Being a Musician

Music is the rhythm that keeps the world spinning. What is it about music that makes it so enjoyable to listen to? Is it the message that we gain from the lyrics or is just the background beat? Music, with all its intricacies, can be seen as living entity that has the ability to rest Inside our soul and create emotions such as excitement and awe. Music helps create a bond and connect people all around the world whether they speak different languages or practice different religions.Music has always been an integral part of my life. I listen and partake in music almost every day and when I listen to a great piece of music, I cannot help but feel great joy and feel as though I am one with the song. It is as if my body goes into an alternate universe where Instruments have the ability to talk and they are telling me their story. Over the years, I have learned through my experiences that music not only helps me learn, but to also grow. From an early age, I grew up listening to Classical I ndian music. My mom would sing traditional songs to me and would listen eagerly absorbing the song in its entirety.However, I did not know that I was developing my singing ability at the same time. Then, the unimaginable happened. I started to sing. This; however, is an understatement as I seemed to of sang well according to my elders and peers. I had this experience at the young age of 10 which Is when I discovered I had the talent to sing Classical Indian music. From then on, I was fixed on honing my musical skills and was determined to push it to things beyond singing. From then on, I would try singing whenever I was given a chance. I would sing in the shower, in the car, and even when my parents went to bed.Even though I liked to inning, I did not like to do it publicly in front of people. Now as I look back, it was probably because I was not very confident In my abilities so I was afraid of making a fool of myself. Not long after, my parents started to notice my knack for music and I was forced to share my talent. However, I am eternally grateful that they made me sing in public at our temple because that led to a Classical Music teacher approaching my parents and she asked them if I would like to learn from her. This was Just the beginning of my journey in music. As I continued to sing, I became more and more fascinated with piano. Ked my parents if I could start taking lessons and they readily agreed. As I went to the piano teacher, she said I had a natural ability to read music and that my fingers were Incredibly quick for an eleven year old. I continue to piano to this day and thoroughly enjoy it. Piano; however, was not the only instrument that I learned to play. In sixth grade, I joined band and picked the trumpet as my instrument of choice. I loved playing it the first moment the trumpet touched my lips. Band has been a part of my life ever since sixth grade and I have been playing the trumpet for the better part of 5 years. Simmered by the notes. Music is the only thing that has the power to fully captivate someone in this manner. Personally, music gave me the opportunity to go from the world of real-life problems to a world of tranquility and from the life of an academically overachieving student to that of a musical vocalist.

How Reading As A Young Child Encouraged Essay

When I was a young boy, while my other friends were busy playing ball, riding bicycles, playing games and doing other forms of leisure, I was always listening to my mother as she read comic books to my ears. My mother would always read the interesting comic books to my attentive ears; I would sit with my mother on the sofa as she read the comic books to my ears. I grew up from listening to my mother to reading the comic books on my own. My mother always bought me several books to read every week, as soon as I finished reading one book there was always another book to be read. I developed interest in several comic books, ranging from Iron Man, Spiderman and the likes. I inculcated the habit of reading right from a very tender age. My early reading habit really helped me in life as I developed an undying love for reading and improved greatly on my writing. While growing, I developed from reading comic books to reading more voluminous books, newspaper articles, magazines, novels etc. Books were packed in the shelves of our house. My friends always called our house a library. Reading was always the only option to kill boredom. My flare for reading encouraged me to get involved in writing as I discovered that the more I read the better I wrote. I could relate what I read in several books and combine them into writing something better. My reading habit really boosted my diction and I learnt new words each day I picked up a book to read. I learnt the rules of language, my grammar was greatly improved. Over the years I garnered a lot of experience from reading both fictional and true life stories. I applied some of the knowledge acquired from reading these books to various aspects of my life. Reading lots of books gave me a hint on the ways writers wrote, the style of language used and how best to communicate to a particular audience. I am a testimony of the quote that says that â€Å"A good reader is a good writer†. The more I read, the more I improved on my reading speed and grasped new ideas on how to write. Reading frequently made me a better reader and a good writer. I developed from reading for fun to reading for the acquisition of knowledge. Books like; the Richest man in Babylon, Thinking Big, the tale of two cities and many others were already in the long list of books that I have read . My whole life was affected positively by my reading habit as I read several motivational books that have been spurring me to achieve greatness in life. Through writing I could now transfer my thoughts and imaginations into a book or piece of article. The knowledge that I have acquired over time is what has made me the better person I am today. As I now read more, write better, have better grammar and have become a better man. The saying that you are what you read and you are an expression of what you write is definitely true as I have noticed tremendous changes in my life as a result of the past books I have read. I will have to thank my mother for imbibing the culture of reading in me; if not for her I would not have been a good writer and would definitely not be what I have been fashioned out to be today.

A Knowledge Management Framework for call centre in a Telecom Company Literature review

A Knowledge Management Framework for call centre in a Telecom Company - Literature review Example It can aid the employees within an organisation, and that includes the top level managerial staffs to the ground-level employees, and even the employees working in the field outside. Thus, one of the key goals of knowledge management is to ensure that the employees have the information they need; at the times, whey they need it, to give effective performance. This is applicable to employees in organizations in various industry sectors, where knowledge or the collected data may play a key role. Call centres are becoming a key industry sector of their own, operating independently or in association with organizations from other major industry sectors like Telecom. With the development of advanced communication technologies, Telecom companies are proliferating and are impacting the people’s lives in various ‘spheres’. Organizations in the Telecom sector are optimally using call centres as an extension of their functioning, and importantly to manage the knowledge and p rovide customers apt services. Call centres, or their contemporary successors contact centres, are the preferred and prevalent way for many companies to communicate with their customers. However, perhaps the greatest challenge of running a call centre is to ensure that the customers are provided with the right information in a timely fashion. This is where the KM comes into the picture, and aids the companies to do that exactly. Although, KM has a number of practical tools and strategies to meet this challenge but to leverage the potential of these tools organisations must understand how to implement KM especially in their call centre department. In telecom companies, knowledge in any form is indeed valuable and so managing these ‘knowledge entities’ or information are important for the success and even the survival of the organizations. Call centres could do it aptly, if a framework of best practices is formulated. These best practices could aid in the management of kn owledge or information about the company’s products as well as the about the customers. So, the aim of this report to develop a KM system or framework of best practices to support the call centre in a Telecom Company in order to improve its customer service performance and the company’s competitiveness. In that direction, this report will do a literature review on the topic of KM in a general manner, and focusing on its applications in the Telecom sector as well as in call centres. Then the report will discuss the proposal for KM in call centre, by coming up with an optimal framework of best practices. Literature review KM- A background As Tiwana (2000, p.7) states â€Å"Knowledge management enables the creation, communication, and application of knowledge of all kinds to achieve business goals.† Seiner (2000) further expands on this aspect of KM by stating, â€Å"Knowledge Management envisions getting the Right Information within the Right Context to the Right Person at the Right Time for the Right Business Purpose†. Thus, when viewed from an overall perspective, KM is a discipline that aids in the process of knowledge creation or accumulation and thereby helps the employees to access that knowledge, when there is a need. This access of knowledge can positively impact on the employees’ performance, thereby improving the service provided to the customer,

Public reason as conceived by John Rawls is incapable of Essay

Public reason as conceived by John Rawls is incapable of satisfactorily resolving the issue of same-sex marriage. Discuss this statement - Essay Example Rawls maintained that ‘the restriction inflicted by public reason is not applicable to all political issues but only relate to those associated with what one can term it as â€Å"constitutional fundamentals’ and questions of fundamental justice1. In the United States, where the value of marriage is advocated through public announcements and educational policies, and is obviously associated to the good citizenship, the gay-couple marriage prohibition does not just divest lesbians, gays, and bisexuals of the legal rights of marriage. Further, public reason tries to exclude gays from institutions which is regarded as basic to the good character and public morality. If the exclusion cannot be trounced by public reason, then the symbolic inequality may reasonably impact an individual’s self-respect. Rawls’ defences of same-sex marriage have been made on the footing of public reason and mainly on the fundamentals of neutrality and equality2. This resea rch essay will discuss in detail why there is a need to legalise the same-sex marriage and why the non-liberal states have to disown the Rawls’s public reason, thereby legalising the same-sex marriage and respecting their citizens’ free and equal rights in their desire to choose his or her life companion. John Rawls’ public reason is fundamentally a theory for accomplishing legitimacy in a liberal democratic society, where the citizens of a state are regarded as free and equal. Thus, in a liberalised society, liberties and rights of individuals are regarded as significant. Public Reason could be explained as a set of principle that citizens of a liberal society may offer one another as the causes and which they reasonably anticipate the other citizens to reasonably to pursue , especially when basic political issues are at jeopardy and when comprehensive doctrines are at struggle. Rawls presents public reason as level-headedness. Thus, public reason

Women's Rights Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women's Rights - Assignment Example This trend varies in different societies and most commonly practiced in western countries. I would narrate the story about Mrs. Kate Williams who has three children of ages 5, 13, and 20. She is doing job as a General Manager in sales and marketing at a software house called as SOFTEC. She started job around 18 years ago as a trainee engineer in the same company. Ever since then, she never looked back and kept on climbing the stairs of success in job. The way she managed her responsibilities for her family as well as job sets the example for all women in the world. When Mrs. Kate Williams gave birth to her first child, her family was suffering from financial crisis. Her husband was doing a job as a clerk in a small firm and his income wasn’t enough to meet the expenses of the family. The brave lady started looking for jobs herself while motivating his husband also to switch to some better job. As her first child turned two, she got the job in SOFTEC with reasonable amount of salary. But the real problem with doing job was to manage time for her husband as well as her young kid who needed her love and affection desperately. She couldn’t leave her kid all alone at home while she is at job. So, parents hired a maid for taking care of the baby around the clock. Moreover, mother kept on asking about her baby off and on from the office. She could also see her baby remotely from video chat software that maid could operate easily. The problems don’t end with initial phases only. Mrs. Kate Williams had to spend more time as she grew in experience as more responsibilities were assigned to her. With pregnancy periods for other two children, she had to continue her work at home for three months that included answering calls of customers, and designing software for them from home. She also had to give time to her school going eldest child for training him in school education. Husband also needs the company of her wife as he returns

Court Case related to the topic Sexual Harrasment at Workplace Essay

Court Case related to the topic Sexual Harrasment at Workplace - Essay Example She had worked as a part-time lifeguard for the Marine Safety Section (Buchanan & Wiswall, 2009). During her tenure, her immediate supervisors were Bill Terry, David Silverman, and Robert Gordon. After her resignation in 1990, she took an action against Terry, Silverman, and the City. Faragher complained that both Terry and Silverman had repeatedly created a sexually unfriendly environment while at the beach. Also, she alleged that the duo had subjected fellow female lifeguards to offensive and uninvited touch by the use of prurient remarks and by speaking of women in decadent ways. The complainant said that at some point, Terry had vowed never to give a promotion to any woman. On the other hand, Faragher specified that at one point, Silverman asked her to date him and failure to which he would make her clean the lavatories for a whole year. Pointing out that both Terry and Silverman were agents of the City and that their conduct resulted in discrimination in their conditions, privil eges, and terms given by the employment, the complainant sought judgment against the City. Initially, Faragher had not complained to the higher management about both Terry and Silverman. At first, she reported the matter to Gordon, who was the training captain and was working with Silverman. However, Gordon reported the matter to his supervisor, Terry and afterward took no action since he felt that the City could not be concerned about such issues. Faragher’s bench trial realized that two months before her resignation, a former lifeguard had written to the City’s Personnel Director, with complaints of harassment she had faced from Terry and Silverman. After the complaints, the City concluded that the duo had misbehaved and were therefore reprimanded. They were required to choose between facing a suspension without pay and forfeiting their annual leave. From these findings, the District Court that was

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Marketing - Essay Example The report then looks at how RLL can fit into the hot chocolate market using various promotional strategies as well as its existing resources. II. Customer Audit From the interview findings, all the respondents do like hot beverages and many of them take hot chocolate. Both male and female respondents across a wide range of age brackets like taking chocolate. Those who take chocolate drinks take them for indulgence reasons and other for relaxation. Most people get their chocolate drinks from supermarkets and local shops. When buying their chocolate drinks, most people are influenced by the thickness, a rich flavor and smoothness. Others get whatever is new in the market. The respondents who take chocolate said they would buy a hot beverage called Silk. III. Internal Audit A. Operating Results Tea and coffee dominate the UK hot drinks industry, which account for more than 90% of the industry’s total sales. The remainder of the sales (10%) is accounted for by other food beverage s such as hot chocolate. The hot beverage industry is worth more than ?1.5 billion. The tea industry is worth ?655 million, coffee industry is worth ?739 million while the other food beverages are worth ?125 million. The Forecasted future sales in the UK hot drinks industry is ?1.7 billion by 2016. ... 67% of those consumers with a household income of ?20,000-?24,999 use food beverages. Other high consumers of food beverages are those with household incomes of ?25,000 – ?34,999 (62%), ?15,000 – 19,000 and ?35,000 (64% each). The sales of instant chocolate and add milk chocolate increased from the year 2005 to 2007. B. Strategic Issues Analysis 1. Marketing objectives Launch a new hot chocolate product Generate over ?200,000 in the new product’s sales by the end of the first year. Increase the new product’s sales by 40% by the end of year 2. 2. Market segmentation All hot drinks customers from all age brackets prefer high premium products, which are full of flavor and exotic. They like expensive but restrained image. Their preferred brand does not have to be branded. Young C1C2 customers like convenient products that come at a moderate price. They also like branded products with standard products being the most accepted. For this age group, the kind of pu rchase they make conveys their status. Older C1C2s do not mind the price of the product as long as its quality is right. For them, taste is the most important factor when purchasing hot drinks products. They do not care much about the products image or exotic products. They normally view own label as poor quality. For the younger DEs the product’s price is very important. They tend to buy smaller packages of branded products whose quality must be good. They are also concerned about the image and they are likely to change products quite often. Older DEs mostly buy the cheapest products and they stick to those products that they know, that is, the traditional products. They also value own labels. 3. Competitive Advantage The company has hi-tech production facilities that

Global Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global Climate Change - Essay Example However, we’ve only seen a glimpse of what’s to come in both the near and far future. It’s not a myth as deniers would have people believe or even a debate to be had. The earth’s climate is warming and man-made air pollutants are the main cause. Factories and automobiles are spewing hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere faster than it can be naturally absorbed. Air pollution is not only affecting people’s lungs but every aspect of the natural world as well. This warning has been sounded by climatologists for at least 30 years; the science has in, peer-reviewed and accepted by more than 98 percent of all scientists worldwide. The only question is do we have the political will to do anything about it. Carbon dioxide is the main â€Å"greenhouse gas† affecting the earth’s temperature. The greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring event that provides a warm blanket of air for the earth. It had served the planet well f or thousands of millennia but excess gasses are causing the effect to become unbalanced. In much the same way as a man-made greenhouse are designed to grow plants operate, the earth’s greenhouse allows in sunlight but just enough to keep the temperature steady. Gases, such as naturally occurring carbon dioxide and water vapor trap some energy but the rest is bounced back into space. Excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere absorbs additional heat allowing less back into space thus warming the earth at a faster rate than normal. Methane and nitrous oxide are two other types of gasses caused either directly or indirectly by man’s actions but carbon dioxide, the result of fossil fuel emissions are the main culprit. This pollutant accounts approximately 85 percent of the excess greenhouse gas. Oil and gasoline used by automobiles and coal burnt in electric generating power plants are by far the main source of carbon in the atmosphere. Methane results from cattle flatulence therefore the more beef people eat, the more methane is emitted into the atmosphere. In nature, animals, such as humans, breathe out carbon dioxide and growing plants â€Å"breathe† it in. This is not a contributor to climate change but coal and oil emissions are. (Walls-Thumma, 2012) Slight changes in the earth’s average temperature cause big changes in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events such as drought, rains, floods and tropical storms. With only modest temperature variations rare weather occurrences become more often and are more severe. Precipitation patterns are altered. Normally dry areas become drier and areas that usually experience moderate rains are deluged by heavy rains. Examining the way global climate change has altered the chances for a particular event occurring has been performed for extraordinary incidents such as the 2003 heat wave in Europe which left tens of thousands dead. The odds of this extreme heat wave occurring, based on reco rds dating back 150 years, are about 1 in 10 million. (Shar, et al., 2004) When factoring in just a two degree temperature rise globally, the odds closed severely, more than quadrupling the chances. The intense weather occurrences that were expected to happen with greater frequency in a warming world are increasing. For example, just six decades ago record high temperatures were occurring at the same frequency as record low temperatures. Today, approximately two record highs are documented for each record low. That is phenomenal change and a clear indicator of a warming earth and the correlation of higher temperatures with extreme weather events. This increase in record high temperatures is occurring all over the globe. A comparable two to one proportion of record highs temperatures to record lows have recently been documented in

Schedule Recovery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Schedule Recovery - Essay Example The flight routes are of the same time length and as such flight swapping has no effect on the amount of fuel cost or maintenance operation per flight time. Both aircrafts travel the same hours as previously scheduled. Aircraft A will be in SCL at the end of the recovery period instead of being in ALX while Aircraft B will be in ALX at the end of the recovery period rather than in SCL. Aircraft swapping as a recovery option also requires crew to swap. The one of the two crews assigned to each flight has to swap as the other one remains with the aircraft. Flight swapping calls for the reserve crew to be called to fill in the gap created (Belobaba, Odoni, Barnhart 265). The crew now assigned to WA 1269 will end up in ATL at the end of the recovery period on flight WA 1276. The three crew remaining will be assigned to flight WA 1270 and at the end of the recovery period they will end up back in SCL on flight WA 1280. Passenger disruption is minimized in this schedule. The affected flight 1269 results in zero passenger disruptions. Flight WA 1270 will have to be delayed for 20 minutes before departure arriving in PHX at 1500h. As a result, there is 20 minutes arrival delay. Although the flight is delayed, the passenger to ALX will not be affected as the next flight WA 1280 will be ready for departure as scheduled at 1600h. The connecting passengers on flight WA 1270 but on a different airline have a chance of misconnecting. Deadheading costs of crew members that find themselves in one position rather than in the usual position. This crew, although, not flying the plane are still considered on duty and have to be paid for this flight. This cost is affected by the place of residence of the crew. Compensation cost of passengers by the airline affects those passengers that have connections to different locations, but with a different airline network. This cost is influenced by the number of passengers who are connecting with different

Geography of Time Essay Example for Free

Geography of Time Essay The sixth chapter â€Å"Where is Life Faster† discusses differences between life tempos in different cultures trying to reveal in what culture life is the fastest. The author writes that it is very interesting for him to compare one culture to another because a lot of unknown facts contributing development of psychological studies will be identified. Authors’ comparison focuses on time and speed of life. Cultural tempo is argued to affect the quality of human life. Nevertheless, it may be tricky to compare different cultures because labeling individuals should have scientific or psychological basis. It is necessary to go beyond the boundaries in order to measure the tempo of life with accuracy and objectivity. The author finds it interesting to compare indicator of speed in working office in different countries. However, the research has failed as the author needed to find observable jobs and workers should be residents of particular country. Research at gas station has failed as well, because such businesses are not equivalent across countries. According to author’s research, the fastest countries are Japan and Western European countries. Western Europe has nine fastest countries and Japan is the only Asian countries with life tempo. The fist place in West Europe is given to Switzerland, whereas the second is given to Ireland. Ireland is characterized by the fastest walking speed, whereas Switzerland is characterized by the splendid findings. Surprisingly, New York hasn’t gained the highest scores as some workers in office move very slowly. In contrast, the slowest speed of life is observed in non-industrialized countries and it is the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The slowest is claimed to be Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico. Daily life in these countries is very slow and Brazilians, for example, â€Å"not only expected the casual approach of life, but had abandoned any semblance to of fidelity to the clock†. (p. 136) In such a way the author shows that there are many ways to measure speed of life and the results shows that different cultures has their own life tempo. Further, the author compares Japan, the USA and Western Europe to identify which of the countries is La Dolce Vita. Much of European countries are characterized by opportunities to relax and in the pleasures of good life. Therefore, Levine suggests that La dolce Vita is easier for Europeans rather than for Asians and Africans. For example, Japanese work harder and have less time for relaxing. Europeans are claimed to live better than Americans. La Dolce Vita is welcomed in Italy as they try to balance hard work and leisure. It is necessary to underline that working week is longer in the USA than in most of European countries. However, Japan is characterized by the longest working week. For more than half a century the working week hasn’t been changed and it is argued that time for leisure is decreasing in the country and the nation has less time for themselves. In contrast, in Europe the tendency to work has been replaced by the tendency to relax. For example, without leisure workers in France are more irritating and nervous. Therefore, Western Europeans have more vacation time. For example, in France â€Å"workers by law receive at least five weeks and often six weeks of paid vacation†. (p. 143) When comparing countries examples of cultural differences are seen the most. However, speed of life varies across cities and regions of one country. It is true for the USA as well as the country is very large and each state has its own traditions and customs. The slightest geographical shifts are profound and for example, moving from Oklahoma to Texas is viewed as â€Å"entering France, say, out of Switzerland†. (p. 146) The author is willing to reveal whether there are differences between New York and other large cities. Research results demonstrate that Northeastern United States is viewed as fast-spaced, whereas Californians are more relaxed. Boston and New York are the fastest cities in the country, whereas Los-Angeles is claimed to be one of the slowest in the country. One of the biggest challenges was to measure accurately walking speed as in some regions it was hard to find any walkers at all.

Risk of Lung Cancer Among Chromium Workers

Risk of Lung Cancer Among Chromium Workers 2. Literature Review: For the pursuance of our study, we conducted an extensive literature review in order to gather related information so that it may be helpful for us to understand the various aspects of this subject. Moreover, this was done in hopes that it would provide us the evidences about the views and findings of other scientists who are divulging assiduously in this field of research as well. 2.1. Human Health and Trace Elements: It has been reported in various studies that metals and their compounds have enormous impact on health of an organism. Since they are ubiquitously present in our environment, exposure to these elements is tenacious and it cannot be precluded. All metals are not carcinogenic and their concentration, oxidation state, synergistic effect, and the response of organisms’s body to its environment contribute greatly to the etiology of cancer. The combination of any of these two factors put the organism in danger in a way that it builds oxidative stress, creates hormonal imbalance, changes the order of chemical reaction, controls the rate of metabolism, alters the oxidation reduction process, and influences the biochemistry of metabolites etc. For instance, there are some chemicals already present in the environment that can act as an either impersonator of hormones or growth factors, or affect the rate of chemical reactions exhibited by these hormones. These actions of environmental c hemicals may be responsible for disrupting the chemical process and could affect the delicate balance that controls cell division. For example, some breast tumors depend on estrogen for their development and growth, and chemicals that impersonate the effect of estrogen may engage in supporting the growth of estrogen-dependent breast tumors (111). In a study, it has been pointed out that there is an association between chromium and carcinogens; a high incidence of lung cancer has been demonstrated as an occupational disease among workers engaged in the chromate production process in Germany and the United States. The risk of lung cancer among chromium workers compared to an ordinary population is very high. The lung cancer prevalence rate 100,000 versus 578, and the relative risk from the standpoint of lung cancer deaths has reached from 3.6 to 29.1. Histopathologically, the most common chromium related lung cancer is squamous cell carcinoma and small cell cancer (112). 2.1.1. Trace Metals Implicate Malignancy: It has been recorded that nearly one in two men and more than one in three women in the United States is diagnosed with cancer at some point in his or her lifetime. Cancer is the foremost cause of death for individuals under age 85 as reported by statistical data reports in America. It is evident that the exposure to these metals remains the single most significant preventable cause of cancer. The development of cancer depends on combination of various factors including diet, genetics and the way an organism is exposed to a particular carcinogen. However, the type of cancer is reliant on the kind of toxicant in the environment. For instance metals such as arsenic, chromium, and motor vehicle exhaust and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are associated with bladder, lung and skin cancer. On the other hand, pesticide exposure enhances the risk of brain tumor, Wilms tumor, leukemia, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (113). Furthermore, it has also been reported that there are various trace elements such as zinc, molybdenum, silicon, chromium, selenium, vanadium, and copper that behave as instigators or the inhibitor agents of cancer. Nevertheless, it may be possible to draw inferences on the basis of their concentration levels in the body of organism as diagnostic or prognostic abets for cancer patients (114). Moreover, it could be plausible that the ratio of trace elements t hat exists in the blood of healthy human beings gets disturbed due to the onset of the disease, or by the exposure to toxicants, can create an atmosphere that could be favorable for implicating the malignancy. 2.2. Susceptibility of Cancer Contingent to Gender and Age: The most important and inevitable determining factor for susceptibility to cancer is age. However, there is little evidence that the aging process per se increases susceptibility to cancer. To a certain extent, age provides the time essential for the accumulation of cellular events required for the development of neoplasia (115). For example, in a study it was discussed that the GSTT1 genotype, and perhaps also the GSTM1 genotype for which a similar, but non-significant effect was seen, might be the age influencing the onset of colorectal cancer (116). In a study, cancer and mortality rates among a variety of cancer [patients] was investigated. In addition, the impact of particular age on the rate of occurrence of cancer was investigated. However, it was assumed that the cancer contributing factors would remain consistent over the definite period of time. It was observed that certain types of cancers, including lung cancer, had an equivalent rate of occurrence for both genders. Moreover, various types of cancer including, prostate cancer for men and breast cancer for women, present a reasonable association with the original hypothesis (117). A study was conducted at Harvard University and it was found that cancer is not inexorable at advanced age, but rather reaches a maximum cumulative probability of affliction with any cancer of about 70% for men and 53% for women in the US, and much smaller values for individual cancers (118). Age and gender also impart differences in susceptibility, whereas immune suppression or inadequate nutrition may also increase susceptibility of cancer (119). 2.3. Chromium as an Etiological Agent for Cancer: There is a large body of literature on the role of trace elements in the development of cancer that has been reviewed. Generally it is focused on the chromium exposure in relation to the risk of cancer. Over the past few decades, a number of researchers have attempted to estimate the proportion of cancer cases or deaths due to environmental and occupational exposures to chromium. Despite their well intentioned efforts, the net conclusion was that the cancers embark through a complicated interconnection of multiple causes. On the other hand, scientific research has also been explicated that avertable environmental and occupational exposures are fueling excess cancer cases and deaths (120-122). Cancer, in general, results from interactions between environmental exposures and genetics. Genetic factors alone may account for not more than 5% of cancers (123). Despite the fact that genetics alone does not account for most cancers, cancer is essentially a genetic disease, in terms that envi ronmental agents or viruses can alter the genes regulating cell division. Several studies of the chrome-plating industry have demonstrated a positive relationship between cancer and exposure to chromium compounds (124). Evidence has been presented demonstrating the mutagenic capacity of a number of hexavalent chromium compounds in vitro and in vivo (125). Chromium (III) is recognized as a trace element that is essential to both humans and animals. Occupational exposure to chromium (VI)-containing compounds is known to induce lung toxicity and increases the incidence of respiratory-system cancers (126-127). The National Toxicology Program has published a list of harmful toxicants, and carcinogens (128). The numerous listed chemicals are actually of chemical mixtures such as tobacco smoke and alcoholic beverages. Others include metals such as arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and thorium known as carcinogens, and beryllium, lead, and nickel, as probable carcinogens. However, it appears that some physiologic mechanisms by which the effects of pro-oxidant metals and organic toxicants are mutually abrogated at the molecular level. Our understanding of the metal–organic toxicant interactions has signià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cantly advanced because of the recent elucidation of several intracellular stress–response signaling pathways and the points of cross-talk among them (129). By the 1980s, considerable evidence had accumulated on cancer risks of chromium-exposed workers, which led to the identification of chromium (VI) compounds as a human carcinogen (130). The strongest evidence presented at that time was mainly

Mindfulness Based Meditation Essay -- Cultivating Mindfulness

This paper is about my experience with mindfulness based meditation and scientific inquiry of these experiences. Mindfulness based meditation is describes as technique used to cultivate nonreactive, non-judgmental and stable awareness of the present moment (Garland and Gaylord, 2009). The end goal is to sustain this meta-cognitive state for a long period of time. I practiced non-denominational form of mindfulness based meditation for the first time in my psychology class, which was devoted towards intellectual and experiential examination of meditation. The practice was conducted in a group it was instructed by our own professor and it begun at the end of class. There was one sessions per week and each session was structured meaning it was timed and the focus was on the out breath. I experienced numerous emotions, sensations and mental states while I practiced meditation. During my practice the focus was on the out breath and by doing so the idea was to have non-judgmental and non reactive awareness of emotions, thoughts and sensations that arise in my mind while I practiced meditation. Firstly, for me meditation served as a tool for self awakening, by ‘’awakening’’ I mean meditation made me realize the existence and dominance of mind wandering and ignorance. In a scientific study it was shown that mind wandering was the majority of the conscious experience (Hasenkamp et al., 2012). Before I practiced meditation I was unaware of the effects of mind wandering not only on performance towards certain task but also towards sustaining attention to the present moment. For example on my very first session of meditation I realized how I completely zoned out for the first few minutes until we took a break and that made me further realiz... ..., MA: Shambhala Publications. Ricard, M., & Chödzin, S. (2010). Why meditate?. Carlsbad, Calif.: Hay House, Inc.. Corey, G., & Corey, M. S. (2010). I never knew I had a choice: explorations in personal growth (9th ed., instructor's ed.). Australia: Brooks/Cole. P164 Craighead, W. E., Miklowitz, D. J., & Craig, L. W. (2013). Psychopathology(Second Edition ed.). New Jersey: Wiley. P200 Ricard, M., & Thuan, T.X. (2001). The quantum and the lotus: A journey to the frontiers where science and Buddhism meet. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. [Chapter 1] Arch, J.J., & Craske, M.G. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness: Emotion regulation following a focused breathing induction. Behavior Research and Therapy, 44, 1849-1858. Filaber, D. (2013). Transform Your Life with Meditation:The Lives and Legacies of the Greatest Meditation Masters. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. P33

Computer Changes and their Impact on Management :: essays research papers

Computer Changes and their Impact on Management The world of computers is a field that is not only very young, but is also rapidly changing. In one lifetime, computers have evolved from a multimillion dollar unit that filled entire buildings, to a few hundred dollar personal computer that fits on a desktop with more power than its predecessor. How does this change in cost, size and power affect our management decisions? To look at these areas, it should be understood that each characteristic not only makes a significant impact for management, but is enhanced by the other two changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reduction in computer costs over time has the obvious implications of reduced overhead costs for a company’s management and possibly a smaller budget requirement for the information technologies department. Closer inspection of the lower computer costs shows that the reduced overhead can have a number of implications dependant on management decisions. One decision would be to show an increased profit on the end product’s margins. This makes stockholders very happy. Management could also decide to provide more computer technology for the company without an increase in budget, or provide hardware with less compromise in functionality. The additional money could be used for additional specialty computer hardware that would not normally be purchased. A company would have to research whether the increase in computer technology would be able to provide the necessary competitive advantages or productivity increases. Management might also decide to take an exhaustive look at the entire company and its business process’ to determine if other areas might use the money for upgrades as well. These upgrades can be in the manufacturing process, research and development, sales, or in manufacturing to name a few. The reduction in cost also impacts the reduction in size of the computer hardware which has been getting smaller and smaller. As the prices of computers have gone down, the manufacturers have been able to reduce the size of the computers dramatically at the same time. Management originally provided a computer that was very large with terminals provided to the user as an interface. Today we have a personal computer on almost every desk top. These units require less space allowing management the freedom to determine whether they wish to put a unit on every desktop. With the smaller space requirements and the changes in the hardware itself, management also has less impact to their facility requirements.

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents :: Free Essays Online

The film Stigmata & the Challenge of Conceptualizing Women as Spiritual Agents The history of Western religion has, for the most part been a history of men's religious stories, practices, and writings. It is quite rare and exceptional to find accounts of religion or practicing groups that place women's experiences at the center. Books, films, and various other cultural products bear this out by demonstrating a stubborn lack of attention to women's religious experiences. At first glance, the movie Stigmata seems like a film that defies this generalization. The movie, starring Patricia Arquette, places a female protagonist and her mystical experiences with Christ at the center of the plot. The woman is modeled after a great figure in the Catholic tradition, St. Francis, and hers is seemingly the story around which the entire movie is structured. Though this apparently unusual use of a woman's direct experience with God seems on an immediate level to be very transgressive, however, the film ends up being even more hegemonic, in a sense because of the way in which it subtly reinforces normative notions of the male-centeredness of supernatural experiences of God in the Catholic tradition. In this paper I will look at how Stigmata represents sex and gender roles in the Catholic church and in secular America and of how it uses women's sexuality and assumptions about women's lack of spiritual agency to ultimately undermine the legitimacy of authentic feminine experience with the Christian God. I will argue that the movie's emphasis on very structuralist notions of good and evil, man and woman, pure and impure, inevitably sets up a system in which a female's religious authority will be lost. A patriarchal tradition, as the Catholic church most certainly represents, must always scramble to accommodate the abnormality of a woman experiencing a direct link with God. The unwillingness to imagine a situation in which a character like that of Patricia Arquette's character, Frankie, would have a legitimate direct experience with God is a common one throughout the Western (and Western-occupied) world. The emphasis on only granting legitimacy to the written word in the Western rel igious tradition has always created an environment of hostility to women's non-discursive religious experiences. This paper will also look at how the religious conflicts between the Western patriarchal tradition and female members of a non-Western religious tradition (specifically a group of Ngarrindjeri women) have unfolded and at how such conflicts are similar to the conflict that is represented between Frankie and the priests who would control her in Stigmata.

International Finance Corporation

Financing the Mozal Project Executive summary We have assessed the various risks involved in the Mozal project. The construction risk, operating risk and financing risk are relatively small but the political risk is very high. Creeping expropriation and moral hazard are realistic threats to the project. The high sovereign risk is reflected in the hurdle rate. The hurdle rate amounts to a much higher value than the internal rate of return. Therefore, it is not feasible for the sponsors to undertake the proposed investment in the project.Regarding the financing gap of $250m; participation of the IFC is quintessential as commercial bankers refuse to provide funding without its involvement. IFC involvement could be very beneficial for the project but the IFC's board should not go through with the recommended investment of $120m as the high sovereign risk does not justify making the IFC’s largest investment yet. Summary of facts The Mozal project, a $1. 4b aluminum smelter in Mozam bique, is a joint venture between Alusaf, the aluminum subsidiary of the Gencor group, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South-Africa, a government owned development bank.Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world and only recently emerged from a 17-year civil war that had destroyed the country’s infrastructure. Both parties would each own 25% of Mozal by an equity investment of $125m. Ownership of the remaining equity stake of $250m is still to be determined. To be able to attract additional funding, the sponsors require needed to involve the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The IFC has a good reputation and solid experience in structuring deals in emerging markets.The IFC board has received a recommendation by its team to participate in the project with a $55m senior debt and $65m subordinated debt investment. http://www. slideshare. net/prafful16/financing-the-mozal-project http://www. scribd. com/doc /105379331/The-Mozal-Project | Financing the Mozal Project Benjamin Esty Harvard Business School – Finance Unit February 18, 2000 Case No. : 200-005; Teaching Note: 5-200-025 Abstract: SUBJECT AREAS: project finance, emerging markets, sovereign risk, valuation analysis, Africa, International Finance Corporation, multi-lateral agencyCASE SETTING: June 1997, Mozambique, aluminum smelter, $1. billion investment, $700 million revenue, 750 employees In June 1997, a project team from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was recommending that the board approve a $120 million investment in the Mozal project, a $1. 4 billion aluminum smelter in Mozambique. Four factors made this recommendation controversial. First, it would be the IFC's largest investment in the world and by far its largest investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, the project was enormous by Mozambican standards–it was not much smaller than the country's 1996 gross domestic project (GDP).Third, Mozambiq ue was a very poor country at the time (per capita GDP of $90) and had only recently emerged from 20 years of civil war. Fourth, many aspects of the deal remain undetermined such as who was going to provide half the equity needed to finance the project. Despite these concerns, the sponsors, Alusaf (the aluminum subsidiary of the South African minerals company, Gencor) and Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC is a development bank), want to structure a limited-recourse deal to finance the smelter; it will be non-recourse to the sponsors after completion.Commercial bankers have refused to participate unless the International Finance Corporation gets involved in the deal and so the sponsors have approached the IFC about participation. After reviewing the project's commercial viability and development impact, the IFC team is recommending the investment. The board must decide whether it is the right time and the right project to make such a large investment. The case h as four pedagogical objectives. ) It presents an extreme example of political risk in a developing country setting and shows how organizations like Institutional Investor, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and The PRS Group attempt to analyze it for prospective investors.2) It illustrates the modern form of political risk management through project selection, structuring, and insurance, and contrasts this approach with the older, financial style of political risk management whereby sponsors simply increased hurdle rates to ensure sufficient project returns. ) It highlights the various roles multilateral development institutions, in general, and the IFC, in particular, can play in financing major projects. 4) It analyzes IFC's involvement in appraising, structuring, monitoring, and financing projects, and shows how these activities create value by resolving costly market imperfections including information, distress, agency, and transactions costs. It also explores the IFC's performan ce in these various activities. Given these objectives, the case is appropriate for business/government, strategy, international business, and finance courses. Case and Teaching Paper Series

A Thief of Time Essay

In Tony Hillermans’ story, â€Å"A Thief of Time† (Hillerman, 2002) the author tells about murder and vanishings of people as Navaho detectives, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee search for answers as to why, on the Indian grounds, that people are vanishing and why a well-known anthropologist is missing. Fear encompasses the tale of the ancient Indian grounds where detectives take center stage in looking for clues in the buried ruins that has caused so much confusion. When the backhoe is missing, this mysterious event sets Jim Chee in motion as he tries to uncover what really happened and he won’t stop until he finds the reason. His partner in this bizarre mystery is still coping with the loss of his spouse. Joe Leaphorn just wants to complete one more detective job before retirement. The younger officer; Chee isn’t ready for any type of quitting. Chee is excited about the fact that he may uncover something that includes not only the theft of the backhoe, but he is serious about uncovering the reason that two men have disappeared. Native Americans remain mysterious but the author tries to bring to life, what their true objectives are in this story. The Navaho detectives demonstrate their deep desire to do what is right in this story and offer us a good look into the lives of the Navaho Indian culture. The rummaging through the Indian grounds, unearths many various descriptions of what it’s like to live as a Navaho Indian and as these charming detectives did deep into the ground as they search for missing bodies and mechanical equipment, they discover a mystery that is worth looking into. Reference Page Hillerman, Tony. (2002) A Thief of Time. Harper Collins.

Monitoring and Detecting Abnormal Behavior in Mobile Cloud

Monitoring and Detecting Abnormal Behavior in Mobile Cloud Infrastructure ABSTRACT Recently, several mobile services are changing to cloud-based mobile services with richer communications and higher flexibility. We present a new mobile cloud infrastructure that combines mobile devices and cloud services. This new infrastructure provides virtual mobile instances through cloud computing. To commercialize new services with this infrastructure, service providers should be aware of security issues.Here, we first define new mobile cloud services through mobile cloud infrastructure and discuss possible security threats through the use of several service scenarios. Then, we propose a methodology and architecture for detecting abnormal behavior through the monitoring of both host and network data. To validate our methodology, we injected malicious programs into our mobile cloud test bed and used a machine learning algorithm to detect the abnormal behavior that arose from these programs. Exist ing SystemOn such normal mobile devices, most current vaccine applications detect malware through a signature-based method. Signature-based methods can detect malware in a short space of time with high accuracy, but they cannot detect new malware whose signature is unknown or has been modified. If mobile cloud services are provided, much more malicious applications may appear including new and modified malware. Therefore vaccine applications cannot detect and prohibit them with only signature-based method in the future.Moreover, mobile cloud infrastructure supports a huge number of virtual mobile instances. When a malware is compromised on a virtual mobile instance, it can be delivered to other virtual mobile instances in the same mobile cloud infrastructure. Without monitoring the network behavior in mobile cloud infrastructure, the malware will spread over the entire infrastructure. Algorithm: Random Forest Machine machine learning algorithm. Architecture: [pic] Proposed System He re We focuses on the abnormal behavior detection in mobile cloud infrastructure.Although signature-based vaccine applications can target on virtual mobile instances to detect malware, it makes additional overhead on instances, and it is difficult for users to install vaccine software by force when those instances are provided as a service. Behavior-based abnormal detection can address those problems by observing activities in the cloud infrastructure. To achieve this, we design a monitoring architecture using both the host and network data. Using monitored data, abnormal behavior is detected by applying a machine learning algorithm.To validate our methodology, we built a test bed for mobile cloud infrastructure, intentionally installed malicious mobile programs onto several virtual mobile instances, and then successfully detected the abnormal behavior that arose from those malicious programs. Implementation Implementation is the stage of the project when the theoretical design is tu rned out into a working system. Thus it can be considered to be the most critical stage in achieving a successful new system and in giving the user, confidence that the new system will work and be effective.The implementation stage involves careful planning, investigation of the existing system and it’s constraints on implementation, designing of methods to achieve changeover and evaluation of changeover methods. Main Modules:- 1. USER MODULE : In this module, Users are having authentication and security to access the detail which is presented in the ontology system. Before accessing or searching the details user should have the account in that otherwise they should register first. 2. MOBILE CLOUD SERVICE :Here new mobile cloud service through the virtualization of mobile devices in cloud infrastructure. We describe two main service scenarios to explain how this mobile cloud service can be used. Service scenarios are useful to discuss security threats on mobile cloud infrastr ucture, because they include users, places, mobile devices, and network types, and user’s interesting contents. We define mobile cloud computing as processing jobs for mobile devices in cloud computing infrastructure and delivering job results to mobile devices. e propose a new mobile cloud service as providing virtual mobile instances through mobile cloud computing. The proposed mobile cloud service provides virtual mobile instances through the combination of a mobile environment and cloud computing. Virtual mobile instances are available on mobile devices by accessing the mobile cloud infrastructure. This means that users connect to virtual mobile instances with their mobile devices and then use computing resources such as CPU, memory, and network resources on mobile cloud infrastructure.In this case, such mobile devices will have smaller roles to play than current mobile devices. 3. MALWARE DATA : We chose ‘GoldMiner’ malware applications to obtain abnormal da ta in our mobile cloud infrastructure. We installed the malware onto two hosts and ran it. It gathers location coordinate and device identifiers (IMEI and IMSI), and sends the information to its server. The malware target affecting each mobile instance as zombie, and there are many other malware which have the same purpose although their functionality and behavior are little different from each other.This kind of malware is more threatening to mobile cloud infrastructure because there are lots of similar virtual mobile instances and they are closely connected to each other. Entered data are not same, compare the database data that is called malwaredata. when If some abnormal behavior’s help to modify the date in External object. 4. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR DETECTION : We used the Random Forest (RF) machine learning algorithm to train abnormal behavior with our collected data set.The RF algorithm is a combination of decision trees that each tree depends on the values of a random vect or sampled independently and with the same distribution for all trees in the forest. We represented the collected features as a vector with the data subsequently used to train our collected data set. System Configuration:- H/W System Configuration:- Processor – Pentium –III Speed – 1. 1 Ghz RAM – 256 MB(min) Hard Disk – 20 GB Floppy Drive – 1. 4 MB Key Board – Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse – Two or Three Button Mouse Monitor – SVGA S/W System Configuration:- ? Operating System :Windows95/98/2000/XP ? Application Server : Tomcat5. 0/6. X ? Front End : HTML, Java, Jsp ? Scripts : JavaScript. ? Server side Script : Java Server Pages. ? Database : Mysql 5. 0 ? Database Connectivity : JDBC.

Dmt

It’s said to be the spirit molecule, for some it’s listed on the D. E. A’s schedule I list for illegal drugs and for others it’s been used in rituals throughout our earth’s history. Why haven’t we been informed about one of the US’s most illegal substances? Wouldn’t it help people make the right decisions when it comes to â€Å"experimenting† with life’s vices like the publics knowledge of heroin, cocaine, LSD and so on? Where did DMT come from and what is its purpose? Based on user accounts, FDA regulated studies and documentaries involving indigenous peoples in South America some of these questions were answered with even more interesting ones raised. Shamanic rituals throughout the Amazon region called for a special potion referred to as ayhuasca, a combination between a DMT containing plant and a â€Å"monoamine oxide inhibitor† which is a special chemical that allows the DMT to avoid digestion by the stomach and reach the bloodstream. There is evidence stretching back to 2130 BC supporting the fact that these rituals have been passed down and adopted by people living today. A pipe made out of puma bone of that time period was discovered and tested positive for DMT. An example of vegetation containing this chemical is pure inner root bark of the Mimosa Hostilis plant, and it’s used for its DMT properties for several reasons by Shaman; entering altered states of consciousness, shamanistic healing, meditation, spiritual exploration and mystical insight. DMT stands for Dimethyltryptamine. It is found in thousands of plant species across the world and in trace amounts in mammals. It is a type of tryptamine along with other natural occurring ones such as serotonin and melatonin. Its natural function in the human body is unknown, but it is produced in out pineal gland and can be found in our spinal fluid, urine, and blood. Our brain is one of the most complex items in our worlds known existence and for the most part it is highly accurate when it releases hormones and chemicals. Studies performed by Dr. Rick Strassman at the University of New Mexico, in which subjects were injected with doses of DMT, show strong correlation with other user accounts and interviews with shaman in brazil. The experiences are remarkably similar, the person who injects, smokes, snorts or eats DMT claim to encounter alien entities, or godly figures. Smoking the substance has been determined to cause the greatest effect, episodes lasting only from about 15-30 minutes. To the person under the effect of DMT it feels a lot longer than that, claims that it lasts for hours. One â€Å"toke† from a pipe and in a matter of seconds you are catapulted into another dimension, realm, world or form as described by account holders.

Philadelphia movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Philadelphia movie - Essay Example Tom Hanks brilliantly portrayed the character of Andy and communicated to viewers the need to look at gays suffering from AIDS in a different light. It was an emotional issue, to be sure, but Hanks did a good job at causing everyone to rethink their views towards people suffering from this horrible disease. When Andy began looking for a lawyer, he discovered that many people did not want to represent him simply on the basis of his illness. The frustration that he began to feel must surely have been overwhelming. Most people he met were afraid and would not get close to him. The movie effectively points out that even the lawyer who was brave enough to represent Andy was also afraid of him. In the end, however, this lawyer began to understand that Andy was no threat to his own health or to his reputation. He ended up learning a great deal from Andy and they turned into good friends. The overarching theme of this movie is to educate the public about AIDS and homosexuality. These two issues have divided society and have caused this segment of the population to be segregated and discriminated against in many communities across the country. This movie shows me that discrimination will likely always exist in our society, either on the basis of gender, race, or sexual preference. Philadelphia gives me, and other viewers as well, a good look at the reasons why we should shed our discriminatory views. Such thoughts serve to hurt not only the specific group being discriminated against, but also society in general. The message that the movie sends is that discriminating against homosexual people, especially those with AIDS, is illegal. It also conveys the message that judging people, commonly referred to as stereotyping, is wrong. Understanding people and our difference comes with time. This understanding came happen if we all take the time to get to know each

One of the exhibits from San Francisco academy of science museum that Essay

One of the exhibits from San Francisco academy of science museum that relates to physical anthropology - Essay Example nt life forms is to gain a detailed understanding regarding the evolution of modern species of animals, including human beings, which posit a relation to physical anthropology. Additionally, the paper attempts to highlight the behavioral patterns of these life forms. Through these exhibits, it is possible to piece together evidence of man and the life he lived in the ancient times. Such evidence makes it possible to estimate the exact period in which the said hominid lived, the habits and lifestyle he was accustomed to, as well as other dynamics he faced. Through the study of Selam, it is possible to prove numerous facts concerning the existence of early man. The Academy has the remains of an ancient child by the name Selam. These remains belong to a three-year-old child of the Australopithecus afarensis species. The fossils of Selam were discovered in Dikika in Ethiopia, four kilometers from where Lucy was found. ‘Lucy’ is believed by many archeologists to be the mother of Selam.The vestigial remains found consists of an entire torso, plus the arms and legs. Further indications suggest that the remains of Selam were buried after an event of great significance such as a flood. At the time of her death, Selam already possessed visible characteristics of her species, and these were already distinctively noticeable. The postcranial skeleton of Selam brings about many questions as to how she was able to cope with the landscape that she was in. However, research suggests that she was a creature who walked on two legs. Many researchers question how she was able to walk bipedally because its upper body contained many primitive traits. The lower body, however, shows visible adaptations that proved capability to walk. Selam had legs that were built for walking and fingers that were built for climbing. Many features on the body of this species suggest that she was also an arboreal creature (Price, 2012). Further analysis of Selam suggests that she possesses shoulder

Retail Business Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Retail Business Analysis - Research Paper Example A retail establishment that implemented generic marketing and segmentation approaches is a Reebok store. Implementation of segmentation strategy The retail implemented the strategy by separating a big probable market into minor groups, which exude diverse retail needs. The retail started by categorizing their market thus stating the general boundaries of market they intended to segment. This is achievable at the product progress stage. As such, one needs to find information about the intended target. Later on, they established market segmentation drivers for every product, which is achievable basing on age. Furthermore, other determinants incorporate expenditure, likeability of other merchandise, demographic facts, and imbursement methods. After successfully doing that, they chose a critical strategy that defines major segments. In the last stage of the implementation, they prioritized basing on the resources that they could dedicate to their marketing effort and the likely outcome o f addressing each segment (Weinstein, 2004). Implementation of Generic market strategy The retailers implemented the strategy by identifying its strengths and weaknesses, uniqueness, advantage, and usual tendencies. After identifying themselves, the organization identified their customers by finding information about them. The organization could not make an assumption about each customer groups, so they had to know their market better than their competitors did. For them to acknowledge their customers, they had to talk and listen to them. By presenting questions to customers, they could find vital information like the reasons attributable to the non-utilization of their products. Moreover, they convinced their consumers to start buying their merchandise (Pizam, 2010). Additionally, they used a present-day date base system to get a relatively cheap and competent marketing tool. This system could record customers’ behaviors and expectations. The information acquired from the sy stem was instrumental in decision-making. In marketing, the amount of sales made is not necessary. However, the important aspect is the profit figure. This is because, in marketing, decisions derive their basis on profit and not on the amount of sales, which is significantly minor. For the organization to respond properly to its marketplace, it linked the customer database with other market information system and business brainpower system (Pizam, 2010). Another implementation step that the retailer employed was the application of differentiation. This enabled them to proffer remarkable benefits to their customers. Applying differentiation enabled them to know the values of their customers so that they could appeal to these values in an effective way than competitors. By differentiation, it is easier to identify their potency and the weaknesses of their rivals. They then developed a clear image of each segment (Pizam, 2010). During the implementation, the Reebok stores avoided to co mpete with its products in the same segment. The entity was clear in defining its own role and tried to cover all bases to discourage potential competitors. It therefore, built a good correlation with its consumers, while trying to avoid dependence on one customer or any product (Pizam, 2010). Improving implementation of segmented marketing For effective implementations of

The Children of Hammerstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Children of Hammerstein - Essay Example The three daughters were often grouped together and called the ‘von Hammerstein Sisters’ but the truth was that even though they had their fair share of similarities, they had their own personalities and lived different lives. The main thing they had in common was their stand against Nazism. Till the 1920s in Berlin – the years when they finally came of age – they socialized greatly be it the gymnasium, university, the social and/or political movements and so on. Once the political upheaval rose to great heights, all of them helped the victims in their own ways, not worried about the risk they were taking of their lives by opposing the Weimar Republic and later the Third Reich. Maria Luise was the oldest daughter of the five children. She opposed Hitler by joining the German Communist Party in the late 1920s. In fact, whenever her father departed from the house, she would take the opportunity to go through this safe in hopes of finding documents with import ant information on them. She even told the Soviet Union about Hitler’s political and military plans which he informed to his generals in his secret speech. This made her a traitor to her country but her father was not against it. It was during this time period also that she had a relationship with Werner Scholem but later he was shot dead. Maira Luise decided to remain in her homeland for the duration of the war. It was at some point in the 1950s that she changed her residence to the German Democratic Republic. The second daughter was Maria Theresa and she was quite an activist. She was less ideologically at risk than her sisters but she did empathize with left wing views, especially the educated middle class Jewry. She alerted the Jews if they were in danger of being deported or arrested by extracting the necessary information from her father. She would move the Jews and some Germans to Prague and helped many of the marked to hide. She also brought materials such as newspape rs to the Nazi community over there. Maria Theresa is lauded for saving innumerable Jews from extermination. She got married to a Jewish man in 1934. They travelled to Palestine but had to return and were cross examined a lot of times by the Gestapo. So, they went to exile in 1935 to Japan. Over there also, she was not safe but she managed to survive and had four children. After the war was over, they shifted to the United States of America. Helga von Hammerstein, like her eldest sister Maria Luise, was part of the German Communist Party. She helped out her sister in carrying out her parts. She had a relationship with one man called Leo Roth who lived a very dangerous live and was shot in a prison in 1936. Helga, along with her mother and youngest brother, was held in captivity by the Nazis for the duration of the last weeks of the War. They were first imprisoned at Buchenwald, then at Dachau, and then at South Tyrol. They were interrogated and asked the hiding place of her brotherà ¢â‚¬â„¢s but they did not break. She remained in Germany during the length of the war. After the end of the war, they were given freedom by the Allied Forces in 1945 when they liberated the camps. Franz von Hammerstein was the first son. He was excused from the duty of working for the army due to medical reasons. He was the brother who was imprisoned and questioned by the Gestapo along with Helga and his mother. Later, he was also freed with them by the Allies. After the war

International human rights law and how the health care has improved in Essay

International human rights law and how the health care has improved in 3 counties - Essay Example The organization also went further to shed more light on how these rights were connected with health. Many countries adopted this and evidence shows that progress have been made as countries have been striving to integrate these into their health systems since 2002 (World Health Organization, 2002). This paper examines the progress that has been made by three countries: Kenya, Mexico and the US. In Mexico, for instance, a lot have improved, especially in the field of mental health. For a long time, people with mental health problems would be dumped into institutions and be subjected to inhumane treatment without being allowed back into the community. International law on human rights recognizes that people have a right to treatment in least restrictive environment and within their communities. It is because of this that Mexico health care system has been reformed to support community integration of mentally disabled persons. Both state and national health budgetary allocation have been increased since 2002, and this has helped significant enforcement of community integration of the mentally disabled. Patient dumping has since stopped through introduction of an individualized outplacement plan for persons into the community. Similarly, conditions within the institutions were also improved due to the provision of such basic needs as food, clothes, and bedding. Besides, essential medication, dental care, hygiene, and safety were also adopted to help improve health of the institutionalized psychiatric cases. Through the recognition of the international laws that relate human rights to health and poverty reduction (issue no 5), Kenya has progressed tremendously in the area of reproductive health. The Kenyan government has since 2002, adopted laws that ensure the integration of family planning services into the healthcare system as a means of reducing

Globalization has generated more problems than benefits for society Research Paper

Globalization has generated more problems than benefits for society - Research Paper Example However, in this process, the world is losing many of its cultures (Thirlwall & Penelope, pp. 320-322, 2008). Quite understandably, countries with greater economic power are destroying and suppressing other cultures. Furthermore, with the development and progress, that globalization has given to the world; people are increasingly becoming ignorant of the social, moral, and ethical values, which once were the important part of our lives. After this brief introduction, the rest of the paper will try to explore the side effects, disadvantages, or harms of globalization. Discussion Proponents of globalization believe that globalization has given great development and progress to the world including the improvement in the quality of the lives of people and their incomes. However, the truth is that much of this development has been irregular, biased, or skewed. There are still many parts in the world, which are deprived of the basic needs and resources. More than 80 percent of the worldâ⠂¬â„¢s resources rest with the 20 percent of people in the world. If globalization has done anything, that would be the unequal distribution of wealth and increasing the gap between rich and poor (Eriksen, pp. 27-28, 2007). Furthermore, also important here is to note the fact that the costs which the world has paid for this economic development are huge. More than 80 percent of the world’s forests are no longer there. We have lost billions of animals and plant species. The humans have destroyed the ozone, triggered global warming and all these continue. When we leave this planet for our children, it would be much worse than what we had received from our parents and globalization is to blame for this (Scholte, pp. 158-159, 2008). With globalization and increasing disparities of income, there are chances that these may lead to more and more military conflicts in the world. In fact, they have already led the world into many wars. With the rise of eastern and Asian countries such as China, Japan, Malaysia, India and others, the west is feeling the heat for the competition of the world’s resources. There are all the chances that this competition may lead to conflicts and tensions between countries (Steger, pp. 146, 2009). It is also important to note that globalization is quickly forcing us towards the end of individuality. With one global village and suppression of local cultures, we are moving towards the world where there would be only one color left in the world. Standardization has become the order of the day. Despite the fact that globalization started with creativity and innovation but it appears that now it leading us to stagnation of creativity and ideas (Thirlwall & Penelope, pp. 320-322, 2008). One of the biggest blows that the world received due to globalization was in the form of the recent financial crisis. This financial crisis started in the United States due to mishaps in the accounting practices of a few banks and financial instituti ons, bursting of the housing bubble, unrealistic credit policies, bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, liquidity crisis and other reasons, but it affected almost every country in the world. This is because of the fact that with exports, imports, stock exchanges, foreign direct investments, bonds and

Effect and Influence of Social Factor on Business Essay

Effect and Influence of Social Factor on Business - Essay Example This essay focuses on the significance of the social aspect in the PEST analysis in regards to a business from apparel manufacturing industry. Environmental analysis is a marketing function which includes study of all external factors that may determine the success or failure of a business. Relatively qualitative in nature, this analysis involves identifying of environmental variables, scanning them, analyzing and finally forecasting of business situation. Environmental analysis is significant for a business to survive and grow. This analysis helps in identifying the probable opportunities and threats to a business. It opens new avenues for business activity expansion and also provides opportunities for discovering and exploitation of business. PEST analysis is an acronym for â€Å"political, economic, social and technological.† Its purpose is to conduct analysis and identify various external factors that might affect business and also to help in market research.Social aspect of PEST analysis includes factors such as age distribution, income level, education, diet and nutrition, religion, population growth, consumerism, social class, and expectation of society from business. It also includes buying trends, change in lifestyle, cultural aspects, ethics, publicity factors, advertising, media, career attitudes, health consciousness and emphasis on safety. Social trends to a great extent affect demand for a product The social factor from PEST analysis creates various opportunities at a global, national and international level. ... It enables business and organizations to understand future problems and face them boldly. This analysis helps organizations in expanding their business while contributing towards social groups and causes. Environmental analysis keeps guiding the organizations from time to time about changes in socio economic conditions at the same time enabling them to take benefit of technological developments, government policies etc. Apart from providing various opportunities environmental analysis also helps business in identifying threats from competitor and other sources. Threats are uncontrollable and can put survival of organization or business at stake. Environmental analysis overcome organization’s threat and also helps in identifying competencies of business. Identification of one PEST factor PEST analysis is an acronym for â€Å"political, economic, social and technological.† Its purpose is to conduct analysis and identify various external factors that might affect business and also to help in market research. Out of all the factors from PEST analysis I am considering Social factor for discussion about how it affects business. Social aspect of PEST analysis includes factors such as age distribution, income level, education, diet and nutrition, religion, population growth, consumerism, social class, and expectation of society from business. It also includes buying trends, change in lifestyle, cultural aspects, ethics, publicity factors, advertising, media, career attitudes, health consciousness and emphasis on safety. Social trends to a great extent affect demand for a product (Miller 1992). Industry considered Considering apparel manufacturing industry for

The Great Gatsby - Significance of Title Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Significance of Title Essay The meaning of the word great is ambiguous before reading the novel The Great Gatsby. It can imply that Gatsby is a superb individual, or it can mean great in the sense of a misfortune. It is only after reading the novel that the reader is able to perceive that the novels title is ironic and that many of the themes of the story help develop this great character of Gatsby. Irony is the key to understanding F. Scott Fitzgeralds title, The Great Gatsby. Many of the themes of this novel seem to mock Jay Gatsbys greatness. Some of these themes can even be taken on a more social level to include society in general and imply their prominence as well. Gatsby symbolizes the state of idealism that had been a common ideal of society when the novel had been published. His ideal life centered on money, greed, and carelessness that characterize living the ideally reckless life. This theme implies two different meanings to the title of the novel. The first is an implication that the social values of the times were terrible, thus bringing out the greatness of the tragedy. The second is more of a sarcastic connotation. Fitzgerald may have been trying to show the reader just how great the great Gatsby was through the use of irony. For example, it is quite ironic that a person with so much wealth and fame would continue to partake in the illegal bootlegging and give numerous parties in search of a married woman when there are hundreds of women dying to see him. Thus, the ironic meaning of the novels title can be derived through the analysis of the true greatness of Gatsby: a moral failure who is only a success in the eyes of other downfallen individuals of society. In conclusion, meaning of the title, The Great Gatsby, is fully derived after reading and understanding themes brought forward in the story. After this analysis of the themes is performed, the connotation of the novels title can be regarded as either a sarcastic presentation of irony, or a representation of the downfall of Gatsby, that resulted from his emphasis on materialism and wealth.

A Summer with My Aunt Essay Example for Free

A Summer with My Aunt Essay I, of course, was not used to spending any amount of money because my parents were doing well enough to keep my sister and me in school, so the idea of having leisurely money was a new concept which I craved. As a child I admired this woman for many reasons and wanted to be like her. I wanted to live in a nice neighborhood with a big house, I wanted to drive a beautiful white shiny car and wear new clothes, I wanted to be strong and healthy , but most of all I wanted to be successful like she was. So I spent my days in school preparing for college so that someday I would be able to be like her. Things changed, though, when I moved down to Texas for two months to take care of her nine month old son, Luke; as it turns out Gretchen Decker was and is not as happy with her life as I thought she was. At the beginning of the summer I had agreed to fly out to California to take my grandma’s place as a helping hand for my aunt. Gretchen had just married her third husband, Chris, two years prior and had recently become pregnant. My whole family was rather concerned with this matter because my aunt was now in her forties; when complications started arising my grandmother put her own life on hold to focus her attention on her daughter. When the time came, though, it was my turn to help my aunt. I left my job, friends, summer activities, and leisurely time to fly out to California and take care of my cousin. Plans were interrupted by my aunt’s job, though, when she received recent news of a promotion that would land her in the Dallas metropolis. I, of course, did not mind because either way I would be able to finally get to know this woman I so aspired to be like, and at the same time I would be able to visit with my aunt Trudy. So at the end of the summer I packed up my bags and my dad, sister, and I drove down to Texas. The house was gorgeous with a huge entry way and vaulted ceilings and a large open-concept kitchen and living room. The rooms were not very large but they were a decent size, close to a large bathroom. There was no furniture yet because it was still being moved from California and sadly we’d have to live without it for a couple more weeks. It was a great neighborhood, though, quiet and clean but most importantly, safe; this was the house my mother and father were working so hard for. The city was also very established with great schools and big malls, another thing I, myself, had always wanted. The next day I met Luke and was shocked by his appearance. He was a gorgeous baby but his weight brought up a bit of a concern for me. Luke was only nine months old and weighed 30 pounds; the first though in my mind was, â€Å"why is she feeding him so much? † but I held my tongue and asked, â€Å"So, what does he eat? † My aunt replied saying, â€Å"well he has five bottles a day and two to three solid meals a day. † Another thought, â€Å"holy crap,† then I said, â€Å"Wow, he’s big. † She laughed and said, â€Å"Yeah he’s definitely not starving. She may have found it funny but I found it odd that this child was the size of a two year old and was barely able to move. I walked over to the refrigerator next and poured myself a glass of water. As I drank, I stared at a picture of my aunt and Chris. They were running side by side concentrating on the goal ahead, when suddenly Luke laughed and my attention was turned to the other side o f the room. My sister, Darian, was playing with Luke and showing him how to use his toys. My aunt smiled at the sight and said, † Darian, I love this little guy so much. It’s amazing. I’ve never loved anyone or anything this much. † My sister immediately asked, â€Å"Don’t you love Chris? † The pause in-between the question surprised me, but finally she answered, â€Å"well†¦ yes but I just love Luke so much. † She continued to answer the question by saying that Chris was a good companion and that’s why she married him. Later I would learn my aunt â€Å" just liked to be married† and that is what led me to believe my aunt didn’t care about love as much as she did her job, because she went into a marriage thinking like a business woman rather that a girl in love. To me this also meant she just didn’t want to be alone. A week went by and the moving was done and I was left alone with my aunt. She was struggling to get used to things at her new job and ii could tell she was under much stress. So I did everything I could think of to take a load off her back like doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning and making sure Luke was in a good mood for her when she came home. No matter what I did though my aunt began to become increasingly frustrated with her job. She would leave the house around six-thirty every day and come back around six and continue to do work after Luke went to bed. She would always tell me she wished she could spent more time with Luke but that wouldn’t be able to happen because Chris was playing â€Å" peter pan† in Afghanistan. Every day it was the same thing: â€Å"Chris is peter pan,† â€Å"I wish I didn’t have to be the main provider† but the fact of the matter is that my aunt makes around 104 thousand dollars a year and Chris makes around 84 thousand. I was becoming very frustrated with my aunt’s complaints because my family of four had loved off 30 thousand for quite some time and managed to survive, so why couldn’t she live off 84? The answer to my question was very upsetting. She said, â€Å"Well that’s Missouri and Missouri isn’t the real world. † How dare she belittle my parents’ hard work! They both worked day and night trying to provide a better life for my sister and I and this is how she sees their work? I didn’t even get to see my parents a lot of the time because one of them was always at work, and here my aunt sat in a huge house with a nice neighborhood, with a beautiful baby and a handsome husband and money so much that she didn’t even know what to do with it, trying to tell me how terrible her life was. I kept my mouth closed because it was not my place to tell her these thoughts but more and more I became disappointed in my aunt. Why could she not be thankful and content with what she had? Her favorite subject of complaint was her husband; mostly, because he didn’t make enough money for her to stay at home but she also accused him of trying to avoid her and Luke because he didn’t wasn’t to take any responsibility. She thought this because he was going to stay in a deployable unit but at the same time the reason he was doing that was for an education opportunity. There was no pleasing her, though; even the fact that Chris wanted to be the provider did not appease her. She had made a comment to me about how she would â€Å"Find Luke a new daddy† if she had to. This made me sick to my stomach that she would say such a thing but I guess that is what happens when you marry someone just because you â€Å" like to be married. † Marriage is not like playing house it is a gift God has given us to become one with another person you love. Everything I admired my aunt for pretty much washed away because of my experience this summer and I will not go back to live with her again. She will sit in her big house in a nice neighborhood, with a husband she dislikes, a job that makes good money, and rot because she does not know how to be content. That’s what I really want is to marry a man I love, give him beautiful children, and work at a job that I absolutely love; not a bunch of money with nothing to do with it. I can thank my aunt, though, for showing me how unhappy a person can be in their life because they focus their mind on only the negative and never any positive aspects of their lives.

Financial Statement Analysis A.G. Barr

Financial Statement Analysis A.G. Barr Financial Statement Analysis Introduction A.G. Barr p.l.c. is based in United Kingdom it maufacture, distribute, and sell soft drinks. A.G. Barr. operates in carbonates and water. Company has a wide range of brand’s which includes IRN-BRU, Rubicon, Barr Brands, KA, Strathmore, Simply, Tizer, D’N’B, St. Clement’s, Findlays and Abbott’s. Company also has some partnership brands which includes Orangina, Rockstar and Snapple. The manufacturing area located in United Kingdom. Findlays Limited, subsidairy of A.G. Barr P.l.c., is engaged in Rubicon Drinks Limted and natural mineral water as well as the manufacture and distribution of soft drinks. Schweppes International Limited is also a franchise partner of A.G. Barr p.l.c in United Kingdom, authorized for manufactures and sells Orangina. It also has collaboration with Rockstar Inc. in the United States to sell and distribution of energy drink, Rockstar brand in Ireland and United Kingdom. The following pie-chart represent market share of soft dr inks and low calorie drinks. They strategy have developed in a way to deliever long term growth in value and focusing on core brands and markets, brand portfolio, route to market, partnerships, efficient operations, people development, sustainablity and responsibility. Financial Review The business performance throughout 2013 of A.G. BARR has perform well in U.K soft drinks market especially in second half of the financial year with double digit growth rate. The economic conditions in the core market segments survied difficulties in 2012, as well as the increasing cost of promotion effect margins. A.G.BARR growth rate for volume and revenue increased more rapidly then the market in carbonates ans still segments. The overall growth of softdrinks experienced carbonates growth rate of 3.8% in value but decreases in terms of volume, showed growth of 1.9% with avolume declining 1%. In 2013 A.G. BARR carbonates volume increased by 6.0% and revenue increased by 7.1%. On the other hand stills also performed better with a growth of 4.3% in revenue and 4.1% in volume. In addition to delievering a growth higher then the market and much of the build program associated with their new production and storage facility at Crossley Road, Milton Keynes. The Milton Keynes site is an i mportant asset for future business developments. Adverse whether condition in 2012 impacted soft drinks category according to Nielsen research, reflects 0.7% decline while to volume grew by approximately 3%. Conumer participation in the carbonates category has remained at high level supported by price-driven promotions across the main brands. Ratios analysis over the last 3 years Profit Margin: According to the financial statements ended January 2013, Company declared a profit after tax of  £ 25.564 million which represent 10.76% of its sales. Current year revenue grew by approximately 7% from prior year and 3.42% on the basis of average growth rate from the last three year. Profit before tax and exceptional item in 2013 increased by 4.3% but profit margin was slightly reduced in 2013 as compare to 2012, due to higher cost of goods. In 2012, observed as a climate of continued economic uncertainty and increasing cost. Despite these challenges companys profit before tax and exceptional item increased by 6.2% from 2011. In 2011, Profit before tax increased by 13.3% from 2010. In 2011 AG Barr observed 10.4% growth in revenue as compare to 7% in UK soft drink market. Current ratio: measure the financial stability of a company to pay its current liability. According to the financial statement, in 2013 current ratio represent 1.31(in times) thus company has enough to pay its financial obligation. Current ratio in 2012 represent 1.46 (in times) which shows that company financial stability in 2012 is better among 2011 and 2013. Quick ratio: measures the financial stability after deducting inventories and prepaid expense because they cannot be easily converted into cash at fair value. Quick ratio show clearer picture then current ratio, the company’s financial stability in 2012 of having 1.043(in times) as compare to average 0.9 (in times) in the rest of year. Working capital: is defined as the financial ability of a company to pay its short term obligation. Working Capital is an important factor used to measure its financial health. Working Capital Management is the strategy of a company to maintain efficient levels of both asset and liabilities to improve their earnings. It is calculated as current assets minus current liabilities. It involves management of inventories, cash, accounts payable and account receivable. Working capital is required to support the day to day business operation it is treated as life blood for smooth and effective business operations. Working capital in 2013 and 2011 is less as compare to the 2012. In 2012 company has  £ 20.934 millions more than its liabilities. Thus in 2012 company has managed their day to day operations effectively. Dividend: A.G. Barr’s efficient performance through the year enabled them to distribute per share dividend. In 2012 company’s profitability reflected in its dividend, declared  £ 25.96 per share, which is high through the rest of years. Inventory turnover ratio: measures the number of times the company sold its inventory throughout the year. AG Barr have inventory turnover of 6.51(in times) in year 2013 which means that company has 1.84 month of supply of inventory on hand. In 2012 and 2011, company has 2.02 (in times) and 2.05 (in times) months of supply of inventory on hand. ROE ROA: Return on equity in 2013 is greater then return on asset by 12.55% across the year it means that company is utilizing its asset perfectly as well as optimizing its debt effectively. It also shows that management is generating good result from shareholders’ investment. Account receivable turnover: Account receivable shows credit policy of a company according to which average time allow to customer to pay their debt. In 2013, 12.64 days took to recover their credit sales. Among the three year, in 2012 company was recovering their sales quickly at the rate of 7.70 days as compare to the rest of years. Operating Risk: can be defined as the more the proportion of fixed cost and lower variable cost is said to be high operating leverage. A ratio which is commonly used to determine the effect of operating leverage at given level on the firm’s potential earning is calculated by dividing, % change in EBIT by % change in Sales. Financial Risk: is the use to debt in it is calculated by dividing % change in EPS by % change in EBIT. Financial risk is not dependent on sales because whether a company has high or low sales it has to pay fix interest. By calculating financial leverage of AG BARR it appears that only 1% change in EBIT, Earning per share would change by 0.93. Preparation of financial statement: Financial statements of A.G. BARR p.l.c. have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (‘IFRS’) as adopted by the European Union. They have been prepared under the historical cost accounting rules except for the derivative financial instruments and the assets of the Group pension scheme which are stated at fair value and the liabilities of the Group pension scheme which are valued using the projected unit credit method. FINANCIAL MARKETS AND THEIR IMPACT Financial market is a market where an individual and corporation can trade financial securities, commodities. This table shows classification of market and instrument through which corporations can raise funds. Raising funds from equity market may lead the investor to think that the company financial flexibility is weak, and they are unable to get funds from banks or other sources. Stock issue leads to decreased earnings per share. Raising capital from foreign investor involves two main risks which are relevant for foreign investor. They include economic risk and political risk. Economic risk is less in countries with strong and stable economy situation. On the other hand political risk is linked with the economic stability of a country. Political decision and policies plays an important role in an economy. Political risk also called sovereign risk, the ability of a company to pay its foreign financial obligation. Risk is defined as uncertainty. The indication of risk and reward guide the investor that it would have a possibility to loss some or whole of its investment, an investor may experience bullish trend on his investment. Risk and return are directly correlated. The more you take risk, the more the likely return is, because investor demands additional return for additional risk. In finance this relationship is known as the security market line. Common stock and corporate bonds are two asset classes. Corporate bond is a debt instrument and common stock is equity. Corporate bonds and, TFCs are issued by a corporation and sold to investors. Government bonds are less risky then corporate bonds. Common stock is riskier then corporate bond because if an organization goes bankrupt, common stock holders get last priority until debt holders and preferred stock holder have received their assets. But common stock holders have the possibility to earn greater or lower return as compare to stable return on corporate bonds. As far as A G BARR, capital structure for the last two years shows that debt weight-age of the total asset was 42.64% and 50.44% in 2012 and 2013 respectively. So the company has raised fund through debt in order to meet the financial need of company. One of the major benefits by using debt financing is tax advantage and borrowing has a fixed return to stock holder. It has positive impact on the firm but because company failed to control its operating expenses, net profit in 2013 is less than 2012. Future Prospects A.G. BARR has observed a healthy performance in a marketplace impacted by the mixture of very poor summer weather conditions and the continuing economic challenges faced by consumer goods companies, especially raw material cost pressures and unpredictable consumer demand. Looking ahead it is doubtful that these challenges will significantly change, however they remain carefully confident that the combination of our established operating model, continued focus on efficiency, building brand equity, sound balance sheet and ability for growth prospect leave them well placed to continue to build on this performance. In the year ahead, they expect some decrease in the pace of input cost inflation which we expect to be at a low single digit level. Current market pricing for PET is down year on year, fruit pulp costs are lower but the cost of sugar remains persistently high Conclusion A.G. BARR has delivered strong financial performance in challenging year markets. Their products continue to respond well to equity investors. They have driven strong growth in revenue and volume and have continued to increase market share across the soft drinks market. Product and supply chain innovation enabled numbers of consumers to their brands. They are further investing in assets, acquiring additional capacity that enables them to grow according to consumer demands and in line with the market pace. Following a challenging 2011, last financial year survived with strong in terms of operational performance. Last year reported growth in products availability and customer service has improved and cost managed effectively. During 2012 the potential merger received overwhelming shareholder support. In 2013, financials reported profit before tax increased to  £ 35.0 million, showed 4.3% increase from the previous years. Earnings per share increased during the year by 10.9%. Their ba lance sheet measures have improved, showed net assets of  £130.6 million, during the year company also generated free cash flow to the firm of  £ 22.0 million. A.G. BARR p.l.c. group brands, as well as their franchise brand Rock star, showed 8.6% growth. This performance is above as compare to the market reflects that they continued opportunities to develop availability, innovation and distribution among their brands. Their geographical growth rates grew by 4%, and investment except U.K. grew by 12%, showing both important long term growth opportunities and comparably important share from their brands. References A.G. BARR p.l.c. Annual report 2013 pages 70 124 http://www.agbarr.co.uk/pdf/Final Results Announcement January 2013.pdf [Accessed: 12th May 2014] A.G. BARR p.l.c. Annual report 2012 pages 62 – 94 http://www.agbarr.co.uk/pdf/Final results announcement January 2012.pdf [Accessed: 12th May 2014]