Leave Human Cloning To Mother Nature Essays - Biology, Cloning

Leave Human Cloning To Mother Nature Its been three years since the birth of Dolly, the worlds first successfully cloned animal. The announcement of her birth brought about much ado and sparked many debates concerning the morality of cloning. In the three years since Dolly was created, the debate over cloning has swelled and receded, but has never been put to rest. A compelling issue that has come into focus in the past several years is the idea of human cloning. Many scientists believe that it is inevitable because the technology is there, and anything that can be done eventually will be done. They preach the value of human clones, dropping phrases like cure for disease and prolonged life to entice the public into supporting their cause. Though these concepts seem beguiling, the notion of human cloning, when looked at as a whole, has serious repercussions and should not be entertained lightly. From a strictly scientific point of view, we are just not ready to attempt the cloning of a human being. Our scientific knowledge of cloning has been compared to Mr. Fords knowledge of the automobile just after the introduction of the Model A. The dangers of producing human clones with disabilities and disfigurements are high because of our low level of understanding of cloning and of human genetics in general. Even if the probabilities of disfigurement were low, human cloning could not be justified. What rationalization could be given to a child who would spend the rest of his life in horrible disfigurement? Even one person forced to spend his life in pain should be reason enough to avoid human cloning. An area that has apparently been overlooked by the scientific community in their race for the gold is world population. This is an issue that they have been screaming over for years, and yet scientists are looking the other way where the issue of cloning is involved. Many countries are overflowing with people, and the United States, among others, becomes the nurturing nipple from which these distressed countries suck the much-needed funds to support their starving citizens. China has for years placed a one child per couple rule on its populace, and there are many out there who think it is a good practice. At present, there are nearly 5.4 billion people on this planet. With all of the uproar concerning over-population, why make more? Of course, from a less technical standpoint, the issues with human cloning are endless. The most chilling of all is the idea that cloning humans can save lives. Though on the surface this seems to be a bright spot in the sea of darkness that surrounds the human cloning issue, in reality it could be the darkest point of all. The reason being that cloning in order to save lives gives rise to visions of human farms where people will be made and used for parts, or research. Though there may be legitimate instances of organs cloned, the most obvious and easy way to ensure longevity would be to clone your self for spare parts. Black market operations would surely ensue, and add yet another dimension to the already versatile world of crime that our society must endure. If the practices were made illegal, it would merely add to our already overflowing court system. This brings about another point rarely discussed by either side of the cloning issue: the clones. Has anyone bothered to think of these poor individuals? We cant even get together as a society and accept the humans we already have. It seems incredibly brazen of us to assume that we could accept these new additions to society as equal. It could be a horrible stigma carried like a dark secret throughout the clones life. The effects would be devastating. Why would we want to put someone through that just to satisfy our own narcissistic goals? Finally there is the one thing that most people opposed to cloning agree on; our intuition says NO. This may seem like an unfounded reason to argue for the banning of human cloning, however when inspected more closely, the idea can be supported. The reason that the idea of cloning creates such a disturbance within us is that at

Earl g. graves essays

Earl g. graves essays Earl Graves was a young black boy who grew up in the tough neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyuesant Brooklyn. He was born in the late 1930s his first venture came at the tender age of seven. He was selling Christmas cards door to door. He was inspired by his father who was a salesman who was very good at haggling to make sells. This is the story of Earl G. Graves. Graves life revolved around Brooklyn and his church until he was thirty-two years of age. He was a real estate salesman and involved himself in local politics. In the 1960s this all changed. In 1964, he walked in to the local headquarters of the Democrats. The sight of a well-groomed black man wanting to sign up turned off people, because he got the cold shoulder. He wrote a letter to the National Committee, then was told to report to the New York State Democratic headquarters. He was assigned to be a volunteer on the campaign of Robert Kennedy. Graves eventually became an administrative assistant after impressing Kennedy with his tiptop shape ran parties. June 5th of 1968 was Earl Graves darkest hour. That day he saw the man that gave such a great opportunity to help his community, lying down in a pool of blood just after he was assonated. This left Graves unemployed, but highly employable. He was offered a job at IBM, and at Ford Foundation Fellowship. He wanted no limitation on his earnings so he studied entrepreneurship on a work study program with Ford Foundation Fellowship. He thought about a career as a consultant to African-American businesspeople. Graves studied entrepreneurship and economic development. Graves thought about starting a newsletter to help his consulting practice. His friend from his Kennedy days Howard Samuels, who was at the time head of the Small Business Administration, suggested to start a magazine instead. In 1969, he took a loan of 175,000 SBA backed with the support of his wife. His Black Enterpris...

Organisational Change Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Change Management - Case Study Example The organization is also likely to face stiff competition from its competitors in the market some of who may be so aggressive thus the need to encourage innovativeness as a way to realizing the much needed change as some consider rebranding with the sole aim in mind. Effectiveness is of the essence owing to its ability to better place the organization far beyond its competitors. In order to attain high projections it’s wise to be more conversant on how the market may be faring at any one time and could be facilitated when a good feedback system is adopted (Berger, Sikora & Berger, 1994). In order to bring about change, change ought to begin at an individual level before it can be marketed. Staffs are thus expected to embrace a good attitude while going about their duties. This is due to its ability to increase productivity as most staffs are more motivated when this is achieved. A number of considerations are thus looked at both at internal and external levels due to their sig nificance to this process. Such factors are able to affect the entire process in both direct and indirect way. In order to achieve much one ought to use his skills and knowledge appropriately while implementing change in line with upgrading current systems to match up with the changing world as (Managing Change, 2003). While championing change one is likely to realize that this if well managed could be used as an effective tool thus making it possible to overcome existing barriers which in a more efficient way. Factors triggering the need for Change   Change management is a transformation process championed in an organization while striving at maintaining its relevancy in the industry. It could be adopted while trying to solve noted problem or rather trying to take advantage of an opportunity in a more ambitious way before other players capitalize on it. A number of common features are stated below and could give us a clue on what may cause it. 1. A new system is likely to be acqu ired by the organization and thus could be working on modalities geared at its implementation (Nickols, 2000). Factors leading to such change could be externally or internally derived. 2. In some situations organizations may be forced to adhere to change owing to a change in legislation based on the laws of certain countries, social issues as well as competition (Nickols, 2000). During such events rarely does it have a say regarding such issues. How does Change Management work several procedures are followed while going about the change process. At the top of the list change trigger are noted and good strategies initiated till the entire process is implemented as illustrated; Figure 1: The Change Management Model (L. A. Berger et al., 1994) Change Management Value A lot can be derived from this process basically because it motivates them towards realizing the much needed change while limiting barriers in existence at the organizational environment level. It is thus important to reco gnize the present need for change before taking any meaningful step to actualizing anything. When such problems are handled well organizations are more likely to derive much from such situation and could be because they could present an opportunity to them (Nickols, 2000). Table 1  - Examples of Change Management   Barriers/Drivers Example Motivation  - lack of value or confidence; don't care or understand the benefits Motivation

Volcanoes and Earthquake Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Volcanoes and Earthquake - Assignment Example Lava with low viscosity forms a shield mountain, which is low-lying because it flows over a long distance. On the other hand, the lava with high viscosity forms a dome-shaped mountain because it flows over a short distance before solidification (Gill, 2009). High silica content leads to the formation of a magma and lava that is more viscous than when the silica content is low. The viscosity is high because of the strong bonds between silica and oxygen. Intrusive igneous rocks refer to the igneous rocks that form when magma crystallizes within the Earth’s crust. Granite is the common example of intrusive igneous rocks. Extrusive igneous rocks refer to the igneous rocks that form when magma crystallizes on the Earth’s surface (Gill, 2009). Basalt is the common example of extrusive igneous rocks. On the other hand, the lava with high viscosity forms a dome-shaped mountain because it flows over a short distance before solidification (Gill, 2009). A pyroclastic flow refers t o a fast-moving mass of hot rocks and gases. It is evident that a pyroclastic flow is explosive because of the fast-moving gases. The volcanic eruption from St. Augustine volcano is an example of the volcano that produced a pyroclastic flow. A lava flow refers the movement molten rock from a volcanic mountain at a slow speed due to the absence of hot gases (Gill, 2009). It is evident that a volcanic flow is effusive because it does not involve hot gases. The volcanic eruption from Mauna Loa volcano is an example of the volcano that produced a lava flow. A supervolcano refers to a volcano that can produce an eruption with a large volume of about 1000 km3. An example of a supervolcano is Yellowstone.  Intrusive igneous rocks from within the vents before the magma moves to the Earth’s surface.

Sustainability, Crime and Perceptions of Safety in Newcastle Essay - 10

Sustainability, Crime and Perceptions of Safety in Newcastle - Essay Example A sustainable community is one that acknowledges the interconnectedness of social, economic and environmental goals and has a comprehensive set of policies designed to satisfy the multiple benchmarks that define sustainability. According to the Centre for Sustainable Development at Simon Fraser University in Canada, â€Å"Sustainable Community Development (SCD) aims to integrate economic, social and environmental objectives in community development.† (â€Å"Why Sustainable Community Development†) In the context of the city of Newcastle, this cluster of goals and interrelated policies was compiled in The Australia Institute and Newcastle City Council authored report entitled, Indicators of a Sustainable Community, published in 2000. The report begins by noting, â€Å"Sustainability incorporates economic, social and environmental attributes of the City as they affect the quality of life of community members.† It goes on to note that sustainability is not a goal to be achieved but rather a process to be worked on with communities becoming more or less sustainable: â€Å"The challenge for policymakers and others involved in improving the quality of life in Newcastle will be to review these indicators over time and integrate them into management and decision-making processes within the City.† Interestingly, both of these indicators are important although they may, at times, be contradictory. It is not unheard of for crime rates to be dropping in a community at the same time that residents perceive themselves to be less safe. Therefore, this evaluation of crime and public safety in Newcastle will be conducted through analysis of actual crime rates and public perceptions of criminality and safety. The Indicators of a Sustainable Community report clearly identifies as one Desired Outcome improving community perception of safety. It defines the benchmark for this as, â€Å"Measuring how fear of crime impacts on people’s decisions to participate in activities outside the home indicates the community’s  perception of safety.  

Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare

Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Models of Healthcare Critical Evaluation on the Future of Healthcare: The Biomedical or the Biopsychosocial Model The Biomedical Model This model has been in existence since the mid-19th century and was predominant for physicians in the diagnosis of diseases. It comprises of four elements. It argues that, that health constitutes the freedom of pain, disease or defect which implies the normal human is healthy. In this model, the focus on the physical processes such as biochemistry, physiology and pathology of a disease do not take into consideration the role played by individual subjectivity or social factors. Unlike the biopsychosocial model, the biomedical model fails to consider negotiation between a doctor and patient in determining diagnosis. The main focus in this model is purely biological factors. It excludes social influences, environment and the psychological ones. Western countries have adopted it as a leading modern way for which health professionals treat and diagnose conditions. Regardless of the limitations that this model expresses, it has been critical in the development of programs to control infect ious diseases. In addition, it feeds more information to the biopsychosocial approach (White, 2009). The Biopsychosocial Model This is an approach that states that psychological, social and biological factors all play a key role in the human functioning in relation to illness and disease. Health is thus understood by concentrating on biological, social and psychological factors rather than entirely focusing on biological terms. It contrasts to biomedical model. Biomedical model takes the position that every disease process can be explained in accordance to deviations in normal functions such as injury, developmental abnormality in genes or virus (White, 2009). This model is used in the fields of medicine, health sociology and psychology and nursing. The acceptance, novelty and prevalence of the biopsychosocial model demonstrates variation across cultures. The model has been developing over time and will only mature further with health psychology designs and research. The Future of Healthcare The biopsychosocial model is at the heart of the future of healthcare. Specialization in healthcare has advanced to fields of health psychology, psychiatry, chiropractic, clinical psychology, family therapy and clinical social work. Majority of clinicians will engage the elements of biopsychosocial and biomedical models in the practices they engage in. However, it is arguable that all illnesses whether functional or organic can be managed best going by the biopsychosocial framework rather than the biomedical in practice. The two models seem to share the same goal which is improving the improvement of the patient’s well-being. What differs is the scope on which the physician considers impairment including its origin and the possible remedies. The biopsychosocial framework expands the meaning of this goal and applies it in clinical processes. Illness is approached as the subjective sense of suffering by the patient. The goal of managing the disease thus needs to identify the spe cific exposures of the patient which are biological, social and psychological. Potential Disabilities of the Biomedical Model The biomedical model will lose its position in the future of healthcare as it assumes that social and psychological processes are irrelevant to the disease’s process. The potential disabilities it exposes are massive. It mainly has three liabilities. First, the model is reductionist in nature. It reduces illness to lower level processes. These include chemical imbalances and disordered cells. It thus fails to recognize the general role of psychological and social determinants. Secondly, the model is a single-factor model. The explanation for illness is in terms of biological malfunctions rather that recognition of a variety of factors with only a few being biological in the causation of illness. The third liability is that the model assumes a mind-body dualism. It maintains that the body and mind are two separate entities. The final but not least liability is that the model puts more emphasis on illness over health. The focus is aberrations that cause illness instead of the co nditions that would promote health. Advantages and Clinical Implications of the Biopsychosocial Model Medical care, illness and disease are interrelated processes. They involve interaction of changes both within the individual and other levels. Researchers are thus impelled by this framework toward an interdisciplinary collaboration and thinking. The model maintains that the diagnosis process should consider the interacting roles of social, psychosocial and biological factors. This calls for interdisciplinary team approach in making a diagnosis. Health psychology should adopt this model and involve all the three factors. Therapy is thus uniquely targeted to a particular individual considering their health’s totality and ensuring treatment recommendations capable of dealing with more than one problem systematically. Therefore, a team approach is encouraged as the best approach. The relationship between a doctor and a practitioner is emphasized by the biopsychosocial model. The efficacy of treatment, the rapidity of solving an illness and the patient’s service usage can be improved by an effective practitioner-patient relationship. The biopsychosocial model makes the implication that the physician must have a clear understanding of the psychological and social factors that make contributions to an illness in order to come up with ample treatment (Kim,2014). For a healthy individual, the model is of the opinion that their health habits can only be understood in social and psychosocial contexts. When an individual is ill, recovery can be influenced by psychological, biological and social factors. These factors may maintain poor health habits but when there is appropriate modifications, they facilitate healthy ones. Biopsychosocial Perspectives Psychosomatics, Behavior and Health Depression, social isolation, conscientiousness and chronic stress are all understood by medical colleagues and health psychologists alike in the impacting of the vulnerability and the protection of various diseases. There is a consistent correlation of clinical depression with pathogenesis and occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. In a study in 2009, Salomon examined the existing differences in reactivity of cardiovascular to and recovery from two lab stressors between healthy controls with no self-reported history of CVD samples and naturalistic samples of clinically depression (Nezu, 2013). With previous research demonstrating significant behavioral associations and psychosomatic among illness, health and disease, the BPS model should focus on bringing into play analytic complexity fighting individualistic. Review of neuroplasticity, socio-somatic and psychosocial genomics will assist in balancing individualistic bias for health psychology, provision of sophisticated and adequate understanding of the cultural and social contours underlying illness and health thus fostering a greater integration among domains of bio-psycho-social. Psychosocial Genomics and Neuroplasticity Advances in genetics and molecular biology have given way to the map out of human genome. There have been spectral and technological imaging advances such as allowing of examining complex neurological processes and functional magnetic resonance. These movements in science have resulted to empirical investigations, psychosocial genomics and neuroplasticity which thus offers important evidence in relation to the interdependence nature of socio-cultural, biological and psychological processes. Research on neuroplasticity goes further to justify the biopsychosocial framework. This is because, the study indicates that the brain neurons are more dynamic than had previously been considered. They develop novel synaptic connections in response to learning and experience across age and mainly the entire life (Kim, 2014). Biopsychosocial further elaborates on the impact of social support. Within many studies, more satisfying social relationships or confidants result to an individual recovering more quickly from illnesses and diseases as compared to those with minimal social support. Culture in the Biopsychosocial Model Culture evolves over the years. It carries with it vagueness and contention. Culture is informatory. It influences every founding block of the BPS model. Failure to demonstrate adequate to the key role of culture in health psychology and related medical fields would result to the discrimination in health service delivery. For a more holistic approach therefore in heath psychology, culture should be considered seriously in attempts to integrate the BPS model. Biopsychosocial Model Transformations and the Future: Health Psychology Health psychology’s emergence together with behavioral medicine in primary care settings and general practitioners training on various health paradigms have resulted to an awareness for which patients now understand that the medical providers view them as a person and not merely by the disease. For the past two decades, the research of health psychologists and the behavioral interventions have matured greatly together with high criticism. Patient quality of life and wellness has been observationally been improved by the humanistic view by the psychologists. To fully solidify the role of combinatory treatments and psychologists, it is necessary to conduct long-term empirical studies. Doctors however question the motive of the alteration of medicine for the incorporation of behavioral interventions which tend to increase the workload of the physicians who are already strained. Research, vast knowledge on behavior education skills are applied by psychology practitioners should be used in the promotion of a medical care that is more hospital co-managed. Health care and societal transformations constrain psychology from change. Psychology seeks to deliver expansion on the special skills of health and clinical psychology. Psychopharmacology is the latest intervention in the creation of a psychologist practitioner who is independent. Psychologists must look for and maintain an inter-professional collaboration with physicians in order to ensure prescription authority and psychology. The psychosocial aspects of medical problems are then addressed. Quality of treatment may be affected by poor relationships between physicians and psychologists. Collaborations and partnerships in the management and diagnosis of all health will be observed in the decades to come. Training programs in health psychology will increase in terms of quantity. There will be specialization for students who have interest in the practice of research, clinical and education settings (Kim, 2014). The policy makers and the professionals such as teachers require training and education on the biopsychosocial model. The impact of this on healthcare would be the reduction of health costs, improved occupational control, promotion of self-empowerment, provocation of behavioral change and an increment in adherence to plans of treatment. Integrated healthcare will eventually address the complete spectrum of the mind and the human body as one and the same. A Holistic Approach in the Application of the Biopsychosocial model in the future of Health Psychology The biomedical model of disease and health is dominant in the existing medical practices. The approach is effective mainly in the control of infectious maladies. Chronic non-infectious diseases require the BPS approach. The approach takes into account other health determinants. That thus takes the BPS model a step further into the better approach than the biomedical model. However, a more holistic approach in the biopsychosocial approach is one that integrates culture into the focus of biological, psychological and biological aspects. Taking culture into the picture for the future will result to a more holistic approach. The future health research programs and intervention strategies should endure at considering all the domains and that will be a holistic approach. The BPS model will keep on maturing with time. To this regard therefore, there should be an examination of the effectiveness of cultural, social, biological and physiological claims. It should be conducted in clinical practice exploring the health concepts from perspectives and questioning perspectives could influence the current and future trends in health interventions and health promotion. Conclusion The future of health care lies more on the biopsychosocial approach more than the biomedical one. However, as demonstrated in the research and advancements in the health psychology, there are still aspects of the BPS model that could be involved in the future. One of them could be an increased collaboration and participation amongst psychologists and physicians. They should collaborate to ensure that wellbeing is attained by effective application of the model. The aspect of culture should also be included in the framework to ensure that the health services are acceptable in various communities. Clinical implications are at the heart of the improvement of the biopsychosocial approach. Health psychology and biomedical research will act as key building blocks in the future role of the model. References Kim, P. (2014, March 22). Report Summarizes Health Psychology Study Findings from Northeastern University. Psychology Psychiatry Journal, 456, 33-67. Nezu, A. M. (2013). Health psychology. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Piotrowski, C. (2012, September 1). Occupational Health Psychology: Neglected Areas of Research. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 675, 44-65. Sheridan, C. L., Radmacher, S. A. (1992). Health psychology: challenging the biomedical model. New York: Wiley. White, P. (2009). Biopsychosocial medicine: an integrated approach to understanding illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Evil Actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Shakespeares Play Essa

Macbeth is a tragedy written by Shakespeare roughly between the years 1603 and 1606. It was a play written following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The king at the time - James I of England/King James VI of Scotland was known to be a big supporter of theatre, witchcraft and demonology. Shakespeare and his associates soon into their career became known as the King’s men. The Kings ancestry was traced back to Banquo, a character from the play. At the beginning, Macbeth is spoken about by the three witches and we can tell that Macbeth must have had a reputation for being popular. He is called ‘brave Macbeth’; and is involved in bloody conflicts. Described as the hero, we learn that Macbeth himself killed Macdonwald in a battle that could have gone either way without the help of Macbeth’s talent on the battlefield. He is also portrayed as a heartfelt and caring man, when he himself decides that it is the wrong thing to do to murder the country’s own king – Duncan so that he can be king like the witches said. Everything about his character near the start of the play is good, and it seems as though he was the person people idolised at the time. Lady Macbeth gets a letter from Macbeth, in which she learns that the three witches had told Macbeth his destiny was to become King. ‘All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!’ ‘All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!’ ‘All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!’ She thinks that Macbeth is too weak to do anything about confirming this prophecy, and as a result decided to transforms herself instead, hoping that with her support, Macbeth will allow the witches’ predictions to come true. She enters the play confident and ready for anything that tried to get in her ... ...t this is what they wanted to be, and what they thought they were for a while. However, when it came down to doing the dirty work, they couldn’t pull it off and they realized that they just weren’t those kinds of people. We know that Lady Macbeth couldn’t make it, because she committed suicide in the end from an â€Å"illness† caused by the murder; and Macbeth didn’t really want to become that way in the first place and was just influenced by his wife. I think that Lady Macbeth got caught up in the thought of her husband being the king, and she believed that she could become evil and that she was strong enough; but, in the end, she wasn’t, and Macbeth, rather than separating from her, letting down his wife and not getting involved in the evil acts Lady Macbeth thought she was capable of, went along with it, and in the end got killed from the acts of their selfishness.

Financial Analysis of Amazon.com Inc.

This paper seeks to analyze the financial statements of Amazon. com Inc. for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 by interpreting its profitability, liquidity, leverage and activity ratios and comparing the same with industry averages. This will also analyze the company’s growth rates, valuation ratios (price) and dividends and will employ horizontal and vertical analysis in process as needed. 2. Analysis and Discussion 2. 1 Profitability Return on equity of Amazon. com Inc. shows many things about the past performance of the company in the past five years.The continued decrease from 2005 through 2007 appears noticeable but the rates are still very high. . From 145. 93% in 2005, it has hugely decreased to 44. 08% in 2006 and further to 39. 77% in 2007. Such level of profitability is still very for purposes of determining a company’s profitability. Compared to industry average of 24. 9%, the company’s ROE is still higher. See Exhibit I in the Appendix. The range of 39% t o 145% return on equity encourages investors as it would mean that for every $100 investment, the investors expect returns of about $39 to $145. These rates could be viewed as something unprecedented for a company like Amazon.com Inc.. Its level of ROE is something that must be the envy of many other companies such as EBay Inc. , Enable Holdings and Friendly Auto Dealers, Inc (Yahoo Finance, 2008). It may be noted that return on equity is solved under the formula where net profit is divided by the total stockholders equity. When compared to an average rate of 1. 5% US base rate (Housepricecrash, 2008 ) if money was invested in a bank, the company’s would seem to offer more than twenty fold and it is something very difficult to find and would therefore make it very attractive to investors.The company’s return on assets for the years 2006 through 2008 ranges from 4% to 9% and which appears to be obviously lower that its ROE. The same may be observed in relation to the co mpany’s net profit margin for last three years and has not even exceeded 5% in any period. However, ROE must be superior in declaring the profitability of Amazon as compared to all other profitability ratios. Operating margin which measures within the range of 3 to 5% for the three years, represents the margin after deducting cost of sales or services and operating expenses.Things to be added or deducted still are other income(s). The ratios mean that the management of Amazon. com Inc. is doing well that it must thank its employee’s participation of employees in delivering value to customers. The net margins of the company for the three years are lower than operating profit margin, due to the additional deductions of interest expenses. The profitability ratios such as return to equity, operating profit margin and net profit margin have the capacity to show historical profitability but investors would base also their decision on estimates of the future.Since conditions change, wise users of financial information may just give more values to estimated cash flow in the future for valuing their investments in terms of dividends to be received from the company. This appears to be found in the case of Amazon as proved by high debt equity as would be discussed later in relation to its profitability. 2. 2. 2 Liquidity Liquidity enables a company to meet its currently maturing obligations. It is measured using the current ratio and the quick asset ratio.Current ratio calculation uses current assets to be divided to current liabilities while quick assets ratio is almost the same except that the inventory and prepaid expenses are being removed from the current assets to have a new numerator but the denominator is the same. Quick assets therefore normally include cash, marketable securities and accounts receivable and the use of quick asset ratio is very much relevant for one intending to have higher form of measuring liquidity. In such case, one would prefe r quick asset ratio over that of the current ratio.As applied now, the current ratios of Amazon. com Inc reflected 1. 39, 1. 33 and 1. 54 for the years 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively while the quick asset ratios for same years are 1. 02, 0. 95 and 1. 19 for the same years respectively. See Exhibit I in the Appendix. Both ratios showed fluctuating trend where decreased was first noted and then increase followed after. The company’s liquidity may be considered to be still very high since current ratios average more than 1. 3 while quick asset ratio averages about more than 1.0 for the last three years. It current ratio for 2007 is very close to industry average of 1. 8 while its quick ratio of 1. 02 is not very far from industry average of 1. 6. Both its liquidity ratios are better when compared with S&P 500 index. See Exhibit I in the Appendix. The good liquidity appears to be a result also of good profitability of the company as observed earlier in terms of very high return on equity. 2. 2. 3 Leverage ratios Financial leverage or solvency refers to the company’s capacity to keep it stability over the long term.Generally measured by the debt to equity ratio, with the formula of having the total debt of the company divided by its total equity; a good financial leverage assures investors that the company is not to just to exist in the short term but it must also have a long life to recover long term investments which takes years to produce the needed returns. The debt to equity ratios of Amazon. com Inc. are 4. 42, 9. 12 and 14. 02 for the years 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively. These ratios are however not as good as industry average of 0. 32. See Exhibit I in the Appendix .The ratios are indeed very high since the ratio of more than 4. 0 means that the value the company investments is not matched by what it borrows by about more than 400%. Remarkable Improvement were however recorded from 2005 through 2007. This must be due to its very high prof itability. This could mean that the company is expanding business as noted its net fixed assets reflecting growth rates of 25. 06%, 22. 53% and 67. 91%, the years 2007, 2006 and 2005 respectively. See Exhibit I in the Appendix. In other words, expansions are getting financed hugely from operations which is a sigh of a healthy company.Good solvency is a proof of good capital structure and for Amazon. com Inc. the same could be attainable as shown in the very remarkable improvement if its debt to equity ratio which cut more than half that on 2006 in 2007. Given also its very good liquidity as analyzed earlier, the company must be declared to have clean bill of health in financial terms. 2. 2. 4 Efficiency ratios The company’s profitability is being supported by its good efficiency ratios. Inventory turnovers for three years are very much higher than industry average and such efficiency is indicative of its better performance than competitors.Even its collection period and recei vable turnover are definitely above industry and S&P 500 index. No wonder the massive improvement in leverage ratio for two years is more than justified. 3. Conclusion Amazon. com is growing very remarkably in term of revenues, fixed assets, and net income. The increase in net income of more than 60% in 2007 is not easy to disregard and the fixed assets growth averaging more than 20% for the last three years could only mean an expanding company under a very favorable condition in the industry.Its profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, leverage ratios and activity ratios are very favorable to the company. Its profitability is sustaining not only its liquidity by keep improving is highly leverage financial condition. Although, 2007 liquidity and leverage ratios are not as good as industry averages, the chance that they could be improved soon by company’s profitability is very big given its higher than industry average ROE for the last three years. The activity ratios in terms of inventory turnover and receivable turnover in 2007 are higher than industry average which could only support for the company’s very high profitability.

What Are the Causes of the Vietnam War

The Causes, Events, and Aftermath of the Vietnam War. Digital History. â€Å"The Vietnam War. † Digital History. 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . The Vietnam War started as a disagreement between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. Before this disagreement was a war between Vietnam and the French. Vietnam received 2. 6 billion dollars in financial support from the United States between 1945 and 1954. Nixon, who was President of the United States at the time, sent in troops to attempt to slow the process of sending troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.If I was a Vietnamese person living in Vietnam at the time I would think this would be an act of injustice by trying to make it an unfair war by removing the supply flow making them starve to death or get surrounded with no weapons. Also I feel that it was unjust of the Vietnamese to accept money from the United States then go to war with us after we provided them with financial support of the French. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Copyright  © 1999 by Oxford UP.President John F. Kennedy secretly sent 400 troops to South Vietnamese to fight what was called the counterinsurgency war. I believe this was a move of injustice due to the face that Kennedy did not tell the people of the United States they were going to help support a war over seas. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1961, more than 16,000 military troops in South Vietnamese and more than 100 troops had been killed. I feel Kennedy’s assassinated was also an act of injustice and I feel that it was also a major cause of us going into the war even more.Four years later in March of the year 1965, President Johnson sustained bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel. Then on March 8th, he dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. After he dispatched them, the United States was now at war, Declaration or not. I feel this could also be an act of injustice because the people did not have any say in this war and now people were going to be drafted to it. PBS. â€Å"Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline. † PBS. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . On May 7, 1954 the Vietnamese forces captured the French command post of Dien Bien Phu.The French commander then gave the order to seize fire. The battle lasted 55 days and more than 3,000 French troops died and 8,000 were wounded. Viet Minh got the worse of it though. They lost over 8,000 people and over 12,000 wounded. I feel this is injustice because is it really worth it to loose more men than the other side just to capture a fort? In the late 1961’s [pic]President John F. Kennedy orders more help for the South Vietnamese government in its war against the Vietcong.The U. S. backings included more than 3,000 troops and new equipment. On November 4th 1961, two days before the presidential election, the Vietcong dropped mortar shells onto Bien Hoa Air Base killing 4 soldiers, and 76 wounded along with five B-57 bombers destroyed. I feel that this was injustice because while all of us are busy voting for the new President the Vietcong got us by surprise. â€Å"Vietnam War. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia. com. 6 Oct. 2010 .In part, the war was a legacy of France's colonial rule, which ended in 1954 with the French army's catastrophic defeat at Dienbienphu and the acceptance of the Geneva Conference agreements. Elections scheduled for 1956 in South Vietnam for the reunification of Vietnam were canceled by President Ngo Dinh Diem. I believe this action of cancelling the election after the French defeat and even after accepting the Geneva Conference agreements. Although his action was denounced by Ho Chi Minh, I still feel this was injustice toward the people of Vietnam.Diem’s government faced increasingly opposition of the Viet Cong who were insurgents aided by North Vietnam. Another act of injustice n ear the end of the war was the massacre at My Lai. This was a massacre of many Vietnamese UNARMED citizens by UNITED STATES soldiers. In the course of the operation about 347 citizens were shot to death. To me, this incident going unknown until autumn of 1969 even though the event took place on March 16, 1968, is almost just as bad as it happening itself. â€Å"Vietnam War. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 612-617. Gale World History in Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. In 1946, U. S. president Franklin Roosevelt had written to the British ambassador that he believed â€Å"Indochina should not go back to the French, but that it should be administered by international trusteeship. † I think this is a bit of injustice to the French because the United States should not have intervened in the first place and let every other country do what we want rather than us coming in and try ing to make it better for them.In reality though the only thing we are trying to do is make money for ourselves or make it better for us. Eventually the United States sided with South Vietnam because the United States where afraid of communism and that’s what North Vietnam wanted. Why we got involved in this blows my mind because we don’t live there, we won’t be affected by this so why do we care if the people in Vietnam want communism or not. This is how the causes of the Vietnam War resulted in Injustice. Wikipedia. â€Å"Vietnam War. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 010. . In the post-war era, the United States struggled to learn the lessons of military intervention. The casualties of the Vietnam side were 1. 1 million dead and 600,000 soldiers wounded. Civilian deaths by Operation Rolling Thunder were between 52,000 and 182,000. I feel this injustice of killing a possible 100,000 Vietnamese women and children is just comp letely outrageous. After the war in Vietnam Chemical affected the Vietnamese people by causing a poisoning in the food chain, a change in the landscape, and it also caused birth defects and many diseases.As of 2006, the Vietnamese government had estimated that 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Also, between 1961 and 1967, the U. S. Air Force sprayed 20 million gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. Now killing the women and children during the bombing was bad enough. Now they started poisoning food and tried to get them into RVN-controlled areas. I feel this is injustice because of all the unneeded deaths of civilian causalities. What Are the Causes of the Vietnam War The Causes, Events, and Aftermath of the Vietnam War. Digital History. â€Å"The Vietnam War. † Digital History. 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . The Vietnam War started as a disagreement between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. Before this disagreement was a war between Vietnam and the French. Vietnam received 2. 6 billion dollars in financial support from the United States between 1945 and 1954. Nixon, who was President of the United States at the time, sent in troops to attempt to slow the process of sending troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.If I was a Vietnamese person living in Vietnam at the time I would think this would be an act of injustice by trying to make it an unfair war by removing the supply flow making them starve to death or get surrounded with no weapons. Also I feel that it was unjust of the Vietnamese to accept money from the United States then go to war with us after we provided them with financial support of the French. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Copyright  © 1999 by Oxford UP.President John F. Kennedy secretly sent 400 troops to South Vietnamese to fight what was called the counterinsurgency war. I believe this was a move of injustice due to the face that Kennedy did not tell the people of the United States they were going to help support a war over seas. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1961, more than 16,000 military troops in South Vietnamese and more than 100 troops had been killed. I feel Kennedy’s assassinated was also an act of injustice and I feel that it was also a major cause of us going into the war even more.Four years later in March of the year 1965, President Johnson sustained bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel. Then on March 8th, he dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. After he dispatched them, the United States was now at war, Declaration or not. I feel this could also be an act of injustice because the people did not have any say in this war and now people were going to be drafted to it. PBS. â€Å"Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline. † PBS. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . On May 7, 1954 the Vietnamese forces captured the French command post of Dien Bien Phu.The French commander then gave the order to seize fire. The battle lasted 55 days and more than 3,000 French troops died and 8,000 were wounded. Viet Minh got the worse of it though. They lost over 8,000 people and over 12,000 wounded. I feel this is injustice because is it really worth it to loose more men than the other side just to capture a fort? In the late 1961’s [pic]President John F. Kennedy orders more help for the South Vietnamese government in its war against the Vietcong.The U. S. backings included more than 3,000 troops and new equipment. On November 4th 1961, two days before the presidential election, the Vietcong dropped mortar shells onto Bien Hoa Air Base killing 4 soldiers, and 76 wounded along with five B-57 bombers destroyed. I feel that this was injustice because while all of us are busy voting for the new President the Vietcong got us by surprise. â€Å"Vietnam War. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia. com. 6 Oct. 2010 .In part, the war was a legacy of France's colonial rule, which ended in 1954 with the French army's catastrophic defeat at Dienbienphu and the acceptance of the Geneva Conference agreements. Elections scheduled for 1956 in South Vietnam for the reunification of Vietnam were canceled by President Ngo Dinh Diem. I believe this action of cancelling the election after the French defeat and even after accepting the Geneva Conference agreements. Although his action was denounced by Ho Chi Minh, I still feel this was injustice toward the people of Vietnam.Diem’s government faced increasingly opposition of the Viet Cong who were insurgents aided by North Vietnam. Another act of injustice n ear the end of the war was the massacre at My Lai. This was a massacre of many Vietnamese UNARMED citizens by UNITED STATES soldiers. In the course of the operation about 347 citizens were shot to death. To me, this incident going unknown until autumn of 1969 even though the event took place on March 16, 1968, is almost just as bad as it happening itself. â€Å"Vietnam War. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 612-617. Gale World History in Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. In 1946, U. S. president Franklin Roosevelt had written to the British ambassador that he believed â€Å"Indochina should not go back to the French, but that it should be administered by international trusteeship. † I think this is a bit of injustice to the French because the United States should not have intervened in the first place and let every other country do what we want rather than us coming in and try ing to make it better for them.In reality though the only thing we are trying to do is make money for ourselves or make it better for us. Eventually the United States sided with South Vietnam because the United States where afraid of communism and that’s what North Vietnam wanted. Why we got involved in this blows my mind because we don’t live there, we won’t be affected by this so why do we care if the people in Vietnam want communism or not. This is how the causes of the Vietnam War resulted in Injustice. Wikipedia. â€Å"Vietnam War. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 010. . In the post-war era, the United States struggled to learn the lessons of military intervention. The casualties of the Vietnam side were 1. 1 million dead and 600,000 soldiers wounded. Civilian deaths by Operation Rolling Thunder were between 52,000 and 182,000. I feel this injustice of killing a possible 100,000 Vietnamese women and children is just comp letely outrageous. After the war in Vietnam Chemical affected the Vietnamese people by causing a poisoning in the food chain, a change in the landscape, and it also caused birth defects and many diseases.As of 2006, the Vietnamese government had estimated that 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Also, between 1961 and 1967, the U. S. Air Force sprayed 20 million gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. Now killing the women and children during the bombing was bad enough. Now they started poisoning food and tried to get them into RVN-controlled areas. I feel this is injustice because of all the unneeded deaths of civilian causalities.

Neo-Impressionism and the Artists Behind the Movement

Neo-Impressionism and the Artists Behind the Movement Neo-Impressionism has the distinction of being both a movement and a style. Also known as Divisionism or Pointillism, Neo-Impression emerged in the late 1800s in France. It belongs to the subdivision of the larger avant-garde movement called Post-Impressionism. â€Å"Whereas the Impressionist painters spontaneously recorded nature in terms of the fugitive effects of color and light, the Neo-Impressionists applied scientific optical principles of light and color to create strictly formalized compositions,† according to Brittanica.com. What makes Neo-Impressionism stand out? Artists who employ the style apply separate colors to the canvas so that the eye of the viewer blends the colors together rather than the artists on their palettes. According to the theory of chromatic integration, these independent tiny touches of color can be mixed optically to achieve better color quality. A glow radiates from the minuscule dots, all the same size, that are packed together to create a specific hue on the Neo-Impressionist canvas. The painted surfaces are especially luminescent. When did  Neo-Impressionism Begin? The French artist Georges Seurat introduced Neo-Impressionism. His 1883 painting Bathers at Asnieres features the style. Seurat studied color theory publications produced by Charles Blanc, Michel Eugà ¨ne Chevreul and Ogden Rood. He also formulated a precise application of painted dots that would mix optically for maximum brilliance. He called this system Chromoluminarism. The Belgium art critic Fà ©lix Fà ©nà ©on described Seurats systematic application of paint in his review of the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in La Vogue in June 1886. He expanded the contents of this article in his book Les Impressionistes en 1886, and from that little book his word nà ©o-impressionisme took off as a name for Seurat and his followers. How Long Was Neo-Impressionism a Movement? The Neo-Impressionist Movement spanned from 1884 to1935. That year marked the death of Paul Signac, a champion and spokesman of the movement, heavily influenced by Seurat. Seurat died in 1891 at the young age of 31 after likely developing meningitis and a number of other illnesses. Other proponents of Neo-Impressionism include the artists Camille Pissarro, Henry Edmond Cross, George Lemmen, Thà ©o van Rysselberghe, Jan Toorop, Maximilen Luce and Albert Dubois-Pillet. At the beginning of the movement, Neo-Impressionist followers founded the Socià ©tà © des Artistes Indà ©pendants. Although Neo-Impressionism’s popularity waned in the early 20th  century, it influenced the techniques of artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Henry Matisse. What Are the Key Characteristic of Neo-Impressionism? The key traits of Neo-Impressionism include tiny dots of local color and clean, clear contours around the forms. The style also features luminescent surfaces, a stylized deliberateness that emphasizes a decorative design and an artificial lifelessness in the figures and landscapes. Neo-Impressionists painted in the studio, instead of outdoors as the Impressionists had. The style focuses on contemporary life and landscapes and is carefully ordered rather than spontaneous in technique and intention Best Known Artists of the  Neo-Impressionism Movement Well known artists include: Georges SeuratPaul SignacCamille PissarroHenry Edmond CrossGeorge LemmenThà ©o van RysselbergheJan TooropMaximilen LuceAlbert Dubois-Pillet

The cairn energy and the energy crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The cairn energy and the energy crisis - Essay Example The entire study has been conducted in order to find out the management theories applied to the organization and also the theories which should be followed in future in order to excel in its performance. Introduction The theories of management namely Internal Process Model, Rational Goal Model, Human Relations Model and Open System Model became popular in the sequence stated above in response to the business environmental requirements. The Internal Process Model can also be termed as professional bureaucracy or Weberian Bureaucracy. In this model it is assumed that the efficiency of the worker would grow if they are kept under policies and procedures. Their responsibilities should be clearly defined, positions should be organized in a hierarchy of authority, standard rules and procedures should be guiding all in the organization, promotion and selections should be done on the basis of employees’ technical abilities, decisions should be recorded and well maintained in written f orm and last but not the least in this bureaucratic scenario the employees in an organization should be uniformly guided by policies and procedures (Boddy, 2008). ... The leaders were task and goal oriented where human relations did not have any value. Time came when the Rational Goal Model started to be obsolete since it is very difficult to suppress the humane feelings of employees for a longer time, and relationships among the co workers started taking the greater priority for determining the efficiency level of the employee in an organization. Hence the Human relations theory propagated by Elton Mayo took birth through a series of studies at Hawthorn plant of the General Electric Company. The better the relations among the co workers the higher the productivity would be. The theory also suggested that the empathetic behavior of supervisor and his attention to the employees also enhances their productivity. Thus the human relations theory of management was successful in its approach. In modern times the business environment has become very dynamic and unstable (Boddy 2008). To complement the other three approaches the fourth theory which evolve d was the Open systems model. In this model the organization in a business environment would be required to accept the input received from the outer environment and accordingly modify its own system of work, policies and procedures (Boddy 2008). This paper shows the application of the mentioned management theories in case of Cairn Energy especially in the midst of energy crisis. Application Cairn Energy is a one of the biggest and prominent oil and gas companies in Europe. It is based in Edinburg with main interest in India and Greenland. It finds its name on the list of London Stock Exchange. The company produces oil and gas assets across the world with key focus in South Asia, comprising of more than 40 discoveries in the nations of India (focus on Rajasthan with

Operational Amplifiers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Operational Amplifiers - Assignment Example In case the device is to be used as a gain block, an amplifier that is ideal should have infinite gain. Similarly, the input impedance of the amplifier should also be infinite so as not to draw any power from the driving source. The most commonly used method for analysing stability of an amplifier is the Bode analysis. The basis of measurement here is creation of an open loop magnitude and phase plot to attain the stability for a closed loop. These are also indicators of gain and phase margin. Derivation of the phase margin is done by finding the intersection of the unity gain frequency response of closed loop curve to the open loop response curve (Schmid, 1995). At this frequency the phase will be read from the phase plot. Then the value gotten is subtracted from one hundred and eighty degrees to get the desired phase margin. Gain margin can also be determined in the magnitude plot by the frequency at 180 degrees. Operational amplifiers are linear devices possessing all the qualities that are required to have ideal amplification of direct current. Operational amplifiers are used for filtering or conditioning signal. They can also used to subtract, add, integrate and differentiate mathematical operations. An ideal amplifier consists of three terminals. The negative terminal is the inverting input while the positive terminal is the Non-inverting input. The last terminal is the output port of an operational amplifier. When the same circuit is considered in terms of impedance, R1 = Z1, R2 = Z2. Capacitors and inductors effectively change their impedance dependent upon frequency (ZC = 1/jωC). With capacitors in the circuit as in Figures 1 and 2, ÃŽ ² will be determined by frequency. The gain of the amplifier is constant as the frequency of the signal increases from 1 Hz to around 200Hz. As the frequency of the signal increases beyond the low break frequency i.e. 200Hz the gain increases until it reaches its