Pomegranate story

The internal rate of return was found to be In the range of 57-59 per cent which was much higher compared to the cost of capital (9. 5 percent) and hence highly profitable. Overall, the proposition of growing pomegranate crop was highly profitable as revealed by the financial feasibility tests. Key words : Investment pattern, cost, returns, pomegranate Introduction per cent of the total area under pomegranate in the district. Hence, Chalkier and Hurry talk was specifically selected for the study.The top villages having larger area under pomegranate cultivation were selected. The Information on area under pomegranate crop and number of pomegranate growers from the selected villages was obtained from the respective village accountants (Total). A proportionate sample of ten per cent of the population from each village was selected randomly. Thus, the total size of the sample selected for the study was 120. The average age of the ample farmers in both talk was found to be 44 years and mo re than 50% farmers depended mainly on agriculture as their primary occupation.Around 25% tot tatters in the selected talks completed their primary education were as the per cent of illiterate farmer in the selected talks ranged from 12 to 15%. So far as size of family was concerned, it was found to be 7 members in family in both talks. The average size of holding of sample farmers was 2. 30 and 2. 89 ha and the average size of the pomegranate orchards was 1. 58 and 1. 47 ha in Chalkier and Hurry talks respectively. The varieties of pomegranate grown in the study area were Ganges or Baggy type. The range of age of bearing orchards was 4 to 15 years.The expected productive life span of pomegranate orchard as estimated by the respondents was 25 years. On an average plant population per ha was 375. For analyzing the data collected during the study, tabular analysis and financial analysis were employed. The technique Material and methods of tabular analysis was employed for estimating t he investment Pomegranate cultivation is practiced throughout the district. Pattern, maintenance cost of pomegranate, pattern of labor However, the large scale litigation of pomegranate is use, yield and return structure of pomegranate etc.In order to concentrated mainly in Chalkier and Hurry talk extending know the relative profitability of investment in pomegranate on an area of 260 and 628 hectares and forming 20. 08 and 48. 42 cultivation measures of project evaluation namely. Pay Back * Part of M. Sc. (Agar. ) thesis submitted by the first author to the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharma – 580 005, India Horticulture is a fast growing sector and expects comparatively lower requirements of water and easy adaptability to adverse soil and waste land situations.The productivity of fruits and vegetables is of vital importance as it provides higher cash income than cereals per unit of land. India is one of the leading countries in pomegranate production and more than 1. 32 lake hectare area is under cultivation presently. Out of this, nearly 94,000 hectare area is covered in Maharajah's, which produces fruits of over 1 lake metric tones worth about RSI. 400 scores. In Chitchatted district of Karakas, where the study has been conducted pomegranate is being grown on commercial scale. The area under pomegranate in the district is 1297 ha (10. 9 % of total area under pomegranate in the state). Dry land horticulture is picking up fast in the district. The important horticulture crops grown in the district are pomegranate, Saputo, Beer and Papaya. Study of the economics of pomegranate production is indispensable since there is no proper farm business data on its cost of production. The accurate figures on establishment cost, operating cost and input requirement of pomegranate orchard could be of great help to the pomegranate growers of Chitchatted district in particular.Therefore, an attempt was made to study the investment pattern in pomegranate orch ard and to compute the cost and returns in pomegranate litigation in Chitchatted district. 164 Karakas J. Agric. Sic. ,24 (2) : 2011 Period (BP), Net Present Value (NAP), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCC), and Internal Rate of Return (AIR) were computed. Results and discussion The cost of establishing a pomegranate orchard up to bearing can be broadly classified into establishment cost and maintenance cost.So, the establishment cost included not only the costs incurred in the zero years that is at the time of planting but also the costs incurred in maintaining the plants till the time of bearing that is up to three years tot planting. For establishing, pomegranate orchard investment NAS to e made on land, well, pump set, pump house, plant material, digging of pits and sprayer and these costs together constituted the material costs of establishment. These costs have to be invested during the year of establishment of the orchard and are considered as the costs incurred during zero year in the study.During next three years farmers has to maintain the orchard by applying fertilizers, manures, chemicals irrigation etc. The costs incurred by the farmers on all these items for the three years are grouped together as cost of maintenance. The total costs of establishment (Table 1) were found to be 1,90,888. 1 and 1,89,644. 33 per ha of which material costs constituted 56. 87 and 58. 15 per cent and maintenance costs 43. 13 and 41. 85 per cent in Chalkier and Hurry talk respectively. Similar results were obtained by Giuliani (1990) in his study of the pattern of investment in pomegranate orchards in Bujumbura district, Karakas.The establishment cost 24,229. 53) consisted of material cost in the initial year (85. 65) and maintenance cost (49. 35%) Upton bearing three years. The material cost included the value of land, plant material, cost of digging of pits and planting, well, pump set, pump house, and sprayer. The per hectare total establishment cost worked out to be 24, 224. 5 3 and returns per orchard was 45,429. 96. The maintenance cost (Table 2) as indicated in the results included the wages of labor as well as cost of materials utilized and fixed costs in Chalkier talk. It was observed that out of Table 1 .Investment pattern in pomegranate orchards SSL. No. Particulars total maintenance cost the major component was variable cost followed by material cost and fixed cost. Under the variable cost the labor cost formed an important cost accounting nearly 50 per cent of total maintenance cost, since the crops require Geiger amount labor involvement to prefer the important activity like loosening the soil around the trunk and formation of basin, watch and ward, pruning and training and land preparation etc. Among material cost the major component fertilizers, PC and manure.Since the pomegranate crop is responsively to nutrient and as well as in the recent year the diseases like bacterial blight and anthracnose have created lot of problem hence to control th ese diseases the farmers have been trying with different chemicals thus the expenses on these items were found to be higher. So far as fixed cost is concerned the rental value of land formed the major cost component and it is observed that because of the higher productivity of the land and crops which are higher profit fronted the farmers to go for renting of land for the production of pomegranate crops.Even for the farmer who has been entering this crop on their own land where imputed the rental value taking into consideration ongoing rental rate the cost worked out to be higher. Since the opportunity cost of land was taken into consideration for calculating the rental value of land,it was found to vary over the years. In Hurry talk, the maintenance cost (Table 3) included the wages of labor as well as cost of materials utilized and the fixed costs. It was observed that variable cost formed an important component followed by material cost and fixed cost.

Sweat Zora Neale Hurston

â€Å"Sweat† by Zora Neale Hurston is filled with many religious symbolism. Good versus evil plays a large role in the development of Delia and Skype Jones, as characters. The story is about Delia, an African American woman who is a washwoman for whites. Delia consistently looks to her religion for guidance and support as she endures the many hardships that she faces because, which are caused by her abusive husband and unfaithful husband, Sykes. Delia and Sykes Jones is a couple that have opposite moral values, but yet they are tied together through marital vows, that no longer have much importance or value. Delia Jones is portrayed as the Protagonist and a very modest woman of weakness who later gains the strength to stand u to her abusive husband Skyes. Delia looks to God and her religion to help her build the strength she needs, so she can continue to be protected from her husband who is both physically and emotionally abusive to her. However, Sykes Jones, is every bit the opposite of Delia Jones. He has neither religious values nor any important moral standards. He is an adulterous, who takes Delia’s hard working money, and spends not on his wife but on his mistress Bertha. Delia who relies solely on her faith and continues to stay contempt, no matter how her husband treats her, but Delia warned him that in the end, Sykes â€Å"sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing (par. 26). † The white clothes that Delia washes are a symbol of Delia’s character, as being humble and having a humble spirit through all of Sykes emotional torment. While the white clothes are symbols of purity ad humbleness, Delia is a symbol of a God (Christian) like figure. The snake and whip are symbols in the story that represent evil. A snake is generally recognized as evil religiously, because of the biblical story Adam and eve, when Satan turns into a snake. There were two instances in the story when Sykes decides to scare Delia; the first instance is when he rubs the whip on Delia and makes her think its and actual snake, the other instance is when Sykes decides to place a box outside the front door with a rattle snake inside. Since Sykes is the one creating these scare tactics to Delia, he can also be seen as a symbol of evil, which he becomes the evil antagonist of the story. These two instances could also be seen in the religious aspect with Adam and Eve. Another symbol that was present in the story was the dark grey sky. The dark grey sky symbolically means evil, remorse, and sadness. The dark grey sky came about when the snake Sykes used to scare Delia with, bites and kills him. While Sykes was dying, he was now feeling remorse for all his evil doings that he has done to Delia, so we think because he was calling out for her after the snake had bitten him. As the sky clears the story brings about another last symbol. Eventually, at the end of the story is when the reader can really see the Good vs. Evil. Sykes soon begins to â€Å"reap is sowing†(par26), when he comes home and is killed by the snake, the one thing that he had used to scare Delia with so bad that she would leave, or die even. As Sykes is dying the sky begins to clear and the sun begins to rise. The clear, light sky and the sun represents freedom, purity, and peace, and the clear sky can also represent the Delia’s character as well as the white clothes that were mentioned in the beginning of the story. In all the symbols that were present in the story, the most important symbol was Delia’s sweat. Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up to the rocks of Calvary (par. 58)† Delia worked constantly just so she could provide for her family; however, Sykes was not appreciative at all. The sweat was a symbol of Delia’s’ hard work, pain, and tears; because through out the story Delia worked, cried many tears, put up with Sykes antics, but she stil l remained contempt through all his mess. All in all Delia’s sweat represents how she work through to those trying times to take care of her family, there was a lot of pain and tears as well. Within the story there were certain things that really stood out religiously. The white clothes that Delia washes represent her character as humble, sanity, and how she remained contempt through Sykes torment and antics. The snake is show a couple of times within the story as well, when Sykes rubbed the bull-whip over her shoulder, the other is when he brought a real snake he had caught and placed it in the soap box. The snake ties into the Adam and Eve story when Satan took the form of a snake. The snake can also represent Sykes character as the antagonist. Zora Neale Hurston uses a lot of symbols and images that allowed the readers to actually visualize the story. Her short story also revealed how no matter how much a person is in love with someone, if the other person does not love them then, not even marital vows can hold an importance. This story also shows the times. This story shows that back then some men just did not care enough for their wives to help them take care of the home. Some may have felt as though they call all the shots and when things did not go their way then they get upset. However, it shows that no matter what everybody will one day have to reap their sowing just as Sykes had to, when his own antics caused him his life.

Medicinal Candy from Origanum Vulgare (Oregano)

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Oregano is one of the species of a perennial herb called marjarum (origanum vulgare). It is also called pot marjarum and oregany. It grows in abundance and highly available in the locality. It is very common to many households because of its medicinal value. The juice derived or squeezed from the oregano leaves contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Authoritatively, ascorbic acid contains low acidic effect just commensurate to prevent, weaken or reduce the severity of a disease, common cold.Many people believed that common cold is caused by climate change. The sudden change of the weather and exposure to warm and cool conditions cause common cold and also the unsanitary condition of the environment and poor practice of personal hygiene as well. The principal cause of common cold is a group of virus called rhinoviruses. It is highly contagious the fact that it is an airborne disease. Once a person is infected with this virus, the disease will spread easily from person to person through close contact or association. It is probable that coughing and sneezing facilitate the spread.It is the virus that is transmitted to another person and in such unprecautionary measures people will get common cold. Cough or coughing as appearing in the title is not a disease. It is a physiological manner in which air is forcibly expelled from the lungs. It is a body’s mechanism for cleansing the respiratory tract of irritants, foreign bodies, or excessive accumulation of secretions, phlegm. The primitive way of using oregano leaves for common cold is to boil them and let the patient drink a teaspoon full of oregano juice to cure common cold.Young as he is, he refuses to take it because of its non-soothing taste and smell. Most likely the oregano medicinal juice will be wasted. Creatively, the oregano leaves extract should be made into a menthol candy under the supervision of a consultant Miss Leslie Joy Ariate, pharmacist of the Sou th Star Drug, Ligao City, who has the expertise and full knowledge in the measurement, ratio and proportion of medicine and can test its effectivity and can prescribe it as a cure for common cold. The candy should be mentholated, with flavor so that the patient should experience and feel the freshness and delicious taste.The oregano taste of this mentholated and flavored candy should stand prominently so that the patience shall be cured by the presence of ascorbic acid. Statement of the Problem There are two major problems which the researcher would like to come up with satisfactory answers. They are as follows: 1. Is ascorbic acid from oregano leaves effective against rhinoviruses causing cold and cough? 2. How much water, ascorbic acid and quantity of sugar and other ingredients are needed to process oregano as oregano menthol candy? Formulation of HypothesesThis research experiment proposal has two hypotheses. One is positively stated and the other is negatively stated. They are as follows: 1. Ascorbic acid from oregano as menthol candy is effective against rhinoviruses causing cold and cough. 2. Ascorbic acid from oregano as menthol candy is not effective against rhinoviruses causing cold and cough. Significance of the Study Oregano is useful for people with cold and cough. But how can a child take a cup of boiled oregano having its non-soothing taste and smell? This study aims to make an oregano menthol candy for the use of everyone.It will be tested if it can cure people with cold and cough. It can be of great help to anyone because of its delicious taste and at the same time can annihilate the virus that causes cold and cough. People are to be benefited of this study because it can locally be made and the oregano is abundant in the community. If the study is proven right, so why do we need to go to doctors? We just make this candy at our home and preserve it. The price of the ingredients is affordable. So people can eat the candy happily and at the same time curing their cold and cough.Scope and Limitations Oregano contains ascorbic acid that can fight rhinoviruses causing cold and cough. It will be processed as oregano menthol candy to improve the primitive way of using oregano as medicinal herb. It will be made to cure people with the said disease and not advisable to take it if the person is not sick yet with cold and cough. The researcher aims to make a menthol candy out of oregano and prove that this product is effective against rhinoviruses. The study is to be conducted this year 2011-2012.The process of making oregano menthol candy will be tested using the two populations: 5 white mice and 5 patients with cold and cough. They are to be observed daily by the researcher. Definition of Terms The writer of this research experiment proposal deemed it wise to give operational and contextual meanings to the words that follow in order to facilitate understanding of this experimental research that will be conducted. 1. Ascorbic Acid is the acid that is contained in the juice squeezed from the leaves of oregano plant. It prevents, weakens or reduced the severity of common cold. 2.Airborne is associated with a disease caused by virus because such virus causing the disease is transmitted from person to person by air through sneezing or coughing. 3. Climate change refers to the weather condition obtaining in the Philippines, wherein there is an abnormal change of weather from warm condition to cool condition which cause serious effects or sickness on health of the people. 4. Common cold is a disease of the upper respiratory tract, that is, nose, throat and larynx. 5. Contagious is associated with disease that is easily transmitted from person to person like cold, the principal cause of which is virus. . Cough or coughing is the physiological act in which air is forcibly expelled from the lungs. It is a body’s mechanism for cleansing the respiratory tract of irritants, foreign bodies or excessive accumulatio n of secretions. 7. Disease is a disturbance or abnormal structure on the health of living organism or physiological action in the living organism as a whole. 8. Menthol candy is a special candy which has a freezing or cooling taste serving as attractant but containing ascorbic acid so that the child with common cold shall freely eat it to heal the cold caused by rhinoviruses. 9.Oregano is one of the species of a perennial herb wherein the extracts from its leaves contain ascorbic acid that can cure common cold. 10. Rhinoviruses are the kinds of virus that cause common cold. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Oregano is also known as Wild Marjoram, Mountain Mint, Origanum, Wintersweet and Winter Marjoram. This erectly spreading plant has strong aromatic characteristics, with leaves and stems that are fleshy. The leaves of oregano are heart-shaped, with toothed edges, and which, grow for up to 9 meters in length. In other countries, the plant is primarily used as a culinary ingr edient.However, in countries like the Philippines, Oregano is a known herbal medicine for its strong anti-oxidant properties. Oregano contains a rosmarinic acid compound, thymol, and carvacrol that are responsible for its anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Oregano also contains flavinoids, triterpenoids, sterols, vitamin C, and vitamin A. Its anti-bacterial properties have been proven by recent studies to treat infections of the reproductive tracts, and which make it ideal to be given to women who have just given birth.The volatile oils in oregano and its properties are believed to be responsible for slowing the process of spoilage of food and thus minimizing the risk of ingesting harmful bacteria, parasites and fungi. The anti-oxidant properties of oregano helps fight free radicals in the body that cause cellular damage and accelerate ageing. Free radicals are believed to be involved with many degenerative diseases like osteoarth ritis, atherosclerosis and heart diseases, to name a few. The most useful parts of this plant are its leaves. The extracts and juices of such are used for asthma, dyspepsia, chronic coughs, bronchitis, and rheumatism.Ear aches have also been proven to be cured by the infusion prepared from its leaves. The leaves relieve painful swellings, boils, and sprains, when their poultices are applied directly to the affected area. 1 According to Tamid Ahmad, oregano is a natural herb found in Mediterranean hills and basically its leaves are utilized to take out the oil. The oil of oregano can be preserved for longer and hence it is preferred as oil. It is widely used for complex diseases to cure, and it has many simple and common uses for regular occurring diseases. It works marvelously in cold and cough.It is an antibiotic and hence is preferred for cold and cough. 2 According to Allah Camacho, one of the benefits of the extract of oregano is that it helps boost our bodies’ immune sys tem. A sound and healthy immune system is our best defense against harmful microorganisms that carry diseases and illnesses. A good immune system can be achieved with a healthy lifestyle, balanced diet, stress free and clean environment, proper rest and including two drops of wild oregano oil in your drink everyday. 3 According to Paul L. Garrett, there are some vitamins and minerals that can be used as natural cold remedies.These nutrients include vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc oxide. Vitamin C is good for a lot of things, but more than 1200 milligrams can sometimes result in diarrhea. Large amount of vitamin C at the beginning stages of an outbreak can provide relief and reduce the attack of the virus. Vitamins and minerals certainly strengthen the immune system, but becareful not to take more than the recommended daily dose. 4 According to Barbara Hillary, PhD, cold and cough medications should not be used for children under 6 years of age. This is because there is not enough evid ence to prove the effectiveness of these medications in young children.Moreover, single-ingredient or combination cold and cough medications do not relieve cold and cough symptoms in children under 6 years. 5 According to Susan Melgren, she was doubtful that oregano would have any effect when she first heard of its healing properties, but she took it anyway and was very pleased with the results. She used oregano to treat colds rather than as preventive measure. 6 _______________________ 1 Pinoyfarmer, â€Å"Medicinal Plants: Oregano (Origanum vulgare),† 2011, (accessed July 31, 2011) 2Tamim Ahmad,â€Å"Oregano Oil – An Unmatched Herbal Remedy for Number of Diseases,† n. . , (accessed July 13, 2011). 3Allah Camacho, â€Å"Boost Your Immune System With the Wild Oregano Oil,† n. d. ,(accessed July 13, 2011). 4Paul L Garrett, â€Å"Natural Remedy for Cold Sores – Strengthen Your Immune System to Fight Cold Sores,† n. d. , (accessed July 13, 2011 ). 5Barbara Hillary, PhD, â€Å"Cold and Cough Medicines Don't Work,† n. d. , (accessed July 13, 2011). 6 Susan Melgren, â€Å"Immune Boosters: Elderberry, Echinacea, Garlic and Oregano,† 2010, (accessed July 13, 2011). CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Since this research is tough to undertake, arrangement has already been made with the consultant.In so far as the researcher is concerned the necessary materials needed in the processing of oregano menthol candy will be prepared. Method of Research This research will use the experimental method. It will experiment on the effectivity of ascorbic acid in curing cold and cough. Since ascorbic acid is an acid it will be tested on five white mice in different proportions. If the result shows that the five white mice maintain their normal life then the said proportion is beneficial. Method of Collecting Data The researcher will be using experimentation and observation as the method of collecting data under the supervision of the consul tant.The researcher will be the one to conduct the testing and be the one to observe. To be more authentic, cellular phone will be used as instrument to take pictures of the condition of the white rat and will be presented to the consultant as well as to the human patient. To be more specific, a sample of the data if a human patient will be used as the medium the following data shall be gathered from him. a. name, sex, age, weight and address of the patient b. body temperature, blood pressure c. extent of the cold and cough whether mild or severe d. intake of the oregano menthol candy d. number of candy per day d. 2 number of days of intake e. observation of the patient by the researcher for reporting to the consultant pharmacist. f. date the researcher will bring the patient to the consultant pharmacist and his condition for check up g. result of the findings of the consultant pharmacist. Sampling Design In the selection of five patients with cold and cough, the PURPOSIVE way of sa mpling will be followed. Two patients with slight cold and cough, one with moderate cold and cough and the remaining two patients with severe cold and cough. This is more illustrated in the following figures:Patients Number Nature of cold and cough Number of candy intake per day No. of days intake 1 Slight 1 5-7 2 Slight 1 5-7 3 Moderate 1 5-7 4 Severe 1 5-7 5 Severe 1 5-7 The result will be ranked as to what number of patient will get well for a given period of days treatment. This illustration shows the expediency the patient shall be given attention for treatment. Due to time constraints the research is being conducted, the PURPOSIVE sampling will be used because there is limited/ no more time to conduct a survey to get the number of the whole population of Binatagan with cold and cough.Similarly, the effect of the treatment the fact that the respondents are very few, the effect of the treatment shall be done by observing the patients of the effect of the treatment daily and thro ugh asking questions about his feeling and healing effect of the treatment. 1 1In an interview conducted with Dr. Marivic Diaz, EPSI, Values Education/Guidance and Research and Evaluation I, Division of Ligao City on August 5, 2011 at 2:30 in the afternoon by Mr. Antonio J. Rabe, retired Elem. Sch. Principal I. MaterialsThe researcher will use the following materials in the preparation of oregano menthol candy like oregano leaves, Bunsen burner, beaker, tripod, stirring rod, triple beam balance, Erlenmeyer flask, filter paper sugar, menthol, vanilla for flavoring, wrapper, measuring spoon, cheese cloth, porcelain mortar and pestle, evaporating dish, sterilized bottle with cover properly labeled and friend baking powder. For the materials concerned in testing the effectivity of the product, the researcher will need 5 white mice and the candy (in liquid) will be injected in the mice with their allotted proportions.If the researcher got the right proportion, it will be used for making the menthol candy using the laboratory apparatuses. 5 patients with cold and cough will now take the oregano menthol candy to know whether the product is effective for curing cold and cough. Procedures 1. For testing of the product: The researcher has made two tables showing the two types of populations that will be used for the method of experiment. In the mice population, it includes the proportions of ascorbic acid and distilled water that will be used by injecting the said proportion in each mouse. The proportion is shown as follows: White mice umber Proportion Ascorbic Acid to Distilled Ascorbic Acid Distilled water 1 70% 30% 2 75% 25% 3 80% 20% 4 85% 15% 5 90% 10% Whatever proportion will come out beneficial will be the proportion that will be used in making the oregano menthol candy. For the second population having five people with cold and cough, should the researcher know the nature of their cold and cough whether mild or severe by taking these patients in the consultant p harmacist. The researcher will ask them questions as shown in the method of collecting data. The table is shown as follows: Patients Number Nature of cold and cough Number of candy intake per day No. f days intake 1 Slight 1 5-7 2 Slight 1 5-7 3 Moderate 1 5-7 4 Severe 1 5-7 5 Severe 1 5-7 2. For making the product After knowing the right proportion of ascorbic acid to be used in making an oregano menthol candy, get and wash the correct grams of oregano leaves. Prepare the ingredients for the making of oregano menthol candy with Bunsen burner, beaker, tripod, stirring rod, triple beam balance, Erlenmeyer flask, filter paper, forceps, sugar, menthol, vanilla for flavoring, wrapper, measuring spoon, evaporating dish and sterilized bottle with cover properly labeled.The researcher will use the triple beam balance to measure the mass of the oregano leaves in grams. Use a porcelain mortar and pestle to pound the oregano leaves and use a clean cheese cloth to separate the juice from the p ulp. After getting the juice, the researcher will place the amount of distilled water in the Erlenmeyer flask followed by placing the juice inside the Erlenmeyer flask with a filter paper at the top of it.After these, the researcher will get the tripod and the Bunsen burner and place the flask at the top of the tripod and put the right quantity of ingredients for making the mentholated candy inside the flask. Should the researcher know the right temperature for mixing the ingredients to the solution as per advised by the consultant pharmacist. These will now be placed in an evaporating dish. Allow the candy to be cooled. Once cooled, it will now be placed in a wrapper by using forceps and seal the wrapper. Finally, place it inside the sterilized bottle with cover and properly labeled.

Country of origin effects in developed and emerging markets Research Paper

Country of origin effects in developed and emerging markets - Research Paper Example ttempted to relate the consumer’s ethnocentrism and materialism as well as their value consciousness with respect to the existing or developed market as well as the emerging markets (Sharma 2011). In order to confirm his hypothesis, the author conducted surveys on both developed and undeveloped markets. This included a number of consumers who were selected from a certain company. The results indicated the significance of looking beyond the consumer ethnocentrism and looking deeply on other psychological effects on consumer’s views on the imported goods. Despite the fact that this article significantly contributes in understanding the consumer behavior patterns, it suffers some limitations. The shortcomings are based on the methodology applied in the study as well as the study findings. One of the main weaknesses of this article is that it uses only one type of the product which is passenger cars. However, consumers may display varying characteristics depending on different factors. Therefore, consumers from a certain market for instance the emerging market may display a different perception on different products based on differences in tastes and preferences. Therefore, this study fails to cover such factors. It would have been advisable for the study to consider different products in order to compare whether there is any significant influence of the type of the product on the consumers’ perception on the imported products. This lowers the reliability of the findings. The study also examined employees from a single company. This information was then used in generalization. This is another weakness of this article. It would be better if the study could have considered a more diverse sample. This would have been more reliable in generalizing the findings on the entire population. By considering a monotonous population, this lowers the power of the general study to generalize on the population. For instance, the sample contain of people from similar social

The effectiveness of mouth-care practices for preventing ventilator Literature review

The effectiveness of mouth-care practices for preventing ventilator associated pneumonia in ventilated patients - Literature review Example This paper focuses upon ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), an avertable resultant of mechanical ventilation and intubation. VAP is essentially pneumonia that forms in intubated patients within the first 48 or so hours. It normally occurs in patients have been put on a mechanical ventilator support to aid their laboured breathing. As will be noted in the research findings, VAP is preventable through a number of interventions. According to the Institute of Healthcare Improvements, VAP prevention in intubated patients can be done by raising the head of ventilated patients’ beds up to 300, administering blockers such as gastric histamine, using sequential compression devices such as anticoagulants to inhibit venous thromboembolism. In addition, VAP can be averted in intubated patients by administering nurses exercising proper hand hygiene when performing intubation. Furthermore, interrupting daily sedation programs at 10 am to assess neurologic status is a key step aimed at pr eventing VAP in patients. As the dissertation will make clear, oral hygiene is of paramount importance when considering prevention and mitigating effects of VAP. By the end of this paper, it will be clear that coupling the aforementioned preventative bundles and timely oral hygiene measures such as tooth brushing can indeed prevent VAP occurrence. Therefore, this paper supports the premise that oral hygiene is paramount in dealing with and preventing VAP in ventilated patients.... Therefore, this paper supports the premise that oral hygiene is paramount in dealing with and preventing VAP in ventilated patients. Table of Contents 1.0 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... p. 2-3 2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... p. 5-6 3.0 Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................p.6 4.0 Literature Review ...........................................................................................................p. 6-8 5.0 Research Methods ..........................................................................................................p. 8-10 6.0 List of Tables 6.1 Findings of CHX study............................................................................................ p. 13 6.2 Incident of VAP i n neurologic patients of the ICU ................................................ p. 14 7.0 Findings ..........................................................................................................................p.10-19 8.0 Discussion ......................................................................................................................p. 19- 22 9.0 Conclusion and Recommendations .............................................................................. p. 22-23 10.0 References ..............................................................................................................p. 19-21 2.0 Introduction The writer of this review works as a nurse in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) situated within a large teaching hospital. The hospital is one of

American Civil War Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Civil War - Assignment Example The southerners wanted to crop their land into the newly acquired states so that they could extend their cotton fields. Acquiring new land meant that these people would require more slaves thus making Texas and other states slave states. Northern states wanted the new states from Mexico to be free states. This motion was moved in congress but was always opposed by the southern states because they had a higher representation in the senate. David Wilmot, the congressman of Pennyslavania, introduced the Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which advocated for mexican acquired states from to be free from slavery. The Wilmot Proviso was raised in the house of representatives. Its main aim was to raise funds to support peace negotiations to end the Mexican American War. The Wilmot Proviso was also supporting a bill by President James Polk to raise 2 million dollars to end the war. The intention of the Wilmont Proviso was to prevent slavery being introduced in the new Mexican states. The Wilmont Proviso was passed to the senate for approval, but was never approved. Some parts concerning the Proviso were passed. The Free Soil Party was also against the introduction of slavery in Texas and other states acquired from Mexico. This party was strong in the New York city and was mainly supported by the former anti-slave members of the Democratic Party. The Free Soil Party, which lasted between 1848 and 1852, argued that free soil and free people contributed better to the growth of the economy. California sought to be recognized as a free state in 1849. This was faced by opposition especially from the southern states that advocated by slaves providing cheap labour for their farms and working long hours. The request was also controversial because gold had been discovered in California and there was a Gold Rush. Henry Clay drafted the Compromise of 1850 that admitted California as one of the free states, and other territories such as Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico would not have slave ry any more. Another development in the Compromise of 1850 was the solution to the Texas border problem. Additionally, in Columbia, the slave trade that was practised in the area was abolished, but slavery was still permitted. The Compromise of 1850 increased the number of free states, causing an imbalance between the states supporting slavery and free states. This contributed to the American Civil War. 2 The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 was created by the Senator of Illinois Stephen Douglas. This act, which involved two territories Kansas and Nebraska, allowed these territories to decide for themselves if they wanted to allow slavery in their land. This arrangement was against the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which did not allow slavery north of latitude 36 degrees 30’. Following the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, those supporting slavery and those against moved into the Kansas and Nebraska teritorries in order to affect the outcome of the elections. The first election since the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was held. Those supporting pro-slavery won, but the election was nullified because of rigging. Other elections were held by the supporters of anti-slavery, but the rest refused to vote. This led to a war between the anti-slavery supporters and those supporting slavery. After the war, both parties established parallel governments within the territory and Kansas was not recognized as a state. In another election, the pro-slavery supporters won but again accused of cheating in the elections,

McDonald's strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

McDonald's strategy - Assignment Example ged across the globe because of the economic recession of 2010, McDonald’s adopted a combination of the cost focus and differentiation strategies to boost sales. This campaign comprised of initiating cost cutting measures in business operations, maintaining the affordable of menu offerings and improving the menu to address changing customer preferences. According to Mourdoukoutas (2013), McDonald’s has previously demonstrated similar patterns of adopting a specific strategic direction in the past starting from the 1960s when the company identified the customer’s demand of having access to a menu which offered both affordability and convenience. Consequently, the organization realized the onset of globalization as a fundamental trend that emerged in the decade of 70s and 80s thereby, choosing to take the McDonald’s brand worldwide because of favorable conditions. The company’s strategic decision-making in the past therefore, reflects that the organization carefully tailors its strategy around its most valuable element – the customers. Henceforth, the organization’s strategies have surfaced as winners when other companies have failed to make a mark or have succumbed to unfavorable economic conditions. Moreover, the company also recognizes the implications of competition in a highly volatile i ndustry which is also an important consideration behind the success which it has been able to achieve and sustain. Mourdoukoutas, P. (2013). Starbuck’s and McDonald’s Winning Strategy. Forbes. Available online at [2nd July,

Deaf culture. This paper contains answers for three questions about Assignment

Deaf culture. This paper contains answers for three questions about Deaf Again Book - Assignment Example Moreover, he does not need to speak openly or wear a hearing aid because they could easily communicate, because they were also Deaf. They understand that sign language is an optimum way to communicate with him; therefore, he does not struggle when he communicates with them. As for his hearing grandparents, the experience is opposite as he has to read their lips, speak plainly, wear a hearing aid, and act as a hearing individual; a process that is quite challenging for him. The second difference was their perspective toward deafness. His Deaf grandparents view deafness as a cultural difference between them and hearing individuals. They were very proud of being Deaf. They do not consider themselves as a disabled or consider deafness as something that needs fixing. On the other hand, his hearing grandparents were viewing deafness as a disability and something that needs to be fixed. Therefore, they reject the use of sign language and encourage him to use speech in his communication. In addition, they often felt sorry for him; as they try to improve his speaking skills. The last difference was the Dinner Table Syndrome. Anytime her visits his Deaf grandparents, he does not feel the isolated and enjoys sharing stories, joking, and all kinds of conversation with them via sign language. In contrast, when he visits his hearing grandparents, he feels left out at the dinner table, because he cannot participate freely as the talk, share their stories, and joke through spoken language. The author indicates that there is a critical period for language acquisition for Deaf children; which is usually during the first five years of age. He pointed out that the Deaf parents must focus on sign language accessibility during this period of the Deaf child’s life by allowing their child to interact with his/her Deaf peers and involve in Deaf community activities. He explained that early exposure to sign language during

Literature Review and Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Literature Review and Report - Essay Example Succession planning is a process of identifying and developing people from within the organization with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the company. It increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available. It is now combined with leadership training and the processes together are very essential for the functioning of an organization. There are very many advantages of filling up the positions with existing employees, such as, they are already familiar with the values and the methods of functioning of the organization, the people of the organization already know them and thus it will be easier for them to fit in. Also, giving people such an opportunity ensures that they will work extra hard to get trained and developed so that they can fill in the gap required and aim for a promotion. Using internal employees also helps cut down on costs that would come up from the relentless head hunting acti vities for filling in a high post and gives out the message to the employees that the organization is closely knit and would rather give them the opportunities first. LITERATURE ARGUMENTS: Succession Planning Succession planning plays a very important role in regenerating a company's leadership, but quite often, the promises of traditional succession planning are not delivered. The whole purpose of succession planning in an organization, according to Leibman, Bruer and Maki (1996), is to develop a strong leader, not choose, but develop. This is because every organization has different needs and requirements from their leader. Allio (2007) insists that it is necessary to strategically build strong leadership teams in an organization, so as to meet these requirements. He discusses the importance of having good leaders in an organization and the effects that rogue leader can have. Barsh, Capozzi and Davidson (2008) on the other hand discuss the importance of the integration of innovati on into the strategic management of the organization. Leibman, Bruer and Maki (1996) write about the factors that play prominent roles in the development of these leadership teams. One of them is non discriminating hiring, which has led to work places being more diverse, in terms of gender, religious background, age group and ethnicities, all trying to balance home and work, to contribute to a better standard of living for the entire family. Thus, with increasing diversity in the workforce, it is essential that this factor be taken into account in the leadership development programs of organizations. Their research has shown that to achieve better results and higher productivity, corporations have begun to make changes in their structures. Allio (2007) adds to this view by stating, tall organizations are out, making way for a more lenient, flat structure that gives people greater authority and accountability, but also reduces chaos in the organization and encourages team efforts. Th is further contributes to the focus on preparing leadership team, rather than individuals. Also, having a team gives an organization more options and points of view. Barsh, Capozzi and Davidson (2008) provides an additional perspective that, this in some way makes the decision making process more efficient, if not easy, for the simple reason that more than one opinion is taken into account

Coffee Processing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coffee Processing - Essay Example However, you will enjoy coffee more if you learn how to process it. It is even a good idea to process your own coffee at home and indulge in your coffee creation. Though the process is requires a lot of time, effort and complicacies, it might be worth it. The basic steps in home coffee processing are picking, pulping, fermentation, drying, hulling, and roasting. The first step in coffee processing is picking the ripe cherries. Before embarking on this task, you need to know to be able to identify and differentiate the ripe from the unripe berries. Ripe berries are deep red in color. The rationale in picking coffee cherries when they are ripe is their relatively higher aromatic oil, lower organic acid content, more fragrant, smooth, and mellow. You must manually hand pick the fruit in order to choose only the ripe ones. This is an essential step in coffee processing as classification of the handpicked fruit often determines the quality of the end product. The next step is known as defruiting or pulping which is done immediately after picking the cherries in order to preserve quality. In this stage, you now separate the coffee bean from the coffee cherry. This can be done in two ways: first, you can individually squeeze the berry by hand or you can use you can use a piece of wood to compress the berries in the container until all the seeds are removed. Afterwards, you need to fill the container with water for the seeds and the removed skin to float. The skin and the seed should be removed before they settle. You then repeat the process until the all the seeds and skin are eliminated. In order to ferment the coffee beans, they should be put in a plastic bucket filled with water. Fermentation is done in around 18-48 hours depending on the temperature of the surrounding. To test if the fermentation is complete, you should take a handful of beans and wash them with water. If the beans are already clean and not slippery, enough fermentation has already bean achieved. You can now wash the beans in running water and drain, repeating the process until the water becomes clear. Drying is the process wherein the coffee beans are spread out on a wide concrete or rock and is exposed to air or sunlight to eliminate excess moisture. You can either sun dry or use a home food dehydrator to adequately remove the moisture. To enhance effectiveness, you should see to it that the beans are stirred three times a day in the entire process. Before roasting, hulling should be done in order to remove the tough thin parchment from the beans. You can do this by placing the beans, a small quantity at a time, in a food processor with plastic blades. You need to blend the coffee beans at slow speed for about thirty minutes. A hair dryer can also be utilized to blow away the unwanted lighter parchment from the beans. After hulling, you can now store in the store the beans in jars as they are now ready for roasting. Roasting is one integral step in attaining a savory coffee. You can roast the coffee beans by baking them in the oven. Spread the coffee beans thinly in a large baking, ensuring to stir frequently to prevent burning and facilitate an even roast. It is estimated that a single layer of beans will roast in 12 minutes at 230-250C. Your personal preference should be your guide in coffee roasting. Stronger flavor is achieved by roasting a little longer than usual. After the aforementioned processes, the coffee is now ready for grinding, brewing, and

Children with special needs can be cured Thesis

Children with special needs can be cured - Thesis Example mmended for the improvement that the children with special need positioned in inclusion classrooms, there is nothing more imperative than the educational benefits. According to different research studies children with developmental disabilities positioned in inclusion classrooms create immense developments in language, mental and motor development that are beyond their peers in individual education classrooms. Poor children are exposed to significantly more social and physical toxicities in the environment that cause or exacerbate chronic health conditions.  These exposures are due to the risk behaviors of their parents, other adults around them, and their living environment.  Substance use by their mothers during pregnancy; poor nutrition pre- and post-natal; exposure to second hand tobacco smoke; substandard housing with potentially increased levels of toxins. Once diagnosed with a chronic condition, poor children and their families generally have more limited access to health services, (McManus & Newacheck, 1040; Miller, 430) and often the services they receive are of lower quality.  In some places, health providers are subtly directed to limit their therapeutic time with a child covered by Medicaid because the reimbursement is too low to cover their time. Just as medical technology has prolonged more childrens lives, scientific advances have increased knowledge about treatments, equipment and technological devices designed to improve the function and quality of life of Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN).  For example, early intervention services are guaranteed by law for children with or at risk of developmental disabilities as a way to maximize their potential (Ramey & Ramey, 110).  Adapted computer technology and new therapies can increase functional abilities for children with motor and sensory impairments.  However, both the increased prevalence of CSHCN and increased treatment options are occurring in the context of a national effort to

Syrian Civil War Essay Example for Free

Syrian Civil War Essay The Syrian civil war is an armed conflict in Syria, which has began on 15 March 2011 with demonstrations and protests against Syrian president Bashar al- Assad, which evolved into an armed rebellion. By now Syrian war cost more than 55,000 lives and many people are still dying in this war. It is important to focus on ending of this war as soon as possible not only for good of Syria but also for the good of whole world. My opinion is that the main problem why this war still continues is because many countries are supporting their economy by sending new and new weapons into Syria, and these weapons don’t end only in hands of Syrian army but also in hands of rebels fighting against the government. I think that first think Syria should focus on in these days is to secure its weapon sites, containing dangerous chemical weapons also labeled as WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction). These weapons became the point of interest of rebels, which are trying to take them and use not only against Syrian army, but also against any else country including the USA. Stated in Adam Clark Estes’s paragraph from The Atlantic Wire, it is scary enough to think of what the Assad regime could do with the several hundred tons of chemical weapons and horrifying to think of what terrorists would do. I think that president Assad should pay more attention to sites and military bases where are these weapons stored and secure them. According to Estes’s paragraph, â€Å"What we know, however, is that the United States and its European allies are working fast and hard to mobilize forces to protect those weapons and, hopefully, avert the unthank able.† He also says that there are also good news and uses retired general Adnan Silou’s quotation that â€Å"It’s unlikely that insurgents would know how to successfully detonate chemical munitions on their own.† I don’t really agree with this opinion, and I think that if rebels would steal the chemical weapons it would be only the question of time until they would find somebody who would arm them. Furthermore Silou says that â€Å"After the regime falls, anyone could take them.† And according to Estes’s paragraph that is the main reason why the United States is working with Israel, Jorda n and the NATO allies to get the troops to those sites as soon as possible. President Obama warned president Assad in BBC news that â€Å"The world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable.† The bad news according to Estes’s paragraph are simple. If the chemical weapons will be used, they won’t kill a few people, they kills thousands, and if the weapons will make it out Syria, that could mean thousands of Americans. According to CNN paragraph, Syrian government insists it would never use chemical weapons on its own people. But world leaders say Syria’s desperation could lead to even more tragedy in the war-torn country. I think that the main point of CNN’s paragraph is that many people can’t even imagine, how big danger these chemical weapons represent for humanity, and that’s why CNN is trying to â€Å"introduce† us some of the substances these weapons contain. According to CNN paragraph, military analysts believe Syria may have one of the largest stockpiles of chem ical weapons in the world. All the stocks of these weapons that the Syrian Arab Republic possesses are monitored and guarded by the Syrian army. These weapons are meant to be used only and strictly in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said in July. When we are talking about the substances these weapons include, we are talking about chemicals like sarin, mustard gas or VX gas which are able to kill thousands of people in few minutes or cause permanent illnesses like cancer or blindness. According to CNN’s paragraph sarin gas is an odorless nerve agent that can cause convulsions, paralysis and respiratory failure. Nerve agents are the most toxic and rapidly acting of the known chemical warfare agents. Sarin quickly evaporates from liquid to vapor form and disperse into the environment. It also mixes easily with water and can poison a water supply. VX is another nerve agent that can be lethal when inhaled. It can also be dispersed in a liquid form; even a few small drops on the skin can lead to the same effects as sarin gas. Compared with the nerve agent sarin, VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation, the CDC said. Mustard gas also known as sulfur mustard leaves chemical burns on the skin, eyes and even the lungs when inhaled. While mustard gas can be fatal, it also can disable victims and can cause cancer or permanent blindness. Syria promised to not use these weapons in the civil war, but will it really keep this promise? Syria’s war is now 21-month long conflict and many people aren’t so sure that these weapons will stay in their sites. Ahmet Uzumcu, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said â€Å"For the first time in the history of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in April 1997, there are serious concerns that chemical weapons might be used.† President’s Assad newest speech about that would begin a peace process and keep the besieged leader in power was – according to ABC news paragraph – quickly rejected by the USA president Obama. Furthermore State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Assads latest plan is detached from reality and would only allow the regime to continue its oppression of the Syrian people. Assad spoke Sunday in a rare public speech, outlining a new peace initiative that includes a national reconciliation conference and a new constitution. He ignored international demands to step down and pledged to continue the nearly two-year fight against rebels challenging his authoritarian rule. Nuland says Assad has lost all legitimacy and should step aside to allow for a political solution and a democratic transition that satisfies the Syrian people. My opinion to the actual situation is that, both USA and Syria should try to find solutions and not putting each other on side and trying to solve problems individually.

Capgras Delusion: Impaired Face Recognition Process

Capgras Delusion: Impaired Face Recognition Process Capgras delusion, the belief that somebody is replaced by an imposer. First, this study examines whether Capgras patients, compared to controls, have an impaired face recognition process. Patients show to be hyporesponsive to familiar faces and show to have a decreased activity in brain areas, such as the prefrontal, lateral temporal and mesial temporal regions. The second part of this study examines the belief reasoning processes in patients compared to controls. Patients show an impairment in their belief reasoning process and this is linked to an impairment of the right lateral prefrontal cortex. The goal is to see whether Capgras patients have an impaired face-recognition process and an impaired belief-evaluating process, associated with the brain activity, compared to control participants. The main objectives Showing that Capgras patients have an impaired face recognition process because they are hyporesponsive to familiar faces, by measuring reaction times of the recognition of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Showing that, because certain areas in the brain are responsible for face recognition, Capgras patients have impairments in certain brain areas, such as the prefrontal, lateral temporal and mesial temporal regions (by measuring the BOLD activity in these areas), to experience Capgras delusions, because they are hyporesponsive to familiar faces. Showing that, because according to Colthearts two factor theory, Capgras patients have a decreased reasoning-evaluation process, Capgras patients have an impaired reasoning process. This study also wants to show that this reasoning process is associated with the right lateral prefrontal cortex (by measuring the BOLD activity in the right lateral prefrontal cortex) and that Capgras patients should show in impairment in this area. This study is seeking to expand research on which processes are damaged in people who experience Capgras delusions, looking at two theories. Experiment 1 and 2 are about damage to the face recognition system. In experiment 1we argue that patients are hyporesponsive to familiar faces by looking at their reaction times in the recognition of familiar and unfamiliar faces. In experiment 2, an fMRI scan measures the brain activity while participants look at familiar and unfamiliar faces. It is predicted that Capgras patients will show impairments in areas that are involved in face recognition, such as the prefrontal, lateral temporal and mesial temporal regions. The second theory, the two factor theory, suggests that delusions are a result of an impairment of belief evaluation processes. Experiment 3 wants to link this impairment in belief reasoning to the right prefrontal lateral cortex. Capgras patients are expected to show a decreased activity, measured by an fMRI scan, in this area wh ile they do a belief reasoning task. This will indicate that Capgras patients have impaired face recognition processes and impaired belief reasoning processes and these processes are linked to several impairments in the brain. Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) are psychiatric disorders distinguished by the fact that they all involve some deviation from normal processes of recognising people (Ellis Young, 1990, p239). A specific DMS is the Capgras syndrome. The Capgras syndrome is characterized by the patient insisting that others, usually those quite close emotionally, have been replaced by doubles, impostors or robots (Ellis et al., 1997, p 1058). For example, a man could think his mother is replaced by an imposer. Mostly the duplicated people, are people very close to the patients (Todd et al., 1981) and the patients often show conflicting feelings of love and hate for the duplicated relatives (Enoch Trethowan, 1991). Most of the patients who are suffering from Capgras syndrome have some evidence of brain abnormalities (Joseph, 1985). Bauer (1984, 1986) introduced the dual recognition route. He suggests that there are two routes of facial recognition, the ventral and the dorsal route. The ventral route runs from the visual cortex to the temporal lobes and is the conscious recognition route. The dorsal route runs from the visual cortex to the limbic system and is the affective response route. Ellis Young (1990) proposed that Capgras delusion is a mirror-image of prosopagnosia, the inability to recognise previous familiar faces, mostly following brain damage (Sorger et al., 2007). They suggested that in Capgras delusions, the affective response route is damaged, which means that patients will consciously recognise the person, but they wont have an affective response that is associated with familiarity, but they do have an intact ventral route. In 1997 Ellis et al. did study on face recognition in Capgras patients. They found that unlike the control participants, who showed significant differences, that Capgras pati ents showed no difference in skin conductance response (SCR) to familiar and unfamiliar faces, which means that they are hyporesponsive to familiar faces and thus that Capgras patients have a breakdown in familiarity processing. Coltheart (2007) worked further on this idea and proposed that if you can answer the next two questions, we can have a possible explanation for the delusion. Where did the delusion come from? and Why does the patient not reject the belief? (Coltheart, 2007, p1044). This called this the two factor theory of delusions. He proposed that there had to be two neuropsychological deficits. First, what is responsible for the content of the delusion and secondly, what is responsible for the persistence of the belief, which means that there needs to be damage in the right hemisphere, because it is involved in belief evaluation. They argued that the right temporal-parietal regions and the right frontal lobe are very important in the belief evaluation. In 2011, Coltheart et al. explained that via abductive inference we make propositions. These propositions have to survive a belief-evaluation process to be adopted as a belief. According to Coltheart et al. (2011) this belief evaluation process is damaged in Capgras patients. This study wants to look at both views, the impairments of face recognition and the impairments to belief evaluation processes. Experiment 1 and 2 focuses on face recognition, whether experiment 3 focuses on the belief evaluation process. First of all, usually reaction times are significantly faster for familiar faces than for unfamiliar faces (Balas, Cox Conwell, 2007). Because of the hyporesponsiveness to familiar faces (Ellis et al., 1997), Capgras patients are expected to have no significant difference in reaction time between familiar and unfamiliar faces. Secondly, according to Ellis et al. (1997), Capgras patients should have an impairment in their face recognition. One study found a reduced neural activity in the face recognition system in a case of Capgras delusion (Thiel et al., 2013). Another study found higher activity in the left superior parietal and biletral middle frontal gyrus in familiar faces (Rossion et al., 2001). Activations in the prefrontal, lateral temporal and mesial temporal regions were associated with recognition of famous faces (Leveroni et al., 2000). This would mean that Capgr as patients, who are hyporesponsive to familiar faces (Ellis et al., 1997), would show an increased activity in these areas. In experiment 3, the belief evaluation process is tested. Coltheart et al. (2011) suggested that the impairment in Capgras patients in the belief evaluation process is associated with right lateral prefrontal cortex pathology. Evidence was found for a dynamic neural system for reasoning in the lateral/dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (Goel Dolan, 2003). In an fMRI study, they found a role of the lateral prefrontal cortex in modulation of reasoning by beliefs (Goel Dolan, 2003). They found that correct logical reasoning showed an increased activity in the right lateral prefrontal cortex. This means that, according to Colthearts two factor theory (2010), that Capgras patient would show a decreased activity in this area, because of their impairments in the belief evaluation system. Participants and design: This study will recruit a sample of 10 Capgras patients and 10 healthy age-matched controls. Participants will receive fees for participating. They will be provided with an informed consent. This study exists out of two experiments. In the first task participants will be provided with pictures of familiar and unfamiliar faces (in Capgras patients familiar faces of the persons they replace with imposers and in controls with family members) while reaction time is measured and an fMRI scan is taken. In the second experiment, the right lateral prefrontal cortex activity is measured with an fMRI scan while the participants look at familiar and unfamiliar faces and at the same time are asked questions about these persons in a belief-reasoning task. Stimulus materials and procedure: In the first experiment, participants were asked to sit in 0.5 m in front of a screen. Each trial started with a cue image of a familiar or an unfamiliar face for 500 ms. After an interinterval of 500 ms, a picture that matched the cue image was shown together with a picture that didnt match (left and right). The participants were asked via button presses to show which picture matched the cue image, as rapid and accurately as possible. All stimulus presentation responeses were analysed with the Matlab Psychophysics Toolbox. This task was taken from Balas, Cox Conwell (2007). In the second experiment, before the participants will be asked to enter the fMRI, they will be instructed about the task. This study uses the task Ellis et al. (1997) used, for testing the identification of familiar faces. When they are in the fMRI, they will see pictures of their family members (for the Capgras patients, including the persons they think are replaced by imposers) or unfamiliar pictures. They got to see 10 familiar faces and 20 unfamiliar faces in random order. For each face the participant was asked to respond if the face was familiar to them or not, while the fMRI scan measured their blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) activity in their brain. In experiment 3, the participants were asked again to enter the fMRI scan. We used the belief reasoning task (Appendix: Picture 1) of Sommer et al. (2007). In both of the conditions, the first four pictures are the same. In the true belief task the girl comes back in the room and sees that the boy puts the ball into the baske t. In the false belief task, she comes back in the room after he putted the ball in the basket. The response picture (red) was the same in both condition. In 50% of the trials, the girl, based on her belief, looked for the ball in the expected box and in the other 50% in the unexpected box. The participants needed to decide if Betty, based on her belief, made the expected or unexpected choice by key pressing, while the BOLD activity in the right lateral prefrontal cortex was measured. In experiment 1 we expect that Capgras patients will show no significant difference in reaction times to familiar or unfamiliar faces, because of their hyporesponsivess to familiar faces (Ellis et al., 1997), compared to normal controls who are expected to have reaction times faster for familiar faces than for unfamiliar faces (Balas, Cox Conwell, 2007). In experiment 2 we expect Capgras patients to have a decreased activity in the prefrontal, lateral temporal and mesial temporal regions compared to controls, because of their impairment in face recognition (Ellis et al., 1997). In experiment 3, we expect patients to have a decreased activity in the right lateral prefrontal cortex while they do the belief reasoning task, because of Colthearts suggestion that Capgras patients have a damaged belief evaluation process. This study will benefit psychologist who have studied Capgras delusion, because the causes are still very vague and not that many studies have been done on Capgras. It will also benefit Capgras patients. . It can be useful for patients suffering from schizophrenia and dementia because Capgras syndrome is often associated with these disorders. It can help create treatments by knowing the origins in the brain while patients experience these hallucinations. This study focus on more theories, which makes it easier to understand this delusion.

Information systems of ford motor company

Information systems of ford motor company Since Information System is a concept for competitive advantage which defined in the early 80s, there are lots of companies invested at information technology. Until now, there is a survey shows that information technology investment is being more and more in every company. It is showing that, Information system is a foundation for conducting business today. In many businesses, survival and the ability to achieve strategic business goals is difficult without extensive use of information technology. It is because information technology can help a company more easy to gain competitive by achieving operational excellence, developing new products and services, enhanced customer and supplier intimacy and exploiting digital markets. So nowadays, information system is very important for every company. This essay will discuss how useful of information system in business, by using Ford Motor Company as an example which using information system to enhanced customer and supplier intimacy in customer relationship management system (CRM). Ford Motor Companys organization and environment The Ford motor company was formed in 1903 by Henry Ford whose aim was to provide the people with a cheap and affordable car that any middle class employed person could own. Ford Motor Company is a famous company which selling automotive. It is also a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Michigan. It manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. In 1995, Ford had embarked on an ambitious restructuring plan called Ford 2000, which included merging its North American, European, and international automotive operations into a single global. Ford 2000 helps company reduce the cost by reengineering and globalizing corporate organizations and processes. The major reengineering projects were initiated around major company processes such as Order to Delivery (OTD) and Ford Production System (FPS), with goals such as reducing OTD time from more than 60 days to less than 15 days. Ford also launched a public Internet site in mid- 1995; by mid- 1997 the number of visits to the site had reached more than 1 million per day. A companywide Intranet was launched in mid- 1996. And by January 1997 Ford had in place a business-to-business capability through which the Intranet could be extended in a secure manner beyond company boundaries into an Extranet potentially connecting Ford with its suppliers. Ford teamed with Chrysler and General Motors to work on the Automotive Network Exchange, which can help suppliers to manage different means of interaction with each automaker to be consistency in technology standards and processes in the supplier network. In the supply chain area, there was general agreement that information technology also could be deployed to dramatically enhance material flows and reduce inventories, substituting information for inventory, as the expression went. So in the plan of Ford 2000, for meeting the aim on reengineering projects, having a nice supply chain management systems and customer relationship management systems can help the company more close to suppliers and customers which can easy to reduce the cost on order to delivery system and ford production system. As that time Internet revolution unfolded in parallel, Ford Motor Company created new possibilities for reengineering processes within and between enterprises by using Internet. Fords Existing Supply Base The existing supply base was in many respects a product of history. Start in early 1990s, Ford had begun to try actively to decrease the number of suppliers the company dealt with directly. Rather than using a large amount to buy individual components, it shifts to have long-term relationships with a subset of very capable suppliers who would provide entire vehicle subsystems. By doing that, Ford can easier to have a well link with major suppliers which can help Ford easier to improving a range of techniques such as just-in-time and total quality management. Ford Motor Companys SCM and CRM technology of Information system Ford Production System In restructuring plan, Ford 2000, the most important is reengineering projects; one of these projects is Ford Production System, it is an information system to achieve a close relationship to suppliers. Its aim is that improve the process on making motor to be more pull-based system, with synchronized production, continuous flow, and stability throughout the process. To achieve that, Ford could tell suppliers exactly when and where certain components would be needed days in advance, and buffer stocks thus could be reduced dramatically. If this system can work successfully, the benefits would be felt throughout the supply chain. Order to Delivery For another key process Ford reengineering projects is looking for improve the customer relationship management system. The information system to do that is Order to Delivery, the purpose of this system was to reduce to 15days the time from a customers order to delivery of the finished product. The Order to Delivery vision was to create a lean, flexible, and predictable process that harmonized the efforts of all of Fords components to enable it to provide consumers with right product in right place at right time, which means that it can help Ford Motor Company meet the just-in-time technique. By achieving Order to Delivery, Ford believed that it would provide better quality, higher customer satisfaction, improved customer selection, better plant productivity, stability for its supply base, and lower dealer and company costs. Ford Retail Network On 1 July, 1998, Ford Motor Company launched the first of its Ford Retail Network ventures in Tulsa, Oklahoma, under the newly formed Ford Investment Enterprises Company. The principle of Ford Retail Network was that giving consumers the highest level of treatment and create an experience they would want to come back to again and again. The showrooms would be consolidated to focus resources on creating a superior selling experience, while the number of service outlets would increase to be closer to customer population centers. Then Ford can reduce the cost on advertising as well as more and more on using Internet to provide the service to the customers as the information system can analysis the needs for customers effectively. Using SAPÂ ® software Until now, Ford not only just follows the web-site to provide the service to customers, for achieving total supply chain visibility in real time, increasing dealer and customer service satisfaction and minimizing costs, especially ongoing IT costs, Ford also using SAPÂ ® software, to improve the performance on supply chain management and customer relationship management. Business models for Ford Motor Company Three generic strategies Cost Leadership Under Porter (1985), he regarded the selection of a defendable position within an industry as the end result of a competitive strategic analysis. He argued that successful, profitable companies generally choose to compete on either low costs or by differentiating their products to meet specific customer needs. Although these two strategic options are mutually exclusive, he added a third category of firms as niche players that serve a specific market or product segment. Porters three generic strategies are: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Henry Ford was a farmers son whose manufacturing genius transformed life around the globe (Ford Motor Company, 2010). So that Ford Motor Company is following the business models which Henry Ford want to be. It is the cost leadership. In the automobile industry, Ford Motor Company can meet its business model, cost leadership. As Porter (1985) stated that cost leadership is about being the lowest cost producer in the industry. For an organization to gain competitive advantage, it must achieve overall cost leadership in an industry it is competing in. To lowest the cost, there are many techniques and methodology for organizations to use. Among the popular and successful techniques used by successful organizations worldwide in enhancing quality, productivity, lowering cost are six methodology, Total Quality Management (TQM), Benchmarking Competitors, Just-in-Time (JIT), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and MRP solutions. When Ford Motor Company developed the information system, it is easier to achieve this business model. It is because Ford using information system to improve the relationship to customers and suppliers. Ford develop the Ford Production System can help it to improve Supply Chain Management system to be a competitive advantage. And also, the Order to Delivery system can reduce the time, which means Ford can easier to achieve the just-in-time techniques. Not only these two reasons, but also the major reason of Ford can achieve this business model, cost leadership, is that Ford through developing information system to get a power on using a cheaper price to buy the material from suppliers. By that, Ford can reduce the cost effectively, thats why Ford Motor Company can achieve cost leadership. Ford developed the information system is focus on enhanced customer and supplier intimacy, it is looking for what customers want to, not for what company what to develop. So that means, Ford is not just focus on narrow target. It is because different customers need different type of cars. Value Chain Porter (1985) stated that value chain model is a systematic way of analyzing all the firms activities and evaluating how they interact with each other. Such an examination is necessary in order to identify potential sources of competitive advantage. For Porter, the value chain can be consisted for five primary activities (including inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service) and four support activities (including firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement). The value chain of the Ford Motor Company is not all that different from other manufacturers in the automobile industry. However, when Ford Motor Company developed information system, it helped Ford to improve its value chain. In one of support activities, Procurement, Ford through its information system, Ford Production System, to improve the relationship of suppliers, it is not only helping Ford to reduce the cost for buying material, but also working closely with its suppliers to eliminate waste and thereby lower costs for both organizations. This should be a win-win situation for both companies and should help lift Ford from its near-last ranking in supplier relations. The next activity for information system to improve is technology development. Ford through the information system, Ford Retail Network, to understand the value of consumer input and what consumer needed, which can help Ford easier to design a successful modern design technologies. They have initiated tailoring design models after public demand. This method has proven highly successful in recent financial periods. Marketing is also a very important aspect of the Ford. By using Ford Retail Network system, Ford has been working together with dealers or buys all dealers to collect more information to create marketing strategies that help boost sales. This is proven to be the primary basis for the consumers perceived values. Ford has also teamed-up with Caterpillar Logistics and SAP to improve warehousing and its Daily Parts Advantage network for getting spare parts to their dealers. Their hope in partnering with Cat Logistics was to secure a partner with expertise in the automotive supply chain, laying a foundation for development of a new information system. The goal was to obtain end-to-end visibility of service parts, increase the speed of time to market, optimize inventories at each location, and do a better job serving the customer (Supply Chain Brain). Along with Cat Logistics and SAP, Ford is also using an SAS platform that supports customer relationship management (CRM). This SAS platform enhances Fords existing customer relationship database and provides a powerful base for information analysis, data mining and predictive modeling thus enabling highly effective reporting, trending, segmentation, customer scoring, and customer life-cycle analysis all of which support key activities for CRM. As information system can improve lots of activities in value chain, it can help the company to gain the competitive advantage. Problems and challenges in the development of the Information System When Ford Motor Company developed the information system, it needs to face lots of challenges. Here are some of them. Costly and timely As Ford is a large company, it is very costly on developing information system. There are complex pieces of software which Ford developed to achieve its competitive advantage. To develop these large system, Ford need to spend its recourses. Not only the cost on buying software and hardware of the system, but also other cost such as consulting fees, personnel costs, training. Also, most of them need to spend time to develop. For Ford Motor Company, it has large team on Information Technology, which needs to hire lots of employees to work. There are costly on the salaries and also it needs spend over one mouth to train the employees to understand the system and use the system. As Ford adopts an enterprise application from SAP, it is very costly to switch SAP and it become dependent on SAP to upgrade its product and maintain its installation. Hard to collect information Some of the information systems which developed by Ford focus on supply chain management. These systems require multiple organizations to share information and business processes. It is difficult for each participant to change of its process and the way it uses information to create a system that best serves the supply chain as whole. Also, there are different policies in different company; Ford cannot collect the information fully for its suppliers as some of the information may be the secrecy. Hard to handle the technology As the technology of information system such as internet is growth quickly, it is not easy for Ford Motor Company to understand clearly about the technology, it will be a risk on losing money when develop that technology. So when developing the information system, Ford needs to make sure it understands what is its usage clearly. Conclusion In short, Ford uses information technology on business manager, SCM and CRM, for enhanced customer and supplier successfully. It can see that information system can help Ford achieve its business model. Nowadays, every company will develop the information system to achieve competitive, most of them have the e-business, too. It is surly that information system is a very useful and major tool to help company to meet their aims. However, it does not mean have information system can help the company to do a successful business, because the most important is that company have a correct business strategy. As the example on Ford, its business model is cost leadership; it is a great competitive advantage at early 1900s when Ford provided Model T cars. However, following the change of environment, it is not work now. So, if a company want to achieve competitive, it is not only focusing on develop information system, but also focusing on the business strategy.

Problems in the United States Educational System Essay -- essays resea

Problems in the United States Educational System Today, the way the educational system works in the U.S. concerns a large number of people in this country. "Only 25% of adults have a great deal of confidence in the people running education, according to the General Social Survey, down from 49% in 1974" (Russel 4). A lot of discussions have been held to find the best ways to improve teaching methods. At the same time, people recognize that a very valuable solution to increase the level of education in the United States is to look at some problems that cause difficulties and hamper the enhancement of the quality of education. The first step is to define these problems. As in every country, the U.S. wants to develop its national standards in education and wants them to be high. This has always been a government function. Being democratic, the government is trying to fit the qualities of democracy into the way to set these standards. Of course, this is not an easy task since this country has a very diverse population. To plea se everybody has always been an almost impossible task. Despite this impossibility, national standards have already been set. "If a visitor from another nation was dropped into an American public school classroom without knowing the state or the region, he or she would be likely to see the same lesson taught in the same way to children of the same age" (Ravitch 9). Everything seems right except the fact that the abilities of children are different. Not everybody is able to study at a college; not everybody wants to continue being educated. It is obvious that every country wants to produce as many educated people as possible. But, at the same time, every country needs workers because, regardless of the fast development of technology, there is still a great necessity for human labor. To satisfy all the necessities of the country, the government should provide different kinds of education. This does not mean that we need to eliminate all of the standards; they could be set in each field of education. Although standards are set, there is still a very big difference in teaching methods in different schools. Perhaps, the most serious problem starts in high schools: some schools provide a higher level of education than others. Students from most city schools graduate with the confidence in their knowledge; their level of educati... ... 1998: 45-47. Gray, Kenneth. "The baccalaureate game: Is it right for all teens?" Phi Delta Kappa Apr. 1996: 528+. McEachern, William A. "The Max for the Minimum." The teaching economist. Issue 15. Spring 1998. Nelson, F. Howard. "How and How Much the U.S. Spends On K-12 Education: An International Comparison." Mar. 1996: n. pag. Online. Internet. 9 Mar.1998. Available http://www.aft.org/research/reports/interntl/sba.htm. Ravitch, Diane. "50 states, 50 standards?: The continuing need for national voluntary standards in education." The Brookings Review Summer 1996: 6+. Rehder, Robert R. "Education and Training: Have the Japanese Beaten Us Again?" Personnel Journal Jan. 1983: 42. Russel, Cheryl. "What's wrong with schools?" American Demographics Sep. 1996: 4+. Sinitsyn, Maxim I. "The Results of a Test." msinits@siue.edu (30 Mar. 1998). Smith, Greg. "How to beat the SAT/ACT blues" Career World Nov. 1995: 13+. Sternberg, Robert J. "Extra Credit for Doing Poorly." New York Times 25 Aug. 1997, late ed.: sec.A: 23. "Strengths and weaknesses of American education." Phi Delta Kappa Apr. 19

Dog Company :: essays research papers

Frontiline â€Å"A Company of Soldiers† To Whom It May Concern: 1st Calvary Division C/O PAO Maj. Phil Smith Building 2800 761 Tank Battalion Blvd. Ft. Hood, TX 76544 Dear Dog Company,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I recently had the opportunity to view your documentary concerning your division â€Å"A Company of Soldiers† with my English 12 writing class. Words can not depict the heroic actions portrayed and emotions generated from within as each second passed before me. I would just like to state how grateful this heart is for the efforts exhausted, they are not taken for granite. The phrase has been given that we don’t relate with the war until it effects us personally and I guarantee that Frontline awoke the soul of every viewer it reached, leaving them with a new perspective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An issue was presented that if those willing to protest and fight to bring our folks back home are that organized, they should be signing up to come over seas. I could not agree more with this statement, and the simplicity it exemplified. While we may not agree with the choices that are made we must support the actions that come forth and accept what it may be, making the very best out of the bad. Please know that my-self with this entire school are very proud and happy to know you are providing protection and services so vital. No one deserves to grumble or shout out until they’ve been in your boots and endured all that has occurred. I commend each and every one of you and would just like to say that you’re all heroes. Dignity and loyalty are two words that continue to flash before me as I type this letter. Witnessing the loss of fellow members and the anguish this causes was a dagger to my heart. Never the less you pressed on with your heads held high and the ambition to do even more action the very next morning, depicts the true spirit that lies in each of you.

Alice Walker: Peeling an Essence Essay

As an African-American novelist, short–story writer, essayist, poet, critic, and editor, Alice Walker’s plethora of literary works examines many aspects of African American life as well as historical issues that are further developed by Walker’s unique point of view. Writers like Alice Walker make it possible to bring words and emotions to voices and events that are often silenced. Far from the traditional image of the artist, she has sought what amounts to a personal relationship with her readers. She has also taken positions of passionate advocacy, most notably in her campaign against ritual genital mutilation of young women, a practice still institutionalized in many parts of the world, as well as the fight for equal rights for African Americans. Her writing has been praised around the world, increasing its profound impact on literature, social and political areas of American life. Moreover, Walker’s turbulent childhood in addition to growing up during an era where African-Americans like herself were fighting for freedom, increased her dedication to become both a reflective and revolutionary author. Alice Malsenior Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia, to Willie Lee and Minnie Tallulah Grant-Walker. Like many of Walker’s fictional characters, she was the daughter of a sharecropper and the youngest of eight children (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Alice’s father had always taken education very seriously in an era where the schooling of black children, especially black females, was very rare. Nevertheless, Willie enrolled his young daughter in school at the age of four where she was then able to skip two grades up to first grade due to her intellectual potential (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Though it may seem like Alice’s father was unorthodox, Willie was â€Å"blind to his own sexism. † He believed that the traditional role of women was to take care of the house as well as the children. Due to his opinion on the limits of being a women, Alice’s relationship with her father declined over time and was even reflected upon in some of her novels (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Although Walker did indeed challenge the wisdom of her father, she clung tight to her mother for comfort and formed an unbreakable bond. Minnie Walker was Alice’s greatest support system. She approved of Alice’s ebellious ways as a young girl in addition to teaching her life lessons that would be underlying tones in her multiple works (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Walker was a confident young girl until 1952, when an accident involving a BB gun left her blinded her in one eye. Although her older brother offered to pay for an operation to correct the impairment, Walker would never fully recover the sight of her right eye. The young Alice Walker would begin wearing glasses for the remainder of her life. The ridicule and loneliness that was created from her blindness led Walker into writing her first poetry pieces. She found that writing demanded peace and quiet, but these were difficult things to come by when ten people lived in four rooms (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). It was then that Walker became secluded and reserved and dreamed of suicide, but at the same time found solace in writing and became an observer rather than a participator in everyday life. Walker attended segregated schools which would be described as inferior by current standards, yet she recalled that she had terrific teachers who encouraged her to believe the world she was reaching for actually existed (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Although Walker grew up in a poor environment, she was supported by her community and by the knowledge that she could choose her own identity. Moreover, Walker insisted that her mother granted her â€Å"permission† to be a writer and gave her the social, spiritual, and moral substance for her stories. Later before attending college, Alice would ask her mother permission to become a professional writer (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Alice concentrated and studied hard in school. She graduated as valedictorian from her high school and went on to attend the local Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She was greatly influenced by one of her professors there named Howard Zin, who she worked closely with on civil rights rallies. She became a volunteer for registered voters of Georgia and began attending political rallies for civil rights. Zin would eventually become an influence for some of Alice Walker’s later writing. In 1963, Walker left Spelman for Sarah Lawrence College, a place housing only a handful of African American people, most of them men. This was Walker’s predecessor to participating in many civil rights demonstrations and meeting Martin Luther King at his home in recognition of her invitation to the Youth World Peace Festival in Finland (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). 1964 was the turning point for Alice Walker. Realising that she was pregnant she contemplated suicide and slept with her razor under her pillow for three nights (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). During the same week, Walker again turned to writing as a natural outlet for her distress. She stopped writing only to eat and sleep. Thankfully, through the help of a friend, Walker was able to attain a safe abortion. The end product of weeks of anguish was, among other things, a story entitled â€Å"To Hell with Dying† and with the help of teacher Muriel Ruykeyser this was published in 1965 (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). In the same year, she graduated from Lawrence College. After moving to New York City in November of the same year Walker worked for the welfare system. She soon moved back however and in 1966 fell in love with civil rights lawyer Melvyn Laventhal. They met while working at the Head Start Program in Mississippi. The marriage was extremely controversial as Mel Leventhal was Jewish and Caucasian and Walker was African American (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). The union between the couple was the first legal marriage in the state of Mississippi that was inter-racial. In 1968, one year into the marriage, Alice published her poetry collection, â€Å"Once. † This was followed by Mel and Alice’s birth of their first daughter, Rebecca, but the marriage eventually fell apart under the turmoil and strife of the time period (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Alice Walker’s writings continued to create discussions and controversy in both the literary and political arenas. Between 1968 and 1971, Alice would be a teacher in the Black Studies programs at two different colleges. She spent a year at Jackson State College and another year teaching at Tougaloo College. Alice Walker’s writing career would surge in the 1970’s with the publishing of her first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland (Smith, Jessie). The predominant issues and themes of her writings were civil rights based. Many of her stories and poems focus on rape, sexism, racism, violence, segregation and relationship problems. It would later be openly announced that Alice Walker had a bi-sexual orientation (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). In 1973, Alice Walker joined Ms. Magazine to publish short stories and poetry. She would also publish many different articles focusing on the theme of civil rights, animal rights and environmental issues. In 1973, Walker would publish the short story collection, â€Å"In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women†, and the poem collection, â€Å"Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems†. Her second novel talked about the life of being an activist in the civil rights and political movements in the South. It is believed that much of Meridian parallels or reflects on Walker’s own life. Meridian was published in 1976 and earned Walker much recognition (Smith, Jessie). The focus of the book was accepting one’s mistakes and taking full responsibility for our actions. There were no excuses made and people greatly admired and respected Walker for this writing piece (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Her political venues later turned from the problems of segregation and racism in the South to issues abroad. During her junior year in college, Alice Walker did her internship in Uganda. Her experiences in Uganda led her to stand against female genital mutilation; however, the process of female genital mutilation is still practiced today. During her college years, Alice Walker also visited Cuba on several occasions and would take an open political stand against the Cuban Embargos. Her political and social concerns were not strictly limited to the plight of black women in America but were on a global social and political scale (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). After the publication of The Color Purple in 1982, Alice Walker would become a huge name virtually everywhere. The Color Purple would be turned into a movie and a Broadway play (Smith, Jessie). There was a great deal of controversy over the book because the black culture was shown as patriarchal and whites were shown as sexist and racist. The Color Purple looks head on at the situations and plights of the black woman without the worries of being politically or socially correct. The Color Purple was so powerful in character development and insights into issues that it won Alice Walker the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983. It would later also receive the American Book Award (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). In 1992, she would o onto write the novel, Possessing My Secret Joy which would feature the characters that were descendants from The Color Purple. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was certainly the most distinguished of all her honors and awards but Alice Walker would go on to receive many others. In 1969 she received the Lillian Award from the National Endowment of the Arts for her publication of Third Life of Grange Copeland. In 1974, Walker received the Rosanthal Award from the Institute of Arts and Letters and the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship for the writing and publication of In Love and Trouble (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Even with all of her popularity, Alice Walker went on to write and publish such popular short stories and novels as You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories in 1982, Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self in 1983, To Hell with Dying in 1988, The Temple of My Familiar in 1989, Finding the Green Stone in 1991, and Possessing the Secret of Joy in 1992 (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Walker continues to publish poetry collections as well. During her battle with Lymes Disease, Walker wrote The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult and a collection of political essays named Anything We Love Can Be Saved: a Writer’s Activism. Within three years she has written a further three books, By the Light of My Father’s Smile in 1998, The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart in 2000 and A Long Walk of Freedom in 2001. In light of the tragedy at the World Trade Centre in New York City, she wrote her most recent work: Sent by Earth: A Message from the Grandmother Spirit After the Bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (Bates, Alice Walker: A Critical Companion). Being an African American growing up in the United States during the 1950s was far from easy. There was segregation in most cities and whites fought against any chance of black freedom. However, by the 1950s, African Americans began to mobilize in earnest against discrimination. They lived in the same culture as white Americans and they wanted to enjoy equal rights. From the 1950s through the 1970s, movements for civil and social rights, equality, and justice swept the United States. Mainstream beliefs about the freedom of African Americans were challenged and protesters prompted the government to intervene and act on behalf of their equality principles. Activists were prominent in local marches, revolts, and peaceful protests that placed thousands of people on the national stage of a continental confrontation. However, people also witnessed major setbacks and difficulties over winning the white men’s approval of equal rights. Overtime, with the perserverence and determination of many human rights advocates, African Americans gained greater access to education and a much broader set of career oppurtunities. As for the justice system during the Civil Rights era, the landmark case of Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas upheld the activists demand to outlaw segregation in public schools (Brennan). Enacted in 1954, this major case symbolized the official start of the Civil Rights movement. A year after this ruling, the Montgomery Bus Boycott hit headlines across the country. Blacks were tired of giving up their seats to white people and being forced to sit in the back of the bus. It was then that Rosa Parks refused to move after the driver ordered her to allow a white man to sit down where she was. This sparked a mode of resistance in which this one-day boycott turned into a year long rebellion. Not one black person rode the Montgomery City Lines for 383 days (Brennan). At first the bus companies did not even press for compromise. Therefore, when they realized that nearly three-fourths of their customers were black, they were already quickly losing money. However, this did not stop organizations like the Montgomery Improvement Association from planning the next steps of boycott. At this point, popular leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. s well as Ralph Abernathy rose to become powerful leaders that would soon dominate the political scene when it came to question over equal rights (Brennan). When it came to peaceful protests, activists like King were arrested for their actions but quickly bailed out by their supporters to allow for the continuation of a steady fight. By 1956, the Montgomery Improvement Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) attempted to end segregation of the city bus lines through the justice system. After months of legal dispute, the Montgomery City Lines were forced to end it’s policies on racial segregation on December 20,1956 (Brennan). As a result, the bus boycott ended the following day. Especially in the south, whites believed that any change in the social standings of society would disrupt the power balance between blacks and whites. Ultimately, they believed that if African Americans had any power whatsoever that resembled the whites, they would abuse it and revolt, trying to dominate southern society. Throughout the decade, black fears heightened as a result of brutal attacks from groups like the KKK and other gangs. In this time period, the KKK was experiencing its second resurgence since World War I and the popularity of lynching increased (Brennan). The inhumane morals of whites who lynched blacks was publicized in newspapers by journalists such as Ida B. Wells, who additionally worked for the Anti-Lynching Bureau (Brennan). It was no surprise that African Americans felt the need to be equal especially after they served in World War II. Nearly one million blacks served for their country during the 1940s and they believed that America was just as much of their country as it was the whites (Brennan).