establishes the flexibility and constraints in the manufacturing process controls in the attainment of desirable attributes in the drug product while preventing undesirable properties [3]. Successful process validation contributes significantly to assuring reproducible drug quality in large scale manufacture, and may reduce the dependence on intensive in-process and finished product testing. To validate the process used in the manufacture of tablets product and for revalidation in case of any change in the manufacturing process or any change in the composition of any ingredient. Traditionally, a minimum of three successive separate successful process batches are required to demonstrate consistency of the reproducibility. The manufacturing process should be controlled and all pre-specified product specifications should be within limits. However, the FDA considers a reduction to three batches as too simple for being able to prove validity of quality product [4]. The emphasis for demonstrating validated processes is placed on the manufacturer’s process design and development studies in addition to its demonstration of reproducibility at scale, a goal that has always been expected [4].The FDA encourages the use of science and risk-based approaches to determine the number of validation batches. The FDA guidance describes process validation activities in three stages [2]à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Process Design: The commercial manufacturing process is defined during this stage based on knowledge gained through development and scale-up activities. Process Qualification: During this stage, the process design is evaluated to determine if the process is capable of reproducible commercial manufacturing. Continued Process Verification: Ongoing assurance is gained during routine production that the process remains in a state of control. In FDA guidance, it indicates a large change of regulatory requirement from â€Å"quality by test† to the current â€Å"quality by design† throughout the lifecycle of the product and process. This regulation requires manufacturers to design a process, including operations and controls, which results in a product meeting pre-specified attributes. These encourage the use of sound scientific pharmaceutical development concepts, quality risk management, and quality systems at all stages of the manufacturing process life cycle. Thus we can using not only commercial-scale studies data including process qualification, but also those such as determination of CQAs and identification of process variables from laboratory experiments and pilot scale trials conducted during the process design stage. The goal of stage 1 is to design a process suitable for routine commercial manufacturing that can consistently deliver a product that meets its quality attributes. The number of validati on batches for Stage 2 is determined by process knowledge obtained from Stage 1. In Stage 3, it requires a life-cycle approach with continuous verification and adjustment for improvement. When companies do a better and more systematic approach of process development depending on their experience and knowledge, then they will understand their processes and process control better and manufacture a robust product. REASON FOR PROCESS VALIDATION: Validation offers assurance that a process is reasonably protected against sources of variability that could affect production output, cause supply problems, and negatively affect public health [2]. The possible reasons cause variability may include [5]: New product or existing products as per Scale-up and Post-approval Changes. New formulation. Change in formulation. Change in site of manufacturing. Change in batch size. Change in equipment. Change in process existing products significantly. Change in the critical control parameters. Change in vendor of API or critical excipient. Change in specification on input material. Abnormal trends in quality parameters of product through review during Annual Product Review (APR). Trend of Out of Specification (OOS) or Out of Trend (OOT) in consecutive batches [6]. TYPES OF PROCESS VALIDATION: Prospective validation is carried out during the development stage by means of a risk analysis of the production process, which is broken down into individual steps: these are then evaluated on the basis of past experience to determine whether they might lead to critical situations. Concurrent validation is carried out during normal production. This method is effective only if the development stage has resulted in a proper understanding of the fundamentals of the process. Retrospective validation involves the examination of past experience of production on the assumption that composition, procedures, and equipment remain unchanged; such experience and the results of in-process and final control tests are then evaluated. Revalidation is needed to ensure that changes in the process and/or in the process environment, whether intentional or unintentional, do not adversely affect process characteristics and product quality. VALIDATION TEAM: Multidisciplinary teamwork is required for conducting and monitoring validation studies. Personnel conduct such studies should be qualified by training and experience. The working team would usually include the following staff members to work together to be effectives: Head of quality assurance: Responsible for coordinate the entire validation process and schedule meetings with the team and review validation documents. Preparation of validation protocol, supervising the process, analyzing data and test results and preparing the final report. Head of engineering: Responsible for qualification and calibration of all the processing equipment/instrument/utilities and maintains its efficacy during the manufacture process. Validation manager: Responsible for the review of process validation protocol and execution of process validation. Also responsible for evaluation of results. Production manager: Responsible for verification of process validation protocol and to ensure operation of the production equipment and support systems in order to manufacture the product within its design limits /specifications/ requirements. Head of Quality Control: Responsible for verification of process Validation Protocol, report and co-ordination to ensure operation of the Lab instrument and support systems in execution of the validation process. Process validation protocol: A validation protocol showing how validation will be performed, including test parameters, product characteristics, production equipment, and decision points on what constitutes acceptable test results [8]. It should include the following items: Purpose Scope Responsibilities of assessment team Acceptance criteria Critical process and product parameters Product details Reference documents for method of manufacturing and testing Reason for validation Bill of raw materials Equipment details Process flow chart Critical process stages to be validated Summary of validation batch Remarks Evaluation of results, conclusion and recommendations VALIDATION REPORT: At the end of the Process Validation a Validation report is need to be prepared. The tests results and conclusions of Validation Protocol documented and summarized in a process validation report. The validation report should include the following items: Aim of the validation study Batch No. and Batch size Process summary Verification of critical process controls Conclusion Attachments Industrial process overview of tablet manufacturing: Process validation of manufacture tablets involves all the critical parameters challenged in pharmaceutical unit operations like dry mixing, granulation, milling, blending, lubrication, compression, coating, etc. Tablet manufactured process overview is showed in figure 1. A general process steps and product parameters inclusion in the process validation protocol is summarized in table 1. Several process parameters which need to be tested in the manufacture process may have some impact on production of tablets. When understanding of these parameters and their interactions with the respective processes, it will collect rational data for the building of validation evidence and fixing the optimum process parameters. Every processing step is validated for all batches and the results obtained must be present within the acceptance criteria. Throughout manufacturing certain procedures should be validated and monitored by carrying out appropriate in-process controls and finished product tests [9]. In-process tests and finish product tests during tablet production see Table 2. The figure 2 and 3 illustrate sampling locations at wet granulation and blending stages. All validation of the manufacturing process and the in-process controls should be documented. Figure 1 Tablet manufactured process overview Table 1 Process and Product Parameters Considered During Tablet Dosage Form Manufacture Table 2 In-process controls and finished product tests CONCLUSION: The manufacturing process is released for regular production after careful evaluation of the validation documentation. The efficient process validation is a key element in the development of pharmaceuticals. Both experience and knowledge are important factor for ensuring successful process development and validation. The more you understand the process in the early stages, the less you will need to do to validate it later. A strong mentoring and training program is also attributed much. When the process variables were under control, it reveals that there was no significant variation between batch to batch. In product lifecycle, continued validation will help to ensure the pharmaceutical products with the quality and reproducibility. References [1] Pawar Avinash S, Bageshwar Deepak V, Khanvilkar Vineeta V. Advances in Pharmaceutical Coatings. International Journal of ChemTech Research, 2010(2, 1): 733-737. [2] Guidance for Industry: Process Validation: General Principles and Practices. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), January 2011. [3] Leon Shargel, Isadore Kanfer. Generic Drug Product Development: Solid Oral Dosage Forms [M]. Drugs and the pharmaceutical sciences, 2005(194): 121-123. [4] Questions and Answers on Current Good Manufacturing Practices, Good Guidance Practices, Level 2 Guidance Production and Process Controls. [5] Sharma Ajay, Saini Seema. Process Validation of Solid Dosage Form: A Review. International Journal of Research in Pharmacy and Science, 2013, 3(2): 12-30. [6] Jignakumari Manubhai Tandel, Zarna R Dedania and KR. Vadalia. Review on Importance of validation IJAPBC. 2012; 1(3). [7] WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations WHO Technical Report Series, No. 863 Thirty-fourth Report. [8] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Guideline on General principles of Process Validation. Rockville, MD; May, 1987. [9] The Third Supplement to the Fourth Edition of The International Pharmacopoeia.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Analysis of Oklahoma :: essays research papers

I see now after reading Oklahoma why this musical has remained so popular throughout the years. I’ve always found it easier to watch a musical as opposed to reading one. However, the lively, upbeat tempo of the musical really made me feel that I was watching it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Oklahoma taking place shortly after the turn of the century I think it brought on a whole new genre of entertainment to people. Although the plot is very simple and predictable it was portrayed in an upbeat way that people where not used to seeing. One observation I had from the reading Oklahoma was the clever way they used the music as part of the dialogue. Most plays use song as a way to keep the audience entertained. However, I think Oklahoma used the music to tell the stories of the characters in the play. Several characters were introduced during songs of the musical. The characters would sing songs either about themselves or others in the play. It was a way for them to express their feelings about one another and allow the story to progress on in a smooth manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the characters in the play seemed to be fairly young, energetic people. Their problems were so much more manageable and yet handled in a way that did not affect society. Their idea of marriage was so simple. They all knew they would be marrying someone from their territory and raising a family without ever leaving to see what was outside of the territory. To me, that seems like such a sheltered way to live your live. But now day’s things are so much more complicated. Problems that could be manageable are blown out of proportion and marriages end in divorce and broken families. People are constantly moving and unsettled. Stabbings that occurred accidentally in that time are committed on purpose or for no reason today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reading Oklahoma has really opened my eyes to how much traditions and society have changed.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Understanding Persons with Intellectual Disabilities Essay -- Health,

It is important to understand the terms that are associated with intellectual disabilities. The first term is disability. Disability is an individual performing which includes physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual mental illness impairments, and various types of chronic diseases. The next term involves intelligence. This term is the ability to think logically, reason out problems, prepare, understand difficult ideas, examine intellectually, and the ability to determine quickly and or acquire from experience. Third term is adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior is the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that all individuals learn in order to perform in their everyday lives. An example of conceptual skills is idea of numbers. Following rules are an example of social skills. Practical skills involve the use of money in society (â€Å"Assessment Psychology,† (n.d.). Understanding Persons with Intellectual Disabilities Research reveals that currently approximately one million United States students that have disabilities are between the ages of 3 through 21. Therefore, these special needs students are eligible for special services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). However, only 34 percent of students have intellectual disabilities and 40 percent of the students are with multiple disabilities. In the 2007 through 2008 school year 56 percent autism students graduated with a regular high school diploma (Lewis, 2011). Therefore, in this essay the definition, characteristics, and causes of intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, autism, severe disabilities, and deaf-blindness will be discussed. The first definition, characteristic and cause discussed... ...uccessfully in society. As stated by IDEA all students are required to be educated in the setting that will meet his or her needs. Students that have severe and multiple disabilities can be involved in general education classes. However, if the student cannot function in a special education and or regular education classroom settings they will be placed in a residential home and or institution. Deaf blindness according to IDEA is not included in the special education program. â€Å"Despite the challenges their disabilities impose on their lives these students exhibit warmth, persistence, determination, cheerfulness, a sense of humor, sociability and various other desirable traits† (Heward, 2009, p. 458). Therefore, teachers find it a pleasure to teach these students. Teachers also look forward to observing their progress in school, home, and community settings.

The Heroes Curiosity in She and The Sign of Four Essay -- she four

The Heroes Curiosity in She and The Sign of Four The hero cannot progress without curiosity.   However, curiosity can turn into a dangerous obsession.   There are many good examples of this throughout Victorian literature.   Literary works such as She by H. Rider Haggard and The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for example, reflect the curious mind at work using scientific exploration to achieve the goal of solving the mystery, but attempting to solve the mystery poses dangers to the protagonists that, at first, they are unaware of.   The curious mind, seeking discovery, eventually sees the dangers but does not turn back.   The mystery has become an obsession to the curious mind, and for the curious mind, solving the mystery has become more important than self-preservation.   However, without the obsessive curiosity and without the danger that follows that curiosity, there would be no heroes in the story and, therefore, no story.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is one immensely popular figure in Victorian literature that uses scientific deduction to solve criminal mysteries, and his curiosity to solve mysteries has become his obsession.   However, he is so cool and distant from his own emotions that he does not care if the obsession leads to his destruction, as long as he solves the mystery to appease his voracious mind first.   The only thing that truly excites him in a passionate way, the one thing that causes any emotion within his cool demeanor, is his curiosity, which is his addiction, for solving mysteries.   He is the hero of the story The Sign of Four, and his name, of course, is Sherlock Holmes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sherlock Holmes is a character that is confident, maybe even arrogant.   He always makes it back after the mystery ... ...help and protect his adopted son.   These characters, in their seemingly mad obsessive curiosity, show also bravery and nobility in uncovering mysteries.   They do what they do not only for themselves, but for the benefit of others as well, and this is what makes them literary heroes and not mere protagonists.   Another Victorian character who is also driven by curiosity but who is not brave or noble is Dr. Jekyll.   He was obsessively curious about the duality of good and evil in the human soul, but all of his research was for his selfish gain, which ended in his death.   Sherlock Holmes and Ludwig Horace Holly, who at times act selfishly, also do things unselfishly to help others.   That is why they are heroes, and that is one of the reasons why they are popular to this day.   In their case, their curiosity, which turns into dangerous obsession for them, is worth it.  Ã‚  

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Pride and Prejudice †Coursework Assignment Essay

How does pride and prejudice affect Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship? How does Elizabeth change her opinion about Darcy after reading his letter? â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.† This is the opening sentence of the famous book â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. The sentence automatically states to the reader that the story written is about issues regarding marriage at the time. It is saying that a â€Å"man in possession of good fortune† is searching for a wife and a poor woman would love to marry him as to the money she would receive. The original copy (book) of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† was published in the 19th century (1813) and was named â€Å"First Impressions†. Jane Austen soon changed it to â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, as the publishers would not accept it as it was seen as weak novel. The book was written â€Å"by an author†, later known as Jane Austen. This is because Jane Austen was aware of the attitude of men, which was negative towards women. The early 19th century view of women was stereotypical and sexist( but was considered perfectly rational at the time), reason being women were given little autonomy and it was virtually impossible to be independent with men as men were considered to be superior and women ass the inferior beings. They believed that nature gave women the power to produce offspring, so they should just stay at home and care for their children. People living at the time underestimated women, so were not allowed to participate in high society doings, but if one was in high society it self , ten she had the power to write and publish books unlike Jane Austen. This probably gives an idea of the general attitude towards women at the time. They were held at a low esteem, put down, slaves for men, developed their knowledge at home. Life then is the same as in the book and Jane Austen uses the novel to criticise in the way which women were regarded. The only career that women had was to marry their daughter(s) in high society; the business of their life was to make their daughter(s) economically secure, which can lead them to have their own identity in society. The novel â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† raises issues in society at that particular time e.g. marrying a â€Å"man in possession of good fortune†. The theme that runs through the book is about people who are blinded by their pride, ego which eventually leads them to be prejudice against someone. There is a saying â€Å"never judge a book by its cover† well this statement is challenged by â€Å"the first impression is the last impression†. I personally agree with the first statement, but characters in the story do not. The theme is basically based on issues affecting marriage, status of women, romance and opinions. The story is about Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth (also known as Lizzy/Elisa), Mary, Lydia and Kitty. The Bennet family is the unhappy marriage of Mr and Mrs Bennet, the quote in chapter 20 informs the reader about this â€Å"†¦from this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr Collins, and I will never see you again if you do? This is spoken by Mr Bennet, this shows that the couple do not agree on situations and if they don’t agree and also keep such conditions to their children they are not happy with such a marriage. The story opens with a conversation between Mr and Mrs Bennet. The dialogue significantly acquaints the reader to the personality, which the two characters have. Mr Bennet appears to be calm and at ease, he is also intelligent and sarcastic, whereas Mrs Bennet is boisterous, over excited and is constantly trying to get her daughters married. In the book she is almost a caricature in addition she also lacks the intelligence of her husband. Due to Mr Bennet is getting old and when he dies the family’s possessions will be inherited by Mr Bennet’s closest male relative, Mrs Bennet is under immense pressure. This is because when Mr Bennet dies the Bennet family will be left homeless and the girls will be in desperate need for marriage. In chapter 1 (page 5) Mrs Bennet talks about Netherfield park which is let at last .she affirms that â€Å"A single man of large fortune† has brought it whose name is Bingley. She carries on saying â€Å"what a fine thing for our girls†. This shows to the reader that she is adamant on getting her daughters married. She confirms this by saying â€Å"you must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.† As all the daughters are single Mrs Bennet assumes Mr Bingley will fall in love with one of them. Jane the eldest of the sisters is the prettiest and is also good from the heart, as she does not acknowledge anything bad in any one this is because she is naive. Elizabeth is the second eldest and is dearest to Mr Bennet i.e. when he talks about bingley meeting the girls he mentions â€Å"I must throw in a good word for my Lizzy† (page 6). She also is â€Å"not half so handsome as Jane†, but she is intelligent â€Å"Lizzy has some thing more of quickness than her sisters.†(page 6). Jane and Elizabeth are the main daughters in the book, they both have different opinions. Elisa judges people by first impressions, whereas Jane never judges anyone, she can never see anything negative in anyone, not even her mum. Mary is he quietist out of the girls, she is sensitive, works hard for everything and is more to her self. On the other hand Kitty and Lydia ( the youngest out of the girls)are always chasing soldiers, they are good humoured and enjoy dancing. The Bennets attend the ball hosted by Bingley; who is introduced to the sisters, but takes distinct interest in Jane Bennet. This is noticed when Bingley dances with Jane twice. Darcy is introduced by his friend Bingley at the Netherfield ball. He catches Elizabeth’s eye straight away as he is good looking and also because he possesses a large fortune. Bingley persuades Darcy to dance, but as Darcy is not fond of dancing unless he is fully acquainted with his partner he says no. Bingley mentions Elizabeth and asks Darcy to dance with her, but Darcy replies â€Å"she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.†(page 11). Darcy also says that Bingley â€Å"you are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room† (page 11). Bingley adds to that â€Å"Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld!..†(page 11). The ball is the main event in the story, as the conversation between Darcy and Bingley in which they speak of Elizabeth is over heard by Elizabeth. Elisa feels that she has been judged and her pride which has been hurt then goes on to judge Darcy. â€Å"PREJUDICE† the word means preconceived opinion. It is an assumption; in this case of what a person is like, it is a negative judgement against someone. Elizabeth is prejudice against Darcy, as he spoke wrong of her behind her back. The fact that Wickham and Darcy are not really the best of friends escalates her hatred for Darcy, due to the fact Wickham proves him self a better person than Darcy. This hatred of hers forces her to like Wickham, as she thinks that he is the better man. Chapter 15 is when Lizzy is introduced to Wickham and all the women around him give him a lot of attention, as he is good looking (Wickham is fond of female attention). He meets Lizzy when he has just bought commissions in the militia to gain a higher status, this is where Darcy comes and Elisa notices the tension between the two. Wickham later explains the reason for the enmity between them. Wickhams explanation is that Darcy made him forfeit all the money and property that late Mr Darcy gave to him, as he was jealous of the relationship between late Mr Darcy and Wickham. Elizabeth has remembered something in Darcy and that is that if some one offends or hurts him in any way, he can be very unforgiving (Lizzy brings this up at the second Netherfield ball) At the second Netherfield ball Lizzy cannot find Wickham and Darcy asks her for a dance. Elizabeth agrees only because she wants to find put more on Darcy and Wickhams not so great relationship. Darcy is drawn to Elizabeth every time he sees her and Elizabeth hates him even more. When dancing very little words are spoken. â€Å"For I have always seen a great similarity in the return of our minds† (page 74). By saying this Elisa is being ironic and sarcastic, she is criticising Darcy, but Darcy does not realize and is drawn to â€Å"her fine eyes†. She also says to him â€Å"and never allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice.† She is trying to say that you make mistakes by making judgement on first impressions. In my opinion it is very easy to see someone else’s faults before our own. This is exactly what Elisa is doing, but ironically as she later admits this is her fault to. Elizabeth begins to talk about Wickham she notices a sudden change in Darcy’s body language and his facial impressions. Darcy makes a comment on how Wickham can make friends, but can’t keep them â€Å"Mr Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friend – whether he may be equally capable of retaining them is less certain† (page 74). Darcy does not give any other reasons for thing Wickham. Mr Collins is the cousin of Mr Bennet and all the Bennet’s property will be his when Mr Bennet dies as he is the closest male relative. Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth as Jane is likely to be engaged to Mr Bingley, as hinted by Mrs Bennet. He makes this proposal in chapter 19. Mr Collins at breakfast asks for a private audience with Elizabeth and Mrs Bennet agrees even though Elizabeth doesn’t want to. Mrs Bennet â€Å"Oh dear!-Yes-certainly. I am sure Lizzy will be very happy-I am sure she can have no objection.† (page 84). As soon as everyone leaves the room he compliments Elizabeth â€Å"your modesty, so far from doing you any disservice, rather adds your other perfections.† I feel that he starts off with this line, so Elisa emotionally breaks down, and accepts his proposal. She is silent after this speech as she finds it comical and she feels that if she says something she might laugh â€Å"†¦his feelings, made Elizabeth so near laughing† (page 84). Mr Collins understands her silence to be a convincing yes and he carries on explaining his reasons for marrying. However after his speech, Elisa rejects his proposal. He is shocked as he considered her silence to be an act â€Å"playing hard to get.† Elizabeth â€Å"You are to hasty sir. You forget have made no answer let me do it further loss of time. Accept thanks for the complements you are paying me. I am sensible to do other wise decline them. â€Å"Through out the whole of the proposal he did not mention love for Elizabeth. He mentions his reason for this proposal – Miss Jenkinson, who advises him to marry someone with a higher status, so he is not alone. â€Å"Mr Collins, You must marry.† – â€Å"Chuse properly, chuse a gentlewoman for my sake: and for your own† This relates to Charlotte Lucas’s speech on marriage for love and marriage and just to have a partner. Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth’s decision and her father tells her that â€Å"your mother will never see you again do not marry Mr. Collins and I will never see you again if do.† (page 90) Her father supports her decision. After this Mr Collins marries Charlotte (Lizzy’s friend) and Charlotte invites Elisa to stay at her house in Kent. Jane writes a letter to in which she states that she does not meet Mr Bingley in town. For this Elizabeth suspects Darcy. She suspects Darcy because of Colonel Fitz William (Darcy’s cousin). Fitz William to Elisa â€Å"what he told me was merely this that he congratulated himself on having lately saving a friend from the inconvenience of a most imprudent marriage† (page ). In chapter 34 Elizabeth is at home, reading that particular letter from Jane. This is when Darcy enters the room and paces up and down the room, he eventually proposes â€Å"†¦ you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you and love you† (page 147). The anger for Darcy In Elisa suddenly fades away â€Å"she lost all compassion in anger† (page 148). But when he comments on the Bennet her anger returns e.g. when Mrs Bennet and Lydia were made at the second Netherfield ball. Mrs Bennet says â€Å"what is Mr Darcy o me that I should be afraid of him? I am sure we owe him no particular civility as to oblige to say anything, he may not hear.† Mrs Bennet thought Mr Darcy would have not heard what she said, but she was wrong. Mr Darcy also comments on Lydia and Kitty’s behaviour. When Elisa asks her mother to lower her voice, Mrs Bennet points out that there is no reason to offend Mr Darcy as she will get no advantage, â€Å"you will never recommend yourself to his friend, by doing so.† What she is trying to say is that he will tell Bingley to marry Jane, because the family are bad mannered, so are not suitable. The irony is prophetic, because it is very close to what happens in the chapter. Elizabeth makes it clear that she knows that it was Darcy’s fault Jane did not meet Bingley when she went town. Darcy â€Å"I have been good to Bingley more than I have been to myself.† Darcy is saying that he has been good to Bingley as he will not get married in a bad family, whereas if Lizzy accepts the proposal he will be getting married in a bad mannered family. Darcy in my point of view is being a hypocrite. Elizabeth is patiently listening and both are not trying to shoe their feelings e.g. Elisa is furious â€Å"She tried however to compose herself to answer him with patience† (page 148). (As Jane Austen is a woman she can write down exactly how Elisa would react in situations, but as Darcy is a man, Jane Austen is not acquainted to his feelings, so she judges him by describing his body language). Elizabeth rejects Darcy’s proposal and he is shocked â€Å"Mr Darcy changed colour† (page 149). She made her reasons not to go unnoticed. The first reason was for insulting her at the first Netherfield ball â€Å"†¦insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 149). And the words he spoke at the ball which mortified her pride â€Å"she is tolerable, but she is not handsome enough to tempt me† (page 11). The second reason being, the interference that took place in Bingley and Jane’s relationship. Darcy did not tell Bingley Jane had come to town to visit him, so the relationship between Bingley and Jane came to an end. Elisa Believes that Darcy had no right to ruin her sister’s love life â€Å"†¦to accept the man who has been the means of ruining, perhaps for ever happiness of a most beloved sister?† (page 149). The third reason Elisa gave was on the injustice done to Wickham â€Å"you have deprived the best years of his life of that independence which was no less his due than his desert† (page 150). She also mentions on page 149 that thanks to Wickham she found out what the real Darcy was like â€Å"your character was unfolded in the recital which I received many months ago from Mr Wickham.† She says this due to the explanation Wickham gave her about his â€Å"misfortunes†. She tells Darcy about these so called â€Å"misfortunes† of Wickham, and blames it all on him. Darcy replies contemptuously â€Å"his misfortunes!†-â€Å"yes, his misfortunes have been great indeed.†(page 150). After Elizabeth’s speech Darcy cried â€Å"and this,† â€Å"is your opinion of me.† Darcy had been shocked by Elizabeth’s view and after apologising â€Å"he hastily left the room† (page 151). After leaving Darcy goes home and writes a letter to Elisa explaining â€Å"his faults† and everything else that he has done so far according to Elizabeth. Elizabeth receives the letter and â€Å"With no expectation of pleasure, but with the strongest curiosity† (page 152) she opens it. â€Å"This cannot be! This must be the grossest false hood!† (page 159). This is the reaction of Elisa after reading Darcy’s letter. She can’t believe she trusted Wickham and his phoney explanation. She realised that Wickham is such a shrewd man, he tried to elope with Darcy’s sister, Georgina, just to get her à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½32,000 and she was just 15 years of age. In my opinion Darcy was right to hate Wickham. â€Å"She perfectly remembered everything that passed in the conversation between Wickham and herself† (page 161). This means that many of the expressions were still fresh in her mind. After reading Darcy’s letter Elisa changes her attitude towards Darcy in a positive way and towards Wickham in a negative way, as she now knows the truth. â€Å"How differently did everything now appear in which he was concerned† (page 161). Now Elizabeth sees everything clearly, it is like the clouds have moved away and the clear sky is visible. Everything seems different as the curtains have risen revealing the real Wickham and his lies. â€Å"She grew absolutely ashamed of her self of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling had been blinded; partial prejudice, absurd† (page 162). She is thinking of her first response to the letter, which in actual was resentment and anger. She now understood that she was quick to judge others, she saw their errors, before her own. She is ashamed of herself for being prejudice against Darcy. â€Å"He declared himself to have been totally unsuspicious of her sister’s attachment; and she could not help remembering what Charlotte’s opinion had always been†. It was not Darcy’s fault, Jane did not give any signs that she liked Bingley; Darcy was just trying to save his friend from pain. Charlotte had said that a woman should not conceal her affections â€Å"Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.† She remembered Charlotte saying to he that Jane should show Bingley that she likes him too. â€Å"Yet merited reproach, her sense of shame was severe. The justice of the charge struck her too forcibly for denial† (page 162-163), she realises that she and Darcy are exactly the same. â€Å"Till this moment I never knew myself†, she realizes the mistakes she has made. Pride and prejudice affects Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship. Pride is the sense of superiority and satisfaction within a person and if a person is proved wrong or someone has said something about the too great opinion that they have of them selves, then it hurts their pride. And if their pride is hurt, their sense of superiority leads them to make a fast biased preconceived opinion against that someone. This is exactly how Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship is affected. Pride was the obstacle in their relationship, Elisa’s pride was hurt and she became prejudice against Darcy. Prejudice emotionally blinded Elisa; therefore she couldn’t see the real Darcy. After reading Darcy’s letter, Elisa realises her mistakes and she now knows that she was quick to judge others. Since she is no more blinded by her pride, she can see the clear picture of Darcy, Darcy who is now the better man. After reading his letter she changes her opinion about Darcy in a positive way as she knows the truth.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You… Essay

As a president of a biggest country of the world, we can see that our president is skillful speaker. He is the one of greatest american speakers. One of his famous speech is † Ask not what your country can do for you† when he is in his inaugural address. President Kennedy have used many of the tools in rhetorical or presuasive writing. He has full knowleged with Aristotle three areas of rhetorical such as: Ethos, Pathos and Logos. JFK also uses repetition to persuade the American people. He begins several sections in the middle of his speech with the same phrase, â€Å"Let both sides. . .† then uses very strong verbs to call the public to action such as â€Å"explore,† â€Å"formulate,† â€Å"seek,† and â€Å"unite.† Kennedy also uses the literary tool, the metaphor, â€Å"The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.† We cannot literally light the world on fire, but he means that we can influence the world as an incendiary nation. Perhaps the most famous sentence is immediately following that metaphor. It is a sentence, that was delivered with great enthusiasm, as illustrated by the fervor behind JFK’s delivery, â€Å"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.(americanrhetoric.com)† This play on words is one of the most remembered phrases of all time. Why? Because JFK delivers it with rhythm and charisma.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Nutrition on Academic Performance

April Creed April 12, 2012 GWRTC 103 Professor Critzer The Effect of Nutrition and Fitness on Academic Performance The health and overall fitness of adolescents and students has taken a radical turn in the most recent decades. Each year the overall body mass index of this particular group of individuals is steadily increasing. It seems to many that one’s health is a vital role in success, especially in the academic realm. Research was conducted to see whether this slight decrease of fitness and health has an impact on a student’s academic performance (Burkhalter 201).A broad range of sources was utilized to find other factors that played a role in academic performance such as family life and sleep habits. The search was then strictly narrowed down to the effect of nutrition and fitness on scholastic performance. By the end of the investigation, it was found that nutrition is vital to brain functioning and cognition. The main point that was targeted became: skipped meals are the largest cause of unhealthy habits in a student’s academic career, but this can be prevented by providing more food options for students and also by not having available classes during meal hours.This seems like a cliche issue and obvious topic, but this simple subject can have a huge impact on the lives of our adolescents, but more importantly the future of our country. Children, adolescents, and young adults are constantly bombarded with assessments, evaluations, and exams that test their knowledge. All of these, combined with everyday lectures and studying, form to make what society knows as â€Å"school. † In today’s culture, from roughly four years old until about twenty-three years old, schooling (pre-school, elementary school, middle school, high school, and college) is a young person’s career.It is a time consuming process that involves commitment and dedication. Many factors play a role in how well a student performs. The most thought of, and prominent factors may include family life, time dedicated to studying, sleep habits, and the teachers or professors ability to relay information. One study, conducted by A. H. Eliassion, investigated the relative importance of total sleep time compared to a college student’s academic performance (Eliasson 71). The results proved that those with the highest academic performance had significantly earlier bedtimes and wake times (73).It was found that students could improve their academic performance by targeting their sleep habits (73). Another study conducted by Wanda Williams in 1995 investigated parent-child relationships in correlation with academic achievement (Williams 3). The results from this survey showed that the main contribution to a student’s success is family life and parent involvement (14). A few other factors that people sometimes do not think of may include nutrition, diet, and physical activity. According to Webster’s dictionary, nutrition most clearly means, â€Å"The act of nourishing or being nourished. The term diet may include definitions that of, â€Å"Food and drink regularly provided or consumed,† or, â€Å"Habitual nourishment,† and the term physical fitness (or exercise) is known as, â€Å"Bodily exertion for the sake of developing and maintaining physical fitness. † Some may argue that poor academic performance could in turn lead to poor habits in health; that the stress and pressure placed on young people causes them to neglect their fitness and well-being. On the contrast, maybe this theory is completely opposite.In this paper I will attempt to answer the question: does nutrition and fitness have an effect on a student’s academic performance, and, if so, how? From breakfast consumption and sports involvement to the amount of television watched and family involvement, everything plays a vital role in a student’s success. Even things that seem so minor can have a profound impact on the long-term accomplishments in young people’s lives. Healthy habits in nutrition, diet, and fitness have a positive impact on a student’s academic performance.Skipped meals are the largest cause of unhealthy habits in a student’s academic career, but this can be prevented by providing more food options for students and also by not having available classes during meal hours. Conducted at the infancy of this subject was an experiment by Toni Burkhalter and Charles Hillman. This research began because these two were interested and shocked by the consistently increasing BMI (body mass index) in children and adolescents across every demographic in the United States (Burkhalter 201). Their goal was to target energy intake in comparison with scholastic performance.Burkhalter and Hillman defined energy intake as nutrient intake, body mass, and physical activity. Through research they discovered and confirmed that nutrition substantially influences both the development and health of brain structure and function (204). Providing the proper building blocks for the brain to create and maintain connections is critical for improved cognition (mental processes) and academic performance. Their investigation verified that an increase of physical activity participation leads to an increase in cognitive health and function (206).Many people hear the cliche lectures about eating healthy, maintaining a stable diet, and practicing regular exercise. But most do not realize that these habits play a crucial role in brain functioning. The brain intakes and retains the most information in a person’s adolescent years, so it is vital to create a prime environment in your body for learning. There are some who relate academic performance to breakfast habits. Throughout our lives we hear doctors, teachers, and parents stress that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.People will argue that it starts one’s day, gets one’s metabo lism going, and provides the nutrition necessary for a healthy day and lifestyle. It has been proven that children require optimal nutrient intake to meet the basic demands of growth and development. Gail Rampersaud, M. S. , and Mark Pereira, Ph. D. , attempted to find supporting evidence of this claim, and conducted a study in 2005. They found that over 59% of students skip breakfast more than three times a week, and that as a student’s age increased, so did their habit of skipping breakfast (Rampersaud 745).After surveying various age groups, they compared breakfast eating habits to their overall academic performance. Next, the students were given a variety of standardized and customized tests (745). The results showed that breakfast eaters not only had a higher average on the assessments, but also had better school attendance and less tardies (751). This study was difficult because people have a very hazy and different standard and definition of â€Å"breakfast. † S ome view it as a glass of milk, some view it as an apple, others see it as a bowl of cereal, and some have a feast consisting of bacon, eggs, hash browns, ham, and toast in their mind.Either way, it was determined to be anything you intake as nutrition at the beginning of your day. There is substantial evidence that breakfast consumption is associated with health and wellbeing of children and adolescents, and these benefits apply to a wider age range, as well as other demographic and socioeconomic groups. There is also a great deal of evidence that breakfast eaters have overall healthier lifestyles and better health (diet and exercise) habits. Some claim that students should be able to schedule and maintain their own nutritional habits.But others, like Cathy Estes, agree that this lifestyle needs to be a co-effort between students, parents, and teachers. She says that, â€Å"Student responsibility doesn't just happen. Teachers and parents must expect it, model it and nurture it. An optimal educational outcome depends on collaboration between teachers, parents and students (Estes 1). † It needs to be something that both parties view as a necessary goal. Student’s can have good intentions, but faculty and staff at the school’s need to support these intentions.Arranging more suitable class times and a better variety of nutritional foods can easily do this. Another study conducted by Florence, MD sought to target not just the nutrition aspect, but the overall diet quality and academic performance correlation (Florence 209). The study concluded the following results: Students with decreased overall diet quality were significantly more likely to perform poorly on the assessment. Girls performed better than boys as did children from socioeconomically advantaged families. Children attending better schools and living in wealthy neighborhoods also performed better.Conclusions: These findings demonstrate an association between diet quality and academ ic performance and identify specific dietary factors that contribute to this association. Additionally, this research supports the broader implementation and investment in effective school nutrition programs that have the potential to improve student access to healthy food choices, diet quality, academic performance, and, over the long term, health (Florence 209). According to the previous study performed by Rampersaud, breakfast plays a vital role in diet quality.This is another important aspect for dedicated times for eating. Breakfast is not going to be a high priority for a student if his/her class falls in that time frame. Not only do both of the studies support each other, but they also tie in other aspects that could affect academic performance, like family life. This study tries to emphasize that the term â€Å"academic achievement† isn’t measured by tests alone, but also by attendance, attentiveness, and involvement (212). They also stated that fruit and veget able intake had a significant impact on memory and overall learning (213).Finally, the study’s results showed that â€Å"undernourished males were twice as likely to fail an assessment as undernourished females. † A sub question that may be necessary to add the research question is this: do gender differences have an affect an effect on academic performance? Sayid Ghazvini answers this question with his research. He stated that his primary goal was to â€Å"Find gender differences in factors affecting academic performance of high school students (Ghazvini 1041). † He had many different aspects involving â€Å"academic performance. While his results showed no significant difference in the overall achievement of the students, there were differences in the many features connected with his concept of academic performance (1043): Results show the existence of gender difference in variables under consideration, with girls showing internal locus of control, using atti tude, motivation, time management, anxiety, and self-testing strategies more extensively, and getting better marks in Literature. With boys using concentration, information processing and selecting main ideas strategies more, and getting better marks in mathematics (1043).As we see, male and females seem to have the same overall results. This gender factor probably does not have a significant impact on the nutrition and fitness study, but can be noted when taking a closer look at the details that combine to form out term â€Å"academic achievement/performance. † Some critics say that student’s should be held solely responsible for their extracurricular activities, including eating, watching television, exercising, and studying. But studies show that when a person is considered an adult, their brain is still developing.They still need instruction and guidance in different aspects of their life. Researcher, Craig Bennett, stated that, â€Å"Humans don’t really de velop the ability to handle multiple pieces of information at once until about the ages of 16 or 17. The brain of an 18-year-old college freshman is still far from resembling the brain of someone in their mid-twenties (Than 2). † Healthy habits don’t just come naturally, they take time and dedication to develop and maintain. Another study done by Jane Edwards attempted to target physical activity in relation to academic performance (Edwards 65).This experiment was conducted on sixth graders in a Midwest City school district. It was her goal to compare physical activity, overall fitness, and body mass index of 800 students. Next she matched these results with standardized test scores. To measure physical activity and fitness, Edwards set up a variety of physical tasks (curl ups, pushups, mile run) and included the student’s weight and height. In the end, she found that the healthier, more physically fit students performed better on their standardized tests.Edwards , like Rampersaud and Florence, also included other variables in her study. She pointed out the significance of breakfast consumption as well. Also, she brought in other lifestyle habits like the amount of television watched and extracurricular activity involvement. This amount of exercise is vital to a student’s healthy lifestyle. Exercise should become a requirement at schools and colleges. It is proven to affect their academic performance, so why shouldn’t academic grading also require some sort of workout in a student’s daily routine?A journal published by Taras H, a professor at the University of California, noted the association between nutrition and a student’s performance at school (Taras 200). Taras broke down the term nutrition into four sub-categories: food insufficiency, iron deficiency and supplementation, deficiency and supplementation of micronutrients, and the importance of breakfast (201). Research shows that children with iron deficienci es are at a disadvantage academically. Their cognitive performance improved with iron therapy. Cognitive performance is a student’s ability to obtain and store knowledge.Again, breakfast consumption demonstrates to be a vital aspect of a young person’s health. A healthy lifestyle not only consists of a certain number of meals a day, but also various types of nourishment and physical activity. It was also found that food insufficiency is a serious issue that affects a child’s ability to learn. Finally, after surveying and undernourished population, a breakfast program was initiated, and analysis showed that academic performance and cognitive functioning significantly increased. As it has been proven through countless studies, many things contribute to academic achievement.But the main issue that related to student’s health is skipped meals and lack of exercise. To many, these seem like easy to target problems. But why is the problem consistently worsening? Because no one is taking initiative to find solutions. The most doable and reasonable solution is to incorporate a greater variety of food options (in the healthier realm) for students/adolescents, not schedule classes or other activities during meal hours, and have a mandatory tentative exercise schedule as part of a student’s academic career. Words Cited Burkhalter, Toni M. , and Charles H.Hillman. â€Å"A Narrative Review of Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity to Cognition and Scholastic Performance across the Human Lifespan. † Advances in Nutrition 2. 2 (2011): 201-06. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. Edwards, Jane U. â€Å"Relationship of Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors and Fitness Measures to Academic Performance for Sixth Graders in a Midwest City School District. † Journal of School Health 81. 2 (2011): 65-69. SPORTDiscus. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. Eliasson, Arne H. â€Å"Early to Bed, Early to Rise! Sleep Habits and Academic Performance in College Students . † Sleep and Breathing 14. (2009): 71-75. ScienceDirect. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. Estes, Cathy. â€Å"Student Responsibility Needs to Be  nurtured. † LasVegasSun. com. 8 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. ;http://www. lasvegassun. com/news/2009/apr/08/student-responsibility-needs-be-nurtured/;. Florence, M. D. â€Å"Diet Quality and Academic Performance. † Journal of School Health 78. 4 (2008): 209-215. CINAHL. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. Ghazyini, Sayid D. â€Å"Gender Differences in Factors Affecting Academic Performance of High School Students. † 3rd World Conference on Educational Sciences 15. 3 (2011): 1040-045. ScienceDirect.