Chose the qualitative versus quantitative approach Assignment

Chose the qualitative versus quantitative approach - Assignment Example As a result, this involves identifying the concepts taking place within the operating room, then assessing the outcomes to implement changes in practice. The method tries to optimize internal strengths by reducing the environmental influences that might change the intervention results (Leeman & Sandelowski, 2012). This category would be amenable to qualitative inquiry because it considers different aspects during the research process to determine the correct activities through investigations and environmental influences. The choice of this qualitative was because it incorporates practice-based evidence into the real world activities for nursing professionals. This implies that it does not use assumptions or secondary literature to influence the findings (Leeman & Sandelowski, 2012). The method is also appropriate because it helps clinicians to plan for the execution of interventions in practice. This is done by researchers who deliberate on the practical implications of the results and use the research to obtain favorable practice-based evidence (Nelson, 2013). For instance, the operation room nurses must plan for their activities before adopting new implementation of interventions in practice. In this regard, the method enables the nurses to understand new concepts and offer their opinions before putting them into use because it emphasizes on

Computers are not confined to being used for entertainment but its role in education is also vast Essay Example for Free

Computers are not confined to being used for entertainment but its role in education is also vast Essay A. Introduction A library is a place in which literary and artistic materials such as books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, prints, records, and tapes, are kept for reading, reference or lending. A collection of such materials, especially when systematically arranged; a room of private home for such collection. At first glance, your library is a bunch of books with a librarian to check them out to you, and back in when you return them. Your librarian insures (of tries to, as money permits) your library is well stocked with current titles. The librarian also has to keep the building neat and in good repair and also these things only shows a few of the things which make up your library. Now a day, in a highly technological society, human productivity is made more efficient through the development of electronic gadgets. Now, with the advent of such modernization in education, one way to globalize the process of research is to realize that technology is advancing at an incredibly fast pace. In School, reading materials are stored in libraries. Library is a place in which books and related materials are kept for use but not for sale. It is also organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution or a private individual. In addition, it is a place in which we get information in any format and from many sources. The librarian has to keep the room neat so that it is conducive for learning. The librarian is also the person who is liable for monitoring all the books that are borrowed and returned by the borrowers. B. Background of the Study The proponents will propose the Library Books Borrowing and Returning System for General Miguel Malvar Elementary School located at Mangga Ave, Sta Mesa, Manila. . The Head Librarian, Mrs. Tina Guerrero stated that they are currently using the Dewey Decimal Library System. They are still utilizing a manual system. The library users and the librarian still use card catalogues in searching for reading materials and use index card for the records of borrowed and returned books. The proponent’s study was what is which encounter to the Library by the user, Librarian and how the Owner or the Administrator of the said school will provide a good service to their clients to have a good feedback. The study will focus on transaction which done inside the Library like borrowing, returning of books by students, faculties and staffs. C. Statement of the Problem General Problem: * How to computerized Library System of Gen. Miguel Malvar Elementary School? Specific Problem: * How to maintain library records? * How to provide back-up copy? * How to maintain data integrity? * How to make user friendly screen? * How to secure database files? D. Objective of the Study General Objective: * To develop a computerized library system for Gen. Miguel Malvar Elementary School using Visual Basic. Specific Objective: * To maintain library record by providing add, edit and delete module to our system. * To create utility module to back up database files. * To maintain data integrity by creating a relational database files. * To make a user friendly screen by designing a simple screen that can be easily understand. * To secure database file by creating a user log-in for security purposes. E. Scope and Limitations The library system can only monitor the borrowed and returned books. It computes the penalty for due date. The system does not include the inventory of the books. F. Significance of the Study As the researchers identify their objectives, they were able to discuss the significance of their topic to certain factors which they are closely related: Librarian / Custodian * The Librarian / Custodian will benefit from this project because it will help him/her monitor the books borrowed and returned. School * The school will benefit from this project because they help provide books to student of that school. Student * The student will benefit from this project because can help the student to easily know if the books he /she need is available or not in the library. Chapter II A. Feasibility Study 1. Operational Feasibility The system is operationally feasible because their library staff is computer literate and is trained to use computer applications plus, they know the basic things they used to do on the manual library system, thereby maintaining the concepts of the originallibrary logic. We can also say that it is operationally feasible because their facility has computers without taking much space and the main office actually holds the database since they originally have a main storage of information for the billing of their student. 2. Technical Feasibility The proposed system is technicallyfeasible because the Software and Hardware are available. The Software to be use is Visual Basic. Net and the database is MS Access. 3. Economical Feasibility The system is economically feasible. The maintenance of computer hardware and software is updated. a. Initial Investment Computer set with printer P15, 000. Computer programmer P40, 000 Total initial Investment P55, 00 b. Existing Operational Cost Salary of 3 employees P30, 000 Logbook papers P1, 500 Ball pensP150 Electricity P 1, 200 Total operational cost P32,850 c. Proposed System Operational Cost Salary of 2 employees P25, 000 Internet connectionP1, 200 Electricity P1, 500 PapersP 900 Total operational cost P28,600 d. Savings Monthly Operational Cost| Existing| Supplies| P1,650| Maintenance| P1,200| Labor| P30,000| Total| P32,850| Yearly Operational Cost| Existing| 1st| P394,200| 2nd| P421,794| 3rd| P449,388| 4th| P476,982| 5th| P504,576| Monthly Operational Cost| Proposed|. Supplies| P900| Maintenance| P2,700| Labor| P25,000| Total| P28,600| Yearly Operational Cost| Proposed| 1st| P343,200| 2nd| P367,224| 3rd| P391,284| 4th| P415,272| 5th| P439,296| SAVINGS/PAY | Existing System| Proposed System| Savings| 1st Year| 394,200| 343,200| 51,000| 2nd Year| 788,400| 686,400| 102,000| 3rd Year| 1,182,600| 1,029,600| 153,00| 4th Year| 1,576,800| 1,372,800| 204,000| 5th Year| 1,971,000| 1,716,000| 255,00| BACK PERIOD Chapter III ID ID A. Data Flow Diagram 1. DFD of Existing System BORROWED BOOK BORROWED BOOK NO PENALTY NO PENALTY ACCCEPTED BORROWED BOOK ACCCEPTED BORROWED BOOK 5 CHECK PENALTY 5 CHECK. PENALTY 4 ACCEPT BORROWED BOOK 4 ACCEPT BORROWED BOOK 6 RETURN ID 6 RETURN ID Student Student ID, BOOK ID, BOOK 1 RECEIVED ID BOOK 1 RECEIVED ID BOOK M2 BOOK CARD M2 BOOK CARD M1 LOGBOOK M1 LOGBOOK W/ PENALTY W/ PENALTY RECEIPT RECEIPT RECEIVED ID BOOK RECEIVED ID BOOK DISPATCHED BOOK DISPATCHED BOOK 2 UPDATE CARD BOOK 2 UPDATE CARD BOOK 7 ACCEPT PAYMENT 7 ACCEPT PAYMENT M2 BOOK CARD M2 BOOK CARD PAYMENT PAYMENT Student Student. 3 DISPATCH BOOK 3 DISPATCH BOOK M3 PENALTY M3 PENALTY 2. DFD of Proposed System ID ID 5 RECORD RETURN TRANSACTION 5 RECORD RETURN TRANSACTION NO PAYMENT NO PAYMENT RETURNED BOOK RETURNED BOOK. 4 CHECK PENALTY 4 CHECK PENALTY Student Student BORROWED BOOK BORROWED BOOK Recorded Return Transaction Recorded Return Transaction 1 RECORD BOOK CARD 1 RECORD BOOK CARD C1 TRANSACTION INFO C1 TRANSACTION INFO C1 TRANSACTION INFO C1 TRANSACTION INFO DISPATCHED BOOK DISPATCHED BOOK Recorded Transaction Recorded Transaction 6 COMPUTE PENALTY 6 COMPUTE PENALTY C1 TRANSACTION INFO C1 TRANSACTION INFO 7 ACCEPT PENALTY 7 ACCEPT PENALTY COMPUTED PENALTY COMPUTED PENALTY 2 UPDATE CARD BOOK 2 UPDATE CARD BOOK C2 Book Card C2 Book Card PAYMENT PAYMENT CHANGE CHANGE Student Student 3 DISPATCH BOOK 3 DISPATCH BOOK B. Prototyping 1. Program Listing Screen Title: Log-in Form Description: This is the log-in form. First the user will input the username and the password then click the log-in button. If the user inputted the correct username and password it will show the transactions form. Screen Title: ERROR Button Description: This form will show if the user inputted the wrong username and password. To go back to the log-in form click the OK button. Administrator Screen Title: Administrator Description: This is where you can view the student account and admin account. If you click the button menu you can see the information of the student and the administration. Admin Account Screen Title: Admin Account Description: This is where the user can view their account and information. Student Account Screen Title: Student Account Description: This is where the user can view their account and information. Select Information Screen Title: Select Information Description: This is the Select Information Form. If the user wants to view the Student Information he/she will click the Student Information Button. If the user wants to view the Book Information he/she will click the Book Information Button. If the user wants to view or make Transaction he/she will click the Transaction Information Button. If the user wants to view the reports he/she will click the Report Button. If the user wants to view or make another user he/she will click the Administration Button. Student Information Screen Title: Student Information Description: This form is the Student Information form. It contains the Student No., Name, Grade and Section, Address, and Contact number. In this form the user can add, edit and delete Student information. Book Information Screen Title: Book Information Description: This form is the Book Information form. It contains the Book No. , Book Title, Book ISD, Book Author, Subject, Location and Status. In this form the user can add, edit and delete Book Information. Transaction Information of Borrowed Book Screen Title: Transaction Information of Borrowed Book Description: This form is the Transaction Information of Borrowed Book form. The user can input the Book No. , Due Date and penalty of the Borrowed Book. Transaction Information of Returned book Screen Title: Transaction Information of Returned Book Description: This form is the Transaction Information of Returned Book form. This form will compute the Penalty based on the due date or how long it was before the book is returned. Database File Structures. | Student Information| | Field Name| Type| Width| Student No| Number| 15| Name| Text| 50| Grade Section| Text| 50| Address| Text| 150| Contact No| Number| 15| | Book Information| | Field Name| Type| Width| Book No| Number| 10| Book Title| Text| 150| Book Author| Text| 150| Subject| Text| 100| Location| Text| 150| Status| Text| 150| | TRANSACTION INFO| | Field Name| Type| Width| Transaction No| Number| 15| Student No| Number| 15| Name| Text| 150| Book No| Number| 10| Book Author| Text| 150| Date Borrow| Date| N/A| Date Return| Date| N/A| Due Date| Date| N/A| Penalty| Currency| 10| | Book Card| |. Field Name| Type| Width| Name| Text| 150| Title of the book| Text| 15| Book number| Text| 10| Date Borrow| Date | N/A| Date return| Date| N/A| Date Due| Date| N/A| General Miguel Malvar Elementary School Mangga Ave, Sta Mesa, Manila Report of Transaction Transaction No| Student No| Book No| Book Title| Date Borrow| Due Date| Date Returned| Penalty| 1| 1000013| 400| Skills in Reading| 10/2/2012| 10/5/2012| 10/8/2012| Php30. 00| 2| 1000014| 401| Modern in Action| 10/3/2012| 10/5/2012| 10/8/2012| Php20. 00| 3| 1000015| 402| English V| 10/1/2012| 10/9/2012| 10/9/2012| Php50. 00| | Total: ____P100. 00____ Total: ____P100. 00____ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ General Miguel Malvar Elementary School Mangga Ave, Sta Mesa, Manila Report of Borrowed Books Transaction No| Student No| Book No| Book Title| Date Borrow| Due Date| 1| 1000013| 400| Skills in Reading| 10/2/2012| 10/5/2012| 2| 1000014| 401| Modern in Action| 10/3/2012| 10/5/2012| 3| 1000015| 402| English V| 10/1/2012| 10/9/2012| Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ General Miguel Malvar Elementary School Mangga Ave, Sta Mesa, Manila Report of Retuned Books Transaction No| Student No| Book No| Book Title| Date Borrow| Due Date| Date Returned| 1| 1000013| 400| Skills in Reading| 10/2/2012| 10/5/2012| 10/8/2012| 2| 1000014| 401| Modern in Action| 10/3/2012| 10/5/2012| 10/8/2012| 3| 1000015| 402| English V| 10/1/2012| 10/9/2012| 10/9/2012| Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ Prepared By: __Tina Guerrero__ User Manual I. System Requirements CPU| Pentium 4, Athlon XP, Semprov| | Clock Speed| 2. 0GHz or higher| | System Memory(RAM)| 1G| | Operating System| Windows XP\Vista| |. HDD free space| 2. 0GB| | DirectX| 9. 0 or higher| | Internet Connection| 1Gbps| | Video Card| GeForce FX6600 or Radeon 9800 series| | Video Memory| 512MB| | II. Installation 1. Run the installation setup, MMESLYS-Setup. exe. Afterwards, users are to be prompted to this screen. Click Next to continue. Welcome to Miguel Malvar Elem School Library System Installation Setup Wizard Welcome to Miguel Malvar Elem School Library System Installation Setup Wizard This will install Miguel Malvar Elem School Library System 1. 0 on your Computer This will install Miguel Malvar Elem School Library System 1. 0 on your Computer 2. They will be asked to confirm if you agree on the End-User license agreement for them to be able to proceed with the installation. Choose â€Å"I agree† then Next button would be enabled. Click Next. 3. After signing off the EULA, they would now be brought to the page wherein they would choose where to put the folder for the application. Choose where to put the files and click Next. 4. The wizard will now start installing the system. Just wait for the progress to reach completion and then click Next. The installation has been successfully completed by that and the user just needs to click Close to exit the installation wizard. III. System Navigation 1. This is the log-in form will be welcome to the log in interface. They just need to use the log in IDs provided by the Administrator and then click the Log in button. 2. This is the invalid username password if your username you input is not correct, just click the ok button. 3. This is where you can view the student account and admin account. If you click the button menu you can see the information of the student and the administration. 4. This admin account will show the information of admin and their account 5. This student account will show the information of the student. 6. This is the Select Information Form. If the user wants to view the Student Information he/she will click the Student Information Button. If the user wants to view the Book Information he/she will click the Book Information Button. If the user wants to view or make Transaction he/she will click the Transaction Information Button. If the user wants to view the reports he/she will click the Report Button. If the user wants to view or make another user he/she will click the Administration Button. 7. This form is the Student Information form. It contains the Student No. , Name, Grade and Section, Address, and Contact number. In this form the user can add, edit and delete Student information. 8. This form is the Book Information form. It contains the Book No. , Book Title, Book ISD, Book Author, Subject, Location and Status. In this form the user can add, edit and delete Book Information. 9. This form is the Transaction Information of Borrowed Book form. The user can input the Book No. , Due Date and penalty of the Borrowed Book. 10. This form is the Transaction Information of Returned Book form. This form will compute the Penalty based on the due date or how long it was before the book is returned.

Character Analysis of Eveline from James Joyces Dubliners :: Dubliners Essays

Eveline:   Character Analysis  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography w/3 sources  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision (James).† Originally appearing in Dubliners, a compilation of vignettes by James Joyce, his short story Eveline is the tale of such an unfortunate individual. Anxious, timid, scared, perhaps even terrified -- all these describe Eveline. She is a frightened, indecisive young woman poised between her past and her future.   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Eveline loves her father but is fearful of him. She tries to hold onto good memories of her father, thinking â€Å"sometimes he could be very nice (Joyce 5),† but has seen what her father has done to her siblings when he would â€Å"hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick (Joyce 4).† As of late she has begun to feel â€Å"herself in danger of her father’s violence (Joyce 4).† Ironically, her father has â€Å"begun to threaten her and say what he’d do to her only for her dead mother’s sake (Joyce 5).†   Ã‚  Ã‚   Eveline wants a new life but is afraid to let go of her past. She dreams of a place where â€Å"people would treat her with respect (Joyce 4)† and when contemplating her future, hopes â€Å"to explore a new life with Frank (Joyce 5).† When, in a moment of terror she realizes that â€Å"she must escape (Joyce 6),† it seems to steel her determination to make a new home for herself elsewhere. On the other hand, she is comfortable with the â€Å"familiar objects from which she had never dreamed of being divided (Joyce 4).† She rationalizes that: â€Å"In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her (Joyce 4).† As she reflects on her past she discovers â€Å"now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life (Joyce 5).†   Ã‚  Ã‚   Eveline wants to keep the deathbed pledge made to her mother but is alarmed at the prospect of sharing her mother’s fate. Her mother was ill-treated in life and Eveline vows that â€Å"she would not be treated as her mother had been (Joyce 4).† She has had a life filled with hardship and chafes under â€Å"her promise to keep the home together as long as she could (Joyce 6).† When she recalls â€Å"the pitiful vision of her mother’s life (Joyce 6)† she is uncertain of what to do and prays â€Å"to god to direct her, to show her what was her duty (Joyce 6).

The Impact of Race, Geographic Location, and Time on the Prevalence of Diabetes :: Descriptive Epidemiology Project, Diabetes

1. What is the outcome of interest? The outcome of interest for my epidemiology project is the prevalence of diabetes in a national population (United States), and how factors such as race, geographic location, and time, have an impact on the outcome. 2. Briefly define and describe your outcome. You may want to do a bit of research on some of the characteristics of your outcome. For example, what is diabetes? Or, how do we define cases of HIV, and what are some of the health implications? Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar (or glucose) levels are above what they should be in a normal person. Through various biological processes, our body turns carbohydrates into glucose, or sugar, for our body to then use as energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. With diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). While there are three different types of diabetes (diabetes type 1, diabetes type 2, and gestational diabetes) men and women can develop diabetes at any age. Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, usually develops in young people; but, type 1 diabetes can also develop in adults. In type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin or enough insulin because the body’s immune system, and other harmful substances, attacked and destroyed the cells that make insulin (Basics about Diabetes, 2012). Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called â€Å"adult-onset diabetes†, can affect people at any age, even children. However, type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older people. People who are overweight and inactive are also more likely to develop it. In type 2 diabetes, fat, muscle, and liver cells do not use insulin to carry glucose into the body’s cells to use for energy—a term denoted as insulin resistance. While the pancreas initially keeps up with the added demand by making more insulin, over time, the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin when blood sugar levels increase (Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011).Gestational diabetes can develop when a woman is pregnant. Pregnant women make hormones that can lead to insulin resistance. All women have insulin resistance late in their pregnancy. If the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin during pregnancy, a woman develops gestational diabetes.

Reflection: Patient and Surgery Center

Kimberly Blatnica Preceptor Site: Surgery Center at Regency Park Clinical Reflection 4 17 October 2012 Today’s clinical experience allowed for new education and skill practice. I was able to precept in post-op, which was a great change. Being in pre-op, we are responsible for receiving clients from the OR. We then monitor them, reeducate, prepare for and perform discharge, and cleaning the area that was used by disinfecting, tossing and replacing linens, and moving the bed to an empty room in pre-op. We receive report from the circulating nurse and the nurse anesthetist when they first bring the patient to recovery.Together we hook the patient up to the monitors and record the first set of vitals together. These include: blood pressure, heart rate, respirations, temperature, pulse ox, pain (if patient is conscious), and an ECG reading if they were general. When I first arrived to clinical today- I was told we were going to be busy. I was also able to work with clients’ receiving urology and ENT procedures, not just cataracts. Urology was new for me but I was excited to be doing something different. Learning needs identified for this experience were only regarding urology patients.They differ due to the use of general anesthesia, the need to void before discharge, education of post-op care, and pain medication administration. Learning needs I identified from this experience includes education about the different urology procedures and education, how to effectively care for a general anesthesia patient during recovery, and complications. I met my needs by asking many questions during clinical and the use of our textbook. One of my client’s primary concerns occurred after he received a cystoscopy with the insertion of an indwelling urethral stent.This patient was a 52 year old male, with mild hypertension. No other health concerns were noted in his chart. He originally scheduled the procedure in order to remove a very large stone. However afte r waking up and speaking with the surgeon, he was told he had been too inflamed for the procedure. The surgeon asked him to schedule a second attempt for the removal for next week, in hopes the stent would decrease the swelling. This client also did not know how to care for the stent. The stent will make a patient feel the constant urge to void. This sensation is often relieved by pain medication.It is very uncomfortable and can easily be dislodged while passing stool, wiping, cleaning the area, and getting dressed. This specidic stent is attached to a string that hangs outside the patient’s body. The stent can lead to infection if the area is not kept clean. These were important concepts to discuss with the client. Main points I helped to educate were: take pain medication every 6 hours to eliminate the likelihood of increased pain, drink plenty of fluid to help flush the renal system, no bathes, signs of infection, situations when to calling the doctor is a must, and how to care for the stent.I also helped administer 2 rounds of Fentanyl and two Percocet to help relieve his discomfort and urge to void. He was then able to void which resulted in blood tinged urine. We assured the patient this was normal for the first void following surgery. He was in a lot of pain during this process. It was more comfortable for him to stand, but during his stay he spent most of his time sitting. He also had a forty-five minute drive home, which is why we decided to administer two Percocet, instead of one. One course objective I met today was: demonstrate effective communication skills.This was completed during every education session I had with my patients and their family member/friend prior to discharge. Regardless of the procedure, every person is provided with post-op care instructions. A second course objective I met was: collaborate with patients, families, health care team members, and others in the provision of care. I worked side by side with great nurses all day. We worked as a team with interventions, time management, discussions about the patient’s needs and concerns, reports, and preparations. We also worked close with those working in the OR.Also, while educating patients, sometimes there is a need to collaborate alternatives. This is important to maintain outstanding health care. Report on one patient at least 3 times throughout the semester| The 52 year old male described previously received surgery today in hopes of removing a painful stone. He was experiencing abdominal pain and has had a history of past stones requiring surgery. Diagnostic studies for this patient included a previous x-ray and today’s cystoscopy. The indications for surgical stone removal include: stones too large for spontaneous assage, stones associated with infection or impaired renal function, stones which cause persistent pain, nausea, or ileus, a patient’s inability to be treated with medication, or a patient with only one kidney (Le wis, 1137). Those associated in this case were size, risk for infection, renal function, and pain. An aspect that differed from a typical care was the inability for stone removal and severe inflammation (Lewis, 1137-8). The passageway was so swollen; the surgeon could not even get near the stone’s location.Furthermore, usually patients will know why they have the reoccurrence of stones, while this patient did not. They hope after removing the stone, they will be able to prevent further episodes by testing the actual stone’s composition. Another patient I cared for today was a 17 month old male. His diagnosis was unspecified chronic nonsupportive otitis media. He received a typanostomy. Many symptoms and complications of otitis media in our text are congruent with this patient’s history- even though this patient is not an adult.The patient has a history of purulent exudates, bilateral hearing loss, and inflammation of the middle ear (Lewis, 426). Differentiating from our text, the child was often times seen pulling on his ears as a result of pain; while our text states it’s more likely to be painless (Lewis, 426). Complications of this disorder results in chronic inflammation which was most likely the cause of his pain. Typanoplasty, ear irrigations, antibiotics, analgesic, and surgery are all recommendations for those with Otitis media (Lewis, 426). These interventions were in the patient’s file.Today, he had the tubes removed from both ears and left with a prescription for Tylenol and antibiotics. This procedure was recommended if medication was not successful (Lewis, 426). | Report on at least ONCE throughout the semester | Today during the recovery of the 52 year old male mentioned above, we noticed he did not have his two prescriptions written. It was important we found the surgeon before he left (this happened to be his last case). The patient was missing his prescription for his antibiotic and pain medication. Both impo rtant for his recovery and duration between surgeries.My preceptor paged for the surgeon, and he happened to return before she returned to the patients area. I was feeding the patient ice cubes when he asked me what the call was for. I was able to show the surgeon his orders and blank scripts. He filled them out and I began to explain the use of and directions for both medications. I was able to communicate with the surgeon both effectively and professionally. Furthermore, it helped the surgeon was very nice- to staff and patients. I did not think or feel much about the interaction ahead of time. It happened so fast, but once it was over I was proud of myself.I feel even as a student nurse, you still have to be prepared for anything. If I could, I would change the fact the prescriptions were written out ahead of time. At the surgery center we have receptionists that organize our charts. These staff members keep the jobs of nurses and doctors organized and effective. A couple weeks a go, I was going through a chart and noticed a patient’s medication reconsolidation form was missing. By speaking to the receptionists, they were able to obtain another copy. This form is very important when discussing medication regimens with patients in post-op.It is important for new medications to be explained and checked for incompatibilities with other medications the patient is prescribed. I felt speaking to the receptionists was not much of a challenge; however, without their help we could have had a more serious complication. I do not feel receptionists get enough credit in the medical setting. They may not be running around all day; however, without them at the surgery center (which does not have EMRs) they play a role in patient safety and allow everyone else to perform their duties. |

Reflective Essay Sample on Writing Skills How to Progress

Reflective Essay Sample on Writing Skills How to Progress Writing skills are very fundamental skills for all kinds of purposes, but especially when writing essays. It is very difficult to write a good essay without the proper writing skills. Although everyone claims he or she can write a good essay, many people lack the needed skills that make an essay a polished piece of writing. The difference between professional writers and the everyday person is that the professional writer has writing skills that makes his or her essays stand out. Writing skills are very essential when writing any kind of an essay. Many students do not possess the good writing skills that are very important. Students should admit to themselves that this is among their greatest weaknesses and seek help from professionals who are very competent in their essay writing skills. Good writing skills involve the ability to write an essay that is free from grammatical errors, with a good content as well as style and structure. A good writer must understand and progress through the writing process, which includes prewriting, writing, revision, and proofreading. Part of the writing process is in knowing who the intended audience is and the purpose of the writing. In many cases, students fail to understand their audience or how to relate to that audience. If the student knows in advance that the writing is to target a specific audience, then the student needs to know what interest that audience and what kinds of opinions that audience is likely to have on certain subjects. Students start writing their essays without first identifying their audience which is very wrong. Another fallacy that students often commit is failing to create an outline that will assist them in organizing their thoughts, thus ensuring that no points are left out when writing the essay. An outline helps to ensure that the essay has a clear flow and that every point is well explained. Besides the outline, students must take seriously the use of good grammar as well as utilization of appropriate stylistic techniques. Essays written by professionals are always reader friendly because the professionals make use of headings, subheadings, and listing whenever possible. These strategies help the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought. Moreover, readers find it easier to read a page that has been broken down to small paragraphs than a page with long paragraphs. An essay that is easily scanned is quite attractive to the reader. These are some of the writing skills that many students do not possess. Although professional writers utilize these strategies, students can learn them as well. However, they must spend time and diligence in understanding what makes good writing, and then they must practice. How to Write a Reflective Essay on Writing Skills An individual who wishes to become an accomplished writer must learn to reflect on his writing. An effective strategy is to develop a writing portfolio. This is a collection of writing the person does over a period of time. Part of that portfolio is writing reflective essays. For example, if the individual writes a story, he can then write a reflective essay on that story. He can critique himself on his plot structure and character development. He can discuss what he was trying to accomplish and how well he succeeded. If the individual is critiquing his general writing skills, then he might choose a piece he wrote at the beginning of the school year and compare it to a piece he wrote at the end of the school year. He might note improvements he has made in vocabulary development, sentence structure, organization of ideas, and development of a thesis. In summary, the purpose of a reflective essay on writing is to examine one’s own writing to identify strengths and weaknesses and to establish goals for improvement.

Causes of WWI essays

Causes of WWI essays World War I started due to a culmination of several long and short term factors involving aspects of nationalism, imperialism, militarism, alliance systems, and physical conflicts occurring over a forty year period. The industrial revolution brought around a radically different Europe than there had ever been before and it made nations compete and be wary of each other politically, economically, and militarily. This tension among the leadership of the European nations was supported by the rising nationalism within each nation. Economic and imperial competition and fear of war brought the nations into alliances and an increase in arms manufacturing. Nationalism was very strong within the European nations because of their strong sense of brotherhood and ethnic culture. Nationalism is what led to the unification of Germany in 1871 after a series of wars commanded by the Prussian leader Bismark. Along this path towards German unification was the Franco-Prussian war ending in a French defeat. The wars end left the French bitter after the loss of their Alsace-Lorraine. This was the first of many clashes between Germany and France which strengthen their hatred of one another. Nationalism brought a problem for German ally, Austria-Hungry in the Balkans, an area populated by many conflicting cultural groups. The strong belief in Panslavism by Serbia and Russias willingness to support their Slavic brothers was not liked by the Pangermanism of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Such a hatred of Austrian rule in the Balkns led to the creation of many anti-Austrian militant groups in the area, the most popular being the Black Hand. Th e Black Hand reached high levels with the Serbian government, and it was eventually a Black Hand member who began the ball rolling towards war in the days precipitating its start. Imperialism was another factor that led to increased rivalry within Europe. Great Britain, Germany, and France al...

Actual Yield Definition (Chemistry)

Actual Yield Definition (Chemistry) Actual Yield Definition The actual yield is the quantity of a product that is obtained from a chemical reaction. In contrast, the calculated or theoretical yield  is the amount of product that could be obtained from a reaction if all of the reactant converted to product. Theoretical yield is based on the limiting reactant. Common Misspelling: actual yeild Why Is Actual Yield Different from Theoretical Yield? Usually, the actual yield is lower than the theoretical yield because few reactions truly proceed to completion (i.e., arent 100% efficient) or because not all of the product in a reaction is recovered. For example, if you are recovering a product that is a precipitate, you may lose some product if it doesnt completely fall out of solution. If you filter the solution through filter paper, some product may remain on the filter or make its way through the mesh and wash away. If you rinse the product, a small amount of it may be lost from dissolving in the solvent, even if the product is insoluble in that solvent. Its also possible for the actual yield to be more than the theoretical yield. This tends to occur most often if solvent is still present in the product (incomplete drying), from error weighing the product, or perhaps because an unaccounted substance in the reaction acted as a catalyst or also led to product formation. Another reason for higher yield is that the product is impure, due to the presence of another substance besides the solvent. Actual Yield and Percent Yield The relationship between actual yield and theoretical yield is used to calculate percent yield: percent yields actual yield / theoretical yield x 100%

Marketing Consumer Behaviour Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Consumer Behaviour Theories - Essay Example The positive or negative attitude towards the product is also based on behavioral traits of the consumers. The consumers purchase the product based on their perception of those particular objects after acquiring data from various relevant sources. Consumers of different market possess different buying behaviors and expectations from the product or brand. In this paper, the concept and theories of consumer behavior in the marketing environment will be highlighted properly. It has been illustrated that how the consumer behaves in a particular situation and how their behavior gets altered while purchasing a product. The literature review of the consumer behavior will be explained briefly and the consumer behavior of Pepsi and Coca Cola in Australian marketing environment will be cited as an illustration. 2.0 Issues, Theories, and ConceCoca-Consumer Behaviour Consumer behavior encompasses cognitive, effective in addition to the behavioral reaction of consumers towards products as well as services, and also the response of consumers to the marketing of products along with services (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, n.d.). It is the decision making the process of consumers and the involvement of their activities in obtaining, assessing, using and disposing of goods as well as services. Consumer behavior refers to as a complex, multidimensional along with the dynamic process and also the marketing decisions which are taken based on the assumptions related to consumer behavior (New Age International, n.d.). The consumers on the basis of their needs adjust the purchasing behavior of them. Consumers randomly choose the product and in every selection, certain implications are incorporated in them. The buying decision is taken to satisfy the need of the consumers. Prestige is also considered as one of the intangible needs because a few individuals purchase certain products depending on their status in the society (Reference for Business, 2011). The factors which act as a significa nt role while influencing consumer buying behavior are cultural factors, social factors, psychological factors and personal factors (Scribd, 2011). Culture has an influence on the ‘impulsive buying behavior’ of a person. The theory of individualism, as well as collectivism, facilitates to have a better understanding of the phenomenon of an ‘impulsive buying behavior’ of a consumer (Kacen & Lee, 2002). The culture of the society has an influence on the buying behavior of an individual because human beings are largely affected by social factors which may include family, friends, clubs, and others. The individuals from these factors understand and learn perceptions, values and their behavior patterns. The social class of an individual is influenced by several other variables such as income, occupation, values, and education (Wilson & Gilligan, 2005). In addition, social factors also have an impact on the buying behavior of a person. Various factors include fam ily, reference groups, status along with the social role. The reference groups include primary membership group, secondary membership groups, aspirational group and dissociative groups.

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper' Essay

Critique of Quantitative Methods Journal Paper' - Essay Example Conclusion 10 4.1. Theoretical contributions 10 4.2. Practical Contributions and Implications for Managers 10 4.3. Limitations 11 4.4. Improvements 11 11 References 12 1.0. Introduction 1.1. Gaps and Contributions The journal article titled â€Å"Individual connectedness in innovation networks: On the role of individual motivation† by Aalbers & et. al. (2013), argues with emphasis to the gap that knowledge should be shared within various sections of the organisation and should be implemented readily as per requirements. This shall allow firms to obtain competitive advantages over others through the continuous enhancement of their operations. Aalbers & et. al. (2013) further argues that knowledge transfer is directly related with the notion of innovation. Arguably, effective knowledge transfer within a business can further ensure maximum innovation within the same as per Aalbers & et. al. (2013). The journal thus claimed that it is highly important to conduct a rigorous researc h regarding this particular aspect, as very limited is universally known about it. Accordingly, the research of Aalbers & et. al. (2013) has emphasised primarily on filling the gap of research in this particular domain of study and intended to illustrate the elements that influence the concept of knowledge transfer within any organisation. 1.2. Aim of the Research Aalbers & et. al. ... This is because of the fact that it is deemed to be a key approach through which, innovative information sharing can be achieved in any organisation. 2.0. Theory 2.1. Evaluation of the Theory Knowledge transfer is deemed to be vital in respect to innovations within any organisation. Innovation is considered to be highly valued in businesses, especially in context of the contemporary society. Aalbers (2012) hereby states that with maximum innovations, organizations shall be able to present themselves in a more competitive manner, adapting changes every time, which further shall attract a larger volume of customers and enhance the competitiveness of the firm in the market. Furthermore, according to the study of Bosch-Sijtsema & Postma (2004), knowledge transfer is quite crucial in developing and maintaining a culture that fosters maximum innovation within organisational operations. Motivated through this notion, companies now-a-days tend to follow a knowledge based view in their approa ch wherein the management attempts to encourage expertise within the workforce from internal and external sources to deliver their capabilities in operational processes with the motive of betterment (Sijtsema & Postma, 2004). Accordingly, it is deemed that there are several factors that can influence active knowledge transfer and thereafter affect the innovation oriented culture in any organisation. Among those factors, connectedness can be considered as vital. According to the report of CDC (n.d.), connectedness can be considered as a degree upto which, people share their inner feelings with others, which also assists in the effective transmission of knowledge. Arguably, in modern organisations, employee connectedness can enable

Nuisances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nuisances - Essay Example   Secondly, the plaintiff must also prove that the act of nuisance constituted unreasonable and unlawful conduct. In arriving at a determination of whether the defendant’s actions can be held to be unlawful and unreasonable and thereby constitute the private nuisance, the Courts will take into account the locality of the land, because actions in areas may constitute nuisance while they would not in others. The Courts will also consider whether the nuisance action would have affected the sensitivity of a normal, everyday person.   For example, in the case of McKinnon Industries v, Walker fumes from a neighboring factory destroyed delicate orchids.   But the Courts held that since the smoke would have affected even ordinary flowers, the act constituted the private nuisance.  An act will not be construed as the private nuisance if its general outcome is to be of some use to the community, after taking into account the location and the time of the activities.   For examp le, in the case of Harrison v Southwark Water Company building work that was carried out during the day was not deemed to be a nuisance because it was carried out at a reasonable time during the day and was likely to improve the value of the surrounding property when completed.  An act will be held to be a nuisance if it can be demonstrated that the defendant had a malicious intent because this will serve to establish that the defendant's actions were unreasonable and thereby constitute the nuisance.

Policy Analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Policy Analysis - Article Example It is also important to have a clear frame work for policy analysis in nursing. Nursing policies as a result have led to the formation of major reforms in the health sector with the purpose of improving the health care provision (Mason, Kline &Mary, 2007). The main aim of this policy analysis is to discuss the factor that may be affecting the nursing sector and the health care provision (Dempski & Westrick, 2008). This is a policy analysis on the effective management of palliative care and the measures that should be taken to improve on it. Palliative care is the special medical care that is provided to people infected with serious diseases. The main aim is palliative care is to provide the patient with relief from the pain and stress associated with the illness and improve the life of the patients and their families. Palliative care requires a combination of efforts for doctors and nurses among other specialists in the medical field to work towards ensuring that the patient is comfo rtable and in a stable condition (Dempski & Westrick, 2008). According to the nursing framework, it is recommended that regardless of the age of the patient or the stage of the illness the patient, should be attended through a curative treatment (Hendtrick, 2000). Some of the conditions that require palliative care especially in their critical stages include; chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart complications kidney failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among others (Reb, 2003). Palliative care is responsible for conditions such as pain, fatigue, nausea, constipation, appetite loss and lack of sleep. Palliative also helps the patient gain the strength and motivation to carry on with life. It also helps an individual understand the methods of treating different conditions and have control over some conditions. For palliative care to be successful there needs to be a combined effort and collaboration between the patient, nurses and the medical specialists. The medical s pecialists responsible for this process include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists and nutritionists. The patient is required to be close to their family and spend quality time with them. The main importance of these teams is that they support the patient in every step by controlling their symptoms, and assisting the patient to understand their treatment process and options. The close relationship with these teams also helps provide better communication, better approach of the pain and other symptoms, support on complex treatments and emotional and spiritual support from the family (Reb, 2003). Globally, there has been and increased need for palliative care as a result of the increase in the occurrence of chronic diseases. It is therefore important to create palliative care networks that are more cost effective with responsive multi agency settings. One of the important factors to consider in the palliative care networks is the professional skills of the medical specialists (R eb, 2003). As a measure to facilitate the evaluation of palliative care networks, a policy to create a framework to evaluate palliative care networks was created to focus on the professional collaboration, community awareness and patient cantered care. This frame work was developed based on the previous models used in the evaluation of health systems and literature on the operations of palliative care networks. The frame work will promote an appropriate structure in the palliative care provision, and manage the process of palliative ca

Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems Assignment

Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems - Assignment Example It is a set of manual and automatic procedures that enable a group of people to share a computer installation efficiently (Hansen 1). This program serve as the primary platform where functional software runs. We have heard about DOS and Windows and perhaps are over-familiar with these things. Along these platform categories there belong different types of individual real names for operating systems. Microsoft, Apple, Linux, and other names are similarly popular. Their functions maybe the same but their suitability may differ depending on the preference and convenience of the user. There are several leading names on office network operating systems. Among these names, there are two, which are most commonly used and adopted by different offices and organizations worldwide. The competing leaders of the commercially available operating systems are Microsoft Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems. Considering the latest versions of these products, let us therefore evaluate the performances of Windows Vista from Microsoft and Mc OS X from Macintosh based on the office network requirements. In addition, file handling and other office functionality of the systems must also be evaluated. Finally, let us look at the picture of other user's preferences based on information of what systems other industries are using. Findings File handling and office works capabilities The office primary activities include document creation, filing and browsing. Apple Incorporated through their website with the title "Mac OS X Leopard" and Microsoft's Windows website titled "Windows Vista" both show that their operating systems supports these office functionality with different methods and styles. However, minor cases differ in file handling such as OS X does not allow "cut" in the Finder to move files just as Vista can do. They both support word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and database programs from other third party sources. Mac has its own Finder similar to Windows Search for easy document files and information searching within the computer, the networks, or the web. The search capability is supported with preview capability to allow seeing the document before opening a means to fast track document search. Windows Vista has file-encrypting capability, which protect file from unauthorized access for computers that are shared by different office workers, and in the networks. Mac OS also supports encrypting within the network. Networking capabilities Networking, whether within office, with other networks, or through the Internet is a major requirement of the current office systems. Software that doesn't support this requirement cannot stand with intense market competitions. Obviously, the Windows and Mac operating systems both should have these capabilities. The question is who has better functionality against the other Browsing the features from the respective official websites of the product we have learned that they have their own unique advantage. Mac OS X supports a

Policy Analysis Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Policy Analysis - Article Example It is also important to have a clear frame work for policy analysis in nursing. Nursing policies as a result have led to the formation of major reforms in the health sector with the purpose of improving the health care provision (Mason, Kline &Mary, 2007). The main aim of this policy analysis is to discuss the factor that may be affecting the nursing sector and the health care provision (Dempski & Westrick, 2008). This is a policy analysis on the effective management of palliative care and the measures that should be taken to improve on it. Palliative care is the special medical care that is provided to people infected with serious diseases. The main aim is palliative care is to provide the patient with relief from the pain and stress associated with the illness and improve the life of the patients and their families. Palliative care requires a combination of efforts for doctors and nurses among other specialists in the medical field to work towards ensuring that the patient is comfo rtable and in a stable condition (Dempski & Westrick, 2008). According to the nursing framework, it is recommended that regardless of the age of the patient or the stage of the illness the patient, should be attended through a curative treatment (Hendtrick, 2000). Some of the conditions that require palliative care especially in their critical stages include; chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart complications kidney failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among others (Reb, 2003). Palliative care is responsible for conditions such as pain, fatigue, nausea, constipation, appetite loss and lack of sleep. Palliative also helps the patient gain the strength and motivation to carry on with life. It also helps an individual understand the methods of treating different conditions and have control over some conditions. For palliative care to be successful there needs to be a combined effort and collaboration between the patient, nurses and the medical specialists. The medical s pecialists responsible for this process include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, therapists and nutritionists. The patient is required to be close to their family and spend quality time with them. The main importance of these teams is that they support the patient in every step by controlling their symptoms, and assisting the patient to understand their treatment process and options. The close relationship with these teams also helps provide better communication, better approach of the pain and other symptoms, support on complex treatments and emotional and spiritual support from the family (Reb, 2003). Globally, there has been and increased need for palliative care as a result of the increase in the occurrence of chronic diseases. It is therefore important to create palliative care networks that are more cost effective with responsive multi agency settings. One of the important factors to consider in the palliative care networks is the professional skills of the medical specialists (R eb, 2003). As a measure to facilitate the evaluation of palliative care networks, a policy to create a framework to evaluate palliative care networks was created to focus on the professional collaboration, community awareness and patient cantered care. This frame work was developed based on the previous models used in the evaluation of health systems and literature on the operations of palliative care networks. The frame work will promote an appropriate structure in the palliative care provision, and manage the process of palliative ca

Does High Perception of School Environment Correlate with Teacher Essay

Does High Perception of School Environment Correlate with Teacher Performance - Essay Example coming in, many educators have approached this researcher on concerns pertaining to administration support, discipline, and overall knowledge to serve their students. Some expressed concerns of not being equipped or trained properly to perform their job expectations. As the â€Å"new person† to the school, I have faced with some of the same issues. In this study, the researcher will use stratified random sampling to find his data. Stratified random sampling involves looking at distinct subgroups while obtaining data (CustomInsight, n.d.). For the research question, â€Å"Does High Perception of School Environment Correlate with Teacher Performance,† this researcher will be looking at two groups: regular education teachers and special education teachers. Atha Elementary has 9 special education teachers and 34 regular education teachers. The objective is to get a clear view on how educators perceive their environment. Therefore, a likert-scale must be utilized (Super Survey, 2007). This research after attitudinal information: describes how a person thinks or feels about something. Educators will be able to rate their feelings on a scale of 1 to 5 as shown below. In order to select the appropriate method of data recording one must first understand variables. Variables are used in the study of statistics. A variable is a characteristic that can take more than one set of values that numerical measures can be assigned to: height, age, income, country, grades, and housing type (Statistics Canada, 2011). Quantitatively, this writer will give a survey to collect initial perception of the school before professional developments are provided or major concerns are addressed. Surveys will be given to two mixed groups of elementary school educators (both groups will contain an equal amount of special and regular education teachers). Group A labeled (control group) will not be provided with options on professional development, will only meet with assistant principals at their

The red room and the signalman Essay Example for Free

The red room and the signalman Essay How do the authors maintain suspense and tension in The Red Room and The Signalman which story do you consider does this most effectively? In The Red Room by H.G Wells, written in 1885 and The Signalman by Charles Dickens, written in 1894 are both excellent examples of stories concerning the supernatural. Ghost stories and thrillers were very popular in the Victorian Era. These types of stories are found under the genre Gothic. H.G. Wells and Charles Dickens are both renowned authors and are very good at using particular techniques throughout their writing to maintain suspense and tension. The Signalman is set in an age where the train was a brand new technology which was not completely perfected; this made it a perfect place to set a mysterious ghost story. Charles Dickens was influenced to write The Signalman in 1865 when he was in a railway accident in which the train derailed at high speed. Ten people were killed and many injured. By using his experience to write this story it gave the setting a very contemporary edge, which played on societies fear for the latest technology. The Signalman was a man who worked by signalling to drivers to slow down. He lived in a cutting, which was a very dark deep place like a coffin with no quick escape if anything happened. A large red light flicked on and a bell rang whenever a train was approaching. A lot of colours used are associated with mystery and death such as red lightblack tunnelsaturnine face. Charles Dickens also uses personification quite regularly. Angry sunsetthe wind and the wires took up the story with a long lamenting wail. Some quotes such as angry sunset suggest that nature itself is angry. The personification can also make the reader feel that perhaps there is something or someone else present in the darkness. All of the colours are quite dark. Red can easily be related with death through blood. His use of light is very obvious too, for example gloomier entrancedark roomforeshortened, shadowed. The shadows and midst scares the reader by making them think that perhaps there is something lurking in the shadows. The description used in the story make it very gothic as well, for example earthly deadly smell high stone walls damp air. The gothic genre is well known for danger, so when the reader realises that the story is gothic they can tell that something mysterious or dangerous is going to happen. The speed of the narrative changes during the course of the story therefore building tension and suspense. I was sitting here, when I heardthe sleeve away when it was gone, the speed of the story going up can build tension because the reader immediately believes that the story is leading up to something. When the narrative is fast it makes the reader think faster coming up with lots of questions such as what going to happen. The personality of the characters can build tension for instance His attitude was one of such expectation and watchfulness that I stopped. When you first meet the signalman his nervousness leaves the reader wondering what the reason for this behaviour is. Occasionally throughout the story Charles Dickens repeats certain phrases such as Dont call back Halloa, below there. The repetition of these phrases can make the reader think about the reasons, such as why he cannot call back. The Red Room is set lot earlier than it was written giving it a very timeless quality. Everything in the setting is very old fashioned and follows a very standard structure with a foreboding castle, hidden rooms and ghosts. He was purposely gave no indication as to its particular time or location. Just like Charles Dickens he uses the light to give the setting a more sinister atmosphere, dark against the firelight the candles went out. The darkness and shadows darken the room so that the reader cannot visualise the parts of the room making the reader think and imagine what could be lurking in the shadows. The author has very detailed descriptions of certain objects and people, Her pale eyes openedmore bent, wrinkled aged These very detailed descriptions describe some features for example characters very closely so that the scene is very contrasted from very detailed to the invisible. This suggests that perhaps there are thing in the castle that cannot be seen or describes because they are from the supernatural. H.G. Wells repeats certain phrases during the story, Its your own choosingThis night of all nights. Its your own choosing suggests that the man doesnt want to be in anyway responsible for anything that might happen to him in The Red Room. This night of all nights implies that this night is a particularly dangerous night for the narrator to be going to The Red Room. The narrator is very arrogant, and considers that his opinion that the room is not haunted to be unquestionable, eight and twenty years I have lived and never a ghost have I seen yet. This builds tension because the reader can tell that something out of place is going to happen. The characters are described in a very spooky way for instance, the man with the withered arm when his coughing had ceased for a whilewrinkled, aged. This builds up tension by using gothic description. The speed of the narrative is very varied. As I entered the door closed behind me at once turned the key I found in the lock. Short, fast sentences build up tension because each sentence builds up and up to a summit leaving the reader with a sense of danger. H.G. Wells uses personification regularly. My candle flared and made the shadows cower and quiver the shadows as stepped toward me. This makes the seen more dramatic and a lot for the reader to concentrate on and also gives the impression that there is somebody else present. Many of the techniques used in The Red Room are very similar to the techniques used in The Signalman. However The Red Room can build up more tension than The Signalman because it contains more gothic features. The danger involved in the red room its much more obvious than the danger involved in The Signalman, perhaps because of its timeless quality. Because of the timeless quality we know exactly what kind of dangers await him as soon as the scene is set. The narrator is referred to in the first person in one story which gives the reader a stronger sense of being present in the story and makes it seem more realistic. I think that the most effective means of building tension in a story would be the use of light and description creating contrast between the known and the unknown.

Web Two Technologies And Impact On Society Information Technology Essay

Web Two Technologies And Impact On Society Information Technology Essay This paper discusses Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on society. The first section of this paper introduces Web 2.0 technologies and briefly defines them. The next sections discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Web 2.0. Next, the paper discusses the values that Web 2.0 has brought to society. Finally, we make concluding remarks about how Web 2.0 will change over time. Introduction There are many opinions as to where Web 2.0 came from, and how it will impact our lives in the future. At first, many people saw Web 2.0 as a buzzword, but not really a new concept. Web 2.0, as it is considered today, was a result of the dot-com bust in 2001. In 2001, many people began to believe that the web was overrated, and probably would not have many significant implications in the future. However, during the internet shakeout, a few people saw a promising future for web-based technologies. The Web 2.0 conference set out to find the next web technologies (OReilly, 2005). Web 2.0 is changing the way society communicates. The next generation of social networking has created endless opportunities for people to share content. Web 2.0 technologies allow for two-way interaction. Unlike updating a website, posting information about a company on Facebook allows companies to receive feedback about the products and services. The interactive nature of Web 2.0 is one of the many ways that Web 2.0 differentiates itself from Web 1.0 (Bohley, 2010). Web 2.0 allows for constant change in content. One of the best ways to explain these new technologies is through example. The creators of Web 2.0 originally thought of a list of applications that they believed represented the change from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. The original list is in the following table. Web 1.0 Web 2.0 DoubleClick Google AdSense Ofoto Flickr Akamai BitTorrent Mp3.com Napster Britannica Online Wikipedia Personal websites Blogging Evite Upcoming.org and EVDB Domain name speculation Search engine optimization Page views Cost per click Screen scrapping Web services Publishing Participation Content management systems Wikis Directories (taxonomy) Tagging (folksonomy) Stickiness Syndication Source: OReilly What is Web 2.0 2005. One of the main differences between these Web 2.0 technologies is the way the content changes. Instead of having scheduled updates and maintenance, Web 2.0 is constantly changing the way people see information. For example, a Wiki user has the option of deleting, adding, and modifying information. There is no one that really controls the content on these types of applications. Because there is no one monitoring the content, there is no way of knowing whether or not the information from these sites is correct. However, these mash-up sites create opportunities for people to share content in ways that were not possible before Web 2.0 (OReilly, 2005). DoubleClick, a Web 1.0 technology differs from Googles AdSense, a Web 2.0 technology. One of the main differences between the two applications is how they go about putting ads on the web pages. While DoubleClick boasts over 2,000 implementations, the newer AdSense already has hundreds of thousands of sites to target. Since DoubleClick requires a formal contract, it mainly targets larger websites. Google realized that the bulk of the web was actually comprised of smaller websites. In order to target these smaller websites, the companies needed to find a way to integrate the ads in formats that could reach a broader base of customers. Googles AdSense can place an advertisement on virtually any webpage. The Web 2.0 difference is how applications can take advantage of a different platform in order to serve more customers (OReilly, 2005). From a business standpoint, major companies see Web 2.0 as an opportunity to expand into new markets, and reach out to people who use social networking sites. The challenge now will be for companies to find a way to integrate these technologies into a way that can promote the business. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be used as marketing tools, but only if the company knows how to make use of them. While many people understand how to use these popular sites, not many are aware of how to utilize them in a way that attracts customers and grows a business (Gilette, 2010). Companies must also beware that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be used against them. Social networking sites make it easy for customers to post their view of a company on a website. Someone who had a bad experience with a product could tweet about the experience, leaving the company vulnerable to these attacks. A company must pay even more close attention to the customer service aspect of the business in order to ensure that customers are not tempted to say harmful opinions about the company. As an example, a frustrated United Airlines customer wrote a song and posted it to YouTube about how the airline was careless with his luggage and broke his guitar. This is obviously not the kind of publicity that any company wants to have (Gillette, 2010). Web 2.0 requires companies to be more up to date with services and customer feedback. Advantages of Web 2.0 As the internet has become the most convenient and popular medium of communication, Web 2.0, an enhancement of the existing internet, has developed a system in which online users have become participants rather than mere viewers (Advantages and Disadvantages of Web 2.0, 2010). Based upon the interaction with online users, Web 2.0 is becoming more and more popular. Here we discuss some major advantages of Web 2.0 that can be treated as the drivers of its development. Web 2.0 created an advanced communication platform both for public and private use. For public use, it enhances the way people collect information by giving more access to information around the world. It allows the mass population to communicate with each other and spread ideas rather than receiving their information from a specific authority or a single resource. In the Web 2.0 environment, the information can flow freely and people can express their opinions without fear of repercussions. For example, Google Documents facilitates group work on projects by allowing members to create, share and update documents to the same page and combine all the thoughts from different members at the same time. For private use, Web 2.0 helps to meet the personal needs of users for creating and sharing private information from limited users. Web 2.0 actually makes the internet more personalized by allowing each individual to have information that is tailored to their needs and interests (Advantages and Disadvantages of Web 2.0, 2010). For instance, the Gmail phone offers users the ability to enjoy free and fast online communications dedicated to traditional physical devices such as telephones and cell-phones. Web 2.0 provides a compatible interface that enables a single user to use different applications at the same time easily. Hence, we can say that Web 2.0 is actually establishing a true democratic digital system in the world of the internet (MacDonald, 2009). That is also why Facebook and Twitter have become so popular right now; they enable users to create their own online personal space in which they can make or search friends, and update their personal information. Web 2.0 also takes accessibility to the next step by letting users have the power to determine how much of their content they wish to share and in what ways. Web 2.0 lets users choose if they wish to upload content using audio, video, or text files. People can even use Facebook to arrange a date, a social party such as Halloween or any group activities happening in their social network. Users are enjoying sharing their stories and daily feelings on Facebook and Twitter instead of staying alone at home to watch television . Moreover, for some big companies such as Saleforces.com, the Web 2.0 community and social networking sites are the best places to share the success stories, efficient knowledge worker collaboration, employee satisfaction, and clients success (Therwanger, 2010). Web 2.0 facilitates people to get better access to information they need. In the environment of Web 2.0, people will be able to get better information about things happening throughout the world from multiple resources by getting rid of the limitation of government controlled media. Online web users can easily accomplish searching and recording information they need for the accumulation of their personal knowledge, which helps them make better decisions. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds are a good example of Web 2.0 applications that help people collect the most information from the resources links they have signed up for simultaneously. People can look up the news in which they are interested in the same interface without opening multiple websites and going around different pages. Such immediate information cannot be achieved by any other means. Web 2.0 also promotes the positive business model changes in enterprises. Redaktion points out seven core benefits of Web 2.0 for businesses: 1) Core enterprise applications will become more effective through the incorporation of Web 2.0 technologies. 2) Next-generation Web platforms can be highly efficient in overall procurement and sales strategies. 3) Lessons from Web 2.0 community and social networking success stories can be leveraged within the enterprise for more efficient knowledge worker collaboration and overall employee satisfaction. 4) Semantic tagging technologies can greatly increase the navigation of internal and external information overload and increase information-based product consumption and use. 5) Web 2.0 communities can be used for new product feedback, shortening the product development time and targeting valuable marketing resources. 6) Targeting bloggers and other influential Web users can help to control an organizations image and influence publicity for the positive 7) Making Web-based marketing the norm, rather than the exception, will help optimize overall marketing spend (Redaktion, 2006). Web 2.0 promotes the development of E-Commerce. E-commerce is one of the boons of Web 2.0 innovations that have made shopping a much more simple and efficient experience on the internet (Jones, 2010). Its biggest advantage is that the providers of online services and products can offer better customer service and better interaction with their customers. Web 2.0 increases the effectiveness of marketing. Online retailers earn the benefit of marketing by communicating immediately with a prospective buyer and provide all the information and clarifications that he or she needs. For example, many of online retailing websites have applied the Web 2.0 applications such as video catalogues, instant calling options and instant message services. With the advancement of internet technology, it has become easy to display products through video coverage on the website. The video coverage can also be added in the description page with the help of websites such as YouTube.com or Photobucket.com. In such a way, the responses from the consumer side can be increased dramatically. Disadvantages of Web 2.0 Although Web 2.0 has several advantages to society, there are some disadvantages. These disadvantages include several concerns amongst users. First, companies are unsure how to use the data. Secondly, there are privacy concerns with personal information out on the web. Third, Web 2.0 content is not always reliable information because anyone can update it. Fourth, Web 2.0 is seen as a security threat to many company managers. These disadvantages are discussed in more detail below. First, companies are not entirely sure how to use these technologies in a way that benefits their business. For example, a company might decide to have a blog or a comment section added to its website. However, without careful monitoring, this could easily become an easy way for frustrated customers to express their feelings. For example, Dell opened a blog on its website in 2006, and employees found that most of the comments on the blog were negative feelings towards the company. While it did allow Dell to quickly find out what its customers concerns were, it could harm business if potential customers are only reading negative feedback about the company (Vernon, 2007). Another concern with Web 2.0 is personal privacy, especially with children. As a parent, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter can be worrisome. When a child goes online, it is easy for them to go to these social networking sites and give out personal information about themselves and their families. Many children do not realize how dangerous the web can be, and how many people can access the information that they put online. There are several cases in which adopted children have been stalked by their birth parents that used Facebook to find them. Most adoptive parents want communication to be through a social worker or other intermediary, and worry about the childs birth parents having unwanted communication with their child. This is becoming a growing concern for parents of adopted children as Web 2.0 social networking applications such as Facebook makes it easier than ever to find information about people. Families find themselves in a difficult situation when it is hard to monitor their childs internet activity and contact with birth parents. This has been a controversy for both birth and adoptive parents (Macdonald, 2010). Additionally, Web 2.0 content is not a reliable source of information. Web 2.0 allows anyone to be in charge of the content. For example, Wikipedia is an online site that allows anyone to add information or take information out of each page. While this may be a good way to encourage data collaboration, this makes it difficult to monitor the quality of the content presented in the wiki. Consequently, Web 2.0 sites are not a reliable form of information. There is no way to be able to tell whether or not someone has made up the content or actually used legitimate sources. Even on social networking sites such as Myspace, it is estimated that forty percent of the content is untrue information about the person. While these sites are able to guess how much of the content is not correct, it is impossible to know what information is accurate (Vernon, 2007). Web 2.0 also poses a security problem for a companys most valuable information. While there have always been problems with viruses on computers, Web 2.0 allows for even more opportunities for hackers. This has become even more apparent as companies have noticed an increased number of worms that have been attacking company data. One survey found that security threats were a concern of nearly fifty-two percent of executives surveyed when asked about whether or not they would want their employees using Web 2.0 applications. Many companies feel that if they allow their employees to use Web 2.0 technologies at work, they may be putting the companys secure data at risk (Watson, 2008). The disadvantages to Web 2.0 show that it is important to realize that not all new technologies have positive effects on society. Web 2.0 brings to light a host of new problems that many people have not had to worry about in the past. Knowing that there are some problems with Web 2.0, it is important for users to be aware of what could happen if content is posted online using one of these applications. It is important to realize that any information that is posted to the internet using a Web 2.0 application is available somewhere for someone to see and that this data is not as secure as many would initially think. Value of Web 2.0 Web 2.0 certainly has dramatically changed the way we use the internet today and is revolutionary in the way web developers and web companies make their websites. Its responsiveness and ability to create social and collaborative web environments has made Web 2.0 an important development for the internet. One important question that arises from the development of Web 2.0 is what values do Web 2.0 technologies bring to businesses, communities and our society. Web 2.0 has had a major impact on all three of these groups which results in major impacts on our daily lives. The major implication of Web 2.0 technologies on our society is that our human society is merging with a network of computers (Nations, 2010). We used to just use the internet as a tool for information for anything we needed, such as sports, entertainment, academics, etc. Web 2.0s interactive capabilities and enormous network have made it almost an imperative to be connected in this network for various social reasons. It is almost like we have both a human state of being and a network being at the same time. With our dependence (or possibly addiction) on this technology, these networks are becoming a necessity in other technologies like cell phone applications and smaller laptops. Whether or not this is a positive impact on society is debatable. Certainly proponents of technology and innovation support Web 2.0 technologies as an improvement in communications around the world. Opponents do not seem to be as strong in their stance, but there are those that argue that peoples privacy is at risk and that Web 2.0 is another tool for western globalism. Anybody who watches the news witnessed the major impact Web 2.0 can have on societies in the last couple of years. The 2009 presidential election in Iran that resulted in the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmandinejad sparked in a fury of protests and riots that shook the nation to its core. The reason for the protests was the widespread feeling that the election was corrupt and Ahmandinejad was not the real winner of the election. In Iran, an Islamic republic, protestors are often treated with contempt from the police, the military and the government. Although it is called a republic, the nation is governed by a supreme leader (The Office of the Supreme Leader, Sayyid Ali Khamenei, 2010). It is thought by many that the elections in Iran are fixed and go to the candidate favored by Khamenei. Web 2.0 became a great opportunity for these protestors to show the rest of the world the injustice that was going on in their country (Weaver, 2010). The protestors posted photos, videos and blogs on s ites such as Facebook and Twitter, which gave the rest of the world a glimpse into what was happening in Iran. People from around the world saw this protest, saw the police response and became sympathetic to the cause of the protestors. Although Ahmandinejad has yet to step down as President of Iran, the protestors got the attention and sympathy of the rest of the world and have weakened diplomatic power for the Iranian rulers. This could have a major impact on their society as they try to move their society towards a secular democracy rather than an Islamic fundamentalist nation. Web 2.0 has become a necessity in the business world in many ways and has even impacted the way our government performs its duties. In todays world, businesses certainly have to keep up with what is going on with Web 2.0 in order to compete in the market. Many businesses now have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts so they can market to consumers and to do market research on these social networks. Also, businesses use this technology to improve information flows and knowledge management on technologies like wikis or blogs (Schneckenberg, 2009). This can have positive impacts on the business as well as increasing networking opportunities for co-workers. As mentioned earlier, our government is also getting involved with social network technologies. The Department of Defense is using technologies such as blogging, wikis, and RSS feeds among others in order to share knowledge with the military and intelligence agencies (Web 2.0 Guidance Forum, 2010). Using this technology gives us a possible upgrade in security in our country as well as major advantages for us overseas. Web 2.0s impact on our government does not end with bureaucracies. Politicians are using these technologies more and more to give them an edge with their constituents for elections (Hoffman, 2008). One politician who was able to effectively use Web 2.0 technologies was Barack Obama, who used Facebook and Meetup to connect with voters. With the growth of Web 2.0 networks, the importance of this technology on our nations political process will also grow and have long-term impacts on how our society views candidates and their legislative ideas. Certainly, if Web 2.0 is having major impacts on our societys business and governmental entities, Web 2.0 is going to impact our lives in some way daily. Conclusion Web 2.0 is vastly changing the way information is spread throughout the world. Like any technology, there are both advantages and disadvantages of using it. Web 2.0 can be used to help promote a companys business, but it can also be a means for customers to complain about the companys service. Web 2.0 allows for a faster way of spreading information in the form of Twitter and Facebook, but these sites also raise privacy concerns. Web 2.0 allows for more opportunities for people to share information on the internet. More peoples opinions will be online, and there is no way of guaranteeing what others will do with this information. As we mentioned, there have been some problems with adoptive parents finding out that their children are talking to their birth parents without their consent. These types of problems will continue to rise in the future. Web 2.0 will ultimately grow and continue to impact our lives. Web 2.0 has brought many values to our society. For example, President Barack Obama was able to use Facebook to communicate with potential voters. Web 2.0 certainly had an impact on the support he was able to obtain throughout the presidential election. Politicians will eventually need to further utilize these technologies in order to gain a competitive edge in elections. Web 2.0 also facilitated the fast spread of information about the corruption associated with the Iranian elections. Web 2.0 will continue to affect important issues like this in the future.

Last Of The Mohicans :: essays research papers

Last of The Mohicans Summary: Cora and her younger sister, Alice, both recent arrivals to the colonies, are being escorted to their father, Colonel Munro, by a troop of British soldiers. Along the way they are ambushed by a Huron war party led by Magua, a sinister warrior with a blood vendetta against Munro. Munro's soldiers are wiped out and Cora herself is nearly killed by Magua but is saved at the last moment by Hawkeye, a white trapper raised by the Mohican tribe. Hawkeye promises to take Cora and her sister safely to their father, and along the way Cora and the intense Hawkeye fall in love. Together they must survive wilderness, war, and the relentless pursuit of Magua. Analysis: The introductory moments are somewhat confusing, and it takes about fifteen or twenty minutes to get the characters and situations straight. Madeleine Stowe's British accent is of the "now-you-hear-it, now-you-don't" variety, although her performance pretty much makes up for this inconsistency. Finally, the photography surrounding the waterfall is unconvincing. Other than those few things the film was great. From beginning to end, there isn't a weak performance. Finally, there's the story, which, while not all that complex, is of epic nature. At first I wasn’t expecting this movie to be good but by the end of the last battle I knew that The Last of the Mohicans is a memorable motion picture adventure, and one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Comparison: In the movie, the siege at Fort William Henry is a concentration of a massive French force on an isolated fort of what seems to be no more than 300 people. Also the siege of the fort by Gen. Montcalm was reduced to one night of action and romance in the film. The great portrayal of traditional siege warfare in the movie serves only as a background for the development of the love between Cora and Nathaniel. In actuality, the seven day siege had two major fronts: the fort which held about 500 men and a camp east to the fort which held roughly 2000 men.

abraham lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln As the sixteenth American President, determined to end slavery, Abraham Lincoln finally put an end to his hard work by writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln had no intention on freeing slaves when he became president of the U.S.. Although Lincoln always believed slavery was wrong, he always believed in white supremacy. He said, â€Å"If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.† When the war started he thought of it only as a way of saving the union. Later, this opinion would change. There are many pressures faced while being the president. Lincoln faced many of these pressures. Pressure for abolition came into the country. This is how he came up with the idea for writing the emancipation proclamation. This made southern leaders reject Lincoln’s presidency. The pressures forced him to do what he did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lincoln wrote the Emancipation because of the pressures he was facing. â€Å"On September 22, 1862, five days after Union forces won the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation. It stated that if rebelling states did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves to be â€Å"forever free.† The south rejected Lincoln’s policy, and so he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.† This caused the southern leaders to turn against Lincoln completely. The emancipation proclamation finally came into effect. On this day Lincoln read his proclamation. This would change the world dramatically. â€Å"By the end of the war, more than 500,000 slaves had fled to freedom behind northern lines. Many of them joined the Union Army or Navy or worked for the armed forces as laborers. By allowing blacks to serve in the Army and Navy, the Emancipation Proclamation helped solve the North’s problem of declining enli stments. About 200, 000 black soldiers and sailors, many of them former slaves, served in the armed forces. Even when the proclamation came into effect it still did not free many slaves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very few black men were freed from the emancipation, but it caused another huge point to come forth. It showed that the civil war was not being fought to save the union, but once and for all, put an end to slavery. Finally, the civil war ended with the north victorious. With all of the blacks joining the army and Navy, the Unions power was twice as strong, which helped the Union tremendously in winning the war.

Individual Project

I was the youngest of my two brothers and one sister, growing up in a small city on the Eastern shore of Maryland. Salisbury is the city name of my hometown. Our father died when I was at the young age of four. My mother who was very strong willed and independent raised all of us on her own after daddy died. She raised us and taught us to do well in school and to make good grades. She instilled in all of us to be very loving and presentable children that respect our elders. We were brought up in the church and taught to say our daily prayers before going to bed at night. Hygiene was a must and cleanliness was a daily routine. My grandson is nine years of age and he also lost his father(my son) at a early age, as we did. He use to come visit me during the summer and on holidays. He is a lovable child that had no will to do his best in anything. His mother is a deaf mute and very uncaring to her children. My grandson and his siblings have been removed from their homes by the State Dept. of Social Services over seven times since he has been born. They were taken away because the mother wouldn’t send them to school, would not keep appointments for their dental work or health checkups and leaving them unattended for more than 24 hours. Because of her neglect my grandson lost all hope of being anybody in his world. He has been placed in foster homes, unknowingly to me over the past three years of his life. The mother is in and out of jail. During her absence from their home has caused so many terrible events. The kids were attacked by a dog that they brought in the house off the streets of Baltimore. His two sisters were raped by friends of their mother. They have gone to bed without anything to eat or drink. I went to Baltimore and rescued my grandson from his mother and that terrible city of Baltimore. My daughter and I have taught him so much since he’s been living with me for the past two years. He now knows how to bathe daily, brush his teeth, match his clothes and shoes and most of all has been on the honor roll for the past two years in school. I’ve filed for custody of him. I’m still waiting for the custody courts to grant me a decision. I’m strongly leaning toward being granted sole custody of him. My children are grown and one of them is deceased. I raised them in the footsteps of my mom raising me. This venture has been very stressful for me at times, but I’m not going to give up on him. I’m at the age of 55 and starting all over again raising a child. I’m overjoyed because my grandson is safe and well taken care of and very much loved. Neglect is one of the main reasons for early age deaths of many children who are raised in the inner cities. Evidence and witnesses are needed to win a custody case. Even though the decision that the courts and custody hearings, I feel that I should be awarded sole custody of my grandson.

Lvmh in the Recession the Substance of Style

http://www. economist. com/node/14447276 LVMH in the recession The substance of style The world’s biggest luxury-goods group is benefiting from a flight to quality, but the recession is also prompting questions about the company’s breadth and balance Sep 17th 2009 | Paris | from the print edition * * Bloomberg â€Å"THERE are four main elements to our business model—product, distribution, communication and price,† explains an executive at LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods group. â€Å"Our job is to do such a fantastic job on the first three that people forget all about the fourth. For decades LVMH's formula has worked like a spell: seduced by beautiful status-symbols, perfect shops and clever advertising, millions of people have swooned forgetfully towards the firm's cash registers. At Louis Vuitton, LVMH's star company, the model's pricing power has yielded consistent profit margins of around 40-45%, the highest of any luxury-goods brand. These days customers are finding it far harder to forget about price. The seriously rich, of course, are still spending freely.But much of the industry's rapid growth in the past decade came from middle-class people, often buying on credit or on the back of rising house prices. According to Luca Solca of Bernstein Research, 60% of the luxury market is now based on demand from â€Å"aspirational† customers rather than from the wealthy elite. The recession has quickly reversed the trend to trade up, and people are delaying expensive purchases. Bain & Company, a consulting firm, expects the industry's sales to fall by a tenth in 2009, to â‚ ¬153 billion ($225 billion).Some executives even expect a lasting shift in customers' preferences, towards discretion and value. Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, believes that the whole industry needs to rebrand itself. â€Å"The word luxury suggests triviality and showing off, and the time for all that has gone,† he say s. Brands which sold â€Å"blingy† easy-to-sell products, milking old names, he says, will fare particularly badly in the new environment. LVMH, by contrast, has never taken such an approach, he says, instead emphasising quality, innovation and creativity.To underline these values, the group is going back to basics in its daily operations. â€Å"Before the crisis, we were putting a lot of energy into beautiful stores, but now we care a bit less about expanding our network and even more about design and price,† says an executive. A few years ago, for instance, at the height of the boom, one LVMH brand was putting diamonds all over its watches, so that it was almost difficult to tell the time. â€Å"Now we are getting back to what really matters, which is nice movements and design,† he says.For some luxury firms, the recession's effects have already been brutal. Private-equity firms and other outside investors which rushed into the industry at its peak have suffer ed most. â€Å"At the top of the market this industry was perceived as easy by outsiders,† says Mr Arnault. â€Å"You borrowed 80% of a target's asking price and hired a good designer, but the strategy has not been successful in several cases. † Lenders to Valentino, an Italian fashion house, are reportedly trying to renegotiate its debt. Permira, a private-equity group, bought the firm in 2007 in a deal valuing it at â‚ ¬5. billion. Permira has since written down its equity investment of about â‚ ¬900m by more than half. Prada Holding, through which Miuccia Prada and her husband control Prada Group, another Italian house, recently restructured its loans in order to defer payment to banks. Prada Group has denied that there are talks to bring in a minority shareholder. Two particularly weak firms, Christian Lacroix, a Paris-based ready-to-wear and haute couture label which used to be part of LVMH, and Escada, a German maker of luxury womenswear, filed for bankrupt cy earlier this year.Amid this turmoil, LVMH is performing relatively well (see chart 1). It has benefited from an established pattern in the luxury industry: when people have less, they spend what they do have on the best quality. Shoppers are going for fewer, classic items—one Burberry raincoat, rather than three designer dresses, or a single Kelly bag by Hermes, a French luxury-goods group, instead of four bags from various lesser designers. For this reason, says Yves Carcelle, chief executive of Louis Vuitton and president of fashion and leather goods for LVMH, â€Å"Vuitton always gains market share in crises. As reliable and sturdy as one of its own handbags, therefore, Vuitton is carrying LVMH fairly comfortably through the recession. In the first half of 2009 the group's revenues were about the same as a year before, though profits were 12% lower. Two divisions—wine and spirits, and watches and jewellery—were the worst affected: their revenues each fell by 17% and their profits by 41% and 73% respectively (see chart 2). Rapid de-stocking by retailers exacerbated the effect of falling demand.But the falls were offset by Vuitton, where revenue rose by a double-digit percentage, registering gains in every market. â€Å"It is incredible that in a downturn the consumer still buys so many Louis Vuitton bags, but she or he does,† says Melanie Flouquet, luxury-goods analyst at JPMorgan in Paris. Vuitton's performance, and the overall robustness of LVMH, a global conglomerate with more than 50 brands and revenues of â‚ ¬17. 2 billion in 2008, should allow it to take advantage of its competitors' weakness in the recession. In the next few years we expect several failures in the industry and good opportunities to acquire assets at attractive prices,† says Mr Arnault. Shareholders in the firm are particularly preoccupied by what he might buy and sell in the next few years. What explains Vuitton's resilience? Beneath the gloss of advertising campaigns, catwalk shows and each season's fleeting trends, Vuitton brings a machine-like discipline to the selling of fancy leather goods and fashion. It is the only leather-goods firm, for instance, which never puts its products on sale at a discount.It destroys stock instead, keeping a close eye on the proportion it ends up scrapping (which it calls the â€Å"destruction margin†). In 2005, when Maurizio Borletti, owner of several prominent department stores in Italy and France, was preparing for the opening of a refurbished La Rinascente department store in Milan, he recalls, the Vuitton people built a scale model of the building in their offices to understand customer flows and get the best positioning. â€Å"In this they're the most professional in the industry,† he says.Unlike most other luxury marques, Vuitton never gives licences to outside firms, to avoid brand degradation. Its factories use techniques from other industries, notably carmaking, t o push costs down ruthlessly and to allow teams of workers to be switched from one product to another as demand dictates. It has adopted methods of quality control, too: one quality supervisor came from Valeo, a French auto-parts supplier. The result is long-lasting utility, beyond show, which is valuable in difficult times. Owning shops gives Vuitton control over levels of stock, presentation and pricing.It was not therefore affected by the panicked price-slashing of up to 80% by American luxury department stores in the run-up to Christmas last year—a â€Å"catastrophe† for others in the industry, according to Mr Arnault. Although other LVMH divisions have been hit by outside retailers de-stocking during the crisis, Vuitton has managed its own inventory, with no competition for space from other brands. With a global network, says Mr Carcelle, the firm can move poorly selling stock to shops where it has performed better. The luxury of diversityVuitton's ability to offs et the steep falls in other divisions shows the value of the diversified conglomerate model in luxury goods. Richemont, the industry's second-largest company, has a less varied portfolio and greater exposure to watches and jewellery, demand for which has been especially weak. According to a recent trading statement, its sales fell by 16% in the five months to the end of August. A group structure also yields savings when negotiating deals for advertising space, property and credit-card fees. It helps to have a specialist beauty retailer, Sephora, and a chain of airport shops, DFS, to sell perfumes and cosmetics.When Vuitton develops watches, say, it can call on the talents of TAG Heuer. But LVMH's breadth also comes in for criticism. Although there is undoubtedly value in some diversification, some people ask whether 50-odd brands under one roof are too many. Vuitton, for instance, would doubtless like to see disposals of weaker brands as a result of the crisis, and a greater concent ration of resources on the group's key businesses. The group's executives devote the bulk of their attention to the most important of these: Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy in drinks, TAG Heuer in watches, Christian Dior in perfumes and cosmetics, Sephora and DFS.The group has many smaller businesses, and these get much less attention in such a big group. LVMH does not disclose financial figures for individual brands, but at its presentation of first-half results the group's finance director replied to an analyst asking about fashion and leather-goods that a â€Å"handful† had lost money â€Å"somewhere†. There is speculation that Celine, a ready-to-wear clothing and accessories label, Kenzo, a fashion brand which analysts have long suggested LVMH dispose of, or Loewe, a Spanish leather-goods brand which has so far failed o win much of a following outside Spain and Japan, are among the less profitable. Nevertheless, the group can use the might of Vuitton to support its sm aller, upcoming brands. A department store, for instance, may be asked to take Loewe or Celine in order to get Vuitton. That often frustrates people at Vuitton, however, who would prefer to use the power of the brand for its own benefit, says a person who knows the company well. â€Å"They've never heard of another of LVMH's brands saying, ‘Either give this to Vuitton or I won't come',† he says.Apart from the synergy in watch design, Vuitton does not find that it benefits much from the rest of the group. The reason why LVMH has many small brands which aren't quite making it, says another person familiar with the company, is that Mr Arnault is an optimist who believes that every property can at some point be turned around. That can pay off: some years ago Mr Arnault halted the imminent sale of a make-up line. Thanks to the distribution muscle of Sephora, it has since turned into a bestseller in America.Investors, however, are nevertheless wary of what they see as Mr Arna ult's tendency to collect brands. The crisis has also underlined the fact that Vuitton dominates the group's results. Were it not for Vuitton, estimates one analyst, LVMH's sales would have fallen by 3% in the first half of 2009 and profits would have plunged by 40%. In normal times Vuitton contributes about half of the group's profits, and most of the rest comes from Moet Hennessy. In the first half of this year, however, Vuitton contributed an estimated 70% of profit.That leads some people to question whether LVMH is overly dependent on the leather-goods firm. â€Å"You can argue that there's nothing as good as Vuitton in LVMH's portfolio,† says Pierre Mallevays of Savigny Partners, who was formerly director of acquisitions at LVMH, â€Å"but that simply states the fact that LV's business model is the gold standard of luxury brands; no other brand in the world compares to it. † The biggest risk to LVMH is Vuitton, argues Ms Flouquet, since it accounts for such a big proportion of profits; the company depends on it, she says.The risk to Vuitton, in turn, is that it could fall out of fashion or lose its exclusivity in the eyes of consumers. So far there is no sign of fatigue with the brand. LVMH's senior managers have devised ways to refresh it. In the late 1990s, for example, Mr Arnault saw that there was a risk that as a maker of leather goods alone, Vuitton could be perceived as boring. In 1997 he hired Marc Jacobs, then a relatively unknown designer, to design a fashion line. The aim was to generate seasonal buzz and press coverage.Vuitton's senior executives at the time were against the idea, fearing that adding fashion could undermine a timeless image, but Mr Arnault's move proved successful. To avoid overexposure of its signature â€Å"Monogram† print, Vuitton has taken care to develop a wide range of products and other patterns. â€Å"We increase the number of product lines and we are careful to have several different colours and shapes,† says Mr Arnault. Thus Vuitton sells reasonably priced handbags—the smallest Speedy Bag costs â‚ ¬430 in Paris—but also wildly expensive custom-made luggage, reinforcing its exclusive image.Another effective tactic is to make limited-edition handbags which are hard to get hold of. Five or so years ago Vuitton depended to a large degree on one market, Japan. Most Japanese women owned at least one Vuitton product—and hence provided a large proportion of Vuitton's profits, which worried analysts at the time. Yet the Japanese market for luxury goods was souring. Spending on such items in Japan has fallen sharply since the end of 2005, according to a recent report by McKinsey, a consulting firm. Young women are more individualistic than their mothers, and are seeking out lesser-known brands. You used to see thousands of Vuitton bags coming at you in the Ginza shopping district but far fewer now,† says Radha Chadha, author of a book, â€Å"The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia's Love Affair with Luxury†. That reliance on one country is no longer so marked (see chart 3). Fortunately, Vuitton has since rapidly established a strong position in what it hopes will become another Japan: China. â€Å"The Chinese consumer is in a love affair with the Vuitton brand,† says Ms Flouquet. According to LVMH, in the first half of 2009 sales to Chinese people (at home and travelling) made up 18% of Vuitton's revenue.Despite widespread concerns about counterfeiting in the country, the Chinese are now Vuitton's biggest customer base after the Japanese. The key to the firm's success, says Mr Arnault, has been approaching the market exactly as if it were a developed market. â€Å"We treat the Chinese customer as being very sophisticated. † Many competitors, by contrast, have at times lowered their standards for shops in China, he says, using inferior furniture or positioning their stores poorly. Going into new markets and developing new product lines will enable Vuitton o continue producing double-digit growth for years to come, says Mr Carcelle. On every trip to mainland China—he makes five or six a year—he tries to discover a new city and meet its mayor. Mr Carcelle is also tackling other new frontiers: in October he will open a shop in Sukhbaatar Square in Ulan Bator. â€Å"Already if you go to an upmarket disco in Ulan Bator you will see a significant number of our bags,† he says. Vuitton's expansion into China, Mongolia and new product lines such as watches and shoes, suggest that the leather-goods firm will continue to be LVMH's main source of growth.However, it also means that the group may become more rather than less reliant on Vuitton. In theory, the answer could lie in strengthening some of LVMH's smaller names, such as Fendi, a fashion and leather-goods brand. But buying a big, established, global brand with potential for growth could be both a quicker and a sure r route. Or maybe that oneImagineChina A new collection? Analysts and bankers are convinced that Mr Arnault wants to buy the Hermes Group, a producer of leather goods and fashion which matches Vuitton for quality and design.Because Hermes is run so conservatively, says an investment banker who knows LVMH well, it is only a quarter of the size that it could be. â€Å"Mr Arnault would grow it while preserving its values,† he says. Earlier this year, there were rumours that LVMH would sell Moet Hennessy to Diageo, the world's biggest spirits group, which already owns 34% of the business. Such a sale could raise money to buy Hermes. Mr Arnault, however, refuses to be drawn into commenting. For the moment, such an acquisition is impossible, since the family which controls Hermes does not want to sell, and the firm is strongly defended against takeover.Nevertheless, says the banker, the family which controls it has several branches, all with different views. â€Å"It's a pressure cooker and some day it will blow up,† he says. Chanel, another closely held global luxury brand, could also make a desirable target for LVMH. Some people recommend a merger with Richemont, which, Mr Solca argues, would address LVMH's relative weakness in watches and jewellery. Any such deals, or selling Moet Hennessy, would radically change the balance of the group. â€Å"I would be surprised if LVMH sold Moet Hennessy. The business has high margins, high ashflow and it is well managed,† says Ms Flouquet. â€Å"They would probably only sell it if they had a large deal ahead. † Shareholders are nervous that LVMH will pay too high a price for a large acquisition. For this reason the group's valuation may not fully reflect its performance during the crisis. Such concerns are not likely to deter Mr Arnault, who has demonstrated his confidence in LVMH's prospects in luxury by raising his stake in the group over time: he owns 47%. If LVMH does go shopping, it will prob ably behave like one of its best customers: with price in mind, but willing to spend on enduring prestige.