Conrad vs Holden

Ordinary People and The Catcher in the Rye: Reckless Actions In current day society, people strive for the untangible feeling of happiness. Genuine happiness can develop a person to become lovable; however, the nonexistence of happiness may do the complete opposite. Holden a protagonist from the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, and Conrad the main character from the movie, Ordinary People, are searching for this happiness within their own lives. However, they are unable to find it because of the solidarity that they feel between their friends and families.The loneliness and the decreasingly lack of joy in Conrad’s and Holden’s lives triggers them to make decisions that would lead to consequences which would negatively affect their surrounds in the future. The absence of happiness within the lives of Holden and Conrad causes them to act reckless in different ways that ultimately harms himself and people around him. Throughout the movie Conrad makes many i mpulsive decisions that harms his friends, family members, and also himself.The first wrong decision that started the domino effect on the other wrongful decisions that he makes, is the fact that he didn’t come back to shore when he and his brother, Buck, saw â€Å"how bad the weather was becoming† while they were sailing. This decision results to the death of his brother and the event stays in his mind leading to the reckless behavior that begins to engulf his mind. Following, this decision is Conrad’s suicidal attempt by cutting his wrists vertically in his bathroom sink.Although this act puts pain on his family, it mostly affects Conrad physically and emotionally because he has to endure the pain of the slits and the depression that had caused him to make the decision to begin with. Even after Conrad returns from the hospital he continues to feel the lack of happiness within his own life. The depression causes him to not want to eat the breakfast that his mot her makes just for him. Hurt by the rejection, Conrad’s mother dumps the meal into the drain and leaves in an abrupt manner.In addition, much of the bottled up emotions that Conrad keeps causes him to become quite distant with his own family and his friends. This solidarity eventually leads Conrad to lose his past close relationships with them. These impulsive decisions allow Conrad to expand upon his emotions, since in the beginning of the movie he bottles it up and allows it to accumulate over time. Within the novel, Holden displays reckless attitude that results in harming both himself and those around him.The factor of his reckless behavior begins when Holden runs away from Pency Prep due to the fact that he gets kicked out and is afraid that his parents would be upset. In turn, Holden decides to live in the city and waits till he is expected to come home. This act eventually leads him to hurt himself mentally because after a time spent in the city, Holden begins to †Å"feel more depressed.. † and lonely (95). In an act of desperation, Holden tries to fill in his loneliness and sorrows by finding company with a girl named Sally that he â€Å"wasn’t too crazy about† (105).However, as Holden and Sally are still on their date, Holden displays his reckless behavior when he insults Sally calling her â€Å"a pain in the ass† (133). Sally is thus deeply hurt by the insult and â€Å"she was even crying† (134). This act in turn leaves Holden to become lonely and depressed once again. With the feeling of depression weighing on his shoulder, Holden decides to leave town and head for the west. Phoebe, Holden’s kid sister, hearing his plan also wants to tag along as well bringing along her suitcase that contains her personal items.Even though Holden doesn’t want to be alone, he refuses his sister’s plea to run away with him and in turn results him to display another act of recklessness. Holden yells at Ph oebe telling her to shut up which triggers her to â€Å"start to cry† (206). Holden’s consideration of leaving Phoebe hurts Phoebe because she really cares about her brother’s well being. Since Holden’s siblings Allie and D. B are no longer currently living in the household, if Holden were to run away, Phoebe would feel lonely having only her parents as companions.Holden and Conrad are similar types of characters because they both act recklessly and unintentionally hurt themselves and the people that surround them. Both of the characters punch one of their good friends due to immature decisions. Holden gets into a fist fight with Stradlater since Holden continues to invoke Stradlater about his date with Jane, knowing that a punch to the face would follow the dispute. This act displays that Holden makes wrongful decisions knowing the consequences of the act, however still continuing with the act.In addition, Conrad also displays reckless behavior by contin uingly punching Stillman out of the remark that Stillman makes of Jeannine. Conrad punches Stillman out of anger and frustration since Dr. Berger, Conrad’s psychiatrist, unlocks his emotions; it begins pouring out uncontrollably. With this act of violence, Conrad loses many of his once close friends because his friends now perceive him as â€Å"crazy† after the punching incident. Both Holden and Conrad displays thoughtless decisions by punching their friends in an act of rage which results in the consequences of more hurt.Even though Holden and Conrad may be similar they are more different than alike because they exhibit different acts of recklessness. While Holden may use strong words and loud voices to harm others, Conrad uses physical actions to harm the ones around him. When Holden was on his date with Sally in the restaurant, he begins to ramble about the future that Sally and Holden could have together. Holden suggests that Sally runs away together with him howev er Sally rejects his proposal causing Holden to become upset.This urge that is raging inside of him impulses him to say things that he didn’t think through therefore enabling him to insult her. However, this is not the only case in which Holden says things without thinking. In another scenario where he is speaking to Phoebe, Holden tells Phoebe to shut up, he â€Å" didn’t mean to tell her to shut up †¦Ã¢â‚¬  but the impulse enabled him to do so (206). On the other hand, Conrad uses his non-thought out actions to affect the people around him. Having Conrad attempting suicide by cutting his wrists vertically harms his family because it causes them to have to worry about their son.Conrad’s parents have already lost a son and if they were to lose another one then it would further devastate their family’s reputation and the family would thus fall apart. In addition, due to Conrad’s depression it causes him to not have an appetite when eating. Th us, when Conrad’s mom makes him breakfast and he refuses, this act causes his mother to become hurt from the rejection and therefore dump the meal in the garbage dispenser. Even so the slightest of actions of Conrad should effect and hurt the people around him.In conclusion, even though both Holden and Conrad are unintentionally hurting their loved ones, they differently act out recklessly when making out a decision. Both Holden and Conrad are both misunderstood teenagers that are trying find a way to get through the day. This is caused by the fact that their life is missing the genuine happiness that everyone in society searches for. However, at the end of both stories, they eventually achieve their idea of true happiness and therefore can live through the day knowing that they are truly happy.

Interview with a Doctor

The current American healthcare system and its problems The interview is with Dr. John Tomas who is a surgeon in New Jersey. Dr. Tomas has been practicing medicine for over twenty years so he has a lot of experience in the medical field. Dr. Tomas deals with plenty of people who are from the middle and lower class. Those people are so concerned about the costs of the healthcare bills and they have a lot of trouble handling these costs.. The healthcare discussion should also be seen from a doctor’s perspective and that is why this interview is valuable Dr.Tomas has also a lot of knowledge about the politics of the healthcare system in the United States. He has a personal view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which is another term for Obama care. 1- What is your view of current American healthcare system? The current American healthcare system has a major problem which is the cost. The cost for the American healthcare system is 2. 5 trillion dollars per year whi ch is much higher than any other industrialized country in the world. The medical expenses on every citizen are $7,960.Other industrialized countries spent average of $3,233 annually per person which is much lower and these people from other countries get more medical valuable care. 41 percent of working Americans have problem with paying their medical bills. Taxpayers don’t receive the service that they actually pay for and a lot of people go easily bankrupt because they can’t afford to pay their medical bills. The American government covers 46 percent of these expenses and that is one of the reasons why we are in a huge debt and it is another factor for the major economic crisis in the United States. -what are the current major problems with the current American healthcare system? I think there are too many regulations in the current American health care system. There are also a lot of politicians and lawyer that get involved in the medical field. When these factors get involved, the insurance costs get higher and the medical expenses become very expensive. Practicing medicine is not pleasurable to me personally anymore because I am afraid to get sued and lose my insurance. All these outer factors that get involved in our field make practicing the profession of medicine much tougher for doctors. -Do you think defensive medicine is good or bad for the American healthcare system? In the United States we have a major problem with regulations that are involved in the medical field. In the United States, doctors have to do a lot of tests and plenty of consultations with other physicians before performing any operation. The reason for that is because the doctors are afraid of the lawsuits that could cause them losing their insurance or even their license. American doctors follow the defensive medicine by doing a lot of unnecessary tests that significantly increase the costs of healthcare.In other countries where there are not too many regulation†™s in the medical field, doctors in other countries do the operations with the same outcomes but in much lower costs. This is obviously an issue and it has its advantages and its disadvantages but the American defensive medicine system is much safer and the foreign medicine system is much cheaper. 4-Do you think that Obama care will lower the costs for the current healthcare system? I don’t think so because when government gets involved in any filed, the cost usually get much higher.Obama care will cost $1. 165 trillion dollars over the next ten years. The government hasn’t been very successful with Medicare or Medicaid which proves my point. The healthcare should stay as a private business that is managed by private healthcare companies. If the government takes over the healthcare system, the country will spend a massive amount of money and the quality of the care will be lowered significantly. 5-Do you think that Americans could have a better healthcare system if t hey follow the socialized healthcare system of Canada and Europe?And what are your solutions for the problems that we have with our healthcare system. I have been to Canada and Europe. I also have a lot of friends who are physicians in these countries. They don’t like what they have there. Patients could wait six months to get an operation in Canada. There are risings costs of medications in Canada and Europe. Those increasing of the cost of the medications make it harder for people to get a good care under the socialized healthcare system. A lot of Europeans countries are going bankrupt eventually and the socialized healthcare system is one of the reasons of that.The solution to our healthcare problem is not going backwards by following a socialized healthcare system. The solution comes with creating more competition between healthcare companies that take advantage of the American people. Even though we had a recession in the last few years, the profit of the insurance compa nies has been increased by 56 percent. Creating the competition between those insurance companies will definitely lower the costs and the medical bills that have been a heavy weight over the shoulders of the American pope.The healthcare discussion is very important because unlike fancy cars or fancy clothes, everybody needs to have healthcare. Plenty of Americans are suffering every day because they don’t have the money to cover the expenses of their medical bills. People go bankrupt because of these expensive costs and that is rare in any other industrialized country. The reason why the cost is too expensive in this country is because there are too many regulations, politics, lobbyists, lawyers and unfairness in our healthcare system.Obamacare could be another disaster for our healthcare system because it is going to raise the costs of the healthcare system and our economy is already in a very bad shape. The most practical solution to our healthcare system is to create a fai r competition between healthcare companies which will significantly lower the costs of the current healthcare system. If I have a second chance to do a second interview, I will also discus the medicine field with the person that I am having interview with because the topic is very interesting.

Jesus and the Dignity of Women

From the beginning of Christ’s mission, women show to him and to his mystery a special sensitivity which is characteristic of their femininity. It must also be said that this is especially confirmed†¦ not only at the Cross but also at the dawn of the Resurrection. The women are the first at the tomb. They are the first to find it empty. They are the first to hear: â€Å"He is not here. He has risen, as he said†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ They are also the first to be called to announce this truth to the Apostles. Mark reports that at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus all his male disciples had fled. But there were some women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdala, Mary who was the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and look after him when he was in Galilee. And many other women were there who had come up to Jerusalem with him (Mark 15: 40). Here Mark uses the same expression for â€Å"following† Jesus as he does in the case of the disciples. Women were disciples in the same way as men. That was new for the world of the time. In the circle of Jesus’ disciples women were on the same footing. What moved Jesus to gather women around him in the same way as men? Evidently as a man he had no fears about coming into contact with women. All the Gospels report that it was the women who had persevered by Jesus’ cross. The woman â€Å"who had a flow of blood† (cf. Mk 5:25-34), who could not touch anyone because it was believed that her touch would make a person â€Å"impure†. Each of them was healed, and the last-mentioned – the one with a flow of blood, who touched Jesus’ garment â€Å"in the crowd† (Mk 5:27) – was praised by him for her great faith: â€Å"Your faith has made you well† (Mk 5:34). The Gospel of St. Luke pays special attention to Jesus’ relationship with women. He tells how Jesus on his wanderings was accompanied not only by the twelve but also by† certain women whom he had cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza. Susanna and many others. They provided for Jesus and his disciples out of their own resources â€Å"(Luke 8: 2). So when Jesus was wandering around the country, there were always women around him with whom he had a personal relationship. He had healed them, touched them, raised them up, and freed them from demons, i. e. from patterns of life which restricted them, from disparaging and condemning themselves. He had restored their dignity as women. And these women weren’t just recipients: they also gave something to Jesus in return. They served him not only with their resources, but also with their capabilities, with the inner and outer gifts at their disposal. The Greek word for† serve â€Å"really means serving at table. The women served at table, they served life. They aroused life in Jesus and his disciples. They created a sphere in which life could flourish. In the house of the sisters Mary and Martha, who have given hospitality to Jesus (Luke 10: 38 – 42), Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet. The phrase used to describe this posture is one typically used of discipleship. It is similarly said of Paul that he had sat at the feet of Gamaliel and had been instructed in the law of the Lord (Acts 22: 3). So this woman is just as much a disciple as the other disciples of Jesus. Whereas Martha serves Jesus and his disciples at table, Mary just sits there and listens to Jesus and tells him that he should ask Mary to help her. But Jesus takes sides with Mary. She has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her. The scene in which Luke portrays Martha shows how open Jesus was in his dealings with women. He claims their hospitality, but he also takes them seriously as disciples. He instructs Mary in what matters most to her. And he joins in the clash between the two sisters without hurting one of them and without allowing himself to be taken over by the other. He makes a clear stand, but in such a way that neither feels scorned. Yet another scene in the Gospel of Luke seems to me important in shedding light on Jesus’ relations with women. The angel by the tomb says to the women who are to be the first witnesses of the resurrection, â€Å"Remember what he said to you when he was still in Galilee† ( Luke 24: 6). For the angels, the women are witnesses not only to the resurrection but also to the words which Jesus has spoken to them. Jesus proclaimed his teachings not only to male disciples but also to female disciples. They bear witness to his teaching on an equal footing. They hand on his words. They recall these words and keep them in their memories. And as with Mary, these sayings go round and round in their minds, penetrating into them more and more deeply. So the interpretation of the message of Jesus isn’t just given by the men, but to an equal degree by women. When Luke narrates a scene with a man as the chief character, it is immediately followed by another with a woman in the main role. A parable about a woman is played off against a parable about a man. Luke believes that he can speak rightly about men and women at the same time. Unfortunately the church didn’t draw any conclusions from this. For too long, only men interpreted the message of Jesus. The deepest friendship with a woman is that which associates Jesus with Mary of Magdala. Jesus drove seven demons out of Mary Magdalene. She owed him her life. When Jesus died, her world collapsed. But her love outlasted death. Her encounter with the risen Christ is another beginning for her life story. When she saw him, she’s completely transformed, and says to him, â€Å"Rabboni† (My Master) (John 10:16). In the history of Christianity many women have lived as friends of Jesus like Teresa of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen. Jesus of Nazareth confirms this dignity, recalls it, renews it, and makes it a part of the Gospel and of the Redemption for which he is sent into the world. Every word and gesture of Christ about women must therefore be brought into the dimension of the Paschal Mystery. In this way everything is completely explained.

Is Political Intelligence a Powerful Form of a Leader Research Paper

Is Political Intelligence a Powerful Form of a Leader - Research Paper Example Intimidation, being a common managerial style among current business managers is gaining popularity in the corporate world. According to Kramer (2006), although subordinates find intimidating leaders rather tough and hard to deal with, these leaders, and managers find the style rather effective in managing their subordinates. Intimidation involves a number of elements, which prompts subordinates to work according to the desire of the managers. Subsequently, the managers in the organization decide on the most effective way of handling their employees. The bottom line of this research’s argument; leaders have to be intimidating and equally tough in order to achieve results. However, achieving intimidation for a leader does not happen automatically in an organization. The manager has to show readiness and willingness to coarse a number of individuals in order to achieve results. How effective then is this managerial style to a manager? The fact that subordinates are responsive to its application is the main reason why the author believes ion its efficiency. Addressing managers, the author argues that the most effective method that managers can use to achieve results is the use of a political style of leadership. Without any form of compromise, a manager can get subordinates to achieve results whenever he wishes. For instance, in an organization whose subordinates show an unwillingness to handle their work, the manager can effectively use this style of management in order to achieve results.

Sleep and sleep disturbance factors among critically ill patients Research Paper - 1

Sleep and sleep disturbance factors among critically ill patients - Research Paper Example The process of adaptation was labeled general since it is argued to be produced by agents with general effect. Adaptive involves stimulation that helps in the maintenance of state of inurement. At alarm stage, generalized stimulation of the nervous system is believed to be automatic stimulation in the initial stages of the alarm reaction. An occurrence of nonspecific breakdown takes place at this stage. Nevertheless, a counter shock phase is recorded if the stressor continues (Nevid, 2009). This stage is characterized by increased heart beat rate, blood pressure, and alertness among others. On the other hand, resistance stage occurs when there is a reduction in the alarm reaction. This is where developmental adaptation takes place. Even with the stress is noted, at this stage, there is an immense attempt to maintain proper functioning of the body (Hesson & Olpin, 2013). In the last stage, exhaustion stage, if the organism is unable to get back into its normal status, the stage of exhaustion takes place. At this point, the initial characteristics of the alarm stage occur while there little effort to counter the stressor. It is apparent that sleep disturbances are connected to some stressors. Critically ill patients are susceptive to external factors that interacts the patient during the sleep (Berry, et al, 2005). For instance, environmental factors such as noise and light could be termed as sleep disturbance. It is apparent that noise is a stressor that causes sleep disturbance not only to sick persons, but also to health people. In fact, when there is noise around, one is not able to maintain the sleep as the nervous system is disturbed. This alarms the patient and forces him to be awake for as long as the stressor persists (Berry, et al, 2005). For some people, it is possible for them to resist the stressor and continue sleeping. This is mostly noted to people

Material Selection Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Material Selection Case Study - Essay Example The outcome is that presently golf clubs have been developed that perfectly suit each of the aforementioned groups. It is now even possible to customize the manufacturing of these kits to satisfy individual taste, preferences and financial strength. Golf manufacturers have been able to satisfy their customers, largely because of the wide array of materials available for use. Through research and development, new materials or new combinations of existing ones have been unearthed to develop even better fitted kits. A recent study by Peterson (2003) has revealed the extent to which technology and material selection for that matter, has contributed in boosting golfer player performance over the past 20 years. The author found, for example, that the average driving distance of median tour players has increased by 27.3 yards from 1993 to 2003.The improvement in performance was traced to better golf equipment developed for the game by manufacturers. This report reviews commonly used materials in manufacturing golf clubs. In doing so, it gives plausible reasons why and how they were incorporated as materials into golf clubs. The report concludes with the presentation of some possible materials that could be used in future for manufacturing these equipments. Golf clubs come in various shapes, sizes and colors... The shaft of a golf club measures about 89 to 115 centimeters in length and has a diameter of about 12 millimeters towards the grip end of the club. The most common way of classifying shafts is based on the extent to which they bend when swings of a player are applied to them. On the basis of how they withstand this pressure, they are described as either being stiff or soft. Stiffer shafts facilitate relatively faster swings than their softer counterparts for a given load applied. Generally, the stiffer the shaft, the greater it can potentially impart the ball when struck. However, if it is too stiff, a golfer may not be able to apply enough swing to it for its maximum effect to be manifested. In that case, it leads to a loss of distance coverage. This problem notwithstanding, stiffer shaft gives greater accuracy than their softer counterparts. Materials used for making shafts are steel, graphite fiber, a combination of steel and graphite, among others. The grip is the end of the shaft opposite to the head. It is commonly made from materials such as rubber, synthetic leather, or derivatives of these materials. The third component of a golf club is the club head. This is that part of the club that comes into direct contact with the ball when hit. A golf club head can be made from persimmon or maple wood, metal inpregrenated woods such as titanium or iron or steel woods, among others. 3.0 Materials used in manufacturing golf clubs As already mentioned, various materials are employed in the manufacturing golf clubs. These materials possess unique properties that aid the making of superior and easy to use golf clubs. This section takes a good look at these materials and highlights some

How ERP Can Help Companies Become Lean Coursework

How ERP Can Help Companies Become Lean - Coursework Example In the current economic climate, there is cut-throat competition and a rat race has emerged to capture and retain a large customer base. The larger a firm’s customer base, the stronger it shall become. A firm’s customers are its most valuable asset, as they are the ones who spread positive word of mouth if the company is delivering good value and this in turn drives demand and subsequently the growth of an organization. Firms nowadays recognize the importance of delivering ‘customer delight’ more than ever before and this has led a change in their business strategies whereby companies are striving to eliminate as many costs as possible and streamline their business processes in order to provide better service at lower costs and pass this benefit down to their customers. Availability of information, or rather the lack of it, is often cited as one of the main reasons why delays occur in business processes and often results in two or more departments doing sim ilar paperwork thus duplicating the work, something which is totally unnecessary and only consumes more time and money than necessary. An ERP system in this case shall be an ideal addition to the company’s resources as it makes available information across all functional departments thus ensuring transparency and availability of information at all times. ... fers and are adopting measures to integrate this system into their operations or, in case of those using older computer systems, migrate to the newer ERP platform. The proponents of Lean have recognized that ERP can help organizations achieve the objective of becoming lean. The five basic principles that form the basis of the idea of Lean - value definition and specification, value stream mapping, uninterrupted flow, customer pull and the pursuit of perfection - are â€Å"all supported and enhanced by comprehensive information control and management tools that an end-to-end enterprise software suite delivers.† How an ERP system streamlines a company’s business processes An ERP system can help a company move towards a lean structure in many ways. These include helping reduce waste, moving towards continuous improvement, exploiting and satisfying sales and customer service opportunities, keeping suppliers and production up-to-date with the use of order less manufacturing and Kanban and creating an environment of perfect information and collaboration. Waste Reduction An ERP system, if implemented, becomes the main information carrying artery of a company, carrying data pertaining do day-to-day activities, measuring progress and using metrics to identify opportunities where a company can improve its processes. Some ERP systems also allow companies to conduct ‘What-If’ analyses and help determine activities that have the quickest payback times. A transparent system with perfect information flow allows all departments to visibly see where each activity lies in terms of progress and ensures that duplication of work doesn’t take place. With an ERP system in place, firms can effectively use the most efficient methods of routing and workflow such as using the most

Comparing The U.S. Health Care System with that of The United Kingdom Essay

Comparing The U.S. Health Care System with that of The United Kingdom - Essay Example (United Nations Development Programme; See Table 1). This means that health care is a luxury that people with more money can buy more of and a better quality of. Choosing to utilize a system of privately funded health care may be a result of the attitude of the United States of being "free," which can be taken to mean free from government control or interference in the free market. While there is public funding available for the elderly and the extremely poor, many people still do not receive the health care they need. This lack of health care for citizens who need it is currently a topic of much debate. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, funds its citizens' health care publicly, through taxes. According to the 2007-2008 Human Development Report, 7% of GDP in the United Kingdom is spent on public health care while just 1.1% must be spent privately. (United Nations Development Programme; See Table 1). This difference in expenditures in the United Kingdom translates to the view of health care as a fundamental human right rather than a money-based privilege. When health care began to be publicly funded, "the idea was that if Britain could work towards full employment and spend huge sums of money during the wartime effort, then in a time of peace equitable measures of social solidarity and financial resources could be redirected towards fostering public goods." (Wikipedia, 2008). Although publicly funded health care provides more health care to a greater number of people, some people believe that the quality of health care provided is lower. In some cases people choose to seek priva te health care, if they can afford it, but they are often upset about having to pay for both private health care and the public health care they are opting out of. Many people do not like the feeling that they are paying for the health care of other people who get sick more frequently or are less healthy. Another concern with the United Kingdom's public health care system is that patients are often waitlisted to see doctors for pressing matters; this has led to unnecessary deaths. (Browne, 2001). Putting the private versus public funding debate aside momentarily, there appears also to be discrepancy in the total amount of combined public and private money spent on health care between the United States and the United Kingdom. Based on the previously discussed statistics, the United States spends 15.4% of GDP on its health care while the United Kingdom spends a considerably lower 8.1% of GDP on health care. In terms of what this means for each individual residing in these countries, while per capita GDP in the United States is $41,890 and $6,096 of that is spent on health care, per capita GDP in the United Kingdom is a slightly lower $36,509 but a significantly lower amount, only $2,560 per capita is spent on health care. (United Nations Development Programme; See Table 1). By having everyone contribute a little bit to the entire society's health care, it appears that health care becomes significantly cheaper for everyone. It is also interesting to note that the United States, with a GDP (in millions) of $12,416.5, as compared to the United Kingdom's $2,198.8, would have a lot of GDP to spend elsewhere if only 8.1% was spent on health care instead of 15.4%. Because there are many mixed feelings

Primus Sales Force Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Primus Sales Force - Case Study Example If the researcher gets the questions wrong, chances are that the respondents will get it wrong too and this means that the credibility of the findings will be compromised (Babbie, 2001). In order to eradicate this problem, it is imperative that the questions are asked with utmost clarity and efficiency. The following is an analysis of the quality of the survey questions administered to the sales representatives and managers of Primus Financial Company. It will analyze the issues that pertain to phrasing, the extent to which the questions measure the impact on the attitudes and behaviors and the extent to which they are actionable. Phrasing of the survey questions is as important as the content of the question. The phrasing should enhance the respondent’s understanding (Crossman, 2014). Therefore, the question should be phrased in the simplest and clearest way possible. To that end, these questions did not err a bit. The questions are very simple, clear and objective. For example, question number 2, which asks whether the intranet portal provides useful information in helping the employee do their job. It is simple and straightforward. All the seven questions that were employed asked for one piece of information, using simple wording and avoiding technical jargon. But despite being simple, these questions are vague. For example, question 1 and 2 which ask whether the monthly sales magazines and the intranet portal provide ‘useful’ information to the employees which aids in the performance of their jobs. The term ‘useful’ is vague. Coupled by the fact that the scale method is us ed to rate the answers, it becomes subjective as what level is useful to one employee may not be useful to another. Also, the amount the sales representative may find useful may not be the same for a sales manager. There is therefore an element of vagueness and ambiguity which if not addressed will compromise the validity

My Mother Essay Example for Free

My Mother Essay The film centers on Manuela, a nurse who oversees donor organ transplants in Ramà ³n y Cajal Hospital in Madrid and single mother to Esteban, a teenager who wants to be a writer. On his seventeenth birthday, Esteban is hit by a car and killed while chasing after actress Huma Rojo for her autograph following a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire, in which she portrays Blanche DuBois. Manuela has to agree with her colleagues at work that her sons heart be transplanted to a man in A Coruà ±a. After traveling after her sons heart, Manuela quits her job and journeys to Barcelona, where she hopes to find her sons father, Lola, a transvestite she kept secret from her son, just as she never told Lola they had a son. see more:speech about my mother In Barcelona, Manuela reunites with her old friend Agrado, a warm and witty transsexual prostitute. She also meets and becomes deeply involved with several characters: Rosa, a young nun who works in a shelter for battered prostitutes and is pregnant by Lola; Huma Rojo, the actress her son had admired; and the drug-addicted Nina Cruz, Humas co-star and lover. Her life becomes entwined with theirs as she cares for Rosa during her pregnancy and works for Huma as her personal assistant and even acts in the play as an understudy for Nina during one of her drug abuse crises. On her way to the hospital, Rosa asks the taxi to stop at a park where she spots her fathers dog, Sapic, and then her own father, who suffers from Alzheimers; he does not recognize Rosa and asks for her age and height, but Sapic is cleverer and knows Rosa. Rosa dies giving birth to her son, and Lola and Manuela finally reunite at Rosas funeral. Lola (whose name used to be Esteban), who is dying from AIDS, talks about how she always wanted a son, and Manuela tells her about her own Esteban and how he died in a car accident. Manuela then adopts Esteban, Rosas child, and stays with him at Rosas parents house. The father does not understand who Manuela is, and Rosas mother says its the new cook, who is living here with her son. Rosas father then asks Manuela her age and height. Manuela introduces Esteban (Rosas son) to Lola and gives her a picture of their own Esteban. Rosas mother spots them from the street and then confronts Manuela about letting strangers see the baby. Manuela tells her that Lola is Estebans father; Rosas mother is appalled and says: That is the monster that killed my daughter?! Manuela flees back to Madrid with Esteban; she cannot take living at Rosas house any longer, since the grandmother is afraid that she will contract AIDS from the baby. She writes a letter to Huma and Agrado saying that she is leaving and once again is sorry for not saying goodbye, like she did years before. Two years later, Manuela returns with Esteban to an AIDS convention, telling Huma and Agrado, who now run a stage show together, that Esteban had been a miracle by not inheriting the virus. She then says she is returning to stay with Estebans grandparents. When asking Huma about Nina, she becomes melancholic and leaves. Agrado tells Manuela that Nina went back to her town, got married, and had a fat, ugly baby boy.

Chemical Structure Of Fructooligosaccharides

Chemical Structure Of Fructooligosaccharides Introduction Modern people are increasingly interested in their personal health, and expect the foods they eat to be tasty and attractive also healthy and safe. As interest in the link between diet and health gathers pace, many people seek ways to feel well and stay healthy by eating nutritionally foods. Non-digestible carbohydrates such as oligosaccharides, dietary fibers, and resistant starch have various physiologic functions and the promotive effects of many non-digestible carbohydrates on well being, better health and reduction of the risk of diseases have been well examined. Among non-digestible carbohydrates, the functional oligosaccharides present important physicochemical and physiological properties beneficial to the health of consumers, and for this reason, their use as food ingredients has increased rapidly. The functional oligosaccharides are intermediate in nature between simple sugars and polysaccharides and are claimed to behave as dietary fibres and prebiotics. These compounds as non-absorbable food ingredients are microbial food supplements and may benefit the host by selectively stimulating salutary bacteria in the large intestine. The best known functional oligosaccharides include fructooligosaccharide, glucooligosaccharides (GOS), isomalto-oligosaccharides, soybean oligosaccharides, xylo-oligosaccharides and maltitol. Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are non-digestible carbohydrates that represent one of the major classes of bifidogenic oligosaccharides. They are compounds of a vegetable origin and are found in varying concentrations in many foods such as asparagus, onions, artichokes, garlic, wheat, bananas, tomatoes and honey. Their chemical structure consists of a chain of fructose units with a terminal glucose unit linked by ÃŽÂ ²-(2â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢1) glycosidic bonds, that means they cannot be hydrolysed by human digestive enzymes which are specific for ÃŽÂ ²-glycosidic bonds. The length of the chain ranges from 2- 60. There are three categories of FOS, each of which is structurally distinct: inulin, has a polymerization degree of 2 about 60 monomers of fructose, with an average of 12 units; oligofructose is produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin and is defined as a fraction of oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization lower than 20, although commercial products tend to have a mean value of 9; these FOS are produced by the enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin and consists of fructosyl chains of different lengths, with glucose and fructose terminals. Finally, scFOS (short chain fructooligosaccharides) are specifically defined as mixed chains of fructosyl with a glucose terminal unit; they have a maximum of 5 units and are derived from sugar through natural fermentation processes, producing 1-kestose (GF2), nystose (GF3) and 1-fructosylnystose (GF4) in which the fructosyl units (F) are linked at the ÃŽÂ ²-(2â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¢1) position of sucrose (Figure 1). FOS are water-soluble and their sweetness is 0.3-0.6 times that of sucrose, depending on the chemical structure and the degree of polymerization of the oligosaccharide. FOS are highly hygroscopic and their water holding capacity is greater than that of sucros. The viscosity of a FOS solution is higher than that of sucrose at the same concentration because the greater molecular weight of FOS. The enhanced viscosity of the gastrointestinal content may delay the rate of gastric emptying and the digestion and absorption of nutrients. Their thermal stability also is greater than of sucrose. FOS are highly stable in the normal range of food pH (4.0-7.0). FOS can substitute sucrose as regards many of its properties, including solubility, freezing and fusion point and crystalline properties. It has been estimated that the caloric value of FOS ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 kcal/g, which represents 40-50% of that of digestible carbohydrates such as sucrose. Fructooligosaccharides have interesting properties: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Low sweetness intensity: this property makes them useful for various kinds of foods where the use of sucrose is restricted due to its high sweetness. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Calorie free; i.e., the human body lacks the necessary enzymes to hydrolyze the beta bonds, so that they are not hydrolyzed by the digestive enzymes. Thus, since these substances can not be used as an energy source in the body, they are safe for diabetics and people on slimming diets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non-cariogenic, since they are not used by Streptococcus mutans to form the acids and insoluble ÃŽÂ ²-glucans that are the main causes of dental caries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They behave as soluble food fibre from a physiological point of view. They are non-digestible carbohydrates of a vegetable origin that reach to the large intestine, where they can be fermented by the colonic flora to promote the growth of bifidobacteria and prevent the growth of potentially pathogenic microorganisms. The bacterial degradation of FOS occurs in two stages: in the first stage, the monomers are hydrolyzed by bacterial beta-oxidases. In the second, the monomers released ferment anaerobically to produce volatile fat acids (SCFA) such as acetate, propionate and butyrate, and gases (H2, CO2, CH4). These properties, together with their other beneficial physiological effects (low carcinogenicity, prebiotic effect, improved mineral absorption, and decreased serum cholesterol, phospholipid and triacylglycerol levels) defend the addition of FOS to foods as infant formulas which, in any case, have only very low quantities of these nutrients. Experimental 1 Impact of a jelly containing short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides and Sideritis euboea extract on human faecal microbiota. (Mitsou et al., 2009) 1. Materials Methods 1.1 Subjects Sixty-four healthy adult volunteers (26 men and 38 women) aged 22-51 years (mean age: 33 years) enrolled. Elimination criteria were a history of gastrointestinal disease and chronic diseases (i.e., diabetes, hyperlipidemia, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular diseases), a history of extreme dietary behaviors, epileptic seizures, consumption of antibiotics and other medication 2 months prior and during the investigation period. Smoking patterns were recorded prior to the study. 1.2 Feeding regime Placebo food was a commercial dessert (jelly, lemon flavored) in powder form containing 86 g sugar, 10 g gelatin, 2.20 g citric acid, 1 g sodium citrate, 0.5 g flavors and 0.3 g colors per 100 g of product. Experimental functional food (jelly) provided additionally 15 g sc-FOS and 0.9 g S. euboea extract per 100 g of product (respectively, 5 g and 0.3 g per jelly portion daily). Powder from aqueous extract of S. euboea was produced using a spray drier. The sc-FOS tested was Actilight ® 950P, a mixture of FOS comprising 37% 1-kestose (GF2), 53% nystose (GF3) and 10% 1F-ÃŽÂ ²-fructofuranosyl nystose (GF4) (Bà ©ghin Meiji Industries, Neuilly sur Seine, France). Jotis S.A. Food Industry provided both the placebo and experimental food product. The experimental and placebo food were supplied in a powder form (100-g packages) and volunteers were asked to prepare 3 portions of jelly per 100-g package according to manufacturers instructions. Subjects were free to eat one portion of the jelly at any time of day. 1.3 Experimental design Subjects were instructed to preserve their usual diet and fluid intake during the study with the exception of additional prebiotics and probiotic supplements. Volunteers were assessed for restriction of probiotic and prebiotic consumption during a period of two weeksprior to the intervention. One pre-treatment faecal sample was taken before treatment period begun (day 0). During the intervention, subjects were randomly assigned to two groups according to feeding regime (placebo group, sc-FOS+extract group) and consumed, respectively, one portion of placebo or experimental jelly daily for 30 d. Neither the subjects nor the researchers were informed about the type of jelly ingested (doubleblinded). Faecal samples were obtained after 2 weeks (day 15) and 4 weeks (day 30) of the treatment period. Stool sampling took place also at the end of the follow-up period, 2 weeks after the dietary intervention (day 45). 1.4 Gastrointestinal symptoms Gastrointestinal side effects were evaluated during the treatment period (day 1-15 and day 16-30) using a daily questionnaire in which symptoms (i.e. abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence) were marked from 0 (no symptoms) to 3 (severe symptoms). The 15-d symptom score (sum of symptom intensity during a 15-d period) was graded as 0 = no symptoms, 1-15 = mild symptoms, 16-30 = moderate symptoms and 31-45 = severe symptoms with possible range for each 15-d symptom score estimated at 0-45 and for total symptom score at 0-135. 1.5 Sample collection Faecal specimens were collected rapidly into sterile plastic containers and transferred under anaerobic conditions (GΆ¢ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ bag anaer, 45534 Biomà ©rieux ® SA, Marcy-lEtoile, France), to a laboratory for microbiological analysis. 1.6 Bacterial enumeration Approximately 1 g of the specimenwasweighed and diluted in 9-ml pre-reduced peptone physiological saline (PPS), containing 0.1% bacteriological peptone (OXOID Basingstoke, Hamshire, England) and 0.85%NaCl. After homogenization, serial 10-fold dilutions of the homogenateswere performed in PPS under anaerobic environment (BACTRONà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ 1.5 Anaerobic Environmental Chamber, SHELLAB, Cornelius, Oregon). Columbia blood agar was used for the enumeration of the total mesophilic aerobic and anaerobic microflora (incubation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions at 37  °C for 48 h). Enumeration of total coliforms and E. coli was performed on Chromocult ® Coliform agar (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) and bacterial counts of enterococci were performed on Slanetz and Bartley medium (LabM Limited, Lancashire, UK) after aerobic incubation at 37  °C for 24 and 48 h, respectively. Rogosa agar (Merck KGaA) and Wilkins-Chalgren anaerobe agar (OXOID), supplemented with 5% (v/v) defibrina ted horse blood and G-N anaerobe selective supplement (OXOID),were used for the enumeration of Lactobacillus spp. and Bacteroides spp. respectively, after anaerobic incubation at 37 °C for 48 h. Clostridium perfringens was enumerated on Perfringens agar (LabM Limited) supplemented with D-cycloserine (400 mg/L) (LabM Limited) after 24-h anaerobic incubation at 37 °C. Finally, Beerens agar was used for the enumeration of Bifidobacterium spp. (anaerobic incubation at 37 °C for 72 h). Bacteria were characterized on the basis of colony appearance, Grams stain, catalase reaction and cell morphology. Since Rogosa and Beerens agars are likely to support growth of non-Lactobacillus and non-Bifidobacterium species respectively one representative isolate from each colony phenotype in these media was further identified to the genus level by molecular methods as described previously. Colony counts were obtained and expressed as a log10 of the colony forming units (CFUs)/g fresh faeces. 1.7 Statistics Bacterial counts between the feeding groups at each sampling time (day 0, 15, 30 and 45) prospectively were compared using repeated measures ANOVA (RM-ANOVA) for parametric and the Friedman test for non-parametric data, after age adjustment and Bonferronis adjustment for multiplicity. Bacterial counts into each group were compared prospectively using paired-samples t test for parametric and the Wilcoxon signed ranks test for non-parametric data. Comparison of colonization levels was based on log10 transformation of viable bacterial counts. Correlations between initial bifidobacterial levels and increases in bifidobacteria counts in sc-FOS+extract group at day 15 and 30 were tested by the Spearman correlation and a linear regression analysis was performed for the best prediction of the dependent variable. Digestive symptom intensity was expressed as a 15-d score (day 1-15 and day 16-30) as well as the number of evacuations, watery stools and diarrheic days. Comparisons between study groups and intragroup analysis were performed by the Friedman test for nonparametric data, after age adjustment and Bonferronis adjustment for multiplicity. The statistical analysis of the results was performed by the software program SPSS ® for Windows Release 11.5 and the significance threshold was set at 5% (P 2. Results Fifty-two volunteers (23 men and 29 women) aged 23-50 years (mean age: 34 years) managed to complete the study. Dropoutwas due to antibiotic consumption during the investigation period. According to randomized design of the study, 23 volunteers ingested the placebo and 29 volunteers consumed the experimental jelly. No significant differences were detected between the placebo and the sc-FOS+extract groups in terms of age (mean age: 33.78 years vs. 34.28 years), sex distribution (10 men and 13 women vs. 13 men and 16 women) or smoking patterns (13 non smokers and 10 smokers vs. 20 non smokers and 9 smokers), respectively. 2.1 Bacterial populations In thewhole study population, no differences in intestinalmicroflora were observed between smokers and non smokers, while genderspecific comparisons revealed higher initial total anaerobe bacterial (9.56 ±0.46 vs. 9.26 ±0.61 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.047) and bifidobacterial levels (8.87 ±1.37 vs. 8.19 ±1.83 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.007) in females than males. Overall, no significant differences were observed in viable counts of aerobes between the two feeding groups (Table 1). A trend towards lower levels of total aerobes at day 30 (8.13 ±0.96 vs. 8.61 ±0.92 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.077), which turned into a significant difference at day 45 was observed in functional food group compared to the placebo. Bacterial levels of total coliforms and E. coli were statistically different between the placebo and sc-FOS+extract groups at day 30, while group-specific analysis revealed higher levels of total coliforms and E. coli only for the placebo regime at day 30 compared to the baseline and day 15. Enterococci counts were not significantly influenced by the ingestion of the functional jelly compared to placebo during the study period. In sc-FOS+extract group, enterococci were significantly decreased after 30 d of ingestion (6.77 ±1.29 vs. 6.29 ±1.24 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.038) compared to the baseline. No significant overall viable counts differences were detected between the study groups in the case of total anaerobe mesophilic microflora, Bacteroides spp., Lactobacillus spp. and C. perfringens (Table 1). Total anaerobes were estimated in comparable densities in the two study groups during the entire research period. Higher levels of total anaerobes were detected in the functional food group at day 15 (9.87 ±0.58 vs. 9.38 ±0.56 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.001) and day 45 (9.66 ±0.62 vs. 9.38 ±0.56 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.015) compared to pre-treatment counts. Bacteroides and lactobacilli did not demonstrate significant differences at any sampling time between the feeding groups. Increased Bacteroides population was detected in sc-FOS+ extract group after 15 d of consumption and two weeks after the end of the nutritional intervention compared to initial counts (8.71 ±0.54 vs. 8.30 ±0.81 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.010 and 8.80 ±0.60 vs. 8.30 ±0.81 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.002, respectively). Ingestion of the experimental food in comparison to placebo was related to a trend for lower levels of C. perfringens at day 15 (4.16 ±1.24 vs. 4.78 ±1.23 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.065). Analysis of bacterial counts demonstrated an overall significant effect of feeding regime in Bifidobacterium spp. levels (Table 1). The enumeration data presented a significant bifidogenic effect of the functional food preparation compared to the placebo after 15 and 30 d of consumption and a non-significant higher level of faecal bifidobacteria in this group 2 weeks after the end of ingestion. Furthermore,faecal bifidobacteria counts were significantly higher at 15 (9.54 ± 0.83 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.002) and 30 d of intervention (9.34 ±1.04 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.027) and two weeks after the treatmentperiod (9.33 ±0.61 log10CFU/g faeces, P = 0.015) in the sc-FOS+extract group, compared to pre-treatment levels (8.79 ±0.93 log10CFU/g faeces). During the 15 and 30 d of dietary intervention, respectively 24 and 21 cases of healthy volunteers consuming the experimental jelly gave increased bifidobacterial counts, with mean increase being estimated at 1.06 log10CFU/g faeces and 1.14 log10CFU/g faeces for two and four weeks of intervention. Figs. 2 and 3 indicate a correlation between initial levels of bifidobacteria and positive change in these bacterial populations after 15 (R2 = 0.747, P = 0.000) and 30 d (R2 = 0.712, P = 0.000) of functional food consumption. Subjects with lower baseline bifidobacterial counts gave larger increase on ingestion of experimental jelly. 2.2 Gastrointestinal symptoms No significant differences were observed for gastrointestinal symptoms and characteristics of evacuation during the 30 d of dietary intervention (Table 2). During the first two weeks of the study, a trend for greater flatulence score (6.88 ±6.94 vs. 3.57 ±4.72, P = 0.070) was observed in functional food group and five cases of moderate flatulence symptoms were reported in this group instead of none in the control group. Table 1 Faecal bacterial countsa (log10CFU/g faeces) in sc-FOS+Sideritis euboea extract group (n = 29) and placebo group (n = 23) during the 30-d dietary intervention and 2-week posttreatment period. aAll values are mean ±S.D.; CFU, colony forming units; sc-FOS, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides. b-fSignificantly different from placebo: bP = 0.042, cP = 0.018, dP = 0.040, eP = 0.001, fP = 0.027; gSignificantly different from baseline (day 0) (P Figure 2. Correlation between the initial levels of bifidobacteria and increase in bifidobacteria after consumption of a jelly containing sc-FOS+Sideritis euboea extract for 15 d. Bacterial counts are expressed as log10CFU/g faeces; CFU, colony forming units; sc-FOS, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides. Figure 3. Correlation between the initial levels of bifidobacteria and increase in bifidobacteria after consumption of a jelly containing sc-FOS+Sideritis euboea extract for 30 d. Bacterial counts are expressed as log10CFU/g faeces; CFU, colony forming units; sc-FOS, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides. Table 2 Gastrointestinal symptoms and characteristics of evacuations in sc-FOS+Sideritis euboea extract group (n = 29) and placebo group (n = 23) during the study (0-15 and 16-30 d).a Symptom intensity was graded as 0 = no symptoms, 1-15 = mild symptoms, 16-30 = moderate symptoms and 31-45 = severe symptoms. The possible range for each 15-d symptom score is 0-15 and for total symptom score 0-135. a All values are mean ±S.D.; sc-FOS, short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides. 3. Discussion Results indicated a significant bifidogenic effect of the experimental jelly during the intervention. Differences in levels of total coliforms/E. coli and total aerobes were detected between the two feeding groups at day 30 and 45, respectively. Total anaerobes, lactobacilli, Bacteroides spp. C. perfringens and enterococci were not significantly influenced by the ingestion of the functional food compared to placebo during the study period. The present study demonstrated a strong and selective stimulation of bifidogenesis in healthy volunteers after 2- and 4-week consumption of an experimental jelly compared to the placebo. In our study, high levels of bifidobacteria persisted within the sc-FOS+extract group two weeks after the end of the intervention, a finding that proposes an extended prebiotic effect of sc-FOS. Another results indicated a decrease in total aerobes in sc-FOS+ extract group compared to the control group two weeks after the end of intervention and no significant differences in enterococci counts throughout the entire study period. Previous data from studies that used culture-based enumeration techniques proposed no significant effects of both inulin and oligofructose consumption on total viable counts of aerobes and an unexplained transient increase in aerobic microflora after ingestion of 4 g sc-FOS. A significant difference in enterobacterial counts between the two dietary groups was detected at the cessation of the 30-d intervention, which could be attributed rather to the significant increase of total coliforms and E. coli densities in the control group. Bacterial counts for Enterobacteriaceae were not significantly affected by the ingestion of sc-FOS, such as Actilight and Neosugar. Analysis of digestive symptoms indicated that, compared to placebo, consumption of the experimental functional jelly related only with a trend for greater flatulence during the first two weeks of dietary intervention. A 7-d ingestion of sc-FOS correlated with minor bloating at doses from 2.5-10 g/d and with excess flatus at 20 g/d In general, excess flatus and/or bloating are the most common gastrointestinal symptoms during sc-FOS ingestion, but they are usually characterized as limited and very mild. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the prebiotic potential of a jelly containing sc-FOS and S. euboea extract in healthy volunteers. The product was well-tolerated, with no severe gastrointestinal side effects. Future applications of the experimental food could be focused on people with abnormal intestinal microbiota. Experimental 2 Fructooligosaccharide fortification of selected fruit juice beverages: Effect on the quality characteristics (Renuka et al., 2009) 1. Materials Methods 1.1 Preparation of FOS syrup FOS was produced by the transfructosylation of sucrose using FTase enzyme obtained by submerged fermentation using Aspergillus oryzae MTCC 5154 1.2 Preparation of fruit juice beverages Ripe pineapple, mango and orange fruits were procured from the local fruit market. The fruits were washed, peeled, crushed and passed through pulper to obtain pulp. In case of oranges, the fruits were peeled and passed through a screw type juice extractor to obtain orange juice. Based on the initial sucrose content of each of the three fruit pulp/juice, sugar syrups were prepared by mixing 135, 35, and 195 g of sucrose in 5847, 5947, and 5947 g of water for pineapple, mango, and orange fruit juices respectively to achieve uniform sweetness. To each of the sugar syrups prepared, citric acid (18 g), FOS syrup (2000 g) and respective fruit pulp/juice (2000 g) were added. The prepared fruit juice beverages were heated to 90 and hot filled into presterilized bottles and were allowed to cool. Another set of fruit juice beverages containing only sucrose without any added FOS was prepared and used as control. 1.3 Characterization and storage studies of fruit juice beverages Fruit juice beverages were stored at ambient (25  ± 2 à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ C) and refrigeration (4 à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ C) temperature for 6 months and were analyzed for colour, changes in the FOS content, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity, pH and sensory qualities at regular intervals of 2 months. 1.4 FOS content A known volume of fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS was centrifuged at 8000 rpm for 20 min. The supernatant was filtered through 0.45 m cellulose nitrate filter (Millipore India Pvt ltd.) and appropriately diluted with triple distilled water and analyzed by HPLC. 1.5 Sensory evaluation Sensory evaluation was carried out by hedonic scale consisting of 10 points (1-10), where 9-10 = excellent, 7-8 = very good, 5- 6 = good, 3-4 = fair, 1-2 = poor. An internal panel of seven expert members evaluated the products for colour, appearance, taste/flavour, mouth feel and overall acceptability. 2. Results and discussion 2.1. Retention of FOS in the fortified fruit juice beverages Figure. 4 presents retention of FOS in the fortified fruit juice beverages as a function of storage time. At the end of 6 months of storage, a significant amount of FOS was retained in the fruit juice beverages stored at refrigeration temperature in comparison with those stored at ambient temperatures. There was a noticeable change in the acceptable quality characteristics after 4 months storage at ambient temperature. Fruit juice beverages in general are fast moving commodity and generally do not remain unsold for more than 2-4 months. Thus, the present study clearly indicates that fruit juice beverages can successfully be fortified with FOS with existence of 4 months at ambient temperature. Figure 4. Effect of storage period on FOS content (g/100 g) of fruit juice beverages. : Pineapple, : Mango and : Orange juices fortified with FOS. 2.2. Characterization of fruit juice beverages during storage The changes in pH, TSS ( à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ Brix), and titratable acidity of the fruit juice beverages, when analyzed using ANOVA were not statistically significant at the 5% level between time zero (initial) and 180 days (6 months) of storage at ambient and refrigeration temperature. The pH of the fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS was in the range of 3.23-3.57 as against the control (3.30-3.82). Similar observations with respect to the changes in pH as a function of storage time and temperature have been made. TSS ( à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ Brix) of the fruit juice beverages varied from 15 to 16 à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ Brix and was stable throughout the storage period (4 à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ C 25  ± 2 à  Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ C). The stability of the TSS could be due to the heat treatment prior to storage. Titratable acidity of fruit juice beverages varied from 0.23 to 0.35 g citric acid/100 mL juice. The acidity was fairly constant throughout the storage. The fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS have stability over storage and the beverages kept all the good sensorial properties, as compared to control. Results also showed that there was no visible change (Pà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥0.05) in the colour during storage. 2.3. Sensory evaluation No significant changes were detected in the overall quality of the fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS in comparison with that of control by the panelists after 4 months of storage at ambient temperature (Table 3). Sensory qualities of the fruit juice beverages stored at ambient and refrigerated temperature was studied on the basis of the consideration that a minimally acceptable product should be equivalent to rating 5 (colour, consistency, taste, flavour and overall quality) of its sensory quality. Fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS were found to be acceptable up to 4 and 6 months based on the evaluation of overall quality at ambient and refrigeration temperature respectively. 3. Conclusion The changes in the present day consumers life style have led to a vital change in the marketing trends of food sector. Todays consumer being more health conscious is seeking products with greater health benefits and there is a great demand for health foods. The present study showed that fruit juice beverages can fortified with FOS with existence of 4 months and 6 months at ambient and refrigeration temperature respectively. There were no undesirable changes in the physicochemical characteristics of the fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS. Overall quality of the fruit juice beverages fortified with FOS for 4 months of storage at ambient temperature was acceptable as indicated by sensory analysis. Constant pH, TSS, TA and viscosity of fruit juice beverages clearly indicates that there is no spoilage either due to microbial or enzymatic reaction.

A Good Man is Hard to Find Essay -- essays papers

A Good Man is Hard to Find Thesis: Bailey and his family discover the hard way just how ironic life can be. â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† In â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Flannery O’Conner tells the story of a family in route to their Florida vacation and the trouble the grandmother gets them in. The grandmother does not want to go to Florida on vacation and tries many methods of changing her son, Bailey’s mind. Although she tries many methods, none of them have the effect on him she desires. Bailey is as stubborn as his mother, completely shutting the door on every proposition his mother makes. When she finally makes some progress in delaying their travels things go horribly. Bailey and his family discover the hard way just how ironic life can be. The grandmother uses many excuses for the family to go to Tennessee instead of Florida on vacation. The first of her many excuses is â€Å"The Misfit†, a serial killer that has escaped from prison and is headed toward Florida, claiming that she would never take her children anywhere near a man like that. This didn’t have the desi...

America Needs a Variable Minimum Wage Essay -- Minimum Wage Essays

Minimum wage is the least amount of money that an employer is legally required to pay an employee. It is something that all people in the American workforce know about. It was made to prevent the employer from taking advantage of employees. It is what creates the bare minimum standard of living for the 73.9 million hourly wage workers in the United States. However, there are many different jobs with varying amount of skills that are needed for those jobs. This is where the problem arises because a worker may still be under paid for the job that they do. This problem splits the population into two main groups, one that wants the minimum wage to be raised and another that wants the minimum wage to remain the same, or to even be abolished. However there is a third and possibly more successful option that many people do not propose. Minimum wage as it stands now is too generalized and low for the scope of jobs it applies to. Therefore this third option is that working wages should vary a mong the different sectors of the workforce depending on the different skills needed and effort required for those jobs. Minimum wage was first established in 1938 during the Great Depression by President Franklin Roosevelt to protect the tens of thousands of workers working in sweat shops and factories in America from exploitation. He signed the Fair Labor Standards Act that year which introduced various regulations including banning child labor, establishing workplace safety statutes and arguably the most influential, creating a minimum wage standard of 25 cents per hour. Historically, many employers and fiscal conservatives violently opposed the law arguing that minimum wage could hurt employers, much as they argue now. But President Roosevelt'... ....S 1)" as people who earn this wage can not afford health insurance. It is not enough to handle the different needs of the people who work in different work places and is not acceptable for people who work for far less than they legally should get. Works Cited Soltas, Evans."Two Reasons Not to Raise minimum WageWage". Bloomberg News, Web Jan 03, 2013. Messerli Joe. "Should the Minimum Wage be Abolished (i.e Reduced to $0.00)". BalancedPolitics, web. Oct 12, 2013. Romer, Christina. "The Business of the Minimum Wage" NYTIMES, web. March 2, 2013. The Economist."Trickle-up Economics; Raising the minimum wage" 16 Feb. 2013: 30(US), Student Resources in Context. Web, 18 Oct, 2013. "History of the United States' Minimum Wage" Marathon Studios Enterprises, web. 30 Oct, 2013 Winter, Michael. "L.A. to boost minimum wage to $15", USA TODAY May 19, 2015 America Needs a Variable Minimum Wage Essay -- Minimum Wage Essays Minimum wage is the least amount of money that an employer is legally required to pay an employee. It is something that all people in the American workforce know about. It was made to prevent the employer from taking advantage of employees. It is what creates the bare minimum standard of living for the 73.9 million hourly wage workers in the United States. However, there are many different jobs with varying amount of skills that are needed for those jobs. This is where the problem arises because a worker may still be under paid for the job that they do. This problem splits the population into two main groups, one that wants the minimum wage to be raised and another that wants the minimum wage to remain the same, or to even be abolished. However there is a third and possibly more successful option that many people do not propose. Minimum wage as it stands now is too generalized and low for the scope of jobs it applies to. Therefore this third option is that working wages should vary a mong the different sectors of the workforce depending on the different skills needed and effort required for those jobs. Minimum wage was first established in 1938 during the Great Depression by President Franklin Roosevelt to protect the tens of thousands of workers working in sweat shops and factories in America from exploitation. He signed the Fair Labor Standards Act that year which introduced various regulations including banning child labor, establishing workplace safety statutes and arguably the most influential, creating a minimum wage standard of 25 cents per hour. Historically, many employers and fiscal conservatives violently opposed the law arguing that minimum wage could hurt employers, much as they argue now. But President Roosevelt'... ....S 1)" as people who earn this wage can not afford health insurance. It is not enough to handle the different needs of the people who work in different work places and is not acceptable for people who work for far less than they legally should get. Works Cited Soltas, Evans."Two Reasons Not to Raise minimum WageWage". Bloomberg News, Web Jan 03, 2013. Messerli Joe. "Should the Minimum Wage be Abolished (i.e Reduced to $0.00)". BalancedPolitics, web. Oct 12, 2013. Romer, Christina. "The Business of the Minimum Wage" NYTIMES, web. March 2, 2013. The Economist."Trickle-up Economics; Raising the minimum wage" 16 Feb. 2013: 30(US), Student Resources in Context. Web, 18 Oct, 2013. "History of the United States' Minimum Wage" Marathon Studios Enterprises, web. 30 Oct, 2013 Winter, Michael. "L.A. to boost minimum wage to $15", USA TODAY May 19, 2015

My Journey From Religion Essay -- Religion, Spirituality

The best way to understand why atheism is so important to me is to start with a little background. I grew up in Texas, most of my life has been in the region other Texans often refer to as the religious part of Texas. I don't want to focus too much on emphasizing how religious the culture is, but I do want to give an indication. For example, few people I know accept the theory of evolution or the Big Bang; non-creationist scientific theories are largely perceived as bullshit and dismissed with the infamous â€Å"just a theory† argument. Perhaps an anecdote can help illuminate further: I volunteer at a small local non-profit which helps low-income people without prescription insurance coverage obtain medicine. The director is an extremely intelligent, ethical and hardworking person who chose to use her talents in a way that benefits others. One of the benefits of volunteering there is having good conversation during the rare times we're slow. In the midst of one conversation the director casually mentioned that there's no such thing as an atheist (with the implication being that no one can be totally free of religion in their â€Å"heart of hearts†). This was simply a casual comment by an otherwise intelligent person that apparently everyone accepted without batting an eye. This is also the sort of culture that I exist in. Which means that I've had to learn how to walk softly around many people if I want to maintain relationships with them. There are exceptions, for example my closest friend who is training to become a Lutheran minister, but as a general rule I need to tread lightly or else the relationship ends very quickly. My closest friends and family accept me for who I am, some casual friends accept me for who I am with their own... ...ur ancestors in the eternal ritual of death. When we come to accept that it's an inevitable aspect of life, when the truth of the brevity of existence is genuinely felt, it provides us with a most outstanding sense of urgency, meaning and desire to make the most of every moment. It's a tragic irony that religious dogma attempts to quiet this need by assuring us that life after death is more important. Once I accepted that god doesn't exist (or its corollary of allowing our beliefs about the world to be exclusively based evidence and reason rather than faith) I was free to use my mind to the best of my ability. I'm free to find all the answers I can about everything imaginable. It was a scary feeling at first - I'm so vastly ignorant of so much - but embracing that ignorance is unexpectedly empowering! This is the only life we've got, so let's make the most of it.

The Skin Moisture Levels Health And Social Care Essay

This review looks at the diary referenced1, to understand whether the methodological analysis and consequences published are realistic and are able to lend to the pattern of occupational wellness and wellness and safety in general. It considers whether or non the information and consequences given, is indifferent and that the information provided and recorded from the experiments, utilizing specific sets of voluntaries and the methodological analysiss applied along with the equipments and stuffs that were utilised on that juncture, is consistent with the purposes of the diary. The review itself has been approached and written by the writer utilizing the IMRaD ( Introduction Methods Results and Discussion ) format to show the review in a structured format giving suited remark where it is believed that more information could hold been made available.DrumheadThe diary is biased towards one peculiar piece of equipment that is used to make skin measurings ; sentiments are formulated from a group of writers from the same company. Data is collected in a signifier of a questionnaire and ocular observations recorded but unavailable to the reader. The diary mentions ‘Studies ‘ have been undertaken, but there is no grounds from any of them to assist find whether the methods used on this juncture were appropriate. Mention to allow usage of baseball mitts is hapless and despite the diary being requested by a pharmaceutical company there is small utile information on the usage of creams. On a positive note ; the diary does recognize that more consciousness and instruction is required by both employee and employer. ReviewIntroductionThe undermentioned text is the full abstract from the diary under review which sets out the ground for the survey by the writers: ‘The purpose of this survey was to set up whether those working in certain businesss had skin with lower wet content than would be considered normal. Skin wet degrees were measured every bit good as ocular appraisal. Consequences indicated that all occupational groups studied had tegument that was less good hydrated than would be considered normal, although there were important inter-individual fluctuations within any one group. These fluctuations were at least every bit important as business. Awareness of the demand to utilize baseball mitts as protection against chemicals and to utilize creams to reconstruct status was low, as was compliance'.1MethodsThe diary has been read by the review writer to understand what the diary writers are trying to convey to the reader. It is marked where the referee has considered that a full apprehension is required to be certain of the justification for the diary to hold been produced and later published. Where possible, literature has been sourced and referenced to help in the apprehension of the capable affair and besides to offer up any other information which may hold proven utile or may propose that the diary is non conveying every facet of information pertinent to the chosen capable affair. This literature has been sourced through Library ‘s online installations but largely by utilizing the Internet Search Engine ‘GoogleTM ‘to bring up certain articles associating to the capable affair including referenced information about the setup used on the test voluntaries.ConsequencesIt has been established early on into the diary that the conducted probe of the capable affair had been requested by a Pharmaceutical company called Crookes Healthcare 2 who appear to be situated in Nottingham UK. However, no information was readily available sing this company apart from contact inside informations as their cyberspace sphere site appeared was inactive and was advertised as à ¢â‚¬Ëœdomain available for sale ‘ at the clip of this review being produced. The diary addresses a really of import topic affair which gives concern to non merely Occupational Health Practitioners and Advisers but besides Health & A ; Safety Professionals in general along with the medical community. The information and decisions are non merely derived from experiments but referenced from a figure of articles and books largely based on the capable affair of Epidemiology. Mention is besides made to a company ‘Hill & A ; Knowlton ‘ 3 who advertise themselves as a public dealingss and public personal businesss web and one facet of their operation is to help with clinical tests enlisting within their Healthcare & A ; Wellbeing section. A sum of 132 voluntaries have been selected from office workers, hairstylists, pre-school nursery staff and catering staff. Apart from the office workers, the businesss were selected as they are seemingly known to hold high degrees of occupational contact dermatitis being subjected to chemicals that have a fatting consequence and being exposed to wet work. The office workers were selected to seek to set up whether working in modern air-conditioning offices might demo similar effects. It is non instantly stated why the baby's room staff were selected but it does become evident subsequently in the diary that they are subjected to crisp altering but in general a good government of have oning suited baseball mitts appeared to be observed. The enlisting administrations appeared non merely to supply full clip workers but besides parttime / impermanent workers ( pupils ) for these tests, which consisted of both work forces and adult females of assorted ages and presumptively with different tegument types. However, the periods of exposure to the voluntaries except the office workers would most likely been well varied during their existent working times. Specifically, this would use to pupils, who would hold besides been in categories analyzing and therefore non ever subjected to the jeopardies related with occupational tegument disease for 8 hr periods every twenty-four hours. Interestingly, there is no reference of what other substances the voluntaries may hold been subjected to during their ain clip ( avocations and other physical involvements participated in ) ; that is outside of the workplace environments which may or may non hold a bearing on the consequences of such a survey. The diary besides mentions that Studies suggest that low skin wet degree predisposes to the development of irritant contact dermatitis.1, but there is no existent grounds provided of which surveies are really being referred to. However, it was on this footing that the writers felt it of import to set up to what extent workers in the selected businesss had lower than normal skin wet degree compared to other occupations.1DiscussionThe four writers of the diary are from a household based company with what appears to hold a good background in Occupational Skin Management 4, and they have been peculiarly selective in their usage of a Corneometer A ® system from Courage + Khazaka electronic GmbH ( Model CM825 ) for the measuring of skin hydration. As stated on their web site â€Å" In 1997 EnviroDerm Services stepped into the universe of skin analysis when they became involved with Courage & A ; Khazaka electronic and their high quality scope of tegument analysis equipment † .4 There are in fact a figure of different commercial contraptions that appear to be available which have non been considered at any clip during these peculiar tests ( The usage of Internet Search Engines such as ‘GoogleTM ‘ will easy place such setup if the user inputs cardinal words ) . The writers have established that occupational tegument diseases form a big portion of occupational disease with the most common signifier being irritant contact dermatitis.1, 5 with adult females being more affected than work forces. However, farther reading from one of the sourced mentions indicates that experimental surveies of skin annoyance have non confirmed differences between the sexes ; therefore, the higher prevalence of irritant contact dermatitis among females is most likely due to exposure, occupational and non-occupational. Nickel allergic reaction is the most common contact allergic reaction which appears to be most frequent in immature females, and in 30-40 % consequences over clip in manus eczema 5. Nickel is found in most metal and metal plated objects such as kitchen utensils, scissors, costume jewelry, tickers, spectacle frames, buckles, slide fasteners, fasteners, coins, white gold and some industrial film editing fluids. 6 Certain nutrients besides contain hints of Nickel. Hand eczema has an impact on quality of life and females seem to describe a higher grade of uncomfortableness than males. To accomplish the optimum consequence of preventative attempts sing occupational tegument disease, the focal point for bar should take at cut downing wet exposure.5 Hand eczema is in fact ne'er mentioned in the diary which is surprising given that up to 1 in 10 people suffer from this status. There is nevertheless mention to literature which covers intervention for a signifier of skin annoyance, and therefore it can merely be assumed that none of the participants were recorded as enduring from this status, which is easy recognizable by its expression and the countries around the custodies that it usually infests itself. 7 Some informations from ocular appraisals has been obtained which concluded that a figure of participants in the test did so hold visual-apparent tegument jobs and these were recorded on a questionnaire signifier. There is besides reference that peculiarly in winter during dry and blowy conditions this can in fact consequence in wet loss and once more nameless surveies are stated as demoing that really low humidness can besides hold such an consequence. 1 Unfortunately there is no reference of what clip of twelvemonth the test took topographic point and or any information about the environment in which the measurings were taken. Besides, the diary writers indicates that their feeling was that the voluntaries were of the mentality that they have dry tegument but it did non match with measurings taken apart from the providing workers who tended to hold cracked tegument and what appeared to be contact dermatitis and were in fact aware of their ain tegument conditions. There is much information provided about skin harm, low and hapless tegument wet and that ocular appraisal is an unsure index of overall conditions of skin disease and harm and that the accent should be placed on measurings of tegument conditions.1 The usage of baseball mitts and creams was besides discussed in the diary but nil is stated ( but may hold been recorded on the questionnaire signifier ) , sing what direction, counsel and preparation if any was given by the participant ‘s employers. With regard to baseball mitts, foremost the questionnaire asked about the usage of baseball mitts non merely at work but besides at place specifically about utilizing chemicals, and this was recorded as baseball mitt use being highly hapless as half the participants ne'er used them at all and merely a little proportion used baseball mitts when managing chemicals. It is recorded that more than three quarters of the hairstylists did non utilize any baseball mitts which is surprising given the sum of chemicals and detergents that would be handled daily in this business. The two groups that used baseball mitts on more occasions were the office and pre-school baby's room workers. Lack of cognition of creams along with the usage of creams appeared besides to be really low with less than half the participants utilizing none and a really little sum merely utilizing it on occasion. However, the diary states that there is clinical grounds to back up the position that the usage of creams can be used in both intervention and bar of dry tegument and irritant contact dermatitis. The diary does indicate out that employers should promote the usage of creams within its wellness and safety scheme for the workplace but the job with creams as stated in the diary is that it has to be applied on a regular basis for any utile consequence. What is really surprising is that there is no mention to the preventive benefits of utilizing appropriate baseball mitts, surely for short term exposure ; except where it was conveyed by those participants who had been advised that it was compulsory to utilize them, in peculiar the pre-school baby's room staff where good hygiene steps non merely for the worker but besides the kids in their attention had been decently recognised.Contribution to PracticeA batch of the ‘Discussion ‘ subdivision in the diary has been supplied by the writers through the tests that were undertaken and from their ain professional cognition shop. The usage of a Corneometer A ® system 8 to roll up the information is a important factor in the part to the overall findings as it has turned up some interesting consequences for the skin wet degrees within the group of participants. Along with this, the diary has besides highlighted person ‘s behavior towards the usage of baseball mitts and creams as described and supported by the tabular arraies of informations produced within the article. The usage of referenced acknowledged plants has besides provided some consistence with agring statements but some underpinning information has been either missed or omitted. This diary does nevertheless positively province that there is still really much more ‘awareness and instruction ‘ required to be conveyed to both employee and employer in these peculiar businesss sing best patterns in occupational tegument direction.

Management comprises

Management comprises of direction and control of a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating and harmonizing that group towards accomplishing a goal. In business, management often encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resourced, technological resources and natural resources. Since the management department is the core of effective operations, strategies and proper procedure must run it. If employers are genuine about participation, the prime area of attention needs to be the daily behavior of managers. This necessitates reviewing the performance, selection and training of managers. The worst thing to do is to promote people into managerial jobs while letting them think that they need not take their managerial responsibilities seriously (p. 10). Participation also needs to be examined in the context of organizational and national culture and the pressures on an organization at particular points in time. Too often the topic is addressed as though the objectives can be achieved simply through mechanistic imposition. To understand what makes of an effective manager, I have studied Rees and Porter’s Skills of Management and interviewed two managers. The first interviewee is Lisa McCormack, a 35 years old Services Manager in a Health Service provider in Ireland. She has a degree in Social Science and a post graduate diploma in management studies. She has also completed computer courses, health and safety courses, and time management and conflict resolution. She has been with her current employer for ten years. Lisa is a full-time Services Manager, whose main responsibilities are matched with that of a manager. Her main responsibilities in her current position include strategic planning for services, report preparation, budget allocation, staff management and working as part of a multi disciplinary team to enhance service provision for their client group. Lisa was employed in 1998 as a Project Coordinator, which included some management duties but a project Manager was responsible for the department. She worked as a project coordinator until 2002 when she was appointed Services Coordinator, which again included some management duties but supervised by a Service Manager. In 2005 she was promoted to become a Service Manager where she takes over full management duties. Management does not take place in a vacuum but in a particular set of circumstances – usually requiring specialist knowledge. It would be unusual for a manager in a specialist environment to have had years of specialist training but only days of management training (p.2). Management escalator is progression of responsibilities, from specialists to managerial, through time to help employees acquire managerial skills overtime while developing operational skills at the same time. This transition, as managerial responsibilities increase and specialist activities decrease, gives the employee a more impeccable expertise in the department. Specialists often acquire managerial responsibilities, and often quite early in their career. Those aspiring to management have found that their entry route is via a specialist department. Consequently, it is appropriate to see that managers have the right blend of specialist and managerial skills and that they are given help in adjusting to managerial roles. The implications of the specialist route into management need to be reflected in the structure of increasingly popular undergraduate programs in business studies. There is a case for such courses having both specialist options and a managerial component. Service management is integrated into Supply Chain Management as the joint between the actual sales and the customer. A service manager reduces high service costs by integrating the service and products supply chain. She also reduces inventory levels of service parts and therefore reduces total inventory costs. She optimizes customer service and service quality. She helps in the increase of service revenue by reducing obsolescence costs of service parts through improved forecasting. A service manager may also minimize technician visits as with her knowledge and expertise, she can fix related problems. There is no way she can miss these skills through her years of specialist activities. She believes that her education has served her very well in gaining promotions but she would consider her informal education within the organization as very relevant to her current managerial position as Increases in the quantity of management training are one thing, ensuring that training is effective is another, (p. 17). Professional experience in the organization teaches helpful application than theories. The second interviewee is a 52 year old Manager of a global clothing production company. He claims that he’s a full time Manager of the Sales Department but states that 50% of his time is spent on managerial responsibilities while 25% of it is spent on changes, which their clients might require in the future and the remaining 25% spent on trying to get new clients. According to Rees and Porter, management operates through various functions, such as: (a) the planning and deciding what needs to happen in the future. It also includes generating plans for action; (b) organizing, which is the making optimum use of the resources required to enable the successful carrying out of plans; (c) leading and motivating, which is the exhibiting of skills in specialty areas for getting others to play an effective part in achieving plans; and (d) controlling, monitoring, and checking of progress against plans, which may need modification based on feedback. From this it can be inferred that though he’s a full-time manager performing specialist responsibilities, he in fact comprises the key skills of an effective manager. He has worked five years as a specialist sales person before becoming a supervisor and four years later became a manager. Managerial responsibility usually flows from specialist expertise; if a person has to run a specialist unit they are unlikely to be able to do this unless they understand what their subordinates are doing and can give appropriate guidance about working methods and end results (p. 6). Another problem that can arise people with background in a particular management specialty. Like other specialists, they may pay too much attention to their area of historic specialization. They may give too much priority in terms of time and decision making to issues in their specialized area (p.11). He has been a very effective sales specialist, which caused his department to expand. Promotion to supervisory or management positions of specialists may reduce or remove the opportunity to do the work for which they were trained and with which they identify (p. 12) but apparently this does not prove as in his case. He has taken a two-year post graduate course in Business Administration and attended many seminars. He says his formal management training, his BA course, is very effective and that he could not have done what he has accomplished now without it. Though role definition must be crystal clear to put a precise boundary between managers and specialists whose responsibilities are both overlapping, the two interviewees show that their managerial position does not take their operational responsibilities away. Organizations must be straightforward when it comes to job descriptions to avoid confusion. The selectors of managers must also be competent since incompetent ones would only appoint those skillful specialists into managerial positions they are not good in or unprepared for. Organizations who assign managerial responsibilities to specialists without formality may also encounter problems such as a demand for high paying specialist jobs, ineffective and reduced incentives for quality work from specialists who perform managerial responsibilities, and specialists encountering difficulty in integrating with colleagues. However, such problems are not demonstrated by both interviewees. Managers should also identify what disciplinary handling skills need to be developed in organizations. Much attention is often paid to serious issues such as dismissal but most disciplinary action is, or needs to be, at the base where action such as counseling and informal warnings may be what is required. Training provided is often heavily oriented around the law and more appropriate for managers than specialists. Focuses on the need to clarify responsibilities, the nature of the skills managers need, the way these skills can be developed and the preventive aspects of discipline. Crucial managerial skills should be identified and categorized into process skills. Source: Rees & Porter, Skills of Management, Chapter 1 Thomson Learning, 2001

What Problems Did Hispanics Blacks Women Face 1940-60

What problems did Hispanics, Native Americans and women face in 1945 and how far had these been overcome by 1968 World War Two has often been described as a turning point in the battle for equality between men and women. From the beginning, women were always struggling to gain status, respect, and rights in their society. Prior to World War Two, a woman's role in society was seen as someone who cooked, cleaned, and gave birth. The years during and following the war marked a turning point in the battle for equality.Women, for once, were being seen as individuals with capabilities outside the kitchen, and we're for the first time given a chance to prove themselves. On December 7, 1942, Pearl Harbour was bombed and FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) declared war. This marked the entry of the US into World War Two, a war which has been going on in Europe for almost 2 years prior. The start of World War II opened a new chapter in the lives of women living in America. From coast to coast, husband s, fathers, sons and brothers were shipped out to fight in Europe.With the entry of the US and the absence of large quantities of men, the demand for supplies increased, and women were called out of the kitchen and into the workforce. Posters, banners, and jingles were all aspects that helped encourage women's entrance into the workforce. Millions marched into factories, offices, and military bases. The demand for labour was so great, that a poll taken that year showed that only 13% of the population opposed females entering the workforce. Women's occupations varied from war nurses and cooking for the army, to making bombs and making weapons.Other occupations flourished, as well. Women photographers, writers, and reports were for once given a chance. The war offered women opportunity never given to them before. The war has given women a chance to show what they can do in the world, and they have done well. Women were given freedom and a chance to live the American dream. However the Allies' final push in the summer of 1945 brought World War II to a close. With the end of the war, came the pressure for females to return to where they belong. All the women who took jobs during the war were now all expected to make room for the returning men.The returning veterans were all unemployed and in need of work. The government's solution to the problem was to force women out of their jobs in order to make room for the men. The same as they were encouraged into the labour force, they were encouraged out of it. Posters, movies, and articles were posted to help push females to leave their jobs and return to their homes. Despite the pressure, women were not so quick to return to the kitchen. They were for the first time, given freedom, and allowed a chance. Women across the nation were less than willing to give it back and return to their old way of life.Women began questioning the role they played in society, and began demanding equal opportunities. The 1960s was a major pe riod of gaining equality for women. Various acts were passed in order to help the woman’s cause. Through various struggles and battles, the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, which prohibited wage discrimination based on one’s sex. In addition, the Civil Rights Act was passed the following year, which further extended the laws prohibiting one’s occupation due to sex, by also prohibiting wage discrimination, job classification, promotion, and training.Women’s battle for equality also existed outside the workforce. During the late 1960s, women fought for equal rights anyway they knew how. They wanted to end discrimination not only at work, but at home, and in every part of their society. To accomplish this, women began to take place in marches and spoke out against inequality. Individual women worked hard to achieve their goal. Esther Peterson, director of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, with the help of President John F. Kennedy, helpe d approve the Equal Rights Amendment.Also, other activities helped the fight for equality. Betty Friedan, the first President of NOW (National Organisation for Women), became one of the most influential activists of her time. She led a highly publicized campaign in order to pass an amendment to guarantee equal rights for both men and women. In addition, Friedan was the author of The Feminine Mystique, a book that spoke of the idea that women could find happiness outside their homes, and within their careers. By the 1970s, women achieved some victories, but the fight was far from over.Today, almost 64 million women, almost 16 and over, and about 46% of the workforce is composed of women. Hispanics came home from World War II to a different struggle. A Medal of Honour for bravery didn’t guarantee service in certain restaurants and a soldier’s body in a coffin with an American flag for his widow didn’t merit admission to some funeral homes. Hispanics weren’t segregated in the service, as African Americans were. The Hispanics earned 13 of the 301 medals of honour awarded. But still Hispanics did face discrimination.Back home in Texas, two of those medal recipients were denied service in restaurants. Returning veterans also found public swimming pools, schools and housing segregated in some communities, especially in the Southwest and California. They did not face as harsh a living as African Americans but still fought substantial racism. Fast-forward to 1965, since the end of the war Hispanic children fail to gain as good an education as your average white boy, many grew up in extreme poverty with parents working in the Californian farming industry.The California farming business was worth over $4 billion at the time. Hispanics working in this field were only able to work around 134 day every year during the harvest period and when they weren’t working they weren’t getting paid. They gained a false reputation for being laz y from white Californians, when the actually worked very hard making the best out of what they had. The problem was farming unions had no legal protection at the time and so their fight against injustice was at a standstill.The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) was formed in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, this union became very popular and it organise ‘La Huelga;’ this was a mass walk out from the farms that involved 10000 Hispanics. Unfortunately it took 5 years (1970) to achieve anything, but it was a start. Some 44,000 Native Americans served in the United States military during World War II. American Indian veterans encountered varying degrees of success in re-entering civilian life after World War II. Some returned to the reservation, where economic opportunities were bleak. World War II changed both the Indians and the reservation.Following the war, veterans returned unwilling to accept the secondary status assigned to them by the larger society. They faced discrimi nation in housing, employment, education, land rights, water rights, and voting. In many states, it was illegal for Indians to purchase or consume alcohol. Yet many of the veterans had found that while in the military they were able to purchase and consume alcohol with no legal difficulties both on the bases and while on furlough in foreign countries. Many returned home wanting this same freedom as civilians in the United States.Veterans received readjustment checks of $20 a week for 52 weeks while unemployed, and were eligible for G. I. Bill benefits, including free high school and college education, and low-cost mortgages. Veterans moved to cities; the Indian population in urban centers more than doubled (from 24,000 to 56,000) from 1941 to 1950. Some veterans, like Abel in the novel House Made of Dawn, moved to California cities only to experience little success there. More than three thousand Indians each lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles after the war; fewer than five hund red, or a sixth of them, were able to find steady jobs.Tellingly, the median income for urban male Indians was $1,198 a year, in contrast to $3,780 for the white male population. Native Americans joined the United States' call to fight Communism and participated in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Between 10,000 to 15,000 Native Americans served in the Korean War, while approximately 14,500 Native Americans served in the Vietnam War. Once again Native Americans returned from these wars to find discrimination with regards to finding a job and trying to earn a fair wage.In conclusion both Women, Hispanics and Native Americans had made strides towards overcoming their post-war problems by 1968, but some were more successful than others. Women were more common place in the work place by 1968 but nothing like today, they still faced discrimination with regards to wages and opportunity’s. Even though they were helped by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning discrimination in the work pl ace, there were loopholes and statistically you were still more likely to get a job if you were male. An act to guarantee equal rights for women was not passed until 1972, it was called ‘The Equal Rights Amendment. The Feminine Mystique is a nonfiction book by Betty Friedan first published in 1963. It is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. This phenomenally popular book may have been the inspiration for Women all over America to leave their kitchen and become more independent. Hispanics and Native Americans were helped massively with the civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.Unfortunately there was still a learned racist attitude towards ethnic groups in America, however it cannot be measured how many years this attitude took to wear off. In 1968 we saw America learning i ts newer more modern stance on different ethnicities and women which we can see today. This was Mainly due to the approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 witch was probably the most important act passed in American history with regard to equality.