Analysis of the Article Written by Deepak Lal for the Business Research Paper

Analysis of the Article Written by Deepak Lal for the Business Standard Regarding Global Financial Crisis - Research Paper Example The savings are recycled through the international banking system on a regular basis to fuel demand. Second, cheap credit given by banks without checking the creditworthiness of the borrowers. Thirdly, the rise in the commodity prices also contributed a lot to the financial crisis and Lastly, according to him is the bailout sought by some irresponsible banks from the taxpayers telling them otherwise it will lead to the complete wiping of the financial institution. He says that the 1980 crisis was resolved when the banks hugely wrote off their Third World debt, sacked their reckless managers and shareholders also suffered large losses. But, eventually, it all came under control without threatening the world economy on a large scale. Whereas, in the current times the global financial system is sinking and bailouts are no longer an exception but have become a routine affair. The difference in outcome is because that even in the 1970s surplus money was recycled but it was done by the off -shore branches of the Parent Bank, bringing no risk to the Western Banking system, even if there was a default. Whereas, the current crisis stems from UK's financial liberalisation in the 1980s, and the Clinton era abolition of the Glass-Steagall Act, which had kept a firewall between the commercial and investment banking parts of the financial system since the 1930s. In these times no difference was kept between the Payments/deposit system of the banks and the investment banking.  

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Lord of the Flies both deal with mans struggle to control his inner evil Essay Example for Free

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Lord of the Flies both deal with mans struggle to control his inner evil Essay How do the authorss show this struggle? In the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson presents mans struggle to control his inner evil through Jekyll but the evil comes out in Hyde. Dr Jekyll is a fine upstanding member of the community and Mr Hyde is still Jekyll but he has no conscience and no sense of responsibility and so goes on wild evil rampages, I am going to explore how Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde show their evils. Dr Jekyll is a moral and religious man and has a conscience but he is attracted to the violence and freedom of Hyde and for him turning into Hyde is like a drug, he is addicted. Dr Jekyll is in a constant struggle with Hyde for control if I am the chief of sinners I am the chief of sufferers also, which shows the constant torment he is in yet he still drinks the drug. Before the smile was struck out of his face and succeeded by an expression of abject terror and despair, as froze the blood of the two gentleman below, this shows that Jekyll is scared of turning into Hyde and it also gives a picture of the ferocity of Hyde. Jekyll becomes weak from Hyde and eventually Hyde takes over completely Dr Jekyll, looking deadly sick. He did not rise to meet his visitor, but held out a cold hand and bade him welcome in a changed voice, this shows that Hyde is slowly trying to kill Jekyll. Jekyll decided to kill Hyde Utterson, I swear to god Utterson I am done with him in this world,I cannot say that I care what becomes of Hyde I am quite done with him, Utterson says to Jekyll he meant to murder you, which shows that Jekyll is good to have got rid of Hyde but Jekyll still takes the potion and Hyde continues his torments and Eventually kills Jekyll. God knows I am careless this is my true hour of death and what is to follow concerns another than myself, that was Jekylls final transformation before his death. Edward Hyde is the beast that takes Henry Jekyll over he is a small deformed man the man seems hardly human troglodytic shall we say, I read Satans signature upon a face, like a monkey, these all describe Hyde it is like Hyde is a step back in evolution. Hyde is also very fast it went so quick, with extraordinary quickness, these both show the speed oh Hyde so we now that he is animal like and very quick, he is also very savage as he has no conscience for the man trampled calmly over the childs body and left her screaming on the ground, really like Satan, these both show his ferocity, there are also a lot of satanic references to Hyde which suggests that he is the work of the devil. Other people perceive Hyde as being a juggernaut, without the bowels of mercy, a spirit of enduring hatred, which shows that he disgusts them. Hyde hates Jekyll because he thinks he is weak and pathetic but he still fears Jekyll because he knows that Jekyll has the power to cut him off by suicide how he fears my power to cut him off by suicide, blasphemies on the pages of my books, burning letters and destroying the portrait of my father, by doing these things Hyde is trying to demoralise Jekyll because it seems that the weaker Jekyll gets the stronger Hyde gets. As Jekyll gets ill Hyde feeds off his weakness making himself stronger the powers of Hyde have grown stronger with the sickliness of Jekyll, this shows that Hyde is very powerful and can force Jekyll to do anything. I think at first Jekyll finds Hyde exciting and adventurous and he loves the feeling of having no conscience. Jekyll and Hyde are like polar twins, being the same yet very opposite. Jekyll also has biblical references because the thrill of Hyde tempts him like the tree in the bible tempts Adam and Eve. This story shows that man has always been evil it is just hidden behind a mask and Hyde pulled this mask from Jekyll revealing the evil inside after all they are the same person. Lord of the Flies is much the same as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde because they both deal with mans struggle to control his inner evil, but however in Lord of the Flies it is children who are evil and not adults like in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, so does this show that you are born evil? It certainly challenges the idea that you are born free from sin, as some of the children in Lord of the Flies are from private schools and you would think to be better brought up and you could say somewhat shielded from the world, but the children who were from a public education system behaved better and tried to overthrow to the evil that lay on the island. Lord of the flies shows emotions through its characters, Piggy who represents conscience and logic, Simon who represents Jesus and Jack and Ralph who are the leaders of the two gangs (good and evil). At the beginning of the novel it is hard to differentiate between the good and bad people because they have all just met each other and are all trying to out do each other in a bid to be popular but does this in itself show that maybe they are all evil? When the two gangs split up and start living separately its like Jekyll and Hyde because its like one gang is Jekyll and the other gang Hyde and as the story goes on the Hyde gang tries to kill the Jekyll gang. Also the Hyde gang use masks when hunting for food body held up a mask that drew their eyes and appalled them. He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling, this shows that by putting masks on they are acting like Hyde transforming them from laughter to being snarling and bloodthirsty. Jack hid liberated from shame and self consciousness, this is exactly How Jekyll feels When he transforms in to Hyde because he is liberated from all consciousness and feels free to do whatever he wants. When Jacks gang are wearing these masks they launch attacks on Ralphs gang, the results of which end up in the death of Piggy, so all conscience and logic is removed and then as all they are removed we see the breakdown of their community and the good gang becomes equally as vicious as the bad gang showing that evil is like a disease that cant be healed and just keeps spreading. Simon also dies of an epileptic shock and this signifies that as he is the Jesus figure surely all hope and good is lost now, this is like when Jekyll becomes so ill he lets Hyde take over he was so frail he only raised a hand to bade him a welcome, and shows that there is no going back now evil has taken a strong hold on the island and can only get worse, good can no longer triumph over evil. When the navy finally rescues the boys nobody knows what has happened the island and they can only assume that the missing boys were killed in the plane crash. This shows mans naivety and arrogance to think that young innocent boys couldnt have brutally murdered one boy and left another to die, this reflects Jekyll and Hyde by the way in which nobody realises that a fine upstanding member of the community could possibly be a murderer although it is without his knowing but the boys on the island are young and you could say that without their parents and rules, they cant differentiate between right and wrong. Jekyll and Hyde was written in the Victorian times and it does challenge the idea of inner evil but good eventually wins because in the Victorian times people were moral and blind to the evil lurking before them and so sin was eventually killed in Jekyll and Hyde. In Lord of the Flies however you could say the evil triumphs which is the case in todays modern society, but the children are rescued from the evil they have created which you could argue that maybe good triumphs over evil after all. Both authors say that evil is in us and not around us and that without rules evil will show itself more fully. Evil is a tempting attractive power that gives you freedom but if you are truly evil can you be truly happy? We all see evil but can we see our own? Maybe these novels are trying to show us that maybe we should look inside ourselves and see if we are truly evil or is evil just something we use as an excuse to hurt people?

Humanity in Ridley Scotts Blade Runner Essay -- Film Movies

Humanity in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner The issue of humanity is one of the central themes in "Blade Runner." Countless arguments have taken place over whether or not Deckard is a replicant. The replicants are supposed to be "better humans than humans." Director Ridley Scott has many ways to communicate this theme, but one of the most prevalent is eyes. Human eyes are featured both in the beginning of the film and near the end. After a brief introductory text crawl which explains the world in which the movie takes place, "Blade Runner" cuts to a dark, futuristic Los Angeles. There are some flying cars, but mostly we see dark, smog-filled skies and smokestacks belching fire. As the camera moves across this landscape, blue eyes are superimposed on the screen. These eyes first establish traditional humanity as a force in the film. The eyes belong to Holden, a blade runner. Blade runners are police officers who hunt down and kill, or "retire", replicants. Holden is administering the Voight-Kampff test, which determines whether its subject is a traditional human or a replicant, to "Leon." Leon is a replicant, and when Holden asks him a question that he can't answer, Leon shoots him. Eyes are often thought of as the windows to the soul. It is this nebulous concept of the soul which is often used as the line in the sand dividing humanity from everything else. The Voight-Kampff test is designed to measure emotional responses. If the subject doesn't have any, it's a replicant. Leon was going to fail the test and be killed, so he killed Holden. Isn't that a display of the particular emotion known as rage? Well, maybe it's a rational decision or an instinctual survival reaction. However, a later scene lends weight to the... ...l are in love and want to run off together. As they are leaving his apartment, Deckard sees an origami unicorn on the floor. One can interpret this as Gaff showing Deckard that his memories are implants. Regardless of whether one accepts the unicorn interpretation given here, the question of what it means to be human is a core theme in "Blade Runner." After-the-fact directorial revelations aside, by leaving an element of ambiguity in Deckard's identity, Scott mirrors ambiguity in the question. He doesn't have a definite answer, he's not pushing some agenda. Even now, with little help from technology, we face a species-wide identity crisis. The whole issue of the legality of abortions stems from a disagreement over what constitutes a human. This is an important question that we're going to have to do a better job of answering, and Scott makes an excellent start. Humanity in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner Essay -- Film Movies Humanity in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner The issue of humanity is one of the central themes in "Blade Runner." Countless arguments have taken place over whether or not Deckard is a replicant. The replicants are supposed to be "better humans than humans." Director Ridley Scott has many ways to communicate this theme, but one of the most prevalent is eyes. Human eyes are featured both in the beginning of the film and near the end. After a brief introductory text crawl which explains the world in which the movie takes place, "Blade Runner" cuts to a dark, futuristic Los Angeles. There are some flying cars, but mostly we see dark, smog-filled skies and smokestacks belching fire. As the camera moves across this landscape, blue eyes are superimposed on the screen. These eyes first establish traditional humanity as a force in the film. The eyes belong to Holden, a blade runner. Blade runners are police officers who hunt down and kill, or "retire", replicants. Holden is administering the Voight-Kampff test, which determines whether its subject is a traditional human or a replicant, to "Leon." Leon is a replicant, and when Holden asks him a question that he can't answer, Leon shoots him. Eyes are often thought of as the windows to the soul. It is this nebulous concept of the soul which is often used as the line in the sand dividing humanity from everything else. The Voight-Kampff test is designed to measure emotional responses. If the subject doesn't have any, it's a replicant. Leon was going to fail the test and be killed, so he killed Holden. Isn't that a display of the particular emotion known as rage? Well, maybe it's a rational decision or an instinctual survival reaction. However, a later scene lends weight to the... ...l are in love and want to run off together. As they are leaving his apartment, Deckard sees an origami unicorn on the floor. One can interpret this as Gaff showing Deckard that his memories are implants. Regardless of whether one accepts the unicorn interpretation given here, the question of what it means to be human is a core theme in "Blade Runner." After-the-fact directorial revelations aside, by leaving an element of ambiguity in Deckard's identity, Scott mirrors ambiguity in the question. He doesn't have a definite answer, he's not pushing some agenda. Even now, with little help from technology, we face a species-wide identity crisis. The whole issue of the legality of abortions stems from a disagreement over what constitutes a human. This is an important question that we're going to have to do a better job of answering, and Scott makes an excellent start.

Abolishing Slavery: Abraham Lincoln

Abolishing Slavery: Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the end of slavery all go hand in hand in modern day United States classrooms. Lincoln, a Kentucky native, was the great 16th president of the United States who brought freedom to black slaves throughout the country, forever abolishing slavery in the nation. Well, that’s at least what has been instilled in the young minds of children across the US. Before we can start calling Lincoln the â€Å"Great Emancipator,† or an abolitionist we need to take a look at the facts.Lincoln’s reign as a political leader was in an extremely crucial time of need in our country as the country was tearing apart with the eventual Civil War looming. In 1858 Lincoln ran for, and lost, the senator position in Illinois. His running mate Stephen Douglass made a veteran political move by accusing Lincoln of supporting black equality, which helped put fear into many voters’ ballots when they decided to vote for t he less radical Douglass.Lincoln, being the knowledgeable politician he was, responded with a statement in an attempt to clear his name with the white population by saying â€Å"I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. † Although these views were most likely used as a political ploy, they didn’t sit well with the black community when Lincoln started receiving credit for freeing the slaves. Fast-forward about a decade when Lincoln was in the presidential seat and Lincoln was facing similar issues in his struggle to unify the wilting United States.As president Lincoln’s main goal was to unify the two sides of the United States: the Union and the Confederacy. In order to unify the country Lincoln had to hurdle his biggest obstacle in abolishing slavery. Perhaps the only reason Lincoln supported the freeing of slaves was because he realized it was the only way to unify the coun try, which is a solid argument in itself to the idea of Lincoln receiving too much credit for freeing the slaves. Anyhow, Lincoln somewhat reluctantly proceeded to announce his plans to abolish slavery with his first plan called compensated emancipation.In this plan Lincoln would free the slaves by paying off the slave owners large sums of money in return for the slaves freedom. Once freed, the slaves must move out of the country to foreign lands such as the Caribbean, Latin America, or West Africa. Although this plan would work for Lincoln in his main goal of unifying the country, the black community was outraged, rightfully so, in that the United States was just as much the blacks land as it was the whites land. After some time, Lincoln finally came to the realization that in order to avoid a country separation he had to release the Emancipation Proclamation (EP).The EP was a two-part document, the first being known as the preliminary EP, which was released on Sep 22, 1862. This g ave the confederate states 100 days to join the union or Lincoln would abolish slavery in the states that continued to rebel. On Jan 1st, 1863 the proclamation went into affect and Lincoln abolished slavery in the nine of the ten states that had yet to join the Union (Texas was exempted). This is the day in history that is perceived to be the day that slavery was forever abolished.However, slavery was only abolished in nine rebellious states while it was legal in states that had been apart of the Union before that Jan 1st date. Although this was clearly not the end of all ends in slavery, it was a genius political move by Lincoln who achieved his goal of unifying the country. But that’s all it was. Lincoln did his job; he unified the country. But, to pronounce Lincoln as the man who ended all slavery is simply put, ridiculous. It was defiantly a start as over 50,000 slaves were freed on that historic day, but was far from over as pockets of the country were continuing on with slavery as if nothing had happened.This included the entire state of Texas who was somehow exempt from the whole ordeal. Lincoln indeed was a great president who brought the country out of deep times, but he was not the man who ended slavery on the spot as we have been inclined to learn over the years. It was the next two or so years leading up to the 13th amendment that deserve most of the credit. The time following the EP was joyous for some, insulting to others, but in truth was most important to the complete freedom of blacks in America. Slavery continued on in the states for quite some time after the EP, which started to confuse many black leaders of the time.One of the most important dates in freeing the blacks was June 19th, 1865, two and a half years after the EP, when General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas to announce that slavery had been abolished and that at that moment all slaves had equal rights to their slave masters and could do as they please. This creat ed much jubilation in the state and around the country, as these slaves had been â€Å"illegal† slaves for over two years. This date, now celebrated as Juneteenth as an official holiday in 38 states, is considered to be the beginning of the end of slavery in the United States.About 6 months later on Dec 6th, 1865 the 13th amendment was added to the constitution stating that slavery was officially prohibited in the United States of America under any circumstances. It took nearly three years since the EP to completely abolish slavery, which by some people is considered completely ridiculous and insane, but it must be noted that the EP was not put in place to abolish slavery, but was in fact an intricate and in many ways brilliant political move by Abe Lincoln to unify the country.It was not intended to free the slaves as most of us are falsely led to believe. So, when are we going to get the celebration of abolished slavery in America right? No more should Lincoln receive credi t for abolishing slavery, we need a real holiday to celebrate this historic event. How about December 6th? The day when over 4 million slaves were finally free and slavery was officially abolished in the states. So here’s to a December 6th holiday, the day the 13th amendment of the constitution was established.

Twitter Case Study

TWITTER SEARCHES FOR A BUSINESS MODELTwitter, the social networking site based on 140 character text messages, is the buzz social networking phenomenon of the year. Like all social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and others, Twitter provides a platform for users to express themselves by creating content and sharing it with their â€Å"followers,† who sign up to receive someone’s â€Å"tweets. † And like most social networking sites, Twitter faces the problem of how to make money. As of October 2010, Twitter has failed to generate earnings as its management ponders how best to exploit the buzz and user base it has created. Twitter began as a Web-based version of popular text messaging services provided by cell phone carriers. Executives in a podcasting company called Odeo were searching for a new revenue-producing product or service. In March 2006, they created a stand-alone, private company called Twitter. The basic idea was to marry short text messaging on cell phones with the Web and its ability to create social groups. You start by establishing a Twitter account online, and identifying the friends that you would like to receive your messages. By sending a text message called a â€Å"tweet† to a short code on your cell phone (40404), you can tell your friends what you are doing, your location, and whatever else you might want to say. You are limited to 140 characters, but there is no installation and no charge. This social network messaging service to keep buddies informed is a smash success. Coming up with solid numbers for Twitter is not easy because the firm is not releasing any â€Å"official† figures. By September 2010, Twitter, according to comScore, had around 30 million unique monthly users in the United States, and perhaps 96 million worldwide, displacing MySpace as the number three global social network (behind Facebook and Microsoft’s Live Profile). The number of individual tweets is also known only by the company. According to the company, by early 2007, Twitter had transmitted 20,000 tweets, which jumped to 60,000 tweets in a few months. During the Iranian rebellion in June 2009, there were reported to be over 200,000 tweets per hour worldwide. In October 2010, Twitter was recording over 1. 2 million tweets a month. On the other hand, experts believe that 80 percent of tweets are generated by only 10 percent of users, and that the median number of tweet readers per tweet is 1 (most tweeters tweet to one follower). Even more disturbing is that Twittter has a 60 percent churn rate: only 40 percent of users remain more than one month. Obviously, many users lose interest in learning about their friends’ breakfast menu, and many feel â€Å"too connected† to their â€Å"friends,† who in fact may only be distant acquaintances, if that. On the other hand, celebrities such as Britney Spears have hundreds of thousands of â€Å"friends† who follow their activities, making Twitter a marvelous, free public relations tool. Twitter unfortunately does not make a cent on these activities. The answer to these questions about unique users, numbers of tweets, and churn rate are critical to understanding the business value of Twitter as a firm. To date, Twitter has generated losses and has unknown revenues, but in February 2009, it raised $35 million in a deal that valued the company at $255 million. The following September, Twitter announced it had raised $100 million in additional funding, from private equity firms, previous investors, and mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, based on a company valuation of a staggering $1 billion! So how can Twitter make money from its users and their tweets? What’s its business model and how might it evolve over time? To start, consider the company’s assets and customer value proposition. The main asset is user attention and audience size (eyeballs per day). The value proposition is â€Å"get it now† or real-time news on just about anything from the mundane to the monumental. An equally important sset is the database of tweets that contains the comments, observations, and opinions of the audience, and the search engine that mines those tweets for patterns. These are real-time and spontaneous observations. Yet another asset has emerged in the last year: Twitter is a powerful alternative media platform for the distribution of news, videos, and pictures. Once again, no one predicted that Twitter would be the first to report on terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the landing of a passenger jet in the Hudson River, the Iranian rebellion in June 2009, or the political violence in Bangkok and Kenya in May 2010. How can these assets be monetized? Advertising, what else! In April 2010, Twitter announced it s first 386 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age foray into the big-time ad marketplace with Promoted Tweets. Think Twitter search engine: in response to a user’s query to Twitter’s search function for, say netbooks, a Best Buy ad for netbooks will be displayed. The company claims Promoted Tweets are not really ads because they look like all other tweets, just a part of the tweet stream of messages. These so-called â€Å"organic tweets† differ therefore from traditional search engine text ads, or social network ads which are far from organic. So far, Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony, Starbucks, and Virgin American have signed up. If this actually works, thousands of companies might sign up to blast messages to millions of subscribers in response to related queries. A second Twitter monetization effort announced in June 2010 is called Promoted Trends. Trends is a section of the Twitter home page that lets users know what’s hot, what a lot of people are talking about. The company claims this is â€Å"organic,† and a true reflection of what people are tweeting about. Promoted Trends are trends that companies would like to initiate. A company can place a Promoted Trends banner on the bottom of the page and when users click on the banner, they are taken to the follower page for that movie or product. Disney bought Promoted Trends for its film Toy Story 3, according to Twitter. In July 2010, Twitter announced its third initiative of the year: @earlybird accounts, which users can follow to receive special offers. Walt Disney Pictures has used the service to promote The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by offering twofers (buy one ticket, get another one free). The service could work nicely with so-called real-time or â€Å"flash† marketing campaigns in entertainment, fashion, luxury goods, technology, and beauty products. So far, Twitter has over 50,000 @earlybird followers and hopes to reach â€Å"influentials,† people who shape the purchasing decisions of many others. Another monetizing service is temporal real-time search. If there’s one thing Twitter has uniquely among all the social network sites, it’s real-time information. In 2010, Twitter entered into agreements with Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to permit these search engines to index tweets and make them available to the entire Internet. This service will give free real-time content to the search engines as opposed to archival content. It is unclear who’s doing who a service here, and the financial arrangements are not public. Other large players are experimenting. Dell created a Twitter outlet account, @DellOutlet, and is using it to sell open-box and discontinued computers. Dell also maintains several customer service accounts. Twitter could charge such accounts a commission on sales because Twitter is acting like an e-commerce sales platform similar to Amazon. Other firms have used their Twitter followers’ fan base to market discount air tickets (Jet Blue) and greeting cards (Somecards). Freemium is another possibility: ask users to pay a subscription fee for premium services such as videos and music downloads. However, it may be too late for this idea because users have come to expect the service to be free. Twitter could charge service providers such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, and hair salons for providing their customers with unexpected appointment availabilities. But Twitter’s most likely steady revenue source might be its database of hundreds of millions of real-time tweets. Major firms such as Starbucks, Amazon, Intuit (QuickBooks and Mint. om), and Dell have used Twitter to understand how their customers are reacting to products, services, and Web sites, and then making corrections or changes in those services and products. Twitter is a fabulous listening post on the Internet frontier. The possibilities are endless, and just about any of the above scenarios offers some solution to the company’s problem, which is a lack of revenue (forget about profits). The company is coy about announcing its business model, what one pundit described as hiding behind a â€Å"Silicon Valley Mona Lisa smile. † These Wall Street pundits are thought to be party poopers in the Valley. In a nod to Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s merchant services, Twitter has turned over its messaging capabilities and software platform to others, one of which is CoTweet. com, a company that organizes multiple Twitter exchanges for customers so they can be tracked more easily. Google is selling ad units based around a company’s last five tweets (ads are displayed to users who have created or viewed tweets about a company). witter is not charging for this service. In the meantime, observers wonder if Twitter is twittering away its assets and may not ever show a profit for its $160 million investment.Sources:Matthew Shaer, â€Å"Twitter Hits 145 Million User Mark, Sees Rise in Mobile Use,† Christian Science Monitor, September 3, 2010; Jason Lipshutz, â€Å"Lady Gaga to Steal Britney Spears’ Twitter Crown,† Reuters, August 19, 2010; Emir Afrati, â€Å"Twitter’s Early Bird Ad Ploy Takes Flight,† Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2010; Jess ica Guynn, â€Å"Twitter Tests New Promoted Trends Feature with ‘Toy Story 3’ from Disney’s Pixar,† Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2010; Erica Naone, â€Å"Will Twitter’s Ad Strategy Work,† Technology Review, April 15, 2010; Jessica Vascellaro and Emily Steel, â€Å"Twitter Rolls Out Ads,† Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2010; Brad Stone, â€Å"Twitter’s Latest Valuation: $1 Billion,† New York Times, September 24, 2009; Jon Fine, â€Å"Twitter Makes a Racket. But Revenues? † Business Week, April 9, 2009.CASE STUDY QUESTIONS1. Based on your reading in this chapter, how would you characterize Twitter’s business model?2. If Twitter is to have a revenue model, which of the revenue models described in this chapter would work?3. What is the most important asset that Twitter has, and how could it monetize this asset?

Nutritional assessment- a vital component The WritePass Journal

Nutritional assessment- a vital component Introduction Nutritional assessment- a vital component IntroductionCase scenarioNutritional assessmentMedical history collection approachesPhysical examinationBiochemical dataDiscussionConclusionReferenceRelated Introduction Malnutrition and undernourishment pose a major healthcare problem in the care of hospitalized patients in different care units in developed countries. There are numerous studies in health care literature reporting frequent malnutrition of patients in acute hospitals on admission and deterioration of nutritional status during hospitalization, particularly older people (Inge.K, 1999). Malnutrition can be defined in older people as faulty or inadequate nutritional status; undernourishment characterized by insufficient dietary intake, poor appetite, muscle wasting and weight loss (Carole S. Mackey, 2004). The cause of malnutrition is commonly contributed to medical, social and environmental as well as individual factors, such as poor appetite and disinterest in food, unpalatable or inadequate food, and lack of assistance with eating, poor skills in recognizing malnourished patients or those at risk of malnutrition and the low priority given to patients’ nutrition by doctors and nurses. Undetected and untreated, malnutrition is found to be detrimental to the quality of life and can lead to severe consequences such as prolonged hospital stays, high risk of infection, pressure ulcers, reduced wound healing, increased morbidity and mortality as well as increased costs for care, therefore, it is vital that hospital wards for older people have a nutritional care policy to prevent and/or treat malnutrition (Carole S. Mackey, 2004). Case scenario In 2010 August, Mr. Wong complained dizzy and fell in the morning and initially presented to orthopedic ward for collapse of L1 after fall. On admission, Mr. Wong’s ear temperature was 36.8, blood pressure was 100/ 50 mmHg, pulse was 75 /min, oxygen saturation was 93% on 2 L/min oxygen. During the acute state, he was developed hospital acquired pneumonia and put on Augmentin for one week course. In same year of November, Mr. Wong was transferred to rehabilitation ward for recovery and physiotherapy. Mr. Wong was retired. He has a 30-yr smoking history with one pack per day. He tries to quit smoking several times, but does not succeed. He lives in a 4-bedroom house with his wife and two sons and one daughter. He attended a Tai-Chi course with his wife in nearby park every day and had balanced diets prepared by Mrs. Wong. Mr. Wong had past history of Parkinson’s disease, hyperlipidaemia and gout followed up by Princess Margaret Hospital medical. On 2008 he had old lacunar infarct on computer tomography scan. In the rehabilitation ward, Mr. Wong had some exercise or limbs training with physiotherapists on the bed, as he could not have enough energy to stand up or walk with or without any support. Therefore, Mr. Wong always lied on the bed and then subsequently suffered from bed sore at his sacral. Firstly, he just suffered from stage one pressure sore, which was redness at the site without any discharge, and protected from duoderm. The health care workers provided daily normal saline dressing, frequent turning and pillows to relieve the pressure at the sacral. However, the pressure sore still became worse. At first, when the health care workers assessed Mr. Wong had high risk of worsening pressure sore; there are six risk factors including mobility, continence, nutritional, skin integrity, physical condition and medication common leading to developing pressure ulcers (Sharp CA, 2006). All possible preventions such as maintenance of well personal hygiene, frequent turning, and use of ripple bed had been provided. Also, wound nurse had assessed Mr. Wong’s situation and recommended the nurses for continuously providing dressing care and frequent skin observation. However, all recommendations and protections were given under strict supervision, but there is one criteria area missing in dealing pressure sore, this is nutrition. Poor nutritional status has been reported by several studies to be contributing factor to pressure ulcer development and malnutrition is positively correlated with pressure ulcer incidence and severity (Sharp. CA, 2006). Inadequate nutrition can increase the r isk of developing pressure ulcers and infection as well as impede the healing process of all wounds. Also, adequate dietary protein is absolutely essential for proper wound healing, and tissue levels of the amino acids may influence wound repair and immune function. As a result, a nutritional support should be given to patients with identified nutritional deficiency and any support be based on nutritional assessment using a recognized tool, general health status, patient preference or expert dietician (Ulrika Soderhamn, 2008). Moreover, nursing staff play an important role in the detection of the patient at risk and the implementation of sufficient preventive strategies. However, a comprehensive nutritional assessment is seldom performed on geriatric patients as routine and very few at-risk patients have a nutritional care plan. And some studies pointed that nurses in geriatric care feel they have a great responsibility for nutritional assessment and care but lack of sufficient knowledge for the tasks as well as of support from physicians (Ulrika Soderhamn, 2008). It is recommended that the health care workers should take the responsibility for informing, ordering, serving food and observing food intake and securing sufficient intake. These require the health care workers have sufficient knowledge and appropriate tools for screening and assessment of the older patients (Sharp. CA, 2006). Nutritional assessment A nutritional assessment is an in-depth evaluation of both objective and subjective data to define a person’s nutrition status. Specific data are obtained to create a metabolic and nutritional profile of the patient. The goals of the nutritional assessment are identification of patients who have, or at risk of developing malnutrition; to quantify a patient’s degree of malnutrition and to monitor the adequacy of nutrition therapy. It includes gathering information from the patient’s careful medical history, dietary history, a physical examination and laboratory tests (Weber, J, 2009). Medical history collection approaches Foremost in nutritional assessment is the patient interview for determining clinical history. Health care workers have recognized the way in which various diseases and conditions affect a person’s nutritional status. Attention should be focused on the disease state, duration of illness, intake of nutrients and presence of such gastrointestinal systems as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Also, the natural aging process can lead to increased nutritional problems among the elderly. Nearly 65% of elderly patients are calorie-protein undernourished or nutritional deficits developed while in the hospital (Vanderwee K, 2010). There some risks that are related with poor nutrition on the elderly such as normal aging changes in the senses of smell and taste, the effects of chronic diseases on food intake, psychological factors, social isolation, side effects from multiple medications or diminished function that subsequently limits their ability to shop or prepare meals. Choosing a dietary approach to nutritional status assessment The most valid or accurate dietary methods are prospective methods. These involve keeping records of foods consumed over the period of time of interest. This can be done by individuals themselves, or by health care workers observing them. Sometimes the foods are weighed before eating and then plate waste is weighed and subtracted. A similar method is to prepare two duplicate meals; one is consumed by the subject and the other is analyzed for nutrient content. Another method is the dietary record, in which the subject records estimated amounts of foods consumed. In any case, these methods are highly reactive because individuals may alter usual behavior to make their diet more socially desirable or to simplify the process of record keeping. Recall methods are the most widely used type of dietary data collection method. They are less reactive, but also less accurate than record methods. Twenty-four hour recalls, in which the previous days intake is queried in detail, for instance, foods , amounts, preparation techniques, condiments, are easiest for health care workers to complete (Sharp. CA, 2006). The data reported are converted from foods to nutrients with the use of food composition tables. Because a single day is not representative of usual intake, multiple twenty-four hour recalls are frequently used. Besides, the twenty-four hour recall of food intake record are used, the health care workers should observe the patients’ food preference, history of eating pattern and eating ability such as mood changes or swallow problem that might affect their eating. Physical examination Evaluation of the patient’s overall appearance and thorough physical examination of the skin, eyes, mouth, hair, and nails provide a clue the presence of malnutrition. Weight is one of the most useful elements of the physical examination for the assessment of nutritional status (Inge.K, 1999). Body weight is expressed as a relative to established norms in the general population. For adults, body weight and height are used to evaluate overall nutritional status and to classify individuals as at healthy or non-healthy weights. The most recent classification is to use body mass index (BMI, in kg/㎠¡). BMI, regardless of age or population, is normal at 18.5-25.0 kg/㎠¡, overweight at 25.0 to 19.9 kg/㎠¡, and obese at over 30.0 kg/㎠¡. In general BMI greater than 30 is assumed to be due to excessive adiposity (World Heart Federation, 2005). Weight loss is often the first clue to an underlying cause of malnutrition. The loss of more than 10% of the patient’s usual weight necessitates a thorough nutritional assessment. Recent unintentional loss of 10% to 20% of the patient’s usual weight indicates moderate protein-calorie malnutrition, and loss of more than 20% indicates severe protein-calorie malnutrition (Ulrika Soderhamn, 2008). In addition to weight and height, anthropometric approaches are for most part relatively noninvasive methods that assess the size of body composition of an individual. Anthropometric measures, such as mid-arm muscle circumference and triceps skin-fold thickness, estimate fat and lean tissue mass respectively (Carole S. Mackey, 2004). Anthropometric measures of nutritional status can be compromised by other health conditions. For example, edema characteristic of some forms of malnutrition and other disease states can conceal wasting by increasing body weight. Anthropometric data are used in nutritional assessment to compare measured values with standardized controls and to compare serial measurements over time in the same patient. These are useful in identifying the most severely malnourished patients, especially those with fluid retention as a result of disease (Inge.K, 1999). Biochemical data Laboratory tests based on blood urine can be important indicators of nutritional status, but they are influenced by non-nutritional factors as well. Measurements of serum protein levels are used in conjunction with other assessment parameters to determine the patients’ overall nutritional status. Serum proteins used in nutritional assessment include albumin and transferrin and preablumin. Albumin is a complex, high-molecular-weight protein produced by the liver and decreased albumin levels have been shown to correlate with increased morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients; therefore it is often used as a prognostic indicator. If the patient’s serum albumin concentration lower then 3.5g/dL and the total lymphocyte count lower than 1500 cells/mm3, it should be take more concern with them (Carole S. Mackey, 2004). Also lab results can be altered by medications, hydration status, and disease states or other metabolic processes, such as stress. As with the other are as of nutrition assessment, biochemical data need to be viewed as a part of the whole. Discussion Before utilization of the nutritional assessment, the health care workers might only concern how the pressure sore can be healed and provided further treatment or protection. The nutritional issue related to wound healing might be ignored. The health care workers should have knowledge and be conscious of nutritional issues and know the importance and relevance of these issues for the particular patient promoted the nutritional nursing assessment. Identifying, assessing and treating older patients’ nutritional problems is a challenge for all staff groups involved in the patients’ care, therefore, it need to collaboration between other caregivers and professionals and sufficient knowledge about nutrition among the staff groups (C. E. Weekes, 2009). For example, the nurse can organize one person into performing specific tasks like serving food to Mr. Wong to highlight his eating ability and facilitate the assessment process. There is also collaboration between the nurse an d physician, speech therapist or dietician who can help with the estimation of the nutritional requirements and get suggestions of food supplements. The first priority for the nurses is to let Mr. Wong know their nutritional needs and current problems, as he might think that he ate enough every day, but the situation perhaps was adverse. They should have an individual holistic patient view and discuss with Mr. Wong about his situation and then find out how and why the identified nutritional problem influenced the pressure sore. And the four assessment techniques in a nutritional assessment can perform at the same time. The health care workers always perform the twenty-four hours intake and output record with Mr. Wong for calculating the fluid balance and energy intake in the daily nursing routine. Also, it can be recognized Mr. Wong’s nutritional status from physical examination like Body mass index reading and mid-arm circumference to determine the specific needs and problems. And then collaboration with physicians to taking his blood for further laboratory assessment. The laboratory results like protein level and albumin level provide information for the nursing diagnosis. Using the clinical, biochemical and dietary data, influences on the nutritional status can be determined. A nutritional intervention which includes dietary guidance and exercise recommendations is then formulated and discussed with the individual. Further dialogues with and observations of Mr. Wong are used promoting for a continuous assessment process, because it can supply the nurse with information about the effects of the interventions and how the nutritional status of Mr. Wong changed, The nurse then feels a responsibility for him having a continuous and proper nutritional intake (C. E. Weekes e, 2009). If all the possible preventions and nutritional problem can be treated, the rate of getting infection should be minimized and the wound healing should be better. Conclusion Malnutrition becomes a considerable problem among hospitalized patients. The use of nutritional care practices and nutrition assessment of elderly patients is necessary and optimal in hospitals. Nutrition assessment involves a combination of examinations and patient history, and as such, no single laboratory test or finding should be used to indicate poor nutrition. An increased consciousness of the importance of nutritional care and assessment among health care professionals will contribute to further improvement of the quality of nutritional care. Reference Carole S. Mackey. (2004). Nutritional Assessment. Retrieved 19 February, 2011, from diet.com/store/facts/nutritional-assessment Ho. S Lee. S. ( 2011, March 18).   Slow food culture on stress-city menu. The Standard, p. A4 Inge.K, Simon. S Wood. J (1999). Nutritional care of the patient: nurses’ knowledge and attitudes in an acute care setting. Journal of clinical nursing, 8, 217-224 Sharp CA McLawa M.L (2006). Estimating the risk of pressure ulcer development: it is truly evidence based?. International Wound Journal, 3(4), 344-353 Ulrika Soderhamn. Olle Soerhamn. (2008). A successiveful way for performing nutritional nursing assessment in older patients. Journal of clinical nursing, 18, 431-439 Vanderwee K, Clayse E, Bocquaert I, Verhaeghe S, Lardennois M, Gobert M Defloor T. (2010). Malnutritiona and nutritional care practices in hospital wards for older people. Journal of advanced nursing, 67(4), 736-746 Weber, J. Kelley, J. H. (2009). Health assessment in nursing. Philadephia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins Weekes, C. E, Spiro, A, Baldwin, C, Whelan, K, Thomas, J. E, Parkin, D Emery, P. W. (2009). A review of the evidence for the impact of improving nutritional care on nutritional and clinical outcomes and cost. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 22, 324-335 World Heart Federation (2005). Body Mass Index [Leaflet]. World Heart Day 2005 Leaflet

Holding Debates in Middle School Classes

Holding Debates in Middle School Classes Debates are wonderful, high-interest activities that can add great value to lessons for middle school students. They provide students with a change from the norm and allow them to learn and use new and different skills. They have the natural appeal of watching controlled disagreements while scoring points. Further, they are not very challenging to create. Here is a great guide explaining how to hold a class debate that shows how easy it can be if you plan ahead. Benefits of Debates One of the greatest benefits of using debates in class is that students will get to practice a number of important skills including: Learning about the topic assigned. Obviously, researching the topic involved provides students with more information than can be gleaned during in-class lessons. Further, by having to argue for or against a proposition, students have to dig deeper into a topic and look at it from both sides.Using important research skills as they prepare for the debate. Researching information is a learned skill. While many students will have been exposed to library use, encyclopedias, and Internet research during their elementary years, they will need to have these skills reinforced and expanded upon. Further, students will need to learn about ways to judge the validity and accuracy of web resources.Working together as a team both before and during the debate itself. Having students work together as they research and then perform the debate can help them learn important skills about cooperation and trust. Of course, as teachers, we have to have methods in place to ensure that all students are workin g. If one or more student is not pulling their weight, then the grades of the other team members should not be penalized. Practicing public speaking skills. Debates provide students with necessary practice for public speaking made easier by passionately arguing their point of view. This skill will be important for them the rest of their educational and possibly work career.Using critical thinking skills in a real world setting. Debates require students to think on their feet. When one team makes a valid point, the other team needs to be able to marshall their resources and come up with an effective response. Challenges for Middle School Teachers For these and other reasons, teachers often want to include debates in their lesson plans. However, implementing debates in middle school classes can sometimes be quite challenging. There are a number of reasons for this including: Varying maturity levels. Students in middle school are typically between the ages of 11 and 13. This is such a transitional period for students. Personal behavior and maintaining focus can be a challenge at times.Students may not have the necessary research skills. In many cases, students will not have had to research information in the way needed to do a good job in a class debate. Therefore, it is very important that you spend the time helping them prepare.Students may be self-conscious. Public speaking can be daunting. Having them act as a team can help. Creating Successful Debates Debates are a great part of a teachers repertoire of activities. However, there are a few caveats that must be remembered to make the debate successful. Pick your topic wisely, ensuring that it is acceptable for middle school students. Use the following list for great ideas in middle school debate topics.Publish your rubric before the debate. Your debate rubric helps students see how they will be graded.Consider holding a practice debate early in the year. This can be a fun debate where students learn the mechanics of the debate activity and can practice with a topic that they might already know a lot about.Figure out what you are going to do with the audience. You will probably want to keep your team down to about 2 to 4 students. Therefore, you will need to hold a number of debates in order to keep the grading consistent. At the same time, you will have the majority of your class watching as the audience. Give them something upon which they will be graded. You might have them fill out a sheet about each sides position. You might have them come up with and ask questions of each debate team. However, what you dont want is 4 to 8 stud ents involved in the debate and the rest of the class not paying attention and possibly causing distractions. Make sure that the debate does not become personal. There should be some basic ground rules established and understood. The debate should focus on the topic at hand and never on the people on the debate team. Make sure to build consequences into the debate rubric.