Automotive Industries in Thailand Essay

Contribution of MNC’s in automotive industry: Most of the developing countries consider that the automotive industry will move the country toward an intensive industrialisation by creating a large set of related businesses. Thailand aims to be regarded as the Detroit of Asia. The country has engaged in the last few decades in the development of the automotive industry, with a special focus on domestic auto-assembly. Thailand is the world’s second largest pick-up truck market after the U.S., and it is ASEAN’s largest automotive market and assembler. Today all leading Japanese car producers as well as BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Ford, Volvo, and Peugeot, assemble cars in Thailand along with their group of subcontractors and suppliers. Thailand has become the main production base for auto exports in South East Asia. Thailand is considered as one of the most attractive countries for automotive investments mainly due to factors such as the good and growing domestic market size, the relative political stability, liberal trade and investment policy, and the lack of a â€Å"national car program†. The automotive industry is Thailand’s third largest industry, employing an estimated total workforce of about 225,000 employees, and with a total production capacity of around 1,270,100 cars and trucks per year. Japanese-make automobiles have dominated the local auto market; with nearly 90% market share but other global vehicle manufacturers’ investments are growing consistently, creating a very dynamic industry. New global parts manufacturers are in the process of relocating some of their operations to Thailand. Thailand has 16 vehicle assemblers; most of them are large-scale foreign owned or joint venture enterprises. As well, there are more than 1100 small and medium sized companies working as suppliers of original equipment (OEM),  or producing replacement equipment (REM). The automotive industry in Thailand is very concentrated with most of the factories located in the Samut Prakarn province (approximately 20 km south of Bangkok), followed by Rayong (approximately 130 km south-east of Bangkok). The largest car producer is Toyota, and in 2003 it was the first manufacturer to establish a local R&D centre in Thailand. However, this type of initiative, a cooperative arrangement between MNCs and local universities, is so far not a widespread practice in Thailand. Therefore, there is a stringent need to understand the mechanisms allowing for knowledge transfer and sharing, if Thailand wants to position itself as a very competitive country, not only in the automotive industry but in other industrial sectors as well. Thailand benefits from these companies operations as almost 18% of labour and employment are generated by the automotive industry.

Valediction Forbidding Mourning

A Valediction Forbidding Mourning Analysis In the poem â€Å"A Valediction Forbidding Mourning†, by John Done, it is about a man who is saying goodbye to his lover as he is about to leave. Done is trying to make his departure easier for his lover so he writes her a poem. He uses many deferent literary elements to enrich his poem and make It more compelling to the reader. He uses onomatopoeia, syntax, euphemism, and similes to Inform the reader about his love. This helps the speaker compare his love to life like features to show how deeply he Is In love. Done first tells his lover that he will not be gone forever.He explains how â€Å"virtuous men pass mildly away. † What Done Is saying Is that his lover has to be able to accept the fact that he Is leaving. Just like someone has to accept death. In most cases people do not make the choice to die. It Is something that happens to everyone and there Is nothing to do to stop It. So overall, Done Is telling his lover that his exit Is going to happen. Done later explains to his lover how people are worried about the earth's rotation. He uses this connection to show how his lover does not have to worry. Done informs his lover how, workstation of the spheres,'Though greater far, is innocent. † In other words Done is saying that his lover fears him going away, but she shouldn't because he will return. What this meaner is that her worrying is pointless. She fears something that is naturally occurring. Her fear of him leaving is not worth worrying about because he will return. Done compares his love to gold in the 6th stanza. He states that their love is not â€Å"a breach, but an expansion. † The meaning of this is that their love will never fall apart, only expand. He Is saying that no matter how far they are away from each other, they will always e together.Done compares this to gold because when it is stretched it expands, it will not break. So he compares his love to this because their love will never break. In stanzas 7 and 8 Done compares his love to a compass. In the 7th stanza he explains how the soul, the fixed foot, makes no show/ to move, but doth, if the' other do. † The fixed foot of the compass stays in the center while the other one makes a circle around it. It doesn't matter how far apart they are, the two feet will always stay together. The axis in the middle is the force that holds their love together.Done also shows how it doesn't matter how far he is away from her. In stanza 8 Done describes how the feet of the compass are compared to him and his lover. When he Is talking about the feet he says how â€Å"It learns and hearkens it,' And grows erect, as that comes home. † What this is saying Is that she must stay at home and Walt while he â€Å"roams† around. But when he comes home she will be excited to see him. She has to know that since their love Is like a compass they will always be connected. That one day he will come home and th at they will be back together again. In this poem,Done starts out by explaining how he Is going to have to leave and that there Is nothing his lover can do about It. He compares this to how people pass away and that they don't have the choice. He tells her that worrying will be pointless and that It will not be worth It because In the end he will return. Done uses the example of how people worry about the earth's natural occurrences and how this is a waste of time. Always stick together. No matter how far one of the feet go, it will not break apart, Just like the gold. And in the end when he has completed his Journey, he will return back to her.

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Discussion - Assignment Example In 1850, he showed three paintings at the Combined Salon in Paris. These paintings included The Stone Breakers, The Huge Burial at Ornans and The Peasant of Flagey. The three paintings presented a depiction of rural life and their stylistic execution was in such a way that they would look post†Romantic’ [Prof. Moore (1), pg.1]. The Huge Burial at Ornans for instance was a major source of hullabaloo. It was a very large painting measuring 3.1 metres by 6.6 metres. The painting depicted the burial of his great uncle at the town of Ornan in September 1848. Gustave in this piece of art presents a real funeral scene. One can clearly see the tranquility and calmness in the painting. Unlike other artists of his time, Gustave did not glorify the setting with flamboyant portrayal of descending angels with God sitting on the throne in the clouds above. This clearly indicates his desire to portray reality. At the foreground, an open grave awaits the coffin while the funeral procession is approaching from the left. Unlike other historical narrative paintings who used models, He uses the actual villagers who were at the ceremony including his sister and mother. This proves his love for realism, which was a major factor that contributed to the â€Å"rise of modernism.† In his portrayal of realism, he encouraged o ther artists to put an end to the norm of creating illusionary images and instead create real images, which represented real life situations. Edouard Manet is another artist who played a major role in the â€Å"rise of modernism.† He was born in Paris, France on 23 January 1832. Manet entered into the studio of Thomas Couture together with his friend Antonio Proust. In 1956, he opened his own studio and stopped working in Couture’s studio. As a young and enthusiastic painter, Eduoard Manet abandoned the teachings he had learnt from Thomas Couture and began painting in his own style. He followed his own

The Communication Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Communication Process - Essay Example In this paper, I will explain the model of the communication process and describe its development and related variables that affect it. The Communication Process There are numerous definitions to the communication process. But one of the most excellent descriptions that capture its essence is that one provided by Reddy (2004). He explained that the process â€Å"involves the sender, the transmission of a message through a selected channel and the receiver† (14). The definition can be illustrated in the following figure: Fig. 1: The Communication Process What this means is that the process may involved the exchange of messages through speaking, signals, writing or behavior and may occur either as verbal or nonverbal (Marquis and Huston 2009, 443). According to Steinberg, there are three basic models of the communication process, emphasizing different aspects of communication and these are: linear, circular and transactional (Steinberg 2006, 17). Fundamentally, there are four el ements involved, which must play their respective parts and interact in order for the process to be completed and become successful. These are the sender, the message, the channel or medium and the receiver. The sender initiates the process by encoding or expressing his or her thoughts or ideas in such a way that they will be understood by the intended receiver of the message. The codified or expressed thought is now the message, which, for its part, is conveyed or transmitted through a channel. This variable is the platform used for the message and effectively links the sender and the receiver in the process. For example, if the message is written, the channel may be a letter through the post or through the email using a computer. The receiver then receives the message and decodes it into his or her thoughts. After which, a message would then be conveyed in response, which is identified in the process as the feedback. Noise Noise is an element in the communication process. But unli ke the other four, it is not an integral component, required to make the process complete or effective. This is because noise hampers communication. It affects the process negatively and could muddle a message so that it is not interpreted correctly or never understood at all. Noise can literally be sound interference but it generally refers to the variables that disrupt the exchange of messages. For example, it can be the faulty encoding or decoding, personal biases of the people involved or their focus in the process, strong emotions such as fear and a host of other tangible and intangible variables. Feedback The significance of feedback, which is the final step in the process, rests on the fact that it is the only barometer to determine whether the process has been completed and effective. It tells the sender of the message that the conveyed information was successfully received and decoded. Feedbacks assume many forms and may not resemble the nature of the message received. For example, a girl giggles after I told her that she is beautiful. The giggle is the feedback. Feedback also provides the mechanism to determine the nature of the noise involved and to correct the faulty process. Also, feedback may also suffer from the same noise by which a

Comparing Emerson and Thoreau Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Comparing Emerson and Thoreau - Essay Example consistency [which] is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines† (Emerson) and independence which is free from any unwarranted neediness that enables one to appreciate existence better as articulated by Thoreau. Emerson begun the transcendentalist thought by urging people to seek solitude to be attuned with their own self. Emerson urges to be your own genius, that is, â€Å"to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men† and not to fall prey to the coercion of society to conform, which according to Emerson is the â€Å"hobgoblin of little minds† that conspires against the manhood of every one of its members (Emerson, ___). This can be accomplished by freeing oneself from living a â€Å"simple lifestyle† that is devoid from the trappings which the society impose. For Thoreau in his Economy book Walden, he clearly defined simplicity as by reducing his desire. Thus, in his Walden Pond experiment, he embarked on his social experiment that would give him a clearer insight about life and appreciate the experience of existence better through a grounded living. To paraphrase Thoreau in his intent to live in the woods of Concored; "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms". In essence, Thoreau argued that by living simply, he was able to â€Å"suck out all the marrow of life† because he is able to appreciate it more in the

Research funding(granting) agencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research funding(granting) agencies - Essay Example The National Institute of Health is a federal agency that operates to support research activities for better health standards. The mission of the National Institute of Health is to â€Å"seek fundamental knowledge about behavior of living systems,† use the developed information to promote health, increase life expectancy, and reduce rates of illnesses and disability (National Institutes of Health, n.d., p. 1). The mission outlines a research-based initiative for knowledge development and application of research findings for better health among citizens. The mission scope also identifies the agency’s resources for funding research and possible collaboration with other research institutions. The National Institute of Health has institutes, centers, and offices that implement the agency’s mandate. Some of its institutes that are relevant to health system management, through informing management, are the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering, Natio nal Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Mental Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (National Institute of Health, n.d.). ... It further outlines the mode and dates of application, and indicates a formal approach to the agency’s funding announcements and procedures for applications and consideration of the applications. The institute supports grant applications from organizations that conduct research to help address needs for existence and application of new technologies and techniques for care provision (National Institute of Health, n.d.). The agency’s mission is to facilitate and improve health at different levels of the society such as â€Å"individuals, families, communities, and populations† (National Institute of Nursing Research, 2011, p. 1). Pursuing the mission involves the institution’s direct and indirect engagement in clinical and basic research and through trainings. These initiatives aim to â€Å"build the scientific foundation for clinical practice, prevent disease and disability, manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness, and improve palliative and end of life care† (National Institute of Nursing Research, 2011, p. 1). The institution’s areas of research emphasis are â€Å"health promotion and disease prevention, quality of life, health disparities, and end of life† (National Institute of Nursing Research, 2011, p. 1). Funding announcements are made through the National Institute of Health and only links and brief descriptions appear on the agency’s web site. The purpose of Healthy People 2020 is to achieve high living standards with a prolonged life expectancy among people. Its vision, mission, and initiatives communicate this, and its established standards that promote joint strategies among communities and sectors, â€Å"empower individuals toward making informed health decisions,† and determine effects of prevention measures support this. The

The growth of Internet betting and gambling sites and the credit card Essay

The growth of Internet betting and gambling sites and the credit card companies response - Essay Example Further, law enforcement agencies state that Internet gambling is sometimes used for money laundering (Hugel & Kelly 2002: 57). However, others consider this risk as trivial concern. The jurisdictional and anonymity concerns characteristic of Internet gambling make online gambling a potentially strong means for money launderers. The small number of prosecuted instances of money laundering linked to Internet gambling is credited to oversight and a lack of solid parameters (Hugel & Kelly 2002: 58). Still, officials form the gaming and credit card industries and regulatory agencies do not consider that Internet gambling was any more vulnerable to money laundering than other forms of electronic trade (Hugel & Kelly 2002: 58). The main objective of this review is to acquire a better understanding on the different policies and procedures of the credit card industry on Internet gambling. The review is also aimed at obtaining a broader knowledge on the strengths and weaknesses of these policies, and perhaps to formulate any potential recommendations that are possible under the Constitution. To achieve this, a review on use of the U.S. payments method --- particularly credit cards, and on the ongoing debate on Internet gambling should be made. The key points are: 1) to study the legal structure for Internet gambling activities, mainly in the U.S., but also in other countries; 2) to explain the range and characteristic of the regulations and measures the credit card industry has put into practice to prohibit the use of credit cards as a mode of payment for Internet gambling; and 3) to acquire opinions on Internet gambling’s susceptibility to money laundering. Documentation on Internet gambling policies and procedures may be requested from industry representatives; however, some might be disinclined to supply written documentation due to concerns about the confidentiality of propriety regulations. This is why conducting interviews is

Approaches to creativity and innovation in business Essay

Approaches to creativity and innovation in business - Essay Example Mint), Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Prisons), Department of Energy (Brookhaven National Laboratory), NASA (Goddard Space Flight Center), Department of Veteran Affairs (Medical & Regional Office Centers), Department of Labor and various state and municipal agencies like City of Wilmington, Delaware, City of Tullytown, Pennsylvania and govt. of the District of Columbia. â€Å"We aim to achieve unequalled service delivery that meets or exceed our clients' expectations, caring for our environment and host communities in a friendly manner so as to create value to our clients, employees and the environment (ECG Indutries. Inc, 2012).† The mission statement of ECG industries, INC. encompasses all elements of their business. Their commitment to environment preservation while carrying out their operations is clearly demonstrated through their mission statement. Today’s business climate demands that special attention be paid to environmental services which are driven and heavily controlled by environmental regulations. There are many published guidance manuals and policies at Federal, state and local levels that regulate businesses. The number of regulations controlling businesses with respect to environmental concerns is constantly increasing by the day. The environmental laws are constantly evolving and the nature of these regulations is getting more complex than ever. For a business to operate successfully, they have to comply with all these regulations. Businesses like ECG need to incorporate in their operation a combination of project management skills, technical expertise, regulatory knowledge and experience in dealing with environmental concerns to deal effectively with the heavily regulated environment. Services offered by ECG have the potential of causing severe environmental degradation. They can affect the physical environment as well as health, culture and the economic and social structure of local and indigenous communities. ECG has to conform to environmental standards because of the wide variety of customers they serve. Not only do they have to conform to existing laws, they have to anticipate any changes that might occur and change themselves accordingly (Wawryk, 2012). As applies to ECG, guidelines and standards of International Association of Oil and Gas Producers and American Petroleum Institute can affect operations. The International Association of Oil and Gas producers represents oil and gas companies from all around the world where as the American Petroleum Institute majorly influences the oil and gas industry because of the dominance of American oil companies in the industry. Policies of the World Conservation union along with United Nation Environment Programmed, International Standards Organization, International Chambers of Commerce, the World Bank etc can also influence ECG. The guidelines prepared by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers include practices that are international ly accepted. The 11 principles contained in the American Petroleum Institute Environmental and Safety Mission and Guiding principles form the basis the American Petroleum Institute environmental Stewardship Program. The American Petrol

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 15

Case Study Example First, the target to achieve higher scores in already flooded market by using the slogan ‘I will’. Creation of better products with continued innovation that accommodate variety of people enables the brand to stand out. Use of media and retail presentation also account for part of marketing strategy. Main distribution channels for the company have been through regional and national sporting whole sales, special stores, chain stores and institutions. Additionally, sales directly to customers also take place through factory stores in Asia and North America. Third parties produce fine fabrication for company and this production undergoes through collaborative check. Thus, the company ensures usage of only high quality fabrication in manufacturing of their products. Most of the products the company uses are advance technologically through the third parties or on short term to limited sources, which get them from limited suppliers. The third parties provide the company with technologically advanced fabrication used in production. These supplies take place through short term only from limited suppliers. Manufacturing of the products takes place through unaffiliated 14 companies in 65% of the products.Locations of the manufacturing companies are in Philippines, China, Malaysia, Jordan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia Nicaragua and Mexico. Management of the company inventory is through consideration of various factors, which include current orders, sales expectations and delivery requirement by the customers. By December 31 2013, the company had 117 factory houses and 6 brand stores in North America. Meeting customers’ demands form the basic strategy in inventory management that is a continuous process. System in inventory management enables the company to forecast and planning supply process. During the start of the company, funding for its operation came from the owner but growth and expansion of the business

DEMONSTRATION OF A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & AWARENESS OF PROJECT Essay

DEMONSTRATION OF A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & AWARENESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT ISSUES - Essay Example At present, it is quite difficult to find a project, in progress without Project Management, as it can be very catastrophic at the end with huge losses of time, money and reputation. Even the working environment is in complete disarray, with everyone being confused over the sequencing of the task. We all know that the road to success is not one without challenges; and there are factors of Project Management that, if not fulfilled properly, can cause hindrances and thus, failure of the project. Following are such factors along with their courses of action in a particular framework. Information is the most vital resource for the completion of a successful project. It is mainly concerned with detailed information about the required standards of the final product, the time given for its completion, and the budget available for the task. Information regarding the nature of every aspect of the project is very important for the correct choice of work force hired for that particular job, but still keeping budget constraints in mind. In the same way, you should have knowledge of places where you can extract the maximum out of the initially set budget when looking for the required equipment for the project. Lack of information can lead to a complete disaster of the project. ... For example, if you do not have information regarding the aim of the final product, it is impossible to manufacture a product that perfectly meets its purpose. Lack of information regarding the different constraints and details of the nature of the product can lead to a bad choice of human and material resources along with defective quality management. All these problems combined will create a product nowhere near the required one. Let us keep the BSI (2006): 6079-4 framework in consideration and go through it systematically with inadequate information. First, the feasibility of a project cannot be deduced correctly if you do not know the detailed nature of the product. Then, a slight change in the outline design of the project will start a chain of events disrupting the scheme and detailed designs too. This obviously causes defects in engineering and construction works and thus the desired product is not manufactured. (Structured PM and CW) Example: Figure 1: The Eden Project in Cornwall. "Building" (Rawlinson, 2006) The Eden Project is a recreational place in Cornwall now in its fourth phase of construction. It has been a success until now as it is a huge tourist attraction and an exceptional construction project being well within budget and time constraints. In fact, it was actually a milestone, as fine points from this project, were used in the development of the 'DLivering Success', a popular system that analyses the status of a project. The Eden Project is a huge success as the information fed into its framework was appropriate and complete. It had no missing feature either in its planning, sequencing or in designing. That is why it has a faultless design and is quite within the range of the available time and money. So now, we can see

The Pizza Industry Essay Example for Free

The Pizza Industry Essay Strengths: ? Pizza is a food item loved and consumed by majority of the people in the world. This is proved by the figures shown in the slides before. ? Pizza outlets provide good taste, quality products with qualified staff, good atmosphere and hygienic environment. Motivation level of staff stays high which make the pizzerias more prosperous. Weaknesses: ? The Pizza outlets provide less range of products and they are usually high priced except for some other reasonable alternatives. In the Indian context, except for some new variants, they focus more on Western taste instead of Eastern. Opportunities: ? New markets can be explored and new opportunities can be sought. Diversification of products can increase their market share. They can reduce their prices because of more resources. They could also incorporate other service models in their structure. Threats: ? New entrants in the market can affect their market share. ? Other local restaurants can affect their market share by providing pizzas with lower price. ? Pizza Hut †¢ Founded in 1958. †¢Parent Company: Yum! Brands. †¢Pizza Hut â€Å"Bistro† †¢Pizza Hut Express and â€Å"The Hut† ? Place †¢ 12,500 restaurants across 91 countries. †¢147 stores across 35 cities in India †¢Mostly in higher income zone ? Products ? Price †¢ Range: 65 485 †¢Coupon worldwide and gift cards in developed countries †¢Pan 4 all ? Promotion †¢C. H. A. M. P. S (Cleanliness, Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product quality and Speed) †¢3F? s ( Fun, Friendly and Familiar) †¢ Sponsored Back to the Future II †¢ MySpace Ted campaign †¢ Endorsed by Lara Dutta. Pizza Hut – BCG Matrix 1)P? Zone, from Calzone Garlic Cheese Bread 2)The Pan Pizza 3)Thin n Crispy 4)Dipping Strips ? Pizza Hut Target Markets ? Target audience is basically anyone and everyone who loves to eat pizzas. Age group of 12 to 30. Pizza has long been targeted to families, because of its ambience and the environment it offers in all its outlets. ? ? Ad Campaigns ? ? ? ? ? ? ? First Ad – about sharing Australia – 1980? s „Welcome Back? campaign Mexico – The Tomato sauce dip along with the pizza The „Great Indian Treat? „Full Punjabi? Roped in Ringo Starr for the campaign Pizza hut in the iphone !!!! ? Papa John’s †¢ Proven, streamlined operating system. †¢World-class franchise support and business consulting ? Place †¢ 3,400 restaurants worldwide †¢ Papa Johns is in all 50 states of US and approximately 40 international markets. †¢ High Income zone ?Products †¢ 4 different size of Pizza †¢24 Types of Pizza †¢6 Types of Starters †¢3 Types of pasta †¢4 Types of Salads ? Price †¢ Range: 85 – 495 †¢Offers and coupons ? Promotion †¢ Online Marketing †¢ B2B Mobile Marketing †¢ CEO in advertisement â€Å"People Are Priority Always† ? Domino’s Pizza †¢ Founded in 1960. †¢ Entered India in 1996. †¢8500 outlets across 55 countries. †¢250 outlets in India †¢USP- Quick Home delivery ? Products †¢Pizza (Available in 3 sizes and various tastes) †¢Garlic Bread †¢Pasta †¢Veg calojne †¢chicken wings †¢Sandwiches †¢ desserts ? Price †¢Price Range- Rs 35 to Rs 430. †¢Barbell Strategy of Pricing †¢Various combo offers ? Place †¢256 outlets in India †¢All major cities of India †¢Located in Malls and Posh areas †¢Outlets strategically placed to serve the home delivery in 30 minutes †¢Four outlets in Ahmedabad †¢Focus on Home delivery ? Promotion †¢Initially focused their ad strategy on banners, hoardings . †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Hungry Kya campaign †¢Tie up with MTNL – Hunger Helpline †¢Database based direct mailing strategy. †¢Localized taste †¢30 minutes home delivery. †¢Online Orders. †¢Advertisement by celebrities ? Domino? s Target audience ? Target Audience: ? Consumers who belong to the age group of 14 35 years ? People who love fast food and have been exposed to the western style of eating ? People who are upwardly mobile and on-the-go Ad Campaigns ? 1989 „One call does it all? Delivery in 30 minutes ? ? „Pizzamania? Chinese Pizza Fun Meal @ 45 /- ? ? †¢Most popular Pizza Outlet in Ahmedabad †¢ Started in 1999 in Ahmedabad †¢ By Sankalp Group of Restaurants †¢ Presence in Rajasthan and Gujarat †¢ USP- Unlimited Buffet †¢ Focus on American Taste of Pizza ? Products †¢ Soups †¢ Pizza (available in 3 sizes and variety of tastes) †¢ Garlic Bread †¢ Salad ( 34 types of salad) †¢Deserts? Price †¢Price for Pizza ranges from Rs 60 to Rs 335 †¢ Differential pricing for Unlimited Buffet at Rs 99. †¢Strategy focuses on high volume of sales at low margin. †¢Various combo offers called Meal Deals ? Place †¢Located in 7 cities of Gujarat and Rajasthan. †¢ Total number of outlets – 9 †¢ 3 outlets in Ahmedabad. †¢Located at Posh areas of cities. †¢ Express outlets at Maninagar ? Promotion †¢Unlimited Buffet in lunch and dinner is a big hit. †¢Design your own pizza. †¢Ambience based on American theme. †¢Increasing the number of outlets. †¢ Free home delivery. †¢Kids Birthday Party Offer. †¢More Variety of Food. ? One special mention from Tanzania ? Marketing through blogs http://vishalacharya. wordpress. com ? Business to a range of other products ? Emerging Players ? Papa John? s Pizza Express ? ? Vieira Pizza California Pizza Kitchen Largento? s Pizza. ? ? ? California Pizza Kitchen †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ A casual dining chain with 252 restaurants Signed franchise agreements with two partners It expects to open a minimum of 15 restaurants Premium restaurants targeting High End Customers It has 27 existing restaurants around the globe This Los Angeles-based chain is known for its unconventional menu items ? E-Pizza ? It will be placed in the food and entertainment business. Triangle shaped pizza kid? s meal called the E-Meal Custom line of distinguishable Mini Coopers delivering pizzas and movies ? ? ? Additional data Frequency for Pizza Deciding factor for Pizza 6% 16% 12% 10% 21% Every two weeks Once a month 51% Once two month Once three month 17% 8% 4% 8% Cost Quality of Pizza Quality of Service 47% Queue Location/proximity Brand Ambience ? Additional data Preferred Complimentary With Pizza 0% 16% 14% Ice cream Cold drink Salad 70% Other 10% 0% 21% 57% 8% Preferred Outlet 4% Pizza hut. Uncle Sams Dominos Papa jones US Pizza No specific ? Interesting Facts ? Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza EACH DAY, or about 350 slices per second. There are approximately 69,000 pizzerias in the United States. Pizzerias represent 17% of all restaurants. (Source: Food Industry News) Pizza accounts for more that 10% of all foodservice sales. (Source: Food Industry News. ) 93% of Americans eat AT LEAST one pizza per month. (Source: Bolla Wines. ) 66. 66% of Americans order pizza for a casual evening with friends. (Source: Bolla Wines. ) ? ? ? ? ? ? Interesting Facts? Each man, woman and child in America eats and average of 46 slices, (23 pounds), of pizza per year. (Source: Packaged Facts, New York. ) Italian food ranks as the most popular ethnic food in America. (Source: National Restaurant Association. ) A study done by a U. S. Department of Agriculture statistician and home economist found that in a three-day survey period, 42% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 had eaten pizza. (Source: Smithsonian Magazine. ) 94% of the population of the U. S. eats pizza. (Source: Parade Magazine. ) ? ? ? ?Link to see pizzerias around the world http://www. business. com/directory/f ood_and_beverage/restaurants_and_ foodservice/restaurant_chains/pizza/ ? References †¢Industry Facts. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://pizzaware. com/facts. htm †¢Advertisements of other brands. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://www. pmq. com/index. php †¢Pizza. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pizza †¢History of Pizza. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_pizza †¢Pizza. Retrieved August 8, 2009, from All Facebook Interview: http://www. allfacebook. com/2009/02/pizza-hut-facebook/ †¢Pizza Hut from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pizza_Hut †¢Pizza Hut Celebrates Successful Delivery to Space from space. com: http://www. space. com/news/spacestation/space_pizza_010522. html †¢Papa John’s: www. papajohnsindia. com †¢Pizza Hut: www. pizzahut. co. in †¢Papa Johns Pizza from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Papa_John%27s_Pizza ? References †¢Industry Facts. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://pizzaware. com/facts. htm, http://www. pizzamarketplace. com/ †¢Advertisements of other brands. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://www. franchisedirect. com/foodfranchises/pizzafranchises †¢Pizza. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pizza †¢Current scenario of The Pizza Industry . Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www. pizzatoday. com/ †¢Pizza references and updates. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://ask. reference. com/information/Food_and_Drinks/Pizza-Industry †¢Snapshot of the Pizza Industry. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www. franchisedirect. com/foodfranchises/pizzafranchises/ Time to go and grab a bite !

Examining The Importance Of CIO Surveys

Examining The Importance Of CIO Surveys Why do you think a CIO survey is important for the HMIS industry? Surveys of CIOs are important because the results promote an understanding and increased awareness of the HMIS industry. In a study conducted by IBM, CIOs spend about 55 percent of their time steering innovative activities such as implementing new technologies and business initiatives (Levein, 2009). Responsive to the challenges faced in planning, implementation and updated maintenance of systems in the current economic environment, these surveys promote insight to budget cuts, delayed spending, and increased demand for services with reduced resources faced by health organizations. Results of these studies provide a flavor for how CIO and HMIS executives pursue change management solutions that enable them to create lean strategic growth models as they anticipate aspects of future HMIS growth for the upcoming years. Results also indicate what CIOs perceive to be the main obstacles faced as well as areas of opportunity. As the economy transitions from recession to recovery and as healt h organizations revise their strategies from cost-cutting efficiency to value-added productivity, the surveys provide insight for future growth. Survey results help identify industry trends and provide insight from information technology (IT) product and service purchasers. 2. Predict what type of hardware investments would be considered key to HMIS future. Then check out the full survey results, and compare your prediction to the actual results. There are several hardware investments I believe will be considered key to HMIS future. The federal stimulus bill has promised billions of dollars in incentive payments to physicians and medical facilities that buy and use the electronic system so the first hardware investment that comes to my mind is an electronic medical record system. To promote its acceptance and utilization, the computers need to be reasonably powerful to run all the applications necessary to maintain clinical practice efficiency. Storage capacity of a centralized or distributed database is needed to archive large amounts of data. Central servers need to be powerful, and network or Internet connections fast and reliable. Updates to the solution architecture need to occur at the central server location with updates immediately available to all users. Compatibility or interoperability is also a necessity to link with other electronic clinical systems both within and outside the medical facility. Security mechanism s are required to protect client-specific information in an electronic environment. An extensive auditing system is required to monitor activity within the HMIS. I also believe there will be other electronic systems that place emphasis on quality care such as a clinical decision support system which assists clinicians apply new information to patient care and provides suggestions for how to manage a patientà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s condition. The results from this survey are consistent with my belief that an electronic medical record will be considered key to HMIS future. While I incorrectly assumed that a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system was a standard component of the electronic medical record, the survey indicated that installing this type of system can, and is often considered a separate focus. Upon review of the alignment of organizational and IT strategic plans, I was quite surprised to see that almost half of the IT plans are not considered a component of the organizational plan. From my perspective, one cannot function effectively without the other. 3. Why do you think the results showed investment of EHR to be a top priority for CIOs in the coming year? I believe the reason why the results showed investment of EHR to be a top priority for CIOs in the coming year is because the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) intends to give health care organizations incentives to access federal funds to plan, design, and implement the infrastructure to promote the adoption and use of electronic health record systems and support health information exchange (HIE). This push will promote the implementation of interoperable health information technology over the next several years. In addition to financial incentives, it will also help to improve the overall quality and value of health care in the U.S. This will dramatically improve the continuity of care and informed medical decision-making. Why do you think those who work in a clinic/group practice are less concerned about Backup/Disaster Recovery than are those who work in a hospital/integrated delivery system? Do you think this is prudent? Why or why not? It is likely that those who work in a clinic/group practice may be less concerned about backup/disaster recovery than those who work in a hospital/integrated delivery system for a few reasons. What really drives the details of a recovery plan are the functions the medical practice needs to recover and how soon these functions must be available. Sadly, for some organizations, having a disaster recovery plan for remote and branch offices may not even exist. A clinic/group practice tends to deal with ambulatory out patients and may need minimal patient information along with the name and location of an alternate practice to refer patients. Another clinic/group may refer patients who require specialized care to another practice and continue handling routine appointments at an alternate site. Many medical practices continue to utilize a paper-based appointment scheduling system and/or a paper-based billing system. It is not uncommon for each personà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s medic al records to be scattered among all the medical facilities where care has been given. In comparison, hospital/integrated delivery systems may have a higher acuity of patients which places the institution at greater risk. Lives depend on the information in these records and losing access to them, even temporarily increases the potential for many patient safety issues that could be encountered. Many hospitals are already using electronic clinical systems that are critical to providing quality patient care. Many of these electronic systems are interfaced with each other. When considering disaster recovery, it is important to think beyond system failure and recovery; more importantly, the entire hospital needs to be considered. New advances in technology that exist in these types of practices generate more electronic data than in the past. Access to secure and reliable patient information is managed by IT personnel who are on staff to prevent most technical problems and support user needs. Hospitals and other health care facilities accredited by the Joint Commission are r equired to comply with published guidelines by having a business continuity/disaster recovery plan for all information systems (Owens Ahlstrom, 2008) When a disaster strikes, it is my belief that any medical practice must be able to retrieve valuable information through pre-established methods of disaster recovery. Disaster recovery depends on the complexity of the system however, all medical records, paper or electronic, need to be kept protected and secured in any type of disaster. Medical practices must get back up and running as quickly as possible to ensure patient safety and business continuity.

Review of Binding Updates Security in MIPv6

Review of Binding Updates Security in MIPv6 Avishek Dutta   Vikram Raju R. Abstract— Mobile Nodes (MN) in Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) are given the opportunity to eliminate triangle routing that is inefficient with their own corresponding node (CN) using Route Optimization (RO). This greatly improves the performance of the network. Unfortunately, using this method allows several security vulnerabilities to manifest itself with the MIPv6. Among those, common issues are those concerns the verification of authenticity and authorization of Binding Updates during the process of RO. These types of unauthenticated and unauthorized BUs are the key to various types of malicious attacks. Since it is expected that MIPv6 will be supported by IPv6, several mechanism to ensure BU security will be crucial in the next generation Internet. This article focuses on Mobile IPv6 and security considerations. Keywords/Index Term—IKE, Mobile IPv6, Network Security, Potential threats in MIPv6 I. Introduction The way MIPv6 operates can be seen in Figure 1 [1], with 3 node types, namely the Home Agent (HA), Mobile Node (MN) and the Corresponding Node (CN) [2], while MN’s mobility is detected by a router advertisement message including an MN able to make a router send its advertisement message by request, if needed. Following mobility detection, the MN gets a CoA unlike in MIPv4, after which it sends the BU message to the HA and the communicated corresponding node (a node wishing to connect to, or is communicating with MN). The HA and corresponding node update the binding list and send acknowledgement messages [1], meaning that the Mobile IPv6 allows an MN to alter its attachment point to the internet while maintaining established communications [3]. This paper presents an analysis of both Route Optimisation (RO) and Identity Based Encryption (IBE) protocol with proposal to strengthen the level of security of a BU method. This method uses the public key to create an authentication th at is stronger. II. MN-HA Authentication Mutual authentication between an MN and its HA is mandatory in MIPv6, and usually performed with IPSec and IKE, while session key generation and authentication are done with IKE. Using X.509 certificates in IKE is the existing method of performing these tasks. The MN moves to a foreign network and obtains a new CoA. MN carries out a BU on its HA (where the new CoA is registered). HA sends a binding acknowledgement to MN. A Correspondent Node (CN) tries to contact MN, with HA intercepting packets destined to MN. Next, HA tunnels all packets from CN to MN using MNs CoA. When MN replies to the CN, it may use its current CoA (and bind to the CN) and communicate with the CN directly (â€Å"route optimization†), or it could tunnel all its packets through the HA. Sometimes MN and HA share a common secret, possibly occurring in WLAN instances when MN shifts to another WLAN which requires authentication [4]. If there are no shared secrets, extending the IKEv2 authentication process to identity-based authentication as opposed to X.509-based authentication certificates is usual. It can also be assumed that both MN and HA use the same PKG, and according to the relationship between these three entities, any trust level from I to III may be applied during private key delivery. Regarding IKE, two main methods of implementing IBE exist, the first of which involves modifying IKE’s four-way handshake while the second utilizes EAP to generate a new IBE-based EAP authentication method [4]. A. Modifying IKE IKE could implement IBE through the addition of a third authentication method, other than the previous shared secret and X.509 authentication. Instead of X.509 certificates, IKE also uses â€Å"IBE certificates†. IBE-based authentication functions fundamentally the same as X.509 authentication, in that to authenticate peers the same information block should be signed as in the X.509-based authentication, in addition to a signature based on IBE (i.e. the Hess signature). Currently, identities are replacing certificates and revocation lists do not need to be checked. Ehmke (2007) implemented a prototype which can realize this idea. Performance wise, clearly transmit certificates or certificate requests are no longer necessary since the IKE identity can be used straight as the public key for authentication. Also, expensive certificate-chain checking is redundant while elliptic curve cryptography-based hardware- accelerated IBE algorithms are sometimes quite efficient, particularl y in embedded devices [4]. B. Extensible Authentication Protocol Several wireless networks utilize the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) [5] for access authentication. EAP techniques commonly deal with AAA servers which affect the required authentications, after which notifications are relayed back to a functional module (Network Access Server) in the access network. For Mobile IPv6 [6], the Binding Authentication Data option [7] helps enable different authentication techniques, while a subtype exists for AAA- based authentication like EAP. On the other hand, there still are EAP methods requiring extra handling and specifications which present Binding Authentication Data option documentation does not provide. Currently, specification from this document is for at least some very widely deployed EAP methods, so, often, when EAP is needed, Mobile IPv6 tunnel redirection to a wireless device’s new CoA can be done much faster [8-10]. C. Using Extensible Authentication Protocol Figure 2 illustrates possible steps in EAP implementation. It is advisable to use EAP as part when establishing a concurrent shared key to be used in the final two message exchanges leading to authentication [4]. Chen and Kudla’s key agreement with IBE technique is one alternative protocol (protocol 2’ in [11]) that can function in the absence of a key escrow, so CERTREQ and CERT messages in steps 2, 3, 4 are not necessary (Figure. 2). Figure 3 illustrates the resulting IKE Initial Message exchange. 1. I _ R: HDR, SAi1, KEi, Ni 2. R _ I: HDR, SAr1, KEr, Nr, [CERTREQ] 3. I _ R: HDR, ESK{IDi,[CERTREQ,][IDr,]SAi2,TSi,TSr} 4. R _ I: HDR, ESK{IDr,[CERT,]AUTH,EAP} 5. I _ R: HDR, ESK{EAP} 6. R _ I: HDR, ESK{EAP} .. n. R _ I: HDR, ESK{EAP(success)} n+1. I _ R: HDR, ESK{AUTH} n+2. R _ I: HDR, ESK{AUTH,SAr2,TSi,TSr} Fig 2. IKE Initial Message Exchange: Authentication using EAP [12]. Here, the same PKG is shared by MN and HA, where P is a public PKG parameter, and HA and MN choose the random numbers a and b, respectively. The Chen-Kudla protocol produces a session key solely for message 7 and 8 authentication. The AUTH payloads have to authenticate messages 3 and 4 based on MAC and a secret key generated by an EAP protocol [11]. 1. MN _ HA: HDR, SAMN1, KEMN, NMN 2. HA _ MN: HDR, SAHA1, KEHA, NHA 3. MN _ HA: HDR, ESK{IDMN,[IDHA,]SAMN2,TSMN,TSHA} 4. HA _ MN: HDR, ESK{IDHA,AUTH,EAP_CK_Req(a ·P,a ·QHA)} 5. MN _ HA: HDR, ESK{EAP_CK_Res(b ·P,b ·QMN)} 6. HA _ MN: HDR, ESK{EAP(success)} 7. MN _ HA: HDR, ESK{AUTH} 8. HA _ MN: HDR, ESK{AUTH,SAHA2,TSMN,TSHA} Fig 3. IKE Initial Message Exchange: EAP with IBE Authentication [12]. But since IBE uses PKG, it is almost impossible to guess which MN will be communicated by the CN. We cannot simply assume the same PKG is used by both MN and CN. Multi-PKG is used instead but it is not recommended for larger networks. III. MN-CN Authentication Via the MIPv6 protocol, MN can keep its network connection even when the network attachment modifies [13]. An MN can be reached at its home address (HA) anytime, even when not physically in its home network. When an MN is connected to a foreign network it obtains a CoA from the local router through stateless or stateful autoconfiguration. Next, for home r egistra tion, the MN sends HA its current location information (CoA) in a BU message, then HA can redirect and tunnel packets intended. for the MN’s home address, to the MN’s CoA. When a foreign network MN is in contact with a CN (a stationary or mobile peer communicating with a MN) through the HA, bidirectional tunnelling takes place for instances when CN is not bound to the MN (registration is in progress) or MIPv6 is not supported by CN [4]. If the CN supports MIPv6, a more effective mobile routing technique, Route Optimization (RO), can be used. RO is effective as it provides the most direct, shortest path of transmitting messages between an MN and a CN, eliminating the need for packets to pass through the HA, and avoiding triangular routing (bidirectional tunnelling). Prior to setting up RO, the MN must send CN a BU packet containing its CoA with present location data. On the other hand, security risks with RO [14] can be for example that an MN may send CN a false BU packet and redirect the communication stream to a desired location, resulting in a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. Thus, for increased security, it is important to authenticate BUs in RO [4] [15]. What happens between a CN and MN is not the same as between an MN and its HA. Since CN could be any node, MN and CN have no shared secrets or trusted certificates. Thus, Return Routability (RR) can be used, as: †¢ An MN sends CN a home test init (HoTi) and care-of test init (CoTi). HoTi is sent directly through the HA and CoTi. HoTi has the home address and CoTi has the CoA as source addresses, both including a cookie. †¢ Upon receiving either HoTi or CoTi message, CN immediately answers with a home test (HoT) and care- of test (CoT) message which gets sent to the respective source address. Each reply contains the cookie recovered from the nonce indenx, corresponding init message, and a keygen token, later for BU authentication use. When MN receives HoT and CoT, RR is done. Only MN can receive packets sent to both its HA and CoA, and can now hash the two tokens to calculate the binding key. This key is utilized for generating a Message Authentication Code (MAC) for BUs, and MAC can be verified by CN. RR provides an analysis of a nodes reach-ability during authentication but do not validate address ownership in IPv6. IV. MIPv6 Security Analysis Providing security against different types of malicious attacks e.g. denial of service (DoS), connection hijacking, man- in-the-middle and impersonation, are the basic objectives for the development of IPv6. The objective of improved security is to create routing changes that are safe against all threats. Threats are based on the routing changes that provides mobility in the network. Threats faced by Mobile IPv6 security can be divided into different categories: __ Binding update (BU) to HA type threats __ Route Optimisation to CN type threats __ Threats that attack the tunnelling process between HA and MN __ Threats that uses Mobile IPv6 routing header to return traffic of other nodes Binding update and route optimisation threats are related to authentication of binding messages. Communication between MN and HA needs trust and communication authentication. This is because MN agrees to implement the HA services therefore relationship between the two must first be secure. However, the CN and MN does not have prior relationship but authenticating messages between the two is still possible. For example, this is possible by authenticating the public key. If a malicious packet is sent to the HA using the same source address as the MN, the HA will then forward the packet containing the MNs source address contained in the malicious node. However, this DoS attack can be prevented by using an algorithm to verify the BU message receives by the HA. Such threat can also be avoided when a new routing header is used to replaces the incorrect header that manoeuvres around firewall rules and obtaining a constrained address [16, 17]. V. Proposed Protection of BU Message Corresponding Author: XYZ, [emailprotected] Once the BU message is complete, the MN will receive normal traffic from the CN with the new CoA. The CN with the new nonce sends to the MN a Binding Update Verification (BUV) within a specific time frame e.g. 10 seconds. The MN then needs to reply within 10 seconds otherwise the connection between MN and CN will be terminated. This method minimises any damages caused by bombing attacks where packets are sent to the MN by malicious nodes. Cryptography Generated Address (CGA) can also be use to make spoofing type attacks more harder. Private keys can be use to signed the message as well. Since redirection attacks requires both public and private keys to perform[18-20]. Possible threats and solution is listed in table 1 [4, 17]. VI. Conclusion The requirement for Mobile IPv6 is still not complete considering there are some essential issues that are not addressed. One of the most important issues are protocol security because without secure protection against attacks, the protocol would not be accepted thus will not work at all. Presently, the standard method use for BU protection in transport mode as well as securing the connection for control message sent during home registration method is the Encapsulation Security Payload (ESP). IPSec has several advantages over SSL/TLS which is IPSec can perform without IP restriction, any protocol can be encrypted and also encrypt any packets with just their IP headers. Unfortunately, IPSec needs to be configured with various settings thus making it complicated. The IKE protocol can control the mutual authentication and cryptographic algorithm negotiations as well as dynamic key management. Additionally, authentication method such as shared secret, Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) or X.509 certificates can be use to create safe communication between peers. References/Bibliography G. Eason, B. Noble, and I. N. Sneddon, On certain integrals of Lipschitz-Hankel type involving products of Bessel functions, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, vol. A247, pp. 529-551, April 1955. J. Clerk Maxwell, A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 3rd ed., vol. 2. Oxford: Clarendon, 1892, pp.68-73. I. S. Jacobs and C. P. Bean, Fine particles, thin films and exchange anisotropy, in Magnetism, vol. III, G. T. Rado and H. Suhl, Eds. New York: Academic, 1963, pp. 271-350. K. Elissa, Title of paper if known, unpublished. R. Nicole, Title of paper with only first word capitalized, J. Name Stand. Abbrev., in press. Y. Yorozu, M. Hirano, K. Oka, and Y. Tagawa, Electron spectroscopy studies on magneto-optical media and plastic substrate interface, IEEE Transl. J. Magn. Japan, vol. 2, pp. 740-741, August 1987 [Digests 9th Annual Conf. Magnetics Japan, p. 301-305, 1982. M. Young, The Technical Writers Handbook. Mill Valley, CA: University Science, 1989. Electronic Publication: Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs): D. Kornack and P. Rakic, Cell Proliferation without Neurogenesis in Adult Primate Neocortex, Science, vol. 294, Dec. 2001, pp. 2127-2130, doi:10.1126/science.1065467. (Article in a journal) H. Goto, Y. Hasegawa, and M. Tanaka, Efficient Scheduling Focusing on the Duality of MPL Representatives, Proc. IEEE Symp. Computational Intelligence in Scheduling (SCIS 07), IEEE Press, Dec. 2007, pp. 57-64, doi:10.1109/SCIS.2007.357670. (Article in a conference proceedings) AUTHORS PROFILE Taro Denshi received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Shibaura Institute of Technology in 1997 and 1999, respectively. During 1997-1999, he stayed in Communications Research Laboratory (CRL), Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Japan to study digital beam forming antennas, mobile satellite communication systems, and wireless access network using stratospheric platforms. He now with DDI Tokyo Pocket Telephone, Inc.

Anabolic Steroid Use in Baseball :: essays research papers

In American high schools across the country, many people buy, sell, and use drugs. In addition, these people influence everyone around them. On these campuses, some of the people influenced by this illegal activity are sports players. One of the sports most affected is baseball. Doping in baseball is wrong because it ruins baseball's reputation, it negatively influences the athlete's health, and the drugs are bad for young people who hold up athletes as role models. Reputation Baseball?s reputation has been painted with a red asterisk. The non-medical use of steroids has been banned according to the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990. Many baseball athletes have been caught or presumed illegal users of HGH or Steroids since the act passed in 1990. All these athletes have one thing in common, they want to have an edge or advantage on the game. Some athletes even admit to administering the drug to other athletes and themselves. Jose Conseco testified to personally injecting the steroids into Mark McGuire (Cote). Baseball?s pride and joy the Hall of Fame is constantly the conversation of self-morals and integrity. The Hall of Fame has asked its voters to consider the players integrity and personality as a whole. The Hall of Fame committee asks that the voters wait until they see truthfulness, integrity, and contrition. Cooperstown is unique compared to the NFL?s Hall of Fame in that Cooperstown actually has a morals clause. This clause states what Cooperstown has been asking the public to consider in the overall integrity of the player. The bottom line is the public believes steroids are illegal and that in any case shall athletes use steroids to get an edge on the game (Cote). Steroids are widespread and can be very costly. According to a survey, there are more than 3 million steroid users in the US. Of that number, 262,000 are teen athletes. There are over $400 million worth of steroids sold each year. Steroids cost anywhere around $50 to $600 a month depending on how much the user uses. In addition, 1 out of 15 high school athletes have admitted to using steroids (Peck). Many baseball athletes believe steroids will give them an edge on the game by making themselves stronger. This is true in the respect that it makes the athlete stronger and more superior but they also cause more problems then they solve.

MACBETH oral presentation :: essays research papers

As the play nears its bloody conclusion, Macbeth's "tragic flaw" comes to the forefront: like Duncan before him, he is too trusting. He believes the witches' prophesies at face value, never realizing that, like him, things are seldom what they seem. Thus he foolishly fortifies his castle with the few men he has left, banking on the fact that the events the witches predicted seem impossible. But in fact these predictions come true: the English army brings Birnam Wood to Dunsinane, and Macduff, who has been "untimely ripped" from his mother's womb, advances to kill Macbeth. The witches have equivocated; they told him a double truth, concealing the complex reality within a framework that seems simple. It is fitting that the play ends as it began: with a victorious battle in which a valiant hero kills a traitor and displays his severed head. The first thing we hear of Macbeth in act one is the story of his bravery in battle, wherein he cut off MacDonald’s head and displayed it on the castle battlements. Here at the end of the tragedy, Macbeth, himself a traitor to Duncan and his family, is treated in exactly the same manner; after killing Macbeth, Macduff enters with Macbeth's severed head and exclaims "behold where stands / Th'usurper's cursed head". The play thus ends with the completion of a perfect parallel. The moral at the end of the story is that the course of fate cannot be changed. The events that the Weird Sisters predicted at the beginning of the play happen exactly as they said, no matter what the characters do to change them. Macbeth tries his hardest to force fate to work to his bidding, but he is not successful; Banquo still becomes the father of kings, and Macbeth still falls to a man not born of woman. The man who triumphs in the end is the one who did nothing to change the fate prescribed for him. In-depth summary of important points in the scene As the play nears its bloody conclusion, Macbeth's "tragic flaw" comes to the forefront: like Duncan before him, he is too trusting. He believes the witches' prophesies at face value, never realizing that, like him, things are seldom what they seem. Thus he foolishly fortifies his castle with the few men he has left, banking on the fact that the events the witches predicted seem impossible.

The Argentine Economic Crisis 1999-2002 Essay -- Essays Papers

The Argentine Economic Crisis 1999-2002 Basic Information About Argentina Argentina is a nation located on the East coast of the sothern-most tip of South America. It occupies an area of 2,766,890 square kilometers, which is approximately equal to about three-tenths the size of the United States. It has a population of nearly 40 million people with a growth rate of 1.13%. The populace is 97% Caucasian (primarily of Italian and Spanish decent) with various indigenous groups comprising the remaining 3%. Over 90% of the population is Catholic. The primary language of the nation is Spanish. The national literacy rate is around 96% (CIA). Argentina has been a democracy since 1983, before 1983 it suffered from a tumultuous period during which it fluctuated between democratic and authoritarian rule. It is currently a constitutional republic with mandatory suffrage of all citizens over 18 years of age. The current president is Eduardo Alberto Duhalde, who has held power since he was appointed to the position of presidency on the second of January 2002 (CIA). The Argentinian economy enjoys a well diversified industrial sector along with a well developed export-oriented agricultural sector . Argentina also benefits from extensive natural resources and a well educated populace. Major industries in Argentina include food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel. Argentina boasts a GDP of $453 billion (2001) with about 6% devoted to agriculture, 28% devoted to industry and 66% devoted to services. Its primary export partners are Brazil (25.1% of all exports), the United States (18.7%), Germany (5%), and China (4.6%). In spi... ... Norden, Deborah L. and Roberto Russel. The United States and Argentina. New York: Routledge, 2002. Mussa, Michael. â€Å"Argentina and the Fund: From Triumph to Tragedy.† Policy Analysis in International Economics 67 (2002) The Argentine Crisis: Chronology of Events After Sovereign Default Since April 7 June 2002. Standard and Poors. March 12, 2003 The Argentine Financial Crisis: A Chronology of Events January 31, 2002 CRS Report for Congress. March 3, 2003 < http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/8040.pdf> United States Congress, House of Representatives. Subcommittee International Monetary Policy and Trade. Hearing on the State of Argentine Economic Crisis and the Role of the International Monetary Fund. 5 March 2002 The Argentine Economic Crisis 1999-2002 Essay -- Essays Papers The Argentine Economic Crisis 1999-2002 Basic Information About Argentina Argentina is a nation located on the East coast of the sothern-most tip of South America. It occupies an area of 2,766,890 square kilometers, which is approximately equal to about three-tenths the size of the United States. It has a population of nearly 40 million people with a growth rate of 1.13%. The populace is 97% Caucasian (primarily of Italian and Spanish decent) with various indigenous groups comprising the remaining 3%. Over 90% of the population is Catholic. The primary language of the nation is Spanish. The national literacy rate is around 96% (CIA). Argentina has been a democracy since 1983, before 1983 it suffered from a tumultuous period during which it fluctuated between democratic and authoritarian rule. It is currently a constitutional republic with mandatory suffrage of all citizens over 18 years of age. The current president is Eduardo Alberto Duhalde, who has held power since he was appointed to the position of presidency on the second of January 2002 (CIA). The Argentinian economy enjoys a well diversified industrial sector along with a well developed export-oriented agricultural sector . Argentina also benefits from extensive natural resources and a well educated populace. Major industries in Argentina include food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel. Argentina boasts a GDP of $453 billion (2001) with about 6% devoted to agriculture, 28% devoted to industry and 66% devoted to services. Its primary export partners are Brazil (25.1% of all exports), the United States (18.7%), Germany (5%), and China (4.6%). In spi... ... Norden, Deborah L. and Roberto Russel. The United States and Argentina. New York: Routledge, 2002. Mussa, Michael. â€Å"Argentina and the Fund: From Triumph to Tragedy.† Policy Analysis in International Economics 67 (2002) The Argentine Crisis: Chronology of Events After Sovereign Default Since April 7 June 2002. Standard and Poors. March 12, 2003 The Argentine Financial Crisis: A Chronology of Events January 31, 2002 CRS Report for Congress. March 3, 2003 < http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/8040.pdf> United States Congress, House of Representatives. Subcommittee International Monetary Policy and Trade. Hearing on the State of Argentine Economic Crisis and the Role of the International Monetary Fund. 5 March 2002

Executive Coaching Intertwines Multiple Practical Theories

All complement each other in understanding the client's needs and helping them reach their goals. Executive Coaching Theories Executive coaching is not a one-size fits all profession. There are a multitude of different approaches that one can take to help the client identify and reach his goals. However, one of the key commonalities of any good executive coach is to understand the human psyche. One has to know how to not only ask good, probing questions, one must also comprehend the psychological and situational barriers that prevent the client from reaching his goal.Then, he coach must be able to work with the client to identify action steps that will follow a path to reach the client's desired outcomes. There are many theories that abound with regards to executive coaching. No one approach is better than another. Some approaches are applied in compliment with others. The goal is to bring a toolkit of assorted and appropriate tactics to help the client understand barriers to success , and to assist the client with framing the goals necessary to move forward, and finally, to motivate the client to take specific action steps.The goal of this paper is to identify three of the theories that a coach might use to assist a client. These are not necessarily implemented mutually exclusive from each other, but are just several of the approaches that are available to a coach. Action Frame Theory This is a theory that was developed by two psychologists, Tracy Coverer and Steven Crossbow. Coverer is a leadership and organizational development consultant at Canadian, Tire in Canada (as of 2004, when this article was published). Crossbow is a professor of psychology at the university of Gullah in Ontario.They state that it is not intended to be a stand-alone new concept, UT is derived from the synthesis of existing theory, plus social action and functional analysis. The goal is to make the translation from generalities of â€Å"mediated focus† to specifics of executive behavior, which was an idea of R. R. Killing, who proposed a â€Å"holistic and integrated model† within the executive coaching process. (Coverer & Crossbow, 2004) Action Frame Theory encompasses five specific processes to provide a deliberate approach for the coach to assist the client identify and achieve his desired end-state or goals.The processes include the following: conditions, means, action, result, and consequence. These steps help the client move from the generalities mentioned in the previous paragraph to a specific outcome for definitive results. (Coverer & Crossbow, 2004) Condition: The coach must first help the client identify his current status to be able to correlate where he is now with where he wants to be at the end of the journey. A coach must understand the current climate and atmosphere and conditions that the client exists within before he can evaluate how to move forward.Part of this assessment is to identify barriers that may be reverting the client from progress, or any organizational barriers as well as personal hindrances. This includes the organizational culture, as well as its management style and where the client fits within this. It includes those constraints where the client may not have any actual control to change. Means: This includes personal resources that the client possesses that he can employ to resolve the situation and/or reach his goal. Included within the means can be the client's interpersonal skills, leadership talents, and ability to resolve issues.The author also mentions integrity in the case that they illustrate where the client was dealing with a troublesome employee who was spreading rumors. This is, in essence, self-reflection of one's personal tool kit. Action: These are the voluntary action steps that the coach helps the client agree upon to take to work toward attaining the end-goal. These should be a set of defined processes that had deliberate purpose and correlation toward a forward motion to ward the desired result. Similar to the F. O. C. U. S. Del, (Harms, 201 1) (Ellis & Bernard, 2006) the coach must ensure the steps are meaningful and have validity toward a specific outcome. Especially with a emitted coaching contract, it is important to maximize these action steps to avoid wasting precious time. This also involves mentally focusing the client toward defined action steps so that he sees a clear roadman toward reaching his destination. There is nothing worse than wandering aimlessly without direction. Result: This is the end-state that the client hopes to achieve through the result of the actions.The authors state that there are actually two results: the starting result and the end result. Although the end result is the ultimate final goal, there is what are known as milestones whereby the client achieves mailer results on the path to the larger goal. Consequence: The consequence is the normal evaluation of the result that is present over an extended period of time. It is what becomes the new current status, or also known as the condition, which was the first component of the Action Frame Theory. This essentially becomes that new normal state as a result of achieving the set-out goals. Coverer & Crossbow, 2004) Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Theory This is a more widely known theory that was developed by Albert Ellis, who developed this based upon inspiration of teachings of Asian, Greek and Roman philosophers. Ellis originally began a career in clinical psychology in the 1 adds. During the course of his progress toward earning his doctorate in clinical psychology, he leaned toward and practiced psychoanalysis. In the early sass, he transitioned from psychoanalysis toward his new approach of a more proactive and direct form of psychotherapy, which he called Rational Therapy (ART).His goal was to help the client adjust their thinking and behavior to lead more positive and productive lives. (Ellis & Bernard, 2006) Ellis' premise is that people are rarely affected emotionally by external influences; UT, rather by their personal perceptions, attitudes, or internal thoughts about outside things or events. He states that people get upset and are affected by how they construct their views of reality through language, beliefs, meanings, and philosophies about the world, their self, and others.By understanding these meanings, people can learn to identify the issues and challenge and question them to work toward a more constructive outcome. (Hag & Davison, 1 993) The assumption that this theory incorporates is that people have both rationale and irrational tendencies and learning. Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory places emphasis on changing the current thinking and helping the individual to behave how they wish to be. The theory postulates that people unconsciously construct their own emotional pitfalls such as self-pity, blame, etc. That prevent them from achieving their goals. The goal of imparting REST is to assist the clie nt how to identify these self- defeating tendencies so that they can achieve what they wish to do. (Ellis & Bernard, 2006) (Ellis & Bernard, 2006) A major process for the REBUT therapy is to help the client overcome these self-defeating thought processes so that hey can see that they have a choice not to be fearful or scared or the like. This is critical in the coaching process because executives may feel that they are alone at the top of the food chain and have nowhere to turn.When they have these fears, they may simply internalize them without actually dealing with the feelings for fear of appearing human in their role as a senior leader. This may prevent the executive from being able to be successful in leading the organization, and can lead to self-defeat. Although the coach is generally not a therapist, understanding Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy concepts s key to working with these executives that may show signs of needing this assistance. The primary tactic for assistin g clients through this process is to help them see their fears that are prohibiting them from being successful or moving forward.Ellis said that people cannot move forward and get better except through continual work and practice in finding their core beliefs and irrationality. Then, they need to replace them with healthy, positive feelings that will enable them to move forward and succeed. (Ellis & Bernard, 2006) Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most widely studied harries in the field of psychotherapy. From the time of his inception of this theory through his death in 2007, his work laid the groundwork for much Of today's modern cognitive therapy approaches.Cognitive therapy is a direct outcome of the results of Ellis' theory'. Counselors or coaches use cognitive theory to help clients identify the negative thoughts that occur automatically and teach them to replace these with happy, positive thoughts. Since the premise of REBUT is that people?s negative and irrat ional thoughts to these situations are automatic, cognitive therapy teaches clients to alter their thinking. Coaches or therapists teach the clients to consider a variety of alternative ideas for why things occur. They then teach them to restate things in terms of ways they can control the situation. Rational emotive behavior therapy, 2011) Adult Development Theory Being an executive coach means that we have the power to influence and develop our clients. A key component of being able to achieve this is to understand human development theory. People at different stages Of life construct their understanding of the world and self, which shapes their interpretation of their surroundings and how they will react or make decisions. Adult Development Theory involves areas such as moral, intellectual, emotional, relational, and spiritual development. Demoded, 2007) All of these factors have an impact on how an executive sees the world and makes decisions. For a coach to be effective, he nee ds to have a basic understanding of this Adult Development Theory. One of the most exciting elements of coaching is being able to have an influence upon an individual, and to help them achieve success and improve their situation at work. A key to the success is the relationship between the coach and client, which is contingent upon the coach asking the right questions, and also understanding where the client is coming from.One of the most overlooked elements to success is the personal life development stage that the client might be at in their adult development. This correlates to the modern Adult Development Theory by Robert Egan. He states that as people develop through life, they have gained insight through learning. This learning content does not change, but the context in which we see the world does change. (Hope, 2007) As coaches, we need to understand how people develop so that We can impart better listening skills and impression to better understand where people are coming f rom.For the coach, one of the critical tools that we have is understanding of the client's way of thinking, his challenges, his situation, and the context in which he interprets things. This is where the understanding of adult development is crucial. Egan first presented his theory of adult development or social maturity in his book â€Å"The Evolving Self' in 1982. He then wrote a follow-up to this in 1994 called â€Å"In Over Our Heads: The Demands of Modern Life. † In these books, he posits that people progressively become more socially mature as they go wrought life.This affects how they interpret life's events and how they react at different stages of the game. (Hope, 2007) (Ellis & Bernard, 2006)Being a good coach means understanding how people evolve and can interpret life's events based upon their social maturity and place in the organization. One of the factors that new coaches may need to learn is that not everyone will see the world as you do. In â€Å"Evidence B ased Coaching,† the author states that it is human tendency for people to expect that everyone will see things that way you do.The authors claim that if coaches have a better understanding of human development that it enables them to be better listeners, and identify connections that one otherwise might not have done. The author describes four types of clients: the prince or princess, journeyman, chief executive officer and the elder. Understanding each personality in an executive will make the coach have a higher likely. Prince or Princess The princess and prince have very ego-centric personalities that are focused on them.They don't have a comprehension that other's viewpoints are valid, and only see things from their perspective. These people are not great team layers, and will only follow the organization rules to the extent that they meet their needs. Journeyman Transitioning from princess or prince to journeyman usually occurs once the client begins to understand that it is not all about them, and they take into account the interests of others and the organization. This is the person who realizes that they and the organization need each other to be successful.It brings about a sense of loyalty in the journey. A coach can work with a client who was originally in the prince or princess realm and bring them more in- tune with the organization to be a team player. The approach with the person in the journeyman stage is to help him form a commitment that helps to benefit the organizational as a whole. CEO Working with the Coos is much different because they are more likely to have a very definitive concept of how the organization should function, and will have plans for how to achieve this.They don't necessarily need direction, but are looking for professional development to help them become better leaders. They are at the top where they often don't have the luxury of bouncing ideas off of others. Elder The elders are very in-tune to all elements of the organization, and are very enforceable with interpreting the feedback from all levels. The difference from the elder to the CEO is that this person is less ideological, and is more focused on the leadership process. So, where does this adult development theory fit into the executive coaching process?The coach who understands this theory and the dynamics can better focus the questions, suggestions, and be more in-tune with the client's form of understanding. Each coaching relationship is unique based upon specific personalities and developmental stages. Along with AEGON's four stages is another aspect of adult development hurry which ranges from people moving from dependent, to independent to inter-dependent. The further people develop and evolve from the former to the latter; they ultimately become able to be transformational thinkers. Hopper 2007) The dependent level is similar to the prince or princess, where they only see things from their perspective. These clients tend to see things through their lenses and apply their values, traditions, and practices without regard to other. They perceive difference from their views as confrontational. The independent levels are those who have learned from their experiences, ND are more willing to be open to growth. They become curious about others' thoughts and perspectives. These are like Coos who are willing to listen to staff to develop process improvement that benefits the entire organization.The inter-dependent clients are those who are most comfortable with their positions and look for the global vision, and make decisions based upon the greater good. They embrace fresh ideas and concepts and seek continuous improvement. A coach who understands where the client is at in this path of development will have a better opportunity to help the executive on the right ND most appropriate path. Each client is unique. AEGON's theory of adult development has been the leading research as of recent years.However, he bases muc h of his premise off of the work off Swiss psychologist, Jean Pigged, who invented modern developmental psychology. Essentially, the adult development theory of Egan evolved from Piglet's descriptions of how children developed from early childhood through adulthood. His theory was that kids go through various stages of psychological development that affect how they adapt, learn and react to situations. (Hope, 2007) Conclusion An executive coach must bring myriad skills to the table with a client.

Race in the study of food Essay

â€Å"Local food advocacy is a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways† (Daston, 2017). Daston is correct â€Å"in her philosophy because, in various and dispersed traditions, nature has been upheld as the pattern of all values, the good, the true, and the beautiful.† (Daston, 2017) â€Å"There is nothing new about the link between nature and necessity, nor with the exculpatory inferences drawn from such links.† (Daston, 2017). In the first section of the paper, she describes local food advocacy as having a political and moral discourse that is meant to provide the foundation for understanding local food networks as sites of resistance against the norms and power of globalized industrial foodways. She explores the use of the concept of â€Å"nature† and the â€Å"natural† in local food discourses with a number of examples of local food advocacy in an attempt to decipher the meaning of the â€Å"natural† in the discourse. Portman (2014) discovers that a cluster of implicit concepts which are uncritically assumed to be earth-based, family-based, and feminine-based; these bases are also assumed to be unproblematic.† (Portman, 2014 Daston asserts that â€Å"the moral dimension of local food discourse, in general, is encompassed in the conviction that there are ethical and unethical ways by which our food can be produced, distributed and consumed.† (Daston, 2017). â€Å"It is only within this modern framework that we can make sense of the naturalistic fallacy, both its confusions and its tenacity. The naturalistic fallacy and its barnacle-like accretions assume what Frankena called a â€Å"bifurcation ontology† that prohibits commerce between the two immiscible realms. Repeated efforts on the part of monists of both materialist and idealist persuasion to dissolve the dichotomy in favor of one or another realm have only reinforced its binary logic† (Daston, 2017, p.581). Portman’s (2017) decision to delve into the ethics of local food advocacy is a timely decision as words such as organic, healthy, and farm-fresh have become a part of the mainstream vernacular. While it may seem random to popular culture.† (Portman, 2017, p. 4). His ideology supports a long-held belief that humans make their food choices based on financial ability. However, it is reckless to say that a single mother of four will make â€Å"everyone’s agreed upon† morally sound decision when trying to determine how to feed her children with her last $20. While politics and economics dictate the type of food presented to various populations and demographics, morality is a luxury that only those who have the time to debate it can afford. â€Å"In this context, the concept of the â€Å"natural† is frequently and uncritically invoked to argue for the ethical significance of participating in and advocating for local food networks. This is problematic in that the dualistic framework serves to obscure many actual complexities within the â€Å"natural† and the â€Å"local† themselves, and in their relationships with their counterparts, the â€Å"cultural† and the â€Å"global.† Thus, by leaving unquestioned certain assumptions about the meaning of the â€Å"natural† and how that meaning was constructed, local food advocacy is not as resistant as it might otherwise be.† (Portman, 2014) Datson (2014), on the other hand, supposes that the idea of morality having a direct influence on decisions regarding nature is a modern phenomenon. This notion supports the theory that these philosophical examinations are only able to be discussed because humans now have the knowledge and time, thanks to modern technology, to make these assumptions. Datson (2014) defined nature as, â€Å"everything in the universe (sometimes including and sometimes excluding human beings), to what is inborn rather than cultivated, to the wild rather than the civilized, to raw materials as opposed to refined products, to the spontaneous as opposed to the sophisticated, to what is native rather than foreign, to the material world without divinity, to a fruitful goddess, and to a great deal else, depending on epoch and context† (Portman, 2014) (p. 582). The lack of a universally accepted definition of the term they are trying to define speaks to the logical flaw that we cannot discount anything that we do not yet understand. It argues that just because something is natural it must be good. We act against nature all the time with money, vaccination, electricity, even medicine. In the same sense, many things that are natural are good, but not all unnatural things are unethical which is what the naturalistic fallacy argues. Both articles show a bias for people who have a choice. A choice to choose what they eat, a choice to carefully examine what they are able to consume, both physically and mentally, and a choice to act on their desires. According to the â€Å"Center for Disease Control (CDC), Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (48.1%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (34.5%), and non-Hispanic Asians (11.7%)† (2017).† The CDC also reported that â€Å"obesity decreased by the level of education. Adults without a high school degree or equivalent had the highest self-reported obesity (35.5%), followed by high school graduates (32.3%), adults with some college (31.0%) and college graduates (22.2%)† (2016). The populations represented in these reports are often plagued by a lack of choice due to political agendas and systemic oppression. Without using these statistics to inform their theories, the authors have left out a demographic who would benefit the most from these findings. Portman (2017) and Daston (2014) have continued a discussion that has been argued for centuries. Portman (2017) provides an action-based solution to the posed questions and the stance it takes, while Daston (2014) attempts to break down a concept that has not been generally agreed upon. Both articles, when referenced wisely, can begin the movement of a positive change in the relationship between our decision-making and our food. References Daston, L. (2017). The naturalistic fallacy is modern. The History of Science Journal, The University of Chicago Press, 105(3), 579-587. doi:10.1086/678173. Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Overweight and Obesity. (2017). Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html Portman, A. (2014). Mother nature has it right: Local food advocacy and the appeal to the â€Å"natural.† Ethics and the Environment, 19(1), 1-30. Doi: 10.2979. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/678173 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/summary https://muse.jhu.edu/article/547343/pdf https://www.cdc.gov/socialdeterminants/archive/†¦

Isopod Behavior Lab Report Essay

Background Information: In our lab we were working with isopods, also known as pill bugs or rollie pollies. The isopods that we worked with were land isopods. They like to live in moist places under untouched objects such as boards, bricks, rotting logs and or rocks. Basically, they will live anywhere! If you are lucky enough, you can even find them next to buildings where it is moist and if there is food. All living organisms like certain things and don’t like certain things, for example; most animals will try to eat something sugary or sweet, like a piece of candy. While the same animal my not wanting to eat something that is not sugary or sweet like peas. Every organism acts different, especially when a stimulus is affecting them. While other times the organism can do something for no reason, well at least to our knowledge. Relationships also can be a factor on how organisms act, most likely being aggressive or submissive. For example, male crocodiles will fight each other for a mate; this is showing their aggressive side. After one of the crocs has won the fight, the female croc will be submissive towards him to show dominance. This shows how they can act because of a relationship. Another example is people and the weather, which is a stimulus. People who like mild to hot temperatures will most likely go outside to do things. While people who don’t like the cold temperatures will do things inside, just so they don’t go outside. This shows how a stimulus can affect an organism’s behavior and what they do. Hypothesis: For my hypothesis I wrote, â€Å"If the pill bugs are in the petri dish with the other chemicals then they will go to the filter paper where the sugar is more so then the other filter paper that has chemicals on it†. I choose this hypothesis for many reasons. First off, I know that most organisms, bugs, insects, etc†¦ like sweet and sugary tasting things. I know this because I always see ants in my kitchen trying to get to the sugar rather then anything else. I know the pill bugs will not like the vinegar because most bugs will not go for vinegar. This goes the same with salt. I also thought about the water, this would be my second choice for my hypothesis. As I was writing my hypothesis, I also tried to tie it to me as well. I personally favor sugar over the others, next would be water, then salt, and last but not least vinegar. Using my personal taste, I was better able to make my decision on my hypothesis. Procedures: Procedure 1: 1 petri dish was placed on top of table. A dry piece of filter paper was centered into petri dish. Four pill bugs were placed into the petri dish; the petri dish was covered with an index card then a stack of post-it notes was placed on top of the index cards. The pill bug’s behavior was observed for 5 minutes, data was gathered and written on the paper. No human influence had any affect on the pill bugs behavior. Procedure 2: One piece of circular filter paper was taken and cut into 4 equal sections. The 4 sections of filter paper were then assigned and labeled with a letter from A – D. The chemicals were collected, which were water, salt solution, sugar solution and vinegar. Using a dropper, 5 – 10 drops of each solution were placed on a separate piece of filter paper. Then the filter paper with the solutions on it was placed in the petri dish, 4 pill bugs were then added into the petri dish. The pill bugs behavior was observed and recorded over th e course of 5 minutes by recording how many pill bugs would go on each piece of filter paper in 30-second intervals. After that the pill bugs were returned to their home, the filter paper and the lab station were cleaned. Over the course of our lab, our group collected lots of data from the pill bugs behavior. At the beginning of our lab we had placed the pill bugs in the petri dish with dry filter paper and we observed their behavior. The pill bugs were going around the inside rim of petri in circles following each other, almost as if it were a game of tag. The pill bugs never seemed to stop moving, flipping over and were constantly climbing. Some of the pill  bugs even tried to escape from the petri dish, but our group was quick to make that didn’t happen. As our lab went on, we placed the 4 different pieces of filter paper with solutions on them and then added 4 pill bugs to it. We collected lots of information during this procedure. This table represents how many pill bugs were on each slice of filter paper, that had a different solution on each of them, over 30 second intervals lasting 5 minutes. This is what were recorded our data on for this part of the lab. Conclusions: The purpose of our experiment was to observe the behavior of the pill bugs. We were trying to find exactly whether the pill bugs would be attracted or repelled by the chemicals. The chemicals used were vinegar, water, salt solution and a sugar solution. By placing strips of filter paper with the solutions on it into a petri dish and then adding the pill bugs did attract and repel the pill bugs. This experiment would show whether the pill bugs would be attracted to one or some of the 4 chemicals in petri dish. This experiment was relevant to the topic because the pill bugs would show some kind of different behavior, which is what the topic was related to because the topic was that some animals behave in different ways, especially to a stimulus. From the experiment I learned that the pill bugs behavior did change when the chemicals were added to the petri dish. From the data that we recorded in the chart it showed that the pill bugs like to go to the sugar solution the most. This does not surprise me because I thought the pill bugs would be most likely to go to the sugar solution. I thought this because most animals would chose something that is sugary and sweet, so I tied this into the experiment and this is also how I formed my hypothesis. Next came the water solution that the pill bugs liked. Then, came the salt solution. Then, came the in between filter. Finally, came the vinegar solution. This does not surprise me that the pill bugs like the vinegar solution because I know ants don’t like vinegar, so I thought the pill bugs would be the same. These  results fully support my hypothesis about the experiment. Through this experiment my hypothesis was proven correct. My original hypothesis was, â€Å"If the pill bugs are introduced to the chemicals, then the pill bugs will most likely go to the sugar solution rather then go to the others†. I then looked at the results of my experiment and it showed that the pill bugs liked the sugar solution the most. This alone proves that my hypothesis is correct. I believe the accuracy and precision in my results is 100% correct. I believe this to be valid because I ensured there were no errors made during the experiment. Even though there was a lot of room for error I made sure that it didn’t happen. This experiment could have been revised, as there should have been a bigger petri dish or something larger to hold the pill bugs in. This way more solutions could have been used like the same 4 chemicals just more slides of them. This would show more accurately that they really did like the sugar; this would eliminate any one saying that it was a fluke, that the pill bugs liked the sugar. I also think more pill bugs should have been added. I think that this would allow for more room for accuracy and precision in the experiment. From the experiment I learned that pill bugs are very interesting organisms. I had a lot of fun doing the experiment. I learned that out of a sugar solution, a salt solution, vinegar and water, that the pill bugs will choose the sugar solution the most. I also learned from this experiment that an experiment can always be redone and that it will show more accurate results. Before this experiment I always thought that one experiment could be good enough for 100% accuracy. Then, I thought about this experiment and I realized that this experiment could be better done. I also learned that pill bugs also like to climb on top of each other. This was interesting to me because I never thought they would do that because, you don’t see people or elephants climbing top of each other. These are some facts that I learned from the lab. In conclusion, the experiment showed the behavior of the pill bugs when chemicals were introduced. When the sugar solution, salt solution, vinegar and water were added and the pill bugs behavior was changed by whether they  were attracted to it or not. Through my results from the experiment the pill bugs liked the sugar solution the most and that supported my hypothesis. The experiment had no errors, but could have been done better. Finally, through the experiment I learned many new things, I had a lot of fun and I realized that not every experiment is not always the best one done. I also learned that an organism’s behavior could be affected by a stimulus even though we may not see it.