Wedding Reception At A Orthodox Baptism - 1035 Words

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go to a greek orthodox baptism. I am agnostic so outside of weddings I do not attend religious ceremonies and have never attended a baptism before. I am not very comfortable in church settings but this is was an important event because it was a close friends event and I knew is was very important to her. The event was on sunday so on saturday evening I called the mother of the baby to ask what the dress code was, if I should bring anything outside the gift and to get a little idea of what to expect. My friend Breanna mother of Alex who was being baptised told me to dress in a nice cocktail dress and wear comfortable shoes because there is a lot standing during the ceremony. I was not sure what to expect but I certainly did not realize that this was an all day event and as lavish as a wedding reception. The baptism itself lasted an hour and was so different from anything I had experienced. I knew that it was a religious service, that the baby would be splashed with water to absolve the original sin but beyond that everything was new. The priest was really wonderful and before the service began gave a speech that explained what would happen during the service and what it all symbolically meant so that those who were unfamiliar (like me) with this process would feel more included or at the very least at ease. Most of the ceremony was spoken in the greek language but because the priest gave the introduction I felt like I understood the

The History of the Great Plague Essay - 1253 Words

The Great Plague was one of the most destructive diseases ever in the history of mankind. This Plague spread through China and eventually made its way to Europe and killed around 50 million people. During this time the Great Plague dominated and brought the worst out of people. This pestilence started in Europe during the 14th century. Around this time period the population was growing rapidly and the food supply was scarce due the severe weather. Winters were especially cold and very dry because of the extreme weather. (History today.com) Even though scholars say it is unclear actually where the Black Plague started but many of them believe the outbreak of this Great Mortality started in Mongolia in the later 1320s. From there they†¦show more content†¦These rats were called house or ship rats. They are different then the grey or brown rat because they like to be close to people. It usually took around fourteen days to kill off the infected rats that were living in the col onies. These rats carried around flies so when the rats died the fleas had to find another source or warm body to survive. So it was the fleas that actually were the one spreading around this infectious disease. These fleas were very adaptable to finding different location to survive. They were much different than human fleas because they would get invested in the house and the clothing of the people, they could also live on humans. This is one of the reasons why the plague spread so quickly. The flea population expanded in warmer weather and tended to die off in the winter when it got really cold. By the summer of 1348 this fatal epidemic had spread across most of Europe, from there the Black Death devastated a lot of the countries that were below France, like Belgium and the Netherlands. There had never been anything like this; humans were terrorized and shocked by all this drama and massive scale of death that was happening. ( History Today.com) As the plague was spreading rapid ly through Europe many government official ordered to isolate the sick. Plague victims were put in special hospitals and buildings where they were kept apart from the people in society that were uninfected. Some city authorities took extreme measures trappingShow MoreRelatedThe Plague Of Bubonic Plague1714 Words   |  7 Pagesepidemic is known all over the world for it’s deadly and unique characteristics. The diffusion, history, and cure are just a couple universal aspects that contribute to the well known, yet unforgiving disease known as the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague diffused to many people during its time of dominance. To start, the Bubonic Plague is transmitted to other living organisms in a distinct way. The plague bacteria circulates among different populations of certain rodents without causing an excessiveRead MoreThe Plague : The Great Plague1064 Words   |  5 PagesContaining a Pandemic: The Great Plague Although plague continues to emerge around the world, there was an outbreak so large in the medieval era that it threatened to wipe out entire continents. The vast devastation that began in Asia and spread to Europe is likely the most deadly pandemic in human history. There were many reasons for the lack of containment, from ignorance of its origin to the lack of anything to stop its deadly trail. The disease struck and killed with terrifying speed, leadingRead MoreThe Great Fire Of London1285 Words   |  6 Pagesup a literary book expecting to discover history. Typically one envisions a literary work to move the soul, or facilitate a grand adventure of the mind. Stranger yet would be a student of history delving into a historical document in anticipation of a soul searching adventure. However, thanks to Samuel Pepys we have an un-edited, un-filtered first hand account of what it was like to be in the midst of some of the most momentous events in English history. Pepys bore witness to and recorded almostRead MoreFinding a Scapegoat: Religious Persecution During the Great Mortality1507 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the Great Mortality By the mid-fourteenth century, much of Europe had heard of a plague which ravished central Asia decades prior. Rumors of awful pestilence and death spread though the continent, yet most would not be able to fathom the awaiting catastrophe. Between 1347 and 1351, the mysterious force of the Black Plague was estimated to have killed off one-third to one-half of Europe’s entire population. Although there is now a medical explanation for the occurrence of the plague , religiousRead MoreEssay on Black Death with Wings of Light1479 Words   |  6 Pagesdeathliest plagues that ever struck mankind, the Black Death? This song describes the main symptom of the Black Death, which is the formation of infected black rings on skin. The Black Death is a disease that first arrived in Europe in 1347 through a ship with rats and fleas contaminated with Yersinia pestis bacteria. This bacteria has the capability of taking one’s life within 48 hours (MedicineNet). In 1340s, the plague vic timized countless numbers of people. Fortunately, the plague temporarilyRead MoreEssay On The Black Death924 Words   |  4 PagesBlack Death was God’s punishment, the only way to cure them of the plague was through God’s forgiveness. The article â€Å"Black Death† states, â€Å"By this logic, the only way to overcome the plague was to win God’s forgiveness.† Nevertheless, doctors in England would try different procedures to cure victims of the plague as well. The doctors would use techniques such as bloodletting and boil lancing to cure their patients (Bubonic Plague). â€Å"Bloodletting simply means a doctor would cut a person and let someRead MorePlagues in England: Death Is in the Air Essay688 Words   |  3 Pages If one were to think back to when the only cures society had were rituals, a prime example of sickness in a society is England. Recalling the plagues in England, one can easily see the two prominent plagues that struck, along wi th how they affected English economy and culture. In the 1300’s, England was struck with a plague called the Bubonic Plague, better known as the â€Å"Black Death.† Historians believe this disease arrived by ship at a seaport in modern day Ukraine (Byrne 1). Fleas living onRead MoreEssay On The Black Death901 Words   |  4 Pagescountries in Europe. Therefore, people found out some cures to end this nightmare disease. Ole J. Benedictow. â€Å"The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever†. Published in History Today Volume 55 Issue 3 March 2005 Ole Jorgen Benedictow, a Norwegian historian, is known for his work on plagues, especially the Black Death. After graduation in 1968, he was hired as a research fellow. He was also promoted to associate professor and worked as manager of the Department of ArcheologyRead MoreBubonic Plague Research Paper1709 Words   |  7 PagesBubonic plague is an infectious disease that is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. These bacteria remain in a dormant state primarily in a rat flea’s foregut. Once the flea has bitten a victim it regurgitates the contents in its foregut into the bite location. Once the bacterium has entered into a mammal’s warm body it begins to reproduce and spread throughout the mammal’s body. The reproduction of this bacterium creates large painful swollen lymph nodes which are called buboes. Once these buboesRead MoreThe plagues in England Essay1044 Words   |  5 PagesIn England there were three specific plagues that i will be tal king about, they are the bubonic plague â€Å"The Black Death†, pulmonary plague and the pneumonic plague. These plagues were really interesting to read about. They were so bad that many people died from them. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with the people since there was that much new technology in the thirteenth century. The black death was a deadly epidemic that was spread from Asia to Europe by twelve trading ships that were

Test For Dishonesty County Court Of Victoria Free Sample

Question: Discuss about the Test for Dishonesty for County Court of Victoria. Answer: Part 1: Brief Facts In this case[1], the appellant was a solicitor who was facing trial in County Court of Victoria on the charges that were based on the conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth in accordance with sections 86(1)(e) and 86A, Crimes Act, 1914 (Cth). Similarly the appellant also stood trial for a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The accused was acquitted of this charge but was convicted on the charge of conspiracy to defraud. The Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria dismissed his appeal against conviction. Under the circumstances, the appellant preferred an appeal to the High Court of Australia. The brief facts of this case are that the appellant was retained by Mr. Spong in 1983 for acting in certain transactions that were related with the purchase of five blocks of land in Essendon, Victoria. On October 5, one block of land, that had substantial residences on it, was purchased under the name of Jetoline Pty Ltd. The appellant was a director and also a shareholder of this company. The other director of this company was 'Freeman' which was an alias used by Spong and the appellant was aware of this fact. However it is not clear if the other blocks of land had also been purchased in the name of Jetoline. The issue in this case was not that Spong was dealing in illegal drug trafficking or that he had purchased these properties with the money that was obtained by name as a result of this drug trafficking. Apart from it, it follows that the acquittal of the appellant on the charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice it has to be considered that the appellant was ignor ant regarding the source of this money. Although, whole of the money has been provided by Spong for purchasing these properties, the fact had been concealed by executing two sham mortgage documents. One of these documents was a memorandum of mortgage on the block of land on which the residence mentioned above has been erected. This mortgage was in favor of a person who was identified as Rosenberg, which was another alias that was used by Spong. The other document was a mortgage over the rest of the five blocks of land in favor of Dial Financial Services Pty Ltd. In this case the appellant had acted on behalf of purchaser/mortgagor regarding this mortgage and there was another solicitor who had acted on behalf of Dial. In reality, no money was advanced under these two mortgages. In fact the solicitor who was acting for Dial could not register the mortgage to that company and as a result, a caveat was lodged in order to protect its interests. Later on, the blocks of land were sold to genuine buyers, apart from the one on whi ch residence was erected. On settlement, all or a part of the proceeds of the seals were paid to Dial and the company executed the withdrawal of caveat so that the transfer of land in the name of the purchaser can be registered. Later on the money that was paid to Dial was paid back to Spong. In this way, the issue that was present in this trial regarding the charge of conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth, it was the case of the prosecution that the appellant was a party to an agreement that was concluded for the purpose of concealing the true amount of the income of Spong with the help of sham mortgage transactions and in this way, it was the intention of the appellant and his fellow conspirators to deprive the tax that was payable on this income to the Federal Commissioner of Taxation. In his evidence, the appellant had admitted at some stage that Spong had informed him that no money was advanced by Dial under the mortgage and that the money that was paid to Dial, apparently as a partial discharge of the mortgage, was to be returned to Spong. But in this regard, the case is upon the fact that he was not a party to any agreement that was concluded with a view to conceal the income of Spong with the help of sham mortgage transactions or to deprive the Commissioner of th e text that was payable on such income. Therefore the appellant said that he was only acting as a solicitor for Spong. However in its decision, the High Court had firmly rejected the Ghosh test[2] and claimed that it was incongruous. As a result, since then, the Feely test[3] has been applied to fraud. Therefore in this case, Peters was charged with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth and the conviction was appealed on the ground that the jury was wrongly directed by the court regarding dishonesty or the intention to defraud. The Court agreed regarding the meaning of 'defraud', there was a three-way split in the decision regarding the role and meaning of dishonesty in the offense. However the majority was formed by an unusual retraction by Kirby J. He was the only judge who found dishonesty as a separate, essential element that should be present in a conspiracy to defraud. On the other hand, according to the other four judges, dishonesty was an aspect of the elements of this offense. However the split regarding dishonesty was an issue that was left to the jury. In this regard, McHugh J and Gummow J stated that it was for the trial judge to decide if the alleged means that had been used by the accused were dishonest and it was not the task of the jury to define dishonesty to hold what can be described as a conspiracy to defraud or not. As a result, they did not find it necessary to discuss the appropriate test related with the dishonesty. In their joint judgment, Toohey and Gaudron JJ had stated that the cases where the defense of the accused denied dishonest behavior, the jury has to decide the issue of dishonesty and it was aspect of the agreement to use dishonest means and also the intention to place the interests of other party at risk. Whether both of these elements were dishonest, was the question that has to be decided by the jury and the judges formulated a test related with the dishonesty that had been rejected the Ghosh test[4] in some measures but it retains some reference to the ordinary community standards. The ratio and obiter of the decision given in this case can be described as that dishonesty was an essential and separate element in the offense and in his strongly worded judgment, the court argued in favor of an entirely subjective approac h for deciding dishonesty. However for the purposes of majority, he agreed with the judgment of Toohey and Gaudron JJ. Part 2 Research Essay The meaning of dishonesty in Australia: Peters v the Queen (1998) For many years, the criminal law in Australia was dominated by the so-called Ghosh Test. It was difficult to understand the legislative decision of introducing this test, particularly in view of the fact that the test has proved to be difficult if not impossible for the jurists to grasp. The intermediate courts were divided regarding the proper application of this test and its reintroduction may confuse, instead of simplifying the criminal law in Australia. There are very few cases that have attracted so much criticism from judicial and academic circles as was attracted by R v Ghosh.[5] In this case, the English Court of Appeal came up with a new test that can be applied for the purpose of deciding if a person has acted dishonestly or not. This came to be known as the Ghost Test. There are two limbs of this test and both of these links have to be satisfied in order to arrive at the finding of dishonesty. According to the first part of this test, the conduct of the person should be di shonest according to the ordinary standards of honest and reasonable people.[6] Similarly, according to the second controversial limb, it is required that either the person should actually know or realize that his conduct can be considered as dishonest according to the standards. This test was immediately criticized by the followers of criminal law in the UK and since then it has been significantly restricted in its application to criminal cases while application to civil cases has been rejected by the British courts, including the Privy Council. This test has also been repudiated by the Supreme Court of Canada stated that this test cannot be reconciled with basic principles of criminal law dealing with mens rea and similarly the High Court of Australia has also described his tests as incongruous, difficult, distracting and confusing.[7] However despite extensive criticism and rejection, and a somewhat apparent ignorance regarding the test, the Ghosh Test is still obliging in Queens land and is present in the Model Criminal Code, and as a result, it has been adopted by the legislatures of the Commonwealth, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. General Points Regarding Dishonesty: Dishonesty can be described as an explicit or implicit element that is present in several criminal offenses as well as in civil causes of action, both under the common law and statute in Australia and other parts of the world. The term dishonesty or its variations have been used in a large number of statutes and regulations that are prevalent in Australia and in case of England, dishonesty has to be proved in nearly half of all the prosecutions related with indictable offenses. It also needs to be mentioned, that in most of the cases, dishonesty has not been defined specifically, either in whole or part, still it acts as significant determinant of liability. In this way, dishonesty can be described as a characterization of conduct or more exactly the state of mind of the person who is involved in the conduct which connotes fault. Traditionally, dishonesty has been treated as a part of mens rea or the mental element of the criminal offenses. However in the language used in modern criminal courts, despite certain unsupported assertions to the contrary, dishonesty has been described as a fault element. As is the case with the legislators, the courts also generally refused to offer any definition of dishonesty however they are providing competing tests that can be applied for the purpose of deciding if something can be described as dishonest.[8] The origin of these tests can be tracked to the English authorities related with the meaning of dishonesty as mentioned in the Theft Act, 1968 (UK). The Feely Test: the English Court of Appeal explained the requirements of dishonesty as required in the Theft Act in R v Feely. The Court stated in this regard that the word 'dishonestly' is related with the state of mind of the person performing the act amounting to an appropriation. Whether the accused person has a particular state of mind is a question of fact that needs to be decided by the jury. The Court also stated that he did not agree that the judges should define the meaning of the term 'dishonestly'. This term is commonly used when deciding if an appropriation can be reasonably expected to be dishonest, and should apply the present standards of ordinary people. The Jurors also have to decide if particular conduct can be described as dishonest or not. Therefore the court stated that he did not see any reason why the Jurors should need the help of a judge to tell them what can be considered as dishonest, when they are in the jury box. The two main features of this test are that it is a subj ective test, due to the reason that it focuses on the actual state of mind of the accused by the evaluation of the fact that being accused had acted dishonestly depends on the standard of ordinary decent people instead of the standards of the accused or his personal beliefs that he or she was acting dishonestly. This particular aspect of the "Feely Test" remains the previously accepted view regarding fraud. Subsequently, the Feely test has been accepted as correctly stating the law regarding dishonesty on several occasions.[9] Similarly at the same time, there was the emergence of a competing line of authority according to which the test of dishonesty was to consider if the accused personally believed or considered his actions as being dishonest. This test has been described as extreme subjectivism by Williams[10] when it was stated in this regard that subjectivism of this level provides a bad name to subjectivism. The subjective approach to criminal liability, considers the intention of the defendant and the facts as they leave by the defendant to be and not to the system of values of the defendant. Ghosh Test: Therefore in Ghosh, an attempt was made by the Court of Appeal reconciled conflicting authorities. In the beginning, the court approached this task by describing the Feely test as being objective and rejected a purely objective test. In this regard the court gave the following example in order to justify its conclusion. The court cited the example of a person who comes from country where public transport is provided free of cost. On his first day, the person travels on a bus and gets off without paying the fare. The person never had the intention of paying but his mind was clearly honest even if his conduct, if judged objectively on the basis of what he has done, can be described as dishonest. Therefore it appears that by using the word dishonestly, it was not the intention of the Parliament to catch dishonest conduct in that sense or to the conduct to which no moral obloquy can they possibly attached.[11] In this context, it needs to be stated that the Ghost Test has not been universally accepted in Australia. In the beginning, it was accepted in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia but for most part, it was not approved in New South Wales, Victoria and to a lesser extent in the ACT. For example in Peters v The Queen (1998) 192 CLR 493, the second linb of the Ghosh test was rejected by all the member judges of the High Court of Australia and they approved a test of dishonesty which only reflected the first live off this test, or in other words to see if the conduct of the defendant was dishonest when tested on the standard of ordinary decent people. This also came to be known as the Peters test. In this case, the majority comprising Justice Toohey and Justice Gaudron and Justice Kirby, who technically agreed with them, stated that there is a degree of incongruity in the notion that for the purpose of deciding dishonesty, the current standards of ordinary, honest persons h ave to be used and also the requirement this issue is to be decided by asking the question if the particular act was dishonest according to the standards and if so, if the accused was aware of this fact. This incongruity arises due to the fact that honest and ordinary people decide if the acts of any other person can be considered as dishonest by reference to the knowledge of belief of that person regarding some fact that is relevant to date in question or the intention of that person with which such act was done. They do not consider if the other person can be considered to have realized that the act was dishonest, judged by the standards of the ordinary and honest people. Therefore, for example it is considered as dishonest by ordinary people to assert as true something that is known to be false. And this is done by ordinary persons only because the person who had made the statement was aware of the fact that it was false and not due to the reason that such person should be considered to have realized that it was dishonest by the current standards of ordinary and honest people. In this case, the court also pointed out towards the practical difficulties that are related with the Ghosh test. The court stated that these difficulties arise because in most of the cases, where the issues involve honesty, the real question that has to be decided if the act was done with knowledge or belief in a particular thing or with a particularly intention, not if it is properly characterized as being dishonest. The court also provided a simple example in this regard. Generally, there is no question if the making of a false statement with the intention of depriving another person of his property is dishonest or not. Rather the question that arises in such a case is to see if the statement was made with the knowledge regarding its falsity and with the intention of depriving the other person. Although there can be certain unusual cases where the question can be received the act has been done with the knowledge of some matter or with some particularly intention can be described a s dishonest. It also needs to be mentioned that in case of the test of dishonesty provided in Peters, like in the Feely Test, is still highly subjective as it mainly focuses on the actual state of mind of the accused (like the knowledge, belief or the intention of the accused), although it is not require proof that it was realized by the defendant that his conduct can be considered as dishonest on the basis of ordinary standards. This test is not merely objective and it may even be mentioned as subjective. However ultimately, the objective characterization of the subjective state of mind is involved in this test. It was stated by the majority in Peters that a different test can be applied where dishonesty has been used in a particular sense in the legislation creating an offense, referring to the statutory provisions in Victoria that the city address the meaning of dishonesty. Since then, the test of dishonesty provided in Peters has been reaffirmed by the High Court and the general application o f the test has been confirmed while the second level of Ghosh test has been rejected on several occasions.[12] For example in Macleod v The Queen[13], it was stated by the court that the test of dishonesty provided in Peters can be applied to a State Fraud Offense and it was stated by the majority that adopting the reasoning of the court in Peters, there is no need that the appellant should have realized that acts in question were dishonest when compared on current standards of ordinary decent persons. There will be deleterious consequences if reference is required to subjective criterion of such a nature. The court further stated that it will distract the jurors from applying the test provided in Peters regarding dishonesty and it will limit the flexibility that is inherently present in the Peters direction. Part 3 Reflective piece In order to complete part 2 of the present assignment, the strategy adopted was to look at the cases related with the definition of dishonesty as a part of this offence. The starting point was Peters v The Queen but the decision given in this case provided the guidelines regarding the description of dishonesty. The earlier test that was used for the purpose of determining dishonesty was the Ghosh Test but the court declined to use this test, particularly the second limb of this test. In place of this test, the court came up with a novel test that had been reaffirmed by the High Court in other cases also. In this way, the second part of this assignment considers the circumstances under which it can be said that the defendant had acted with dishonesty. As a result of the test that was provided in this case, certain changes were also introduced in the way in which the courts determined the issue if the conduct of the defendant can be described as dishonest. in this case, the focus was on the real state of mind of the accused and for this purpose, intention, knowledge and belief of the accused is considered although the proof is not required that the defendant was aware of the fact that his or her conduct can be described as dishonest in view of the ordinary standards. Bibliography A Halpin, The Test for Dishonesty [1996] Crim LR 283 DW Elliott, Dishonesty in Theft: A Dispensable Concept [1982] Crim LR 395 at 408 E Griew, Dishonesty: The Objections to Feely and Ghosh [1985] Crim LR 431 at 344 K Campbell, The Test of Dishonesty in R v Ghosh, [1984] Cambridge LJ 349 at 357 Wayne La Fave, Criminal Laws (4th ed, 2003) 939 Williams G, The Standard of Honesty (1983) 133 New LJ 636 at 637 Case Law Macleod v The Queen (2003) 214 CLR 230 R v Ghosh (R v Ghosh [1982] QB 1053 R v Greenstein [1975] 1 WLR 1353 [1] Peters v The Queen (1998) 192 CLR 49 [2] R v Ghosh [1982] QB 1053 [3] R v Feely (1973) QB 530 [4] R v Ghosh [1982] EWCA Crim 2 [5]ibid [6] Wayne La Fave, Criminal Laws (4th ed, 2003) 939 [7] E Griew, Dishonesty: The Objections to Feely and Ghosh [1985] Crim LR 431 at 344 [8] K Campbell, The Test of Dishonesty in R v Ghosh, [1984] Cambridge LJ 349 at 357 [9] R v Greenstein [1975] 1 WLR 1353 [10] Williams G, The Standard of Honesty (1983) 133 New LJ 636 at 637 [11] A Halpin, The Test for Dishonesty [1996] Crim LR 283 [12] DW Elliott, Dishonesty in Theft: A Dispensable Concept [1982] Crim LR 395 at 408 [13] Macleod v The Queen (2003) 214 CLR 230

The City of Ember Essay Example

The City of Ember Paper Lina- main character of the story, portrays significance in her role as one of the main personality in discovering the mystery of the â€Å"City of Ember†, and lead the story in an act of escape from the underworld with her friend doon. Doon-plays another major character in the story, whereas, he and his friendship as messenger with the people of the city of ember, lead to discovering clues in which he himself was surprised to discover the mystery behind the 200 plus years old underground city. Other Characters th Mayor- significantly acted to be guilty in leading the story into its plot scenic as chaotic, near destruction scenario; connived with Looper in saving food and supplies for themselves; Characterized as to linked with the box of clues transferred from one generation to another and depicted to have open it to discover the message on how to escape from underground. Ms. Murdo- live with Lina and her sister, her character is linked to the story as the one who received th e message of LIna on how to get up from the underground. Plot Summary The Builders of Ember, fearing an apocalyptic event, built the city to ensure that humans would continue to exist. Later we discover that the Builders planned that future generations would grow up with no knowledge of a world outside, so that they (would) feel no sorrow for what they have lost. The city was designed to last no longer than 220 years, at the conclusion of which the citizens of Ember were to receive instructions contained in a time-locked box held by the mayor that described how to leave the city. However, over the course of 241 years, the box has popped open and been mislaid. The people of Ember have no knowledge of what lies beyond their electric flood lamps. Most believe that Ember is the only light in a dark world. Many fear that despite their relentless recycling efforts the city of Ember is slowly dying. When the antiquated generator begins to plunge the entire city unexpectedly into blackouts, two young people begin to search for answers to the blackouts, the food shortages, and the lessoning of the town’s seemingly inexhaustible consumer supplies. We will write a custom essay sample on The City of Ember specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The City of Ember specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The City of Ember specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Lina obtains a job as messenger and travels the town, learning the true nature of the city’s shortages and of the people’s fears. In the course of her job Lina also discovers that some powerful people are taking advantage of their positions and hoarding supplies for themselves. Doon obtains a job working as a pipeworks laborer and learns that the generator is in a decrepit condition. When Lina discovers the damaged fragments of the Builder’s document that contains instructions for leaving Ember, she and Doon decide to work together to decipher the message. Before they can share their discovery with everyone, the corrupt Mayor tries to withhold the information and destroy their hard work. Lina and Doon escape from the Mayor and the city of Ember in a small boat following the Builder’s deciphered instructions. They arrive above ground where they witness their first sunrise. In their hurry to escape, however, they neglected to pass on the exit instructions to their friends in Ember. Finding a crevasse, they crawl through and drop the instruction wrapped in Doon’s jacket to the city far below. Personal Impressions and Conclusion The story of the â€Å" City of Ember† is a mystery considerably fictional to my knowledge, living for 200 years far below underground, in which portrays some known stories written and directed even through movies. However, the story offers a little more exciting as in the plot has strategic sequencing and transition from one phase of the story to another, for that it is commendable. The characters have translated its importance as to their roles in the story. It is also good to note the simplicity of the story in depicting the characters and events in the language simple yet consistent. Meanwhile, the ending of the story seems to fail and sustain the suspense of the story. It just ended purposely leading readers thought it in series, but generally, the story is good and still commendable to be recommended for further readings.

The Economics of Health and Health Care

Finance and Accounting Assignment The WritePass Journal

Finance and Accounting Assignment Part A: Finance and Accounting Assignment ). The theory of constraints emphasizes that in order to optimize short-term decision making, a firm’s managers should find bottlenecks or problems in the managerial or operation process and attempt to remove them in order to increase efficiency (Bierman Schmidt, 2012). (B) (i) A bottleneck resource is an asset which slows down the production process and causes other processes to slow down as well. It is also the machine which is using the most capacity (Mason, 2007). The bottleneck resource in the situation described in this case may be machine 1 as it requires the most machine hours per unit and also spends the most machine hours on product C. Product C has the least demand yet machine 1 spends the most time on producing it which may be a cause for it to be termed as a bottleneck resource. (ii) Each machine has a limited capacity of 12,000 hours out of which it must produce products A, B, and C. Machine 1 requires 0.15 hours to produce product A, 0.20 hours to produce product B, and 0.20 hours to produce product C. With a 12,000 hours capacity, the machine can produce 12,000/0.55=21,818 products. Machine 2 requires 0.10 hours for product A, 0.18 hours for product B, and 0.15 hours for product C. Accordingly, the machine can produce 12,000/0.43= 27, 906 products.   Machine 3 requires 0.10 hours for Product A, 0.15 hours for Product B, and 0.10 hours for Product C. Accordingly, the machine can produce 12,000/0.35=34,285 products. So all three machines combined can produce 84,009 units. Thus, the company should produce 34,000 units of product A, 25,009 units of product B, and 25,000 units of product C. This will ensure that the company meets the demand for these products and uses all the capacity of the machines. (C) The percentage of demand that Product A occupies is 25,000/70,000=0.35%. The percentage of demand that Product B occupies is 24,000/70,000=0.34% and the percentage of demand that Product C occupies is 21,000/70,000=0.30 %. The breakeven point for product A: (x) (25) = (15) +70,000 25x=85,000 X=3,400 The margin of safety is 34,000-3,400=30,600 units The breakeven point for Product B: (x) (28) =15+68,000 28x=83,000 X= 2,964 The margin of safety is 25,009-2,964= 22,045 units The breakeven point for Product C: x32= 15+60,000 32x=75,000 X=2,344 units The margin of safety is 25,000-2,344=22,656 units Thus, the optimal mix for each of the products is well above the breakeven point which means that using all three machines will enable the firm to produce efficiently and effectively. Part C: There are various investment appraisal methods which allow a firm to assess whether an investment is optimal and will produce the required returns or not. One of the popular investment appraisal methods includes the Net Present Value Method. According to the Net Present Value Method, the cash flows expected from an investment are discounted back to assess their present value. Usually, the investment with the higher Net Present Value is selected as the most worthy or optimal investment (Isaac, Leary, Daley, 2010). According to the Net Present Value Method, Project B is most appropriate for Blue Plc as it has a higher Net Present Value than Project A which amounts to  £36 million. There are advantages and disadvantages involved in using the Net Present Value Method which include the fact that the Net Present Value method accounts for the time value of money and measures the effects of inflation and other similar factors which may affect the value of the cash flows that the business is likely to generate in the future.   Another advantage is that the cash flow before the beginning of the project and after the end of the project is considered in calculating the value of the Net Present Value. Measures such as the profitability of the projects and the risk involved in the project are both given high priority in the calculation of Net Present Value. Moreover, using this measure helps maximize a firm’s value (Isaac, Leary, Daley, 2010). There are also certain disadvantages of using the Net Present Value method, which include the fact that it is difficult to use and that the net present value cannot give an accurate assessment of which project would be a better investment if the projects are mutually exclusive or if they are not of equal value. Moreover, calculating the appropriate discount rate is rather difficult and may not be accurate. The discount rate is usually estimated which may mean that it may vary in actual terms. The Net Present Value may not give an accurate decision if the projects are of unequal duration and can thus not be used in all situations (Reilly Brown, 2011). However, in the case of Blue Plc, both projects A B are of equal duration measuring four years and both require an initial investment of  £20 million. Thus, in this case using the Net Present Value Method may be appropriate as both projects are of the same duration and require equal investment and the same cost of capital. The other investment appraisal method that can be used to assess the feasibility of investments is the payback period. As Project A and Project B are both of the same duration and both require four years for execution, the payback period for Project A is 4.5 years, which is longer than its execution. Comparatively, the payback period for Project B is 3.6 years, which is less than that required for the execution of the project and is less than that required in Project A.   Therefore, according to the payback period method, Project B is the optimal investment as it has a lower payback period. The advantage of using the payback period method is that it is simple to use and understand. This method enables a company to identify the project with the quickest return on investment, especially in the case when the company has limited cash and can only invest in a project which allows it to regain its money back as fast as possible. This is the case with Blue Plc as the company can only invest in one project and would require its money back as fast as possible (Bierman Schmidt, 2012). However, one of the problems with the use of the payback period method is that it completely ignores the time value of money and does not consider or evaluate the fact that cash flows may not be regular and may occur later on in the process of the project. There may also be some projects which have an acceptable rate of return but still do not meet the requirements for the payback period. This method also does not consider any cash flows that a project would generate after the initial investment has been recovered. Thus, it does not accurately give an assessment of the profitability of a project but only evaluates how long it will take to recover the initial investment of a project. Using this method may mean a company overlook many attractive projects only because the company is focusing upon short-term profitability alone (Bierman Schmidt, 2012). According to Blue Plc’s case, the payback period is lower which means that it is a feasible project with a higher rate of return. However, we must ideally combine this analysis with the analysis of other factors such as the Net Present Value to determine whether this project is the most optimum investment or not. Accordingly, the better investment appraisal method is using the Net Present Value method as it accounts for the time value of money and also measures subsequent cash flows that a project generates after the initial amount has been recovered. The payback period is simple but does not provide a fully accurate picture. Moreover, in the case of Blue Plc when the cost of capital, duration of the project, and the initial investment required in the project are the same for both projects, the Net Present Value is the most appropriate investment appraisal method to use in evaluating the feasibility of both projects (Kim, Shim, Reinschmidt, 2013). However, using either method has generated the same result as Project B seems to be the optimal choice regardless of whether the payback period is used as the investment appraisal method or whether the payback period is used as the investment appraisal method.   Part D: (A)There are various sources of finance that can be used by a business in order to finance its operations. However, the use of these sources of finance also involves various advantages and disadvantages. A privately owned business can use the owner’s savings and personal assets to finance business expansion or to finance the start of a business (Beck Demirgue-Kunt,2006). The advantages of using this source of finance are that the owner does not have to pay any interest or share any of the profits with investors or others as he/she is using their own money in the business venture. There are also no acquisition costs and no major hassle in raising or using this source of finance. However, there is also risk involved for the owner in using his/her own personal savings which includes the fact that he/she may lose all of this money if the business goes into a loss (Berger Udell, 1998). Another source of finance for a business is allowing investors to invest in the business. In the case of a sole trader or a private limited company, the owners can allow partners to join in the investment or can turn the company into a public limited company.In the case of a public limited company, the owners can sell shares on the stock exchange in order to gain more finance. However, this will also mean that the owners of the company will lose a substantial amount of control in the company once investors are allowed to invest in the company.   They will also be required to keep their investors happy and this can be a tiresome and pressurizing ordeal also resulting in conflicts. Profits will also have to be divided with the investors, meaning that the owners cannot keep all of the profits to themselves. On the other hand, the owners of the business will also be able to share the risk with other investors and will not be solely liable for all of the business losses (Mason, 2007). Another major source of business finance is bank loans. They can provide a quick and reliable source of funding which also enables businesses to keep their persona operating cash to themselves for emergency situations. A business may also be exempted from paying back their loan in full if they file for bankruptcy and provided that they do not have the required amount. However, in order to obtain a bank loan, a business may have to provide collateral which may be a hassle or it may be difficult for a firm to obtain a loan if they do not have the required collateral. Interest payments will also have to be made on the loan which will mean that the business has to return more than they actually borrowed. Payments on the loan will also be due at specific times regardless of whether the business is doing well or whether it is not doing well (Beck Demirgue-Kunt, 2006). Another source of finance for businesses is government grants and loans. Some governments provide start-up and expansion programs to facilitate their business sector and these can prove to be a highly valuable opportunity for businesses to receive free finance. The interest rates on these loans are also much lower than the rates on other loans and are usually provided without collateral. However, the problem with obtaining government loans and grants is that there is usually a lot of red tape that has to be surpassed before the loan can be granted and thus it is not available to all businesses. The loan or grant is still a loan or grant and eventually has to be repaid (Berger Udell, 1998). (B)   Break-even analysis uses a firm’s selling price of products against a firm’s fixed and variable costs in order to determine the quantity of products that a firm needs to sell in order to recover the costs it has incurred to produce those products. There are certain assumptions that the break-even analysis makes in order to calculate this quantity. First of all, the break-even analysis assumes that all costs can be categorized as either fixed costs or variable costs. However, on a practical basis, it is nearly impossible to accurately classify costs into these categories because some costs have both a variable and fixed proportion. Another assumption is that fixed costs remain constant at any level of activity, even when there is no production. However, this may also not pose a highly accurate picture and may not be able to accurately depict the true nature of fixed costs as some fixed costs may begin to vary with differing levels of output (Al-Habeeb, 2012). The break-even analysis also assumes that the unit selling price will remain constant. However, in the contemporary business environment, this is not practical as the unit selling price may vary with differing consumer tastes and purchasing habits. As competition increases, firms may be constantly changing their unit selling price which then makes the break-even analysis void and inaccurate. The breakeven analysis also keeps inventory levels, the design of the product, efficiency and productivity levels, and variable costs constant (Tsorokidis et al, 2011). The contemporary business environment involves high rates of competition, innovation, and varying productivity and efficiency levels. Moreover, other business problems and issues may also affect the rate of sales and the level of costs at various times in the production and selling process. Thus, in such cases, the break-even analysis is a highly limited model in assessing the number of units needed for sales to break-even (Berger Black, 2011). On the other hand, the break-even analysis is a simplistic model which can at least give a business a rough idea regarding how many units it needs to sell in order to recover its costs. It can be used in cases where selling prices and costs remain constant and perhaps in businesses where it is easy to categorize these costs into the separate categories of fixed and variable costs. Businesses should not completely rely upon the break-even analysis and may have to use other more thorough accounting methods in order to determine the optimum quantity to sell which would enable them to achieve a profit (Berger Black, 2011). Accounting and forecasting models are usually based upon assumptions and none of them exist without disadvantages. Thus, it is essential for a business to use all of these models with caution and only use them as a guideline in order to calculate various results for their business.   References Alhabeeb, M. J. (2012). â€Å"Break†Even Analysis.†Ã‚  Mathematical Finance. pp.247-273. Beck, T., Demirguc-Kunt, A. (2006). â€Å"Small and medium-size enterprises: Access to finance as a growth constraint.†Ã‚  Journal of Banking Finance, Vol.30(11) pp.2931-2943. Berger, A. N., Black, L. K. (2011). â€Å"Bank size, lending technologies, and small business finance.†Ã‚  Journal of Banking Finance. Vol.35(3) pp.724-735. Bierman Jr, H., Smidt, S. (2012).  The capital budgeting decision: economic analysis of investment projects. Routledge. Isaac, D., OLeary, J., Daley, M. (2010).  Property development: appraisal and finance. Palgrave Macmillan. Kim, B. C., Shim, E., Reinschmidt, K. F. (2013). Probability Distribution of the Project Payback Period Using the Equivalent Cash Flow Decomposition. The Engineering Economist. Vol.58(2), 112-136. Liesen, A., Figge, F., Hahn, T. (2013). â€Å"Net Present Sustainable Value: A New Approach to Sustainable Investment Appraisal.†Ã‚  Strategic Change. Vol.22 (3†4) pp.175-189. Mason, C. M. (2007). â€Å"Informal sources of venture finance.†   The life cycle of entrepreneurial ventures  .pp. 259-299. Springer US. Berger, N. Udell, G. (1998). â€Å"The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle.† Journal of Banking Finance. Vol.22 (6), pp.613-673. Reilly, F. K., Brown, K. C. (2011).  Investment analysis and portfolio management. CengageBrain. com. Tsorakidis, N., Papadoulos, S., Zerres, M., Zerres, C. (2011).  Break-Even Analysis. Bookboon.

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Information Communication And Knowledge Of An Organization Information Technology Essay Coca-cola Company is the worlds largest beverage company which leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverage concentrate and syrups. It is distributed over 200 countries. It owns more than 400 brands in the world including the main brands like diet coke,fanta and sprite etc.coca-cola is the most popular and the largest selling soft drink in history as well as in the world. Today there are many competitive in the beverage field. Therefore each company should be more attractive than their competitive companies. Information,Communication and Knowledge help the company to achieve its strategic goal. Amoung them Information and Knowledge help in decision-making and taking effectively. According to the coca-cola system they consider as their customers,grocery stores,restaurants and mass merchandisers. So that it is very important to know the ideas of consumers and their complaints about the product. As a beverage company Coca-cola company needs to know what customers ideas about the taste of their products.For that it has to be collect data fro m the customers and process them into information. Even though information collected there is no use if they do not distribute for use in organizations activities. Communication is the processes which distribute information.It can be done in many ways. The roles of Information, Communication and Knowledge in Decision making. The role of Information Information is a powerful resource and a large expense for many organizations. Information management is the process of collecting information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences.This maintains the data of an organization. The information system of an organization is essential for the day-to-day activities in an organization. The activities of organizations are mainly coordinated by information and communication. Information is said to be processed data. Data can be defined as the complete range of raw facts and measurements For examples; letters,numbers,symbols,sounds and/or images relating to the events in the organization or its environment. Data is collected and then processed into information.Therefore information can be defined as processed organized or arranged data which is meaningful to the person.Data itself has no meaning so it is not useful in decision making.But informations are useful in decision making. Information is necessary to convert the resources of an organization such as-people,materials, machines and money for use in the organizations activities. Organization needs information for many purposes. They can be categorized as follows; Planning Recording Controlling Measuring Decision making Planning-In this step information help to get an idea about the available resources,present market and competitors of an organization. Recording-The information which use in recording helps to manage the business properly because using recording historical details can be found easily. Controlling-Once a plan is implemented; its actual performance must be controlled. Therefore information requires checking whether activities are proceeding as planned or whether there is unexpected deviation from plan. Measuring-In this step information can be used to measure performances of business.This can be analyzed by collecting information on costs,revenues,volume,time scales and profitability. Decision-making-Information is very much important to make decisions within an organization. Good information should have following qualities; It should relevance to a users needs. It should be accurate. The information should be readily available within the time period. It should inspire the users confidence. It should communicate to the user clearly It should have effective cost. The role of Communication When data is processed the information is communicated immediately to the person who wishes to use it but if it is kept for later use then it must be stored and retrieved when required.So communication is a essential component in organization because it shows how information is sent and received within organizations.The way of transferring information is depending on the structure of the business.Like entrepersonal,pyramid,matrix and independent. In simple terms communication can be identified as the process of transferring or exchanging of information,ideas,beliefs and opinions between two or more parties. Therefore communication process helps to coordinate tasks and activities of the organization. In other words communication helps to coordinate tasks and activities in an organization to achieve its objective or objectives.Therefore effective communication is an essential component of an organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal,inter-group, intra-group,organizational or external levels.The communication performs an important role in facilitating decision-making.It provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting the data to identify and evaluate alternative choices, from sources to decision makers. The role of Knowledge Knowledge is full utilization of information and data.It is also related with persons skills and experience.Knowledge is the information within peoples minds and it is a subset of information which has been extracted,filtered or formatted in a very special way. Knowledge management describes the process of collecting,storing and using the knowledge held within an organization.The knowledge is based on the meaningfully organized accumulation of information through experience communication or inference. Knowledge is very important in gaining competitive advantage for a business therefore organizations need to manage it as both object and process. Knowledge is the power source of an organization because knowledge can increase productivity and effecientcy of an organization.The goal of knowledge management is to improve the organizations ability to fulfill its core process more efficiently because knowledge can result in better decisions. Therefore knowledge of an organization; Increase productivity Lower costs of doing business Higher quality products,decisions and recommendations Information AND KNOWLEDGE NEED INTERNALLY and externally to improve Decision making and taking. What is Decision-making? Decision-making can be defined as a process which selecting the best course of action from among several courses of actions.This may be a solution for a particular problem or a making a choice to achieve a specified state of affairs.Within an organization decision is the point at which plans,policies and objectives are translated into concrete actions.Therefore the purpose of decision-making is to direct human behaviour towards a future goal.Decisions can be classified as structured and unstructured.The structured decisions are repetitive routine. They are programmed decisions. Unstructured decisions are non routine and if decision maker provides judgment it is called non-programmed decisions because it does not provide clear cut solution. Decision- making process Different people use different approaches in making decision.Diferent scholars have presented different series of steps of a decision-making process.Whatever stages are elaborated, the decision-making process should have four stages as; 1. Identification 2. Development 3. Selection 4. Implementation Identifying the problem and collecting Information are important in the identification stage, while developing and evaluating alternative solutions are discussed under the second stage, development.Selecting the best course of action amoung the alternative solutions under third stage and put decision into effect and provide report on the progress of solution in the final stage in decision-making.According to the decision-making process collecting information is very important. Decision-making comprises the whole process that involves decision makers upto the point at which the issue is decided.Decision-taking is the function or activity of the responsible authority as in the case of a manager deciding on a course of action. Recognize the need for a decision Define the problem Identification Collect data relevant to the problem Analyse the data and find the root cause of the problem Develop criteria for satisfactory solution Development Generate Alternatives Assess Alternative Selection Select an Alternative Get the authority and implement the chosen alternative Implementation Monitor the feedback Steps in the decision-making Importance of Decision-making Within an organization, different types of decision are taken at different levels.Generally the decisions which are taken by senior management will be affected the business as a whole, and decisions that affect only one aspect of the business will be taken by lower levels of management. David Jennings and Stuart Wattam stated decision-making as an activity that lies at the heart of management.This shows how important is decision-making to an organization. All the actions made by the organization are result of decisions made by the organization itself.Problems of an organization arises because of the limited resources. But to make the organization effective it has to use the available resources.Thus they need to improve their decision-making.On the other hand the competition faced by organizations is increasing day by day. The survival of an organization will totally depend on the quality of decisions they make every day.Organization is a sub system of a social system.Therefore organizations can not work independently because several other systems are interrelated to the organization. In the case of coca-cola company decisions which make at any managerial level is very important because it can be either increase or decease in the number of customers.The future of this type of companies totally depends on the their consumers.Therefore every decision has to be taken by thinking about the consumers. Strategies to improve Decision-making and taking by using Information and Knowledge internally and externally. Managers can improve decision-making by using information and knowledge internally and externally.Internal information is important for all management levels in their decision-making and taking in the organization.But this relate to activities or transactions performed within the organization, such as administrative tasks, the production of products and services or the sales of products. To improve internal information manager can; Establish a system for collecting data or measuring data such as measuring output,sales and cost Relying to some extent on the informal communication lines between employees. In an organization to improve the knowledge managers can improve the personal skills of the employees.They can organize seminars to improve the knowledge of the knowledge of employees. External information is the information that obtained from outside the business.It can be either official or unofficial sources.Normally these information concern about official areas (tax,regulations etc.), the economy,suppliers and customers.In an organization external information are very useful. It helps in effective decision-making because in decision-making it is very important to know customers ideas,complaints and choices.The information of official areas provide the current situation of the business world in political view.Therefore by collecting information and knowledge of the outsiders the organization can achieve their goal effectively and efficiently. STRATEGIES TO increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision-making process. What is networking? Networking of a business is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship between personnel including customers, stakeholders and experts.The purpose of networking is to increase business revenue by development of relationships that generate information, referrals, advice, support, energy and much more.The best business networking give rise to exchange business information,idea resources and is the most important skill to establishing a mutually beneficial relationships. For effective and strong networking it requires people to; Effectively communicate Be prepared and willing to share information Listening to the others Have good contact with others Exhibit curiosity Asking questions to show that they are interested in the subject Identifying people in jobs that can talk to and make enquiries of Sources of personal networking Personal networking includes both formal and informal network members.Personal networks can guide the self determined person.This is very important in decision-making.Personal networking helps to improve the productivity.As well as personal networking it is very important to keep in touch with any group or key individuals who can affect the work or the objectives of the organization. Stakeholder networking help to; Stay in touch with developments in area of work Get information which will help in the work Influence individual decision-makers Stakeholders can be internal ( all levels of managers and co-workers) or external(regulators, environmental and legal entities).Therefore stakeholders are clients, project managers and teams, contractors and sub-contractors, distributors and suppliers and everyone else with a stake in an outcome stakeholder networking is a key to business success. According to the stakeholder contacts it can be dividing into two types; i) Primary stakeholders- They are directly linked to the organization such as shareholders, employees, customers and suppliers. ii) Secondary stakeholders-They are indirectly linked to the organization such as the media, regulators and competitors. Good relationships with stakeholders can increase the stability of an organization. For example if it has good relationship between suppliers and organization they show optimal responsiveness to company needs. This is not easy to do. It needs time for people to know one another, build trust and deal with organizational issues Strategies to increase personal networking 1).Forming business relationships Establishing good relationships with stakeholders help individuals to go through to find and develop lasting interpersonal relationships. The relationships with stakeholders can improve by Attending the meeting or events of other organizations Use e-mail and the internet to network with national or international organizations Attending political and community events where key organizations and decision-makers will be present Attending conferences, seminars and consultation meetings The relationships with customers are very useful in decision-making because managers have to increase customer satisfaction and minimize their problems. For that they have to build good and smarter relationships with customers to identify their preferences and to develop trust. In this case complaints, errors and proposals of customer are very important. So they must be recorded. There should be any medium available to contact the customers such as Internet, through a call center or personal contact. Therefore in an organization the decision which making by the ideas of customers are more powerful in achieving their goals. Not only the customers relationships supplier relationships also very important. 2).Networking direct or using media as an intermediate Based on the relationship of trust someone can be use as a referral in the process of networking. It is the most fundamental act in networking. Professional networking groups are the best referrals. They meet at regular times at a specific place and take decisions. 3). Formal and informal networking 4).Networking through trustworthy relationships and confidentiality Every individuals in an organization link together through trust and relationships. Therefore networking through trust and confidentiality is very important. Development of a communication process to improve the decision-making and organizational knowledge Process of communication Communication can be thought of as a process or a flow. Noise/barriers Receiver Decoding Channel Encoding Source Message Message Message Message Feedback Communication flows from one person or group to another and then, via feedback to the original person a group making a closed loop or cycle. Elements of the communication process are; i. Communication source/sender- The person who has message to communicate. ii. Message- The message can be identified as what is communicated. It is the subject matter of the communication. iii. Encoding-Encoding is converting a communication message to a symbiotic form. iv. Channel-The channel can be defined as the medium through which a communication message travels. Examples; Telephone, Letters, Radio etc. v. Decoding-Decoding is translation of the symbols in message into form that can be understood by the receiver. vi. Receiver- The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed by the communication source/sender. vii. Feedback-Feedback is the check on how successfully the communication source/sender has been transferring his/her message as originally intended. It is necessary to ensure that the receiver has received the message and understood it in the same sense as communication source/sender wants. viii. Noise/Barriers-Noise is external distances in the communication process.It is very important to note about noise. The result of this noise is that the message received is not the message transmitted by the communication source/sender. The types of communication processes are; Meetings and conferences Workshop and training events Internet and e-mail Written Telephone Video conference Communication process of coca-cola company They use ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to communicate both internally and externally.ICT has enabled 24 hours- 7 days global communication. This includes communication with; Employees-They use Facsimile (Fax) as the tool to contact the employees because most employees have fax machines I their office. Management-The pagers and Fax-machines help them to contact. Customer-Coca-cola company use only e-mail to communicate customers. They could send different product or new sales etc. Distributors of Coca-cola- They use video conference for the communication The existing processes of communication in Coca-Cola Company are: Internet and E-mail Video conferencing Facsimile(fax) Internal ICT communication in Coca-Cola Company E-mail-This is very fast way to send information and it save lot of time both sender and receiver. The staff of the Coca-Cola Company has their own program which is installed in their computers to tell them once they have received e-mail. Using email message can be sent to multiple recipients easily and can be forwarded on to others. Fax- This allows people to have copies of document they may require and sent the message. Enables messages to reach remote locations quickly but complex images in he faxes are not clear. Pagers-This allows people to received information whenever they are and whenever they need but long messages cannot be sent through this. Mainly executives use pagers in business. Video conferencing-This cannot use by all companies. Through this people from different countries allow to talk one another and listen to what is being said. This type of communication is very effective in the communication because it allows transmitting pictures as well as voices. External ICT communication in Coca-Cola Company Fax use to contact the external suppliers and suppliers are the only people who do fax them externally. This type of communication process saves money and the time. Improvement to ensure greater integration of communication They can use conversation also as a tool.This is unstructed and a discuss a wide range of topics. In decision making meeting are very effective communication tool. Coca-cola Company is world wide company .here only top level managers and directors can meet and take decisions. This allows expressing multiple opinions and they can be discussed and resolved wide range of issues. This type of communication tools can be used in long term decision-making and taking but for instant decision making they can use telephone. This is good way of communication that does not required a written record and conference alls allow multiple participants. Workshops and training events can be used to improve employee Knowledge. Through that they can improve organizational knowledge. Those types of methods can be used country vice. Personal-Interpersonal skills should be improved.Interpersonal skills involve inspiring,motivating,leading and controlling people to achieve objective/objectives. Interpersonal skills can be defined as skills use in interactions and relationships between two or more people. Good interpersonal skills can assist in Motivation,Communication,Team working and Team building and customer care. The role of Knowledge MANAGEMENT (KM) plays in managing organization strategically As indicated in the role of knowledge , Knowledge Management describes the process of collecting,storing and using the knowledge held within an organization.It is basically focus on organizational objectives such as performance,competitive advantage and continues improvement of the organization through the improvement and sharing of organizational knowledge management throughout the organization.Therefore knowledge management is not a technology pr computer thing and it depends on the human skills. Knowledge management use to identify,create,represent and distribute insights and experiences in an organization. These are help in managing organization strategically.

A Raisin in the Sun What’s Up With the Epigraph? Essay

What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Harlem by Langston Hughes. Lorraine Hansberry, playwright, author, and activist seemed to have gotten inspired by Hughes poem as well as her own life experiences and decided to write A Raisin in the Sun. A Raisin in the Sun is a play about an African American family living on the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s. In the play, Lorraine essentially focuses on the dreams of the characters and the obstacles in their life they try to overcome to fulfill them. Each member of the Youngster’s family has a dream he or her wants to accomplish. Lena Younger (Mama) has always dreamt of moving her family into a nice neighborhood with a big backyard so her children can play and she can attend to her garden. Mama is a strongly religious woman who takes care of her family like a mother should. She wants the best for them, Mama’s dream was not a dream she wanted for her family it was also what she and hate husband Big Walter always wanted. Big Walter worked extremely hard to provide and support for his family. So hard it resulted in his death as Mama says â€Å"he finally worked his self to death†. Since Big Walter’s passing Mama has received a life insurance check for ten thousand dollars. Taking to opportunity so that she can fulfill both her and Big Walter’s dream Mama decides to use that money to buy a house in an all-white neighborhood. Big Walter’s life insurance check cause a conflict within the family Ruth Younger dream is quite similar to Mamas. She wants to build a happy family for herself and believes getting away from their cramped apartment will do so. Ruth works very hard to take care of her family but with being overworked, financial problems, a downfall in her relationship with her husband, and an unexpected pregnancy Ruth can’t seem to find any sort of happiness in her life. That’s why she feels a new beginning will change all that. Beneatha Younger dream is to go to medical school to become a doctor. Beneatha is a better educated than the rest of her family and is determined to use her knowledge to make a difference. Throughout the play, it seems as though Beneatha is struggling to find herself. With the changes in hobbies such as horseback riding and playing the guitar also she’s struck an interest in learning more about her African heritage. She is determined to be more than the others around her. Living in a time where women jobs are mostly cooking, cleaning. Walter Lee Jr. the dream is to invest in a liquor store so that he’s able to provide for his family. Walter is not so happy with his dead-end job as a chauffeur and feels this investment will help him make his own money so he can become his own man. Everyone tries to warn Walter that investing into a liquor store is not such a bright idea Throughout the play, A Raisin on Sun

Fighting Ruben Wolfe Essay

The novel ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ written by Marcus Zusak is about the Wolfe family, it’s about them fighting, fighting for the same reason against different opponents. They fight for their family and their pride. Marcus Zusak shows how Ruben is fighting against himself, he wants to prove himself although he is a winner. Cameron is fighting to find his place in society and to discover who he really is. Mr Wolfe (Clifford) is fighting for his pride and for his family because he doesn’t want to let his family down. He feels really guilty for losing his job and not earning any money for his family. Clifford Wolfe is a very proud, hardworking, husband and father. In the book â€Å"Fighting Ruben Wolfe† Markus Zusak shows how Clifford lives his life for his family, everything he does is for his family and their reputation but Clifford loses his job and becomes broke and struggling to find money. â€Å"Dad- the plumber, who had an accident at work a few months ago and lost all of his jobs. Sure, insurance paid for his injuries, but now he’s just plain out of work for it. Page 15. After the accident he devotes his life to protecting the family name and his pride, his wife has to start working long hours to earn enough money for their family which he hates. He goes door to door looking for work but does not succeed. Towards the end of the book Mr Wolfe finally decides to go to the dole office which he hates to do but has no other option. Fortunately his family stop him before he gets t he dole which makes Clifford’s pride rocket upwards. In his eyes there is nothing worse than going to get the dole. In the end the family is back to normal with enough money to live on. Ruben is a fighter, he fights for his pride but he is also fighting against himself. It’s like he feels he has to prove himself to himself. In the book Ruben faces his family’s reputation going quickly downhill after Ruben and Cameron hear a guy at their school calling their sister Sarah a slut behind her back. Ruben beats up the guy and it is then that he realises he actually has a reason to fight. He needs to fight and not just win. He needs to get his family’s good reputation back. â€Å"We gotta lift† page 74. This quote shows Ruben deciding he has to lift his game and start showing some responsibility, if they don’t they will slowly but surely lose their good reputation as well as their money. Cameron is a fighter but he is not a winner like Ruben. Cameron is fighting to find his place in society and to give himself more confidence. He has been hidden in Rubens shadow all his life and now he wants to be someone and stand on his own two feet. He needs to fight to earn money for his family and make them proud of him and to help them as much as he can. Cameron thinks all the time but never really says what he is thinking. The fighting helps Cameron come out of his shell and become a winner as well as a fighter. He has always just accepted the fact that Ruben was the winner, he would always be in second place. â€Å"There are four weeks now until I fight my brother. Fighting Ruben Wolfe. I wonder how it will feel. What will it be like to fight him – not in our backyard, but in the ring, under all the lights, and with the crowd watching and cheering and waiting for the blood? † Page 138. This will be the fight that determines whether Cameron can be a winner as well as a fighter. In conclusion everyone in the Wolfe family was fighting, Cameron was fighting become a winner as well as a fighter, Ruben was fighting become a fighter as well as a winner, Clifford Wolfe was trying to keep his pride and the Wolfe family’s good reputation out of harm’s way and they all succeed in doing so.

Technology Has Changed the Live of Teen Agers Essay Example

Technology Has Changed the Live of Teen Agers Essay Example Technology Has Changed the Live of Teen Agers Essay Technology Has Changed the Live of Teen Agers Essay DOI: 10. 1111/j. 1464-5491. 2006. 01868. x Glycaemic control Review Article 23 0742-3071Publishing, alcohol Diabetic Medicine and2006 consumption D. Ismail et al. DME UK Oxford, article Blackwell Publishing Ltd Social consumption of alcohol in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes is associated with increased glucose lability, but not hypoglycaemia D. Ismail, R. Gebert, P. J. Vuillermin, L. Fraser*, C. M. McDonnell, S. M. Donath†  and F. J. Cameron Abstract Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, *Wimmera Base Hospital*, Horsham and † Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia Accepted 10 June 2005 Aims To determine the effects of social consumption of alcohol by diabetic adolescents on glycaemic control. Methods Fourteen (five male) patients aged 16 years were recruited from the diabetes clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital. The continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) was attached at a weekend when alcohol consumption was planned for one night only. For each patient, the 12-h period from 18. 00 h to 06. 00 h for the night with alcohol consumption (study period) was compared with the same period with non-alcohol consumption (control period) either 24 h before or after the alcohol study night. Thus, each subject was his /her own control. Glycaemic outcomes calculated from continuous glucose monitoring included mean blood glucose (MBG), percentage of time spent at low glucose levels (CGMS 4. 0 mmol/l), normal glucose levels (CGMS 4. 0–10. 0 mmol/ l) and high glucose levels ( 10. mmol/ l) and continuous overall net glycaemic action (CONGA). Results The mean number of standard alcohol drinks consumed during the study period was 9. 0 for males and 6. 3 for females. There was no difference in percentage of time at high and normal glucose levels in the study and control periods. During the control period, there was a higher percentage of time with low glucose levels compared with the study period (P 0. 05). There was an increas ed level of glycaemic variation during the study time when compared with the control period. Conclusions In an uncontrolled, social context, moderately heavy alcohol consumption by adolescents with Type 1 diabetes appears to be associated with increased glycaemic variation, but not with low glucose levels. Diabet. Med. 23, 830–833 (2006) Keywords adolescence, alcohol, glycaemic control Abbreviations CGMS, continuous glucose monitoring system; CONGA, continuous overall net glycaemic action; MBG, mean blood glucose; RCH, Royal Children’s Hospital Introduction Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes frequently engage in risk-taking activities [1]. Amongst these activities is the social Correspondence to: Dr Fergus Cameron, Deputy Director, Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. E-mail: fergus. [emailprotected] org. au consumption of alcohol, frequently as underage drinkers [2]. Whilst the effects of alcohol consumption upon glycaemia have been well described in a controlled setting [3– 6], little is known about the impact on glucose levels of alcohol consumption by adolescents within an ambulant, social context. The purpose of this project was to utilize continuous glucose monitoring to study the impact of social alcohol consumption on glycaemic control in a group of alcohol-using adolescents.  © 2006 The Authors. 830 Journal compilation  © 2006 Diabetes UK. Diabetic Medicine, 23, 830–833 Review article 831 Patients and methods This study was approved by the Human Ethics Research Committee of the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH). That approval was contingent upon the fact that the investigators should not be seen to encourage underage drinking in adolescents. Consequently, we only approached adolescents who we knew were drinking socially and, despite our previous counselling, elected to continue to drink alcohol on a semi-regular basis. We recruited 22 adolescents with Type 1 diabetes from the RCH diabetes clinic. The adolescents were considered eligible only if 16 years old and parental/patient consent was obtained. HbA 1c (Bayer DCA 2000 immunoagglutination method, Calabria, Barcelona, Spain) was measured, and diabetes duration and insulin doses were recorded. The MiniMed continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) was attached to the study patients over a weekend period. Patients were required to have an alcohol-free period for at least 24 continuous hours during the weekend trace period. A diary was kept of activities during the trace period (insulin injections, meal, snacks, dancing, alcohol consumption, sport). There was no change in insulin doses between study and control periods. In the evening when alcohol was consumed, patients were asked to recall how many and what type of drinks were consumed and how inebriated they became. Patients recall of alcohol consumption was converted to ‘standard drinks’ (one standard drink contains the equivalent of 12. ml 100% alcohol) using The Australian Alcohol Guidelines [7]. CGMS data was recorded between 18. 00 and 06. 00 h on the evening when alcohol was consumed (the study period) and between 18. 00 and 06. 00 h on the evening when no alcohol was consumed (the control period). CGMS data were only analysed if there had been regular calibrations with intermittent capillary blood glucose readings at a maximum of 8-h intervals. Each CGMS trace was qualitatively and quantitatively analysed using mean glucose values, per cent time in glycaemic ranges and ontinuous overlapping net glycaemic action (CONGA) [8]. CONGA values were calculated to assess glycaemic variation over 1-, 2- and 4-h intervals. Low glucose values were defined as CGMS values 4 mmol/ l, normal glucose values when CGMS values were 4– 10 mmo/ l and high glucose values when CGMS values were 10 mmol/ l. Each patient acted as their own control with study periods and control periods being compared. Inter-individual values were grouped for comparison. Differences between study and control periods were analysed using paired t-tests. Analyses were done in Stata [9]. ales and nine females. The mean age was 18. 5 years (range: 17. 4 – 19. 5). The mean duration of diabetes was 9. 4 years (range: 3 – 16. 3). Six of our subjects took four insulin injections per day and eight took two injections daily . The mean insulin dose was 1. 1 units /kg/day (range: 0. 7 –1. 8), and the mean HbA1c was 9. 6% (range: 8. 2 – 10. 8). Activities during the study period Thirteen subjects had dinner before drinking and only one subject did not consume any food before going out. Three subjects ‘danced a lot’ and six subjects went dancing but did not dance a lot. Ten subjects had something to eat after drinking. Alcohol consumption during the study period The mean number of alcohol drinks consumed on the study night was 9. 0 (range 3–16) for males and 6. 3 (range 3–14) for females. All the females consumed pre-mixed sweetened alcohol drinks (5% alcohol), with only one consuming beer and one consuming wine. Four of the males consumed mixed spirits, one mixed spirits and beer and one beer only. Forty per cent of the males had more than seven standard drinks during the study and 67% of the females had more than five drinks. In total, 80% of the subjects had pre-mixed sweetened alcohol drinks at some point during the study period. Forty-three per cent of the subjects reported that they became inebriated and 14. 3% consumed alcohol to the point where they became physically sick. None of the subjects lost consciousness or took recreational drugs during the study period. Comparative CGMS data between study and control periods Results Patients There was no significant difference between the overall mean glucose levels of patients when comparing study and control periods (Table 1; P = 0. 43). Similarly, there were no significant differences in the amount of time spent with either normal or high glucose values between study and control periods (Table 1). A larger proportion of time was spent with low glucose values during the control period when compared with the study period (1. 9 vs. 16. 8%, P = 0. 03). A significantly larger degree of glycaemic variation was seen in the CONGA values in the study period when compared with the control period (Table 1). The difference in CONGA values were consistent and independent of whether glycaemic variation was assessed over 1-, 2- or 4-h intervals. Of the 22 subjects recruited, eight were excluded because their CGMS traces did not have sufficiently frequent calibration points with intermittent capillary measures of blood glucose. Of the 14 subjects remaining, we were able to obtain study period data on 14 patients and matched control period data on only 12 patients. The study period occurred on the night prior to the control period in nine subjects. There were five Discussion It has long been recognized that a prohibitionist approach is usually ineffective when counselling adolescents who engage in risk-taking behaviours [10]. Many centres today, ourselves included, have instead adopted a harm minimization approach in dealing with such behaviours. An important component  © 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation  © 2006 Diabetes UK. Diabetic Medicine, 23, 830–833 832 Glycaemic control and alcohol consumption D. Ismail et al. Outcome measure Mean difference between Study period Control period study period and mean value mean value control period (95%CI) P-value 10. 6 16. 8 58. 6 24. 6 2. 1 3. 2 3. 7 1. 2 (? 2. 1, 4. 4) ? 14. 9 (? 28. 1, ? 1. 8) ? 0. 8 (? 27. 3, 25. 8) 15. 7 (? 4. 5, 35. 8) 0. 6 (0. 2, 1. 0) 1. 1 (0. , 1. 9) 1. 8 (0. 4, 3. 1) 0. 43 0. 03 0. 95 0. 12 0. 006 0. 01 0. 01 Table 1 CGMS outcomes, study and control periods Blood glucose levels (mmol/l) 11. 8 Per cent time low glucose 1. 9 Per cent time high glucose 57. 8 Per cent time normal glucose 40. 3 CONGA1* 2. 7 CONGA2* 4. 3 CONGA4* 5. 5 *CONGA calculated at 1-, 2- and 4-h intervals. CONGAn is the standard deviation of different glu cose measures n hours apart for the duration of the CGMS trace. of counselling using a harm minimization approach is that the information provided be credible and reflective of ‘real’ or ‘lived’ circumstances. Continuous glucose monitoring provides a technique whereby the glycaemic consequences of various behaviours can be documented in an ambulant or non-artificial setting. Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes frequently consume alcohol in a social context [11]. Alcohol is known to inhibit the gluconeogenic pathway, to inhibit lipolysis, impair glucose counter-regulation and blunt hypoglycaemia awareness [3,4]. Previous studies in young adults with Type 1 diabetes have shown that moderate consumption of alcohol in the evenings without concomitant food intake may cause hypoglycaemia the following morning [5]. Consumption of alcohol after a meal, however, has shown no similar adverse effects on glucose [6]. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that alcohol consumption may be a significant risk factor for hypoglycaemia in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes [5]. Studies of the glycaemic effects of alcohol consumption in an ambulant adolescent/young adult population can be difficult. This is because such behaviours are uncontrolled, often spontaneous and usually in the context of other social activities (parties, dancing, etc. ). In order to ensure that we only reported accurate CGMS data during these activities, capillary blood glucose calibration was considered vital and those patients who failed in this regard were excluded from analysis. Just over 60% of the patients recruited were able to successfully wear and calibrate a CGMS unit during these activities. Given that patients who experience hypoglycaemic symptoms are more likely to perform capillary self measures of blood glucose, we feel that it is unlikely that those patients excluded from the analysis had a greater frequency of hypoglycaemia than those patients reported. We were unable to record our subjects’ alcohol consumption in a contemporaneous fashion and hence were reliant upon their recall. It is possible that their remembered patterns of consumption were not entirely accurate. This potential inaccuracy should not be seen as a weakness of this study, as we only set out to determine patterns of glycaemia in adolescents engaging in spontaneous and uncontrolled alcohol consumption. We neither specified the type nor the amount of alcohol to be consumed (our ethical approval was contingent on this not occurring). The data as to amount of alcohol consumed have been included for descriptive purposes only. The results of this study show that alcohol consumption by adolescents in a social context is associated with a greater degree of glycaemic variation and less time spent with low glucose values than evenings where no alcohol is consumed. Whilst the second of these findings appears counter-intuitive, there may be several possible explanations. Firstly, the vast majority of our study group ate a meal prior to going out and ate upon their return before going to bed. These are practices that we have instilled as harm minimization strategies to avoid alcohol-induced hypoglycaemia in our clinic. Secondly, most of the alcohol consumed was as pre-mixed spirit and sweetened, carbonated beverages. Finally, alcohol consumption was only associated with vigorous exercise (dancing) in a minority of our study group. All of these factors could have combined to negate the hypoglycaemic effects of alcohol. In a previous study of glycaemia during alcohol consumption in adult men [5], hypoglycaemia occurred most often 10–12 h after wine consumption when the evening before ended at 23. 0 h. We analysed our data to see if a similar phenomenon occurred in this study and found that the per cent of time spent with CGMS readings 4 mmol/l between 06. 00 and 12. 00 h on the morning after the study period (i. e. the morning after the drinking night) was only 1. 1%. Notwithstanding the fact that our cohort frequently consumed alcohol later than 23. 00 h, the facto rs that impacted upon glycaemic control during the study night appear to have carried over to the ‘morning after’. The findings in this study highlight the importance of ambulant testing. It is important to note that the findings of the group studied here may not be seen in adolescents who drink non-sweetened alcoholic drinks or in those adolescents with better underlying metabolic control. Whilst alcohol consumption in isolation may reasonably be thought to cause hypoglycaemia, alcohol consumption by adolescents in the context of meals, sweetened mixers and little activity did not result in more hypoglycaemia than an alcohol-free evening. Whether the increase in glycaemic variation seen on an evening  © 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation  © 2006 Diabetes UK. Diabetic Medicine, 23, 830–833 Review article 833 of alcohol consumption has negative clinical outcomes remains an area for further investigation. Competing interests CMM was a Novo Nordisk research fellow. FJC received fees for speaking at conferences and funds for research from Novo Nordisk. References 1 Cameron F, Werther G. Adolescents with diabetes mellitus. In: Menon, RK, Sperling, MA, eds. Pediatric Diabetes. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003: 319–335. 2 Frey MA, Guthrie B, Lovelandcherry C, Park PS, Foster CM. Risky behaviours and risk in adolescents with IDDM. J Adol Health 1997; 20: 38–45. 3 Avogaro A, Beltramello P, Gnudi L, Maran A, Valerio A, Miola M et al. Alcohol intake impairs glucose counterregulation during acute insulin-induced hypoglycaemia in IDDM patients. Diabetes 1993; 42: 1626–1634. 4 Kerr D, Macdonald IA, Heller SR, Tattersal RB. Alcohol causes hypoglycaemic unawareness in healthy volunteers and patients with type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia 1990; 33: 216–221. 5 Turner BC, Jenkins E, Kerr D, Sherwin RS, Cavan DA. The effect of evening alcohol consumption on next morning glucose control in type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2001; 24: 1888–1893. 6 Koivisto VA, Tulokas S, Toivonen M, Haapa E, Pelkonen R. Alcohol with a meal has no adverse effects on postprandial glucose homeostasis in diabetic patients. Diabetes Care 1993; 16: 1612–1614. 7 National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Alcohol Guidelines: Health Risks and Benefits. DS9. Available from: http://www7. health. gov. au/nhmrc/publications/synopses/ds9syn. htm. 8 McDonnell CM, Donath SM, Vidmar SI, Werther GA, Cameron FJ. A novel approach to continuous glucose analysis utilising glycaemic variation. Diab Tech Therap 2005; 7: 253–263. 9 StataCorp. Stata statistical software. Release 8. 0. College Station, TX: Stata Corporation, 2003. 10 Kyngas H, Hentinen M, Barlow JH. Adolescents perceptions of physicians, nurses, parents and friends: help or hindrance in compliance with diabetes self-care? J Adv Nurs 1998; 27: 760–769. 11 Patterson JM, Garwick AW. Coping with chronic illness. In: Werther, GA, Court, JM, eds. Diabetes and the Adolescent. Melbourne: Miranova Publishers 1998, 3–34.  © 2006 The Authors. Journal compilation  © 2006 Diabetes UK. Diabetic Medicine, 23, 830–833