Discuss the Operation Management Plays a Key Role in Online Shopping in China

Discuss the Operation Management Plays a Key Role in Online Shopping in China -Using Zhuodang Book Store to analyze Introduction: In China, the network informatization is rapid developing. The electronic business has become the most efficient commodity tool. Online shopping gradually becomes one of people’s consumption behaviors and e-business is a simple, quick and low-cost electronic communication mode. Consumers can through lots of methods to business activities. Such as telephone, e-mail, fax and chat software. This article will explore China online store operational management and using the delivery channels and process of Zhuodang Book Store as an example. The information and communication technique is widely applied in their operation process. This article will evaluate the effect and function of the information and communication technique that using in the delivery channels and prove online store is evolvable. I was a consumer of Zhuodang Book Store and I got an interview with the storekeeper to learn about some management flow and the process of delivery through chat software. Main bodies: The e-business has become a very important and efficient marketing method in nowadays society. The communication technology is widely applied to the e-business process and operation. ZhuoDang Book Store is a new online book store which has a sound momentum of development and many chances of improvement. However, there are some problems in their delivery process. In this article, the operations process of delivery channel will be researched and some suggestion and evaluation will be given for ZhuoDang Book Store. Introduction of TaoBao. om and the interview record will be presented in the appendix. The online storekeeper need not spend too much energy and earn money. The operations from pay to give the feedback are the delivery process. Through interview I have drawn a flow pictures about his online book store operations. From this flowchart, the storekeeper just carries on three main sections, bargaining, purchase e–books and sent book to express company, respecti vely. The storekeeper just needs to communicate with consumers. Answering their questions and promotion goods are storekeepers mainly task. After consumers paid goods, the storekeeper will receive an order, and then they will according to this order to store from source goods department and sent books to express company. (The source goods department and express company have business relations with online book store. ) Zhuodang Book Store has no stock problem, because it receives first and the purchase according to these orders, they need not to stock books. So they do not worry the stock problem which may cause the waste of resources. That lots of reduce storekeepers work load and reduce the investment. Consumers can get more benefit flexible service. â€Å"Customer – processing technology is being used to give an acceptable level of service while significantly reducing costs to the operation. †(Slack et al. 2007:234). There are essentially two types of customer – processing technology showed by Slack et al. â€Å"those that you interact with yourself and those that are operated by an intermediary. † ZhuoDang Book Store is the latter. When the customer wants to buy books, they will ask the store if they have the book and the content. Generally both customers and storekeeper use the Aliwangwang which is the telecom software that the website self-developed. Besides that, the customer can communicate with storekeeper by mail. If the storekeeper is not online, the customers can text messages to them. After dispatch the goods, the customer can contact with them to ask the process. When the customer receipts the goods, they can go to the store page to evaluate the service and give the feedback to storekeeper. One of the biggest advantages is that the storekeeper can get the feedback from customers timely. Zhuodang Book Store uses the Taobao. com system, which include research goods and feedback. After the customer paid, the storekeeper will receipt the system prompt, and then he will collect these orders. The information about customers demand and address will be checked carefully. After they send books to express company they will use the website communication system to tell customers that their goods have be delivered. Customers also use the goods query system on the website to inquiry the delivery advances. When customers get books, they can to the store page and give their assessment (good, fair and bad). Consumers also can leave massages at the online book store. The system calculate a percentage about goods quality, service attitude and delivery speed. They are called creditworthiness, which is very important influence the next customers’ selection preference. Delivery process quality plays a key role in Zhuodang Book Store. If the customers buy several books they can bargain with storekeeper or the storekeeper gives a discount for regular customers or one-time quantity buyer. But physical store sell at expressly marked price, consumers cannot bargain although sometimes the physical store has some 70% off. General opinion, the online shop price is cheaper than physical store and the profit is higher than physical store. Although the books delivered by the delivery company and saving lots of time and money, from customers ordered, the book will be send on 2-5 work days. However, buying in physical store, consumers can immediately obtain goods. In modern business, Just-in-time is a very important element. JIT aims to meet demand instantaneously, with perfect quality and no waste. †(Slack et al. 2007: 466) When the storekeeper of Zhuodang Book Store gets orders, they will ask the source books department to deliver goods as soon as possible. The customer can accord others’ assignment and the creditworthiness to select the online book store in order to assurance goods quality. People decided to shop online, that means they want to reducing the cost or they have no time to go to physical store to shop. So they are willing waiting for books a few days, which is with normal delivery days. Sometimes the storekeeper will assume delivery problems, which are not their area of responsibility. Although the storekeeper announces their delivery process of goods is accurate, other section may have problem. For example the express company may damage, loss and confuse the goods. Customers always find the storekeeper to compensate their losses in spite of that is not their duty. But this problem incidence is too low, if the storekeeper gives a good service, which can get customers satisfaction instead of affect the store creditworthiness. Finding the storekeeper is the easiest and the most direct ways for a consumer, although they know that the cause of the problem comes not from storekeepers. As an online book store, it can be promoted by internal methods and external communication. There are five performance objectives, quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost, respectively. Picture1 shows these five performance objectives have both external and internal effects. Picture1. Performance objectives have both external and internal effects. (Source, Slack et al. 2007:52) Focus on internal promotion methods, dividing labors, building a new system, selecting a lower cost but higher quality and speed delivery company can make performance objectives to improve. Dividing labors into different sections can improve the work efficiency and reduce delivery time. For example there should be one person to communicate with customers and another one person purchase books and delivery them. Work in cooperation with a due division of labour is one of the best ways to enhance efficiency. Building a complete sales system just like specialty shops can enhance the delivery speed. Some intermediate links can be cut. For example, the store can store up some popular books, when customers need it, the store can deliver these books as quickly as possible. Choosing a right delivery company is also important. From the above statements we can clearly see that delivery speed is one of the biggest disadvantages for an online shop. However the quality of delivery also should be observed. Selecting a lost cost but high quality and speed delivery company can obtain a big benefit. The advantages of online shopping are convenience and cheap, but delivery time is very weakness. So improving the delivery section can attract more customers. Focus on external communication improvement, contacting with customers can enhance the flexibility. When the customer asks the product condition the storekeeper should give them description. Using the communication software to contact with customers is an essential process. Through the Aliwangwang they can communicate with customers seasonable. That is a official software and it can record the chat log that can supply the evidence if there is any issue. Besides that, the telephone, e-mail and other methods can also improve the communication between the storekeeper and customers. The store should allow the customer discuss the delivery time, no matter how much money they would pay that is a good chance to improve the flexibility. Contacting with suppliers is very important. Although storekeeper buying books after customers order, they also need a good relationship with supplier in order to get high quality and low price goods. If a good relationship have been established the suppliers will give storekeepers a more or less discount and preference. In fact, most of problems occur on the delivery process of the express company. Some goods may be damaged or lost during the delivery process. Therefore, supervise and remind the express company is necessary. Once the store builds a good relationship with express company, the freight cost can be reduced. Furthermore, the storekeeper want to pay the delivery charge to the head office of the express company thus can save some time and money. Picture2 shows using the Polar diagram to compare promotion change. Picture2. Change of improvement for online store. (Red line- before; Blue line: after) Conclusion: ZhuoDang Book Store is an online-shop that sales books to general customers. The delivery process is an important section in all online stores. The store using the internet resource expands their business that is fully utilizing the information and communication technology. The delivery process is not very complicated: receive orders—collects orders—purchase books—send books to express company. Compare with the physical shop, the price of books is cheaper and can be discussed is a strength. The timely communication and feedback system also is the advantage of their delivery system. Enhancing the delivery speed and quality can bring more profit and customers. Online store have a good development potential, it should choose an applicable method to grow. In present Chinese online C2C business, the shop likes ZhuoDang Store have many chances to develop. Reference: ?Introduction of Taobao. com (2010). [online]. http://www. taobao. com/about/intro. php [Date accessed 2003-2011] ?ShenXie ShuMa (2009). Anti-fraud Guide—for shopkeeper. [online]. http://bangpai. taobao. com/group/thread/58509-578637. htm[Date accessed 03. 08. 2009] ?Slack, N et al. (2007) OPERATION MANAGEMENT. 5th ed. Prentice Hall

Case Study †AES Corporation Essay

Dennis Bakke, the CEO of AES, a company that develops, builds and operates electric power plants, sat in his office late in 1996 and thought about the question that was perennially posed to him: could AES, soon to have some 25,000 people located literally all over the world following a recent purchase of power plants in Kazakhstan, continue to operate with virtually no staff functions and, specifically, without any human resource staff anywhere in the corporation? The absence of centralized staff — or, for that matter, much staff at all — had been one of the themes guiding the design and operation of the corporation since its founding. The company, in addition to having no personnel department, had no public relations, legal, environmental, or strategic planning departments. Its chief financial officer, Barry Sharp, saw his job not so much as running a centralized finance function but rather as helping all the AES employees as they made important decisions about financi ng and investments in a very capital intensive business. But the company was becoming much larger and increasingly geographically dispersed. Perhaps those early decisions needed to be rethought. Could what worked for so long continue to work as the corporation grew and operated increasingly on a global basis? Could the advantages of flexibility and having virtually every employee feel responsible for almost all aspects of the corporation’s operations continue to outweigh the costs of an absence of specialization and the need to have people always learning new tasks and new things? Was this continuous learning of new things really a disadvantage at all, or as Bakke thought, how one created a real â€Å"learning organization?† What Bakke recognized was that AES was different from most other corporations. How different should and could it remain? And if it remained different, how should it deal with the strains that growth and geographic differentiation would inevitably place on an organization that had always been managed by a strong set of values and a shared culture? This case was  prepared by Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Support for this case was provided by the Human Resources Initiative of the Graduate School of Business. The author would also like to acknowledge Robert Waterman for his introduction to the company. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY AES (originally called Applied Energy Services) was founded in 1981 by Roger Sant and Dennis Bakke. Originally supplying consulting services to the energy industry, the company began operating its first power plant in Houston in 1986 and went public as AES in 1991. By the end of its 1995 fiscal year, AES was selling electricity to customers in the United States, England, Northern Ireland, Argentina, and China, and had plants under construction in Pakistan. A list of AES operating facilities, their size, and fuel source, is provided in Exhibit 1. The company saw itself as â€Å"the global power company† and had as its mission â€Å"supplying electricity to customers world-wide in a socially responsible way.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ The electric power generation business has always been very competitive and the competition was increasing. Many subsidiaries of large oil and gas companies, organizations with substantial financial resources, were entering the business. The business was also complex. Building or purchasing existing power plants was a process that was heavily influenced by governmental decisions and actions, and often took two to four years at least to complete. AES owned and operated its plants under a number of different financial arrangements. Some plants were whollyowned by AES. Others were owned under various joint venture arrangements. For instance, the Medway plant in England was joint venture between AES and two privatized British utilities, Southern Electric and SEE-BOARD. The plant in San Nicolas, Argentina was owned by a partnership in which AES held 70% interest and Community Energy Alternatives, Inc. and the people at the plant held the rest. AES’s operations in China were conducted by a separate subsidiary, AES  China Generating Company Ltd., that was capitalized in February, 1994 with funds from AES and an initial public offering. The company was traded on the over-the-counter market, but recently AES had announced plans to purchase the interest in the subsidiary it did not own. Thus, financing and ownership arrangements were varied and often required protracted negotiations and the ability to work with a number of different partners. Most of the growth in demand for electricity, as well as most of the privatization opportunities, were occurring in developing or emerging economies and three-quarters of AES’s development people and financial resources were focused on those markets in 1996. AES saw as its competitive advantage against larger and better financed competitors its agility or speed and its ability to commit corporate equity and to arrange complex financial transactions. It also had some â€Å"disadvantages,† particularly its emphasis on integrity that precluded the company from doing some things to obtain business that not all of its competitors were as reluctant to do. The company’s two founders both had extensive experience in government prior to founding AES, and to some extent this helped steel their determination to avoid creating a bureaucratic organization resembling the government. Bakke, a 1970 MBA graduate from Harvard Business School, had worked following graduation at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and then in the Office of Management and Budget before moving to the Mellon Institute’s Energy Productivity Center in Washington, D.C. There, he and Sant, another Harvard MBA who had headed the Ford administration’s energy conservation efforts, worked together and AES 1995 Annual Report, p. 1. wrote a book, Creating Abundance: America’s Least-Cost Energy Strategy. Out of the research for that book and their work on energy policy for the Ford and Carter administrations came the idea to start AES as a participant in the new independent power producer industry. Both Bakke and Sant are individuals with strong moral convictions and indeed both have a touch of the missionary in them. Bakke is very active in both charitable and  Christian church (Baptist) activities. This social conscience and sense of a higher purpose or calling has pervaded the operation and management of AES since its inception. For example, Bakke’s description of the purpose or mission of AES is â€Å"to steward resources to meet the needs of society.† 2 From the beginning, AES has had a strong set of core values and beliefs about people that it works hard to operationalize on a continuing basis. The four core values are: Integrity †¦ Integrity comes from the Latin word, `integra,’ which means `wholeness.’ By carefully weighing all factors–ethical concerns, stakeholder interests, and societal needs–AES strives to act with integrity in all of its activities. Fairness . . . the term `fairness’ means `justice.’ Often `fairness’ is confused with `sameness’ †¦ We don’t mean that. AES aspires to give everyone special treatment. Everyone is unique †¦ And the effects of treating people justly in corporate systems and organizations can be profound. Social responsibility. The most socially responsible thing a corporation can do is to do a superb job of meeting a need in society. Therefore, companies must carefully manage capital, employees and intellect to meet a societal need. For AES, the first step in this process is to ensure that every generating plant is operated in a clean, reliable, safe, and cost-effective manner. But we have chosen to go beyond these essentials †¦ That is why we plant millions of trees to offset carbon dioxide and build new schools and take numerous other steps to improve our environment and build communities. Fun †¦ For us, `fun’ means establishing an environment in which people can use their gifts and skills to make a difference in society without fear of being squelched. Creating a fun workplace environment requires a positive view of humanity that begins with the people who work in the corporation.3 AES also has a set. of core assumptions about people that it tries to use in design ing and managing its organization. These assumptions are that AES people: 1) Are creative, thinking individuals–capable of learning and making decisions, like to control their environment and can be trusted; 2) Are responsible–can be held accountable; An important element of AES is its commitment to four major â€Å"shared† values .. . AES believes that earning a fair profit is an important result of providing a quality product to its customers. However, if the Company perceives a conflict between these values and profits, the Company will try to adhere to its values–even though doing so might result in diminished profits or foregone opportunities. Moreover, the Company seeks to adhere to these values not as a means to achieve economic success, but because adherence is a worthwhile goal in and of itself The Company intends to continue these policies after this offering.s To AES, simply maximizing profits is not the primary objective of the corporation. Dennis Bakke has written: Where do profits fit? Profits . . . are not any corporation’s main goal. Profits are to a corporation much like breathing is to life. Breathing is not the goal of life, but without breath, life ends. Similarly, without turning a profit, a corporation, too, will cease to exist. . . . At AES we strive not to make profits the ultimate driver of the corporation (although I admit we slip from time to time in this regard). My desire is that the principles to which we strive would take preeminence.6 AES operationalizes its values and its commitment to them in myriad operating policies and practices. An example, drawn from a common stock offering prospectus in 1993, helps to illustrate how the company turns its values into actions: Most of the Company’s plants operate without shift supervisors. The project subsidiaries are responsible for all major facility-specific business functions, including financing and capital expenditures†¦. Every AES person has been encouraged to participate  in strategic planning and new plant design for the Company. The Company has generally organized itself into multi-skilled teams to develop projects, rather than forming `staff’ groups †¦ to carry out specialized functions. Two examples illustrate these principles of decentralization and empowerment in action. Most financial decisions at this financially-leveraged company are not made by the chief financial officer, Barry Sharp, but rather by AES project teams comprised largely of people with no formal training in finance. For instance, â€Å"hard as it is to imagine, CFO Sharp has raised less than $300 million of the approximately $3.5 billion of funding for AES’s 10 power plants. The multidisciplinary project team working on each new plant is charged with that task, even if the team has little finance experience. Bankers phone Sharp expecting him to call the shots, but he demurs and instead gives the bankers a list of the team members so the bankers can call them directly. At the AES plant in Thames, Connecticut, a task force including front-line people invest the plant’s debt reserves, negotiating directly with investment bankers and, in the process, learning a lot about finance and fi nancial markets. Pam Strunk, the financial superintendent at the plant, said that it was important that â€Å"they have the fun and novelty of doing something that’s different from what they do all day. If we lose 100 basis points for a few days, then that’s the price we pay.† 8 Another example comes from a description of how the corporation built a $404 million project in Cumberland, Maryland. The project took ten years to put together and was handled by a team of 10 people who â€Å"secured 36 separate permit approvals involving two dozen regulatory agencies and arranged financing that involved tax-exempt bonds and 10 lenders. Normally, such projects require hundreds of workers, each with small specific tasks to perform within large corporations.†9 What is particularly noteworthy is the composition of the team. With two exceptions, they were all under 40 years old and many had little or no previous experience doing what they did on the project. Paul Burdick, a mechanical engineer with no MBA or any formal training in finance, handled the complex financing of the project. Ann Murtlow, the team leader, was a thirty-five year old chemical engineer who also did not have an MBA degree. The composition and operation of the team illustrates a core AES concept of allowing people to try new things. Although eschewing the pursuit of profits or maximizing shareholder value as the primary objective of the company and, in fact, doing numerous things to operate according to the four core values, the company has nonetheless been very financially successful. As seen in Exhibit 2 using data drawn from its 1995 Annual Report, the firm enjoyed a 105% growth in revenues between 1991 and 1995 and during that period grew its earnings per share more than 113% while its total assets grew almost 70% and its shareholders’ equity grew 289%. The annual report also illustrates some other unique things about the company and how it views itself. The document lists by name each of the 1,258 people who work for the company on pages 49-53. The discussion of operations in the letter to the shareholders has, as its first section, one on Shared Values/Principles. That section reported on the results of the annual employee survey and discussed both improvements (â€Å"there is less concern this year about an imbalance between shareholder and other stakeholder interests. There is also less fear that our principles will erode as we create businesses in many nations†) as well as problems (â€Å"Some of our people at Thames . In eight years, the value of a share of AES stock went from $2 to $250, and $10,000 invested in AES in 1982 would now be worth $10 million. In late 1996, the company’s shares were near an alltime high and were selling at a multiple of about 30 times earnings, indicating that Wall Street appreciated — even if it did not always fully understand — at least the financial aspects of the AES story. THE THAMES, CONNECTICUT PLANT Although no plant at AES is exactly like any other, in part because of the value placed on decentralization, the operation in Connecticut is typical of AES. The Thames plant is located in Uncasville, Connecticut, near New London, and about 45 minutes from Providence, Rhode Island. The plant is located on only seven acres and is in close proximity to neighboring houses. The plant cost $260 million to construct and uses coal for fuel. It began commercial operations in March, 1990, supplying 181 megawatts of electricity to Connecticut Light and Power and up to 100,000 pounds of steam per hour to Stone Container’s paper recycling plant that is adjacent to AESThames. The plant has operated on average at over 95 percent of capacity since it opened, compared to 83 percent for the industry as a whole. Consistent with the AES value of social responsibility, the plant strives to be a â€Å"good neighbor† to those living nearby. A visitor to the plant is immediately struck by its cleanliness, and the people who work in the plant are proud of its appearance. The walls of the plant exterior are very light colored (off-white), so that any dirt would be immediately visible. The color of the walls was intentionally chosen to encourage respect for the physical environment and cleanliness. The place where the coal is unloaded from the barges that bring it up the Connecticut River is also immaculate. The coal handling system is covered to  avoid excess dust or debris getting into the surroundings and the unloading dock and surrounding area is swept by a mechanical sweeper after the once a week delivery. There is no smell of sulfur in the air, and in fact, no odor at all. The attitude of cleanliness extends inside the plant as well. For instance, there are two â€Å"lunch rooms,† although both have stoves, and one has a microwave oven, cooktops, refrigerator, and   dishwasher as well, which makes them more than a typical plant eating area. Quite elaborate meals are cooked there. Both lunch rooms are clean with no dirty dishes sitting around. The cabinetry is of excellent quality and appearance as are the appliances. The turbine rooms are also imma culate. In keeping with AES’s social responsibility and concern for the environment, the AES Thames plant has funded a project to plant 52 million trees in Guatemala, designed to reduce the greenhouse effect produced by the burning of coal to produce power. The number of trees was selected based on estimates of the number required to absorb the entire amount of carbon dioxide produced in the plant during its anticipated 40-year life span. In the fall of 1996, Thames employed a total of 59 people, including five in adininistration, seven area superintendents, nine in maintenance, five in material handling and processing, eight instrument and electrical repair technicians, and 20 operations technicians. The full staffing level for the plant is 63 positions, and hiring was occurring at the time. A number of the plant’s employees had previously worked either for the Navy or General Dynamics at the nearby Groton, Connecticut shipyard. About 20% of the people in the plant have college degrees, including Associate’s degrees. Recall, these are the people that are handling the investment of the plant’s debt reserves of several millions of dollars and essentially making all of the decisions in a collaborative environment. There is very little emphasis on  formal credentials in the hiring process. And this is true throughout AES. The company has about twenty to thirty MBAs, many of whom have been in the company a while. Most have come from their home (non-U.S.) countries. At AES, no one gets hired into the company at a senior level, and the company tends not to use headhunters for jobs at any level. The company also has tried not to hire directly into project director (new development) positions. AES-Thames has an extremely low turnover rate, as does AES generally. One of the reasons for the low turnover is that AES is a different and special place and people know it and value that fact. To be written about in the Wall Street Journal and other publications, to receive many visits, reinforces the pride and feeling of uniqueness that AES people share. People do often move within the company. Out of perhaps 70 people who were in the Thames plant when it began, only 4-5 people have left the company in seven or eight years. The low turnover is also because, as one person put it, â€Å"we all have the ability to expand what we do.† The plant organization has three levels — the plant manager, the seven area superintendents, and the front-line people. Because the facility operates continuously, there is some shift work. After some experimentation, people now work three twelve-hour shifts and then have three days off. They then rotate between the night and day shifts. The first shift is from 6:30 in the morning until 6:30 at night, and the second shift is from 6:30 P.M. to 6:30 A.M. Maintenance has a standard 40 hour week but the individuals have pagers, and they rotate responsibility for off-hours coverage.

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Comparing Vulnerability to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among War Veterans and the General Population and Gender Differences in Developing the Disorder - Research Paper Example This criterion was based on the fact that it would be almost impossible to get members of the general public who have been to battlefields, majorly because the number of such participants is merely restricted to victims of war, journalists, and aid workers all of who are deemed to comprise a very small proportion of the population. This decision was also motivated by the fact that in the present survey, none of the non-veteran participants indicated as having served in any warzones for any length of time. Using this criterion, the average length of time spent in warzones by the participants was 12.9 (std. dev. = 19.07) months. While some veteran participants had never been to warzones, the longest amount of time served in such regions by any of the participants was 60 months. Uncharacteristically, the standard deviation for this data is larger than the mean, implying that the rate of variation form the mean was particularly huge. The inferential tests were undertaken at the 5% level of significance. Ten out of the 13 participants diagnosed with PTSD were veterans, signifying that this group made up 76.92% of all cases of the condition diagnosed within the sample. The non-veterans were, therefore, more likely to fail the PTSD test, recording 13 (72.2%) of all failed PTSD tests. Using the ‘chitest’ function in Excel, the significance of associations between pairs of variables was assessed. The association between veteran status for individuals and PTSD prevalence was statistically significant (χ2 = 7.30, df = 1, p = 0.007). Clearly, the above result confirms the significance of the difference in the ratios indicated above, with the implication that the prevalence of PTSD was significantly higher among veterans than among the non-veterans. The Pearson chi square value for the association between PTSD status (either being diagnosed with the condition or failing to show signs for the same) and gender

The Influence of Loyalty Programs on Customer Loyalty in Banking Dissertation

The Influence of Loyalty Programs on Customer Loyalty in Banking Sector in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example The research topic aims at identifying the importance and impact of loyalty programs on customer loyalty in the banking sector of the United Kingdom. In order to examine the research topic, the researcher collected secondary information from academic books, journals and past research papers. The secondary data stated that loyalty programs play an important role in earning the loyalty of customers along with enhancing their satisfaction level. However, customer loyalty in the banking sector is dependent on multiple factors like effectiveness of financial products and services, communication channels, personalised services and attention and nature and benefits of loyalty programs. The banking sector of the United Kingdom has been affected by the financial crisis of 2008-10 that made many customers to lose their trust and loyalty. However, banks like HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland have been offering multiple loyalty programs with large numbers of them based on loyalty cards. Based on the research findings, it was assumed that customer loyalty can only be enhanced through increasing the satisfaction level of customers along with offering appropriate products and services in a cost effective manner. Loyal customers are not always productive to organsiations as productivity depends on buying behaviour. It is important to target customers who have been loyal along with an enhanced and positive buying behaviour. The study also revealed that customer should be empowered at every stage of the buying in order to make them feel privileged and special. This will help in earning their commitment and loyalty that will strengthen the operational framework. Loyalty programs introduced by banks do impact the loyalty level of customers but the important thing is to retain their loyalty for a long period of time in order to grow and develop at a speedy pace. It is important to earn their trust and commitment rather to stay

Inequalities Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Inequalities - Speech or Presentation Example If an individual BMI is between 17 and 22, then his/her life span might be longer than the average. If an individual BMI is between 23 and 25, then the individual is probably not overweight. If an individual BMI is equal to or greater than 26, then he/she is probably overweight and statistically likely to have lower life expectancy. If an individual BMI is between 25 and 29.9, then the individual is overweight and if BMI is equal to or greater than the 30, then the individual is obese (Dugopolski, 2012). Therefore, an individual who has the same height as mine and who weigh above 180.3 pounds is obese and will face serious problems in their life. Although, this interval theoretically extends to positive infinity, however, the weight of a human is eventually self-limiting. Then S = {w | w > 150.25 and w ≠¤ 180.30} where w represents the weight of the individual. Because the weight is between 150.25 and 180.30 (including), ‘w’ has to be larger than the smaller number (150.25) and smaller or equal to the larger number (180.30). In interval notation, this would be written as follows: X = (150.25, 180.30]. Left side parenthesis ‘(‘ and right side square bracket ‘]’ is used because of the > and ≠¤ symbols from the inequality. This demonstrates that 150.25 is not included in the solution set, however, 180.30 is included in the solution set. In conclusion, inequality can be used for determining weight range for individual for being normal weight, overweight and obese based on the body mass index (BMI). An individual of height 65 inches who weigh between 150 pounds and 180 pounds will be considered as overweight and weight greater than 180 pounds will be considered as obese. Both of these scenarios could results in shorter life span than average for the

Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change Management - Essay Example â€Å"While participation in Internet doubled from 1982 to 1992†¦the irony is that the key communication technologies are, at best, in their infancy in developing or less developed countries† (Olaniran 65). Many companies in such developing countries as India and Kenya are reluctant to change the communication practices that have been in use for decades. However, as the workforce is getting more trained and educated, a positive change is expected and has already started to show up in many organizations in these countries. An effective way to reduce the employee resistance is by allowing them to get involved and participate in the change management process. This can be achieved if the employees are taken into confidence. Managers should develop and engage the employees in unfreezing activities. â€Å"Unfreezing activities normally involve group activities designed to confront existing group behavior. These may take the form of training interventions, team talks, evangelic al speeches, or some other form of activity† (Collins 60). Managers should arrange meetings with the employees where they all can be addressed at once. Managers should ensure that all employees attend the meeting. In the meeting, the managers should explain the need of introducing the change to the employees and why and how the old system is not letting the organization achieve its objectives. The managers should not only demonstrate the need of change but also show how individualistic efforts of the employees working at different levels in the organization will contribute to the organizational success. A very important point that a manager should keep in mind while addressing the employees is not to underestimate or overlook the role of any employee in the change introduction and the management process. Ideally, the manager should encourage the employees to come up with ideas that could further enhance the manager’s plan of introducing and managing the change. Construc tive ideas should not only be appreciated but also be incorporated into the change implementation process. This would serve as an incentive for other employees to share their positive opinions with the manager and also boost their confidence as well as motivation to help the manager implement the change. â€Å"Participatory measures such as team working and high-involvement work practices demonstrate improvements in performance†¦Performance changes may occur because participation leads to changed attitudes which lead to higher performance† (Summers and Hyman). Before conducting the meeting, the manager should try to identify the employees whose interests would be affected by the introduction of change, and tend to modify the change plan in a way that causes minimum loss to those employees while enhancing the overall efficiency of other employees and the organization as a whole. However, â€Å"[i]n any change, especially ones that affect a complete organization, it is im possible to involve every employee in each decision† (Heathfield), so the manager should not change the plan in an attempt to satisfy everyone. Once the employees have been sufficiently addressed and convinced through such meetings, the manager shou

Grade Speech Essay Example for Free

Grade Speech Essay From the minute the teacher mentioned the word SPEECHES i started to frown. I have never been a big fan speeches from the start, even though i have been doing them for a few years now i still have trouble with them. Whether its coming up with a topic, revising and editing, or presenting in front of the class i don’t like it one bit. But when you think of it who really does like doing speeches at are age. I have never met someone who has started jumping up and down cheering when they hear the teacher start talking about doing speeches. Or someone who started thinking yaaa i get stand up in front of all my friends and my classmates and talk about one subject for 5 to 6 minutes. But in the end we all have to do it one time or another. Knowing that I start thinking of different topics to do my speech on, and then i think why not do a speech on the very thing i have trouble with. Why not do a speech on doing a speech. So here’s my speech on speeches. The first step on creating your speech is too come up with a good topic. You wanna think of something that isn’t too boring. The last thing you want is to be standing there talking with half of the room falling asleep. You want a topic that is something your audience will find interesting or maybe something they can relate to. If your like me, coming up with the right topic to do your speech on can be challenging sometimes. So here are some things to keep in mind while finding a good topic for you. First thing is that the topic you choose has to be one that either you know a lot on or one that will be easy to research. If you cant get information on it then you wont have anything to talk about. Second thing to keep in mind is that you need to make sure the topic is appropriate for whatever audience you will be presenting to. Third thing is that another way to help think of a topic is to brainstorm. You can brainstorm many different ideas then choose the one you want to do most . The next part to do of the writhing section of your speech is the draft. this is one of the parts that takes the most work. The most important thing to keep in mind while writing your draft is that its a draft! A rough copy. You can go back and fix things later when you don’t like what u have written. There should be three parts to your speech. #1 the introduction. #2 the body. #3 the conclusion. The introduction is where it all starts. That’s where you have your opening sentence. You want your opening sentence to be something interesting that will grab the audiences attention and make them want to keep on listening to the speech. A good introduction is the way to start off a good speech the body of your speech is the middle. Its the biggest part of the whole thing. Then there’s your conclusion. Its the ending part of speech, the part where you Finnish up and conclude. Now its time to revise and edit.

Scattering of Light

Scattering of Light Callum Lim Contents 1. Rayleigh scattering 1.1 Mid-day 1.2 Sunrise and sunset 1.3 Night-time 2. Mie scattering 2.1 Clouds 3. Pollution 3.1 Light pollution 3.2 Haze 4. Personal reflections 5. Conclusion 6. Bibliography 1. Rayleigh scattering When a beam of light travels through particles which are smaller than its wavelength, it is possible these particles scatter the light beam in a process known as Rayleigh scattering. This process is visible everyday whenever sunlight is scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere. As sunlight is composed of different visible wavelengths of light – mainly Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet; ROYGBIV – not all sunlight has the same probability of being scattered. It is possible to determine the amount of Rayleigh scattering that the different visible wavelengths in sunlight experience by calculating the intensity of the individual scattered wavelengths. The intensity of light scattered by small particles (I) depends on the intensity (I0) and wavelength (ÃŽ ») of the light source, the distance of the light source from the particle (R), the scattering angle (ÃŽ ¸), the refractive index of the particle (n), and the diameter of the particle (d). The relationship between these variables is illustrated in the following equation: (Seinfeld Pandis , 2006) 1.1 Mid-day When the Sun is directly overhead, all the wavelengths of light originating from it travel the same distance from the Sun and through our atmosphere and are scattered by the same medium (nitrogen and oxygen molecules). Hence, I0, R, ÃŽ ¸, n and d remain constant and the above equation can be simplified into: With this equation, it can be seen that the intensity of scattered light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of a light’s wavelength and that the shorter a light’s wavelength, the more intensely visible it is. Hence, as GBIV light (400nm to 500nm) have shorter wavelengths compared to ROY light (570nm to 700nm), GBIV light is more intensely visible to us. Due to the shorter wavelengths of GBIV light, they also have higher chances of encountering atmospheric molecules than the ROY light and getting scattered by it, as shown in the figure below. Although scattered light continues travelling in a random direction, a greater proportion of GBIV than ROY light reaches our eyes because GBIV wavelengths are shorter and more easily scattered. However, as our eyes detect the blue component in GBIV light that has been scattered the easiest (Leong, 2006), we see the mid-day sky as blue in colour. 1.2 Sunrise and sunset At sunrise and sunset, sunlight has to travel through a longer distance through the atmosphere than at mid-day before it is visible. As a result, sunlight encounters more atmospheric molecules during these times which results in more scattering of light. Hence, with this increased distance, even the higher wavelengths (ROY) are scattered, and this colours the sky reddish-orange. However, it is only at the horizons that the sky looks reddish-orange because the multiple rays of sunlight travel through different distances in the atmosphere due to refraction. As seen in the figure above, sunlight ray A penetrates the atmosphere very minimally and experiences very little refraction. As a result, it travels the shortest distance through the atmosphere and gets very little scattering. Thus, only the violet and indigo wavelengths are scattered. Sunlight ray B enters more deeply into atmosphere than A and gets refracted more. Hence, it has to travel a longer distance through the atmosphere which scatters most of BIV wavelengths. Before it leaves the atmosphere, however, the remaining wavelengths are scattered which results in a portion of the sky looking yellow. Sunlight ray C penetrates deepest into the atmosphere and experiences the most refraction. As it travels the longest distance of the three rays, its higher red and orange wavelengths are also scattered. This gives a portion of the sky its reddish-orange colour. Hence, this is why only the horizons are coloured reddish-orange while the rest of the sky remains blue during sunrise and sunset. 1.3 Night-time Sunlight reflected off the moon undergoes Rayleigh scattering as well, although its effects are not as visible. As mentioned earlier, the intensity of the light source (I0) and the distance of the light source from the particle (R) also affects the how intensely visible the scattered light is. Although the Moon is much closer to the Earth than the Sun, the light we get from it is much less intense than that from the Sun, thus reducing the intensity of scattered light. 2. Mie scattering Aside from Rayleigh scattering, another type of scattering, in the form of Mie scattering, exists. This occurs when sunlight encounters molecules which are comparable in size to its composite wavelengths. As a result, all visible wavelengths in sunlight are almost scattered equally. 2.1 Clouds On a daily basis, Mie scattering is observable when we look at clouds. As water vapour in clouds tend to be 20 micrometres in diameter (University of Illinois, 2010), all visible wavelengths in sunlight are scattered by clouds equally, thus giving clouds their white appearance. Bigger clouds or rain clouds usually look darker because they are bigger and contain more water vapour molecules. Thus, as these clouds scatter most of the sunlight that pass through them, very little sunlight exits through the bottoms of these clouds. Besides appearing white or grey, clouds can also appear reddish at sunrise or sunset. This is attributed to both Mie and Rayleigh scattering. At these times, sunlight travels a longer distance through the atmosphere and most of the shorter GBIV wavelengths are scattered just as sunlight enters the atmosphere. Hence, the further sunlight travels through the atmosphere, the greater the proportion of longer ROY wavelengths that remain. Thus, it is mainly the ROY wavelengths that are able to reach and get scattered by the clouds; and this causes clouds to appear reddish. Mie scattering is also observable on nights when moonlight is scattered by clouds in the sky and results in clouds appearing white. 3. Pollution 3.1 Light pollution On certain late nights, it is also possible to observe red clouds in the sky even when there is no source of light in the atmosphere. This phenomenon is a result of denser clouds scattering light from the city back down onto Earth. As Singapore is mostly lit up by yellow or orange light from streetlights, a greater proportion of longer wavelengths are scattered by the clouds thus making the clouds look red. However, if the clouds do not contain enough water vapour molecules and hence, are not large or dense enough, less city light is scattered. Thus, the redness visible in these clouds is not as pronounced and this is why red clouds are not always visible at night. Besides Mie scattering, city light also undergoes Rayleigh scattering at night, although its effect is not as obvious as scattered sunlight. While city light is mostly emitted in longer wavelengths and do not experience much Rayleigh scattering, its shorter wavelengths are greatly scattered by atmospheric particles as it travels through the atmosphere. Consequently, the shorter wavelengths of light scattered through Rayleigh scattering, together with the light scattered by clouds, increase the ambient brightness of Singapore’s night sky and inadvertently blocks out dimmer interstellar light that would otherwise be visible. Thus, this is why it is quite difficult to see deep-space objects in most of Singapore with the naked-eye. 3.2 Haze When dust and smoke particles from haze are present in the atmosphere, it becomes denser and causes light to undergo both Rayleigh and Mie scattering. This is because these particles typically range from 2.5 micrometres to 10 micrometres in diameter (Association of South East Asian Nations, 2014) and hence, are larger than visible light wavelengths. Thus, when the PSI is in the moderate range or worse, it is possible to see that all light appears muted and dull. At night, haze also causes Mie scattering of city light not only in clouds but throughout the sky. This results in significant portions night sky taking on a reddish glow. 4. Personal reflections Through this project, I now have a better understanding of why the sky and clouds appear to change in colour over time as well as why it is relatively difficult to observe the cosmos in a brightly lit city at night. The latter was evident when our group spent a day at Changi beach to photograph the colours changes in the sky. Just as we were leaving the seaside after twilight, we noticed that were more stars were visible in the night sky than what can normally be seen in the brighter urban areas of Singapore. Unfortunately, we did not have a good enough camera that was able to photograph the stars in the night sky then. One of the interesting things I have learnt from this project is also why the sky looks red on hazy nights, even when there is no light from the Sun or Moon. This is primarily due to light pollution that is scattered back down to Earth by smoke and dust particles in the atmosphere. Similarly, denser clouds at night appear red due to light pollution being scattered back down by water vapour within them. It is also because of light pollution that the adage â€Å"red sky at night, sailor’s delight† no longer holds true all the time, especially in cities that are brightly lit up at night. This is because the red sky at night might not be due to a high-pressure system in the west bringing calm weather, but due to manmade causes mentioned above (Teitel, 2012). This manmade phenomenon also has an implication on our circadian rhythms that act as our natural body clocks. Brighter skies at night could confuse our brains into thinking that it is daytime (and not time to sleep), thus disrupting our sleeping patterns and leaving us feeling jet-lagged. In the near future, the night sky might become even brighter as gas-discharge lights are replaced by light-emitting diode (LED) lights, which emit a greater concentration of shorter wavelengths (Teitel, 2012). Our circadian rhythms might be even more negatively affected by this increase in blue light, as they are especially sensitive to shorter wavelengths. A potential solution to mitigate this problem is to use warm white lights that emit minimal blue wavelengths. Additionally, understanding how light is affected by minute particles has also allowed humankind to apply these principles in real-life, such as in optical fibres. In optical fibres, light is used to transmit signals through cables made of transparent silica fibres. Since the silica molecules in these fibres are much smaller than the wavelength of visible light (Yao, 2010), Rayleigh scattering occurs within these cables and causes light to be scattered in a random direction instead of travelling through the cable. This is detrimental to signal strength. Hence, as Rayleigh scattering is extremely dependant on a light’s wavelength and short wavelengths of light scatter the most, optical fibres usually transmit signals in longer light wavelengths to minimise scattering. 5. Conclusion One of the most observable phenomena by the naked eye, the sky is often photographed at sunrise or sunset for its picturesque clouds. Besides just appreciating the beauty of these occurrences, I now understand the science behind them as well. Additionally, I also now know why the sky or clouds are red on certain nights even when there is no light from the Sun or the Moon. Besides the theoretical principles and atmospheric observations, scattering of light also has practical applications in real-life. In times before satellite imaging existed to forecast weather, people referred to colours in the night sky to determine if there would be good weather the next day. Today, knowledge of light scattering is also useful in deciding what wavelengths of light should be used when transmitting signals through optical fibres. In addition, understanding Rayleigh and Mie scattering also allows us to minimise to impact that bright skies might have on our natural body clocks. Thus, the study of light scattering not only allows us to better appreciate our atmosphere, but also apply these concepts in real-life. (1949 words; excluding citations) - End - 6. Bibliography Association of South East Asian Nations. (2014). Information on Fire and Haze. Retrieved 07 March, 2014, from ASEAN Haze Action Online: http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=249 Leong, J. (2006). Number of Colors Distinguishable by the Human Eye. (G. Elert, Editor) Retrieved 26 March, 2014, from The Physics Factbook: http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/JenniferLeong.shtml Nave, C. R. (2012). Blue Sky. Retrieved 17 March, 2014, from hyperphysics: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html#c4 Seinfeld, J. H., Pandis , S. N. (2006). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change, 2nd Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Siegel, E. (08 September, 2009). Red sky at night†¦ but why? Retrieved 05 March, 2014, from scienceblogs.com: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/09/08/red-sky-at-night-but-why/ Teitel, A. S. (23 August, 2012). Why Is the Night Sky Turning Red? Retrieved 28 February, 2014, from discovermagazine.com: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2012/08/23/why-is-the-night-sky-turning-red/ University of Illinois. (2010). Scattering of Light. Retrieved 29 March, 2014, from WW2010: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/mch/sct.rxml Yao, C. (20 September, 2010). Optical Fiber Loss and Attenuation. Retrieved 17 March, 2014, from Fibre Optics For Sale Co.: http://www.fiberoptics4sale.com/wordpress/optical-fiber-loss-and-attenuation/ GEK1520/PC1322 | Understanding the UniversePage 1 of 13

Case Study: Urachal Carcinoma in a Young Man

Case Study: Urachal Carcinoma in a Young Man A rare case of urachal carcinoma in a young man Young Kwon Hong, Haeyoun Kang1, Moon Hyung Kang, Dong Soo Park INTRODUCTION Urachal carcinoma accounts for less than 1% of bladder cancers and approximately 40% of vesical adenocarcinomas. Historically, patients tend to have a poor prognosis, with 5-year survival rates of 6.5–61.0%. Therefore it is important to detect the disease as early as possible. Most urachal cancers have been reported at the middle or old age, and it is hard to think that urachal remnant has malignant change in a young man at the age of twenties. Here we introduce a very rare urachal cancer case in a young man and we would like to remind that urachal remnants have potential to change from benign to malignant as earlier than expected. CASE REPORT A 26 year old man visited our clinic with gross hematuria starting a few months ago. Urinalysis showed many RBC, and CT scan showed a 4.0 x 6.8 cm sized lobulated cystic mass over the bladder dome which was located midline to the right side. The mass has calcified thick wall with suspicious contrast enhancement (Fig 1). Cystoscopy showed a ball-shape extrinsic mass from the bladder dome with intact bladder mucosa (Fig 2). With an impression of urachal cancer laparoscopic surgery was performed. Camera port was placed 5cm above the umbilicus, and two instrument ports were placed 7cm lateral and 2cm caudal to the camera port. Anterior peritoneum was dissected deep and widely from the level of umbilicus down to the UB including median umbilical ligament and part of both medial umbilical ligaments. Cystoscope was introduced from the urethra into the bladder to illuminate the margin of the mass and to facilitate keeping enough distance from the mass during laparoscopic partial cystectomy. Bladder was repaired continuously with 4-0 vicryl suture. After placing a closed suction drain the mass was wrapped into an Endo CatchTM bag and squeezed out through the extended umbilicus opening. A Foley catheter was inserted into the bladder and the port sites were closed. Cross section of the surgical specimen showed a unilocular cyst without definite solid part, filled with gray tan to brownish thick mucus material. It also showed whitish to yellowish thick wall with multifocal calcifications (Fig 3). Immunohistochemical staining was strong positive on CEA, positive on CD15 (LeuMI), and weak positive on CK7 and CK20. Final diagnosis was well differentiated mucinous urachal adenocarcinoma invading bladder muscle, pT3a based on Sheldon’s staging system, pT2b based on Mayo system, and pT2 based on Ontario system. Surgical margin was negative. DISCUSSION Malignant involvement of the urachus is rarely reported, one in 5 million people, accounting for 0.35% to 0.7% of all bladder cancers [1]. It has been reported mostly in adults over 30 years old. To our best knowledge, only one adult case of urachal carcinoma diagnosed before the age of 26 has been reported in the English written literature, although two cases have been reported in 15 year-old girls [2-7]. The youngest adult case in a 22 year-old patient is found on MD Anderson cancer center experience written by Siefker-Radtke et al [4]. According to the MSKCC study of 24 cases, two young men who was 26, 29 years old each found to have urachal cancer [5]. The 26 year-old man received extended partial cystectomy, umbilectomy and pelvic LN dissection, and survived at only 0.9 month of follow up without long-term survival data. The 29-year-old man received extended partial cystectomy and umbilectomy, and survived at 17 months of follow up without local recurrence or metastasis. Even in a large series study, Mayo clinic study of 49 cases for 53 years, the youngest was 43 years old [8]. Our case is an urachal adenocarcinoma found in a 26 year-old man, the second youngest adult case ever reported. Age at the diagnosis of urachal carcinoma is important to understand pathogenetic transitional mechanism from benign to malignancy. Also clinicians should be aware that urachal carcinoma may occur early in the life time at the age of twenties. References Sheldon CA,Clayman RV,Gonzalez R,Williams RD,Fraley EE. Malignanturachallesions. J Urol.1984; 131(1):1-8. Cornil C,Reynolds CT,Kickham CJ. Carcinoma of the urachus. J Urol.1967; 98(1):93-5. Gupta S,Bhaijee F,Harmon EP. Mucinousneoplasmarisingin aurachalcyst: a first in the pediatric population. Urology.2014; 83(2):455-6. Siefker-Radtke AO,Gee J,Shen Y,Wen S,Daliani D,Millikan RE,Pisters LL. Multimodalitymanagement ofurachalcarcinoma: the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center experience. J Urol.2003; 169(4):1295-8. Gopalan A,Sharp DS,Fine SW,Tickoo SK,Herr HW,Reuter VE,Olgac S. Urachalcarcinoma: aclinicopathologicanalysisof24caseswith outcome correlation. Am J Surg Pathol.2009; 33(5):659-68. Pinthus JH,Haddad R,Trachtenberg J,Holowaty E,Bowler J,Herzenberg AM,Jewett M,Fleshner NE. Populationbasedsurvivaldataonurachaltumors. J Urol.2006; 175(6):2042-7; discussion 2047. Henly DR1,Farrow GM,Zincke H. Urachal cancer: role of conservative surgery. Urology.1993; 42(6):635-9. Molina JR,Quevedo JF,Furth AF,Richardson RL,Zincke H,Burch PA. Predictorsofsurvivalfromurachal cancer: a Mayo Clinic study of 49 cases. Cancer.2007; 110(11):2434-40. Acute Tonsillitis Chronic Ulcerative Colitis | Case Study Acute Tonsillitis Chronic Ulcerative Colitis | Case Study Katharine Buzzbee is a pleasant young girl of 9 years old. She was brought to the health center with complaints of sore throat with difficulty swallowing. Her mother states that Katharine has had similar symptoms three separate times this year. The illnesses begin with irritation in the throat that progress to pain. The pain radiates to her ears and she generally develops a fever during the course of each attack. The patient also has a history of developing frequent colds where she experiences headaches, a stuffy nose and frequent sneezing. Her older brother and sister have both recently had the common cold. The patient is otherwise healthy with no major illnesses or injuries. Clinical manifestations: On examination, Katharines palatine tonsils are swollen, red and surrounded by exudate. She has a temperature of 101.1 °F and complains of a running nose and headache. She appears tired and isnt as energetic as in our previous encounters. Diagnosis: acute tonsillitis. Throat culture confirmed strep. bacterial infection. Etiology: Acute tonsillitis is generally caused by a viral infection, most commonly caused by common cold viruses such as: adenovirus, rhinovirus, influenza, coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus. The Epstein-Barr virus, herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus and HIV occasionally manifest as tonsillitis. The second cause of acute tonsillitis is bacterial1 (about 30% of patients). The common bacterium is group A Beta hemolytic streptoccal. Other strains of bacteria are less common. The patient listed above has this type of infection. Pathogenesis: virus or bacteria attacks tonsil tissue exiting the response of innate immunity and adaptive immunity of T and B cells contained in the tonsils. The lymphocytes fight the infection, which leads to inflammation. As long as the lymphocytes and other cells can weaken the virus/bacteria the damage to the cells within the tonsils will remain reversible. Treatment: 10-day course of oral penicillin2, rest and hydration. Prognosis: symptoms should resolve during course of treatment. If frequent onset of tonsillitis continues tonsillectomy may be recommended. Inflammatory response The bacteria is ingested or inhaled and attaches to the palatine tonsils (injury). At the gross level the tonsils become swollen with erythema causing pain and difficulty completing normal tasks such as swallowing. In the study by Liljaa, Raisanenb and Stenfors3, the researchers studied bacterial and epithelial cells from palatine tonsils of nine patients with positive streptococcus pyogenes infection. The reported findings showed, S. pyogenes could be identified both in the mucous layer covering the tonsils and attached to the surface epithelial cells. Long chains of coccus-shaped bacteria could be seen encroaching on the epithelial cell borders. S. pyogenes can apparently penetrate the mucous barrier, attach to the epithelial cells, spread from cell to cell and possibly penetrate into the outermost layer of the epithelial cells. These events in turn provoke cytokine production and/or complement activation, which induce inflammatory reaction in the tonsillar tissue (activation). Dead bacteria and bacterial debris will remain at the site of the infection and must be removed (phagocytosis) from this area by neutrophils and macrophages. Once the bacterium has been removed through phagocytes the tonsillar tissue will resume its normal form through resolution (healing process). Swelling and pain will cease. Chronic inflammation: Ulcerative Collitis Case study Jedediah Jones is a 24-year-old student pursing a degree in chiropractic medicine. He presents today with abdominal pain and frequent diarrhea containing mucus and blood. The onset of these symptoms began 2 months ago, but Jedediah decided to seek treatment when his frequent bowel movements began to disrupt his studies. Patient states that on average he has approximately 8 bowel movements per day, most frequently occurring after a meal. His abdominal pain is most severe before a bowel movement, but remains constant at the pain level of 4 out of 10. Patient says pain is 6 out of 10 at its worse. Patient attributes the symptoms to his newly adopted diet mostly consisting of fast food. Until recently he lived at home where all his meals were homemade. Patient has experienced an increased level of stress since beginning his studies (6 months ago) and subsequently quit smoking cigarettes. Patient exercises regularly, but has experienced a decrease in energy levels since the onset of symptoms. Patient denies other illness or injuries and is currently not taking any medication. Patients twin brother was recently diagnosed with Crohns disease and his maternal grandfather died of colon cancer at 48 years old. Clinical manifestations: LLQ tender upon palpation and entire abdomen appears distended. Patient claims 8 bowel movements per day with a watery consistency containing mucus and blood. Conjuctiva and finger nail beds appear pale. Diagnosis: ulcerative colitis, confirmed by positive biopsy removed during sigmoidoscopy. Inflammation of bowel appeared to extend no further than the descending colon with most severe inflammation and ulceration in the sigmoid section. Stool cultures ruled out parasitic infection. Etiology: the cause of ulcerative colitis is unknown, but factors such as genetics7, psychological stress, smoking cessation and poor diet have been attributed to onset of disease. Pathogenesis: as stated in the pathology textbook7, Most investigators believe that [ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease] result from a combination of defects in host interactions with intestinal microbiota, intestinal epithelial dysfunction, and aberrant mucosal immune responses. Treatment: Sulfasalazine 2 pills by mouth, 3 times per day. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¨Rowasa (mesalamine) rectal suspension enema, at bedtime until bleeding stops. Prognosis: continue medication until symptoms have resolved completely. Maintenance therapy will be recommended indefinitely to avoid relapse. Inflammatory response Podolsky8 explains in his article that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is believed to be the result of an ongoing activation of the mucosal immune system. This abnormal response is likely due to the defects in both the intestinal epithelium and the mucosal immune system (injury). Podolsky8 clearly defines the inflammatory response of IBD, Chronic, recurrent intestinal inflammation appears to result from stimulation of the mucosal immune system by-products of commensal bacteria in the lumen. Stimulation may occur as a result of the penetration of bacterial products through the mucosal barrier, leading to their direct interaction with immune cells, especially dendritic cells and lymphocyte populations (chemotaxis). Alternatively, bacterial products may stimulate the surface epithelium, possibly through receptors that are components of the innate immune-response system; the epithelium can, in turn, produce cytokines and chemokines that recruit and activate mucosal immune cells (transmigration). Cellular changes occur in ulcerative colitis as the chronic inflammation may lead to mucosal atrophy7, damage to the muscularis propria and disrupt neuromuscular function leading to colonic dilation and risk of perforation (cellular changes). As stated in the textbook7, The inflammatory process is diffuse and generally limited to the mucosa and superficial submucosa. Submucosal fibrosis, mucosal atrophy and distorted mucosal architecture remain a residual of healed disease but histology may also revert to near normal after prolonged remission (healing process). Resources Merck Manuals Online Medical Library. Tonsillopharyngitis. Available at: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch090/ch090i.html. Accessed: October 21, 2010 Venes D, Thomas C (Eds.). Tabers Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis; 2001 Liljaa M, Raisanenb S, Stenfors L E. Initial events in the pathogenesis of acute tonsillitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. Int. J. Pediatr. Otorhinolaryngol. September 1998; 45 (1): 15 20. Mansson A, Adner M, Cardell L O. Toll-like receptors in cellular subsets of human tonsil T cells: altered expression during recurrent tonsillitis. Respir Res. 2006; 7(1): 36 Ebenfelt A, Ericson L E, Lundberg C. Acute Pharyngotonsillitis is an Infection Restricted to the Crypt and Surface Secretion. Acta Otolaryngol (Stockh) 1998; 118: 264 271. Wikipedia contributors. Wound healing. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. October 23, 2010, 14:00 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wound_healingoldid=392404843. Accessed October 24, 2010. Kumar V, Abbas A, Fausto N, Aster J. The Gastrointestinal Tract (Ch 17). Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2010: 810 814 Podolsky, D. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. N Engl J Med 2002; 347:417-429 The Empire Writes Back | Green is the Colour The Empire Writes Back | Green is the Colour Ashcroft, Bill et al in the book The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post Colonial Literature discusses what post-colonial is and explains among others the theories of post-colonialism. According to Ashcroft et al, the term colonial can be used to cover all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present which concerns with the world as it exists during and after the period of European imperial domination and the effects of this on contemporary literatures. These contemporary literatures include those produced in the African countries, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Caribbean countries, India, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Pacific countries, Sri Langka and even the USA (p.2). Development of post-colonial literatures happens through several stages along with the stages of national or regional consciousness and the project of asserting difference from the imperial centre (ibid, p.5). The first stage is the stage of the imperialism where writings were produced using the language of the imperial centre because they were written mainly by the literate elites which can also be regarded as the representative of the imperial power. Examples include gentrified settlers (Wentworths Australia), travellers and sightseers (Froudes Oceana, and his The English in the West Indies or the travel diaries of Mary Kingsley) or the Anglo-Indian and West African administrators, soldiers and boxwallah and their memsahibs (volumes of memoirs). At this stage the writers not only talk about the landscape, language and culture of the place but also emphasize the home over the native, the metropolitan over the provincial or colonial and so on (ibid, p.5). The second stage involved literature produced by what Aschroft et. al termed as under the imperial license by the natives or outcasts like the English educated Indian upper class or the African missionary literature. However, the institution of Literature in the colony was still under the control of the imperial ruling class which prevented the writers from fully exploring their anti-Imperial potential. One of the examples given is a novel entitled Ralph Rashleigh by James Tucker. Basically, there are four post colonial models which can be used to study literary texts. The first model is the national or regional models which emphasize the distinctive features of the particular national or regional culture; while the second one is the race- based model which identifies certain shared characteristics across various national literatures such as the common racial inheritance in literatures of the African diaspora addressed by the Black Writing model. Comparative models of varying complex ity which seek to account for particular linguistic, historical and cultural features across two or more post-colonial literature is the third model while the last one which is rather comprehensive is the comparative models which argues things such as hybridity and syncreticity as the constitutive elements of all post-colonial literature. One of the popular preoccupations of postcolonial literature deals with nationalism. Several definitions of nationalism can be found in the dictionaries and among them are the devotion to the interests or culture of ones nation; the belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively emphasizing national rather than international goals; and aspirations for national independence in a country under foreign domination (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nationalism). Benedict Anderson (1983) defines nation as imagined, limited and sovereign communities. According to Anderson imagined community is different from an actual community because it is not (and, for practical reasons, cannot be) based on everyday face-to-face interaction between its members. Anderson argues that nations are a small idea shared by a geographically limited area of people that despite its limitation has influence and power in its greater region and sovereignty over its people. Nation became more and more realized as linguistic diversity, religious authority and traditional monarchies faded. A nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each, lives the image of their communion and regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Members of the community probably will never know each of the other members face to face; however, they may have similar interests or identify as part of the same nation. Anderson believes that his creation of imagined communities became possible because of print-capitalism. Capitalist entrepreneurs printed their books and media in the vernacular (instead of exclusive script languages, such as Latin) in order to maximize circulation. As a result, readers speaking various local dialects became able to understand each other, a nd a common discourse emerged. Anderson argued that the first European nation-states were thus formed around their national print-languages. Quayum (2009) in his introductory note for Writing A Nation Essays on Malaysian Literature stated that nationalism implies idealisation of the nation that has many positive qualities in its ideal state. Besides creating the sense of belonging, solidarity and shared membership for all its citizens where all members recognise mutual rights and duties towards one another, it also creates a sense of conviction and loyalty among members to certain shared artefacts of the nation. Quayaum however believes that to some extent nationalism may also be dangerous because there is a probability that the idealisation of the nation can turn into idolatry and nationalist sentiment can deteriorate into demagoguery, divisiveness, despotism, radicalism and racism which may lead to sectarian arrogance and destroy the creative bond of the wholeness of humanity. Lloyd Fernandos Green is the Colour Lloyd Fernandos Scorpion Orchid (1976) and Green is the Colour (1993) provide crucial insights into the state of belonging and nation-formation, as well as the understated realities of racial religious segregation and politics of prejudice which are still rampant in the contemporary Malaysian ideological landscape (Qayum and Nam, 2009). Although the exact time frame for Lloyd Fernandos novel Green is the Colour has not been clearly stated, it is quite possible that the historical context which Fernando is indirectly referring to was the Malaysian Racial Riot of 13th May, 1969. The novel exposed the unstable relationship between the racial and religious groups of Malaysia which continues to haunt the socio-cultural fabric of the country up until today (Ng, 2009). Thus, the depiction of violence, prejudices between different races and roaming vigilante in the countryside were quite real and became a common sight at that time. The effect of the racial unrest which is referred in the novel as the unsightly scab in Malaysian history can directly be felt by the multicultural citizens represented by characters like Siti Sara, Dahlan, Yun Ming and Gita. The ill-fated, cross-cultural relationship between Siti Sara and Yun Ming and their reflections to the uncertain situation in the country become the focus of the novel. Yun Ming, a second generation Chinese is a civil servant working for the Ministry of Home Affairs who seeks justice by working from within the government. He lusts for Sara, an oversea- graduate lecturer teaching in a local premier university from the first moment he sees her at a concert. Since the first meeting, Yun Ming seems to feel a kind of attraction towards Siti Sara and always tries to find ways or opportunities to be near her. Siti Sara who at first tries not to make her feeling obvious due to her status as Omars wife finally responds and begins to find comfort and peace in Yun Mings company who is described as gentle and moderate and looks at things from a human point of view and believes in the brotherhood of all. His sincerity and trustworthiness are evidenced through his willingness to risk his life in d istributing relief goods in the Malay areas even during the peak of racial riot. The understanding and tolerance that Sara never gets from her spouse leads Sara to be deeply in love with the Chinese guy. Despite all the challenges and disapproval from others (except from Lebai Hanafiah, Siti Saras father), the couple is almost successful in their relationship until Yun Ming is caught under the instruction of the villain in the novel- Panglima. Siti Sara is very significant in the novel not only as a heroine but also a narrator. As such, the story is mainly narrated from her viewpoint except for Chapter 9 which is narrated by Lebai Hanafiah, Siti Saras father and Chapter 15 by Dahlan a lawyer. Saras father has certainly becomes instrumental in shaping her into a liberal, tolerant and accommodative woman ( ). Although described as not having a unitary, parochial sense of identity like her lover Yun Ming, nor adopt a monolithic model of nationalism like her husband Omar ( ), Siti Saras character is used to realise the authors philosophy of fellowship and understanding among multi-racial Malaysia ( ). Fernando tries to promote a tolerant, selfless Bangsa Malaysia in this novel through the depiction of the characters of Yun Ming, Siti Sara and Lebai Hanafiah. Through the story, Fernando not only shows the effect of explosive and intractable racial riots on the entire nation but also on the band of closely linked individuals and how their relationships are affected by the event particularly by their contesting views of the nation. The interpretation of nation or imagined community according to him would be a community that is open- minded, receptive and tolerant towards each other just like the relationship of Siti Sara and Yun Ming. Even though Panglimas single set of values may be necessary as a reference, it is wise to allow for some freedoms for the multiracial society to practice what they believe to be right and appropriate without letting their contesting views affect their judgments and relationship with other. As Quayum, (2007) puts it, as long as we consider love as the base of all metaphysics and humanity and as the highest principle in life, we can never go wrong in self-refashioning ourselves as a nation or a society. Fernando enunciated his firmly-held belief in the integration of races and religions in his two novels Scorpion Orchid (1976) and Green is the Colour (1993) while deftly criticising communal and divisive politics which inevitably result in intolerance and destruction. These two novels provide an insight into the state of belonging and nation-formation as well as the understated realities of racial-religious segregation and politics which are regarded as sensitive but anyhow still relevant to be discussed up till now (Ng, 2009). Even though Fernando seems to rely on the incidents of the 1969 racial riot to construct the ideological backdrop of the novel, it is however inaccurate to generalize it as depicting the realities of the tensions. Instead, a careful reading will reveal that the novel is in fact depicting the ideological state of affairs in Malaysia of the 80s and 90s, a situation which Fernando views as dire to the nations health due to the communal, prejudicial agendas of cer tain political groups. Fernando tries to bring to attention the dangerous direction towards which the nation is heading, a direction that is increasingly forgetting its multicultural makeup in the move towards racial-religious homogeneity (ibid. p.118-119). Although some critics feel that the portrayal of women characters in both Fernandos novel Scorpion Orchid and Green is the Colour is rather bias Mohammad A.Quayum who reads Siti Sara as a metaphor of a nation argues that her rape by Panglima is especially significant: she is at the centre of the novel and associated with the countryside and the natural beauty of Malaysia from time to time. The authors worst fears about the future of Malaysia would be realised if corrupt politicians and bureaucrats like Panglima were allowed to remain at the helm and rule of the country (Shaping a New National Destiny with Dialogic, p. 170) The novel reveals what would happen to Malaysia if megalomaniac, bigoted and close-minded politicians were to come into power and threaten to divest other racial groups of their rights to religious and cultural affiliations (Andrew Ng, 2009, p.119) Fernando articulates the dangers of deploying religion for selfish, politically-invested ends echoes precisely the socio-political situation in Malaysia during this period. (Andrew Ng, 2009, p.119) Other character include Dahlan, a renegade Malay lawyer who persistently questions Malay supremacy and privileges resulting in him being rejected by his community (Andrew Ng, 2009, p.119) Racial harmony cannot be reinstated by force. Panglima who represents the corrupted leader of the country and Ustaz Bahaudin a leader of a religious extremist have their own way to forward their homogenising, monolithic agendas. Panglima constantly talks about an ominous strategy for nation-building. According to him in order to maintain the order in the country everybody must follow one way of life and has one way of doing things. Tuan Guru Bahaudin and the Panglima endorse the view that a nation comprising many religions cannot become united and only through a single faith at the (potentially violent) expense of others can function as the adhesive for a people that is otherwise racially segregated (Wilson in Andrew Ng, 2009, p.123)

Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essay -- Henrik Ibsen Dolls House Essay

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House Plot and Sub-plots The play begins on Christmas Eve of the late 19th century, in the living room of a middle class family, the Helmers. Nora is the female lead role in this play who is treated very child-like by her husband, Torvald. He appears to have taken over her father’s role which in turn allows their marriage to be built on unstable foundations and although both parties have each other’s best interests in mind, it is clear to the audience from the start that the relationship has elements of deception that could possibly be destructive. As the play opens Nora enters with a contented disposition, setting down parcels after a constructive days shopping. A porter brings in a Christmas tree so the audience immediately registers that the play takes part in the festive season which becomes more significant as the play continues as the tree will be symbolic of the relation between Helmer and his wife. Ibsen allows the audience to see already that Nora can be quite frivolous with money due to her many parcels and her generous tipping of the porter. The stage directions describe her as tiptoeing across to her husband’s door which shows her childish temperament as she does not want to be heard, and her eating the macaroons becomes more significant as the scene progresses when Torvald interrogates her about doing so and she outright denies it giving the audience an insight on her deception which obviously develops as the play continues. When Torvald enters the room she quickly hides the macaroons and the audience learn of his promotion as bank manager so they speak of how they can be slightly more extravagant, this gives Helmer the opportunity to condescend her using phr... ...gstad containing the I.O.U. of Nora. Torvald sees this as them both being saved from the humiliation he would have suffered had it have leaked out but Nora can see past this and knows that enough is enough. Regardless of being forgiven by Torvald he still treats her like child, â€Å"Just lean on me, I shall counsel you. I shall guide you.† It is here that Nora can see fully how she is treated and expresses her discontent for being fathered by her own father then being passed on and treated identically by her own husband. She realises that it is necessary for her to go out into the world without his ‘molly-coddling’, mature and become a woman in the true sense of the word. She leaves him as sadly the ‘miracle of miracles’ did not happen for her, he did not change the way he needed to and with that the last occurrence of the play is the door slamming behind her.

American History X Essay -- Film Movies Sociology

American History X American History X is clearly a film dealing with the social topic of racism. The interesting thing about this film is the way in which the subject is presented. First of all, it is obvious that, though racism is always a difficult subject to deal with, American History X presents it without any reservations or dummying down. Second, the film's figurehead for racism, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), is not an unintelligent redneck racist as films often portray them, but is in fact well-spoken, charismatic and bright, although he clearly holds ideals that are terribly wrong. Finally, the film shows that it is not only the white, neo-nazi racists who are fools for being involved in this, but all those who hold hatred in their hearts. Through these methods, the film instills this idea upon the viewer, in an extremely convincingly way, that hatred and racism will destroy a person and those closest to them. It is immediately revealed to the audience at the onset of this movie that there will be no holds barred and no playing down the realism of this intense racial hatred. When the film flashes back to the reason for Derek's incarceration, we see Danny, awoken by the sound of breaking glass, rush to wake up his brother and alert him that some black guys are trying to steal or wreck his truck. At hearing this, Derek immediately jumps out of bed, grabs a gun, and shoots one of them, wounds another, and fires at the third as he drives away. Then, in one of the most brutal scenes in film history, Derek forces the remaining, wounded man to put his face on the curb and Derek kicks the back of his head, smashing in the man's skull. This scene is a perfect example of cumulative causation, for it depicts the endless circl... ...ferred to comes at the end of the film, when a black student Danny had previously encountered and angered shoots him repeatedly. Derek, making a visit to the school, runs in to find that his worst nightmare had come true. His brother was dead, due to racist actions, and his life and the lives of his family will be changed forever for it. For an explanation unknown to anyone, some people are inclined to hating others. Motives may perhaps be because they are insecure of who they are, feel threatened by someone, or an explanation which no one has. This movie explains that a major reason why people hate is because they want to blame someone else for their misfortunes. It is always nice to put the responsibility on somebody else's shoulders. Hopefully in a near future people can begin to comprehend how foolish it is to hate all the time, and then start to love.

Information and Communication Technologies Essay -- Technology, Digita

NOTHING STAYS THE SAME Change is a constant feature of contemporary society, and much of it seems to be instigated by the rapid and continuing development and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This is certainly true as far as the information professions are concerned, as ICTs modify how information is collected, processed, communicated, stored, retrieved and even interpreted, effectively creating different understandings of three of constituent elements of information work : the containers of information (documents); the means by which they can be communicated; and the tools which are used to manage them. One of the more significant recent technological developments is that of digital libraries (DLs), which have provided LIS educators with the opportunity to reconceptualise and retheorise their academic zone as well as assisting in rejuvenating and enhancing professional practice. What are DLs – and how are they different from traditional libraries or, indeed, ‘digital repositories’, ‘digital curation’ and ‘digital archives’? It is agreed that the term ‘digital library’ remains unclear and contested and still has a variety of potential meanings which range from ‘database’ to ‘a digitised collection of material’ similar to that which one might find in a traditional library. The definition most frequently quoted and used is that developed by the Digital Library Federation (DLF): Digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically avai... ...ple are able to find information and use it. The social implications of a world in which information is distributed almost without institutions are not understood. What does this mean for universities, for education, for publishers? (Lesk, 1997, p. 5). There is little doubt that the general public now have access to a great deal more information (from the internet, in particular) than has ever before been possible – so much so, that many think that information was invented by the internet. Whether people always find what they want, whether the information they find is of the best quality, whether they understand the information they retrieve and what they do with the information once they have located it, are all questions that remain largely unanswered, along with Lesk’s important question which he asked over a decade ago, but which will be considered here.