Prayer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Prayer - Research Paper Example One of the greatest differences is on repentance and recognition of sin. Taoism does not acknowledge the need for redemption or salvation in prayer. In Christianity, redemption or salvation plays a very crucial role in washing away of one’s evil deeds, therefore making one clean and holy before Christ. According to Taoism ‘God’ is just a force that people need to harmonize themselves with, instead of salvation or redemption and worshiping God that Christians believe in. Taoism also believes that there are no personal relations between them and ‘Tao’, their God, while Christians believes that when it comes to prayer there actually exists personal relationship between them and Christ. Christians can pray to their heavenly father, the creator of earth and universe, and Christ-the son of God directly with the belief and faith that their prayers would be heard and answered. On the contrary, Taoists does not pray directly to their ‘God’ nor do they develop any attachment with ‘God’. Taoists rather believe in meditation which is a process of sitting upright quietly in the position of a baby reciting sacred words aimed at restoration of harmony within oneself and spiritual nourishment (Rorty, Richard, and Gianni 68). Taoism also beliefs that values and morality are influenced by nature’s rewards and punishment while Christianity believes in God who determines what is right, wrong and moral values that are punishable and rewarded by God only. According to Christianity God is the most supreme judge to all evils, wrongs and righteousness therefore no Christian should judge the other. Taoism on the other hand, proclaims that there is no moral distinction between right and wrong and which judges no one (Hu, Hsiao, and William 42). Proclamation of Christianity profess that Christ died for died for their sins and justification according to Roman 4:25, and eternal life is given to those who trust in him as savior according to John 1:12. In addition, John

Ottawa Charter0National Tabacco Campaign Essay Example for Free

Ottawa Charter0National Tabacco Campaign Essay The Ottawa Charter is a global health promotion run by the world Health Organisation. It involves five action areas called developing personal skills, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, reorienting health services and building healthy public policies. To combat lung cancer and other health risks the Australian government launched The National Tobacco 2011 Campaign to raise awareness of smoking through the five action areas to reduce the number of daily smokers by 2018. Developing personal skills supports personal and social development through the use of information and resources, which educate health benefits to enhance life skills. In gaining theses skills individuals can make informed decisions to take control of their lives. In relation to the National tobacco Campaign 2011, this will involve raising awareness on the effects of smoking, encouraging individuals to quit therefore reducing their chances of developing ling cancer. Strategies employed by the campaign to address developing personal skills include media campaigns and quit tips. The current media campaign features television, radio, prints and online advertisements to address the issue of smoking and its relation to lung cancer and other health risks. The recent ‘cough’ TV advertisement shows an average Australian male. He is enjoying time with his mates, at work, spending time with the family however he is constantly coughing. Then the voice over states ‘every cigarette brings cancer closer. ’ This short but powerful statement informs individuals that every cigarette they take is putting them at the risk of developing cancer. Thorough the tactic of showing an average Australian male it allows the public to relate to the situation, empowering them to change their habits or else you could end up leaving your loved ones behind. Another strategy is the use of quit tips. This website fact page illustrates new ways that individual can relax as many people smoke while bored or stressed. Some of these relaxation methods include breathing techniques, exercise or a change of routine such as chewing gum or having a stress ball in the car to utilize while stuck in traffic. These strategies are informative yet realistic ways in which individual can swap a smoking habit for a positive health choice instead. This physically helps individuals to make an informed choice to develop their individual skills. By adapting these new life skills through the promotion of stress relief methods individuals are encouraged to take control and empower their own lives. It educates that smoking doesn’t relieve stress yet it only causes stress with its relation to many health risks. Developing personal skills is an important sector of the Ottawa Charter as without it individuals wouldn’t be educated to see the underlying effects of smoking and its strong link to lung cancer. Creating supportive environments focus’s on the environments in which people work, live and play. The aim is to ensure these environments reflect healthy living through the promotion of positive health choices. In relation to the National Tobacco Campaign 2011, this principle involves encouraging one another to quit smoking. This personal and community support takes into consideration the diverse needs of society in the need to fight against smoking. Strategies include providing fact sheets in a variety of languages and providing an online quit service. Australia is a very multicultural society and the campaign has taken this into consideration by creating print and radio advertisements in over 20 languages. This campaign has a goal to reduce the percentage of daily adult smokers by 2018. By providing health promotions in diverse languages, it opens this goal up to the wider Australian population encouraging equity and support. By breaking the language barrier the non-English speakers/readers will feel more supported and encouraged to quit smoking, therefore reducing their chances of developing lung cancer. This advertisement highlights they ways in which the human body will repair itself once smoking has stopped and its motto is ‘Every cigarette you don’t smoke is doing you good. ’ The statement is encouraging and supports the fact that every cigarette has an impact. Another way the tobacco campaign offers a supportive environment is through the telephone quitline. By phoning 131 848 an individual can confidentially speak to a counselor gain information but importantly advice and acknowledgement of their efforts so far. This local cost call can be made from anywhere around Australia, supporting those living in rural areas. Furthermore this quitline can go on to mail individual a quit coach book. This provides the best ways to quit, ways to cope with withdrawal symptoms and details on courses run by local organizations that offer extra help and counseling. This strategy is effective as it helps individuals realize that hey are not alone and their struggle to quit will offer so many advantages. Through first hand advice and the help of professional encouragement individual’s receive the confidence to keep going. Through this support within the environment individuals are more likely to access/continue to use support services to adapt positive behaviors in their lives. These changing life patterns will stop the smoking habits, reduce the ri sk of lung cancer and enhance overall wellbeing. http://www. boredofstudies. org/wiki/Ottawa_Charter_for_Health_Promotion_(1986) Strengthening community action involves public participation to achieve better health. Through initiatives inspired by the community, healthy living patterns can be established to raise awareness and empower action. In relation to the National Tobacco Campaign this involves the help of professional within the community as well as local governments and the public to make and implement action on smoking. Some strategies to strengthening community action include the help someone quit page, and individual community projects. The ‘help someone quit’ initiative provides information on ways to aid a friend by encouraging them and following through with their progress, even if you’ve never smoked before. It states the importance of not nagging a smoker to quit, as that just makes them want to retaliate. Yet the best approach is to clearly explain the motives to stop smoking and offer support. If non smokers and in particular past smokers where to help individuals within the community to quit smoking the whole populations health and attitude would be strengthened, encouraging positive health behaviors. The Bankstown community has specifically strengthened their action by installing ‘No smoking’ signs and restricting smoking 10m within children’s playgrounds. This strategy requires an extra step as it requires the help of the general public to enforce the rule, saving children from passive smoking. The signs educate the public on the hazard of smoking but the enforcement from the public is what will strengthen its success. Through establishing support groups and encouraging social support, the community is brought together to solve smoking through empowerment. (http://www. bankstown. sw. gov. au/Installation-of-New-No-Smoking-Signs/default. aspx) Reorienting heath services refers to utilizing services aimed at prevention, promotion and finding a cure. It is the responsibility of individuals, community groups, health professionals, institutions and governments to work together to achieve good health. In relation to the National Tobacco campaign it involves the sha red role of all health services to lead a change to prevent smoking and support wellbeing. Strategies include working with various campaign partners and a letter to GPs written by the chief medical officer. The campaigns website offers links to both Australian and International organizations who care for health with a goal of tackling smoking. Examples include the National Asthma council, World Health Organization and the Australian Cancer Society. Some of these health services have drop-in-centers or stores/clinics but they all offer information and resources on smoking or lung cancer. Some organizations are preventative while others are curative services. This is effective as through this extra support individuals can expand their knowledge and find a network that works best with their needs. The Australian government’s chief medical officer, Jim Bishop wrote a letter directed at GPs asking for their support on the National Tobacco Campaign. It mentions that smoking is the largest preventable causing disease. He later went on to ask local doctors to conduct brief interventions with their smoking patients, encouraging them to quit. Through this incentive the action of the local GP will maximize society’s members to quit. The smokers will receive professional help from their trusted GP to aid their own individual responsibility. Once both teams work together, this is when good health can be achieved. Through the help of extra health professionals individual can see the overall effects of smoking and with this extra support confidence will be achieved to fight the risk of developing lung cancer by stopping smoking habits Building Healthy Public Policy relates to policies and legislations made by the government to create health improvements. It goes beyond health care as it designs rules also generating consequences for those who disobey. In relation to the National Tobacco campaign it involves rules on where smoking is prohibited and where cigarettes can be sold as well as punishments for those who neglect these rules. The following law states that from March 2006, all cigarette packets require pictorial health warnings and the quitline number. These images are a form of scare tactics that shoot out health warnings in the bid that smokers will become turned off by imagers of cancerous body parts. The quitline on the box encourages individuals to quit and almost plays as a guilty trip, that each cigarette they inhale is causing them damage.

Hand-grip :: essays research papers

Hand- Grip Dynamometer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hand-Grip dynamometer are used to measure the strength and endurance of the muscles in your forearm, and to a lesser extent your hand. Using a handgrip dynamometer will increase your performance at work, improve posture, decrease chances for injury, and prevent low back pain. Endurance is the ability of a muscle to work for long periods of time without extreme fatigue. It prevents unwanted fatigue from daily activities, sport and recreation. For the elderly person, good hand grip strength may prevent a fall down stairs or in bathtubs and may help people from dropping jars. It could help the elderly with opening jars as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three area’s of rationale are used to measure strength-anatomical, physiological, and biochemical. These are all interrelated. The first area Anatomical Rationale-Hand grip strength is mainly a function of the muscles in the forearm, and hand. Eight muscles serve as the prime movers and stabilizers in hand grip strength. Eleven other muscles assist in contraction of the hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second is physiological Rationale which has six categories. Six of the most common measurement terms in physiology are mass, force, work, velocity, power and energy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third area is biochemical rationale exercise may be divided into three categories based upon the predominant metabolic pathway. The primary biochemical reaction for strength, or any muscle contraction is ATP ( Adenosine Triphosophate).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The muscular strength is highly affected by the nervous system. Emotional and mental factors play important part in strength testing. If a subject is consistent with motivation strength variability should be minimized. In women a daily variation in strength range is between 2 and 12% and 5 to 9% in men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Instruments used to measure muscle strength are cable tensiometer, dymameter, free weights, barbells, isokinetics devices and load cells or elechromechanical devices. Strength is usually measured in units of force or torque. Kilogram (kg), and pounds (lb), is the force unit. The torque unit may be expressed as a foot-pounds (fl-lb) or Newton meters (nm).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The procedures for handgrip strength testing are: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject should be in the standing position. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s head should be in the midposition (facing straight ahead). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The grip size should be adjusted so that the middle finger’s midportion is approximatrely at a right angle. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s forearm may be placed at any angle between 90 degrees and 180 degrees of the upper arm; the upper arm is in a vertical position. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The subject’s wrist and forearm should be at the midprone position.

Spatial Filtering Fundamentals

4/28/2008 Spatial filtering fundamentals by  Gleb  V. Tcheslavski:  [email  protected] lamar. edu http://ee. lamar. edu/gleb/dip/index. htm Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 1 Mechanics of spatial filtering Considering frequency domain filtering, the effect of LPF applied to an image is to blur (smooth) it. Similar smoothing effect can be achieved by using spatial filters (spatial masks, kernels, templates, or windows). We discussed that a spatial filter consists of a neighborhood and a pre-defined operation performed on the image pixels defining the neighborhood.The result of filtering – a new pixel with coordinated of the neighborhood’s center and the value defined by the operation. g y p If the operation is linear, the filter is said to be a linear spatial filter. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 2 1 4/28/2008 Mechanics of spatial filtering Assuming a 3 x 3 neighborhood, at any point (x,y) in the image, the response of the spatial filter is g ( x, y ) = w(? 1, ? 1 ) f ( x ? 1, y ? 1) + w(? 1, 0) f ( x ? 1, y ) + †¦ + w(0, 0) f ( x, y ) + †¦ + w(1,1) f ( x + 1, y + 1) Filter coefficient Pixel intensity In general: g ( x, y ) = s =? a t =? b ? ? w(s, t ) f ( x + s, y + t ) a bSpring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 3 Mechanics of spatial filtering Here a mask size is m x n. m = 2a + 1 n = 2b + 1 Where a and b are some integers. For a 3 x 3 mask Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 4 2 4/28/2008 Spatial correlation and convolution Correlation is a process of moving the filter mask over the image and computing the sum of products at each location as previously described. Convolution is the same except that the filter is first rotated by 1800. For a 1D case, we first zeropad f by m-1 zeros on each size. We compute a sum of products in both cases†¦ Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 5 Spatial correlation and convolutionCorrelation is a function of displacement of the filter. A function containing a single 1 with the rest being zeros is g g g called a d iscrete unit impulse. Correlation of a function with a discrete unit impulse yields a rotated version of a function at the location of the impulse. To perform a convolution, we need to pre-rotate the filter by 1800 and perform the same operation as in correlation. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 6 3 4/28/2008 Spatial correlation and convolution In a 2D case, for a filter of size m x n, we pad the image with m-1 rows of zeros at the top and bottom and n-1 columns of zeros on the left and right.For convolution, we pre-rotate the mask and perform the sliding sum of products. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 7 Spatial correlation and convolution Correlation of a filter w(x,y) of size m x n with an image f(x,y) is w( x, y ) f ( x, y ) = s =? a t =? b ? ? w(s, t ) f ( x + s, y + t ) ? ? w(s, t ) f ( x ? s, y ? t ) a b a b Convolution of a filter w(x,y) of size m x n with an image f(x,y) is w( x, y ) ? f ( x, y) = s =? a t =? b Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 8 4 4/28/2008 Vector representatio n of linear filtering It is convenient sometimes to represent a sum of products asR = ? wk zk = w T z k =1 Filter coeffs Image intensities mn For example, for a 3 x 3 filter: p , R = ? wk zk = w T z k =1 Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 9 9 Generating spatial filter masks Generating an m x n linear spatial filter requires specification of mn mask coefficients. These coefficients are selected based on what the filter is supposed to do keeping in mind that all we can do with linear filtering is to implement a sum of products. Assuming that we need to replace the pixels in an image with the average pixel intensities of a 3Ãâ€"3 neighborhood centered on those pixels.If zi are the intensities, the average is R= 9 1 9 ? zi 9 i =1 Which is: R = ? wi zi = w T z; i =1 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP wi = 1 9 10 Spring 2008 5 4/28/2008 Smoothing spatial filters Smoothing filters are used for blurring and noise reduction. Blurring may be implemented in preprocessing tasks to remove small details from an ima ge prior to large object extraction. The output of a smoothing (averaging or lowpass) linear spatial filter is the average of the pixels contained in the neighborhood of the filter mask.By replacing the value of every pixel in an image by the average of the intensity levels in the neighborhood defined by a filter mask, the resulting image will have reduced â€Å"sharp† transitions in intensities. Since random noise typically corresponds to such transitions, we can achieve denoising. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 11 Smoothing spatial filters However, edges (characterized by sharp intensity transitions) will be blurred. Examples of such masks: 1) A box filter – spatial averaging filter 3Ãâ€"3; 2) Weighted average filter – attempt to reduce blurring: g a g ( x, y ) = s =? a t =? b ? ? (s, t ) f ( x + s, y + t ) s =? a t =? b b ? ? w(s, t ) 12 a b Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 6 4/28/2008 Smoothing spatial filters The effect of filter size. The original 500Ãâ€"5 00 image And the results of smoothing with a square averaging filter of sizes m = 3, 5, 9, 15, 25, and 35 pixels. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 13 Smoothing spatial filters Frequently, blurring is desired for ease of object detection: an original Hubble image, the result of applying a 15Ãâ€"15 averaging mask to it and the result of thresholding with a threshold of 25% of the highest intensity. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 14 7 4/28/2008Order-statistic (nonlinear) filters Order-statistic filter are nonlinear spatial filters whose response is based on ordering (Ranking) the pixels in the neighborhood and then replacing the value of the center pixel by the value determined by the ranking result. The median filters are quite effective against the impulse noise (salt-and-pepper noise). The median of a set of values is such that half the values in the set are greater than the median and half is lesser than it: Ex: the 3Ãâ€"3 neighborhood has values (10, 20, 20, 20,15, 20, 100, 25, 20 ). These values are ranked as (10, 15, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 25, 100).The median will be 20. There are also max and min filters. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 15 Order-statistic (nonlinear) filters Original image with salt-andpepper noise Spring 2008 Noise reduction with a 3Ãâ€"3 averaging mask ELEN 4304/5365 DIP Noise reduction with a 3Ãâ€"3 median mask 16 8 4/28/2008 Sharpening spatial filters: foundations The main objective of sharpening is to highlight transitions in intensity. Since averaging is analogous to spatial integration, we y g g g p g can assume that sharpening is analogous to differentiation in space. The derivatives of a digital function are defined in differences.The first derivative must be: 1) Zero in areas of constant intensity; 2) Non-zero at the onset and end of an intensity step or ramp; 3) Non-zero along ramps of constant slope. The second derivative must be: 1) Zero in areas of constant intensity; 2) Non-zero at the onset and end of an intensity step or ram p; 3) Zero along ramps of constant slope. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 17 Sharpening spatial filters: foundations The first-order derivative: ?f = f ( x + 1) ? f ( x) ? x The second-order derivative: ?2 f = f ( x + 1) + f ( x ? 1) ? 2 f ( x) ? x 2 It can be verified that these definitions satisfy the conditions for derivatives.Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 18 9 4/28/2008 Sharpening spatial filters: foundations The circles indicate the onset or end of intensity transitions. The sign of the second derivative changes at the onset and end of a step of ramp. The second derivative enhances fine details much better than the first derivative. This is suitable for sharpening. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 19 Using the second derivative for image sharpening – the Laplacian We consider isotropic filters – the response is independent of the direction of the discontinuity in the image Such filters are image. rotation invariant.The simplest isotropic derivative operator is the L aplacian: ?2 f ? 2 f ? f = 2 + 2 ? x ? y 2 Therefore: ? 2 f = f ( x + 1, y ) + f ( x ? 1, y ) + f ( x, y + 1) + f ( x, y ? 1) ? 4 f ( x, y ) The Laplacian is a linear operator since derivatives are linear operators. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 20 10 4/28/2008 Using the second derivative for image sharpening – the Laplacian The Laplacian can be implemented by these filter masks Since the Laplacian is a derivative operator, its use highlights intensity discontinuities in the image and deemphasize regions with slow varying intensity levels levels.It tends to produce images having grayish edge lines and other discontinuities, and a dark, feature-less background. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 21 Using the second derivative for image sharpening – the Laplacian Background features can be preserved together with the sharpening effect of the Laplacian by adding the Laplacian image to the original. If the definition of the Laplacian has a negative central coefficient, the La placian image must be subtracted rather than added to obtain a sharpening result. In general: g ( x, y ) = f ( x, y ) + c 2 f ( x, y ) ? ? ?Output intensity Input intensity -1 – if the center is negative; +1 otherwise Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 22 11 4/28/2008 Using the second derivative for image sharpening – the Laplacian The Laplacian Laplacian with scaling The original (blurred) image The image sharpened with mask 2 The image sharpened with mask 1 Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 23 Unsharp masking and highboost filtering An approach used for many years to sharpen images is: 1. Blur the original image; 2. Subtract the blurred image from the original (the result is called the mask): g mask ( x, y ) = f ( x, y ) ? f ( x, y ) Original Blurred image 3.Add the mask to the original: g ( x, y ) = f ( x, y ) + k ? g mask ( x, y ) Here k is a weight. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 24 12 4/28/2008 Unsharp masking and highboost filtering When k = 1 – unsharp masking ; k > 1 – highboost filtering; k < 1 – de-emphasize the contribution of a mask. The shown intensity profile can be viewed as a horizontal scan through a vertical edge transition from a dark to li ht t a light region. i This approach is similar to Laplacian method. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 25 Unsharp masking and highboost filtering Original ( slightly blurred) image Smoothed with a Gaussian smoothing filter 5Ãâ€"5 Unsharp maskResult of using unshapr mask (k = 1) Result of using highboost filtering with k = 4. 5 Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 26 13 4/28/2008 Gradient method First derivatives can be implemented for nonlinear image sharpening using the magnitude of the gradient: ? ? f ? g x ? ? ? x ? ? ? f ? grad ( f ) ? ? ? = ? ? ? g y ? ? ? f ? ? ? y ? ? ? The gradient vector points in the direction of the greatest rate of g (x,y). g (length) gradient change of f at location ( y) The magnitude ( g ) of g 2 2 M ( x, y ) = ? f = g x + g y Is the value of rate of cha nge at (x,y) in the direction of gradient. Spring 2008ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 27 Gradient method M(x,y) is an image of the same size as the original and is called the gradient image. Magnitude makes M(x,y) non-linear. It is more s itable in some applications to use: suitable se M ( x, y ) ? g x + g y For an image where z5 represent the pixel f(x,y) and z1 represent the pixel f(x-1,y-1), the simplest (Roberts) definitions for gradients are: M ( x, y ) = ( z9 ? z5 ) + ( z8 ? z6 ) 2 2 M ( x, y ) ? z9 ? z5 + z8 ? z6 However, Roberts cross-gradient operators lead to masks of even sizes, which is inconvenient. ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 28 Spring 2008 14 4/28/2008 Gradient methodThe smallest masks with central symmetry (ones we are interested in) are 3Ãâ€"3. The gradient can be approximated for such masks as following: ?f = ( z7 + 2 z8 + z9 ) ? ( z1 + 2 z2 + z3 ) ? x ? f gy = = ( z3 + 2 z6 + z9 ) ? ( z1 + 2 z4 + z7 ) ? y Therefore, the mask could be: gx = M ( x, y ) ? ( z7 + 2 z8 + z9 ) ? ( z1 + 2 z2 + z3 ) + ( z3 + 2 z6 + z9 ) ? ( z1 + 2 z4 + z7 ) Roberts operators They are Sobel operators. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 29 Gradient method The coefficients in all masks shown sum to zero. This indicates that mask will give a zero response in an area of constant intensity as expected of a derivative operator operator.Original image of contact lens Sobel gradient Defect Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 30 15 4/28/2008 Combining spatial enhancement techniques Frequently, Frequently a combination of several methods is used to enhance an image†¦ 1) Original image – 2) Laplacian – 3) image sharpened by Laplacian – 4) Sobel gradient of the original image – 5) Sobel image smoothed with a 5Ãâ€"5 averaging filter – 6) product of Sobel image with its smoothed version – 7) sharpened image (a sum of the original and 6) – 8) power-law transformation. Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 31 Spring 2008 ELEN 4304/5365 DIP 32 16

A Critique of 205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth

A Critique of â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth† by Thomas Friedman Foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, is a man who wants to try to change the world by trying to convince people to go green. But, he is convinced that going green is not as easy as everyone makes it sound. His article â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth,† first published in 2007, presents several arguments attempting to convince people that while going green is difficult, it is possible.The author first discusses how we, as Americans, are not as green as we seem to be at first glance. He notes that we seem to only follow the â€Å"easy way to go green† and do not do nearly as much as we could for our planet. Furthermore he states that there are no â€Å"easy† ways to go green and that this word should never even be associated with the topic. Friedman points out that executives of large fuel companies are the only people who talk truthfully about the situ ation and that they take a guilty pleasure in knowing there is nothing we can really do about it.From what the CEO of electric company Chevron, David O’Reilly says, it could take decades for any change to occur, and at that time there will be even more people than what we are trying to meet the energy demands for now. Robert Socolow and Stephen Pacala, two professors at Princeton, are attempting to design scalable solutions to fix these problems. These two developed a pie chart, in which if eight of fifteen parts were completed, we would be on the right track for reducing our carbon emissions.Unfortunately, completing just one piece of the pie may be impossible with the way things seem to be going. Another individual, Nate Lewis a chemist at California Institute of Technology, claims that if we started trying to fix this problem right now, we would have to make as much clean energy as the energy we are currently consuming. With all of this being said even taking the first ste p towards a green revolution seems nearly impossible. Friedman starts his argument on this subject in a rather sarcastic way.He states â€Å"Who knew saving the Earth could be so easy–and in just under a minute† (290). While this does convey his opinion well, there are better ways of getting your point across. Overall though, the effectiveness of his entire argument is pretty well put together. He uses the phrase â€Å"green revolution† to describe this situation, and in using this term, he raises a good point. He goes on to say â€Å"A green revolution? Have you ever seen a revolution where no one got hurt? † (291). This is a very good way to put what he is trying to get across and what he is saying here is very true.To put it in simpler terms, he is saying that sacrifices will have to be made in order for any changes to take effect. Friedman also does a great job of laying out and breaking down what a systemic green strategy would look like into three e asy parts that make things seem so simple. The author gets this information not from what the books he read say but rather what he says is â€Å"left unsaid by these books† (293) Friedman then starts citing other author’s works to help his own ideas seem more plausible and convincing; beginning with Maniates.Freidman uses this author’s work to help support his own by showing that he agrees with Freidman’s idea that there are no easy was to go green and as soon as we realize this, the better (293). Freidman then goes on to compare how he explained the scale of the problem, in terms of weighing yourself (293), to Socolow and Pacala’s scale. The way that those two illustrate the scale of the problem definitely helps Friedman get his point across. He finishes by comparing his options to hard facts, Lewis’ calculations.Freidman says â€Å"his approach is useful in conveying the challenge† (297). It is indeed helpful, but it can at some poi nts be confusing when he goes deep into the calculations and statistics. Friedman has a natural writing style and he conveys what he is trying to say to the reader in a great way. His ideas about going green are inventive and, for the most part, are easy to comprehend. He is correct in what he says and his opinions are very agreeable. Going green is not easy and Friedman makes this very clear.Even though he does come straight out and say this, he backs himself up by providing multiple solutions to the situation. After considering what the author has to say, and looking at all the input that he provides on the situation, we can definitely agree with Thomas Friedman that going green is difficult but possible. Works Cited Friedman, Thomas L. â€Å"205 Easy Ways to Save the Earth. † Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 289-99. Print.

The Complete Guide toSAT Math Word Problems

The Complete Guide toSAT Math Word Problems SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips About 25% of your total SAT Math section will be word problems, meaning you will have to create your own visuals and equations to solve for your answers. Though the actual math topics can vary, SAT word problems share a few commonalities, and we’re here to walk you through how to best solve them. This post will be your complete guide to SAT Math word problems. We'll coverhow to translate word problems into equations and diagrams, the different types of math word problems you’ll see on the test, and how to go about solving your word problems on test day. Feature Image: Antonio Litterio/Wikimedia What Are SAT Math Word Problems? A word problem is any math problem based mostly or entirely on a written description. You will not be provided with an equation, diagram, or graph on a word problem and must instead use your reading skills to translate the words of the question into a workable math problem. Once you do this, you can then solve it. You will be given word problems on the SAT Math section for a variety of reasons. For one, word problems test your reading comprehension and your ability to visualize information. Secondly, these types of questionsallow test makers to ask questions that'd be impossible to ask with just a diagram or an equation. For instance, if a math question asks you to fit as many small objects into a larger one as is possible, it'd be difficult to demonstrate and ask this with only a diagram. Translating Math Word Problems Into Equations or Drawings In order to translate your SAT word problems into actionable math equations you can solve, you’ll need to understand and know how to utilize some key math terms. Whenever you see these words, you can translate them into the proper mathematical action. For instance, the word "sum" means the value when two or more items are added together. So if you need to find the sum of a and b, you’ll need to set up your equation like this: a+b. Also, note that many mathematical actions have more than one term attached, whichcan be used interchangeably. Here is a chart with all the key terms and symbols you should know for SAT Math word problems: Key Terms Mathematical Action Sum, increased by, added to, more than, total of + Difference, decreased by, less than, subtracted from − Product, times, __ times as much, __ times as many (a number, e.g., â€Å"three times as many†) * or x Divided by, per, __ as many, __ as much (a fraction, e.g., â€Å"one-third as much†) / or à · Equals, is, are, equivalent = Is less than Is greater than Is less than or equal to ≠¤ Is greater than or equal to ≠¥ Now, let's look at these math terms in action using a few official examples: We can solve this problem by translating the information we're given into algebra. We know the individual price of each salad and drink, and the total revenue made from selling 209 salads and drinks combined. So let's write this out in algebraic form. We'll say that the number of salads sold = S, and the number of drinks sold = D. The problem tells us that 209 salads and drinks have been sold, which we can think of as this: S+D= 209 Finally, we've been told that a certain number of S and Dhave been sold and have brought in a total revenue of 836 dollars and 50 cents. We don't know the exact numbers of S and D, but we do know how much each unit costs. Therefore, we can write this equation: 6.50S + 2D = 836.5 We now have two equations with the same variables (S and D). Since we want to know how many salads were sold, we'll need to solve forD so that we can use this information to solve for S. The first equation tells us what S and D equal when added together, but we can rearrange this to tell us what justD equals in terms of S: S+D= 209 Now, just subtractS from both sides to get what Dequals: D = 209−S Finally, plug this expression in for D into our other equation, and then solve for S: 6.50S+ 2(209 −S)= 836.5 6.50S+ 418− 2S= 836.5 6.50S− 2S = 418.5 4.5S = 418.5 S = 93 The correct answer choice is (B) 93. This word problem asks us to solve for one possible solution (it asks for "a possible amount"), so we know right away that there will be multiple correct answers. Wyatt can husk at least 12 dozen ears of corn and at most 18 dozen ears of corn per hour. If he husks 72 dozen at a rate of 12 dozen an hour, this is equal to 72 / 12 = 6 hours. You could therefore write 6 as your final answer. If Wyatt husks 72 dozen at a rate of 18 dozen an hour (the highest rate possible he can do), this comes out to 72 / 18 = 4 hours. You could write 4 as your final answer. Since the minimum time it takes Wyatt is 4 hours and the maximum time is 6 hours, any number from 4 to 6 would be correct. Though the hardest SAT word problems might look like Latin to you right now, practice and study will soon have you translating them into workable questions. Typical SAT Word Problems Word problems on the SAT can be grouped into three major categories: Word problems for which you must simply set up an equation Word problems for which you must solve for a specific value Word problems for which you must define the meaning of a value or variable Below, we look at each world problem type and give you examples. Word Problem Type 1: Setting Up an Equation This is a fairly uncommon type of SAT word problem, but you’ll generally see it at least once on the Math section. You'll also most likely see it first on the section. For these problems, you must use the information you’re given and then set up the equation. No need to solve for the missing variable- this is as far as you need to go. Almost always, you’ll see this type of question in the first four questions on the SAT Math section, meaning that the College Board consider these questions easy. This is due to the fact that you only have to provide the setup and not the execution. To solve this problem, we'll need to know both Armand's and Tyrone's situations, so let's look at them separately: Armand:Armand sent m text messages each hour for 5 hours, so we can write this as 5m- the number of texts he sent per hour multiplied by the total number of hours he texted. Tyrone:Tyrone sent p text messages each hour for 4 hours, so we can write this as 4p- the number of texts he sent per hour multiplied by the total number of hours he texted. We now know that Armand's situation can be written algebraically as5m,and Tyrone's can be written as4p. Since we're being asked for the expression that represents the total number of texts sent by Armand and Tyrone, we must add together the two expressions: 5m +4p The correct answer is choice (C) 5m +4p Word Problem Type 2: Solving for a Missing Value The vast majority of SAT Math word problem questions will fall into this category. For these questions, you must both set up your equationandsolve for a specific piece of information. Most (though not all) word problem questions of this type will be scenarios or stories covering all sorts of SAT Math topics,such asaverages, single-variable equations, and ratios. You almost always must have a solid understanding of the math topic in question in order to solve the word problem on the topic. Let's try to think about this problem in terms of x. If Type A trees produced 20% more pears than Type B did, we can write this as an expression: x + 0.2x = 1.2x = # of pears produced by Type A In this equation, x is the number of pears produced by Type B trees. If we add 20% of x (0.2x) to x, we get the number of pears produced by Type A trees. The problem tells us that Type A trees produced a total of 144 pears. Since we know that 1.2x is equal to the number of pears produced by Type A, we can write the following equation: 1.2x= 144 Now, all we have to do is divide both sides by 1.2 to find the number of pears produced by Type B trees: x = 144 / 1.2 x = 120 The correct answer choice is (B) 120. You might also get a geometry problem as a word problem, which might or might not be set up with a scenario, too. Geometry questions will be presented as word problems typically because the test makers felt the problem would be too easy to solve had you been given a diagram, or because the problem would be impossible to show with a diagram. (Note that geometry makes up a very small percentage of SAT Math.) This is a case of a problem that is difficult to show visually, since x is not a set degree value but rather a value greater than 55; thus, it must be presented as a word problem. Since we know that x must be an integerdegree value greater than 55, let us assign it a value. In this case, let us call x 56 °. (Why 56? There are other values x could be, but 56 is guaranteed to work since it's the smallest integer larger than 55. Basically, it's a safe bet!) Now, because x= 56, the next angle in the triangle- 2x- must measure the following: 56*2 =112 Let's make a rough (not to scale) sketch of what we know so far: Now, we know that there are 180 ° in a triangle, so we can find the value of y by saying this: y = 180 − 112 − 56 y = 12 One possible value for y is 12.(Other possible values are3, 6, and 9.) Word Problem Type 3: Explaining the Meaning of a Variable or Value This type of problem willshow up at least once.It asks you to define part of an equation provided by the word problem- generally the meaning of a specific variable or number. This question might sound tricky at first, but it's actually quite simple. We know that P is the number of phones Kathy has left to fix, and d is the number of days she has worked in a week. If she's worked 0 days (i.e., if we plug 0 into the equation), here's what we get: P = 108− 23(0) P = 108 This means that, without working any days of the week, Kathy has 108 phones to repair.The correct answer choice, therefore, is (B) Kathy starts each week with 108 phones to fix. To help juggle all the various SAT word problems, let's look at the math strategies and tips at our disposal. Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! SAT Math Strategies for Word Problems Though you’ll see word problems on the SAT Math section on a variety of math topics, there are still a few techniques you can apply to solve word problems as a whole. #1: Draw It Out Whether your problem is a geometry problem or an algebra problem, sometimes making a quick sketch of the scene can help you understand what exactly you're working with.For instance, let's look at how a picture can help you solve a word problem about a circle (specifically, a pizza): If you often have trouble visualizing problems such as these, draw it out. We know that we're dealing with a circle since our focus is a pizza. We also know that the pizza weighs 3 pounds. Because we'll need to solve the weight of each slice in ounces, let's first convert the total weight of our pizza from pounds into ounces. We're given the conversion (1 pound = 16 ounces), so all we have to do is multiply our 3-pound pizza by 16 to get our answer: 3 * 16 = 48 ounces (for whole pizza) Now, let's draw a picture. First, the pizza is divided in half (not drawn to scale): We now have two equal-sized pieces. Let's continue drawing. The problem then says that we divide each half into three equal pieces (again, not drawn to scale): This gives us a total of six equal-sized pieces. Since we know the total weight of the pizza is 48 ounces, all we have to do is divide by 6 (the number of pieces) to get the weight (in ounces) per piece of pizza: 48 / 6 = 8 ounces per piece The correct answer choice is (C) 8. As for geometry problems, remember that you might get a geometry word problem writtenas a word problem. In this case, make your own drawing of the scene. Even a rough sketch can help you visualize the math problem and keep all your information in order. #2: Memorize Key Terms If you’re not used to translating English words and descriptions into mathematical equations, then SAT word problems might be difficult to wrap your head around at first. Look at the chart we gave you above so you canlearn how to translate keywords into their math equivalents. This way, you can understand exactly what a problem is asking you to find and how you’re supposed to find it. There are free SAT Math questions available online, so memorize your terms and then practice on realistic SAT word problems to make sure you’ve got your definitions down and can apply them to the actual test. #3: Underline and/or Write Out ImportantInformation The key to solving a word problem is to bring together all thekey pieces of given information and put them in the right places. Make sure you write out all these givens on the diagram you’ve drawn (if the problem calls for a diagram) so that all your moving pieces are in order. One of the best ways to keep all your pieces straight is to underline your key information in the problem, and then write them out yourself before you set up your equation. So take a moment to perform this step before you zero in on solving the question. #4: Pay Close Attention to What's Being Asked It can be infuriating to find yourself solving for the wrong variable or writing in your given values in the wrong places. And yet this is entirely too easy to do when working with math word problems. Make sure you pay strict attention to exactly what you’re meant to be solving for and exactly what pieces of information go where.Are you looking for the area or the perimeter? The value of x, 2x, or y? It’s always better to double-check what you’re supposed to find before you start than to realize two minutes down the line that you have to begin solving the problem all over again. #5: Brush Up on Any Specific Math Topic You Feel Weak In You're likely to see both a diagram/equation problem anda word problem for almost every SAT Math topicon the test. This is why there are so many different types of word problems and why you’ll need to know the ins and outs of every SAT Math topic in order to be able to solve a word problem about it. For example, if you don’t know how to find an averagegiven a set of numbers, you certainly won’t know how to solve a word problem that deals with averages! Understand that solving an SAT Math word problem is a two-step process:it requires you to both understand how word problems work and to understand the math topic in question. If you have any areas of mathematical weakness, now's a good time to brush up on them- or else SAT word problems might be trickier than you were expecting! All set? Let's go! Test Your SAT Math Word Problem Knowledge Finally, it's time to test your word problem know-how against real SAT Mathproblems: Word Problems 1. No Calculator 2. Calculator OK 3. Calculator OK 4. Calculator OK Answers:C, B, A, 1160 Answer Explanations 1. For this problem, we have to use the information we're given to set up an equation. We know that Ken spent x dollars, and Paul spent 1 dollar more than Ken did. Therefore, we can write the following equation for Paul: x + 1 Ken and Paul split the bill evenly. This means that we'll have to solve for the total amount of both their sandwiches and then divide it by 2. Since Ken's sandwich cost x dollars and Paul's cost x + 1, here's what our equation looks like when we combine the two expressions: x + x + 1 2x + 1 Now, we can divide this expression by 2 to get the price each person paid: (2x+ 1) / 2 x + 0.5 But we're not finished yet. We know that both Ken and Paul also paid a 20% tip on their bills. As a result,we have to multiply the total cost of one bill by 0.2, and then add this tip to the bill. Algebraically, this looks like this: (x + 0.5) + 0.2(x + 0.5) x+ 0.5 + 0.2x + 0.1 1.2x + 0.6 The correct answer choice is (C) 1.2x + 0.6 2. You'll have to be familiar with statistics in order to understand what this question is asking. Since Nick surveyed a random sample of his freshman class, we can say that this sample will accurately reflect the opinion (and thus the same percentages) as the entire freshman class. Of the 90 freshmen sampled, 25.6% said that they wanted the Fall Festival held in October. All we have to do now is find this percentage of the entire freshmen class (which consists of 225 students) to determine how many total freshmen would prefer an October festival: 225 * 0.256 = 57.6 Since the question is asking "about how many students"- and since we obviously can't have a fraction of a person!- we'll have to round this number to the nearest answer choice available, which is60, or answer choice (B). 3. This is one of those problems that is asking you to define a value in the equation given. It might look confusing, but don't be scared- it's actually not as difficult as it appears! First off, we know that t represents the number of seconds passed after an object is launched upward. But what if no time has passed yet? This would mean that t = 0. Here's what happens to the equation when we plug in 0 for t: h(0) = -16(0)2 + 110(0) + 72 h(0) = 0 + 0 + 72 h(0) = 72 As we can see, before the object is even launched, it has a height of 72 feet. This means that 72 must represent the initial height, in feet, of the object, or answer choice (A). 4. You might be tempted to draw a diagram for this problem since it's talking about a pool (rectangle), but it's actually quicker to just look at the numbers given and work from there. We know that the pool currently holds 600 gallons of water and that water has been hosed into it at a rate of 8 gallons a minute for a total of 70 minutes. To find the amount of water in the pool now, we'll have to first solve for the amount of water added to the pool by hose. We know that 8 gallons were added each minute for 70 minutes, so all we have to do is multiply 8 by 70: 8 * 70 = 560 gallons This tells us that 560 gallons of water were added to our already-filled, 600-gallon pool. To find the total amount of water, then, we simply add these two numbers together: 560 + 600 = 1160 The correct answer is 1160. Aaaaaaaaaaand time for a nap. Key Takeaways: Making Sense of SAT Math Word Problems Word problems make up a significant portion of the SAT Math section, so it’s a good idea to understand how they work and how to translate the words on the page into a proper expression or equation.But this is still only half the battle. Though you won’t know how to solve a word problem if you don’t know what a product is or how to draw a right triangle, you also won’t know how to solve a word problem aboutratios if you don’t know how ratios work. Therefore, be sure to learn not only how to approach math word problems as a whole, but also how to narrow your focus on any SAT Math topics you need help with. You can find links to all of our SAT Math topic guideshereto help you in your studies. What’s Next? Want to brush up on SAT Math topics? Check out our individual math guides to get an overview of each and every topic on SAT Math. From polygonsandslopestoprobabilitiesandsequences, we've got you covered! Running out of time on the SAT Math section? We have the know-how to help you beat the clock and maximize your score. Been procrastinating on your SAT studying? Learn how you can overcome your desire to procrastinate and make a well-balanced prep plan. Trying to get a perfect SAT score? Take a look at our guide to getting a perfect 800 on SAT Math, written by a perfect scorer. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math strategy guide, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. 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The Names of Colors in Italian

The Names of Colors in Italian You want to tell your friend the color of the Vespa you want to buy, the type of wine you were drinking, or the hue of the sky while you were on a hilltop in Florence, but how do you say the colors in Italian? To start, here are the most common thirteen along with a list of subtle and unique  blends. Basic Colors Red – Rosso Lei porta sempre un rossetto rosso. - She always wears red lipstick. Pink – Rosa Ho comprato un vestito rosa per la festa. - I bought a pink dress for the party. Purple – Viola Ho dipinto le unghie di viola. - I painted my nails purple. TIP: Unlike other colors, you don’t have to change the ending of â€Å"rosa† or â€Å"viola† to match the object it’s describing. Orange – Arancione La sua macchina nuova à ¨ arancione ed à ¨ troppo sgargiante per i miei gusti. - Her new car is orange, and it’s too bright for my tastes. Yellow – Giallo Stava leggendo un giallo con una copertina gialla. - He was reading a mystery novel with a yellow cover. TIP: â€Å"Un giallo† is also a mystery novel or thriller. Green – Verde Mi piace vivere in Toscana, in mezzo al verde. - I like living in Tuscany, in the middle of the green. Blue – Azzurro Ho gli occhi azzurri. - I have blue eyes. Silver – Argento Gli ho regalato un cucchiaio d’argento per la loro collezione. - I gifted them a tiny, silver spoon for their collection. Gold – Oro Cerco una collana d’oro. - I’m looking for a gold necklace. Gray – Grigio Il cielo à ¨ cosà ¬ grigio oggi. - The sky is so gray today. White – Bianco Non voglio indossare un vestito da sposa bianco, ne preferisco uno rosso! - I don’t want to wear a white wedding dress, I prefer a red one! Black – Nero Calimero à ¨ un pulcino tutto nero con un cappellino bianco in testa. - Calimero is a black chick with a white little cap on his head. Brown – Marrone Mamma mia, lei à ¨ bellissima, ha gli occhi marroni e lunghi capelli castani. - Oh my goodness, she’s beautiful, she has brown eyes and long, brown hair. TIP: You would use â€Å"marrone† to describe the color of someone’s eyes, like â€Å"gli occhi marroni†, and you would use â€Å"castano† to describe the color of someone’s hair â€Å"i capelli castani†. Dark Colors If you want to talk about dark shades, you can just add the word scuro at the end of each color. Dark red – Rosso scuroDark green – Verde scuroDark blue - Blu TIP: â€Å"Blu† is understood all its own to be a darker shade. Light Colors Here are some lighter shades: Baby blue – CelesteBaby pink – Rosa confettoLight green - Verde chiaroLight blue - Azzurro TIP: Like â€Å"blu†, â€Å"azzurro† on its own is usually understood as light blue. Unique Colors Shiny/glossy red – Rosso lucido Stavo pensando di comprare una Vespa di color rosso lucido, che ne pensi? - I was thinking about buying a shiny red Vespa, what do you think? Vermilion red - Rosso vermiglione Rimango sempre affascinata dalla tonalit di rosso vermiglione dei dipinti di Caravaggio. - I’m always attracted by the red vermilion shade used by Caravaggio in his paintings. Hot pink – Rosa shocking Non mi piacciono per niente i vestiti di colore rosa shocking, non sono eleganti. - I don’t like hot pink clothes at all, they’re not elegant. Blue green – Verde acqua Mi sono innamorato dei suoi occhi verde acqua. - I fell in love with her blue green eyes. Lilac – Lilla Il lilla à ¨ un colore davvero rilassante. - The color lilac is really relaxing. Maroon – Bordeaux Il mio colore preferito à ¨ bordeaux. - My favorite color is maroon. Hazel brown – Nocciola Ho comprato le lenti a contatto affinchà © potrei avere degli occhi color nocciola. - I bought contact lenses so that I could have hazel brown eyes. Italian Expressions with Colors Heart of gold – Cuore d’oroNot all that glitters is gold. – Non à ¨ tutto oro quel che luccica.Sweet dreams – Sogni d’oroBlack sheep (of the family) - La pecora nera

Preparing for the Revised GRE in One Month

Preparing for the Revised GRE in One Month Youre ready to go. Youve registered for the Revised GRE and now you have a month before you take the exam. What should you do first? How do you prepare for the GRE in one month when you dont want to hire a tutor or take a class? Listen. You dont have too much time, but thank goodness youre preparing for a test one month in advance and didnt wait until you only had a few weeks or even days. If youre preparing for a test of this kind of magnitude, read on for a study schedule to help you get a good GRE score! Preparing for the GRE in One Month: Week 1 Double Check: Make sure your GRE registration is 100% all set to be sure youre actually registered for the Revised GRE. Youd be amazed how many people think theyre taking the test when theyre not.Purchase A Test Prep Book: Buy a comprehensive GRE test prep book from a well-known test prep company like The Princeton Review, Kaplan, PowerScore, etc. GRE apps are great and all (here are some fabulous GRE apps!), but typically, they are not as comprehensive as a book. Heres a list of some of the best.Jump Into the Basics: Read the Revised GRE test basics like the length of time youll test, the GRE scores you can expect, and the test sections.Get a Baseline Score:Â  Take one of the full-length practice tests inside the book (or for free online through ETSs PowerPrep II Software) to see what score youd get if you took the test today. After testing, determine the weakest, middle, and strongest of the three sections (Verbal, Quantitative or Analytical Writing) according to your baseline tes t. Set Your Schedule: Map out your time with a time management chart to see where GRE test prep can fit in. Rearrange your schedule if necessary to accommodate test prep, because you must aim to study every day – you only have one month to prepare! Preparing for the GRE in One Month: Week 2 Start Where Youre Weak: Begin coursework with your weakest subject (#1) as demonstrated by the baseline score.Nab The Basics: Learn the basics of this section fully as you read, and take notes about the types of questions asked, the amount of time needed per question, skills required, and content knowledge tested.Dive In: Answer #1 practice questions, reviewing answers after each one. Determine where youre making mistakes. Highlight those areas to return to.Test Yourself: Take a practice test on #1 to determine your level of improvement from the baseline score.Tweak #1: Fine tune #1 by reviewing the areas you highlighted and questions missed on the practice test. Practice this section until you have the strategies cold. Preparing for the GRE in One Month: Week 3 Head to Middle Ground: Move on to your middle subject (#2) as demonstrated by the baseline score.Nab The Basics: Learn the basics of this section fully as you read, and take notes about the types of questions asked, the amount of time needed per question, skills required, and content knowledge tested.Dive In: Answer #2 practice questions, reviewing answers after each one. Determine where youre making mistakes. Highlight those areas to return to.Test Yourself: Take a practice test on #2 to determine your level of improvement from the baseline score.Tweak #2: Fine tune #2 by reviewing the areas you highlighted and questions missed on the practice test. Return to the areas in the text youre still struggling with.Strength Training: Move on to the strongest subject (#3). Learn the basics of this section fully as you read, and take notes about the types of questions asked, the amount of time needed per question, skills required, and content knowledge tested.Dive In: Answer practice questio ns on #3. Test Yourself: Take a practice test on #3 to determine the level of improvement from baseline.Tweak #3: Fine tune #3 if necessary. Preparing for the GRE in One Month: Week 4 Simulate The GRE: Take a full-length practice GRE test, simulating the testing environment as much as possible with time constraints, desk, limited breaks, etc.Score and Review: Grade your practice test and cross-check every wrong answer with the explanation for your wrong answer. Determine the types of questions youre missing and head back to the book to see what you need to do to improve.Test Again: Take one more full-length practice test and rescore. Review incorrect answers.Fuel Your Body: Eat some brain food – studies prove that if you take care of your body, you’ll test smarter!Rest: Get plenty of sleep this week.Relax: Plan a fun evening the night before the exam to reduce your testing anxiety.Prep Prior: Pack your testing supplies the night before: sharpened #2 pencils with a soft eraser, registration ticket, photo ID, watch, snacks or drinks for breaks.Breathe: You did it! You studied successfully for the Revised GRE exam, and youre as ready as youre going to b e!

UDP protocol issues Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

UDP protocol issues - Research Paper Example Reliable and unreliable do not denote whether certain IT tools will perform properly or not, rather it denotes whether the IT tools can deliver guaranteed services. A reliable IT system usually sets up connections and accordingly confirms the accurateness of data transmission and integrity of data. Reliable protocols perform effectively in such a medium which has high tendency to errors. In contrast, an unreliable IT system makes no attempt to develop a connection and do not verify the data. It also does not make any endowment for data recovery or loss of data. Unreliable protocols perform effectively on such kind of medium which has low possibility of data loss and low tendency of error rates. In this context, it can be stated that Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is considered as a usual reliable protocol and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is an example of unreliable protocol (Zandy & Miller, 2002). Unreliable Communication and Its Impact on Application Complexity Communication ch annels usually use one of the two types of protocols namely TCP or UDP. In case of TCP i.e. reliable communication, there exists the acknowledgement of received data, while in UDP, no response exists on communication. Thus, in UDP applications, there can be no guarantee for delivery of information or duplication of information. Unreliable communication of UDP minimizes the complexity of applications which help to reduce overhead. UDP applications are usually simpler than TCP applications, as the key objective is to develop a boundary between networking application procedures, operating in higher layers. UDP takes the data, packages it in simplified format, and sends it to the IP address for transmission. This low level of complexity helps to ascertain rapid transmission of information without any delay. Thus, in short, it can be stated that unreliable communication can reduce complexity and increase rapidity of applications (Sinopoli et al., 2004). Issues Related To the Reliability of an Application That Uses UDP There are several applications where UDP is used and one of the most popular applications is Voice over IP (VoIP). Detailed Analysis of the Application VoIP has become one of the newest applications in the internet. Traditionally, voice and signaling data was directed only through dedicated circuit by using standard TCP protocol on physical links such as telephony channel. This exchange of information occurs from both directions at the similar time. In telephony channel, the voice is perceived through microphone and transmitted to the communication channel. However, in VoIP, the voice is electronically encoded through Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and then directed through internet channel by data packets. Whereas in typical telephony system, voice data are transmitted at a continuous rate, in VoIP, comparatively small data packets are transmitted at a continuous rate. However, the advantage of VoIP over telephony system is that a high-speed network can transport the data packets for different voice channels and also possibly share with other types of data simultaneously (Bu et al., 2006). UDP protocol is used for transmitting voice data on VoIP network. UDP is considered as ‘send and forget’ protocol with no prerequisite for transmitter to recall sent data packets, because it can lead to reaction error (Bu et al., 2006).

Tangible Property of Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tangible Property of Wal-Mart - Essay Example Similarly, the enactment of state and federal legislations that protected workers from workers exploitation led to a stronger employee’s awareness of their rights and duties. In the contemporary world, various governments have put in place adequate measures to ensure that employees are not under any form of discrimination. In cases of discrimination against color, region, nationality among others, strict measures should be taken on employers. Based on the emerging technology, it is significant for managers of small and large organisations to improve their security systems as a major way of protecting their tangible properties. This paper seeks to identify major employment relationships and their legal considerations, discrimination issues and their legal consideration as well as measures that a Wal-Mart manager should take to identify and protect the tangible property rights of his organisation. Employment relationships and associated the legal considerations One form of emplo yment relationship is permanent employment relationship. This refers to the arrangement whereby workers are compensated by their employers. In addition to the basic salaries, the employees are eligible to receive health care benefits, sick off and contribution to retirement plans among others. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the legal consideration that established minimum wages and salaries for permanent employees (Burkhauser et al, 1989). In addition, the occupational Safety and Health Act is focused at promoting security within the work place. Private employment entails working arrangement whereby the employment relationship is between private employers and the workers. According to 1985 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), voluntary or involuntary termination of the employee’s duties should not deter him or her from continuing with his or her health insurance. Employees Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is an additional regulation that se ek to prevent frauds within private pension funds. ERISA stipulates that the sponsoring employer cannot invest more than 10% of the pension’s funds in his or her securities. Discriminatory issues and the associated legal considerations One of the major types of employment discrimination is disparate-treatment. This is a situation whereby an employer discriminates a particular employee on the bases of his race, sex, religion or nationality. The second type of discrimination is the disparate-impact discrimination. This occurs when an employer discriminates against an entire protected class within the organization. For example, if a rule is set that all the sales executives should be 5.8 feet tall regardless of their gender, there is a possibility that more males will be hired as compared to females. This amounts to disparate-impact discrimination. Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating their employees on the basis of education, color and housing. Other aspects prohibited by the act include discrimination in hiring, promotion, payment of fringe benefits and job training Methods for managing legal risk arising from regulatory compliance issues

Link between ADHD and Criminal Behavior Research Paper

Link between ADHD and Criminal Behavior - Research Paper Example Many researchers have indicated that there have been continued link between psychiatric disorders and antisocial disorders in children. Since ADHD starts early in children, there is the possibility of this condition extending into adult-hood and breed criminal behavior. Research has also termed this disorder as the developmental forerunner of later disruptive behavior and criminality. In addition, there is a connection between ADHD and conduct or personality disorders. It is evident that ADHD causes this personality and conduct disorders which later leads to criminality. For instance, recent studies performed on prisoners in western nations have indicated that approximately half of the inmates tested positive for the diagnoses of serious antisocial personality disorder or conduct disorder when imprisoned. In addition, enduring evaluation researches have established that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) merged with conduct disorder is a forerunner of later criminal beha vior (Mordre et al., 2011). Ghanizadeh et al. (2011) portray three major areas, which describe the clear connection of ADHD with criminal behavior. In the first premise, they claim that ADHD might lead to delinquent activities consequently attracting imprisonment. The second premise entails the relationship between ADHD and conduct disorder. In this regard, they note that there is a strong connection between the high rate of conduct behavior and the prevalence of ADHD. This means that most patients with ADHD show symptoms of conduct disorder, which primarily indicates the onset of criminal behavior. The third premise is that imprisonment and offender behavior may lead to ADHD and conduct disorder.

Effective Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Effective Communications - Essay Example All supplies of Tylenol were pulled directly off the shelves of every store in the United States. The cost to the company to accomplish this act was over $50 million dollars, yet Johnson and Johnson accomplished this with grace and humility and gained the respect of Americans in the process. After a period of time, Tylenol was replaced on store shelves complete with new, tamper-resistant packaging, telling the public loudly and clearly that the first priority of Johnson and Johnson is the safety of the public who purchased their products, thus keeping them in business. As the text states, because of the response to the incident and their overwhelming regard for human lives, Tylenol recovered an even larger share of the market and "gained credibility, public trust, and esteem." (Federal Register). Once Johnson and Johnson issued "Our Credo," they had public opinion firmly and positively on their side. Johnson and Johnson stated to consumers that their goal was to meet the needs of those who use their product, but to do so in a responsible way. They acknowledge that they have the right to make a fair profit, which, again, puts public opinion firmly in their corner. ... Another public might be considered the people such as doctors, nurses and the institutions of hospitals that regularly dispense Tylenol to their patients. This sector of the public had a grave responsibility in the face of the Tylenol tragedy, in that they had to make absolutely sure that none of the product that could possibly have been contaminated remained in their hospitals. A possible third public could be the press, who, in many cases become the most direct line to the general public. What the press is told and what they release to the general public is extremely important and akin to walking a tightrope. The internal public would be the employees and stockholders of Johnson and Johnson. The employees were put into a difficult situation in that if public opinion, fickle as it is, had gone the "other" direction; the employees of Johnson and Johnson could well have borne the brunt of public righteous indignation. It would have become rather non-politic to answer the question "Where do you work," because the employees would have been guilty by association. The stockholders, another faction of the internal public would have been seen as equally "guilty," and it is likely that rumors would have abounded concerning the culpability of the stockholders in the aftermath of tragedy. The external public, on the other hand, I would see as the consumer of Johnson and Johnson products. I'm sure every mother and father in America experienced a sense of panic and horror when they learned of the cyanide laced Tylenol capsules, thinking it could have been their child or another parents' child that fell victim to the capsules. It was

Realism and Constructivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Realism and Constructivism - Essay Example The main signpost that helps political realism to find its way through the landscape of international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power. This concept provides the link between reason trying to understand international politics and the facts to be understood. It sets politics as an autonomous sphere of action and understanding apart from other spheres, such as economics (understood in terms of interest defined as wealth), ethics, aesthetics, or religion. Without such a concept a theory of politics, international or domestic, would be altogether impossible, for without it we could not distinguish between political and nonpolitical facts, nor could we bring at least a measure of systematic order to the political sphere. Realism assumes that its key concept of interest defined as power is an objective category which is universally valid, but it does not endow that concept with a meaning that is fixed once and for all. The idea of interest is indeed of the esse nce of politics and is unaffected by the circumstances of time and place. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe. As it distinguishes between truth and opinion, so it distinguishes between truth and idolatry. All nations are tempted-and few have been able to resist the temptation for long-to clothe their own particular aspirations and actions in the moral purposes of the universe. The difference between political realism and other schools is real.... 4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political action. 5. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe. As it distinguishes between truth and opinion, so it distinguishes between truth and idolatry. All nations are tempted-and few have been able to resist the temptation for long-to clothe their own particular aspirations and actions in the moral purposes of the universe. 6. The difference, then, between political realism and other schools of thought is real, and it is profound. However much the theory of political realism may have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, there is no gainsaying its distinctive intellectual and moral attitude to matters political. Source: (Morgenthau, 1978) Realism then is the more practical approach in understanding society. It takes into account the inherent nature of man in the understanding of their decisions and actions. What governs man is their interest more than their ideologies and ethics. This is the underlying belief behind realism. Therefore the term realism needs no further definition or explanation, everything it encapsulated in the word. Of the threads that make up the Realist school, the most important ideas include: International relations are amenable of objective study. Events can be described in terms of laws, in much the way that a theory in the sciences might be described. These laws remain true at all places and times. The state is the most important actor. At times the state may be represented by the city-state, empire, kingdom or tribe. Implicit in this is that supra-national structures, sub-national ones and individuals are of lesser importance. Thus the

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all spring for the same part of the Essay

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all spring for the same part of the world and share many of the same symbols, concepts, and prac - Essay Example Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism all originated from India though at different times in history. Buddhism is a form of religion that is based on virtues such as wisdom, freedom from greed, compassion, and love. The term Buddha was the name of an individual who is believed by the Buddhists to have attained the listed virtues. It is believed that Buddhism is 2500 years old. Buddhists view life as a process of change, where an individual develops systematically towards attaining the good personality. Buddhists believe that the mind is the channel through which an individual can change for the better and therefore meditation is an important practice among the Buddhists. Buddhists believe that meditation is the cure to problems of the mind such as lack of sleep, confusion, anxiety, and hatred among others. Festivals are considered important in Buddhism religion as it brings the followers together. The Buddha has various festivities around the year. For instance, the Buddha day marks the ce lebration of the full moon when the followers celebrate enlightenment by reviewing their lives and works. Dharma day is another festivity in Buddhism that marks the full moon and followers commemorate how Buddha shared his experience with the first disciple. Other celebrations include, Sangha day which the community celebrate spiritual community and the Parinirvana which symbolized the death of Buddha. Hinduism is a religion characterized by religious traditions and philosophy. The Hindu religion is also believed to have originated in India. The noble people who lived in India and recorded their ideas, beliefs, and practices on books founded it. The key teaching in Hindu religion is that human nature is not confined in the mind or the body. The Hindus believe that there exist spirits in the human souls all other things that are visible. Hinduism believe on wisdom, joy and peace among the things that make be considered good. Hindus believe in the existence of god in all creation and that god can incarnate is something. Hinduism also believes that god is infinite and manifests in different ways by which he can be contacted or prayed to. The behavior of Hindus is determined by the position an individual hold in life and the responsibilities attached to it. The religion also believes that human beings undergo development stages in life. Hinduism have many festivities around the year. These festivals are marked with prayers, worships, magic, and processions among others. The rituals are meant to cleanse the society, expel bad omen, and revive the power of nature. Some of the Hindu festivities include, celebrations of birthday for the gods, bonding festivals, celebration of victories among others. Sikhism is a form of religion that was founded by a man called Guru Nanak in India approximately five hundred years ago. The Sikhs believe that there is only one god and that all people are equal before god. The Sikhs also believe that before the soul becomes human form, i t undergoes a cycle of development. Another aspect of Sikhism is the practice of leading a virtuous life while balancing between temporal and spiritual obligations. Sikhism religion does not believe in some rituals such as fasting, superstitions, and idol worshiping. In the ritual dimension on religion, it is evident that all these three religions perform certain rituals to

Realism and Constructivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Realism and Constructivism - Essay Example The main signpost that helps political realism to find its way through the landscape of international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power. This concept provides the link between reason trying to understand international politics and the facts to be understood. It sets politics as an autonomous sphere of action and understanding apart from other spheres, such as economics (understood in terms of interest defined as wealth), ethics, aesthetics, or religion. Without such a concept a theory of politics, international or domestic, would be altogether impossible, for without it we could not distinguish between political and nonpolitical facts, nor could we bring at least a measure of systematic order to the political sphere. Realism assumes that its key concept of interest defined as power is an objective category which is universally valid, but it does not endow that concept with a meaning that is fixed once and for all. The idea of interest is indeed of the esse nce of politics and is unaffected by the circumstances of time and place. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe. As it distinguishes between truth and opinion, so it distinguishes between truth and idolatry. All nations are tempted-and few have been able to resist the temptation for long-to clothe their own particular aspirations and actions in the moral purposes of the universe. The difference between political realism and other schools is real.... 4. Political realism is aware of the moral significance of political action. 5. Political realism refuses to identify the moral aspirations of a particular nation with the moral laws that govern the universe. As it distinguishes between truth and opinion, so it distinguishes between truth and idolatry. All nations are tempted-and few have been able to resist the temptation for long-to clothe their own particular aspirations and actions in the moral purposes of the universe. 6. The difference, then, between political realism and other schools of thought is real, and it is profound. However much the theory of political realism may have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, there is no gainsaying its distinctive intellectual and moral attitude to matters political. Source: (Morgenthau, 1978) Realism then is the more practical approach in understanding society. It takes into account the inherent nature of man in the understanding of their decisions and actions. What governs man is their interest more than their ideologies and ethics. This is the underlying belief behind realism. Therefore the term realism needs no further definition or explanation, everything it encapsulated in the word. Of the threads that make up the Realist school, the most important ideas include: International relations are amenable of objective study. Events can be described in terms of laws, in much the way that a theory in the sciences might be described. These laws remain true at all places and times. The state is the most important actor. At times the state may be represented by the city-state, empire, kingdom or tribe. Implicit in this is that supra-national structures, sub-national ones and individuals are of lesser importance. Thus the

Leadership and management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and management - Assignment Example ......................... 6 3.0 Application of Theory and Analysis ................................................................ 7 4.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 8 5.0 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 8 References ................................................................................................................ 10 Abstract There is no denying the fact that conflicts tend to be the integral aspects of organizations that are given to performing in team scenarios (Pammer & Killian 2009). People do enter into conflicts with each other over a range of issues and differences. However, it is possible to manage conflicts in a way that does not lead to jeopardizing of the personal and organizational relationships and that optimizes the organizational performance (Pammer & Killian 2009). Yet, it is also a fa ct that organizational conflicts if mishandled could lead to the vitiation of the organizational environment and could seriously harm the organizational productivity and efficiency. The given report tends to analyze a conflict scenario at the Reindeer Solutions. The particular conflict situation pertains to the issue being faced by the management, HR and the senior accountant Julia in an organization named Reindeer Solutions. ... The particular situation is associated with a senior accountant, Julia, who has been working at the Reindeer Solutions since the past five years. Of late the senior manager Anthony has noticed many mistakes and flaws in the work submitted by Julia. Anthony tried to discuss things with Julia, but the situation still remained the same. On deeper enquiry, Anthony learnt that Julia is right now facing some domestic issues that demand her time and attention and thereby she is not able to focus on her work. Anthony does not want to lose Julia as she is an immensely experienced and skilled employee, yet he also wants to improve the things at the office. Anthony discussed the issue with HR Administrator Victoria. They agreed that the situation was serious as any serious flaws on the part of Julia could harm the business. So they decided to bring the HR Assistant Murphy and HR Officer Noel on board. These four administrators discussed the issue and came to the conclusion that losing Julia wou ld be a serious mistake. Hence, they decided to offer Julia a junior post on a temporary basis, so as to allow her to focus more on the home front. The whole objective of this step was to place Julia in a relatively soft position till she tides over the rough patch on the domestic front, and then restore her to her original position. These four administrators organized a meeting with Julia and offered to her the contrived plan. However, Julia got extremely disturbed and annoyed at this proposal. She got really angry and said that this solution practically amounts to be a demotion and that her pride forbade her from agreeing to a junior post. This gave way to a conflict scenario between the management, HR and Julia. The manager and the HR personnel tried to

Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Management Essay You are required to answer Section A Question 1 and 3 Question selected form part B Section A: 1. Pucik (2007) identified three strategic approaches to International HRM, Identify and critique each of these approaches in relation to the India Calling case study discussed in class. Bring in examples from other organisation. Section B: 2. The models associated with best practice school of HRM assume a universalist approach which suggests a specific set of practices will lead to superior organisational performance. Critically evaluate the relevance of this approach in modern organisations with reference to relevant theory. 3. Line managers play a critical role in implementing HRM policies and procedures, Critically evaluate the challenges faced by the HR team in communicating policies and policies and practices to front line managers use the example to consider how front line managers can engage their direct reports in the HRM policies and procedures of their organization. 4. With reference to three different approaches to performance management evaluate how a Strategic HR strategy can effectively influence performance in teams and individuals. 5. Given the recent decline in trade union membership are they still as important in the workplace and society today? 6. Modern organization face huge challenges to retain knowledge given the increase in labour flow. Critically evaluate how (1) technology and (2) social capital can assist an organisation to retain knowledge. 7. As the world changes around us companies are placing increased emphasis on  corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using examples form business. Critically evaluate how a CSR strategy can attract and retain people in an organization. Many firms competing globally are being pointed in contradictory strategic directions, in order to survive and prosper in the new global competition,companies must embrace closer regional and global integration to cut cost and improve efficiency, while at the same time, meet demands for local responsiveness to increase local acceptance, flexibility and speed,’ on the basis of his research ,Pucik(2007) identified three strategic approaches to this issue. 1. A mega-national strategy, which means that the whole company operates in a centralized fashion. Worldwide facilities are centralized in the parent company, products are standardized, and overseas operations are used as delivery pipelines to serve international markets. There is tight central control of strategic decisions, resources and information. As a result, the competitive strength of the mega-national firm is its global integration resulting in cost efficiencies. However, the firm’s ability to respond to variations in local conditions is limited and the international operation can become bureaucratic and inflexible. 2. A multi-domestic strategy, which emphasizes local differences by decentralizing operations to their subsidiaries and local business units in order to the close to customers, to create a heightened sense of local accountability and to encounrage more local innovation and entrepreneurship. But this can lead to an inability to compete on global term with fully integrated competitors, slowness in responding to change and failure to benefit from pooled resources, including knowledge and management expertise. Decentralized companies meeting these problems tend to veer towards centralization until bureaucracy, lack of responsiveness and the inability to retain good people locally leads the pendulum to swing again towards centralization. 3. Dual centralized /decentralized strategy, which aims to benefit from both approaches, firms adopting a dual strategy recognize that decentralization (local autonomy) and centralization (global integration) are not contradictory, but from a duality.. They attempt to maximize the benefits from both approaches in order to achieve high integration while remaining locally responsive. This can mean following the  old adage of â€Å"think globally and act locally’ and can get the best out of both words. But it is a hard strategy to implement. It requires managers with what Pucik calls a â€Å"global mindset†, who can behave and act in a way that recognizes the global nature of the firm and who can focus both on worldwide strategies and the need to encourage the development of local initiatives and allow a reasonable degree of local autonomy within a global frame work.

Strategic analysis of global operations of supply chains

Strategic analysis of global operations of supply chains The main objective of this study is to do a strategic analysis of the global operations of supply chain within Mattel Toys Inc. Here its supply chain will be evaluated along with the risks/ security threats it faced and a framework will be presented to manage these risks. With growing product/service complexity, supply networks are also becoming increasingly complex in the wake of outsourcing and globalization. This has affected risk, changing it continuously. Risk can generally be termed as a probability of injury, hazard, damage or any other unwanted outcomes. The Royal Society (1992) defined a more systematic explanation of risk: the probability that a particular adverse event occurs during a stated period of time, or results from a particular challenge. In this study, we will suggest a framework for future supply chain risk management in the view of Mattels recall in 2007. This recall left a trail of media reports, public critique, investigations and huge lessons learnt. Mattel Toys Inc. is a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. It comprises of top-selling brands such as Barbie, Fisher-Price brands etc. Mattel is recognized as the 100 Most Trustworthy U.S. Companies by Forbes Magazine. (Source: Wikipedia) In 2007, it experienced a sequence of continuous alarming product recalls in which around twenty one million toys were pulled out from sale. Whether the toys were defective in design to lose small magnets, which if consumed could harm kids, or they were toys contaminated with lead paint coming from unethical Chinese vendors was irrelevant as the case was subjected to high media critique and got highlighted for quality mismanagement and varied logistic practices in outsourced vendors. (Biggemann 2008) The table (figure 1) below shows the toys recalled from Mattels respective vendors and their sub-vendors: Industry experts suggest that Mattel is locked in a relationship with China having five factories and manufacturing there for nearly 25 years. It outsources its production up to 50 percent to third-party manufacturers and almost 65 percent of its toys are produced in China. In spite of quality control efforts, Mattel has had 36 recalls since 1998 and two formal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) admonishments. Its most controversial recall, up until 2007, involved 10 million Power Wheels toy vehicles. (Biggemann 2008) Below is a timeline depicting the key events that took place during the course of this recall, Figure 2: Mattels product recall timeline The result of this recall was catastrophic for Mattel and it lost more than 45% of shares in market value. Although sales at international markets helped it gain some profit for that interval (Casey, 2008), yet these had very little impact on their annual figures as compared to its loss. The question now raised was How did Mattel end up in such a tricky situation? Is it a case of heavy neglect or something worse? It is argued that this was the result of Mattels flawed sourcing strategy. Literature Review Toy industry is one of the oldest industries for creativity and extremely volatile in nature. In the United States alone there are approximately 3 billion toys sold per year (Elsasser 2007). Toy sales estimate are nearly 22 billion USD (Strickler 2007). Figure 3 estimates the annual toy sales from July 06 June 07 which marked a rise up to 22.5 billion USD. Figure 3: State of Toy Industry Erratic and changing demands in this industry create a layer of volatility due to undersized and customized selling-openings and rapid product lifecycles. Toy demand and toy retailers needs are very volatile and expect toy manufactures to be very market responsive; but most toy manufacturers respond with conventional mass-production strategy which is very minimal in response and very mismatched to their strategy. Supply networks of such industries are growing into complex and dynamic mesh of varying relationships (Harland et al., 1999). Risk is escalating and its focal point is ever changing within the dynamism of supply networks all due to outsourcing of supply operations overseas and also due to growing complexity of product/service life-cycle. Of late research has explored strategies to minimize risk in toy supply chains and networks. One of the main assets of toy manufacturers is their network position and the relationships and policies that come with these (Turnbull et al., 1996). To asses and manage risks, network positioning plays an important role especially in resource sharing, reputation management and terms of contract (Henders, 1992). To begin the research, a literature search was undertaken with the intention of locating articles related to supply chain security and risk. The search included all journals known to publish articles related to security, risk, and/or supply chain management. Examination of the literature reveals four core premises that are consistently mentioned as vital for firms seeking to maintain effective levels of security and in minimizing and/or managing supply chain risk. (1) Preparation and planning initiatives. A central focus of the supply chain security/risk literature is business and supply chain continuity planning. Zsidisin et al. (2005a) offer a four-step business continuity plan, including awareness creation, prevention, remediation, and knowledge management, thought to be salient for firms needing to protect themselves and their supply chains from external risks. The business continuity planning concept is conceptually aligned with the supply chain risk paradigm, i.e. supply continuity planning by Zsidisin et al. (2005b), who suggest that controlling risks at the supplier level is critical for firms wishing to avoid disruptions in supply lines. (2) Security-related partnerships. Another theme found in the security literature addresses the formation and maintenance of security-related supply chain partnerships. Sheffi (2001) posits that leveraging relationships with suppliers and governmental agencies is necessary to ensure against asset and product damage and thereby facilitate supply chain continuity. He proposes that supplier relationships should be built both locally and globally, with higher tolerance for cost and lead-time requirements, in order to diversify supply risk. (3) Organizational adaptation. An additional emergent research focus deals with organizational adaptability as a coping response to potential or realized supply chain risks and crises. The literature broadly suggests that supply chain security-oriented firms take adaptive steps toward both securing supply chain assets and minimizing risk exposure. (4) Security-dedicated communications and technology. A final characteristic at the firm level is the implementation and usage of security/ risk-dedicated communications channels and/or security-facilitating or risk minimizing technology. Zsidisin et al. (2005a, b) state that the ability of the firm to manage information and knowledge, and to build continuously on the knowledge base, are imperative conditions for mitigating supply chain risk. In case of Mattel Toys Inc, risk came from the fact that about half of its toys are made in Mattel plants and about half are outsourced to vendor plants. Some of the problems came in when these vendor plants also outsourced to other vendor plants and again these other vendor plants outsourced, thus, making the supply chain very long or deep. The longer the supply chain, the harder it is for the foreign firms to keep track of who did what, when and the final quality of the parts or product (Lyles, 2008). The next section provides a security framework to deal with the past and unforeseen future risks in the complex supply network of Mattel Toys. They are suggested guidelines for identifying, assessing and managing risk. Theoretical Framework This section of the essay contains the overarching methodology for dealing with Mattels situation. For this purpose, the Supply Network Risk Tool put forward by Harland et al., 2002 has been used. A diagram illustrating the entire methodology has been given below. This is followed by a justification for selection, and identification of shortcomings. (Fig4. Supply Network Risk Tool, Source: Harland et al., 2002) Justification of the Theoretical Framework The framework is built on earlier research and consists of individual frameworks for each section, thus evaluating the problem in detail. It provides a holistic view to assess the situation/incident and follows a definite sequence for mapping and implementing risk strategy. For disruption like that of Mattels recall in 2007 it provides a resilient approach for managing the risks involved in an efficient manner. Testing/ Expansion of the theoretical Framework The Supply network risk framework consists of six sections which evaluate the overall situation of the organization in a comprehensive manner, and suggests solution accordingly. During the course of this expansion, Mattels situation is analyzed and simultaneously the framework is examined and later critiqued. Part 1- Map Supply Network: The diagram provided below is a snapshot of Mattels supply chain from beginning to end that existed before the recall in 2007. (Fig5. Mattels Global Supply Chain, Source: Barad, 2002) Identifying Risks Risks (table 1) within Mattels complex supply network have been identified. Strategic risk (Simons 1999) Definition: Affects business strategy implementation For Mattel: New technologies can render their products obsolete Sudden shifts in customer tastes kids are getting older younger (KGOY) toy retailers are consolidating retail price is falling Supply risk (Meulbrook 2000) Definition: Adversely affects inward flow of any type of resource to enable operations to take place; also termed input risk For Mattel: increasing customization outsourcing of operations disruption to the supplier quality problems, materials and parts shortages etc bankruptcy of supplier Customer risk (Meulbrook 2000) Definition: Affects likelihood of customers placing orders; grouped with factors such as product obsolescence in product/market risk For Mattel: Shift in customer buying pattern Shift in customer preferences More competitive products during demand Operations risk (Meulbrook 2000) Definition: Affects a firms internal ability to produce and supply goods/services For Mattel: Failed/ out-dated technology Labour strike Disasters and Natural Calamities Reputation risk (Schwartz and Gibb 1999) Definition: Erodes value of whole business due to loss of confidence. For Mattel: Recall history Financial risk (Meulbrook 2000) Definition: Exposes a firm to potential loss through changes in financial markets; can also occur when specific debtors default For Mattel: Drop in market share Devaluation of company share price Fall in credit rating Legal Regulatory risk (Meulbrook 2000) Regulatory definition: Exposes the firm with changes in regulations affecting the firms business Legal definition: Exposes the firm to litigation with action arising from customers, suppliers, shareholders or employees For Mattel: Changes in regulation and government policies Lawsuits Supplier country legalities Then these have been categorized into various types which have been used as a guideline to examine the risk (table 2) and consequences faced during their great product recall in 2007. Type of Risk Identified Risks Consequences Causes Supply Risk Quality related: Lead Paint Contamination Loosely fitted components Supplier related: Fraud Contract Default Recall of products and associated costs Lawsuits Re-evaluation of suppliers Suppliers pulled out of market Increased retailer control Defective raw materials moving downstream Trust deterioration Deviation from quality standards Outsourcing of quality control Low transparency in Contract Terms Poor tractability of source of supplier Falsification of documents by suppliers Use of uncertified led paint Deviation from quality standards Improper sub-vendor tracking Falsification of documents by suppliers Improper regulation Operations Risk Design related: Unfeasible magnet design Recall of products and associated costs Costs of redesign and RD Failed testing both in design and production stage Flawed RD Customer Reputation Risk Market related: Brand Image Loss in sales Loss in customer loyalty Uncertainty Bad consumer experience and accidents Health hazards Falling consumer confidence Decreased Brand Loyalty Adverse impact on other products Loss in revenue Increased uncertainty in buyers Harmful products Betrayal of customer trust Delicate target market Legal Regulatory Risk Policy lawsuit related: Legislative Regulatory Lawsuits Fine by CPSC Led to new and tighter regulations Did not track their own standards Political influence by stakeholders Financial Risk Economic related: Drop in share price Drop in sales Drop in sales and revenue Implementation of 3-fold plan by Mattel Retail pullout Recall of products Media critique and bad publicity Customer fallout Strategy Risk Outsourcing related: Vendor subcontracting Sub-vendor quality control Drop in product standard Harmed consumer base Affected brand name Dropped market share Vendor subcontracting and then sub-vendor again subcontracting Flawed track of sub-vendor and sub-sub-vendor activities Assessing Risk In this section a probability-impact matrix has been created to assess the impact of risk (mentioned in figure 3) on the supply network of Mattel Toys based on its probability of occurrence. High 2,3,5,6,7,8,11,12, 13, 18-23* Impact *Refer Appendix ab for description of number 1,4,10,14,15* Probability Low High The matrix clearly shows that most of the major risks associated with its supply network lies in High Impact Low Probability and High Impact High Probability region. This matrix has been used as a reference to create another matrix (below) for a specific risk that Mattel suffered i.e., the great recall of 2007. High Fraud, Contract Default, Quality- Lead contamination, Design- Magnet component, Impact *Refer Appendix ab for description of number Brand Image, Loss in sale, Loss in customer loyalty, Legal Regulatory, Drop in share price Low Probability High During this period, all risks had very high impact on Mattels supply network and caused setbacks and disruption which were hard to recover from. Managing Risk There are a few ways in which Mattel can increase their capabilities of supply chain risk management; Visibility   In order to properly assess supply chain risk and respond to events, visibility across the supply chain is required. This means that the supply chain risk management tool must be capable of integrating with, and modeling ERP analytics from, multiple disparate ERP systems, including systems supporting the supply and distribution nodes. Event detection and alerting   The sooner a supply chain disruption is recognized, the faster the response. An alert that shows up in e-mail or a portable e-mail device will ensure that the appropriate people are made aware of the event when it happens. Too many times, event detection is based on the event itself. To be truly valuable, alert should be triggered based on the anticipated impact of the event. For example, if a supplier goes out of business, but the loss of this supplier doesnt impact key metrics, an alert may not be necessary. Analytics   The full suite of supply chain analytics needs to be modeled in the supply chain risk management tool to ensure the impact of a potential supply chain event is understood. When an event happens, analytics are used to model the event and determine the impact. Above all, these analytics need to be performed in real time, especially when responding to an unanticipated supply chain disruption. When an event happens, every second counts and a company cant wait days or weeks to understand the impact or to determine resolution alternatives. Simulation   Simulation is critical to both sides of supply chain risk management. When assessing the risks, simulation helps to model different risk scenarios. Further, simulation is used to model alternative mitigation strategies to ensure that they are sound. When responding to an unanticipated supply chain event, simulation is used to model and compare the various response alternatives. Collaboration   The risk management team will need to evaluate several possible mitigation alternatives. Members of the team will likely not have the detailed knowledge necessary to explore all alternatives in the detail needed to develop a robust mitigation strategy. The ability to bring other people into the evaluation process is critical both to validate the proposed strategy and to propose key improvements to the strategy. Similarly when responding to an unanticipated supply chain event, collaborating with those with the detailed knowledge ensures that the response alternatives are reasonable. Scenario comparison   in the process of developing mitigation strategies or responses, the team may develop multiple approaches that potentially resolve the problem, but in differing ways. The team needs to make a decision on which resolution or mitigation alternative best meets the goals of the organization. One approach may extend lead times by 30 days, while the other may increase the cost of goods sold by 10%. The decision on which approach is best needs to be evaluated in light of corporate goals. Form collaborative supply network risk strategy To be successful in todays aggressive toy market, retailers and manufacturers should drive lean and closely controlled supply chains. As the rate of promotional marketing and innovative product launch continues to grow, companies are mostly caught between dynamic customer demands and comparatively fixed manufacturing and logistics parameters and limitations. Collaborative planning helps in dealing with supply chain issues. To improve supply chain responsiveness in Mattel, it requires shared visibility with suppliers and retailers into events happening now and in the future, while working jointly to resolve issues and problems surrounding delivery constraints. Implementation To keep up with dynamism of market demand and unseen risks, Mattel needs to implement its strategies for risk management in clear structured, and/or procedural way. According to Freedman (2003), strategy implementation should encompass order, commitment, ingenuity, management control and advanced execution skills. In Mattel, the Corporate Responsibility division should use this as a guideline for their advisory and research. Freedman (2003) also observed that moderating complexity is one of the core steps in strategy implementation. This is in regard to Mattels supply chain network which was complex and vendor mismanagement lead to one of their biggest recalls. It is recommended for Mattel, to train and educated their workforce to handle unanticipated risks in supply networks (Harland et al, 2002). Their workforce needs to be made more aware of the total inherent risks faced after the great recall and learn to identify such risks in early stages. They need to focus on current practices of risk management and evaluate if these are apt after the recall. Mattel needs to handle complexities within their supply chain network by increasing visibility in it. This can be achieved by examining risk at the level of the network rather than restricted view to just immediate vendors (Harland et al, 2002).. They need to increase access to and control of sub-vendors throughout the supply network. This in turn will help them to expose risks throughout their supply chain. Also they need to develop/upgrade their existing supply network risk strategy and bring it in-line with their organizational practices and the framework suggested here. The key to successful risk management implementation is by identifying two situations to respond to supply chain events (Source: Kinaxis); An unanticipated supply disruption1 And, an anticipated supply disruption by executing a mitigation strategy In both cases, the main task is to alert on time that an event has occurred. Its difficult to respond to an event if you lack information on it. The supply chain needs to be monitored continuously. The practice of risk management from spotting risks, through choosing suitable risk management strategies, and then altering the structure of the supply chain is an information-demanding procedure (Source: Husdal). This means it is very dependent on information sharing. The key activity then is to identify vital information signalling risk while filtering data. Critique The model is critiqued to identify the shortcoming of the framework: The model is build upon existing model and does not provide any new technique to provide a total security solution . The model is subjective in nature as the author Harland et al, 2002, themselves pointed out that on categorization and identification of risk, the view of assessors assessing may be different. It may not always be possible for organizations to continuously examine risks and have strategic frameworks in position The setting up of collaborative arrangements in supply network and identification of risks and implementation of this in existing system may prove costly As the model is subjective in nature, there might be difference in opinion of the assessors on the rating of particular risk in the organization. Conclusion In the wake of Mattels great recall in 2007, it is seen that their strategy for outsourcing brought about one of their biggest losses and led to brand tarnishing and major fall in their market value. Their response to this crisis was well-handled but this raised questions on how they foresee their risks and avert them? The suggested security framework draws a birds eye view of their supply network and asses risk at every level of their supply chain. It provides 6 key tools to asses risk and some effective steps to implement them. Later this framework is also subjected to self-critique but from a broader picture it can provide some key modification to the shortcomings in Mattels current strategy. Recommendation