Directed Study - 6575 Words

Directed Study #2 International Management - Managing Across Borders and Cultures Chapter 2 Managing Interdependence -Social Responsibility and Ethics Discussion Questions 3. What does moral universalism mean? Discuss your perspective on this concept. Do you think the goal of moral universalism is possible? Is it advisable? Moral universalism is a moral standard toward social responsibility accepted by all cultures. My opinion is that what is morally correct in my culture may not be in another culture. If we practice equality then is it right for us to tell another culture what is morally correct. How then do we enforce our morals on others? With the numerous cultures and beliefs how do we determine what a universal standard is? And†¦show more content†¦6. As a manager in a foreign subsidiary, how can you reconcile local expectations of questionable payments with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act? What is your stance on the problem of â€Å"payoffs?† How does the degree of law enforcement in a particular country affect ethical behavior in business? Managers must be able to distinguish between harmless practices and actual bribery, between genuine relationships and those used as a cover-up. The fact of the matter is, many business people are willing to engage in bribery as an everyday part of meeting their business objectives. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act attempts to provide some guidelines for distinguishing between a bribe and facilitating business. There are several factors involved when dealing with â€Å"payoffs.† What is considered to be a payoff would be the first factor. When a company is given tax incentives to open a company in a new territory it is seen as a payoff to some inhabitants of that community. Another factor involved is what amount is considered, and how does it harm companies that can’t afford to pay the cost. A payoff has corrupt implications and should not be done. Ultimately, it will be up to the local manager to make the call. Some will say that if the law is not being enforced by the host country, then it is probably less important to the host. TheyShow MoreRelatedDirected Study in Marketing 21744 Words   |  7 PagesSandra7007 WK4 Questions/Problems – Chapters 10, 11 amp; 12 October 30, 2012 Chapter 10 6. Insurance agents are intermediaries who help other members channel by providing information and handling the selling function. Does it make sense for an insurance agent to specialize and work exclusively with one insurance provider? Why or why not? Insurance intermediaries enable the placement and purchase of insurance and deliver services to insurance companies and consumers that supplement the insuranceRead MoreSelf-Directed Teams: Case Study832 Words   |  3 PagesBackground Amasi’s executive education course on work force education and Team structures, he learnt that the SDTs (Self-directed teams) model would improve productivity and quality of units by 30% to 40%, and returns on investment evidently improved by 3 times compared with industry average. After bringing 35-year-old Jay Winslow, the plant manager, on board, they both believe a flattened and simplified organizational hierarchy and committed workforce with a high level of satisfaction would enhanceRead MoreTaking a Look at Surfactant Protein-D1392 Words   |  6 Pagesmechanism SP-D binds with various micro-organisms and other particles that enter the human body and act against them. 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Taking the initiative to learn is core to every other aspect, whether we talk about the 15 Ways of the Successful Self-Directed Learner by Jeff Cobb, or come up with our ownRead MoreNur504 Week 5 Collaborative Learning Community: Ebp Literature Latest592 Words   |  3 Pagessuccessful completion of the assignment. You are not required to submit this assignment to Turnitin, unless otherwise directed by your instructor. If so directed, refer to the Student Success Center for directions. Only Word documents can be submitted to Turnitin. 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The Sustainability, Economic Sustainability And Social...

The terms Sustainable and Sustainability are used to describe many different approaches for improving our life. Sustainability is about people and culture, our environment, jobs or countries. Could be defend as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. It s about taking what we need to live now. There is many departments of sustainability but the main are three environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. The term sustainability in a business or company means a lot. Business sustainability is the management and coordination of environmental, social and finance demands and concerns to ensure responsible ethical and ongoing success. Sustainability is about good business and successful life improvement. Starbucks Company story began in 1971 with a single store in Seattle s pike Place Market. Starbucks named after mate in Herman Melville s Moby Dick and their logo is also by the sea, featuring a twin-tailed siren from Greek mythology. Their mission is to inspire and nature the human spirit - one person, one cup and more neighborhood. Now Starbucks Corporation is the largest coffee house company in the world, with over 17000 stores in more than fifty countries, which they serve 50 million customers every week. That s why i choose Starbuck because first i love their coffee and second i was curious to learn, see and examine how can this company can be sustainably with 17000 stores all over the world.Show MoreRelatedThe Sustainability, Economic Sustainability And Social Sustainability1860 Words   |  8 PagesSustainable and Sustainability are used to describe many different approaches for improving our life. Sustainability is about people and culture, our environment, jobs or count ries. 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History of British Literature Free Essays

Late Medieval Period 14th Century British Literature 14th and 15th were period of transition from feudalism to pre-industrial era. A time of political, social and ideological conflicts; England was in war with France (the hundred year war 1337-1453 Edward’s claim to the French throne and attempt to bring England, Gascony and Flanders under unified political control). The defeats in France lead to deepening the internal crisis. We will write a custom essay sample on History of British Literature or any similar topic only for you Order Now The decline in agriculture together with the rise in the population resulted in frequent famines and helped the spread during the 14th c. of the â€Å"Black Death†. 381 – The Peasants’ Revolt. Culture: by 15th century England had become a nation with the sense of separate identity and indigenous culture 1362- English became the official language in court and was also used in schools. 14thc. witnessed the first original literary works written in English. Middle English literature English literature of the medieval period, c. 1100 to c. 1500. Background The Norman conquest of England in 1066 traditionally signifies the beginning of 200 years of the domination of French in English letters. French cultural dominance, moreover, was general in Europe at this time. French language and culture replaced English in polite court society and had lasting effects on English culture. But the native tradition survived, although little 13th-century, and even less 12th-century, vernacular literature is extant, since most of it was transmitted orally. Anglo-Saxon fragmented into several dialects and gradually evolved into Middle English, which, despite an admixture of French, is unquestionably English. By the mid-14th cent. , Middle English had become the literary as well as the spoken language of England. The Early Period Several poems in early Middle English are extant. The  Orrmulum  (c. 1200), a verse translation of parts of the Gospels, is of linguistic and prosodic rather than literary interest. Of approximately the same date,  The  Owl and the Nightingale  (see separate article) is the first example in English of the  debat,  a popular continental form; in the poem, the owl, strictly monastic and didactic, and the nightingale, a free and amorous secular spirit, charmingly debate the virtues of their respective ways of life. The Thirteenth Century Middle English prose of the 13th cent. ontinued in the tradition of Anglo-Saxon prose? homiletic, didactic, and directed toward ordinary people rather than polite society. The â€Å"Katherine Group† (c. 1200), comprising three saints’ lives, is typical. The  Ancren Riwle(c. 1200) is a manual for prospective anchoresses; it was very popular, and it greatly influenced the prose of the 13th and 14th cent. The fact that there w as no French prose tradition was very important to the preservation of the English prose tradition. In the 13th cent. the  romance, an important continental narrative verse form, was introduced in England. It drew from three rich sources of character and adventure: the legends of Charlemagne, the legends of ancient Greece and Rome, and the British legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Layamon’s  Brut, a late 13th-century metrical romance (a translation from the French), marks the first appearance of Arthurian matter in English (see  Arthurian legend). Original English romances based upon indigenous material include  King Horn  and  Havelok the Dane, both 13th-century works that retain elements of the Anglo-Saxon heroic tradition. However, French romances, notably the Arthurian romances of  Chretien de Troyes, were far more influential than their English counterparts. In England French romances popularized ideas of adventure and heroism quite contrary to those of Anglo-Saxon heroic literature and were representative of wholly different values and tastes. Ideals of  courtly love, together with its elaborate manners and rituals, replaced those of the heroic code; adventure and feats of courage were pursued for the sake of the knight’s lady rather than for the sake of the hero’s honor or the glory of his tribal king. Continental verse forms based on metrics and rhyme replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative line in Middle English poetry (with the important exception of the 14th-century alliterative revival). Many French literary forms also became popular, among them the  fabliau; the exemplum, or moral tale; the animal fable; and the dream vision. The continental allegorical tradition, which derived from classical literature, is exemplified by the  Roman de la Rose, which had a strong impact on English literature. Medieval works of literature often center on a popular rhetorical figure, such as the  ubi sunt,  which remarks on the inevitability? nd sadness? of change, loss, and death; and the  cursor mundi,  which harps on the vanity of human grandeur. A 15,000-line 13th-century English poem, the  Cursor Mundi,  retells human history (i. e. , the medieval version? biblical plus classical story) from the point of view its title implies. A number of 13th-century secular and religious M iddle English lyrics are extant, including the exuberant  Sumer Is Icumen In, but like Middle English literature in general, the  lyric  reached its fullest flower during the second half of the 14th cent. Lyrics continued popular in the 15th cent. from which time the  ballad  also dates. The Fourteenth Century The poetry of the alliterative revival (see  alliteration), the unexplained reemergence of the Anglo-Saxon verse form in the 14th cent. , includes some of the best poetry in Middle English. The Christian allegory  The  Pearl  (see separate article) is a poem of great intricacy and sensibility that is meaningful on several symbolic levels. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,  by the same anonymous author, is also of high literary sophistication, and its intelligence, vividness, and symbolic interest render it possibly the finest Arthurian poem in English. Other important alliterative poems are the moral allegory  Piers Plowman,  attributed to William  Langland, and the alliterative  Morte Arthur,  which, like nearly all English poetry until the mid-14th cent. , was anonymous. The works of Geoffrey  Chaucer  mark the brilliant culmination of Middle English literature. Chaucer’s  The Canterbury Tales  are stories told each other by pilgrims? who comprise a very colorful cross section of 14th-century English society? on their way to the shrine at Canterbury. The tales are cast into many different verse forms and genres and collectively explore virtually every significant medieval theme. Chaucer’s wise and humane work also illuminates the full scope of medieval thought. Overshadowed by Chaucer but of some note are the works of John  Gower. The Fifteenth Century: The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English letters, due in part to the social dislocation caused by the prolonged Wars of the Roses. Of the many 15th-century imitators of Chaucer the best-known are John  Lydgate  and Thomas  Hoccleve. Other poets of the time include Stephen  Hawes  and Alexander  Barclay  and the Scots poets William  Dunbar, Robert  Henryson, and Gawin  Douglas. The poetry of John  Skelton, which is mostly satiric, combines medieval and Renaissance elements. William  Caxton  introduced printing to England in 1475 and in 1485 printed Sir Thomas  Malory’s  Morte d’Arthur. This prose work, written in the twilight of  chivalry, casts the Arthurian tales into coherent form and views them with an awareness that they represent a vanishing way of life. The  miracle play, a long cycle of short plays based upon biblical episodes, was popular throughout the Middle Ages in England. The  morality play, an allegorical drama centering on the struggle for man’s soul, originated in the 15th cent. The finest of the genre is  Everyman. English Society in the 14th Century Summary:    The Canterbury Tales is set in fourteenth-century London, one of the medieval period’s great centers of commerce and culture. In England at this time, society was still very strictly ordered, with the King and nobles having all power in things political and the Catholic Church having all authority in spiritual matters. English Society in the 14th Century The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language. This is because poetry was often written in Italian or Latin not English, even writers from England wrote in the other languages because English was considered low class and vulgar, but after Chaucer’s writings were published they became a recognized and legitimate work. The Canterbury Tales gives modern readers a good judgment of language in the 14th century as it also gives a rich, elaborated tapestry of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves. The view of the Canterbury Tales being held up as a precise reflection of English society in the 14th century is significantly correct, because they were very attached to the church and beliefs and the way they all act in the Tales shows how they really were a society of the Church. â€Å"The Canterbury Tales is set in fourteenth-century London, one of the medieval period’s great centers of commerce and culture. In England at this time, society was still very strictly ordered, with the King and nobles having all power in things political and the Catholic Church having all authority in spiritual matters. However, trade and commerce with other nations had expanded dramatically in this century, giving rise to a new and highly vocal middle class comprised of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, and skilled craftsmen. † The story starts with a general prologue that provides a panoramic view of society England begins the period with wars, unrest, and almost chaos; it concludes with a settled dynasty, a reformed religion, and a people united and progressive. England in 1300 was well on the way to rapid expansion. It was rapidly increasing in intellectual and mathematical sophistication. Technically, thanks to water power and the mechanical discoveries that flowed from it, England was in the midst of what many historians call the Medieval Industrial Revolution. One reason there seems to be such a break between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was that there was in fact a break. The 14th Century was a time of turmoil, diminished expectations, loss of confidence in institutions, and feelings of helplessness at forces beyond human contro. lThe 14th century in Europe was a time of great unrest. This as primarily caused by the outbreak of bubonic plague better known as the Black Death. Another cause were the peasant revolts, and the schism within the Catholic Church. The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language. This is because poetry was often written in Italian or Latin not English, even writers from England wrote in the other languages because English was considered low class and vulgar, but after Chaucer’s writings were published they became a recognized and legitimate work. The Canterbury Tales gives modern readers a good judgment of language in the 14th century as it also gives a rich, elaborated tapestry of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes,from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves. The view of the Canterbury Tales being held up as a precise reflection of English society in the 14th century is significantly correct, because they were very attached to the church and beliefs and the way they all act in the Tales shows how they really were a society of the Church. Alliterative verse: 8th – 14th century AD The story of English literature begins with the Germanic tradition of the Anglo-Saxon settlers. Beowulfstands at its head. This epic poem of the 8th century is in  Anglo-Saxon, now more usually described as Old English. It is incomprehensible to a reader familiar only with modern English. Even so, there is a continuous linguistic development between the two. The most significant turning point, from about 1100, is the development of Middle English – differing from Old English in the addition of a French vocabulary after the  Norman conquest. French and Germanic influences subsequently compete for the mainstream role in English literature. The French poetic tradition inclines to lines of a regular metrical length, usually linked by rhyme into couplets or stanzas. German poetry depends more on rhythm and stress, with repeated consonants (alliteration) to bind the phrases. Elegant or subtle rhymes have a courtly flavour. The hammer blows of alliteration are a type of verbal athleticism more likely to draw applause in a hall full of warriors. Both traditions achieve a magnificent flowering in England in the late 14th century, towards the end of the Middle English period. Piers Plowmanand  Sir Gawainare masterpieces which look back to Old English. By contrastChaucer, a poet of the court, ushers in a new era of English literature. Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain: 14th century AD Of these two great English alliterative poems, the second is entirely anonymous and the first virtually so. The narrator of  Piers Plowmancalls himself Will; occasional references in the text suggest that his name may be Langland. Nothing else, apart from this poem, is known of him. Piers Plowman exists in three versions, the longest amounting to more than 7000 lines. It is considered probable that all three are by the same author. If so he spends some twenty years, from about 1367, adjusting and refining his epic creation. Piers the ploughman is one of a group of characters searching for Christian truth in the complex setting of a dream. Though mainly a spiritual quest, the work also has a political element. It contains sharply observed details of a corrupt and materialistic age (Wycliffe  is among Langland’s English contemporaries). Where  Piers Plowman  is tough and gritty,  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight(dating from the same period) is more polished in its manner and more courtly in its content. The characters derive partly fromArthurian legend. A mysterious green knight arrives one Christmas at the court of King Arthur. He invites any knight to strike him with an axe and to receive the blow back a year later. Gawain accepts the challenge. He cuts off the head of the green knight, who rides away with it. The rest of the poem concerns Gawain, a year later, at the green knight’s castle. In a tale of love (for the green knight’s wife) and subsequent eceit, Gawain emerges with little honour. The green knight spares his life but sends him home to Arthur’s court wearing the wife’s girdle as a badge of shame. Geoffrey Chaucer at court: AD 1367-1400 In 1367 one of four new ‘yeomen of the chamber’ in the household of Edward III is Geoffrey Chaucer, then aged about twenty- seven. The young man’s wife, Philippa, is already a lady-in-waiting to the queen. A few years later Chaucer becomes one of the king’s esquires, with duties which include entertaining the court with stories and music. There can rarely have been a more inspired appointment. Chaucer’s poems are designed to be read aloud, in the first instance by himself. Their range, from high romance to bawdy comedy, is well calculated to hold the listeners spellbound. Courtly circles in England are his first audience. Chaucer’s public career is one of almost unbroken success in two consecutive reigns. He undertakes diplomatic missions abroad on behalf of the king; he is given administrative posts, such as controlling the customs, which bring lodgings and handsome stipends. Even occasional disasters (such as being robbed twice in four days in 1390 and losing ? 0 of Richard II’s money) do him no lasting harm. A measure of Chaucer’s skill as a courtier is that during the 1390s, when he is in the employment ofRichard II, he also receives gifts at Christmas from Richard’s rival, Bolingbroke. When Bolingbroke unseats Richard II in 1399, taking his place on the throne as  Henry IV, Chaucer combines diplomacy and wit to secure his position. Having lost his royal appointments, he reminds the new king of his predicament in a poem entitled ‘The Complaint of Chaucer to his Empty Purse’. The last line of each verse begs the purse to ‘be heavy again, or else must I die’. Henry IV hears the message. The court poet is given a new annuity. Henry is certainly aware that he is keeping in his royal circle a poet of great distinction. Chaucer’s reputation is such that, when he dies in the following year, he is granted the very unusual honour – for a commoner – of being buried in Westminster abbey. Troilus and Criseyde: AD 1385 Chaucer’s first masterpiece is his subtle account of the wooing of Criseyde by Troilus, with the active encouragement of Criseyde’s uncle Pandarus. The tender joys of their love affair are followed by Criseyde’s betrayal and Troilus’s death in battle. Chaucer adapts to his own purposes the more conventionally dramatic account of this legendary affair written some fifty years earlier byBoccaccio(probably read by Chaucer when on a mission to Florence in 1373). His own very long poem (8239 lines) is written in the early 1380s and is complete by 1385. Chaucer’s tone is delicate, subtle, oblique – though this does not prevent him from introducing and gently satirising many vivid details of life at court, as he guides the reader through the long psychological intrigue by which Pandarus eventually delivers Troilus into Criseyde’s bed. The charm and detail of the poem, giving an intimate glimpse of a courtly world, is akin to the delightful miniatures which illustrate books of hours of this period in the style known asInternational Gothic. Yet this delicacy is only one side of Chaucer’s abundant talent – as he soon proves in  The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales: AD 1387-1400 Collections of tales are a favourite literary convention of the 14th century. Boccaccio’sDecameron  is the best-known example before Chaucer’s time, but Chaucer inThe Canterbury Tales  outshines his predecessors. He does so in the range and vitality of the stories in his collection, from the courtly tone of ‘The Knight’s Tale’ to the rough and often obscene humour of those known technically as  fabliaux. He does so also in the detail and humour of the framework holding the stories together. His account of the pilgrims as they ride from London to Canterbury, with their constant bickering and rivalry, amounts to a comic masterpiece in its own right. The pilgrims, thirty of them including Chaucer himself, gather one spring day at the Tabard in Southwark. The host of the inn, Harry Bailly, is a real contemporary of Chaucer’s (his name features in historical records). He will act as their guide on the route to Canterbury and he proposes that they pass the time on their journey by telling stories. Each pilgrim is to tell two on the way out and two on the way back. Whoever is judged to have told the best tale will have a free supper at the Tabard on their return. Of this ambitious total of 120 stories, Chaucer completes only 24 by the time of his death. Even so the collection amounts to some 17,000 lines – mainly of rhyming verse, but with some passages of prose. The pilgrims represent all sections of society from gentry to humble craftsmen (the only absentees are the labouring poor, unable to afford a pilgrimage of this kind). There are respectable people from the various classes – such as the knight, the parson and the yeoman – but the emphasis falls mainly on characters who are pretentious, scurrilous, mendacious, avaricious or lecherous. The pilgrims are vividly described, one by one, in Chaucer’sPrologue. The relationships between them evolve in the linking passages between the tales, as Harry Bailly arranges who shall speak next. The pilgrims for the most part tell tales closely related to their station in life or to their personal character. Sometimes the anecdotes even reflect mutual animosities. The miller gives a scurrilously comic account of a carpenter being cuckolded. Everyone laughs heartily except the reeve, who began his career as a carpenter. The reeve gets his own back with an equally outrageous tale of the seduction of a miller’s wife and daughter. But the pilgrim who has most delighted six centuries of readers is the five-times-married Wife of Bath, taking a lusty pleasure in her own appetites and richly scorning the ideals of celibacy. How to cite History of British Literature, Papers

Long Distance by Tony Harrison and The Sick Equation by Brian Patten Essay Example For Students

Long Distance by Tony Harrison and The Sick Equation by Brian Patten Essay Long Distance by Tony Harrison and The Sick Equation by Brian Patten both present negative family relationships. In Long Distance Harrison talks about the relationship between father and son after their mother dies. It is a simple reflection on grief. In The Sick Equation Patten explains to us how he felt about his unstable childhood. In Long Distance the overriding atmosphere is morose and melancholy which fits in with the themes of the poem. The atmosphere is portrayed by the language Tony Harrison uses, fro example raw love and crime. The poem has a steady rhythm as it offers a steady outlook on death. You also feel pathos for the father. Though my mother was already two years dead Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas. The father is finding it hard to come to terms with the death of his wife even though it has been a long time since she died. In The Sick Equation the prevailing feeling is remorse, lack of understanding and sadness. You can empathize with the son due to the amount of imagery Patten uses. The poem has a miserable atmosphere as his emotionally painful childhood has affected his adulthood. The themes that recur in Long Distance and The Sick Equation include pathos, loss, death, sadness and family relationship. Long Distances themes are loneliness, love and routine which is portrayed when the father carries on doing the same things that he did when his wife was alive. The themes in The Sick Equation are suffering and fear of being hurt. This is shown when the son grew up and learned that he should not love. In the opening stanza of Long Distance Harrison makes this poem personal by saying my mother this makes you feel that you can empathize with the characters more than if it was in second or third person. Also in the first stanza of Long Distance Harrison says went to renew her transport pass. This suggests the father is not restricting his behavior to his private life. In the opening stanza of The Sick Equation Patten tells us how he couldnt understand the relationship of his parents In school I learnt that one and one made two But at home, sweet home, that sum was open to dispute. This emphasizes the emotion of the lack of understanding by the young Patten. There is an oppressive atmosphere in The Sick Equation In that raw cocoon of parental hate This quote tells us that Patten felt claustrophobic in his emotions toward his parents and feels he could not express these emotions a child would normally express. Both poems start with a depressing mood, however Long Distance starts in a more formal tone than The Sick Equation. In Stanza 2 and 3 of Long Distance Harrisons father knows that he is doing something wrong Hed put you off an hour to give him time to clear away her things and look alone This makes him feel worse and embarrassed. Even the son is too scared to talk about it because he knows if he does his father may get upset. Also in Long Distance Harrison uses language like raw love were such a crime. This is not meant literally, the raw love is like an open wound and it takes time to heal but the father takes longer to heal than others. In Stanza 2, 3 and 4 of The Sick Equation Patten is coming to terms with the fact that it is alright to love. I never let love stay long enough to take root, This is describing his early adulthood and how he never got too close to a person in case he fell in love. It also links back to Stanza 1 where he says raw cocoon this is another reference to nature. Pattens feelings come in the way of growing up. I grew or did not grow He is describing how he grew physically but not emotionally and how his feelings of despair prevented him from growing up to be a well-rounded adult. There is an example of an extended metaphor in The Sick Equation and it is to do with flying. Because to the flightless the dream of flights an anguish. .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .postImageUrl , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:hover , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:visited , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:active { border:0!important; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:active , .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987 .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue8a1a5682f5a050db09971dbc8d90987:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Derek Walcott Uses Poetry to Explore Themes of Ethnicity EssayPatten enjoyed the relationship but started to worry if it was too good. Later on in the poem he also uses The shadow of that albatrossPatten uses the image of an albatross to describe divorce. The albatross comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner where the mariner kills the albatross and, as a consequence, is made to carry it around his neck. It was a punishment and that is how Patten sees divorce, the punishment for getting married. In The Sick Equations final stanza Patten realizes he was wrong all his life and he blames his parents for his unhappy adulthood. The lesson that our parents taught, and in their sick equation not stay caught. He feels that his parents were twisted and it was disgusting how his parent let him think in that way. There is another extended metaphor in The Sick Equation and it is to do with school and maths. The Sick Equation refers to a mathematical word and Stung more than any teachers cane also is a teaching expression. I think Long Distance has been very cleverly written. Just when you think you know what Harrison is trying to tell you, just when you think you can sympathize with him about his love for his father and his torment at watching his fathers extreme grief, the poem jolts you. The last stanza tells you that the poem was never just about the father. Its about Harrison and his won struggle to accept the finality of his parents death and his own refusal to see them as disconnected from his life. It has a metaphor at the end of the poem You havent both gone shopping; just the same, in my new black leather phone book theres your name and the disconnected number I still call. The father and son are not miles, but emotionally, distant. In conclusion, I think both poems convey their ideas well and although the presentation, structure and ideas were different they both had most of the same themes and deal with bad family relationships.

261 OConnor and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Professor Ramos Blog

261 OConnor and A Good Man Is Hard to Find Flannery OConnor (1925 1964) Quick Write Flannery OConnor (1925 1964) A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) 50s Music 1950s Highway Sign in the Southern United States

Lets Just Prosecute to the FULL extent of the Law.

Lets Just Prosecute to the FULL extent of the Law. Lets Just Prosecute to the FULL extent of the Law. Lets Just Prosecute to the FULL extent of the Law. By Maeve Maddox Philip Dragonetti writes: Another word that drives me up the wall is fullestas in: Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Would someone please tell me how the fullest extent of the law is greater than the full extent of the law? I agree with Philip that full is sufficient when speaking of the extent of the law. Thats not to say that fullest extent is always superfluous. For example: â€Å"I live every day to its fullest extent and I dont sweat the small stuff.† Olivia Newton-John Taking shelter in the dead is death itself, and only taking all the risk of life to the fullest extent is living.† Rabindranath Tagore The use of fullest in these examples is acceptable because the extent to which life can be lived depends upon external factors such as health and opportunity. The law, on the other hand, is determinate. The extent is set. You may prosecute someone to the full extent of the law. The superlative form fullest is not required. By now the expression the fullest extent of the law has taken on the character of a clichà ©. It is annoyingly imprecise, but its probably not going to go away. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Based in" and "based out of"Acronym vs. Initialism50 Synonyms for â€Å"Villain†

Problematical Aspects Encountered When Using The English Language Essay

Problematical Aspects Encountered When Using The English Language - Essay Example English grammar also recognizes the importance of the â€Å"aspect†, which is considered to be â€Å"a cover term for those properties of a sequence that constitute the temporal structure of the event denoted by the verb and its arguments† (ibid.). In his â€Å"Translating English Perfect Tenses into Arabic† study, Hassan A.H. Gadalla develops the idea of Kerstens, Ruys & Zwarts (1996–2001), that the English language contains four tense forms (past, present, future, future-in-the-past or conditional) and that for every one of these tenses there exist four â€Å"aspectual references† (simple, progressive, perfect and perfect progressive). Either one of the verbal tenses can, therefore, admit an aspect, in order to express a certain idea regarding the moment in which the presented action occurs. According to the previous definitions and ideas, the use of the English tenses and aspects is primarily influenced by the speaker’s intention regarding the framing of time that he wishes to offer to his communicational sentence. Furthermore, this essay will develop the appropriate theories and real situations in order to exemplify the usage of the English Perfect Tenses, in both English native communication and in translation. Considering these aspects regarding time value in an action and discussing the issues that may occur is vital for the appropriate transmission of the message, since English grammar offers a wide range of examples and situations in which the knowledge, and therefore the correct usage of aspects and tenses tends to have a great impact on the communication activity. Moreover, when translating from English to other languages, an adequate understanding of the linguistic phenomena such as transferring the modal aspects or perfect expressions into a language with different grammar and tenses usage probably is the most important part of the process.

How to Learn Meditation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How to Learn Meditation - Essay Example There are different types of meditation depending on school and country, but it is possible to learn the basic skills which are common. Like any technique, meditation requires knowledge of theory and regular practice. So first it is necessary to choose a comfortable place for meditation. It has to be friendly and familiar location; there is no need to go outside if you are planning to meditate for the first time. Through meditation on the beach seems like a wonderful idea, it is better to do it later being more adept. Your own room where everything is familiar and where you won`t be bothered is a perfect place. It is possible to sit on the floor or on a special carpet or on the chair.  The second step is choosing a right posture. Two main conditions of a good posture and effective meditation are straight spine and comfort. If you feel relaxed sitting on a floor with your legs crossed then it`s a perfect posture. It `s also possible to take a cushion as it will make sitting less dif ficult. Someone will rather sit on a chair. Your spine must resemble a straight line from the top of the head down to the floor. Yet the posture must not be too comfortable to the point that it will make you fall asleep and you must be able to hold your body weight yourself. Step number four is finding the right music. It is much more comfortable to meditate with appropriate audio when you are doing it for the first time. Calm Indian melodies, binaural rhythms, mantras are those tested sounds which are easy to find on the Internet now. These sounds help to reduce any mental chatter that is going on in your head. Choose the audio that will last for about 10-15 minutes and will not end abruptly. Focusing on your breath is a next and one of the most important steps on your way to becoming a master of meditation. Breathing is the key to concentration and relaxation so you need to be attentive and not neglect to learn to breathe however awkward it may sound.

Analyze Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyze Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes - Essay Example Flexible exchange rate constantly moves back and forth. Most of the country of the world keeps US dollars as a reserve currency against their own money. When we mean flexible exchange rate of a country’s currency, we denote its value with reference to US dollar. Change of international value of the dollar will affect the exchange rate of country’s currency against the dollar. There is no perfect model (Wray, 2011) to predict the movement of international value of US dollar. There is no perfect model that can predict exchange rate of a country’s currency against US Dollar. Flexible exchange rate has advantages; independent monitory policy, promotes economic development, promotes international trade, and increases international liquidity. Government operating with flexible exchange rate does not undertake responsibility of currency conversion. Government does not need to fear that it will run out of foreign currency reserves. In case of using flexible exchange rate monitory policy of the country is not limited or affected by the economic conditions of other country. Thus, it promotes economic development leading to full employment. Since, government does not control the exchange rate, restriction on international trade is removed which contributes to free moving of capital among countries. Flexible exchange rate removes the necessity of keeping foreign exchange reserves thus, increases international liquidity of the currency. In a fixed exchange rate system, the currency has a target rate based on other currency or basket of other currencies (Wray, 2011). This is how government is controlling value between two currencies. If the government let the currency float it can trigger domestic inflation. Government will be printing paper money, and its monitory policy will be affected, as well as the job market. When export and import elasticity is extremely low (Wray, 2011),

Force Plate Design And Use Health And Social Care Essay

Force Plate Design And Use Health And Social Care Essay Force plates are a powerful tool for examining the kinetic characteristics of an athletes movement. The plates offer a large variety of information about the external forces involved, but have very specific characteristics that define the potential quality of collected data. Through proper understanding of these qualities, and sound use of calibration, filtering, and sampling procedures, the user can ensure that the error disguising the signal of interest is minimized. Thus, the collected data is at its highest possible quality, and inference about the athlete in question is strongest. This paper deals with the aforementioned topics related to force plate design and use, including a section describing an example laboratory set-up. Keywords: force plate, filtering, sampling, data collection, kinetic Introduction Force is the entity that results in movement- it can be understood as a push, or pull, or simply, a tendency to distort a material. Measurement of force can allow a coach or sport scientist to quantitatively understand an athletes execution of a skill, or to assess an athletes physical progress. For example, assessment of the external forces applied to the ground by an athlete in a vertical jump provide a very good picture of the explosive abilities of an athlete, as well a very good indicator of the progress of those abilities if measured at multiple time points in a training program. Force plates and other force measurement devices are widely used to assess the external forces generated by athletes. Force plates in particular measure external ground reaction forces in up to three planes -vertical, anterior-posterior, and medial lateral. This data provides a picture of the interaction within an athlete-ground system, something extremely difficult to do without a force plate. It is important to distinguish between kinetic and kinematic analysis. Kinematics is related to movement, what is visually observable, e.g. positions velocities and directions, while kinetics refers to what causes the movement to occur (i.e. torques and forces), and is not directly observable. Force plates allow one to see the kinetic characteristics of a skill, and thus the forces that cause the precise execution of that skill. Force Plate Design and Use Force plates measure external forces based on the principles of Newtons third law- that an object exerting a force on another object has a simultaneous force exerted upon it that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the original force exerted. Thus, the force plate measures ground reaction force (GRF). GRF is the force the ground exerts as a reaction (equal, opposite, and simultaneous) to the forces applied to the ground or other object by the athletes body (see Figure 1). This principle allows the researcher to determine the forces exerted by an athlete while in contact with the force plate. In a vertical jump for example, the athletes body mass and propulsion forces from the jump exert a push on the plate, causing a tendency of the plate to distort. This tendency is measured as GRF. The kinetic information obtained from force plate data then provides an understanding of the kinematic characteristics through a derivation of Newtons second law that the force on a body is directly proportional to the mass of the body and the acceleration of the body, represented by the equation force = mass X acceleration. Given that the forces can be measured by a force plate, and the mass of the athlete is known, a very good understanding of the kinematic characteristics of the skill can be obtained through calculation of the acceleration of the athlete using the aforementioned equation. Five important pieces of information can be obtained from a modern full featured force plate: force in the X, Y, and Z directions, the center of pressure, and moment (torque) around each of the axes. Each of these variables shows a picture of the forces exerted by an object (i.e. a limb) on the force plate. This data allows the investigator to determine a multitude of measures. For example, force plates have been used to study the take-off forces in pole vault technique (3) and the forces involved in the second pull in weightlifters (7); as it stands, the uses for force plates are numerous. Before analysis and use of the collected data, processing of the analog signal must occur. Figure 2 shows the complete flow of the force plate data, from the initial analog signal output (continuous voltage) from the force plate, to the final digital input signal leading into the final analysis. Force is applied to the force plate, which changes the excitation charge sent through the force plate in proportion to the force applied. That new charge is sent to an amplifier. Analog signal processing (some kind of filtering or smoothing of the signal) can occur. After the signal has been amplified, the current goes to a data acquisition device, where it enters an analog-digital converter which converts the continuous analog signal to a discrete digital signal. The newly-converted digital data is recorded as evenly spaced samples, and more processing of the digital signal can occur. It is at this point that the recorded digital signal can be analyzed. Load Cells Forces must be measured through indirect means, through a force transducer. A force transducer functions toconvert physical states into electrical signals (21). The load cells in a force plate transduce the force applied to the plate into a measureable electrical voltage and current. There are a variety of load cell types. Two commonly used load cells in force plates are piezoelectric transducers and strain-gauge load cells. Both types of load cells receive an excitation voltage input, and output an different electrical current which is proportional to the load experienced by the cell (based on Ohms Law: current = voltage / resistance) (1). The operation of each differs in a few distinct ways. Piezoelectric cells operate based on the fact that when a piezoelectric material has a force applied to it, a charge appears on the face of the material; This charge is proportional to the force applied. Recording of the resultant voltage allows calculation of the applied force. The strain gauge load cells operate on the fact that changes in electrical current occur when a metal or semiconductor is deformed (1, 19). A thin sheet of metal or semiconductor material is bonded to a metal object, which provides a solid structural device on which to apply the force. Deformations in the device and the bonded sheet result in changes of the electrical resistance of the bonded sheet, thus modifying the current that moves through the bonded sheet. Monitoring of these changes allow for calculation of the force applied to the device. A common form of the strain gauge is the shear beam load cell (1, 19). One end of the beam is anchored to a stable platform, while the other is extended so that it can receive a load. A foil sheet or semiconductor is bonded to the beam, and an electrical current is run through the sheet. Force applied at the end of the beam (perpendicular to the plane of the sheet) causes deformation of the beam, resulting in electrical resistance changes across the sheet bonded to the beam. This results in a different electrical current and allows measurement of the applied force. Shear beam load cells have the advantage of a high force capacity and accurate measurement, which can make them a good candidate for use in force plates. A typical tri-planar force plate is constructed with four three-component load cells (14). Each three-component cell measures force in the X, Y and Z direction, and the placement of the load cells allow for calculation of center of pressure, center of force and torque about the axes. The four load cells are arranged in each of the four quadrants of the force plate, evenly spaced from each other and from the edges. Moment about the axes, center of pressure and center of force can be calculated based from measurements from data from individual load cells and their respective locations on the forceplate. Typically, the forces that are transduced from force plates are summed from measurements from individual force transducers on the plate. For example, in a force plate with four load cells, one in each corner, vertical ground reaction force is calculated from the sum of the forces measured on each cell. Likewise, in a force plate that is capable of anterior-posterior measurement or medial-lateral forces, the forces of interest are the summed composed of the total of the load cells of the plate. Sampling Monitoring the changes in force applied to the force plate requires sampling at regular intervals. Sampling frequencies of 500 to 2000 hertz (Hz) have been noted in the more recent sport science literature, however a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz is perhaps most common (14). While substantial research has examined sampling frequency in a wide variety of applications (engineering, for example), substantially less has been done to examine sampling frequency in sport science, although several authors have evaluated the variability of vertical jump performance data with different sampling frequencies. Vanrenterghem, et al. (24) found that sampling frequencies of above 100 Hz were adequate and Hori, et al. (10) found that sampling at about 200 Hz was accurate enough for accurate measurement. Contrary to the previous authors, Street, et al. (23) found that sampling rates of less than 1080 Hz could lead to an underestimation of jump height (calculated via the impulse method) by up to 4.4%. Other authors have recommended a sampling frequency of 500 Hz or 1000 Hz in force plate research to ensure accuracy, especially when impact is involved (2). Sampling frequencies must be high enough to ensure accuracy of measurement and reduction of signal aliasing (where the recorded digital signal fails to accurately show the original signal due to inadequate sampling). The Nyquist Theorum suggests that the absolute minimum sampling frequency is two times the frequency of interest. Bartlett (2) recommends a sampling frequency of at least 500 Hz, however 1000 Hz is a common choice for force plate capture of human motion (14). High sampling frequency is especially important when creating force-time curves in the early time segments of the curve. For example, some performance monitoring testing evaluates forces applied in the first 50ms of application of force in the isometric mid-thigh pull (12). At a sampling frequency of only 200 ms, if one were to construct a force-time curve, only 11 data points could be used for constructing this 50ms long curve. While a polynomial function could be applied to the 11 data points, a greater degree of accuracy for the curve will be obtained with a frequency of 500 Hz or 1000 Hz, because there would be 26 and 51 data points, respectively, from which to construct a curve. Signal Amplification and Conditioning Data collected from the force plate is not useable until amplification and signal processing occurs. Typically, analog signals (the raw voltage values) from the force plate are amplified and sent to an analog to digital (AD) converter (14). The AD converter then converts the analog voltage signal into a scaled digital signal, a signal that is able to be processed by computer software. Custom software developed in programs like LabVIEWTM (National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA) or Matlab (Mathworks Incorporated, Natick, MA, USA) can perform signal processing to clean up some of the noise from the data for use. Other methods exist for smoothing data that can be done in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft ExcelTM (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Many force plates come with proprietary software with filtering and smoothing methods included. Through the collection process, amplification and A/D conversion, there are a number of electrical noise sources that may contaminate the data (5). A number of methods exist for filtering the noise in the signal, in order to best isolate and identify the signal of interest. This filtering can be done on either the analog or digital signal, or both. A low-pass filter eliminates frequencies above a certain level defined in the method, while a high-pass filter eliminates frequencies below a designated level. As noise often occurs at higher frequencies, a low pass filter is able to eliminate much of the noise in the signal. Sometimes it is necessary to restrict the data collected to within a range of frequencies, during which time a band-pass filter can be used. Other times it is necessary to eliminate a certain range of frequencies from a signal; a notch filter will be able to accomplish that task. There are a multitude of signal processors and conditioners that are used in digital signal processing. Three common methods of reducing signal noise are Butterworth filters, splines and frequency domain techniques, such as Fourier Analysis (5). Yet another method is a moving average, which is relatively simple to calculate in Excel. Each of these methods operates differently, and provided that the optimal filter is applied to a signal, the end result is the same: the signal is less choppy and smoother, thus data is cleaner and easier to analyze (for more detailed information, the reader is directed toward Bartlett (2), Challis (5)) and Street, et al. (23). The general recommendation for filter choice is the one that most effectively and accurately isolates the signal of interest. Calibration Force plate calibration is necessary to establish a regression equation to calculate ground reaction forces from output voltage, as well as to ensure accuracy of data obtained from testing. Because force plates only provide an output voltage, a calibration equation must be used to calculate what the ground reaction forces actually are. Unfortunately, often little is done by researchers to address the proper calibration of force plates (9). While calibration of some of the testable variables of the force plate can be difficult, calibration is absolutely necessary given the immense error that can be introduced even with small errors in calibration (9). The general idea behind calibration is that a range of known forces is applied to the force plate to see the resultant voltage given by the load cells, allowing the creation of a regression equation (1). For the Z-direction, a common method of calibration is to place a range of dead weights of known mass on top of the force plate, which allows the researcher to calibrate based on the resulting output voltage of the known mass. Calibration of the horizontal forces, torque and center of pressure can be a more difficult endeavor. However, researchers have proposed methods of calibration that are possible in the laboratory environment, such as a pulley system for X- and Y-direction calibration as proposed by Hall, et al. (9). In the pulley system, a regression equation is built from the output voltages with progressively higher (horizontally) applied loads. A pendulum system for dynamic calibration designed by Fairburn, et al. (6) is also a possibility for more advanced calibration. In-laboratory testing would allow a laboratory to avoid the potentially expensive calibration that is done by the force plate companies and private metricians. Technical Information of Note Force plate technical reports typically contain a data table with information about some or all of the following: linearity, hysteresis, crosstalk, and/or natural frequency. Each of these items provides valuable information about the characteristics of the force plate, as each affects the data obtained from it. Refer to Table 1 for recommended ranges. Linearity Linearity is the maximum deviation of collected force plate data from a straight line (2). Perfect linearity is ideal, but is not necessarily a requirement for accurate data collection and analysis, as it can be calibrated for by applying a higher order polynomial to the data points(2). Linearity can be expressed as: ( Where y=maximum deviation from linearity, and Y=full scale deflection (8). Full scale deflection refers to the voltage output with the highest load within the limit of the force plate. Dividing deviation from linearity by the highest voltage achieved gives a relative measure of linearity, and allows comparison to a standard. Hysteresis Hysteresis is the difference in output values seen during the loading and unloading of a material (2). This is a quality that should also be minimized, as many force plate measurements involve both a loading and unloading component (see Figure 3). For example, large hysteresis in a load cell might over-estimate the forces in the eccentric portion of a squat, while correctly estimating the forces during the concentric portion. Hysteresis is sometimes seen as a result of a mechanical lag in deformity return to normal shape occurring during loading of the force transducers. Hysteresis can be calculated with the equation: ) Where XL = output voltage for a given load during loading, XU = output voltage for the same given load during unloading, and Z =full scale deflection (2). Cross-Talk Many force plates measure forces in multiple planes; the components required to measure the different directions generally have at least a minor amount of cross-talk. Cross-talk refers to the interference of force in one component direction with the measurement of force by a component in another direction (2). It is important that this quality is minimized, so that forces from one plane are not measured on another, thus falsely attributing forces to an incorrect source. Bartlett (2) stated that less than 3% of full-scale deflection is preferable. Natural Frequency Maximum Frequency Ratio When struck, every object has a frequency at which it will tend to vibrate, (5). Force plates, as they are constructed of multiple materials, sometimes have multiple natural frequencies. Force plate manufacturers often report the natural frequency of the force plate when set up according to manufacturer specifications. This natural frequency should be significantly higher than that of the measurement, as it greatly increases the ease of isolating the measurement signal from the plate vibration. Force plates generally have high natural frequencies to aid in the ease of isolation through filtering. For example, the Kistler Type 9281E Triplanar force plate has a natural frequency of 1000 Hz (Kistler Group, Winterthur, Switzerland). The high natural frequency of this force plate is high enough to measure the impact activities of sports, which can surpass 100 Hz (2). The ratio of frequency of the measured skill to natural frequency (Maximum Frequency Ratio) should be less or equal to 0.2, so that the information of interest in the signal can be effectively isolated from the natural frequency of the plate. Minimizing Error The possibility of inaccurate measurements must be minimized if accurate conclusions are to be drawn. Certain steps can be taken to reduce the possibility of error, although even the most optimal setup will have at least a small amount of error. First and foremost, if a user does not know how to properly use the force plate and the software associated with it, the largest source of error may be the user himself. In this article, it is emphasized that with a proper education and the right information, the reader of this paper should be able to understand the basics of using a force platform, thus severely reducing potential for user error. Adherence to the recommendations by Bartlett (2) will also serve to ensure accuracy of the data collected by the plate. Any deviance of the force plate characteristics outside of the recommendations increases the risk of inaccuracy. For example, Lees and Lake (14) and Hall, et al. (9) showed how cross-talk of even 1% could introduce a large amount of error in certain gait measurements. Calibration should occur over a range of loads, from unloaded to above the highest expected load, within the manufacturer-specified loads of the force plate (if the expected loads are outside of the range, then a new plate with greater load range is necessary). For example, in an isometric pull, where measurements of vertical ground reaction force can exceed 7000 N or more (4), the force plate should be calibrated in the Z-axis with loads ranging from 0kg to more than 700kg. For horizontal calibration, a pulley system, like the one designed by Hall, et al. (9) would suffice. Dynamic calibration can be a bit more tricky, requiring expensive equipment or complex methodology. This can be done by major force plate companies or by private metricians. It is also extremely important to install and adjust force plates based on manufacturer recommendations. Manufacturer-reported technical data about the force plate (e.g. hysteresis, linearity) are measured and determined under set conditions. Recommendations for where the force plate is installed, the type of flooring installed on and which floor level it is installed on must all be followed. A level surface for installation is required. Should the conditions during use deviate from those specified by the manufacturer, there is the possibility that those reported qualities (linearity, hysteresis) are no longer accurate. Even with an ideal setup, there remain other sources for error. Other such sources of error are thermal noise, chemical noise, and electrical interference. Thermal noise is associated with the temperature of the device in use. Part of the reason for allowing a device to warm up is so that thermal noise is allowed to stabilize, as rising component temperatures result in changing electrical noise. Chemical noise is random noise that exists everywhere, and comes from variations in temperature, humidity, pressure and other sources. Electrical noise results from devices around the testing area that use electricity, such as lighting and equipment. Electrical noise is at 60 Hz and progressively weaker at its harmonics- 120 Hz, 180 Hz, etc. For example, if a force platform is placed in a room that has fluorescent lights, air conditioning/heat, and the building is located near power lines, electrical noise may be a substantial source of interference. In all devices, the measured value is the result of the true score plus error. While one can attempt to eliminate as much error as possible, there will always be a degree of error in the collected data. It is up to the tester to eliminate and reduce as many sources of error as possible, and a theoretical judgment as to how much error in the collection is acceptable. Our Laboratory Equipment and Processing While our laboratory uses tri-directional force plates, the majority of force plates we use are unidirectional, and measure only in the vertical direction (See Figure 4 for a photo). Although it is a drawback to only allow collection in the vertical direction, the plates offer a substantial reduction in cost over other plates offered by KistlerTM or AMTITM, for example. Furthermore, a number of studies have demonstrated that vertical forces and vertically- oriented skills have strong relationships to explosiveness and speed in sporting movements, thus measurement of vertical forces is of substantial importance (12, 20, 22, 25). In addition, we use force plates (0.914 x 0.46 m; 3 x 1.5; Rice Lake Weighing Systems, Rice Lake, WI) situated side-by-side to allow for collection of unilateral force data. For bilateral data collection, the forces from each force plate are summed. Each plate sits on a level concrete pad that is on the ground floor of the laboratory, to reduce contamination o f data from extraneous sources. Each force plate in the Sport Science laboratory is attached to Transducer Techniques TM0-2 amplifier and conditioner module (Transducer Techniques, Temecula, CA, USA). The amplifier provides both the excitation signal (the initial current going to the strain gage load cell) and amplification of the analog signal. In addition, the module provides an analog low-pass filter at 16 Hz. In between the amplifier/conditioner and the A/D converter is a shielded connector block. The BNC-2110 (National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA) accepts the analog signal and conveys the signal to the A/D converter. The block then connects to a DAQCard-6063E (National Instruments, Austin TX, USA). The DAQCard-6063E converts the analog signal to a digital signal. The digitized signal is then analyzed with custom software developed in LabVIEWTM (National Instruments, Austin TX, USA). The custom software weve developed in LabVIEWTM samples the analog signal at 1000hz. The custom software has been set up to save the digital signal file and filter the digitized signal using a 4th order low-pass Butterworth filter at 100 Hz. From there, the signal can be analyzed for whatever variables are of interest. Refer to Kraska, et al. (12) for examples of measures of interest for static and countermovement jumps, and Leary, et al. (13) for examples of measures of interest in the isometric mid-thigh pull. The Data Collection Process Calibration of our force plates is performed immediately before the data collection process, which ensures that the calibration equation used in data analysis is established under similar environmental conditions as the data collection as well as avoids a potential shift of voltage output over time. Prior to calibration, force plates, amplifiers, A/D converters and computers are all turned on so that all of the collection equipment can warm up (thus stabilizing thermal and instrumentation noise). After this warm up period, the force plates are calibrated using loads from 0 kg to 350kg or 500kg, depending on the specific use of the plate (either jumps or isometric pulls). The plates are progressively loaded in 25kg increments, with the output voltage recorded each time. A linear regression equation is then applied to the calibration load data set in Microsoft Excel. This regression equation is saved, and used in the custom LabVIEWTM program during analysis. Conclusion A full understanding of a testing device and its characteristics are an integral part of accuracy, validity and reliability of testing. The force plate is a rather complex device. The complexities of the device and its peripherals allow the user to collect a large variety of high-quality data for analysis that are difficult to obtain via other means. While it is somewhat difficult to master use of the device, the plethora of information that can be obtained from a force plate makes the endeavor more than worthwhile.

National Sovereignty, Oppressive Government, and the US Role in the Wor

National Sovereignty, Oppressive Government, and the US Role in the World Introduction The American attack against Afghanistan that was triggered by the September 11th tragedy once again raised the question of US role in the world. The current military intervention also touched the issue of the major factors, defining the course of US international policy. In the globalized world today the ratio of â€Å"soft power† (the ability to attract through cultural and ideological appeal) to â€Å"hard power† (a country’s economic and military ability to buy and coerce) used in solving international conflicts is constantly increasing (Nye 2). However, military campaigns still provide a way out of deepening international crises. Should America, then, engage in indiscriminate humanitarian interventions, advancing its ideas of democracy, human rights and liberty, or should it be militarily concerned only with international affairs that have a direct bearing on US vital national interests? In my paper I argue that the US violation of a country’s sovereignty should come only after a careful consideration and deep investigation of the reasons behind an international conflict. Moreover, all interventions should be based on specific achievable end-goals and strategies. Also, US military campaigns’ rationale should suit America’s vital national self-interest, as I define it later. Several reasons support such an international policy: First, in the long run the negative effects of a military international intervention, even if against oppressive governments, could actually outweigh the positive ones. Moreover, coercive policy could, in fact, aggravate a conflict by providing grounds for long lasting hostility, aggression, or ev... ...osnia and Kosovo. The Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies v. 25,( 2000): p. 489-510 Nye, Joseph S. Jr., Redefining the National interest. Foreign Affairs, (July/August 1999): p. 22+ Rule, James B., On evils abroad and America’s new world order. Dissent v. 46, no3 (1999): p. 50 – 57 Smith, Tony, Morality and the use of force in a unipolar world: the â€Å"Wilsonian moment†?. Eyhics and International Affairs v. 14, (2000): p. 11-22 < http://www.cceia.org/lib_volume14.html> Tarzi, Shah M., The threat of the use of force in American post-cold war policy in the Third World. Journal of Third World Studies v. 18, no1, (2001): p. 39-64 The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project

Male Refractory Period

The male refractory period consists of a time period following orgasm that must pass before experiencing another orgasm. An orgasm is a series of muscular contractions of the pelvic floor muscles occurring at the peak of sexual arousal (Crooks and Baur, 2008). Only men have a refractory period, whereas women who can have multiple orgasms. Speculation about why men have a refractory period has to do with some kind of neurological inhibitory mechanism that is kicked in after ejaculation.This essay will discuss the male refractory period and why this happens along with my own opinion on why men’s and women’s sexual response vary from one another. This waiting period is when the body restores its energy before it can once again become aroused. There are different explanations to why males experience this; one speculation is directed towards a neurological inhibitory mechanism activated by ejaculation. Researchers believed that certain chemical pathways between the midbrain and the hypothalamus were the root to this inhibition problem.To test this, they used rats as their subject and destroyed a pathway in the brainstem, known as the ventral medial lemniscus. In another group, they surgically eliminated three additional areas in the rats. Results concluded that the elimination of the ventral medial lemniscus had a dramatic effect on refractory periods (175). The male refractory period is one of the most significant differences in sexual responses between sexes.I think the reason why males have this cycle and why women can experience multiple orgasms comes down to reproduction and our genetic makeup. The biological objective of an erection is injecting sperm into an ovulating woman in order to reproduce. Therefore, once ejaculation they need time to build up there sperm count to achieve a greater fertility rate. I also believe women can have multiple orgasms because it makes the muscles contract throughout the body, especially in the vagina and uterus.T hus, helping the sperm reach the uterus and into the fallopian tubes. However, everything comes down to biological engineering. In conclusion, everyone’s sexual response is different. Some women have orgasms and others don’t. Research has shown that an area in the brain is the reason behind not being able to climax within a short period of time like women can. I believe these differences exist because of reproduction success.

Finance Assignment Essays

Finance Assignment Essays Finance Assignment Essay Finance Assignment Essay 1 Question 1 (16 points) Carol Inc is considering the following three prices to charge customers for each of the candy packets they produce: i) $2. 20 ii) $2. 00 iii) $1. 70 The relevant data for decision-making is below: Fixed Costs = $1200 Variable Costs = $0. 50 per unit Calculate the following: a) The Breakeven Point for each price level b) Using price of $2. 20 what would be the new breakeven point if (1) fixed costs decreased to $1000 all else remaining the same, (2) Variable costs increased to $0. 75 all else remaining the same. Draw a graph to represent scenario (1) and (2) comparing with the original data for price of $2. 20. [Total of two graphs] Question 2 (12 points) Greater Manufacturing is evaluating two different operating structures which are described below. The firm has annual interest expense of $250, common shares outstanding of 1,000, and a tax rate of 40 percent. (a) For each operating structure, calculate (a1) EBIT and EPS at 10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 units. (a2) the degree of operating leverage (DOL) and degree of total leverage (DTL) using 20,000 units as a base sales level. a3) the operating breakeven point in units. (b) Which operating structure has greater operating leverage and business risk? (c) If Greater Manufacturing projects sales of 20,000 units, which operating structure is recommended? 2 Question 3 (14 points) Table 13. 1 a) Assuming a 40 percent tax rate, what is the financial breakeven point for each plan? (See Table 13. 1) b) What is the degree of financial leverage at a bas e level EBIT of $120,000 for both financing plans? The firm has a 40 percent tax rate. (See Table 13. ) c) What is the EPS under Financing Plan 1, if the firm projects EBIT of $200,000 and has a tax rate of 40 percent? (See Table 13. 1) d) At about what EBIT level should the financial manager be indifferent to either plan? (See Table 13. 1) e) Which plan has a higher degree of financial leverage and financial risk? (See Table 13. 1) Question 4 (12 points) A firm has had the indicated earnings per share over the last three years: (a) If the firms dividend policy was based on a constant payout ratio of 50 percent, determine the annual dividend for each year. b) If the firms dividend policy was based on a fixed dollar payout policy of 50 cents per share plus an extra dividend equal to 75 percent of earnings per share above $1. 00, determine the annual dividend for each year. Question 5 (12 points) Mongoose Company has released the following information. (a) What are Mongoose Companyâ⠂¬â„¢s current earnings per share? (b) What is Mongoose Company’s current P/E ratio? 3 (c) Mongoose Company wants to use half of its earnings either to pay shareholders dividends or to repurchase shares for inclusion in the firms employee stock ownership plan. : If the firm pays a cash dividend, what will be the dividend per share received by existing shareholders? (d) Instead of paying the cash dividend, what if the firm uses half of its earnings to pay $55 per share to repurchase the shares, what will be the firms new EPS? What should be the firms new share price? (e) Compare the impact of a stock dividend and stock repurchase on shareholder wealth. Question 6 (12 points) Farrah Inc. ’s accounts receivable totaled $451,000 on January 30, 2003. An aging summary of receivables at this date follows: The firm extends 30-day credit terms to all its credit customers. a) Prepare an aging schedule for Farrah Inc.. (b) Evaluate the firms collection performance. Question 7 (6 points) Penelope Production Plant uses 2,400 units of a product per year on a continuous basis. The product carrying costs are $60 per year and ordering costs are $250 per order. It takes 20 days to receive a shipment after an order is placed and the firm requires a safe ty stock of 8 days of usage in inventory. (a) Calculate the economic order quantity (round up to the nearest whole unit. (b) Calculate the total cost per year to order and carry this item. c) Their supplier has notified the company that if they increase their order quantity by 58 units they will give the company a discount. Calculate the dollar discount that the company will have to give Penelope Production Plant to result in a net benefit to the company. 4 Question 8 (6 points) Hubbards is analyzing the performance of its cash management. On average, the firm holds inventory 65 days, pays its suppliers in 35 days, and collects its receivables in 15 days. The firm has a current annual outlay of $1,960,000 on operating cycle investments. Hubbards currently pays 10 percent for its negotiated financing. Assume a 360 day year. ) (a) Calculate the firms cash conversion cycle. (b) Calculate the firms operating cycle. (c) Calculate the daily expenditure and the firms annual savings if the operating cycle is reduced by 15 days. Question 9 (14 points) Table 15. 2 The company earns 5 percent on current assets and 15 percent on fixed assets. The firms current liabilities cost 7 percent to maintain and the average annual cost of long-term funds is 20 percent. a) The firms initial net working capital is ________. [Numerical Answer] b) The firms initial annual profits on total assets are ________. Numerical Answer] c) If the firm was to shift $3,000 of current assets to fixed assets, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual profits on total assets would ________, and the risk of technical insolvency would ________, respectively. [Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] d) If the firm was to shift $7,000 of fixed assets to current assets, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual profits on total assets would ________, and the risk of not being able to meet current obligations would ________, respectively. Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] e) If the firm was to shift $2,000 of current liabilities to long-term funds, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual cost of financing would ________, and the risk of technical insolvency would ________, respectively. [Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] f) The firm would like to increase its current ratio. This goal would be accomplished most profitably by ________. 5 Question 10 (8 points) Batik is analyzing the credit terms of each of three suppliers, A, B, and C. a) Determine the approximate cost of giving up the cash discount. (b) Assuming the firm needs short-term financing, recommend whether or not the firm should give up the cash discount or borrow from the bank at 10 percent annual interest. Evaluate each supplier separately. Question 11 (6 points) Mahogany Company is in the process of negotiating a line of credit with two local banks. The prime rate is currently 8 percent. The terms follow: (a) Calculate the effective interest rate of both banks. (b) Recommend which banks line of credit Mahogany Company should accept. Question 12 (8 points) Sky Blue Inc. urchased a new machine on October 20th, 2003 for $1,000,000 on credit. The supplier has offered AA terms of 2/10, net 45. The current interest rate the bank is offering is 16 percent. (a) Compute the cost of giving up cash discount. (b) Should the firm take or give up the cash discount? (c) What is the effective rate of interest if the firm decides to take the cash discount by borrowing money on a discount basis? 6 Question 13 (10 points) Farm and Garden is considering obtaining funding through advances against receivables. Total annual credit sales are $600,000, terms are net 30 days, and payment is made on the average of 30 days. Hally National Bank will advance funds under a pledging arrangement for 13 percent annual interest. On average, 75 percent of credit sales will be accepted as collateral. Coder Financial offers factoring on a nonrecourse basis for a 1 percent factoring commission, charging 1. 5 percent per month on advances and requiring a 15 percent factors reserve. Under this plan, the firm would factor all accounts and close its credit and collections department, saving $10,000 per year. (a) What is the effective interest rate and the average amount of funds available under pledging and under factoring? b) Which plan do you recommend? Why? Question 14 (16 points) Richmond Co. is considering two capital structures. The key information follows. Assume a 40 percent tax rate and expected EBIT of $50,000. (a) Calculate two EBIT-EPS coordinates for each of the structures. (b) Indicate over what EBIT range, if any, each structure is preferred. Bonus Question (4 points) Maryland House has just sold an iss ue of 30-day commercial paper with a face value of $5,000,000. The firm has just received $4,958,000. What is the effective annual interest rate on the commercial paper? 7

HRM Term Paper on ADA Essays (643 words) - Law, Free Essays

HRM Term Paper on ADA Essays (643 words) - Law, Free Essays HRM Term Paper on ADA Introduction On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law with the intent to make the American workplace more accessible to people with disabilities. It was signed by former president George H.W Bush, who said ?I know there may have been concerns that the ADA may be too vague or too costly, or may lead endlessly to litigation. But I want to reassure you right now that my administration and the United States Congress have carefully crafted this Act. We've all been determined to ensure that it gives flexibility, particularly in terms of the timetable of implementation; and we've been committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.... Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. According to the most recent text of the ADA, which was amended in 2008, the definition of disability is ?a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment? (www.ada.gov). This further protects individuals with disabilities in recruitment, screening, hiring, promotions, layoffs and termination, and any other terms or conditions of employment. Private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions are covered in the act. In addition, the ADA applies to all aspects of participation in society, including employment, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. The ADA prepares employees by providing appropriate information and personnel training on the provisions of the ADA, its relevance to the functioning of the organization as a whole, and the responsibilities of specific personnel. The ADA is also undergoing continuous review and interpreta tion in the courts. Many people have set themselves up as experts on the ADA. They believe that they are experts on how to remove architectural barriers, how to build a ramp or refit a bathroom to comply with ADA standards. Unfortunately in too many cases, the so-called experts do not know about the ADA standards and their errors have been costly to people who relied on their help. There are no certificates or licenses for the ADA and those who claim that they are certified or licensed ADA experts are not telling the truth. The best advice is to consult your local Center for Independent Living and use reputable architects and builders who are familiar with ADA architectural standards and requirements. This is the best way to prevent a costly and lengthy lawsuit. Brief History The ADA is the most comprehensive federal civil rights legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities. Passed by the United States Congress in 1990, the ADA addresses the barriers and discrimination that people with disabilities have traditionally faced. The legislature covers access to employment, state and local government programs and services, access to places of public accommodations, transportation, non-profits service providers and telecommunications. The ADA has been amended several times since its passage in 1990, with the most recent amendment in 2008, which became effective on January 1st, 2009. Purpose of the ADA The purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is ?to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities; to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities; to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.? (www.ada.gov/pubs)

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Essay Example The essay "Embryonic Stem Cell Research" talks about the embryonic stem cells which have two unique properties including their ability to grow and differentiate as well as to replicate infinitely. The ability of ES cells to self-renew indefinitely is the main reason why it is used in treatments for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after either an injury or disease. Other than its curative essence, the ES cell is beneficial in studying early developments in human as an in vitro technique in toxicology testing.Varying conviction between religion and science in regards to Human life’s inception has yielded to uncalled for controversy more so in embryonic stem cell research. Hence, prompting some contended the controversy is about annihilating human embryos for it is by far from ES cell research. Even the staunch dissenters have shown some support and approval towards other stem cells research methods like in vitro fertilization clinics and adult stem cell. Some also s ay that creating and destroying embryos for curing diseases through IVF clinics is not justifiable than the ES cell research. Modern scientific technologies have pushed beyond the domains of morality and this has led to the dilemma in the bodies governing the implementation and policymaking. This controversy reminds us of recombinant DNA and in vitro fertilization. Christianity includes various Orthodox, Catholicism, and Protestant churches which lack a unanimous definitive statement on when life begins and when an embryo becomes a person.