Monday, September 30, 2019

Evolution of the Human Hearing Essay

Evolution of the Human HearingIntroductionThe human ear has two major functions: ensuring body balance and sound detection. The balancing mechanism seems to have evolved earlier than the hearing mechanism. Early developing vertebrates had balancing organs, but they have no cochlea. A good example is fish. The basic function of the human ear is to sense sound. Sound is a compression of wave, which travels via a medium. For vertebrates, the medium perceived is air. Sound waves can travel through other mediums, such as water or ground. Hearing is a result of vibration of the surrounding medium that resonates parts of the body. The resonance is then transformed into electrical signals such that they can be interpreted by the human ear. The way human beings recognize sound has undergone changes since the discovery of the ear. Land vertebrates, birds, reptiles and mammals evolved primitively from amphibians, specifically the primitive fish. The formation of the inner ear started during the Devonian Period. There has been a debate whether the lateral line structure, a sensory system used to detect variations in pressure in amphibians, developed into the inner ear. Most scientists and researchers agree that the ear evolved from this lateral system. The lateral system is found beneath the skin of fish. It is a series of grooves and depressions with a group of hair cells, which lets the fish to adapt to variations in eddies and currents. According to (Duane, 1981) primitive fish possessed a simple sensory organ. The grooves evolved into the complex inner ear in vertebrates. The nerves cells in the human ear are adaptations of the earlier hair cells. In the course of evolution, a fish become more amphibious. Finally, it evolved into a land animal, which required a new sensory system to detect differences in air pressure. This was a way of improving their survival rates, such as danger recognition. According to (Clark, 2003) the Eustachian tube and the middle ear evolved from the respiratory mechanism of the fish, while the inner ear evolves from jaws. With time, the inner ear changed and developed. The part of the inner ear responsible for body balance evolved to the membrane of the oval window. The oval window is responsible for transmitting variations in air pressure. As this happened, the inner ear was growing bigger and bigger. In the fish, a tiny swell emerged in the vestibular of the ear. As the evolution progre ssed, the bulge evolved into a spiraled cochlea. This is what forms the hearing system of vertebrates. Gradually, fish evolved into amniotes, which are fully terrestrial vertebrates. Early amniotes did not have eardrums. According to (Gangestad, 2000) eardrums evolved six times in primitive amphibians, in anurans, in sysnapis, in diapsids (lizards, dinosaurs, and bids), in anapsids (turtles and its relatives), in reptiliomorphs and in temsnospondyls. According to paleontologists, our earliest ancestors breathed through their ears. According to (Gangestad, 2000) tubes that form the middle ear developed from gill-like structures that allowed sea creatures to breathe from back of their heads. Another study was done by ( Anthwal, 2012) which sought to examine 370-million-year old fossils, Panderichthyts. This is an immediate species between the amniotes and fish. The study reveals that Panderichthys had tiny bones in its skull that appeared similar to the early analogues of the gill system and the ear canals. The study suggests the canals are the ones which developed into true ears. This occurred after Panderichtys’s ancestors had become air breathers, freeing up their former gills structures for sensory functions. The study plays a critical role in understanding the evolution of the human ear. Our ability to ear relies on structures, which started as a gill opening in a fish, the study reveals. Human and all other vertebrates have special bones in the ear responsible for hearing. Ancient fish relied on the same structures to breath while in water. The study further argues that the human ear into a complex structure after animals established themselves on land. To draw valid conclusions, the study compared the fossil with its close cousin of the first land animals. In another fossil, Eustenopteron, a discovery of a small bone called hyomandibula was made. The bone later on developed a kink and blocked the gill opening. Furthermore, in early land animals like tetrapods Acanthostega, the bone receded, forming a larger opening. This is now a part of the middle ear in all vertebrates, including humans. A close study of the Panderichthys fossil offers scientists a crucial missing link between the ea rs and fish gill openings. According to (Anthwal, 2102) the characteristics are much more like those of tetrapods; there is no longer kink but the spiracle is widened and opened up. He found out that the hydomandibula is shorter, but rod-like in Eustenopteron. Another study of a hominid that was discovered in South Africa confirms that the human ear has undergone several changes. The fossil dated 1.9 million years was found to have several bones which are found on the modern human ear. However, the bones were not exactly the same. Three ear bones were identified. The malleus appeared to be human-like while the stapes and the incus appeared to resemble those of Chimpanzees. The study asserts that since the malleus of our early ancestors looks similar to ours, the changes of the bone must have occurred during our evolutionary history. The discovery is important in two ways. First, it suggests that ear ossicles are adult-sized and fully-formed at birth, but do not change in our lifetime. Second, the bones show that the hearing ability of ancient creatures was very different from that of modern humans. This is not necessarily, better or worse. But certainly, the hearing capability was different (Texas University, 2013). Following the discussion presented above, it can be noted that the human ear underwent several stages of evolution. The studies presented above clearly shows that the hearing capability of ancient creatures was different from that of modern humans. In addition to this, it can be noted that the human ear evolved from a simple gill structure all through jaw bones of a reptile. The following diagram summarizes our discussion. Diagram Adapted from: http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_05References Anthwal N. (2012). â€Å"Evolution of the mammalian middle ear and jaw: adaptations and novel structures†. Journal of Anatomy 221 (1): 1–96. Clark, A. G. (2003). Inferring nonneutral evolution from human-chimp-mouse orthologous gene trios. Science, 302(5652), 1960-1963. Duane T. Gish, â€Å"The Mammal-like Reptiles,† Impact, no. 102, December 1981. Gangestad, S. W. (2000). The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behavioral and brain sciences, 23(04), 573-587.Texas A&M University. (2013, May 13). Prehistoric ear bones could lead to evolutionary answers. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 22, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130513174048.htm Source document

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Chinese Modernist fiction Essay

Chinese Modernist fiction is very complicated in terms of imagery and literary expression used by the author, as well as in terms of dual or multiple meanings of the works, but in general they express the mood of the epoch. Mu’s stories are to great extent experimental and vary between purely proletarian fiction and ‘dialect’ writings that express really deep thoughts through internal monologues and the use of dialogue as a tool of changing the characters’ self-perception or their impressions about their environment (MacDonald, 2004). Mu Shiying’s prose is often called â€Å"New Sensationist† (Xin ganjuepai) style of writing short stories whose plot often develops rapidly, whereas the picture the author has drawn at first remains unchengeable(MacDonald, 2004). â€Å"The name â€Å"New Sensationist† was derived from the Shinkankahu ha, a group of Japanese avant-garde writers from the 1920s and 1930s. However, the evidence is against the actual existence of a group of writers who called themselves â€Å"New Sensationist† in China† (MacDonald, 2004, p. 797). Nevertheless, Mu’s short story entitled â€Å"Five in a Nightclub† gives a number of sensational experiences, which this essay is designed to discuss. The first scene of the short story describes the intrinsic human need for material resources, the main drive of the business world: â€Å"Men with blood-shot eyes milled about the gold exchange. [†¦] The speculators devolved into brutes. The wind blew the reason from their minds and the steel from their nerves† (Shiying, 1992, p. 5), so that the first perception of Shanghai refers to the psychological tension between the people, who have suffered a lot from the adversities, brought about by life. The first episode represents the pace of Shanghai life: a person can lose their fortune or become rich in one moment, so the description of instability and nervousness refers to the lack of control over the situation, as if the participants were obedient marionettes in the hands of the powerful and malicious force. The second scene, depicting a young man, scornfully rejected by the girl he loves, also refers to the whims of fortune and more precisely –explains the sensation of hope; this feeling appears hovering or hanging over the place where Zheng Ping is waiting for his darling. The words he sent to the girl yesterday are, as he realizes, written to describe his today’s situation: â€Å"Stranger, O stranger! / Yesterday I was your slave. Today you say I’m a stranger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 6). Importantly, there is a notable contrast between the first paragraphs, in which the author describes the character’s romantic thought, his illusionary closeness to the object of his strong feeling, and his disappointment and sorrow at the end, when â€Å"Zheng Ping’s hair turned white† (Shiying, 1992, p. 7). Fragments rapidly change one another. The short passage about a young woman, who has lost her beauty over the recent years, points to the perception of human body as machine that can be used: â€Å"Youth A – â€Å"Isn’t it Daisy Huang? She was the toast of the town five years ago! † Youth B – â€Å"Amen. She was quite a dish! †Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 8). Accordingly, human beings do not belong completely to themselves, as they should always try hard to meet the requirements, imposed by society, especially those related to appearance and beauty. Ji Jie, the character, described in the next episode, is also lost in his self-identity and self-perception, so that he even fails to comprehend his real nature and the sense of his being in this world. Another character, battered cruelly by life, is Miao Zongdan, a clerk, who has been working hard for his career development and who receives a letter of dismissal. This episode is very similar to the first one, in which the sudden turning-point can ultimately change the individual’s life, destroy their desires, aspirations, ambitions – just like a high wave of tsunami that covers the person’s life. The first chapter of the short story therefore provides an overview of the psychological lives of certain dwellers of Shanghai, whereas the other people, surrounding them, remain indifferent, so that the average inhabitant of Shanghai is a ‘small person’, incapable of managing their fate. On the other hand, they should cope with their problems without any support from outside. The second chapter narrates about a typical Saturday night in Shanghai, or the bright underground life, heated by neon, alcohol and cigarettes: â€Å"Red streets, green streets, blue streets, purple streets†¦ City clad in strong colours! Dancing neon light – multi-coloured waves, scintillating waves, colourless waves – a sky filled with colour. The sky now had everything: wine, cigarettes, high-heels, clock-towers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 10). Human mores become increasingly more relaxed at this time, and people are about to do unusual things, as such conducts are not likely to happen in the daylight. In the third chapter, Shanghai is described in merely two colors: black and white, that symbolize purity and dust, but flow together into a single glamour of the night club. In addition, one can note a mixture of different cultures in nightclub settings: the club itself is designed in European style, as the idea of night amusements in such settings derives from this continent, whereas the customers are Chinese; and the dancers who entertain the visitors are â€Å"Russian princesses† (Shiying, 1992, p. 11). This pre-arranged chaos influences the characters almost magically: their dreams seem to come true. The idea of saving night resembles the fairy tale theme: at daytime, the characters remain ugly beasts, whereas at night they turn into young and attractive princes and princesses, who become rich and are as a result surrounded by their admirers. In this sense, night is remedy against all daily troubles, as they all are resolved or fixed very quickly and naturally, as if the natural force that throws the characters into the depth of adversity and misfortune calms down at night – this magic conversion can be compared to black and white colors, which seem to be the major imagery in this place: â€Å"By the white tablecloths sit men dressed in formal evening attire: layers of black and white: black hair, white faces, black eyes, white collars, black ties, white starched shirts, black jackets, white waistcoats, black pants†¦black and white†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shiying, 1992, p. 10). The author seems to recognize only extremes, rather than the â€Å"golden middle† that balances the positive and negative forces and protects human psyche from excessively strong feelings and emotions. The city, in turn, also experiences a kind of transformation: whereas at daytime it looks like a huge technocratic monster that has only concrete and asphalt inside and is inhabited by people, who hurt each other with their apathy and indifference; at night it alters into a real paradise, filled with the radiance of happiness, kindness and friendliness. Noticeably, the characters in the night club interact with one another very dynamically and seem united by this atmosphere of common joy and relaxation. Nevertheless, this illusion of amusement seems unrealistic after the events, which took place in the afternoon; in spite of the miraculous healing of all human hardships, it contains the after-pains, which give the idea of the possible return of all daily problems once this wonderful night comes to its logical end. The depiction of the common excitement only reinforces the reader’s expectation of the future negative events, which will take place in the following morning or afternoon and shatter this positive emotional atmosphere. As for the characters in the nightclub settings, they are described as fragments, successfully integrated in an entity, as all of them manifest their self-confidence in almost the same way. For instance, Daisy re-gains her youth and beauty, so that nobody recognizes her, except her companion, Junyi, a gold baron: â€Å"†I’ve never been more sane in my life! † said Daisy, who had regained her composure. Suddenly she laughed again: â€Å"I will always be young. Oh, Junyi, let’s make a real night of it! † Daisy pulled Hu Junyi out onto the dance floor† (Shiying, 1992, p. 12). Later, Zheng Ping enters the club, looking drunk and happy because this time he has another girlfriend and therefore seems protected from the negative remembrances, which can be caused by Nina’s presence. Similarly to Daisy’s case, Zheng experiences a very short loss of nerves, but finally retakes self-control and focuses on his new girlfriend. Although Miao’s problem is not solved yet, he also joins the party and soon becomes drunk and happy. Whereas at first, Daisy and Hu’s joy seems natural, later the company is gradually falling into absolutely inhuman and unexplainable ecstasy that can be caused only by the overuse of spirits: â€Å"Everyone laughed with her – open mouths, open mouths, open mouth†¦ gaping holes that with every passing moment seemed less human† ((Shiying, 1992, p. 14). The characters have already joined to the nightclub atmosphere, primarily – because all of them have come with partners, so that they are no loner lonely and miserable. Ji Jie, despite the demonstrative happiness of the other four persons, is slowly sinking in the marsh of his own thoughts, in his hard mental work. Nevertheless, he is no longer depressed, as his visit to the club will probably allows him to find his identity and understand himself better. Moreover, he is described by the customers as a happy person: â€Å"Customer D – â€Å"He who has nothing to do after dinner and who can come here to break matchsticks is a happy man†. Customer C – â€Å" Even the drunkard with him is happy! He’s the guy who spilled the drink after badging in here. A while ago he was picking fights, now he’s telling jokes! † (Shiying, 1992, p. 18). Towards the end of the night the delight of the five characters begins to disappear, and the sensation of this night never seems to come again, as the problems, experienced by the five persons at daytime, are becoming more real. The sixth character, Jonny, later gets to know that her wife and newborn son are dead, but he is not allowed to leave the work and must continue entertaining the visitors with his music. The five personalities, who seemed cheerful to craze in the evening, are now described as â€Å"popped balloons† (Shiying, 1992, p. 20). All the characters later reconcile themselves to the fact that they are losers in this life, only Hu Junyi kills himself. His death is a milestone, after which the other characters open their true faces and confess to their tiredness of living. The night was nothing more than an attempt to repair the shattered lives, whose pieces turned out so small that it was impossible to paste them together. To sum up, the new perception of Shanghai is presented as never-ending rolling down, a journey through the severe daily reality and exaggeratedly euphoric night parties, which, however, quicken human degradation. Whiteness and blackness are never to mix together in Shanghai, so that its dwellers are fated to swinging between the two extremes, which are pain and delight. Either sooner, or later, the life of this small person will be shattered by the large city, as the short story narrates. Works cited MacDonald, S. The Shanghai Foxtrot by: Introduction. Modernism/modernity, Vol. 11 (4): pp. 797-807 Shiying, Mu. Five in a Nightclub, Renditions Spring 1992, pp. 5-22.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Criminal Justice Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminal Justice Law - Essay Example This essay studies the Criminal Justice Law itself and focuses on the concept of â€Å"Arrestable Offences†, defined under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. They enable police to exercise certain related powers like entry to premises, arrest, searches following arrest, and provisions while in custody. Definitions of arrestable offences under Section 24 of the Act include an offence for which the sentence is fixed by law; i.e. murder and offences for which a first time offender of legal age could be sentenced to terms of 5 years or more. Such offences constitute the most common ones including theft, serious assault, burglary and criminal damage. Some other offences are listed in a separate schedule of the act, which did not attract 5 year sentences but are to be considered in the same category as arrestable offences. These include offences like possession of offensive weapons, ticket touting etc. This list has expanded further with the inclusion of newly created offenc es and the number of exclusions dropped. Finally, the very concept of â€Å"Arrestable Offences† disappeared on enactment of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 which came into effect from 1st January 2006. The focus now changed to whether arrest is "necessary" in the sense of being under pressure of circumstance or physical or moral compulsion 4 to arrest the relevant person. 5. The change from a statute based decision to arrest or not, to a decision involving discretion on the part of the person making the arrest has serious implications especially in the context of the offenders’ rights.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Crime Analyst Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Crime Analyst - Assignment Example a mainly re-active force to being a more pro-active one, with greater emphasis on crime prevention and the ability to know where and how specific type of crime are likely to take place (Ratcliffe, 2007). Crime analysis is the next step up from just collecting and generating police crime reports. It reflects the use of these data that have been collected to make a more scientific study of the incidences of crime and from it make useful conclusions on the best ways to utilize stretched police resources and ensure that the lessons learned from the crime reports and incidences of the past are used as a tool for improving police work in the future. This arming of the police with information and tools that make them better do their job has resulted in theme being not only better at handling crime but also staying on top of the criminal trends and patterns and thus being better at knowing how to combat the dynamic nature of modern-day crime. A crime analyst’s responsibilities include the compiling, studying, analyzing, interpreting and presenting data collected from crime incidence reports. It includes going through all the reports and from them identifying and picking out any patterns, trends and features of crime that are then mapped out not only geographically but also socially and logically with the intention of enabling the police come up with the most effective methods of combating it and fighting such crime. Once all these data is analyzed and interpreted into useful information from which decisions can be made, the crime analyst also comes up with the best ways of presenting the information not only to the police departments for their own operational needs and requirements but also to the public so they can accurately and realistically evaluate the success of crime prevention and detection (International Association of Crime Analysts, 2011). The crime analyst looks first and foremost at the incidences of crimes reported and analysis their occurrence,

Thursday, September 26, 2019

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

Balanced Scorecard - Research Paper Example he balanced scorecard as, â€Å"a management system that facilitates organizations to clarify their strategy and long-term objectives, and then enforce them.† Secondly, the balanced scorecard enables business enterprises to improve continually on their results and strategic performance by provide them with feedback regarding internal business processes and external outcomes. Voelpel et al. (2006) stated that the balanced scorecard is important to any organization because it is a key ingredient in any successful business. The balanced scorecard has four key components or perspectives that enable the management of an organisation to clarify its strategy and long-term objectives and even enforce them. These four components of the balanced scorecard also represent the integral features of an organization that can determine its success. Therefore, it is correct to assert that the four key components of the balanced scorecard help the management of an organization to identify important information requirements that are necessary for the success of the business. From the image above it is noted that the balanced scorecard helps the management to identify important information regarding the financial position of the organization, the customer base of the organization, the aspect of learning and growth within the organization, and information pertaining to internal functions. On each component or perspective, the balanced scorecard has listed four different information that it requires to implement the management system. These four critical information requirements comprise of the objective, the measures, the targets, and the initiatives of each component. This is to say that upon look at the balanced scorecard framework, the management of Dual-Tech Inc will be able to identify crucial information that it will need to implement the management system and thereby be able to reap benefits attributed to utilization of the balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Voelpel

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Relection Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Relection Portfolio - Essay Example Some of the aspects are given importance in schools are active listening, asking questions, helping others by responding to their needs, sharing knowledge and finding what others think and share each other’s view points. The basic idea behind this is to create a healthy mutual understanding behind the team members so that strong team can be developed. In doing so, each and every students become aware of the factors which are required to build a strong team. The author then goes on to discuss the main idea behind doing these activities. She says that by doing this the students develop a sense of inter-dependence. This is very essential for building up a team. There are two types of interdependence. Goal interdependence where the group members can only achieve their goals when each and every team members have achieved their’s and resource interdependence where the each of the member need the resources of each and every member to complete the task assigned to them. In this article the author talks about building up one’s self confidence. He start the article in a very interesting manner by stating that even confident people make mistakes but the difference lies in the fact that they are more focused on their strength and ten to neglect their weakness. We should not get confused by affirmations as they attempt to fool the mind in thinking and believing something that we are not. Thus a person might be fooled to believe into something which is not in reality. So the main idea behind building up the self confidence to be aware of our strengths and stay focused on them. In this case, we should also focus on building up a good level of concentration because when person has a strong concentration; it becomes difficult to divert him or her from their path. Several methods of building up their self confidence have been discussed in the later part of the article. The author says that self confidence is more like a set

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Is HRM an Effective Approach to Managing People at Work Essay

Is HRM an Effective Approach to Managing People at Work - Essay Example Machineries will be passive resources unless they are controlled and operated by human workforce. It should be noted that only the human resources has natural intelligence whereas the machineries have only artificial intelligence. Since human intelligence is much more advanced than artificial intelligence, an organization cannot neglect the importance of manpower and human intelligence under any circumstances. Human resource management or HRM is one of the major divisions of every organization. The success and failures of the organization depends on the functioning of the HRM wing. According to Torrington et al. (2011), â€Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the basis of all management activity†(Torrington et al., 2011, p.4). In other words, all the organizational activities start from the HR department. HR is responsible for assigning duties to the employees of an organization. Human resource management theories are undergoing rapid changes because of the changes in life st yles and advancements in science and technology. Earlier, employees were more interested in getting decent salaries. However, current employees are not only interested in getting decent salaries, but also in getting proper work culture, environment and opportunities to keep a balance between work and life. Effectiveness of HRM lies in keeping a balance between the employee interests and that of the organization’s interests.It is difficult to define HRM in few words because of the complex functions associated with it. Generally speaking â€Å"HRM is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner† (Human Resource Management (HRM), 2012). HR department is responsible for recruitment, retention, allocation of suitable jobs, training and development of employees. A right person at the right place at the right time is always beneficial to an organization and it is the duty of HR to ensure it. Even though unemployment is a big problem in m any of the countries, lack of skilled manpower is creating major problems to organizations. It is the duty of the HR to identify best talents from the employment market so that the organization will always have the se4rvices of extremely good talents. Competition is growing day by day and as a result of that, organizations are competing each other for recruiting best talents. As a result of that employee retention is a major problem nowadays. HR department is responsible for employee retention. Training and development is another major HR function. No employee can develop properly if the organization fails to provide adequate training to them. Knowledge explosion and technological advancements forced organizations to give more importance to training of employees. HR is responsible for training also. It should be noted that the responsibilities of HR will be over after recruitment, retention, and training. Allocation of suitable jobs to the employees is another major HR function. A s mart employee at the wrong place may bring more harm than good to an organization. For example, an employee who has sales skills should be appointed only in the sales department in order to derive maximum efficiency out of him. If the organization wrongly places him in some other departments, he may not deliver the goods. In short, effectiveness of HRM depends on talent identification,

Monday, September 23, 2019

Housing Market Post and Pre Recession Lab Report

Housing Market Post and Pre Recession - Lab Report Example As a result, this recession lasted for four quarters. Finally, the last recession that occurred, took place not so long ago. It started in the 4th quarter of 2007 and lasted until the 2nd quarter of 2009. As can be verified from Figure 1 below, all these recessions by definition are identified with bar markers in periods that have followed such declines in GDP for three consecutive quarters. An important point to note here is that the length of the recessions has increased over time. The first and second recessions in the duration lasted for two quarters, the third lasted for four quarters and the recent recession has lasted for seven consecutive quarters. The cyclical pattern of real GDP is also evident from Figure 1. In the initial period, right after the recession, the percentage change of GDP rose sharply until the 1st quarter of 1984 and then stabilized and expressed some volatility and then started falling in the last quarter of 1989. The decline continued and became a recessio n lasting for two quarters. The ensuing climb was volatile, but the trend was positive until GDP growth reached a peak of 10.25% in the 2nd quarter of 2002. It started declining sharply there on and this drop became the 4 quarter long recession of 2001. There was a volatile and slow but steady climb until the last quarter of 2006 whereon the GDP growth rate started plummeting and this marked the onset of the latest recession. The decline in the rate of growth of GDP was most substantial during this latest recession. Figure 1: Movement of GDP The first indicator of the housing market that will be considered is the real average housing price. These are presented in Figure 2 along with the markers for recessions. The movements of the housing prices exhibit very strong cyclical behaviour. Further, taking a closer look reveals that the trends almost mirror those of the real GDP growth, although the volatility is substantially lower. The movements of the housing prices on average are smoo ther, though the beginnings and the endings of the cyclical rises and falls coincide with those of the real GDP growth in general. Figure 2: Movement of average real house prices Next we turn to Figure 3 which presents the movements of month’s supply of houses for the period under consideration. From the graph we see that month’s supply of houses falls in periods during or immediately following a recession. This is in contrast to housing prices which we saw follow the pattern of real GDP growth and, thus, slow down before the onset of the recession and start rising during recoveries. Figure 3: Movements in month's supply of housing Specifically, from Figure 3 we find out that month’s supply has gone down following all recessions in general. Following the recession of 1982, housing supply has reflected as slight decline in overall trend, although it has hovered around an average. The decline is more pronounced in the aftermath of the next recession. There was a s ubstantial decline in this phase and the declining trend continued onto the third recession. It picked up around early 2005 and sharply rose reflecting the housing bubble and reached its peak in the middle of the fourth recession. Another point worth noting from the graph is that the series has exhibited significant volatility and the latter seems to reflect a lagged reaction to it in the GDP series. The final indicator we look upon in this discussion is the dynamics of

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Task 2-5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Task 2-5 - Assignment Example The availability of new and efficient technologies will facilitate the printing of the T-shirts at a relatively lower cost and consequently lead to provision of the T-shirts at a reason and affordable prices to the students. The digital printing of t-shirts with funny quotes and university logo will not only provide high profits to the university but will also boost promotion of the university thus reducing the cost of advertisements incurred in the normal promoting and advertisements (Mitchell, 2009) When students wear this T-shirts around, they will have the feeling of ownership of their university. This will attract other individuals who may be willing to join the university and thus increase the market share of the digital printed t-shirts though increased numbers of students in the university. Infrastructure; Identify the significant activities in executing the businesses value proposition that would be through creating an effective supply chain of t-shirts. Identify key resources of the venture to sustain the business this should the workforce and the finances. The university shall establish effective relationship with the students to continue buying the product. Offering; According to Alexander (2004), a business value proposition is the differentness from similar organizations in the industry. This provides added value in differing ways for example; product design, brand, price, cost reduction, accessibility, and convenience. The university will look it the factor to ensure client satisfaction. Cost Structure: This is most important monetary consequences while in operation, the university must adopt either cost driven or value driven cost structure. Based on the ability of students to consume the university must be able to produce products that are both of high quality while they are cost effective, this will ensure survival of the business. Visualize the capability

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Tata Essay Example for Free

Tata Essay Tata motors has two major market segment that it aims to penetrate with its line of vehicle that it produces. One target is the low income families and individuals looking to purchase a first car. This target group mostly concentrates itself in the developing nations such as China and India, Tata’s own home country. Tata’s offering of models such as the Nano and the Indica caters for this segment. This target segment also has been the most widely publicized target of Tata Motors. The other segment Tata targets is on the complete opposite side of the economic spectrum. This target segment also has been the most widely publicized target of Tata’s. Tata’s second target segment is the wealthy individuals and families looking to purchase luxurious cars. Tata targets this group with their offering of Land Rover and Jaguar lines of automobiles. Both of these highly recognized and respected brand name vehicles were recently acquired by Tata from Ford Motors in 2008. In order to cater itself to two such divergent groups, Tata motors offers different value proposition to each. The value proposition it offers to the first group, the low income individuals and families, is to offer a line of vehicles that are affordable while still being safe. This value proposition was clearly evident and communicated when the Nano was announced for release in 2009. However, since then the Nano has become somewhat of publicity nightmare for Tata as it failed to deliver these proposed value propositions and satisfy its consumers. This unfortunate event became widely publisized in front of an eager world audience still awe struck at Tata’s initial daring proposition. In reality, Nano’s market price started at $2900, a whopping 45% increase from the initial suggested price of $2000 (Bajaj, 2010). Nano also revealed itself to possess a serious design flaw in its electrical system and numerous Nanos were shown going ablaze on the news around the world. Tata Motors’ failure to meet its own initial proposition has been blamed on numerous factors from rising metal costs to insufficient management planning (Eyring, 2011). Consumers have reacted very negatively to such a public failure and Tata Motors’ seeming disability to live up to its initial promise and value proposition to them. Sales were affected badly as Tata announced that it had sold only 509units of Nano in November 2010. (Bajaj, 2010)Faced with such a threatening decline in sales number Nano has added another dimension to affordability, one of its proposed value propositions. Using its vast network and influence in India, Tata has started to sell Nano outside of its dealerships. These new locations include places such as grocery retail locations and brings these cars closer to the people it targets. Tata has also said that it is actively seeking reasonable financing plans to help its customers make the car more affordable (Mint. , 2011). As rollout of their new model Indica progresses in China, many are waiting to see if the lessons learned in India will allow Tata Motors to fully deliver its value propositions to this customer segment (Accord Fintech, 201). The other market segment Tata Motors targets is the wealthy individuals and families looking to buy a luxury car. These offerings are represented by their Land Rover and Jaguar lines (Tata Group). The value proposition offered to this segment is to provide automobiles that consumers can trust and depend upon while giving them a sense of high-class self-satisfaction. As a brand name previously belonging to Ford motors and less recognized as a â€Å"Tata brand† than its Nano and Indica lines, these two brands have largely escaped the recent escapades brought on by Tata’s previously discussed public failures. Tata has expressed a hope to finance their long term projects with the steady incomes coming from these two lines (Tata Group, 2010).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism SHREEVANI RAJ REDDY INTRODUCTION The aim of genetic research is to understand the role of genetic variation. In humans, the most common type of genetic variation involves single DNA bases, and is termed as single nucleotide polymorphism. DNA polymorphism involves one of two or more variants in a particular DNA sequence and Variation at a single base pair of DNA sequence results in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs). SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation among people; each SNPs represents a difference in single nucleotide. On average they occur once in every 300 nucleotide which means there are roughly 10 million SNPs in the human genome. These variations are commonly found in the DNA between genes. SNPs accounts for much of phenotypic diversity among individuals. In the human genome the half of the known coding region SNPs lead to change in the resulting amino acid sequences and other half do not, these are called synonymous SNPs. Synonymous SNPs encode change in the DNA sequence without altering the resultant protein sequence, these silent SNPs assumed as inconsequential, however these synonymous SNPs represent genetic marker for functional molecular alterations with which they are in linkage disequilibrium. These SNPs alters the function of gene and phenotype by various mechanisms such as altering protein folding, mRNA binding or by affecting splicing of mRNA; stability and expression of mRNA. These SNPs can act as biological markers (also known as gene marker), therefore helps to locate gene that are associated with disease. Researchers found that SNPs may help to predict an individuals response to certain drugs and susceptibility to environmental factors such as toxins and risk of developing particular disease. SNPs with sufficient technological solutions can enable the mapping of disease genes involved in complex disorders. One of the examples of mapping disease associated with SNPs is Alzheimer’s disease. GENETIC VARIATION Genetic Variation is defined as, variation of genomes between groups of species as a result of genetic mutations or genetic drifts. In all living organisms, the genetic material is made up of same basic components, called nucleotides. Each nucleotide contains one of four nitrogenous bases A (Adenine), G (Guanine), T (Thymine), C (Cytosine). These 4 building blocks are linked together to form long chains, the sequence of which then codes for various proteins and gene products. The DNA sequence collection and organization is specific for each species, and is called a genome. On average, two humans share 99% genetic identity, although the majority of differences in DNA sequence (genotype) do not result in noticeable physical change (phenotype), the few that account for the diversity in human population are height, eye, skin, hair color, etc. Mutation is the process of creating a new genetic variation. Mutation in a gene can arise from natural internal processes such as gene conversions, cell replications, meiotic recombination and also from number of environmental factors such as free radical damage caused by ingestion of toxins and radiations etc. FROM MUTATION TO POLYMORPHISM: In humans, every individual has two copies of genome each one copy originating from each parent. So in the genome at a given position, each individual has two copies of a particular sequence. Mutation causes a change in one DNA sequence, resulting in the individual having one copy of original sequence and second new sequence at mutation locus. If mutation occurs in somatic cells, then remains only in the individual in which mutation occurred, and if mutation occurs in germ cells (egg or sperm cells), then these genetic changes passes to offspring and thus are inheritable. This phenomenon termed as genetic drift, can act to either increase or decrease allele frequencies in the population. If mutant allele reaches to a frequency of 1% or more in population, then locus is said to be â€Å"polymorphic†. POLYMORPHISM TYPES â€Å"Polymorphism† is a Greek word meaning â€Å"having many shapes†. Therefore genetic polymorphism is easy to imagine that two strands of DNA that differ in sequence rather than shape. In human genome the most common types of polymorphism organized into the 3 classes:- Repetitive Elements:- In this type of polymorphism DNA sequences found in multiple copies throughout the genome. A classic example is ALU repeat (330 base pair in length), found in over 750,000 copies in genome. Another form of repetitive elements includes simple tandem repeat polymorphism (STRPs) or ‘microsatellites’. In this type of polymorphism, short di-, tri-, or tetra- nucleotide units are repeated consecutively at polymorphic position. Microsatellites are highly polymorphic, having up to 30 alleles and thus shows high allelic diversity and high heterozygosity Insertion and Deletion:- This type of di-allelic polymorphism is also known as indels. Presence or absence of one or more DNA bases at polymorphic position shows the difference between the allele. Substitutions:- This type of polymorphism are also most often di- allelic. Alleles of this type of polymorphism are distinguished by replacement of DNA bases, rather than presence or absence as in indels. SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISM This is a type of polymorphism in which alleles of these involve only single bases (OR type of polymorphism involving variation at a single base pair). SNP alleles can form by insertion or deletion of a single base or by substitution of one base for another. In case of substitution, the SNP alleles is limited to 4; Because DNA is made up of only 4 different nucleotide bases (A, T, G, C ), thus substitution of single nucleotide are at most tetra-allelic. However tetra-allelic or tri-allelic SNPs are very frequent with majority of true documented cases being in the mitochondrial genome, for this reason SNPs are thought of as di-allelic polymorphism. SNP alleles are created by transition (purine to purine /pyrimidine to pyrimidine) or transversion (purine to pyrimidine / pyrimidine to purine) substitutions. In the human genome 70% of all SNPs involve a Cytosine (C) to Thymine (T) transition. This is due to conversion of 5- methyl cytosine to Thymidine by deamination mechanism. SNPs are copying Errors: An existing cell divides in two to make a new cells, first it copies its DNA so the new cell each will have a complete set of genetic instructions. Sometimes cells make mistakes during the coping process, this leads to changes in the DNA sequence at a particular location, called SNPs. Chromosomal distribution of SNPs: Although some 3 million SNPs already in databases, this is only a fraction of 11 million SNPs thought to be present in the human genome. By comparing any two randomly chosen chromosomes, number of studies pointed that one SNP occurs in 1-2 kb of sequence in a genome. However SNPs are not distributed evenly down the length of any chromosome. The human chromosome contains large stretches of non-coding sequences with patches of coding sequences. Roughly the genetic variation is 4 times less in coding sequence than in non-coding sequences. Alteration in the certain sequences such as Exons, promoters, and enhancer sequence could adversely affect biological normal functions; therefore natural selection pressure would act to preserve certain sequences. However, there are few exceptions where coding sequence shows a high degree of polymorphism. For example, there is high sequence variability in and around the HLA genes, which encode for the important components of immune system. Many SNPs that occur in the exons, are in the wobble position of the reading frame, and thus not alters the protein sequence. This type of changes are thought to have no effect or little effect on the gene product and called as synonymous or silent substitutions. On the other hand non- synonymous variants, cause substitution of one amino acid for another at protein level. The consequence of this type substitution on protein function varies from no effect to total disruption of protein. The changes in most severe single base in the exon regions can produce shifts in open reading frame, or creation of stop codon, either which can cause copy of nonfunctional gene product. These types of non-synonymous variations if reach to a high frequency, then considered as polymorphism. Two additional regions of chromosome are Telomere (end region of chromosome, plays important role in aging) and Centromere (central region of chromosome, which plays a key role in cell division) known to be highly po lymorphic. DETECTION TECHNIQUE FOR SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISM SNPs are the positions in the genome where some individuals have one nucleotide and others have a different nucleotide. There are vast numbers of SNPs in every genome, some of which also gives rise to RFLPs, but many of which do not because the sequence in which they lie is not recognized by any restriction enzyme. In human genome there are at least 1.42 million SNPs, only 100000 of which results in an RFLP. Although each SNP could, potentially, have four alleles (because there are 4 nucleotides), most exist in just two forms, so these markers suffer from the same drawback as RFLPs with regard to human genetic mapping: there is a high possibility that a SNP does not display any variability in the family that is being studied. The advantages of SNPs are their abundant numbers and the fact that they can be typed by methods that do not involve gel electrophoresis. This is important because gel electrophoresis has proved difficult to automate, so any detection method that uses it will be relatively slow and labor-intensive. SNP detection is more rapid because it is based on oligonucleotide hybridization analysis. An oligonucleotide is a short single stranded DNA molecule, usually less than 50 nucleotides in length, that is synthesized in the test tube. These synthetic probes are also known as allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO). ASO can identify alleles that differ by single nucleotide. ASOs detect changes of all types of single nucleotide, including those that do not affect the restriction enzyme cutting sites. If the conditions are just right, then an oligonucleotide (ASO) will hybridize with another DNA molecule (with its complementary sequence not with other sequences) only if the oligonucleotide forms a completely base-paired structure with the second molecule. If there is a single mismatch – a single position within the oligonucleotide that dose not form a base pair, then hybridization does not occur. Oligonucleotide hybridization can therefore discriminate between the two alleles of an SNP. Various screening have strategies have been devised including DNA chip technology and solution hybridization techniques. SNPs as a genetic marker A SNP is a type of gene marker (DNA marker) with a single base pair alteration at a particular site in some individuals, that site is SNP locus. These DNA markers are detected by molecular analysis of DNA and can be used in genetic analysis. SNP loci found abundant in the human genome, on average about once in 1000 bp. The presence of abundance of SNP loci allowed researchers to develop detailed maps of location of SNPs on chromosome. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE This is a complex degenerative brain disorder characterized by progressive cognitive decline and memory impairment. This disorder annually, afflicting about 2.5 millions Americans. It is the 4th leading cause of death among elderly Americans. In 1900 the German neurologist ALIOS ALZHEIMER, found this disease accompanied by organic loss of intellectual function (dementia) as well as memory loss and general incapacitation. Sufferers often cannot speak, walk or tent to do their most basic needs. In 1987, researchers at several institutions identified a specific gene inducing the brain tissue abnormality, which characterizes the malady. And then simultaneously another research team announced that it was using a DNA probe to locate a genetic marker for the disease on human chromosome 21. But these findings do not suggest that all cases of this disease are genetically linked, they indicate that at least one form of this disease (i.e. familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD)) may be inheritable. The gene responsible for FAD abnormality appears for manufacturing a protein called amyloid. Amyloid is a major component of clumps of dead and dying nerve fibers that clog the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. In some individuals this form of dementia acquire before the age of 65 ( refer to as early onset or FAD )but most often occurs late in life.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Nonprofit Organizations Essays -- Papers Not for Profit Business Essay

Nonprofit Organizations I. Introduction: Why do Nonprofit organizations exist and what do they do. II. Planning in Nonprofit organizations 1. The importance of planning 2. Steps in planning a. setting goals b. identifying the needs of those whom the goals will serve c. developing and defining specific role and mission of organization d. specific organizational objectives e. setting priorities f. measuring results III. Budgeting Nonprofit organizations 1. Importance of budgeting 2. Steps in budget process a.defining mission objectives b.projecting expenditures based on available revenues c.reporting and control IV. Funding Nonprofit organizations 1. How Nonprofit organization get their money. V. Managing Nonprofit organizations 1. Total Quality Management VI. Summary The non-profit sector is based on two philosophical concepts: voluntarism and market failure economies. Voluntarism is applied ethics, moral philosophy and action for the benefit of the public, and market failure economics explains the existence of non-profits. The government simply cannot provide or perform services for everyone. Non-profit organizations are everywhere. Wherever there are people there are non-profit organizations. Non-profit, or Not-for-Profit organizations exist to perform or provide services. Whether provided by a public organization or agency, or a private organization or agency, they serve a purpose. Government, educational institutions, community organizations and health care facilities are all examples of non-profit organizations. They are very different in size, some are small neighborhood grassroots organizations with only a few employees and little mo... ... four functions of non-profit organizations are extremely important for the survival and future of an organization, and for the quality of services to be provided by an organization. Bibliography: 1. Gies, David L., Ott, J. Stephen, Shafritz, Jay M. The Nonprofit Organization: Essential Readings. California: Brooks/Cole, 1990. 2. Grayson, Leslie E., Tompkins, Curtis J.. Management of Public Sector and Nonprofit Organizations. Reston, Virginia: Reston Publishing Co., 1984. 3. Herman, Robert D. The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass publishers, 1994. 4. Lee, James C. Do or Die: Survival for Nonprofits. Washington D.C.: Taft Products, Inc. 1974 5. Powell, James Lawrence. Pathways to Leadership: How to Achieve and Sustain Success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass publishers, 1995

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Attitudes toward Victorian Society in Great Expectations by Charles Dic

Great Expectations Explore some of the ways in which Dickens’ attitudes to Victorian society are presented in the opening chapter of Great Expectations. For this essay I will be focusing on the opening chapters of Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens. I am going to consider the Victorian society at the time and dickens’ use of language to express themes, settings and characters. Charles Dickens wrote this story in the Victorian times. Hence we seem to think what ‘does he mean’ by â€Å"Great Expectations†. By us the readers, knowing and understanding what it means, we can get a rough idea of what the story is like. By Great Expectations we mean having high expectations for life, class and dreams for a better life. Dreams that a person really wants for it to come true. Hoping or expecting more than you have. This lays quite an effect on the reader, this is because the title â€Å"Great Expectations† doest say much. The title itself can give ideas to us the readers as to what the story will be like. For example they can suppose that the story is about someone’s great expectations in life, of a job, of a person and even of himself or herself. This story was set in the Victorian times, which was actually in the mid 1800’s and Charles Dickens wrote it in the 1860’s. So life back then is very different as to how it is now. If we compare today to the Victorian era, we see people lived very different lives in many different ways. A few had access to educations, some didn’t. Some were able to get a good high standard job and some didn’t. At the time of Charles Dickens a lot of the people were poor, many suffered from poor health and had to work all day late into the night. The few that were rich thought they were better ... ...rown with nettles’, this tell us what the area is like and creates feelings in the reader. This also gives the impression that the atmosphere is dull, depressing, empty and hopeless. This makes the reader feel that there is no hope for Pip. In conclusion I think Dickens has used language, setting and the theme of death etc in a very effective way. Dickens shows us the different ways of using language to introduce many themes and settings. He does this using different technique as he skilfully catches the reader’s attention in just through the first pages! He involves the reader so quickly that they just keep on reading. This makes the readers feel it is important to know what happens next. However I myself and many many other readers will find that Dickens does keep his readers interested all the way through the story and it shows how good he is at it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Analysis of Closing Speech in Dr. Faustus :: Christopher Marlowe

Analysis of Dr. Faustus' Closing Speech Doctor Faustus’ closing speech is unquestionably the most emotional scene in Dr. Faustus. His mind moves from idea to idea in desperation. It highlights the many times that Faustus could have repented, but did not. Yet he shows remorse, calling upon the Christian view that all who repent will be saved, however, this does not hold true for Faustus, indicating that Marlowe is not writing this scene from a Christian point of view. Faustus’ mind is fraught with despair in his final, closing speech. It jumps frantically from thought to thought: one moment he is begging time to stop, or slow down, the next second, he is pleading to Christ for mercy and salvation. He asks to be hidden, the next instant he is asking for his punishment in hell to last ‘A hundred thousand [years], and at last be saved’ (1.13.95). These various attempts to escape his imminent doom ultimately lead to him to realise that the situation is entirely his fault, just before midnight, he finally realises to ‘curse [him] self’ (1.13.106). This extremely passionate remorse leads to a recurring theme in the play, namely, the reasons behind him not repenting at earlier stages. Faustus’ arrogance, perhaps, is the chief reason behind the rejection of penitence. He deceives himself into believing either hell is not so bad, or that it does not exist at all. Perhaps he is afraid of Mephastophilis tearing his body apart. Even close to the end, in the penultimate scene, Faustus is seen, eager to ‘confirm/ [His] former vow’ (1.12.62-63). This suggests that Faustus’ delusion continues until his time is up, perhaps he has served the devil for so long he has lost any thought of breaking free of his pact. In the speech, Faustus turns to Christ, asking that the Christian doctrine that repentance can be accepted at any time in one’s life be granted to save him. Significantly, he is not rescued. This shows that this play is not written from an entirely Christian perspective, as Faustus would have been saved. However, it could be argued that something within Faustus ‘pulls [him] down’ (1.13.71) from leaping ‘up to [his] God’ (1.13.71), and therefore keeping the Christian principle intact. The pathetic actions that Faustus performs when he gets ultimate power seem to indicate that Faustus has wasted his soul.

Monday, September 16, 2019

The day for the interview came

It is a hard life living in the real world. The world doesn’t provide literally what we need; we have to work hard in order to satisfy our basic needs. Monetary considerations are included as personal pursuits in order to live fully as an individual and justify our existence here on Earth. But first, in pursuing this goal, one needs to find a job for this to be his medium in attaining the much needed financial stability.I, for one, had first-hand experiences on the hardships one faces when hunting for a well-paid job.The first step in finding work is the making of a well-organized resume and submitting this to a company or institution where you want to work for. After your credentials are assessed by their human resource department, they may call you for a job interview in order for them to have the chance to know the extent of the truthfulness of your credentials stated in your resume.The first job interview is considered one of the hardest and challenging parts of the job hu nting process.  The moment I got my first call from a clerk of a certain office, I couldn’t contain myself. I was exhilarated. My tireless efforts of submitting resumes to different companies and offices finally paid off. Looking back, I saw myself organizing the contents of my resume, encoding, printing this in multiple copies and putting these in big envelopes.Then, I was off, handing these to different offices; sometimes I walk, or ride a bus when the need arises, just so I can give all the resumes to the different offices. Then, the call came for my first job interview; my first chance to directly tell them with frankness what I am capable of.Some say that first impressions last.   So I had to choose the best clothes that I have to wear, groomed myself before the mirror a hundred times, and rehearsed the things that I would answer to pre-conceived probable questions that have to be asked. These, I hoped, would create a positive impact on the interviewers.I expected th at the interview itself would be much tensed; I experienced a mixed feeling of dread and trepidation when I opened the door towards the conference table. Lo and behold! The interview was to be done by a panel of interviewers. I did not expect this. For an eternity, I felt that I will collapse upon seeing their faces, expressionless, ready to bombard me with questions.But, to my delight, I was met with reassuring and comforting handshakes by the interviewers. I thought, at that exact moment that I’ll get through that interview, which eventually I did. The moment I answered the first question, my self-esteem suddenly rose. A set of questions came after myriad of questions, yet I was able to answer these fairly.Others questions were answered the best way possible, or so I thought. This gave me a boost to persist and carry on until the last minute is through. Until I felt that I was completely at ease, as if I am just talking to colleagues and contemporaries. As quick as it start ed, the interview ended. This left me with an awakening; I survived my first job interview.I finally came up with a conclusion that pleasure and fun are not just derived from starting to do our first job tasks; rather the sense of adventure and accomplishment can be drawn from the path or process of finding a job, such as the interview process.Life is not hard as it seems, if taken with a positive outlook. It would just be hard if we don’t try to tackle the challenges it has to offer. Once we get to overcome these, we realize that we are learning, at the same time getting nearer to our goal.

Elizabeth Keckley

English 248 12 December 2009 Elizabeth Keckley: Is She a Pioneer of Womanism? Keckley was born a slave in Virginia. She was an excellent seamstress and dressmaker. Using her skill and contacts she bought her freedom in 1855. After she was freed, she made her way to Washington, D. C. Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907), seamstress and dressmaker to the wives of many political movers and shakers of that day. Her client list included Varina Davis, of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Mary Todd Lincoln, of President Abraham Lincoln. She sewed and tailored dresses for the daughters and ladies of the most prominent families. As her reputation mounted, she came to the attention of Mary Todd Lincoln, and soon became her dressmaker. Keckley’s soon became a companion to Mary Todd. When Mary Todd fell under financial strain after the assassination of her husband, Keckley helped Mary Todd auction off her clothing in New York. This effort proved to be futile and only served to bring negative attention to Mary Todd. In another attempt to generate funds for Todd as well as her, Keckley published her diaries in 1868: Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. [pic] Mary Todd hated her portrayal in the book, to the point where her oldest son had it removed from publication. Because of the controversy, Keckley was treated like an outcast and her business declined. Throughout her experiences Keckley maintained an air of dignity and self respected. When Keckley and Mary Todd went their separate ways, Keckley did not deign to speak ill of Mary Todd. This was indicative of the strength of character that Keckley possessed. According to the African American Registry, â€Å"From 1892 to 1893, she left Washington to teach domestic science at Wilberforce University in Ohio. She returned soon after to spend the rest of her days at the Home for Destitute Women and Children in Washington, which she had helped to establish. She died there from a stroke May 26, 1907. †(1) There is a body of thought that subscribes to the idea that African American women have developed mindset to cope and prosper in American society. This mindset has been named Womanism. Womanism should in no way be confused with Feminism. Feminism is the belief that women are equal to and some ways superior to men. Because of this feminist proscribe to the notion the women station in American society should be equalized by any means short of violence. In her book Sisters in the Wilderness, Delores Williams defines womanism in the following way: â€Å"Womanist theology is a prophetic voice concerned about the well-being of the entire African American community, male and female, adults and children. Womanist theology attempts to help black women see, affirm, and have confidence in the importance of their experience and faith for determining the character of the Christian religion in the African American community. Womanist theology challenges all oppressive forces impeding black women's struggle for survival and for the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women’s and the family’s freedom and well-being. Womanist theology opposes all oppression based on race, sex, class, sexual preference, physical ability, and caste† (67). 2) Throughout her life Keckley was a subscriber of Womanism. Keckley opposed three aspects of oppression-sexual, race and caste. Keckley proved to be an advocate for her family life as well as others. Keckley at all times strived to be a productive member of American and African American society. Born a slave and female, it was inevitable that Keckley would face sexual oppression at some time. It can be argued that perhaps the Keck ley’s mistress sensed her husband’s interest in Keckley. Because of this Keckley received undeserved beatings. â€Å"My words seem to exasperate him. He seized the rope, caught me roughly, and tried to tie me. I resisted with all my strength, but he was the stronger of the two and, after a hard struggle, succeeded in binding my hands and tearing my dress from my back. Then he picked up a rawhide, and began to ply it freely over my shoulder. With steady hand and practiced eye he would raise the instrument of torture and nerve himself for a blow and with fearful force the rawhide descended upon the quivering flesh. It cut the skin, raised great welts, and the blood trickled down my back† (20-21). This particular beating was requesting by the mistress. Keckley was never given a reason for it. The tearing off the dress is a form of sexual humiliation. Even slave women had a sense of self-respect about nudity â€Å"Oh God! I can feel the torture-now the terrible, excruciating agony of those moments. I did not scream; I was too proud to let my tormentor know what I was suffering. I closed my lips firmly, that not even a groan might escape from them, and I stood like a statute while the keen lash cut into my flesh† (20-21). This may have also been the first time that Keckley shows some type of resistance to her oppressor. Not allowing her tormentors to know how much she was suffering could only cause more suffering. Knowing that a lifetime of slavery would lead to only more unjustified persecution served as an impetus for Keckley to escape slavery. It is amazing that Keckley persevered to leave slavery considering that even her parents thought that only death would set them free. Her father wrote â€Å"†¦In glory there weel meet to part no more forever. So dear wife I hope to meet you In paradase to prase god forever†(15). Casting off her bonds of slavery and sexual repression was the first big step in Keckley becoming a paradigm of womanism. While Keckley was still in slavery she married a man whom she thought was a freeman. She found out later that was not the case. †Mr. Keckley-let me speak kindly of his faults-proved dissipated, and a burden instead of a helpmate. More than all, I learned that he was a slave instead of a free man, as he represented himself to be. With the simple explanation that I lived with him for eight years, I will charity draw around him a mantle of silence† (32). It is rumored that Mr. Keckley was an alcoholic. Keckley refused to have a child of her free will while still a slave. †¦for I could not bear the thought of bringing children into slavery† (29). (3) In explaining how Keckley believed in the development of a positive, productive quality of life conducive to women Xiomara Santamarina writes â€Å"The author was a popular dressmaker, and according to her, work was not simply about the material conditions of production but, more importantly, about the emotions of res pect and attachment the production process entailed†(4). Keckleys ability as a dressmaker turned out to be not only an economic tool but indeed the means by which she achieved status as a socialite on the D. C. scene. The respect afforded Keckley by Washingtonians was seldom given any African Americans at the time. Keckley was well known in religious circles as well as the social scene. She was a devout member of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. . Alice Walker wrote about womanism as â€Å"challenging inherited traditions for their collusion with androcentric patriarchy as well as a catalyst in overcoming oppressive situations through revolutionary acts of rebellion†(5). It is fitting that a new concept of thought has been attributed to African American women. After all what other segment of American society has dealt with the drawbacks of enslavement, racism, sexual abuse, classism and sexism? The African American woman’s journey to find their place in America has taken them through waters uncharted and untraveled by anyone else. There should be no surprise when their rudder is lifted from the turbulent water for inspection it is of a unique design. Strong, true, dependable, righteous without being self-righteous and always challenging what is to progress to what can be. This rudder may be defined as womanism. Elizabeth Keckley was indeed a pioneer of womanism. Works Cited (1)Reference: Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave. Jennifer Fleischner, New York: Broadway Books. 2003 (2)Sisters in the Wilderness: Delores S. Williams. Orbis, 287 pp (3)Behind the Scenes or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. Elizabeth Keckley, New York: G. W. Carleton. 268 pp. 1868 (4)Xiomara Santamarina Feminist Studies 28, no. 3 (fall 2002) In Search of Our (5)Mother’s Garden: Womanist Prose, Alice Walker

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Poverty Vis Vis Development Education Essay

This tryst focuses on really intrinsic section in development surveies. Poverty is a immense issue which is literally being manifested around us, as we speak. The affair, is surely one which doesnt have any certainty in Numberss or world, but certainly plenty, we do n't cognize what disposition it could take to, due to the complexness in itself, and the ways in which it is connected in the old ages that follow. Surely, Poverty and Development are by strong belief interrelated constructs, and this could be seen in that fact that states are separated in developing and developed states when poorness is being measured. Besides harmonizing to Alan Thomas, poorness is an â€Å" antique concern † , while development could be most ascertained and associated with the 2nd half of the twentieth century, largely called the â€Å" ‘era of development †[ 1 ]. This period can besides be conceptualized as a post-war period, which gave rise to many factors which contributed chiefly to an enhanced developing procedure around the universe, which in bend affected poorness in legion ways which are unconceivable. One must foremost understand the definition and interrelation to development. When specifying poorness, undertaking the job is chiefly imperative, since it is per se a job for the universe as a whole that must be solved. There is although a general understanding on this, and harmonizing to the World Development 1990 study ; it connects the purpose of development with poorness: ‘Reducing poorness is the cardinal aim of economic development ‘[ 2 ] Alan Thomas in his book lineations that we must understand it as a environing fluctuation, and non merely a simple ameliorating alteration in society, it chiefly follows societal and single degrees, and in a sense it is a originative alteration. There is besides the distinguishable position that development could besides be conceptualized as attempts for betterment by bureaus[ 3 ]; which are chiefly divisible into international organisations and national 1s which chiefly transfer resources to assist these states.[ 4 ]One celebrated organisation is the International Committee of the Red Cross which protects non-combatants and military ground forcess in armed struggles chiefly for human-centered assistance[ 5 ] Poverty is a planetary issue which affects us all somehow or another and therefore one must understand such issue whether or non it involvements him or non. An of import point is that poorness has ever been present in one manner or another in a state, such as in Malta, where in the past decennary we have seen a rise in economic growing, but ahead Malta had high comparative poorness rates, which ranged from 10 % to 15 % of the households, which could be translated to 11,500 households that were hapless[ 6 ]still comparative poorness, carries on as one of the effects of inequality, but Malta has been maintaining comparative poorness at bay[ 7 ]and some argue that this occurred due to spread outing development and unequal distribution of wealth in societies, which characterized the divide between developed and developing states ; The term developing state is used for political rightness to do them sound less inferior to other states. In my sentiment poorness is truly an dismay to us all, since these people are portion of us, portion of one corporate group, that of human sort. It is truly a shame to see that 28 per centum of all kids in developing states are evaluated to be stunted due to the fact that they do non hold sufficient resources to supply for basic demands, that we all take for granted, such as nutrition and instruction ; and as a affair of fact 2.2 million kids die every twelvemonth since immunisation is non chiefly delivered, and over 22,000 kids die every twenty-four hours[ 8 ]mutely with no acknowledgment or attending whatsoever due to this atrociousness ; that is about a decease of a kid every 4 seconds, these are a few illustrations of how poverty manifests in our corrupt globalized society.[ 9 ] Poverty: Definition, Implication and the universe around us In order to give a specific significance to the word poorness, certainly it depends on the model of idea we have in our caputs ; that means, the construct, this can be seen in the fact that many conceptualize poorness in wholly differing ways, and therefore many have typical definitions of the word poorness. This differential conceptualizing of words which is ever go oning in us worlds, leads to the fact that people will finally cipher poorness through methods which are besides different in conformity with that construct at head[ 10 ] Poverty has been said to be conceptualised from the absolute to the relation for whom I am traveling to explicate farther on in this paper. From this sentence one can understand that there is an array of definitions around the universe. The most basic definition that many people acknowledge is the Subsistence poorness definition, where it will by and large set accent on the capacity to last[ 11 ]in the basic sense of it, we understand it as holding the basic necessities and demands that are needed to prolong human life and evidently growing ; these demands are most of the clip natural. This definition harmonizing to the book concerned, says that it will set confidence, on the measuring of poorness that it will give the smallest possible figure. One can besides state that the basic demands definition is a differential theoretical account of the subsistence one. Poverty is besides calculated through the day-to-day thermal consumption, which some argue that it is a bad manner to cipher poorness, because usually except in utmost fortunes, hapless people seldom die of famishment.[ 12 ] A individual needs nutrient non merely to assist him to populate life, but besides to continue a certain norm for himself with respects to nutrition. Particularly due to the fact that many malnutrition jobs accordingly lead to a meagre good health, and besides impacting work-capacity degrees. There were besides attempts in the past, such as the work of Seebohm Rowntree, that have managed to supply a list of all the necessary things a human being demands to prolong himself, subsistence so to talk.[ 13 ]In his book ‘Poverty – A survey of Town Life ‘ which was subsequently known as the sociological study[ 14 ]which was circulated in 1901, it shocked society wholly, by reasoning and explicating about the world of the horrifying characteristics of poorness that many people that at those times were sing. He was the first individual to make the phrase ‘poverty line ‘ , with his decision in his geographic expedition being that half of the working population wer e alive in poorness in some manner or another, although his theory fought many troubles. One of import find he made in those times, was that the shocking consequences reflected that many breadwinners were working, that was alright, but the chilling fact about this is that with the pay the normal breadwinner was entitled, could n't be plenty to care for the demands of the whole household. One really of import component of the whole study is that: â€Å" The belief that a adult male could supply for his household if he was thrifty and hard-working was shown to be false. †[ 15 ] Harmonizing to the article by ‘The Press ‘ , he had shown that hardworking in the Victorian ages, would n't do for the whole household since other sociological effects were impacting poorness in manner or another. Examples highlighted by Seebohm were that a household enjoyed one room on the whole, lesser nutrient quality and besides the fact they had many kids ; these factors affected poorness in those ages. Seebohm contributed a batch to society as a whole since the public assistance province was created later in the undermentioned centuries, many argue due to his work. Harmonizing to Paul Scaffer[ 16 ]in his papers, he outlines a wide construct of poorness, that it has been through a batch of alterations, he argues that there has been a wide displacement from the physiological theoretical account of want, which was chiefly focused on the natural demands of worlds, to pattern more focussed on societal facet of want, which is focused on nucleus societal facets such as ass urance, liberty on oneself, and self-esteem. Scaffer besides concludes that there is a certain nexus or connexion between the construct of exposure and its relationship to poorness, and that inequality places an of import function in set uping poorness deductions, particularly when mensurating poorness, since inequality can impact measurings rather drastically. In his paper he outlines assorted attacks to poverty such as the income attack, human poorness attack and the societal exclusion attack. Income Approach Scaffer argues that a individual is hapless if he is systematically deficient to hold entree to economic resources ; this attack is used a batch in economic sciences which conjugates two necessities – good being which represented in footings of tantamount income, and secondly income poorness line, which represents a demand adequateness degree[ 17 ]The hapless people are those who plummet below a certain standards with respects to this attack. Largely the income attack focuses on non-fulfillment of basic demands which basically of import for the well-being of a normal life individual. On the other manus, it is besides discussed that this income attack is sometimes non good in ciphering poorness, in that some have argued that there are other methods which would turn out better such the Capability-based income steps, in which the concentration is being focused on making an income step of capableness poorness ; capableness bases should be the chief index for income. Kakwani argues that people are merely hapless, if they are being deprived capableness wise, when they do n't hold sufficient income to prolong their simple proficiencies. He argues that societies should be able to care for people particularly by guaranting freedom from any diseases.[ 18 ] Human Poverty Approach Normally poorness manifests itself in the lack of the life styles of the people, and this is why the human poorness attack, approaches poorness from the point of position of defense of chances that can take them to populate a good life. Therefore one can reason that poorness does non merely include deficiency in itself. Poverty is besides calculated through want of communicating, and even values such as self-respect. In this respect I can besides see that the human poorness attack has a socio-psychological characteristic in it. Poverty therefore afflicts the life of people around the universe.[ 19 ]The UNDP has besides discussed this attack in its development studies, which has been designed on the model of Amartya Sen[ 20 ]The focal point of Sen ‘s research, conceptualizes poorness as the absence of some things that a human existences is n't able to work without them. This attack is distinctively close to Sen ‘s thought, that it should hold incorporated in it our capable nesss, non merely what we are able to, but besides what we are n't able to make. Such capablenesss are subjective and depend upon each and every person interpersonally and it must besides incorporate our operations.[ 21 ]In his newest book ‘The Idea of Justice ‘ he counters the thought of an income attack to poverty since he argues it is non exact, the above first attack therefore is faulty harmonizing to Sen: â€Å" Poverty will be much more intense than what can be deduced from the income day of the month †[ 22 ] Social Exclusion Approach The International Institute for Labour Studies has advocated the usage of another typical attack when ciphering scarceness ; this is the societal exclusion attack. This attack is really near to the comparative want construct of poorness which was foremost attributed by Peter Townsend which he defines poorness as â€Å" the absence or insufficiency of those diets, comfortss, criterions, services and activities which are common or customary in society †[ 23 ] With this attack, as the names implies, the focal point is on the deficiency of stuffs or resources, that are usually required to prolong life in certain mode usually socially acceptable, such as a normal life criterion, and the ability to execute activities which one favours. Citizenship is therefore really of import in this respect of attack, since it is a resource demand, such as societal integrating and societal credence ; these are all factors which the societal exclusion attack focuses upon.[ 24 ] Before 1997, the word poorness within the context of societal exclusion, was ever used a term to depict a state of affairs where people did n't hold all of the resources they wanted, particularly chances. The authorities therefore came up with the term societal exclusion which eliminated the fact that poorness can merely be concentrated from a low income point of position ; poverty therefore can be defined as the narrow impression of it including the societal exclusion term appointed by the authorities of the UK. Alienation was to be included in the computation of poorness, since it is a type of exclusion.[ 25 ] Poverty Line and from Absolute to Relative poorness The poorness line as illustrated above is merely a normal mean criterion, so to talk, of how poorness is measured, and it differs from one state to another. The job is that due to different political orientations and political schemes, poorness lines are defined otherwise in each and every state. The inquiry that poses in this respect is, whether the poorness line has helped at all in contending poorness. With the thing is certain, that people with different houses, or different demographics, doubtless have their economic public assistances rather altered, theoretically talking the poorness line must exemplify the prototype for each and every society, or public assistance system. Normally this is regarded as the sum of money ; an single demands to non be labelled as underprivileged.[ 26 ] Economists usually look at the poorness line as a construct which has to make a batch with public-service corporation, and this is reflected through the fact that many welfare-economic philosophies are based the public-service corporation consistent as a poorness index. Basically what it entails is that when measuring public assistance system, the lone appraisal step that should be considered is public-service corporation, and the purpose of appraisal is to look into whether there is n't any lessening in public-service corporation ; therefore the focal point is on the public-service corporation intent[ 27 ]In the instance of India, the term used is ‘Below Poverty line ‘ which is a poorness threshold utilised by the authorities to demo how many people are in demand of any aid, the standards used for the measuring have been concluded from a 2002 analysis. For illustration harmonizing to the International Benchmark, if a individual has less than a lb of net incomes a twenty- four hours with respects to PPP ; that individual is in a province of utmost poorness, and usually these indexs of poorness are used trough parametric quantities such as points.[ 28 ] For illustration, a instance that happened in Malta, was when Mgr. Grech, insisted that there should be a rearrangement of the poorness line here in Malta, and argued that those who at hazard of poorness will do and crumple to existent poorness because of the public-service corporation duties that were being imposed on the people. The address given by him was done during a Forum in the juncture of European twelvemonth against poorness and societal exclusion. From this one can see that with respects to Poverty, Malta has besides its ain jobs that are doing adversity[ 29 ] Decision From this paper one can therefore larn that poorness has a batch to offer than merely the normal construct of poorness, that one normally has in head – that of people deprived, but through analysis I have concluded that poorness has an drawn-out definition, it extends to the kingdom of social norms and besides authoritiess, which play a really of import function in relieving or even go oning to do adversity in societies. In practise, even though we are an mean state, I can reason that Malta has ever been a victim of poorness in the last decennary. The constructs and measurings examined and outlined in this paper have been used in a concise mode, and the subject itself has much more material to offer. The construct itself has undergone through many alterations which are still undergoing, and continues to broaden ; with the focal point being on the societal theoretical account of want. Continuous schemes are being implemented for there to be a decrease in poorness. Still, although there have been legion sum of work for there to be a lessening, inequality and bad policies endure all the attempts, and counter positive consequences.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Case analysis for Bank of America Essay

Expand current app to include basic credit card and mortgage functions to increase market share of expanding mobile transaction market and shift customer activity to cost-effective channels. BOA’s entrance into local mobile payment and person-to-person P2P mobile shopping market (tap a large and growing market that currently lacks the regulation of banks and â€Å"added security†. I would like to divide strategy into two parts, short term and long term. The short term strategy is to solve the problem that how we define our market, and define population to be targeted with mobile strategy. Retain existing functionality. Enhance current app by adding basic credit card and mortgage features (increase passive customer engagement and minimize complexity). Increased customer engagement and cross-selling to make sure increasing transactions and save money. The long term strategy has three steps to executive. (1 Integrate Credit Card and Mortgage business into current Bank of America Mobile App. (2 Introduce Bank of America e-commerce app which includes local mobile payment and person to person capabilities. (3 Expand to international markets using existing mobile apps to create â€Å"virtual banking† regardless of physical branch presence. For local mobile payment, Bank of America should reduce transaction cost to Bank of America and merchants. Merchants reduce costs associated with current point of sale credit card services. Instant access via Bank of America e-commerce to business accounts and transaction history. Eliminating more expensive consumer and merchant transactions could save cost to Bank of America. For person-to-person, it should cut out the middleman which means reduced transactional costs. Secure payment system that is regulated and insured like a bank, unlike the currently the only established competitor,  PayPal. P2P market has a large potential for growth, estimate 2.4 billion e-commerce transaction in 2014 and 78 million active PayPal users, 3 billion â€Å"under-banked† consumers worldwide. The benefits of its app are at following sentences. 1) Leverage Bank of America as first online and mobile bank. 2) Cost efficient way to provide additional services to existing consumers and reach previously unreachable customers. 3) Without the existing company, PayPal, there is a few competitors in this market. 4) Costs include programming and maintenance of application after roll-out. There are other additional benefits. 1) New customers poached from other bank is 38 million transactions in 2010 and 119 in 2014. 2) Expand its reach into mobile transaction market as all customer groups experience increased convenience and streamlining of banking needs. 3) App for free = limits the barriers to entry. 4) Enhance features increase the likelihood of customers finding value in mobile banking. Bank of America’s market share of mobile transactions will increase as credit card and mortgage customers from all groups utilize the app and extend their activities with the bank (as seen in Bank of America’s lessons from online banking). Incremental transactions made by mobile customers will come at a reduced expense to Bank of America.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Client Centric Aproach for Brokerage Business Essay

Client Centric Aproach for Brokerage Business - Essay Example For business such as brokerage firm, it becomes more important that they should evolve and embarrass client centric approach because by building long term relationships, the firms can achieve the necessary breadth and focus on its customers to achieve strategic superiority but also gain necessary competitive advantage over their competition. It is therefore very critical that the firms involved in business which requires different and potentially sensitive relationships with the clients, a client centric approach would be a viable and effective alternative to achieve the strategic objectives. However, such approach require a collaborative approach since engaging with the client from the initial stages of registering as a client to the process of conducting business through the brokerage firm requires a very focused strategy to develop effective relationships with the clients. This paper would attempt to understand and analyze how the client centric approach would allow a brokerage firm to gain client assets/share of wallet. The focus of this paper will be two fold. First it would discuss what the client centric approach is and secondly its application on the brokerage business will be studied. A brokerage firm acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller, typically in a stock market. Due to peculiar nature of the stock exchange functioning, there is a greater need for the financial intermediaries who play the role of a link between the buyers and the sellers so that the exchange against some consideration can take place. A discount broker is a person who carries out the business of buying and selling at much reduced commissions and fees etc. The purpose of the stock broker therefore is to address that segment of the market which could not otherwise afford the usual high rates of the brokerage firms which provide similar services. In doing so, firm tend to attract bulk of the small investors especially who due to lack of capital. The focus of such investors therefore always remains on reducing the transaction costs so that they can maximize their profits. Firms offering such services therefore tend to be generalized in nature as they offer services which are hardly differentiated therefore such firms need to develop their specialties based on pricing as well as non-pricing factors. Since such types of firms are offering discount services therefore they are already leading in that area however, non-pricing factors include the use of different and innovate means of attracting and maintain customers. Being client centric is one such mean through which such type of firms attempt to attract clients. In order to assess the client centric approach being adopted by discount broker firm, we must also understand as to how the discount firms perform their jobs. Discount firms do not offer advice to their clients and simply sell out whatever you have therefore this reduces their spreads and offer services which are discounted. It is also argued that the discount brokers are used by the experienced investors who can do their own research and only

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example A survey conducted by International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) revealed that out of 500 corporations, around 94% of the companies used derivative tool and they efficiently succeeded in hedging risks (International Derivatives and Swaps Association, 2009). It is seemingly clear that derivatives have economic and financial benefits for business which means they have resulted in making global financial markets safer. However, with the emergence of derivatives for financial speculations has brought this instrument under heavy criticism for making financial sector more risky and has been criticised for financial crisis. So, derivative have some benefits and risks too. The first most advantage of derivatives is the restructuring of risks by which movement in assets prices, interest rates and default of creditor can be hedged. They help in speculating the movement in the value of assets when they do not even own the assets. Secondly derivatives allows businesses to accomplish in controlling the external factors efficiently. Derivative instrument has been criticised for being used only for speculations. Derivatives contracts reduce the risk of one party while increases risk of the underlying assets for other party; this allows both parties to speculate the value of the principal assets irrespective of the fact parties are interested in the contract or not. Derivative instruments have efficient and effective economic and financial advantages which are required for the development of businesses and trade to hedge risks but it depends on the usage of this instrument which can pretence risks. Derivatives were criticised for lack of transparency in the OTC derivatives market under which standings of firms, their movement in asset prices and interest rates are not adequately transparent to the regulatory authorities and to other business companies (Financial Services Authority and HM Treasury, 2009). Sometimes business firms in the market are unaware of the mar ket standings of other companies which adds to more risks as monitoring of risks is weak and unwillingness for trade and hence the market liquidity may reduce. Derivatives contracts are affected by both operational risks and systematic risks. It is argued that operational risks can be improved by physical clearance of underlying assets and by addressing valuation differences. (Managed Funds Association, 2009) On the other hand systematic risks are caused by default of major stakeholders of derivatives market. It is usually referred to as â€Å"domino effect† (Investment Management Association, 2011). Derivatives of credit default swaps have the ultimate vulnerability to risks because they are more problematic in assess the value of underlying assets. Former Chairman of Federal Reserve, USA stated in a conference that â€Å"Although the benefits and costs of derivatives remain the subject of spirited debate, the performance of the economy and the financial system in recent ye ars suggests that those benefits have materially exceeded the costs† (Greenspan, 2003). (Part-2) Hedge funds are targeted to generate higher absolute returns for different type of investments. Hedge funds use highly advanced strategies for investment which comprise leveraged, short, long, and derivative positions designed for sophisticated investors. As hedge funds targets for higher returns that makes them more volatile and riskier besides profit compensate the risks at the end (SHORTMAN, 2010). Hedge funds are more liberal with respect to regulations and regulatory framework which makes them more flexible to use dynamic, vigorous and vibrant investment strategies with the combination of long, short and derivatives