COPERATE FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

COPERATE FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE - Case Study Example Some of the risks that are unique for such firms include foreign exchange risk, political risk as well as the unique market risk. This is significant due to the fact that Mineral Plc is an international firm having a diverse range of activities across the different countries. This therefore increases the overall risk profile of the firm and projects that it undertake in foreign locations. This report will provide an analysis of the proposed investment that is to be made in the Medco Republic. This report is significant due to the fact that there are multiple views within the firm that ask for a different strategy to invest into a country which is war torn and companies are facing significant corporate social responsibility issues. This report will therefore perform the net present value analysis as well as other investment appraisal techniques besides discussing the corporate social responsibility issues that may be faced by the firm while making new investment into the country. This report will be effectively divided into two sections i.e. first section will be discussing the different findings that are being made after performing the analysis whereas the second section of the report will discuss corporate social responsibility along with a discussion on the different risks of investing into a foreign country. AccoChapter # 2 Analysis and Findings 2.1. Investment According to the given data, the overall NPV and IRR are 18.79 and 34% indicating that according to both the threshold levels, the project may be acceptable. It is important to understand that the most important criteria that is being followed when choosing a project based on the NPV is the ability of the project to deliver the positive net value for the firm as well as its shareholders. Given the weighted average cost of capital of 15%, the overall NPV is positive indicating that the project is acceptable at this given risk level. What is also significant to note that the calculations made does not incorporate the risks that are specific to making investment into the foreign countries and as such it ignores the various risks such as political risk, foreign exchange volatility etc Based on the criteria of IRR, the total IRR comes to the 34% which is over and above the desired level of 25%. As a rule of thumb any investment that offers IRR greater than the required rate of return shall be accepted and as such the IRR is greater than the current required rate of return hence the project shall be accepted even on this criterion also.1 It is also important to understand that both NPV and IRR have their own short comings therefore they may not be relied heavily as to the most conclusive tools for making investment appraisal. What is however, significant to note that the NPV and IRR are still considered as the better measures of the project returns and thoroughly applied by the firms across the world when making investment analysis' Thus based on the available methodologies of project appraisals, NPV and IRR are considered as most suitable

A computed tomography

A computed tomography 1. Introduction One of the most used techniques in the imagiology field is called Computed Tomography (CT), a method to acquire slices of the body based on the attenuation of X-rays. This monograph will try to compile the most important information about CT, namely its history, physical principles, fundamental instrumentation, data acquisition and processing techniques, as well as its applications. Firstly, a brief tour through the history of the technique will be taken, while some of the most important achievements will be referred. The starting point will be the discovery of the X-rays, then passing through the creation of the first CT scanner and the development of data analysis and processing algorithms. Then, a concise revision of the evolution of the scanners will be done, delineating the different generations of scanners and the key features of each one. In order to understand how an object can be scanned by this technique, a review of the physical concepts that constitute the basis of CT will be done. More precisely, we will discuss the attenuation of radiation while passing through objects. A short description of how X-rays interact with matter and the concept of linear attenuation coefficient will be discussed. The instrumentation needed for CT will shortly be referred, in particular the most important components of a CT scanner will be briefly explained. As data acquired by the scanners are not displayed in the way they are obtained, we will afterward explain the most used methods to process and analyze the great amount of information acquired by the CT detectors. The process of creating a scale to represent data the CT numbers will subsequently be overviewed, in order to understand how images are created and shown to the doctors. A description of how CT allows to distinguish different anatomical structures and how it permits to see just the structures we want will also be done. After that, an enumeration of some of the many clinical applications of CT will be done, knowing at the start that it will be impossible to list all the applications, reason why just a few will be referred. Besides, it is not the main goal of this monograph, although it is essential to understand the crucial importance of CT in the medicine field. Finally, we will try to conjecture about the future of CT, specifically what it can be improved and what are the actual challenges for this technique and how it can be overcame. This monograph is part of the Hospital and Medical Instrumentation course and pretends to be an overall view of CT, reason why there is not exhaustive detail in each section (for more detail in the approached topics, please read the references). 3-Dimensional reconstruction techniques will not be discussed because it is the topic of another group. Incisive instrumentation will not be exploited because it not exploited in the course as well. 2. Historical Background The history of CT started with the discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, which gave him the Physics Nobel Prize in 1901. During 1917, the Austrian mathematician Johann Radon developed a study in which he demonstrated that making several projections in different directions of a material and recreating its associated pattern, it was possible to obtain a slice where one could characterize different densities of the material. The idea of using these mathematical methods to create images of slices of the human body in radiographic films was proposed by the Italian radiologist Alessandro Vallebona in 1930. Between 1956 and 1963, the physicist Allan Cormack developed a method to calculate the distribution of absorbed radiation in the human body based on transmission measurements, which allowed to detect smaller variations in absorption. [2], [3], [4] In the year of 1972, Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1979, shared with Cormack) invented the first CT scanner in United Kingdom when he was working at EMI Company, which, at the time, was actually best known for its connection to the music world. The original prototype, called EMI Scanner, recorded 160 points for each projection in 180 different angles (with steps of 1 °) and each slice took 5 minutes to be acquired. A 180160 matrix was then constructed with these data, which took 2 and half hours to be analyzed until the final 2D-images could be visualized. The first types of scanners required the patients head to be immerged in a water-filled container in order to reduce the difference of X-rays attenuation between the rays that crossed the skull and the ones that only crossed the environment, because the detector had a small range of intensities that it could measure. [5], [6] During the subsequent years, CT scanners increased its complexity, and based on that evolution, we can distinguish five generations of machines that will be discussed in the next section (Section 3). Later, in 1989, it was developed a new technique in which data acquisition was done continuously the spiral CT scanning using the movement of the platform where the patient was lying. [4] Nowadays, CT machines have obviously superior performances than the prototypes of the 70s. In fact, several rows of detectors have been added which now allows registration of multiple slices at the same time the multislices scanners. These improvements allowed to represent data in 10241024 matrixes, which have a 1 megapixel pixel resolution. [7], [8] 3. Evolution of CT Scanners Over the time, the fundamentals of data acquisition and the key characteristics of the machines changed in many ways. This fact, allow us to split the evolution of the CT scanners in five generations. 3.1 First Generation Parallel Beam The first technique implemented in CT commercial machines consisted of the emission of a parallel X-ray beam that passed through the patient until it reached a detector located on the opposite side. Both X-ray and detector were place in the edge of a ring with the patient as the center. The X-ray source, as well as the detector, suffered a linear translation motion to acquire data from all maters directions. Then, the X-ray tube and the detector, was rotated about 1 °, having the patient as isocenter, and a new beam was emitted and the movement of translation restarted. This process was repeated until it reached 180 ° and, for each cycle of emitted beams, 160 projections of the material on analysis were recorded. The highly collimated beam provided excellent rejection of scattered radiation in the patient. At this point, the most used image reconstruction technique was the backprojection. Later in this work (Section 6) we will explain the techniques used in reconstruction. The ti me needed for data acquisition was extremely long (5 minutes per slice), due to technological limitations. [8] 3.2 Second Generation Fan beam In the second generation, the collimated beam was replaced by a fan X-ray beam and the simple detector was replaced by a linear array of detectors. This advance resulted in a shorter scan time, although this technique still continued to use a coupled source-detector translation motion. At the same time, the algorithms used to reconstruct the slice images became more complicated. Because of the vast amount of time needed to acquire data, both the first and second generations of scanners were limited to head and extremities scans, because those were the regions of the body that could remain immobilized during the long scan time. [9], [2], [8] 3.3 Third generation Rotating detectors The third generation of scanners emerged in 1976. In this generation, the fan beam was large enough to completely contain the patient, which made the translation movement redundant and the scanner commenced to execute only the rotational movement. Such as the fan beam, also the detectors became big enough to record all data of each slice at a time. The detector consisted of a line with hundreds of independent detectors that, like as in the second generation, rotated attached to the X-ray source, which required up to 5 seconds to acquire each slice. The power supply was now made by a slip ring system placed on the gantry, which allowed to continually rotate it without the need to reverse the rotating motion to untwist the power cables used before, as it was needed after each rotation in first and second generations. [2], [8] 3.4 Fourth generation Fixed detectors This generation was implemented in the late 70s and its innovation was a stationary ring of detectors that surrounded the patient. In this case, only the X-ray beam had movement. The ring consisted of a 600 to 4800 independent detectors that sequentially recorded the projections, so detector and source were no longer associated. However, detectors were calibrated twice during each rotation of the X-ray source, providing a self-calibrating system. Third generation systems were calibrated only once every few hours. In the fourth generation systems, two detectors geometries were used. The first one consists of a rotating fan beam inside the fixed ring of detectors and the second one has the fan beam outside the ring. These technological advances provided a reduction of the scan times to 5s per image and slice spacing below 1 mm. Both third and fourth generations are available in market and both have success in medical activities. [8], [2] 3.5 Fifth Generation Scanning electron beam The innovation of the fifth generation of CT scanners (early 80s) was a new system of X-ray source. While the ring of detectors remains stationary, it was added a new semicircular strip of tungsten and one electron gun which is placed in the patient alignment. By directing this electron beam to the anode of the tungsten strip, the release of X-ray radiation is induced. This method results in a no moving parts system, i.e. no mechanical motion is needed to record data because the detectors completely surround the patients and the electronic beam is directed electronically. The four target rings and the two detector banks allow eight slices to be acquired at the same time, which reduce the scan time and, consequently, the motion artifacts. This fact led to the reduction of scan time to between 33 and 100 ms, which is sufficient to capture images of the heart during its cardiac cycle, reason why it is the most used in diagnostic of cardiac disease. For that reason, this is also called U ltrafast CT (UFCT) or Cardiovascular CT (CVCT) Because of the continuous scan, special adjustments in the algorithm are needed to reduce image artifacts. [2], [8], [9] 3.6 Spiral Scanners The idea of creating a spiral CT came with the need for scans of 3-Dimensional images. This system to acquire 3-Dimensional CT images was born in the early 90s and consists of a continue translation movement of the table which supports the patient. This technique is based on the third generation of machines and allows scan times of the abdomen to be reduced from 10 minutes to 1 minute, which reduces the motion artifacts. Besides, a 3-Dimensional model of the organ under study can be reconstructed. The most complex innovation of this technique consists of the data processing algorithms, because they must consider the spiral path of X-ray beam around the patient. Technically, this was possible only due to the slip ring system implemented on the third generation of scanner. [9], [8], [10] 3.7 Cone beam After the development of new techniques, detectors, methods and algorithms, nowadays the question is: How many slices can we acquire at same time?. The answer to this question lies in the placement of several rows of detectors and the transformation of a fan beam X-ray to a 3-Dimensional cone beam. Nowadays, manufacturers have already placed 64 rows of detectors (multislice systems) and the image quality reached high levels. Moreover, the completely scan of a structure takes now about 15 seconds or even less. [2] 4. Physical Principles The basic principle of CT is measuring the spatial density distribution of a human organ or a part of the body. It is similar to conventional X-ray, in which an X-ray source of uniform intensity is directed to the patient and the image is generated by the projection of the X-rays against a film. The X-rays are emitted with a certain intensity I0 and they emerge on the other side of the patient with a lower intensity I. The intensity decreases while crossing the patient, because radiation interacts with matter. More precisely, X-rays used in CT are of the order of 120kV and, with that energy (120 keV), they interact with tissues mainly by photoelectric (mostly at lower energies) and Compton effects (at higher energies), although they can also interact by coherent scatter, also called Rayleigh scatter (5% to 10% of the total interactions). Photoelectric effect consists of the emission of an electron (photoelectron) from the irradiated matter caused by the absorption of the X-rays energy by an inner electron of the medium. In Compton effect, a X-ray photon interacts with an outer electron of matter and deviates its trajectory, transferring part of its energy to the electron, which is then ejected. In coherent scatter, the energy of the X-ray is absorbed by the tissue causing the electrons to gain harmonic motion and is then reradiated in a random direction as a secondary X-ray. [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] CT X-rays are not monoenergetic, but for now, to simplify the understanding of this concept, we will consider them monoenergetic. When an X-ray (as well as other radiation) passes through a material, part of its intensity is absorbed in the medium and, as a consequence, the final intensity is lower than the initial one. More precisely, the Beers Law states that intensity transmitted through the medium depends on the linear attenuation coefficient of the material  µ if we consider that we are in presence of a homogeneous medium and the thickness of the material x according to the following expression: The problem with conventional radiographs is that it only provides an integrated value for  µ along the path of the X-ray, which means that we have a 2-Dimensional projection of a 3-Dimensional anatomy. As it can be easily understood, all the structures and organs at the same level will appear overlapped in the image. As a consequence, some details cannot be perceived and some organs may not be entirely seen. For example, it is very hard to see the kidneys in a conventional radiography because the intestines appear in front of them. [15], [16], [11] Moreover, as there are many values of (typically one for each point of the scanned part of the body), it is not possible to calculate their values with one singe measure. However, if measures of the same plane by many different directions are made, all the coefficients may be calculated, and that is what CT does. As Figure 4 shows, a narrow X-ray beam that is produced by the source in the direction of a detector, which means that only a narrow slice of the body is imaged and the value of intensity recorded by the detector depends on all the material crossed by the X-ray in its way. That is the reason why it is called tomography it derives from the Greek tomos which means to cut or section. Many data of X-ray transmission through a plane of an object (an organ or a party of the body) from several directions are recorded and are then used to reconstruct the object by signal processing techniques. These techniques will be discussed later in this monograph (Section 6). The tightly colli mated X-ray beam ensures that no significant scatter is present in order to assure a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a necessary premise to obtain a faithful image of the scanned object. For that reason, unlike conventional tomography, in CT, patients structures located outside the area that is being imaged do not interfere. [17], [9], [12] 5. Instrumentation The X-ray system is composed by an X-ray source, collimators, detectors and a data-acquisition system (DAS). X-ray source is undoubtedly the most important part, because it is what determines the quality of the image. [10], [8] 5.1 The X-ray source The basis of the X-ray source (called X-ray tube) is to accelerate a beam of electrons between two electrodes against a metal target and is shown in Figure 5. The cathode is a coiled tungsten filament, which is crossed by a current which causes the filament to heat up. At high temperatures (2220 °C), the tungsten releases electrons, a process called thermionic emission. A 15 to 150 kV potential difference is applied between the cathode and the anode, which forces the released electrons to accelerate towards the anode. [10] When the electrons hit the anode, they produce X-rays by two ways. On the one hand, when an electron passes near the tungsten nucleus, it is deflected by an attractive electric force (because the nucleus is positively charged and the electron has a negative charge) and loses part of their energy as X-rays. As there are an enormous number of possible interactions and each one leads to a partial loss of kinetic energy, the produced X-rays have a great range of energies, as Figure 5 shows. This process is called bremsstrahlung (i.e. braking radiation). On the other hand, if an electron from the cathode hits and penetrates an atom of the anode, it can collide with an inner electron of it, causing the electron to be ejected and the atom to have a hole, which is filled by an outer electron. The difference of binding energy of these two electrons is released as an X-ray. This process is called characteristic radiation, because its energy depends on the binding energy of the electrons, which is characteristic of a given material. [10], [9], [15] The tube current represents the number of electrons that pass from the cathode to the anode per unit of time. Typical values for CT are from 200 up to 1000 mA. The potential difference between the electrodes is generally of 120 kV, which produces an energy spectrum ranging from 30 to 120 keV. The tube output is the product between the tube current and the voltage between the electrodes and it is desired to have high values because that permits a shorter scan time, which reduces the artifacts due to movement (such as for heart scans). [10], [8] Production of X-rays in these tubes is an inefficient process and most of the power supplied to the tube is converted in heating of the anode. So, a heat exchanger is needed to cool the tube. This heat exchanger is placed on the rotating gantry. Spiral CT in particular requires high cooling rates of the X-ray tube and high heat storage capacity. [8] 5.2 Collimators The electron beam released from the source is a dispersed beam, normally larger than the desired field-of-view (FOV) of the image. Usually, the fan beam width is set for 1 to 10 mm (although recent CT scanner allow submilimetric precision), with determines the width of the imaged slice. The collimator is placed between the source and the patient and is composed by lead sheets to restrict the beam just to the required directions. An X-ray beam larger than the FOV leads to a larger number of X-rays emitted than the ones needed to the scan and that has two problems: the radiation dose given to the patient is increased unnecessarily; and the number of Compton-scattered radiation increases. [10], [8] 5.3 Antiscatter grids An ideal CT system only with primary radiation (x-rays emitted from the source) reaching the detector does not exist and Compton scatter is always present. As this scatter is randomly distributed and has no useful information about the distribution of density of the scanned object, it just contributes to the reduction of image contrast and should be minimized to the maximum. This, because unlike photoelectric effect, Compton effect has a low contrast between tissues. As referred above, collimators are useful to limit the X-ray beam to the FOV. However, even with a collimator, 50% to 90% of the radiation that reaches the detector is secondary radiation. To reduce the Compton scatter, antiscatter grids can be placed between the detector and the patient. [10] An antiscatter grid consists of strips of sheets oriented parallel to the primary radiation direction combined with a support of aluminum, which drastically reduces the scatter radiation that has not the direction of the primary one, as illustrated in Figure 6. In order to not lower the image quality because of the grid shade, the strips should be narrow. There is, however, a tradeoff between the reduction of scatter radiation (that improve the image contrast) and the dose that must be given to the patient to have the same number of detected X-rays. [10] 5.4 Detectors At the beginning, single-slice CT scanners with just one source and one detector were used. However, these took much time to acquire an image, reason why the evolution brought us single-source, multiple-detector machinery and multislice systems. The third and fourth generations added a wider X-ray fan beam and a larger number of detectors to the gantry (typically from 512 to 768), which permitted to acquire more information in a smaller time. The detectors used in CT must be highly efficient to minimize the dose given to the patient, have a large dynamic range and be very stable over the time and over temperature variations inside the gantry. Three factors contribute to overall efficiency: geometric efficiency (fraction of the total area of detector that is sensitive to radiation), quantum efficiency (the fraction of incident X-rays that is absorbed to contribute to signal) and conversion efficiency (the ability to convert the absorbed X-rays into electrical signal). These detectors can be of two types (shown in Figure 7): solid-state detectors or gas ionization detectors. Solid-state detectors consist of an array of scintillating crystals and photodiodes, while gas ionization detectors consist of an array of compressed gas chambers to which is applied a high voltage to gather ions produced by radiation in inside the chamber. The gas is kept under a high pressure, to maximize interactions between X-rays and gas molecules, which produce electro-ion pairs. [10], [8] 5.5 Data-Acquisition System The transmitted fraction of the incident X-ray intensity (I/I0 in equation 1) can be as small as 10-4, reason why DAS must be very accurate over a great range. The role of DAS is to acquire these data and then encode it into digital values and transmit these to computers for reconstruction to begin. DAS make use of many electronic components, such as precision preamplifiers, current-to-voltage converters, analog integrators, multiplexers and analog-to-digital converters. The logarithmic step needed in equation 3 to get the values of  µi can be performed with an analog logarithmic amplifier. Data transfer is a crucial step to assure speed to the whole process and used to be done by direct connection between DAS and the computer. However, with the appearance of rotating scanners in third and fourth generations, these transfer rate, which is as high as 10 Mbytes/s is now accomplished by optical transmitters placed on the rotating gantry that send information to fixed optical receivers. [8] 5.6 Computer system The data acquisition of the projections, the reconstruction of the signal, the display of the reconstructed data and the manipulation of tomographic images is possible by computer systems used to control the hardware. Current systems consist of 12 processors which achieve 200 MFLOPS (million floating-point operations per second) and can reconstruct an image of 10241024 pixels in less than 5 seconds. [8] 6. Signal Processing and Analyzing Techniques As data are acquired in several directions (e.g. with increments of 1 ° or even less) and each direction is split in several distinct points (e.g. 160 or more), at least 28 800 points are stored, which means that there must be efficient mathematical and computational techniques to analyze all this information. A square matrix representing a 2-Dimensional map of the variation of X-ray absorption with the position is then reconstructed. There are four major techniques to analyze these data, which we will discuss subsequently. [12] 6.1 Simultaneous linear equations As it was referred above (Section 4), there is a measure of for each pixel, which means that modern CT scanners deal with 1 048 576 points for each slice (nowadays the matrixes used are 10241024). As a result, to generate the image of one single slice, a system of at least 1 048 576 equations must be solved (one equation for each unknown variable), which means that this technique is totally unusable. In fact, imagine that in 1967, Hounsfield built the first CT scanner, which took 9 days to acquire the data of a single slice and 21 hours to compute the equations (and by the time, the matrix had only 28 000 entries). Besides, nowadays CT scanners acquire about 50% more measures than it would be needed in order to reduce noise and artifacts, which would require even more computational resources. [16], [11], [8] 6.2 Iterative These techniques try to calculate the final image by small adjustments based on the acquired measures. Three major variations of this method can be found: Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART), Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) and Iterative Least-Squares Technique (ILST). These variations differ only in the way corrections are made: ray-by-ray, pixel-by-pixel or the entire data simultaneously, respectively. In ART as an example, data of one angular position are divided into equally spaced elements along each ray. Then, these data are compared with analogous data from another angular position and the differences between X-ray attenuation are added equally to the fitting elements. Basically, for each measure, the system tries to found out how each pixel value can be modified to agree with the particular measure that is being analyzed. In order to adjust measures with pixel values, if the sum of the entries along one direction is lower than the experimental measure for that direction, all the pixels are increased. Otherwise, if the sum of the entries is higher than the measured attenuation, pixels are decreased in value. By repeating this iterative cycle, we will progressively decrease the error in pixels, until we get an accurate image. ART was used in the first commercial scanner in 1972, but it is no longer used because iterative methods are usually slow. Besides, this method implies th at all data must be acquired before the reconstruction begins. [9], [16] 6.3 Filtered backprojection Backprojection is a formal mathematical technique that reconstructs the image based only on the projection of the object onto image planes in different directions. Each direction is given the same weight and the overall linear attenuation coefficient is generated by the sum of attenuation in each X-ray path that intersects the object from different angular positions. In a simpler manner, backprojection can be constructed by smearing each objects view back trough the image plane in the direction it was registered. When this processed is finished for all the elements of the anatomic section, one obtains a merged image of the linear attenuation coefficients, which is itself a crude reconstruction of the scanned object. An illustration of this technique is represented in Figure 8. By its analysis, it is also clear that the final image is blurred, which means that this technique needs a little improvement, which is given by filtered backprojection. [12], [9], [16] Filtered backprojection is therefore used to correct the blurring resultant from simple backprojection. It consists of applying a filter kernel to each of the 1-Dimensional projections of the object. That is done by convolving a deblurring function with the X-ray transmission data before they are projected. The filter removes from data the frequencies of the X-ray responsible for most of the blurring. As we can see in Figure 8, the filter has two significant effects. On the one hand, it levels the top of the pulse, making the signal uniform within it. On the other hand, it negatively spikes the sides of the pulse, so these negative neighborhoods will neutralize the blurring effect. As a result, the image produced by this technique is consistent with the scanned object, if an infinite number of views and an infinite number of points per view are acquired. [16], [9] Compared with the two previous methods this process has also the advantage that reconstruction can begins at the same time that data are being acquired and that is one of the reasons why it is one of the most popular methods nowadays. [9] 6.4 Fourier reconstruction The last signal processing technique that will be discussed in this monograph is the Fourier reconstruction which consists of analyzing data in the frequency domain instead of the spatial domain. For this, one takes each angular orientation of the X-ray attenuation pattern and decomposes it on its frequency components. In the frequency domain, the scanned image is seen as a 2-Dimensional grid, over which we place a dark line for the spectrum of each view, as Figure 9 shows. To reconstruct the image, one has to take the 1-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Then, according to the Fourier Slice Theorem, each views spectrum is identical to the values of one line (slice) through the image spectrum, assuring that, in the grid, each view has the same angle that was originally acquired. Finally, the inverse FFT of the image spectrum is used to achieve a reconstruction of the scanned object. 7. Data Display As it was said earlier (Section 6), linear attenuation coefficients give us a crude image of the object. In fact, they can be expressed in dB/cm, but as they are dependent on the incident radiation energy, CT scanning does not use the attenuation coefficients to represent the image, but instead it uses integer numbers called CT numbers. These are occasionally, but unofficially, called Hounsfield units and have the following relation with the linear attenuation coefficients: where  µ is the linear attenuation coefficient of each pixel and  µw is the linear attenuation coefficient of water. This CT number depends clearly on the medium. For human applications, we may consider that CT number varies from -1000 for air and 1000 for bone, with CT number of 0 for water, as it is easily seen from equation 5. [9], [13], [4], [12] The CT numbers of the scanned object are then presented on the monitor as a grey scale. As shown in Figure 10, CT numbers have a large range and as human eye cannot distinguish so many types of grays, it is usually used a window to show a smaller range of CT numbers, depending on what it is desired to see. The Window Width (WW) identifies the range of CT numbers and consequently alters the contrast (as Figures 11 and 12 show), whereas Window Level (WL) sets the centre of the window and, therefore, select which structures are seen. The lowest CT number of the window, which corresponds to the lowest density tissue, is represented in black and the highest Ct number (highest density tissue) is represented in white. 8. Radiation Dose As it can easily be understood, radiation dose given to the patient is dependent on the resolution of the scanner and its contrast, as well as

El Problem de la Comunicacion y Sus Relaciones con el Lenguaje :: Spanish Essays

El Problem de la Comunicacion y Sus Relaciones con el Lenguaje "La palabra—el habla—es la casa del ser. En su morada habita el hombre. Los pensantes y los poetas son los vigilantes de esta morada".—"Carta sobre el humanismo" M. Heidegger (1) "Las palabras son de todos" Eugenio Montale (2) RESUMEN: Advià ©rtase que no es caprichosa la eleccià ³n de los acà ¡pites que guiarà ¡n el presente trabajo. Ambos, expresan un sentido de verdad respecto de sus propias disciplinas: la filosofà ­a y la poesà ­a, materias singularmente destacadas por M. Heidegger en cuanto a la custodia del instrumento mà ¡s valioso en poder el hombre. Instrumento, herramienta, morada, condensados en la palabra humana que, a su vez, es propiedad de todos segà ºn Montale. La brevedad de las pà ¡ginas que seguirà ¡n intentarà ¡n enforcar los problemas de la comunicacià ³n desde el lenguaje, la filosofà ­a y la literatura, no sà ³lo como hilo conductor para desarrollar el tema, sino como tributo que se rinde a quienes pasaron su vida inmersos en tales problemas, dedicados a resolverlos y a ahorrar al resto de la humanidad las consecuencias à ­ntimas y externas de ese debatirse. Paul Valery nos advirtià ³ que dos abismos no cesan de amenazar al hombre: el orden y el desorden. En la prolongada lucha por alcanzar un digno medio entre ambas catà ¡strofes, la comunicacià ³n—como vehà ­culo universal de intercambio entre los habitantes de nuestro planeta— juega un papel de fundamental importancia: la de poner la casa en orden, por lo menos relativo, para que esa morada sea habitada, Vivida, con decoro. Lamentablemente, prolongados perà ­odos histà ³ricos, se caracterizan por ignorar la sabia advertencia de Heidegger en cuanto a los custodios del habla (poetas y pensadores) quienes no sà ³lo son ignorados sino sencilla y fatalmente barridos de la faz de la tierra o silenciados de modo drà ¡stico para que la comunicacià ³n humana no adquiera sino una babà ©lica confusià ³n proclive a envolver en ella a los hombres y sus conductas. Ordenar la morada heideggeriana sin descuidar su calidez, sin abandonar una à ©tica que partiendo de la palabra misma se continà ºe en los actos, implica un ciclà ³peo trabajo que deberà ¡ asumirse hasta el fin de los tiempos, pues el hombre finito aspira a la infinitud de cierta perfeccià ³n diacrà ³nica. Si el hombre mora en el habla y las palabras son de todos, ello requerirà ¡ no una seleccià ³n, no una plà ©yade de pensadores y poetas, sino toda una humanidad capaz de superar sus propios peligros y de comunicarse en cà ³digos limpios y fà ¡cilmente interpretables.

Culture in Kuwait Essay

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign of the United Arab Emirates and considered as one of the Gulf countries. The name ‘Kuwait’ came from the Arabic â€Å"akwat†, the plural of â€Å"kout†, which denotes ‘fortress built near water’. The emirate has the population of 3. 4 million situated in its 20,000 square kilometers geographical area. During the 19th century, Kuwait came under the power of the Ottoman Empire and after the World War I, it became known as an autonomous sheikhdom under the defense of the British Empire. It was in the late 1930s that Kuwait’s large oil fields were discovered. Kuwait has a parliamentary system of government, under a constitutional monarchy with Kuwait City as the center of all political and economic activities. The country is the world’s fifth producer oil reserves and petroleum and petroleum products which account for its almost 95% export revenues, and 80% of government income. Based in per capita Kuwait is the eleventh richest country in the world. In addition, it has the highest human development index (HDI) in the Arab world. World Bank classified Kuwait as a high income economy. It is also designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States, because of its close recent political and financial ties and affinities with the latter. Majority of the Kuwait’s population are Muslim and practices Islam as their religion, though it has a huge community of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. Islam means peace, love, and complete submission and obedience to God. Being a Muslin means accepting Islam and living a life in accordance to its teachings as well as setting as an example to other Muslims. Instead of the common greetings of â€Å"good morning† or â€Å"hello†, Muslims greet each other by saying â€Å"Assalamo Alaikum†, which stands for â€Å"May peace be upon you and may God blessings be with you†. It is the mission of every Muslim uttering these words to multiply love and peace anywhere one goes. Muslims pray five (5) times a day and normally clean their bodies before praying. In the analysis using Hofstede’s five model dimensions, religion plays a significant role the lives of its people. High power distance and uncertainty avoidance are evident attributes in this nation just like any other Arab countries. Leaders do not mix themselves into the group and usually issue detailed and particular orders. It follows a caste system and does not allow major upward mobility of its people. In order to reduce the amount of ambiguity, detailed rules, laws, regulations and controls are implemented. Discrimination in terms of influence and affluence has been consented to flourish within the society and is acknowledged by the population as their cultural legacy. Therefore, leaders can easily enforce their leadership and control which usually resorts to uprising to attain democratic change. Masculinity is on the average, evidenced by limited rights of women in Kuwait society, which again could be credited to the Muslim religion rather than its cultural pattern. Individualism is low, which translates into collectivist culture as noticeable in a close-commitment to the member ‘group’ like the family, extended family, or extended relationships. Loyalty is vital in a collectivist society which overrides all other rules. In Kuwait, visitors are expected to be reserved, though does not pertain to clothing especially for foreigners. Regardless of the climate, most of the body must stay covered. For men, it is a requirement to wear a jacket and tie during business conferences. They should also be dressed in long pants and a shirt favorably long-sleeved and fastened up top the collar. There must be noticeable jewels specifically around the neck. Women must also be conservative especially in public. The necklines must be high, at least to the elbows, while hemlines must be ankle-low or below the knee. Pants are not advisable and scarf must be handy especially when going inside a Mosque. Too much appreciation of an item must be avoided, because the host might become compelled to grant said item. Rejection to accept the gift is impolite and rude. Receiving gifts must be done in public. Gifts such as alcohol, perfumes containing alcohol, pork, pigskin products, personal items such as underwear, knives, toy dogs or pictures of dog and image of nude or partially nude women should no be given to anyone in Kuwait. When going inside buildings it is proper to remove ones shoes. Muslims do not eat pork and drink alcohol. Grasping each other’s right hand putting the left on the other’s right shoulder and exchanging kisses on each cheek is the traditional greetings between men. Men may shake hands with women, but the latter must wait for the first to offer his hand. The left hand is regarded as dirty and must be set aside for personal hygiene.

Machiavelli’s story Essay

He wrote to medic embellished with magnificent words together with extrinsic allurements wishing the Medic’s honor should give him the position of the office that he definitely was stuffing of. He contemplated and made assumptions of himself being humble and low before the concerns of the princes, pretending to have understood the needs of people. He also thought that the book was a present to the prince to entice him in order to be given a vacancy in the new government. He even recommends to the prince to intelligently and diligently read and consider the book as in the Prince will end up learning Machiavelli’s extreme desire for prince to attain the greatness that fortune and other attributes promise. Machiavelli figured that the principalities are all hereditary to power and its acquisition is accustomed to live under the prince by either fortune or ability. He anticipated that the prince should keep the corrupt government continue to rule for the benefits of the few him included against to which what it was. His story from is was ultimately different from what it should be. For instance, Duke of Ferrara in Italy who could not have withstood the attacks of the Venetians in 1984 nor those of Pope Julius in 1910 unless of the establishment of dominions. For hereditary prince has less cause to and less necessity to offend to happen that he will be more loved but the vice versa caused him to be more hated as it was reasonable that Machiavelli’s subject naturally disposed him off from the prince, his motives was derived to no existence of change and his own definition of change was the one that leaves the toothing for another to keep the corrupt government from one generation to another that impossibly didn’t happen. Machiavelli’s story was defining change as the deception of the willing election of the new ruler hoping to better themselves expectation that could hardly rise from the inherent difficulties from the new to be principalities. He figures solidarity as hardship that he must put upon his new acquisition in order to satisfy those who elected Medic into power. Machiavelli egocentrically viewed himself as the core pillar for the success of Medic’s government, thus he must be given the position on this regime to excel. He beliefs not that Borge Cesare lost power by malignity of fortune that he acquired during the ascendancy of his father. In Machiavelli’s story, he didn’t imagine to care about the so called enemies whom he injured in seizing principality and he is not even considering the essence for them to feel satisfied as the way the expected or hopped when they were electing you into power. Instead Machiavelli suggested for the strong measures to be taken against them, feeling not bound to them anymore and they are profound to be oppressed by the use of the strong forces under the command of the leader in charge. This was totally different from even the theoretical view of Medic when he came into power. His mission and vision was to have equality among all those who elected him, stop/ eradicate corruption and that is why he disputed the gift from Machiavelli that was vividly giving him a clue towards the corrupt government to benefit the a few including Machiavelli. Medic wasn’t gullible for the public properties as the story of Machiavelli portray him as somebody who is gullible, selfish/mean, corrupt and egocentric. Basing on Machiavelli’s story, he viewed that the hold of accustomed hereditary pass of power was a prudent courtesy from the ancestors and anybody doing contrary to it was like transgression towards the ancestors. In order to deal prudently with circumstances as they arise and for the care to maintain Medic in state Machiavelli must be in the cabinet in the government and if not so something sinister will happen to deprive Medic extra-ordinary from power, which was untrue and didn’t happen. Reference: 1. The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli, Translated By George Bull Published By Penguin Books Ltd (1995).

Pearl Harbor †Short Summary Essay Example

Pearl Harbor – Short Summary Essay Example Pearl Harbor – Short Summary Essay Pearl Harbor – Short Summary Essay Essay Topic: The Pearl Three-hundred and 60 Nipponese planes broke through the clouds above Pearl Harbor at 07. 55. The planes attacked in rows of two or three. dropping gunmans at 100 knots from 70 pess. The first moving ridge of planes destroyed US hangers and the planes in the neat. anti-sabotage rows. Other onslaughts in the first moving ridge were on Battleship Row’ . patrol cars and other subsidiary ships. Most ships had legion torpedo hits. To finish the devastation of the war ships. six pigboats aided in the sinking and destroying of what was non already certain. When torpedoing planes left the locality. bombers transporting 1 600 lb bombs were sent to destruct any staying ships. Overlaping the first moving ridge of onslaught at 08. 40 was a 2nd 1. They concentrated on the non yet to the full destroyed landing fields. By 09. 45 any ship of the US Pacific! Naval Fleet that was non on the Ocean floor was floating impotently. It [ the Arizona ] sank like an temblor had struck it. a subsister remarked. 1 200 of his crew mates died. US military personnels returned from church or brunch to support as best they could. Contending until they drowned or were crushed by detonating dust. crewmans. flyers and anti-aircraft artillerymans fought heroically to salvage their doomed naval base. By ground of the onslaught happening in what Americans thought was peace clip. much of the ammo was locked off. go forthing the supporting US military personnels with small defence. In the terminal. the US had eight battlewagons. three patrol cars and a big figure of smaller vass sink or rendered out of usage. The Japanese lost 0 30 planes and five pigboats. Although the devastation was non entire. Nipponese first naval strategian. Yamamoto. found the consequence better than he had anticipated. Military records province that the onslaught sank or destroyed 6 ships. US casualties included 2 500 every bit good as over 1 000 wounded. The Japanese lost less than 30 aircraft and about 55 work forces. The bombardment of Pearl Harbor can be seen as a turning point in the war. Basically. the war had been of chiefly European engagement. now it took a planetary bend. The bombardment prompted a US declaration of war on the undermentioned twenty-four hours. every bit good as great American daze and indignation tempered by choler. The onslaught was dubbed a twenty-four hours of infamy’ by President Roosevelt. as no American could forgive or bury the actions of the Nipponese state. The Japanese could non hold devised a better manner to beat up the American citizens into full support for Roosevelt and his government’s program of US engagement in the war. A old promise between British Prime Minister. Winstin Churchill and President Roosevelt was honored when Britain declared war upon Japan two hours after the US declaration. The events environing the bombardment of Pearl Harbor prove the US handled the state of affairs really ill. Many opposing tactics were noted and ignored. Warnings were thought of as modus operandi. Even subsisters. who were to the full cognizant of the Nipponese inclinations of war on China. the authorities war warnings and their country’s unprepared province. still describe the onslaught as a surprise. The Nipponese military schemes were intelligent and good executed ; although. the Nipponese onslaught would non hold been about every bit effectual had the Americans non hold been so blatantly nescient. The US had no cognition of the onslaught on Pearl Harbor in 1941. and it was their mistake.

Free Essays on Amp

The full title of Swift's pamphlet is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public." The tract is an ironically conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics, are living in squalor because their families are too poor to keep them fed and clothed. The author argues, by hard-edged economic reasoning as well as from a self-righteous moral stance, for a way to turn this problem into its own solution. His proposal, in effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one, he argues, thus combating overpopulation and unemployment, sparing families the expense of child-bearing while providing them with a little extra income, improving the culinary experience of the wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the nation. The author offers statistical support for his assertions and gives specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the projected consumption patterns. He suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, and he feels sure that innovative cooks will be quick to generate more. He also anticipates that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on family morality: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways hitherto unknown. His conclusion is that the implementation of this project will do more to solve Ireland's complex social, political, and economic problems than any other measure that has been proposed.... Free Essays on Amp Free Essays on Amp The full title of Swift's pamphlet is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public." The tract is an ironically conceived attempt to "find out a fair, cheap, and easy Method" for converting the starving children of Ireland into "sound and useful members of the Commonwealth." Across the country poor children, predominantly Catholics, are living in squalor because their families are too poor to keep them fed and clothed. The author argues, by hard-edged economic reasoning as well as from a self-righteous moral stance, for a way to turn this problem into its own solution. His proposal, in effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. Children of the poor could be sold into a meat market at the age of one, he argues, thus combating overpopulation and unemployment, sparing families the expense of child-bearing while providing them with a little extra income, improving the culinary experience of the wealthy, and contributing to the overall economic well-being of the nation. The author offers statistical support for his assertions and gives specific data about the number of children to be sold, their weight and price, and the projected consumption patterns. He suggests some recipes for preparing this delicious new meat, and he feels sure that innovative cooks will be quick to generate more. He also anticipates that the practice of selling and eating children will have positive effects on family morality: husbands will treat their wives with more respect, and parents will value their children in ways hitherto unknown. His conclusion is that the implementation of this project will do more to solve Ireland's complex social, political, and economic problems than any other measure that has been proposed....

How to Begin a Sentence With And or But

How to Begin a Sentence With 'And' or 'But' According to a usage note in the fourth edition of The American Heritage Dictionary, But may be used to begin a sentence at all levels of style. And in The Kings English (1997), Kingsley Amis says that the idea that and must not begin a sentence, or even a paragraph, is an empty superstition. The same goes for but. Indeed either word can give unimprovably early warning of the sort of thing that is to follow.   The same point was made over a century ago by Harvard rhetorician Adams Sherman Hill: Objection is sometimes taken to employment of but or and at the beginning of a sentence; but for this, there is much good usage (The Principles of Rhetoric, 1896). In fact, it has been common practice to begin sentences with a conjunction since at least as far back as the 10th century. The Usage Myth Persists Still, the myth persists that and and but should be used only to join elements within a sentence, not to link one sentence to another. Here, for instance, is an edict found recently on an English professors Composition Cheat Sheet: Never begin a sentence with a conjunction of any kind, especially one of the FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so ). This same fussbudget, by the way, outlaws the splitting of infinitives  - another durable grammar myth. But at least the professor is in good company. Early in his career, William Shawn, longtime editor of The New Yorker magazine, had a penchant for converting sentence-initial buts into howevers. As Ben Yagoda reports in When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It (2007), Shawns habit inspired one of the magazines writers, St. Clair McKelway, to compose this impassioned defense of but: If you are trying for an effect which comes from having built up a small pile of pleasant possibilities which you then want to push over as quickly as possible, dashing the readers hopes that he is going to get out of a nasty situation as easily as you have intentionally led him to believe, you have got to use the word but and it is usually more effective if you begin the sentence with it. But love is tricky means one thing, and however, love is tricky means anotheror at least gives the reader a different sensation. However indicates a philosophical sigh; but presents an insuperable obstacle. . . .But, when used as I used it in these two places, is, as a matter of fact, a wonderful word. In three letters it says a little of however, and also be that as it may, and also heres something you werent expecting and a number of other phrases along that line. There is no substitute for it. It is short and ugly and common. But I love it. Know Your Audience Still, not everybody loves initial but. The authors of Keys for Writers (2014) note that some readers may raise an eyebrow when they see and or but starting a sentence in an academic paper, especially if it happens often. So if you dont want to see eyebrows raised, ration your use of these words at the beginnings of sentences.   But in any event, dont start scratching out your ands and  buts on my account.

Feminism and Postmodernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Feminism and Postmodernism - Essay Example In particular, the so-called postmodernist feminism has challenged the claims that observed differences between men and women are necessary and that women have an essence that justifies their subordinating position in society. Central to the postmodernist understanding of society is the belief that the grand or totalizing principles of modernity and the Enlightenment - including appeals to rationality, progress, humanity, and justice - have been completely undermined. This line of reasoning emerges from poststructuralist critiques of language, subjectivity, and representation. In other words, where poststructuralists criticized the foundations of modernism, postmodernists read these critiques as mandates for rejecting foundations altogether (Stabile 1995). European postmodernists, like Jean-Francois Lyotard, have expressed the belief that Marxism, like the Enlightenment in general, culminated in Stalinism because of its totalizing impulses. Some postmodernists have gone much further than this identification of Marxism with Soviet-style systems, holding Marxism responsible for all kinds of oppression. Twentieth-century Marxism has used the generalizing categories of production and class to delegitimize demands of women, black people, gays, lesbians, and others whose oppression cannot be reduced to economics. This kind of judgment dramatically displays yet another feature of postmodernism: its historical amnesia. Marxism and socialist organizations in general have been repeatedly marginalized and delegitimized by capitalism. Postmodernism is full of confusions and contradictions, nevertheless, it is based on some unifying principles such as non-critical and idealistic focus on the construction of real as well as examination of the concept of difference. For example, if the society is not able to identify any interests which might unite it, then the only mean to unify people is based on identity differences. This Marx's so-called unity in differences or the identity of interests shared by people and represented by the political institutions was rejected by postmodernists who did not accept any form of presentation in favour of the particular difference (Stabile 1995). Feminism From the first glance, feminism seems to be more accessible than postmodernism and refers to the females as the political unity with the identifiable electorate. Feminism shares with postmodernism the idea of rejection of historical materialism. Notably, the contemporary theories of feminism do not reject the idea of system and totality, but rather elaborates its own analysis in which male domination is seen as the alternative or confederate of capitalism. Thus, women, being oppressed by male dominating system, share the common interest to oppose it. At its beginning, feminism was both intellectual and political movement: to help women in understanding their oppressed position and to promote the changes in society in terms of gender issue. Early feminists organized as the distinct class with radical intentions (Tong 1989). Essentialism argument (the foundation of category "women" from biological perspective) and anti-essentialism argument ("women" seen as the historically and socially constructed group) are essential to understanding feministic assumptions. Essentialists believed that women have similar characteristics upon which political action can be founded. While, anti-essentialists claimed that labels "male" and "female" were not fixed

Procter & Gamble Business Sphere Research Paper

Procter & Gamble Business Sphere - Research Paper Example The firm has 127,000 members of staff, in addition to, 300 trade names vended in 180 nations. P&G averages approximately 4 billion deals every day. Background: The initial project, initiated in the year 2010, is the Business capability course that provides executives forecasts concerning P&G promotion share and additional performance stats five to 12 months in prospects. At its central part is a sequence of analytic forms intended to expose what is happening in the trade currently, why it is transpiring, and what measures P&G could take. The â€Å"what† forms center on statistics for instance shipments, transactions, and market share. The â€Å"why† models emphasize sales figures down to the nation, region, product line, as well as store levels, and drivers for example, publicity and consumer expenditure, inspecting in the region- and nation-specific financial data. The â€Å"deeds† studies observe levers P&G can draw, for instance pricing, promotion, and merchandise mix, and offer approximations on what they convey. Hypothesis: By eliminating the holdup of physically gathering and collecting data, this copyright-pending business intelligence structure advances efficiency and collaboration, abridges work processes, lessens the judgment-making cycle period, and facilitates P&G to concentrate on innovating for the customer. 1.4. Objectives To concentrate businesses on exemptions and offer forward looking projections and scenarios by the employment of business capability analytic outlines. To present multifaceted information and data visually in business procedures, permitting leaders to perceive the data in a simpler manner, process the data speedily, and rapidly alter criticisms into deeds. Using technology to facilitate in bringing perspective to the information and make out chances for P&G by the employment of technology by GBS Analysts. To use the connection of analysts in planet see the similar commerce data in the identical way simultaneously, permitting them to join forces more efficiently. To offer business significance through one supply chain exemplar controlled supply cycle capability outline to assemble numerous information points, methodical, and exposures. This should consequence in a record decrease of 25 percent and should save enormous amounts of money. 1.5. Assumptions This copyright- pending incorporation of technology, visualization, and statistical aids heads to drill-down into statistics to get retorts in real-time. To respond to a set of queries, the course studies and joins in so far as 220 terabytes of data (matched to the degree of data stored in 200,000 editions of Encyclopedia Britannica), permitting for unprecedented granularity as well as customization. The manner data is tendered uncovers criticisms, drifts, and chances for the business heads and compels them to ask diversely and extremely concentrated on business queries. The visualization aids individuals to â€Å"make out† the statistics in manners they would not have had the capability to distinguish with merely figures and spreadsheets. It tests suppositions while concurrently presenting the statistics in dissimilar methods, enlightening potential resolutions that formerly might have not been clear.

Research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Research paper - Essay Example Therefore, this could not have come at the right time. Jack caught the shoplifter and asked her to accompany him to the security area for the necessary interrogations. Interestingly, as Jack escorted the female shoplifter to the security area, her male counterpart yelled and swore that the women did not deserve such treatment. On their way to the security office, Jack instructed the man who was in the company of the shoplifter to remain outside the security office as his presence in the interrogations was of secondary importance. Oblivious of the implications, the partner forced himself into the security room while at the same time yelling, swearing, and pointing accusing fingers at Jack’s face. He also referred to Jack as a â€Å"Nigga† meaning a black man. In a reactionary mood, Jack responded to the situation by hitting the customer in his stomach. This commotion forced Chris to alert the police, and both customers were apprehended. However, pursuant to the Grocery policies, employee code of conduct prohibits aggression and violence within the premises. Moreover, the policy forbids fights and any forms of physical confrontations at the workplace. Taking these policy provisions into consideration, Jack had gone through an elaborate training exposing him to get a proper grip of the company policy on workplace violence. This comprehensive training given to Jack offers the impression that he was liable to any action that violates the company policy provisions. In light of this stance, Jack was fired due to abuse of the nonviolence policy. Furthermore, he had a moral obligation to shape the errant customer in the spirit of the company policy stipulations. Apart from the dismissal, Jack was sued for the unfair portrayal of his nationality. This paper is an expository analysis of three case laws including; Ali vs. Roggers, Zeinali vs. Raytheon Co., and Rashidan vs. Geissberger . According to the

Business Plan Implementation Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Plan Implementation - Personal Statement Example Coral Reef Adventures will dive seven days each week and visit a variety of dive sites each day. With over 25 unique dive sites available off the coast of Palm Beach, divers will experience a truly remarkable diving experience. The Coral Reef will operate from a beautiful 38’ Canaveral Custom Boat or equivalent docked at the Riverian Beach Marina. The boat will be well equipped with a professional captain and crew to serve its guests. There will be a Certified Dive Masters on every trip, oxygen and Nitrox fills on board, complimentary soft drinks and snacks and a fresh water rinse area for all to enjoy. Coral Reef Adventures, Inc. will accommodate up to 25-30 customers at a time. The boat will be equipped with 9 well trained staff and state of the art equipment, to make each trip a safe and enjoyable adventure. The company’s mission will be to deliver a variety of programs and packages that appeal to all skill levels. It provides maximum frequencies and options to guests and demonstrates abilities to showcase best dive charter with the best service and safety conscience crew the Florida â€Å"Gold Coast† has to offer. Finally, it endeavors to provide extra value added amenities, the competition does not offer to all guests. My goal is to engender a business that performs at a consistent profitable level, and as my four Sons finish their educational careers, it is my intention to integrate each one into different functions of the business. I would like the company to have acquired 25 new boats from the current single boat in the next 10 years, and grow by an average of $ 2million per year in revenue. I will need to impart teamwork, good communication, reliability and responsiveness to my team. Besides, I will recruit those who have a passion for diving and have shown credible track record in doing honest and ethical business. I will also motivate my employees by reviewing their monthly paychecks upwards. The new technology and social

The English Law on defences to a claim in negligence is a confused Essay

The English Law on defences to a claim in negligence is a confused muddle. Only contributory negligence makes any coherent sense at all - Essay Example This is patently inequitable, and under such circumstances the courts make serious efforts to discount the presence of contributory negligence (Murdoch, 2002). These judicial gymnastics, at times seem to defy the import of the evidence presented in the case. These observations are clearly brought out in the case of Astley v Austrust Ltd. In this case, a trustee company sued a firm of solicitors for breach of contract and for providing negligent advice. The trial court judge discerned contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff, and ruled that the responsibility for the loss was to be shared equally by the plaintiff and defendant (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). This decision was set aside by the Full Court in South Australia, which held that there was no contributory negligence. This court went on to rule that contributory negligence could not arise, in instances where the loss to the plaintiff was of the very nature that it was the duty of the defendant to prevent, by providing appropriate professional advice (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). However, in the High Court, it was held that apportionment legislation was inapplicable to contributory negligence of the plaintiff; if the defendant had not protected the plaintiff from such damage. Thus, contributory negligence can be attributed to a plaintiff, in instances where the principal duty of the defendant is to prevent such damage to the plaintiff (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). In addition to being able to predict damage and the closeness of the parties; it should be equitable and reasonable to enforce a duty of care. There have been several cases, where the courts have ruled that the duty of care, inherent in psychiatric injury that was caused on account of negligence, was present due to policy considerations (Victim of self – inflicted injuries owes no duty of care, 2000). In Caparo Industries plc v Dickman, the

Toyota international business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Toyota international business - Essay Example The decision to operate and expand in Poland compared to other EU countries is dependant on a lot of factors, however we can look at some major aspects of investment decisions. Poland has been one of the most successful transition economies of the last decade thanks to consistently sound economic policies (DTI). It has consistently produced growth in GDP which slowed down in 1999-2000 which was mitigated with the prospects of closer integration with EU. Poland has dynamically converted from state capitalist economy to privately owned market economy. Even though conversion to private market economy and focus on EU increased consistency in economic policies, unnecessary red tape still needs to be eliminated. However until Poland joins the Eurozone, which is expected approximately by 2010, companies operating in Poland will be exposed to foreign currency risks. Considering the stringent requirements that have to be met in order to become a member of EU e.g. trade deficit of less than 3% and maximum government public debt of 60% of GDP, it is expected that until Poland joins Eurozone, the exchange rate will be stable enough so as not to effect investment and trade decisions by companies such as Toyota. Since the establishment of European Union and introduction of Euro, economic environment has dramatically changed. The EU represents a market of over 450 million people with minimal barrier’s to trade and movement of factors of production. The market size is expected to be effected due to inclusion of new member states into EU, however it is expected to normalize and increase by 2010 (DTI) and not only provide a larger target market but also skilled human resource – which is available at competitive cost compared to other European countries. Owing to the market size and purchasing power of the consumers, Toyota has posted 12% YoY increase in sales in

The English Law on defences to a claim in negligence is a confused Essay

The English Law on defences to a claim in negligence is a confused muddle. Only contributory negligence makes any coherent sense at all - Essay Example This is patently inequitable, and under such circumstances the courts make serious efforts to discount the presence of contributory negligence (Murdoch, 2002). These judicial gymnastics, at times seem to defy the import of the evidence presented in the case. These observations are clearly brought out in the case of Astley v Austrust Ltd. In this case, a trustee company sued a firm of solicitors for breach of contract and for providing negligent advice. The trial court judge discerned contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff, and ruled that the responsibility for the loss was to be shared equally by the plaintiff and defendant (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). This decision was set aside by the Full Court in South Australia, which held that there was no contributory negligence. This court went on to rule that contributory negligence could not arise, in instances where the loss to the plaintiff was of the very nature that it was the duty of the defendant to prevent, by providing appropriate professional advice (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). However, in the High Court, it was held that apportionment legislation was inapplicable to contributory negligence of the plaintiff; if the defendant had not protected the plaintiff from such damage. Thus, contributory negligence can be attributed to a plaintiff, in instances where the principal duty of the defendant is to prevent such damage to the plaintiff (Astley v Austrust Ltd, 1999). In addition to being able to predict damage and the closeness of the parties; it should be equitable and reasonable to enforce a duty of care. There have been several cases, where the courts have ruled that the duty of care, inherent in psychiatric injury that was caused on account of negligence, was present due to policy considerations (Victim of self – inflicted injuries owes no duty of care, 2000). In Caparo Industries plc v Dickman, the

Legal and Ethical Issues Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Legal and Ethical Issues - Term Paper Example The loan was granted to assist the company in meeting then financial requirements for constructing an additional manufacturing plant. The administration stopped the additional capital inflows the Solyndra a step that made them close down and more than a thousand employees lost jobs (Anderson, 2012). Production activities stopped, and the company had to explain what made them make such a decision. As the management explained, there was a persistent increase in the production cost while the prices of the solar panels were decreasing. These could not tally and, therefore, the company ended up making huge losses. The cause of the fall in prices of solar panels was that Chinese developers had come up with cheaper ones which served the purpose of the Solyndra’s. According to the Washington post (2011), â€Å"the foreign manufacturers were supplying cheaper solar panels due to government subsidies a move that made the market prices of the solar panels to decline forcing Solyndra to reduce their prices for it to remain competitive†. Another problem that was lightly disclosed that the company had delayed accounts receivables that they failed to collect in the correct time. The foreign competitors had better terms of sale since they used to extend their customers’ payment terms (Anderson, 2012). There was no compliance with the good terms in the side of the Solyndra’s customers. There was an attempt to get the company back to business where one of the shareholders provided $75 but that was in vain. The loan processing was made possible as a result of an energy law that was passed in 2005 to authorize the department to issue federal backed loans for innovative projects that helped in reducing air pollution. The study intends to evaluate the legal and moral issues that relate to the circumstance of Solyndra. Legal issues to be addressed included the involved the company finances, contracts, payment of private investors and laying down of

A Letter To My Past Self English Language Essay

A Letter To My Past Self English Language Essay I might find yourself a bit taken back by reading reader from your future. I assure you are not being watch by a hidden camera and the but of a joke. I think you will agree with me, or rather yourself that education is very important to your, our future. For that reason you are preparing yourself for college. I could tell you who you are going to meet and what classes you shouldnt take, but that wouldnt fair. What I will tell you is that your field of vision will widen. Your brain will hurt and you will have many all righters. To truth of the matter is that you have the tools to be successful already. These tools will need to be sharped and taken care of a like any other tool in your garage. Of these tools writing is very important, maybe the most important of them all. To understand how to write is a key that will propel in on the road you will begin on. Through its process and constant evolution, one must embrace writing as an art form and not a chore. Language is a multifaceted tool which we use to communicate to one another. Its defined as a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meaning. As the definition suggests its more than just spoken words. Its a head nod, a thumbs up, a smile, braille, hand movements, etc. Pediatricians describe children as sponges to indicate their ability to learn from their environment. Those of us lucky enough to be raised in a household with multiple cultures can have an advantage or disadvantage depending on what we are taught. Institutions such as schools, churches, and the military have their own set of governing rules and behaviors which shape our minds and therefore also shape our usage of language. The experiences Ive had in life shaped my relationship with language, through empowering and undermining my search for self-actualization. Growing up in a bilingual family affected my speech development as a child, which lead me to mix the two languages instead of mastering them one at a time. The United States is a melting pot of difficult cultures, peoples, religions; I believe its what makes this country so great. Even though the United States does not have an official language, English is predominately used. Of course some might argue that in Florida or Texas, Spanish is more widely used, but thats another topic for another day. Being of Spanish decent can be hard and confusing at times. I am of Puerto Rican decedent and was born here in America. My mother being Puerto Rican and my step-father being Guatemalan had issues with what language I was supposed to be taught first toddler. My step-father said I should learn English first because we lived in America and everyone speaks English. My mother on the other hand wanted me to learn Spanish so that I wouldnt forget my roots. As a child hearing my mother speaking Span ish and my father speaking English hindered my communicational development. Thus the language of Spanglish was born. Im sure that Spanglish was being used before I was born, but the fact that I was combining both languages to communicate held me back in some areas. I would start a sentence in English and finish my thought in Spanish. It wasnt that I was doing it on purpose, but my mind took the easy route to finish my thought. If I couldnt find a word in English for something I wanted to say, I would just find one in Spanish and vice versus. That may have worked at home, but it didnt work so well when my Jewish pre-kindergarten teacher couldnt understand me completely. It wasnt that I was not smart enough to be in her class, or develop enough to be in pre-kindergarten. I knew my ABCs, could count to ten and knew the colors of the rainbow. The Hindering factor was that I knew them in Spanish. My inability to use the English language at that age was going to hold me back in school. I was possibly looking at a disadvantage from the start. My mother was so afraid of the school not accepting me in to kindergarten that a summer of hell awaited me. She stopped talking to me in Spanish and English became the predominate language in my home. Being that I was young and a sponge, t didnt take me long to learn the English language for my age. I was able to understand and be understood by my English speaking only teachers. That decision that my mom made resulted in another dilemma in my life which I now still deal with. Growing up in a multicultural environment confused me at times and let me to think and believe I was rootless. Am I an American or am I Puerto Rican? Do I feel comfortable speaking Spanish or English? Everyone at school spoke English, my mother once schooled started talking to talk to me in only English and no one really talked to me in Spanish besides my cheek grabbing aunts no came to visit everyone once in a while. I believed that my roots as my mother put it were slipping away from me. I felt ashamed for a long time because I think I wasnt Hispanic enough or Puerto Rican enough. Having to switch on language the way I did when I was younger put bump in my road for success. To this day I hate spelling and I rather do math. You could say a some people dont like to spell. That is a true statement, but my inability to master one language at time was very confusing. One question that my grandfather asked me repeatedly when I was younger was, How do you say that in Spanish. One instant that I remember, he was referring to my uncles Nintendo. I had asked him if it was alright if I could use the Nintendo in English. Even though he understood what I asking, he was playing a mean trick on me and proofing a point to my parents. He told me that if I could tell him how to say Nintendo in Spanish, then I was allowed to play. I had to ran to my father ask him and he told me Nintendo in English is Nintendo (with a Spanish accent) in Spanish. I felt a bit dumb, but I didnt care at the time because all I wanted to do was play Nintendo. Thinking about that time it was hard for me to have a full conversation with my grandparents without being frustrated. To a degree with was like Malcolm X writing is letters in jail, I know what I wanted say, but I had a hard time saying it in the right language. I eventually took Spanish classes to improve my Spanish speaking skills and talked more with my parents in Spanish to not lose touch with that side of myself. My enlistment in the military was not only culturally shocking, but linguistically shocking as well. Ive recently closed a chapter in life, titled The Marine Corps. It was a life altering experience which I befitted from tremendously. It was a culture shock to say the least. I mention this because there were expectations of me which I had no clue of. I was supposed to know these things, about those things, and all that overnight. One of the craziest issues I had was the language. All of my life the floor had been the floor and all of a sudden floor was now the deck. The walls were bulkheads, the windows were portholes and my shirt became my blouse. Now back on my neighborhood if you were a guy and you wore a blouse that you played for the other team, by that I mean homosexual. I slowly realized that the Marine Corps was rooted in Naval traditional and the terminology date back to ship life. After a while verything started to make sense, but that doesnt mean it became easier. I was st ill being yelled at for referring to the deck as the floor while I cleaned it. Another issue in the Marine Corps I had was speaking in the third person. Now that only last for the three months of boot camp if you ever met a Marine and asked him about the longest time of his life, he or she will problem say Marine boot camp seemed to never end. I just couldnt understand why I needed to say This recruit or recruit Perez needs to use the head instead of saying Hey I need to use the bathroom. Again those were just traditions that fitted a purpose. Whenever you spoke incorrectly the Drill Instructors made it a point to correct you with physical fitness, with that being said I was one tough and lean recruit by the end. Besides being expected to perform in boot camp and being held to a standard. The rest of my Marine Corps life was one learning experience after another. I learned that you dont address a Colonial the way you would you home boy back at home in an e-mail. Professionalism is s omething you need a lot of if you going to survived the arm forces. You are a cut about the rest; cream of the crop so that meant if you half ass work wasnt tolerated. Incomplete work, or work poorly accomplish is the same as not doing it at all. Writing professionally wasnt something I was taught, but I learned under fire. I would write an e-mail or a respond to question 3 to 5 times and had my peers look it over so I wouldnt get in trouble. That would hinder my workload output, but I wasnt being yelled at anymore for not being professional, not it was about not working fast enough. It used to scare me to know that I would have to write an e-mail and 1000 people would read it. I dreaded replies on incorrect grammar or my use of Spanglish. Yes I did use Spanish on a couple of occasion and that they go over so well. With time everything can be accomplished, and my writing skills became better, I do still try to review my work/email/face-book status updates before hitting enter, it ju st a habit now. My experience with my own culture and cultural language (Spanish), allowed me the understanding needed to embrace the Japanese culture and language. My Marine Corps life has let me different place around the world and Okinawa, Japan is included in that list. I still remember being picked up from the airport by my superiors and the long drive to base. Its a humbling experience driving around in a different country and seeing a different set of people you arent used to seeing. I was trying to read billboards, street signs, and even the menu off of the McDonalds drive through, but everything was Latin to me. Well it wasnt Latin most likely the signs were in Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are 3 forms of writing that the Japanese use. My friends and I would go and interact with the people of Okinawa; we didnt like staying on base so we explored the island and what it had to offer. It wasnt easy at first, but the Okinawan people were very accepting of us becaus e we at least tried to learn the language. I carried a Romanized dictionary, to be able to say what we were trying to convey. Even though I know that I was order chicken in English, but the Japanese waitress only knew Japanese. My friend, Wesley would come to the rescue on occasion such as those if I took too long in my dictionary. He had a pocket picture book, which travelers used in different countries to express what that want. He pointed to a picture of chicken and the waitress new exactly what I wanted to order. It amazed me that images can be used to communicate the basic of thoughts. My patience in knowing that I was guest in Okinawa and that I was the one that couldnt be understood helped me better understand the people and culture of Okinawa, Japan. Language has been my double edge sword and that if I used correctly and I acknowledged and understood, but if I am careless and foolish with it and it cut you deep than anything known to man. Of course language isnt something you can pick up and slick through the air, but you can master this invisible tool. I practice when I speak, read, write, sign, and even nodding my head. It is what I do with my experiences; it is what I do with I practices that shape my mastery of it. To quote smarter man than I He who controls the language, controls the word. I believe the word word in his quote means my inner being, my inner self. To become my best self, I must be fully aware of who I am and realize I can be more. I will not be a prisoner of my own mind, for it is I that hold myself back or lets myself fly.

Eulogy for my Loving Mother :: essays research papers

Good afternoon, let me just start by saying that the kindness, support, friendship, and love extended to me and my family during this difficult time has really touched my heart- we are sincerely appreciative! During the last moments of my mother’s life she was surrounded by loved ones, as she slowly slipped away into the morning with grace and peace. I can’t begin to express how hard it is for me to stand here before you and give my last respects to my loving mother - name here. From the biography that was handed out you can recall that during the her early years in the united states she studied and worked in New York where she met and married my dad, the love of her life. They spent the rest of their days loyal and in love with one another. Unfortunately, one day my father passed away with cancer at a young age. My dad was the one who suffered the most, but my mom suffered right along with him. She felt powerless, and for my mom- powerlessness turned in to guilt and grief, a painful distress she lived with on a daily basis for the next six years. When he died part of her died! Life for her was never the same again. I was not able to completely understand her loss- until now†¦ Throughout my life my mom has always been selfless and generous- especially when it came to her children and grandchildren†¦ ever putting her self last! SHE WAS MY EVERYTHING†¦ Unlike my sister, I was the one that gave my parents their grey hair†¦ It took me longer than most to mature, and the truth is- that’s putting it mildly. Yet through all the ups and downs, and all the times I would end up disappointing her expectations of me, one thing NEVER changed and that was her belief in me†¦ because of her unconditional love I am the person that I am today†¦ her reassurance and patience made all the difference. Because of her active involvement in my life and Eileen’s she became known to our friends as â€Å"Mama†. Where ever we would go- she would go with us, that’s just the way it was†¦ she got so close to our friends that they formed their own friendship with her.

condoms Essay -- essays research papers

Why people do not use condoms Many men and women prefer unprotected intercourse or using another contraceptive method rather than using a condom. Among currently married women of reproductive age, only 5 percent use condoms for contraception worldwide, and only 3 percent in less developed regions of the world, according to United Nations estimates of contraceptive use. In this chapter we a re going to analyze or try to explain why some people don’t use condoms. In order to do this, we used some theory of the book ‘Social Psychology’ (7th edition) by David G. Meyers. Also we used much information that we got from the internet. In the above mentioned book, they explained that each construes the human skin as a special boundary that separates one set of casual forces from another. On the sunny side of the epidermis are the external or situational forces that press inward upon the person, and on the meaty side are the internal or personal forces that exert pressure outward. Sometimes these forces press in conjunction, sometimes in opposition, and their dynamic interplay manifest itself as observable behavior. In the figure below you can see a figure which explains Harold Kelly’s theory of attribution. Through the figure above, you can conclude yourself whether the following reasons are internal or external attribution. In addition we divided the causes in two parts. The first one is the reasons of the people in the developed countries and the second part is about the reason of the people in the developing countries. Developed Countries The most frequent reasons people in the developed countries give for not using a condom relate to the following issues: lack of sensation or interrupted sexual pleasure; psychological and social factors, including couple communication and assumptions that condoms are for use in extramarital relationships and with prostitutes; lack of availability of condoms, including policies that prohibit condom distribution to youth; and lack of confidence in the reliability of condoms themselves. To make condoms more acceptable and more widely used, all of these issues should be addressed. Factors affecting the acceptability of condoms can be thought of as a series of concentric circles that interact with each other -- from the individual at the center to the couple, the health-care system, the community and the entire world. An ... ...ong young people. Fearing that it will promote sexual activity out-of-wedlock, many service providers and pharmacists do not make condoms easily accessible to youth. Adolescents may hesitate to obtain condoms available at clinics because service providers act judgmentally towards them. Young women may be especially timid because it is considered inappropriate for them to seek condoms. Limited distribution systems complicate access, especially in rural areas. Government outlets may be relatively few and widely dispersed or private-sector sources may favor wealthier urban areas, resulting in uneven availability within a country. In 2000, donors provided less than one billion of the estimated eight billion condoms required in developing countries and Eastern Europe to greatly expand access for those in need. Many developing country governments are providing and promoting condoms as part of their HIV prevention strategies, but for the poorest countries, assistance from the wealthier developed countries remains the main source of condoms. In other countries, sustainable prevention efforts that include promotion and provision of condoms are hurt by inadequate government commitment.

Effect Of Violent Television Programs On Children In The U.S Essay

In 1996, the federal government of the United States passed a law demanding that every television set from the size of 13 inches and above to be installed with a V chip to control content being watched by children. This move was inspired by the recognition of the impact that violent television programs were causing on the children (Centerwall 69). More recently, some senators in US lead the drive to the enactment of laws that would control broadcast of sex ad violence on TV. TV violence has been a matter of greater concern since it occupies much of the TV content programmed in the US today. Research shows that concern for behavioral effects began as early as the 1950s and 60s following the introduction and popularity of televisions in US. Currently, TV broadcasting has evolved a lot in US such that content is being broadcast without much concern for age rating, especially following increased access to TV the children. Violence can be from news programs or fictional entertainment programs. A 1995 article in the Journal of American Medical Association points out that television has detrimental impacts on the normal development of children due to the increase in physical aggressiveness and health concerns (Centerwall 644). Later, the American Psychological Association published a policy statement urging pediatricians to advise their clients to control TV viewing among their children to not more than 1 or 2 hours. Effects of physical aggressiveness have also been confirmed by the US National Institute of Mental Health. This has especially impacted negatively on the religious foundations of children since aggressiveness contrasts the fundamental principles of most religions. Children usually learn by imitating what they observe, hence if exposed to violent programs they tend to emulate the violent behaviors shown on the program. Two separate studies conducted among young inmates convicted of violent crime cases including rape, assault and homicide indicates that between 22 % and 34 % confessed to have been consciously inspired by the crime techniques leant from TV programs they used to watch (Nathanson 141). A number of these were from a strong religious background. Some 1990 data shows that children in US between the age of 2 and 5 years of age were spent about 27 hours of their time every week watching television most of which were had violent content. Although religious principles may guide behaviour to some extent, psychologists argue that children of such age are usually unable to differentiate fantasy ad facts when it comes to television and hence end up accepting and believing what they watch, this erodes their moral and religious believes with time. A study conducted for close to 22 years among US children of age 8 and addressing the correlation of this group to the severity of crime committed by the same at age 30, found out that viewing of violent content correlated highly positively to the nature and seriousness of crime most were convicted of at age 30: at a probability of 0. 05% (Brandon 1). This number is inclusive of religious children implying that violent programs introduce them gradually to crime. A study on 100 male crime convicts, whereby 65 of them had no past association with crime; were of same age, residence background and race and aged between age 10 and 14, shows that there was significant statistical relation between exposure to TV violence and violent behaviour in adults. This proves the finding that violence has great potential to shape the behavior of a child irrespective of religion. A poll conducted among adult Americans show that about 43 percent of Americans believe that contribution of TV violence to increasing violence in the society is high than any other factors. Given that most Americans are religious people and so are their children, it is apparent homicide is against their principles. However, there is the data that states that the per annum rate of white homicides in US increased by 92 recent from 1945’s 1. 3 homicides/ 100000 US white citizens to 2. 5 / 100000 in 1974 (Centerwall 646). TV violence has been the leading cause of religious negligence among most young US people as they are inspired by the reality of TV the set of religious principles. This is regarded as the effect of high market competitiveness driving TV companies to broadcast violence in a â€Å"fantasy† manner to generate mass audiences for advertising purposes. There is less concern for responsibility. Religious children have been victims of juvenile crime as pointed out by senators Kefauwer and Dodd regarding relation of TV programs to the increases in juvenile crime. A study by The Centre of Research on the Effect of Television indicates that young people usually become insensitive to pain or other activity that inflicts suffering on others especially in real life. This has been noted more specifically by church leaders as the most basic factor driving religious children used to violent TV shows to try out violent activity. This is because they tend to believe what they see is the real world. Children, including the religious as well perceive violence in such program as fantasy since they lack the ability to differentiate fantasy and reality at below age 8 (Wood, et al. 375). In this regard, most children also tend to believe that violence is the most appropriate means of getting what one wants as is depicted by their heroes. Children also grow fear of the world that they live in. This affects their self drive and may make them to apply the violent activity in self defense on being made to perceive the real world as bad. This is in contrast to what religion advocates for. This rate of influence is even more alarming given the fact that about 54% of children in America have access to a TV set in their bedroom with 44% (religious children included) confirming that they watch totally different subjects when not with their parents. Research from Michigan University notes that TV contributes to abut 10% of the violent witnessed among religious children. The American Psychological Association notes that children who watch a lot of violent TV shows have more tendency to show violent behaviors such as disobedience, arguing and striking out at playmates irrespective of religious background (Harrison and Joanne 93). The Kaiser Family Foundation argues that most religious children as well as the non-religious ones have come to accept violence as an alternative to solving life problems due to prolonged exposure to programs depicting the same on TV. According to the Center for Disease Control, US, violence among children who watch a lot of television is the topmost public health challenge with the influence of the same on murder rates increasing at rates more than population growth (American Academy of Pediatrics 1119). Violent television has also been associated with increased levels of blood pressure which is a contributing factor to aggressiveness. It is undeniable that TV affects negatively the behaviour f children and it is even worth noting that religious children are not spared unless with the intervention of seniors. Works Cited Centerwall, B. S. â€Å"Television and violent crime. † The Public Interest 111(1993): 56-77. Harrison, Karin, and Joanne Cantor. â€Å"Tales from the Screen: Enduring Fright Reactions to Scary Media. † Media Psychology 1. 2 (1999): 97–116. Nathanson, Amy J. , and Joanne, Cantor. â€Å"Children’s Fright Reactions to Television News. † Journal of Communication 46. 4 (1996): 139–152. Centerwall, B. S. â€Å"Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence. † American Journal of Epidemiology 129 (1989): 643-652. Wood, W, Wong, F. Y. , and Chachere, J. G. â€Å"Effects of media violence on viewers’ aggression in unconstrained social interaction. † Psychological Bulletin 109 (1991): 371-383. American Academy of Pediatrics. â€Å"Committee on Communications: Children, adolescents, and television. † Pediatrics 85(1990):1119-1120. Brandon, Centerwall S. â€Å"Television and Violence: The Scale of the Problem and Where to Go From Here† JAMA 267. 22 (1992). Retrieved August 3, 2010 from http://cursor. org/stories/television_and_violence. htm.