Due diligence standards in the US and the UK appear to provide deal Essay

Due diligence standards in the US and the UK appear to provide deal parties different incentives as to disclosure - Essay Example Duty of care is a fiduciary duty for the Board but it can also be delegated (Batterson, nd). When due diligence examination is outsourced i.e. accounting professionals are hired to produce a report for an entity’s future prospects, the fiduciary duty of due diligence is delegated to the professionals. It is not only the bidder’s responsibility to exercise due diligence but the target company also needs to provide that information to the potential buyer which is not publicly available. A significant amount of information becomes automatically available to the Board when it examines the financial statements of the target company. In order to exercise due diligence, mere dependence on financial statements is insufficient because these statements contain the opinion of an auditor regarding the fact whether the statements are prepared according to the generally accepted accounting principles. These statements do not provide a reliable forecast on the target company’s future profits. This is why a â€Å"special audit† is required to obtain relevant and reliable information (Weiner, 2010). However, in cases where a hostile bid is placed, the bidder only has the option of relying on the publicly available information of the target company. Also, the target company is not legally obligated to expose its private information in a hostile bid. Publicly available information of a company includes: Contingent liabilities: Liabilities that might arise from pending litigation or environmental liabilities. This information can also be obtained from financial statements but it might also not be disclosed if it does not meet the criteria of materiality; Restrictions: The bidder has to be careful for the existence of any agreements or covenants that putt restrictions on the conduct of the targets business. For instance, covenants that require an entity not to compete; Further, a bidder should

Designer Babies Essay Example for Free

Designer Babies Essay In this modern society, human thought are growing widely resulting the huge development of reproductive technologies in our life. Designer babies are created for elimination of deadly diseases and also genetic enhancement. Today, this technology has been established as an acceptable practice in removing diseases only. However, when it comes to genetic enhancements, ethical issues happen in the aspects of individuals, society and religions. According to Johnson (2009), ‘designer baby’ is defined as the baby whose genetically makeup has been artificially selected through In-vitro Fertilization to ensure the presence and absence of particular genes or characteristic. Johnson (2009) also claimed that genetic screening can reduce the baby’s chances of getting several diseases like Down syndrome. According to Brownlee (2002), in the mid-1990s, an embryologist named Jacques Cohen created a promising new technique, cytoplasmic transfer for helping infertile women to have children. In early 2003, he reported the first modification in the human genome. Cohen (2003) has created the first bioengineered baby who has three genetic parents which are mother, father, and mtDNA donor and they claimed that as The first case of human [inheritable] genetic modification resulting in normal, healthy children. According to Adnan (2010), designer babies are made in in-vitro fertilization with certain steps. Firstly, the woman hormones are taken to boost the production of egg. The woman’s egg is then removed from the ovary with the help of a special needle. The egg is fertilized and is allowed to grow into an embryo for 2 days. Scientists then screen for genes which have the risk of illness in life like Alzheimers, Cystic fibrosis and Down’s syndrome. The DNA copies are run through by using a sequencing machine. If the genetic disorder appears, those defected genes can be replaced with the healthy genes in a process called germ line therapy. Besides, scientists are able to determine the sex of the child. This is possible because woman contains only X chromosomes and man has one X and one Y chromosome. So the sex of the child can be determined by XY chromosomes. According to Tesia (2009), parents are the people who want designer baby, especially those who have an unhealthy embryo affected by deadly diseases. This is a relief to these parents as they need not to be burdened up by the expensive fees for the endless treatments that their child has to undergo of choosing by the designer baby. They choose to have a designer baby as it can avoid all the pain that they have to bear seeing their child undergoing endless suffering treatments. Designer baby also prevent their child from having a preventable disease and this will definitely relieve those parents from the financial, emotional and physical burden. Agar (2006) claimed that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis PGD is not entirely risk-free as during the process of PGD. Two cells are removed from the eight cells embryo and this may affect the growth of the embryo, whereas defenders of PGD respond that the cells of eight-cell embryos are totipotent, this mean that the eight cells embryo is still able to form all cells of the human body although two cells is removed from it. This technology has been used for a very long time, hence it is too early to say that who is certainly right in this argument. In an article written by Naik (2009), he stated that in a 2009 U.S. survey, a total of 999 people sought for genetic counseling. Most of people supported prenatal genetic tests for the removal of serious diseases. Besides, according to the survey conducted by researchers at the New York University School of Medicine, some respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, some voted for improved height and some voted for great intelligence. According to Dvorsky(2009), an excellent transhumanist bioethicist, he stated that an anti-genetic modification due to enhancement occurred in our society. A majority were replying the survey carried out by NYU Langone Medical Center due to their background condition. Their thinking was believed from an ethical perspective. Supporting the idea of genetic modification, Dvorsky(2009) said that endowing our children with good genes in order to give them an enriched and fulfilling life. With new genetics, parents’ dreams may finally be achieved as they always want the best for their children. According to Anissimov(2009), many people refuse to accept PGD and other reproductive technologies because they think that it is unnatural. From the Transhumanist FAQ, a summary from transhumanists’ response stated that in many cases, there are some practical reasons for depending on natural processes. The main point is that human cannot decide whether something is good or bad by its nature. Not every natural things are good such as starvation, polio, and being eaten alive by intestinal parasites whereas some bad unnatural things are car accidents and nuclear war. However, Yin (2005) notes that from a child’s point of view, parents place the genetic enhancements upon him or her may threaten the freedom of action. The child’s achievement in life is not fully determined by his or her own efforts, but from parental decisions. This might result in unwillingness of the child to accept responsibilities. Besides, Yin (2005) also states that some oppose genetic engineering because it will not only deepen current class divisions, but also create a new division. Due to religious and other personal reasons, many people will refuse to accept gene therapy even if the enhancements are made free because it causes the economic gap between those can afford the technology and cannot afford deepen as time progresses. Some of them reject it due to its expensive paid and lack of efficacy. According to Adnan (2010), the designer baby will raise conflict among individuals. This is because they assume that the rich will always be more beneficial compared to the poor. They propose that the rich will have more opportunities to take the advantages of the modern technology resulting the rich man baby (designer baby) will born perfect, intelligent and healthier compared to the poor baby. Though this technology can advance the personalities and intelligence, but it will be costly and will create a gap between the individuals. McIlwaine (2006) claimed that some leading philosophers will argue that a person must have capacity for memorable experiences, for communicating with others and for having preferences about continued life, or someone who is capable of treasuring their own life. With these points of view, these obviously show that they do not accept an embryo, or a foetus can be a person. For those who believe that human life only comes with self-valuation, testing on embryos and the screening of the right genetic make-up is a perfectly ethical procedure, for those embryos that are discarded are not ‘people’. So, there is no wrong in moral. However, this raises serious issues about other human beings who may by this definition, not be ‘people’ including the new born babies with brain abnormalities and injuries. According to McIlwaine (2006), designer babies also lead to ethical issues in religion too. This is due to different religions will have their own points of view. Christians say that the life begins at conception. It is clearly stated in Bible: â€Å"Before you were in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart†. This means that God chose each person even before the moment of implantation, however some are less certain. According to Malpani (2009), in Judaism, donor insemination is banned and a child is considered as the generation of the biological father. Artificial insemination using husbands sperm and IVF are accepted when there is necessary to cure the illness of infertility. From the research done, designer babies have arisen many ethical issues in the aspects of individuals, religions and society. Parents always hope to give the best for their children. With this advanced technology, some parents will take advantage on it to give their children the perfect lives. This will indirectly cause the narrowing of divisions in our society which is from social to ethical and then to economical. The rich families are usually genetically better endowed than the poor families and their jobs always come with high income compared to the poor one. As for the religious aspect, Christians note that personhood begins at conception, the moment an ovum is fertilized. However, there is variation in explaining the Bible and not everyone believe in it. Some doubt about this because if the number of lost fertilized ovum disobey this point of view, then how could the God stop the existence of some â€Å"people† in this world without any reason?

Case Study of Best Buys Inc Expansion

Case Study of Best Buys Inc Expansion Best Buys, Inc has emerged as a special electronic retailer in US and other areas operating from Richfield, Minnesota. The main strategy for international expansion used by BBI is MA with dual branding by creation of competition between acquired stores and Best Buys. The case study shows that the strategy has been successful and workable in western world. Within reduction of trade barriers by China and allowing 100% FDI in retail segment, BBI is trying to follow same strategy in China. But Chinese market being totally different from the Western context, BBI has faced challenge to cut across the dual branding strategy. The report highlights the main strategic issues raised followed by recommendations. PESTEL Framework The PESTEL framework is devised to understand the strategic issues underpinning the business from external sources (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008) Figure A-1: PESTEL Analysis PEST Factor Key Points Implications for BBI POLITICAL (Opportunity for BBI to expand in different Chinese market.) Liberalization in Chinese retail market from 2004 Reduction in entry barriers like compulsion of domestic partners. Big market for imported product. (www.Businessinasia.com) Increase in competition from stronger global players of retail business. Growing knowledgeable domestic retail players. ECONOMICAL (Constrains from free directive growth in China) Shift to market oriented economy. Relatively high domestic savings rate. Uneven economic development among different states of nation. Growth in manufacturing sector. (CIA, 2010) MOST IMPORTANT Need for appropriate market segmentation to target specific people and Chinese province. Require to restructure its cost base to suit by sourcing its materials from China to satisfy the cost conscious needs of small towns and cities. SOCIAL (Opportunity for BBI for establishing its brand in strong position on customer mind.) Increase in middle class people. Rising income of newly educated class. Focused on functional aspects of products. (CIA, 2010) Potential opportunity of making profits by targeting young educated individuals in metro cities. TECHNOLOGICAL (Threat for BBI due to unprotected IPR.) No laws on Intellectual property rights (IPR). Improved technological due to spillover effect from other MNCs. ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL (Opportunity for BBI to keep away potential entrants.) High legalities for land acquisition. Procedural delays to grant permission. Being first international company in retail segment gives advantage to earn profits and create efficiency (Kotler, 1997). 3.0 PORTER FIVE FORCES: By analyzing the competitive nature of Chinese retail market, market position of BBI can be assessed to formulate strategy to neutralize these forces (Porter, 1985; Lynch, 2007). Force Strength and Implication for BBI Competitive Rivalry BBI caters only to CE retailing. Consolidation of retail segment has increased challenge. Emerging established domestic players. HIGH Innovative marketing is the key strength for BBI. Well known for its customer centricity. Powers of Suppliers Increasing domestic electronics suppliers. Global suppliers with high bargaining power. LOW BBI presence established with sourcing office developed good relationship with local suppliers. Power of Buyers Low brand recognition while buying product. Consumers preference for national brands. Products bought on basis of price and functionality. MEDIUM Although the power of buyers is medium BBI should make sure that it should reach its distributed customer through its distribution channel due to presence of vast regional difference. Threats for New Entrants Highly fragmented Chinese retail market. Entry of global retail players. Newly emerging domestic players. HIGH Concentrate to differentiation from others. Focus on targeting both segments of customers. 4.0 SWOT analysis: Factors Implication for BBI Strength Presence in China for sourcing electronic products since 2003. Innovative marketing skills. Established brand in US and surrounding regions. Developing and maintain relationship with established suppliers. Personal relationship is basis of business in China. Weakness Being a foreign MNC. Lack of knowledge for operating in Chinese customer segments. Lack of quality human resources. Acquisition of Five Star has reduced the foreign liability and increased local knowledge. Retail training of International Standards for employees. Opportunity Highly fragmented market. Increased demand for branded products in Tier 1 cities. Income growth in Tier 2 cities. Establish retail chain to create brand awareness. Need for creation of robust distribution network. Threats Rampant price wars. Entering global players. High domestic savings rate. Consumers differing away to purchase on credit terms. Cost focused strategy for price sensitive segment and focused differentiation branded products in Tier 1 segments (Johnson et. al., 2007) 5.0 Key Strategic Issues: Analyzing internal and external factors various key findings have been listed below with their strategic implication on BBI. Key strategic findings Analysis tool Key findings Strategic Implications on BBI PESTEL Analysis Huge differences in living standards. Increase in disposal income. High savings rate among middle income group. Establish stores to cater both segments to maintain both requirements: Functionality for cost focused and Differentiation for Tier 1 segment. PORTER FIVE FORCES Strong domestic competitors. Global competitors entering the market. Leveraging on first mover advantage, establish relationship with suppliers and buyers. SWOT Lack of local knowledge of different Chinese regions. Domestic retailers driving on price wars. Consumers buying less on credits. MA can fulfill local knowledge and developing relationship with established with local suppliers can cut cost low. 6.0 Strategy Formulation: TOWS Matrix: Different strategic options are formulated using TOWS matrix to address the strategic issues highlighted in analysis. INTERNAL FACTORS IN CHINA Strengths Weakness Established brand name Best Buys. Relationship with Chinese suppliers. International player. Well versed with new innovative technology. Acquisition of Five Star (75% Share). Experience in retail segment. Small number of BBI stores. Lack of retail skilled employees. Lack of local knowledge. Foreign liability. EXTERNAL FACTORS Opportunities Competitors lack of International retail standards and technology. Emerging markets Increasing young educated preferring branded goods. SO Strategic options Dual brand strategy Five star for cost focused and Best Buys for focused differentiation. Influencing young customer segment in Tier 1 market. WO Strategic options Increase on developing retail skilled employees. Increasing promotional packages. Reducing cost using technology. Threats Global economic crises. Legal regulations. Lower cost competition. High savings rate. Low credit purchase. ST Strategic options Developing brand recognition. MA with domestic retailers. Leveraging on suppliers potential. WT Strategic options Good product offerings Zero percent interest rate on EMI credit purchase. (Source: Johnson et al., 2008, p367) 7.0 Recommendation: A detail explanation and classification of strategies on basis of Ansoffs Matrix is detailed in appendix A. A primary analysis has been carried out using number of performance indicators to eliminate options which may not be suitable for BBI, leaving the 3 most appropriated strategies which can be followed. A combined approach of incremental market development and penetration followed simultaneously. First Stage: Create brand awareness and recognition among Chinese customers. Influence young educated customer segment. Second Stage: Use of dual branding strategy for two different segments Cost focused for customers believing in functionality and cost; Focused differentiation for brand conscious customers.

Essay example --

MSA University Faculty of pharmacy Pharmaceutical Microbiology PM 203 Name: Dina Ahmed Abd El Fattah Hegab ID# 111797 Group: C Under Supervision of: Dr. Reham Wasfy â€Æ' Disinfectants Disinfectants Can be applied to any non- living objects ; as this substance can destroy the microorganisms living on its surface. The Bacterial spores is kind of resistant to the Disinfection , it doesn't necessarily kills it, thus not necessary kills all the microorganisms. Unlike the sterilization – that is extreme physical (and/or) chemical process that kills all types of life- it is less effective in results. Disinfectants are not like any other antimicrobial agent as antibiotics that kills the microorganisms living inside the bodies or the antiseptics that kills the microorganisms on a living tissue it is even not like biocides that don't just kills the micro organisms, but also kills all types of life. Disinfectants simply cause damage to the microbe cell wall or it interferes with its metabolism. More about Disinfection†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Disinfection are by nature toxic to human beings and animals, as most of the modern Disinfection contains the substance bitrex which is considered to be the bitterest substance ever, this substance is used as a safety measure and is added to discourage the ingestion. Disinfectant Types can be divided into two main groups; which are oxidizing and non- oxidizing. 1- Oxidising disinfectants : It works by the oxidization of the microorganism's cell membrane; this leads the cell to death. In the oxidizing disinfectants both the components oxygen and chlorine exists heavily, as they are both strong oxidizers. 2- Non-oxidising disinfectants: It operates by disturbing the phospho-lipid molecules that make- up the ... ... to be kept in a temperature of 16  °C to 18 °C for 24 hours then leave it to be chilled for 1 hour before starting the test. References: 1- Holchem- leader in the speciality chemical manufacturing industry Available at : http://www.holchem.co.uk/disinfectant-types.aspx 2- Holchem- leader in the speciality chemical manufacturing industry Available at : http://www.holchem.co.uk/disinfectant-tests.aspx 3- The Egypt Germany disinfectant company Available at : http://egypt-germany-disinfection.com/index.php/products/ahd-2000-menu-item 4- The Egypt Germany disinfectant company Available at : http://egypt-germany-disinfection.com/index.php/products/2013-02-02-09-45-28 5- Wikipedia, Available at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfectant 6- The Egypt Germany disinfectant company Available at: http://egypt-germany-disinfection.com/index.php/products/lysoforminspezial

Walt Disney World Co. vs Aloysia Wood

515 So. 2d 198 (1987) WALT DISNEY WORLD CO. , et al. , Petitioners, v. Aloysia WOOD, et al. , Respondents. Supreme Court of Florida. (with professor edits) Aloysia Wood was injured in November 1971 at the grand prix attraction at Walt Disney World (Disney), when her fiance, Daniel Wood, rammed from the rear the vehicle which she was driving. Aloysia Wood filed suit against Disney, and Disney sought contribution from Daniel Wood After trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Aloysia Wood 14% at fault, Daniel Wood 85% at fault, and Disney 1% at fault.The jury assessed Wood's damages at $75,000. The court entered judgment against Disney for 86% of the damages. Disney subsequently moved to alter the judgment to reflect the jury's finding that Disney was only 1% at fault. The court denied the motion. On appeal, the fourth district affirmed the judgment **** In Hoffman v. Jones, 280 So. 2d 431 (Fla. 1973), this Court discarded the rule of contributory negligence, which Florida had follow ed since at least 1886, and adopted the pure comparative negligence standard. *** In adopting comparative negligence, this Court expressly declared two purposes for the change in judicial policy: (1) To allow a jury to apportion fault as it sees fit between negligent parties whose negligence was part of the legal and proximate cause of any loss or injury; and (2) To apportion the total damages resulting from the loss or injury according to the proportionate fault of each party. ***** The real issue before us is whether we should now replace the doctrine of joint and several liability with one in which the liability of codefendants to the plaintiff is apportioned according to each defendant's respective fault.According to Disney, this Court in Hoffman set for itself the goal of creating a tort system that fairly and equitably allocated damages according to the degrees of fault. Therefore, a defendant should only be held responsible to the extent of his fault in the same way as a plai ntiff under comparative negligence. Joint and several liability is a judicially created doctrine. Louisville ; N. R. R. v. Allen, 67 Fla. 257, 65 So. 8 (1914). This Court may alter a rule of law where great social upheaval dictates its necessity. Hoffman, 280 So. 2d 435. The â€Å"social pheaval† which is said to have occurred here is the fundamental alteration of Florida tort law encompassed by the adoption of comparative negligence. Following the adoption of comparative negligence, some states have passed laws eliminating joint and several liability, and the courts of several others have judicially abolished the doctrine. E. g. , Brown v. Keill, 224 Kan. 195, 580 P. 2d 867 (1978); Bartlett v. New Mexico Welding Supply, Inc. , 98 N. M. 152, 646 P. 2d 579 (Ct. App. ), cert. denied, 98 N. M. 336, 648 P. 2d 794 (1982); Laubach v. Morgan, 588 P. 2d 1071 (Okla. 1978). The Kansas Supreme Court in Brown v.Keill reasoned: There is nothing inherently fair about a defendant who is 10% at fault paying 100% of the loss, and there is no social policy that should compel defendants to pay more than their fair share of the loss. Plaintiffs now take the parties as they find them. If one of the parties at fault happens to be a spouse or a governmental agency and if by reason of some competing social policy the plaintiff cannot receive payment for his injuries from the spouse or agency, there is no compelling social policy which requires the codefendant to pay more than his fair share of the loss.The same is true if one of the defendants is wealthy and the other is not. Brown, 224 Kan. at 203, 580 P. 2d at 874. On the other hand, the majority of courts which have faced the issue in jurisdictions with comparative negligence have ruled that joint and several liability should be retained. E. g. , Arctic Structures, Inc. v. Wedmore, 605 P. 2d 426 (Alaska 1979); American Motorcycle Ass'n v. Superior Court, 20 Cal. 3d 578, 578 P. 2d 899, 146 Cal. Rptr. 182 (1978); Tucker v. Un ion Oil Co. , 100 Idaho 590, 603 P. 2d 156 (1979); Coney v. J. L. G. Industries, Inc. 97 Ill. 2d 104, 73 Ill. Dec. 337, 454 N. E. 2d 197 (1983); Kirby Bldg. Sys. v. Mineral Explorations, 704 P. 2d 1266 (Wyo. 1985). The Illinois Supreme Court in Coney v. J. L. G. Industries, Inc. gave four reasons justifying the retention of joint and several liability: (1) The feasibility of apportioning fault on a comparative basis does not render an indivisible injury â€Å"divisible† for purposes of the joint and several liability rule. A concurrent tortfeasor is liable for the whole of an indivisible injury when his negligence is a proximate cause of that damage.In many instances, the negligence of a concurrent tortfeasor may be sufficient by itself to cause the entire loss. The mere fact that it may be possible to assign some percentage figure to the relative culpability of one negligent defendant as compared to another does not in any way suggest that each defendant's negligence is not a proximate cause of the entire indivisible injury. (2) In those instances where the plaintiff is not guilty of negligence, he would be forced to bear a portion of the loss should one of the tortfeasors prove financially unable to satisfy his share of the damages. 3) Even in cases where a plaintiff is partially at fault, his culpability is not equivalent to that of a defendant. The plaintiff's negligence relates only to a lack of due care for his own safety while the defendant's negligence relates to a lack of due care for the safety of others; the latter is tortious, but the former is not. (4) Elimination of joint and several liability would work a serious and unwarranted deleterious effect on the ability of an injured plaintiff to obtain adequate compensation for his injuries. Coney, 97 Ill. 2d at 121-22, 73 Ill.Dec. at 345, 454 N. E. 2d at 205 (citations omitted). ***** While recognizing the logic in Disney's position, we cannot say with certainty that joint and several liability is an unjust doctrine or that it should necessarily be eliminated upon the adoption of comparative negligence. In view of the public policy considerations bearing on the issue, this Court believes that the viability of the doctrine is a matter which should best be decided by the legislature. Consequently, we approve the decision of the district court of appeal. It is so ordered.

Drama Are We Addicted to It Hollywood Says Yes.

Drama Are We Addicted to It Hollywood Says Yes. The Untrue Story†¦ This weekend I watched The Big Sick, a movie based on a true story about a Pakistani comedian, Kumail Nanjiani, and his white girlfriend, Emily Gordon. Kumail and Emily’s real story is a truly great love story. They were dating for six months when Emily suddenly fell ill- six months in which Kumail did not tell his family about Emily, fearing they would disown him. Then, while Emily was in a medically induced coma, Kumail recognized the level of his love for Emily. Upon her awakening, he asked her to marry him. They were wed two months later, in a Pakistani wedding, despite his parents’ protests and â€Å"How could you do this to us?† attitude. This story seems good enough for Hollywood to me, but to create more drama, Kumail and Emily (the authors of the screenplay about their own lives) threw a huge breakup fight into the mix- the day before Emily was hospitalized. They also made up fights between Kumail and Emily’s parents, as well as a race-related incident at one of Kumail’s shows where Emily’s mother went to (verbal) battle with a heckler. Click here to read about the real story. Hollywood Drama Hollywood movies require drama, and extra drama is what writers Kumail and Emily delivered. To me, it made their story less believable. I would have preferred the true story. I started doing research on other movies â€Å"based on true stories.† Not surprisingly, fictionalized fights and arguments were often added in for dramatic effect. For example, in Only the Brave, the leader of the team did not really have an argument with his wife the night before the big fire that killed him. And he did not give any pushback when one of his team members- the one who ultimately survived- told him he wanted to move to a different team that would provide him more stability. He was supportive from the get-go. But the movie depicted two fights and their ultimate resolution. Click here for more about the true account. In Marshall, fights were likewise inserted for dramatic effect. The real-life nephew of the lawyer Sam Friedman has said â€Å"that the moment in the movie that is most ‘absurd’ is when Sam tells Thurgood Marshall that he cant afford to lose the case, to which Marshall responds twice, ‘F*** you, Sam Friedman.’† (Click to learn what really happened.) In real life, Marshall would never have said such a thing. Furthermore, Marshall did not come close to getting into a bar fight, and Friedman was never actually attacked for working on the case of Joseph Spell, as depicted in the movie. Addicted to Drama? I have more questions than answers about the embellishments made to these â€Å"true† stories. Are we as a society so addicted to drama that we need additional conflict on top of what already exists in the world? Would we really not go to see movies that were more even-keeled? Or might we find them refreshing? Do we like watching other people’s drama so we feel better about our own? Do we like it because we learn from the movies that conflict can be resolved and that there is good will available if we look for it in others and in ourselves? I understand that fights are part of life and relationships. I appreciate real life, and sometimes even fictionalized, examples of conflict and resolution. But I also appreciate truth, and I don’t like gratuitous drama any more than I like gratuitous violence. I wish that Hollywood would cut some of the unnecessary emotional wringers that writers put us through. I am also asking myself, â€Å"How much unnecessary drama have I created in my own life? Am I making my own true story more of a roller coaster than it has to be?† The holiday season is a good time to shed light on where we might be embellishing our own stories with no real positive effect. I wish for us all that we pick our fights wisely and fight not to break our relationships apart, but to make them stronger. Category:Life and LeadershipBy Brenda BernsteinNovember 28, 2017 4 Comments Tara Imani says: November 28, 2017 at 12:37 pm Hi Brenda, Your post is truly enlightening as I assumed most true stories fights were not embellished. I wonder if Hollywood directors are the ones who are addicted to violence and abuse. The inserting of the word fxxx has escalated to epidemic proportions since 1986 or so. Thank you for shedding light on a serious problem. Movies can have a huge impact on people. If we get the idea that everyone is fighting and arguing and living in discord, it might influence us to do the same. This sounds lame but I think it happens. Before my dear mom passed unexpectedly after a surprise illness in 2015, she often kept her TV on the Hallmark channel. I joked she was living in a fairytale bubble, far away from CNN etc. In retrospect, I think she was doing the best thing. Happy Holidays, Tara Log in to Reply Brenda Bernstein says: November 28, 2017 at 2:49 pm Im so glad my article made such an impact, Tara! I believe theres harm in the happily ever after stories too, which make us think our fights are not okay or that something is wrong if were fighting. My vote is for somewhere in between. This society is so affected by what we see over and over on the big screen! Log in to Reply Kathi Fuller says: November 29, 2017 at 8:34 pm I feel exactly the same way, Brenda. The one that really struck me was Hidden Figures, based on the true story of three African American female mathematicians who worked at NASA in the 1960s. It feels like a slap in the face to tell a woman like Katherine Johnson that her story isnt compelling enough at face value, that it must be embellished with scenes like her boss striding down the hallway surrounded by Katherine and her co-workers to smash the Whites Only bathroom sign when he found out that Katherine was running to another building a half-mile away several times a day to use the only colored restroom on the NASA campus. Its a great visual and a powerful piece of storytelling but it never happened. In reality, Katherine simply ignored the Whites Only sign at the closest ladies room to her office and used it anyway, hoping she wouldnt get caught and eventually and uneventfully the sign came down as culture change swept through NASA. The reality makes me love Katherine e ven more her determination and self-sufficiency in overcoming the obstacle on her own rather than relying on a white, male higher-up to solve her issue for her. Adding false drama where none was needed diminished the experience of that film for me. There is power in authenticity! Log in to Reply Brenda Bernstein says: November 29, 2017 at 9:29 pm Thank you for sharing that, Kathi. Im going to go read up on the truth vs. fiction in that film now. I had assumed that was a true part of the story! Like there isnt enough to be appalled about regarding racial discrimination, we have to make things up? Log in to Reply

Brightening of the Night Essays

Brightening of the Night Essays Brightening of the Night Essay Brightening of the Night Essay The Brightening of the Night We live in a clip of great technological progresss and admirations. Merely to believe of all the fantastic things we have created in this twenty-four hours and age is reeling. Our houses are infiltrated with appliances and devices to break our lives or to assist us populate more productive lives. We are inundated with things that use electricity. Our places are lit by dark with bright visible radiations. Our nutrient is cooled and warmed by points such as electric refrigerators and microwaves. As we live and breathe, we are utilizing big sums of electricity. Electricity is non a bad thing ; in fact it has helped the U.S. to turn and bring forth more, and it has enabled us to salvage lives with new engineerings. Electricity, though, can be a double-edged blade. Like many other things on this Earth, electricity as produced by burning is a limited resource ( Chepesiuk ) . We have merely so much fuel to fire, and we burn dozenss of fossil fuels to make electricity to power our mundane lives. Just take a minute to look over a typical twenty-four hours. Wake up, wash, eat breakfast, look into our electronic mail or cell phone, get down our autos and turn on some melodies, acquire to school or work where visible radiations are used to light the dark inside. Even from this simple illustration, we can see that we use electric power in so many topographic points and in so many different things. The visible radiation we use to light the dark needs power to work, and that power must be made from something else. That something else happens to be powe r workss and other electric bring forthing installations. Not surprisingly, the huge bulk of electricity is produced by fossil fuel combustion workss ( Union of Concerned Scientists ) . In fact, 57 % of the power supplied to the U.S. is produced by coal powered power workss ( Pace University ) . What a good thing we have in the fantastic trade good of visible radiation. The visible radiation we use in our lives is non ever good. At times in life or even in the class of one twenty-four hours, we may happen the visible radiation we admire so much becomes an irritation. The jobs start to happen when good visible radiation turns into light pollution. Light pollution is a major job in our modern lives. We may non hold noticed the copiousness of light pollution, as it is so much a portion of modern society. Five signifiers of light pollution exist, viz. sky freshness, light trespass, over-illumination, blaze, and light jumble ( Chepesiuk ) . These are the names we have given to the fact that our usage of visible radiation has been irresponsible. The irresponsible usage of light creates a jeopardy to worlds and animate beings by altering our air quality and utilizing cherished resources. The point at which light becomes pollution is when that light becomes an irritation. Simply put, it is when the visible radiation is sent skyward and non where we need it, on the land ( Chepesiuk ) . We may believe that is of small importance. After all, what could a few small visible radiations that are excessively bright or are nt aligned right perchance do to ache us or the planet? The truth is a few simple visible radiations can make a batch to harm us and the planet. Just one 100 watt incandescent visible radiation bulb left on from morning to dusk for one twelvemonth will devour adequate power from the power works to bring forth a one-fourth of a ton of C dioxide ( Mizon ) . Now let s set that into position and believe about all the 1000s, nay, 1000000s of visible radiation bulbs in the US entirely which are left on to discourage offense, light up street marks or other assorted grounds. All those 1000000s of visible radiations, many of which are far more powerful than 100 Watts , will bring forth 10s of 1000000s of lbs of C dioxide in one twelvemonth. That s a batch of soiling of the ambiance in merely one twelvemonth. We might even see this to be a bigger issue, one of ailment wellness due to air pollution due to the increased CO2 and other harmful gases which are present in normal air. If we were to look at our air, we would happen that it is composed of largely nitrogen, O, C dioxide, and other hint sums of gas ( WeatherStreet ) . Now if we were to look at our air in the locality above a major main road or metropolis street, we would see a much higher concentration of C dioxide and lower concentrations of O. The same goes for countries near where coal and natural gas power workss operate. The pollution that is generated by these installations will finally lift into the ambiance and increase the already big sum of other green house gasess. The combustion of fossil fuels to supply electricity for our places creates a big sum of nursery gases. Not merely is the usage of electricity in our places a major subscriber to air pollution, but the visible radiations which get left on in the 1000s of concerns around the state besides play a big portion in the production of the abundant pollutants ( Mizon ) . As has been stated before, air gets dirty when we burn fossil fuels to bring forth electricity. The wellness effects of take a breathing polluted air are many. The hazard of respiratory complications and other jobs increase significantly with exposure to polluted air. Scientists estimate that 50 to 60 1000s Americans die each twelvemonth from air pollution ( Chiras and Reganold ) . Aside from the mortality hazards, air pollution besides causes chronic wellness jobs which are enfeebling. Looking back in merely the past decennary, we can see a large illustration in those who were at Ground Zero assisting those trapped in the autumn of the Twin Towers in 2001. Many suffer from chronic lung harm due to the big sum of particulates which were in the air ( Moore ) . There are besides big sums of particulates which are produced when coal and other dodo fuels are burned. These beginnings can do unwellness such as Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema and Lung Cancer ( Chiras and Reganold ) . In speaking about wellness concerns, we can non overlook the good effects that light dramas on us as worlds. We are animals of the visible radiation. Our eyes are of course adapted to see better in the daytime than in the darkness. In fact, we do merely about everything better in twenty-four hours visible radiation than in darkness. So of course, merely as we have changed engineering to better suit us, so we have done to the dark. We have made it to accommodate our demands as industrialised states ( Klinkenborg ) . As we have altered the dark, tailored in to suit us better, we have besides been altering us. Verlyn Klinkenborg stated in a recent article in National Geographic Unlike uranologists, most of us may non necessitate an unrelieved position of the dark sky for our work, but like most other animals we do need darkness. Darkness is every bit indispensable to our biological public assistance, to our internal clockwork, as light itself. The regular oscillation of waking and slumber in our lives- one of our circadian rhythms- is nil less than a biological look of the regular oscillation of visible radiation on Earth. So cardinal are these beats to our being that changing them is like changing gravity. In doing these alterations to the dark sky, or instead in the lighting of the dark, we have gone approximately, without the purposes to make so, the procedure of altering ourselves. Possibly an irregular light/dark beat has nt killed anyone yet, but it certainly causes a myriad of other jobs. Among other things, research workers have found that adult females who live in excessively bright suburbs in the US are at higher hazards for chest malignant neoplastic disease ( Klinkenborg ) . We so urgently need the dark merely as we need the Sun. Without a healthy balance of both, we most surely will be harming ourselves. Without that balance, jobs such as SAD can originate. SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder, is a depressive upset which occurs in approximately 1.5 % to 9 % of the US Population during the autumn and winter months. SAD is caused by the instability of light and dark, with excessively much darkness and non plenty light ( The Mayo Clinic Staff ) . It is of import, hence, to equ ilibrate the benefits and hazards of visible radiation in our day-to-day lives. In add-on to the physiological alterations, injury can besides come from excessively much illuming during nighttime drive. The many security visible radiations which are in topographic point in many abodes and other edifices are overwhelmingly bright, therefore presenting a job for us as we drive at dark. The effects of bright dark visible radiations are a simple irritation for some ; nevertheless, drivers with impaired vision do happen it progressively difficult to get by with brighter and brighter visible radiations. These conditions exist for everyone as they experience nighttime drive, due to the manner our eyes map at dark and the blaze from bright visible radiations. ( Synergistic Motorsports Entertainment Corp. ) . The light which we see at dark is non merely from oncoming autos, but besides from severely placed street visible radiations and security visible radiations from places. While these visible radiations have been installed for good grounds, many of them were installed without detecting proper arrangement and electrical power. While bigger may be better in some instances, it does non compare in this state of affairs. When supplying a place with a security visible radiation, it has been advised by Britain s Institution of Lighting Engineers that the maximal electrical power should be 150 Watts ( Mizon ) . This electrical power is more than sufficient to illume up the infinite desired, as anything bright may merely be adding a convenience visible radiation for burglars ( Mizon ) . Bright visible radiations at dark are non merely a jeopardy and irritation for worlds, but for other animate beings as good. Migrating birds have a difficult clip directing themselves when really bright visible radiations exist in the dark sky. The job normally occurs in larger metropoliss where increased lighting. In the Gale Encyclopedia s subdivision on light pollution, we learn: The 100s of species of migrating birds that fly after the Sun sets, including most songsters and many shore birds, are premier illustrations. Normally they rely on configurations to steer them during their twice-yearly migrations. But scientists speculate that when they fly near urban countries, the bright visible radiations short-circuit their guidance sense. Numerous studies have documented birds winging off class toward visible radiations on edifices, towers, beacons, even boats ( Bower ) . Lighting up the dark sky with inefficient illuming creates a big jeopardy for birds that must utilize the stars as counsel. The sky freshness radiating from our metropoliss, the bright topographic point visible radiations illuming up our places and office edifices at dark all combine to make an huge blaze for birds that are winging south for the winter. Birds are non the lone illustration. We can look to chiropterans, sea polo-necks, and a host of other animate beings who depend on the natural night/day beat ( Klinkenborg ) . We can see that portion of the solution lies in the proper balance of light and dark ; but what of the larger image? Where do we get down as a state to repair light pollution and its amendss? The inquiry of course arises as we approach this job ; what do we make to repair the job of light pollution? Again, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers us an penetration into this in his article from National Geographic Magazine: Of all the pollutions we face, light pollution is possibly the most easy remedied. Simple alterations in illuming design and installing output immediate alterations in the sum of visible radiation spilled into the ambiance and, frequently, immediate energy savings. There is much hope in the fact that light pollution is easy, or at least easier than the many other pollutants in our planet, to repair. Many options exist for the rectification of light pollution. Most of them are simple and effectual solutions which can be implemented by the person, such as altering from candent visible radiation bulbs to more energy efficient Compact Fluorescent bulb. While visible radiations inside the place are a definite betterment, allow us non bury the exterior of the house as good ( Mizon ) . Some of the visible radiations used outside can be of even greater electrical power than those used indoors, and when electrical power additions so does energy ingestion. One can besides promote larger concerns to exchange to higher efficiency visible radiation bulbs inside and out. This will convey great betterments to light emitted and C dioxide produced therefore giving us cleaner air. Encouraging metropolis leaders to put in better visible radiation fixtures along m ain roads and interstate roads will assist the local authorities to cognize that we care and are concerned about this job. Ultimately the job of light pollution is an single one, with the power in the custodies of the general populace to act upon those in higher topographic points who can alter policy. The largest benefit we can hold on others is by populating in a responsible manner when it comes to visible radiations and pollution. Talking to others and sharing what we know about light pollution, the amendss it produces and the impacts on our environment it poses is a great measure to take in assisting others to alter. Let us together so retrieve to turn it off. If we do nt necessitate the visible radiation, there is no point in go forthing it on. We must retrieve that our environment stretches beyond the plane of Earth we can see, and into the sky. Our domain of influence is as far making as the visible radiations we project so randomly into the dark, dark sky. To appreciate the beauties of the sky at dark, it is about impossible but from distant and rural countries non touched by the widening influence of light pollution. We do so of all time necessitate the dark and its attach toing darkness to equilibrate our lives. We besides need the air we breathe to be of better quality to guarantee the wellness of 1000000s to come after us. After all, the jobs we face today will merely be amplified by the coevalss of tomorrow ; unless we can repair them so that we can give a cleansing agent, darker dark to our kids. Let us non bury our demand for balance and control. The visible radiation we do necessitate at dark, if unhindered in its way, will do us harm and injury. Therefore, allow us take action today and live for a darker dark to night. Plants Cited Bower, Joe. Light Pollution Is a Serious Problem. Opposing Point of views: Pollution. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes.San Diego: Greenhaven Press,2006.Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Spokane Community College. 28 Nov. 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do? A ; contentSet=GSRC A ; type=retrieve A ; tabID=T010 A ; prodId=OVRC A ; docId=EJ3010157249 A ; source=gale A ; srcprod=OVRC A ; userGroupName=spok23643 A ; version=1.0 gt ; . Chepesiuk, Ron. Missing the Dark: Health Effectss of Light Pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives ( 2009 ) : A20-A28. Chiras, Daniel D. and John P. Reganold. Natural Resource Conservation. New Jersy: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010. Synergistic Motorsports Entertainment Corp. Driving Tips Night Driving. 2008. 28 November 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.racingschools.com/rs/Night-Driving-p-33.html gt ; . Klinkenborg, Verlyn. Light Pollution. November 2008. National Geographic. 30 November 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text gt ; . Mizon, Bob. Light Pollution: Responses and Remedies. London: Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2002. Pace University. Power Scoredcard: Electricity from Coal. 1 January 2000. 19 November 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.powerscorecard.org/tech_detail.cfm? resource_id=2 gt ; . Sicko. Dir. Michael Moore. Perf. Michael Moore. 2007. The Mayo Clinic Staff. The Mayo Clinic: Seasonal affectional upset ( SAD ) . 29 September 2009. 1 December 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195 gt ; . Union of Concerned Scientists. Clean Energy: Beginning of Energy. 11 Feburary 2003. 19 November 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/clean_energy_101/the-sources-of-energy.html gt ; . WeatherStreet. What is Air made of? 2007. 20 November 2009 lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.weatherquestions.com/What_is_air_made_of.htm gt ; .

Calvinism essays

Calvinism essays Calvinism is the theological system of John Calvin who exerted international influence on the development of the doctrine of the Protestant Reformation (Warfield, 2004). Calvin and his followers marked by strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of mankind, and the doctrine of predestination. This system was developed as a biblical Christianity. It has stirred countries such as Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, England and America. Calvinist theology spread rapidly, and became the basis for many protestant denominations. These included the Swiss Reformed Church, The Dutch Reformed Church, The English Puritans, The French Huguenots, The Presbyterian and Congregational Churches, The Baptist Churches, and through them the Pentecostal Churches and Assemblies of God. Jansenism, a Catholic form of Calvinism, was condemned as heretical in 1653. The central assertion of Calvinism canons is that God is able to save from the tyranny of sin, from guilt and the fear of death, every one of those upon whom he is willing to have mercy. God is not frustrated by the unrighteousness or the inability of men because it is the unrighteous and the helpless that he intends to save. In Calvinism man, in his state of innocence, had freedom and power to will and to do that, which is good and well pleasing to God; but yet mutably, so that he might fall from it. This concept of free choice makes Calvinism to stand supreme among all the religious systems of the world. The great men of our country often were members of Calvinist Church. We had the number of Presbyterian presidents, legislators, jurists, authors, editors, teachers and businessmen. The revolutionary principles of republican liberty and self-government, taught and embodied in the system of Calvin were brought to America and in this new land where they have borne so mighty a harvest were planted by the hands of the Calvinists. In this essay we will discuss the role of Calvinism in ...

Routes to learning and impact on end results on Exercise to Music Essay

Routes to learning and impact on end results on Exercise to Music courses - Essay Example One method of training is the Freestyle approach which expands horizons and develops abilities; while the second method is the Pre-choreographed approach which trains instructors to conform to the traditional method of following a pre-written script developed by others. The two different learning outcomes depend on the particular productive process that integrates training and learning in context with each other (Felstead et al, 2006: 1). The health and fitness club sector in the United Kingdom has experienced rapid growth since the early 1990s. The steeply rising popularity of the fitness sector has reached nation-wide coverage, and has now levelled off into a plateau. Fitness organisations changed their focus on to increasing the productivity of the centres that are currently functioning. Hence, the emphasis on retaining existing members is growing, and more resources are being devoted for the same purpose (Mintel, 2005). Among various initiatives is the exercise to music program which has become a standardised brand name, and leaves little allowance for instructor innovation and creativity (Felstead et al, 2006: 4). Most of the health and fitness clubs in the United Kingdom provide facilities for group training in a fitness room that is designated for the purpose, and is equipped with a music system, loudspeakers and full-length mirrors (Mintel, 2005). Whereas machine-based workouts do not follow a timetable, exercise to music is conducted to a time scale. The participants experience a wider range of vision as well as physical space in which to function. Group exercise has the additional benefit of building social bonds between participants, thus increasing fitness club attendance and helping to keep membership levels high (FIA, 2003). The Exercise to Music (ETM) class is led by an ETM instructor present in front of the class, sometimes on a platform. The instructor uses a

Controversy Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Controversy Analysis - Essay Example While leadership goals are a part and parcel of education system in this country, understanding the future implications of the education system in the career of a person is very important. Therefore, bringing out leadership qualities in a person must be accompanied by standards of leadership that he or she achieves to meet (Tyack, 1990, 188). When such set standards are used, the extent to which a person can handle leadership challenges becomes clear to the employer. One must remember that even if a person is highly educated, he or she might still lack superb leadership qualities. Therefore, instead of going by grades and academic records, if student leadership skills are quantified, then right candidates get the right degree of job (Berliner, 2013, 206). The main goal of education stays ambiguous even today. There are several definitions of a goal but if a goal decides whether the process of education has been fruitful for the country, then its goals will be different than if the process decides if education has been fruitful for the individual student. Setting up goals on a national level, that focus on individual fulfillment, will help diminish income inequality in the society (Labaree, 1997, 40). Teachers, trainers and mentors need to have a good grasp of the goal or aim of holding a training session or simply completing the class course (Elmore, 2000, 16). Yes, just as redefining educational goals is of prime most importance today, constantly reminding teachers of how well they need to fulfill these goals is also important. Educators have to be told why they need to exercise values of neutrality and strict assessment in grading and placing their students, to be able to remove income inequality. Although their contribution is going to be of less importance owing to inexperience, student involvement in curriculum and assessment protocol decisions is a healthy way to encourage participation and extract performance.

MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION ERROR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION ERROR - Essay Example Active errors assume different forms including lapses; this involves failures in memory that prevents the planned actions from being implemented. Slips; this involves performing a familiar action in a wrong away. Mistakes; are refereed to as a trend of reasoning leading to wrong outcome of choices. Latent conditions refer to systemic properties that result to errors. They may include system interfaces and management practices. It is summarized by the descriptions of Don Berwick that â€Å"every system is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets.† The nature of today’s primary care and frenetic pace of management in care within medical practices have made the probabilities of errors to become great. The Robert Graham Policy Centre has come up with a patient safety model called â€Å"toxic cascades.† It describes how small unnoticed errors can add up to become torrents. Research studies on office-based errors in primary care have been found to be of different categories. It shows that communication problems results into 24% of the errors, 20% are caused by discontinuity of care, 13% are as a result of missing charts, 19% from lab results, 8% are caused by clinical mistake, 8% resulted from prescribing errors, and the other 8% by other errors. The study revealed that medical errors are by and large a result of latent conditions and not active failure as had been believed. The medical infrastructure has become fragile and the risk adverse outcomes has gone low, despite the fact that delayed care, patient dissatisfaction, and worsening illness are still very common concerns in medical practices. Studies on error in health care by the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF’s) have led to the conclusion that â€Å"the ambulatory inpatient dichotomy is a false one. We have to think about populations and their continuum of care.† (Brennan, 2000). Turnbull the executive director of NPSF’s has put

The NPV and the Management in Sales Forecasts Essay

The NPV and the Management in Sales Forecasts - Essay Example Most of the companies while making investment in purchasing of assets consider either purchasing directly or purchasing through lease. Company also focus or consider the point what are the expected benefits associated with both of these methods. Therefore this method gives the company or management an opportunity to crit officially evaluate whether the company has to buy this through a loan or by cash in hand. It is very difficult for the management to take that much cash from the company as its affects its liquidity factor. Therefore this tools helps the management to compare these option and then make a fruitful decision in capital investments or budgeting. In this helps the management to avoid or minimize the potential errors in decision making. Another way in which the NPV factor greatly facilitate to overcome or minimize the potential errors in decision making is Price analysis. Pricing of a product or service is based on many factors like competitor’s pricing, the actual cost incurred in making the final product or services. And price volume relationship. The pricing analysis helps the management to evaluate all these factors while making the best possible decision. And here as well the NPV serves as a best tool to overcome the errors in decision making. NPV gives a clear picture whether the company can earn the potential cash outcomes from the pricing strategy or how it could be improved. Moreover, NPV helps greatly to the management in Advance Analyses of different issues or areas and makes a positive decision in terms of capital budgeting and decision making.

Coloniaism, Development, Culture and Resistance Essay

Coloniaism, Development, Culture and Resistance - Essay Example The New World inhabitants had accumulated a lot of golden treasure throughout the eras, besides the first deluge of "novel" gold into Europe and Spain came because of the  conquistadores  Ã¢â‚¬ËœSpanish for "conqueror’ take hold of this accumulation (Cole, 2002)  . Through the takeover of Peru by Pizarro Francisco, novel gold started to be excavated; and, through the unearthing of the silver in Mexico, vast quantities of silver started to surface. The European voyagers started to search mainly for gold. Therefore, as silver and gold reached in Europe from the New World, the value of everything started to rise gradually. The perpetual increase of silver and gold in Europe caused what historians term as  the price revolution (Diffie, 1977) and (Armesto, 2006). This paper will discuss the economic advantages that Europeans gained from their conquests in the ‘New World’. Food The new-fangled plants, which were initiated from the New-World, provided adequate fo od supplies for the growing population in Europe. The Europeans began to plant corn and potatoes from the New World. Although it was hard to get accustomed to corn, some Europeans, for instance, the Italians finally became adjusted to corn; nevertheless, it was utilized mainly as food for geese, chicken as well as other fowl as well as for pigs. The potatoes introduction created a revolution of calories, while the reception of corn created a revolution of proteins (Cole, 2002) and (Armesto, 2006). As Europe’s land could now yield more foodstuffs, the value of foodstuffs began to decline. The land production capacity had kept up with the populace, as well as the common European could at the moment eat more. In turn, the Europeans, initiated corn into the Africans as well as sweet potatoes to the Chinese, where these novel foods also altered conditions dramatically (Donkin, 2003) and (Armesto, 2006). The French brought in  tomatoes that they termed as "apples of love," and ut ilized them for decorative purposes within their flower parks. They believed that they were toxic. In time, nevertheless, the poison-producing tomato capacities were kept out, in addition the tomato turned out to be one of the highly popular supplements to European food (Donkin, 2003) and (Armesto, 2006). There were numerous other food vegetables transported back to Europe -- mainly many selections of  squash,  pumpkins,  beans,  peppers  -- that started a welcome diversity, along with a wide variety of vitamins, to the European cuisine. The healthiness of the common European started to improve, as well as his weight, height, and potency increased. While As this transpired, his endurance to illness grew (Cook, 1998) and (Armesto, 2006). Drugs A lot of awareness is directed to the dreadful death toll amongst the native populaces of the New-World instigated through the European's initiation of novel diseases that were incurable (Cook, 1998). It should as well be observed tha t majority of Europeans arriving to the New-World died in a year, generally from some illness, as well as that the demise toll amid Europeans within the central of Africa was very huge that it stayed largely uncultivated by them up to the 19th era (Dunton, 1896) and (Armesto, 2006). The Europeans were hasty to utilize native medicines for their illnesses, and the cinchona tree’

Individual Portion of Group Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Portion of Group Project - Assignment Example Year 2011 Profit Margin = (864 / 13,198) * 100 = 6.55% Question 29 a. Days in Inventory = (Average Inventory / COGS) * 365 b. Year 2012 Average Inventory = (1,365 + 1,174) / 2 = 1,269.5 Days in Inventory = (1,269.5 / 8,763) * 365 = 52.88 days c. Year 2011 Average Inventory = (1,174 + 1,056) / 2 = 1,115 Days in Inventory = (1,115 / 8,046) * 365 = 50.58 days Profit Margin Profit margin is one of the most important financial metrics that helps to evaluate the profit making ability of the company. It measures the capacity of the company to control its direct and indirect costs. The ratio is normally classified as a profitability ratio and calculated as: Profit Margin = (Net Income / Net Sales) * 100% Kellogg’s net profit margin improved in 2012 by 20 basis points. The company contributed 6.77c in 2012 as compared to 2.55c in 2011 to the net income for every unit dollar sales made. The improvement in the margin was due to the company ability to control its indirect expenses in 2012 . The company was able to reduce its selling and administrative expenses by 100 basis points despite an increase in the sales figure. However, the increase in the net profit margin could have been higher if the company had been able to control the growth in the direct costs. The cost of goods sold as a percentage of net sales increased by 70 basis points; which ultimately reduced the gross margin of the company. Another entity that reduced the profitability of Kellogg was the high interest expense. The company is highly leveraged and pays a massive amount as interest each other. In 2012, the company paid $261 million as interest expense as compared to $231 million in 2011. (SEC 2013) The increase in the profitability will have a positive impact on the Kellogg operations. It will allow the company to retain more of the earnings and invest in the company operations. This will allow the company to expand into the new markets each year and increase the profits of the company in the foll owing year. Similarly, the increase profitability impacts the investors psyche – they are more prone to invest in the company with better margins and payout ratios. The management at Kellogg needs to effectively control its growing direct costs. The resulting decrease in the cost of goods sold will increase the profit margin. Likewise, it needs an effective and efficient inventory management system that will allow the company to reduce its inventory costs as well. Similarly, the company needs to efficiently reduce its selling and administrative expense which will again directly affect the profits. Kraft is one of the biggest competitors to Kellogg in the food products industry. Kraft contributed 9.0c in 2012 as compared to 9.5c in 2011 to the net income for every unit dollar sales made. Although, Kraft’s net profit margin declined in 2012 by 50 basis points; it still has a better net profit margin compared to the Kellogg. (MSN Money, 2013) The main reason behind the hi gh margin is the company’s ability to control its direct costs as well as indirect costs. With higher margins and profits, the company reinvests a massive amount to expand and test the new markets. Similarly, these margins allow the company to maintain an effective advertising plan to stay at the top of the consumer’s mind. (MSN Money, 2013) Works Cited Bloomberg Businessweek. "KELLOGG CO (K:New York): Stock Quote & Company Profile."

The NPV and the Management in Sales Forecasts Essay

The NPV and the Management in Sales Forecasts - Essay Example Most of the companies while making investment in purchasing of assets consider either purchasing directly or purchasing through lease. Company also focus or consider the point what are the expected benefits associated with both of these methods. Therefore this method gives the company or management an opportunity to crit officially evaluate whether the company has to buy this through a loan or by cash in hand. It is very difficult for the management to take that much cash from the company as its affects its liquidity factor. Therefore this tools helps the management to compare these option and then make a fruitful decision in capital investments or budgeting. In this helps the management to avoid or minimize the potential errors in decision making. Another way in which the NPV factor greatly facilitate to overcome or minimize the potential errors in decision making is Price analysis. Pricing of a product or service is based on many factors like competitor’s pricing, the actual cost incurred in making the final product or services. And price volume relationship. The pricing analysis helps the management to evaluate all these factors while making the best possible decision. And here as well the NPV serves as a best tool to overcome the errors in decision making. NPV gives a clear picture whether the company can earn the potential cash outcomes from the pricing strategy or how it could be improved. Moreover, NPV helps greatly to the management in Advance Analyses of different issues or areas and makes a positive decision in terms of capital budgeting and decision making.

Individual Portion of Group Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Portion of Group Project - Assignment Example Year 2011 Profit Margin = (864 / 13,198) * 100 = 6.55% Question 29 a. Days in Inventory = (Average Inventory / COGS) * 365 b. Year 2012 Average Inventory = (1,365 + 1,174) / 2 = 1,269.5 Days in Inventory = (1,269.5 / 8,763) * 365 = 52.88 days c. Year 2011 Average Inventory = (1,174 + 1,056) / 2 = 1,115 Days in Inventory = (1,115 / 8,046) * 365 = 50.58 days Profit Margin Profit margin is one of the most important financial metrics that helps to evaluate the profit making ability of the company. It measures the capacity of the company to control its direct and indirect costs. The ratio is normally classified as a profitability ratio and calculated as: Profit Margin = (Net Income / Net Sales) * 100% Kellogg’s net profit margin improved in 2012 by 20 basis points. The company contributed 6.77c in 2012 as compared to 2.55c in 2011 to the net income for every unit dollar sales made. The improvement in the margin was due to the company ability to control its indirect expenses in 2012 . The company was able to reduce its selling and administrative expenses by 100 basis points despite an increase in the sales figure. However, the increase in the net profit margin could have been higher if the company had been able to control the growth in the direct costs. The cost of goods sold as a percentage of net sales increased by 70 basis points; which ultimately reduced the gross margin of the company. Another entity that reduced the profitability of Kellogg was the high interest expense. The company is highly leveraged and pays a massive amount as interest each other. In 2012, the company paid $261 million as interest expense as compared to $231 million in 2011. (SEC 2013) The increase in the profitability will have a positive impact on the Kellogg operations. It will allow the company to retain more of the earnings and invest in the company operations. This will allow the company to expand into the new markets each year and increase the profits of the company in the foll owing year. Similarly, the increase profitability impacts the investors psyche – they are more prone to invest in the company with better margins and payout ratios. The management at Kellogg needs to effectively control its growing direct costs. The resulting decrease in the cost of goods sold will increase the profit margin. Likewise, it needs an effective and efficient inventory management system that will allow the company to reduce its inventory costs as well. Similarly, the company needs to efficiently reduce its selling and administrative expense which will again directly affect the profits. Kraft is one of the biggest competitors to Kellogg in the food products industry. Kraft contributed 9.0c in 2012 as compared to 9.5c in 2011 to the net income for every unit dollar sales made. Although, Kraft’s net profit margin declined in 2012 by 50 basis points; it still has a better net profit margin compared to the Kellogg. (MSN Money, 2013) The main reason behind the hi gh margin is the company’s ability to control its direct costs as well as indirect costs. With higher margins and profits, the company reinvests a massive amount to expand and test the new markets. Similarly, these margins allow the company to maintain an effective advertising plan to stay at the top of the consumer’s mind. (MSN Money, 2013) Works Cited Bloomberg Businessweek. "KELLOGG CO (K:New York): Stock Quote & Company Profile."

Dictatorship and Democracy Essay Example for Free

Dictatorship and Democracy Essay Benazir Bhutto was a renowned politician and the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan during a time that changed the face of the world; the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 95. She was outspoken against the policy, rhetoric and agenda of Al Qaeda. On the 4th of October 2002, Bhutto gave a speech to the world stating that Al Qaeda not only victimized western society, but victimized Muslim Nations and the people of Islam. In her speech she invites the Democracies of the world to help thwart terrorism by replacing Dictatorships with Democratic Governments that provide for their people. Bhutto states, â€Å"Democracies which operate under pluralistic and public constraints, must provide for the public welfare, must provide social services, and must provide education, health and housing. Dictatorships need not. † (WV 293) In this essay I will discuss my disposition of Benazir Bhutto’s statement of government involvement of society. Benazir Bhutto belonged to a part of the world that most of us do not know well. She comes from a part of the world that does not consider women as man’s equal in society and religion. Part of this world has been plagued by the scourge of Al Qaeda; a terrorist organization that based its belief in the total destruction of Western Civilization for the preservation of Islam, taught in the method of extremism. The Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda assassinated Benazir Bhutto for her disagreement of the ways, methods and extreme fundamentalisms purported by Al Qaeda. She paid the ultimate price with her life for her outspoken beliefs against the unguided, against the recklessness and against the atrocity afflicted upon a Muslim society dictated by a mind hell bent on suffer for not conforming to his/her blueprint. She herself was enlightened, seeking progress of mankind. Dictatorships are more prominent around the world than one would think. Almost every nation has had a form of Dictatorship at one time in its history. Dictatorships are defined as authoritarian government ruled by one person. Usually the leader of these societies will take resources from his/her people to distribute elsewhere, primarily the military. In turn the people will do without food, state run services, electricity, running water, education and medical services. They’re even told how to worship religion throughout their lives. When people are oppressed and subject to such regimes they either protest their government or in some cases embrace it. I understand what Bhutto is inferring with her quote. When people are forced into these oppressive regimes it breeds hatred that can easily spill outside of its borders. It makes sense that oppressed people can become frustrated by outside influences and resort to a simplistic way of life. The oppressed can become more open to a suggested and dangerous agenda carrying with them the heavy burden over generations. On the other hand, Democracy is more in tune with its people. I define Democracy as a government system that sets all citizens as equal and allows its people to voice their opinion all for the greater good of society. In these societies the government can provide for its citizens what Dictatorships usually neglect. Democracies have the power to ensure that each citizen is entitled to education rights, social services, health care, public welfare and housing needs for the less fortunate. Democratic citizens who are in need should have no worries of doing without, as if Mom or Dad is there to lend a helping hand to their children. The citizens can control what benefits they have rights to through Democratic process where as people subdued by a Dictator struggle to get by with whatever they can get their hands on. A Democracy supports the ideas of many whereas a Dictatorship pushes the agenda of one person across its people. A Democracy encourages people to live positively and hopeful. It’s easy to say that people who live under Democracy are not oppressed but in some cases spoiled by the fruits of their government. Unfortunately the circumstantial effect of Dictatorships can ultimately lead to factions that want nothing more but to change the world into their idealisms. These groups become extreme in their own right and force their agenda on the world through extreme action. Dictatorships become breeding grounds for this kind of filth and their ilk; in some cases a terrorist organization houses a Dictator with the power to spread rhetoric to the world by utilizing media outlets that air the aftermath of terror attacks. The entire populace of one’s country is negatively reflected and become polarized by the extreme leadership. A Democracy’s citizens have everything they need to live a healthy life and make something of themselves and should have no reason to embrace jealousy and hatred of extremism. Ultimately the citizen makes the country. There are some very rare cases of factions that form within Democracies that hold a specific agenda. These factions really do nothing more than stir up the opinion of the public through their protest. Rarely do these factions become violent or organized enough to enforce their agenda onto the world through acts of terror. Do I agree with Benazir Bhutto? Yes and no. I honestly feel that all people of the world should live freely and allowed to flourish in society. I think that someone should be able to see a doctor if they are sick or with cancer. I do not believe that government should put itself before its people, at any given time! I think that there should be no person that starves and lives under a bridge wondering what tomorrow is going to be like. And the one thing I think that Democracy cannot cure is extremism of any aspect of society. There will always be someone who is not happy with their way of life and will resort to an extreme ideals and methods.

Similarities Differences Between Asian And Global Financial Crisis Economics Essay

Similarities Differences Between Asian And Global Financial Crisis Economics Essay Asia Financial Crisis (AFC) in 1997 was started with devaluation of Thailands baht and followed by Ringgit Malaysia, Philippine Peso, and Indonesian Rupiah. There were some causes of the crisis such as South East Asia current account deficit, overvalued assets prices, corruption and macroeconomic policy mistake and excess lending. Most of South East Asia Countries was facing current account deficit, some countries had 5% above GDP. They solved this deficit by attracting inflows of investment from overseas, regularly on short term investment. This is because financial deregulation and capital liberalization in the west countries, so it began to persuade developing countries to adopt free market as well. Then, foreign investment ostensibly good for economic but actually not, the problem is not from free movement of capital however that the country will be very dependent on foreign short term capital flow. Short-term borrowing (i.e. loans of less than a years duration) meant there should be had liquid assets in the banks account it will causes motivating a large part of their capital inflows were increasing the lending rate, which directly some of domestic banks actively seek foreign funds from the West to finance the lending with the consequences country will facing excess lending. Secondly, the weakness of the South East Asian economies was not practically overvalued their assets make them weak to a quick depression. In Thailand property market become the weakness of financial sector, according to Robert Chote (1998) Thailand bank had lending funds to non bank financial institution, which is property market investors. It is approximation quarter of bank in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia was lending their funds through intermediaries for property related investment. The third causes of AFC has been the internal factor of each developing country that is badly ill of corruption and does not handle capital market in a transparency, there was insufficient regulatory framework in business especially for the bank in South East Asia. For example in Indonesia, banks would never refuse to lend money to businesses have relation with the former president Suharto family, the lenders just think those borrowers would be able to repay the debt, even the investment failed. Another factor was macroeconomic policies, which is pegging domestic currency to the US dollar had significant effects, by maintaining the fixed dollar rate between South East Asian economies in effect caused their currencies to appreciate. Then, when the crisis was develop the inflation of the US dollar give some trouble to those countries facing large deficit, but it would also make it harder to fund their deficit. Therefore the effect of AFC will be affecting in Asia and to the global market. In the Asia region, one of the distinct effects has been the devaluation in the value against US dollar and usually the economy performance can be seen in stock market, which is the country in crisis will experience quick drops in the stock market because stock market would be likely to fall reflect the lower anticipated profit. Another indication of the financial crisis was interest rate will rise rapidly to prevent further devaluation of the currencies, for example in Indonesia they raise overnight interest rate to 300% in 1997, but still failed to stop exchange rate from collapsing. In Malaysia, the stock and the currency market nearly collapses and also GDP growth rate dropped from 7.3% to negative 7.4%, but the economy conditions recover in 1999. The global impact of AFC economic turmoil is expected to give effect of some downturns in economic growth since the crisis began. The devaluation of South East Asian currencies will decrease the demand for western goods which are making the goods more expensive to obtain than usual. But, the positive consequence is the growth of export from major economies. Another impact in devaluation of currencies will give trade advantage to South East Asian companies, but the cost to acquiring assets will be increased as well, as a consequence, foreign direct investment will drop. Compared with current Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the causes of GFC are linked to the turn down of financial markets. In US, banking industries has been affected by subprime mortgage trend which is more likely from real estate. According to Krugman (2009) the crisis growth from housing crisis to banking crisis are very fast. The impact GFC in financial institution in developing countries in Asia, in fact the financial institution in developing country relatively unaffected as they have good track record on borrowing and lending process so, it will help to minimize the risk. Then general recommendation, for financial institution would government should make clear regulation, then by funding market and supporting trouble assets market it will give liquidity to bank. Because this is a global issue, it may require cooperation other countries to make solution. In case of GFC, Asian economies will move slowly, it is because most of the countries dependant to foreign demands, therefore when US and west countries struggle it relatively will give effect to Asian countries. But, since AFC most of Asia countries have good fundamental in their economy but policy adjustments for each country to adapt the situation are necessary. The impacts of GFC in Malaysia are in foreign exchange rate, finance sector, banking system and trade. Exchange rates in Malaysia since de-pegging in from US in 2005 have impact to capital flow to the Ringgit (Ooi, 2008), this depreciation in Ringgit value is related to the demand of portfolio flow and export sector. This will help Malaysia to improve their export for counter global recession. In finance sector, Malaysia have suffered big impact on capital flow because US financial institution more concern to their domestic market, and in capital flow portfolio is the one most volatile. In Malaysia stock exchange, many foreign players involved then when the crisis, many foreign participants take their part back, and affecting to the stock market in KLCI. According to Bank Negara Malaysia (2008), low debt repayment by private sector and official sector cause decreasing in direct investment. The impact on banking system was quite under control as local banks had small correlation with US subprime loan, and also local bank have learned from AFC in 1997. For trade, there has big impact in Malaysia because of very dependent in the world market, in 2009 Malaysia made biggest drop in export rate including in manufactured export, electronic, agricultural and natural resources export. Malaysias exports have a high relation with their import. So when exports decrease, imports also decrease. In conclusion, AFC give good fundamental Asian countries when facing GFC. Then both of the crises always give global impact in economics to all countries in the world, and as financial crisis all financial market will be affected. The differences are just the volume of the impact and how they will find the solution to manage their problem. QUESTION 2 Discuss in detail on the impact of Capital Control imposed by the Malaysian Government in 1998 on the economy in general, giving special consideration on the pegging of Malaysian Ringgit against USD. In 1957, Malaysia adopt floating exchange rate that only volatile around RM 2.50. During the floating exchange rate in 1991 1997, the growth of GDP in Malaysia was higher and was calculated approximately at 9.2 percent a year. On the other hand, during the financial crisis, the economic growth became negative. Moreover, in 1999, the growth started to recover from -7.6 per a year to 6.1 percent a year. This condition can be happened due to the investors confidence has recovered and the business started the expansion movement (Talib, nd). Financial crisis in 1998 caused catastrophe to countries in Asia, such as Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. In those years, every country in Asia was preventing itself from the crisis by defensive method. It is also followed by IMF term that every country has to tighten their capital and exchange control. This action is taken due to ensure the investors confidence and stem capital outflow. On the other hand, Malaysia challenged it by imposing restriction on capital repatriation by foreign investor and on offshore trading of ringgit-denominated assets (Sharma, 2003). According to Sharma in The Malaysian Capital Control Regime of 1998, she stated that due to capital control, it downturn the economic in Malaysia. For example, export in electronic especially showed low demand and rises of lower cost producers. She added also that the price of the residential and commercial property increase. Moreover, subsidies are needed in industries, such as automobiles, cement, steel and others. But the troublesome is the falling in the assets quality of the bank because of the uncontrolled rapid credit expansion that made speculative price bubbles happened. Also there was difference in assets and liabilities that made the market vulnerable and seriously exposed. So, when financial crisis in Asia happened, Malaysian Ringgit became very volatile and the trading of Ringgit against USD at RM 4.22 per 1 USD. Thus government made decision to peg the Ringgit with USD at RM 3.82 per 1 USD. The Malaysian government not only concern about the economy in Malaysia but also the virtual pegging of Malaysian Ringgit against USD. At that time Malaysian Ringgit weakened against USD, this is because the unlimited currency trading market. Many speculators that short or sell the Malaysian Ringgit in case of depreciated (Sharma, 2003). Malaysia also imposes restriction on exchange rate transaction to prevent speculator take position against ringgit and also to protect foreign exchange reserves and recover monetary. The process of recovery not only by pegging and controlling the currencies Bank Negara also take a part to support the process of recovery, they impose stretched limit on transfer of capital to foreign countries by residents, the central bank maintains its commitment to exchange rate stability and rules out revaluation, massive capital inflows translate into a massive increase in the domestic money supply, leading to suspected undervaluation and inflationary pressure thi s decision was to prevent potential escape or people try to cheating. The Governments declaration of a guarantee of bank deposit also carries positive effect in Malaysia. In conclusion, Malaysia was able to control the Asia Financial Crisis in 1998, with the collaboration all other sectors including Government and financial institution by designing effective capital control and effective enforcement which are showed political ability and outstanding institutional. QUESTION 3 Based on your understanding of the Financial System in Malaysia, critically argue on how we could minimize the impact from another catastrophic economic crisis (if any). The Malaysian financial system was insecure during the Asian financial crisis. This encouraged the government to take holistic approach towards financial restructuring. It has been shown in paper4-emerging issues in Malaysian financial system: policy and challenges (2005) the government took approaches to restructure which includes the establishment of Danaharta, Danamodal and CDRC (Credit Debt Restructuring Committee) and promoted consolidation with merge exercise. Within 2 years, Malaysia managed to get out of the crisis with low usage of public funds (less than 5% of GNP) for the restructuring efforts and restoring economic stability. The government realized that the financial sector has to be transformed to address inherent weakness and set foundation for longer term development efforts amidst intense competitive pressures, globalization and liberalization of financial markets. How to cope with the crisis can be in various ways. But the initial priorities in dealing with the crisis were to stabilize the financial system and to restore confidence in economic management. Strong actions were needed to stop bank runs, protect the payment system, limit central bank liquidity support, and minimize disruptions to credit flows, maintain monetary control, and stop capital outflows. According to the financial sector crisis and restructuring lesson from Asia, it suggests that the countries emergency measures, such as the introduction of blanket guarantees and bank closings, were accompanied by comprehensive bank restructuring programs and supported by macroeconomic stabilization policies. Blanket guarantees for depositors and creditors were used in Malaysia to restore confidence and to protect banks funding. Despite the huge contingent costs and moral hazard problems involved, the government opts to guarantee the deposit rather than risking the credibility of their ba nking systems. The guarantees were effective in stabilizing banks domestic fundingalthough in some cases it took some time to gain credibilitybut were less effective in stabilizing banks foreign funding where Malaysia adopted capital controls. The developments within the domestic economy such as embarking on expansionary fiscal policies, easing monetary policy, implementing capital controls, and fixing the exchange rate can help to lead an improvement in the Malaysian economy. A well-functioning and efficient financial system is vital in ensuring effective and efficient conduct of monetary policy. The need to hit information technology will increasingly be important to meet more difficult demand. Banking sector needs large amount of capital investments to remain competitive and be able to assume greater risks. The financial system must adapt to meet the changing requirements for financing new economic activities. In particular, new areas of growth have different characteristics, which may limit their access to the traditional form of the bank-based financing. The capital market will play an important role in financing the growth and businesses. In order for Malaysia to remain internationally competitive, some of the important challenges will include such as continuing to Pursue Liberalization, Foreign Direct Investment, Building Good Governance and an Ethical Regulatory Framework, Restructuring and Upgrading the Industrial and Technological Base. In terms of the foreign exchange, Malaysia can get advantage by pegged exchange rate during the crisis. This brings advantages such as Relative stability in the foreign exchange market, Avoiding the day-to-day management of the exchange rate, The fixed exchange rate provided more certainty for businesses to make business and pricing decisions, Fixing of the Ringgit against the US dollar resulted in some independence in setting the level of interest rate, Avoids a trade-off between an accommodative monetary policy to avoid a contraction of the economy, and the need to check further deterioration in the Ringgit exchange rate. Comprehensive bank restructuring strategies in Malaysia sought to restore financial sector reliability as soon as possible, and at least cost to the government, while providing an appropriate incentive structure for the restructuring. The strategies included setting up appropriate institutional frameworks, removing nonviable institutions from the system, strengthening viable institutions, dealing with value-impaired assets, improving prudential regulations and banking supervision, and promoting transparency in financial market operations. According to the IMFs publication, more transparency in macro and microeconomic data and policies would have exposed vulnerabilities earlier and helped lessen the crisis. Better regulatory and supervisory frameworks would have helped, but supervisors would most likely not have been able to take necessary actions in the middle of the economic boom. No one foresaw the sudden massive erosion of loan values, once market sentiment changed and exchange rates collapsed. Broad-based reforms are under way to strengthen the institutional, administrative, and legal frameworks in the crisis countries, based on evolving international best practices, codes, core principles, and standards. The crisis has shown the need to tailor prudential policies so that resilience is built up in times of economic booms to deal more easily with inevitable economic downturns. International efforts have been undertaken to reduce the likelihood and intensity of future crises. Initiatives include work on the internat ional financial architecture, the Financial Stability Forum, and financial sector stability assessments. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has formulated improvements to regulation and supervision of international lenders to address weaknesses that contributed to the Asian crisis.

Side Effects of Antidepressants Essay -- Medical Depression Psychology

Side Effects of Antidepressants Side effects have played a significant role in the development of SSRI’s. The first drug, iproniazid, was developed to fight tuberculosis in the early 1950's, and had a noticeable side effect on mood elevation. Soon it was known as a "happy drug". This drug immediately gained attention from physicians and depression researchers. At that time the only drug on the market for depression was opium, which was a highly addictive substance (Turkington 49-50). Ten years of specific drug research to identify different models of nerve transmissions and tailoring chemicals to affect these processes resulted in the development of Prozac (Turkington,61). "Eli Lilly and Co.'s (Prozac's manufacturer) official product information acknowledges that tremors alone occur in 10% of patients on Prozac. Any side effect occurring in 1% or more of patients is acknowledged as "frequent" by the pharmaceutical industry (Glenmullen). Some of these side effects that have been reported are feelings of jitteriness, sleep problems "tardive dyskinesia," and "sexual dysfunction". Other side effects from Prozac include weight gain, tiredness, increased appetite, feeling weak, sore throat, and trouble with concentration (Smith). Side effects of antidepressants fall in three different categories: sedation; dry mouth, blurry vision, constipation, urinary problems, increased heart rate, and memory problems; and dizziness on standing up, orthostatic hypotension. Those that interfere with dopamine, such as Effexor and Asendin, may produce movement disorders and endocrine system changes. Blocking serotonin may create stomach problems, insomnia, and anxiety. The newer drug... ...r, and it's been great." References Boyles, S. (2005). Mixed results on antidepressants and suicide. Web MD. News Feb, 18. Janicak, P. G.,& Davis, J.M. (2001). Principles and practice of psychopharmacotherapy (3rd ed.). New York: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. Glenmullen, J. (2000). Prozac: pro and Con,WebMD Feature June,2. Mason, S. E. (2002). Prozac and crime: Who is the victim? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,72(3)445-455. Rivas-Vazquez, R. A., & Blais, M.A. (2000). Sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressant treatment. Professional Psychology: Research and practice,31(6)641-651. Smith, M. (2003). Medication for bipolar depression. Approved WebMD Medical News December, 29. Turkington, C.A., & Kaplan, E.F. (1994). Making the prozac decision: Your guide to antidepressants. Los Angeles: Lowell House.