Political Participation by Latino Non-Citizens in the US Article

Political Participation by Latino Non-Citizens in the US - Article Example As the discussion highlights  the study’s resultant figure for the Latino non-citizens’ political participation was an insignificant 3.6%. Though this meager figure indicated less participation, the study still was able to present other rooms for interpretation of political behavior. For instance, it was found that Latino non-citizens were â€Å"about one and a half times more likely to participate† in local non-political groups and may indicate a perception of non-political activities as â€Å"directly relevant and †¦ more fun†.This paper outlines that political activities and levels of participation were divided into two types: the less demanding activities (i.e., â€Å"wearing a button or displaying a sign, signing a petition or   attending a public meeting†); and the more demanding activities (i.e. â€Å"volunteering for   a political campaign and donating money†). The trend for both citizen and non-citizen was similar: higher participation rates for less demanding activities and lower participation rates for the more demanding activities. Though the same trend appeared for both, the citizens still have a significantly, higher participation rate against the non-citizens.  The aforementioned figure of 3.6% also opened discussions for the relevance of understanding the variables behind the differences in the level of participation among the Latino non-citizens. The study delved and shed light on this through elaborating how â€Å"results show that participation is not random†.... Though the same trend appeared for both, the citizens still have a significantly, higher participation rate against the non-citizens. The aforementioned figure of 3.6% also opened discussions for the relevance of understanding the variables behind the differences in the level of participation among the Latino non-citizens. The study delved and shed light on this through elaborating how â€Å"results show that participation is not random† (Leal, 2002, p. 369). Moreover, active participation lies on at least six of these identified variables: 1) how politically-informed non-citizens were; 2) the perception on the existing differences between political parties; 3) the depth of political interest; 4) possession or lack of â€Å"a strong ethnic identity;† likelihood of participation for 5) the younger generation; and 6) those planning to naturalize (Leal, 2002, p. 369). The fact that the younger generation was seen as more likely to participate in political activities seemed to correct a former assumption: â€Å"age is seen as a close cousin of education; people are thought to gain more information as they age and therefore, grow more likely to participate† (Leal, 2002, p. 368). The author pointed out that the proliferation by such younger participators among Latino non-citizens maybe due to the increasing anti-immigrant stance adopted by the American politics (Leal, 2002). In other words, the current political environment created a new breed of political activists among the Latino non-citizens. As long as this political environment persists, high political involvement should be expected from the young ones of the Latino immigrants. Implications Political knowledge.

Reincarnation and Past Lives Essay Example for Free

Reincarnation and Past Lives Essay Reincarnation is the belief that when one dies, ones body decomposes but something of oneself is reborn in another body. It is the belief that one has lived before and will live again in another body after death. The bodies one passes in and out of need not be human. One may have been a Doberman in a past life, and one may be a mite or a carrot in a future life. Some tribes avoid eating certain animals because they believe that the souls of their ancestors dwell in those animals. A man could even become his own daughter by dying before she is born and then entering her body at birth. The belief in past lives used to be mainly a belief found in Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, but now is a central tenet of much woo-woo like dianetics and channeling. In those ancient Eastern religions, reincarnation was not considered a good thing, but a bad thing. To achieve the state of ultimate bliss (nirvana) is to escape from the wheel of rebirth. In most, if not all, ancient religions with a belief in reincarnation, the soul entering a body is seen as a metaphysical demotion, a sullying and impure rite of passage. In New Age religions, however, being born again seems to be a kind of perverse goal. Prepare yourself in this life for who or what you want to come back as in the next life. Belief in past lives also opens the door for New Age therapies such as past life regression therapy, which seeks the causes of todays psychological problems in the experiences of previous lives. L. Ron Hubbard, author of Dianetics and the founder of Scientology, introduced his own version of reincarnation into his new religion. According to Hubbard, past lives need auditing to get at the root of ones troubles. He also claims that Dianetics gave impetus to Bridey Murphy and that some scientologists have been dogs and other animals in previous lives (A Note on Past Lives in The Rediscovery of the Human Soul). According to Hubbard, It has only been in Scientology that the mechanics of death have been thoroughly understood. What happens in death is this: the Thetan (spirit) finds itself without a body (which has died) and then it goes looking for a new body. Thetans will hang around people. They will see a woman who is pregnant and follow her down the street. Then, the Thetan will slip into the newborn usually two or three minutes after the delivery of a child from the mother. A Thetan usually picks it up about the time the baby takes its first gasp. How Hubbard knows this is never revealed. Channeling, like past life regression, is distinct from reincarnation, even though it is based on the same essential concept: death does not put an end to the entirety of ones being. In classical reincarnation, something of the consciousness of the deceased somehow enters a new body but as that body grows only one unified consciousness persists through time. Channeling might be called temporary intermittent past life invasion because there is a coming and going of the past life entity, which always remains distinct from the present self-conscious being. For example, JZ Knight claims that in 1977 the spirit of a Cro-Magnon warrior who once lived in Atlantis took over her body in order to pass on bits of wisdom hed picked up over the centuries. Knight seems to be carrying on the work of Jane Roberts and Robert Butts, who in 1972 hit the market with Seth Speaks. Knight, Roberts, and Butts are indebted to Edgar Cayce, who claimed to be in touch with many of his past lives. One would think that channeling might muck things up a bit. After all, if various spirits from the past can enter any body at any time without destroying the present person, it is possible that when one remembers a past life it is actually someone elses life one is remembering. From a philosophical point of view, reincarnation poses some interesting problems. What is it that is reincarnated? Presumably, it is the soul that is reincarnated, but what is the soul? A disembodied consciousness? Reincarnation does seem to offer an explanation for some strange phenomena such as the ability of some people to regress to a past life under hypnosis. Also, we might explain child prodigies by claiming that unlike most cases of reincarnation where the soul has to more or less start from scratch, the child prodigy somehow gets a soul with great carryover from a previous life, giving it a decided advantage over the rest of us. Reincarnation could explain why bad things happen to good people and why good things happen to bad people: they are being rewarded or punished for actions in past lives (karma). One could explain deja vu experiences by claiming that they are memories of past lives. Dreams could be interpreted as a kind of soul travel and soul memory. However, past life regression and deja vu experiences are best explained as the recalling of events from this life, not some past life. Dreams and child prodigies are best explained in terms of brain structures and genetically inheritable traits and processes. And since bad things also happen to bad people and good things also happen to good people, the most reasonable belief is that there is no design to the distribution of good and bad happening to people. Stories, especially stories from children, that claim knowledge of a past life, abound. One collector of such stories was the psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, who made a weak case that the stories offered scientific evidence for reincarnation. Finally, since there is no way to tell the difference between a baby with a soul that will go to heaven or hell, a baby with a soul that has been around before in other bodies, and a baby with no soul at all, it follows that the idea of a soul adds nothing to our concept of a human being. Applying Occams razor, both the idea of reincarnation and the idea of an immortal soul that will go to heaven or hell are equally unnecessary. Reference http://www.skepdic.com/reincarn.html

Media Essay - It’s Time to Ban the Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages

Media Essay - It’s Time to Ban the Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages Everywhere we go, we're bombarded by all sorts of advertisements. We can seldom go through one day without receiving at least one phone call from a telemarketer. Turn on the TV for 15 or 20 minutes and you'll see at least one 5-minute commercial break. Advertisements are abundant everywhere we go: alongside roads, at airports, and at train stations. Why is advertising so popular, why do so many companies pump millions of dollars each year into advertising? The answer is simple: ads inform people of products they otherwise wouldn't have heard of, they make products look appealing to so that people will buy them, and they allow advertisers to influence the general public to purchase their product. Generally speaking, this isn't a problem – companies make money and people get the products they need and want. What about products, though, that hurt, rather than help, people, products such as alcohol? Should advertising of such products, products that give way to so much harm, be al lowed? The biggest argument for the banning of advertising for alcoholic beverages points out the strong negative effects of alcohol on our society and the problems associated with alcohol. Alcoholism is a disease. According to the government-run NIAAA, or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcoholism has a few easy to recognize symptoms. First of all, alcoholics have an addiction to alcohol. They constantly have a desire to consume more alcohol. This strong desire for alcohol leads to a loss of control. Rather than choosing when to drink and limiting the amount of alcohol consumption, alcoholics are controlled by their alcoholism. This desire is often overwhel... ... is no longer the popular thing; people are often looked down upon for it. We can accomplish the same with alcohol abuse. Works Cited "Alcoholism is a Family Disease." FamilyFun. (Online). Available http://family.go.com/yourtime/relationships/feature/kypa107alcohol/kypa107alcohol.html, February 25, 2003. "Frequently Asked Questions – Alcohol." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (Online). Available http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/faq/q-a-text.htm, February 25, 2003. Hanson, Prof. David J., Ph.D. "Alcohol Advertising." Alcohol: Problems and Solutions. (Online). Available http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info/Advertising/Advertising.html, February 25, 2003. Youth-Oriented Alcohol Advertising . 1997. Issue Briefs. Studio City, Calif.: Mediascope Press. Also available online at http://mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/yoaa.htm, February 25, 2003.

Psychoanalytic Criticism Essay -- Psychology Freud Psychological Paper

Psychoanalytic Criticism Introduction The psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud spent much of his life exploring the workings of the unconscious. Freud's work has influenced society in ways which we take for granted. When we speak of Freudian slips or look for hidden causes behind irrational behavior, we are using aspects of Freudian analysis. Many literary critics have also adopted Freud's various theories and methods. In order to define Freudian literary criticism, we will examine how various critics approach Freud's work. We will pay special attention to issues of creativity , author psychology , and psycho-biography . Creativity and neurosis Many of us may be familiar with the notion that creativity is intertwined with repression and pain. We may look at the paintings of Van Gogh as a recording of his descent into madness. Both the literary critic Lionel Trilling and Freud have written on the connection between the unconscious and artistic production. In The Liberal Imagination, Trilling writes of the "mechanisms by which art makes its effects" (53). Trilling suggests that these "mechanisms" make the thoughts of the unconscious more acceptable to the conscious, and he refers to "mechanisms" such as the "condensations of meanings and the displacement of accent" (53). The processes of "condensation" and "displacement" are both described by Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams: thoughts and images in dreams may have more than one meaning, Freud says, and one thought or image may be transferred onto another one, possibly because the mind finds the second thought or image more acceptable than the first one. Freud labels the former process "condensation" and the latter one "displacement." Freud devised these terms for hi... ... by the roles and portrayals of women in society. Works Cited Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. Ed. and trans. James Strachey. New York: Basic Books, 1965. Irigaray, Luce. "Another 'Cause'--Castration." Feminisms. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1991. 404-12. Frederick, Karl. "Introduction to the Danse Macabre: Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism. Ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. 123-138. Murfin, Ross C. "Psychoanalytic Criticism and Heart of Darkness." Heart of Darkness: A Case Study in Contemporary Criticism. Ed. Ross C. Murfin. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. 113- 123. Trilling, Lionel. The Liberal Imagination. New York: Viking, 1950. Wilson, Edmund. The Wound and the Bow. New York: Oxford UP, 1947.

Kant philosophy Essay

For this case, I will be using Kantian ethics to pinpoint the rationally correct action to take. Before discussing Kantian ethics in relation to the case, we must first explore what Kantian ethics is. Kantian ethics comes from the deontological school of thought, which focuses on the moral correctness of the act in itself (Johnson, 2013). This means that the judgment on the act is done a priori. This is contrasted to the consequentialist school of thought, which focuses on the results of an act as the factor that would qualify the rightness or wrongness of an action (Sinnott-Armstrong, 2012). A consequentialist would make a judgment on an act a posteriori. Kant utilized a concept called the Categorical Imperative, which states that that which is moral is that which is rational (Johnson, 2013). Therefore, a moral act is one that follows from a rational agent. An immoral act, as it follows, is that which is irrational (Johnson, 2013). Another significant factor to consider in Kantian ethics is that the most important value that they seek to preserve is autonomy. Contrasted to a Utilitarian, a Kantian would promote autonomy rather than happiness. The Categorical Imperative contains three main elements. One element of the Categorical Imperative is the formula of universalizable maxims. The formula of universalizable maxims states that a right action is that which can be universalizable (Johnson, 2013). The question here would be: would an action be acceptable if everyone did it? To test this, a person would need to imagine a twin world wherein that action is the norm for everyone. Then that person would need to see if such a world is conceivable and rational. Another important factor for this experiment would be to see if the universalized act would inhibit other people’s freedom. If the universalized act or maxim doesn’t infringe on other’s freedom then this act is acceptable (Johnson, 2013). Another element under the Categorical Imperative is the Humanity Formula. This concept states that humanity is a means in itself and should never be treated merely as a means to an end (Johnson, 2013). This means that each human being must be respected because he or she has his or her own inherent autonomy and dignity (Johnson, 2013). This formula stipulates that a person may not be manipulated by another as a means to achieve a particular goal. Realistically, though, you cannot help but use people as means to an end (Johnson, 2013). This happens everyday, for example, when we use shop clerks to purchase food. In this example, we are using the shop clerks as a means to get the ends, which is food. The reason as to why this particular case of using a person as a means to an end is acceptable is because of the idea of consent. A shop clerk has freely chosen to pursue his or her own line of work and this entails being a means through which people can purchase food. Thus, the shop clerk consents to being a means to this particular end. The third element under the Categorical Imperative is the Kingdom of Ends Formula. This formulation states that an agent exists in a community that is made up of equally rational agents who have just as much say in the maxims that become universalized (Johnson, 2013). The universalized maxims become the law and every agent in this community agrees to conform his or her actions to the law. B. DISCUSSION OF CASE For this particular case, we are dealing with the maxim of taking cognitive enhancing drugs to increase productivity output. If we were to test this particular maxim using the formula of universalizability, we would have to imagine a world wherein every person would do this particular action. In this world, everyone would use cognitive enhancing drugs to meet deadlines or to finish their work faster. In the face of stress, instead of overcoming the obstacle through the person’s own hard work and will, he would only merely need to pop a pill. As mentioned in the case, this kind of accepted behavior could create a new kind of neuro-society. This new neuro-society would be filled with people popping pills like Adderall or Ritalin to focus on their work on hand. There is essentially nothing wrong with increasing the ability of a person to focus on a particular task. The downside of this kind of society would be that it would become a society of drug dependency. Designer drugs like the ones previously mentioned would act as a quick fix for people. Instead of relying on their own wills and capacities, people would be relying merely on the drug to be able to produce an output. This dependency goes against the value the Kantian holds above everything else: autonomy. By allowing a drug-dependent society to prosper, we would be limiting our own freedom by slowly becoming more dependent on drugs. In this world where using cognitive enhancing drugs is the norm, imagine if the drug would suddenly be taken away. People would not know how to focus or get their work done without the drug. In the face of stress, people wouldn’t know how to act since they have lost the drug that previously did all the work for them. This is because they supplemented their own shortcomings with the drug instead of developing themselves into becoming fully functioning and autonomous adults who could deal with their problems. This maxim being universalized would stunt our own development and would, in turn, create an infantilized society. This thought experiment aims to show that the maxim of using cognitive enhancing drugs does not pass the test of universalizability. Secondly, in this world with this universalized maxim, the using of cognitive enhancing drugs may become a norm not only for college students or adults, but also for children. Children are vulnerable in the sense that their autonomy is still limited. Because a Kantian would uphold autonomy as the most important value, he or she would feel an obligation to protect vulnerable parties who have limited autonomy. In this world, there may be over-achieving parents who want their children to be competitive in the world of academics. If the using of cognitive enhancing drugs becomes the norm, then these kinds of parents might try to get their children to take these kinds of drugs to get ahead in their studies. A Kantian would see that the children must be protected from these kinds of actions since they cannot utilize their autonomy in the full capacity. Another point for this argument is that if children are put on cognitive enhancing drugs from an early age, then they will grow up never knowing what it is like to function without these drugs. Furthermore, they will become extremely dependent and they will never be able to realize their own full potential and capacity. This means that their autonomies will always be somewhat limited. Therefore, a world wherein cognitive enhancing drugs are the norm, not just for adults but also for children, must be avoided. Therefore, based on the twin world test, the use of cognitive enhancing drugs should not become a norm since it creates a dependent society and it creates an opportunity for vulnerable parties to remain vulnerable and never reach their full autonomies. Thirdly, another reason as to why this particular maxim would not be acceptable for a Kantian is because it goes against another element of the Categorical Imperative: the Human Formula. As previously stated, this formulation asserts that humans should not be used merely as means to an end. This formulation includes disallowing agents in using themselves as a means to an end (Manninen, 2006). The act of taking cognitive enhancing drugs reduces the person to merely a means to an end. Instead of respecting one’s own capacity to achieve one’s full potential, a person merely reduces himself to something akin to a machine that will produce output in the quickest way possible. Instead of the person using his or her own capacity in facing the challenge, the act of using a cognitive enhancing drug will circumvent the process of self-development and will skip the opportunity for personal growth. In this manner, the person will accomplish the short-term goal of churning out an output without actually developing his or her own talents. As noted in a journal article by Manninen (2006), when drugs are treated as a miracle solution to the stressful emotions an agent is feeling, this stops the agent from growing and overcoming the stress by himself or herself. This sacrifices an important aspect of being human: the capacity to engage in personal development. This stunts personal growth and, in turn, society is left with people who do not know how to deal with problems by themselves. Instead, they turn to using drugs as an emotional crutch. In conclusion, we see how a Kantian would view the maxim of using cognitive enhancing pills in response to stress or a heavy workload. Since the most important value for the Kantian is autonomy and the development of this, he or she would see this maxim as something that limits and stunts autonomy. Therefore, to make this maxim into a universalized law would be irrational. In my opinion, I think that Kantian ethics did pinpoint the morally correct response in this case. This is because the using of cognitive enhancing drugs would reduce the agent to a mere means. This is not morally correct since human beings are not mere means nor machines but rather rational agents who deserve respect and the chance to grow. References: Johnson, R. (2013). Kant’s Moral Philosophy. In E. Zalta (Ed. ), The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/kant-moral/ Manninen, B. A. (2006). Medicating the mind: A kantian analysis of overprescribing psychoactive drugs. Journal of medical ethics, 32(2), 100-105. Sinnott-Armstrong, W. (2012). Consequentialism. In E. Zalta (Ed. ), The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo. cgi? entry=consequentialism.

How to Asses Mental Illness Essays

How to Asses Mental Illness Essays How to Asses Mental Illness Paper How to Asses Mental Illness Paper The ability for patients to access mental health services these days are more wide ranging than ever before. This is in part due to the fact that the realm of mental health, once simply governed by physicians, is now peopled by staff of all different types and disciplines. In addition, many mental health professionals are now multiply credentialed, so it is not impossible to see a mental health professional who is all at once a family and marital therapist, a chemical dependency practitioner and a social worker. All these elements only serve to improve the ability of patients/clients to receive quality mental health services, whether it be in a large institutional setting, a community mental health center or in a private clinical office. But what are the different types of mental health professionals who are trained in the identification and treatment of patients with mental health issues? There are many, but for the matter of clarity and brevity, we will focus on just three. Licensed clinical social workers are one type of mental health professional who may be assigned a clinical case. These are individuals who have received graduate level training in the assessment and management of patients with mental illness. They may choose to specialize in a certain type of therapy, such as marital or family therapy or they may provide a more general practice. Clinical social workers are also found in the hospital setting, whether for psychiatric patients or medical patients and are experts in arranging for social services and referral to assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and other post hospitalization care. Advanced registry nurse practitioners are one of the newer types of clinicians in the mental health field. These are nurses who have taken graduate level education which allows them to perform diagnosis and treatment for patients. Many nurse practitioners (also called ARNPs) can prescribe medications for their patients, depending on the laws of the states where they live. ARNPs are also unique in that they can open up clinical practices of their own without having to work under the auspices or licensure of a practicing physician. ARNPs provide medication and counseling services, as well as crisis intervention services. ARNPs are also found frequently in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Another type of professional who may diagnose and treat a patient with mental health issues is a clinical psychologist. These are men and women who receive post-graduate education and receive a doctorate in psychology. Psychologists are often called â€Å"doctor† but the difference is that they are not allowed to prescribe medications. Psychologists are multifaceted, and are able to diagnose and treat patients with mental health issues, as well as perform and interpret psychological testing to held aid in the diagnosis of patients with personality or learning disorders. Psychologists are usually utilized in the outpatient setting, but it is not unheard of for them to work on an inpatient mental health unit as well. While all these different clinical backgrounds are able to assess patients for the presence of mental illness, the issues which they must consider are the same from patient to patient. Whether the patient is a self-referral, court mandated or identified by a family member, before a true clinical diagnosis can be made, a thorough mental health assessment must be made. This mental health assessment includes several key issues which must be answered. First, the clinician must know what the problem is which brought the patient in for evaluation in the first place. Does the patient feel sad, or depressed, or anxious? To what degree does the mood problem affect the patient’s day to day life? Are they able to go on about their daily business, or are they incapable of holding a job or caring for themselves or their families, because of the severity of the illness. Does the patient actually perceive there is a problem, or has the patient been referred by a medical provider, family member, or friend? The high coincidence of mental health problems and substance abuse makes it necessary for the mental health professional to assess if there is any drug or alcohol abuse issues here. How long has the patient had these symptoms, and are they getting worse, better, or staying the same. A family history is also important, especially as it pertains to issues of mental illness within the family, or a history of physical/sexual or emotional abuse. Above all, when any mental health professional is assessing a patient for mental illness, he or she must assess if the patient has any thoughts of hurting himself or anyone else. This is almost the most important question to be asked of any patient who is being assessed for mental health problems, and when answered in the positive, must be dealt with immediately. As we are discussing suicidal ideation, it is important for any clinician to understand who is at the greatest risk of self harm. There is a disparity in the rates of suicide between men and women, in that it is more likely for a woman to express thoughts of suicide and it is more likely for a man to actually commit suicide. In fact, men over age 45 are more than four times more likely than women to kill themselves as women in the same age (National Patient Safety Agency, 2001). An unemployed man is two to three times more likely to commit suicide. Suicide is also believed to account for 20 percent of all death in young people aged 15-24 and is second only to accidental death. The prevalence of substance abuse in this age group tends to be a contributing factor to suicide rates. The additional issues of academic pressure and relationship problems, as well as possible history of physical and sexual abuse are other risk factors. Interestingly, research has also shown that youngsters who know someone who commits suicide are more likely to commit suicide (Shaffi, et. al. 1985). While issues of race and likelihood to commit suicide have been studied, the pattern changes over geographic distribution. A study done in 1993 by Briget seemed to indicate that gay men and lesbians had higher rate of suicide and attempted suicide than the general population. And, as previously mentioned, research has shown that substance abuse is a significant risk factor for suicide and suicide attempts. One study estimated that among people who abuse drugs, the risk of suicide is twenty times greater than that of the general population (Faulkner, 1997) Any discussion about mental health in the 21st Century is sure to bring some in some element of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly known as HIPAA. HIPAA is a federal health benefits law passed in 1996, effective July 1, 1997, which among other things, restricts pre-existing condition exclusion periods to ensure portability of health-care coverage between plans, group and individual; requires guaranteed issue and renewal of insurance coverage; prohibits plans from charging individuals higher premiums, co-payments, and/or deductibles based on health status. It also places strict limits on the type and amount of information which can be released about patients, and to whom the information can be given, and in what manner. While the privacy of patient care information is important, HIPAA can be a stumbling block to the care of patients. For example, should the patient refuse that any collateral information be obtained about his case from a family member or friend, the mental health professional is prohibited by law from making any contact with this person, even if the collateral information could be of help in the care and diagnosis of the patient. In addition, it makes it almost impossible for family members to make appointments or even ascertain that patients are getting care. Health care providers are given leeway in one manner, in that should a mental health patient make what is felt to be a credible threat against another person, the healthcare provider is then able to provide information about the threat to the person in the broadest possible terms, known as a â€Å"duty to warn†. Usually now, before a mental health professional takes on a case, he or she will have the patient sign a document explaining the patient’s rights and the clinician’s responsibilities under HIPAA. In this document, the clinician outlines most common reasons for which the clinician may have to release information about the patient’s care, such as coordinating care with another provider or even obtaining coverage information from the insurer. The patient is also generally advised that he or she may revoke all authorization at any time, but in turn the clinician may choose to discontinue treatment. In this way, both parties are protected. It should be noted, however, that HIPAA restrictions do not apply in cases where abuse is suspected, for clinical health oversight activities, for judicial reasons if evaluations are court ordered, and in cases where the care involves a workman’s compensation issue. The clinician must also provide to the patient a name and number of a person to who concerns about privacy violation may be addressed, and if all else fails, complaints may be made to the Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency which oversees HIPAA. But should a mental health professional be incautious about the kind of information he or she chooses to release, then he or she may find that they are subject to high fines, sanctions from federally funded agencies and loss of clinical privilege. To me, HIPAA seems like the extreme end of the pendulum, and does little to take into account common sense. I believe that in the future, different legislation will be made to modify the tone of HIPAA and allow a bit of clinical common sense to be used as well. Until that time, mental health practitioners will have to tread lightly and practice with care, keeping in mind at all times the needs of the patient and the rule of the law. So in summary, there are many kinds of mental health professionals, of all different backgrounds and disciplines. It would not be difficult to find a therapist or other mental health professional that would be able to help a client with his or her problems. All are highly qualified. All receive excellent training, and the high degree of diversity allows the mental health patient to almost have a consumer attitude when shopping for mental health care. No matter what kind of practitioner a patient chooses, the patient should be sure that he or she has chosen one who is well versed in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. New laws put into affect do much to protect the rights of the patient, but in some ways can tie the hands of the clinical provider. But ultimately, rules are in place to protect both the patient and the practitioner. Bibliography : Bridget, J. 1994, Treatment of Lesbians with Alcohol Problems in Alcohol services in North-West England, Lesbian Information Service. Faulkner, A. 1997, Briefing No. 1 Suicide and Deliberate Self-Harm. Mental Health Foundation National Patient Safety Agency 2001, Safety First, National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, five-year report of the National Confidential Inquiry Shaffi, M. , Carigan, S. , Whittinghall, J. R. et al. 1985, Psychological Autopsy of Completed Suicide in Children and Adolescents, American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1061-1064. United States Department of Health and Human Services website, accessed on 4/2/05 at hhs. gov/ocr/hipaa/

Transition essays

Transition essays The pace of college is very different to get use to coming out of high school. College teachers like to get to the point and move along with the lesson. Ive learned if you dont understand something in class then you should try to study it outside of class. Many times I will be in class and the teacher will say something that I dont understand. Many of my classes do not have weekly assignments either. Im use to having weekly homework from high school. Although not having assignments due regularly is better for me because I tend to forget things very easily. Ive given a lot of thought in to how I spend my time here in college. A year ago my time management was a complete mess. Ive learned to get better by writing stuff down to remind me of what I need to do for the day. It was very difficult for me to juggle school, pledge ship and my social life at first coming here. It was a repeat of being late, unorganized and lost. I believe that I have improved a lot though with time management and staying more organized, because I essentially have to. I have to utilize the time that is given to me everyday because of my tight schedule of school and then pledge ship. Equilibrium of happiness and academics is important. My new fraternity is a lot of fun so I enjoy doing that. Some of my happiness is still in San Diego with the beach but I am learning to deal with it. A few things that have been difficult are not being in San Diego, and dealing with a change in every way. I had to get use to all the streets, get use to the new college grounds, get use to the diverse people , get use to all my classes and get use to my new fraternity. I dont think anything was particularly easy here. I enjoy having new freedom that I had never had before. Although my parents were pretty easy going it is just not the same. Independence is a positive and negative thing in my eyes. My independence is fun and also a lit...

Other cultures poetry Essays

Other cultures poetry Essays Other cultures poetry Paper Other cultures poetry Paper Essay Topic: Maya Angelou Poems Aint I a woman? which was written by Sojourner Truth in 1854 and Maya Angelous poem Still I rise which was written in the 20th century both deal with the themes of racism and inequality between white and black people and especially white and black women. The first poem is Sojourner Truths, which asks why she wasnt treated like a woman throughout the speech Aint I a woman? . The two main themes she looks at are the themes of racism and inequality she gives examples throughout the poem that show that women have no rights and the poem questions the morality of why she does not have these rights. Sojourner Truth was born into slavery and therefore had no real education and throughout the poem she highlights this using non-standard English Aint I a woman? She has a deep Christian faith from her childhood and she expresses this at the end when talking about how Christ was from a woman and man had nothing to do with him. In this poem she addresses a wide audience because this poem was originally as a speech for a womans conference there would have been numerous people at this conference including men, women, blacks and whites. In the first stanza she talks about how all women should be treated equally comparing the treatment of white women to herself as a black woman. She also talks about segregation when she says that man over there say referring to him as that man and as being over there creates a distance. In the second stanza she talks about how she works as hard as a man in the first few lines of this stanza she engages the reader by using the imperatives look at me followed by look at my arm these commands capture the reader. In the third stanza she talks about the fact that she as all the bad points of both men and women about how she can work as much as a man and that she is not given the right food to match and highlights this point when she says I can bear the lash as well. In the fourth stanza she gathers both sympathy and empathy from the reader when recalling some of her harshest experiences of inequality as a slave she recalls how her children were taken by the slave owners and she recalls how there was nobody there none but Jesus heard me this will engage everyone but especially mothers she also refers to her faith in this line when she mentions that the only person there was Jesus. In the penultimate stanza she refers again to segregation when saying as she did in the first stanza that little man in black there say the use of the word there creates distance between Truth and this person. She again refers to her faith when commenting that man had nothing to do with him when talking about Jesus in a time when religion was a very powerful tool as many people were deeply religious. In the last stanza she says that women should be able to have positions of power saying that as a woman had the power to turn the world upside down they should be able to turn it right side up again. Still I rise was written to express Maya Angelous plight during the 20th century and how she will never be down hearted about it repeating the line still I rise throughout the poem. Maya Angelou had a disruptive childhood when she was three her parents divorced and she was sent to live with her Grandmother in a different state. After being sexually assaulted whilst staying at her mothers she didnt speak to anyone but her brother for four years. She has no target audience as the poem was written as just that a poem and therefore has a large span of people reading the poem however it is aimed at an adult audience rather than children talking of things like haughtiness, sexiness and sassiness. In the first stanza she talks about how people make up lies and put her down your bitter twisted lies she uses personal pronouns to make the reader guilty for her plight and therefore more sympathetic. The second stanza talks about her confidence and power oil well pumping in my living room this use of imagery is very powerful as oil was and still remains a very expensive material. The third stanza is used to make her point that she cannot be stopped using the line just like the moons and the suns and she goes on to say with the certainty of the tides she uses nature as it is the only thing that cannot truly be stopped. She backs this up like she has done with many of the other stanzas by using the phrase still I rise this line is assertive saying no matter what I will rise. The fourth stanza relies on the theme of pain and suffering talking about how she feels people want her to be treated again using personal pronouns to make the reader feel guilty she uses past tense to make the reader feel guilty for what they may have done. The fifth stanza reverts back to present tense and is similar to the second stanza claiming confidence again using the theme of power and wealth gold mines diggin in my own backyard. The sixth stanza almost repeats the theme of pain but is more violent using violent verbs such as cut, shoot and kill and at the end of that stanza again uses the analogy of nature when saying still like air I rise this makes it sound effortless and done with ease. The seventh stanza shows sarcasm in the first to lines of the stanza does it come as a surprise and then as we have seen before the theme of wealth and power diamonds at the meeting of my thighs. The last few stanza change structure in an explosion of rage. Again using nature as an example of power, Black Ocean. It ends with the repetition of the line I rise to enforce her point. Aint I a woman asks people, lets work together using collective people such as women whereas Maya Angelous poem is more of an out cry of anger finalising with the words I rise. Sojourner Truth is ill educated and therefore she uses non Standard English however Maya Angelou uses non Standard English to highlight her roots throughout Mayas poem a theme of aggression moves to the forefront of the poem whereas in Truths poem she grows in confidence questioning the reader throughout. Both poets address a wide audience one in a womans conference and the other (still I rise) not having a real target audience. Still I rise follows a set pattern of quatrains until the end when the structure explodes into a vent of aggression and defiance it also changes from past tense when talking of oppression to present tense when talking about hope. The previous poem on the other hand was written as a speech but still has a rhythm she splits up the poem every 5 or 6 lines with the words Aint I a woman Still I rise is very fast paced because it has shorter sentences compared to Aint I a woman which because it contains longer sentences is much slower. In Still I rise Angelou uses personal pronouns to grab the readers attention and make the reader think about the injustices done. While in Aint I a woman Truth never uses personal pronouns but instead opens up to the reader supplying her inner most thoughts. Both poem repeat their titles right through the poems but for different effects in Still I rise it is used to make a point while in Aint I a woman it is used to back up a point and to question the reader. Both poems use rhetorical questions still I rise uses more, more frequently to highlight or to make points whereas in Aint I a woman they are used purely to highlight or to remind the reader of the theme f the poem. Aint I a woman uses verbs right from the start describing how white women should be treated using the verbs helped, lifted and how they need and the use of verbs continues throughout the poem when describing Truths tasks Plowed and gathered etc all of which are tasks commonly set to men as opposed to the violent verbs used in Still I rise such as cut, shoot and kill. Both poems have very strong endings; Angelou repeats the line I rise three times after rallying people with the word I am the dream, the hope of the slave whilst Truth tells her readers to work together. Still I rise was more a vent of anger whereas Aint I a woman was open and it seemed like she was revealing her inner most secrets. It was for that very reason that I preferred Aint I a woman as I found it therefore easier to sympathise with her than In Still I rise as it felt as if sympathy was almost forced on you despite the fact that Truth used less personal pronouns the imperatives she used grabbed my attention and she kept my attention by discussing personal issues that were very intimate.

Gapminder Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gapminder - Assignment Example The trend line can be drawn (approximately) using India as a starting point through the USA and Qatar. The countries located above the trend line are mostly the countries, which GDP origins from mining and heavy engineering industry. The other possible explanation of relatively high emission accompanied with low income is ineffective energy consumption (Kazakhstan, Trinidad and Tobago). The group of countries is located below the trend line (Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Hong Kong). Their position can be explained with use of technologies in the heavy engineering industry that consume less energy or energy saving technologies. The other reason for such position is that industry of these countries is oriented on production of goods that do not lead to high CO2 emission (household electronics, computers, software) or comprise nonmaterial production (tourism, banking). If we will look through the years, the dependence between these two parameters remains linear, and the emission constantly grows. The existence of two abovementioned groups of countries on the graph for the year 2011 means that part of the countries uses the ineffective technologies and the other part (especially developed countries) decreased CO2 emission due to energy saving increasing of energy efficiency. Developed countries introduced low-emission technologies within the next 10 years, particularly after signing Kyoto

The Tendency of the Firm in a Monopolistic Market Essay

The Tendency of the Firm in a Monopolistic Market - Essay Example These differences between perfect competition and monopolistic competition have social welfare implications. In perfect competition, marginal revenue is the same as price and this reflects the optimum utility of goods as the price is also equal to marginal cost. Supply also meets the demand at the most efficient level. This is illustrated in Figure 1 where supply and demand achieved equilibrium. The case is different in a monopolistic competition where there are few or no competition. The tendency of the firm in a monopolistic market is to restrict production as can be shown in Figure 1 to drive prices up as represented by P1. The market then becomes inefficient because firms are not producing at a minimum cost where price is much higher than the cost of production. This has an implication in social welfare as inefficiency would mean requiring more resources to achieve the same utility of good thereby increasing the social cost. This is not the case in a perfect competition where mar ginal revenue is the same as price. In the diagram in Figure 2, a competitive market achieves an equilibrium where demand is met with supply (MC and AR intersect). It meant that the social service can be had at its cost and is, therefore, the most optimum level where the needed service is appropriately supplied without waste. Thus comparing perfect competition with a monopolistic market, price in the monopolistic market is higher as shown in P1 compared to Price of perfect competition in P2. Production is also inefficient in the monopolistic market as shown by Q1 as it is deliberately restricted to drive the price or P1.

Enron Scandal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Enron Scandal - Research Paper Example This created financial discrepancies in the form of loans. Profits were artificially generated in order to mention the cash flows that came in the form of such loans. Another technique used by the organization was to speculate on the energy sector. It calculated the market prices for the energy sector. The importance of ethics has also been demonstrated in the aftermath of the scandal. Corporate organizations need to have sound policies that demonstrate commitment, responsibility, and good governance. Such a culture helps employees to work for the prosperity of the organization. The collapse of Enron triggered shockwaves that took time to heal. The legislation in that time period allowed audit firms to provide diverse services which helped in the creation of fraudulent or misleading financial reports and statements. A major problem which occurred was the fact that Enron could recruit auditors that were inclined to make favorable statements in the organizational interest. Corporate scandals have a negative impact on economic systems because they lead to drastic changes. The Enron scandal that erupted in 2001 shook the foundations of the American financial system. It had a catastrophic impact on the confidence of the market because the organization had been involved in fraudulent and malicious financial activities. The organization would become insolvent while its auditing partner, Arthur Anderson was also on the verge of bankruptcy. Enron was an organization that had been created in the mid-1980s. Jeffrey Skilling, Kenneth Lay, and Andrew Fastow were responsible for the scandal which involved the lack of proper financial reports and statements (Brewer & Hansen, 2002). Stock values were overstated in order to attract more cash flows. The Enron scandal had widespread repercussions on the entire financial system. The main executives received sentences while certain firms like Citigroup and Anderson Auditing had to pay heavy.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com - Research Paper Example The research paper "Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com" talks about the path of Jeff Bezos who has established the Amazon in 1994, and what great decisions brought this company to the current success. Jeff Bezos underlines in his interviews that he is a really happy person and he says that it is necessary to be an optimistic person otherwise no positive results are reached. The risk is a controversial issue for Bezos. He claims that to found an enterprise is a rather risky activity and the largest risks should be eliminated at once. To be an entrepreneur is to have an appropriate mind for it otherwise it is very difficult to solve different problems and to make different solutions. Bezos tells that he has learned the importance of self-reliance from his early childhood. His grandfather told him that it was necessary to rely on oneself and support oneself by one’s own methods and strategies. There is no one around but you to fix a current breakage or to solve a current problem. A constant search for new opportunities is a perfect perspective for solving potential challenges or business hazards. Jeff Bezos demonstrates his flexible management nature and his ability to adapt new strategies of leadership and management. When Amazon had to deal with financial challenges of the Company in 2002, it should have dealt with more than $3 billion operating losses. With respect to the experienced challenges and losses of the Company, it is possible to outline the key elements of the Amazon’s business model.... Risk is a controversial issue for Bezos. He claims that to found an enterprise is rather risky activity and the largest risks should be eliminated at once. To be an entrepreneur is to have appropriate mind for it otherwise it is very difficult to solve different problems and to make different solutions. Bezos tells that he has learnt the importance of self-reliance from his early childhood. Thus, his grandfather told him that it was necessary to rely on oneself and support oneself by one’s own methods and strategies. There is no one around but you to fix a current breakage or to solve a current problem. Moreover, it is relevant to work with an open and a creative mind. A constant search for new opportunities is a perfect perspective for solving potential challenges or business hazards. Jeff Bezos demonstrates his flexible management nature and his ability to adapt new strategies of leadership and management. When Amazon had to deal with financial challenges of the Company in 2 002, it should have dealt with more than $3 billion operating losses. Therefore, with respect to the experienced challenges and losses of the Company it is possible to outline the key elements of the Amazon’s business model. The superiority of Amazon in the online market cannot be denied, because Internet was not captured by large book sellers till 1994. Brand establishment of the Company was dependant on advertising. Moreover, a spirit of community is evident on the Web site of Amazon (Isckia 2009, p. 334). The Company publishes different reviews of the customers and provides other interested persons with reliable reactions of other readers. Tastes of their customers are reviewed and the Company is able to

Discussion Board 7-1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 7-1 - Research Paper Example Test administrators began by ensuring that test takers who were ostensibly adolescents understood the purpose of the measurements. In addition, test administrators informed the students about their rights throughout the test process. The measurement process used scales, including Morally Debatable Behaviors Scale-Revised (MDBS-R) for rating attitudes, emotions and other behaviors (Cohen, Swerdlik & Sturman, 2013). The psychological measurement session also employed the use of the Likert scale that enabled critical understanding of specific behaviors. The assessment was generally correct and successful bearing that approved individuals later demonstrated the detected characteristics. The psychological measurements conducted in the educational context to determine appropriateness of students to high school disclosed many insights about tools of measurement. One of the insight is that the interview is a very crucial assessment tool that may not miss in a psychometric. Actually, interview forms the basis of every assessment as test administrators have to interview to gather basic and vital information from clients (Cohen, Swerdlik & Sturman, 2013). Another insight is that case history data is an important source of data about test takers considering that it carries true and accurate information. During the assessment of students to join high school, medical reports, recommendation letter by elementary teachers concerning conducts and abilities of the students and academic reports acted as sources of case history data. Further insight is that Likert scale is an efficient means of measurement as it enables test takers to make quick and usually correct ranking of thei r abilities. In future when involved in psychological measurement of clients, one should consider interviewing and case history data as basic assessment tools. For quicker and inclusive assessment, an individual should consider using

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com - Research Paper Example The research paper "Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com" talks about the path of Jeff Bezos who has established the Amazon in 1994, and what great decisions brought this company to the current success. Jeff Bezos underlines in his interviews that he is a really happy person and he says that it is necessary to be an optimistic person otherwise no positive results are reached. The risk is a controversial issue for Bezos. He claims that to found an enterprise is a rather risky activity and the largest risks should be eliminated at once. To be an entrepreneur is to have an appropriate mind for it otherwise it is very difficult to solve different problems and to make different solutions. Bezos tells that he has learned the importance of self-reliance from his early childhood. His grandfather told him that it was necessary to rely on oneself and support oneself by one’s own methods and strategies. There is no one around but you to fix a current breakage or to solve a current problem. A constant search for new opportunities is a perfect perspective for solving potential challenges or business hazards. Jeff Bezos demonstrates his flexible management nature and his ability to adapt new strategies of leadership and management. When Amazon had to deal with financial challenges of the Company in 2002, it should have dealt with more than $3 billion operating losses. With respect to the experienced challenges and losses of the Company, it is possible to outline the key elements of the Amazon’s business model.... Risk is a controversial issue for Bezos. He claims that to found an enterprise is rather risky activity and the largest risks should be eliminated at once. To be an entrepreneur is to have appropriate mind for it otherwise it is very difficult to solve different problems and to make different solutions. Bezos tells that he has learnt the importance of self-reliance from his early childhood. Thus, his grandfather told him that it was necessary to rely on oneself and support oneself by one’s own methods and strategies. There is no one around but you to fix a current breakage or to solve a current problem. Moreover, it is relevant to work with an open and a creative mind. A constant search for new opportunities is a perfect perspective for solving potential challenges or business hazards. Jeff Bezos demonstrates his flexible management nature and his ability to adapt new strategies of leadership and management. When Amazon had to deal with financial challenges of the Company in 2 002, it should have dealt with more than $3 billion operating losses. Therefore, with respect to the experienced challenges and losses of the Company it is possible to outline the key elements of the Amazon’s business model. The superiority of Amazon in the online market cannot be denied, because Internet was not captured by large book sellers till 1994. Brand establishment of the Company was dependant on advertising. Moreover, a spirit of community is evident on the Web site of Amazon (Isckia 2009, p. 334). The Company publishes different reviews of the customers and provides other interested persons with reliable reactions of other readers. Tastes of their customers are reviewed and the Company is able to

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

Marketing - Essay Example Just low fares would not attract the required customer level, and so value for money is another objective of Southwest Airlines. So though the service offered is a no frills one, Southwest Airlines has targeted excellence in customer service to provide an extra boost to the value of the service. This has paid rich dividends, as can be seen from the accolades that Southwest Airlines has received consistently received, and is the only business enterprise in its sector of industry to do so. The Fortune magazine in its annual ratings has consistently placed Southwest Airlines among the most admired companies in the United States of America. In essence it is the understanding, and utilization of the human asset in an organization that provides the capacity to an organization to maintain low cost levels in its operation. This factor of this strength of the human asset in Southwest Airlines enables it not just to maintain low cost levels, but also to meet the challenges that come with adverse times. Southwest Airlines has employee strength of approximately thirty-two thousand, and in keeping with the philosophy of their founder Kelleher, remain an asset that is accorded the highest priority. Kelleher believed that a high employee morale, reduces employee turnover, and that helps to maintain low costs. The employees of Southwest Airlines enjoy facilities of profit sharing and stock purchases, and are encouraged to make the working environment more pleasurable. The result of these actions could be seen in the aftermath of the September 2001, when the airline industry went through a crisis. The support of the employees enabl ed Southwest Airlines to be the only airline that did not cut the number of its flights and lay-off employees, and surprisingly offer lower fares too, despite the sharp drop in passenger traffic. By November of that year, while the airline industry reported a drop of sixteen percent in comparison to the previous year,

Disabled by Winifred Owen (Not Very Good) Essay Example for Free

Disabled by Winifred Owen (Not Very Good) Essay The poem â€Å"Disabled† by Winifred Owen uses many physical and mental contrasts/changes within the poem to help the reader understand the theme that lies beneath about how war is ironic, brutal and destructive. One of these changes is how the protagonist soldier goes from being a young sports hero to an old, disabled man in a wheelchair. Throughout the poem Winifred Owen uses quotes such as â€Å"smiling they wrote his lie aged nineteen† to imply that the soldier was under aged at his time of joining the army. Winifred also writes â€Å"After matches carried shoulder-high† which demonstrates the irony of how the soldier is â€Å"legless, sewn short at elbow† but talks about how he used to think so gloriously about his days when he used to be a sports hero and â€Å"liked a blood-smear down his leg† after his football matches. This helped me understand the theme that war is ironic and destructive by showing the dire contrast from a healthy boy to a crippled war veteran. The alliteration â€Å"half his lifetime lapsed in a hot race† is used to demonstrate again the irony and brutality of war by how half his life has passed by but it is described so quickly as a â€Å"hot race.† Alliteration was used to draw the readers’ attention to the line by exaggerating the first letter of nearly every word. This helped me understand the theme by demonstrating the consequences of war, how it feels like half his lifetime has gone by when wars really only last a few years. The important change of a young, fit man becoming a paraplegic is a perfect example of the destructive nature of war as it is such a major difference in a person’s life. This made me think about the wars going on all around the world and how good New Zealand men and women soldiers are being seriously injured.

Growth Characteristics of Bacteriophage

Growth Characteristics of Bacteriophage CHAPTER 4 GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF BACTERIOPHAGE INFECTING AQUACULTURE BACTERIAL PATHOGENS 4.1  Introduction Bacteriophage are naturally occurring viruses that predated on bacteria (Clokie et al., 2011). They self-replicate exponentially and leave the commensal flora unaffected makes them useful for industrial application (Tsonos et al., 2014). However, the high number of bacteriophage in environment (Clokie et al., 2011) provide the challenges to the discovery of the most effective phage in treating bacterial pathogens (Lindberg et al., 2014). Even there were many extensive reports on bacteriophages, the clinical outcome of therapy trials are variable (Tsonos et al., 2014). This indicates that there are still many parameters which are unclear that may contributed to efficacy of the phage therapy. Previously, the most common practice to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of phages was from in vivo studies. However, Lindberg et al. (2014) provide the alternative to evaluate the efficacy the phage treatment. The information could be assessed from the important phage traits such as adsorption, lysis time and burst size (Ackermann et al., 2004). Besides that, there are various physical and chemical factors like temperature, pH and salinity which could determine the occurrence and stability of bacteriophage (JoÅ„czyk et al., 2011). These factors reported to cause the inactivation of phage through damage of the phage structure (head, tail or envelope) or DNA structural changes (Ackermann et al., 2004). Therefore, the next section in this study is aimed to characterize the bacteriophage isolates (VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5) based on their adsorption profile, one step growth profile and stability to various range of temperature, pH and bile salt concentration. 4.2  Materials and Methods 4.2.1  Bacteriophage Isolates The bacteriophage isolates that were used in the third chapter were further characterized in this chapter. The bacteriophage isolates were designated as VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. 4.2.2  Bacteriophage Adsorption Assay The bacteriophage adsorption assay was carried out following the method described by Hsieh et al. (2011) with few modification. In adsorption test, the host bacteria was first grown to OD600 1.0 or equivalent to ~108 cfu/ml and diluted to ~105 cfu/ml with TSB media. About nine ml of the host bacteria was mixed with one ml of phage lysate (~103 pfu/ml) to MOI of 0.001. Then, 100  µl of the bacteria-phage mixture was taken to determine the initial phage titer. The mixture was then incubated at 28 °C with no agitation. After 10 min, one ml of the samples was collected and centrifuged at 16,000 xg for 2 min to precipitate the absorbed phages. The same was repeated every 10 min for a period 50 min. The count of unabsorbed free phages in the supernatant was determined. Then, the free phage particles over the initial phage particles was calculated and expressed in percentage. The accuracy of the free phage count was improved by triplicate separate experiments. 4.2.3  Bacteriophage One Step Growth The one step growth assay was determined following method described Hsieh et al. (2011) with slight modification. First, host bacteria (OD600 1.0) was diluted to ~106 cfu/ml. Then, 100  µl of bacterial suspension was mixed with 100  µl of phage lysate (~103 pfu/ml) to a 1 ml of final volume with sterile TSB media (MOI 0.001). Second, the phage was allowed to adsorb into bacterial cells for 30 min at 28 °C. Then the bacterial cells were precipitated by centrifugation at 16,000 xg for 2 min. Third, the bacterial-phage pellet was suspended in 50 ml sterile TSB. Subsequently, 1 ml of the bacterial-phage suspension was precipitated by centrifugation and plated to determine the initial phage count. Then, two sets of bacterial-phage suspension concurrently collected every 12 min for a period of 84 min (for VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5) and 132 minutes (VHLPKM4) for the determination of latent period, eclipsed period and burst size. The first set was subjected to above treatment to determine t he latent period and burst size while the second set was added with 40  µl chloroform, mixed and incubated at 28 °C for 5 min before centrifugation to determine the eclipse period. The free phage count in the supernatant was determined in triplicate. The latent period and burst size was determined according to Middleboe et al. (2010). The eclipse period was determine according to Sillankorva et al. (2008). The accuracy of the free phage count was improved by triplicate separate experiments. 4.2.4  Bacteriophage Tolerance Test The stability of the bacteriophage isolates was test in different range of temperature, pH and bile salt concentrations. The temperature test was conducted for one hour, while, the pH and bile salt concentration tests were conducted for 24 hours. a.  Temperature Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different temperature was done following method described by Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon (2010) with slight modification. The bacteriophage solution was set to approximately 105 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. About 900  µl of sterile phage buffer was distributed into sterile empty 1.5 ml microfuge tube. The tube was incubated in the dry bath at desirable temperature (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 °C) at least for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, about 100  µl of bacteriophage solution (~104 pfu) was added into the preheated tube and mixed immediately. The tube was incubated again at desirable temperature for an hour. After incubation, the tube was placed in ice-warm bath to cool the bacteriophage solution. The titer of the survival phage was calculated by double layer method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. b.  pH Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different pH was done following method described by Hsieh et al. (2011) with slight modification. The pH of phage buffer was adjusted into desirable pH (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) using pH meter (brand). The phage buffer was sterilized using autoclave machine at 121 °C for 15 minutes. The bacteriophage was set to approximately 107 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. The bacteriophage suspension was diluted to 105 pfu ml-1 (1/100) in phage buffer with different pH. The initial phage count was calculated and the bacteriophage solution was incubated at room temperature for 24 hours. After incubation, the bacteriophage solution was diluted using normal phage buffer and plating to calculate the survival phage by double layer method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. c.  Bile Salt Tolerance Test The stability of bacteriophage in different bile salt concentration was done following method described by previous. The stock of bile salt (Brand) in phage buffer was prepared by filter sterilized to final concentration of 5 %. Then, the phage buffer was adjusted into desirable bile concentration (5000 ppm, 6000 ppm, 7000 ppm, 8000 ppm and 9000 pm). The phage buffer which used for the dilution of bile concentration was presterilized using autoclave machine at 121 °C for 15 minutes. The bacteriophage was set to approximately 107 pfu ml-1 in sterile phage buffer. The bacteriophage suspension was diluted to 105 pfu ml-1 (1/100) in phage buffer with different bile concentration. The initial phage count was calculated by serial dilution in normal phage buffer. The treated bacteriophage solution was incubated at room temperature for 24 hours. After incubation, the bacteriophage solution was diluted again using normal phage buffer and plated to calculate the survival phage by double laye r method. The percentage of surviving phage was calculated by dividing the number of survival phage over initial phage count. 4.3  Result 4.3.1  Bacteriophage Adsorption Assay In the adsorption analysis, all isolates have two adsorption phases, rapid and slow adsorptions. The rapid adsorption of VALLPKK3 was occurred within 10 minutes where almost 80% of the phage adsorb to the host (Figure 4.1). This result was similar to the VHLPKM4 (Figure 4.2). Meanwhile, the rapid adsorption of VPLPKK5 showed that around 60 % of the phage adsorbed to the host (Figure 4.3). After 10 minutes, the slow rate was occurred to all isolates. The number of unadsorbed phages was approximately below 20% within 40 minutes in all phages. The increase of phage count in VPLPKK5 was occurred after 40 minutes. The increase in free phages after 50 minutes indicates that the newly formed phages are being release from the infected cells (Figure 4.3). Figure 4.1: Adsorption of VALLPKK3 to V. alginolyticus ATCC ® 17749TM Figure 4.2: Adsorption of VHLPKM4 to V. harveyi VHJR7 Figure 4.3: Adsorption of VPLPKK5 to V. parahaemolyticus VPHG1 4.3.2Bacteriophage One Step Growth The one step growth was performed to identify different phases of the phage infection process. During the initial stage, the phage-bacteria cell was separated from the free phage during the adsorption since the adsorption result showed the availability of free phage after 30 minutes of incubation. After the infection, the phage growth parameters (latent period, eclipse period and burst size) were determine from the average of three independent curves. The analysis showed that the latency and eclipse periods of VALLPKK3 (Figure 4.4), VHLPKM4 (Figure 4.5) and VPLPKK5 (Figure 4.6) were 48 and 36 minutes, 60 and 36 minutes and, 36 and 24 minutes, respectively. The latent period of VHLPKM4 was longer compared to VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5. Meanwhile, the eclipse period of VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 was similar, while, the eclipse period of VPLPKK5 were shorter than those two isolates. The VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 showed a burst size of ~174, ~52 and ~180 phage per infected cell, respectively, at the 28 °C. Figure 4.4: One step growth curve of VALLPKK3 infected with Vibrio alginolyticus ATCC ® 17749TM at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. Figure 4.5: One step growth curve of VALLPKK3 infected with Vibrio harveyi VHJR7 at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. Figure 4.6: One step growth curve of VPLPKK5 infected with V. parahaemolyticus VPHG1 at MOI of 0.001. The number of PFU per infected cell in untreated culture () and chloroform-treated culture () are also shown. The burst size, latent period and eclipse are indicated as B, L and E, respectively. 4.3.3  Bacteriophage Tolerance Test The activity of all phage isolates was stable at 40 °C and declined at 50 °C following heating for 60 minutes. The activity was disappeared entirely when heated at more than 60 °C for 1 hour (Figure 4.7). When compared among the isolates, the activity of VHLPKM4 were decline dramatically to less than 20 % when incubated at 50 °C. The activity of VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5 were dropped to 80% and 40%, respectively. The activity of bacteriophages VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 can be measured after incubation at pH 4 to pH 9, but disappear completely at pH 2 and pH 3 (Figure 4.8). When compared among isolates, the VALLPKK3 was sensitive to wide range of pH. Almost all of the VALLPKK3 activity was drop to 20 to 40 % after 24 hours incubation. Meanwhile, the activity of VHLPKM4 was decline to 60 % at pH 4 and 5, relatively stable at pH 6 to pH 8 and decline again to less than 60 % at pH 9. However, the activity of VPLPKK5 relatively stable at wide range of pH (pH 4 to pH 9). Meanwhile, the activity of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 can be detected after incubated at bile salt concentration from 5000 ppm to 9000 ppm (Figure 4.9). Among the isolates, VALLPKK3 was more sensitive to the bile compared to VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. Figure 4.7:The temperature stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of temperature (40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C, 70 °C, 80 °C, 90 °C and 100 °C) for 1 hour. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. Figure 4.8:The temperature stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of pH (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) for 24 hours. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. Figure 4.9:The bile salt stability of VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5. All isolates were incubated at various range of bile salt concentration (5000, 6000, 7000, 8000 and 9000 ppm) for 24 hours. Data are the means from three independent experiments + SD. 4.4  Discussion The phage adsorption of VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 was fast (more than 80% after 10 minutes) compared to Vibrio phage PW2 (60% after 10 minutes) (Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon, 2010). Meanwhile, the adsorption of VPLPKK5 was comparable to PW2. This might due to both phages were belonged to same family (Sipboviridae). However, the phage adsorption was reported dependent on various condition. According to Binetti et al. (2002), the phage adsorption was shown to be affected by the presence of ion calcium, physiological state of the cell, pH and temperature. The one step growth is a method to assess the life cycle of the phage (Middleboe et al., (2010). The latent period was the time from adsorption to the release of new progeny from host cell, and the burst size was the number of new virus particles liberated from a single bacterial cell (Bao et al., 2011). When compared to other vibriophage infecting same host species, there were difference in term of the burst size of the phages Ñ„As51 and Ñ„A318 (Liu et al., 2014). The V. alginolyticus phage VALLPKK3 showed high burst size compared to those two (72 and 10 PFU/infected cell). Similar finding with VPLPKK5. This V. parahaemolyticus phage was different to other V. parahaemolyticus phage VP-2 (15 PFU per infected cell) (Silva et al., 2014) where it showed bigger burst size (180 PFU per infected cell). Meanwhile, the VHLPKM4 showed different finding. This study showed smaller burst size and longer latent period compared to previous report on V. harveyi phages цžH17-7b and Ñ„H17-8b (Okano et al., 2007). They reported that where the latent period and burst size of Ñ„H17-7b and Ñ„H17-8b were 35 minutes and 100 particles, and 40 minutes and 170 particles, respectively. Thus, the findings showed that the life cycle of each phage isolates was different from each other. However, the significant of the differences was unclear since the dissimilarity was influenced by the host, medium, temperature and its own growth rate (Carey-Smith et al., 2006). In this study, the bacteriophages VALLPKK3 and VPLPKK5 showed a short period of latent period and large burst size. The shorter latent period and large burst size showed that the bacteriophages replicated more quickly and the new virus particle release more efficiently (Bao et al., 2011). This characteristic showed good candidacy of phage therapy (Silva et al., 2014). Finally, both adsorption and one step growth of phage are important to determine the phage fitness (Wang, 2006) since the phage fitness would determine the efficacy of the phage therapy (Lindberg et al., 2014). The stability in various stress condition were useful for the application of bacteriophage to inhibit the target bacteria (Lee et al., 2014; Krasowska et al., in press). In this study, the resistance to heat, pH and bile was investigated to determine the efficacy of those phages for biocontrol of V. alginolyticus, V. harveyi and V. parahaemolyticus infections. Phage which can withstand various environmental stress may be useful for the application in aquaculture (Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon, 2010). The temperature is a important factor that affects bacteriophage survivability (Olson et al., 2004). It plays important roles in the bacteriophage attachment, penetration and multiplication (JoÅ„czyk et al., 2011). In this study, the result showed that all phages were stable at 40 °C. However, the viability was reduced after one hour incubation at 50 °C. All phage were completely inactivated in temperature over 60 °C. The phage in this study showed that they are sensitive to high temperature. This findings was different to the findings by Phumkhachorn and Rattanachaikunsopon (2010) where the phage can withstand high temperature. However, in the natural environment, the temperature usually fluctuated at the range of 28 to 32 °C (Albert and Ransangan, 2013). Since the isolates in this study were stable at the temperature up to 40 °C, the isolates would survive when release to natural environment. Nevertheless, the period of viability of these isolates after release to natural environment was unknown. In the natural environment, the phage was also facing the other stress factor such as pH. According to Krasowska et al. (in press), the acidity and alkalinity of environment are other important factors influencing phage stability. It was also reported that low pH influences phage aggregation and reduce their adsorption on bacteria cell (Langlet et al., 2007). Therefore, it was important to access the stability of the current phage isolates in different pH. The VALLPKK3 and VHLPKM4 showed resistance to acid (pH 4) and alkaline (pH 9). This showed that the member of Myoviridae family stable at acid and alkaline condition (Krasowska et al., in press). Similar to the other isolates, VPLPKK5 was also showed resistance to acid and alkaline condition. This is similar to the finding by Lasobras et al. (60) where the member of family Siphoviridae were most resistant to adverse conditions. However, this finding was different to phage ARà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , a member of Siphoviridae, which is only a ctive in a narrow pH range (Krasowska et al., in press). The result of the phage tolerance to pH indicated that they were tolerant to wide range of pH. In aquaculture, oral administration was the most practical delivery method for immunization (Yasumoto et al., 2006) due to low cost and less stress to fish (Pal et al., 2009). However, the viability of orally administered phage might be rapidly reduced the presence other digestive compounds such as bile (Joerger et al., 2003). In this study, the phage isolates were exposed to various concentration of bile concentrations and result showed that the phage were still survived after incubation. However, there were reduction on the viability of the phage isolates which might showed the adverse effect of bile. With the addition of pH and other enzymes, the phage might not persist for long time in gut environment (Ma et al., 2008). 4.5  Conclusion In summary, the VALLPKK3, VHLPKM4 and VPLPKK5 were characterized by the growth and tolerance. The life cycle of the current isolates might be different when conducted different time and with different media. Therefore, the optimization was required for optimum phage multiplication which generally required for large scale production. This optimization was also contributed to the development of phage therapy. All phages are inactivated at high temperature but showed stability at temperature 40 °C. They are also stable at wide range of pH but not low pH. But, they could tolerate normal fish bile content. However, the study need to be conducted to collect the information of the period of phage survival in fish body. This information would be beneficial for the phage administration of disease treatment.

Higher Education Savings Plans Essay -- essays research papers

Higher Education Savings Plans Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This paper is about the Section 529 higher education savings plans that allow family members to receive certain tax breaks while investing for a child’s higher education. The data used in this study is the historical rate of return on a Connecticut 529 plan versus the benchmark, the S&P 500. The time period covered was the inception of this plan starting in 2002 up to the start of research on this study, the end of September, 2004. The tests show that although this particular 529 plan offers tax benefits that could help in investing for higher education, that this particular plan failed to outperform the market during the period observed. Therefore it is my conclusion that there are better investment options on the market to invest in a child’s higher education than this Connecticut 529 savings plan. This study may lead to further observation of other Connecticut 529 plans as well as 529 plans managed nationwide to figure out if 529 plans are as effe ctive as advertised. â€Å"529† college plans have become greatly debated in recent years as a tool for investing for college. The plan, which takes its name for the provision of the tax code that sanctioned them, is a college savings account which allows parents or grandparents to give gifts to children that will be later used to obtain a college education. Although some 529 plans have been around since 1988, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 made sweeping changes to Section 529, most of which became effective in 2002. These changes offer substantial tax benefits to families seeking to finance the cost of college expenses. 529 plans offer families, regardless of income, the opportunity to generate tax-free earnings on funds specially set aside for higher education. These plans, which are run by individual states, can be of great benefit to children by allowing their family members to give money to them in advance to save for college. It can also be detrimental to not o nly the people who invest but the children who are receiving these gifts. I became aware of these 529 plans by reading â€Å"A Random Walk Down Wall Street† by Burton Malkiel. My motivation was to see if these 529 college saving plans are as effective as advertised and to look at the upsides and downsides of investing in them. Since there are tax deduct... ...  Ã‚  881.69  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  935.11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  840.31  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  855.7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -2.74%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2-Dec-02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  941.55  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  954.4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  869.42  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  879.82  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -6.03%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1-Nov-02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  885.76  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  941.85  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  872.02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  936.31  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.71%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1-Oct-02  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  816.3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  907.49  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  768.58  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  885.77  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Susan Griffins Our Secret and Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel Ess

â€Å"Our Secret† by Susan Griffin and â€Å"Are You My Mother?† by Alison Bechdel both present the issues of how control over all aspects of childhood continues to affect the victim much beyond childhood. Childhood is a time where children definitely need guidance, but it is also a time where the child should make some of their own choices. Children are naà ¯ve and see life in a more creative way than adults do. The dreams of a child may be far-fetched, such as becoming an astronaut or becoming the doctor who cures cancer, but these dreams should never be terminated by their parents. The childhood curiosity is what makes children better learners, and ultimately see the world without all of the dangers and flaws that adults see. Both parents in each of these novels deprived their children of the creativity that comes from being a child. A former U.S. lady once expressed her thoughts on parenting children by stating, "Children are likely to live up to what you be lieve of them." In â€Å"Our Secret† Heinrich Himmler is named after a prince, whom his father believes he can be like one day, as long as he makes the right decisions. Heinrich’s father controls what he writes in his journal, making Heinrich leave out emotions. Gebhard’s intimidating demeanor is exposed through the line, â€Å"He has the face of one who looks for mistakes. He is vigilant† (242). Growing up in a household where the only thing Heinrich’s father did was search for his mistakes must have been unsettling and stres...

Sainsbury

Analyse’ and ‘evaluate’ the business strategy that J Sainsbury Ltd. has pursued using either Bowman’s strategic clock or Porter’s Generic Strategies framework. Submission Date : 28th April 2012 Word Count : 1841 Introduction Strategy is defined as how an organization and individual achieves its goals. The marketing strategies are altered as well as renewed in companies in the effort to survive and also prosper in an increasing demanding and complex business environment (Grant, 2010, p. 270).The strategic imperatives have shifted towards a priority emphasis in order to develop a superior capacity to reinvest the business model (Cravens, 2010, p. 20). Sainsbury mission and goal is to become the first choice of its customers in terms of food, deliver products which are of outstanding quality and service available at a competitive cost by means of working in a simpler, faster and together. Sainsbury have made fundamental changes which have transformed th e business but in the course of action the company has stayed true to its heritage.Sainsbury passion towards food at fair prices and its ethical approach have remained central for their success (J Sainsbury Plc, 2012). Figure 1: Business Strategy and Objectives [pic] (Source: J Sainsbury Plc-a, 2012) Accessing Sainsbury’s strategy using Bowman Strategic Clock The strategy clock which was coined by Cliff Bowman encouraged the mangers to consider competitive advantage with relation to cost advantage or differentiation (figure 1). It focuses on the price of the customers and their perceived value of the goods and services.It has been argued that Sainsbury pursue a differentiation strategy while others might argue that it has adopted the low cost strategy. It could be however said that the organisation has adopted both differentiation and low cost strategy and can be termed as â€Å"stuck in the middle† (Mantle, 2012). Figure 1: Bowman’s Strategy Clock [pic] (Source : Johnson, 2008, p. 243) Theories and Analysis SWOT Analysis has been performed in order to consider the internal and external factors of Sainsbury (See Appendix 3).J Sainsbury has been able to tackle the problem as it has been able to build the trust and can have faith on its customers at the worst condition. But the competition is also intense between the top four food retailers in UK and the hard discounters. It has been noted that Tesco and Asda are the top most retailers in UK and they have expanded in almost every part of the globe and this is where Sainsbury lacks and falls behind its current competitors (Mantle, 2012, p. 7).Sainsbury can try to overcome its weakness by applying its strength and overcome its threat by applying the opportunity. As per the TOWS Matrix, (Appendix 6) Sainsbury has a huge opportunity to tap the emerging nations with its diversified portfolio and with its good corporate image . To tackle the external environment PEST analysis has been conducted. Sa insbury needs to consider the external environment in order to proceed successfully and take measures of the upcoming shortfalls with respect to the external environment (See Appendix 2).In order to tackle the problem, Sainsbury has adopted the policies of operating in EU and also other parts of the globe. It has joint hands with the British government to tackle the problem of obesity and have pledged to cut about 5 billion calories (Retail Detail, 2012). Sainsbury has diversified its business ranging from food retail to non food retail outlets and has adopted the differentiation strategy. This adds on to the advantage of Sainsbury and helps to maintain competitive advantage and stay ahead of its competitors.But at the same time Sainsbury have many competitors who offer the same product (Appendix 5) which shows that the competition among the retail industry is quite high, but Sainsbury with its core competencies and diversified portfolio has been able to gain a diverse customer base . Analysis and evaluation of supporting resources and capabilities The company is trying hard to keep up its competency level by delivering efficient service and timely service. Sainsbury online serves almost about 30,000 order per week and cover 75% of the UK which ads on to its advantage (Breitenbuch, 2004, p. 22).With advancement in technology and change in mindset, customers prefer online services rather than the brick and mortar. Thus Sainsbury competency lies with its online shopping service. The capital of Sainsbury resulted in decreases in 2011 (854) as compared to 2010 (1006). But Sainsbury has invested in its R&D and other portfolios which have sown positive outgrow in the current fiscal year. But a glance at the resources and capabilities have proved that Sainsbury can well compete in the competitive retail market. Sainsbury’s unique resources and capabilities underpinning the Value chainSainsbury had made an investment of about multimillion pounds in its supply ch ain technology which has helped the company to reduce the amount of un-bought food by 15% during hard times. This technology was created by Sainsbury and helps to reduce wastage of food which would then help in the reduction of emission from CO2 to about 1400 tonnes. Thus it can be said that the company can react to changes in the buying pattern (Brittain, 2010). (See appendix 9) Value chain has been identified and upgraded in order to widen the system of suppliers, network and the buyers i. e. hrough the value system, and the importance of each individual and the discrete activities which are performed by the firm to achieve competitive advantage. Sainsbury has developed different supply chain channels to manage the complexity faced due to different store formats such as country town, Sainsbury local. Sainsbury believes in continues improvement and aims to achieve it in many different ways. Sainsbury recognise the importance of its people who plays a major role in delivering excell ent business. The logistic staffs of Sainsbury tend to work in flexible and well maintained environment.One of the collaboration of Sainsbury is to focus on the demands of the consumers and maintain a healthy relationship with the suppliers and other partners. Above all Sainsbury is committed in reducing the impact of its operation towards the environment (J. Sainsbury Plc-b, 2002). Appendix 9: Value Chain (James,Rowland-Jones& Obrian)[pic] A exceptional tangible source resource would be Sainsbury’s land bank, they created an agreement with British land in 2008, as a result of losing the combat to Tesco in land management , and therefore currently own 10,5 billion in real estate (Mantle, 2012)This gain value and addresses a key decisive achievement factor in the industry (Grant,2010). As position is important to offer convenience and a deep assortment, An extra unique intangible resource would be their brand representation and customer loyalty, this is vital since it can attr act or attract consumers and it could be necessary to build the brand image . Mintel has reported that Sainsbury’s achieved top amongst the big four’ for the best brand reputation, improving this by supporting charities such as ‘fareshare and active kids(J Sainsbury PLC,2012)A core capability would be Their online shopping has evolved over the years and with a change in customers mind set and lifestyle, and is mostly dominated by the major food retailers (Mintel, 2011). It is the second largest food online retailer in UK and its business grew by 20% over the years (McGrath, 2012). Sainsbury is also trying to develop a presence in the drugstore category but it would result in huge risk for the company as Boots has already acquired a majority of the market share (Data monitor, 2002). Has Sainsbury got the potential resources and capabilities?Feasibility analyse the firm positing of the resources and capabilities necessary for their given strategy (Johnson,Scholes & Whittington,2008) Sainsbury core competencies and resources (See Appendix 4) have enabled Sainsbury to achieve the third position in UK retail market and strengthen its value chain through investing in new technology (Appendix 9). Sainsbury core capabilities (Appendix 4) lie with their online shopping service which is often regarded as better than its competitors and at the same time hard to imitate.Other capabilities of Sainsbury include its logistic, loyalty programs and its own labelled products. But the disadvantage lies that its competencies are same as its competitors and are very easy to imitate. Critical challenges that Sainsbury faces in the expansion plan Most critical driver in the grocery industry would be the attractiveness of new rising market, such china whose market was expected by Euromonitor in 2010 to reach ? 418 billion(Johnson, Scholes & Whittington,2008 ). furthermore globalisation is a key factor for merging competitors.One critical challenge Sainsburyâ€℠¢s face is how compatible or distant the national market is with the company, therefore they must consider compatibility before they get into the market(John, Scholes &Whittington,2008). This can be done using the CAGE model, which looks at cultural, administrative and political geographical and economic distance between the markets. For instance cultural distance is very important in the supermarket industry. As mentioned in the SWOT analysis (Appendix 3) one of the major critical challenge with Sainsbury is the market of UK which has matured over the years. (Grant,2011)Sainsbury has adopted both the low cost strategy and also the differentiation strategy. The retail food section of Sainsbury offers food at a cheaper rate and also its product line offers a variety of services and products thus following the differentiation strategy (See Appendix 3). One of the risks involved associated with the hybrid strategy is that the company is trying to diversify into various sectors which mi ght not result in profitability in the long run, may result in failure. This is because Sainsbury is following two generic strategies cost leadership and differentiation strategy and it might result in a drawback in the long run.Does the strategy adopted by Sainsbury is attractive in terms of financial return and timescale required for its online orders? Sainsbury main rival is Tesco in terms of market share. The market share of Tesco has slipped from 30. 7pc to 30. 5pc. However the supermarket, Tesco was not being able to keep a track with the level of inflation at the current rate of 6. 2 c in the grocery industry. In comparison to Sainsbury, sales growth was recorded 4. 2 pc (Wallop, 2011). The financial report of Sainsbury has also shown a positive growth rate in its operating profit which amounted to ? 851million in 2011 as compared to ? 710 million in 2010.The gross profit recorded for the year end 2011 was also quite impressive as compared to the previous financial years (See Appendix 8). Conclusion Sainsbury strategy has helped it to become among the top retailers in food and non food items in UK and has been able to achieve a decent market share along with gross profit which resulted in a higher rate than its competitors Tesco. But with respect to international strategy, Sainsbury would face challenge from the intense competition from its competitors as they are globally situated and are assumed to be bigger brand than Sainsbury and has captured most of the market share outside UK.And secondly, due to economic slowdown, consumers have started to cut cost and prefer the small retail shops rather than the giant retail outlets. This would hamper the working of Sainsbury in the process of international expansion. Therefore it can be said that Sainsbury should expand only when the conditions are in favour of the company. Reference Breitenbuch, M. V. , 2004. Online Food Shopping: Consumer Perception and Retailers Market Approach, Contrasting the Markets UK and Germany. GRIN Verlag. Brittain, N. , 2010. Sainsbury's tries something new with supply chain technology. [Online].Available at: ; http://www. computing. co. uk/ctg/news/1834835/sainsburys-tries-supply-chain-technology; [Accessed 23 April, 2012]. CBI, 2004. Sainsbury’s. [Pdf]. Available at: ; http://www. article13. com/CBI/CBI%20CSR%20Case%20Study%20Sainsburys%20August2004. pdf; [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. Cravens, D. W. , 2009. Strategic Marketing 8E. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Data Monitor, 2002. Sainsbury's: putting the Boots in. [Online]. Available at: < http://www. datamonitor. com/store/News/sainsburys_putting_the_boots_in? productid=E22D4126-72D1-4FF4-B2B3-1CAB1AF4E9A7> [Accessed 19 April, 2012].Grant, M. , 2010. Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text Only. John Wiley and Sons. IGD, 2012. IGD’s 2012 Sainsbury’s Trade Briefing. [Online]. Available at: < http://www. igd. com/index. asp? id=1&fid=2&sid=1&cid=2083> [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. J Sain sbury Plc, 2012. About US. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 18 April, 2012]. J Sainsbury Plc-a, 2011. Annual report and Financial Statement. [Pdf]. Available at: < http://www. j-sainsbury. co. uk/media/171813/ar2011_report. pdf> [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. J Sainsbury Plc-b, 2002. Sainsbury’s. [Online]. Available at:< http://www2. sainsburys. o. uk/sid/info_sc_osc. htm > [Accessed 26 April, 2012]. Johnson, G. , 2008. Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text & Cases, 7/E. South Asia: Pearson Education India. Just Food, 2011. UK: Morrisons, Sainsbury’s gain market share. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 20 April, 2012]. Mantle, P. , 2012. Case Study: J Sainsbury Ltd – January 2012. McGrath, T. , 2012. Sainsbury's: Second largest UK online food seller. [Online]. Available at: ; http://www. eway. co. uk/ecommerce-news/post/2012/03/14/Sainsburys-Second-largest-UK-online-food-seller143. aspx; [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. Mintel, 2011.Food Retailing – UK [Online]. Avai lable at: [Accessed 18 April, 2012]. Moon, H. C. , 2010. Global Business Strategy: Asian Perspective. Singapore: World Scientific. Morning Star, 2010. Sainsbury Lacks Competitive Edge. [Online]. Available at: ; http://www. morningstar. co. uk/uk/660/articles/94693/Sainsbury-Lacks-Competitive-Edge. aspx; [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. Pisanello, D. , No Date. SHORTCOMINGS IN ENFORCING EU FOOD LAW. WHAT DOES EU FOOD LAW STAND FOR? [Pdf]. Available at: ; http://regulation. upf. edu/dublin-10-papers/2F4. pdf; [Accessed 20 April, 2012]. Retail Detail, 2012.British food industry pledges to cut calories. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 18 April, 2012]. Verweire, K. , 2004. Integrated Performance Management: A Guide to Strategy Implementation. SAGE. Wallop, H. , Tesco loses market share. [Online]. Available at: ; http://www. telegraph. co. uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8937822/Tesco-loses-market-share. html; [Accessed 19 April, 2012]. Sainsbury Strategy clock Sainsbury Appendix 2: PEST Analysis Political †¢ Sainsbury adopted the international strategy and thus the political factors along with globalisation have affected the expansion. EU has been stringent in matters of food in order to protect the customers (Pisanello, n. d) and thus the food retailers have to comply with various standards which have affected the profit with is predicted to hamper the future growth. Economical †¢ Affects the buying decision of the customers as with recession hitting the country the residents are likely to cut cost and save for future needs. The people might prefer the next door retail outlet to shop for and this would indirectly affect Sainsbury. †¢ The economic recession has affected the people residing in UK and this has ultimately resulted in affecting the retail food sector.People will not stop eating due to poor economic situation like global crises or rescession but they would obviously cut cost which †¢ Retail industry prone to negative economic c ondition and can affect the future growth Social †¢ Social trends have been changing with the development in the countries †¢ High consumer debt level with negative savings rate. Technological †¢ Adoption of online retailing †¢ Supply chain management †¢ Adoption of electronic Point of Sale (PoS) Appendix 3: SWOT Analysis Strength †¢ Sainsbury is the third largest retailer in UK with 16% of the market hare (Just Food, 2011). †¢ Sainsbury has a diversified range of products †¢ it has a good corporate image †¢ Online shopping Weakness †¢ J Sainsbury Plc is exposed to the UK business cycle to a great extend. Opportunity †¢ Growth opportunity in the online shopping market †¢ Demand of good quality of food and healthy food †¢ Growth opportunity in the emerging countries. †¢ developing presence in the chemist and drugstore category Threat †¢ Intense competition from Tesco, Asda and Morrison †¢ Mature UK Market Appendix 4: Core capabilities and resourcesFigure 2: Resources and competencies of J Sainsbury PLC [pic] (Source: Mantle, 2012) Appendix 5: Porters Five Forces Figure 3: Porters five force of Sainsbury Appendix 6: TOWS Matrix | |Strength |Weakness | | |Sainsbury is the third largest retailer in UK |J Sainsbury Plc is exposed to the UK business | | |with 16% of the market share |cycle to a great extend. | |Sainsbury has a diversified range of products | | | |it has a good corporate image | | | |Online shopping | | | |Sainsbury being the third largest retailer |Sainsbury can overcome its weakness by | |Opportunities |could make use of its corporate image in the |utilizing its opportunity and create demand for| |Growth opportunity in the online shopping |emerging countries and with the online shopping|its food and non food items. | |market |market it can further strengthen its growth | | |Demand of good quality of food and healthy food|opportunities. | |Growth opportunity in the emer ging countries | | | |developing a presence in the chemist and | | | |drugstore category | | | |Threat |With its diversified portfolio it can stay |Sainsbury needs to tackle its problem as it’s | |Intense competition from Tesco, Asda and |ahead of its competitors and along with its |too exposed to the UK business cycle and as a | |Morrison |corporate image can easily tap the mature UK |result the rivalry is quite high. | |Mature UK Market |market. | | Appendix 7: Stakeholders Mapping Figure 4: Stakeholders mapping | | |A |B | |Minimal Effort |Keep Informed | | |Shareholders | | | | |C |D | |Keep Satisfied |Key players | |Environment, Community |Customers, Suppliers, employees | Keep informed: the shareholders of the organisation should be kept informed about the happenings and decision taken by Sainsbury. It is the duty of the company to make the shareholders know about every step that the company takes. Keep Satisfied: The community and the environment falls under the category of â€Å"C† where the company should satisfy these stakeholders.The community is important as it is a place that Sainsbury operates. The environment is also important as sustainability issue raises with the environment thus it becomes incredibly necessary to keep satisfied these two stakeholders. Key Players: The key players consist of the customers, suppliers and the employees. It is through these stakeholders that Sainsbury is able to operate its business. The employees form an integral part of the organisation. The strategies adopted by Sainsbury will directly affect thee stakeholders. Appendix 8: Financial Statement of Sainsbury Table 1: Financial performance [pic] (Source: J Sainsbury Plc, 2011) Table 2: Tesco Financial statement [pic] Source: Tesco, 2011) ———————– Hybrid Threat of Substitute Low -Medium: Low in case of food items and medium for non food items For clothing is high Rivalry among Competitors High: More competitors such as Tesco, Asda and Morrison Retail market is extremely competitive. Buyers Power High: Many competitors in the industry give the buyer the power to bargain Threat of Entry Low: Requires huge capital investment Sainsbury and other big retail giants accounts for nearly 80% of the retail market share Supplier’s power Low: As the position of Sainsbury is strengthen and are able to negotiate to get the lowest price from the suppliers.