Boost Juice Case Study Essay

3 reasons for Boost Juice experiencing economies of scale 1 – Purchasing inputs and raw materials in bulk †¢ Buying in bulk means that the average cost of each unit of raw material is cheaper than if each unit was bought individually †¢ In one year alone, Boost juice goes through more than 35 tonnes of mangos and you still have all of the other range of fruits that are bought. Therefore buying in bulk means that the average cost of the raw material decreases which therefore, using the value chain, means that the average cost per output decreases as output increases. †¢ As the order value increases, a business obtains more bargaining power with suppliers. It may be able to obtain discounts and lower prices for the raw materials 2- Cheaper marketing costs pet outlet †¢ Due to the rapid expansion of boost since it was established in 2000 (on average one new boost store opens every 4 days) has meant that the cost of advertising per outlet has decreased (e.g. if you had one outlet and advertising cost $10,000 and then the business expanded to 10 outlets it would mean that cost of advertising per outlet would go from $10,000 to $1000) †¢ This has enabled boost to undergo further marketing strategies which in turn brings more consumers to the product meaning that the price of each unit output would decrease 3- Economies of scale can be defined as reductions in costs per unit of output as output increases and so therefore arise when the cost per unit falls as output increases. They are the ‘savings of size’ if a firm is able to increase the size of its plant or operations in the long run production period. A business that is experiencing economies of scale in the present is the smoothie and juice making company called Boost Juice. Established in  2000, Boost Juice, managed by successful entrepreneur Janine Allis, is a business that has been able to be extremely successful through domination of their market and a number of marketing strategies that has enabled them to grow in size and thus currently be experiencing economies of scale. Since the very first Boost Juice was opened in 2000, the next 6 years saw the opening of 189 new stores and the rapid growth is still occurring today. There are two main types of economies of scale, internal and external each of which are leading factors as to why a business may currently be expericing economies scale. Within this case study of the highly profitable and highly successful business Boost Juice I will be discussing 3 of the reasons why Boost Juice are currently experiencing economies of scale which are bulk buying, cheaper marketing costs and —————— As stated above, economies of scale can occur due to both internal and external factors. One of the key internal factors of which has led to Boost Juice experiencing economies of scale is bulk-buying of raw materials and other inputs. Bulk buying can be defined as buying goods/ materials/ other inputs in large quantities which becomes highly relevant to business that are undergoing or have already expanded as a business due to the cost benefits that are associated with bulk buying. The leading cost benefit associated with the bulk buying is that the average cost of each unit of raw material is far cheaper that if each unit were bought individually. As businesses grow its essential that they order larger quantities of production inputs so that they can meet the increased demand and production. As the order value of wanted raw materials increases a business is able to obtain monopsony (buying) power with its supplier/s. This is extremely applicable to Boost Juice. Boost Juice is a highly successful fruit juice retailer thus requiring extremely large quantities of fruit (along with the other needed inputs). In one year, Boost Juice goes through more than 35 tonnes of mangoes alone and when you consider all of the other fruits that Boost Juice will have to purchase as inputs there is an extremely large quantity of fruit that needs to be supplied. Therefore buying in bulk is much more cost effective as it makes the unit price per input much cheaper through the cost volume benefits of buying in bulk. Therefore, Boost Juice has been able to experience economies of scale in the present through bulk  buying which drastically reduces the unit price per input, which reduces the cost of output.

Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions in India Essay

The corporate sector all over the world is restructuring its operations through different types of consolidation strategies like mergers and acquisitions in order to face challenges posed by the new pattern of globalisation. The intensity of such operations is increasing with the de-regulation of various government policies as a facilitator of the neo-liberal economic regime. The intensity of cross-border operations recorded an unprecedented surge since the mid-1990s and the same trend continues. Earlier, foreign firms were satisfying their market expansion strategy through the setting up of wholly owned subsidiaries in overseas markets which has now become a ‘second best option since it involves much time and effort that may not suit to the changed global scenario, cross-border mergers and acquisitions became the ‘first-best option’ to the leaders and others depended on the follow-the-leader’ strategy. The Indian corporate sector too experienced such a boom in mergers and acquisitions that led restructuring strategies especially after liberalization, Four types of growth strategies adopted by the firms. Firms started with domestic production and began to export to the foreign markets, establishment of subsidiaries in overseas market was the next stage and as a fourth phase, firms started to acquire firms in foreign markets instead of establishing subsidiaries. The increasing magnitude of investment through cross-border mergers and acquisitions and its emergence as a major component of FDI even in the case of developing countries such as India, why firms are engaging in cross-border consolidations instead of establishing subsidiaries or to engage in export-oriented growth.

About Chloroform As An Anaesthetic Agent

About Chloroform As An Anaesthetic Agent Surgical procedures are painful, no doubt. Even with the advancement of medicine in the field of anaesthetic, certain complications are to be expected among patients who were receiving anaesthesia (regardless of types) such as bradycardia, post-puncture headache, hypotension and feeling pain despite an adequate dose of analgesia. How do we know exactly whether the patient who is being operated is in pain? Most of the indications were clinical (there is no machine which can tell you with an absolute certainty that the patient is in paint) and often judged based on the patients vital signs which can be quite suggestive of pain, for example, increase in blood pressure and heartbeat could indicate that the amount of analgesia being given to the patient was inadequate. Eventually, an anaesthetist in-charge will increase the analgesics/any other drugs dosage to achieve stabilisation which will provide a less painful experience for the patient. Being sedated during surgery is the main principle of anaesthesia (although some procedures dont require sedation; local anaesthetic for example) coupled with other agents which could alleviate pain and reduce movement to provide surgeons with optimal surgical conditions thus reducing post-operative complications. There are a lot of fine arteries, veins and nearby organs that can potentially be damaged during operation if patients were moving thus usage of muscle relaxants (either depolarising or non-depolarising) are justified to facilitate certain procedures. Even though nowadays, there are a lot of chemicals which can be used as anaesthetic agents, back in the day, the number of options to alleviate pain is quite limited. In 2250 BCE, most of the toothache cases experienced by Babylonians were treated by giving Henbane, a type of plant which is quite poisonous, often being used to treat some medical conditions such as asthma, cough, nervous system-related diseases and sure, a toot hache. If you were thinking, sedation before operative procedures are only practised after we discovered modern medicine, you were wrong. In 650 BCE, most of the priestesses utilise ethylene fumes to induce sedation among patients before any kind of procedure. In 400 BCE, Assyrians discovered that they can induce unconsciousness temporarily by compressing the carotid artery to carry out a few simple surgical procedures such as cataract surgery and circumcision without too much fuss. In the year 160, Hua Tuo performed surgery after patients have been induced with a method resembles the general anaesthesia by utilising a mixture of wine and herbs called Mafeisan. People generally understand the importance of putting patients in an unconscious state before starting an operation but as there were a lot of complications (including death) which have been documented in a lot of journals associated with certain types of anaesthetic agents, people grew restless. There are a lot of modern anaesthetic agents which are not being used anymore due to their fatal complications but people in the past dont have much choices on that matter, really. In this article, we will discuss regarding one of the anaesthetic agents which have been held in high regards in the past after it was used to ease up Queen Victoria, during her childbirth. Lets talk about @chloroform. Exploring A 170 Years Of Controversy Even though chloroform was discovered by three independent researchers in 1831, people are not aware of its anaesthetic properties until it was eventually demonstrated in 1847 by a Scottish obstetrician named Professor James Simpson. He tried to search for an ideal anaesthetic chemical that can be used to anaesthetise patients during operation while imposing minimal side effects (pain, for most of the parts). His determination stemmed from his bad experience of witnessing a breast-removal operation that was carried out in 1827 when he was a medical student. Back then, reliable anaesthetic agents were yet to be discovered thus surgical procedures were usually carried out with speed and precision to reduce patients suffering. Feeling pain was considered inevitable so patients depend heavily on surgeons skills while they were held down by devices to prevent movements. Throughout the surgery, Simpson felt traumatised as he had to witness suffering from the patient as surgical cuts were made. Her movements were restricted by both leather straps and a few other attendants, so it was pretty much messed up gores that had to be dealt with as soon as they were able. Its not a sight that you would have admired or cherished and he nearly quitted medical school because of that; fortunately, he didnt. Instead of quitting, he pledged himself to find a suitable anaesthetic agent that could alleviate suffering among patients especially in a surgical setting. Most of the answers he acquired from his professors when he was a medical student were discouraging and only when he was a full-pledged medical officer that he could experiment with a number of chemicals and procedures to test their efficacies on his patients; he ever tried mesmerism! People often used the word mesmerism and hypnosis interchangeably, but both of them induced trance (an altered state of consciousness) through different methods. Mesmerism focused on using non-verbal cues like gaze, strokes etc. while hypnotism used verbal cues. Of course, mesmerism is not a good choice when it comes to medicine, even its founder, Franz Anton Mesmer was chased out from Venice for practising it, but Simpson was willing to try anything for the sake of improving the current state of surgical protocols; still, none of it works. In 1846 he heard about a chemical called ether which can be used as an inhaled agent to alleviate pain during dental procedures. He tried to use it in his medical practice but he soon realised that there are a lot of side effects caused by that particular volatile agent, not to mention back then, a huge portion of the medical community opposed to the usage of volatile agents as anaesthesia. Despite the frustration, he learned a considerable amount of experience and knowledge regarding volatile compounds. Exposure to all kind of volatile compounds brought him to chloroform in 1847, a year after his failed attempt at using ether as an anaesthetic agent. Mind you, volatile compound is a hot topic since the discovery of chloroform in 1831, but their potential benefits were regarded less than what they deserved. On November 1847, he revealed chloroform as a potential anaesthetic agent that can be used to induce patient pre-operatively. His discovery is so significant to the point that he was credited for discovering it and responsible for saving Queen Victoria during her childbirth from suffering; neither of which is true. According to the history press, although Simpsons works after the discovery of chloroform can be thought as significant or probably greater than chloroform, it received less attention by the medical community and public alike; everyone wanted to celebrate or hate him for the discovery of chloroform; so unfortunate. He recognised the fact that chloroform is a powerful agent that can be used to sedate people during surgery and at the same time, took lives if the dosage applied to an individual were excessive. There were a lot of debates, quarrels and confusion regarding the usage of such agent which requires a careful consideration of patients condition which can ultimately cause death if it was to be miscalculated. It is, however, worth noting that, the usage of chloroform has revolutionised battlefield medicine due to its quick onset of action, ease of use and high rate of success which has been documented on numerous occasions during wars. In the war in the Crimea, the British used chloroform almost universally in their operations; the French also exhibited it very extensively, and Baudens, one of their leading military surgical authorities, declares that they did not meet with one fatal accident from it, although it was given to them during the Eastern campaign, thirty thousand times at least. In America, however, chloroform was only recognised as one of the most effective anaesthetic agents after a civil war in 1861 thus being used by physicians for routine surgeries. It was kinda appropriate to start using such inhaled agent after it was documented in the records regarding the use of chloroform as a preferred agent to treat 80,000 people (through surgical methods) without too much fuss; they either used chloroform alone or mixed it up with ether to enhance its therapeutic effects. Even though the success rate seems high, there were a lot of deaths that have been documented as a part of the consequences caused by chloroform, starting with a child in 1848, a year after Simpson started using it as a preferred anaesthetic agent. Miscalculation or overextending the exposure of such chemical to patients can cause cardiac arrest and thus death within 2 minutes. When Simpson first discovered the anaesthetic property of chloroform, he tried it on himself, putting him in a deep sl eep. Fortunately, he woke up the day after or the world will be deprived of such anaesthetic agent a few decades after his announcement. Chloroform In Criminal-Related Activities I think people are quite familiar with the idea of chloroform being used by criminals to induce their victims into an unconscious state so that they can be abducted or killed with ease. Even though this idea is quite popular, most of the papers out there seem to agree with the fact that applying chloroform to a handkerchief and such is considered a poor tool to be used in abductions and any related crimes that are required unconsciousness of non-consenting individuals. There are a few cases that can be given as evidence but most of the popular press seems to hate if this fact proved wrong; they still believe that in any criminal activity which used chloroform, the chemical itself is the reason for people to be unconscious. Well, the method of inducing victims seem to resemble the act of inducing patients before an operation but there are a lot of factors that can be considered before saying chloroform is the root of all evils. In 1850, an elderly clergyman stayed in Temperance Hotel located in Kendal, Cumbria, England. He was on a mission of collecting donation for the needy and successfully collected eleven gold sovereigns which are considered a lot. Unfortunately for him, a young man who travelled alongside him planned to steal those sovereigns so he soaked a towel with some chloroform and hid inside a closet while the clergyman was busy doing something else. When the clergyman about to go to sleep, he tried to lock the door by using a chair since the lock is broken and a few seconds after, the young man attacked him while covering his face with the towel, attempted to knock him down. It will be easier for him to hit the clergymans head rather than using chloroform, the clergyman scream and fight violently and the other guests from other rooms came to see what happen. The young man was arrested and he was sentenced to 18 months of jail time. There are many cases which resemble this one but none of it was accepted as the truth by the public presses in 1865. People wanted to hear that chloroform can actually be used to commit crimes. In 1854, an ophthalmic surgeon named William Wilde began treating Mary Travers for a few years until later in 1862, she claimed, allegedly, that she was raped under the influence of chloroform by the surgeon himself. The thing that was interesting regarding this case is, although she claimed that she was raped in 1862, the report which was written by her to the presses was submitted in 1864 when William Wilde was awarded a knighthood for his contribution in Irish census. She was treated by him for those 2 years and this accusation seems suspicious. Moving on, William Wildes wife submitted a letter to Mary Travers whos at the time working as a professor of medical philosophy in Dublin. When Mary Travers found out about this, she sued Lady Wilde for defamation. Mary Travers won that case but the penalty imposed on William Wilde was so low that it wouldnt affect his reputation at all. People started to become suspicious as to why this was the case. This case was then discussed by two jo urnalists which favoured Sir William Wilde and they were sued for defamation by Mary Travers too; only this time, she lost. There are a few possibilities that could have influenced Mary Travers as of why she behaved that way. The rape accusation might be alleged but when we are talking about the truth, Mary Travers might have spoken it, I mean the truth; only it never happened in the first place. A lot of this kind of accusations have been received throughout the years and some research which are conducted much later proved that chloroform can induce sexual hallucination. This effect, however, is not specific to chloroform but also the other inhaled anaesthetic agents. Apart from making you happy, it can strengthen sexual emotions which lead to hallucinations that can be considered erotic. In 1888, a paper written by Buxton DW described a case whereby a patient achieved sexual orgasm during induction with an inhaled anaesthetic agent. Quite interesting, isnt it? Oh yeah, chloroform also is quite addictive. There is some documentation (quite old) which described patients who are addicted to inhaled anaesth etic agents to improve sexual performances. Conclusion Even though chloroform was proven to be a great anaesthetic agent in the past, it was replaced by much better gases that would be able to maintain unconsciousness with fewer side effects. If someone said they were being raped under the influence of chloroform, that case needs to be investigated first. Even though chloroform is a poor tool to be used by a criminal, people can be knocked out by it; they just need to be still for a few minutes as the concentration of the chloroform used might have been mild than what have been calibrated for surgical uses.

2014 Gubernatorial Campaign Plan for James Walker Research Paper

2014 Gubernatorial Campaign Plan for James Walker - Research Paper Example Big Jim is married with two children and is currently a resident of San Antonio City, the second largest city in Texas and the administrative capital of Bexar County. While in High school, Walker demonstrated good interpersonal and leadership skills and he consequently served in a number of leadership positions. These positions not only gave him the necessary leadership skills but also widened his eyes to public service. After completing his law degree at Virginia School of law in 1986, He served briefly as a Texas Ranger before he became a renowned business man in Bexar County. As a former Ranger, Jim Walker acquired the characters associated with rangers such as determination, courage, dedication, integrity and respect for others. Finally as an active Republican activist, Mr. Walker has also been elected to chair several committees and has been in the fore front campaigning for the enactment of several statues benefiting majority of the citizens in Texas. The republican candidate i s currently considered as one of the ideal gubernatorial candidates of the year 2014 many people across the political divide. James Walker (Big Jim). Regional and cultural support With regard to the regional and cultural diversity of the modern state of Texas, our campaign plan will take into account the varying needs of various regions and cultures across the vast State. The main regions of Texas such as the Big Bend County, Panhandle plains, Prairies, Gulf Coast and the Pineywoods among other regions all have significant variations with regard to their economic activities and interests. Each of the regions is distinguished by different levels of prosperity, types of monetary activity, different political cultures, racial and cultural mix. Furthermore, East Texas and West Texas both are Texan, but have differences not only with each other but also from South Texas and Urban Texas. Generally the complex interplay between the diverse cultural, economic, historical, geographic and ins titutional as well as the social forces has continued to define the politics of Texas particularly the regional and cultural support for the candidates of various political offices in the State (Drake, 2011). Mr. James Walker is likely to experience some problems in his campaigns in regions such as Urban Texas which generally have greater economic activity and are known to favor candidates who favor economic liberalism. The other regions where Mr. Walker will also have an uphill task include South Texas Plains and Big Bend Country. This is because many voters believe Republicans are unlikely to enact economic liberalization policies since Republicans are considered to be conservatives. Consequently most of the Urban Texas regions have always been known to lean towards Democrats because their policies advocate for more economic liberalization. As a politician who favors social conservatism, Walker will most likely do well in the rural regions of Texas where many people favor politici ans who advocate for the restoration of traditional moralism and values. Additionally the Republican Party has strong influence in regions like Panhandle plains and Hill Country and therefore the people of these regions are most likely to vote Big James and people who pursue Individualistic political culture such as Mr. James Walker. Demographic support Demographic variation will also play a sign9ificant role in the2014 gubernatorial campaigns of James Walker. This is particularly with regard to the fact that the vast territory with a culturally diverse population that consist of people with various ethnic and racial backgrounds (Scharrer, 2011). Texas has a diverse demographic

A Romantic Dinner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Romantic Dinner - Essay Example Outside, the landscape had changed. Where once there were the brash, insistent reds and greens of late summer now were the glamorous, rich shades of ochre, crimson and orange. Lisa stepped into her thin shoes and let the door slam shut behind her, leaving behind the cheer and light of her kitchen for the valley that was topped by the glorious shades of a sun setting behind the mountains. Her worn, cotton dress, whose colors had mellowed from being hung to dry in the sun, swished around her ankles. Twigs snapped like matchsticks beneath her feet as she walked towards the silvery sheen of the lake. From within the basket could be heard the faint clink of glass and silverware. Lisa paused and smiled even brighter at the figure sitting on a blanket by the lake. She hadn't seen Colin for over three months while she had been away for the summer, visiting her grandparents in Louisiana before school started up again. The days had seemed like years, the weeks had seemed like aeons and the months like an eternity. Lisa had met Colin when the two of them were fifteen. They both hated the same people in high school, which had led to them loving each other, although Lisa had suspected that Colin was gay at first. She liked the way he always had the edgiest jokes, the most intellectual references, the most sincere kindness and the most tasteful pants. He was head and shoulders above the other boys in her class. She knew that her heartstrings were permanently soldered to this boy when, at their upper-crust private school, Colin confessed that as soon as he was eighteen, he wanted to run away from home, join Greenpeace, and "fight eco-terrorism," as he put it. And when Colin was asked by the school basketball coach, "Why don't you want to join the team" and answered with, "Because I don't like you," she nearly proposed. Colin was on his back, staring at the sky. When he heard Lisa's footsteps, he tilted his head backwards, looked at her and smiled brightly, then casually walked over to her and squeezed her as tight as she could. The two of them laid down on the grass, embracing. Colin went back to his sky-gazing, while tapping his black, Converse-clad foot gently to some tune heard only within his head. Between his fingers he twirled a single blade of grass, then rolled it between the square palms of his hands. "I missed you, baby," Lisa said, inhaling the scent of his blond hair. He smelled like Suave shampoo and soy milk."I missed you, too," he said. "What do you have for me to eat Did you make tasty treats for me""I thought you would never ask," Lisa smiled. She sat up and pulled the heavy wicker basket towards them and started sifting through its contents. Lisa was fairly young-just shy of twenty-two-but in spite of that, she had marvelous skills within the kitchen, probably as a result of having an almost unhealthy interest in the domestic arts. She adored quilting, baking, sewing and knitting; her room was always spotless and beautiful, with finely crocheted ecru lace curtains on the windows and a homemade apron hanging on her door. Her dream was to one day own a giant farmhouse with lots of children (six, to be exact) and raise sheep, goats and bees. She envisioned herself making cheese and candles and liked the idea of teaching her children to spin and die skeins of yarn into all t he colors of the rainbow-burgundy, cobalt, sage and blonde,

Marketing Report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Report - Coursework Example This has also been done for understanding the external environment. The findings derived after analyzing the market for IKEA revealed that IKEA is one of the major players in the furniture retailing market and though the company has many competitors, but due to certain Unique Selling Proposition (USP) the competitors would not be able to shake the strong foundation of the company. The company might face problems due to the economic slowdown that is prevailing around the world, due to which the sales might get affected. Introduction IKEA Furniture is private furniture retail chain in UK, which sells furniture and home products. The company also deals in customized furniture which has to be assembled according to the preferences of the customers. IKEA is one of the world’s largest furniture retailers and it sells furniture like beds, desks, chairs, tables, home appliances and accessories. The company was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in the year 1943, in Sweden. IKEA is best known f or stylish, designable and easy to handle furniture. Their furniture is eco-friendly and simply designed. Apart from its products, the company is also known for its cost control aspect. The company has always maintained a standard in controlling its internal cost, paying ample attention to the operational details and continuously developing and improving their product. IKEA is now owned and operated by both profit and non-profit organization. So the corporate structure of the company is segregated into two parts, namely: franchising and operations. The aim of this study is to analyze the functions and developments of IKEA furniture, conduct a complete market analysis of the company so as to understand the present position of the company in the industry and finally recommend strategies for improvement (IKEA, 2012). Procedure The aim of the study is to conduct competitor, market, environmental, customer and internal analysis for IKEA Furniture, so that the actual position of the compa ny in the global market can be identified. Competitors’ analysis can be done by first identifying the competitors, understanding their strategies for the customers, predicting the future steps of the competitors, assessing the value chain of the competitors and developing strategies to challenge their method. The market share of the competitors has to be estimated. The environmental analysis can be done by analyzing the external environmental of the country where IKEA has planned to open up a retail store. Similarly customers’ analysis can be done by studying the behavioural and psychological patterns of the consumers. Finally the internal analysis of the company would be done by assessing the human, financial, and physical resources within the company. Findings Competitor Analysis The major competitors of IKEA are ASDA, Ashley, and Bassett Furniture Industries among others. According to the CEO of the company, their brand awareness is must more than the size of the co mpany. This is because IKEA is not just a furniture merchant like the competitors, but it sells lifestyle to its customers. Apart

Federal Bureau of Prisons Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Federal Bureau of Prisons - Research Paper Example Whatever the intended function of prison is, the reality is that they perform a role in our society. We have the need to feel safe from people who would do us harm. Many commit crimes at the state level, so are sentences to local jails or state prisons. Others, however, wrong the country as a whole, and not just a given segment of society. For this offenders, the federal government has set up an elaborate system of prisons across the country divided into six different regions. The purpose of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is to â€Å"Protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prison and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens† (Roberts, 1997, p. 53). The purpose of this paper is to explain the function of the federal prison and to examine the actually effectiveness of its various pro grams and policies. History and Policies Established in 1930, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has stated its policy to provide more progressive and humane care and treatment for Federal inmates sentenced to serve time (Roberts, 1997, p. 53). ... 53). As one can see, this is quite an elaborate system of institutions, and each is governed by a nationalized set of policies designed to keep everything running smoothly throughout the country. Currently, the federal prisoner system is designed to care for about 219,000 inmates. Policies dictate that each inmate who is incarcerated is done so in order to order to ensure public safety. At the same time, the facilities that the inmates are housed in are designed to be safe, humane, cost efficient, and secure to the level required by each individual offender. Security Levels Just as with state and local prisons and jails, there are various levels of security existent in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The system is made of five distinct security levels. The goal in this division is to confine offending prisoners in a manner appropriate to their individual circumstance and crime committed. Each level has different features related to the number and presence of external patrols, towers, security barriers, or detection devices (Fliesher, 1998, p. 11). Each level of confinement will also typically have different types of housing within the institution, certain security features, and a different staff-to-inmate ration. It is also interesting to note that each institution in the federal system is designed to house a different security level as needed depending on the space available and the needs of the population (Fliesher, 1998, p. 11). The lowest level of security in the Federal Bureau of Prisons is minimum security. Prisons of this type are also known as Federal Prison Camps and typically have dormitory type housing, a low staff-to-inmate ration when compared to other

Meditations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Meditations - Essay Example This is after the book was circulated for a collection of objection upon which he provided his replies. Most of the people who read the meditations did not agree with some of the philosophical theories built by Descartes. Therefore, this brings about some kind of disagreement between Descartes and one or more objectives that he raises. As such, these objections and replies will be evaluated to gauge their adequacy. Descartes wrote the meditations to show that he had previously been mistaken in relation to things that he had initially thought to be certain. He, therefore, makes a decision to sweep away all of the perception that he had built in the past by constructing his knowledge from ground upwards. In turn, the only ideas that he was to accept as true were those that had been confirmed to be absolutely certain. It is his senses that helped him to get all that he had thought previously. Although his senses can also be deceiving, it only happens for tiny objects or those that are f ar away. He ultimately realizes that he cannot cast any doubt upon his own existence (Garber, 2003). Position of Descartes in the Meditations In the Meditations Descartes provides a means for first philosophy hence the beginning of modern day philosophy. From the book, he starts by attempting to doubt everything. He also builds up from those things that are likely to be known with certainty. He bases his first mediation on skeptical doubts by defining knowledge in terms of doubt. With this, he makes a distinction between rigorous knowledge or scientia and the other lesser grades of convictions or persuasio. He makes a clear distinction between the human soul and body. In this, he demonstrates the existence of God and the immortality of the soul and questions how certain knowledge is. As such, his position is that people should establish what is likely to be known for sure. In order to make out what is claimed in the sciences and form a firm structure from them, it is important to ma ke a new foundation. This is because of the way he connects with the development of knowledge from the senses. This kind of information is what should be taken as true and certain (Garber, 2003). It is thus important to have a clear and distinct perception in order to secure knowledge. He thus develops a new state of mind conception by stating that the mental states are similar to what it represents. Therefore, the subject of the objections is that there should be no belief in things that are absolutely certain. In particular, the objection being made is that people only think about things that know the mind in a clear and distinct way. He claims that senses are not the source of knowledge but a means through which individuals practically move through the world. This makes the mind of human beings sufficient enough to know God. However, the reply to this objective is that people must work hard to understand their bodies. It is because the mind and body are extremely distinct and hav e nothing in common. With this, there must be the presence of doubt to gain more knowledge (Descartes, 1993). In my opinion, this reply is highly adequate because it appears to take a rational stance. It brings out the two truths that show the philosophical evidence on the existence of God, as opposed to the authority of scriptures. First Meditation: What can be called to doubt: the reliability of senses For the first meditation by Descartes which is about the reliability of the senses, he claims that the human is a complete form of spirituality. According to

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

Media - Research Paper Example What is the extent of the reach of mass media in all of its forms? What is the impact of mass media advertising on the perceptions of people of themselves, their self-image? How does marketing affect decisions to purchase? How do mass media images and coverage influence court decisions, as typified by the effects of mass media images on high profile cases involving celebrities like OJ Simpson? What are the negative effects on the social skills of people from using social media, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of making use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter? (Katz et al., 1973, pp. 164-181; Newton, 1999, pp. 577-599; Mutz and Martin, 2001). II. Discussion There is no doubt that there are subtle as well as titanic shifts in mass media brought about by the proliferation of alternative media channels online, such as YouTube, changes in the way people consume news with the decline of print and the shift to digital, the surge of social media platforms suc h as Facebook and Twitter in terms of mind share and use on a global scale, and a host of other developments. Mass media can be construed as not being something that is static and well-defined, but rather is something that is now undergoing a radical process of change, and it can be argued that rather than being a static reality mass media in fact is in a state of constant flux (Barkow et al., 2012, pp. 121-133). The advances in communications technology facilitated by the Internet will accelerate this upheaval and change process no doubt, and the future shape and form of the dominant mass media platforms are not yet prognosticated with any degree of confidence. There are winners and losers to be sure, but who those are is anybody’s guess at the moment. With the exception of social media platforms maybe, and some established media juggernauts such as Google, it can be said that mass media as a whole, including its stakeholders and its consumers, is up for grabs and no one kno ws ultimately what its future shape and form will be (Prat and Stromberg, 2011; Crokidakis, 2013). On the one hand there are those who predict the decline in the power of mass media over the masses, and in this regard new and more potent forms of marketing are taking the place of marketing strategies that are overly focused on reaching target markets making use of mass media. On the other hand, the continued rise in revenues from advertising making use of emergent social and online media platforms, such as Facebook and the various Google search properties, attest to power not moving away from mass media per se, but moving away from the traditional mass media platforms, such as print, in favor of digital media platforms and social media platforms. What is true is that even here the landscape is not well-described, as there are differences in the ways that people make use of the new dominant social media platforms for different purposes, in different geographies and cultures (Katz et al., 1973, pp. 164-181; Newton, 1999, pp. 577-599; Mutz and Martin, 2001; Webster et al., 2005; Surani and Shroff, 2012). What is clear is that the new media platforms are indeed putting clear demarcation lines between old ways of consuming and reacting to media and the new ways that people have come to interact with media as represented by the digital and social media

Business ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business ethic - Essay Example In conclusion, the challenge was on both AWB and oil protocol. The main stakeholders in the case study are Iraq government and the international community including the US and Australia. Likewise, the primary interest of Australia was to obtain oil while offering food support to help in the recovery of the war torn Iraq after the desert storm. The primary interest of the Iraq government led by Saddam Hussein focused on protection of personal interest and development of the weapons of mass destruction. The ethical framework theories such as the teleological ethics can apply to the situation because it is based on the end result of the action. For instance, the food for oil, programs main aim was to ensure the Iraqis do not die of hunger after the operation desert storm which leads to loss of food reserves. However, the end result of the program was massive corruption making the idea wrong based on the teleological ethics theory. The consequence of the approach of the makes it a wrong approach in Iraq because of massive corruption and strengthening of the incumbent government which latter stocked itself with banned weapons including biological weapons of mass destruction. Utilitarianism ethical theory focuses on the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people. For instance, the attack of Iraq because of the existence of the biological weapons was considered a best option because it would benefit the whole world. Therefore, the theory supports the invasion of Iraq by the inter national community. The decision to open case against the eleven executive members of the AWB board is end product of unethical approach in problem solving for the Iraq case. The best approach was to ensure that the Iraq government pays for the goods and service provided instead of working on the Oil for Food strategy which failed miserable and led to empowerment of the incumbent government. In a good strategy in solving strategy ensures that

Persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39 Essay Example for Free

Persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39 Essay By what stages and why did the Nazi Regime increase its persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39. Jewish people had been a traditional enemy for several hundred years before Hitler came to power and he made it quite clear in his book, Mein Kampf, that he hated Jewish people. It should be no surprise that even before he rose to power he had already took steps to increase persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany in 1933-39. Before any of the momentous stages began, Hitler had displayed plenty of propaganda to advocate Nazi opinions of Jews, he realised that it wouldnt be a good idea to persecute Jews to the highest level to begin with as he needed to be established as a great leader. Had he have began his stages with an event such as Kristallnacht the German people may not have accepted him as well as they did. Hitler began his stages with unorganised persecution, in 1933 he organised the April Boycotts which involved the boycotting of Jewish businesses, encouraging Aryan Germans to stay away from Jewish owned stores. The members of the Nazi party were eager to begin anti-Jewish measures so Hitler didnt want to carry on denying them this. This stage kept the members happy for a short while and was also backed by churches; increasing its influential value. However the April Boycotts had to be kept fairly low key as Hitler did not want the public to resent him had they thought his measures were too much too soon; his suspicions were in fact correct, Hitler realised he didnt have the public support he needed as despite the Boycotts the public seemed apathetic, they carried on shopping in Jewish stores; ignoring Hitlers warning. Another factor controlling the force of the persecution was the fact that Hindenburg was still supreme to Hitler, he had already brought in the Hindenburg clause (whereby Jewish world war one veterans were exempt from the rule that Jews must be fired from certain professions) which hindered Hitlers chance at early success. Hitlers first attempt at unorganised persecution was supposed to last indefinitely, but in fact it only lasted a day. The Nazi regimes next step in 1935 marked a new phase in their bid to increase the persecution of Jews. Following Hindenburgs death in 1934, Hitler introduced The Nuremburg Laws in August 1935 which basically stripped the Jews of their civil rights. Hitler had realised that the intense propaganda had succeeded in winning the public over and therefore decided to take his persecution to the next stage. He completely disregarded the Hindenburg clause and referred to the Jews not as citizens but as subjects of Germany. This step was to separate the Jews from the rest of the Germany nationality and could be seen as a result of the lack of progress made in the Nazis attempt to get Jews out of the country, statistics of Jews emigrating fell from 37000 to 23000 in 1934. However, in light of the Berlin summer Olympics in 1936, Hitler toned down the propaganda aimed at the persecution of Jews as he wanted tourists to see Germany as a pure country, free of people he though inferior such as Jews. The Nuremburg laws seemed to be as a result of Hitler feeling that he needed to start taking action that is easily recognisable as persecution; this however was nothing in comparison to his next step. On November 9th 1938, following the assassination of a German official in Paris by a young Jewish boy, the Nazis embarked on an orgy of violence, destroying Jewish Property in predominantly Jewish towns in Germany. This seemed the final straw for Hitler, before this he had not let member of the Nazi party display this type of organised persecution. The SS officers conducting the attacks broke the law, but Hitler let this go ahead as there was no popular outcry for it to stop, most resistance was very passive, probably Jew to the Nazi fear factor; no-one dear stand up to them. The intensity of Nazi officials complaining about a lack of action against the Jews encouraged this new wave of intimidation. To add insult to injury, the Jews were fined for the damage done to their towns and property; 1,000,000,000RM in total. 26,000 Jews were arrested and sent to work camps, Kristallnacht is thought to mark the beginning of the Holocaust. Hitlers 4th and final stage was to eliminate Jews; they were not emigrating anymore (as much as they wanted to) simply because other countries could not take them. The measures taken previous to this stage were not enough to get rid of the Jews so Hitler decided to cram the Jews into small ghettos, so he could take complete control of them ready for when they were shipped off in freight trains to concentration camps. Hitler named this the final solution of the Jewish question this stage seemed ooze a sense of desperation, nothing Hitler had done before had deterred the Jews enough for them to flee wherever they could. Once in concentration camps, had they not died of diseases such as Typhus, the Jews were systematically gassed in chambers, sometimes up to 2000 at a time. The name final solution suggests that this really was the last straw for Hitler, he felt there was no other way to rid Germany of the Jews as although the first camp opened in 1933 (Dachau) they werent widely used until 1939, these camps could be seen as a precautionary measure. It is evident that Hitler had many ideas as to how to persecute Jews; he started with quite mild measures and gradually escalated things as a result of unresponsive behaviour from Jews. The pressure he was under from other Nazi party members in the early stages probably pushed him to cross the line into breaking the law to persecute Jews. The latter stages of these measures may not have happened had the Jews emigrated when they were encouraged to.

Environmental Crisis and Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Environmental Crisis and Global Warming Essay The world and mankind are facing different critical issues and problems which we inevitably have to deal with. These concerns have great impact to our lives. Everyday people have to remind themselves of these various perils to their existence. The media together with different organizations help us to become more aware of the problems currently on our midst. People may not find it an alarming and serious issue since the danger at the present time is negligible but sooner or later we will come to realize that we really are into serious danger. Global issues are global concerns. It is felt around the world not just on a particular location. It is a world wide issue that needs to be address. There are many types and forms of current global issues that the world has to face. There is the economic crisis felt all over the world. Various health issues that came out as more people get vulnerable to cancer and other forms of illnesses. There is terrorism which is a crisis in peace and order and security. There is also issue on moral degradation of the society. Lastly is the global warming or global climatic change. Even though some believe global warming to be a hoax, severe weather repercussions and environmental crisis prove the opposite. This global warming is an alarming environmental problem on a global scale. Some people still have doubts if the global warming issue is real or is just an imaginary anxiety fabricated by scientist who has predicted it as a serious problem in the near future. There was hundreds of information released about the onset of global warming. Many people have made research and studies to investigate these phenomena. Documentaries are produce to open the minds and inform the public regarding the new findings regarding the problem. A personal observation on our environment and a closer study will help one to discover and learn more about the development regarding the current issue on global warming. Big Picture of the Environmental Crisis Global warming, what does it really mean? What causes global warming? What factors contribute to this problem? And what are the effects of global warming? All of these are the questions frequently asked regarding this global environmental issue. Global warming is commonly known as the warming of the planet cause by the greenhouse gases that trapped the heat. Global warming is also known as global climatic change or global climatic disruption. Global warming resulted from the increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere that causes the amplified hydrological cycle resulting in increased precipitation and flooding in some regions and more severe aridity in other areas. (Woods Hole Research Center, 2008) The phrase â€Å"climatic change† is preferred recently to be use than global warming because it helps convey that there are other changes aside from rising temperatures. Global warming involves the average increase in temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute in global climate patterns. Global warming and climatic change can be caused by a variety of factors, both natural and human-induced. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) Ozone layer depletion is oftentimes confused with global warming. Climate change and ozone depletion are different from one another but interrelated issues. Ozone depletion is not the principal cause of climate change and climate change is not the principal cause of ozone depletion. However, ozone depleting gases- such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and halons are greenhouse gases that do contribute to climate change. Ozone itself is a greenhouse gas that has effect on climate. In addition, certain changes in earth’s climate could affect the future condition of the ozone layer. For example, low temperature and strong polar winds both affect the extent and severity of winter polar ozone depletion. (EPA, 2008) The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that helps regulate the earth’s temperature. Greenhouse gases (e. g. , carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons) act like insulating blanket, trapping solar energy that would otherwise escape into space. Without this natural greenhouse effect temperatures would be about 60oF lower than they are now and life as we all know it today would not be possible. However human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forest and industrialization have enhance the natural greenhouse effect, causing the earth’s average temperature to rise. (EPA, 2008) The greenhouse effect was first describes in theoretical terms by a Swedish researcher, Svante Arrhenius, in the late 1800s. However it wasn’t until the following century that Arrhenius’ theory was observed. In the 1930s, scientist realized that parts of the globe had warmed during the previous half-century. Then in early 1960s scientist discovered that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was rising. Researchers began to take interest and found a strong relationship in between the increasing carbon dioxide and average global temperature. (EPA, 2008) Human-induced global climatic change is under way. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) concluded that global mean surface air temperature has increased between about 0. 5 and 1. 1 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years and anticipates a further continuing rise of 1. 8 to 6. 3 degrees Fahrenheit during the next century. Sea-level has risen on average 4-10 inches during the past 100 years and is expected to rise another 6 inches to 3 feet by 2100. (WHRC, 2008) Charts and graphs showed alarming trends. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has increase steadily over the past few years. The increase in the temperature is observed as well as the increase of the sea level. More disturbances in climate patterns have been greater in the previous years. These are environmental changes brought by this problem on global warming. Being Environmentally Conscious What are the ways to be conscious and aware of our impact on earth? People have to find ways or alternative energy resources. In the US for example the energy related activities account for over three quarters of human generated greenhouse emission, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. Enhanced energy efficiency is found to be one of the cheapest, most effective and safest ways to reduce global warming. Buildings should practice energy efficiency. Cutting the fuel cost on the road by effective gas mileage will also help. Making home appliances more energy efficient will significantly lessen energy consumption. (wecansolveit. org, 2008) Adoption of renewable resources will help break the addiction to fossil fuels like coal and oil by switching to renewable energy. These include wind power, solar thermal, solar photovoltaics and geothermal power. (wecansolveit. org, 2008) Campaigns like â€Å"Zero Waste for Zero Warming† should also be supported. Landfills were found to be the largest source of methane (CH4) in the US, a global warming gas 23 times more powerful than CO2. Toxic dumps, landfills and incinerators must not be tolerated. People should learn to recycle and avoid littering. We can also use cloth bags as shopping bags to minimize waste. We need to promote green homes and businesses therefore taking monitor of our own carbon footprint. (Global Day Action, 2007) The Outcome If We Don’t Change Things: Who and What Will Be Affected? Severe weather changes will be the outcome if global warming will not be resolve early. These includes climatic change that will contribute to more destructive hurricanes and floods like Katrina, Gustav and Ike that cost millions of damages to property and life. Severe droughts will be experience in other parts of the world, deadly heat waves, wildfires and ocean temperatures rising. It will also affect the precipitation by increasing about 5 percent in atmospheric water vapor over the oceans increasing the risk of heavy rain and snow events. Scientist also predicted that the global average sea level will rise by 7 to 24 inches by 2100 due to thermal expansion alone. Arctic’s average temperature increases are nearly twice that of the rest of the world. The arctic sea ice could virtually disappear during the summer of 2020. Melting of permafrost will continue. This permafrost is ice that has permanently frozen into the ground. The permafrost traps methane and when the melting continues it will release more of it into the atmosphere. Melting due to climate change is expected to reduce the size and extent of the polar ice caps, even taking to account the potential of more snow and ice accumulation atop the ice sheets due to increased precipitation. Temperature changes in the Arctic Circle also cause polar bears to die. Also temperatures below oceans caused destruction of coral reefs. Ecosystems will also be affected because of floods and drought could lead to the risk of extinction for some animals and plant species. Agriculture and farming will also be affected due to weather extremes. Human health will also be greatly affected which will result in increases cases of malaria and dengue outbreak. Heat-related illness and cold related illness will increase. (EPA, 2008). Sandra Steingraber the author of Living Downstream also mentioned that the increase in cancer cases is attributed to environmental influences. The US Climate Policy The United States Federal Government has established a comprehensive policy to address climate change. This policy has three basic objectives namely: slowing the growth of emissions, strengthening science, technology and institutions and enhancing international cooperation. The federal government is implementing this policy through voluntary and incentive based programs and has established major government-wide programs to advance climate technologies and improve climate science. (EPA, 2008) Some of these policies include the national goal to reduce emissions intensity, current and near tem greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, climate change technology program, climate change science program and international cooperation like the IPCC and the Asia Pacific Partnership on Ocean Development and Climate. Action on global warming by cities and local government includes building codes, zoning, transportation systems and electricity production campaigns. These include local regulation requiring newly constructed homes to be more energy efficient, a city or local subsidy to encourage homeowners to install electricity generating solar panels, local regulations requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20% of their electricity from wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources. , changing the city’s or town’s zoning rules to require neighborhoods have a mix of housing, offices, industry, schools and stores close together to encourage walking and decrease the need for using cars among other regulations or local climate change policies. (American Support for Local Action on Global Warming) Conclusion Global warming is a real problem of our times. Some are skeptics and believe it is just a kind of â€Å"hysteria† by some scientists. Even if Al Gore emphasized global warming in his documentary film â€Å"The Inconvenient Truth† many still have doubts if it is real. Nature or what we call â€Å"mother earth† like humans need to be taken care of. It is our responsibility to manage our earth’s natural resources and to preserve our planet making it a livable place. If people will continue to abuse the environment and become careless in throwing toxic waste and emitting toxic gases our planet will eventually come to destruction someday. The predictions may not be far from real for us at the moment but it doesn’t mean we should neglect our responsibility in protecting our environment. There is still time for people to reduce the outcome of this event. People should start thinking seriously on how they can contribute in solving and altering the increasing scenario of global warming. Reference â€Å"American Support for Local Action on Global Warming† (2008) Yale School of Forestry And Environmental Studies. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://environment. yale. edu â€Å"Citizens’ Groups Reject Dirty Waste Technologies, Call For â€Å"Zero Waste for Zero Warming† (2007) Global Day Action Against Waste and Incineration. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://gda. no-burn. org â€Å"Enhance Energy Efficiency† (2008) Solutions-wecansolveit. org. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. wecansolveit. org â€Å"Frequent Questions† (2008). Climate Change. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. epa. gov â€Å"Global Climatic Disruption- Scientists’ Statement† (1997) Wood Hole Research Center. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. whrc. org â€Å"U. S. Climate Policy and Actions† (2008) Climate Change-U. S. Policy. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. epa. gov

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram

Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram Make Multilevel Thresholding According to Histogram by Cooperative Algorithm based on AFSA and Fuzzy Logic Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k-means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. The proposed algorithm is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other t ested algorithms. Keywords: Multilevel Thresholding; Histogram; Cooperative Algorithm; k-means. Image segmentation is a technique which is usually applied in the first step of image analysis and pattern recognition and is an important component of them. This technique is taken into account as one of the most difficult and the most sensitive problems in image analyzing. In fact, quality of final result of image analysis depends highly on the quality of image segmentation result. In image segmentation process, an image is divided into different regions. Segmentation approaches of mono-color images are with respect to discontinuity and/or similarity of gray level amounts in one region. If the approach performs segmentation based on discontinuities, the image is segmented with respect to abrupt changes on gray level by means of recognizing dots, lines and edges [1].The purpose of image segmentation approaches is to classify and convert pixels into regions. Histogram thresholding is one of the techniques, which has been applied extensively in mono-color images segmentation [2]. Generally, images are composed of regions with various gray levels. Therefore, an images histogram can consist of some peaks that each of them is related to one region. To separate boundaries of two peaks from each other, a threshold value is considered between valleys of two adjacent peaks. Indeed, histogram thresholding is a famous technique which is looking for peaks and valleys in a histogram [3]. Various clustering algorithms such as k-means [4] and FCM [5] have been used for histogram thresholding so far. As a matter of fact, clustering approaches, because of simplicity and effectiveness, belong to the most famous techniques that could be used for natural image segmentation. Applying clustering algorithms in histogram thresholding are such that first colors histogram is built and after that, clustering is done according to color distribution among pixels. O ne of the clustering methods is to use such swarm intelligence algorithms as particle swarm optimization (PSO) [6], and artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) [7]. PSO was presented by Kenedy and Eberhart in 1995 [8]. Different versions of this algorithm have been used many times in data clustering [9]. Artificial fish swarm algorithm (AFSA) was presented by Li Xiao Lei in 2002 [10]. This algorithm is a technique based on swarm behaviors that was inspired from social behaviors of fish swarm in nature. AFSA works based on population, random search and behaviorism. This algorithm has been applied on different problems including machine learning [11, 12, 13], PID controlling [14], image segmentation [16], data clustering [7, 16] and scheduling [17]. K-means or famous Lloyd algorithm is one of the famous data clustering algorithms [18]. This algorithm is of high convergence rate, but has some weaknesses such as sensitivity to initial values of cluster centers and convergence to local op tima. Researchers have tried to remove these weaknesses by hybridizing this algorithm with other algorithms such as swarm intelligence ones [6, 19] and to utilize their advantages. One of these algorithms is KPSO in which first, k-means is performed and after that outcome of k-means is delivered to PSO as a particle [20]. Hence, at the beginning of the algorithm, k-means reaches to a local optimum with its high convergence rate and after that PSO takes the responsibility of increasing the result accuracy and exiting form local optimum. In this paper, a cooperative algorithm is proposed based on AFSA and k-means. The proposed algorithm is used to make multilevel thresholding for image segmentation according to histogram. In the proposed algorithm, first, artificial fish (AF) perform optimization process in AFSA. After swarm convergence, obtained cluster centers by AFs are used as initial cluster centers of k-means algorithm. After forwarding AFSAs output to k- means, AFs are reinitialized and performs clustering again. In fact, in the proposed algorithm, AFSA is used for a global search and k-means is used for a local search. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for image segmentation on two known images Lenna and Barbara. Efficiency comparison shows that the proposed algorithm has an appropriate and acceptable efficiency. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: in sections 2 and 3, standard AFSA and k-means algorithm will be described respectively and in section 4, the proposed algorithm will be presented. Section 5 studies the experiments and analyzes their results and final section concludes the paper. In water world, fish can find areas that have more foods, which is done with individual or swarm search by fishes. According to this characteristic, artificial fish (AF) model is represented by prey, free-move, and swarm and follow behaviors. AFs search the problem space by those behaviors. The environment, which AF lives in, substantially is solution space and other AFs domain. Food consistence degree in water area is AFSA objective function. Finally, AFs reach to a point which its food consistence degree is maxima (global optimum). In artificial fish swarm algorithm, AF perceives external concepts with sense of sight. Current position of AF is shown by vector X=(x 1, x 2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, x n). The visual is equal to sight field of AF and Xv is a position in visual where the AF wants to go. Then if Xv has better food consistence than current position of AF, it goes one step toward X v which causes change in AF position from X to Xnext , but if the current position of AF is better than X v, it continues searching in its visual area. Food consistence in position X is fitness value of this position and is shown with f(X). The step is equal to maximum length of the movement. The distance between two AFs which are in Xi and Xj positions is shown by Dis ij =||X i-Xj|| (Euclidean distance). AF model consists of two parts of variables and functions. Variables include X (current AF position), step (maximum length step), visual (sight field), try-number (the maximum test interactions and tries) and crowd factor ÃŽÂ ´ (0 The standard k-means algorithm is summarized as follows: Initial position of K cluster centers is determined randomly. The following steps are repeated: a) for each data vector: data vector is allocated to a cluster that its Euclidean distance from its center is smaller than the other clusters centers. Distance from cluster center is calculated by Equation (1): (1) In Equation (1), Xp is data vector p, Zj is the center of cluster j and d is the number of dimensions of data vectors and cluster center vectors. b) After allocating all data to clusters, each of cluster centers is updated by Equation (2): (2) Where, nj is the number of data vectors that belong to cluster j and Cj is a subset of all data vectors which belong to cluster j. The resulted cluster center of Equation (2) is the average vector of data vectors comprising cluster. (a) and (b) steps are iterated until the stopping criterion is satisfied. In this section, the proposed algorithm is described. In the proposed algorithm, there exists a population of AFSAs AFs. This population of AFs is initialized randomly in problem space. Each AF consists of K cluster center positions in one dimensional image histogram space. Therefore, search space for AFSA for K cluster centers has K components. Fitness function which AFSA has to minimize is shown in Equation (3). (3) Clustering on histogram is done by Equation (3) based on color distribution between given images pixels. The image is divided into K clusters (Ci) according to color attribute by K-1 thresholds. In Equation (3), the distance between color Xj on image histogram and the center of a cluster which it belongs to ( Zi), is multiplied by the frequency of pixels (fj) which have color value Xj on given image. This value is computed for all color values with respect to the center of a cluster which they belong to. Each color becomes the member of a cluster in which their distance from that cluster center is less than other cluster centers. Finally, the obtained results of all clusters are summed with each other. Indeed, Equation (3) calculates sum of intra cluster distances for one dimensional gray scale images, which is one of the most well-known clustering criteria. For improving obtained results by AFSA, some modifications must do on its structure. The best found position by swarm members so far in AFSA is saved in bulletin and AF which has found it might go even toward worse positions with performing a free-move behavior. Therefore, AFs cannot utilize their best swarm experience for improving the convergence rate because they just save it in bulletin. On the other hand, performing free-move behavior is inevitable for maintaining diversity of the swarm. In this paper, to remove this problem, every AF except best AF can perform free-move behavior. In fact, during execution of the proposed algorithm, this behavior is not performed for the best AF of the swarm at all. Hence, the best found position by the swarm would be the position of the best AF of the swarm. As a result, other members of the swarm can move in the direction of the best found position by executing follow and swarm behaviors. The purpose of designing the proposed algorithm is to take advantages of both AFSA and k-means algorithms and remove their weaknesses. K-means is of high convergence rate, but its very sensitive to initializing the cluster centers and in the case of selecting inappropriate initial cluster centers, it could converge to a local optimum. AFSA can pass local optima to some extent but cannot guarantee reaching to global optima. However, AFSAs computational complexity for optimization process is much more than k-means. How the proposed algorithm functions remove weaknesses of these two algorithms and apply their advantages is as following: In the proposed algorithm, first, the AFs are initialized in AFSA. Each of AFSA contains K cluster centers (K-1 threshold) which are displaced in the problem space by performing AFSAs behaviors. AFSA continues to perform until the AFs converge. After convergence of AFSA, best AFs position including the best cluster centers which have found by AFs so far is considered as the input of k-means. Then, k-means algorithm starts working and while it is not converged, it continues working. Therefore, AFSA searches globally and as far as it can, it passes local optima. After convergence of AFSAs AFs, its output would have an appropriate initial cluster centers for k-means. Hence, after sending AFSAs outcome to k-means, this algorithm starts searching locally. Consequently, in the proposed algorithm, global search ability of AFSA has been used and after converging, a great part of optimization process will be given to k-means to utilize high capability of local search of this algorithm and its high convergence rate. Since initial cluster centers for k-means are obtained by AFSA and k-means is used for local search, k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial cluster centers is removed. But, AFSA capability may not be enough for preventing from being trapped in local optima. If this algorithm is trapped in local optima, it cannot present proper initial cluster values to k-means. Thereafter, according to low ability of k-means in passing local optima, the obtained result cannot be acceptable. To raise this problem, after convergence of AFSA, the output of this algorithm is sent to k-means. Simultaneously with starting of k-means, AFSAs AFs are initialized and start global search again. In fact, in one time of executing the proposed algorithm, AFSA has several times of chance to perform an acceptable global search. It should be noted that in the proposed algorithm, in each time of executing AFSA, AFs just search globally and converge after a short time and k-means undertakes the remaining of optimization process which is local search. Therefore, with respect to low computational complexity of k-means, huge amount of computations for local search is prevented. In the proposed algorithm, it has been tried to utilize this conserved computation load for giving new opportunities to AFSA in order to perform an acceptable global search in at least one of given opportunities to it. Hence, for each execution of global search by AFSA, k-means is also performed once. In the proposed algorithm, to determine the convergence of artificial fish swarm, the difference of obtained results in consecutive iterations of performing the algorithm is used. When particles converge, the obtained results difference in consecutive iterations decreases, so by considering a threshold for the difference between best AFs fitness values in iterations i and j, it can determine their convergence. In the proposed algorithm, because AFSA and k-means algorithms are performed multiple times , always, it has to save the best found cluster centers by algorithm so far. For this purpose, a blackboard is applied that each time k-means finishes after convergence of AFSA, the obtained result of that will be compared with saved result in blackboard. If obtained cluster centers are better than saved result in blackboard, saved value in blackboard is updated. K- means execution finishes when after two consecutive iterations of its execution, cluster centers wouldnt be displaced. Pseudo code of the proposed algorithm is represented in Figure (1). Experiments are done on two known gray scale images, Lenna and Barbara, of sizes 512*512 in Figure (2). In this paper, the well-known criterion of uniformity is used to compare images segmentation qualitatively [3] which is shown in Equation (4) (4) Where, c is the number of thresholds. Rj is the segmented region j. N is the total number of pixels in the given image, fi shows the gray level of pixel I,  µi is the mean gray level of pixels in jth region, finally, fmin and fmax are the minimum and maximum gray level of pixels in the given image, respectively. Usually, uà Ã‚ µ[0, 1] and larger amount for u declares that the thresholds are specified with better quality on the histogram. Proposed Algorithm: 1:for each AFi 2:initialize xi 3:Endfor 4:Blackboard = arg [min F(Xi)] 5:Repeat 6:for each AFi 7:Perform Swarm Behavior on Xi(t) and Compute Xi,swarm 8:Perform Follow Behavior on Xi(i) and Compute Xi,follow 9:if F(Xi,swarm) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ F(Xi,follow) 10:then Xi(t+1)= Xi,follow 11:Else 12:Xi(t+1)= Xi,swarm 13:Endif 14:Endfor 15:if swarm is converged 16:then Execute k-means on XBest-AF until stopping criterion of k-means is met 17:Endif 18:if F(Xk-means) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ F(Blackboard) 19:then Blackboard = Xk-means 20:reinitialize AFSA 21:Endif 22:until stopping criterion is met Figure (1): Pseudo code of proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm along with standard AFSA, PSO algorithm, hybrid algorithm called KPSO [20], and k-means is used to segment two images, Lenna and Barbara. PSO and KPSO parameters are adjusted according to [6], and for k-means, initializing Forgy method is applied [21]. AFSA parameters and are adjusted according to [7]. AFSA settings in the proposed algorithm are the same as [7]. With respect to various experiments, if fitness value relating to Best AF is less than 0.1 in 3 iterations, it means that artificial fish swarm is converged. The following results are obtained from 50 times repeated experiments. Figure (3) shows segmented images, Lenna and Barbara, by the proposed algorithm with 5 and 3 thresholds. Figure 2: Orginal gray level Lenna (left) and Barbara (right) images Figure 3: The thresholded images of Lenna and Barbara using 5, and 2-level thresholds, from top to bottom. Average uniformity obtained from 5 algorithms on two images with thresholds 2, 3, 4 and 5 are shown in Table (1). As it is observed in Table (1), obtained results from the proposed algorithm is better than the other algorithms for all cases. AFSA algorithm has the worst result for all cases because of low ability in local search. K-means algorithm has found better results than AFSA because of high capability of k-means in local search. The reason for superiority of k-means to AFSA is the problem space property in histogram clustering. In fact, because of low dimensions of problem space in this environment, local search ability is of greater importance than global search ability. Also, it can reduce k-means weakness of sensitivity to initial values by means of one of the initializing methods of k-means like Forgy. Thereafter, with respect to considerable superiority of k-means local search ability in contrast to AFSA, k-means results are better than AFSAs. TABLE I: Comparison of uniformity for the five Algorithms Image T AFSA K-means PSO KPSO Proposed method Lenna 2 0.9138 0.9634 0.9730 0.9728 0.9775 3 0.9361 0.9749 0.9781 0.9783 0.9795 4 0.9495 0.9762 0.9816 0.9811 0.9826 5 0.9517 0.9804 0.9835 0.9834 0.9838 Barbara 2 0.9758 0.9761 0.9765 0.9768 0.9781 3 0.9783 0.9802 0.9808 0.9805 0.9820 4 0.9797 0.9834 0.9843 0.9851 0.9862 5 0.9822 0.9849 0.9855 0.9850 0.9884 Obtained results from PSO are better than k-means in all cases and its because of global search ability superiority of PSO to k-means. Moreover, in PSO, theres a trade-off between global search and local search abilities [16] and PSO also can perform a proper local search beside an acceptable global search. KPSO results are better than k-means results for all cases because after executing k-means in this algorithm, PSO algorithm is performed and improves obtained results from k-means. But obtained results from KPSO are not better than PSO for all cases. The reason is that sometimes k-means converges toward a local optimum and obtained result from that is not appropriate. Therefore, PSO is responsible for taking out the result from local optimum; however, it sometimes may not be successful. Indeed, improper result of k-means causes fast convergence of particles to local optimum. Obtained results from the proposed algorithm are better than other algorithms in all cases. The reason is u sage of strategies which have been used for global search in this algorithm. In fact, the proposed algorithm is successful in finding the global optima in most runs and can prevent final result from being trapped in local optima, whereas, this ability is observed less in other algorithms and they cannot guarantee passing local optima. This weakness causes that other algorithms to be of less robustness and not to be able to reach to almost the same results in their various implementations. Also, in the proposed algorithm, k-means algorithm performs local search after finding global optimum region by AFSA. Consequently, with respect to high ability of k-means in local search and taking proper initial cluster centers from AFSA, local search is done well in the proposed algorithm, too. As a result, both k-means and AFSA algorithms abilities are utilized in the proposed algorithm and the weakness of k- means algorithm cant decrease the algorithms efficiency. As it is observed in all algo rithms except KPSO, with rising up the number of thresholds, uniformity amount is improved. In KPSO, since the weakness of k-means has an undesirable effect on PSO efficiency, obtained results are not stable. In this paper, a new cooperative algorithm based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and k-means was proposed for image segmentation with respect to multi-level thresholding. In the proposed algorithm, AFSA performs global search and k-means is responsible for local search. The process of the proposed algorithm is such that the robustness and ability of preventing from being trapped in local optimums is improved. The proposed algorithm along with four other algorithms is used for segmenting 2 well-known images and obtained results are compared with each other. Experimental results show that segmented images quality by the proposed algorithm is much better than four other tested algorithms. [1] R. C. Gonzalez, and R. E. Woods, Digital image processing, In: Pearson Education India, Fifth Indian reprint, 2000. [2] S. Arora, J. Acharya, A. Verma., and K. Panigrahi, Multilevel thresholding for image segmentation through a fast statistical recursive algorithm, In: Journal on Pattern Recognition Letters 29, pp. 119125, 2008. [3] Maitra. M, A. Chatterjee, A hybrid cooperative-comprehensive learning based PSO algorithm for image segmentation using multilevel thresholding, In: Journal on Expert System with applications 34, pp. 1341-1350, 2008. [4] M. Mignote, Segmentation by fusion of histogram-based k-means clusters in different color spaces, In: IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 2008. [5] X. Yang, W. Zhao, Y. Chen, and X. Fang, Image segmentation with a fuzzy clustering algorithm based on Ant-Tree, In: Journal of Signal Processing 88, pp. 2453-2462, 2008. [6] Y. T. Kao, E. Zahara, and I. W. Kao, A hybridized approach to data clustering, In: Journal on Expert System with Applications 34, pp. 1754-1762, 2008. [7] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid approach for data clustering, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST) , pp. 932937, Tehran, 2010. [8] J. Kennedy, and R. C. Eberhart, Particle swarm optimization, In: IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, 4, pp. 1942 1948, Perth, 1995. [9] A. A. A. Esmin, D. L. Pereira, and F. Araujo, Study of different approach to clustering data by using the particle swarm optimization algorithm, In: IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 18171822, Hong Kong, 2008. [10] L. X. Li, Z. J. Shao, and J. X. Qian, An optimizing method based on autonomous animate: fish swarm algorithm, In: Proceeding of System Engineering Theory and Practice, pp. 32-38, 2002. [11] D. Yazdani, S. Golyari, and M. R. Meybodi, A new hybrid algorithm for optimization based on artificial fish swarm algorithm and cellular learning automata, In: 5th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST), pp. 932-937, Tehran, 2010. [12] D. Yazdani, A. N. Toosi, and M. R. Meybodi, Fuzzy adaptive artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 23 th Australian Conference on Artificial Intelligent, pp. 334-343, Adelaide, 2010. [13] J. Hu, X. Zeng, and J. Xiao, Artificial fish swarm algorithm for function optimization, In: International Conference on Information Engineering and Computer Science, pp. 1-4, 2010. [14] Y. Luo, W. Wei, and S. X. Wang, The optimization of PID controller parameters based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: 3rd International Workshop on Advanced Computational Intelligence, pp. 328-332, 2010. [15] C. X. Li, Z. Ying, S. JunTao, and S. J. Qing, Method of image segmentation based on fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm and artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Integrated Systems (ICISS) , pp. 254- 257, Guilin, 2010. [16] L. Xiao, A clustering algorithm based on artificial fish school, In: 2nd International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, pp. 766-769, 2010. [17] D. Bing, and D. Wen, Scheduling arrival aircrafts on multi- runway based on an improved artificial fish swarm algorithm, In: International Conference on Computational and Information Sciences, pp. 499-502, 2010. [18] J. A. Hartigan, An overview of clustering algorithms, In: New York: John Wiley Sons , 1975. [19] C. Y. Tsai, and I. W. Kao, Particle swarm optimization with selective particle regeneration for data clustering, In: Journal of Expert Systems with Applications 38, pp. 65656576, 2011. [20] D. W. der Merwe, and A. P. Engelbrecht, Data clustering using particle swarm optimization, In: Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 215-220, 2003. [21] E. Forgy, Cluster analysis of multivariate data: efficiency vs. interpretability of classification, In: Biometrics 21, pp. 768, 1965

Shakespeares Henry the Fifth :: William Shakespeare Plays Literature Essays

Never, in all the years since the introduction of the art known as theatre, have the dramatic works of a single person achieved the popularity and cultural transcendency that is so characteristic of the plays by William Shakespeare. The monumental popularity that has led to countless productions of all his plays, on stage and, more recently, on film, nearly all has led to a collection of interpretations on Shakespeare’s work by men and women that have been influenced by almost half a millennia of tumultuous history. Perhaps the most influential event that can affect all aspects of society, including the artistic community, is war. William Shakespeare’s Henry V, itself written in a war-plagued time of English history, with the Earl Of Essex’s impending invasion of Ireland (Maus, 717), revolves around an earlier event of war, the legendary victory of England’s warrior-king, Henry V, over the French forces in the Battle of Agincourt. The play, written in a time of war, about a time of war, has seen many interpretations, one of the more popular of which Laurence Olivier’s 1944 film adaptation was written at the height of World War II. A new production is now underway, continuing with theme of real world events influencing the presentation of the play, the most notable feature being the novel setting of the play: Vietnam, in the late 1960’s. As opposed to many previous productions of the play, which preserved the 15th century time setting, this production is set in the 1960’s, with a-play-within-a-play motif throughout the performance, as American soldiers perform the play in front of other American soldiers as part of some recreational pause from the madness of war, which is in turn played in front of the true, contemporary audience. The presentation of Henry V in such a unique manner allows deeper analysis of the war-time motivations of the characters in the play, the real audience being fully aware of any comparisons between the English campaign and the American campaign, made more poignant by the constant presence of the pseudo-audience, men involved directly in the latter. We can also observ e different aspects of the play’s protagonist, King Henry, that would be absent in more traditional presentations of Henry V. Some justification for this unorthodox method of presenting a Shakespearean play seems to be in order. Although immensely rich in his language and showing painstaking attention to his characters, Shakespeare’s stage direction is decidedly spartan, usually only a simple indication of when a character enters and exits.

Analysis of Two In The Campagna by Robert Browning Essay -- Robert Bro

Analysis of "Two In The Campagna" by Robert Browning "Two In The Campagna" is essentially a love poem, written by Browning to capture the tragic and dark aspects of a relationship. The poem commences with romantic images of the couple sitting in the fields of Rome in spring. The first line, starting with 'I wonder' sets the contemplative tone of the piece, and the poet follows one particular trail of thought for several stanzas. Clearly, the poet is trying to capture what cannot be easily confined; he is attempting to articulate a sentiment of fleeting love that perhaps can only be felt. Browning describes the thought floating away over the picturesque scenery: ?Help me to hold it! First it left The yellowing fennel, run to seed There, branching from the brickwork?s cleft?? The flowing lines and use of enjambment represent his thoughts spilling over, almost frolicking through the fields of Rome. This style of poetry is used by Browning regularly: for example in ?Love Among The Ruins? his thoughts flow over from one line to the next ? however the message of this poem is the opposite from ?Two In The Campagna?, as the former depicts the enduring power of passionate love, and the latter describes the natural diminution of feelings after the passionate climax of sex. The poem becomes increasingly vibrant and passionate as the couple evidently become sexually aroused together. In my opinion, the imagery of the beetles inside a flower is incredibly vivid and is one of my personal favourite images in all of Browning?s love poetry: ??Where one small orange cup amassed Five beetles,--blind and green they grope Among the honey-meal?? The images are abundantly fertile, with an intense evocation... ...uch illogically violent ways. However, it does capture the essence of jealousy, possessiveness and the yearning for eternal unity that many people do feel. Browning has evidently taken this to the extreme effectively, as it is his style to shock the reader. In conclusion, Browning uses many different techniques of conveying the complexities of human passion, and does this effectively from many points of view on love. However, it does seem that Browning usually has a slightly subdued, possibly even warped view of love and romance ? and this could be because his own love life was publicly perceived to be ultimately perfect but retrospectively it appears his marriage with Elizabeth Browning was full of doubt and possessiveness, as seen in ?Any Wife To Any Husband? which most critics believe to be based on the troubled relationship between the Browning?s.

Theme of Loneliness in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: Steinbeck Of Mice and Men Essays

Theme of Loneliness in Of Mice and Men In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the poem "Eleanor Rigby" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, many of the characters are experiencing loneliness. When people feel lonely their way of lifestyle are different then that of someone's who's not lonely or them if they were not lonely. Also because they are lonely their actions are different. They portray this in both the novel and the poem. The effects of loneliness on people are displayed in the novel Of Mice and Men through the character of Curley's Wife. As stated, when people feel lonely their actions and way of life are affected. In the plot they show that if it wasn't for Curley's Wife's loneliness she may not have died the way she did. Because she is so lonely she goes to the other men in the bunkhouse for company. When all of the men refuse to spend time with her because of the reaction Curley has on this, she goes to the one person on the ranch that she knows will talk to her, the mentally retarded man, Lennie. While talking to him she asks him to feel her hair, which he does and this leads to her death by breaking her neck. If it wasn't for Curley's Wife's loneliness, she would have never gone to Lennie for company and she wouldn't have died on that day in that way. Because this happens in the novel and there are so many other lonely characters in the novel, such as Curley, Candy, Crooks and George in the end, the theme of the novel Of Mice and Men is loneliness and the need for companions. The affects of loneliness on people are displayed in the poem "Eleanor Rigby" through the characters of Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie. Through figurative language they show that Eleanor Rigby is very lonely and that she never sees many people. They say "Waits at the window wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door, who is it for?" Through this they show that everyday she puts on makeup, a face, that no one will see because she is lonely.

Self Analysis Example

Name: Mark Anthony D. MendozaDate: April 20, 2013 Subject: Contemporary Management Theories: Self Analysis Part Ia. INTEREST 1. How do I like to spend my time? I really want to spend my time in doing worthwhile things. I work, study and join adventurous activities. Most importantly, I always find time to participate with our religious activities like our house to house preaching to share the good news about the kingdom of God Jehovah. 2. Do I enjoy working with people? Yes. I enjoy working with different kinds of people. Actually, I prefer working with a group rather than working alone. 3.Do I like to work with mechanical things? Yes. When I was in high school we were taught to do mechanical things like electrical applications, carpentry and troubleshooting appliances. During my free time, I usually do troubleshoot dysfunctional home appliances even though I am not that good at it. 4. Do I enjoy working with data? I do enjoy working with data most especially if it’s numerical or accounting related. 5. Am I a member of many Organizations? No. At present I am only a member of some organizations. 6. Do I enjoy physical activities? I am a very active person enjoying physical activities.I usually play games like table tennis, badminton and volleyball. I also join adventurous activities like mountain climbing. At least twice a year, we enjoy hiking for at most three days in the mountains of Kayapa and Ambaguio. 7. Do I like to read? I am not really that kind of person who is fond of reading. It usually depends on my mood but most of the time my retention is at most two hours. ABILITIES 1. Am I adept at analysis? I believe that I am not that adept regarding analytical matters. 2. Am I adept at working with computers? Yes. It is with the aid of the computer subjects integrated in our curriculum.It is also enhanced by the use of computer s at work. I became familiar with various applications and I was acquainted on how to operate them properly. 3. Do I have good verbal and written communication skills? I can also consider that my writing and speaking abilities are good. It is with the help of the subjects I teach in class. Through regular class discussion my speaking abilities are gradually improved. The many write ups, concept papers, case analyses that I have prepared also enhances my writing abilities. 4. What special talents do I have? I do not have any special talent. 5.At which abilities do I wish I were more adept? I wish I am more intellectually inclined with excellent writing and communication skills. PERSONALITY 1. What are my good and bad traits? Some of my good are the following. I have sense of helping the needy. I also know my responsibilities as a child, brother and as a person to others. I can also consider myself as cheerful. Some of my bad habits are the following. Sometimes, I am late going to work. I am also lazy in doing household chores. 2. Am I competitive? One of my mottos in life is â€Å"Always do your best† . I always do my best in everything I do.It may be academics, work or whatever it maybe. 3. Do I work well with others? I can assume that I work well with others. Basing on my present job most of my officemates, if not all, like to work with me. I can say that because I am easy to work with and I am always practicing flexibility. 4. Am I outspoken? I think so. Most of the time, I say things that I know is right. 5. Am I a leader or a follower? I can be a combination of both but most of the time I am a follower. I am an abiding individual. I usually follow orders as long as it is positive and not against my will. 6.Do I work quickly, or am I methodical? I am a fast worker; I easily find ways on how to get things done. Basing from the comments I have earned from my supervisor during my On-the-job training, she said that I am an accurate and fast worker. 7. Do I get along with others? I think I am. I have group of friends and I can go along with others easily. Again, basing on the comm ents of one of my supervisor from my evaluation, she said that â€Å"everybody in the office likes me†. 8. Am I ambitious? Yes I am. I am really ambitious in the sense that I want to achieve a lot of things in my life.But I think that my ambition is not just an ambition because everything I dream is accompanied with action. 9. Do I work well independently of others? I can also work well independently. This is very true when I make my reaction papers, concept papers and other individual reports. But I am fonder with working with a group. DESIRED JOB ENVIRONMENT 1. Am I willing to relocate? Why? Yes. If it is a requirement for the job to relocate I will be much willing to relocate. I know myself that I can easily adapt different kinds of working environment. Actually, I am also planning to work abroad and that requires relocation. 2.Do I have geographical preference? Why? Yes, I want to work in a place wherein the climate is good. If I would choose the location it would be some where in Europe. I have a preference over the geography of the place where I will work because it might be uncomfortable for me to stay in is some places and that makes me unproductive. 3. Would I mind traveling in my job? For me traveling as part of my job is not a problem. Actually, I do enjoy going to different places. It would be an addition to my experience while performing the task given to me. 4. Do I have to work for a large or nationally known firm to be satisfied?I prefer to work in large and known company. It is for the fact that it will not only offer greater financial help but greater opportunities for career advancement. 5. Must my job offer rapid promotion opportunities? Not necessarily. Even though most of the employees would want to be promoted, I would not consider it as my main stimulus. As long as I am happy with my job it would be good for me. Promotion would just be considered as an additional prize of enjoying my job. 6. If I could design my own job, what char acteristics would it have? I would like that I would be leading the financial aspects of the business.I would like to decide on financial matters, give reports on the standing of the business and share in the decision making. 7. How important is high initial salary for me? For me, high initial salary is not that important because I know that salary increase goes with experience and service. What is important is I like the job I will be doing. EDUCATION 1. How have my courses and extracurricular activities prepared me for a specific job? The courses we had during our undergraduate studies really helped us to be prepared for whatever career path we may go. It is due to these courses that we have been acquainted to different job scenarios.With the help of the On-the-job training, the theories we have learned in school were reinforced to make us fit with the job. 2. Which were my best subjects? My worst? If I am going to base it on the rating I earned. I would say my best subjects would be Physical Education because I got a very high grade. If it is based on learning, I would choose my accounting subjects because I really learned a lot. I consider Income taxation as my worst subject because I got the lowest grade among all the subjects I have taken. It was an irony because the subject is one of the subjects I have taught. . Is my GPA a good indication of my academic ability? Why? I do really believe that my GPA is an actual interpretation of my academic ability. It is because I am convinced that my GPA really shows what I did. 4. Do I aspire to a graduate degree? Before beginning my job? It is not that necessary for me. I got a job before I was being able to hold a degree. 5. Why did I choose my major? Actually, I do not have much good reasons why I choose accounting. I have chosen the field of accounting just because I loved numbers. PERSONAL GOALS 1. What are my short-term and long term goals? Why?My present goal is to be able to pass the CPA board examination. One of my long term goals would be the establishment of my own convenience store and I am the manager. 2. Am I career oriented, or do I have broader interest? I can say that I have broader interest with regards to the career I have chosen. I would not just stick for the fact that I am an accountant but to pursue my goal to become an entrepreneur. 3. What are my career goals? First, I want to pass the CPA board examination. Then work with an auditing company wherein I can travel not only locally but internationally.After gaining all the expertise I would like to run my own business. 4. What jobs are likely to help me achieve my goals? I think any jobs that are related to my degree would be an addition to the achievement of my goals. 5. What do I hope to be doing in 5 years? In 10 year? Five years from now I hope that I would be one of the most successful accountant and employee of a well-known company. And after five years, I hope that I would be managing my own business. 6. What do I want out of life? Poverty, suffering, sickness and death. I would like that every individual would be enjoying the gift of life God has given us.EXPERIENCE 1. What previous jobs have I held? What were my responsibilities in each job? I worked as an Accounts Receivable Analyst. I prepare an analysis of the accounts of every student and make necessary adjustments if errors are made. I was also the liaison office of Saint Mary’s University. I transact business with different banks and other governmental agencies. I prepare premium reports of employees. 2. What internships or co-op positions have held? What were my responsibilities? I have my internship at metro bank. I was assigned to compute and update the time deposits of depositors.I have also done clerical works like sorting of checks and counting cash. 3. What volunteer positions have I held? What were my responsibilities? When one of my officemate attended the review for the CPA board exam, I took over some of her work. I prepare bank reconciliation statements and prepare checks for disbursement. 4. Were any of my jobs or positions applicable to positions I may seeking? How? As an accounting major, I would be looking for job that is in line with my degree. My experience on my previous jobs will be an additional factor because I also learned a lot of things that I may use on my next job. 5.What did I like most about my previous jobs? I like the company of my officemates who are always there to support. I love the way our superior treated us. 6. If I had to do it over again, would I work in these jobs? Why? Yes, I really love the world of accounting. As long as I am still enjoying my field, I would be much willing to do it all over and over again. Part 1b. Leadership Lifeline A 1. What are the key experiences that shaped my present as leader? Being a good follower makes a good leader. All the theories I have learned and the teaching of my teachers during my undergraduate studies helped me to become a good leader.As a teacher, I have known how to management my class properly. Teach them how to be a good student and help them cope up with academic difficulties. I also make it sure that they have learned something about the subject I have taught them. I have also learned a lot of thing from the interaction from my students. 2. Who were the key influences that developed me into the kind of leader I am today? I would give the main credit to my parents who molded me to become a good person. Also with my teachers who shared their knowledge and expertise. My officemates who taught me understand the essence of work and camaraderie. . What are the key lessons I have learned about leadership? As stated above, I believe that a good leader must be a good follower. A leader should not be so autocratic but must listen to the ideas and needs of his team. 4. What was the most difficult leadership challenge that I have experienced as a leader? What was the impact of this challenge to me? The mos t difficult challenge was during my first year of teaching. It is very challenging because I don’t have any teaching experience yet and it was my first time, also for the fact that some of my students are older than me. I took the challenge positively.I prepared my lessons well before discussions. It is very fulfilling because I have received positive outcomes. 5. What have been my experiences in doing collaborative work as a leader? How were my experiences? It is really fun and interesting doing such an activity. I enjoy working with a group most especially on exchanging of ideas. This experience adds up to the confidence in doing successful activity. 6. From my story as a leader what is my purpose in life? As leader, I need to show good example to all the people. I need to exert more effort to be able to meet the expectations of those who believe in my abilities.MY LEADERSHIP LIFELINE B PEELING BACK THE ONION: WHAT IS MY AUTHENTIC SELF 1. My Values and Principles I have gro wn up with the Filipino values of love and respect, giving much importance to family. My principles in life are usually based from the bible. I follow the golden rule that is to do what is right to others so that others will also do the same. I also show genuine love to everyone as much as I can. 2. My strengths I consider my positive attitude toward others, work and life. In addition, I also consider my adept understanding with my chosen field of expertise and numerical reasoning. . My purpose One of my major purposes in life is to help others know to the Kingdom of God. I also may sure that my family would feel how much I care and love them. I am also here to share what I have and serve others. It may not be financially but my presence to them can make a difference. With regards to being a leader, service is what matters most. 4. My weaknesses I have low self-esteem and confidence. I don’t usually have the guts to do things on my own and show what I am really capable. I am always on doubt for myself. I have low regard with my abilities.I also find it difficult to say my opinions about different matters. 5. My talents I am somewhat inclined with numerical reasoning. I don’t really know my talents are. MY LEADERSHIP LIFELINE C What do my story and my authentic self as a leader say about my Worldview, Values, Talents and Purpose. 1. WORLDVIEW: How do you seek or look at the world? What does the world mean to you? I look at the world as a perfect place to explore and share what we have and what we are to others. It means that I need to appreciate all the precious things that are provided to us.The world is also a place where we can show the best we can be and contribute for its development. 2. VALUES: What principles you will never sacrifice? a. Honesty b. Faith c. Justice d. Equality e. Love 3. TALENTS: What are you naturally good at? What do you naturally enjoy to do, think and learn about? a. Numerical reasoning b. Dancing c. Playing sports d. H iking e. Preaching 4. PURPOSE: What is the purpose of your life? What issue, group or sector is involved on life message? One of my major purposes in life is to help others know to the Kingdom of God.I also may sure that my family would feel how much I care and love them. I am also here to share what I have and serve others. It may not be financially but my presence to them can make a difference. With regards to being a leader, service is what matters most. 5. ISSUE: How is your life purpose related to the central issues you are facing? One of the issues I am facing now is time management. As stated above, my major purpose in life is to preach the Kingdom of God but I am working full time so I am face with the dilemma on how to achieve that goal. Most often, I lack time to do all the things I really wanted to do. Part II. STRENGTHS |WEAKNESSES | |Sociable |Tardiness | |Adept in Computer applications |Low self-esteem | |Good reading and communication skills |Doubtful about my abili ties | |Responsible |Low self confidence | |Competitive |Lack of confidence to share opinions | |Fast worker | | |Adaptable | | |Career oriented | |