Eating Out

Eating out is a fun way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion. However, eating out should not be a part of your regular diet. If you are attempting to lose weight or maintain a healthy lifestyle, it is almost impossible to do so if you are eating out on a regular basis. Appetizers and rolls are the first reason why eating out is bad for your health. When you cook at home, you usually do not prepare additional appetizers to eat before the main course because it is more work, but waiters at a restaurant push the appetizers, which can easily add an additional 500+ calories to your meal depending on what you order and how much you eat, just so that they can cushion their tip and make the restaurant more money. Restaurants also provide free rolls with butter. Eating two rolls can add another 300 calories to your meal. A seemingly healthy salad is the next disastrous course when eating out. A salad by itself is healthy, but many restaurants will add croutons, bacon bits, cheese, and fatty dressings to the lettuce and a couple other vegetables. The result is enough fat to fulfil your fat content for the entire day. If you're going to indulge in a salad, avoid the croutons altogether and opt for apple cider or balsamic vinegar or oil and vinaigrette. Between the appetizer, rolls, salad, and first round of drinks most people have already consumed more than they ever would by cooking a meal at home. The problem is that all of these items are pushed by the waiter or their eating companions, making it even more difficult for someone struggling with their diet to say no. The main course finally comes and you thought you ordered something healthy, fish, and steamed veggies, but what they don't mention on the menu is that vegetables are almost always soaked in butter and the fish is covered with a high calorie sauce to disguise the fact that it has been overcooked. The problem with eating out is that everything is so readily available with no work on your part. If given the choice most people don't want to spend the time to prepare a five course meal at home, this is reserved for holidays like Thanksgiving, but when presented with the opportunity for that five course meal without having to do any of the work involved it makes it all too easy for people to say yes. You finish your meal and the waiter comes over and makes a point of asking if you'd like dessert. Then the waiter will chatter on about all of the desserts available, you think that if you split the dessert with someone else at the table it will keep you from consuming too many calories. The problem is that you have already consumed too many calories before the dessert menu has even been presented. Also, even if you do split a desert you can easily be consuming another 500 calories. When all is said and done, your one meal out most likely contains more calories than you should be consuming in an entire day. It is best not to test your will power when it comes to your diet. The next time someone suggests eating out; quickly think of a delicious meal that can be cooked at home for a fraction of the calories. This will give you control over how your food is prepared, not to mention that eating at home will also save you hundreds of rupees per month.

Filter, Power Divider

Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divider 3. SIW Resonator Designs – Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.? SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 1 Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divider 3. SIW Resonator Designs Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.? SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 2 1. Introduction †¢? Background O As consequence of the rapid development in wireless communication market, various devices need to integrate wirel ess standards.Demand on wireless devices to support these multi-standard operations with [2]  § Low insertion loss  § sharp selectivity  § Proper compact size  § Low cost O Band-pass filters  § primarily used in wireless transmitters and receivers  § imit the bandwidth of the output signal to the minimum necessary to convey data at the desired speed and in the desired form  § also used in bio-photonic, medical analytical, chemical, pharmaceutical area etc O Power dividers  § passive microwave components used for power division  § Divide input signal into two signals of lesser power. The coupler may be a three port component with or without loss  § usually of the equal-division type, which is 3dB, but unequal power division ratio is also possible [4] 3 1. Introduction †¢? Motivation O Why 60GHz  § First published by Indian physicist J. C. Bose 1895  § In 1947, US physicist J.H. Van Vleck observed that the oxygen molecule absorbs electromagnetic more energ y at 60-GHz than at other frequencies [6]  § Mainly driven by military and space applications 1960s to 1980s [7]  § From mid-1990s, interest in fixed broadband wireless access for last mile connectivity advanced 60-GHz radio technology [8] O Why SIW filter and power divider  § Conventional technologies: either not able to present required performance or too expensive  § SIW: as an attractive technology for low cost, high Q-factor, relatively high power, and high density integration of microwave and millimeter-wave components and sub-systems [10]-[12]. SIW filters have a low in-band insertion loss and a wide stopband performance.  § SIW power dividers not only achieve the small size but also realize transmitting a defined amount of the electromagnetic to another two ports.4 1. Introduction †¢? Objective O Study literature review of structures, applications and analyzing methods of SIW O Investigate the basic structure of different transmission lines by designing reson ators O Extend the synthesis method to design of SIW filter and power divider †¢? †¢? Design and discuss SIW Filter at 60GHz with bandwidth 3 GHz Design and discuss SIW Power divider at 60GHz with 3 GHz Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divider 3. SIW Resonator Designs – Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.? SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 6 2. Literature Review †¢? Transmission Line O A device designed to carry electric energy from one to another, is used to transfer the output radio frequency energy of a transmitter to a receiver [15]. ? Microstrip Line OOne of the most popular types of the electrical TLs O convey microwave-frequency signals O support a good quasi-TEM wave O In practi cal applications, the dielectric substrate is electrically very thin, which is much smaller than the wavelength 7 2. Literature Review †¢? Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) O Characteristic dimensions of a CPW are the central strip width W and the width of the slots s. GCPW is formed when a ground plane is provided on the opposite side of the dielectric. O CPW is easy to be integrated in the IC design. O Conventional Technologies: †¢? ? CPW GCPW †¢? Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Mircostrip/CPW/GCPW: small size but not efficient enough in high frequency applications, wavelength at high frequencies are small Retangular waveguide: high Q-factors and power capability but voluminous and difficult for highdensity integration and difficult manufacturing process O SIW is a transition between microstrip and dielectric-filled waveguide.Dielectric filled waveguide is converted to SIW by the help of vias for the side walls of the waveguide [2] †¢? high Q-factor, low insertion loss, and high power capability 8 . Literature Review †¢? Resonator O A device exhibits behavior of oscillating at some frequencies, called its resonant frequencies, with greater amplitude than at others. †¢? †¢? It is used to either generate waves of specific frequencies or select specific frequencies from a signal [4].Resonant frequencies O Quality- or Q-factor is defined as a dimensionless parameter, in terms of the ratio of the energy stored in the resonator to the energy supplied by a generator per cycle, describing how under-damped a resonator is [4]. †¢? The unloaded Q-factor (Qu) [21] 2. Literature Review †¢? Filter O Band-pass filter is a device that passes frequencies within a certain range and attenuates frequencies outside that range [4]. O SIW is constructed with linear arrays of metalized via-holes rooted in the same substrate used for the planar circuit [13]. SIWs, combines the merits of all these structures, microstrip line or coplanar wavegu ide, and rectangular waveguide, are built onto the same substrate. The transition is formed with a comparable straightforward matching geometry between both structures. †¢? Power Divider OPower divider, a passive device used in the field of radio technology, couples a defined amount of the electromagnetic power in a transmission line to another port [27]. O SIW power divider, with optimum frequency selectivity, small size, low cost and high stopband attenuation, have been used for mobile and satellite communications systems. T-junction Y-junction 10 Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divider 3. SIW Resonator Designs – Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.?SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 11 3. SIW R esonator Designs †¢? Comparison of Transmission Line Performance Microstrip Line CPW SIW 12 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Comparison of Transmission Line Performance Characteristic Bandwidth Q factor Loss Power capacity Physical size Ease of fabrication Integration with other component Cost Waveguide Narrow High Low1 High Large, heavy Hard Hard4 High Microstrip Wide Low High Low Small Easy2 Easy5 Low CPW Wide Low High Low Small Fair3 Easy6 Low SIW Narrow High Low High Small Fair Easy LowAnnotation [4]: †¢? Dielectric of waveguide is air; Skin effect of waveguide is small †¢? Microstrip can use printed circuit board technology †¢? Ground of CPW locates at the top, the discontinuity will affect the result. However, compared to SIW, wire holes are not needed. †¢? Special couplings at the joints are required for waveguide to assure proper operation †¢? Microstrip is susceptible to cross-talk and unintentional radiation †¢? CPW presents greater isol ation than microstrip 13 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators – Substrate dielectric constant (? r) is fixed at 11. Silicon – Copper conductivity of 5. 800Ãâ€"107 siemens/m O Design Strategy of Single-row Via SIW Resonator For a resonant frequency of 60 GHz for the TE101 dominant mode by simply indexing m =1, n = 0, l = 1 [18] The calculation result is L = W = 1. 025mm. 14 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators O Result and Discussion of Single-row Via SIW Resonator Ideal material: Lossless substrate and perfect conductor The loss tangent of AGC and the bulk conductivity of Silicon are both set to be zero. Moreover, perfect conductor layers are placed at most top and bottom of the structure.Similarly, the material of metallic vias is defined as perfect conductor as well. By using as as illustrated earlier, the result is calculated In this ideal case, and involved. Based on the formula, are not radiation Q-factor is 492. 23 15 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators O Result and Discussion of Single-row Via SIW Resonator Non-ideal material: Only with conductor loss For substrate, dielectric loss tangent of AGC and bulk conductivity of Silicon are set to be zero. The copper layers with bulk conductivity of 5. *107 siemens/m are placed at most top and bottom of the structure. Moreover, the material of via is changed to copper as well. By using calculated as as illustrated earlier, the result is In this case, is not involved. Based on the formulas, we can get 16 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators O Result and Discussion of Single-row Via SIW Resonator Non-ideal material: Lossy substrate and non-perfect conductor set the loss tangent of AGC is fixed at 0. 003 and bulk conductivity of Silicon is 0. 02, which means all the loss of substrate is considered in this experiment.Meanwhile, the copper is defined as the material of layers, which are placed at most top and bott om of the structure and via defenses through the substrate. In this experiment, all losses, including radiation loss, non-ideal metal loss and substrate loss are considered here. By using , we have 17 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators – Substrate dielectric constant (? r) is fixed at 11. 9 Silicon – Copper conductivity of 5. 800Ãâ€"107 siemens/m O Design Strategy of Double-row Via SIW Resonator For a resonant frequency of 60 GHz for the TE101 dominant mode by simply indexing m =1, n = 0, l = 1 [18]The calculation result is L = W = 1. 025mm. 18 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators O Result and Discussion of Double-row Via SIW Resonator Ideal material: Lossless substrate and perfect conductor The loss tangent of AGC and the bulk conductivity of Silicon are both set to be zero. Moreover, perfect conductor layers are placed at most top and bottom of the structure. Similarly, the material of metallic vias is defined as perfect conductor as well. By using calculated as as illustrated earlier, the result is In this ideal case, and involved. Based on the formula, are not radiation Q-factor equals to 641. 6 19 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators O Result and Discussion of Double-row Via SIW Resonator Non-ideal material: Only with conductor loss For substrate, dielectric loss tangent of AGC and bulk conductivity of Silicon are set to be zero. The copper layers with bulk conductivity of 5. 8*107 siemens/m are placed at most top and bottom of the structure. Moreover, the material of via is changed to copper as well. By using calculated as as illustrated earlier, the result is In this case, is not involved. Based on the formulas, we can get 20 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW Resonators OResult and Discussion of Double-row Via SIW Resonator Non-ideal material: Lossy substrate and non-perfect conductor set the loss tangent of AGC is fixed at 0. 003 and bulk conductivity of Si licon is 0. 02, which means all the loss of substrate is considered in this experiment. Meanwhile, the copper is defined as the material of layers, which are placed at most top and bottom of the structure and via defenses through the substrate. In this experiment, all losses, including radiation loss, non-ideal metal loss and substrate loss are considered here. By using , we have 21 3. SIW Resonator Designs †¢? Design of SIW ResonatorsO Comparison of Single-/Double-row Via Resonator Double-row via structure obviously decreases the loss compared to single-row via. The main difference of Q-factors is the radiation Q-factor, which means the radiation loss is the most affection of the SIW. Conductor and dielectric Q-factor are only slightly changed with the error around 3. 5% from the single- to double-row SIW. Hence, the conductor loss and dielectric loss basically are not significant issue for the losses of the SIW comparing with the radiation loss because of the leakage through the gaps since the presence of gaps in the side walls.These results also match that higher Q-factor indicates a lower rate of energy loss relative to the stored energy, which demonstrates the validity of the experiments and the results. 22 Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divider 3. SIW Resonator Designs – Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.? SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 23 4. SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs †¢?Design of SIW Filters O Design strategy of SIW filter The proposed filter is constructed based on the SIW resonator at 60 GHz. The filter is designed and simulated using HFSS software. †¢? †¢? †¢? To achieve a -3 dB bandwidth of 3 GHz. To achieve a good passband wi th small insertion loss 15 dB Here in filter structure, length doubles the size which is 2. 250mm and width w remains the same 1. 025mm. 24 4. SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs †¢? Design of SIW Filters O Result and Discussion of SIW filter When increasing the distance between the middle of the vias, the two resonant poles are separated to each other more. 25 4.SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs †¢? Design of SIW Filters O Result and Discussion of SIW filter †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? Center frequency = 62. 9 GHz. Bandwidth = 3. 4 GHz (60. 8 ~ 64. 2 GHz). Insertion loss = 0. 89 dB within the passband. Return loss = 17. 8 dB within the passband. †¢? Achieve a wide and deep upper-stopband with an insertion loss >15. 0dB. 26 4. SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs †¢? Design of SIW Power Dividers O Design strategy of SIW power dividers The proposed filter is constructed based on the SIW resonator at 60 GHz. The filter is designed and simulated using HFSS software. †¢? †¢? †¢? To achieve a -3 dB bandwidth of 3 GHz.To achieve a good passband with small insertion loss around 3 dB To achieve a wide and deep upper-stopband with an insertion loss >15 dB The proposed Y-junction power divider is a SIW equivalent of a bifurcated waveguide junction fed by a symmetrical step junction. The distance between two discontinues can be optimized to achieve low insertion loss [28]. 27 4. SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs †¢? Design of SIW Power Dividers O Result and Discussion of SIW power dividers †¢? †¢? †¢? †¢? Center frequency = 62. 5 GHz. Bandwidth = 3. 7 GHz (60. 5 ~ 64. 2 GHz). Insertion loss = 3. 87 dB within the passband. Return loss = 10. 5 dB within the passband. †¢? Achieve a wide and deep upper-stopband with an insertion loss >15. 0dB. 28 Outline 1.? Introduction 2.? Literature Review – Transmission Lines (Microstrip Line/ CPW/ SIW) – Resonator, Filter, Power Divide r 3. SIW Resonator Designs – Comparison of Transmission Line Performance – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Resonators 4.? SIW Filter and Power Divider Designs – Design, Result and Discussion of SIW Filter and Power Divider 5. Conclusion and Recommendations 29 4. Conclusion and Future Works †¢? Conclusion O SIW single- and double-row resonators have been designed and compared.The results matched that higher Q-factor indicates a lower rate of energy loss relative to the stored energy, which demonstrates the validity of the experiments and the results. O W band SIW filter has been designed, evaluated and optimized by HFSS software. The centre frequency of the proposed filter is designed at 62. 9 GHz with a 3 dB bandwidth of 3. 4 GHz (60. 8~64. 2 GHz). O W band SIW power divider has been realized based on the structure of the filter. The power divider is at centre frequency 62. 5 GHz with a 3 dB bandwidth of 3. 7 GHz from 60. 5 to 64. 2 GHz. 30 4. Conclusi on and Future Works †¢?Recommendation for Future Works O The numerical analysis may be done for the proposed structures. O The structures can be fabricated and measured to demonstrate the practical realization of the structures. O The insertion loss the filter may be improved based on further modification. O It is possible to widen the bandwidth of the filter. O Other matching networks may be considered to realize better performance of the filter. O Small and efficient filters may be designed based on the modification of the proposed structure. O Balun may be designed based on the proposed SIW power divider. 31 Thank You! 32

The Sandinistas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Sandinistas - Research Paper Example In 1981 the U.S. Government suspended the economic help for Nicaragua under the pretext that Salvadorian insurgents received weapon from Cuba through Nicaragua. Soon the USA started providing direct military aid to the National Guard that escaped from the country. This help resulted in creation of the whole opposition army called â€Å"contras†. At first their government were accepted and then resulted in big economic and political crisis. The given paper will try to reveal what was brought by contras to Nicaragua: freedom or evil. By 1983 the Sandinista government continued to enjoy the growing support of the population, especially among the peasantry and poor citizens. However, at this time it had to face the opposition including the organized business community, the highest Catholic clergy, social democratic and some communistic (pro-Chinese) labor unions, Indians, English-speaking Black communities of the Caribbean coast. The leading newspaper of the country presented the ideas of opposition. Also the armed actions of the counterrevolutionary groups financed by the USA (contras), which made raids from the bases on the territory of Honduras, began. Indians, who were moved from their lands by Sandinista, joined contras. However, different oppositional groups were separated as the majority of them were extremely hostile to each other. Actually, they were hostile not only to each other but to peaceful citizens, hundreds of which were killed by contras: â€Å"Reagan calls the Contras "freedom fighters" and has compared them to the Founding Fathers. He claims supporting their war against the Sandinista government is the only hope for democracy in Nicaragua. But the truth about the rebels is not so glorious† (Ross, 1986). During 1984 the USA increased the military presence in Honduras and El Salvador. Military activity of contras increased, and they began to make air raids on the territory of Nicaragua. The ships of the US Navy plying

Analysis & Estimation of Travel Demand Assignment

Analysis & Estimation of Travel Demand - Assignment Example The questions provides a practical basis for collecting the required information for analysis and estimation of the travel demand. Large volumes of information could also be collected from many respondents within the targeted transportation companies in the city. This is typically possible within a relatively short time period. Because no much movement is required when trying to reach the respondents, the survey as a whole is very cost effective. With this survey instrument, the aspects of validity and reliability of the collected data is preserved. The research results can easily and quickly be quantified. Nevertheless, the survey instrument is disadvantageous in that to a certain extent, it is inadequate in understanding certain forms of information that is completely implied such as behaviour, emotions, and feelings with regard to the posed questions. To some extent, the data collected may not be valid enough especially where estimates are considered for answers. There is also the possibility of the respondents interpreting the questions different. Trip generation is basically the fundamental step in the process of initiating transportation forecasting. In this regard, there is the need to acquire all the necessary information that could ultimately lead to an effective travel demand forecasting. Trip generation would help the authorities of the City of Omaha predict number of that could be destined for the city’s traffic analysis zone. In order to achieve the objective of the trip generation step, the questionnaire focuses on residences through the companies offering the transport services. In this case, the first thing considered in designing the questions was the key aspects required in trip generation. The questions were then structured with respect to the variables required for the analysis. The companies involved were some of the key

Communication College Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Communication College - Assignment Example There are many other qualities these are among the qualities essential for effective communication. My personal communication goal is to become more confident and more open with my feelings to my parents and to my friends. There are many times that I feel quite frustrated but I cannot find the words to express my thoughts and my feelings because I am afraid that I may not be understood well. I am trying to learn to be more confident in my choice of words. I should want to express my feelings and emotions without using offensive words. I should learn to use more euphemistic terms so that I can tell them what I do no like without necessarily courting disaster. I should learn to be more open and to communicate with them constantly rather than shun away because this will not do any good. Keeping quiet and keeping a distance are nonverbal expressions of my indifference and I should work that out if I want to have a better relationship with anyone that come across my life. A client you work with is constantly rude and obtrusive: This is a psychological barrier to communication. I will not be able to understand my co-worker well because of I have a negative perception as a result of his attitude double meaning may result. He might mean well but because I find him rude I will have no way of telling if he is genuine and truthful in what he is saying. The clinic I practice in becomes humid during the day. When the window is opened the sound of traffic disturbs the consultation: This is an example of a mechanical barrier. The noise and humidity are obstruction to effective communication. It is difficult to be understood well because of the noise and the patient may not be comfortable because of the humid temperature. This makes the patients not very ready to listen to what I say. A client stands very close to you when they are speaking: This is an example of organic barrier. I may be disturbed with the loudness of the voice of the client or uncomfortable with his smell or nearness and that blocks my attention to what he is saying. You are a practitioner that has a speech impediment and wears contact lenses: There is an organic barrier here. I may not be able to produce the correct sound of the words and I might not see my listeners well so they may misunderstand what I am

English - The Canterbury Tales Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English - The Canterbury Tales - Essay Example This paper analyzes how the â€Å"General Prologue† functions to introduce â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† This prologue has a cacophony of voices that serve several purposes for Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer's â€Å"General Prologue† functions as an introduction to â€Å"The Canterbury Tales† by expressing three general voices that impact the rest of the tales and aim to describe the poet and the functions of poetry: Chaucer the Pilgrim, the host, and the clerk. Medieval theory and practice show that Chaucer uses the â€Å"General Prologue† to depict â€Å"multiple voicing,† which is his literary strategy in â€Å"The Canterbury Tales.† â€Å"Multiple voicing† is a form of argumentation that can be found in medieval narrative, including debates on allegories, private conversations, and different forms of monologues (Nolan 117). This kind of approach employs diverse voices that present social, moral, or spiritual questions, and resolve s them too through its narrative (Nolan 118). The subjective aspect of the text, which is based on the poet's authority, is also rendered in other voices. Any of Chaucer's character can act as the moral compass of the poet (Nolan 118). Nolan stresses that when readers â€Å"hear† a number of voices in the â€Å"General Prologue,† they are listening to â€Å"the master of an art cultivated by generations of French and Italian writers† (118). The art is in juxtaposing voices against other voices, so that the text becomes more textured and complex. Nolan recognizes other poets who have also affected Chaucer's writing style, such as â€Å"Benoit de Sainte-Maure, Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meung, Boccaccio, Dante, and Machaut† (118). The primary theoretical groundwork for multiple voicing in the Middle Ages can be rooted from the rhetorical handbooks that have been generally employed in grammar schools (Nolan 118). These handbooks emphasize the importance of deliberate voicing and impersonation in the speaker's presentation of his/her identity, as well as in expressing the characters' intentions, feelings, and behaviors (Nolan 118). Quintilian illustrates the speaker's self-presentation in the prologue and suggests a majestic way of managing voice, style, and manner: [W]e should... give no hint of elaboration in the exordium. But to avoid all display of art in itself requires consummate art... The style of the exordium... should...seem simple and unpremeditated, while neither our words nor our looks should promise too much. For a method of pleading which conceals its art... will often be best adapted to insinuate its way into the minds of our hearers. (4.1.56-60; 2: 36-39, qtd. in Nolan 118) This is what the â€Å"General Prologue† did. It did not promise more that it can deliver. Instead, it merely describes the characters in ways that will prepare readers of their identities. The first Chaucerian voice is the first impersonati on: the learned poet or clerk. He stands for the voice who is knowledgeable of the â€Å"literary topoi of the Latin tradition† and rhetorical expression (Nolan 122). He is a philosopher who can breed stories from simple words. This rhetorical expertise attributed to the clerk's voice can be seen in other classical and medieval poets and philosophers (Nolan 123). This articulate voice is not limited to any genre but has been applied by other narratives, such as encyclopedias and scientific manuals (Nolan 123).

Study appraisal and synthesis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Study appraisal and synthesis - Research Paper Example The study design was very thorough using the prospective, randomized, open, blinded endpoint evaluation (PROBE) design. The sample size provides an adequate statistical power of 80%. Statistical analysis use Kaplan-Meier survival curves will take censored data into account, namely if a patient withdraws from the study and the variance of patient simvastatin doses. Logrank analysis and the Cox’s regression model are appropriate testing methods widely used in survival analysis to establish the efficacy of a new treatment (aspirin and statins) compared to a control treatment (statins) in time to event measurements. Use of the Mantel-Haenszel procedure to test subgroups will be effective providing subgroup sample sizes are large enough to obtain stable estimates. Interim analysis after 50% of events had occurred leaves scope for adjustments to the study. The study setting was relevant because the sample consisted of patients who had no history of cardiovascular disease, who were type 1 and type 2 diabetic and who were already prescribed or candidates for the use of statins. Participants were appropriately defined for the study and selected based on appropriate criteria. A clear follow up plan is defined to maintain patient health with changes to simvastatin control treatment doses allowed based on clinical judgment If LDL cholesterol levels were ≠¥100 mg/dL (2.59 mmol/L). Losses are expected

Mediterranean Shipping Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mediterranean Shipping Company - Research Paper Example Such diversification is responsible for internal split among the employees, and in specific cases can be responsible for treason or ambush. The possibility of such occurrence is low, but if occurs it will cause significant business loss. 3. The EU embargo on certain African and Asian countries will affect the number of shipment contracts. The shipping company in some cases has to undo its contract only because of the EU trade legislation. The EU has therefore certainly restricted the opportunities for the shipping company in some locations. 1. The economic challenges have intensified; the ongoing economic turmoil has narrowed the business opportunities for industrialist nations. The cuts in the business plans have dampened the trade volume which subsequently affects the business plans for the shipping company. 2. It is important for the company to undertake expansion plans, and the units of properties shall be increased to offer effective coverage and support to the business customers. Unfortunately, the ongoing economic recession has barred support from the financial institutions. 3. The valuation of Yuan in the international market is challenge for the European and American shipping companies. The Mediterranean Shipping Company has to suffer due to its higher cost of service and employee's remuneration only because the Chinese companies are able to support their employees at extremely low rates; and the industrial units within China offer cheap products which have strengthened the capacity of the Chinese shipping company. Social 1. The company has no social restraint. Technological 1. The company has to promote research and development unit. The shipping technology is magnanimous, and any damage to the shipping parts shall affect the shipment plans for months. The company has to therefore adopt stringent maintenance plans and has to focus upon the procurement of minimum inventory to support the ships on voyage. 2. The shipping company has to invest in the monitoring system for the machines. This shall be heavy investment, but will forecast any mechanical damage to the ship. Any mechanical issue will prompt the shipping crew at early stage, and will assist the employees in the identification of the issue much before it reaches advance level. The failure of the parts can be protected, and this will ensure the integrity of the parts. 3. The shipping company has to invest heavily to make the cargo loading and unloading process foul-proof. This will require technological improvisation. The company should necessarily focus on this area. References 1. Chua, W. F. Radical Developments in Accounting Thought. The Accounting Review. 2003. 2. Zahirul Hoque. Methodological Issues in Accounting Research: Theories and Methods. 2006. Spiramus Press Ltd. 3. Sicco Van Gelder. Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures. 2003. Kogan Page. N.Y. 4. Jean-Noel Kapferer. The New Strategic Brand Management: Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity. 2004. Kogan Page. N.Y. 5. Kai Yang. Design for Six Sigma for Service. 2005. McGraw-Hill Professional. N.Y. 6. Harald A. Benink. Coping With Financial Fragility and Systemic Risk. 2000. Springer. pp. 86. 7. Krishnamurthy Sriramesh, Dejan Vercic. The Global Public Relations Handbook Theory, Research, and Practice. 2003. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp.

Role of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Assignment

Role of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility - Assignment Example Ethics can be defined as the study of moral which is appropriate for taking decisions after judging the plan of action. The two concepts are linked with each other for most of the firms. It is observed that in today’s competitive world, sustainable development is required in every organisation for its successful operation. It also leads to the enhancement of quality of products and services that they offer to their customers (Aybars and Kutlu, â€Å"Managing corporate performance†). Corporate responsibility can be regarded as the degree to which an organization complies with rules and legal guidelines which is made for the betterment of society (Nicolau, â€Å"Corporate social responsibility†). The contemporary business practices often identify noteworthy levels of understanding between the good and responsible corporate practices. In today’s world, the stakeholders and shareholders, who have understood the importance of CSR, is focusing on incorporating b usiness activities within the societal norms, which leads to good management practices. CSR has been regarded as the technique which assists an organization in evaluating the business activities and its effect on the environment and society through transparent and ethical decision making. World Business Council for sustainable development has stated that CSR approach can be defined as method of attaining sustainable development by contributing to the society. The different CSR activities include health and safety, corporate governance and ethics, environmental stewardship, human rights and sustainable development. It, thus, focuses on the features like, societal and community involvement, corporate philanthropy, development and investment, customer satisfaction, employee volunteering, anti-corruption... The assignment highlights the theory of Corporate Social Responsibility and its impact on the community and modern society. The researcher also elaborates the importance of ethics in leading a business organisation in a proper manner today. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, that is described in the assignment helps in revenue generation for a particular organisation in an ethical way. It also contributes positively to the society and environment. The assignment presented by the researcher also depicts the role of Corporate Social Responsibility practices in contemporary organisational practices. It can be concluded though that business ethics and corporate social responsibility have immense importance in development of an organisation. Without following the two fundamental concepts that are mentioned in the assignment, an organisation will not be successful in the long run and can even face challenges. Corporate social responsibility has become the best part of sustaina ble development program. For long-term sustenance, the organisation has to take into account the shareholder’s interest, environment and society as a whole. Ethics elaborates the correct and incorrect behaviour of any human being, which can affect the operation of an organisation and also, lead to disturb the entire society. Therefore, the researcher concluds the discussion and states that ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility both are required for organisational effectiveness for corporations and to run a peaceful business.

Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

2 - Assignment Example The company owns over 7 million hectares of land across the Northern Territory and Queensland. The company’s strategy is to operate in diversified agribusiness operations and bring innovation in existing business practices in order to achieve long term gains. ActivEX Limited is an Australian mineral and exploration company that specialises in identifying, acquiring, and distribution of minerals. The company aims to increase shareholders’ value by investing into quality projects including minerals such as gold, copper, cobalt, etc. The company is involved in activities such as drilling, soil testing and mapping, data compilation, and reviewing. Adcorp Australia is a leading advertising agency owned locally and offers services including branding, advertising, creative design, event management, media planning and promotions. a) The monthly returns of the three companies are calculated using the following formula: Monthly return = (Current adjusted close price/Previous adju sted close price) – 1 The historical prices of the three companies are obtained from Yahoo Finance and the individual monthly returns of the three chosen stocks are shown in the appendices section. The period under study was for 61 months ending on Dec 31, 2012. The calculations are made in the MS-Excel spreadsheet application using the above formula to calculate monthly returns. Then the average monthly return is calculated using the Excel function AVERAGE that computes the average of given numbers. The standard deviations of adjusted closing prices are calculated using the STDEV function of MS-Excel. Standard deviation is the measure of risk of investment which measures the stock volatility over a given period of time. The expected return from the stock is calculated using the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) approach, where there is the concept of Beta. From the above summarised risk-return analysis, it can be said that the returns of all the three stocks are equal since beta is very close to zero but it is positive. This means that investment in either of the companies is safe as it is apparent that the standard deviation of market index (AORD) is more volatile than the chosen stocks. From the theory of risk-return, it can be said that the higher the risk, the higher would be potential return. This is true in case of AORD since the risk borne by the investor must be compensated by higher expected returns. When the individual stocks of the companies are compared to AORD, it can be said that all the three stocks have lower standard deviation or risk associated with investment. This would alternatively mean that the returns from these stocks would be lower due to less associated risk. This can be verified from the expected return that calculates the estimated return from the stock using CAPM. In this study it was found that expected return of AORD was higher than the three chosen stocks due to a higher risk. Also, for the given return, the rational i nvestor would select the stock that is least risky and in this study riskiness of investment is determined using standard deviation. A higher value of standard deviation means that the stock is more risky and vice versa. From the above table, it can be said that Activex Limited is the least risky (the lowest standard deviation among other two stocks) and Australian Agriculture Co. Ltd is the riskiest (the highest standard deviation among other two stocks). b) In order to estimate the beta for each of three chosen

Traveling Through the Dark Essay Example for Free

Traveling Through the Dark Essay When reading a poem for the first time, it is fairly easy to view it on a literal level. Nonetheless, after analyzing the purpose, tone, word choice, and figures of speech and how they simultaneously work together, the reader is hit with a whole new perception of the poem. William Staffords Traveling through the Dark holds this characteristic. The poem is about a man driving on a narrow road at night and his internal conflict triggered by an encounter with a dead deer along the road. He immediately leaves his car and walks toward the deer with the intention of rolling it into the canyon. However, when he discovers that this deer has an unborn fawn, the man is struck with an instant conflict. Does he push the deer off into the canyon? Or does he leave it alone and save the fawn while endangering the lives of others that will travel this narrow road? Stafford uses a mans simple confrontation with a deer as an instrument for conveying a deeper message about nature. He comes across a dead deer, and without hesitation, plans to push it into the canyon. This clearly indicates that the speaker holds no emotions whatsoever for the deer. Then, a conversational tone is thrown into the mix. The narrator is sharing and guiding the readers through his experience. He gives advice in line four, It is usually best to roll them into the canyon. This supports his informal attitude and establishes a relationship with the reader in hopes of allowing the reader to feel the way he does. Several symbolic elements emphasize the theme of Traveling through the Dark, all within the last three stanzas of the poem. The first symbol, an unborn fawn. The fawn represents the future of nature in the changing world. Although the mother, or nature in present time, has been killed the fawn still waits alive, still, never to be born (11). The fawn waits in hope that it will live to breathe air, in the hope that the speaker will save it. However, technology is also competing for the speaker’s attention. The first three lines of the fourth stanza make the idling car into a mechanized beast that kills nature. Some details about this mechanized beast are on lines thirteen to fifteen where the car aimed ahead (13) its lights, purred (14) its steady, idling engine, and emitting warm exhaust turning red (15). The third and final symbol is revealed only in the last stanza. On line seventeen, I thought hard for us all exhibits the fact that the speaker is representative of all mankind. The speaker represents mankind coming around the curve in the dark. He symbolizes mankind being caught in the struggle between nature and technology. Nature in the form of a dead doe is portrayed as an object worthy of pity while the mechanical beast is a ruthless image. Among the various descriptions relating to the dead doe, the most conspicuous is of her being large in the belly (8). The heap, a doe (6) describes the speaker’s first impression of the recent killing. Aside from those two images, the other description of the doe correlates to the sense of touch; the speaker notices that that the doe’s side was warm (10) after brushing finger against her fur. Stafford describes the car with regards to three of the body’s five senses. The car is described as having its lights lowered (13) or dimmed, casting the scene in shadows. The steady purring emitted from the engine appeals to the speaker’s sense of hearing. Warm exhaust (16) caresses the speaker, stimulating the speaker’s sense of touch.

Medical Image Fusion Based on Joint Sparse Method

Medical Image Fusion Based on Joint Sparse Method I. INTRODUCTION From the identical scene number of images can be obtained concurrently by utilizing dissimilar sensors. Using the many sensors to identify the picture complete of scene from the obtained images is highly impossible. For this here using image fusion algorithm it will accept the mixing of multiple obtained images to produce number of useful complex image integrating the opposite information from the many sensors, yet, they are out of boundary and of dissimilar declaration. In medical diagnosis we will find the medical imaging. After completing the diagnosis the imaging movements are like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) it will gives dissimilar view in the same scene, which can be delay clinical decision making and the diagnostic process. For example MRI gives the perspectives of soft materials, while CT for bone structures evaluation. For accurate diagnosis this inspires the necessary for image fusion by combining the reciprocal information. Three problems to be notified while fusing the images [1] are: 1) the fused image should preserve all the important information needed for further processing. 2) Artifacts should not be introduced in fused image. 3) Noise and unimportant information should be suppressed. Several dissimilar Greedy approaches using the sparse representation of the signal this signal is presently possible [3], Sparse representation of signals is now possible utilizing many different Greedy approaches [3], including: 1. Matching Pursuit (MP) [3] 2. Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) [3], and 3.Stage wise Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (St OMP) [4]. These techniques are used to represent signals with the fewest number of non-zero coefficients. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) [5] is one of the powerful state-of-the-art image fusion approaches in terms of visual inspection and quantitative evaluation metrics. This fusion is carried out by integrating the principal components of images to be fused. Both PCA and Sparse fusion have specific advantages and disadvantages. PCA fusion will enhance the spatial quality but have dense nonzero entries that might represent uninformative features. Sparse fusion preserves important information but high spatial resolution is lacking. This paper proposes a new algorithm inspired by [6], which employs different fusion rules for common and innovative sparse comp onents of the source images. The proposed algorithm utilizes the advantages of both PCA and Sparse representation for fusing common and innovative features of the captured images. This algorithm also overcomes the disadvantages of both PCA and Sparse representation. In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method by comparing its results with PCA and Sparse Fusion. II. SYSTEM DESIGN As discussed in the previous section, sparsest approximation is achieved through Greedy methods. In this section, we briefly explore the Orthogonal Matching Pursuit algorithm to achieve sparsest representation. These sparse coding algorithms are constructed based on the premise that Dictionary D of size nÃâ€"k is already known. For effective results, we use phase included DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) dictionary [7] for our experiment. In this paper, we have customized OMP sparse coding algorithm for fusion purposes. The ultimate aim of OMP algorithm is to achieve best approximation. The mathematical formula for solving this constraint problem is given by: (1) (2) Where N is the number of non-zero coefficients. Equation 2 represents the definition for solving error constrained problem. Next atom to be added in this iterative framework is the atom which has highest correlation to the residual at each stage. Iteration is performed until it meets the stopping criterion. OMP is due to orthogonalization between atoms in the dictionary D and residual r. Pseudo Algorithm of OMP Given: Dictionary D, signal S, and error threshold à Ã‚ µ Initialize residual r0=S-Ds0, index set I0={} and main iteration is k = k+1 (initial k=0). Using the ideal solution à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ §Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- = à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¸Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‹Å"−1/, Calculate the error (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-) = for all i. Update stage: Augmenting the index set à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‹Å" = à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‹Å"−1 ∠ª {à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-0} (find i0 of (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-): ∀1 ≠¤ à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- ≠¤ à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡ and (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-0) ≠¤ (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-). Update the solution (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-0)+= à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ §Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- and residual. If stopping criterion is met, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   = à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‹Å"; else, apply another iteration. III. PROPOSED SCHEME This work proposes a fusion method that employs PCA transformation and sparse transformation. An attempt is made to efficiently utilize the advantages of PCA and Sparse fusion scheme. The proposed fusion framework has been illustrated in Fig.1. Firstly, the common and innovative components are extracted from geometrically aligned multiple images of the same scene. Secondly, different fusion rules are adopted to fuse these coefficients. The algorithm is summarized as follows: 1) Registered multiple images in an ensemble have one common component and multiple innovative components. Innovative components contain the complementary information from different images of same scene 2) Innovative components of different images i are decomposed into sparse vectors s1,s2,s3,†¦si via orthogonal matching pursuit method described in Figure.1. Fig.1. Flow of Sparse PCA joint fusion algorithm 3) Combine the sparse coefficients of innovative components using PCA fusion rule, for which the covariance matrix s C of innovative images is calculated as follows, (3) Where s1,s2 are the sparse vectors of the innovative components. Find the Eigen sparse and normalized Eigen sparse vector of maximum Eigen value. Eigen vector will be used as weightings for innovative sparse vectors to be fused. 4) Fused PCA result Ip is reshaped into a block of 8Ãâ€"8 and each pixel position is the sum of several block values. Reconstructed image is obtained by dividing each pixel by number of addition operations performed at each pixel. 5) For fusing common component and fused innovative component, the fuse rule of weighted average scheme proposed by Burt et al. [2] is adopted. IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS In order to test the performance of the proposed joint fusion algorithm, we compared the quantitative and qualitative results with two state the of art methods. Qualitative measurement is done through visual inspection that considers sharpness and noise suppression. Since the proposed joint fusion uses both PCA and sparse domain, we use PCA, Sparse OMP fusion methods for comparison. For the evaluation, we adopted proposed joint strategy for Multi resolution, Multi focus and Multimode images and compared the results with existing algorithms. Our experiment is carried out with the assumption that the source images are registered already. Fig. 2, shows results of fusion for the case of multi focus images. Based on visual inspection, The Joint PCA Sparse algorithm performs the best since the resultant image contain more geometric structures while sparse fusion comes the second. Result of proposed method seems to contain sharp edges. Fig.3, illustrates results of fusion of mutli dosage image results based on three different fusion algorithms. Low dose image seems to suffer from patchiness. As it can be observed, visually, Joint Sparse result shows the details clearly than the Low dose image. Visually, joint fusion resultant seems to be better than other 2 methods. Increasing the dosage might reduce the noise but harm patients. Low dose images are prone to noise. Fusing low dose and medium dose image should suppress the noise and enhance the informative details for precise diagnosis. Fig.4, illustrates the results of applying two multi modal medical images to three image fusion algorithms. The medical images are MRI and CT image of same scene which have been registered already. CT image provides the information on bone structures and MRI image contains tissue information. Medical image fusion needs great accuracy as it’s used for diagnosis. Hence, multimodal image fusion would give sufficient details necessary for diagnosis. Based on the visual inspection, the Joint Sparse results contain more detail information. Results of PCA seem to have high spatial resolution but they are disappointing in terms of detailed information. Bone details are not visible in PCA resultant image. Sparse result is better but some artifacts are easily observed Reconstructing fused image through joint fusion algorithms seems to be more precise comparatively. In order to analyze the quality of the algorithms quantitatively, we consider 5 metrics: Mutual Information (MI), PSNR, Correlation, Entropy and Structural Similarity (SSIM) index. Mutual Information shows how much information has been transferred from source images to the resultant images. Entropy shows the amount of important details available in the image. PSNR is Peak Signal to Noise Ration which is used to measure the reconstruction quality of fused image. PSNR of the fused image If is calculated using the standard formula: (4) Where M is the maximum possible pixel value of the image and MSE is the Mean Square error. The SSIM [8] provides structural information of objects and measures the similarity between the two images. Experiment results are shown in Table.1. Tabulated result demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm over existing methods in terms of Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies. We can observe that the results of multimodal image fusion and multi focus image fusion utilizing our proposed fusion strategy outperforms PCA and Sparse fusion. The PCA by itself performs poorer results for all cases. Table 1 Performance Of Fusion Methods By The Quality Evaluation Metrics Image Type Fusion Stratergy PSNR(db) Mutual Information Entropy Correlation SSIM Multi focus Joint PCA Sparse 34.1742 2.1733 7.3656 0.9990 1.000 PCA 31.6321 2.0177 7.2607 0.9981 0.9999 OMP fusion 32.3392 2.0606 7.3654 0.9981 1.000 Multi dose Joint PCA Sparse 25.2115 0.7887 4.8643 0.9997 1 PCA 22.6994 0.7638 4.7905 0.9991 0.9997 OMP fusion 24.4680 0.7794 4.7937 0.9995 0.9998 Multimodal(MRICT) Joint PCA Sparse 26.4111 0.9634 6.7409 0.9403 .9977 PCA 20.8380 0.8096 6.5502 0.8690 .9919 OMP fusion 24.8056 0.9940 6.7376 0.8985 .9975 V. CONCLUSION Medical Image fusion plays an important role in clinical diagnosis. In this paper, a joint fusion modal is proposed based on sparse representation theory and PCA for multimodal and multi dose medical images. Visually and quantitatively, the experimental results show that the proposed method has effectively expressed the geometric structures and edges and has proved to perform better than PCA and OMP fusion. This modal can also be extended to fuse multiple source images from multi resolution, multiple spectral frequencies and multiple modalities. REFERENCES [1] S.G. Nikolov., P.R. Hill., D.R. Bull., C.N. Canagarajah.Wavelets for image fusion, A. Petrosian, F. Meyer (Eds.), Wavelets in Signal and Image Analysis, Computational Imaging and Vision Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands (2001). pp. 213–244. [2]P. Burt, R. Kolczynski, Enhanced image capture through fusion, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Vision, 1993, pp. 173-182. [3] L. Rebolloà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Neira and D. Lowe, Optimized orthogonal matching pursuit approach, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, pp.137–140, 2002. [4] D. Donoho and Y. Tsaig, Sparse solutions of underdetermined linear equations by stagewise orthogonal matching pursuit, Stanford University, Tech. report 2006. [5] M. R.Metwalli, A. H. Nasr, O. S. Farag Allah, and S. El-Rabaie†Image fusion based on Principal Component Analysis and High-pass Filter†, Proceedings of the IEEE/ ICCES 2009 international Conference, DEC. 14-16, 2009, pp. 63-70. [6] H. Yin, S. Li,†Multimodal image fusion with joint sparsity model†, Opt Eng., 50(6), (2011). [7] Z. Sadeghipour, M. Babaie-Zadeh, and C. Jutten, An adaptive thresholding approach for image denoising using redundant representations, IEEE international workshop on Machine Learning for Signal Processing, 2009, pp. 1-6. [8] Zhou Wang, Alan C. Bovik, Hamid R. Sheikh and Eero P. Simoncelli, â€Å"Image Quality Assessment: From Error Visibility to Structural Similarity†, IEEE transactions on Image Processing, vol. 13, no. 4, April 2004.

Bernard Williams Analysis Of A Thought Experiment Philosophy Essay

Bernard Williams Analysis Of A Thought Experiment Philosophy Essay The thought experiment that Bernard Williams mentioned in his work A Critique of Utilitarianism to establish that utilitarianism is an incoherent and unintelligible theory of morality and does not hold much ground, especially when it comes to decision making under pressure and in high risk situations. But it crumbles altogether when once integrity and moral compass is at stake. This paper will explore some arguments related to the thought experiment that Bernard Williams has illustrated highlighting both the scenarios of George accepting and rejecting the job offer and how it affects his morality. It will also compare the utilitarian view point in the light of this thought experiment with other moral view points to establish that all theories do not fulfill all the criteria of a complete moral theory and does not fulfill our psychological and emotional needs. Suppose if George accepts the job offer. By accepting the offer at the chemical and biological warfare lab, George will certainly provide economic prosperity to his family (as he going through tough time), additionally he will also once get the job will be able to better influence the work of the lab, by either slowing down the process and/or building up support at the lab to deliberately protract the process. All these actions of George will lead to a greater utility as he will become an instrument in increasing utility and decreasing harm by slowing down the process. He will also be able to provide a better future for his family thereby reducing suffering which could have been caused to him and his family should he not have accepted the job offer. It seems like that from a utilitarian point of view this is an ideal situation. However, Bernard Williams argues against this position. He says that even though it seems that everyone is benefiting from Georges decision, for him it is not a good choice as it will alienate him from his projects that define him. In other words, as George is opposed to biological and chemical weapon, as he has to forsake his integrity in order to take a decision to accept the job offer. Bernard Williams call this as ones projects and argues that one must not forsake ones integrity and values which define us. George in this case has a deep rooted belief against biological and chemical weapons (their production and use) and should not forsake this. He sates: It is absurd to demand of such a man, when the sums come in from the utility network which the projects of others have in part determined, that he should just step aside from his own project and decision and acknowledge the decision which utilitarian calculation requires. It is to alienate him in a real sense from his actions and the source of his action in his own convictions. It is to make him into a channel between the input of everyones projects, including his own, and an output of optimific decision; but this is to neglect the extent to which his actions and his decisions have to be seen as the actions and decisions which flow from the projects and attitudes with which he is most closely identified. It is thus, in the most literal sense, and attack on his integrity. It is prudent at this stage to state a few points about the thought experiment itself, as a utilitarian could argue against their need. Thought experiments are a good way to provide us with a way of producing knowledge by stepping out of the domain of the real and day to day affairs. They can be seen as an instrument of judgment of possibility as well as consideration of conceivability. However, they are constrictive in nature, and arbitrarily cut off and restrict the range of choices available to decide on a course of action. This thought experiment, is reflective of all the constraints related to thought experiments in general but in particular it distances us from the consequences making it remote to the action that he will take, thereby it is difficult to assess from a practical point of view whether the thought experiment is of significance or not. The author has intentionally given little background as to how George has landed into this situation and thus has opened a wide arra y of generalization and universal applicability inhibiting the use of imagination and intuition. Martin Bunzl provides an interesting viewpoint regarding thought experiments related to ethics and especially to consequentialist theories in general, require a level of detail usually lacking in thought experiments. And it is the attempt to provide the missing detail (both consequentialist facts and the weightings on those facts) that yields the paradigm of a thought experiment that is out of control  [1]   This is an interesting take as the whole idea of providing missing information is to make us see a different paradigm not apparent in the thought experiment itself. Now lets see the scenario from a different vintage point. Suppose George does not accept the job offer as he is an ardent believer in safeguarding the world from biological and chemical weapons. In this case he has listened to his moral voice. However, even in this case (when George is not taking an action by not accepting the position) he is responsible for action through the doctrine of negative responsibility. Consequentialism will not recognize the difference between George not taking the job offer and safeguarding his integrity on one hand but has allowed someone else to take up the job (who is for the use of biological and chemical weapons) thereby is equally responsible for the harm that may cause. It doesnt make any difference if the action is taken by George or the other person as he is the one who let it happen. Looking at the broader picture keeping this thought experiment in perspective, John Rawls gives another viewpoint. The main concepts of ethics are those of right and the good. The structure of an ethical theory is, and then is largely determined by how it defines and connects these two basic notions.  [2]   From a utilitarian perspective, the right and the good is of no importance to the decision making process. But from an deontological perspective it is not the badness or the goodness of the consequence that makes it wrong but the act itself is wrong. George is not permitted to act and take any decision if it violates the deontological constraint (certain things that we must not do, even if doing it produces overall better consequences, in this case George may slow the process of weapon production and/or make a substantial effort is convincing other people to support his viewpoint). If George thinks of his act as a right act then it has to derive from its motive and as per Kant the motive is to be found in the act of duty rather than the inclination (Georges sense of duty will emerge from his strong belief against production of these weapons). Even though the action George will take will devoid him of pain and will give him pleasure but it will not be a free action and will be subject to the laws of cause and effect. If he does not take the job and if he doesnt on the idea that because he respects the moral law of so many people dying he will be the one who will eventually be the participant in it. By following a utilitarian viewpoint George has retracted his autonomy to take action, as he is bounded by the effects of what will happen, and his own will be shattered. Thereby he is not being true to himself and is losing true freedom. George may go ahead with not accepting the job offer but his contemporary will; thereby it will not be a universal principle. George should not act only because he has a duty towards others, to act and safeguard their interest; self interest is not the reason why he should do the right thing. One may also consider Georges action not to be seen in the future consequences that it will bring, but in the past as well, how he landed in this situation, what are he motives which led to him being against the development of chemical and biological weapons. There are other considerations that need to be brought in than the consequences of the action in determining what he should do. These considerations other than the value of the consequence of the action that needs to be considered in determining what he should do. A consequentialist will say to George to let the idea go as it will prevent greater harm or will do greater good. Ross  [3]  suggests that there is no universal law in this. For him one value can be overriding by another value provided it relives the distress. George action of taking up the job will be an unethical kind of expediency and will put undue pressure on George to take up the burden of morality for the whole human kind on his shoulders. Alternatively, George can see the whole issue from a different perspective altogether. He should not see the whole situation as being what is right or wrong but should focus on what is just, humane and generous. By doing this, he will not only see the moral dilemma as a focus but will be able to see his life as whole and his position in it. It will help him in acquiring a kind of a virtue and will take the stress of the moral burden of duty towards the whole mankind that he is trying to safeguard. On the other hand this approach to decision making will be more introvert with the focus on fulfilling the demands of the I rather than the combined good of all. Furthermore, it abandons the moral universal principles and gives power to the individual (in this case George) to make his own judgement. It dodges the important moral issues without assuming a definite position. Looking at this thought experiment and its conclusion, we reach a point where our approach to morality needs to be somewhere between this completely impartial and integrity-sacrificing mode and the danger of a completely subjective/relativist mode. The whole argument above clearly states that thought experiments can provide us with a way of thinking on issues but are limited in scope and should be used with caution. Thought experiments are profitably compared to compasses. A compass is a simple but useful device for determining direction. Nevertheless, it systematically errs in the presence of magnets it becomes unreliable near the North Pole, in mine shafts, when vibrated, in the presence of metal experts will wish to use the compass as one element in a wider portfolio of navigational techniques. Analogously, thought experiments are simple but useful devices for determining the status of propositions. Sadly, they systematically err under certain conditions and so are best used with sensitivity to their foibles and limited scope  [4]  

Ophelia Essay -- English Literature Essays

Ophelia A play with great value and quality would best describe one of Shakespeare’s intriguing plays, Hamlet. Events, dilemmas, action, and the characters all contribute greatly to make the play interesting and appealing. Every event that occurs leads to the outcome of dilemmas and action. The characters personalities is what makes the action is even more exciting. Each character has got their own special significance in the roles they play. However Ophelia, the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain Polonius, allows an atmosphere of simplicity and delicacy to surround the play. Her simple nature causes inner thoughts that allow us to question her true character. From the start of the play Ophelia seems to always keep her distance and speak very little. She is very distinctive of the other characters and keeps to herself most often. Her first presence in the play takes place when her brother, Laertes, and her father lecture her about keeping away from Hamlet and not believing his love. â€Å"Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood,† (1.3. 6) this is said by Laertes as he describes that Hamlet’s love will last for a little while then fade, which makes his love insignificant. Ophelia doesn’t argue and agrees to remember what he said, however she immediately tells him to make sure he follows his own advice, â€Å"†¦and recks not his own rede.† (1.3. 51) Having said this by her displays a quality that is not usually seen. In accepting her brother’s advice she also makes sure he understands that he needs to take his own advice too. Generally with Polonius, who also disfavors Hamlet, she is very respectful and obedient. After a long lecture from him too she says â€Å"’tis in my memory locked† (1.3. 86) and â€Å"I shall obey my lord† (1.4. 136). In spite of h er love towards Hamlet she doesn’t debate the fact that he has not allowed her to see Hamlet anymore. She tells him the truth about what Hamlet has said or what she feels. Ophelia is the kind of girl who always had her father or brother telling her what to do and what to think. She says, â€Å"I do not know, my lord, what I should think†(1.3. 104) when her father asks her if she believes Hamlet’s love. Here she seems dubious and uncertain of her feelings or what she is to do. Ophelia is seen as inexperienced and very innocent for she doesn’t look like she understands love or her emotions. Due to her inexperience and lack of g... ...as always confident that he would result with the outcome he wanted. He took advantage of every chance he got. For example the players who performed the play ‘Mouse-trap’. Whereas, Ophelia, unlike Hamlet who ‘acted’ mad, really goes mad and sings her sorrow and mourning through. She doesn’t accept to face reality, for she is now on her own and without her father’s support. This proves that she had always needed someone to tell her what to do and how to feel. And now once her father was gone, there was no one to fill the emptiness she felt. Concluding, Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, combines a lot of themes and remarkable incidents. Specifically the roles of each character unite to form an extraordinary impression on the play. Particularly, Ophelia’s character is very perceptive and penetrating. She is described as inexperienced, vulnerable, sensitive and very frail. Leading a very protective life doesn’t result in a positive end for her. Her attitude circles the play with a sense of deep warmth and the role she plays helps express the mood of the play. Although very different from Hamlet’s determined character, she has her own urbane manner. Quotes where taken from the play.

Strong Penelope of Homers Odyssey Essay -- Homer, Odyssey Essays

The Strong Penelope of The Odyssey "My lady, there is no man in the wide world who could find fault with you. For your fame has reached broad heaven itself, like that of some illustrious king."(Page 289,Book 19) In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus is an epic hero with an epic wife, Penelope. Penelope is also the Queen of Ithaca, a vital role indeed. Penelope's love and devotion towards Odysseus is proven when she waits nineteen years for her husband to return from the wine dark sea, rather than losing faith and marrying another man. Penelope's character is strong and solid, and her personality remains consistent throughout Homer's Odyssey. Since there are so few mortal women featured in The Odyssey, Penelope can be seen as an ideal figure to represent all noblewomen in the Greek world. Although women were seen as possessions they could still be highly respected and influential in society. This is shown very effectively in this quote by Antinous as he speaks about Penelope, "Her skill in fine handicraft, her excellent brain, and the genius she has for getting her way, In that respect, I gra... ...en Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art," pp. 29-58. Richard Brilliant, "Kirke's Men: Swine and Sweethearts," pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent," in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Marilyn Arthur Katz, Penelope's Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey (Princeton 1991). Nancy Felson-Rubin, Regarding Penelope: From Courtship to Poetics (Princeton 1994). Strong Penelope of Homer's Odyssey Essay -- Homer, Odyssey Essays The Strong Penelope of The Odyssey "My lady, there is no man in the wide world who could find fault with you. For your fame has reached broad heaven itself, like that of some illustrious king."(Page 289,Book 19) In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Odysseus is an epic hero with an epic wife, Penelope. Penelope is also the Queen of Ithaca, a vital role indeed. Penelope's love and devotion towards Odysseus is proven when she waits nineteen years for her husband to return from the wine dark sea, rather than losing faith and marrying another man. Penelope's character is strong and solid, and her personality remains consistent throughout Homer's Odyssey. Since there are so few mortal women featured in The Odyssey, Penelope can be seen as an ideal figure to represent all noblewomen in the Greek world. Although women were seen as possessions they could still be highly respected and influential in society. This is shown very effectively in this quote by Antinous as he speaks about Penelope, "Her skill in fine handicraft, her excellent brain, and the genius she has for getting her way, In that respect, I gra... ...en Skylla and Penelope: Female Characters of the Odyssey in Archaic and Classical Greek Art," pp. 29-58. Richard Brilliant, "Kirke's Men: Swine and Sweethearts," pp. 165-73. Helene Foley, "Penelope as Moral Agent," in Beth Cohen, ed., The Distaff Side (Oxford 1995), pp. 93-115. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Marilyn Arthur Katz, Penelope's Renown: Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey (Princeton 1991). Nancy Felson-Rubin, Regarding Penelope: From Courtship to Poetics (Princeton 1994).

Augustus :: essays research papers

A copy below of the deeds of the divine Augustus, by which he subjected the whole wide earth to the rule of the Roman people, and of the money which he spent for the state and Roman people, inscribed on two bronze pillars, which are set up in Rome. 1. In my nineteenth year, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army with which I set free the state, which was oppressed by the domination of a faction. For that reason, the senate enrolled me in its order by laudatory resolutions, when Gaius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius were consuls (43 B.C.E.), assigning me the place of a consul in the giving of opinions, and gave me the imperium. With me as propraetor, it ordered me, together with the consuls, to take care lest any detriment befall the state. But the people made me consul in the same year, when the consuls each perished in battle, and they made me a triumvir for the settling of the state. 2. I drove the men who slaughtered my father into exile with a legal order, punishing their crime, and afterwards, when they waged war on the state, I conquered them in two battles. 3. I often waged war, civil and foreign, on the earth and sea, in the whole wide world, and as victor I spared all the citizens who sought pardon. As for foreign nations, those which I was able to safely forgive, I preferred to preserve than to destroy. About five hundred thousand Roman citizens were sworn to me. I led something more than three hundred thousand of them into colonies and I returned them to their cities, after their stipend had been earned, and I assigned all of them fields or gave them money for their military service. I captured six hundred ships in addition to those smaller than triremes. 4. Twice I triumphed with an ovation, and three times I enjoyeda curule triumph and twenty one times I was named emperor. When the senate decreed more triumphs for me, I sat out from all of them. I placed the laurel from the fasces in the Capitol, when the vows which I pronounced in each war had been fulfilled.

Growth-Share Matrix

?BCG ? Growth-Share Matrix :0 :0 ? :[pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] [pic]  Ã‚  Ã‚      [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic] †¢ 2893 †¢ †¢ Top of Form [pic][pic] Bottom of Form ?BCG ? Growth-Share Matrix 1963? Bruce Henderson BCG(Boston Consulting Group; ), ;BCG , ,BCG Growth-Share Matrix? ( ), (Product Portfolio) , (Cash Flow) , (Portfolio Planning) , ;BCG ,BCG , ; ( ) , , ( ) , , Product Life Cycle? ( ) ; , , ( ) ?1 BCG [pic] 1 , , 10% HIGH? LOW ; 0-10% LOW ,10% HIGH , 20M,A 12M,? A 0. 6; 1. 0 HIGH? LOW ,1. 0-10. 0 HIGH,0. 1-1. 0 LOW? , , Cash Cow( ) , Maturity( ) , , , ; , Cash Cow , Cash Cow , , , Dog( ) ( Pet), Decline( ) , , , ; , , , Question Mark( ) , , Introduction( ) ,

Cause and Effect Technology Essay

Technology continues to make progress every single day in society. Schools, the workplace, and even homes have advanced so much over the past twenty years. As technology starts to take over every little part of people’s lives, some new advances may end up as the â€Å"next big thing† and others may slowly destroy the ways of human life. First, technology in schools, which have adapted so many new advances in even the last five years. A cause of increased use of technology in classrooms could be the pressure to do better with the resources they were given. This can lead to three consequences such as a cheating, easier access to information, and they could even use technology as a sort of tutor. Second, the workplace has adapted to all the new technologies maybe even faster than schools. Businesses search for a more productive way to run their operations. The increased usage of technology in the workplace has a very dangerous outcome which usually manifests in stress. Three causes of the stress in the workplace could be due to technology such as malfunctions, job insecurity, and certain medical issues when the employees use the technology all the time. Last, these new technologies even have tried to make life at home simpler for everyone. Things may seem like they are there to help you, but in the long run these new techniques may end up turning out poorly. Since the new technology has been brought about, there are more ways to find a recipe than just looking in a cookbook that was found in the kitchen cupboard. This may end up in obesity for in the long run and may not even see it coming. The effects of the increased usage of technology has caused the way people live their lives at school, at work, and at home to change drastically. As more schools tend to adapt to the â€Å"technology wave† there has been an increase of discussion about whether the advances of technology in the  classroom help the students learn better, or if it distracts them from actually doing the work themselves. These types of improvements increase the pressure of succeeding academically. One result of the growing amount of pressure on a student is that children are able to use technology as a tutor. Whether it is used as an educational social media to connect peers together outside of school, or even just simply being able to go to a search engine and gain the same knowledge that could be learned in the classroom. The internet is a great tutor if the resources are used properly. Another ramification of the flourishing amount of pressure put on a student because of the increased use of technology in classrooms is that information is far more accessible than before. Due to the mass amount of information available, everything is one click away. With the use of tablets, students are able to practically hold an entire encyclopedia set in their hands. The third effect of the increase of pressure among students is the fact that academic dishonesty is too easy. Since it is so easy to gather information from other sources besides your own head when you are stuck, this can lead to dangerous temptations of cheating in school. Workplace stress is a serious consequence that employees experience because of the increased use of technology in businesses. One reason stress is created at work, related to the escalating use of technology, is due to technological malfunctions. When technology does not work correctly, employees can lose important data, miss deadlines, and slow down production. This can not only have harmful effects, but become a waste of time. Another reason stress is created in the workplace is due to job insecurity. Technology is able to do jobs that more efficiently and at a cheaper cost than what a human would do. Since the increased use of technology, robots are now able to perform simple tasks with no mistakes like the assembly line, to more complex situations like medical procedures. Companies save thousands of dollars by making the transition to robots. This creates stress on employees seeing the possibility of jobs being replaced by a robot. The last cause of this stress is the risk of medical injuries. Technology may be able to reduce some medical risks that employees had with their job, but now there are medical conditions that are arising because of the technology that workers use. Since companies are starting to use more robots, they do not  know what is going on at all times besides they are programmed what to do. Any incident could happen at any second because the robots do not stop unless a human presses a button to make them stop. The increased use of technology at home has been a blessing. Senior citizens and other adults that were not once used to technology, now are using it more than ever. For example, with the increasing use of technology, cookbooks are almost at the point of extinction. Before, when families wanted to make a new recipe for dinner, they had to get all of their cookbooks out and try to make their own recipe. This has all became simpler due to the internet. Practically any recipe can be found on the internet today. Although many recipes are so accessible, finding the perfect one may be difficult, which leads to frustration. They may not have the exact ingredients needed to make the meal or may not want to take the time to create a dinner for the family. Therefore, the outcome of someone becoming frustrated with technology could result in fast food or take-out options. Since technology has become so advanced, food can be ordered online and delivered to the door. This would cause people to become much lazier. Technology then could become the staring point of obesity. Instead of families going out and getting the food, or going out to the store and getting the ingredients for the meal they just get on the computer and order their unhealthy choices, which could lead to obesity, due to the convinces of technology, and creates a lack of exercise. Overall, technology has become a great tool for everyone and has helped paved the way to success for many. Sometimes technology does not work the way it is supposed to and causes problems to arise. But luckily, technology is slowly becoming more useful and less of a hassle. Whether technology is used at school, work, or home it has changed the way people live their lives dramatically.

Air Asia Essay

1.Threat of new Entrants The extent of barriers to entry depends on the strength of- i)Customer has little brand loyalty. If consumers of Airasia do not have brand loyalty, then the strength of the threat of new entrants is very high. The high numbers of competitors in the industry also decrease Airasia’s customer loyalty. Most of the travelers prefer low cost. New competitors which want to come in the industry have to spend little to compete with Airasia. ii)High capital requirement. The industry of airline needs large volume of start-up capital. The cost of setting up of offices, buying or leasing aircraft, hiring pilots and other staffs like air stewardess and etc incur a high start-up cost. Thus, the threat is low for Airasia. iii)Different product offered. Airasia offers different product compared to other competitors in Asia like Bangkok Airways, Tiger Airways, and Air Philippines. Other than the passenger sales ticket, Airasia also include holiday packages which is affordable around Asia. Airasia has good connection with hotels and tourism companies around Asia, which it is hard for new competitors to compete. iv)Low switching costs. Customers do not need to spend more on switching to another airline. The price would not be very significant in differences, which it depends on the availability of competitor’s services and suitability of the flight time that prompts them to switch. v)Moderate access to distribution channel. Airasia is the first airline company to enable customer book and purchase air tickets online in Malaysia. This makes its website www.airasia.com very famous among frequent travelers. Although new competitors can create a website for their company, it is quite difficult to compete with Airasia’s website. The website is known of its simplicity and user friendly. Thus, new competitors are difficult to make known their websites to travelers. vi)Strict government regulations. In obtaining license and permit to operate  an airline company is quite restricted. This is because in Malaysia, the airline industry is very competitive already and that the government also wants to protect the interest of its national airline, MAS which is operating on loses a few years back. 2.Rivalry among existing firms The strength of this factor depends on: i)High numbers of rivals. There are approximately 59 low fares and no frills airlines compete with Airasia. Among of them are Tiger Airways, JAL Express, JetStar Airways, Air Arabia and etc. Some of the airline does not compete directly with Airasia, but it competes indirectly in routes that Airasia does not fly. Thus, the higher the number of competitors, the more fierce the competition. ii)High fixed cost. The airline industry incur high fixed cost which consists of finance cost, hire purchase, and staff costs. The airline companies have to gain more market share to cover the fixed costs. In doing that, constant price reduction is done by them to compete with others. Thus, the rivalry is strong. iii)Customers easily switch. The nature of airline industry is that customer’s priority is to look at price and flight schedule that suits them the best when buying air tickets. The main purpose of using the airline services is to get to the destination intended. Customers can switch to other airline easily which makes the industry so competitive. iv)High exit cost. It is hard for an airline company to exit the industry. It is because the cost is high in paying the loans, staff retrenchment and flight cancellation refunds. Even making losses, the companies have to get running to cope with fixed costs. This makes the industry very competitive. v)Products are similar. As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of using airline services is to reach the destination. Every airline provides similar  services to customers. Though Airasia provides other added services like hotel booking, and tour packages, it is subject to the customer’s choice. An industry with similar products offered is highly competitive. 3.Threat of Substitute product i)Easy to switch. There are about 59 low cost airlines competing in the industry. The airlines serve over one hundred cities and islands across the sub-continental regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. Although some of the budget carriers only fly domestic routes within the country of origin, while only a few operates international routes connecting nearby countries, customers will always look for alternatives. ii)Performance of substitutes. Performance of other airlines are quite similar with Airasia’s given there is no obvious product differentiation. Performance of airlines normally consists of the accuracy of take off time, aircraft performance and staff services. So far, Airasia had constantly reviewed its performance and improve its services. iii)Relative price. The price of substitutes are about the same with Airasia’s. Some of the airlines offers cheaper price to achieve profitable passenger loads. The price offered depends on the time gap between the booking date and flight date. The longer the date, the cheaper will be the price. If the tickets are purchased last minutes, the price will be about the same with premium airlines like MAS and Singapore Airlines. Thus, in this situation customers would switch to the premium airlines. 4.Bargaining power of buyers i)No significant product differentiation. The only difference Airasia’s product with others airlines is the holiday packages offered. Most of the low cost airlines concentrate on providing flight services only to customers. There is some offers hotel booking at the city that the airline flies to. However, Airasia makes the difference by providing holiday packages like example 3 days and 2 nights to Bali at RM800 per pax includes  flight ticket, accommodation and travel guides. For customers who do not want to follow the travel agencies and enjoys freedom, they will look for Airasia’s packages, but the customer’s portion of this type is small. Thus the bargaining power of buyers is strong as the main thing they look for is to fly to destinations. ii)Low switching costs. Cost of switching to other airlines is low, so bargaining power of buyers is strong. Airasia is not the only airlines operates in Asia. Other than that the price offered by other competitors are not much different. The customer choice is subject to their convenience and flight schedule that fit them best. iii)Portion of buyers expenditure on airline is moderate. This factor depends on portions of income an individual earns. The higher the portion, the more the customer look for cheaper price and thus, the stronger the bargaining power of buyers. Eg when a student without earning any income, will look for the cheapest price available as the portion of his expenditure will be very substantial. iv)Customers have access to market information. The IT world had emerged since 20th century. Many big and success companies in the world uses IT and e-commerce to operate. Without IT, the business had boundaries and international business will be prohibited. With worldwide web, information can be gathered on one click. Customer’s access to the current airline market information is easy and available all the time. The airline companies have less room for negotiation. Thus, customers had strong bargaining power. v)Buyer’s power concentration in many hands. Most of the airline company customers are individual travelers, only some travel in groups. So the air tickets are purchased individually. The airline companies are not relying on a few groups of customers only. Thus, the bargaining power of buyer is strong. 5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers i) Supplier concentration in a few hands. The supplier of airline companies is the fuel supplier, foods supplier, merchandise supplier and aircraft supplier. There are few suppliers in the market, eg the aircraft supplier, the companies are either Airbus or Boeing. In this case the power of supplier is strong. Other supplier like foods supplier and fuel supplier, the term of the supply must be based on the market condition. The supplier cannot increase too much of its price or risk losing long term business with the aircraft companies. ii)High switching costs. Most of Airasia’s aircraft are Airbus models. Previously the company used Boeing models, which they lease it and the company had since phased out most of the models and replace with Airbus. If Airasia is to switch to Boeing again, then the cost will be high, because training cost for employees to suit the aircraft features must be provided. Other than that, the technology used by Airbus is the most advanced, thus Airasia must rely to the Airbus engineers to do maintenance of the aircrafts and seek advices. Thus, bargaining power of suppliers is strong. iii)Relative lack of importance of buyers to supplier. Airbus is a UK based aviation company. Its customers come from around the world. So far 9,113 aircraft had been ordered, out of which 5,408 aircraft had been delivered by the company. Airasia had ordered 200 aircraft from Airbus and so far only 54 aircraft had been delivered. The percentage of less than 1%, 0.99% proves that Airasia is not Airbus’s important buyer. Thus, Airbus had strong power over Airasia.

Accounting Analysis Essay

Michael Burton has recently been hired as the CEO of Tesca Works, Inc. Previously he had been the marketing manager for a large manufacturing company and had established a reputation for identifying new consumer trends. Tesca Works Inc. is a California-based generator manufacturing company. The company is well known for manufacturing large, heavy-duty generators at a reasonable cost. One of its greatest achievements is that its generators can be easily modified or customized for different applications. Also, Tesca Works currently builds commercial appliances. The company is considering an expansion of its current product line to include refrigerator and maybe, sometime in the future, consumer appliances. Mr. Burton feels that due to high energy prices, consumers will be more willing to consider purchasing new efficient appliances. See more: Beowulf essay essay Tesca Works Inc. is a California-based generator manufacturing company. The company is well known for its innovation and ability to produce high quality products at a reasonable cost. One of its greatest achievements is that its manufacturing processes are adaptable to other durable goods. Also, Tesca Works currently builds commercial appliances. Profile of Tesca Works Tesca Works, Inc. was established by the Smith brothers in 1880 as the Logging Saw Company. The firm started manufacturing large steam saws to serve the logging industry which processed lumber. Their customers were construction companies that provided housing for the population increase in California. The Smith brothers quickly realized that the times were changing. They started looking for the technologies that would keep them at the forefront of their field of business. In 1915, the Smith brothers decided that they needed to make generators as replacements for the saws. They realized that the logging industry was not viable anymore and that generators were starting to serve the same purpose. The company started making generators in the early 1940’s. Tesca Works then opted to produce commercial appliances. It was an easy decision to make since the commercial appliances would use common parts with the company’s generators and the customers were local hospitals, schools, and governments. Starting in the 1950’s the commercial appliances business accounted for about 50% of Tesca Works’ revenues. The Refrigerator Mr. Burton arranged a meeting with the firm’s top management and the chief design and the chief manufacturing engineers to propose a new product. Mr. Burton presented an argument that more individuals in the United State and Canada would be willing to purchase newer appliances because people are becoming more environmentally conscious. The new appliances are more efficient and environmentally friendly. Also, the recent increase in electricity costs seems to be long lasting. This is an opportunity to get people hooked on environmentally friendly appliances as he put it. The proposal under consideration is for the introduction of a new, energy star refrigerator. To distinguish Tesca Works from other manufacturers, the proposal included details about the convenience, large shelves in the doors, high volume water and ice dispensers, efficiency, and quietness of operation that need to be developed. Mr. Phillips and Mr. Lopez, the two engineers, enthusiastically and quickly pointed out that the needed technology could be based on the company’s generators. The framework currently used for building the generators can be modified to work for appliances at a low cost. The marketing vice president, Mr. Chen, pointed out that the marketing analysis could be done quickly and at a reasonable cost. At this point, Mr. Burton charged the participants in the meeting to produce a financial plan for the development and production of the refrigerator. Consumer Appliances Most people purchase appliances and keep them for a very long time or until they stop working. Some get them when they purchase a home and do not think about them. Recently, most power companies started educating people about the efficiency of new appliances and began offering rebates on the most efficient consumer models. These approaches increased public interest. This renewed the public’s interest in low power-consuming appliances. The Decision Three weeks later, the vice presidents presented the sales and cost forecasts shown in the exhibits. The information presented contains the cost of production, financing information, and warranty cost estimates. In addition, there were two options for the compressor in the refrigerators. The MC – 004 is more expensive to install, but has a lower warranty cost. The TS – L12 is cheaper to install, but has a higher warranty cost. Which compressor should be used?