Urban planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Urban planning - Essay Example There is a group that argues that transportation is to serve land uses in order to support economic activity, on the other hand there is a group claiming that whatever capacity is given to the public, is filled up soon. In the end there is no gain because the same level of congestion manifests again. This problem can be better understood by focusing on the use demand that Pacific we target it elasticity. Historically speaking demand forecasts for urban transportation planning have been largely based on exogenous variables (Federal Highway Administration A-1). These variables included population, employment, income and land use (Federal Highway Administration A-1). Once these variables are states results the case specific point estimating traffic volume in the future. In this case demand is influenced by neither the money price nor the transportation infrastructure. Exogenous variables are the sole driving force here. There is also a concept that disagrees with the notion. It claims that additional capacity stimulates the increase in demand. This notion relies on the premise that as soon as a highway is built people will come for it. This notion is based on latent demand suggesting that the willing buyers will show their demand for traveling as soon as there is an opportunity. San Francisco Bay area is prospering from economic growth and is likely to show signs of population growth (Pallagst 1). The growth in population demands growth in facilities. Growth management have attracted a lot of critique and praise since it appeared as a distinct concept of planning in 1960s (Pallagst 1). The roots of this concept can be traced back to the environmental movement. It is strange to note that many growth management plans do not align with other growth promoting planning developments in the United States (Pallagst 2). By the increase urban sprawl growth management researchers have gotten real busy (Pallagst 2). To

Developmental psychology Essay Example for Free

Developmental psychology Essay Up until a week ago I thought that the states ideas of â€Å"kindergarten readiness† were just political lip service, but last week my opinion changed. I was in the car listening to an interview on NPR (sadly I do not remember the woman’s name) about a new program called Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills, or WaKIDS. This year is the pilot season for this program. The interview was also on the up and coming mandate the child care workers, and preschool teacher have a Bachelor’s degree. This mandate will go into effect in 2013 in Washington State. The mission statement for WaKIDS is â€Å"The Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) is a kindergarten process that: * Welcomes families into the Washington K-12 system as partners in their child’s education. * Gives kindergarten teachers information about the development of children in their classroom to help them teach every child—data about social/emotional, cognitive, language/literacy and physical development. * Align practices of early learning professionals and kindergarten teachers to support smooth transitions for children. * Offers a statewide snapshot of where children in Washington are in their development at the start of kindergarten, to help inform state-level decisions about policy and investments This program is designed to provide a smooth transition from pre-school to kindergarten and maintain positive development in each child. WaKIDS focuses on four main areas in child development they are physical, social/emotional, cognitive and language. The program aims to maintain a collaberation between child care provides, preschool, early education and policy makers in an effort to provide the best arena for children to develop. These collaborations are in person meetings when a child is transitioning from one â€Å"grade† to another. For example, preschool teachers will meet with kindergarten teacher and discuss each child progress or â€Å"standing† and needs. This aids the next teacher in keeping a positive flow to a child’s education, and it allows for the child to be more personally invested in their own success if they know that they teachers is also invested on a personal level. In the NPR interview the woman who was speaking; she owns a daycare facility,  said that she only hires people who have at least a Bachelor’s degree. This is also going to be state mandated by 2013 that every kindergarten teacher have at least a BA, and that there is a 1 to 2 or 1 to 3 ratio of BA holding workers in day cares. The interviewee talked about how she would prefer to hire only those who have college degrees, because they are â€Å"professionally† trained in child development area. I think this is an admirable desire, but it does narrow the employee field because not everyone who is committed to making children’s live better can afford to go to college. This provides material for a great debate, but for me, what it really does is take away from the development of children. Children thrive because they can use their ability to assimilate their surroundings, and the experiences there in. If only people who have college degrees are working with kids imagine how that lessens a child’s experience of life’s diversity. In conclusion, I fully support the desires by the Superintendent’s office to enrich the education standards of this state and heighten the educational level of our children; I am very leery about all the politics that accompany a program such as WaKIDS. I do believe that it is a step in the right direction, and if we as people who work toward the betterment of children will take the risk; we ought to look even further toward education. For example: the Friends school, or Montessori school, or even parochial school. Look at what works. Look into why they provide better education than public schools. And with the guide and more programs like WaKIDS I believe that we will achieve the goal of educating well and enriching our children.

Online Gaming Essay -- Video Games Computer

Introduction "The video gaming industry generates revenue of between 18 and 25 billion US dollars per year (according to various estimates), with development costs, revenue and use/audience comparable (and often exceeding) that of the movie industry."--John Kirriemuir, Ceangal Why should businesses care about gaming? After all, how much are people willing to spend on entertainment? Surprisingly, quite a lot. The video gaming industry generates revenue of between 18 and 25 billion US dollars per year (according to various estimates), with development costs, revenue and use/audience comparable (and often exceeding) that of the movie industry. With the arrival of the next-generation online consoles from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsft, the industry expects to surpass $30 billion by 2009(RocSearch Ltd). Both arguments show that the video game industry as a contender in the media markets. As such, business leaders expecting to make their mark in the media industries must acquire an understanding of video games on a global level. Doing so will require a look at the three major video game markets: Asia, North America, and Europe. The purpose of this site is to ask the major global questions: Does online gaming change from region to region? Who are the online gamers in these markets? How do the different markets respond to online gaming? What are the positive and negative aspects of online gaming? And finally, what is the future of online gaming? Follow the links on the left for the answers. The Pros & Cons of Online Gaming "But as far as videogames are concerned, I think we've got very strong support in general. There are a lot of software companies and nobody's been able to get all the programmers to devote themselves... ... * Kelly, R.V.(2004). Massively multiplayer online role-playing games : the people, the addiction and the playing experience.NJ: McFarland & Co. * Drotner, Kirsten (2001). Medier for Fremtiden. Copenhagen: HÃ ¸st og SÃ ¸n. Websites Consulted: * DW Staff. . 2002. * Glenn, Elias. 2004. * ESA. 2005. * RocSearch. 2005. * Berkowitz, Ben. 2004. * Terdiman, Daniel. 2005. * Play Online. 2004. * Game Research. 2002.

The Fantasy of Womens Sports in Primetime TV Slots :: Womens Issues Essays

The Fantasy of Women's Sports in Primetime TV Slots Gail, a dark, tiny, female reporter, is given the assignment of investigating Babe, one of the most talented female athletes of the twentieth century. Suggestions have sprung up that Babe was not a woman at all. These suggestions have come from beer corporations and radical right-wing opponents of a new growing opinion that men and women's sports should equally share primetime TV slots. Gail had never heard of Babe. Gail writes movie reviews and articles in the Arts section. Gail is a chain smoker. She used to cut gym everyday to smoke under the bleachers with her friends. She hasn't owned a pair of sneakers since the third grade. In high school she used to think there were three kinds of kids: the nerds, the jocks, and the freaks. She was some combination of the first and last group. She still held that opinion and liked to sneer at joggers in the park. She was, thus, unhappy about this assignment. Gail visits her parents who live in the suburbs. They are bohemian types. They eat a lot of gorp, have matching pottery wheels in a shed in the back yard, and would have never owned a television, but Gail begged them to get one in her freshman year of high school. When she graduated, it was the first thing that was unplugged and packed into the car, ready for her dorm room. She asks them if they ever heard of Babe. They say they vaguely remember a golf player named Babe. But they sneer. Golf is for the bourgeoisie, they say. Gail goes up to her old room. When she was in elementary school all of her friends had horseback riding ribbons and trophies. She looks at her room now, imagines the walls covered in tiny ribbons, and they dissolve into a Picasso poster and the graffiti she used to write when she hadn't fallen asleep yet. She goes over to one section of the wall, runs her finger over a phrase: JOCKS ARE DUMB. Gail goes back down stairs and asks her father why she never wanted to play sports. "Well, honey," he says, "You're small. And artistic. You're not an athlete." And she thinks to herself, I didn't know what the word athletic meant until I was in the third grade. And then I threw out my tennis shoes.

Science Fiction

Introduction This is a speech about science fiction. Today I will be talking about two science fiction texts, Avatar and Transformers. I will also be talking about the science fiction genre and what it is. Science Fiction Science fiction is made up of real life science technology, mixed with the world of fiction and make believe. By doing this I feel it brings more excitement to the novel or movie, making it easier to read, or watch, and relate to.We all love the world of make believe, as this allows us to believe we can be or do anything we wish even though we know it is not physically possible in the real world, this making for a more thrilling and exciting story, as opposed to when we have a science documentary which, yes, are very factual and interesting but have no thrilling highs and lows. I believe in some cases of science fiction novels or movies the author truly feels that the technology they have written about and could really end up actually happening in the near or later future.My first example of science fiction is one of my favourites, Transformers This story starts when a young teenager named Sam purchases a car that turns out to be an Autobot called Bumblebee, which he regards as evil at first. When Bumblebee (in car mode) returns the following day, Sam flees, believing the car is stalking him. Then the war begins between the Autobots and the Decepticons, as they battle for the Universe. The movie was set in the near future. The characters weakness is that he is fighting robots.In the end the humans win as they have a good team of robots on their side (the Autobots). The Decepticons lose the fight due to a bit of luck on the Autobots side and humans’ quick reflex action to his instincts. My second science fiction favourite is Avatar This story begins where scientists use Military-human hybrid bodies called Avatars that are operated via mental link by genetically matched humans. Jake Sully, paraplegic former  Marine, replaces his twin br other, a scientist trained as an avatar operator who was murdered in a robbery. Dr.Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement and assigns him as a bodyguard. The film was set in the near future. Neytiri is the daughter of the Omaticaya leader, the Na'vi clan, who is attracted to Jake because of his bravery while being frustrated with him for what she sees as his ignorance and stupidity. The characters weaknesses are that they are fighting huge machines. The Military lost because they relied on mere brute force and advanced technology, rather than actual intelligence and planning.This helped the Na’vi clan win as they had the familiarity of their own land to their advantage and had real intelligence and organisation in order to win Conclusion I feel in my first choice of Transformers that it has a lot to do with the past technology of machinery and how far this technology has come in the present and how much it will change again in t he near future. It also gives us an insight on what may or may not happen between the robots (machinery) and the human race. I loved the excitement of this movie, it is truly action packed but I also feel it is way more fiction than reality of science.Where a young human boy could defeat such futuristic machines (I don’t think so) but very exciting stuff! My second choice I feel is more realistic to how science and technology will advance in the future. It is not unrealistic to think there are other species than humans in our universe, or other beautiful planets like earth in our solar system. To think that we could replicate these other forms of life is not so fictitious either as our scientists are already delving in cloning humans.So who knows how much more advanced that will be in the future? It is also felt already that other species in our Universe are more advanced in technology than us, so this is not so hard to believe. I truly hope there are other life forms in our universe and that in the future we do meet them and hopefully we can live together and progress together unlike some of the movie Avatar where it creates war, which is not so unfamiliar or fictional in our world today either. Thank you for your time; hope you have enjoyed my view on science fiction. Science Fiction Introduction This is a speech about science fiction. Today I will be talking about two science fiction texts, Avatar and Transformers. I will also be talking about the science fiction genre and what it is. Science Fiction Science fiction is made up of real life science technology, mixed with the world of fiction and make believe. By doing this I feel it brings more excitement to the novel or movie, making it easier to read, or watch, and relate to.We all love the world of make believe, as this allows us to believe we can be or do anything we wish even though we know it is not physically possible in the real world, this making for a more thrilling and exciting story, as opposed to when we have a science documentary which, yes, are very factual and interesting but have no thrilling highs and lows. I believe in some cases of science fiction novels or movies the author truly feels that the technology they have written about and could really end up actually happening in the near or later future.My first example of science fiction is one of my favourites, Transformers This story starts when a young teenager named Sam purchases a car that turns out to be an Autobot called Bumblebee, which he regards as evil at first. When Bumblebee (in car mode) returns the following day, Sam flees, believing the car is stalking him. Then the war begins between the Autobots and the Decepticons, as they battle for the Universe. The movie was set in the near future. The characters weakness is that he is fighting robots.In the end the humans win as they have a good team of robots on their side (the Autobots). The Decepticons lose the fight due to a bit of luck on the Autobots side and humans’ quick reflex action to his instincts. My second science fiction favourite is Avatar This story begins where scientists use Military-human hybrid bodies called Avatars that are operated via mental link by genetically matched humans. Jake Sully, paraplegic former  Marine, replaces his twin br other, a scientist trained as an avatar operator who was murdered in a robbery. Dr.Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement and assigns him as a bodyguard. The film was set in the near future. Neytiri is the daughter of the Omaticaya leader, the Na'vi clan, who is attracted to Jake because of his bravery while being frustrated with him for what she sees as his ignorance and stupidity. The characters weaknesses are that they are fighting huge machines. The Military lost because they relied on mere brute force and advanced technology, rather than actual intelligence and planning.This helped the Na’vi clan win as they had the familiarity of their own land to their advantage and had real intelligence and organisation in order to win Conclusion I feel in my first choice of Transformers that it has a lot to do with the past technology of machinery and how far this technology has come in the present and how much it will change again in t he near future. It also gives us an insight on what may or may not happen between the robots (machinery) and the human race. I loved the excitement of this movie, it is truly action packed but I also feel it is way more fiction than reality of science.Where a young human boy could defeat such futuristic machines (I don’t think so) but very exciting stuff! My second choice I feel is more realistic to how science and technology will advance in the future. It is not unrealistic to think there are other species than humans in our universe, or other beautiful planets like earth in our solar system. To think that we could replicate these other forms of life is not so fictitious either as our scientists are already delving in cloning humans.So who knows how much more advanced that will be in the future? It is also felt already that other species in our Universe are more advanced in technology than us, so this is not so hard to believe. I truly hope there are other life forms in our universe and that in the future we do meet them and hopefully we can live together and progress together unlike some of the movie Avatar where it creates war, which is not so unfamiliar or fictional in our world today either. Thank you for your time; hope you have enjoyed my view on science fiction.

Fall of teh House of Romanov essays

Fall of teh House of Romanov essays The Romanov family, a great and prestigious lineage, ruled over Russia from 1613 to 1917. Although it had, in the past, overcome all types of dilemmas, the Romanov family was to fall, at last, in 1917 with the resignation of Tsar Nicholas the Second. After the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, the Russian army was severely weakened and, as a result, the Russian government was forced to endure the restraints of a cautious foreign policy. As it was necessary for the Russian army to rebuild itself before Russia could again be considered as great a power as it had been, most of Russia's efforts had to concentrated within the country. For assistance in rebuilding its power, Russia received loans from France, which strengthened their alliance. After having been defeated in the Russo-Japanese war, Russia no longer had much influence in East Asia and therefore turned its efforts to the Balkan states where an unstable situation was developing with the weakening of the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The Russian foreign minister, Aleksandr Petrovich Izvolsky, failed to consummate a deal with Austria over the control of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This resulted in Austria taking control of those two Balkan states; this national humiliation caused Ivolsky to resign. Because Russia had, for a long time, had a policy of protecting its Slavic brothers', the Assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in June of 1914 and the ensuing demand by Austria of Serbia put Russia in a difficult situation. It could not very well back down to Austrian demands again (as it had in the Bosnia-Herzegovina affair), and yet to not give in would mean to set the two sets of alliances at odds (the Triple Entente against the Triple Alliance) and to put Europe at war. But, in accordance with the beliefs of the time, Russia decided in favour of the war in hopes that their power would be extended and solidified in the Bal ...

Soccer Day †A Personal Narrative

Soccer Day – A Personal Narrative Free Online Research Papers I was so optimistic. I thought today would be different from the other days and games of the past. I planned to have a nice relaxing day. I would savor this precious time with my sons without interruptions or intrusions into our personal lives. It often seemed that instead of watching my boys play soccer, I spent most of the game answering questions from complete strangers about how old are they, who and where is their mother, when were they born, and so on.. I honestly didn’t mind it at first, but soon the never-ending barrage of personal questions grated on my nerves, intrusive questions from people I had never met, people who never would have spoken to me otherwise. To help facilitate this particular soccer day and insure that it would go as planned, I tried to prepare for every conceivable situation that could arise to rain on our day. I made sure my sons looked totally different from one another, at least from a distance.-from their shoes up to their different haircut styles. I even asked the coach not to put them all in the game at the same time so as not to bring attention to them. Yes, I said to myself, it’s game time, and so far so good! Suddenly, the roar of soccer moms brought me to my feet. My son Deandre had possession of the ball and appeared to be on his way to score his first goal of the year. I rose to my feet, my hands clenched in anticipation of this momentous accomplishment. He swerved the ball to the right, then he swerved the ball to the left; he lined up the shot and kicked with all his five year old might. It was the greatest kick that I had ever seen, but it went wide right, and the crowd moaned. My son turned around and searched the bleachers for me. When his eyes met mine, he said with a huge smile, â€Å"Daddy, did you see that? I almost got a goal!† He ran back towards his own goal as if he’d scored the winning goal for Team USA in the World Cup. I couldn’t stop smiling at him! As I thought to myself, what a great day, gingerly a lady strolled over to me and said, â€Å"Excuse me, are those your triplets? I wouldn’t wish that kind of headache on anybody.† I never turned my attention to her, or responded to her comment, but an instant flash back into my past brought goose bumps on my arms. My mind was flooded with memories of events long gone by. I was suddenly in the operating room watching in complete amazement as my wife gave birth to three miraculous babies! Then, I flashed forward from that moment to the blur of countless sleepless nights and endless diaper changes. We had somehow survived all that. How many nights did I spend at the hospital because of fevers or ear infections? How many times did I load up the SUV and go for a drive to put the boys to sleep? I remembered it all, like it just happened yesterday. It seems like back then, the bad things stuck out more than the good, but those were the times that helped make me a better parent. Then, I pointed to my son as he giggled and waved at me as he ran by. As I smiled and waved back to my son, I said, â€Å"That’s just one point of view. I wouldn’t trade that headache for all the money in the world.† Research Papers on Soccer Day - A Personal NarrativeThe Hockey GameThe Spring and AutumnPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceQuebec and CanadaLifes What IfsAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaCapital PunishmentHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayThe Fifth Horseman

Malincho and ajay essay

Malincho and ajay essay Malincho and ajay essay Malincho and ajay essayApply the Timmons entrepreneurship framework (entrepreneur-opportunity-resources to analyze this case. Analyze and explain Kalin’s traits and how he gathered resources for his venture.Malincho case study reveals the fact that the development of the business by Kalin was the combination of the business opportunity for Kalin, the entrepreneur, who wanted to start his business being very constrained with resources. To put it more precisely, Kalin had a good business idea and he had an opportunity to start a potentially successful business. However, he relied too much on his entrepreneurial skills because he often took decisions, when he was running out of resources or when he had not enough resources to fund his project, for instance (Gwynn, 2004). In such a situation, his actions were quite daring and relied on his intuition and good luck mainly rather than on his carefully planned business project. At the same time, he gathered resources relying on his ow n income, the help from the part of friends and other available resources.What business models are open to a food-product importer? What steps should Kalin take to position his company for the next phase of early-stage-growth?In fact, Kalin had two main options to import food-product, feta cheese from Eastern Europe to the US. First, he could use cow cheese which would be costly due to the high import fiscal barriers established in the US. Second, he could choose sheep cheese that was costly in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe but could be imported without fees to the US. In this regard, Kalin has chosen the sheep cheese because it was of the higher quality, while the ultimate price of the product in the US would be quite competitive, whereas the cow cheese would be of the lower quality, while the price of the product would be too high because of the existing fiscal regulations that protect American farmers from the import of dairies from abroad (Breneman Taylor, 2006). In this regard, Kalin should also consider the possibility of the diversification of the supply of dairy products using sheep milk as the basis because such products would not be exposed to high fees as cow dairy are. In addition, Kalin should focus on the minimization of transportation costs that includes not only cheaper transpiration services but also safer and accurate ones. For instance, he received the first cargo with about 5% of cheese damaged that meant 5% loss for him. The reduction of such losses would allow Kalin to increase revenues from the trade.What would be the concerns of a potential investor?Potential investors would be concerned with a long-run plan of the business development of Kalin, who faces considerable challenges at the early stages of the development of his business. He relies too much on his entrepreneurial skills but he has a few reliable customers and his target customer group is limited to Americans of the Bulgarian origin, who are nostalgic about the food imported f rom their homeland. Therefore, potential investors would be concerned about prospects of the further business growth, if the target market is saturated. In addition, investors could be concerned with the transportation costs because they could increase, if the oil price grew. Therefore, potential investors would be concerned with the possible removal of production facilities closer to the US.Ajay Case StudyWhat traits does Ajay exhibit that have helped him to get this far? Are these the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by good entrepreneurs?Ajay has the deep understanding of the product he was offering to consumers in the market. He was also fully aware of its prospects in the market and its business opportunities. Ajay was hard working since he was able to work 18 hours per day. More important, he was success-oriented since his firm belief in his product led him to Babson College and contributed to the development of his connections and positive interpersonal relations with many people working in the same field (Breneman Taylor, 2006). Moreover, he has managed to identify key customers, such as one of the largest companies in the POS industry which was the main target customer for Vayusa. In such a way, he was bold enough to refer to key customers directly and he was apparently convinced in the overall success of his product. More important, he has managed to convince his business partner, Walter, and other people that his products could be and will be successful. When he was running out of money, he has managed to win grants that allowed him to support his business project. He studied not only computer engineering but also business administration that was essential for his entrepreneurial activities. In such a way, Ajay had basic knowledge and skills that were essential for a good entrepreneur since they helped him to tackle difficult situation and allowed him to come through major challenges successfully.Define and explain the purpose of a rocket pi tch. Imagine a potential investor has heard his rocket pitch. What concerns would a potential investor have? Is it a good investment?The purpose of the rocket pitch was to simplify the payment for customers since the new technology offered them an opportunity to conduct the payment and other transactions using their mobile phones and any payment terminal available to them in the market at the moment (Gwynn, 2004). In fact, this technology allowed consumers to use mobile as the truly universal tool to make payments and other transactions whenever and wherever they needed. The new technology developed by Ajay outpaced major rivals and substitutes that have already operated in the market, when Ajay has decided to introduce the technology and launched his business. However, potential investors may be concerned with the existence of similar products in the market (Volti, 2005). In addition, investors could be concerned with transactions security. However, the investment into the project developed by Ajar would be a successful and effective investment because the project introduces the universal tool that makes mobile phone a new tool of payment.If Ajay decides to move forward, what more can he do to build credibility and improve his chances of securing venture capital?First, Ajay should reveal the full extent to which Vayusa outpaces its rivals. The revelation of advantages of the new product compared to existing ones may persuade investors that the product is worth investing, while success of similar products, will show them that the new, better product can take a large share of the market. Furthermore, Ajay should stress the technical advancement of the product since investors and consumers should be aware of its reliability and safety.

Retention, human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Retention, human resource management - Essay Example these localized incentives might work towards retaining the most efficient employees of the organization. The idea is not about spending more time on these incentives but lie son designing effective programs that are workable. According to the human resources’ vice president of Great American Insurance Group of Cincinnati, â€Å"We want that manager feedback, that peer-to-peer recognition. It becomes very personal† (Shepherd). Such programs also help the colleagues to be familiar with each other better. Apart form the decentralized programs and practices there are centralized programs, which applies to all the employees fitting a particular criterion. For instance, such incentives might be based upon the length of service period. Some employers however like to mix up both centralized and localized incentives for a better outcome. This again requires training of managers such that they might implement and design the incentive programs effectively. A survey reveals that a round 27 percent of the firms arrange such training programs for managers. An example is provided in case of Everett Clinic where the managers are happy with small but personal rewards, which might not be expensive but are effective. These are expressed in the form of gift cards, Caught in the Act cards, Pat on the Back cards for different levels of skills and competence. The upper level of hierarchy provides the support for such programs in both financial and no financial terms. According to the company, their employee satisfaction is around 80 percent. In fact budgetary constraint is not the only motivation behind such programs. Such retention practices encourage creativity for developing such programs some of which gain instant recognition. Employers even resort to the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to appreciate their efficient employees. This helps in gaining public appreciation for these employees. Thus the article mainly talks of tapping the employeesâ€℠¢

Letter Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter - Research Paper Example They attacked the city from the weakest point of the walls, but they were called to retreat after fighting for two hours. Anatolian Turk, from Ishak’s army, launched the second attack. They were easy to recognize because they were more organized and had specialized uniforms. They managed to break the attentions of the city’s men by using trumpets and huge cannons to break through the wall. They were the first troop to enter Constantinople, and they managed to massacre most of the army officers who were mostly Christians. This attack was then ended at dawn. Before the city’s soldiers were able to gain order and strength, another troop referred to as Janissaries, which was Mehmet’s favorite troop, launched another attack. They used bullets, missiles, stones, arrows and javelins to attack the Constantinople soldiers. This battle lasted for several hours, which made some of the soldiers give up. During the battle, the Turkish army remembered port Kerkoporta, which Christian soldiers used to attack them. They tried to break the port’s gate, but were stopped by the Christian soldiers. While attempting to capture the city, the Turks were also gaining control of the sea where they placed many warships at the Golden Horn to help siege the capital. These warships supplied more soldiers as a backup. This made the capital soldiers defeated and captured making the Turkish army take complete control of the city. Islam now officially occupied it, and they built beautiful monuments, baths, fountains, aqueducts, palaces, mosques and other public buildings. However, they still allowed the Christians practice their religion, but to use distinguish robes, which could not bear arms. This led to the fall of the

Coercive Power in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Coercive Power in the Middle East - Essay Example   The authoritarian government remains in power by opposing political discourse and fighting against reformists. The purpose of such government is to remain in power without necessarily meeting the demands of the nation. In countries such as Iran, the president has always developed mechanisms against any internal dissent. For instance, the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has used his political power to win the election against the will of the people. His re-election in 2009 was a political manipulation, in spite of the internal dissent raised by the public against his election. This shows the effects of coercive power that authoritarian government uses to suppress the will of the people.   Although Middle East countries have shown efforts to develop the country’s economy, it is clear that they have been inefficient due to misdirected priorities. Since the government gives priority to the welfare of the leaders and those close to leadership, they fail to focus on th e shaping of the nation. Economists have criticized heavy economic spending of most Middle East countries on issues such as security and developing international networks that support their leadership. In Egypt, the government has spent a lot of money on security leading to the bankruptcy of its economy. Egypt spends over $2 billion on security, of which the money is the foreign aid that the government gets for the United States. Iran spends over 30 billion that it earns from its government from oil sales to cover for its security framework.   

Production and Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Production and Operation Management - Essay Example Based on these, the owner selects particular designs to be made on a weekly basis. Ms. Brown also selects the kind of clothing material to be used for the particular chosen design. She employed 10 female workers to work on the rest of the process. Pattern design is done manually by one worker before grading, measurement of fabric, cutting and finally, sewing and assembling. For clothes requiring intricate designs such as patching or needlework, one female worker, Karen Smith, who specialize on this area does the final touch and inspects the garments made prior to pressing and packaging. The first few months of production have been smooth and productive. On the seventh month, there had been returns sent by the shopping mall due to defects. Apparently, some garments were not inspected thoroughly and exhibited the following defects: â€Å"open seams, wrong stitching techniques, non- matching threads, missing stitches, improper creasing of the garment, erroneous thread tension and raw e dges† (Ahmad, 2011). Ms. Brown questioned Karen Smith and was determined to investigate the cause of increased defects. If not corrected immediately, the garment company faces a greater dilemma of revoking their contract to supply garments with the shopping mall. Statement of the Problem There were apparently high levels of returns for garments that have been delivered to the shopping mall. The person authorized to inspect, Karen Smith, also tasked with doing the intricate final designs of patching and needlework. Likewise, no other person counter checked the quality of the garments prior to packing and delivery to the shopping mall. Research Objective The objective of the research was to investigate the cause of the surge of defects on the garments that was already delivered to the shopping mall. The contract to supply garments was usually based on the agreement that no significant defects should be exhibited that would cause returns. Defects of more than 20% in one batch of deliveries would be subject to full return and refund. If the next batch would contain defects of more than 10%, the contract would be revoked. Another objective was to review the manufacturing process to determine ways of minimizing the defects noted and to ensure high quality of garments are consistently delivered. Comparative Key Processes in the Manual to the Actual Practice The process manual clearly indicates that after sewing, Karen Smith, is tasked to inspect the garments prior to packing. Upon closer inspection, Ms. Brown discovered from interviews with the sewers that most of the time, Karen Smith was overloaded with final details of patching and needle work demanded from the chosen designs. As such, with full confidence, she delegated the sewers to closely inspect their works. In this regard, the following flaws in the operations process were noted: (1) The inspector and the person doing final touches on the garments are the same. Increased volume of work to be done leave s little time for inspection. (2) There was no clear policy in the procedures manual regarding any sanctions for violating adherence to high quality standards of the product; (3) There were no clear policies on inspection for the garments or in accurately identifying accountability (which sewer creates the most mistakes and defects); (4) All designs and pattern making are still done manually; (5) Roles and responsibilities for employees

Managers in safety training Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managers in safety training - Research Paper Example The disparity between the emphasis on safety management between the underdeveloped and the advanced economies has had a corresponding effect on the curriculums of safety training. While in the technologically advanced countries like the UK and the USA, safety training is offered at graduate and undergraduate level through university courses, safety training in the underdeveloped countries is imparted through short courses in academies. Nevertheless, the role of such short courses in inculcating a sense of the need of safety management and compliance with the rules of health and safety in the workers cannot be underestimated. â€Å"A few simple steps learned in a training session can prevent a major crisis† (National Restaurant Association, 2009, p. 2). In developed countries, an individual needs at least a bachelor’s degree in health and safety along with preferably a 10 years of experience to be eligible to serve as a health and safety (HS) manager on a project whereas in the underdeveloped countries, a diploma or a short course in safety management might suffice. OSHA lists a range of safety training programs that individuals can take depending upon which suits them best (oshatrain.org, n.d.). People select the most suitable program depending upon the availability of time, funding, and such other factors. Over 20 universities and training organizations offer courses in safety training and management in the US (osha.gov, n.d.). Most training organizations offer certificates whereas universities offer Bachelor programs in safety management. Construction sites in the US require professional certification in safety course to consider a candidate for the post of safety manager on the site. Chances of recruitment increase with more experience and higher education in safety management. The HS manager is familiar with all procedures, concepts, and practices of the kind of work he/she is rendering the health and safety management services in because the

Production and Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Production and Operation Management - Essay Example Based on these, the owner selects particular designs to be made on a weekly basis. Ms. Brown also selects the kind of clothing material to be used for the particular chosen design. She employed 10 female workers to work on the rest of the process. Pattern design is done manually by one worker before grading, measurement of fabric, cutting and finally, sewing and assembling. For clothes requiring intricate designs such as patching or needlework, one female worker, Karen Smith, who specialize on this area does the final touch and inspects the garments made prior to pressing and packaging. The first few months of production have been smooth and productive. On the seventh month, there had been returns sent by the shopping mall due to defects. Apparently, some garments were not inspected thoroughly and exhibited the following defects: â€Å"open seams, wrong stitching techniques, non- matching threads, missing stitches, improper creasing of the garment, erroneous thread tension and raw e dges† (Ahmad, 2011). Ms. Brown questioned Karen Smith and was determined to investigate the cause of increased defects. If not corrected immediately, the garment company faces a greater dilemma of revoking their contract to supply garments with the shopping mall. Statement of the Problem There were apparently high levels of returns for garments that have been delivered to the shopping mall. The person authorized to inspect, Karen Smith, also tasked with doing the intricate final designs of patching and needlework. Likewise, no other person counter checked the quality of the garments prior to packing and delivery to the shopping mall. Research Objective The objective of the research was to investigate the cause of the surge of defects on the garments that was already delivered to the shopping mall. The contract to supply garments was usually based on the agreement that no significant defects should be exhibited that would cause returns. Defects of more than 20% in one batch of deliveries would be subject to full return and refund. If the next batch would contain defects of more than 10%, the contract would be revoked. Another objective was to review the manufacturing process to determine ways of minimizing the defects noted and to ensure high quality of garments are consistently delivered. Comparative Key Processes in the Manual to the Actual Practice The process manual clearly indicates that after sewing, Karen Smith, is tasked to inspect the garments prior to packing. Upon closer inspection, Ms. Brown discovered from interviews with the sewers that most of the time, Karen Smith was overloaded with final details of patching and needle work demanded from the chosen designs. As such, with full confidence, she delegated the sewers to closely inspect their works. In this regard, the following flaws in the operations process were noted: (1) The inspector and the person doing final touches on the garments are the same. Increased volume of work to be done leave s little time for inspection. (2) There was no clear policy in the procedures manual regarding any sanctions for violating adherence to high quality standards of the product; (3) There were no clear policies on inspection for the garments or in accurately identifying accountability (which sewer creates the most mistakes and defects); (4) All designs and pattern making are still done manually; (5) Roles and responsibilities for employees

UK insurers can no longer safely insure the risk of flood within the Essay

UK insurers can no longer safely insure the risk of flood within the UK and home and business owners will have to look out fo - Essay Example The rapid development of the insurance industry borrows from the fact that inhabitants have the wealth and can readily afford to ensure that their security is vastly cared for hence resorting to investment in their security and that of their wealth. The insurance industry undertakes a wide range of covers from fire, accidents, and financial loss agricultural risks and to the extreme floods risk policies which were developed recently to cover the risk of floods on property owners, businesses as well as home-owners. Need for flood insurance The current debate on whether insurers should continue providing covers to flood and flood related cases has become very fierce. UK citizens see it as a necessity for their security and hence demand for such covers as well as advocacy for the government to regulate the industry through policies that suite the consumers of the product. On the contrary the insurers argue that despite introduction of the flood and flood insurance products its nature po ses very great risk and high costs in its insurance. Choosing your flood insurance or insurance cover is an important decision that you should not be rushed into or about. So much has to be considered before making a choice on an appropriate cover is made. Time should be taken by the buyers of covers to ensure that they are exposed to all the available flood insurance covers. This information is available from several sources ranging from insurance firms, government all through to the various media sources. Shopping around various information sources is done to ensure that the consumer of the products get well- priced and competitive flood insurance policies (Evans, 2005). In the UK getting a flood zone insurance policy will help you feel at ease when emergencies like floods arise. Whatever the state of your house is, whether bought or undergoing the payment of mortgage, you should get adequate insurance so that if your house is damaged beyond repair, your insurance policy will cove r the replacement price or cost of rebuilding a new and similar house incase its completely destroyed. Requirements for a better flood insurance cover When a consumer makes a choice where to get a flood zone insurance cover, the consumer can then just fill the forms sent by the insurer providers and may even do enquiries on more information to ensure that no mistake is made as the form is being filled as this may be all against the consumer himself. The buyer of a product must also take into consideration the price quotes included in your flood insurance cover. There may be expensive quotes that may include cover for risks that that are irrelevant to the needs of the consumer hence not actually needed, therefore should be avoided buy the buyers hence choice of the price quotes that cover vital things relating to the risk of floods (Gammell, 2009). Honesty with your flood zone insurance cover providers should be highly maintained. Tell the insurers about the contents of your home ful ly if for example it is contents cover you are taking. Your future insurance claim may be at loggerheads when you become dishonest with your insurance company. Honest and full discloser of information is done during the assessment phase by the insurance support staff. But as it’s the practice, the Insurance companies will usually ask buyers of covers to get a policy for both their buildings including the contents of your property, the same requirement are demanded from the business

The book of Luke and Acts Essay Example for Free

The book of Luke and Acts Essay The book of Luke and Acts are of the same author. It is addressed to Theophilus. On the introduction of the book of Luke, Luke wrote: Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:3-4). With that verse it is clear that Luke did investigated the accounts of Jesus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we try to study the Bible from Matthew to John, all of the accounts are similar. They only differ in the details of the accounts. Luke is not the direct disciple (not one of the 12 disciples) of Jesus Christ but he was able to reconcile what he wrote with the books of John, Matthew and Mark. With the same accounts found in Matthew, Mark, and John, we can conclude that he understands Jesus’ purpose here on earth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the book of Acts, Luke elaborates the things that make a Christian. He mentioned even how a Christian should act. He even wrote some of the accounts of the believers after Jesus ascended to heaven. In his books he never mentioned about how he understands the death of Jesus, but on his writings we can say that he fully understand the death of Jesus; that is to redeem us from our sins.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, it is the faith that convicts him to tell the people that Jesus is innocent of a sin deserving to death. As we can see on the accounts of Jesus on the book of Luke, Jesus did not commit things that deserve death but rather it is because of the fear of the Pharisees that the attention of the people will be diverted to Jesus. They are afraid that their positions will not be honored by the people. It is for that reason that Luke really is convicted to tell the world not only the innocence of Jesus Christ but the truth and the love that Jesus offer on the cross to save His people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Basically, faith is the motivation of Luke in telling such thing to people. We can even attest that when we have faith on a certain thing we can do even the impossible things just to pursue or stand on the faith that we have. Work cited: The Holy Bible (1988). The New International Version. Broadman Holman Publishers: Nashville

Relationship between Accounting Information and Market Risk

Relationship between Accounting Information and Market Risk Financial theory describes risk assessment as one of the most important part in an investment decision making process.  However, for a risk to be known, it is important for investors to interpret information flowing on the market. This study aims to examine the association between accounting information and the market risk over time. It also evaluates how far the beta value and accounting variables can be useful for investors in Mauritius. Beta estimates are calculated using Capital asset pricing model and accounting risk variables are derived from theoretical foundations and prior empirical findings. The relationship between the financial ratios and the level of systematic risk is obtained by regressing the variation in the beta against changes in the accounting variable. The empirical evidence shows that beta is valid on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM). However, the power of beta is relatively low in capturing the systematic risk. This finding is in line with Campbell (1995) who obtained similar observation for emerging equity market and with Bundoo (2000) who noted same result. Finally the result shows that a strong association exist between accounting variables and market risk and it also observed that this relationship is consistent over time. Accounting variables like growth rate, debt ratio, asset size, liquidity, profit margin and accounting beta are able to capture market risk where beta generally provides a high explanatory power of systematic risk. The findings contradict the some of the association between the market risk measures and accounting risk measure obtained Beaver et al (1979).   1  Introduction The growth experienced in the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) during the years 1989 to 2007 was with no precedence. Stock prices of quoted companies on the SEM boomed, causing a high influx of capital which caused the market to rise to its peak with a net market capitalisation of MUR 173 billion in the end of the financial year 2007. Local investors who had investments in fixed deposits from local commercial banks shifted some of their investments to the SEM, with view of higher return. But Stock prices started to fall soon after the end of the month of February 2008 and within a year the SEMDEX reached a position which was a low as the values experienced in September 2006. While this fall was largely attributed to the morose international situation, as a result of the international financial crisis; there is also the question whether the SEM effectively capture risk which is inherent by companies quoted and how far investors in Mauritius used the publish financial information to evaluate and predict the level of risk in the operating environment. Financial markets serve a key purpose in an economy by allocating productive resources among various areas so as to enable an efficient resource allocation, across different firms, investors assess the security and market expected prospects and risks and form a portfolio of investments based on their assessment. Security analysis usually involves an evaluation of the financial position and performance obtained from the financial statements published periodically by companies. In an efficient financial market the share prices is expected change to the fair value of the firm as new information flows into the market. Financial theory describes risk assessment as one of the most important part in an investment decision making process. The return of a stock is often considered to be narrowly related with the risk which the investor is taking while holding that stock. This makes the generally accepted principle that the higher is the risk in investing in an asset, the higher should be the asset’s expected return. This implies that there is a positive correlation between risk and expected return in holding a stock. 1.1  Problem Statement The analysis of stocks return is intricately linked with the analysis of risk. Empirical studies carried by Graham et al (2001) has shown that the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), (an asset pricing tool which uses risk as a basis to calculate assets return) is used, by more than seventy five percent of the chief financial officers, as primary tools in the portfolio selection process. However some authors in the capital markets literature (Campbell (1995) and Chan et al (1991)) have argued that in the case of emerging stock exchanges the CAPM is inapplicable and beta is not significant. However, for a risk to be known, it is important for investors to interpret information flowing to the market. Fama (1963) described three generic forms of market efficiency based on the market reaction to inflow of information. Markets which react to all past information are said to be in its weak form, those markets which react to all past and publicly available information are referred to as semi-strong efficient markets and those which react to all past, public and private information are considered as strongly efficient markets. A study made by Bundoo (2008) showed that Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) has the characteristics of a market in its weak form. This implies that the SEM effectively responds to past information. Yet there is absence of empirical research which evaluates whether market return and risk are effectively pictured through accounting ratios. 1.2  Aims and objectives This paper aims at analysing the share prices in the SEM and key accounting ratios to evaluate the financial position, performance of a sample of companies quoted across various economic sectors of the SEM with the view of answering the above question. It also seeks to test whether investors can trust beta in their decision-making process on the SEM. The paper also aims at: understanding the relationship between the financial ratios, market return and risk; estimating the level of systematic for different business segment where financial market information is not available; and to guide investment in measuring the systematic in private and non listed companies in Mauritius. 1.3  Organisation of this paper The paper is organised as follows: Chapter 2 provides a summary of literatures concerning risk measures, accounting tools and market-based models to measure the performance and risk; It also surveys the empirical researches on the SEM  and similar markets; Chapter 3 develops the models which are to be used in the analysis of the relationship between systematic risk and accounting ratios; It also outline the methodology and sample data which is used in the analysis; Chapter 4 presents the key findings from the study and Chapter 5 concludes the paper. 2  Literature review Risk and return of a firm are the two most important factors in the development of financial strategy for both individual investors and firms. Risk is inherently multi-dimensional and as such it has multiple characteristics which may be classified as financial and non financial. These characteristics make up the risk profile of a security, which is generally observed as changing with time and at different levels of a market. These changes in turn, impact on the return of the investors either by creating value or destroying the initial value before the investment.   Modern financial theories have proposed different models which are founded on sound theoretical analysis which can be used to estimate the different degree of riskiness of a particular security. These risk measures are then used in valuation models to estimate the return which an investor, with a defined risk attitude, can expect from an investment. As described in chapter 1, above, the applicability of such financial theories remain untested in many emerging markets. This chapter reviews the financial models which are commonly used by practitioners for estimating of the risk of stocks and stock market and their corresponding returns. It also summarises the main financial ratios which are used to analyse the financial risk, financial performance and the value of the firm. Finally a summary of the accounting tools and market-based models to measure return is also presented. 2.1  Risk It has always been difficult for practitioners to reach a consensus on the definition of risk. Moles (2004), nevertheless, provides a simple definition which is taken in this paper as basis for risk measurement. He defines risk as â€Å"the chance (or probability) of a deviation from an anticipated outcome†. With this definition it is implied that risk is made up of at least these 3 elements: 1.  probability: which means that risk can be quantified and expressed as a parameter, number of value; 2.  deviation from anticipated outcome: which is extent to which the actual result may deviate from that which is expected; 3.  anticipated outcome: this means that it is the consequence of the actual results deviating from the expected results that leads to risk. Newbold et al (2003) states that probability can be measured using past data by considering the proportion of times that an event occurred. For the case of an investor the anticipated event would be the financial return which he or she can expect by holding an asset. The measurement of the deviation from the anticipated return is normally done using the standard deviation of returns generated by an asset with regard to the expected return. 2.1.1  Systematic and unsystematic risks The deviation from the anticipated return is caused by is explained by 2 levels of risk: systematic risk and unsystematic risk.  The sum of these two main categories of risk is the total risk to which an investor is exposed to. Systematic risk is associated with overall movements in the general market or economy and therefore is often referred to as the market risk. The market risk is the component of the total risk that cannot be eliminated through portfolio diversification. Unsystematic risk which is a component of the portfolio risk that can be eliminated by increasing the portfolio size, the reason being that risks that are specific to an individual security such as business or financial risk can be eliminated by constructing a well-diversified portfolio. 2.2  The Capital asset pricing model Markowitz (1952) constructed a mean-variance model to observe the trade-off between risks and return. The model mathematically proved that return can be maximised, while minimising the overall risk, by holding a diversified portfolio. The idea was based on the concept that securities that are inversely correlated or having coefficients which are less than one. Such negative or low correlation coefficient results in a low covariance between securities in the portfolio. The low covariance implies a comparatively low level risk. However, Sing et al, (2001) observed that the model ignore the general risk-averse attitude of most investors. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), developed by Sharpe (1964), is based on the framework set out by Markowitz (1952) which considers that investors invest their money in a portfolio of assets. The CAPM states that the return which a risk averse can expect from investing in a risky asset is a risk premium over the risk free rate. The formula 1 below states the formula which can be used to calculate the expected return. E(Ri)  = Rf +  i  (  E(Rm)   Rf  )  (2.1) where: E(Ri)  Ã‚  expected rate return of stock I; i  Ã‚  relative risk of share I; E(Rm)  Ã‚  expected rate return of the market portfolio; and Rf   risk-free interest rate. Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965) explained that the correct measure of risk of an asset is its beta factor, a standardised measure of the systematic risk and that the risk premium per unit of riskiness is the same across all assets. CAPM has been developed by considering some assumptions such as normal distribution of assets return, perfect divisibility of assets and return, the existence of a risk free rate, perfect market conditions, inter alia, which might not exist in the real world. Despite the fact that most of the above assumptions are neither valid nor fulfilled, the CAPM has become an important tool in finance. It is widely used by finance practitioners for assessment of cost of capital, portfolio performance, portfolio diversification, valuing investments and choosing portfolio strategy among others. The ÃŽ ² factor in the equation 2.1 measures the volatility of the specific asset with regard to the volatility in the market, that is, the market risk. Mathematically it is expressed as in equation 2, below: (2.2) where: systematic_riskasset = covariance of the asset and that of the market market_risk is the volatility in the market portfolio, it is measured by the standard deviation of prices of the market portfolio. 2.2.1  Empirical review of Capital asset pricing model The empirical studies undertaken by Jensen et al. (1972) found supportive evidence for CAPM. The authors found that the actual return, for a sample of companies quoted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), were consistent with the predictions of the CAPM.  They noted that the relationship between the average return and beta was very close to a linear one and that portfolios with high betas had high average returns. The same result was confirmed by Black et al. (1972), who studied of all the stocks on the NYSE over the period 1931-1965. Black et al. (1972) formed portfolios of stocks and analysed the abnormal return with regard to the beta factor, and found a linear relationship between the average excess portfolio return and the beta. Black et al (1972) observed that the beta factor measured the responsiveness of the share return to changes in the returns of the market. Stocks with high positive betas had stock price which rose faster than the market. This implies that high beta stocks bear a higher degree of risk compared to stocks which have their beta factor as negative. Stock with negative beta behave negatively to changes in the market, as such, in a bearish market, it is more attractive to invest in these stocks as it helps to preserve the value of the investor. Fama et al. (1973) also observed a larger intercept than the risk-free rate when analyzing the return against risk. They confirmed that there is a linear relationship between the average return and the beta, even over longer period. They further investigated whether the squared value of the beta and the volatility of assets returns explained the residual variation in the average returns across asset and found that, in addition to portfolio risk, there are other variables that affect expected return. 2.2.2  Critics against Capital asset pricing model There has been also several criticism of the applicability of the CAPM in many markets. Empirical research undertaken by Basu (1977) proposed other factors which have to be considered instead of relying wholly on a single variable, beta. According to Basu (1977) the price earnings ratio has a great influence in market return. Banz (1981) challenged the model by indicating that firm size have a considerable impact on the average returns of a particular stock and thus firm size could better explain the volatility than the market beta. The author observed that the average return of small firms were higher than the average returns on stocks of large firms. Chan et al (1991) made a further observation, on the Japanese market, that stocks with high ratios of book value of common equity have significantly higher returns than stocks with low book to market equity. In this respect, book to market equity started to be regarded as being an important variable that could produce dispersion in average returns. Fama and French (1992) came up with the conclusion that a more realistic approach of the risk in the market is the multi-index models. Their study concluded the findings of Basu(1977), Stattman (1980), Banz (1981) and Chan et al (1991) who argued that size of the firm and the books to market equity ratio are far superior in explaining asset returns. In contrast with CAPM which can be considered as a single factor model, Ross (1976) proposed a multifactor arbitrage pricing theory (APT).  Groenewold et al (1997) examined the validity of the model for Australian data and compared the performance of the empirical version of the APT and the CAPM. They concluded that APT outperforms the CAPM in terms of within-sample explanatory power. The APT, however, is a generic model and does not specify any factor which has to be considered in analysing return with regard to risk. 2.2.3  The ongoing debate on the applicability of Capital asset pricing model Nevertheless, there is no consensus in favour of CAPM due to the disparities in the empirical findings and the debate continues. In general, the studies challenge the data used by Fama et al (1993). Kothari et al (1995) argue that the findings of Fama et al (1993) depend essentially on how the statistical findings are interpreted. Amihudm et al (1992) and Black (1993) supported the idea that the data are too noisy to invalidate the CAPM and showed that when a more efficient statistical model is used, the relationship between average return and beta is positive and significant. The author further suggested the findings in respect of size effect could be simply in a sample period effect and that it may not be noted in another period. Similarly, Berk (1995) questioned the findings of Chan and Chen (1991). The author emphasised that stock prices (and market value of the equity (MVE)) depend on the expected future cash flows which is used by investor to estimate the risk and the required rate of return. Therefore, if two companies have a higher discount rate and consequently its price and MVE will be lower. In this sense, MVE captures the information about the company’s risk, since any change in investors’ perceptions of risk is immediately reflected in the stock prices. Furthermore, when the expected return of a firm is defined as the expected cash flow divided by its MVE, the relationship between MVE and return is clearly negative for companies with equivalent cash flows. Berk concludes that for companies of similar cash flows, the higher the risk of the cash flow, the higher the discount rate investors apply to it, which causes price to decrease and expected return to increase. This concept has contradicted the findings of Chan and al (1991), which attribute higher returns to smaller companies. Owing to its intuitive appeal, the CAPM has become an important tool in finance for assessment of cost of capital, portfolio performance, portfolio diversification, valuing investments and choosing portfolio strategy among others. However, there is no consensus in the literature as to what a suitable measure of risk is, and consequently, as to what is a suitable measure for evaluating risk-adjusted performance (Galagedera, 2007). As such, the debate for robust asset pricing models continues. Other studies (Ball and Brown (1969) and Beaver, et al (1970)) have focussed on accounting variable to convey information about the market risk. 2.3  Accounting variables as a measure of systematic risk Research in accounting variable as a measure of risk has increased considerably since the last forty years with a number of published papers by Beaver et al (1970), Lev et al (1974) , Bernard (1989), Ohlson (1995), and Kothari (2001). Beta measures the relative risk whereby risk itself is determined by some combination of firm characteristics, market conditions, and the sensitivity of the firm stock to market conditions. As such, understanding the relationship between the accounting variable and the systematic risk can provide an alternative basis to a market based estimation and prediction which will in turn guide the accounting policy formulation and investment decision making (Brimble et al, 2007). The study by Beaver et al (1970)  was the most quoted research in accounting and financial research. The author had improved the perdition of systematic risk by considering the firm specific characteristic and they identified significant association between market risk and firm specific accounting information. The financial statements of firms were mostly used in providing considerable information that could be used to measure the inherent risk. In fact, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (1983) stated that the objective of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful to present and potential investors and creditors and other users in making rational investment, credit, and similar decisions. A number of studies investigated how financial information becomes impounded in security prices and affects investment decisions. These accounting data are converted into the financial constructs, such as growth, operating leverage, profitability, liquidity, and efficiency. There is considerable evidence that since the late 1800’s ratio analysis has been widely used in the valuation of published financial data (Connor, 1973). Researchers and investors use mainly financial ratios for risk modelling purposes based on different criteria of comparison which are discussed as follows: Time series analysis: It also known as trend analysis and it is used to compare financial ratios over a period of time. Ratio analysis for one year may not present an accurate picture of the firm (Rao, 1989).  As such, to appraise a firm’s performance, the present ratios need to be compared with the past ratios. Cross-sectional analysis: This method compares ratios of one firm to the ratios of some other selected firms operating in the same industry at the same point in time (Pandey, 1999). Such comparison indicates the comparative financial position and performance of the particular firm. Industry analysis: According to Pandey this type of analysis helps to ascertain the firm’s financial standings and capacity vis-à  -vis other firms in the same industry. A study conducted by Beneda (2006) indicated that commercial lenders often consider the use of industry ratio analysis to be critical with regard to the potential success of the business. The main shortcoming of this analysis is that it is difficult to obtain the average ratio of an industry and if available the average ratio is composed of both strong and weak firms. Financial ratios were used for locating possible takeovers and mostly to predict major events such as corporate failures (Scott, 2004). Other studies reported on an association between accounting ratios and market risk measures, and proposed that certain accounting ratios can be used as proxies in predicting future security (Beaver et al. 1970; Elgers and Murray, 1982). 2.3.1  Usefulness of accounting variables The use accounting as means of estimating the systematic risk will allow the user of the financial statement to assess the investment alternative in terms risk, return and the value of the firms. Ryan (1997) has widely discussed the motive for relating accounting research to measures of market risk: The volatility of market betas over time indicates that the ex post measure of systematic risk is does not provide meaning full information in estimating the future risk. As such, understanding the relationship between accounting variables and systematic risk could indeed be useful in measuring and predicting the actual and upcoming market risk. Market based measures of risk, like the capital asset pricing model, fail to consider most of the firm specific characteristic such as the operational factors and environmental contingencies which influence risk. The accounting risk based information gets closer to the identification these economic fundamentals. Therefore accounting model provides an actual risk determinants rather than just determining the level of risk. Accounting risk model overcome the conventional problem were ex post measure of risk can not be applied due the fact that historical security returns is not available or insufficient like in the case non listed entities and for initial public offering Accounting variable are not affected by the noise found in traditional risk estimates which rely on past trading histories whereby significant variation in one period subsequently affect the overall risk level ; The development of trading strategies and the construction of portfolios with the desired level of risk. 2.3.2  Theoretical and empirical review of the relationship between individual accounting variable and systematic risk. Researchers on the association between systematic risk and accounting ratios were primarily initiated by Beaver (1970). The ratios used by the author were dividend payout, growth rate and leverage ratio, liquidity ratio, variability of earnings and co-variability of earnings. Other studies have further elaborated on these ratios and they also added other accounting based to measure the systematic risk. All these ratios aim at measuring the operating risk, financing risk and growth risk. The theories and empirical finding between these two variables are discussed as follows: Dividend Payout Corporate dividend policy has been the object of lively discussions in finance literature. The debate has revolved around the question of whether companies with generous distribution policies are less risky and whether there exists an optimal payout ratio. Theoretically, it is often asserted that firms with low payout ratios are more risky.  This is because that cost for external finance is relatively high for risky firm than firm with low risk. In this respect, risky firms rely on the utilization of their own reserves to carry out business activities. Dividend payout also affects the systematic risk by the information perceived by variation in the dividend policy. The original idea behind the information content of dividends, was developed by Lintner (1956) who claimed that managers only increased dividends when they believe that the levels of the firm’s earnings have permanently increased. He argued that decrease in dividend may be interpreted as cash flow or liquidity problem. Miller and Modigliani (1961) have argued, on the other hand, that dividend policy is irrelevant to the market value of shares. In a model which disregards taxes, they conclude that the payout policy which the corporation adopts, has no effect on the price of shares. Similarly Watts (1973) and Gonedes (1978) found no evidence that changes in dividend policy contain new information regarding firms future earnings. Gordon (1963) further pointed out that an increase in the proportion of retained profit now means higher cash dividends in the future and therefore conservative dividend policy has no effect on the risk factor. Still, Veikko (1967) explained that the higher the retention rate, the further in the future cash dividends are moved and the greater the uncertainty about their actual amount. Empirical evidence by Edward et al (1998) further showed that a significant negative relationship exists between the dividend pay out ratio and risk element. Growth rate Growth affects the systematic risk in two main ways as identified by Beaver et al (1973).  Firstly, where a firm earns excessive earning opportunities, that is, where the expected rate is higher than the cost of capital. Growth is normally attained by an expansion in the assets size either through the acquisition of new plants or by creating new product line or by takeovers.  The excessive earnings stream derived from these operations is argued to be more uncertain (i.e. volatile) than the normal earnings stream of the firm. In this respect the authors stated that a positive association exists between growth rates and risk. However, Harrigan (1984, 1986) have deepened this analysis and the author has observed different level of association over different industry life cycle characteristics. Harrigan argued that growth strategies, through takeovers and new product development, may be quite risky during an embryonic stage due to the high degree of product, process, and market uncertainty. In contrast, growth strategies may be less risky during times when demand conditions are growing in a stable manner. Finally, growth strategies are expected to become quite risky again as an industry is in transition to maturity because of the cut in the excessive earning streams. The second argument is related to the logic developed about the dividend payout ratio. Additional capital, utilized in the growth of the firm, would reduce the firm earnings in two main ways. If the expansion in asset is financed by the external debt, the firm earning would be eroded through finance cost. Whereas if the growth is financed through the retained earning, a sharp cut in earning attributable to the shareholder is expected. Both methods will ultimately lead to a reduction in dividend payout and thus increase the systematic risk. Asset Size Theoretically, larger firms are less risky than smaller firms. This is because large firms have better access to capital market, management skills and expertise and greater market liquidity. These factors provide opportunities to diversify and to seize new market opportunities to reduce operating risk which will impact on a lower beta than small firms. The studies of Dun et al (1970) reveal that the frequencies of failure are lower for large size firm than firm with low asset capitalization. Horrigan (1966) has shown that the most single important financial statement variable used to predict the bond rating of a firm was total assets. The author observed that if the asset returns are independent, the variance will decrease in direct proportion to the difference in asset size that is, as firm size doubles, the variance of the rate of return will be cut in half. Empirical work by Alexander (1949) observed that as firm size increase, the volatility in the earning streams decrease accordingly.   Moreover firm with wide operating activities are required to make more disclosure. For example the Mauritian companies act, 2001, stipulate that firms with Turnover above MUR 30 Million are required to file a complete set of financial statements with the Registrar of Companies. This information may be consulted by the members of the public upon payment of a nominal fee. Thus, more information is available to evaluate risk level. Collins et al (1987) have identified that small and recently incorporated firms have a high probability of financial distress. Accounting beta Research about the association between the market based beta and an accounting beta originated with Ball and Brown (1969). Accounting beta measures the degree of co-variability of firm earnings and the market earnings. Beaver et al (1970) argue that, if beta is being the used as the market determined concept of risk, then the most direct approach would be to compute the beta value on accounting earnings. Bowman (1969) demonstrated that the higher the accounting beta, the higher the systematic risk. Hence a positive relationship is expected between the two variables. Earning Variance The important relationship between earnings and the market beta is their covariability, accounting beta, is shown in the above. However, the empirical research has generally shown earnings variability to be superior to an accounting beta. Beaver et al (1970) found in a model that use accounting variables to forecast market risk that earnings variability was the most significant variable and that accounting beta did not make a statistically significant contribution. The relationship established by Ball and Brown (1969) is therefore theoretical. Empirical results may differ from theory for two main reasons as advanced by Bowman (1969). The assumptions (i.e there are only pure equity firms (no debt) in the market portfolio) of the theory may not be applicable to the universe being tested. Secondly, t

Use of Steroids in Baseball Essay -- Sports Argumentative Persuasive E

Use of Steroids in Baseball Since Major League Baseball all-star Ken Caminiti openly admitted to Sports Illustrated to have used steroids during his career, steroid use as a muscle and performance enhancer has been uncovered and become a big issue Major League Baseball is wrestling with. The â€Å"ongoing and delicate subject, baseball’s dirty, little secret that is no secret anymore,† is a huge and growing problem (Curry B20). Now that light has been shed on the issue, critics are beginning to realize the magnitude of this problem and do not like it. Steroids are a cheating virus that is spreading quickly. Users cheat other players, themselves, the fans, and the game itself. Action must be taken to rid Major League Baseball of this virus before it takes over the game. Steroids are illegal in the US, and banned from baseball, however in the past they have not been suspected to be such a big problem. Therefore, Major League Baseball has failed to properly address it with preventative measures. In the 2001, the Major League Players Association’s contract with Major League Baseball protected players on the 40 man roster against testing. As for the minor leagues, testing only occured in-season, and was restricted to some players. Many players use in the off season and know how long the drugs will remain in their bodies (anywhere from 2 weeks to 18 months). If tested positive, they receive a warning about the hazards of the drug and are not punished at all. Five to ten percent of minor leaguers tested positive, and which fails to account for users not tested, those who used out-of-season, and those who found measures around the test. In the majors, some suspect that 50% of players use steroids and some, such as Jose Canseco, as hig... ...2002: D3 Steroids.com. 2003. Anabolics.com, Inc.5 Mar. 2003. Verducci, Tom. â€Å"Totally Juiced.† Sports Illustrated.com 3 June 2002. 5 Mar. 2003. Yesalis, Charles E; Cowart, Virginia S. The Steroids Game US 1998 Associated Press articles on www.CBSnews.com National Pastime Altered By Drugs CLEARWATER, Fla., March 31, 2003 Jason Giambi Subpoenaed SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20, 2003 Barry Bonds In Subpoena Lineup SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22, 2003 Designer Steroid Doping Scandal SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 23, 2003 Steroid Scandal's Impact Spreads SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 25, 2003 Athletes Testify In Doping Probe WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2003 Baseball To Test For Steroids NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2003 Bonds At Bat In Steroid Probe SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5, 2003

ronald reagan: a true american hero Essay -- essays research papers

Reagan: A True American Hero†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We will continue our quest in space. There will be more flights and more space shuttle crews. And, yes, more volunteers.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -Ronald Reagan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ronald Reagan, viewed by some as a true American hero, was as stupendous as presidents can be. His dramatic speeches and down-to-earth personality made people proud to be American. Ronald Reagan seemed more then American. He was a patriot. Ronald Reagan cared deeply for the American people as well at their values. Our nation now felt, with Reagan’s assistance, united. After a nation torn apart by the specter or war, Ronald brought the people together again. However, disaster can unite or divide a country. At a difficult time, when the Challenger exploded, Ronald Reagan inspired his nation to realize that we are modern day explorers, and disaster may be the price that must by paid.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Certain elements in Ronald’s life prepared him to be an effective ruler at a critical time. Reagan did not start out as a man of politics. In fact, he made his debut as an actor. Although he never made it to Hollywood, he would often appear in grade â€Å"B† romance films (Fox V. 73-80.) In his early years of politics, 1964 to be exact, Ronald supported and rallied for Barry Goldwater, a republican presidential candidate. It was a strange twist of irony, because at the time, Reagan was an ultra liberal. This may have come from the preposterous fact that Reagan knew very little about politics. It was said that Barry Goldwater drew Reagan to the more conservative side of politics. When Reagan finally began to get enthralled with politics, he ran for governor of California. He got elected in 1966 (Fox V 90-103.) Since Reagan was very liberal in a turbulent time, he used superflous police force in events which he deemed â€Å"riots.† Because of this, he was an outcast by the minority community. Since Ronald Reagan was very liberal, he had an open mind to influences. In his early acting years, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, where he learned small-scale government procedures (Fox V. 73-80.) Reagan was also a supporter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who... ...h. Patriotism is soaked in his speech. He continues mentioning how the nation must mourn their loss. Reagan acknowledges the obstacles and the challenges the crew overcame. He then mentions the names of the perished crew to commemorate their death. He then gives an apology to all the school children who witnessed the tragedy on live TV. He assumes his people from the space program have nothing to hide, and will continue to thrive in the public. I feel the president prescribed the remedy of patriotism in his speech. He wants America to be proud even in the face of danger. The people ate this up and generally agreed with it. (Speech)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reagan’s speech was to go down as one of history’s best. Ironically, it wasn’t written by him. It was composed by Peggy Noonan, one of the White House’s best speech writers. On a personal note, I feel this speech gave a beacon of hope to a nation in need. It captivates the nation’s disaster and made the burden seem less. In the end, Regan was one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. Even when hes not with us anymore, the effects that he left, both positive and negative, will dwell in the belly of our nation.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum Essay

Throughout this play we follow along with a group of people from Roman times. Its the culmination of a bunch of events happening on just one street with three houses shown. the play’s primary objective is that of a comedy, therefore to tell the story with true hilarity. Many of the characters in this play had objectives. Pseudolus is a Slave and his main objective was to obtain freedom. Hero has an objective of getting the love of his life, a beautiful courtesan from next door. Philia is the courtesan that Hero has his heart set out for. Miles Gloriosus is a decorated captain and is looking for a virgin to lay. Tactics are used throughout by all characters in order to try and get what they want. Pseudolus tries in the beginning to gain his freedom through purchase from his masters so he heads out and tricks citizens into gambling with him and gets money, but then gets caught cheating and has to return the money to the guy who he had dooped. Hero’s tactic to get to his objective had him offer Pseudolus his freedom in return for getting him the love of his life. Pseudolus’ tactic was to accept the offer given to him by Hero. There were many actions throughout the play for each character to try and achieve their objective. In â€Å"A Funny thing Happened On The Way To The Forum† behavior set the tone for the entire play. Whether it was just to make a laugh or to advance the story forward. For example how each character carried themselves helped with the story plot and how you perceive the role and place of each character. It showed through Domina throughout the play. She spoke loud and condescendingly throughout the play to show that she was an old, heartless, bitch that was disliked by all. Hysterium’s behavior was that of being insecure and a frantic mess who tried to please everyone. It was shown through his singing, shaking when talked to, and playing along with Pseudolus, even though through blackmail. What i liked best in this play was that it was a comedy. Personally i like to laugh, i feel like that is the best. The physical humor was a little  overdone but you always get a laugh from weeing peple throw themselves to the floor. It was enjoyable as well during the courtesan scene with presenting the people of the Lycus dwelling. What i did not appreciate in this play was the musical numbers. i have never been much of a fan of seeing actors sing and singing along with the orchestra kinda music was never for me. The other elements of the stage had a good amount to do with the story telling. They worked hard on a set that gave a small effort to make you feel that you were in the time. Was very well lit the entire time and lighting not once changed even though they tried with the change of coloring to the light with not much avail. Props looked cheap and unreal such as the ladder taped up with sports tape, and an awful table that was used during the courtesan presentation and hysteriums’ funeral. They tried so that was okay. The music was light and funny except when Gloriosus was around. I got what they were going for with costumes it was a good effort to fit the time period when they wanted to and dress up people funny for comedies sake.

Post-CABG Nursing

Coronary heart disease is a major physical illness and one of the main causes of death in Western society People who do not die an early and sudden death may have to consider a major surgical treatment, the most prevalent being coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). More than 350,000 such operations are performed annually in the United States alone. This operation prolongs the life of patients in cases of triple-vessel disease It also improves patients' quality of life), thus providing them with the opportunity for successful rehabilitation (Ben-Zur, 2000).The postoperative complications of CABG include the following: high anxiety or depression, central nervous system damage (CNS), and atrial fibrillation. In this paper, we will discuss the postoperative complications of CABG and how they impact nursing practice. . During the first several weeks after CABG surgery, states of high anxiety or depression are usually observed (see, for example, Pick, Molloy, Hinds, Pearce, & Salmon , 1994; Trzcieniecka-Green & Steptoe, 1994).In long-term research (that is, approximately one year after the operation), the results present a more positive trend in terms of elevation in positive moods (King, Porter, Norsen, & Reis, 1992; King, Reis, Porter, & Norsen, 1993), as well as an increase in quality of life (Kulik & Mahler, 1993). Such outcomes can be accounted for by illness severity factors. In addition, in recent years, the individual's personality and coping characteristics have been investigated as important determinants of post-CABG patients' emotional reactions and rehabilitation (Ben-Zur et al., 2000). Research studies indicate that depression is prevalent in approximately 20% of CAD patients, and has a significant effect on post-surgery morbidity and mortality. (Remedio, 2003). One major type of morbidity following CABG is central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction (. Barbut D, Hinton et al. 1985)]. Of all the adverse neurological outcomes that may be incurred posto peratively, stroke is one of the most serious.However, due to technological and surgical improvements the incidence of stroke is now reported to be as low as between 0. 8 and 5. 8% [McCann GM, et al. 1997) Duke University Medical Center study published in 2001 indicated that fully half of people undergoing bypass surgery developed memory or thinking problems in the days following it, and that these problems were usually still evident five years later. (Bypass surgery and memory, 2005) Consequently, the rate of post-CABG stroke is no longer a sufficient index of CNS dysfunction.Neuropsychological research suggests, however, that a considerable proportion of all patients who undergo CABG sustain some degree of cerebral damage and that this manifests as mild cognitive impairment. Although these cognitive deficits rarely disturb activities of daily living, they are still considered cause for concern. Therefore, it is these less severe forms of neurological injury, which are now targeted for reduction in what has been described as an age of quality improvement (Stump D. A. 1995; Stump D. A. , Rogers A. T. , and Hammon , J. W. 1996;].Cognitive impairment following coronary artery bypass grafting, Neuropsychological tests are valuable tools in the assessment of brain dysfunction as they provide a method of systematically and quantitatively studying the behavioral expressions of this dysfunction (Lezak, 1995) .As there is now only a low risk of stroke following CABG, milder forms of cerebral damage have become a greater focus of concern. Consequently, neuropsychological assessment has become more important within the domain of cardiac surgery. The advantage of neuropsychological tests is that they are capable of detecting subtle changes in cognitive function.In comparison, conventional neurological assessment techniques, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, are less sensitive and therefore less able to detect subtle CNS changes In addition, neurological assessme nt techniques do not lend themselves as readily to quantitative analysis [Heyer E. J, et al. 1995) Cognitive decline has been observed by many researchers using batteries of neuropsychological tests, usually administered to patients before and after surgery. A patient’s pre- and postoperative scores are then compared. In this way, intersubject variability is minimized as the subjects act as their own controls.While cognitive deficits have been consistently reported in the immediate postoperative period, some researchers have readministered test batteries in the immediate postoperative period, typically within 5–10 days of surgery (Aris A, et al, 1986; Clark et al. , 1995; . Newman MF, Croughwell ND, Blumenthal JA et al. 1994; Pugsley et al, 1994; Shaw PJ et al. 1986; Townes B. D. , Bashein G. , Hornbein T. F. et al. 1989; Symes et al, 2000).. Atrial fibrillation (AF), although t not life threatening, is one of the most common complications after CABG.Hospital stays oft en are prolonged due to intermittent hemodynamic instability of thomboembolic complications. During AF, loss of synchronous atrial mechanical activity response, and inappropriately high heart rates may have adverse effects o n hemodynamic functions and cause hypotension and hear failure. Of all the complications associated with postoperative AF< the most serious are throboemboic complications, which cause permanent morbidity in many patients. Risk of postoperative stroke has been found to be significantly increased with postoperative atrial tacharrhymias.Earlier studies shows that the incidence of AF can be as high as 50% in patients after the incidence of AF can be as high as 50% in patient after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), with a peak incidence on postoperative day 2 to 3. Atrial effective refractory periods (ERP) has been used a parameter to evaluate atrial repolarization and ERP and its dispersion are known parameters of atrial vulnerability that indicate enhanced at rial arrhythmogenesis, include a history spontaneous paroxysmal AF and easy inductility of atrial arrhthmias.( Solyu et al). Pleural effusion occurs in up to 80% of patients during the first week after CABG. Most of these effusions are small, self-limiting and do not require interventions. However, chronic, persistent post-CABG effusions have been reported. The etiology of these persistent effusions remains unknown. ( Lee et al, 2001) Sleep disturbances is another big postoperative complication The purpose of a 1996 Schafer et al study was to describe the nature and frequency of sleep pattern disturbances in patients post coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery.An exploratory design using telephone interviews at one week, one month, three months and six months was used to describe the incidence and nature of sleep disturbances post CABG surgery. Forty-nine patients completed all four measurement times. More than half of the patients reported sleep disturbances at each measurement time . Sleep disturbances during the first month post CABG were reported to be the result of incisional pain, difficulty finding a comfortable position and nocturia. Although less frequent over time, these problems persisted for six months. . Miller et al (2004) discusses post CABG postoperative symptoms.At 1 week post-CABG, symptoms were incisional pain, wound drainage, chest congestion, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, swollen feet, and loss of appetite; incisional pain and swollen feet were reported by a few patients at 6 weeks after CABG. The incidence and frequency of postoperative symptoms declined over time. There were several age-related differences in symptom reports prior to and at 1 and 6 weeks after the procedure (Miller et al, 2004. ). Nursing interventions A wide variety of interventions have been tested for recovery of CABG patients. These 19 studies tested 20 interventions.Most of the interventions were educational in nature and dealt with preoperative or dischar ge instructions or counseling provided to patients. Preoperative interventions to affect in-hospital recovery included preparatory information about cognitive dysfunction following surgery, preparatory information and counseling about physical and psychologic recovery, and psychiatric counseling. Two of the studies[Rice VH, Mullin MH, Jarosz P.. 1992. ] compared the effectiveness of preadmission versus postadmission preparatory instructions, and one study [Barnason S, Zimmerman L, Nieveen J. 1995; Gortner SR, Gilliss CL, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, et al.1988); . compared the effects of music, relaxation, and structured rest on hospital recovery outcomes. One study tested the effect of in-hospital range-of-motion (ROM) exercises on arm ROM at discharge. Interventions for home recovery were delivered close to the time of discharge or within the first couple of weeks following discharge. Most of the studies involved tests of structured discharge preparatory information about home recovery using slide and tape programs,[ Gortner SR, Gilliss CL, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, et al. 1988; Gilliss CL, Gortner SR, Hauck WW, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, Tompkins C. 1993;.] telephone follow-up and counseling,[ Gortner SR, Gilliss CL, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, et al.. 1988;13:649-661. , Gilliss CL, Gortner SR, Hauck WW, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, Tompkins C. 1993; Beckie T. 1989; Barnason S, Zimmerman L. 1995;] outpatient group teaching,[ Dracup; 1982. Dissertation. ,32] and homegoing audiotapes Interventions to promote risk factor modification behaviors included four studies[Dracup KA. 1982. ] that assessed the effect of structured versus unstructured teaching programs designed to increase knowledge of risk factors and enhance compliance with risk factor modification behaviors.Another study tested an education program that included a behavioral component as well Various outcome variables have been used to evaluate CABG recovery. The most frequently used outcome was mood states; 10 of the 19 studies used mood states as an outcome measure. The most frequently used measurement point for hospital recovery outcomes was the first day following surgery and discharge. Home recovery outcomes were usually measured at 1, 3, and 6 months following discharge. Outcomes associated with risk factor modification most often were measured at 6 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months following surgery.What is the effectiveness of the interventions? Preparatory information was the intervention most frequently tested. In the two studies[Rice VH, Mullin MH, Jarosz P. 1992;, Anderson EA. 1987;] assessing its effectiveness to reduce analgesia use during hospital recovery, preoperative preparatory information was not found to be effective. Preoperative preparatory information was found to be effective in increasing patients' comfort and control when experiencing postoperative delirium.There was no support for the ability of preoperative preparatory information to reduce anxiety during in-hospital reco very] Discharge preparatory information also was found not to be effective in three of the four studies evaluating mood states during home recovery; this finding was noted even when individual counseling and telephone follow-up were added to the initial information provided Preadmission preparatory information about activity resumption during hospital recovery was found to be effective in one study (Cupples 1991. ] but not in another. [ Rice VH, Mullin MH, Jarosz P. 1992).Activity resumption at home was found to be significantly increased by the provision of discharge preparatory information in two[Gilliss CL, Gortner SR, Hauck WW, Shinn JA, Sparacino PA, Tompkins C. 1993; Moore SM. 1996] 33 of three studies. Discharge preparatory information aimed at families was not found to be effective in improving family functioning (family cohesion and family communication) during the home recovery periodGiven the small number of studies addressing the effect of preparatory information on phys iologic outcomes (blood pressure, heart rate, angina), no conclusions were made about its effectiveness on these variables.Similarly, no conclusions were drawn about the effectiveness of ROM exercises, music, and visual imaging to enhance CABG recovery because of the small single studies testing each of these interventions. There was clear evidence that information interventions designed to increase individuals' knowledge about managing recovery experiences during the first home recovery month and about coronary artery disease risk factor modification was effective; three of the four studies evaluating this intervention found significant effects.Similarly, tests of the effectiveness of structured versus unstructured instruction indicated that structured information was more effective in increasing knowledge. Education to enhance compliance with medical regimens and risk factor modifications was found to be effective for some risk modification behaviors but not for others. It appears that information alone does not change behaviors. Allen's[Allen. 1996;. ] study of an intervention to increase self-efficacy using both counseling and behavior modification techniques represented an important departure from previous interventions that were based solely on education and counseling.Although Allen found a positive effect for only one of the risk modification behaviors studied (dietary intake), the addition of a behavioral component is an important change in cardiovascular health behavior modification interventions. Gender differences have been widely explored by nurses. Investigators have identified that gender can constitute a form a biculturalism (that is, women view surgery as a minor inconvenience, whereas men view it as a major life event). Postoperative symptoms vary, with males experiencing more fatigue, incisional chest pain, and atrial dysrythmias.Conversely, women have more numbness and breast discomfort, heart failure, and functional impairment. The 2 areas wherein the most work has been done are pain and sleep. A number of descriptive studies have been done on patients' self-report of pain, their satisfaction with treatment, and underuse of analgesics. Limited research on interventions to relieve pain has been reported. Despite these studies on pain outcomes, more exploratory work is required for pain associated with minimally invasive cardiac surgery, pain, and discomfort at discharge, and subsequently identification and trialing of interventions to provide pain relief.The relationships between exercise behavior and functional status of men and women 5 to 6 years after CABG have not been examined in a representative patient sample. This study (Treat-Jacobson & Lindquist, 2004). compared the 5- to 6-year recovery in a cohort of 184 patients at the Minnesota site of the Post CABG Biobehavioral Study. Data were collected by telephone interview and self-administered questionnaires. Results showed that women had lower physical (p ? .004) and social (p = . 001) functioning scores; men were more likely to participate in regular exercise (p = .01). Exercisers had higher functional status scores. ANCOVA demonstrated that differences in measures of functional status by exercise category were maintained even after controlling for age, sex, and symptom severity (p ? .01). In conclusion, individuals who exercised had more positive functional outcomes 5 to 6 years In general, nurse investigators have conducted sufficient studies within each of the generic outcome categories to allow for identification of cardiac surgery-specific outcomes that can be considered nurse sensitive.Artinian (1993) demonstrated that in the early recovery phase, only 62% of women spouses felt they were prepared for discharge, with key concerns being the availability of social support, use of coping strategies, personal resources, and knowing what to expect. At 6 weeks after discharge, women's concerns were most often regarding their husband's self- care activities, uncertainty, and husband's physical and mental symptoms. At 1 year after surgery, women reported less social support and greater role strain than they did at earlier time periods.48 Other investigators have shown that positive psychosocial adjustment to illness is influenced both by the quality of the patient's marriage and level of dysphoria. 49 Nursing interventions to improve family functioning have been reported by a number of investigators. Family members of ICU patients, who were recipients of care from nurses who attended educational sessions and who used checklists to assure provision of information and support, reported lower anxiety and higher satisfaction levels than did families not provided with this level of care.50 Other reports of a controlled trial with a nurse-led psychoeducational intervention51 and follow-up phone calls33 demonstrated no differences in improving patients' recovery or family functioning. Further research in this field should focus on determining if these findings persist across different demographic and economic groups Studies of functional status outcomes have focused on general activity and activities of daily living (ADLs). Specific findings have included that high levels of self-efficacy and decreased tension and anxiety at 4 weeks after surgery are predictive of greater activity at 8 weeks.Women report greater disruption of ADLs at 1 than at 3 months, while disruption of their recreational activities is similar at both times. Need during home health visits include maximum assistance with meals and laundry but only partial assistance with bathing and dressing. One randomized controlled trial comparing usual care with supplemental hospital education and weekly telephone follow-up to improve self-efficacy demonstrated that patients in the experimental group developed higher expectations for walking, lifting, climbing stairs, and working than did patients in the control group.(Whitman, 2004). Conclusion Cor onary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is regularly performed in most major hospitals, reflecting the high prevalence of coronary artery disease in western countries. A number of studies have identified cohorts of patients undergoing CABG and other cardiac procedures who experience a higher than expected rate of mortality and morbidity. Increasing age, poor left ventricular function, urgent/emergency procedures, complex operations and reoperation procedures have all been identified as risk factors resulting in prolonged hospital stays and increased morbidity.Subsequently, with current emphasis on both better clinical management and more cost-efficient practice, it is becoming increasingly beneficial to identify low-risk patients who can be safely ‘fast tracked’ to reduce postoperative management costs. The current, eclectic mix of topics studied reflects early resolution of specific issues. However, surgical procedures, recovery times, hospital length of stay, transit ional care facility length of stay, use of home healthcare, and patient characteristics have changed dramatically during the last decade, suggesting that new functional outcome recovery trajectories evolved.These new patterns for functional recovery and interventions merit new inquiry and reporting. The nursing studies have been well designed and have allowed the investigators to move, in many categories, through logical iterations of discovery (this is, from exploratory and descriptive work to predictive and correlational work and, finally, into interventional work). Future work in all categories needs to focus on moving through these stages and enhancing the current directions being taken so that patients achieve positive, optimal outcomes.Such information can be used to plan the care of patients undergoing CABG, to prepare them for normal recovery, and to determine the need for symptom management by health care providers References Allen J. A. . (2000) Coronary risk factor modifi cation in women after coronary artery bypass surgery. Nurs Res;45:260-265. Aris, A, et al.. Arterial line filtration during cardiopulmonary bypass. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery1986; 91:526–533. Artinian N. (1993) Spouses' perception of readiness for discharge after cardiac surgery. Appl Nurs Res. ;6(2):80-88 Barbarowicz P, Nelson M, DeBusk RF, Haskell WL.A comparison of in-hospital education approaches for coronary bypass patients. Heart Lung. 1980;9:127-133. Barbut D. , Hinton R. B. , Szatrowski T. P. et al. 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