What effects does parental involvement have on low income families or Annotated Bibliography

What effects does parental involvement have on low income families or Does parental involement have an effect on educational achievement - Annotated Bibliography Example including economic demographics, genetic predispositions, overall intelligence, and social factors, like parental involvement. The latter is a fascinating element. A parent’s active involvement in their children’s schooling can have a profound positive impact. There is however, a balance that needs to be achieved; after all too much parental involvement can be detrimental, depending on how that involvement is applied. The articles reviewed for this discussion allow for a thorough and balanced perspective on the topic. These sources, as a whole, were not particularly difficult to obtain. Google search provided a number of online accessible journal sources, simply, by applying the keywords, â€Å"parental involvement and student achievement.† Combined together these sources give a broader area of research and contributes to understanding of the relevant facts and allow for an unbiased viewpoint to answer the applicable questions of this issue. This article intended to determine how relevant parental involvement, or lack of, truly has on elementary school age children in the 1st, 3rd and 5th grades. The authors propose that, although, the immense amount of research has shown that parental involvement is imperative, hugely impactful, and should be encouraged, most research cannot say with absolutely certainty that involvement effects overall academic achievement.(El Nokali, Bachman & Votruba-Drzal, 2010) There is a definite correlation between less â€Å"bad† classroom behavior due to parental involvement and can aid in social development, but not directly on academic achievement. This article is a very interesting source. It is useful in that it approaches the correlation between parental involvement and academic achievement with a skeptical eye. Parental involvement is important and should be recommended, but it may not be a guarantor that it will ensure a

Blood Alcohol Content Essay Example for Free

Blood Alcohol Content Essay The thought of alcohol being involved in fatal crashes brings about an emotional response. Recently, there has been a movement based on emotion rather than logic to change a certain drinking and driving law. This involves lowering the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) from 0. 10% to 0. 08% nationwide. However, this attention is misdirected. By looking at my personal experiences, statistics, and current laws, it is clear that there is no need for lowering the BAC. First off, I do not drink. Yet, I’ve had many experiences relating to drinking and driving through my friends. One thing I’ve noticed is that it is extremely hard for people to tell if they are legally drunk or not. Furthermore, I have never heard any of my friends say that they feel that they should drive home because they have only a . 09% BAC. The law has very little effect on how many drinks a person decides to consume. Therefore, lowering the legal drunk limit will not result in people acting more responsible. Supporters of lowering the BAC like Judith Lee Stone in her essay â€Å"YES! † think they are targeting the problem of drunken driving, but the real problem lies within the higher BACs. Ninety three percent of fatal accidents are 0. 10% BAC and above, and half of those ninety three percent have a BAC of 0. 20% and above. The average BAC for fatal accidents is at actually at 0. 17%. This seems like a more logical target for new laws then 0. 08%. Furthermore, Stone asks â€Å"Who would want their children in a car driven by someone who has consumed three, four, or even more beers in an hour† (Stone 46)? I couldn’t agree more. However, this common argument from the pro-0. 08% side is more like a parent responsibility question. They use this to manipulate our emotion by putting an innocent child in an improbable and unrelated situation. She also goes on to state, â€Å"A study at Boston University found that 500 to 600 fewer highway deaths would occur annually if all states adopted 0. 08%† (Stone 47). On the other hand, a similar study at University of North Carolina shows no significant change after their adoption of 0. 08%. Which study is correct? Most likely, both have some truthfulness. It could be either way depending on the state. The lowering of the Blood Alcohol Content percentage law is unnecessary and useless. Nevertheless, some states have already moved to the 0. 08%, and we hear the argument: â€Å"It makes no sense for a driver to be legally drunk in one state but not in another† (Stone 46). To that, I ask a couple questions of my own. Why can I carry a concealed gun in one state and not another? Why is it that I can drive a certain speed in one state, but a different speed in another? The response to those questions and Stone’s statement is all of the above are state laws. At this point, the federal government seems to get confused. In October 2000, congress passed a law that uses the states’ money against them. It asserts that if a state doesn’t lower its BAC percentage to 0. 08% by 2003, it will lose two percent of its highway money. States that don’t like the law will be forced to vote for it because they are desperate for highway construction money. Strings shouldn’t be attached to this money. What are lost in all of this are the current laws for drunk driving. Driving while impaired is already illegal whether the person tests 0. 04% or 0. 10%. Courts can use alcohol test of 0. 04% and higher as evidence of impairment. It’s at 0. 10% where a person is legally drunk and cannot legally operate a vehicle. Therefore, it’s not as if people who test 0. 08% are going unpunished like the other side would have you believe. In conclusion, anybody who picks out one particular aspect and says that it is not working hasn’t looked that the whole problem. The president for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Brian O’ Neill, says that he’d rather see resources directed toward enforcing existing drunken driving laws. Hopefully, with more education, more awareness, and more enforcement we can successfully reduce drinking and driving fatalities. Bibliography Stone, Judith Lee. Yes!. Reading and Writing Short Arguments. Ed. William Vesterman. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000. 46-47. Word Count: 702.

Mechanisms drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy

Mechanisms drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy Introduction Cancer is one of the major causes of death in the developed world and statistics show that one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime [1]. Cancers are malignant tumours and can be distinguished from normal cells by four characteristics; uncontrolled proliferation, dedifferentiation and loss of function, invasiveness, and ability to metastasise [2]. These characteristics are caused by altered gene expression, as a result of genetic mutations that inactivate tumour suppressor genes and / or activate oncogenes. Most cancer chemotherapeutic drugs affect only one characteristic aspect, which is uncontrolled proliferation [3]. In many cases the antiproloferation action is caused by damage to DNA, which initiates apoptosis and cell death [4]. As their main target is cell division, they affect all rapidly dividing cells, including normal cells. This produces general toxic effects, such as myelosuppression, alopecia, damage to gastrointestinal epithelium, sterility and severe nausea and vomiting. Besides the toxic effects of chemotherapy, another major problem is chemoresistance [5]. Resistance to chemotherapy is when the cancer cells do not respond to the drugs. It can be inherented, as a genetic mutation, or it can be acquired, as a cellular response to drug exposure. Mechanisms of resistance include: increased efflux or decreased influx of cytotoxic drugs; insufficient activation of the drug; increased inactivation of the drug; increased concentration of target enzyme; rapid repair of DNA lesions; or mutations in various genes. When patients develop resistance, multiple drugs with different pathways of entry and different cellular targets are used. However, cancer cells can become multidrug resistant, a phenomenon due to cells expressing mechanisms that cause simultaneous resistance to many different, structurally and functionally, unrelated drugs [6]. Multidrug resistance, generally, results from over expression of ATP-dependent efflux pumps [5]. These pumps have broad drug specificity and belong to a family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, of which P-glycoprotein (PGP) is one of the most important members. Increased drug efflux, via these transporters, lowers intracellular drug concentration, allowing cancer cells to escape the toxic effects of the drugs. PGP inhibitors are being developed to overcome multidrug resistance and two that have reached clinical trials are varapamil, a calcium channel blocker, and cyclosporin A, an immunosuppressant [7]. The remainder of this review will focus on the different chemotherapeutic agents currently being used for the treatment of cancer and their mechanism of action. Also the main mechanism of resistance to these drugs will be explored, particularly focusing on the role of P-glycoprotein and how it can be modulated to reverse drug resistance. Drugs used in cancer chemotherapy Drugs used in the treatment of cancer are summarised in table 2. They are grouped into: cytotoxic drugs, which preferentially but not exclusively target rapidly dividing cancer cells; hormone therapy, which is a more specific form of treatment used for tumours derived from hormone sensitive tissues; and miscellaneous agents, which include a number of recently developed drugs such as monoclonal antibodies. Cytotoxic drugs Cytotoxic drugs can be further divided into the following; alkylating agents, which act by forming covalent bonds with DNA and impeding replication; antimetabolites, which block one or more of the metabolic pathways involved in DNA synthesis; cytotoxic antibiotics, which are of microbial origin and prevent cell division by directly acting on DNA; and plant derivertives, which affect microtubule function and hence the formation of the mitotic spindle. Alkylating agents Alkylating agents form carbonium ions, which are highly reactive and interact instantaneously with nucleophilic sites such as N7 of guanine in DNA [8]. They are bifunctional, which means they have two alkylating groups, and can cause intra- or inter-chain cross-linking between DNA strands. This prevents strand separation for DNA synthesis or transcription. They can also cause base mispairing between strands, which interferes with the progression of the replication fork [3]. These actions block DNA synthesis, causing a block at G2 phase and subsequently apoptotic cell death. Alkylating agents currently being used in chemotherapy primarily belong to the following families: nitrogen mustards (Cyclophosphamide, Chlorambucil, Melphalan, Ifosfamide, Busulfan); nitrosoureas (Carmustine, Lomustine, Fotemustine); aziridines (Thiotepa); Dacarbazine and platinum compounds (Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Oxaliplatin) [9]. Nitrogen mustards, nitrosoureas and aziridines are believed to kill tumour cells by inducing DNA inter-strand cross-links, while platinum compounds induce intra- and inter-strand cross-links, as well as DNA-protein cross-links under certain circumstances [8]. Resistance to these drugs can develop as a result of cancer cells rapidly repairing drug induced lesions [10], which will be discussed in detail later. Antimetabolites Antimetabolites interfere with the metabolic pathways involved in DNA synthesis. An example of an antimetabolite is Methotrexate, which is a folate antagonist [11]. Folates are essential for the synthesis of purine nucleotides and thymidylate, which in turn are essential for DNA synthesis and cell division. Folates are actively taken up into cells by the reduced folate carrier (RFC), where they are converted to polyglutamates. Polyglutamate folates are then reduced to tetrahydrofolate (FH4) by the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Methotrexate exerts its action by being taken up into cells by the follate carrier, and like folate being converted to the polyglutamate form. It has a higher affinity for DHFR than the endogenous folate and thus inhibits the enzyme, depleting intracellular FH4, and therefore hindering DNA synthesis. Another example of an antimetabolite is Fluorouracil, which is a pyrimidine analogue [12]. It interferes with DTMP synthesis by forming a ternary complex with thymidylate synthetase (TS); the enzyme that produces DTMP. DTMP is required for the synthesis of DNA and purines, so the irreversible inhibition of the enzyme by fluorouracil results in is inhibition of DNA but not RNA or protein synthesis. Fludarabine is a purine analogue, which is another group of antimetabolites [13]. It is metabolised to its triphosphate form, which inhibits DNA polymerase. As well as the general side effects associated with chemotherapy, patients may develop resistance to antimetabolites; due to a decreased amount of drug uptake [14] or altered concentration of target enzymes [15], which will be discussed later. Cytotoxic antibiotics Cytotoxic antibiotics, such as the anthracyclines (Doxorubicin, Idarubicin, Daunorubicin, Epirubicin, Aclarubicin, Mitoxantrone) bind to DNA and inhibit both DNA and RNA synthesis [16]. Their main cytotoxic action is mediated through an inhibitory effect on topoisomerase II, the activity of which is markedly increased in proliferating cells. During DNA replication, reversible swivelling needs to take place around the replication fork in order to prevent the daughter DNA molecule becoming inextricably entangled during mitotic segregation [17]. The swivel is produced by topoisomerase II, which nicks both DNA strands and subsequently reseals the breaks. Doxorubicin intercalates in the DNA, and its effect is in essence, to stabilise the DNA-topoisomerase II complex after the strands have been nicked, thus halting the process at this point [18]. Dactinomycin is also a cytotoxic antibiotic, which intercalates in the minor groove of DNA, interfering with the movement of RNA polymerase along the gene and thus preventing transcription [19]. Bleomycins are a group of metal-chelating glycopeptide antibiotics that degrade preformed DNA, causing chain fragmentation and release of free bases [20]. This action is thought to involve chelation of ferrous iron and interaction with oxygen, resulting in the oxidation of iron and generation of superoxide and/or hydroxyl radicals. They are most effective in the G2 phase of the cell cycle and mitosis, but are also active against non-dividing cells, that is cells in the G0 phase. This class of drugs cause resistance by altered activity of topoisomerase II, aswell as reduced uptake of the drugs [21]. Plant derivatives One sub group of plant derivatives is the vinca alkaloids, which includes Vincristine, Vinblastine, Vindesine and Vinorelbine [22]. They bind to tubulin and inhibit its polymerisation into microtubules. This prevents spindle formation in dividing cells, which causes arrest at metaphase. They also inhibit other cellular activities that involve microtubules, such as leucocyte phagocytosis, chemotaxis and axonal transport in neurons. They are relatively non-toxic in comparison to the previously mentioned cytotoxic drugs. Another group of plant derivatives is the taxanes, which include Paclitaxel and Docetaxel [23]. They act on microtubules by stabilising them, in effect freezing them in the polymerised state, which achieves a similar effect to that of the vinca alkaloids. Campothecins is another group of plant derivatives and include Irinotecan and Topotecan [24]. They bind to and inhibit topoisomerase I; high levels of which occur throughout the cell cycle. Hormone therapy Tumours derived from hormone sensitive tissues may be hormone dependent [25]. This is due to the presence of steroid receptors in the malignant cells. Their growth can be inhibited by agents with apposing actions, hormone antagonists or drugs that inhibit the endogenous hormone synthesis. The most important group of drugs used to treat cancer are the steroids, namely the glucocorticoids (Prednisolone and Dexamethasone), oestrogens (Diethylstilbestrol and Ethinyloestradiol) and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues (Octreotide and Lanreotide), as well as agents that antagonise hormone action (Tamoxifen, Toremifene and Fulvestrant). Such drugs rarely act as a cure but do mitigate the symptoms of the cancer and thus play an important part in the clinical management of sex-hormone-dependant tumours. Miscellaneous agents Crisantaspase Crisantaspase is a preparation of the enzyme asparaginase and therefore, like asparaginase, can break down asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia [26]. It is active against tumour cells, such as those of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which have lost the capacity to synthesise asparagine and therefore require an exogenous source. As most normal body cells are able to synthesise asparagine, the drug has a fairly selective action and very little suppressive effect on the bone marrow, the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract or hair follicles. Monoclonal Antibodies Antibodies are immunoglobulins that react with defined target proteins expressed on cancer cells. This activates the hosts immune response, which kills cancer cells by complement-mediated lysis or by killer cells. Monoclonal antibodies can also attach to and activate growth factor receptors on cancer cells, thus inhibiting the survival pathway and promoting apoptosis. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that is licensed (in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents) for treatment of certain types of lymphomas [27]. It lysis B lymphocytes by binding to the calcium- channel forming CD20 protein and activating completment. It also sensitises resistant cells to other chemotherapeutic drugs. Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is a humanised murine monoclonal antibody that binds to a protein termed HER2 (the human epithelial growth factor receptor 2); a receptor with integral tyrosine kinase activity [28]. It induces the host immune response as well as inducing the cell cycle inhibitors p21 and p27. Imatinib Mesylate Imatinib is an inhibitor of signalling pathway kinases [29]. It inhibits the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF); a receptor tyrosine kinase, and the Bcr/Abl kinase; a cytoplasmic kinase. These are considered to be unique factors in the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid leukaemias. Imatinib is licensed for the treatment of this tumour when it has proved to be resistant to other therapeutic strategies, as well as for the treatment of some gastrointestinal tumours that are not susceptible to surgery. Resistance to Anticancer Drugs As mentioned previously patients can develop resistance to many chemotherapeutic agents. This can be caused by a number of mechanisms, which are summarised in figure 1. A decrease in the amount of drug taken up by the cell Resistance can develop as a result of decreased drug uptake. This can be due to the loss of transporter function, for example RFC [30]. Decreased influx of Methotrexate in tumour cells has been widely associated with decreased RFC gene expression. Down-regulation of the transporter protein is due to alterations in the transcription and translation factors. Transcriptional factors, such as the Sp1 family, CREB (cyclic AMP-response element binding protein) and p53, regulate RFC gene expression [31]. Therefore loss of function of these transcription factors cause silencing of the RFC gene, which results in reduced protein level. Also post-translational modifications of transcription factors alter phosphorylation patterns, which abolishes Sp1 and CREB function thereby resulting in loss of RFC gene expression and subsequently resistance [32]. Mutations in the human RFC gene can also decrease drug influx. Jensen et al (1998) have reported a mutation that causes marked changes in the kinetic properties of RFC mediated transport of folates [14]. The structurally altered RFC was functionally characterized by a 9- and 31-fold increased affinity for transport of reduced folate cofactors and folic acid, respectively. This allowed the accumulation of intracellular folates, which sustained cell growth and DNA replication, allowing cancer cells to escape the cytotoxic effects of antifolate drugs. Altered concentration of target enzyme Increased expression of target enzyme is a common mechanism of acquired resistance. For example Methotrexate resistance can develop as a result of DHFR gene amplification and subsequent enzyme overexpression [15]. Gene amplification is thought to occur as a consequent of antifolate inhibitors binding to DHFR, which causes a conformational change that alters the translational autoregulatary negative feedback mechanism, wherein DHFR protein specifically interacts with its own mRNA and negatively controls translational efficiency. The drug concentration will be limited to the dose administered, which will not be able to block the additional enzyme that is synthesised, resulting in cancer cells overcoming the inhibitory effect of the drug. Insufficient activation of the drug Some drugs require metabolic activation to manifest their antitumour activity for example Cytarabine has to undergo catalytic conversion, by the action of deoxycytidine kinase, to an active form [33]. So under expression or mutation of this drug-metabolising enzyme can reduce drug efficacy and cause resistance. Another example of resistance due to insufficient activation of the drug is Mercaptopurine, which is a prodrug [34]. Mercaptopurine is activated by hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) and mutations that reduce the activity of this enzyme will allow the cancer cells to escape the toxic effects of the drug. Increase in inactivation Resistant to Mercatopurine can also develop as a result of increased inactivation of the drug [35]. The mechanism behind this is thiopurine s-methyltransferase (TPMT), which inactivates Mercaptopurine and thereby prevents the formation of the active drug. Mutations in the TPMT gene will alter its activity and may cause resistance. Rapid repair of drug-induced lesions Patients can develop resistance as a result of cancer cells recognizing DNA lesions and rapidly initiating repair pathways [9]. This is the main cause of resistance to alkylating agents as their mechanism of action is DNA damage There are several repair pathways and include the Direct Repair (DR) pathway, Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway, Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) pathway, Homologous Recombination (HR) pathway and Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ) pathway. The DR pathway is mainly mediated by the DNA repair protein: O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) [36]. AGT transfers the alkyl adducts from the nucleotides to the cysteine residue within its active site, independently from other proteins and without causing DNA strand breaks. The BER pathway recognizes and accurately removes bases that have been damaged by alkylation [37]. A damaged base is removed by a damage-specific DNA glycosylase, leading to the formation of a potentially cytotoxic apurinic or apirimidinic site intermediate. This is then processed by an AP endonuclease (APE1), which generates a strand break that is further processed by Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase (PARP), DNA polymerase b (Polb) and ligase III to restore the damage. The NER pathway deals with the repair of bulky DNA lesions formed by DNA-alkylating agents such as Cisplatin, which distort the DNA double helix and block DNA replication and transcription [38]. Two major mechanisms of DNA repair have been recognized in this pathway: the transcription-coupled repair, which specifically targets at and removes lesions that block the progression of RNA polymerase II, and the global genome repair, which deals with lesions in the rest of the genome. Generally, nucleotide repair is a complex multi-step process that sequentially deploys a group of proteins to reorganize the lesion, remove the damage, and support new DNA synthesis. The HR and NHEJ pathways are involved in the repair of DNA double strand breaks, commonly considered to be the most lethal of all DNA lesions. Double strand breaks are induced by chemotherapeutic agents such Bleomycin, and Etoposide. In the HR pathway, ATM (ataxia talagiectasia mutated kinase) and its related ATR proteins sense the severe DNA lesions, and are mobilized to phosphorylate a wide range of substrate proteins [39]. Also a number of regulatory proteins, including BRCA1, BRCA2 and p53, are recruited to coordinate the DNA repair. The NHEJ pathway involves the alignment of the broken ends followed by recruitment and activation of the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) and DNA ligase IV to complete the ligation step [40]. Mutations Mutations in various genes can give rise to resistant target molecules, for example the p53 gene [41]. The p53 protein is an important regulator of the cell cycle and is sensitive to any DNA damage caused during replication. Following DNA damage it will normally induce G1 arrest and/or apoptosis to prevent the production of defective cells. Mutations in this gene will cause the loss of p53 function, which will allow cells with damaged DNA to continue replicating, resulting in resistance to DNA damaging drugs. Other genes, such as h-ras and bcl-2/bax, involved in the apoptotic pathway, have also been implicated in resistance [42]. Resistance due to mutations in genes will affect a wide range of anticancer drugs as all cells contain the same genetic material. It also potentially increases the proportion of surviving mutant cells, which leads to greater tumour heterogeneity. Increased expression of efflux pumps Resistance to natural hydrophobic drugs, such as vinca alkaloids and taxanes, as well as the cytotoxic antibiotics, such as anthracyclines and Dactinomycin, occurs due to the over expression of ATP-dependent efflux pumps in cancer cells [5]. These pumps belong to a family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, which are divided into eight distinct subfamilies, shown in table 1. Of these subfamilies PGP, also known as MDR1, has a broad drug specificity, which explains the cross-resistance to several chemically unrelated compounds. It is a multidrug efflux pump that has 12 transmembrane regions, which bind hydrophobic drug substrates that are either neutral or positively charged [6]. It also has two ATP-binding sites, as hydrolysis of two ATP molecules are needed for the transport one drug molecule [43]. Binding of substrate to the transmembrane regions stimulates the ATPase activity of PGP, causing a conformational change that releases substrate to the extracellular space. Hydrol ysis at the second ATP site is required to re-set the transporter so that it can bind substrate again, completing one catalytic cycle. Increased expression of the PGP transporter in cancer cells increases the amount of catalytic cycles that occur, which increases the amount of drug effluxed [5]. This lowers the intracellular drug concentration below a cell-killing threshold, which results in resistance. Not all multidrug-resistant cancer cells express PGP. Resistance in these cells was discovered to be linked with the expression of the multidrug-resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) [44]. MRP1 is similar to PGP in structure (table 1) but, unlike PGP, it recognizes neutral and negatively charged hydrophobic natural products, and transports glutathione and other conjugates of these drugs, or, in some cases, such as for Vincristine, co-transports unconjugated glutathione. Some anticancer drugs, such as Mitoxantrone, are poor substrates for PGP and MRP1. Mitoxantrone resistance is due to a more distant member of the ABC transporter family, MXR (Mitoxantrone-resistance gene) [45]. This transporter is thought to be a homodimer of two half-transporters, each containing an ATP-binding domain at the amino-terminal end of the molecule and six transmembrane segments (table 1). Resistance can also develop as a result of increased expression of ABC transporters in the apical membrane of the gastrointestinal tract [46]. ABC transporters play a key physiological role, where they extrude toxins thus forming a protective mechanism and a first line of defense. Increased expression of these transporters decreases drug uptake and therefore decrease drug bioavailability. Examples of chemotherapeutic agents that develop resistance by this mechanism include antimetabolites, such as Methotrexate and Fluorouracil, and alkylating agents, such as Cisplatin. Also water-soluble drugs that piggyback on transporters and carriers or enter by means of endocytosis can fail to accumulate as they will not be able to enter the body. Additionally, PGP actively secretes intravenously administered drugs into the gastrointestinal tract [47]. Resistance due to increased levels of PGP transporters in the gastrointestinal tract is illustrated by MDR1a/MDR1b-knockout mice, which have shown to have increased tissue concentrations of PGP substrates. Studies have also shown increased tissue absorption of PGP substrates, following oral administration, when co-administered with a PGP inhibitor. Reversal of drug resistance in cancer Ways to overcome multidrug resistance due to the over expression of ABC transporters are being researched. Some of the main approaches include developing PGP inhibitors, antibodies against the PGP transporter, antisense oligonucleotides and liposome-encapsulated drugs. Drugs that can reverse multidrug resistance, such as PGP inhibitors, could be useful interventions to improve bioavailability, by increasing oral uptake of anticancer drugs and decreasing drug excretion, thereby reducing dosing requirements [7]. Two inhibitors that are used in the laboratory and in clinical trials that attempted to reverse drug resistance are the calcium channel blocker, verapamil and, the immunosuppressant, cyclosporin A. Another method that can be used to inhibit PGP is by competitive inhibition [48]. PGP binds many different hydrophobic compounds so any drug that interacts with the substrate-binding region is likely to be a competitive inhibitor of other drugs. Thus, two drugs that are transported by PGP will compete for this transport, resulting in increased oral absorption of both, decreased excretion, and redistribution. This kind of drug interaction can be used to inhibit the multidrug transporter, when the inhibitor drug has little or no other pharmacologic e ffect. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against PGP have been used to kill multidrug resistant cells [49]. MAbs are of therapeutic use as they can activate the immune response, which results in complement mediated lysis or antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity of the cells. An example of a MAb is MRK-16, which has shown selective toxicity towards tumours that are over expressing PGP. Molecules, which are normally involved in signal transduction on T and B cells can also be targeted for antibody therapy [50]. Such molecules include CD19, which is a membrane receptor involved in signal transduction and potentiates the response of B cells to antigens. MAbs directed against CD19 can induce cell-cycle arrest due to negative growth signals that cross-link immunoglobulin M and CD19. Antisense drugs work by down regulating gene expression [51]. This occurs by sequence-specific blinding of either DNA or RNA, which inhibits transcription or translation, respectively. Different antisense-oligodeoxynucleotides have been reported to chemosensitize resistant tumour cells to anticancer drugs through down regulation of PGP expression and thus increasing the intracellular accumulation of anticancer drugs in the cancer cells. The efficiency of a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) in regulating gene expression in living cells depends on its thermodynamic stability, resistance toward nucleases and cellular uptake [52]. A number of studies indicate that a synthetic ODN coupled with a DNA intercalator such as acridine, naphthyl imide, psoralen or pyrene might act to increase stability. Novel drug delivery systems such as liposome-encapsulated drugs have also been developed to overcome multidrug resistance [53]. Liposome formulations contain a small fraction of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-derivatised phospholipid, which has been shown to dramatically alter the pharmacokinetic properties of certain anticancer drugs. These pharmacokinetic alterations include long elimination half-life and small volume of distribution. Another formulation developed to bypass PGP transporters is anionic liposomes, which are internalised by certain cells and are able to provide drug release in intracellular compartments. Conclusion Cancer is prevalent in the western world and much research is dedicated to produce effective chemotherapy. Current chemotherapy includes alkylating agents, antimetabolites, cytotoxic antibiotics, plant derivertives, hormone therapy and monoclonal antibodies. However the efficacy of these chemptherapeutic agents is limited to patients developing multidrug resistance. This is mainly due to the over expression of ABC transporters, particularly the PGP transporter, as they have broad drug specificity so can bind many structurally unrelated drugs [5]. Techniques to reverse multidrug resistance are being developed and include co-administration of PGP inhibitors, which prevent the binding of anticancer drugs the transporter [7], the use of antibodies, which kill cells over expressing the PGP transporter [49], antisense oligonucleotides that down regulate PGP expression [51] and liposome-encapsulated drugs, which alter the pharmacokinetic properties of anticancer drugs [53]. A better understanding of the mechanism by which ABC transporters efflux chemotherapy and further analysis, in clinical trials, of known mechanisms of multidrug resistance would increase the development of agents that reverse multidrug resistance. Also improved imaging techniques used in clinic to screen cancer cells would enhance the ability of practitioners to prescribe individualised treatment according to the patients level of resistance. One approach that can be developed is to produce fluorescent antibodies against all 48 human ABC transporters and use them in conjunction with a specialised fluorescent microscope to monitor the levels of ABC transporters in cancer cells. References Office for National Statistics (2005) Cancer Statistics registrations: registrations of cancer diagnosed in 2006, England. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/MB1-37/MB1_37_2006.pdf [accessed December 2009] Weinberg RA (1996) How Cancer Arises. Scientific American; 275: 42-48 Lawley PD and Phillips DH (1996) DNA adducts from chemotherapeutic agents. Mutation Research; 355: 13-40 This article is not included in your organizations subscription. However, you may be able to access this article under your organizations agreement with ELowenthal RM and Eaton K (1996) Toxicity of Chemotherapy. Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America; 10: 967-990 Gottesman MM (2002) Mechanisms of cancer drug resistance. Annual Review of Medicine; 53: 615-627 Ambudkar SV, Dey S, Hrycyna CA, Ramachandra M, Pastan I and Gottesman MM (1999) Biochemical, cellular, and pharmacological aspects of the multidrug transporter. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology; 39: 361-398 Ferry DR, Traunecker H and Kerr DJ (1996) Clinical trials of P-glycoprotein reversal in solid tumours. European Journal of Cancer ; 32A: 1070-1081 Lawley PD and Brookes P (1967) Interstrand cross-linking of DNA by difunctional alkylating agents. Journal of Molecular Biology; 25: 143-160 Zhu Y, Hub J, Hu Y and Liu W (2009) Anti-Tumour Treatment Targeting DNA repair pathways: A novel approach to reduce cancer therapeutic resistance. Cancer Treatment Reviews; 35: 590-596 Bouziane M, Miao F, Ye N, Holmquist G, Chyzak G and OConnor TR (1998) Repair of DNA alkylation damage. Acta Biochim Pol; 45:191-202 Schweitzer BI, Dicker AP and Bertino JR (1990) Dihydrofolate reductase as a therapeutic target. FASEB Journal; 4: 2441-2452 Spiegelman S, Nayaak R, Sawyer R, Stolfi R and Martin D (1980) Potentiation of the antitumor activity of 5-FU by thymidine and its correlation with the formation of (5-FU)RNA. Cancer; 45: 1129-1134 Nabhan C, Gartenhaus RB and Tallman MS (2004) Purine nucleoside analogues and combination therapies in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: dawn of a new era. Leukemia Research; 28: 429-442 Jansen G, Mauritz R, Drori S, Sprecher H, KathmannI, Bunni M, Priest DG, Noordhuis P, Schornagel JH, Pinedo HM, Peters GJ and Assaraf YG (1998). A structurally altered human reduced folate carrier with increased folic acid transport mediates a novel mechanism of antifolate resistance. Journal of Biological Chemistry; 273: 30189-30198 Tai N, Schmitz JC, Chen TM and Chu E (2004) Characterization of cis-acting regulatory element in the proteincoding region of human dihydrofolate reductase mRNA. Biochemical Journal; 378: 999-1006 Zunino F and Capranico G (1990) DNA topoisomerase II as the primary target of antitumor anthracyclines. Anti-Cancer Drug Design; 5: 307-317 Wang JC (1996) DNA Topoisomerases. Annual Review of Biochemistry; 65: 635-692 Kasahara K, Fujiwara Y, Sugimoto Y, Nishio K, Tamura T, Matsuda T and Saijo N (1992) Determinants of Response to the DNA Topoisomerase II Inhibitors Doxorubicin and Etoposide in Human Lung Cancer Cell Lines. Journal of the National Cancer Institute; 84: 113-118 Chen AY, Yu C, Gatto B, and Liu LF (1993) DNA minor groove-binding ligands: A different class of mammalian DNA topoisomerase I inhibitors. Procedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA; 90: 8131-8135 Povirk LF (1996) DNA damage and mutagenesis by radiomimetic DNA-cleaving agents: bleomycin, neocarzi

New Media Artists on the Internet :: Internet Net World Wide Web Media

New Media Artists The enormous success and popularity of the Internet and new media as a whole have changed society in many ways. Artists have begun to use new media to deliver their works. As the artists use new media such as the Internet, the medium in which the work is delivered has become part of the artwork itself. In old media the book in which a story was printed is not part the literary piece of art. Ed Falco’s â€Å"Self-Portrait as Child with Father† and Olia Lialina’s â€Å"My Boyfriend Came Back From The War† are examples of McLuhan's message that the medium is the message. Both artworks are examples of new media art as defined by Lev Manovich in â€Å"The Language of New Media†. The introduction of new media art forms have changed the role of the artist, as the medium of digital art has now become the message itself making the individual ideas, perspectives, and narratives of the artist less important to the artwork as a whole. Marshall McLuhan is one of the first to articulate some of the social consequences of the great technological advances of the 20th Century. In his book â€Å"The Medium is the Message† from 1964 he introduces the idea that with the use of the new media as forms of communication it is the medium itself that is the message and he explains that, â€Å"This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium†¦result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology† (Liu 1). The message will therefore change according to the medium. As we will see with new media art, the message would clearly be different if Ed Falco’s â€Å"Self-Portrait as Child with Father† was read linearly in a traditionally printed book than when experienced in its actual online non-linear presentation. Olia Lialina’s â€Å"My Boyfriend Came Back From The War† is presented similarly as a n online non-linear artwork. These artworks are interactive in the sense that the reader must click on links to read the story, or using a traditional turn the reader must click the link to virtually turn the page. Since there are multiple links at the same time the different pages are read at different times and in different order from reader to reader. It is therefore the case that no two readers of the artworks will have the same experience and opinion about them.

Operations Management assignment Essay

Supply chain management is the coordination of the processes and functions within a business, adopted by most companies in the UK in the late 1990’s. It deals with the internal and external factors that, when dealt with correctly and systematically, can determine a businesses success or failure. A supply chain is the network of activities that delivers a finished product service to the customer. By definition, supply chain management (SCM) is â€Å"the management of the flows of materials from suppliers to customers in order to reduce overall cost and increase responsiveness to the customers† (Reid & Sanders). SCM entails the co-ordination of the movement of good through the supply chain from suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to the final customer. The main aim of SCM is to maximise the efficiency of any given process being carried out by a company; by doing this it is allowing them to try to cut their costs and hopefully keep satisfying their customers’ needs, while at the same time maintaining their competitive position within their market. Supply chain management is seen as more of an â€Å"open system† in contrast to the traditional system used by the majority of companies just 20 years ago. The new â€Å"open system† allows room for change which is greatly needed with the current financial instability of the economy. SCM has evolved over the years and has moulded to suit the ever changing economy. First adopted by the Japanese, in the form of Geba Kai (A meeting of the minds), the now commonly found process is used by a vast amount of companies in the UK. Nowadays, SCM within a business is responsible for a product from when it’s in its raw state to when it’s a finished product, ready for consumption by customers. The chain management that Comfort Company PLC currently uses is a very traditional system, otherwise known as a â€Å"closed system†. This type of management system isolates itself from the other components in the supply chain and therefore only has communication flowing through the companies own system, this is a negative attribute as it prevents the company from getting important and influential information about the state of the other links in their supply chain. When the dynamics of change happened, it forced the breakthrough of a new approach, the â€Å"open system†. The â€Å"open system† made companies a lot more open to operational change and as a result of this it made several managers, whose companies used the closed, more traditional system, view the new approach as a loss of power; this consequently made a lot of companies resist against the change. The new and more flexible â€Å"open system† was adopted firstly by the Japanese in the form of â€Å"Geba Kai†, they were closely flowed by the British who quickly followed them in adopting it. There are still some nations that, even now, rigidly stick to their old ways and use the â€Å"closed system†, two examples of these nations are the Americans and the Germans. Along with the list of positives the company will gain by changing from a traditional chain system to a more formal supply chain management (SCM) system, there are also a few strategic reasons why a company should change to the newer system, reasons that will help them to stay on par with the other business’ within their industry and within the whole business sector. One of these reasons is globalisation. As stated in â€Å"Operations management: Along the supply chain†, Two thirds of today’s businesses operate globally through global markets, global operations, global financing, and global supply chains†. Globalisation means that British companies, such as Comfort Company PLC are going to have to be prepared to compete in markets that are foreign to them and also have foreign competition within their own domestic markets. Companies that adopt, or have already adopted, a formal supply chain management system will have an advantage upon those who havenâ€⠄¢t and will be able to benefit from globalisation. There are many benefits a company would gain from introducing a formal supply chain management system, all fulfilling the wish to supply the customer with good quality products that â€Å"Comfort Company plc† posses, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to maximise their customer satisfaction, manage their supply chain effectively and allow flexibility to their supply chain. By maximising customer satisfaction, â€Å"Comfort Company plc† could asses how well they are meeting their customers needs, while at the same receiving an indication of how well the business is doing in comparison with their competition; both in their market and foreign markets. Having a flexible supply chain would mean that the company would be able to react to change in demand quickly to ensure that they level the demand to their output, this would save them a lot of time, waste and resources if a freak change in demand was to happen. If â€Å"Comfort company plc† did not adopt the formal supply chain management system they would be at risk of loosing a lot of money if an unforeseeable change was to happen, this would give them a disadvantage upon the competition and would lower their competitive advantage. Effective management of a supply chain could open up opportunities for â€Å"Comfort Company plc† to improve many aspects of their production, and potentially save themselves a lot of money. By identifying the unnecessary waste along the supply chain, â€Å"Comfort Company plc† could make the process an easier, cheaper and quicker one for themselves and other links in their supply chain; this would make the chain more productive, co nsequently making the finished product â€Å"better value†. One of the main advantages of a formal supply chain management system, and an excellent attribute a company can have, is an advantage upon your competitors. Defined, competitive advantage is â€Å"an advantage over competition gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices†(Tutor2u.net, 2011). The type of competitive advantages a company such as â€Å"Comfort Company plc† would achieve from a formal SCM system are advantages such as lower costs and operational flexibility. As there are numerous ways of gaining a competitive advantage, the company in question needs to do some research into their market to see how it could be done, they could research the ways in which their successful competition operate and try to adopt some of their approaches. A good example of a company using its formal SCM system to achieve a good competitive advantage is Dell Computer Corporation. â€Å"Quick delivery of customised computers at prices 10-15 percent lower than the industry standard is Dell’s competitive advantage. A customised Dell computer can be en route to the customer within thirty-six hours. This quick response allows Dell to reduce its inventory level to approximately thirteen days of supply. Dell achieves this in part through its warehousing plan. Most of the components Dell uses are warehoused within fifteen minute travel time to an assembly point. Dell does not order components at its Austin, Texas, facility; instead, suppliers restock warehouses as needed, and Dell is only billed for items only after they are shipped. The result is better value for the customer† (Reid & Sanders). There are a few ways â€Å"Comfort Company plc† can gain competitive advantage within their market, such as using tools like business to business (B2B) e-commerce, or adopting one of Dells results gaining approaches and making sure that there components and raw materials for making the products are located a short travel time away from the place of assembly. Being situated on the Crewe Gates industrial park, where many other businesses, some similar to â€Å"Comfort Company plc† no doubt, are situated, there’s sure to be some way that they could find a supplier closer. If this was to succeed they could create a good, strong relationship with the suppliers and build a barrier of trust and communication, this would be a perfect scenario to ensure the links in the supply chain are strong, as the supply chain is â€Å"only as weak and its weakest link† and vice versa. A business to business (B2B) e-commerce is when companies sell to other business, it is the largest segment of e-commerce. If â€Å"Comfort Company plc† were to use business to business (B2B) e-commerce, they could gain potential benefits such as: †¢Lower procurement administrative costs, †¢Better quality because if increased cooperation of between buyers and sellers, especially during the product design and development, †¢Low-cost access to global suppliers, †¢Lower inventory investment due to price transparency and reduced response times (R. Dan Reid, Nada R. Sanders) The reasons/advantages stated above for changing from a traditional chain system to a formal supply chain management system are in fact more than just small advantages â€Å"Comfort Company plc† could gain, but necessary changed that need to be made if they want to survive the current economical crisis and still have customers/revenue at the end of it. With globalisation growing and the need to satisfy the customers becoming more apparent and diverse, the formal supply chain management system is a necessary system that every business, no matter how small or large, should put into place. The formal SCM system will allow â€Å"Comfort Company plc† to integrate their information systems with their suppliers and customers in an effort to meet their goals and objective while still at the same time doing this in a cost-saving way. With every new system brought into a company, there is the risk of it creating a few problems within the company; this makes the need of a contingency plan much higher. There are a few risks that come along with implementing such a big change to a business so set in its ways like â€Å"Comfort Company plc†, a main one being the possible lack of cooperation from the workforce or managers. When change happens in a workplace the employees can feel threatened and scared and will sometimes rebel against the new change, this could be avoided if the company took a few simple procedures to ensure the workforce are happy with the new system. They should tell the workforce about the new operational plan and get their feedback on it, this will make them feel involved in the change and will hopefully make them feel less alienated. Also, they should sit them down and explain the needs of introducing a formal supply chain management system into the company, and the benefits it would gain by doing so, if they feel it would be benefiting the company, they should feel happier about the change going on. Furthermore, if both of the steps are carried out correctly, it could make them more motivated towards their job as they will feel involved in the company and will hopefully want it to succeed. Another risk of the formal supply chain management system is the potential loss of jobs within the company; this will be because some members of staff will not be needed as a go between for information between suppliers and so on. The redundancies in the company could possibly cause bad feeling between the workforce and the new system and could de-motivate them, possibly leading to a decrease in the effort put in by the workforce; this could potentially lead to a product being of a lower quality. Also, the possible redundancies made will be a negative factor for the economy as there will be a few more unemployed people in the country; this is one of the only major downfalls of the introduction of the formal SCM system. However, there may be members of staff who are close to retirement and could benefit from voluntary redundancy and the benefits that go with it. A negative of that would be that â€Å"Comfort Company plc† may loose some of their staff with the most experience and expertise, potentially making them train up current members of staff to the same quality as the members of staff who left. However, the operations management team at â€Å"Comfort Company plc† will have to put contingency plans in place that cover all of the possible risks, and ways to reduce the risks from happening. There are many needs of introducing a formal supply chain management system into â€Å"Comfort Company plc†, and many advantages it would gain by doing so. While there are also some risks involved, the advantages and needs outweigh them massively as they could potentially provide â€Å"Comfort Company plc† with a competitive advantage, while at the same time reducing their costs and use of resources. Like the traditional chain system currently adopted by â€Å"Comfort Company plc†, the new, more up to date formal supply chain management system will fulfil their wish to supply the customer with good quality products while at the same time saving them resources and money, making them more profitable. The introduction of a formal supply chain management (SCM) system is necessary and â€Å"Comfort Company plc† should definitely strongly consider it. References: †¢Operations Management: An integrated approach (2007) (3rd edition) R. Dan Reid, Nada R. Sanders. Pages 16, 98-105 †¢Operations Management: Along the supply chain (6h edition) Russell & Taylor. Page 9. †¢Tutur2u.net (2011) Competitive advantage (WWW) Available from: http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/competitive_advantage.htm

If Venerus Implements the Suggested Methodology?

If Venerus implements the suggested methodology, what would be the range of discount rates that AES would use around the world? * 12% discount rate was used for all projects * Venerus felt that this model worked fairly well In 1990s this model of capital budgeting was exported to projects overseas * model became increasingly strained with the expansions in Brazil and Argentina * because hedging key exposures such as regulatory or currency risk was not feasible * the ever-increasing complexity in the financing of international operations is another problem * when subsidiaries’ local currency real exchange rates depreciated, leverage at the subsidiary and holding company level effectively increased, and the subsidiaries struggled to service their foreign currency debt * Venerus’s solution to the problem had to be consistent, transparent, and accessible As a starting point, he considered the 15 representative projects shown in Exhibit 7a and, using the financial data in Ex hibit 7b * he endeavored to derive a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for each project using a standard methodology: * he endeavored to derive a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for each project using a standard methodology: WACC=EVre+DVrd1-? In order to calculate each WACC, Venerus knew he would have to measure all of the constituent parts for the 15 projects: * the cost of debt * the target capital structure * the local country tax rates * an appropriate cost of equity Venerus feared the use of a World CAPM might yield artificially low costs of capital.Similarly, Venerus did not advocate the use of a â€Å"Local CAPM† where beta measured the covariance of a project’s returns with a portfolio of local equities. Countries such as Tanzania or Georgia, where AES had projects, did not have any meaningful equity markets or local benchmarks. Still, he knew he had to find a way to capture the country-specific risks in foreign markets. 1. he calculated a cost of debt and cost of equity for each of the 15 projects using U. S. market data 2. he added the difference between the yield on local government bonds and the yield on corresponding U. S. Treasury bonds to both the cost of debt and the cost of equity Summary of WACC Calculations for AES

Lord of the Flies1 essays

Lord of the Flies1 essays The classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding is an exciting adventure deep into the nether regions of the mind. The part of the brain that is suppressed by the mundane tasks of modern society. It is a struggle between Ralph and Jack, the boys and the Beast, good and evil. The story takes a look at what would happen if a group of British school boys were to become stranded on an island. At first the boys have good intentions, keep a fire going so that a passing ship can see the smoke and rescue them, however because of the inherent evil of the many the good intentions of the few are quickly passed over for more exciting things. The killing of a pig slowly begins to take over the boys life, and they begin to go about this in a ritualistic way, dancing around the dead animal and chanting. As this thirst for blood begins to spread the group is split into the rational (the fire-watchers) pitted against the irrational (the hunters) (Dick 121). The fear of a mythological beast is perpetuated by the younger members of the groups and they are forced to do something about it. During one of the hunters celebrations around the kill of an animal a fire-watcher stumbles in to try and disband the idea of the monster. Caught of in the rabid frenzy of the dance, thi s fire-watcher suddenly becomes the monster and is brutally slaughtered by the other members of the group. The climax of the novel is when the hunters are confronted by the fire-watchers. The hunters had stole Piggys (one of the fire-watchers) glasses so that they may have a means of making a cooking fire. One of the more vicious hunters roles a boulder off of a cliff, crushing Piggy, and causing the death of yet another rational being. The story concludes with the hunters hunting Ralph (the head and last of the fire-watchers). After lighting half of the island on fire in an attempt to smoke Ralph from his h ...

Syllabus for Mass Communication and Media Studies Essays

Syllabus for Mass Communication and Media Studies Essays Syllabus for Mass Communication and Media Studies Paper Syllabus for Mass Communication and Media Studies Paper In this frame and then select File Print Frame to print this page Course Description (Formerly COM AAA. Fulfills the general education requirement In communications but is not a writing course. ) Prerequisite: WRIT 101 or WRIT 101 S. A survey of mass communication designed to enhance media literacy. The goal is to interpret, evaluate, and produce media messages. Topics include media industries and the impact of the media, as well as regulation, policy, and ethical issues. Emphasis is on critical thinking and analysis of vital aspects of pervasive elements of popular culture, such as news, advertising, childrens entertainment, and a free press. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: COM AAA or COM 302. Course Introduction We live In a media-saturated culture where media literacy Is Important. This course Is designed to make you a more literate consumer and potential producer of media content. Course topics will Include the following: 1 . Overview of Mass Communication (background, historical/cultural aspects) 2. Print Media (newspapers, magazines, book publishing) 3. Electronic Media (radio, sound recording, motion pictures, television, the Internet) 4. Media Professions (news, public relations, advertising) 5. Regulation of the Mass Media (laws, rules, regulations, and ethics) 6. Impact of Mass Communication (global perspective and social effects) Course Goals/ObJectives After completing this course, you should be able to: 1 . Demonstrate media literacy by accessing, Interpreting, evaluating, and producing media messages 2. Trace the development and evolution of mass media In order to analyze, interpret, and evaluate the role, impact, and regulation of media in society 3. Recognize and apply mass communication theories in order to analyze, interpret, and evaluate how media shape peoples views of reality. Course Materials Title: Dynamics of Mass Communication (SIS) Author: Dominick, Joseph Edition: 12TH Copyright: 2012 publisher: MCGRAW HILL (Singapore) ISBN: 9780071318266 Grading Information Class Participation: 20 percent Writing Assignment: 25 percent Midterm Exam: 25 percent Final Exam: 30 percent TOTAL: 100 percent Technical Requirements for Written Assignments: Written assignments will be valuated on your command of the following technical and formatting skills: Spelling and Grammar Content and understanding of course concepts Strong thesis and/or argument Originality of topic, thesis and research Extent of research and sources used (No Wisped, please! Properly attribution of sources with proper in-text MEAL formatting The grade ranges for this course are as follows: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 70-79 = c 60-69 = D 59 F Project Descriptions Reading Assignments: Reading assignments are to be completed on time (I. E. , by the Monday of the week they are scheduled for discussion). You shou ld be prepared to participate in class discussions about the assigned reading. Participation will count toward the class participation portion of your grade. Writing Assignment: You will be required to prepare a 5-7 page (double-spaced) analysis of a topic related to mass communication. Specific topics will be yours to choose, based on the readings, class discussions and topics raised in this course. It is possible that not everyone shares the same views as you. Free and open discussions, which include the opportunity for intellectual and emotional disagreement, are fundamental in an educational environment and should be expected by all class members. Language In this course, our language should not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, economic status, educational background, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, personal appearance, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. Written work should conform to standard rules of English usage, grammar and spelling. One final note: please dont plagiarism. In the past, I have personally caught FOUR students trying to turn in essays and/or assignments copied from other sources. COMIC instructors have access to sophisticated tools to root out plagiarism. To put it succinctly, if you cheat I will catch you and you will fail this course. If you take research or information from another source, cite it properly and you should be fine. Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property and results in an automatic failing grade. Academic Policies Academic Policies are not course specific and are therefore created and housed separately from this syllabus. You may access and print Academic Policies from the Syllabus sub-menu in your classroom.

Poem Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Poem - Assignment Example This discrimination was the result of a policy of racial segregation existing throughout the nation. Racism was such an intimate aspect of a segregated society. Colored people and especially blacks were expected to act inferior towards the white people. The very fact of being considered an inferior person owing to the skin of one’s color was indeed painful and hurting. The only way left for the African Americans to claim an equal status was to raise their voice against injustice. Thereby, Maya Angelou in her poem Caged Bird is encouraging the African American people to raise their voice against racial discrimination. The amazing thing about this poem is that it happens to be an extended metaphor. The poet has not mentioned and specific race in the poem. It is but clear that what she is trying to convey is that the racial superiority claimed by the whites makes them act in a freer and liberated way. The African Americans are extremely restricted and harassed owing to the evil of racial discrimination. By referring to the free bird, the poet is trying to refer to the social advantages enjoyed by the white race owing to its self claimed superior status. It also conveys the heavy handedness and gross injustice of the white people. They have totally sidelined an entire people by subjecting them to racial discrimination and racial segregation. The white people are shown to be enjoying the fruits of social life. They do not allow the African Americans to have their share by subjecting them to gross racism. The speaker winds up the first stanza with the expression, â€Å"the free bird†¦ dares to c laim the sky (Angelou 1).† This depicts a racially segregated society in which the social and economic privileges are enjoyed solely by the white race. The discrimination against the black people is socially approved and adhered to by all. In the next stanza the poet tries to convey

Managing Budgets and Financial Plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Budgets and Financial Plans - Essay Example II. Objectives that are important to Kitchens2Go: Ultimately, it appears that the Manager is concerned with the profitability and long term prosperity of the firm, so all of the objectives that are important to the Manager should be important internally as well. III. Measuring the Objectives: The objectives can be measured by the use of Statement of Financial Performance, cash flow analyses, analysis of cost of goods sold, expense analysis, etc. All of these will show how much revenue is being generated as well as how much the firm is spending. Ultimately, the Statement of Financial Performance shows whether or not a profit is being generated, and exactly how much profit, or the lack thereof. IV. Integration of the Objectives: These objectives could be integrated into budget and reporting systems by performing a given analysis as it relates to a specific department, as well as an overall analysis of the entire operation. It appears that the Bank Manager would like copies of Kitchens2Go's financial statements every year in order to monitor expenses, revenue, and profit or loss, so that a clear picture of the health of the firm can be examined. The most useful calculations that the bank can be doing on these statements are calculations of the cost of the goods sold, value of inventory on hand, labor

Qualitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Qualitative Research - Essay Example In most cases, qualitative research depends on small samples or focus groups. One of the most important elements of a growing and sustainable economy is by far the definition of its healthcare system among other important aspects. The purpose of this study is to reveal the missing link in the US healthcare system, which makes the status of the country to paradoxically perform poorly despite massive economic muscle. Among the best run healthcare systems in the world today, it has been demonstrated that the financial element of the industry implicates the type of service provided. It therefore implies that the financial and economic decisions made by the government and policy makers determine the level of quality in the service provision. In this study, the American healthcare system is considered in determining why it is among the most expensive in the world yet the quality of delivery is negatively related to this financial fact (Chantrill, 2011). The significance of this study is to demonstrate that the quality of healthcare provision is determined by a combination of healthcare decision making stakeholders in a balanced input. Without inclusion of the right contributors in the decision making, huge industries as the US healthcare system are deemed faulty and ironically incompetently run. The reason for using qualitative approach in definition of the research problem is in the need to give an answer to the question; why the American healthcare case can be likened to deficiency amidst plenty. The qualitative resolution to this case rolls back on the quality of comprehensive decision and policy making (Johnson, 2010). Qualitative methodology of choice in the study was case study comparisons for simple indicators of performance and the state of healthcare in the UK and in the US. The choice of these two countries was perhaps arrived at due to the many aspects of excellent standards in

Emotional labour Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Emotional labour - Literature review Example Callahan and McCollum (2002) understand that the period emotional work is suitable for circumstances in which personalities are personally selecting to manage their sentiments for their individual remunerated assistances. The expression emotional labor is suitable only when emotion employment is replaced for approximately such as an income or some other kind of valued recompense. In her classification of emotional labor, Callahan and McCollum (2002, pp. 45) state that such activities are achieved for remuneration; they are also below the jurisdiction of others. Therefore, in structural settings, emotional labor is below the control of associations like banks. Hochschild’s (2003, pp. 67) stated that emotional labor comprises impression of the administration of examination of employees. These workers put effort on rapid emotions that are indicated to be satisfactory by clients. According to this viewpoint, the inconsistency between fingered and articulated emotion is connected t o job accent and exhaustion. According to Hochschild (2003), occupations concerning emotional labor acquire three individualities: they need the workforce to make facial or speech contact with the community; they necessitate the employee to create an emotional condition in the consumer or purchaser, and they deliver the instructions with the aim of exercising some control over the expressive events of workforces. Based on recession association, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) brought forward the opinion that, emotional labor as â€Å"the work of displaying the suitable sentiment.† Their description varies from Hochschild’s (1983), since their description stresses the actual behavior rather than the hypothetical emotions are key in determining the conduct (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). In common, researchers approve that illustrations and emotional state that complement the precise emotional labor affects emotions that are displayed at work location; hence, connect their fac tual feelings with the differences in descriptions and operationalization of anticipated emotions. These emotions are perhaps perceived on an optimistic view of the concept; that have resulted to some misperception, thoughts or reconsidering the condition (Bono and Vey, 2005). Studies provide an operational definition of emotional labour as an interrelated variable representing occurrence or nonexistence of emotional labour at work or in a profession (Bitzer, 2006). He recommended that emotional labour at work is based on frequency of personal communication between members of staff and customer, therefore, making emotional labour at work a one-dimensional structure disapprovingly correlated with workers’ health. Adelmann (2005) developed one range for emotional labour at work, though, this research could not discover the ordinary negative associations between emotional labour at work and emotional strain, an elucidation of the fact that more differentiated ideas ought to be b rought forward. Consequently, emotional labour at work has been indicated as an emotional process essential to control managerially needed emotional control as part of workers’ roles. Frequency of emotional labour recurrent obligation indicates a negative emotional labour in the case of a statement investor (Bitzer, 2006). The compulsion to exhibit negative emotiona

Business Plan - Marketing Section Research Paper

Business Plan - Marketing Section - Research Paper Example A product’s value proposition is a statement of the functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits delivered by the product that provide value for the target customer, (Barnes, Blake & Pinder, 2009). When we break this down we see that it consists of the following components: what the company offers the customers, the type of value or benefit associated with this offering, to whom the company is offering this value. The company is offering products in the following broad categories: network configuration, audio-visual maintenance, network security, and software solutions. A primary market research was conducted to verify whether these products and services were needed. The company sent a group of marketing staff to school districts in the local areas and the greater parts of the North East United States, to carry out some research, which realized several findings. The potential customers, the schools and other business establishments, had a number of problems that called for some solutions. There were customers who had computer systems, printers and storage systems that were not interconnected, yet they still had the need to share devices, the internet, software and files. A number of schools had audio-visual systems that lacked preventative maintenance to make them operate at optimum levels. Few establishments lacked optimization of their IT software and hardware, and they did not have security solutions to protect their network systems, corporate database data and information assets against potential threats exposures which can jeopardize or client’s business information confidentiality, integrity, and availability. There were no security strategies to mitigate on issues caused by people, network system set-up and configuration, system functionality, and business processes. They were short of software solutions for their needs. A few companies that were existing to provide solutions to their needs were

Chemistry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chemistry - Research Paper Example the historical background of hydrogen, its chemical formula and elements, as well as its use in compounds that make up the fabric of our very existence. Hydrogen was first produced artificially by a scientist named T. Von Hohenheim in the 16th century. In combining metals and strong acids he created a flammable gas; however he didn’t realize that what he had created was hydrogen. It wasn’t until 1671 that Robert Boyle combined iron fillings and dilute acids that the element was rediscovered. In 1766 Henry Cavendish became the first to understand that the gas produced by these combinations itself constituted a wholly unique substance. Finally, in 1783 Antoine Lavosier gave the element the moniker of hydrogen upon discovering that water was produced when the then unnamed substance was burned. (Rigden 2003) The name is derived from hudur, which means water and and gennan, meaning generate, thus giving it water generator. It was named this because of Cavendishs experiment where he combined oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen has the atomic number 1 and the symbol H. Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas (at room tempe rature) and highly explosive. Hydrogen is the least dense gas known to man. Its melting point is 14o K and the boiling point is 20.28o K. The atomic mass of hydrogen is 1.00794 amu. Because it has only one electron it will react very quickly and, in many cases, violently. To view this, combine hydrogen with fluorine. Hydrogen has three isotopes. The first is H-1, Protium, which is stable. Protium makes up 98% of naturally occurring hydrogen. The second is H-2, Deuterium, which is also stable. Deuterium makes up 1.99% of naturally occurring hydrogen. The third is H-3, Tritium, which is radioactive. Tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years. Tritium makes up about 0.001% of naturally occurring hydrogen. Hydrogen has numerous uses, the most common of those are balloons, metal refining, and production of electricity. Some of those uses are dangerous.

Emotional labour Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Emotional labour - Literature review Example Callahan and McCollum (2002) understand that the period emotional work is suitable for circumstances in which personalities are personally selecting to manage their sentiments for their individual remunerated assistances. The expression emotional labor is suitable only when emotion employment is replaced for approximately such as an income or some other kind of valued recompense. In her classification of emotional labor, Callahan and McCollum (2002, pp. 45) state that such activities are achieved for remuneration; they are also below the jurisdiction of others. Therefore, in structural settings, emotional labor is below the control of associations like banks. Hochschild’s (2003, pp. 67) stated that emotional labor comprises impression of the administration of examination of employees. These workers put effort on rapid emotions that are indicated to be satisfactory by clients. According to this viewpoint, the inconsistency between fingered and articulated emotion is connected t o job accent and exhaustion. According to Hochschild (2003), occupations concerning emotional labor acquire three individualities: they need the workforce to make facial or speech contact with the community; they necessitate the employee to create an emotional condition in the consumer or purchaser, and they deliver the instructions with the aim of exercising some control over the expressive events of workforces. Based on recession association, Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) brought forward the opinion that, emotional labor as â€Å"the work of displaying the suitable sentiment.† Their description varies from Hochschild’s (1983), since their description stresses the actual behavior rather than the hypothetical emotions are key in determining the conduct (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). In common, researchers approve that illustrations and emotional state that complement the precise emotional labor affects emotions that are displayed at work location; hence, connect their fac tual feelings with the differences in descriptions and operationalization of anticipated emotions. These emotions are perhaps perceived on an optimistic view of the concept; that have resulted to some misperception, thoughts or reconsidering the condition (Bono and Vey, 2005). Studies provide an operational definition of emotional labour as an interrelated variable representing occurrence or nonexistence of emotional labour at work or in a profession (Bitzer, 2006). He recommended that emotional labour at work is based on frequency of personal communication between members of staff and customer, therefore, making emotional labour at work a one-dimensional structure disapprovingly correlated with workers’ health. Adelmann (2005) developed one range for emotional labour at work, though, this research could not discover the ordinary negative associations between emotional labour at work and emotional strain, an elucidation of the fact that more differentiated ideas ought to be b rought forward. Consequently, emotional labour at work has been indicated as an emotional process essential to control managerially needed emotional control as part of workers’ roles. Frequency of emotional labour recurrent obligation indicates a negative emotional labour in the case of a statement investor (Bitzer, 2006). The compulsion to exhibit negative emotiona

Chemistry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Chemistry - Research Paper Example the historical background of hydrogen, its chemical formula and elements, as well as its use in compounds that make up the fabric of our very existence. Hydrogen was first produced artificially by a scientist named T. Von Hohenheim in the 16th century. In combining metals and strong acids he created a flammable gas; however he didn’t realize that what he had created was hydrogen. It wasn’t until 1671 that Robert Boyle combined iron fillings and dilute acids that the element was rediscovered. In 1766 Henry Cavendish became the first to understand that the gas produced by these combinations itself constituted a wholly unique substance. Finally, in 1783 Antoine Lavosier gave the element the moniker of hydrogen upon discovering that water was produced when the then unnamed substance was burned. (Rigden 2003) The name is derived from hudur, which means water and and gennan, meaning generate, thus giving it water generator. It was named this because of Cavendishs experiment where he combined oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen has the atomic number 1 and the symbol H. Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas (at room tempe rature) and highly explosive. Hydrogen is the least dense gas known to man. Its melting point is 14o K and the boiling point is 20.28o K. The atomic mass of hydrogen is 1.00794 amu. Because it has only one electron it will react very quickly and, in many cases, violently. To view this, combine hydrogen with fluorine. Hydrogen has three isotopes. The first is H-1, Protium, which is stable. Protium makes up 98% of naturally occurring hydrogen. The second is H-2, Deuterium, which is also stable. Deuterium makes up 1.99% of naturally occurring hydrogen. The third is H-3, Tritium, which is radioactive. Tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years. Tritium makes up about 0.001% of naturally occurring hydrogen. Hydrogen has numerous uses, the most common of those are balloons, metal refining, and production of electricity. Some of those uses are dangerous.

Deontological ethics Essay Example for Free

Deontological ethics Essay Deontological ethics is too rigid in its emphasis on duties, utilitarian ethics too keen to override basic human rights. Deontology and utilitarianism are both types of ethics referring to how one reacts in a certain situation. Deontology is based on following a set of duties and sticking to these duties no matter what the consequences whereas utilitarianism is based on choosing the best outcome over a short term and long term even if it means depriving people of basic human rights for example. However does this mean that deontological ethics is too rigid in its emphasis on duties and that utilitarian ethics is too keen to override basic human rights? According to a deontologist ones actions must be determined by a set of duties regardless of whether the long term consequences are good or bad. A deontologist believes in human morals and that every human has certain rights and these morals and rights should not be betrayed no matter what the cost for example sacrificing one life to save one hundred lives would be unacceptable to the deontologist despite the fact the consequences would be better overall. The biggest problem with deontology is knowing which set of duties to follow, there could be a great variation in systems between people from different backgrounds, different social classes, different religions and people from different cultures. For example a Protestant English Lord would have different morals and a different set of duties than a lower class Indian Hindu. It is very difficult to tell which set of duties, if any, is the right one. Deontologists suffer many problems when their duties seem to conflict with themselves or with other duties. One has a duty to save lives but what if in order to do this one must betray another duty for example a husbands sick wife needs life saving medicine but the husband cannot afford to buy it, should he steal the medicine in order to save his wives life or should he not betray his morals and allow his wife to die. This raises the question as to how do we tell which duty is the most important and which is the least? If the consequences o f each are to be considered then this would make it a consequentialist view and not a deontological one. Single duty conflicts cause just as many problems such as two people imminently need a heart transplant but only one organ is available, a deontologist has a duty to save lives but on this occasion only one out of the two can be saved. This is known as the doctrine of double effect and is said that since it is impossible to save both lives, ones duty to save lives has not been broken. Deontology does encounter many problems but also has a number of merits. Since deontologists refuse to betray human rights, every human is guaranteed these rights will not be broken. Deontology would also normally let justice prevail and this is a good quality indeed. According to Utilitarianism On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, mankind is under the governance of two sovereign masters one being pleasure and the other being pain and this in itself determines what we should do and what we actually do. By the principle of utility is meant that principle which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoev er, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question. (J.S. Mills). According to utilitarian ethics the community at large is considered to be the party in question and so the interest of the community is the sum of the interests of the individual or the sum total of the communities pleasures against the sum total of its pains. A man may be said to be a utilitarian when his actions are determined by the consequences which will increase the total amount of pleasure throughout the parties involved or to reduce the total amount of pain throughout the same parties. J.S. Mills also claims that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to promote the reverse of happiness The major problem with utilitarianism is the conflict it creates with ordinary morality for example sacrificing innocent lives in order to save a greater number of people. The problem with morality in this case is obvious as no one has the right to take another human life, however the long term consequences will be better as more lives are save d. Another serious problem is the difficulty in determining the consequences of a certain action. It is impossible to predict the future with this sort of accuracy and so how do we know if one action will bring better consequences than another action. This is why determining the long term consequences is a lot more difficult than the short term consequences and is another serious problem with Jeremy Benthams utilitarian theory. Utilitarianism is based on the total amount of happiness of everyone concerned, but whose happiness counts? Every human or only those with sound body and mind? It is this problem that creates extreme difficulty in determining the total amount of happiness for those concerned. J.S. Mill claims that both mental and physical pleasure counts with intellectual activities giving the most pleasure despite his godfather, Jeremy Benthams, theory claiming the opposite. However this gives rise to another problem as it is impossible to quantify happiness and so there is no way to guarantee that one action will bring a greater amount of happiness than another action. However utilitarianism is not all bad and Benthams beliefs did have some good qualities. Since utilitarianism represents the community as a whole and not just individuals it is a very selfless way of thought as a utilitarian would consider causing himself a small amount of pain in order to give everyone a large amount of happiness as worth it. Deontological and utilitarian ethics both have a lot of problems as I have shown. Deontological duties often mean that the action with the best outcome is not selected and these duties themselves often conflict with each other causing even more problems with which action should be taken. On the other hand Utilitarianism often betrays human rights and morals in order to achieve the best consequence to such an extent that betraying these rights may not even be worth it. Also consequences are very difficult to predict and often unforeseen things can happen changing the long term outcome for the worst. So I would have to agree that Deontological ethics is too rigid in its emphasis on duties and Utilitarian ethics too keen to override basic human rights.

Product Costing Methods: Strengths and Weaknesses

Product Costing Methods: Strengths and Weaknesses Todays competitive environment requires manufacturers to know their costs for competing globally. A top notch costing system is one of the most powerful information tools a management can have; especially which provide a clear picture of the activities that are driving costs and the ways individual products and processes consumes resource. We can use costs in distinct ways. Product costing is used for strategic decision making. 1 PRODUCT COSTING Product costing system is a set of procedures that accounts for an organizations product costs and provides timely and accurate unit cost information for pricing, planning and control, inventory valuation and financial statement preparation. An organization should be concerned about product costing and their firms product costing system. Use of an appropriate product costing system helps allocation of indirect costs and helps to use resources in a productive way. It is used to determine the market profit margins and also focus on sales function, customers markets and setting prices. 1. A The most common systems of product costing are: Job order costing Job order costing allocates costs to products that are readily identified by individual units or batches of which requires varying degrees of attention and skill. It is extensively used in service industries, hospitals, law firms, movie studio, accounting firms, etc. It is more complex when companies sell many different products and services. Process costing Process costing allocates costs to products by averaging costs over large number of nearly identical products. Since every unit is essentially the same, each unit receives the same manufacturing input as every other unit. Refineries, paper mills and food processing companies use process costing. A complication arising in process costing is that manufacturing of not all units may be completed at the balance sheet date. 1. B Strengths of Product Costing Useful for making judgments about management related profitability and performance, which often leads to decisions about resource allocation, shifting money from unrewarding activities to profitable activities and improve products cost performance. Helps for valuation of inventories for financial reporting purposes. Stock can be valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value under the prudence principle and the problems of allocating overheads to products for financial reporting do not arise. Plays an important role in complex pricing decision process and cost control. Cost based pricing is particularly true for customized products which do not have readily available market price. Managers often use product cost for planning and controlling the costs. For this purpose managers mainly focus on the product cost, although the scope of the analysis can be extended to include product costs from other areas of the value chain. Helps the organizations to find out the cost associated to each product .That enables to selling profitable products. This will help to avoid the use of non profitable products, and maximize profits. It gives an understanding of each products contribution to the bottom line. 1. C Weaknesses of Product Costing There are few limitations faced by the organizations by using the product costing systems they are: This costing system was developed during a period when 80% cost were related to labour, so it focused on direct labour cost. It is related to the benefits of a change in process or method reduction in direct labour. Only limited service organizations used full product costs for pricing decisions. In service organizations inventory valuation is not a major issue because there is not much to store. Planning and controlling of service organizations done through responsibility centers linked to functional activities rather than product or services. It assumed that the factory is an isolated entity and provide no indication of the impact of change in the factory on the rest of the organization. 2 Conventional costing Conventional costing produces inventory values which consist of variable costs and such fixed costs which commensurate with the level of production at which the inventories are produced. Conventional cost can aid in controlling cost as efficiently as direct costing. When conventional cost is employed on the books, the variable and fixed costs must be assembled and arranged to fit the analysis made out side the records. A limitation for conventional system is that conventional costs develop under absorbed or over absorbed manufacturing expenses which are not understood by management. (Convertibility of Direct and Conventional Costing; Joseph A. Mauriello; National Association of Cost Accountants. NACA Bulletin (pre-1986); Mar 1954; 35.7) 3 Traditional Costing Traditional costing is among the oldest used methods of costing systems. In traditional costing, the manager or the management assigns direct labour, direct material and overheads to each unit of production. In this case, the overheads are not broken down by activity but based on certain volume related factors such as direct machine hours, direct labour hour etc. (At what overhead level does activity based costing pay off? Robert J Vokurka; Rhonda R Lummus Production and Inventory Management Journal; First Quarter 2001; 42, 1; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 40) 3. A Going against the odds Although the introduction of ABC was supposed to be the remedy for the short-comings of Traditional Costing, the Japanese managers still use traditional costing measures and are able to reduce costs and increase their market share. Traditional costing uses a very powerful set of tools and methods and may be much mightier than written deficient by the simplistic textbooks. (Why the Japanese can do without ABC Patel, Ashok, Russell, David. Certified Accountant. Cork: Nov 1994. pg. 64) 3. B Advantages of Traditional costing system Easy to understand and it is widely used In a firm with only one product line, the final cost will be the same as if ABC were used It is a convenient base for the assignment of manufacturing overheads (with direct labour as a significant portion of the product cost) Easy to depict a diagram representing the flow of product cost (ABC: Revisiting the Basics) 3. C Disadvantages of Traditional Costing In most of todays business scenario, the information that a management needs for decision making are not being satisfactorily provided The averaging of the overall costs to the entire product line may result in some products carrying a major proportion of the overheads than it actually should. This in turn will affect the decision making related the product such as marketing emphasis, pricing, cost control etc Since being a volume driven cost allocation, the entire process of costing is based on the manufacturing cost while the other factors of costs (performance driven) such as Research and Development, marketing etc are averaged across all the products. (ABC: Revisiting the Basics) 4 Activity Based Costing Activity-based costing was introduced about 15 years ago and implemented initially by large manufacturing companies since it is proven to show as more beneficial in larger firms that have a diverse mix of products or services. ABC is a system for assigning costs to products based on the activities they require. These activities are those regular actions performed inside a company. Eg: asking a customer invoice related questions. In this way an organization can establish the true cost of its individual products and services for the purposes of identifying and eliminating those which are unprofitable and lowering the prices of those which are overpriced. It is generally used as a tool for understanding product and customer cost and profitability. As such, ABC has predominantly been used to support strategic decisions such as pricing, outsourcing and identification and measurement of process improvement initiatives. Cost centre, cost allocation, fixed cost, variable cost, cost drivers are the methodologies used in activity based costing. 4. A Strengths It helps to identify costs of individual activities, based on their use of resources Identify most and least profitable customers, products and channels through its methodologies. It helps to control the cost at individual level as well as on departmental levels. The cost of all activities associated with a product or service can be accurately determined before it is launched, so it helps in pricing, future product planning etc. Expands the cost of producing and selling a product so that better decision making information is available. Uses the technologies available to track costs in todays manufacturing environment. 4. B Limitations Some overhead cost is difficult to assign to products and customers, such as the chief executives salary. ABC is time consuming, if all activities are to be costed. It may be difficult to set up and establish ABC if an organization is using more traditional accounting methodologies. ABC identifies product costing better in the long run, but may not be too helpful in day-to-day decision-making. 5 Conclusion Product costing suffers from some set backs but overall it is an effective tool that helps organization in predicting and minimising costs involved in manufacturing a product as well as in providing management with relevant information for strategic decision making process that have a long term impact on the profitability of the firm. And though many experts suggest the use of marginal costing in decision making the modern organization concentrate on product costs. Traditional costing systems fail to meet the managements decision making requirements in the modern organization. But the introduction of ABC had taken out this shortcoming to a minimum level and has made it much easier for the cost control and help managers take wise decisions based on their numbers. This is where product costing systems make an impact and prove to be useful and more importantly a necessity.

Sexual Abuse In the Catholic Church :: Paedophilia Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is right now struggling with a very serious and grave scandal, Sexual Abuse of catholic priests and Paedophilia. Within the last year the Catholic Church has had to dispense over 100 million dollars in sexual abuse settlements*** (find source). However, the crisis became mainstream when two Catholic priests in Boston were accused of abusing over 100 boys and young men. The church worldwide has felt repercussions from this scandal. In fact, it even resulted in the call of all American cardinals who are healthy enough to travel to a summit in the Vatican with Pope John Paul the second. There are several issues at play as this scandal continues. In this paper I hope to look at the actual scandals involving retired priest Paul Shanley and defrocked priest John Geoghan. These two men served as priests in the Boston community for over 20 years under the leadership of three different Cardinals. Throughout their years of service they had sexual relationships with males ranging from the age of 4 to 26. Only within the past year were legal steps taken against them. John Geoghan was tried and convicted and Paul Shanley’s case is still under investigation. In the Catholic Church, priests are the moral authority. When one has questions with his faith he is taught that he can go to his priest for informed answers. In this paper I also hope to deal with how these priests failed their flock. They took advantage of men who came to them for help when in trouble and preyed on the little boys who came to the church for guidance. In addition to the tacit feeling that as a priest they will only do what is right, these men told their victims that they would deal with the moral implications. I also hope to look at the role of the Cardinals in this whole affair. The Catholic Church teaches that these men are responsible for the priests under their care, as well as the people. Fathers Geoghan and Shanley served under three Boston Cardinals and they were still allowed to continue preying on the people in their parish. The people of the church depend on their Cardinals to keep the archdiocese in order, and these men failed the people they are supposed to guide. The question then arises: how much responsibility should these Cardinals take. In order to answer that question I shall look at Cardinal Bernard Law.