Hepatitis causes and effects

AbstractionHepatitis, one of the major incurable diseases, still exists presents jeopardizing many people ‘s lives. It has many types i.e. Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E and G. The nature of Hepatitis is viral which is caught by either through organic structure fluids or improper personal hygiene in add-on to other causes which remains unknown. This disease leads into serious physiological effects such as weariness, icterus and serious liver complication like liver Cirrhosis. Psychosocial consequence which is another result of Hepatitis includes societal backdown, anxiousness, depression and self-destructive inclination. Despite of the extended researches to happen a remedy for Hepatitis, there is still no effectual intervention for it so the duty of avoiding this infection is both on authorities and persons. Hepatitis is one of the most fatal diseases which was discovered in the early 1880ss ; it can be defined as an redness of the liver organ. Hepatitis is derived from the Latin words â€Å" Hepat † which means the liver and â€Å" itis † redness. The usual cause of Hepatitis is a virus that invades the organic structure through blood watercourse. This virus could acquire into the organic structure either through organic structure fluids or improper personal hygiene, taking to serious physiological and psychosocial effects. There are several types of Hepatitis, such as A, B, C, D, E and G. A, B and C viruses are the most common types of Hepatitis and all these viruses can do similar jobs and have similar symptoms, but they spread in different ways and have different effects on the organic structure. There are several manners of transmittal including contaminated organic structure fluids, improper personal hygiene in add-on to idiopathic causes. Contaminated organic structure fluids include spits, blood, fecal matters and piss. Blood transfusion is the most common method, where the blood is transferred from an septic patient to another patient what would be called â€Å" Horizontal Transmission † . Another method is the â€Å" Vertical Transmission † which occurs when a pregnant adult female base on balls it to her foetus. Furthermore, † contaminated acerate leafs shared by the drug maltreaters or in medical accidents such as needle pricks† is another manner emphasized by ( Nowak and Handford, 2004, p.379 ) . Having unprotected sex and multi-partners are other ways taking to this disease harmonizing to Nowak and Handford ( 2004 ) whom reported that â€Å" Sexual transmittal does happen, peculiarly among the homophiles. Note besides that 20 % of septic s traight persons pass the virus to their spouses. † ( p.380 ) . All of the above mentioned causes can take to Hepatitis B and C which are the most unsafe 1s. The 2nd major cause of Hepatitis is hapless hygiene, for case, personal and general. To get down with contaminated H2O such as sewerage lanes, rivers and public lavatories are topographic points of great hazard for hoarding Hepatitis A particularly to those who live nearby. This type of Hepatitis is normally transferred by fecal matters harmonizing to Fiore ( 2004 ) â€Å" HAV is chiefly transmitted by the fecal-oral path, either by person-to-person contact or by consumption of contaminated nutrient or H2O â€Å" ( p.705-15 ) .Moreover, common veggies and shellfish, such as boodles and oysters may be contaminated by sewerage to go beginnings of infection to worlds. Besides, personal hygiene is another component for reaching hepatitis and can happen by sharing razors, toothbrushes and towels, and leads to Hepatitis B and C. Despite antecedently discussed causes of this disease, there is still a great sector of hepatitis which remains unknown. Statisticss shows that â€Å" about 30 % of hepatitis B infection are of unknown beginning†¦ .40 % of Hepatitis C instances are idiopathic † ( Nowak and Handford, 2004, p.379-80 ) . Where another article points that â€Å" beginnings is unknown but could be considerable ; 50 % of reported patients with hepatitis A do non hold an identified beginning of infection † ( Fiore, 2004, p.706 ) . But McHutchison & A ; Bacon ( 2005 ) emphasized in their diagram of â€Å" Figure 2: Beginnings of Infection for Persons With Hepatitis C â€Å" that merely â€Å" 10 % of Hepatitis C infection are unknown † ( p.S287 ) . There are many effects of this disease which lie under the two classs: the physiological effects and psychosocial effects. Where the physiological effects contain all the symptoms of Hepatitis, the psychosocial effects indicate the emotional and societal effects of being a Hepatitis patient. The symptoms of the assorted signifiers of hepatitis are similar and they are caused by the harm in the liver. The most noticeable symptom is icterus which causes a yellowing of the tegument. Other symptoms associated with hepatitis include weariness, general organic structure hurting, sickness, mild febrility, and loss of appetency. As the infection spreads in the liver, the organ becomes enlarged. It may do hurting in the venters and in worst scenario can take to liver Cirrhoses which mean entire liver harm and finally decease. It takes seven to eight hebdomads after exposure to the Hepatitis virus for the symptoms to look. A patient with Hepatitis is non merely predisposed to physical symptoms, but besides to emotional and societal jobs. These complexnesss include depression and societal backdown as each one leads into the other, added to that depression and anxiousness which normally occur together. Anybody who suffers from Hepatitis will be dying and this anxiousness may take in to depression in sever instances, for illustration when a patient suffers from Hepatitis and he knows it is a serious unwellness rebelliously he will non halt badgering, these concerns can do the individual preoccupied with his unwellness and take him to depression. Furthermore, a Hepatitis patient societal withdraw as a consequence of being unable to happen a spouse who is willing to populate with this fatal disease. It is besides difficult to do people understand the nature of this serious disease and do friends and households accept and accommodate it. All this may drive the patient to be lonely and allure to be self-destr uctive. To sum up, Hepatitis is still one of our life clip enigmas to be solved. The spread of this disease is largely due to the natural or hygienic causes in add-on to some per centum of idiopathic causes which is still unknown. Like any other unwellness, Hepatitis has many drawbacks which could be listed under two classs physiological and psychosocial. Unfortunately, despite the advanced field of medicine Hepatitis remains un-ended and research continues in order to happen the ultimate intervention for it. Until a concluding remedy is found, precautional stairss should be taken by both authorities and persons. The authorities is responsible to guarantee infection control consciousness over this disease through its wellness system. But it is a personal duty to forestall oneself from this disease every bit good as any other disease by following the simple regulations of hygiene and guarantee to acquire proper wellness attention from dependable wellness constitutions merely.MentionsFiore, E. ( 2004 ) . Hepatitis A Transmitted by Food. FOOD SAFETY, 38 ( 1 ) , 705-715. McHutchison, J. G. , & A ; Bacon, B. R. ( 2005 ) . Chronic Hepatitis C: An Age Wave of Disease Burden. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGED CARE, 11 ( 10 ) , S286-295. Nowak, T. J. , & A ; Handford, A. G. ( 2004 ) . Pathophysiology: Concepts and Application for Health attention Professionals ( Third ed. ) . New york: Mc Graw Hill. Prevention, C. f. D. C. a. ( 2009 ) . Disease load from viral hepatitis A, B, and C in the United States [ Electronic Version ] . Retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/resources/dz_burden02.htm.

Policy and Performance of Indian Education Essay

In terms of demographic profile, India remains one of the youngest nations in the world with 38.2% of its population in the 0-5 year age bracket. This translates into the Indian Education system being one of the largest educational systems globally with a network of more than 1.2 mn schools and around 31,000 Higher education institutes. Education, being one of the important determinants of human welfare of any nation, the GoI has accorded priority for the promotion of education especially primary & secondary education in India. Correspondingly, the government’s spend on education as a percentage of GDP stood at 3% while accounting for 11.3% as a proportion of all public expenditure. However, the GoI is faced with several hurdles in terms of penetration across all education segments viz: Pre- school, K-12, Higher education etc as well as reaching out to the students in tier-III cities and rural areas. The GoI has therefore emphasised on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in education so as to augment the literacy rate from 74% as per the Census 2011. The educational segments i.e. Pre-school, K-12, Information & Technology (ICT) in schools and Higher education form the important constituents of the Indian education. Of the same, the Pre- school market in India still remains largely unorganised and under-penetrated. However, the ease of setting-up of pre-schools as well as the growing acceptability of pre-school concept in India augurs well for the industry. The K-12 institutes in India largely remain governed by the GoI accounting for 80.2% of the total 13.5 lakh schools in India. Of late, with greater interest evinced by the private corporates/ trusts / educational societies etc, the share of private institutions in the K-12 space has grown from 18.9% in FY07 to 19.8% during FY11. The scope of ICT in schools has also gained prominence in recent times through GoI’s programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), ICT @ Schools etc. The penetration of ICT in schools however remains low especially owing to the slower pace of such roll-outs in the government owned or aided K-12 schools. In case of Higher education institutes, the ‘not-for-profit’ mandate coupled with the requirement of  affiliation from multiple regulatory bodies such as UGC, AICTE etc proves to be a roadblock for the entry of private institutes. However, in view of the rising enrolments in higher education coupled with the growing variety of educational streams, the private sector participation is expected to grow to catch in the growing penetration levels. CARE Research expects the size of the Indian Education System at US$ 102.1 bn with CAGR of 11.2% during FY11-15. Apart from the growth of educational segments as mentioned above, CARE Research expects the other trends such as GoI’s orientation towards PPP, entry of corporates and foreign educational institutions (especially in K-12 & Higher education), growing focus on the Distance education mode of learning and growing acceptability of the vocational courses to remain the key drivers to the growth of education in India. Introductory: Beginning with a brief statement on the educational situation on the eve of independence, In spite of all that had been achieved under the British Rule, we began our Freedom on a fairly low level of attainment in education in almost all respects. We then had 17 universities and 636 colleges (With a total enrolment of 238,000 students), 5,297 secondary schools with 870,000 students, implying that not even one youth in every twenty in the age-group 14-17 was in school, 12,843 middle schools with two million pupils and 1,72,661 primary schools with fourteen million students (which implied that only one child out of every three in the age-group 6-11 was in school). Vocational and technical education was but poorly developed, both at the school and university stages, and the supply of high level trained scientific man-power was very limited. Educational inequalities were very large, especially between one region and another, between urban and rural areas, between men and women, and between the advanced and intermediate castes on the one hand and the scheduled castes and tribes on the other. The standards of education were generally unsatisfactory, especially at the school stage, with too much of emphasis on English and too little stress on mathematics, science or the Indian languages. The percentage of literacy was only about fourteen and the total educational expenditure was just about Rs. 570 million or less than half a per cent of the national income. It was this challenging situation which the nation was called upon to reform whenit kept  its first tryst with destiny in 1947. The modern school system was brought to India, including the English language, originally by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay in the 1830s. The curriculum was confined to â€Å"modern† subjects such as science and mathematics, and subjects like metaphysics and philosophy were considered unnecessary. Teaching was confined to classrooms and the link with nature was broken, as also the close relationship between the teacher and the student. POLICY The Uttar Pradesh (a state in India) Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in India in the year 1921 with jurisdiction over Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In 1929, the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was established. Later, boards were established in some of the states. But eventually, in 1952, the constitution of the board was amended and it was renamed Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). All schools in Delhi and some other regions came under the Board. It was the function of the Board to decide on things like curriculum, textbooks and examination system for all schools affiliated to it. Today there are thousands of schools affiliated to the Board, both within India and in many other countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6-14 was a cherished dream of the new government of the Republic of India. This is evident from the fact that i t is incorporated as a directive policy in article 45 of the constitution. But this objective remains far away even more than half a century later. However, in the recent past, the government appears to have taken a serious note of this lapse and has made primary education a Fundamental Right of every Indian citizen. The pressures of economic growth and the acute scarcity of skilled and trained manpower must certainly have played a role to make the government take such a step. The expenditure by the Government of India on school education in recent years comes to around 3% of the GDP, which is recognized to be very low. â€Å"In recent times, several major announcements were made for developing the poor state of affairs in education sector in India, the most notable ones being  the National Common Minimum Program (NCMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The announcements are; (a) To progressively increase expenditure on education to around 6 percent of GDP. (b) To support this increase in expenditure on education, and to increase the quality of education, there would be an imposition of an education cess over all central government taxes. (c) To ensure that no one is denied of education due to economic backwardness and poverty. (d) To make right to education a fundamental right for all children in the age group 6–14 years. (e) To universalize education through its flagship program such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Mid Day Market Overview India has the world’s largest population in the age bracket 5 to 24 years of about 450 million. It also has around 500 million in the 25 to 59 age bracket which constitutes the working population and is expected to continuously increase even as the world’s working population ages and diminishes. This phenomenon will make India a supplier of workforce to the entire world. In the wake of this reality, the Indian education system should therefore be able to produce a workforce which is globally competitive and thus reap its demographic dividend. Literacy in India is one of the key deterrents to socioeconomic progress of the country. The Indian literacy rate currently stands at 74% compared to 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although there has been a six fold growth, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the largest illiterate population compared to any other nation in the world. A quick look at Exhibit 1 below provides an insight into the current literacy levels of Indians. Therefore, as India moves ahead on the path of globalization, it needs to overhaul its education system to meet the future demands. Enrolment Levels Despite having the largest Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K- 12) population globally, India has a low enrolment rate in schools, especially at the senior secondary level. The enrolment percentage has fallen from 113% at  primary to 81% at middle school and then to 31% at secondary & higher secondary levels. Low enrolment and high drop-out rates are caused by low availability of schools in rural areas, low awareness, and prevalence of child labour amongst lower income strata. The enrolment percentage is calculated as the ratio of total numbers of students enrolled in specified grades to total number of children in that age group. At the primary level this is upwards of 100%, as even children greater than 11 years of age are enrolled in Grades 1-5. This is largely a rural phenomenon prevalent in Govt. schools across the country. Key Segments The Indian Education sector can be segmented under four broad heads, namely, Schooling, Higher Education, Vocational Education & Skill Development and Ancillary. The Exhibit 3 below provides an overview of the various education segments and their respective subsegments. Schooling Segment The schooling segment covers the largest population of our society as compared to any other form of education. The segment is also the largest education segment valued at USD 44 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach USD 144 bn by the year 2020. The market size of its various sub-segments with growth rates and projections for the year 2020 is mentioned in Exhibit 4. Out-of-School Children: The number of out-of-school children has declined from 25 million in 2003 to 8.1 million in mid–2009. The most significant improvements have been in Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur and Chhattisgarh. The percentage of out-of-school children in highly populated states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar remains a cause of concern. Social Inclusion: Although there have been significant improvements in the proportion of children from socially disadvantaged groups in school, persistence gaps remain. Girls are still less likely to enroll in school than boys; in 2005, for upper primary school (Grades 6-8) girls’ enrolment was still 8.8 points lower than boys, for Scheduled Tribes (ST) the gender gap was 12.6 points and 16 points for Scheduled Castes (SC). In addition, ST and SC children are less likely to access their right to 8 years of schooling; the drop-out rate for ST children being 62.9% and 55.2% for SC children compared to a national average of 48.8% leaving school before completing Grade 8.

God bless Essay

The novel WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST by Gregory Maguire focuses upon an evil soul of a witch, the dialog, â€Å"†One never learns how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her–is it ever the right choice? â€Å"† p. 231 explains how the wickedness of the witch cannot be truly explained or her personality assessed by the writer, it is up to the reader to decide on a conclusion regarding the motivations behind it. The four travellers Dorothy, Scarecrow Nick Chopper, Cowardly Lion’s discussion of the rumours about the witch while she herself listens to their talk & decides to confront Dorothy next time. The writer also writes in detail about the birth of the witch as well as her family background, relating religion with the evil characters. â€Å"†It’s people who claim that they’re good or anyway better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of. † (Maguire p. 357). The readers are being warned about the different natures of the characters & in the end the domination of good against evil by stating, â€Å"In the life of a Witch, there is no after, in the ever after of a Witch there is no happily; in the story of a Witch, there is no afterward. † (Maguire P. 406) Thesis: In this society when we encounter evil, it is not only due to person’s own act but whole of the society is involved in the evil act. Every person has something good and bad in his character but sometimes society creates circumstances that a person is forced to become evil. Body 1 [Plot] This story begins with the birth of Elphaba the daughter of Frex and Melena, Melena was alone at the time when she give birth to Elphaba, as despite of being with his wife at the birth of their first child Frex had traveled to preach, specifically, the Clock of the Time Dragon. Melena give the birth to the daughter with green skin color which was very odd, for many years they hide this secret but when Elphaba grown up she was sent to the schools and college. Galinda was Elphaba first roommate but Galinda always ignore her, later on they become friends Galinda was working with Dr Dillamond, he was killed in this story from this point the sad part starts, Elphaba blame Madame Morrible and her robot-like assistant, Grommeti. But later on Fiyero comes into Elphaba life’s’ he, as she was alone they both had the affair but after few time he consider that Elphaba has murdered Madame Morrible, Fiyero was as well killed, and later on she was known as the witch of town as she did not fights against rumors about her and at last she died because of bucket of water which was throw on her to save her from fire. â€Å"The funeral was modest, a love-her-and-shove-her affair† (Maguire, p 154) The main character of this novel is Elphaba, an individual who was born with distinct features & personality. The appearance is mocked by others living around her, â€Å"A green child will be an open invitation for scorn and abuse. † (Maguire P. 48). The interesting feature is the transformation of this person from a naive girl to the one seeking revenge & thus attains the nickname WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST thanks to her malevolence. However this is justified by the extreme love & the suffering in result she feels for her family & friends. Another character Dorothy a young innocent girl, along with her escorts Scarecrow, Nick Chopper, Cowardly Lion is the opponent of the witch, but loved by the other people. She is also responsible for the witch’s death in the end of the novel.

Childhood obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Childhood obesity - Essay Example on, the parents can also benefit from the project since the children will be educated on how to include the whole family while planning the healthy meals. The project will utilize the education strategies that are easily understandable by the target population. The scholars will be taught how to make healthy food choices, based on the available food items in their localities. Concepts of balanced diets and portion sizes will be explained to them in simple ways that are easy to understand. The educators will use models of the Plate Method and Food Pyramid to explain portion sizes and different colors to represent the various food groups. For instance, the educators will use white to represent starches and carbohydrates, green for vegetables and golden brown for proteins. The educators will also include activities that help in the attainment of the project goals. For instance, the students will be taught how to make diet plans that include the correct portions sizes for each food group. They will also be shown the food options that are healthy, for example, whole grains instead of refined carbohydrates, unsaturated fats instead of trans-fats, etc. Exercises will be held after the teaching sessions to test their level of understanding and also to reinforce the knowledge acquired in the oral teaching sessions. Apart from designing meals, the students will be educated on the physiological consequences of taking certain foods. They will be taught on the roles of the different food groups in the body such as provision of energy, digestion and glycemic index. They will also be informed about the storage of excess energy and development of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and obesity. However, the educators will ensure that they are keen to avoid using technical terms to facilitate easier understanding of the concepts. The project is important to the target population in several ways. First, it provides basic knowledge about proper nutrition

Analysing the Importance of Multiculturalism in Present Day Workplaces Essay

Analysing the Importance of Multiculturalism in Present Day Workplaces - Essay Example According to the report  workplace diversity is a strategic management approach focussing on people and their similarities and differences with respect to an organization. The melting point theory proclaims of multiculturalism initiatives in aiming to perceive integration and inclusion of separate groups in order to enhance productivity. With respect to a typical workplace, the issues of gender, class, age, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, spirituality and public assistance. Other than population growth, diversity gives an invaluable opportunity to increase competitiveness.This paper declares that the concept is not new and it is regarded as an ongoing process to bring organizations, communities and society into an inclusive, wholesome and a fully culturally entity. Griffin postulated that workforce diversity to b mostly related to the similarities and differences among employees in an organization.   The boundaries of management discipline has expanded nowadays and in order to build more competitive organizations, all policies and practices in the prevailing constituency need to be considered for analytically reflecting on an organizational work-force diversity.  In the 21st century, active citizenship deals with a culturally sensitive consciousness and global orientation to towards progressive growth. With respect to a company and its benefits, diversity is unavoidable and is an essential business concern.

Innovation and change (Mobile phone industry ) Essay

Innovation and change (Mobile phone industry ) - Essay Example Government has always bended its brows on companies that have innovated in their technology and business practices but not provided for safe and eco-friendly disposal of parts and batteries (â€Å"Life Cycle Management: A business guide to sustainability†). Being responsible to the environment affects the product offering in the way that consumers make an image of unethical manufacturer in their minds. Nokia has been able to create a good image by providing for eco-friendly disposal of its handset parts across the world. Taxes are means of revenues for Government. A flourishing industry provides better prospects of high taxes to the government. Mobile phone industry has climbed up the ladder of evolution and growth in a very short span and has also been taxed heavily for latest technological innovations. These innovations sometimes help to curb emerging competition due to its monetary intensity and also help avoid malpractices which might take place under innovation disguise. Consumer protection laws and regulations also have a huge bearing on innovation taking place in mobile industry. Innovations are expensive and if the involved technology does not satisfy customer requirements, it has to be replaced abiding by consumer laws, which could be a means of huge losses for the innovator (Bonthron 2009). Technology reducing international distances every day, mobile manufacturers have to resort to efficiency in operational costs by rationalizing their supply chain through international trading. However, across borders, import and export charges and duties have much affected the growth of mobile phone innovation. There have been many cases where host government has denied entry of foreign players due to the fear of their market being captured by other telephony giant, thereby siphoning a major portion of their GDP. Competition has been very stiff in the mobile phone

Further discussion on last paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Further discussion on last paper - Essay Example Moreover, the aging population was increasing incredibly (Plichta and Laurel 34). The number of trained nurses was also decreasing. In addition, there was the lack of respect from the physicians, which contributed to the shortage. This data is trustworthy as it bases its research because of the evidences that researchers provide from studies they carry out. For instance, Suzanne Gordon notes that women in the nursing sector do not make much gain in their workplaces like their counterparts in other professions (Huston 44). This acts as another reason for the job the job dissatisfaction that nurses encounter at their places of work. Additionally, these researches argue that there was shorting-staffing and restructuring in many nursing organizations that drove many nurses away from the sector. This lead to job burnout and many nurses realized that they could not bear the increasing burnout and professional responsibilities at work. Moreover, there has been an increasing concern on the quality of the services that nurses provide. People link this problem to the nursing shortage (Huston 50). We can trust these findings since the researcher suggests solutions to the problem, which include encouraging people to join the nursing sector. Moreover, the US government encourages nursing schools to enroll more people into the sector so that they curb the problem. However, these researchers provide conflicting points on the nursing shortage. For instance, one research projects a shortage of nurses of 600000 in the US by the year 2020 (Plichta and Laurel 36). This means that the US will need to educate more than 1.5 million new nurses by the 2015, which would help alleviate the problem. This problem can be catastrophic on the nation’s ability to respond to an event with mass casualty. On the other hand, the American Hospital Association projects a shortage of nurses of 800000 by 2020, which

Human Development Across the Lifespan - Gender Identity Issues that Essay

Human Development Across the Lifespan - Gender Identity Issues that Adolescents May Face - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to focus on gender identity issues that adolescents face, and how they cope with them. Gender identity is defined as â€Å"the youngster’s internally perceived gender, regardless of chromosomal constitution, gonadal/ hormonal secretions, or genitalia† (Telingator & Daniolos, 2007: 79). Gender includes biological sex but is larger in scope, encompassing the socially prescribed roles which are considered appropriate for each sex, which are different in various cultures (Lee, 2005). Hence, gender role refers to culturally underwritten masculine and feminine behaviors, attitudes and personality traits which are based on biological factors as well as an individual’s environment. Aspects of sex-typed behavior in childhood, adolescence or in adulthood are affected by hormones that play a part very early in development, as early as age two or three, sometimes by age five or later (Sexson, 2005; Pescovitz & Eugster, 2004). At the core of adolescents’ development is the separation-individuation process by which adolescents become independent of their parents in a process similar to that which occurs during infancy. Children usually develop a gender identity which is in alignment with with their assigned sex, also known as their sex of rearing. The formation of gender identity is influenced by the combination of children’s temperament and parents’ qualities and attitudes. Culturally acceptable gender roles are learned stereotypical roles, by which boys are required to be masculine and girls to be feminine in their behavior and conduct. However, over the past few decades there has been increasing toleration for mild cross-gender activity in children (Sadock et al, 2007). â€Å"Sigmund Freud believed that gender identity problems resulted from conflicts experienced by children within the oedipal triangle† (Sadock et al, 2007: 718), which may be fueled by actual family

Managerial Accounting Practise in Saudi Organizations Essay

Managerial Accounting Practise in Saudi Organizations - Essay Example The State and Extent of Using Modern Management Accounting Techniques In Particular in Making the Right Decisions Decision making is considered to be an all inclusive and widespread process that consists of various activities such as identification of the problem or the concerns, allocation of certain weights or ranks to the identified problem, evaluation and implementation of the alternative plans. Management accounting on the other hand is related to the appropriate use of relevant information in order to facilitate and direct managers to undertake informed business decisions effectively and efficiently. The most advantageous fact of management accounting practices is that is does not require conforming or following the national accounting standards which further gives a liberty or room for the business people to adopt customized management accounting techniques that are most effective in terms of their business operations. For realizing the affectivity in the decision making proce ss, organizations combine or merge the advanced quantitative and qualitative techniques. According to Johnson, The use of modern management practices has helped in focusing on the problem which inclines more towards how accounting information can be made more useful for decision making rather than how we could improve things we do . The recent developments in the modern management accounting techniques have enabled the managers to make sound decisions so that excessive costs incurred by firms could be pruned down and at the same time, the value of the products and services rendered could be enhanced. The extent to which the management accounting practices have been put into action is tremendous and quite rigorous, especially in the past two decades. Lot many research work and in-depth study in various countries across the world have undertaken to find out the relevance and significance of the modern practices to various sectors in the economy. For instance, in a research conducted b y Philip and Kerckhoffs Christian (2005), the significance of Activity Based Costing (ABC) and throughput accounting (TA) was brought forward and was revealed that MAP’s are more used as accounting tools to â€Å"make-up† the technical insights from an accounting viewpoint. The research indicated the use of working-floor insights and production process data in the formulation of a company’s income statements that are utmost essential for managerial decision making. When most of the countries have already adopted the MAPs, there are countries like Bangladesh which still need to incorporate the changes in the accounting practices. Bidhan has conducted one such study whereby it was found t modern techniques like Activity-Based Costing, Cost-Volume-Profit, Target Costing, and Just-in-Time (JIT) etc were not applied in the public and private sector manufacturing enterprises but used by just a few Multinational Corporations (MNC). (8) Most of the companies in Saudi we re still found to use the conventional and traditional accounting practices. Traditional management accounting techniques are generally perceived by the Saudi manufacturing and service sector firms to be highly important and frequently used by the responding firms. As per Ei-Ebaishi, the managers rely less in comparison to

Discuss problems arising from IAS 17 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discuss problems arising from IAS 17 - Essay Example Firstly, restructuring of the asset at the inception of lease treaty creates more amounts recorded in the fixed assets and decreases the asset earnings. If the current value of total future lease obligations upsurges, it affects debt equity ratios and liquidity solvency ratios. Secondly, identification of entire forthcoming lease payments as obligations may cause breaching of debt agreements causing debts to become due immediately. Similarly, reporting profits may decrease when depreciation and interest expense is more than rental expenses. This makes it difficult for the IAS 17 to be fully implemented in international accounting. What’s more, it is impossible to deduct interest expense for tax purposes. The principle is inapposite in service contracts like copyrights and patents. It is normally applicable to tangible assets. ISA 17 is irrelevant and inapplicable to the service part of the contract as the guideline does not transfer the right to use the property. Additionally, classification of a sublease into an operating lease may lead to income incongruity. Categorization of a sublease into operating lease will lead to a leaser recognizing amortization of interest expenses and their right to use the property leased (Monson, 2001). Hence, the leaser may recognize rent proceeds in a manner that is considered as evenly spread during the entire lease period (Young, 2011). The transitional leaser will, thus, incur a forfeiture due to the earlier murky arrangements previously made. Also, this mushroom from interest and depreciation that increases proceeds of operating lease in earlier periods causing a swap in later years from interest rates decreases. A situation arises under current standards where the head lease is a finance lease and sublease is operating lease, but the IAS 17 proposals will lead to arrangements to classify head lease currently as an operating lease. The staff may also not propose to adjust and amend

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan - Essay Example He was young for his age, full of vitality and possibilities, and when I left school two years before, I soon noticed that he lived with a woman. It took me rather longer to realise that it was a different one every six months. But gradually his charm, my new easy life, and my own disposition led me to accept it.....It was easy to love him, for he was kind, generous, gay, and full of affection for me.' Sagan (p9) Cecile repeats his assertion that fidelity and commitment are 'arbitrary and sterile' Sagan (p13). That he is shallow and superficial, and will behave so, is expressed in her statement: 'Although I did not share my father's aversion to ugliness, which often led us to associate with stupid people, I felt vaguely uncomfortable with anyone devoid of physical charms.' Sagan (p11) In fact, she is more like him than she thinks, for having met Cyril, she is very taken with his looks, though touches on his character as an afterthought. Here too are the signs of an awakening sexuality. 'He looked typically Latin, was very dark and sunburnt. There was something reliable and protective about him which I liked at once.....He was tall and sometimes beautiful, with the sort of good looks that immediately inspired one with confidence.' Sagan (p11) Such values inherent in both Cecile and Raymond suggest that how they behave will be driven 3 by these. This, despite her slight criticism of Raymond as follows: 'His only fault was to imbue me with a cynical attitude towards love which, considering my age and experience, should have meant happiness and not only a transitory sensation.' Sagan (p21) The suggestion is that Cecile is already corrupted and that the later behaviours she displays are evidence of that corruption.... That Cecile is the narrator helps to give immediate insight into the themes and characters of the people, describing what they are and how their behaviours make things happen in line with any particular theme at the time. The opening lines are brilliantly expressive of a rather selfish young girl whose thoughts are ambivalent. The reader is made aware that for Cecile, the love from and for her father, together with the life they lead, is her greatest happiness. With the explanation of how they live, Raymond's immorality and character are exposed: In fact, she is more like him than she thinks, for having met Cyril, she is very taken with his looks, though touches on his character as an afterthought. Here too are the signs of an awakening sexuality. The suggestion is that Cecile is already corrupted and that the later behaviours she displays are evidence of that corruption. That he and she will selfishly seek sexual gratification, with little concern for fidelity is only a short time away. The catalyst is Anne's arrival, a woman who, unable to hide her feelings and character, puts in motion the jealousy and self-protection which overwhelm Cecile. motivated by love and perhaps self-importance, Raymond's by lust and love, they cause the manipulative, distressed and confused teenager to em

Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Delhi Metro Essay Example for Free

Social Cost-Benefit Analysis of Delhi Metro Essay Key words: Transport, Air Pollution, Cost- benefit analysis and Shadow prices. Abstract: The growing demand for public transport in mega cities has serious effects on urban ecosystems, especially due to the increased atmospheric pollution and changes in land use patterns. An ecologically sustainable urban transport system could be obtained by an appropriate mix of alternative modes of transport resulting in the use of environmentally friendly fuels and land use patterns. The introduction of CNG in certain vehicles and switching of some portion of the transport demand to the metro rail have resulted in a significant reduction of atmospheric pollution in Delhi. The Delhi Metro provides multiple benefits: reduction in air pollution, time saving to passengers, reduction in accidents, reduction in traffic congestion and fuel savings. There are incremental benefits and costs to a number of economic agents: government, private transporters, passengers, general public and unskilled labour. The social cost-benefit analysis of Delhi Metro done in this paper tries to measure all these benefits and costs from Phase I and Phase II projects covering a total distance of 108 kms in Delhi. Estimates of the social benefits and costs of the project are obtained using the recently estimated shadow prices of investment, foreign exchange and unskilled labour as well as the social time preference rate for the Indian economy for a study commissioned by the Planning Commission, Government of India and done at the Institute of Economic Growth. The financial internal rate of return on investments in the Metro is estimated as 17 percent while the economic rate of return is 24 percent. Accounting for benefits from the reduction of urban air pollution due to the Metro has increased the economic rate of return by 1.4 percent. This paper forms part of the work done for a project `Economic Evaluation of Investment Projects in India’ funded by the Planning Commission, Government of India. We express our thanks to the officials of Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) for providing us access to the detailed technical reports prepared by them for the Delhi Metro project. We are grateful to the participants in the workshop at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi-110007 for their useful comments. About Metro Rail in Delhi Delhi, the capital city of India, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a population of 13 million as reported in the Census of India Report for the year 2000. Until recently, it was perhaps the only city of its size in the world depending almost entirely on roads as the sole mode of mass transport. The total length of the road network in Delhi has increased from a mere 652 km in 1981 to 1122 km in 2001 and it is expected to grow to 1340 km in the year 2021. This increase in road length is not at par with the phenomenal growth in the number of vehicles on these roads in Delhi. The cumulative figure of registered private and government buses, the main means of public transport, is 41,872 in 1990 and it is expected to increase to 81,603 by the year 2011. The number of personal motor vehicles has increased from 5.4 lakhs in 1981 to 30 lakhs in 1998 and is projected to go up to 35 lakhs by 2011. With gradual horizontal expansion of the city, the average trip length of buses has gone up to 13 km and the increased congestion on roads has made the corresponding journey time of about one hour. Delhi has now become the fourth most polluted city in the world, with automobiles contributing more than two thirds of the total atmospheric pollution. In this context, the decision of the Government of India to develop a mass transport system for Delhi providing alternative modes of transport to the passengers was most satisfied.

Student Giving Intramuscular Injections

Student Giving Intramuscular Injections This paper particularly focuses on my experience of learning from reflection on giving intramuscular (IM) injections, using Gibbss (1988) reflective model. I demonstrate how practice anxiety, as a student nurse, can be dealt with through effective mentoring. I chose the seminal theory of Gibbs reflection on practice, as it illustrates six significant stages; description, feelings, evaluation, analysis of the incident, conclusion and an action plan Ghaye and Lillyman (1997). Gibbs cycle is used throughout the process of reflecting on the incident to help me make sense of my practice and understand what l could do differently to enhance good practice. I use my experience from a placement simulation as I could not be on actual placement due to unforeseen circumstances. Reflection is a process through which healthcare practitioners and students can learn from experience and use the knowledge to inform and improve practice Schon, (1983). The ability to reflect on ones actions is particularly imperative in clinical practice and discourse. As Jarvis (1992) asserted, there is no consensus on the definition of reflection as it is a broad concept. Reid (1993, p305.) define reflection as; a course of action reviewing an occurrence of practice to describe, analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about practice Schon (1983) identified two types of reflection which are; reflection in action, which takes place during the event where the practitioner may not be aware that it is happening and reflection on action, which takes place after the event. Jasper (2003) concluded upon the vitality of reflecting on action, as it transforms experience into knowledge which enhances good clinical practice. Description During my first placement simulation, I practised giving intramuscular injection, is the best tolerated form or injection, and the safest way of injecting medication into a patient Shepherd, (2002). Within the first week of my placement simulation, I was offered the opportunity to practise administering an injection on a dummy. However, as a student, I was cautious and anxious, feeling that I was not competent enough. I discussed my concerns with the lecturer who was empathetic and helped formulate a plan to conquer my doubts. The plan involved a step-by-step conversation of the procedure of administering intramuscular medication, preparing the medication on numerous occasions and practising the injection technique on a dummy. Throughout these stages I was given the opportunity to discuss any questions, feelings or concerns that arose. Once confident enough to do so, under the supervision of the lecturer, I administered an IM injection to a dummy. I recorded my intervention in a refl ective journal. After giving the injection, I was given feedback and the opportunity to discuss my feelings which was valuable and of significance. Feelings As a novice, I never really enjoy giving injections, but after my second practise, good compliments from colleagues and lecturer my confidence increased. Most importantly, l kept thinking, if l gave the injection to an unwilling patient, how awful would I feel? I reminded myself, ethically, what is it like to carry out a therapeutic procedure that inflicts pain on another human being? All these challenges came to my mind before giving the injection. I began to feel quite anxious and nervous, wanting to delay the procedure for as long as possible hoping my anxiety would decrease. I believe the build up of nervousness beforehand is common, particularly for beginners like me. I prepared the injection using the necessary mathematical calculations, picked the right syringe and the right injection for the procedure. I then administered with my lecturer observing my technique, confidence and competence. Evaluation My preliminary anxiety about administering the injection was normal but as a student nurse, I ought to learn the technique and procedure of IM injections. This anxious behaviour could be explained in relation to the Joharis Window (Luft 1969). As in Joharis window, before being confronted with having to administer injection, I experienced an unknown area, whereby my fears and anxieties were anonymous to me and to others [my lecture]. Because I lacked self-awareness regarding these anxieties, I was unable to begin addressing my anxieties around administering the injection. This made me continue to avoid this area of practice, and as a result I did not develop this clinical skill before this incident. By the end of the incident, my feelings were known to me and others [my lecturer]. By disclosing my anxieties and fears to my lecturer and receiving feedback, my awareness of these issues increased. My lecturer commented on what l did right, wrong and what l could have done differently. R esultantly, I was able to address my feelings, areas of strengths, weaknesses and begin to develop the skill of administering injections. Analysis Department of Health (2008) identified lecturers as qualified nurses, who facilitate learning and supervise students. Mentoring also involves the assessment of the student in the practice setting NMC (2008). The interaction between mentor/lecturers and students is answer to minimise practice anxiety and professional intervention is often required to reduce any anxieties. This was resonant in my experience with my mentor while carrying out this procedure. Critically reflecting and understanding my feelings around giving the IM and after the procedure makes me think and evaluate what l ought to do differently in the future. This will enhance my technique and practice while also benefiting patient care. I am now aware of my competence as my mentor highly commended on my confidence, technique quality and the communication that l maintained with her throughout the procedure. Conclusion The description given in this paper is a general and subjective one that attempts to address my feeling and experience of giving the IM. It also aims at indentifying patterns and schemes in the experience of individuals in a similar context of giving IM for the first time. I believe, my experience will help educators to better understand the meaning of the anxiety that is observed as students undertake the act of giving their first injections. It will also help other students reflect and come to understand the meaning of that experience and not feel overwhelmed by this crucial initial experience. Action Plan I created an action plan to improve my practice and set out a course of action should a similar incident occur? Recording an entry in a reflective journal enabled me to record areas of practice that I want to develop and will allow me to track my progress regarding the administration of IM injections (Jack and Smith 2007).I also developed listening skills. Stickley and Freshwater (2006) argue that effective communication, which involves active listening, is an essential nursing skill, because of its beneficial effects on the patients experience. Word Court: 1100

The Impact Of Social Media Marketing Essay

The Impact Of Social Media Marketing Essay This assignment discussing about the impact of social media on the way businesses are conducted today in terms of technological, economical, political and cultural exchanges brought about by these form of modern communication. As we know this modern communication platform giving impact to businesses today. We dont have any control to social media because this platform giving users freedom to express their opinions, experiences or anything that they wants. Social media providing big opportunity to organization to build better relation with clients and providing real one to one communication. Customers are now become more particular about with whom and from where they are buying products or services. One of the main reason why businesses must use social media is because their competition using this platform daily as marketing strategy. Customers and future customers also using that. Case study on giant restaurant McDonalds showing that even big companies also unable to control the power of social media. Wildfire ROI Survey 2011 survey shows that, marketers admits social media helping them to increase brand awareness and increasing customer relation. Businesses that directly interacting with customers should use social media to increase their revenue and increase the brand awareness. Many organizations now start using internal social network which connects their employees all around the world. For example, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Restaurants have more then 460 outlets in America using internal social network to make sure daily operation getting much better and they become one of the famous restaurant in America. The number one world retailer who have more then 2.2 million employees in 2012, Wal-Mart using social media platform to streamline supply chains and manage the stocks and inventories more efficiently to reduce the product price. Any products related to social media also helping boost the world economy. Products like laptops, iPads, iPhones, headphone, headset and so on which used by customers to access social media received very high demand. Thousands of companies worldwide involved in offering social media services offers thousands of jobs opportunity. Some Fail Stories of Businesses when Using Social Media is Netflix where they are one of the top internet subscription service for watching movies and TV programs from any countries lost 800,000 customers because avoid listening to customers feedback form social media. Example of Success Companies because of Social Media is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines where successfully enjoy with meet and seat campaign which let the passengers choose the seatmate before board the plane. As a conclusion, Social media promising a lot of opportunities and challenges, so organization must prepare themselves to facing this. What is Social Media? Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein describe social media as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Social Media contains two words. The first one is Social which means interaction, sharing and so on. Another word is Media where to say that social media is a medium for publication. Social media contains a lot of tools and applications which let the users express their opinion, publish articles, sharing videos and so on easily. Social Media Landscape The chart below shows the social media network landscape. There have a lot of different tools and services which allow users to do almost anything that they want. For publishing articles, opinions, news and so on there have blogs, wikis and citizen journalism portals. Twitter is for Micro publication. There have thousands of website that allow users to share videos, pictures, links, music, slideshows and product reviews. Websites like YouTube.com, FlickR and so on are some of the popular sites. To make discussion and sharing ideas or even making complaint about any companies, there have forums, video forums, instant messaging and VoIP. Social Media also allow us to watch world live tv programs or even live football from anywhere in the world. There also have platforms for virtual words, social gaming and MMO. The most popular network on internet is Social Networks like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and so on that connecting anybody from anywhere. According to Edison Research Survey in 2012 (the only providers of exit polling information for ABC, CNN, CBS, Fox, NBC, The AP and most of newspapers worldwide) says that, more then half American has created profile in any Social Networking websites. Edison Research Survey in 2012 also shows that nearly two thirds of social networkers are using social sites daily. Social Media History Social Media history began in 1969 when CompuServe Company offers internet services for public using dial-up technology in United States. Then in 1979 Usenet become first bulletin board which connects Duke University and University of North Carolina. The development process continuously moving until Tripod introduced online community for college students and young adults in 1992. In 1997 there have more then one million sites on the internet including social media sites like AOL Instant Messenger. Frindster become biggest social networking site in 2002 with more then 3 million users. In 2003 Myspace, Frindster clone site launched and LinkedIn also launched their business-oriented social networking site for professionals. In 2004 Facebook started their operation which offers networking opportunity for Harvard College. YouTube come to the world in 2005 and give excitements to the world with video sharing features. In 2011 social media can be accessed from anywhere in the world and beco me one of the important thing in our life. Thousands of sites offers social media services in 2012 and all this sites very flexible and can be accessed through many different devices. Companies are now forced to use social media to make sure their brand always in customers mind. Social Media Influence According to Sir Andrew Likierman, London Business School Dean, social media has completely disrupted the way businesses assess their performance. This statement is completely true because social media not longer an option but is a must especially companies that dealing straightly with customers. Some business can completely avoid thinking about social media like wholesalers because they just dealing with another business. Since social media become more power, organization facing difficulties to measure their performance. They must have specific strategy for social media or even companies could have one special unit that handle feedbacks and responses from user. Any negative feedbacks should grab attention and they have to discuss on how to react with any negative comments. Any negative response from customers will be there on net forever. No way to remove that and because of that, companies that avoid think about social media will lose some customers. Customers are now become more particular about with whom and from where they are buying products or services. They willing to make online search before making any purchase decision especially for expensive items. Since internet is now more conveniently searchable through smart phones, customer can make search in just a minutes. Thats why companies must have social media presence and put some attention to manage customer response and try to convincing them that the business is reputable and trusted. Social media providing big opportunity to organization to build better relation with clients and providing real one to one communication. There have no better advertising then word of mouth. Satisfied customers surely will share to their friends in their social network about their experiences with a particular company. If one person shares their experience to his 400 Facebook friends, and that friends spread that news to their friends, the information moves extremely fast. If a video uploa ded in YouTube with attracting title like Think Twice before you eat XXX, this video surely will grab thousands or even millions of social medial users. With Share function available almost in any site, in just a second we can share anything to social media community. One of the main reason that we must use social media is because our competition using that daily as marketing strategy. If we not use mean we loosing customers. Emarketer says in 2011, the Facebook advertising revenue estimated at 3.8 billion dollar and can increase to 5.2 billion dollar in 2012. What does it mean?, this numbers shows that a lot of businesses using social media to make advertising. A lot of businesses have social media networks account. As a result, competitors are forced to make online presence. They have no option, make appearance in social media or you will lose customers. Another big reason why a business should using social media because their customers and future customers using it. A lot of people have at lease one social media account like Facebook, YouTube and so on. A business should present their brand where customers are. Traditionally we can see people open shops at crowd places like in shopping mall and so on. The same case here where a business should present in crowd place like social media. Million of people using that every day. You didnt show mean, the competitor getting stronger. According to McKinsey, organization that using social media able to increase 50 percent customers satisfaction. They also able to catch 48 percent in business lead and the most important is, their profit increase 24 percent. Case Study (McDonalds) I would like to discuss about, what are the impacts of Social Media to one of the worlds popular fast food giant company McDonalds. If we search the word McDonalds on YouTube.com (one of the top video sharing site), there have 124,000 results. Among this results we can found that, thousand of results that showing bad thing about McDonalds. Some of the video titles are: Video with title McDonalds horror got more then 4.2 million views with 8,859 likes. Hundred of the viewers commented on this video and one of the comment is I think I  »Ã‚ ¿dont want to eat french fries from McD again which got more then one thousand likes. This video showing about McDonalds foods and why some of their food takes long time to spoil. This is how now days people using social media to express their opinions and sharing bad thing about any brands. They are now having power which can influence other people behaviors. People who watching this video then surely with spread this to their friends, relations and so on. This is real challenge to McDonalds and most of companies. Some competitor also may misuse social media to spreading bad thing about their competitors company. Any people can upload videos showing bad thing about their competitors company and they also may set specific campaign to putting them down. Nobody can stop this kind of behaviors and activities. As response, I see McDonalds showing some effort to explain questions that asked by viewers. McDonalds uploaded some response video. One of the video titles is Behind the scenes at a McDonalds photo shoot (with 7 million views and more then 17,000 likes) which explains answers to questions asked by viewers. McDonalds realized the impact of videos uploaded by their customers to their business. If McDonalds didnt do anything as response to videos that showing bad things about them, surely this will impact their business performance and lost huge amount of customers. I found that McDonalds still didnt answer many more questions asked by customer through social media. They only answer some of them and huge amount of videos still havent have any answer. In January 2012, McDonalds launched Twitter campaign with hashtag #McDStories which let the customers to post nostalgic stories and their experiences with Happy Meals (one of the famous meal sold by McDonalds). As response, customers start to share bad stories about Happy Meals like customer service, food quality. One of their post is just got a terrible burger thats been there four hours. This is one of the fail campaign by McDonalds. As a lesson we must understand that social media offering big opportunity and big risk. Peoples perception and feedbacks is uncontrollable. Companies should have some contingency plan which can be used if any problem happens. Even worlds big giant restaurant also unable to control the social media. Measuring the Business Impact of Social Media (Wildfire ROI Survey 2011) Social media is a long term strategy which falls under advertising and public relation investment. When social media combined with other marketing strategies, a particular brand will always at peoples mind. In November 2011, Wildfire (a division of Google) who is worlds largest social media marketing software providers, involved in ROI survey. This survey conducted to over 700 marketers from number of countries. This survey shows that, marketers admit social media helping them to increase brand awareness and increasing customer relations. Over 97% of marketers believes that social media marketing campaign increasing their business performance. As a long time strategy they also want to increase social media spending. This survey also shows that (see figure 3), social media have power to growing brand awareness and able to increasing sales and partnerships. 41% marketers agreed that this media able to reducing cost that will result in revenue increase. 94% respondents ranked Facebook as one of their biggest social marketing platform which giving more value to their campaign. Facebook giving more new customers, have high conversion rate and increased customers loyalty. As a summary of this survey we can see that social media changing how we doing business today. Businesses that directly interacting with customers should use social media to increase their revenue and increase the brand awareness. Day to day, social media getting more complex and businesses should start a set long term social media strategy. Big companies can use this media to improve their customer service because they can keep on eye on customers behaviors and react fast. The Impact of Social Media on the Way Businesses are Conducted Today Technological Impact Many organizations now start using internal social network which connects their employees all around the world. For example, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Restaurants have more then 460 outlets in America. They are using internal social network which look similar like Facebook to teach their employees and managers about the recipes and how to make them fast. They are no more using traditional ways like send out bunch of books to each outlet. They are also no more waiting for feedback when store visit by headquarters and so on. Any problems that occur in any outlet get fast response from headquarters in just in few minutes. Everything becomes more easy and fast with internal social networks. Managers communicate with other managers in other outlet through chat or video conversation function. More exiting news is, they are creating burgers according to customers feedback in social media. As a result, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers becomes one of the famous restaurants in America. More and more companies are now using social media technology to speed up the business process and make sure every job done effectively. The number one world retailer who have more then 2.2 million employees in 2012, Wal-Mart using social media platform to streamline supply chains and manage the stocks and inventories more efficiently to reduce the product price. Many banks in America using social media to reduce cost for processing mortgages. SupeValu is one of the company who have number of supermarket chains in America using Yammer (enterprise social network software) to connect all 11,000 executives and store managers. They created 1000 groups in that network to discuss about challenges and discussing new ideas. All store managers are in one group where discussing problems and ideas. Another group of supervisors discussing problem related to their controls. This method is more cost effective rather then holding meeting where participated by all managers. According to McKinsey Co. Survey, they found that two-third of big companies in United States are now using web 2.0 application like internal social networks or blogs, 50% increase from year 2008. 90% of this companies admit that, this new communication way improved their operation and the process getting much faster. Eric Lesser, one of the Director at IBMs Institute for Business Value, said that social media make the communication between the worlds professionals with various skills to sharing ideas and solving problems easily. Social media technology moving extremely fast. This forcing company to have dynamic team which can learn new thing much faster. The software related to social media updated more regularly. The team must always ready anytime to facing new challenges. They must understand the most effective way to use social media which can bring good result for the company. All this pushing companies to spend more and have specific budget. Social media increased the number of internet users worldwide. From 2008 to 2012 the world internet users increased by 30% according to BBC. This forced internet service providers to finding new ways to speedup the internet connection. This to make sure all business activities can be done much faster, cheaper and in more effective way. Now we can use 4G and Fiber Optic network to send out emails or any services just in second. Conversation thought Skype becomes more comfort without any interruption. More and more companies using latest technology for communicate with other people. This is another good impact of social media. Economical Impact Social media helped businesses to create product which have high demand and according to customers needs. Customer giving feedbacks which helped many companies to develop their products and services. Companies like Dell using ideas from customers to creating and improving their products. One of the example is created backlit keyboards which is more suitable when working on airplanes. Companies who creating products according to customers needs surely will help boost the economy because high demand to that products. Any products related to social media also helping boost the world economy. Products like laptops, iPads, iPhones, headphone, headset and so on which used by customers to access social media received very high demand. Meg Whitman who is CEO of HP, says that in the past 2 years the sales for their laptops increased to more then 60%. The dramatic increase mainly because of impact of social media. More and more people using social media now and devices such as laptops receive high demand. Apple, Inc also admits that the sales for their hot product iPad received high demand as a result of social media. Social media also created job opportunities which can help the economy. Social media created thousands of jobs opportunities. Facebook has more then 2,000 employees, Twitter has 300 employees and Groupon employed more then 4,500 workers. This only some figures, there have thousands of companies worldwide involved in offering social media services which offer thousands of jobs opportunity. World economy increased and unemployment rate decreased. Business associated with facebook created 232,000 new job opportunity in Europe in 2012 according to the news published by CNN. Social media also created new industry where many people able to make income online. Many people are now enjoying income from home and helped house wifes to generate income to helping their husband while take care of their children at home. Social media contributed many benefits to the economy but there also have some negative impact. Entertainment industry especially film industry affected by social media. Film makers invest million of dollars to make movies. Thought social media sites like You Tube or any file sharing sites, any people can enjoy new movies at no cost. Even though industry players took some actions to reduce the impact, but they unable to stop this activity totally. Political Impact Many country leaders are now encouraging people to use social media. One of the greatest example is Malaysian Prime Ministers, Najib Tun Razak. He has more then one million Facebook fans as well as Tweeter. He sharing a lot of information though his network about his daily activity and so on. As a result, many companies start using social media especially Facebook on their daily operation. Most of businesses in Malaysia have Facebook ID. If we go deeper about the impact of social media in Malaysia, we can see Lynas Corporation project. Lynas project is from Australian company Lynas Corporation. This company supplies rare earths for many businesses. Many opposition political parties in Malaysia shows protects against this project because they believe this project provide danger for local environments. Malaysian citizen shows protect against this project thought social media. Facebook and many other social networks filled with feedback about this project. As a result government took some action to explain to citizen about this project and promise to evaluate back the existence of this project in Malaysia. This in one of the example showing clearly how social media impact governments decision and businesses. Cultural Exchanges Impact Social media highly impact most of business aspect. Now many businesses especially who have big number of employees start using internal social networking utilities which makes communication among them made simple. According to research made by Garner, in 2014 it assumed that more then 20 percent of businesses will use internal social networking utilities which will replace email communication now. With internal communication social network, any latest activities by company and so on will known by their employees much faster. Social media impact on human resource process from recruitment, development, career management, mentoring and so on. For example, LinkedIn is a social networking site for peoples in professional occupations. This site has more then 140 million members. Many organizations using this site to search for real talent peoples. Many HR departments using LinkedIn nowadays for recruitment where this site offer many tools that can be used to view full profile and so on. Companies also posting jobs at this site. This site opens new way to search for talented professionals. Professionals enjoy sharing their experiences on this site. Social media sites also used by companies to evaluate their employees and future employees. For example, after Human Resource department conducted interview for job openings, they will search candidate details through social network sites such as Facebook to examine whether that candidate suitable or not or has any bad things about them. This is one of the way how human resource department are now evaluate their candidate. Social networks like Facebook extremely giving big impact to world culture. We could have friends from many countries and communication with them able us to understand about their culture. Businesses now try to explore new markets. Companies like KFC and McDonalds try to localize some of their foods. Using customers feedback from social network, these companies try to add some local foods from that particular country together with their main menus. Nasi Ayam which is one of the Malaysia local foods available at KFC. They also try to add foods from other countries to local market. Social media useful to trading companies. If they found Iranian drink getting popular in Malaysia, they start importing these drinks to be sold at Malaysia. The ideas are come from customers feedback from social media. Now we can enjoy foods and dresses which belongs to other culture available at local market. Some disadvantages of social media to companies is, social media will give negative impact to workers productivity. Employees may wasting time to engage with their friends rather then doing the work that they should do. Now days we can see many employees using social network in office hours especially when their bosses are not around. Some Fail Stories of Businesses When Using Social Media Netflix is one of the top internet subscription service for watching movies and TV programs from any country. They have more then 27 million subscribers in America, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. When they increased their monthly subscription price, customers showed their protection through social media with more then 82,000 negative comments. Next month they lost 800,000 customers. As we can see companies can use social media as one of the platform to evaluate whether any decision that they made which is relating to customers. Any negative response must get fast attention from organization. In 2012, giant car maker Toyota launched Camry Effect Campaign on Twitter to promote Camry. They has created number of Twitter account. This campaign is designed for directly communicate with users but what happen is, big number of users start to accuse Toyota because bombarding and spamming then with many unsolicited messages. As response Toyota suspended their accounts. Until now this campaign well known as fails campaign. The main problem with this campaign is, not because Toyota Spamming then but the content of the messages that they send out is not attracting. They also are sending same messages content over and over. They are only sending promotional messages which not help to build relationship with users. Example of Success Companies because of Social Media KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in well known as one of the largest airlines in the world. They able to attract future customers in unique ways and convert them as paying customers. They really clear about what customer wants and they believe customers paying for journey. They started social media in 2009, after some failure they come out with very controversial successful idea. They made join venture with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and so on and created tool which can help passengers to choose seatmate before board the plane. This campaign named meet and seat. After passengers choose the seat mate, they can communicate with them using social networks like Facebook before they meet at flight. This one of the great idea KLM where utilizing social media and give ultimate experience to their passenger. Disadvantage of Social Media for Business A successful online presence especially in social media, a company needs an experienced team which can improve companies reputation. Social media becomes unique and able to drive a lot of sales when they engage with their customers. This mean they have to reply messages, comments and so on. Pushing sales without engaging with customers or not respond to negative feedback will damage the companies reputation. We also must produce new contents and always find out ways to overcome to any negative feedback. There have thousands of sites in social media which can be used to our business benefit. Is not easy for evaluate which site we should pay attention more and which site gives real value for investments. Return on Investment evaluation process is not an easy with social media. Wrong online presence strategy will damage the companies reputation and put them at a viral social disadvantages. Any mistake they make in front of thousand of fans or social media members will result in big reputation impact. So we must careful when perform social media campaign. Using social media marketing and advertising campaign could be more time consuming because we have to watch out every activity that we should do and engaging with people. Advantage of Social Media for Business The advertising cost is much more cheaper then traditional advertising and promotional activities. Social media also gives full value for every penny we spend. Traditional advertising only show the brand to the customer but with social media we can build long term relationship through Like function and can get their email address for send future emails. Future customer able to find our brand through many channels like sharing activities, news, search engine search result and so on which give us free advertising. Social media can bring huge amount of traffic to our content especially when that content grabbing their attention. This what we can call free traffic or free customers. Social media allows customers to express their experiences to others. A satisfies customers surely can bring another new customer though sharing experience activity. This also able to motivates companies to do the best as they can because consumers are now have freedom to express their views and feedback without any blocks. Companies will improve their products and services to customers. Conclusion Social media gives deep impact to the business world today from small companies to big giant companies. Social media landscape is big and the system and technology continuously growing and changing everyday. Companies who using and presented in social media enjoying big benefits. Some companies received negative impact. Social media not longer an option but is a must especially companies that dealing straightly with customers. Social media promising a lot of opportunities and challenges, so organization must prepare themselves to facing this.

The Problem of Global Warming Essay -- Greenhouse Effect Climate Chan

The Problem of Global Warming Imagine you are placed into the future. The year is 2100. You begin to live in this new world. You hear about huge storms over much of the USA that cause severe damage and flooding. San Francisco, New York City, New Orleans, Seattle, and Miami all experience major flooding from the ocean level having risen so high. Thousands and thousands of people perish each summer across the USA alone—hundreds die in Chicago as the temperature soars to 100 for 2 weeks straight. No, this isn’t total fantasy. These events all could occur. All of them could result from one thing—global warming. Global warming is a huge problem with many consequences that people don’t realize could occur. If we work together, though, we can stop them from happening. In this essay, I’ll tell you about global warming, its causes, and what we can do to help stop it. First, global warming is fairly new--the talk of this problem is fairly recent, and so is the problem itself. For example, according to â€Å"Why Files,† from the University of Wisconsin website, â€Å"the global warming debate first heated up in the late 1980’s.† When you look at the attached graph, from â€Å"Meteorology Today,† you can see that temperatures have simply soared in the past century, especially in the last 25-30 years. Due to dramatic increasing, global warming has become a very large problem as of the last few years. Temperatures have really increased. According to NOAA, the second warmest year on record in the world was 2001. In a â€Å"Why Files† report on global warming, it is said that â€Å"the 10 warmest years in the 150-year history of recorded temperatures have all occurred since 1983.† This means that 10 of the last 21 years have been in the list of the top 10 warmest years since record keeping began. So as you can see, the world is heating up. In the Europe heat wave of 2003, London reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time EVER, and in France alone, nearly 30,000 people died. And recently in Antarctica, grass was actually seen! According to the Green Car Congress website, â€Å"scientists have reported that broad areas of grass are now forming turf where there were once ice-sheets and glaciers.† Never before was grass seen there Now, where are all of these s izzling temperatures coming from? In other words, why is the world warming? Global warming is occurring because of the EXPANS... ...son can’t stop global warming—we need to group together as a whole to try to help prevent it. The more people informed about global warming, the better. Now you understand about global warming, tis causes, its harmful effects, and what we can do to help stop it. I encourage you to join me by informing people about global warming, and trying to help put a stop to it. Works Cited â€Å"Heating Season.† The Why Files. Ahrens, Donald C. â€Å"Climate Change.† Meteorology Today. Keith Dodson. Pacific Grove. Brooks/Cole, 2003. 520-544 â€Å"Grass Growing†¦In Antarctica.† Green Car Congress. â€Å"Global Warming-Frequently Asked Questions.† National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. â€Å"Tropical Deforestation-Deforestation and the Global Carbon Cycle.† NASA Earth Observatory. â€Å"Global Warming-Emissions-Individual.† U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. â€Å"Causes of Global Warming.† EcoBridge. â€Å"Global Warming-Potential Effects of Global Warming.† NASA Earth Observatory. â€Å"Consequences of Global Warming.† Natural Resources Defense Council. â€Å"Heat Waves and Climate Change: Fact Sheet.† Harvard Medicine. â€Å"How to Fight Global Warming.† Natural Resources Defense Council.

Understanding Religion Through Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle Essay

Understanding Religion Through Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle The following is issued as a warning from the author Kurt Vonnegut to the reader: "Any one unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either"(14). The latter quote is typical of Vonnegut in his usage of creating a personal narrative. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born in Indianapolis, like many of his characters, in 1922. His life from that point on closely resembles the lives of the people in his satirical novel Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut's mother committed suicide when he was twenty two years old and in many of his novels the character of the mother is dead. Vonnegut's "lifelong pessimism clearly has its roots in his parents' despairing response to the depression" (Allen 2). He was captured in WWII and was present in Dresden, Germany when it was bombed and set fire to, killing 135,000 citizens. This later became the basis for Vonnegut's greatest success Slaughterhouse-Five. Cat's Cradle was published in 1963, and though it wasn't as big a success as Slaughterhouse, it became widely known as contributing to the "counter-culture" since it does in fact question and counter almost every part of our society's culture (Reed). One of the largest points of our culture brought into question in Cat's Cradle is religion. Vonnegut himself is a Humanist, meaning that he isn't sure of the existence of a God, but values life above all else. In his last novel Timequake, Vonnegut explains that he understands that humans need religion as something to turn to for comfort and suppo... ... Literature). Columbia, SC: University of SouthCarolina Press, 1991. Broer, Lawrence R., editor. Sanity Plea: Schizophrenia in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut (revised edition). Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1994 Huber, Chris. The Vonnegut Web. 14 Feb. 2002. 25 Feb. 2002 http://www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonnegut/ Klinkowitz, Jerome. Vonnegut in Fact: The Public Spokesmanship of Personal Fiction. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. Reed, Peter J. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Warner Books, 1972. Vit, Marek. Marek Vit's Kurt Vonnegut Corner. 4 Mar. 2002. 25 Feb. 2002 http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/vonn.html Vonnegut, Kurt . Cat's Cradle. 1963. New York: Dell Publishing, 1988 Vonnegut, Kurt. Mother Night. New York: Fawcett, 1962. Vonnegut, Kurt. Timequake. New York: Putnam, 1997 Understanding Religion Through Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle Essay Understanding Religion Through Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle The following is issued as a warning from the author Kurt Vonnegut to the reader: "Any one unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either"(14). The latter quote is typical of Vonnegut in his usage of creating a personal narrative. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born in Indianapolis, like many of his characters, in 1922. His life from that point on closely resembles the lives of the people in his satirical novel Cat's Cradle. Vonnegut's mother committed suicide when he was twenty two years old and in many of his novels the character of the mother is dead. Vonnegut's "lifelong pessimism clearly has its roots in his parents' despairing response to the depression" (Allen 2). He was captured in WWII and was present in Dresden, Germany when it was bombed and set fire to, killing 135,000 citizens. This later became the basis for Vonnegut's greatest success Slaughterhouse-Five. Cat's Cradle was published in 1963, and though it wasn't as big a success as Slaughterhouse, it became widely known as contributing to the "counter-culture" since it does in fact question and counter almost every part of our society's culture (Reed). One of the largest points of our culture brought into question in Cat's Cradle is religion. Vonnegut himself is a Humanist, meaning that he isn't sure of the existence of a God, but values life above all else. In his last novel Timequake, Vonnegut explains that he understands that humans need religion as something to turn to for comfort and suppo... ... Literature). Columbia, SC: University of SouthCarolina Press, 1991. Broer, Lawrence R., editor. Sanity Plea: Schizophrenia in the Novels of Kurt Vonnegut (revised edition). Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1994 Huber, Chris. The Vonnegut Web. 14 Feb. 2002. 25 Feb. 2002 http://www.duke.edu/~crh4/vonnegut/ Klinkowitz, Jerome. Vonnegut in Fact: The Public Spokesmanship of Personal Fiction. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. Reed, Peter J. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Warner Books, 1972. Vit, Marek. Marek Vit's Kurt Vonnegut Corner. 4 Mar. 2002. 25 Feb. 2002 http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4953/vonn.html Vonnegut, Kurt . Cat's Cradle. 1963. New York: Dell Publishing, 1988 Vonnegut, Kurt. Mother Night. New York: Fawcett, 1962. Vonnegut, Kurt. Timequake. New York: Putnam, 1997

Communication Plan Final Proposal Essay

Usepersuasive communication to convince the CEO to take your suggested approach to solve Best Game Productions’ dilemma. The CEO must perceive the project as something the company needs. Considerthe noise that will detract the CEO from fully receiving your message, and construct your communication to address or avoid that noise. Createtwo tools to measure the effectiveness of your consultant communications. In designing these tools, consider who the audience of the tools will be and how to generate the most honest and objective feedback possible. Discusshow you will use the tools that you created to measure your effectiveness in the organization. Who will you ask to complete the tools, and how will you present the tools to the audience? What methods will you use to avoid bias in the feedback process? How will you use the feedback you receive to evaluate and improve your effectiveness as a consultant? Consider why the company is pursuing a solution and why it is pursuing it now. Consider the company’s customers. Communicatethe solution that you have selected for Best Game Productions. Format your paper and presentation consistent with APA guidelines. Create a 20-slide Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® presentation, with speaker notes, for the decision makers at Best Game Productions. Address the following in your presentation:  · The project background  · The deliverables (what you are going to do for them) To get this material Click this link – https://bitly.com/1oJKWq6 When you get to college, it is a strange feeling. You have to go to class, which you are used to, but you have a lot more freedom than you may be used to. There are a lot of things to know about class, but there is much more to know about your life at college. Here are some tips to help you. Communications – General Communications Write a persuasive proposal submission of no more than 700 words to the CEO of Best Game Productions. Complete the following in your persuasive proposal submission: Describe the project in terms the CEO can understand. Consider the CEO’s perspective, needs, and style of communication. Usepersuasive communication to convince the CEO to take your suggested approach to solve Best Game Productions’ dilemma. The CEO must perceive the project as something the company needs. Considerthe noise that will detract the CEO from fully receiving your message, and construct your communication to address or avoid that noise. Createtwo tools to measure the effectiveness of your consultant communications. In designing these tools, consider who the audience of the tools will be and how to generate the most honest and objective feedback possible. Discusshow you will use the tools that you created to measure your effectiveness in the organization. Who will you ask to complete the tools, and how will you present the tools to the audience? What methods will you use to avoid bias in the feedback process? How will you use the feedback you receive to evaluate and improve your effectiveness as a consultant? Consider why the company is pursuing a solution and why it is pursuing it now. Consider the company’s customers. Communicatethe solution that you have selected for Best Game Productions. Format your paper and presentation consistent with APA guidelines. Create a 20-slide Microsoft ® PowerPoint ® presentation, with speaker notes, for the decision makers at Best Game Productions. Address the following in your presentation:  · The project background  · The deliverables (what you are going to do for them)  · The methodology (how you are going to accomplish it)  · The outcome (what you will achieve for them)

Part Four Chapter X

X At nine o'clock on the morning of the election for Barry's seat, Parminder left the Old Vicarage and walked up Church Row to the Walls' house. She rapped on the door and waited until, at last, Colin appeared. There were shadows around his bloodshot eyes and beneath his cheekbones; his skin seemed to have thinned and his clothes grown too big. He had not yet returned to work. The news that Parminder had screamed confidential medical information about Howard in public had set back his tentative recovery; the more robust Colin of a few nights ago, who had sat on the leather pouffe and pretended to be confident of victory, might never have been. ‘Is everything all right?' he asked, closing the door behind her, looking wary. ‘Yes, fine,' she said. ‘I thought you might like to walk down the church hall with me, to vote.' ‘I – no,' he said weakly. ‘I'm sorry.' ‘I know how you feel, Colin,' said Parminder, in a small tight voice. ‘But if you don't vote, it means they've won. I'm not going to let them win. I'm going to go down there and vote for you, and I want you to come with me.' Parminder was effectively suspended from work. The Mollisons had complained to every professional body for which they could find an address, and Dr Crawford had advised Parminder to take time off. To her great surprise, she felt strangely liberated. But Colin was shaking his head. She thought she saw tears in his eyes. ‘I can't, Minda.' ‘You can!' she said. ‘You can, Colin! You've got to stand up to them! Think of Barry!' ‘I can't – I'm sorry – I †¦' He made a choking noise and burst into tears. Colin had cried in her surgery before now; sobbed in desperation at the burden of fear he carried with him every day of his life. ‘Come on,' she said, unembarrassed, and she took his arm and steered him through to the kitchen, where she handed him kitchen roll and let him sob himself into hiccups again. ‘Where's Tessa?' ‘At work,' he gasped, mopping his eyes. There was an invitation to Howard Mollison's sixty-fifth birthday party lying on the kitchen table; somebody had torn it neatly in two. ‘I got one of those, as well,' said Parminder. ‘Before I shouted at him. Listen, Colin. Voting – ‘ ‘I can't,' whispered Colin. ‘ – shows them they haven't beaten us.' ‘But they have,' said Colin. Parminder burst out laughing. After contemplating her with his mouth open for a moment, Colin started to laugh too: a big, booming guffaw, like the bark of a mastiff. ‘All right, they've run us out of our jobs,' said Parminder, ‘and neither of us wants to leave the house but, other than that, I think we're in very good shape indeed.' Colin took off his glasses and dabbed his wet eyes, grinning. ‘Come on, Colin. I want to vote for you. It isn't over yet. After I blew my top, and told Howard Mollison he was no better than a junkie in front of the whole council and the local press – ‘ He burst out laughing again and she was delighted; she had not heard him laugh so much since New Year, and then it had been Barry making him do it. ‘ – they forgot to vote on forcing the addiction clinic out of Bellchapel. So, please. Get your coat. We'll walk down there together.' Colin's snorts and giggles died away. He stared down at the big hands fumbled over each other, as if he were washing them clean. ‘Colin, it's not over. You've made a difference. People don't like the Mollisons. If you get in, we'd be in a much stronger position to fight. Please, Colin.' ‘All right,' he said, after a few moments, awed by his own daring. It was a short walk, in the fresh clean air, each of them clutching their voter registration cards. The church hall was empty of voters apart from themselves. Each put a thick pencil cross beside Colin's name and left with the sense that they had got away with something. Miles Mollison did not vote until midday. He paused at his partner's door on the way out. ‘I'm off to vote, Gav,' he said. Gavin indicated the telephone pressed against his ear; he was on hold with Mary's insurance company. ‘Oh – right – I'm off to vote, Shona,' said Miles, turning to their secretary. There was no harm in reminding them both that he was in need of their support. Miles jogged downstairs and proceeded to the Copper Kettle, where, during a brief post-coital chat, he had arranged to meet his wife so that they could go down to the church hall together. Samantha had spent the morning at home, leaving her assistant in charge at the shop. She knew that she could no longer put off telling Carly that they were out of business, and that Carly was out of a job, but she could not bring herself to do it before the weekend and the concert in London. When Miles appeared, and she saw his excited little grin, she experienced a rush of fury. ‘Dad not coming?' were his first words. ‘They're going down after closing time,' said Samantha. There were two old ladies in the voting booths when she and Miles got there. Samantha waited, looking at the backs of their iron-grey perms, their thick coats and their thicker ankles. That was how she would look one day. The more crooked of the two old women noticed Miles as they left, beamed, and said, ‘I've just voted for you!' ‘Well, thank you very much!' said Miles, delighted. Samantha entered the booth and stared down at the two names: Miles Mollison and Colin Wall, the pencil, tied to the end of a piece of string, in her hand. Then she scribbled ‘I hate bloody Pagford' across the paper, folded it over, crossed to the ballot box and dropped it, unsmiling, through the slot. ‘Thanks, love,' said Miles quietly, with a pat on her back. Tessa Wall, who had never failed to vote in an election before, drove past the church hall on her way back home from school and did not stop. Ruth and Simon Price spent the day talking more seriously than ever about the possibility of moving to Reading. Ruth threw out their voter registration cards while clearing the kitchen table for supper. Gavin had never intended to vote; if Barry had been alive to stand, he might have done so, but he had no desire to help Miles achieve another of his life's goals. At half-past five he packed up his briefcase, irritable and depressed, because he had finally run out of excuses not to have dinner at Kay's. It was particularly irksome, because there were hopeful signs that the insurance company was shifting in Mary's favour, and he had very much wanted to go over and tell her so. This meant that he would have to store up the news until tomorrow; he did not want to waste it on the telephone. When Kay opened the door to him, she launched at once into the rapid, quick-fire talk that usually meant she was in a bad mood. ‘Sorry, it's been a dreadful day,' she said, although he had not complained, and they had barely exchanged greetings. ‘I was late back, I meant to be further on with dinner, come through.' From upstairs came the insistent crash of drums and a loud bass line. Gavin was surprised that the neighbours were not complaining. Kay saw him glance up at the ceiling and said, ‘Oh, Gaia's furious because some boy she liked back in Hackney has started going out with another girl.' She seized the glass of wine she was already drinking and took a big gulp. Her conscience had hurt her when she called Marco de Luca ‘some boy'. He had virtually moved into their house in the weeks before they had left London. Kay had found him charming, considerate and helpful. She would have liked a son like Marco. ‘She'll live,' said Kay, pushing the memories away, and she returned to the potatoes she was boiling. ‘She's sixteen. You bounce at that age. Help yourself to wine.' Gavin sat down at the table, wishing that Kay would make Gaia turn the music down. She had virtually to shout at him over the vibration of the bass, the rattling saucepan lids and the noisy extractor fan. He yearned again for the melancholy calm of Mary's big kitchen, for Mary's gratitude, her need for him. ‘What?' he said loudly, because he could tell that Kay had just asked him something. ‘I said, did you vote?' ‘Vote?' ‘In the council election!' she said. ‘No,' he replied. ‘Couldn't care less.' He was not sure whether she had heard. She was talking again, and only when she turned to the table with knives and forks could he hear her clearly. ‘†¦ absolutely disgusting, actually, that the parish is colluding with Aubrey Fawley. I expect Bellchapel will be finished if Miles gets in †¦' She drained the potatoes and the splatter and crash drowned her temporarily again. ‘†¦ if that silly woman hadn't lost her temper, we might be in with a better shot. I gave her masses of stuff on the clinic and I don't think she used any of it. She just screamed at Howard Mollison that he was too fat. Talk about unprofessional †¦' Gavin had heard rumours about Dr Jawanda's public outburst. He had found it mildly amusing. ‘†¦ all this uncertainty's very damaging to the people who work at that clinic, not to mention the clients.' But Gavin could muster neither pity nor indignation; all he felt was dismay at the firm grip Kay seemed to have on the intricacies and personalities involved in this esoteric local issue. It was yet another indication of how she was driving roots deeper and deeper into Pagford. It would take a lot to dislodge her now. He turned his head and gazed out of the window onto the overgrown garden beyond. He had offered to help Fergus with Mary's garden this weekend. With luck, he thought, Mary would invite him to stay for dinner again, and if she did, he would skip Howard Mollison's sixty-fifth birthday party, to which Miles seemed to think he was looking forward with excitement. ‘†¦ wanted to keep the Weedons, but no, Gillian says we can't cherry-pick. Would you call that cherry-picking?' ‘Sorry, what?' asked Gavin. ‘Mattie's back,' she said, and he had to struggle to recollect that this was a colleague of hers, whose cases she had been covering. ‘I wanted to keep working with the Weedons, because sometimes you do get a particular feeling for a family, but Gillian won't let me. It's crazy.' ‘You must be the only person in the world who ever wanted to keep the Weedons,' said Gavin. ‘From what I've heard, anyway.' It took nearly all Kay's willpower not to snap at him. She pulled the salmon fillets she had been baking out of the oven. Gaia's music was so loud that she could feel it vibrating through the tray, which she slammed down on the hob. ‘Gaia!' she screamed, making Gavin jump as she strode past him to the foot of the stairs. ‘GAIA! Turn it down! I mean it! TURN IT DOWN!' The volume diminished by perhaps a decibel. Kay marched back into the kitchen, fuming. The row with Gaia, before Gavin arrived, had been one of their worst ever. Gaia had stated her intention of telephoning her father and asking to move in with him. ‘Well, good luck with that!' Kay had shouted. But perhaps Brendan would say yes. He had left her when Gaia was only a month old. Brendan was married now, with three other children. He had a huge house and a good job. What if he said yes? Gavin was glad that he did not have to talk as they ate; the thumping music filled the silence, and he could think about Mary in peace. He would tell her tomorrow that the insurance company was making conciliatory noises, and receive her gratitude and admiration †¦ He had almost cleared his plate when he realized that Kay had not eaten a single mouthful. She was staring at him across the table, and her expression alarmed him. Perhaps he had somehow revealed his inner thoughts †¦ Gaia's music came to an abrupt halt overhead. The throbbing quiet was dreadful to Gavin; he wished that Gaia would put something else on, quickly. ‘You don't even try,' Kay said miserably. ‘You don't even pretend to care, Gavin.' He attempted to take the easy way out. ‘Kay, I've had a long day,' he said. ‘I'm sorry if I'm not up to the minutiae of local politics the second I walk – ‘ ‘I'm not talking about local politics,' she said. ‘You sit there looking as if you'd rather be anywhere else – it's – it's offensive. What do you want, Gavin?' He saw Mary's kitchen, and her sweet face. ‘I have to beg to see you,' Kay said, ‘and when you come round here you couldn't make it clearer that you don't want to come.' She wanted him to say ‘that's not true'. The last point at which a denial might have counted slunk past. They were sliding, at increasing speed, towards that crisis which Gavin both urgently desired and dreaded. ‘Tell me what you want,' she said wearily. ‘Just tell me.' Both could feel the relationship crumbling to pieces beneath the weight of everything that Gavin refused to say. It was with a sense of putting them both out of their misery that he reached for words that he had not intended to speak aloud, perhaps ever, but which, in some way, seemed to excuse both of them. ‘I didn't want this to happen,' Gavin said earnestly. ‘I didn't mean it to. Kay, I'm really sorry, but I think I'm in love with Mary Fairbrother.' He saw from her expression that she had not been prepared for this. ‘Mary Fairbrother?' she repeated. ‘I think,' he said (and there was a bittersweet pleasure in talking about it, even though he knew he was wounding her; he had not been able to say it to anyone else), ‘it's been there for a long time. I never acknowledged – I mean, when Barry was alive I'd never have – ‘ ‘I thought he was your best friend,' whispered Kay. ‘He was.' ‘He's only been dead a few weeks!' Gavin did not like hearing that. ‘Look,' he said, ‘I'm trying to be honest with you. I'm trying to be fair.' ‘You're trying to be fair?' He had always imagined it ending in a blaze of fury, but she simply watched him putting on his coat with tears in her eyes. ‘I'm sorry,' he said, and walked out of her house for the last time. On the pavement, he experienced a rush of elation, and hurried to his car. He would be able to tell Mary about the insurance company tonight, after all.