The Sea Surrounding Eu Based Online Casino Gaming

Blog 28 – The waters surrounding EU based online casino gaming remain murky Within EU borders it can be argued that there is no form of entertainment bigger than online casino gaming. Millions logon to their favourite online casinos every single to day to gamble, which proves just how relevant to daily life the platform has become. However, for all the promise and polish that the realm of online casino game showcases, confusion still surrounds it as far as regulation is concerned. Many can’t make head nor tail of what the current governing conditions are and that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon. Poor Relations Unbeknownst to most players who don’t follow the inner workings of the industry, the regulation surrounding online casino gaming within the EU can be considered murky at best. Reason being that even after all this time, there still is no standardisation in place with regards to operating legalities. All 28 states seem unable to agree on such matters due to poor political relations or stubbornness when it comes to implementing changes. The EU by all accounts has plans to standardise regulations to allow for increased trade, but many believe that such plans will never come to fruition. Operator Impact It isn’t just politicians and regulators who will have something to say about any future industry standardisation, as operators will also most certainly want to have their say too. This is because should such be brought into place, it is the operators whoShow MoreRelatedExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesmultistakeholder context of public sector services. BBC – structural changes to deliver a better service. Sony (B) – more structural changes at the high-tech multinational. Web Reservations International – growth of an Irish SME company through its online reservation system and business model. NHS Direct – using communication and information technology to provide new ‘gateways’ to public services. Doman Synthetic Fibres – resource planning for new products in the synthetic fibres industry. Marks Read MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesOperations, Strategy: Competing in the 21st Century, First Edition Benton, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Second Edition Bowersox, Closs, and Cooper, Supply Chain Logistics Management, Third Edition Brown and Hyer, Managing Projects: A Team-Based Approach, First Edition Burt, Petcavage, and Pinkerton, Supply Management, Eighth Edition Cachon and Terwiesch, Matching Supply with Demand: An Introduction to Operations Management, Second Edition Finch, Interactive Models for Operations and Supply

Network Design in Supply Chain Free Essays

18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP 18. We will write a custom essay sample on Network Design in Supply Chain or any similar topic only for you Order Now 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP ? Inventory is stored at the distributor or manufacturer ? Orders are shipped to designated pickup points where customers come and pick up their order 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin MANUFACTURER OR DISTRIBUTOR STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUP ? Cost factors ? Inventory; is low, aggregation at the manufacturer or distributor ? Transportation is lowest when using package carrier due to aggregation at pickup locations Facility and handling; facility costs are high if pick-up location does not exist already. Handling costs at pickup locations are high. ? Information system; More elaborative and sophisticated, extra system at the pickup locations. ? Service factors ? Response times; comparable to delivery with package carriers ? Customer experience; worse since customer has to pickup the item himself. On the other hand, since customer do not need to wait at home for delivery and customer can pay cash at the pickup lo cation instead of paying online in advance, some customers may like pickup option better. Time to market is similar to other options with manufacturer storage ? Order visibility is very important. Customers should be informed when their orders arrive. ? Returns are easier to handle at pickup location. Returns can be aggregated and shipped back from pickup locations. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin RETAIL STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUPS ? Inventories are stored in retail stores, customers walk into the store to pick the items they want or items they have ordered online or by phone. Mixed order placement options. Most traditional option. 8. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin RETAIL STORAGE WITH CUSTOMER PICKUPS ? Cost Factors ? Inventory costs are higher than other options as the inventories are disaggregated and held locally ? Transportation costs are lower than other solutions. Inexpensive modes can be used to replenish inventories at retail outlets. ? Facility costs are high. Many local facilities. ? Information system; Minimal if there is no online ordering option. For online option more complex information system especially for order visibility. ? Service Factors Response times are very good. Same day pickup for most products. ? Product variety is lower than other options. ? Product availability is costly to keep high. ? Customer experience depends on if the customer likes to shop or not. ? Time to market is highest. ? Order visibility is important if online ordering is allowed. ? Returns can be handled at the stores easily. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? Impact of E-Business on Customer Service ? Response time; For product that can be downloaded very fast. For physical products takes longer to fulfill an order than regular retail stores. ? Product variety; easier to offer variety than brick-and-mortar store. (Amazon; imagine the retail store with the same variety offered by Amazon) ? Product availability; Better information gathering and forecasting. Better mach between supply and demand, improved product availability. ? Customer experience; ? ? ? Access; 24 hour access. Geographically eliminating the access limits. Customization; customization of product and shopping experience. Dell, Amazon – displays related products) Convenience; Making the purchase at where you are.. Increased speed of conducting business. (e. g. Use of previous data for address info) ? Time to market; Fast. A new product can be made available as soon as a the first unit is ready. Dell exploits this feature. ? Order visibility; Critical to provide. Internet makes this happen. ? Returnability; Harder issue compared to traditional stores since items are sent from a central location usually. More returns with online purchases. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? Impact of E-Business on Customer Service ? Other benefits of e-business ? ? ? 18. 12. 2011 Enhanced revenues for manufacturers by eliminating intermediaries and having direct contact with customer. Dell v. s. HP. Flexible pricing, promotion and product portfolio ? Airline last-minute low cost seat, Dell’s ability of dynamic pricing depending on the component availability and demand. Efficient fund transfers; Quicker and cheaper. Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK Impact of E-Business on Cost ? Inventory; Better mach of supply and demand, geographical aggregation lowers inventories. Ability of postponement also helps reducing inventory costs. ? Facilities and Handling ? ? ? ? Less and centralized facilities, fewer intermediaries lower facility cost. E-business can reduce the handling costs in order fulfillment by having the customer do some part of the process, e. g. checking product availability, enteri ng details of the order. Smoothing the rate of order fulfillment, thus reducing the resource requirements. Unlike the retail stores orders don’t have to be processed as soon as they arrive. On the downside, for some products like groceries, an e-business has to carry out some tasks currently performed by the customers at retail stores. E. g. Picking the items customer wants and carrying home. ? Transportation; Usually higher cost due to increased outbound transportation costs. For downloadable products, significantly less transportation cost. ? Information; Shared demand information, better coordination and collaboration reduces the overall supply chain costs. The cost of setting up the information system required can be significant. 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin E-BUSINESS AND THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ? The value that e-business brings is not the same in every industry. ? Dell; a success story while Webvan is a failure ? E-business-Scorecard can be used to help decide if e- business is appropriate for your business, how it effects your distribution network in costs and customer services. ? All the costs and customer service factors are given a integer score from +2 (very positive) to -2(very negative) 18. 12. 2011 Fusun Ulengin How to cite Network Design in Supply Chain, Essay examples

An overview of breastfeeding Essay Example For Students

An overview of breastfeeding Essay AN OVERVIEWOF BREASTFEEDINGBREASTFEEDINGBreastfeeding is widely believed to be the most beneficial method of feedingfor the health and well being of most infants. It is the natural next step inthe continuum of pregnancy. Though breastfeeding is natural, technique is alearned skill. As with any skill, the keys to successful breastfeeding areknowledge, practice and patience. It is important to get started correctly andknow well in advance how to identify and avoid possible problems. Mostbreastfeeding problems occur during the first few weeks as mother and baby beginestablishing nursing patterns. It is an important investment for the mothersand babys continued good health. Breast milk is the best source of nutritionfor an infant. It provides all the nutrition needs during the first six totwelve months of life. Breastfeeding offers newborns emotional as well as nutritional benefits. Skin-to-skin contact helps to reduce the stress babies experience as they enterthe world from the security of the womb. Tension quickly subsides as the sightof the mothers face and the familiar sounds of her breathing, voice, andheartbeat comfort the baby. This begins the important process of mother and babybonding. Breast Milk ProductionMilk is produced and stored in the glandular tissues called alveoli of thebreasts. It collects in the pockets known as lactiferous sinuses located beneaththe areola until it is released by a babys sucking. Stimulation of thenipples cause the mothers pituitary gland, located in the brain, to secretprolactin. This initiates and maintains milk production. The first milk the newborn receives at each feeding is the milk that hascollected in the lactiferous sinuses between feedings. This low fat foremilk ishigh in protein and satisfies the newborns thirst. As breastfeedingcontinues, a second hormone called oxytocin is secreted. Oxytocin causes thetissue around the alveoli to contract, thus squeezing high fat hindmilk down theducts and into the pockets where it is available to satisfy the newbornshunger. Many mothers experience a tingling or rushing sensation in the breast asthis let down or milk ejection reflex (MER) occurs. Other mothers noticeonly that sucking becomes longer and slower and that the newborn begins toswallow rhythmically. Keys to establishing a quick letdown are relaxation andconfidence that the mothers body is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Composition of Breast MilkDuring pregnancy, the mothers body produces a substance called Colostrum. This clear to creamy to golden yellow substance is found in the breasts duringpregnancy. Between the third and sixth day after birth, hormonal patterns of themother change rapidly. These changes cause colostrum to change to a transitionalform of breast milk. During this time, the amount of protein and immune factorsin the milk gradually decrease while fat, lactose and calories in the milkincrease. By the tenth day after birth, the mother produces mature breast milk,which is also commonly referred to as human milk. Health Advantages Of Breastfeeding Your BabyColostrum is the perfect starter food for babies. It is high in protein, zincand other minerals. It contains less fat, carbohydrates and calories than breastmilk. Colostrum acts as a natural laxative to clear the meconium (first stool)from the babys intestine. This decreases the chances of jaundice. It alsocontains the natural sugar lactose, which helps stabilize the newborns bloodsugar level, preventing hypoglycemia. Lactose is used in tissues of the brainand spinal cord, and it provides the infant with energy. Bacteria in the infantsintestines feed on lactose and produce B vitamins. Lactose may also help theinfant absorb essential nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Breast milk from most women has the same nutrients. The proteins in humanbreast milk are mostly whey and casein. Cows milk contains more casein, andhuman breast milk contains more whey. Whey is more easily tolerated by an infantsdigestive system. The fat in human breast milk is easily absorbed by an infantsdigestive system. An enzyme called lipoprotein lipase helps an infant absorb thefat in breast milk. A mothers breast milk contains essential fats andcholesterol. Both are needed by infants to make tissues of the nervous system. The amount of fat in breast milk rises significantly at the end of a breastfeeding session. This may be natures way of making an infant feel full andstop feeding. Breast milk contains only a small amount of iron, but the iron in breast milkis easily absorbed. Fifty percent of the iron in breast milk is absorbedcompared with only four to ten percent of the iron in cows milk or commercialinfant formulas. Colostrum and breast milk are rich in antibodies and have anti-infectivefactors. These help protect the newborn infant from viruses and bacteria thatthe infant was exposed to in the birth canal. They also help protect the infantsimmature digestive tract from infection. Breast milk promotes the growth ofbacteria that all humans normally have in the digestive tract. Breast milkcontains immune factors to help an infant fight infection and help prevent theinfant from developing possible food allergies. While cows milk and formula mixtures can trigger allergic reactions and areoften difficult for a newborn to digest, a mothers milk is perfectly designedspecifically for her baby. Since human breast milk is more easily digested thanformula, nursing usually results in fewer instances of colic, diarrhea andconstipation. Studies show that breast fed babies have fewer ear and digestivetract infections; experience less vomiting and acute respiratory illness; andare at lower risk for childhood diabetes, lymphomas and Crohns disease. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and American DieteticAssociation, among others, breastfeeding improves infants general health,growth, and development and significantly decreases risk for a large of numberof acute and chronic diseases. Studies also show that breastfeeding decreasesthe incidents and / or the severity of lower respiratory infection, bacterialmeningitis, botulism, urinary tract infections and necrotizing enterocolitis. Language as way to communicate with people EssayDiet while BreastfeedingBreast milk from most women contains basically the same nutrients. Therecould be small differences, based on what a woman eats and how her body producesbreast milk. If the mother eats a poor diet, this can decrease both the amountof milk produced and the nutrients found in the milk. Women who arebreastfeeding should consume an extra five hundred calories per day above theirmaintenance calories. A healthy, well balanced diet, high in protein and complexcarbohydrates, similar to the one consumed during pregnancy, is all that isnecessary, with the exception of five hundred extra calories per day. Occasionally, a baby may be sensitive to something in the mothers diet. The most common sensitivities are to protein antigens that are found in cowsmilk, soy, wheat, fish, corn, eggs, and nuts. If the mother believes the baby isreacting to something in her diet, she should eliminate that food for two tothree weeks, then try it again. The Law of Supply and DemandMilk production works on the principle of supply and demand. The more a babybreastfeeds, the more milk a mother will produce, totally meeting the babysneeds. It is the frequency of breastfeeding as well as the amount of milkremoved from the breast that stimulates further milk production. Babies who aregiven supplemental bottles of water or formula breastfeed less frequently,ultimately decreasing the milk supply. Supplements, in bottles, should beavoided for three to four weeks, unless medically indicated, until the milksupply is well established and the baby is latching on to the breast withoutdifficulty. Babies need to be breastfed at least eight to twelve times intwenty-four hours the first two to four weeks, or until well above birth weight. Working and BreastfeedingIt is essentially important for working mothers to remember that milkproduction is based upon the principle of supply and demand. The key tomaintaining a sufficient milk supply is to breastfeed often. If the baby is under four months old, the mother should express milk duringthe workweek when the baby would normally breastfeed at home. Additionally, themother should breastfeed in the morning just before going to work, again as soonas possible after work, frequently during the evening and whenever the babywakes at night. Breastfeeding at night causes the prolactin level to rise, thushelping the mother to relax and enjoy a good nights sleep. Mothers shouldbreastfeed their baby as often as possible during days off from work. This willhelp increase the supply for the next week. In addition to understanding and mastering the art of breastfeeding, workingmothers face added challenges imposed by their schedules. First and foremost,the mother should take full advantage of maternity leave to establish a goodsupply before going back to work. Fatigue is a working mothers biggest enemy. The working mother should set a schedule that will slowly put her back into thework force, giving both mother and baby time to adjust to the change in routine. Storing Breast MilkBreast milk varies in color, consistency and odor, depending on the mothersdiet and storage container. Because breast milk is not homogenized, the creamwill separate and rise to the top of the container. Breastmilk may be safelystored by carefully following these steps:1. Wash hands well with soap and water before touching breasts or any milkcontainers. Avoid touching the inside of bottles or caps. 2. Pump or express milk into a clean collection cup. 3. Transfer the milk into a clean storage container. If pumped directly intoa storage container, it will lessen the chances of contamination. 4. Label the container with the date and amount of milk collected. (oldestmilk should always be used first)5. To inhibit the growth of bacteria, breastmilk that is not used within 8-10hours should be refrigerated. If milk is to be stored for more than 5-7 days,freezing is recommended. 6. For longer storage, freeze breastmilk. Frozen milk may be stored in arefrigerator freezer for six months or in a deep freeze for up to twelve months. When freezing, fill the container only full to allow room for expansion. Never refreeze breastmilk!WeaningAround the world, babies are breastfed an average of two to three years. There is, however, no perfect time to wean. Weaning is an individual decisionfor each mother and baby. Most babies will not show signs of wanting to weanbefore eight to nine months at the earliest. The American Academy of Pediatricsrecommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months, graduallyintroducing new foods after that time. It is recommended that breastfeedingcontinue for at least twelve months, and thereafter as long as mutually desired. When a mother or her baby decide to wean, it should be done gradually to preventthe discomfort of engorgement and to help maintain the babys sense ofsecurity. Dropping one feeding every few days and replacing it with formula ofcows milk (depending on the age of the baby), will allow the mothersbreasts to adjust to the decreased demand in comfort. Most mothers drop the latenight or early feeding last since this feeding is often the special snuggle timewith the baby. ReferencesAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, Work Group on Breastfeeding; 1997,Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk, Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 100, pp. 1035-1039Crummette, B.D., and Munton, M.T.; 1980, Mothers Decision about InfantNutrition, Pediatric Nursing, 6:16Evans, H.E., and Glass, L.; 1979, Breastfeeding: Advantages and PotentialProblems, Pediatric Analysis, 8:110Health Answers Medical Reference Library Breast milk @www.healthanswers.com/MedEncKlaus, M.H., and Kennell, J.H.; 1982, Parent Infant Bonding, 2nd edition,St. Louis: The C.V. Mosby CompanyLawrence, R.A.; 1980, Breastfeeding, St. Louis: The C.V. Mosby CompanyPalma, P.A., and Adock, E.W.; 1981, Human Milk and Breastfeeding, AmericanFamily Physician, 24:173Ross, L.; 1981, Weaning Practices, J. Nurse Midwifery, 26(1): 9-14Whaley, L.F., and Wong, D.L.; 1979, Nursing of Infants and Children, St. Louis: The C.V. Mosby CompanyCategory: Miscellaneous

Tinbergen’s Four Questions Regarding Orca Behaviour free essay sample

The type of communication used to transmit information is closely related to the animal’s lifestyle and environment. This can be seen in most terrestrial mammals which are nocturnal so use olfactory and auditory which work as well in the dark as they do during the day. Visual communication would be relatively ineffective in this lifestyle. In contrast humans are diurnal and use primarily visual and auditory signals for communication, but miss many chemical cues which many other mammals base their behaviour upon. Marine mammals often need to communicate great distances, and the water does not support visual cues over great distance. This is why whales and dolphins use primarily auditory signals. Auditory signals can travel great distances and travel four and a half times faster in water than in air (Ford, 1984). Killer whales or Orca (Orcinus orca) are very social dolphins and live in pods often consisting of family members from between four up to fifty for residential whales while transient pods normally are only between two and five animals (Ford, 1989). We will write a custom essay sample on Tinbergen’s Four Questions Regarding Orca Behaviour or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These pods communicate with each other by use of echolocation clicks, tonal whistles and pulsed calls (Deecke et al. , 2000). The three main noises have very different uses from each other. Clicks can either be produced as a single click or produced in rapid succession. Single clicks are generally used for navigation and collection of clicks and whistles are thought to be used for communication amongst members of the pod. Pulses are believed, with the assistance of single clicks, to be the method used by orcas to distinguish objects and discriminate prey (Barrett-Lennard et al. 1996). Residential orcas feed on fish, and can be frequently heard communicating with the clicks, whistles and calls because the fish have very poor hearing abilities (Wilson, 2002). The vocal behaviour of transient killer whales is quite different with the vocal communication consisting of occasional clicks and pulses (Deecke et al. , 2000). The only occasion where transient orcas display significant amounts of vocal activity is when they are active on the surface or recently after a kill. The reasons for this reduction of noise could be due to many factors which can be seen in other species interactions and behaviour. Using ‘Tinbergen’s four questions’, I will explain what necessity for this behaviour and what the origins of the silent behaviour may have been. Tinbergen’s Four Questions In 1963 Nikolaas Tinbergen published a paper â€Å"On aims and methods of ethology†. In this paper he discussed how he believed any question regarding animal behaviour should be broken down into four different questions. These four questions could be divided into two categories, evolutionary (ultimate) explanations and proximate explanations. The evolutionary explanations, which refer to the population, include evolution or phylogenetic determinants and survival value or adaptive significance. The phylogenetic determinants refer to all evolutionary explanations which are not covered by adaptive significance. These may include random processes including mutation and changes in the environment which could have impacts on the population resulting in a specific behaviour adaptation. The adaptive significance closely follows Charles Darwin’s work on natural selection where it is explained that an animal’s form has been altered to function better in the habitat and resulting in a increase in fitness for the individual. The proximate explanations are focused with dealing in terms of the individual as opposed to the population. The two different individual questions proposed by Tinbergen relate to causation and ontogeny. The causation for a display of behaviour relates to the mechanics of the body and which stimuli provides a cue for the animal to display this behaviour. Included in causation is control of hormones, motor control, central-nervous-system control and the ability to process the information obtained through senses. Ontogeny relates to the development of an individual, from conception til death. This may include a experience or a environmental factor which occurs and changes the behaviour of the animal, including learned behaviour from another individual. Causation ? Figure 1: An illustration of sound generation, propagation and reception in a killer whale. (WhalesB. C. com) The nasopharyngeal anatomy of cetaceans is strongly modified comparing with terrestrial mammals. They have one impair respiratory hole at the top of the head. It is closed near the surface by dense musculocutaneous crimps arranged so, that the salient of one of them enters into the dimple of another. They form a peculiar lock preventing the water from penetrating into respiratory tract. Above the skull around of nose passage there is a system of pneumatic sacs, connected with nose passage (Barrett-Lennard et al. , 1996). In 1964 A. V. Jablokov supposed that sounds could be produced by forcing air through these nasal sacs. Air is forced past a set of finely striated muscular plugs or lips that vibrate or slap against each other as the lips are forced apart by the stream of air and then slapped shut by muscular tension (Ford, 1989). Transient killer whales are often very difficult to track when under water as they are typically silent. Often communicating with each other with just a single click, known as a cryptic click (Deecke et al. , 2000). The only time that the killer whales produce large amounts of vocal activity was when milling about on the surface or after killing a marine mammal. Transients have been found to only use four to six discrete calls which are not shared with the resident pods (Deecke et al. , 2004). Ontogeny Like other aspects of learning in mammalian society, I hypothesise that the newborn calves will be taught the ability for vocalisation by its parent or other pod members. There have been many studies on killer whale vocalisations in different parts of the world including Canada (Ford, 1984), Alaska (Yurk et al. 2002) and Norway (Matkin, 1988). Each study showed that every pod has its own distinctive repertoire of discrete calls, often this phenomenon is referred to as vocal dialects. The differences in vocal repertoires can be the result of geographic isolation and when this occurs it is not dialects that are being represented but â€Å"geographic variations of vocal repertoire† (Ford, 1984 ). The use of repetitive calls and the specific number and type of discrete calls are what are used to classify and compare dialects. Pods often produce between seven and seventeen different types of discrete calls. Some pods share calls and are grouped together as a acoustic clan (Baird et al. , 1988). Different clans might represent different independent maternal lineages, which have persisted for many generations, developing their independent call traditions. Dialects are probably the means by which pod cohesiveness and identity are maintained. Newborn calls manage to produce calls very comparable to their mothers, but the repertoire is very limited. With the arrival of a new calf to the pod, the calls of the pod and particularly the matriarch increase, especially the frequency of pod-specific calls (Ford, 1989). This is widely regarded as the method to which newborns learn the pods dialect. The majority of the learning done by the newborn is a process of imitation and trial and error. The calf does not always learn communication from a parent. In captivity a young whale was observed to have learned the calls of its tank mate, even though it had no relatedness. Survival Value I hypothesise that the because the mammalian predators can hear well under water is the reason why the transient killer whales adopt significantly reduced communication during periods of foraging. Acoustic communication can have great benefits such as organising groups for attacks and avoiding predation. As with all behaviour traits there is a trade off. There is a direct cost of energy required to producing the sounds and along with this is the loss of energy from lack of feeding during times of communicating. There is also a indirect cost, especially for transient killer whales, which pass information on to eavesdroppers. Eavesdroppers may include competitors (Hammond et al. , 2003), predators (Hosken et al. 1994) or for transient killer whales alerting potential prey. Various studies have documented the costs from eavesdropping for prey in the case of predators who utilise echolocation. Bats have been documented preying on frogs performing mating calls by eavesdropping on them (Fenton, 2003). Insects have also been noted as being able to avoid predation from bats by listening to their acoustic projections (Rydell et al. , 1995). Communicative vocalizations are usually not e ssential for prey location unlike echolocation. This is the most likely reason that transient killer whales move in silence or considerably reduced vocal communication while foraging. Evolution I believe that the evolution of marine mammals from a common ancestor hinders the transient killer whales hunting due to the retention of excellent underwater hearing by marine mammals. In Pakistan the discovery of Ambulocetus was remarkable, a three metre long mammal which resembled a crocodile. It is thought to be the transitional fossil starting the mammalian movement towards an aquatic life. By 38 million years ago mammals had fully adapted to a aquatic life with the emergence of Basilosaurus and Dorudon. Although these large marine mammals resembled modern whales and dolphins they lacked the ‘melon organ’ which allows echolocation in their descendants (Ford, et al. , 2000). In the middle of the Oligocene (33 million years ago) a animal called Squalodon is thought to have been the first to use echolocation. With a cranium which was well compressed, and a telescoped rostrum it displayed a skull similar to modern dolphins. A big problem with the hunting marine mammals is that they all have a common ancestor, and all have retained a common lineage of very good hearing. Fish have poor hearing which allows the residential killer whales to freely use communication when hunting. Transient killer whales have been forced to change this behaviour because of their choice of prey including seals, dolphins, porpoises and whales. With all mammals having good underwater hearing they have been required to adopt a reduced vocal communication when searching for prey. Conclusion I believe that the lack of acoustic communication between transient killer whales is due to the ability of their selected prey being able to hear the clicks, whistles and pulses they generate. These sounds can be heard from over seven kilometres away and marine mammals do react to these calls (Deecke et al. , 2002). In the study by Deecke in 2002, he played the sounds of killer whales near a harbour seal colony which resulted in most of the seals displaying strong anti-predator behaviour of leaving the water. This suggests that they are able to clearly hear the calls and understand what is generating them. I believe that other marine mammals will react in a similar way. Guinet (1992) observed the vocal patterns of killer whales around the Crozet Archipelago and came to the same result as Deecke (2004) that the killer whales were silent throughout hunting and searching, but once a mammalian kill was made the pod would greatly increase in vocal activity. While it can be a risk to produce noise after killing a prey, for fear of drawing the attention of other predators or scavengers, killer whales are the apex predator and have no natural predators.

Black Men and the Criminal Justice System

Black Men and the Criminal Justice System Is the criminal justice system hopelessly rigged against black men, leading to a disproportionate amount of them ending up in prison? This question surfaced repeatedly after July 13, 2013, when a Florida jury acquitted neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman shot Martin after trailing him around a gated community because he viewed the black teen, who wasn’t involved in any wrongdoing, as suspicious. Whether black men are victims, perpetrators or simply going about their day, civil rights activists say they don’t get a fair shake in the U.S. legal system. Black men, for example, are more likely to receive stiffer sentences for their crimes, including the death penalty, than others do. They  are imprisoned at six times the rate of white men, according to the Washington Post. Nearly  1 in 12 black men  age  25-54 are incarcerated, compared to 1 in 60 nonblack men, 1 in 200 black women and 1 in 500 nonblack women, the New York Times reported.   In a number of the nation’s biggest cities, black men are more likely to be treated as criminals and  stopped and frisked by police  without cause than any other group. The statistics below, compiled largely by ThinkProgress, further illuminate the experiences of African American men in the criminal justice system. Black Minors at Risk The discrepancies in the punishments black and white offenders receive can even be found among minors. According to the National Council on Crime And Deliquency, black youth referred to juvenile court are likelier to be incarcerated or wind up in adult court or prison than white youth. Blacks make up roughly 30 percent of juvenile arrests and referrals to juvenile court as well as 37 percent of incarcerated juveniles, 35 percent of juveniles sent to criminal court and 58 percent of juveniles sent to adult prisons. The term â€Å"school to prison pipeline† was created to illustrate how the criminal justice system paves a pathway to prison for blacks when African Americans are still very young. The Sentencing Project has found that black males born in 2001 have a 32 percent chance of being incarcerated at some point. In contrast, white males born that year have only a six percent chance of winding up in prison. Disparities Between Black and White Drug Users While blacks make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and 14 percent of monthly drug users, they comprise 34 percent of individuals arrested for drug offenses and more than half (53 percent) of individuals imprisoned for drug-related offenses, according to the American Bar Association. In other words, black drug users are four times more likely to end up in prison than white drug users. Differences in the way the criminal justice system treats black drug offenders and white drug offenders became especially clear when sentencing laws required crack-cocaine users to receive much stiffer penalties than powder-cocaine users. That’s because, at the height of its popularity, crack-cocaine was most popular among blacks in the inner city, while powder-cocaine was most popular among whites. In 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which helped to erase some of the sentencing disparities related to cocaine. A Quarter of Young Black Men Report Police Mistreatment Gallup interviewed roughly 4,400 adults from June 13 to July 5, 2013, for its Minority Rights and Relations poll about police interactions and racial profiling. Gallup found that 24 percent of black men between the ages of 18 and 34 felt they had been mistreated by police during the past month. Meanwhile, 22 percent of blacks from ages 35 to 54 felt the same and 11 percent of black males older than age 55 agreed. These numbers are significant given that many people have absolutely no dealings with police in a month-long period. The fact that the young black men polled had contact with police and roughly a quarter felt the authorities had mistreated them during these encounters indicates that racial profiling remains a serious issue for African Americans. Race and the Death Penalty A number of studies have shown that race influences the likelihood a defendant will receive the death penalty. In Harris County, Texas, for example, the District Attorney’s Office was more than three times as likely to pursue the death penalty against black defendants than their white counterparts, according to an analysis released in 2013 by University of Maryland criminology professor Ray Paternoster. There is also bias regarding the race of victims in death penalty cases. While blacks and whites suffer from homicides at about the same rate, the New York Times reports, 80 percent of those executed murdered white people. Such statistics make it easy to understand why African Americans in particular feel that they are not treated fairly by the authorities or in the courts.

Fish Characteristics and Differences From Other Animals

Fish Characteristics and Differences From Other Animals Fish - that word may conjure up a variety of images, from colorful animals swimming peacefully around a reef to brightly-colored fish in an aquarium to something white and flaky on your dinner plate. What is a fish? Here you can learn more about the characteristics of fish, and what sets them apart from other animals. Fish come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes - theres the largest fish, the 60 foot long whale shark, popular seafood fish such as cod and tuna, and completely different-looking animals such as seahorses, sea dragons, and pipefish. In all, about 20,000 species of marine fish have been identified. Anatomy Fish swim by flexing their bodies, forming waves of contractions along their muscles. These waves push water backward and move the fish forward. One of the most notable features of fish are their fins - many fish have a dorsal fin and anal fin (near the tail, on the underside of the fish) that provide stability. They may have one, two or even three dorsal fins. They may also have pectoral and pelvic (ventral) fins to help with propulsion and steering. They also have a caudal fin or tail. Most fish have scales covered with a slimy mucus that helps protect them. They have three main types of scales: Cycloid (roundish, thin and flat), ctenoid (scales that have tiny teeth on their edges),  and ganoid (thick scales that are rhomboid in shape).   Fish have gills for breathing - the fish inhales water through its mouth, which passes over the gills, where hemoglobin in the fishs blood absorbs oxygen. Fish may also have a lateral line system, which detects movement in the water, and a swim bladder, which the fish uses for buoyancy.   Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: Chordata The fishes are divided into two superclasses: Gnathostomata, or vertebrates with jaws, and the Agnatha, or jawless fishes. Jawed fishes: Class Elasmobranchii, the elasmobranchs: Sharks and rays, who have a skeleton made of cartilageClass Actinopterygii, the ray-finned fishes: fish with skeletons made of bone, and spines in their fins (e.g., cod, bass, clownfish/anemonefish, seahorses)Class Holocephali, the chimerasClass Sarcopterygii, the lobe-finned fish, the coelacanth and lungfishes. Jawless fishes: Class Cephalaspidomorphi, the lampreysClass Myxini, the hagfishes Reproduction With thousands of species, reproduction in fish can be remarkably different. Theres the seahorse - the only species in which the male gives birth. And then there are species like cod, in which females release 3-9 million eggs into the water column. And then there are sharks. Some shark species are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs. Others are viviparous and give birth to live young. Within these live-bearing species, some have placenta-like human babies and others do not. Habitat and Distribution Fish are distributed in a wide variety of habitats, both marine, and freshwater, throughout the world. Fish have even been found as deep as 4.8 miles beneath the ocean surface.

Politic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Politic - Essay Example The latter represents people’s participation in the environmental changes. â€Å"A direct cause is a cause that leads directly to an observed effect. The observed effect that we are concerned with is the rise in the Earth’s temperature (David Humphreys, p.19). Scientists agree that the direct cause of this heating â€Å"is the change in the radiative forcing of the Earth’s climatic system as the result of increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases† (David Humphreys, p.19). The main underlying cause identified is the burning of fossil fuels including oils and coals: things that are very much essential to â€Å"energy generation and industrial production† (David Humphreys, p.20). The underlying cause simply refer to human activities that results to the the increased concentration of greehouse gases in the athmosphere. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, the term inquality has surfaced to be one of the underlying causes of environmental degradation. What once only a social problem now lays inside the perimeter of environmental concern. Inequalities discussed in the book covers political ineqaulities, economic inequalities and inequality of knowledge. Citing the situation in El Salvador, the book Environmental Issues and Responses specified the ways in which inequality can cause much damage to the environment. Coffee cultivation was seen as one of the primary causes of deforestation in the country. The scenario â€Å"needs to be understood in the context of a global market and its demands for cheap coffee production† (Aradau, p.45). The economic inequality between the rich and the poor in El Salvador and the developed versus the underdeveloped countries in the globalized economy can provide justification for the abuse of the environment (Aradau, p.45). Another cause of environmental degradatio n in El Salvador was the â€Å"civil war from 1980 to 1992, during which the army bombed and burnt forests and land in order to destroy the resources used by the

Should Whaling be Banned Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Should Whaling be Banned - Term Paper Example It is believed that these are areas had little capacity to support agriculture and therefore, people had to look for an alternative source of livelihood and whaling turned out to be the most sufficient. During this time, whales were in plenty and though it is still thought to have been cruel, this activity did not pose any significant threat to the whale population as it was only conducted at the subsistence level. Furthermore, there were no sophisticated equipments to facilitate large scale whaling. Instead, fishermen used crude methods and equipment such as canoes, which exposed them to dangers associated with this activity such as drowning as a result of the canoes capsizing while struggling to catch the whales or even suffering attacks from the mammoth oceanic creatures. The whalers used the canoes to surround the target whale in order to force it to change its course and swim to the shore, where it would end up on the beach and helpless thus making it easy to catch (James et al 36). Between the years 1700 and 1900, it is believed that this activity had consumed a significantly high number i.e. more than 50000 whales of the bowhead species leading to their near extinction, not withstanding the fact that this was only in the eastern coast of Greenland. However, the endangerment of these species begun in the early 1900s, when technological advancements facilitated the building of large ships and cannons, whose success rate enhanced large scale whaling and in turn, the growth of industries specializing in whale processing (Healy 38) . According to statistics, in the period between 1910 and 1969, more than 2 million whales of different species were killed and worse still, current studies indicate that the population of blue whales in the whole world is approximately 3500, which is significantly low considering the fact that in the year 1931 alone, approximately 29000 blue whales were caught and slaughtered (Freeman 148). In fact, the remaining population of blu e whales is considered to be less or equals to 1% of their original population. This shows that there is a major and real threat to whales, which must be sorted out before other species are affected in the same manner. Other statistics show that between 1986 and 2001, more than 27000 whales were killed despite the fact that there was a moratorium which was introduced in 1986 to protect the whales from commercial whaling companies. However, it may be notable that this moratorium did not restrict whaling for scientific purposes and this has been used by countries, such as Japan, as an excuse to continue participating in commercial whaling in the pretext of conducting scientific research (Gillespie 67). The magnitude of this threat to the whales may be subject to contradiction meaning that it could even be higher than the figures and data available. This is due to the fact that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) sometimes relies on figures, which have been disputed on some occa sions by independent researchers. For example, the IWC once produced figures, which showed that the original number of Humpback whales was approximately 100000. On the contrary, data produced through DNA sampling in 2003 showed that the original number of Humpback whales was approximately 1.5 million i.e. before commercial whaling was introduced (Gillespie 73). With less than 20000 humpback whales remaining, the level of damage caused may be overestimated or underestimated depending on the data one decides to rely on. Similarly, the original estimates of Minke whales in the Antarctic has never been established since the IWC disowned its estimate of 760000 whales after resurveying and coming up with a new conclusion that they

Elementary Education Essay Example for Free

Elementary Education Essay It may seem difficult for some to see just how teaching can become an ultimate job for myself, let alone anyone for that matter. It is easy to see why certain people have this kind of opinion of this profession. For one, depending on the career path and position, the salary is not very enticing in proportion to the work that is required. It is a thankless job at times and requires a lot of patience. Yet there are certain intangibles that make teaching the ultimate profession for me. The simple fact that as a teacher I will have the opportunity to get in touch with and shape the mind of today’s youth to allow them to see the wonderful opportunities for them in this world is worth more than any remuneration that the job can provide. The satisfaction from being able to help young children fulfill their dreams and realize their full potential is something that cannot be measured by dollars and cents. This is where my educational philosophy comes from. I have always believed that there is no other better way to learn than by teaching. Many people say that you lean best by studying yet I disagree and say that one always learns best when teaching. Education is a two way street. The student learns from the teacher and the teacher learns about the student and more about life. Often times, the problem is that there is a communication barrier that exists between students and teachers. This makes it more difficult to impart anything upon the student because they are not as receptive. Another aspect that makes it more challenging arises from the fact that the learning curve that the teacher adopts may not necessarily be the one best suited for the student. This is often the case when there is no communication between the student and the teacher as caused by this carrier. For this reason, I believe that a lot of the teaching and learning must be accompanied with a certain level of respect in order to allow free intercourse of ideas that develop the learning. This approach, I believe, makes the teaching environment more productive as it cultivates respect for the teacher and the student. There is no greater joy in life than knowing as a teacher that you have done something to change the life of another. The development of the child is paramount in education. This development, however, is not only with regard to certain matters or fields of study but is more holistic in the sense that it challenges the child to not be content with what was learned but instead yearn for more. In child development, the teacher must always strive to make the child want to learn more. It is this type of preparation that aids in the development of the child. The role of teachers then becomes important in the context of child development because teachers need to understand what they are supposed to do. Many people have the mistaken impression that as teachers their role is to simply provide the student with information. The problem with this is that it imparts a static education. In order to become more effective as a teacher, one must realize that the role of the teacher is not to teach everything to the child but to equip the child to be able to learn more on his own. Teachers are guides. Teachers are not encyclopedias that just dispense any information at hand. Teachers should know that their role is to inspire in the child the desire to pursue higher learning. Teaching is a noble profession. In the hands of the teachers are entrusted the future of today’s youth. This important position in society is one that must not be taken lightly and must be revered. Yet in order for this to happen, a teacher must realize the importance of his or her job and the responsibilities that accompany such a privileged and indispensable role in society. To lead the children on that first step to a higher education is one of the greatest accomplishments that a teacher can hope to do.

Suicide Research Paper :: essays research papers

Suicide, it's not pretty. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's the 'Process' of ending ones life. Suicide is sometime seen as understandable or even honorable in certain circumstances. Such as in protests (hunger strike), as part of battle or resistance (suicide pilots(WWII), suicide bombers) or as a way of preserving the honor of a 'dishonored' person (killing yourself to save someone else). Nearly one million people world wide commit suicide each year, with anywhere from 10 to 20 million suicide attempts annually. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in males and the 16th leading cause of death in females. It is the third leading cause of death for people 10 to 24 year of age. Trends in rates of suicides for teens 15 to 19 years old show that from 1950 to 1990 the frequency of suicides went up by 300%. From 1990 to 2003, that rate went down 35%. Self-mutilation is one of the most common methods of committing suicide. Self-mutilation means to deliberately hurt yourself without meaning to kill someone else. Examples of self-mutilation are: cutting any part of the body (usually the wrists), self- burning, head-banging, pinching, and scratching. The effects of suicide on friends and family are often devastating. Individuals who lose a loved one from suicide are more at risk for becoming pre-occupied with the reason for it. Wanting to deny or hide the cause of death, wondering if they could have prevented it, feeling blamed for the problems that preceded the suicide, feeling rejected by their loved one, and stigmatized by others really makes friends and family feel like they?re not wanted. Survivors of suicide may feel a great range of conflicting emotions about the deceased, feeling everything from intense sadness about the loss, and helpless to prevent it. Every suicide has it?s reasons, but a lot of them aren?t so legitimate. An example of a possible trigger for suicide is a real or imagined loss, like the breakup of a romantic relationship, moving, loss of a friend, loss of freedom, or loss of other privileges. Older people are more likely to kill themselves using a firearm compared to younger people. Some people commit suicide by threatening police officers, sometimes even with an unloaded gun or a fake weapon. That is commonly referred to as ?Suicide by cop.? Although firearms are the most common way people complete suicide, trying to

The Real Harajuku: Japanese Youth’s Unique Self-Expression

Years ago, a group of Japanese young people started hanging out at the Harajuku district. These trendsetting youth go there with their unexplainable fashion sense (Bartlett). The Harajuku fashion is just really so different because anything can be possible (Craft 26) and it is all about â€Å"creativity, theatricality, style, confidence, looking cute, and mixing and matching† (Knight). This was all made possible due to the fact that the youth still stayed at their parents’ home and their fathers provided them with the money they use up, meaning they can shop for whatever they wanted. Although it may seem that girls are the only ones fond of these kinds of things, young men in Japan also like shopping and dressing up at Harajuku (Mead). The trendsetting youth had changed a normal neighborhood into a fashion capital (Johnson 14) and it has been said to be in the same class as the 1920s of Paris. Loic Bizel said, â€Å"The French are very poor in terms of fashion, in terms of creativity, compared to Japan† (Craft 26). â€Å"Visitors come to Harajuku to see and be seen† (Joerger). A lot of people can get ideas and be influenced by the trends the youth set there (McCaughan 28). It has been well known that even though the district changed its name into Jingu-Mae, it is still known as Harajuku (Kubo 38). Harajuku has truly been recognized worldwide and outsiders tend to draw their own conclusions about it. Some people think badly of Harajuku, while others simply do not fully grasp the real concept of it. People who do not really understand the concept tend to make up their own explanations or tend to do things that they think are good but are actually not. Taking a deeper look into their culture can lead us to better decipher that it is all about the youth expressing themselves and somewhat escaping from reality. The youth go to Harajuku during the weekends wearing their own unique ensembles. They might seem like they just randomly put things on but they actually follow certain rules and guidelines. They have a sense of order (Kubo 39). â€Å"Japan is a place where everyone is individual – but in groups† (Knight). Their outfits greatly vary from all the kinds of getups that they have created. Included in these are â€Å"cyber-punk, Lolita fashion [inspired by the Victorian era], kawaii [cute], punk, ganguro [symbolizes a California girl with bleached hair, dark skin, fake eyelashes, and nails], cosplay [most common name for â€Å"costume players† or those who dress up like Japanes animated characters], hiphop, skater and visual-kei [style of bands]† (Rockers). Their clothing can vary from shades of black to shades of bright colors and from plain fabrics to all kinds of different prints. They also change their hairstyles and hair color and they also put on makeup. They truly aimed to look different from the rest in their attempt to fit in with the others (Mah). Because of how some of the youth dress up, outsiders think of the Harajuku youth as rebellious delinquents (Kubo 41). Since some of their outfits tend to be out of this world, some people are inclined to compare them to the London punks who loafed around at Trafalgar Square. The thing is that these London punks are these young people who act the way they dress. They can be aloof, disrespectful, irresponsible and such, which does not really give justice to the Harajuku youth (Knight). Also, the way the singer, Gwen Stefani, introduced the Harajuku Girls in Hollywood led others to think of the original ones as â€Å"rebellious, underground, subversive, and rule-breaking† kinds of youth (Kubo 41). It has also been said that the youth are â€Å"devoid of perseverance, dependent upon others, and self-centered† (Cho). â€Å"Everyone imposes their own interpretation on the Harajuku girls – sees them through their tinted lenses† (Kubo 41). In contrary to what outsiders may think, the Harajuku youth are kind, respectful and accommodating towards other people (Kubo). They undergo complete transformations when they go there. However, their looks do not dictate the way they act. They are actually nice and considerate, even though they are wearing their somewhat unconventional getups (Harden). The Japanese youth are clean and responsible. Their clothes do not define their attitudes as they can simply take off these getups that they put on (Knight). They might also seem antisocial, but they are actually easy to approach (Kubo). The so-called Tokyo punks are well behaved, having their pictures taken with visitors and most of them, if not all, do not have vises like smoking or such that the London punks have (Mead). Also, they are quite considerate towards other people. In Harden’s article, the youth that he mentioned there were careful so that they do not displease other people who ride the train with them or people they are with when they commute. Because of Harajuku’s popularity, others are starting to use its name in wrong ways. A very controversial and probably well-known example of this would be Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls. â€Å"She's taken Tokyo hipsters, sucked them [Harajuku grils] dry of all their street cred, and turned them into China dolls. she's swallowed a subversive youth culture in Japan and barfed up another image of submissive giggling Asian women. While aping a style that's suppose to be about individuality and personal expression, Stefani ends up being the only one who stands out† (Ahn). A photographer, Van Meene, also produced photographs that showed a â€Å"sexualized image of schoolgirls,† which is contrary to the sweet, adorable or cute look that some of them portray (Ahn). In addition to the misuse of Harajuku, big brand stores are opening up in the district, which may cause it to lose its very identity. Patrick Macias talks about Harajuku possibly getting â€Å"a major makeover via globalization. † Some of its gained popularity might not turn out to be a good thing. Some foreign clothing companies are beginning to open up stores in the Harajuku district. This can very likely mar the identity of Harajuku. â€Å"The special atmosphere of this place might be lost. † If people would just go here just to buy branded items like Prada, Gucci, or such, they could have might as well shopped in some other place. Also, nothing would set them apart from other societies anymore. Despite their unbelievable taste in fashion and the popular stores opening in their area, the Harajuku youth are not â€Å"simply slaves to a label. † They splurge a lot of money to look different from the rest. A lot of companies produce only small quantities of their products so that their merchandise would be seen as unique or some limited edition item that most people want. Some merchandise can become very expensive one day and cheaper a few days later. â€Å"These outfits are†¦an expression of an authentic Japanese experience† (Mead). What people like and dislike can change really quickly, which can cause stores to close down (Fulford). Brands or labels do not dominate the market of the Japanese youth, but rather, the youth controls what stores should put out and sell (Knight). One thing that probably induced the youth to dress up so differently was the uniforms they wore – they needed an escape from it all. They acquired a tendency to want to step out of the box. â€Å"Parading after hours in Harajuku is an antidote to the straitjacket conventions of weekday life. † This is like a way of showing that they can be distinct from all the others. The Japanese are more of traditionalists and they are quite strict about rules and order (Craft 26). They break free from this by going out to Harajuku and dressing the way they wanted to. They can wear anything they want and it can be anything at all. This makes it a little difficult to quite say what exactly they do there (Bartlett). They can mix all kinds of different things and make it look good (Ahn). They can look however they want to and it can be different every time. â€Å"Harajuku is perhaps the one place on Earth where every day is like Halloween† (Craft 26). â€Å"Harajuku had become a place to be seen, not a place to live in† where mostly young people flock to during the weekends (Johnson). During the weekends, they put on these getups that would seem absurd to some people, but they return to their normal lives when they leave (Johnson). They wear normal clothes and live normal lives throughout the weekdays. They can be set apart from the way they dress during the weekends and the way they dress during the rest of the week (Knight). They go to school and help around the house. This is a factor why the youth do not become irresponsible delinquents. Some parents allow them to dress up any way they wanted, but they were not allowed to wear it around the neighborhood (Kubo 40). The Harajuku fashion is merely for looks and pleasure. â€Å"The Japanese are fanatical about fashion in the way that the Brazilians are about soccer or the Germans are about cleanliness† (Mead). They can mix all kinds of different things and make it look good (Ahn). They feel delighted when other people take pleasure in what they are wearing. The youth, who actively participate with the gathering in the Harajuku district every weekend, sometimes commute for really long hours just to get there. They do not even mind waking up and traveling so long just to go to Harajuku. They feel a form of sensation from all the other people who look at them and admire their own styles (Harden). The real Harajuku girls were thought of as mere rebellious delinquents, while all they really want to do is make a difference. They simply like the feeling of dressing up and having other people admire them (Kubo). â€Å"This is what Japanese teenagers do for fun† (Mead). Sebastian Masuda said, â€Å"Harajuku style was created by the passion of a young generation of people who gathered here [Harajuku] and made their own culture. It's more than just a look; it's a spirit† (Macias). â€Å"For real inspiration, go to Harajuku† (McCaughan).

Marks and Spencer Overview

An overview of Marks & Spencer plc Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a leading British retailer, with over 895 stores in over 41 countries around the world. As of 2009, 600 stores currently located throughout the United Kingdom along with 295 stores planted internationally (M&S 2009). According to Deloitte (2009) M&S is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being an exclusive food retailer and as of 2009, the 43rd largest retailer in the world.The large majority of its domestic stores sell both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it has started expanding into other ranges such as homewares, furniture and technology. Figure 1 illustrates M&S’s overall sales in millions from the years 2005 – 2009. The graph trend shows a gradual increase in turnover every year. By the end of 2009 M&S revenue reaches 9,062. 1 million compared to 2005 revenue of 7,490. 5 million. A difference of ? 1571. 6 Data taken from M&S 2009. Figure 1: M&S Sales (2005-2009) Figure 2 represents the operating profit of M&S.There is a steady rise in the growth of sales from 2005 to 2008. However in the year 2009 there is a decline in the growth of sales. This is fairly due to the economic recession resulting in less economical activity. M&S prices would have risen resulting in a decline in demand for their products and services. Data taken from M&S 2009. Figure 2: M&S Sales growth (2005-2009) Figure 3 displays the two primary categories of business for M&S. Food as a whole and all other products falling under house hold products. Both areas of business are equally important as they hold a near perfect hare of the business. Data taken from M&S 2009. 51% 49% Figure 3: M&S main business areas Business strengths and weaknesses: M&S has grown over the 21st and it is arguable that the company has moved from strength to strength. M&S are strong in many dynamics ranging from a political ly, economically and highly strategic company. One major strength of M&S is its emerging image of an active environmentally friendly company. On 15 January 2007, M&S launched an initiative, known as ‘Plan A’ (M&S, 2009) to dramatically increase the environmental sustainability of the business within 5 years.In 2006 the Look Behind the Label marketing campaign was introduced. The aim of this campaign was to highlight to customers, the various ethical and environmentally friendly aspects, of the production and sourcing methods engaged in by M&S including Fairtrade products and sustainable fishing. As indicated by A. Fletcher (2006) all coffee and tea sold in M&S stores is now Fairtrade. According to the BBC (2006) the company offers clothing lines made from Fairtrade Cotton in selected departments.This aspect of M&S emphasises the equality and fairness to the public and helps promote its products to certain groups in the market who would not previo usly purchase their products for this specified reason. Although M&S is a highly recognised and established company it has fallen under heavy criticism in the past. War on Want (2007) criticised M&S, in its Growing Pains report for using its influence to force overseas suppliers to continuously diminish their costs while boosting their own profits. Political issues have also arisen, the company has been criticised for its support for the State of Israel during wars and conflict.According to J. Smith (2004) activists have campaigned against the company and some stores have had their signage altered and their goods re-labelled. As a result boycotts have taken place with little effect on M&S sales and profits yet this has led to a disruption in social cohesion of society demonstrate through protests. Development of new products and services: Most (M&S, 2009) stores originally sold both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it has started expanding into ot her ranges such as homewares, furniture and technology, beauty and energy.The Indigo collection (M&S, 2009) is a new range of clothing aimed at the core, 35-45, feminine businesswoman type. The shoes, trousers and jeans will be UK-sourced and the T-shirts will involve Fair trade cotton from Senegal, India and Pakistan. Beachwear may be added to the list if the success continues. Per Una, also a relatively new product for younger female's clothing sold at M;amp;S stores. The product was launched on September 28, 2001 as a joint venture between M;amp;S and Next. All per Una items include the three hearts logo.The BBC (2005) states Per Una has been a major success for the company. In 2006 (M;amp;S, 2009) launched a range of domestic technology products. Thirty-six stores now offer this range. Additional services offered include television installation and technical help. Competitors: M;amp;S does not have any one store that is a complete competitor in terms of products and services . Supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Sainsburys compete with M;amp;S to a certain extent, primarily in the food industry. Marks ;amp; Spencer is predominantly a clothing store which obtains most of the company’s profit.Yet due to the significant product differentiation, M;amp;S competes with many companies for example Cotton Traders are a competitor in their clothes, John Lewis competes in their home accessories whereas Waitrose competes in food. As a result M;amp;S have to constantly innovate and outsource to stay competitive in the market and dominate. Marketing Strategies: By training and developing its staff well, M;amp;S is in a position to develop a competitive advantage over its competitors Firstly, developing value-for-money products that customers want.Training and development brings new skills which help to add value to its products and services, for example by cutting costs. This enables the company to keep prices lower to benefit the customer and increase consum er demand leading to profit in the long run. M;amp;S provides good customer service through communication skills, this can have a positive impact on customer service. Training and development equips individuals with the skills they need to achieve their targeted role in the business.When Steve Sharp joined as marketing director in 2004, he introduced a new promotional brand under the Your M;amp;S banner, with a corresponding logo. This has now become the company's main brand in its advertisements. The use of high profile television campaigns has been influential in the company's recent success, particularly with the achievements of a new clothing campaign featuring high profile models, and the new TV ad campaign for its food range. These adverts have the tagline ‘This is not just food, this is M;amp;S food’.Furthermore the use of camera special effects and footage along with music and a pleasant voiceover leads to a very persuasive advertisement. A new store format desi gned by Urban Salon Architects has won much praise and is in the process of being rolled out across all stores, with a majority of stores being completed by the end of 2008. The full new look makeover is a reworking of store design, including the gutting of old stores. An increase in display and product walls, window display styles, larger fitting rooms, glass walls, till points, and general total updating of decals, equipment, and lighting.

Human Resource Management Rolls Royce Essays

Human Resource Management Rolls Royce Essays Human Resource Management Rolls Royce Essay Human Resource Management Rolls Royce Essay Rolls Royce A Brief History. Rolls Royce is a luxury auto and aero engine maker founded by Charles Stuart Rolls and Henry Royce back in 1904. Henry was the encephalons behind the auto devising concern, and Charles whose involvements included winging decided he would seek his manus at edifice aircraft engines. During the First World War, luxury autos were precisely that, a luxury, that merely a few people chiefly the nobility could afford, this together with the bank make up ones minding to retreat Rolls Royce s overdraught installation meant they had to concentrate on the aircraft engine side of the concern. By the clip the Second World War arrived Rolls Royce had a thriving aircraft engine concern and gave the universe the Merlin which powered the celebrated Spitfire. After the war and As the Rolls-Royce organisation grew, and expanded through its diverse markets, the value of our celebrated name and trade name was extended. Any activity conducted in the name of Rolls-Royce conformed to a set of values and rules that we hold beloved, values that help us to go on to put new criterions of excellence . ( Rolls Royce Group PLC, 2010 ) Rolls Royce has nt made luxury autos since 1998 when it sold that portion of the concern to BMW. Rolls Royce is now a market leader in the production, technological promotion, and environmental control of aircraft engines. External Factors Competition Rolls Royce operates in 2 distinguishable sectors, these are new engine gross revenues which is the company s primary market and the merchandising of engine spare parts which is the secondary market. Their direct rivals for both of these markets are the houses of General Electric and Pratt A ; Whitney. The General Electric Company was the universe s largest maker of aircraft jet engines during the initial old ages of the 2000s. GE Aircraft Engines is portion of GE Aviation, which had US $ 16.8 billion in grosss in 2007. Rolls-Royce Group PLC in Britain UK has over 100 armed forcess as its clients. The company reported gross revenues of over 4 billion UK lbs in gross revenues in its aerospace section in 2007. ( Wikis, 2007 ) Entree to the secondary market is dependent on accomplishing the original sale of new engines. In recent old ages the strength of competition has increased as each maker has tried to better its volumes and market portion. ( The Times Newspaper Ltd, 2000 ) The determination to purchase a peculiar aircraft or engine combination is a long-run one, because an aircrafts life span could be every bit much as 40 old ages, this means that failure to procure an order may halt an engine maker trading with a certain air hose for a decennary or more. Environmental With the universe now concentrating on more environmental issues, the air hose industry is the now the Centre of all things green. All engine makers seeking to do their engines more fuel efficient, less noisy and cut down their C footmark. The Rolls-Royce site in Bristol is playing a cardinal function in the ?95 million Environmentally Friendly Engine ( EFE ) programme, an aero engine engineering presentation programme that will formalize new engineerings aimed at cut downing noise, fuel burn and emanations. ( Rolls Royce Group PLC, 2010 ) Labor From 2013, Airbus Industries and Boeing will be taking stock following the successful introductions of their air hose undertakings, the Airbus A350 and the Boeing Dreamliner, so the order book will be dwindling following record gross revenues. So the company has to happen alternate undertakings for its extremely skilled work force. Rolls is nt traveling to do excess workers it struggled to happen in the yesteryear and will hold to redeploy them, So the CEO s challenge likely lies outside civil aerospace, which is where he has been passing most of his clip of late. It s likely traveling to be rather different. ( Mustoe, 2010 ) Industrial Relations Rolls Royce operates an International group made up of workers representatives from all states worldwide where Rolls Royce has a presence. This group is called the Global Council and was formed in 2005. It meets twice annually to discourse affairs brought up by single employees. The determinations made by this group are backed by direction at the highest degree. The Group s planetary policy on diverseness and equality continues to develop in audience with employee representatives. The Group is committed to equal chances and to developing a diverse and inclusive work force. It continues to back up enterprises to promote more adult females and people from cultural minorities to prosecute callings in technology. ( Rolls Royce, 2006 ) Technology Rolls Royce has been at the head of new and high terminal engineering for many old ages and will go on to be so. Right from the design of the radical RB211 engine back in the 60 s to today s Trent 1000 which powers Boeings new 787 Dreamliner. Rolls Royce means so much to the British Government in relation to Gross saless A ; Technology that the CEO has a direct line to Downing Street. Sir John Rose, main executive, who has a good relationship with David Cameron, wants the premier curate to approve an industrial scheme that involves authorities support for technology-based endeavors. ( Marsh, 2010 ) This would intend that any new engineering or company involved in conveying new engineering to the bow will have authorities backup and grants. Internal Factors Work force In 2000 there were 81,961 employees in the aircraft engine industry, 47,153 of whom were specifically engaged in production. This figure represented a diminution from 1997 degrees of 84,373 employees and 49,122 production workers. Production workers earned an norm of $ 21.25 per hr in 2000, down from $ 19.52 in 1997. By 2002 the larger aerospace industry was enduring its largest downswing in 50 old ages, which was non good intelligence for the aircraft engine industry. ( The Gale Group Inc, 2010 ) Rolls Royce prides itself on its apprenticeship programme. Young people are taken under the wing of Rolls Royce and given what can be best described as the best apprenticeship in the universe. Even though economic times may be difficult, we have to maintain investment for our hereafter and learning these immature people the accomplishments necessary to maintain the name Rolls Royce at the really top of the pyramid. Learners gain outstanding proficient and employment accomplishments and show first-class organizational and proficient accomplishments throughout their preparation and in the workplace. ( Rolls Royce, 2010 ) Managerial Valuess What do you believe of when you here the name Rolls Royce? You think technology excellence, you think dependability, you think advanced, but most of all you think quality. And that s precisely how senior direction see the company, because if they did nt see the company that manner, it would filtrate all the manner down to the store floor, where the work they do would endure, and a slack attitude would be taken. A sense of pride tallies throughout the company from the tea lady to the CEO, and all this stems from the name. In its most recent employee battle study, employees at Rolls Royce rated pride in working for the company as the most piquant factor. ( Asia, 2010 ) Competitive Scheme With aircraft engines now going a mature merchandise, Rolls Royce has to better its market portion, its volumes and its competitory advantage over its rivals. It can make this in several ways, by Mergers A ; Acquisitions, After Gross saless Service, and a diversified merchandise scope. M A ; A takes clip and from a HR position can be really complicated with issues runing from, seeking to mix the different sets of HR policies into one, and covering with employees who are traveling to be affected by the possible retrenchment of the merged company. The After Gross saless Servicess at Rolls Royce are called Entire CareAÂ ® , Corporate CareAÂ ® and Mission Carea„? . Rolls-Royce plants closely with clients, irrespective of their size and operating concern theoretical account, developing a customized service bundle, optimised to single client demands. ( Bailey, 2007 ) Rolls Royce has a really diversified merchandise scope, 21 separate engines merely in the Civil Aerospace merchandise scope entirely. Decision Without doubt the following few old ages are traveling to be really hard for Rolls Royce. With the declining economic clime and a dwindling order book, the chief focal point is how can the company keep on to its extremely skilled work force. Rather than downsize or reconstitute, it could be possible to redeploy technicians to other subdivisions of the company. As antecedently stated these technicians are amongst the most extremely skilled and regarded in the universe and much sought after, so the company would make good to hang onto them. With the recent prostration of universe portions, smaller companies are at the clemency of larger corporations, this could possible take to more variegation, but as with all amalgamations it would take to possible redundancies. The company needs to be after for the long term, by puting to a great extent in R A ; D and immature people through its apprenticeship strategy.

Booker T. Washington Up From Salvery

Booker T. Washington is from slavery booker T. Washington, a famous autobiography. You think you are having a childhood you will never forget. Good booker T. Washington. Between 1858 and 1864, Mr. Washington used the majority of his childhood as a slave; he, his mother, his brother John, and his sister Amanda. Because Mr. Washington and his family are slaves, they do not have one of the best houses in the plantation. In fact, on the jagged side, there is no bed, fireplace, even the floor, and the house is a little more, and the cabin is more than just a cabin, but the plantation kitchen. Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington was born on April 5, 1865. He was born slavery at the James Barlow family farm in Virginia. No one knows Father of Booker T. Washington except that he is Caucasian. After the civil war, Brown Washington worked in a salt furnace and went to school in three months a year. At the age of 17, he was admitted to the Hamptons Institute in Virginia. - Booker T. Washi ngton Booker T. Washington is a wonderful leader. He helps the black community get stronger. His goal is hard to come by thinking about his life. America in the Washington period is under reconstruction. According to the law, blacks are the same as anyone else. Slavery has been abolished and many southern people have this problem. Booker T. Washington is from slavery booker T. Washington, a famous autobiography. You think you are having a childhood you will never forget. Good booker T. Washington. Between 1858 and 1864, Mr. Washington used the majority of his childhood as a slave; he, his mother, his brother John, and his sister Amanda. Because Mr. Washington and his family are slaves, they do not have one of the best houses in the plantation. - Booker T. Washington has a big impact on the black community. The effort to make this person such a great leader is incredible. Booker T. Washington is from zero. He is a black slave and has little life choice. He was born in Virginia in 185 6. He has a white father and a black mother. After the liberation declaration, he went to work at the coal mine, but he was still a child. This rising from slavery is a 9 year old slave named Booker T. Washington living in a plantation in Virginia. Booker T. Washington will describe his childhood as a slave and the hard work he made to receive education. Booker T. Washington shared the details of the change he experienced from the student to the teacher. He also outlined the experience as an educator and how he supported the opening and opening of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Booker T. explains when Tuskegee started working in a small hut until now in a new building. In the last chapter, I will explain Booker T's speakers and civil rights activists. Booker T. mentioned the Atlanta cotton domestic and international exposition in 1895. He finished talking and his work received some recognition, including an honors degree from Harvard University.

Out, Out. by Robert Frost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Out, Out. by Robert Frost - Essay Example The title of the poem, â€Å"Out, Out,† is derived from a line in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth: â€Å"Out, out, brief candle!† (Shakespeare, 1993, 5.5.23), spoken by Macbeth upon hearing the news of his wife’s death. Frost’s use of the phrase as his title seems to be ironic. In the play, Macbeth laments his wife’s passing and reflects that life is ultimately meaningless: â€Å"it is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing† (Shakespeare, 1993, 5.5.26-28). But Frost does not agree that life has no meaning. He uses the poem as a way to record the boy’s existence, to show that even though his candle has been snuffed way too soon, his life was still significant. The poem begins just before the tragedy occurs, and sets the tone from the first line. Frost uses personification to describe the chainsaw as it â€Å"snarled and rattled in the yard† (1). This line foreshadows the upcoming accident, b ut it is important to note that Frost does not depict the tragedy as an accident—he instead frames it as a deliberate act of malice on the part of the saw.