Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Case Predicting Performance

The pressure of the SAT exam is very great, and many students suffer from test anxiety. The results, therefore, may not truly reflect what a student knows. There is evidence that coaching improves scores by between 40 and 1 50 points. Test scores, therefore, may adversely affect the chances of acceptance for students who cannot afford the $600 or $700 to take test-coaching courses. Are Stats valid, or do they discriminate against minorities, the poor, and those who have had limited access to cultural growth experiences?Alternatives: 1- Keep student selection criteria and its weights as it is for now â€Å"including SAT at 0%† 2- Increase SAT weight 3- Decrease SAT weight to 20% and add to the criteria intelligent test with weight of Alternatives Evaluation: 1 . Keep student selection criteria and its weights as it is for now â€Å"including SAT at 40%† Positives; l. It will give Alex more time to do further study and benchmark with similar colleges. Ii. Alex will gain m ore practical experience to be able to judge fairly on SAT score iii. People who design the SAT† lb. Stats tap intelligence and employers want intelligent job applicants Negative; I.Alex concerns about SAT score will remain 2. Increase SAT weight Positives; I. SAT score are valid predictors of how well a person will do in college. â€Å"According to people who design the SAT† IL. Stats tap intelligence and employers want intelligent I. Alex concerns about SAT score will increase 3. Decrease SAT weight to 20% and add to the criteria intelligent test with weight of I. SAT will remain part of the selection criteria it. Intelligent test is used by multimillion companies to choose their future employees so by using it in the student selection criteria it will improve the college graduates in finding their Jobs.Negative; I. What if a student â€Å"poor† excels in intelligent test but didn't do so well in SAT score? It will remain a dilemma to accept him in Ale's highly selective college. Recommendation:- First alternative is for me is the best†¦ Although it's scores less than second alternative in the evaluation yet it will allow Alex to have enough time to gain more practical experience and benchmark with other similar organization to improve her decision making process. Also in the second alternative Alex concerns about SAT score will not be eliminated or solved! Prepared by: Amman Taft

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Discipline and Punishment

The words discipline and punishment can often be used to mean the same thing. But they are very different from each other. To me discipline is a means of helping a child to learn how to act when they are in public as well as when the parent is not around; for example whether it be at school, their grandparents house, or when being babysat a child should always act as if their parents are there which means; being respectful, listening as well as doing what you are told. I feel like discipline should never stray away from the fact the you are trying to focus on the positive aspects and self esteem of the developing child. The reason for discipline is to help a child learn how to control their behavior as well as their emotions and the child should be reassured with firm reminders. Punishment is also another form discipline. There are several methods to physical punishment which would including spanking, push-ups, squatting against a wall, or even hitting. There are psychological punishments such as taking away privileges, extra chores, writing sentences, or sending a child to their room. The reason for punishments is to discourage unacceptable behavior. To most people discipline and punishment can be viewed as the same, but there are certain methods to discipline and punishment that are different. Punishment and discipline methods both have some similarities that attempt to correct the negative behavior at hand. Punishment removes the accountability for the misbehavior from the child. Punishment is not really teaching a child what they did is wrong and what to right the next time. Punishment is ultimately telling the child if they do something wrong then they will be punished whether it be push ups, extra chores, or TV. taken away. Children need to learn that they need to take accountability for their own actions to be able to exercise self-control so that they can be successful as well respected adults. The objective of punishment is to stop a child from misbehaving. However, punishment usually only stops the behavior for that short period of time the punishment is given. Punishment does not necessarily not teach a child how to not do the same behavior again in the future. Severe punishments can cause physical and emotional damage that could last throughout a child's life. Harsh punishments can also lead to abuse which could follow on to their children as well. Another difference between discipline and punishment is that punishment only works in the present. If a child is punished by being spanked or screamed at, they will learn not to misbehave when someone can see what they are doing but, they are not learning how to not misbehave in the future. Discipline is designed to teach a child how to exercise self-control and how to not repeat the misbehavior in the future. For example if the child is with a group of friends who decided to do drugs, that child has been taught through the discipline and guidance of their parents that drugs are bad. So as a result the child has enough self-control and discipline to know not to follow in their friends footsteps. Discipline and punishment are different in that discipline is an on going learning process that allows parents to teach their child self-control, respect, and the importance of acceptable behavior and non-acceptable behavior. In life a child is going to become an adult and be faced with obstacles and barriers; that will test their morals and values that their parents instilled in them. Parents have a responsibility to communicate their expectations to their child in a manner that the child will understand. Which also means knowing what is acceptable behavior and what is not acceptable behavior. There are many types of discipline, and punishment is one of them. Punishment can work in the moment, but as a parent it is their job to commit to a discipline process that is ongoing throughout their child's development to truly change the behaviors in a child Discipline and Punishment

Introduction of Green Building Material Essay

Materials are the stuff of economic life in our industrial world. They include the resource inputs and the product outputs of industrial production. How we handle them is a major determinant of real economic efficiency, and also has a major impact on our health and the health of the natural environment The built-environment is also a strategic realm of social, economic and environmental change. Various writers have stated that spatial redesign of the landscape and built-environment may be the single most effective means of achieving new levels of efficiency and sustainability (Lyle, 1994; Mollison, 1983; Alexander, 1977; Van der Ryn & Cowan, 1996). Building materials are also quite important. They have been estimated that building materials make up forty percent of material through-put of entire economy (Milani, 2001). In the book â€Å"Green Building: Project Planning and Cost Estimating†, Keenan and Georges (2002) identified some key characteristics of green building materials. As regards green building materials, they should be healthy for the internal environment, healthy for the natural environment, minimize building energy use, have low embodied energy, be reusable, recyclable and/or biodegradable, and be locally obtained. Embodied energy is a concept that takes into account several factors to determine the energy needed to produce a product and can be used as a comparison between different materials. There is some controversy surrounding embodied energy as there is no internationally agreed method for calculating this value and many times it is not known what has been accounted for (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). For example, cement has an embodied energy of 7. 8 MJ/kg, while virgin steel is 32. 0, and recycled steel is 10. 1 MJ/kg (Keenan and Georges, 2002). In these values however, consideration is not given to transportation, durability, reuse and recycling. These factors could significantly alter the original values. Building materials are also the stuff of our personal environments. They are all around us, and literally part of the air we breathe. They can damage the biosphere: VOCs from paints alone are responsible for perhaps 9 percent of the damage to the ozone layer. They can also damage us: the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, estimates that indoor pollution—caused by materials like paints, plastics and particleboards—is responsible for more than 11,000 deaths each year from cancer, kidney failure, and respiratory collapse (Ligon, 2001). The fact that buildings are all around us means not only that they immediately impact us, but that we can potentially affect them. The building industry is a decentralized one that exists in virtually every community. Not surprisingly, the built-environment is a major venue for ecological and community development alternatives, with materials being an increasing focus of concern over the past decade. The first is the section on Materials and Resources. This section consists of one prerequisite and eight credits. The eight credits focus on reuse and management of construction and demolition waste; using refurbished or reused materials and materials with a recycled content; using regional and rapidly renewing materials; and lastly if new wood must be used, using products certified accordance with the Forest Stewardship Councils principles and criteria The second section which pertains to building materials is Indoor Environmental Quality. The important credit is number four: Low Emitting Materials. For this credit, the Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC) content of adhesives and sealants must be less than the VOC content limits of the State of California South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) rule number 1168 from October 2003. For paints, the VOC content must be less than the VOC and chemical component limits of the Green Seals Standard GS-11 from January 1997. Composite wood and laminate adhesives must contain no added urea formaldehyde resins. Concrete is a strong and durable material with a high heat storage capacity (Keenan and Georges, 2002). It is good from an indoor air quality standpoint as it is inert. The problems associated with concrete are washout water at concrete plants which can have a high pH, and the use of cement as a binding agent in concrete. Cement is very energy intensive and is a major contributor of greenhouse gases. To counteract this, up to 70% of cement in concrete can be replaced with fly ash. Fly ash is a waste product from coal fired plants. Brick, block and stone have a low embodied energy and are therefore environmentally friendly materials (Keenan and Georges, 2002). To avoid added impacts of transportation, local masonry should be used where available. STRUCTURAL FRAMING An ongoing environmental debate is wood versus steel as components for framing. Both materials have been destructive to the environment and both have advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages of wood is that it is a natural insulator while steel is a conductor. Steel is 400 times more conductive than wood (Keenan and Georges, 2002). One of the disadvantages of wood is that it needs to be treated with preservatives which can be toxic and render the wood non-biodegradable. Steel on the other hand offers resistance to insects and water rot. Steel is also recyclable. The choice between steel and wood should depend on the application they are being used for. Wood may be more environmentally friendly if you can use non-treated and certified wood. The production process is less energy intensive than for steel, and creates less pollution and environmental degradation than the mining and processing of steel (Keenan, A. , and Georges, D. , 2002). INSULATION Some of the considerations which need to be taken in account when choosing an insulation material are: 1) does it retard airflow, 2) which type will provide the best Rvalue within a reasonable thickness, 3) does it pose health risks, and 4) does it contain ozone depleting chemicals (Keenan and Georges, 2002). In the Green Building Handbook, the authors offered their choices for â€Å"best buys†. Their top three choices were wool, cellulose fiber, and cork. These choices are thermally as good as conventional insulators (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). Cellulose Fiber is made from processed waste paper, with added borates for fire and pest resistance. It is made into a fluff that can either be placed by hand or sprayed (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). Insulation corkboard is produced by cooking cork granules at high temperature and pressure. The granules bond themselves together with their own resins (Woolley and Kimmins, 2005). ROOFING For materials used in roofing, durability is critical. One option for materials is metals, such as copper, steel and aluminium. Metal roofs are good because they can be made of recycled material and can be recycled at the end of their life cycle. They also last longer than asphalt (Frej, 2005). Cool roofs are an option that can be useful in both mild and hot climates. The roof material is covered with a reflective coating. This coating prevents the building from getting hot, reduces heat island effects and prolongs the life of a roof (Keenan and Georges, 2002). A non-petroleum based coating should be used. Living â€Å"green† roofs are another option. Green roofs are roofs that are partially or completely covered with soil and vegetation. These roofs provide environmental cooling, habitat, added insulation, storm water management, natural beauty, cleaner air and can extend the life of a roof (Keenan and Georges, 2002). One source suggested two to three times longer than a conventional roof (Frej, 2005) while another suggested they can extend the life up to 100% (Keenan and Georges, 2002). Planted roofs can require more maintenance and require a system to prevent root penetration and water seepage.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Memoir Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Memoir Assignment - Essay Example untry to another- they don’t suffer from anxiety or added worry trying to conform to new surroundings or adjusting to a culturally oriented society, totally different from their own, but definitely, they are missing out on an exciting part of their lives. When speaking of myself though, I’ve had the good chance of this happening to me and that too, at such an opportune moment. I had to adapt myself to mass differences socially, culturally, economically, and even in a somewhat spiritual manner as well. These changes hadn’t been easy for me and needless to say, I don’t see how they’d be easy for anyone. It was a day like any other; a sunny April morning, the heat of which had been whetted the night before, due to the chill April showers. I had taken a shower and had spruced myself up with an expensive after – shave. I wore my brightest shirt with jeans and moved with an air of conquering the world. My life changed dramatically when I was just in my teens, the picture of which is clearly etched forever in my minds eye. I was drawing back the floral blinds, allowing the cool fresh air to engulf me and savoring every minute of it, when my dad’s rumbling tone was heard just within my bedroom door. Dad continued, â€Å"Never mind†¦don’t say anything, because parents know what’s best for their kid and I have better plans for you to make a success of your future, and yes, by the way, we are throwing a small send off party for you, so invite all your friends and we’ll have a great time before we see you off. My brother, your uncle Jim, in Alabama has generously consented to put you up for the next year since you are going to High School. I was confusion confounded as I heard the door slam shut! Oh, My God! I was almost terrified out of my wits. Confusion blocked my thinking and a lurking fear hit me in the pit of my stomach like a sledge hammer. Taiwan, my hometown was the be all and end all of my life. Everything in my environment seemed perfect

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Debate Pro-life and Pro-choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Debate Pro-life and Pro-choice - Essay Example This is in relation to the fact that it s the men who mainly create the policies barring women from participating in abortions. This is considering that it is the woman’s choice on whether to bring the child into the world as it involves her health and wellbeing on multiple aspects. In this case, pro-choice activists view it as a violation of human rights towards a given individual, or even on a gender basis. This is following the issue of women being forced to bring to life children they cannot handle on their own, or even do not want to bring into the world (â€Å"Crisis Pregnancy Centers† 3). Pro-choice activists also argue that forcing a woman to bring such a child into this world is an immoral act, as unwanted children are the largest cause of violence (Riley 1). In this regard, children have a moral right to responsible and willing parents, which make conscious conception a necessity in today’s world with all its social tragedies. The pro-choice argument at tempts to cover the wellbeing of both the child and the mother by bringing into perspective the social and economic wellbeing of the child and the health of the mother. In this light, the pro-choice argument supports legal abortion as it is of the view that whether abortion is legal or illegal, abortions are bound to happen, and it would rather they were legal in order to be safe than unsafe due to their illegality. On the other hand, the pro-life argument concerns itself with pushing for the rights of the fetus based on the belief that it remains an unborn human being. As a result, the fetus has equal rights as any other normal human being. Furthermore, it concerns itself with the innocence of the fetus, where its innocence is similar to that a child with no offence and no knowledge of the world. Pro-life activists argue that it is immoral to end the life of an unborn fetus, as

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Mystery Piece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mystery Piece - Essay Example The pianist is at home with both ensemble playing and solo playing. Commensurately, Elizabeth Wallfisch is also a seasoned Baroque violinist from Australia. The two musicians really represented a highly accomplished team, ideally suitable for rendering the sophisticated and complicated compositions by Beethoven. Going by the fact that the compositions showcased in this concert affiliated to chamber music, thereby they were played in a chamber. Not only were the acoustics of the selected chamber happened to be really good, but it also extended an aura of authenticity to the overall performance. It does needs to be mentioned that the music rendered by David Breitman and Elizabeth Wallfisch may sound a bit queer to a listener who is predominantly exposed to the musical performances involving totally modern instruments. The gut strings of the period violin used by Elizabeth Wallfisch had a distinctive tone of its own, thereby extending a wide range to the violinist which she astutely exploited in the fingering choices she made. The concert pitch adopted by the violinist was quiet low, a choice that allowed for an ease with intonation, while calling for a recurring retuning between movements. On the other side the fortepiano that David Breitman selected happened to be a vintage Viennese model in which the white keys happened to be black and the black keys happened to be white. Thereby the sounds made by this piano differed a lot from its modern day versions. The performance of both Elizabeth Wallfisch and David Breitman happened to be tenaciously lyrical in its melody, which not only did not fail to impress the classical virtuosos amongst the audience, but also had an impressive impact on the lay listeners. The playing of the fifth sonata on a fortepiano by David Breitman did allow for the possibility of preventing this composition from sounding way too pompous and dense as it happens

Friday, July 26, 2019

Marketing of the islamic finance(we want to market the islAMIC Thesis Proposal

Marketing of the islamic finance(we want to market the islAMIC FINANCE) - Thesis Proposal Example Hence the topic of this research proposal is â€Å"an assessment of service quality dimensions of Islamic and conventional banks and its impact on customer satisfaction: A case study in Jordan. The SERVQUAL model which addresses five dimensions of service quality would be utilised in the research study to help in assessing the gap between perceptions and expectations of the customers who are offered services by the banks. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the study, a questionnaire survey would be conducted and the respondents would include customers of five Islamic banks at Jordan and five other conventional banks. Various statistical tools and techniques would be used to analyse the data obtained through the questionnaire surveys to get accurate results. The total budget allocated for conducting this research study has been estimated to be $16,000 and three years’ timeline has been set to successfully complete this research study. The research plan and the time line associated with various activities that are needed to be done to conduct this study have been presented with the help of Gantt chart. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Literature Review 7 Research Gap and Aim 10 Research Concept 11 Research Method 13 Questionnaire Survey 14 Data Sources and its Analysis 14 Budget and Timeline 15 References 17 Introduction The Islamic finance and banking sector is found to have experienced global acceptance at a rapid rate since 1975, when the first commercial Islamic bank was established (John, 2012). Charging of interest and its payment on financial transactions is prohibited in Islam. Moreover equality and social justice with the help of wealth distribution within the society are advocated by Islam. These Islamic principles are believed to have been institutional to promote Islamic financing worldwide on a large scale. The assets corresponding to the Islamic finance sector is experiencing a growth rate of around 15 to 20 pe r cent and it is expected that by the end of the year 2015 the assets would increase to around US$2 trillion (John, 2012). The Islamic financial institutions were also observed to have performed strongly during the recent global financial crisis (GFC) and it has further increased the reputation of Islamic finance sector as an alternative to the financing system followed conventionally. However, the Islamic finance sector faces various challenges in its way to global expansion as well. Some of these challenges include the dearth of knowledge about the Islamic financing system amongst the consumers and the regulatory environment that is prevalent in some of the countries of the world which imposes restrictions on Islamic financial institutions to offer certain types financing products. This research proposal will try to present a comparative study about the service quality dimensions related to conventional and Islamic financial institutions and banks with special reference to Jordan. A comparative study of the Islamic and conventional banks in Jordan suggested that the Islamic banks were more stable in their performance than the conventional banks during the recent global financial crisis (GFC) (Al-ali, and Yousfi, 2012). The Islamic banks at Jordan are found to be more profitable than the convent

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Overpopulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Overpopulation - Essay Example The pieces of evidence presented by census findings, instead of theories of demography, furnish the inevitable core of this idea. These are all according to the proponents of population reduction. During the time of Jesus, the population of the world may have been around 300 million people, densely packed mainly in China, India, and the Mediterranean region (Fagley 1960, 15). After analyzing different approximations, the Secretariat of the United Nations Population Division, proposes â€Å"that the world’s population was likely to have been between 200 and 300 million at the beginning of the Christian era† (Fagley 1960, 15). At some point between1930 and 1960, the growth in the population of the world will be roughly 1 billion, or approximately three times the overall population during the age of the New Testament (Green 2008). Furthermore, this population growth may be twice as huge as the world’s total population during the Reformation. This phenomenon is calle d ‘population explosion’ (Fagley 1960, 15-16). With the current rate of population growth, it can be estimated that in six centuries the number of people on the planet will be such that there will be just a square meter for each individual to inhabit (Jakab 2008). However, this would be impossible since something will take place to stop it. As an arithmetical practice, the picture of the imagined population explosion can certainly be furthered (Gilland 2008). In an April 1958 hypothetical article John L. Russell, S.J. theorized that, supposing a population that grows twofold every century, a growth rate significantly below the current rate, the current population of the world would have stemmed from an Adam and Eve existent roughly in 1000 B.C. (Hollingsworth 1996). A vivid illustration of this theory is presented in the following passage (Fagley 1960): One thousand years hence, at the same rate, there would be two million million people†¦ In 2,500 years from now, the population would be so densely packed that there would be one man on every square yard of the earth’s surface, including the sea. In 5,000 years the weight of human beings would be equal to the total weight of the earth, and in 14,000 years to the estimated total weight of the universe (ibid, p. 18). Apparently, such practices are only useful in illustrating that the current population growth rate cannot continue, and that the issue of overpopulation cannot be mitigated unless the growth rate itself is substantially altered. The major issue at this point is the importance of the short-range forecasts demonstrating the possibility that the human population will double in the very near future. This is certainly not an exploratory or hypothetical practice. This is the reasonable and valid repercussion of the established truth. This is an extension of a population explosion already in full swing. Is there really a problem of overpopulation? What should the governments do abou t this so-called threat of overpopulation? Should population growth be aggressively controlled by the enforcement of laws and taxes? The next section will review and discuss the arguments for and against the implementation of population growth control measures by the government. Overpopulation should be stopped: True or False? Different assertions have been made for endorsing population control mechanisms. They run the

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel Essay

Legal aspects of Nursing- Homework # 5 raquel - Essay Example Their testimony shows that the procedure for documentation of narcotics given was not keenly followed because most nurses did the documentation during their breaks and free time. It is shown that most of them documented when they had forgotten the number of patients given the narcotics. In the court, the suspended nurse can argue that the difference in figures may have resulted from forgetting the figures. I would have ruled in favor of the suspended nurse. This is because; there is no credible evidence that solely links the nurse to the missing drugs. From the evidence, the nurse has been diligently working for 25 years with no past records of such an incidence. In addition, the nurse was not found in possession of the drugs hence lack of solid evidence linking her to the drugs. The institution has enhanced patient safety by putting in place a computerized medicine cabinet. This cabinet ensures enhanced distribution and better monitoring of narcotics. The nurses were also required to document the narcotic usage and hence record the dosage, time, and method of administration. This shows that the institution was committed to the safety of its patients. The nurses are negligent in their duties. As a nurse, one ought to put the patient’s interest first by ensuring that records of the patient are properly kept for future use (Thompson, 2005). Lack of proper recording shows the unwillingness and laziness of the nurses to take care of the patients and therefore they are negligent. The organization must consider the failure of its nurses to do a proper documentation on drugs issued to patients. It must also look at ways in which close supervision is to be made on nurses so that they follow rules and regulations. In addition, in the case where nurses do not follow the guidelines of a physician and opt for IV route instead of IM injection, strict rules and supervision should be imposed. The defendants in this case are

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

The Awakening by Kate Chopin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Awakening by Kate Chopin - Essay Example Rather she thinks that she is also a valuable part of the society who needs to fulfill her instinct desires instead of staying at home and taking care of children and husband. It does not mean that she does not love her sons rather the fact is that she loves them but do not want to spare her whole life just for them. Edna has same feelings for her husband. She respects him as a wife should do but the element of love does not seem to be there in her relationship. When this novel was published, people did not like the character of Edna and criticized Chopin for writing such an immoral novel in which a woman was shown as a sexual being. In the novel, Edna has been shown playing the role of a woman who does not want to remain static in the society. She wants to participate actively in the society for her own desires and for that, she has to sacrifice her responsibilities up to some extent, which includes her home, her children, and her husband. Edna is shown in the character of a woman w ho does not want to sacrifice her private or social life for her husband and children. In the novel, she seems to be taking care of her children and husband but she has the desire to do something more which should reveal her inner thoughts and feelings. She does not want to be a model wife and mother as her friend, Adele Ratignolle. Adele has been shown in the role of a woman who devotes herself for her family. ... Adele has been shown in a good character in the novel. When Edna falls in relationship with Lebrun, Adele becomes worried while thinking of the future of Edna’s sons. She thinks that Edna’s care towards her children will be affected because of her new relationship. In the novel, the author has shown that there is no match between the thoughts and feelings of Edna and Adele and this is the reason why Adele does not understand the viewpoint of her friend. The only similarity observed in the novel between the feelings of Edna and Adele was that both friends wanted to take extreme care of their children. The difference was that Edna did not want to sacrifice her personal life for her children. The author has portrayed Edna inn the role of a woman who wants to live her life properly by exhibiting her hidden desires of love and sex. In the novel, Adele does not seem to be agreeing with her friend’s viewpoint. She believes that a woman has nothing to do more if she dedi cates her life fully for here children. She tries to explain it to her friend too but she does not get any success in that. Adele’s belief that a woman cannot do justice with her children if she starts fulfilling her own desires come true when Edna lefts her children to her in-laws when she comes back to New Orleans. In this stage of the novel, Edna starts disregarding her responsibilities towards her children and husband. She often thinks of her affair with Labrun who is no more with her due to some business reasons. It is the time when Edna starts her new affair with Alcee Arobin. Edna has been shown as a woman full of sexual desires at this stage of the novel. She forgets her relationship with her husband and falls into an affair with a new partner. Edna also contacts

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The Role of the State in the Marxist Point of View Essay

The Role of the State in the Marxist Point of View - Essay Example For further clarification and exploration, it will also compare Marx's ideal government with that of the Luddites and utopian socialists. The paper will conclude with its findings. The Communist Manifesto which was published in 1848 documents the struggle of two major opposing social classes-the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. According to Marx (1), bourgeoisie refers to the "class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage-labour" while proletariat refers to the "class of modern wage-labourers who, having no means of production on their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live." In order to fully understand the role of the government in the societal context of Marx, this paper will first look at the social structure and their implications in the society. The power struggle between these two social classes is justified by their opposing interests. The proletariat is portrayed as a utility maximizing entity because he seeks to maximize the value of his resource, his labor power, in return for higher wages. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, is a profit maximizing entity because he seeks to minimize the cost of production by keeping wages for workers low (Marx 2). It should be noted that in Marx society, costs of production are allocated to fixed costs such as rent and interest. Wages, being the most variable and controllable, is kept at minimum. The bourgeoisie also aims to generate the most efficient productivity from the proletariat as this will also increase his profits. In this case, we see an antagonistic and contradictory relationship between the working class and the owners of capital. Therefore, in Marx's definition of proletariat, we see that the working class is portrayed as an exploited segment of the society. The relation ship between the two major classes also documents that power is concentrated on the hands of those who own the means of production. The working class, as implied by the definition of Marx (7), is seen by the bourgeoisie as a factor of production together with land and capital: "He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simple, the most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him." This view of the society emphasizes the presence of social equality. The bourgeoisie uses their access of capital in order to exploit the proletariat. In this context of Marxist capitalist society, the state appears to be instrumental in preventing the existence of social equality. Marx recognizes that the state is mainly "a product and a manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms" (Lenin 2). When the struggle between classes in the society cannot be objectively reconciled, the state is created. Conversely, the existence of the state is a manifestation that the class antagonisms in the society cannot be reconciled. Thus, the state only comes into existence when the society is divided on class lines. As the creation and existence of the state is due to the antagonism between two social classes, the state in the Marxist context is created for a certain function that is, the resolution of the class struggle. It is, then, the utmost goal of the government to serve the interest of both parties and

Monday, July 22, 2019

Issues related to developing nations Essay Example for Free

Issues related to developing nations Essay News reports suggest that economic giants from third world Asia namely China and India are expected to grow at the rate of 9. 7 and 6. 5 percent respectively. The GDP growth rate of these nations is much higher than that of any developed nation and hence are the two fastest growing economy of the world. China has now become the factory of the world with large multinational companies infusing lots of money in establishing manufacturing units and India is now one of the major destinations for back office jobs and is the leading service sector economy. As a complete entity, the globalization started showing results right from the early eighties in South East Asia. The process which has got its roots right from the beginning of 20th century with the beginning of economic cooperation between Europe and the United States later became synonymous with the word development in Far East Asian Countries including the ASEAN (The World Bank Group, 2000). But still this globalization has yet to make this world a better place to live. The concern related to the globalization process is the growth which is visible is actually more of mathematical in nature than the real cumulative growth. It might be taking place at the cost those who are less privileged (Kumar, 2007). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects on developing nations especially ASEAN which are said to the most benefited one when one of the components of globalization, i. e. , foreign direct investment (FDI). The paper gives brief explanation of globalization and its different phases and theoretical aspects of some of its components. While presenting theoretical arguments, the main focus of the paper is an exploration of different aspects of FDI while keeping in view of its impact on the growth of economy in terms of growth in GDP. The paper looks in detail towards the contribution of FDI in the growth of developing nations and the role played by multinational firms in the fire-sale purchases. It has examined World Bank Development Indicators Website and this statistical investigation has been made to look into the above mentioned impact of FDI on GDP. The countries which have been chosen for this statistical analysis are ASEAN and various other South East Asian economies (The World Bank Group, 2000). The outcome of the paper has concentrated around the conclusion that the component of globalization which promotes ‘Direct investment’ as is termed as Foreign Direct Investment has actually brought changes in most of the developing nations but at the same time have induced many negatives like the fire-sale incidents (Loungani Razin, 2001) and excessive leverage can led to financial transactions causing reversal of FDI with money being transferred back to the foreign company (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). In addition to the above mentioned conclusions, the benefits of the FDI have appeared to decline with more integration of market. Thus while studying the impact of FDI on countries, the other factors like domestic regulatory and market structures and the extent up to which the market has been liberalized are equally responsible and require to be considered and are equally necessary for the success and benefits of the FDI (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). 2. Advantage: Developing nations Globalization and its spread across the world is very much a successful understanding of theory of competitive advantage there by making the theory of comparative advantage as the most important concepts in international trade and a major reasons behind the existence of WTO and its world wide success. The theory in the context of international trade explains the benefits of trade between two countries without any barrier even if one is more efficient at producing goods or services needed and produced by the other. (Bromley, Mackintosh, Brown and Wuyts, 2004, p. 47). On close analysis this globalization can be understood as a combination of four major trends. The four trends in a globalize world are the expansion of international trade, financial flows where FDI is a major entity, global communications which includes transportation and finally the immigration i. e. , transnational movements of people. The point of discussion and research has now moved from the causes and determinants of the globalization to its various components and interaction between them. These four trends have worked quite differently while implementing the globalization process among different nations. If we talk about FDI only, then it has been observed that the same FDI has given different result sin different nations. The South East nations gained status of being an economic powerhouse with greater export especially of electronic items and before 1990s these nations depended on foreign money inform of investment in securities with government of these nations investing a bulk of that in exportable products like automobile and electronic items (Panelver, 2002). 3. Trade Flows and Foreign Direct Investment The developing countries have shown substantial progress if the economy is looked upon with trade perspective. The last decade of 20th century shown great results with share of trade rising i. e. , the sum of import and export as percentage of GDP rising from 34. 6 percent in 1990 to 51. 6 percent in 2000. If compared with the results of developed countries where the share of trade in GDP showed marginal improvement from 32 percent to 37. 1 percent in the same period, the level of trade as well as its growth in developing nations has shown better results. The most remarkable aspect of this trade is that even the least developed countries have seen very high growth rate in the total percentage of GDP, this trade flow occupies. The percentage of trade in GDP has increased from 26. 7 percent to 41. 3 percent in the above considered period of ten years (Loungani Razin, 2001). The Foreign Direct Investment in these developing countries in the period of above mentioned ten years has also seen upward trend with this FDI occupying 3. 5 percent of total GDP in 2000 but here this is much lesser if the same is compared to that of developed nations. In developed countries the FDI was found to be around ten percent of GDP in the year 2000. The FDI normally come under two categories. (Panelver, 2002). 4. Foreign Direct Investment and development The foreign direct investment (FDI) has been reason behind which the developing nations started making rounds of economic reforms to attract foreign investment with a sole purpose of giving the economy a much needed boost for sustainable economic growth. The FDI inflows in many countries surged to higher levels with large multinationals called as multinational corporations (MNCs) bringing capital in form of superior technology oiled with ultimate management skill. The transfer of cleaner technology would also bring better environmental performance. With MNCs’ better management of inventory and technology, the developing nations would get infused with standards normally prevailed in western world (Blomstrom and Kokko, 1996). The investment had been expected to bring more employment and higher per capita income and will make ways for cleaner consumer goods. The countries observed two basic practices. First to attract more FDI and for that the policy to get more was made central character in every national development strategies. The second one is to have investment agreements which can have global, regional or bilateral scope (Malampally Karl, 1999). The reforms of 1990s caused massive inflow of FDI in developing nations and in the last decade of the century was around 4 percent of global GDP. This miniscule amount of money formed a major portion of the GDP of some of the developing nations; 26 percent of GDP in Thailand and as a whole, the share of FDI in the total GDP got raised to 3. 5 percent by the end of 2000 (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). These developing nations saw a chain of privatizations. Many government companies in those nations were acquired by MNCs despite wide spread criticism and resistance especially when companies being privatized were meant providing basic utilities like water. FDI based privatization also changed the way it has been utilized. Service sector got a big boost with the money coming into the nations in form of FDI and this sector accounted for almost 200 percent growth in the total FDI inflows in the period ranging from 1988 to 1999 (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). 5. FDI and the crisis Multi National Companies or the MNCs are often regarded as smart investors and great profiteers. These companies are expected to have a great feel of opportunities and upcoming market possibilities. Now the same companies put their money in FDI channel and invest in developing countries with a word of bringing technological and managerial efficiency. They often buy controlling stakes in domestic firms and then reenergize the whole structure of the firm to make it more profitable and competitive. But still even a layman would believe in putting money in those areas or economy where the market if not growing at some astronomical rate but at least have a sluggish but positive growth (Krugman, 1998). The crisis of late 1990s in East Asia showed a very different business approach of MNCs. The companies were found to be putting great amount of money through FDI channel in Korea and other South East Asian countries. But this time the company went into large scale buying of local firms. These local firms were found to be facing financial crisis causing great fall in the total value of the firm with equities available at throw away prices. The Foreign Institutional Investors and investors in government’s securities taking their money out of the country but the same financial crisis created an investment opportunity for MNCs. A number of companies changed hands with a number of MNCs from US and Europe buying controlling stakes in different South Asian firms. This sort of FDI investment pattern is more of crisis driven rather than opportunity driven. Even the governments were found to shell out its stake in PSUs to foreign investors to get over the ongoing financial crisis. The fall in the value of currency and big debts diminishes the market cap of the domestic firms and then they are for sale on a platter at a throw away price to foreign players. The sudden fall in the value of the assets attracts the investors to buy those sick firms with a belief that once the crisis gets over these firms under the new management will turn out to be a golden goose (Aguiar Gopinath, 2004). 6. Conclusion If we look into what every major financial organization like the IMF; the World Bank; and any of the OECD states, the most common thing is that all of them have suggested that this FDI is very much similar to a doctor’s prescription which is for the improvement of ailing industrial sectors. The transfer of cleaner technology and better management as well as socially responsible corporate policies helps in improving environmental and social conditions by enormous amount (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). The presence of foreign firms have given positive results in the productivity of domestic firms has been true up to some extent but that’s the case of developed nation only (Lim,2001). Though the technology transfer can be made possible through foreign players but it’s the domestic operators who are better in controlling and firm operation. The MNCs have often been found to put money in form of FDI in the state of financial crisis. The domestic firms in a state of cash crisis are made available for purchase at a price which has been much lesser than the asset of the firm. The final conclusion out of these investments by MNCs give a clear indication that its not the efficiency that gives them the edge it’s the better cash position which drives the flow of FDI. Through the simulation of domestic investment and improved technology, the over all productivity and efficiency of the industry gets a boost. So the FDI cause â€Å"crowding in† effect on investment. Even the simple assembling firm can make a very profitable growth with rising consumer demand. The higher consumer demand can make the industry with more players can make good returns through better technology and efficient managing (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). But the negatives associated with the globalization are also there. MNCs have been found as causing more distortion to the local traditional business structure rather than the maintaining its sanctity. Even applying the management policy of a different nation model to the workers of the new region is not going to help and will cause more harm to efficiency rather then improving it. Business and work ethics are very much dependent on local culture and traditions. Anything that will undermine the importance of these issues harms the work culture of the nation (Gallaghar Zarsky, 2006). 7. Bibliography Aguiar, M. Gopinath, G. 2004, ‘Fire-Sale FDI and Liquidity Crisis’, The Review of Economics Statistics, Vol. 87, No. 3, Pages 439-452 Bromley, S, Mackintosh, M. , Brown, W. Wuyts, M. (2004). Making the International: Economic Interdependence and political Order. Pluto Press Gallagher, K. V. , Zarsky, L. 2006, ‘Rethinking Foreign Investment for Development’, Boston University and Businesses for Social Responsibility, USA Krugman, P 1998, ‘Firesale FDI’, Working Paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kokko, Ari 1994, ‘Technology, Market Characteristics, and Spillovers’, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 43, pp. 279-293. Kokko, A. and M. Blomstrom 1995,. ’Policies to Encourage Inflows of Technology Through Foreign Multinationals’, World Development, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 459- 68. Kumar, A. 2007, ‘Does Foreign Direct Investment Help Emerging Economies? ’ Insights from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, vol. 2, no. 1 Lim, Ewe-Ghee 2001, ‘Determinants of and the Relation between Foreign Direct Investment and Growth: A Summary of the Recent Literature’, Working Paper 01/75, IMF. Loungani, P Razin, A. 2001, ‘How beneficial is foreign direct investment for developing countries? ’ Finance development Malampally, P. Karl, P. S. 1999,. ’Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries’, Finance and Development 36 (1) OECD 2002. ‘Foreign Direct Investment for Development, Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Costs’, Paris: OECD

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Effects of Derivatives

Effects of Derivatives Abstract Banks and other financial institutions have progressively understood the need to measure and manage the credit risk they are exposed to. Derivatives, therefore have ascended in retort to the surge in demand of financial institutions to create vehicle tools for hedging and shifting credit risks. Derivatives over the years have become a valuable financial tools with system-wide benefits. However as innovative as the derivatives have been, they carry inside themselves so many threats that in the hand of inexperienced market participants, destabilize the whole economic system. Inside such a Pandora box were the instruments that would participate in amplifying the 2008 financial crisis. This paper postulates that derivatives may have contributed to the 2008 crisis. Derivative contracts are probabilistic bets on future events, as defined on Investopedia they are securities with a price that are dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. Many people argue that derivatives reduce systemic problems, in that participants who cannot bear certain risks are able to transfer them to stronger hands. These people believe that derivatives act to stabilize the economy, facilitate trade, and eliminate bumps for individual participants (Buffett, 2016). We have now reached the stage where those who work in finance, and many who work outside finance, need to understand how derivatives work, how they are used, and how they are priced (Hull, 2015). For this reason, derivatives are at the center of everything. However, in 2008 the world witnessed a financial and economic hurricane that left massive financial and economic damages. It was universally recognized as the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. The old saying has it that success has a hundred fathers, but failure is an orphan (Davies, 2016). In this situation, it was the opposite as this failure had a long list of guilty men. While some argued that the changes in the law are the cause of the crisis, others pointed out the role derivatives played via the crash in the value of subprime mortgage-backed securities. The main thesis of this paper is that, while derivatives contributed a lot for the financial market would we be better off them? After a discussion of the positive effects of derivatives (their ability in refining the management of risk), the paper will analyze the negative aspects of them (enhancing risk-taking, evading taxes and creating financial crises). And we finish by looking at how derivatives fueled the financial crisis. Derivatives are instruments that derive their performance from some other instruments or assets. In contrary to the spot market, derivative markets require less capital and usually are more liquid.   Higher liquidity means more efficiency such that prices change more rapidly in response to new information, which is a good thing (Chance, 2008). There are different types of derivatives that an individual can use to protect himself against volatile time. Derivatives confer to the financial market different types of benefits such as risk management, price discovery, enhancement of liquidity. Fundamentally they are instruments that permit the transfer of risk from a seller to a buyer. Exporters, exposed to foreign exchange risk, can reduce their risk using derivatives (forward, futures, and options) (Viral Richardson, 2009). Derivatives can be viewed as insurance; one party gives up something in order for the other party to accept the risk. Some say that derivatives are nothing mo re than gambling (Peery, 2012). But derivatives can be compared more to insurance than be called gambling. In insurance, we have an insurer collecting the premiums where in derivatives, we have speculators receiving fees for speculation. Without speculators, hedging risk is impossible. Another benefit is price discovery; derivatives provide information to the market about the expectations of people on the future spot price. The ABX indices (i.e., a portfolio of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) of subprime mortgages) which were one of the first instruments to provide information to the marketplace on the deteriorating subprime securitization market (Viral Richardson, 2009). Moreover, they also give the opportunity to market participants to extract forward information instead of historical information. Such information is used, among others, by central banks in making policy decisions, investors for risk and return decisions on their portfolios and corporations for managing financial risk (Viral Richardson, 2009). An additional positive benefit is the enhancement of liquidity. When derivatives are added to an underlying market, it brings additional players who use the derivatives and give the opportunity to companies to earn income that would not be available to them or available but the cost would be high. By and large, spot markets with derivatives have more liquidity and thus lower transaction costs than markets without derivatives (Viral Richardson, 2009). If derivatives provide to the financial market all those useful benefits, how come they were accused of player a role in the financial crisis of 2008? Derivatives play an important role in reducing the risk that companies face, but they are a synonym of danger to the stability of the financial market and in doing so, the economy in general. Within the field of finance, derivatives are the most dynamic instruments because they have no limits unless parties, markets, or governments set them (Peery, 2012). In his annual letter to shareholders in 2002, Warren Buffett branded derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system (Buffett, 2016). However, that fear of derivatives existed way before Warren Buffett expressed it.   Max Webers 1896 essay on the stock exchange lingered over the concern that derivative contracts encouraged speculation and increased market instability (Maurer, 2002). Years after the financial crisis, (Hoefle, 2010) argued that derivatives were doomed from the start, that they were the answer to the stock market crash of 1987, the demise of the SL industry, and bankrupt cy of U.S banking system. Why are some people against the use of derivatives? At first, derivatives were tools that can be used to hedge against pre-existing risks, in another word a form of insurance. But as time went on, people realised that they can use derivatives in another form than insurance. They went from hedge to speculation, implying that they tried to earn a profit by prophesying future events better than another can, including future asset prices, interest rates, or credit ratings. While doing that most companies got themselves hugely exposed to derivatives. As you can see in the example I have in the appendix Table 1, most of those companies total assets cannot match the leverage the companies are facing throughout the use of derivatives. And when the corporations exposure becomes large to the overall market, that could translate to problems, for example the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. The company at that time had capital of $4 billion, assets of $124 billion, but their exposure to derivatives was more than $1 trillion. How all of these translated into becoming one of the causes of the financial crisis? The Bank for International Settlements has only published statistics on the Credit Derivatives market since the end of 2004 when the total notional amount was $6 trillion (Stulz R. M., 2009). The market grew hugely and by the time we get to the middle of 2008 the notional amour was $57 trillion. Quickly Credit Derivatives became an important tool to manage credit exposure. There are different reasons to why market participants have found credit derivatives appealing.   First you do not need a deep pocket in order to take a position, secondly, CDs can be used as insurance against any type of loans, not just a specific. In addition to that, the largest derivatives market is for swaps. With a swap, two parties exchange the rights to cash flows from different assets (Stulz R. M., 2009). In principle, credit default swaps should make financial markets more efficient and improve the allocation of capital (Stulz R. M., 2009). As time went on people were more focused on CD contracts o n subprime mortgages. Although subprime mortgages carried inside them significant default risk, as other mortgages they were securitized. As (Stulz R. M., 2010) explained in his article, mortgages are placed in a pool, and notes are issued against that pool. In the pool, the highest notes always have an AAA rating. In the case of mortgages default, the lower-rated notes suffer first, but as the default losses increase the higher rated notes will be affected too. In 2006 the ABX indexes were introduced, it was based on the average of credit default swaps for identical superiority securitization notes. Every six months, ABX indexes played an important role as they made it possible for an investor to take positions on the subprime market, even though they have no ownership of subprime mortgages or as insurance for subprime exposure. As a result, it was possible for investors to bear more subprime risk than the risk in outstanding mortgages (Stulz R. M., 2009). As all good thing must co me to an end, in 2008 financial institutions faced counterparty risks in derivatives that they had never factored in their calculations. Renà © M. Stulz (2010) offers a more detailed explanation of the counterparty risks and the problem that can arise. As for the causes of the counterparty risk, some people argued that derivatives lead to huge web exposure across financial institutions. In case one of the financial institution fails, the others will follow. And as we saw with the failure of Lehman, which had at that time derivatives contracts with other financial firms. Those firms were expecting payments from Lehman on their derivatives. Sadly, for them, Lehman at that time had filed for bankruptcy. While they could have managed their exposure to the counterparty risk, as they were high rated counterparties something unexpected happened. The failure of Lehman had as consequence a huge increase in the price of derivatives, at that moment the collateral amount would not be enough to cover the default of other counterparties default. As a domino effect, most firms were hit by the default of Lehman and without the help of the government to bail them out some would not have survived. The CDs market grew too fast for its own good and it created a bubble that fooled the financial markets. The lack of regulations, transparency, and clarity in financial statements made it hard to prevent. And before people realised we were in what some people call the worse financial crisis of all time. No matter the instruments you give to someone the results will depend on his intention. A good instrument in the hand of an evil person who focuses on profit over ethics will make that instrument look evil. Pablo Triana in his book The number that killed us gave a perfect example of a situation where a red Ferrari was involved in an accident that had civil casualties. Should we blame the car for the accident or the driver who was guilty of speed driving in the past? Same dilemma with the derivatives, we have seen how derivatives allow firms and individuals to take risk efficiently and to hedge risks. However, they can also create risk when they are not used properly. And the downfall of a large derivatives user or dealer may create a systemic risk for the whole economy. Which is why as for any instruments that may harm the world, derivatives should be regulated more effectively. We did not ban the atomic bomb after Hiroshima, nor we did with planes for their risk of a crash, but bett er regulations were introduced to make them safe as sense to be. While derivatives have been blamed, sometimes wrongly, for large losses from Barings to Enron the benefits are widely dispersed and may not make for good headlines. On balance, the benefits outweigh the threats (Balls, 2016). Appendix Table 1 References Ahmad, I. M. (2010). Greed, financial innovation or laxity of regulation? a close look into the 2007-2009 financial crisis and stock market volatility. Studies in Economics and Finance, 110-134. Alnassar, W. I., Al-shakrchy, E., Almsafir, M. K. (2014). Credit Derivatives: Did They Exacerbate the 2007 Global Financial Crisis? AIG: Case Study. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1026-1034. Balls, A. (2016, 12 12). The Economics of Derivatives. Retrieved from nber.org: http://www.nber.org/digest/jan05/w10674.html Buffett, W. E. (2016, 11 28). Letters. Retrieved from berkshirehathaway: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2002pdf.pdf Chance, D. M. (2008). Essays in Derivatives . New Jersey: Jonh Wileys Sons. Crotty, J. (2009). Structural causes of the global financial crisis: a critical assessment of the new financial architecture. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 563-580. Davies, H. (2016, 11 20). The Financial Crisis: Who is to Blame? Retrieved from Google Books: https://books.google.ie/books?hl=enlr=id=MNH6q2YGEUkCoi=fndpg=PR1dq=financial+derivatives+and+crisisots=2_ZzDDFPS3sig=JW59MDMZt2HWvDWthLHWtyDyZwcredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=financial%20derivatives%20and%20crisisf=false Hoefle, J. (2010). Ban, Dont Regulate, Derivatives. Executive Intelligence Review, 32-34. Hull, J. C. (2015). Options, Futures, and other Derivatives. New York: Pearson Education. Lebron, M. W. (2016, 12 20). Derivatives: The toxic financial instrument on par with terrorism . Retrieved from rt.com: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/325982-derivatives-toxic-instrument-review/ MacKenzie, D., Millo, Y. (2016, 11 12). Negotiating a Market, Performing Theory: The historical sociology of a financial derivatives exchange. Retrieved from SSRN Electronic Journal : https://ssrn.com/abstract=279029 Maurer, B. (2002). Repressed futures: financial derivatives theological unconscious. Economy and Society, 15-36. Peery, G. F. (2012). The Post-Reform Guide to Derivatives and Futures. New Jersey: John Wisley Sons. Stout, L. A. (2011). Derivatives and the legal origin of the 2008 credit crisis. Harvard Business Law Review, 1-38. Stulz, R. M. (2009). Financial Derivatives: lessons from the subprime crisis. The Milken Institute Review, 58-70. Stulz, R. M. (2010). Credit Default Swaps and the Credit Crisis. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 73-92. Triana, P. (2012). The Number That Killed Us: A Story of Modern Banking, Flawed Mathematics, and a Big Financial Crisis. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Viral , A. V., Richardson, M. (2009). Restoring Financial Stability: How to Repair a Failed System. John Wiley Sons.

Diabetes Mellitus and Hypoglycemia

Diabetes Mellitus and Hypoglycemia Disease classification Diabetes Mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases, diabetes mellitus happen when body does not capable to use insulin efficiently or the insulin is not produce more enough in a person blood. According to Kowalczyk N (2013), this syndrome is related with chronic hyperglycemia in combination with glucose intolerance and alterations in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. There is certain test to indicate the presence of this syndrome. Usually patient undergo blood glucose levels test, before the patient take this test, they need to fast 12.00 mid night, the normal blood glucose levels range from 70 to 120 mg/dL, but if the blood glucose levels is greater than 126 mg/dL it is show that patient might have Diabetes Mellitus syndrome. According to Kishore,P (2013), Pancreas released a hormone called Insulin which controls the amount of glucose in the blood. The pancreas is stimulated by glucose in the bloodstream. Insulin allows glucose to move from the blood into the cells. Inside the cells glucose can transformed to energy, which is used instantly or the glucose is stored as fat glycogen until it is required. Insulin production is related with the levels of glucose, when the glucose in blood is high the insulin production increases, once the levels of glucose in the blood come back to normal, insulin production will decreases, normal blood glucose levels for healthy people is about 70 to 120 miligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Symptoms and complications of diabetes happen when the body does not generate enough insulin to move the glucose into the cells or if the cells stop responding normally to insulin, the consequential high levels of glucose in the blood and the insufficient amount of glucose in the cells together produce the symptoms and complications of diabetes. There were three types of diabetes mellitus, Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational Diabetes Diabetes Mellitus Type 1 Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a genetic disorder and can be classify as an autoimmune disease, this disease also know as juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes, according to Kowalczyk N (2013) diabetes mellitus type 1 is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, these young individuas produce little to no insulin because of an autoimmune disease of the pancreatic B cells and are insulin dependent from a young age. Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5 to 10 percent of cases of diabetes worldwide which is stated by The Health on the Net (HON) (2014). Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Diabetes mellitus type 2 is categorized as insulin resistant diabetes with an insufficient secretion of insulin. Type 2 dibetes mellitus is more common than type 1 and the risk of developing this type increases with age, especially after the age of 40 years. It is also more prevalent in women than in men which are stated by Kowalczyk N (2013). According to Wisse B (2014) type 2 diabetes happen when insulin is not been respond correctly by fat, liver and muscle cells, this is called insulin resistance, therefore blood sugar or glucose does not get into these cells to be stored for energy. When sugar cannot go into cells, a high level of sugar builds up in the blood. This is called hyperglycemia Gestational Diabetes This type affects females during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is caused when insulin receptors do not function properly, and their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin to transport all of the glucose into their cells, resulting in increasingly rising levels of glucose. Undiagnosed or uncontrolled gestational diabetes can elevate the risk of problems during childbirth. The baby may be bigger than he/she should be. Disease process Etiology Generally the cause of type 1 diabetes mellitus is unknown. A number of descriptive theories have been put forward, and the cause may be one or more. One of the causes is autoimmune disease. This is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue, an infection causes the body to mistakenly attack the cells in the pancreas that make insulin in which destruction or damaging of the beta cells, beta cells is special cells that produced insulin hormone in the pancreas. According to Wisse B (2014) Insulin is needed to move glucose into cells. Inside the cells, glucose is stored and later used for energy. Without sufficient insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead of going into the cells. This increase glucose in the blood is called hyperglycemia, therefore body is unable to use the glucose for energy. Genetics is one of the causes, according to American Diabetes Association (2014) if you are a man with type 1 diabetes; the chances of your child developing diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your childs risk is 1 in 25, if your child was born after you turned 25, your childs risk is 1 in 100. Your childs risk is doubled if you developed diabetes before age 11. If both you and your partner have type 1 diabetes, the risk is between 1 in 10 and 1 in 4. Another cause of Type 1 diabetes mellitus is viruses that might promote autoimmunity. According to American Diabetes Association (2014) A significant number of viruses have been associated with type 1 diabetes, including enteroviruses such as Coxsackievirus B , but also rotavirus, mumps virus, and cytomegalovirus . Rubella virus has been suggested to cause type 1 diabetes, but so far only congenital rubella syndrome has convincingly been linked with the disease. The prime viral candidates for causing type 1 diabetes in humans are enteroviruses. Type 2 diabetes mellitus generally causes from the pancreas does not make sufficient insulin or the body is unable to use the insulin that is produced, as we know insulin resistance. According to Khardori. R (2014) Type 2 diabetes mellitus appears to involve complex relations between environmental and genetic factors, environmental factor is including lifestyle for example (excessive caloric intake, inadequate caloric expenditure, obesity), high body mass index (BMI) increases risk for diabetes. In addition, an in utero environment consequential in low birth weight may influence some individuals to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. Infant weight velocity has a small, indirect effect on adult insulin resistance. In addition about 90% of obese patient develop type 2 dibetes mellitus. According to Winter S (2014). Second diabetes mellitus type 2 causes is by genetic, diabetes mellitus type 2 strongly has a hereditary component. However not everyone who carries a mutation will get diabetes. Gestational Diabetes type affects females during pregnancy. The cause’s gestational diabetes according to Mayo Clinic (2014) during pregnancy, the placenta, which connects your baby to your blood supply, produces high levels of various other hormones. Almost all of them impair the action of insulin in your cells, raising your blood sugar. As your baby grows, the placenta produces more and more insulin-blocking hormones. In gestational diabetes, the placental hormones provoke a rise in blood sugar to a level that can affect the growth and welfare of your baby. Gestational diabetes usually develops during the trimester. Pathogenesis According to Nucleus Medical Media (2014) Pathogenesis for diabetes mellitus type 1 is summaries that beta cells in the pancreas lose their ability to produce insulin, resulting in high blood glucose levels.In type 1 diabetes, your immune system, specifically your white blood cells, mistake your pancreatic beta cells for foreign invaders.In an autoimmune response, your white blood cells secrete auto antibodies that destroy your own beta cells.As a result, your pancreas produces little or no insulin.Without insulin, glucose cannot get into your cells, so they are starved for the calories they should be receiving from glucose.In addition, the glucose level builds up in your bloodstream, resulting in a condition called hyperglycemia. Diabetes mellitus type 2 usualy caused by obesity and physical inactivity, Diabetes mellitus type 2 is categorized as insulin resistant diabetes, it commonly referred to as the metabolic syndrome according to Hannele Yki-JÃ ¤rvinen (2011) Insulin resistance can be defined as the inability of insulin to produce its usual biological actions at circulating concentrations that are effective in normal subjects. In addition pathogenesis diabetes mellitus type 2 happen when beta cells of the pancreas are no longer capable to meet the body’s requirement for insulin. Hyperglycaemia therefore develops earlier in the course of beta cell failure, and in association with a greater beta cell mass, in insulin-resistant compared with insulin-sensitive individuals. The relative importance of reduced secretion of insulin and increased demand insulin resistance ranges along a range from one individual or population to the next. Pathogenesis of gestational diabetes. According to Manda A, when pregnant, human body will produce several hormones. Some pregnancy hormones disrupt the usual function of insulin by interfering cell signalling pathways. In the bloodstream insulin will stimulates fat tissue and skeletal muscle cells to absorb glucose. Because of presence insulin resistance the process uptake of blood glucose is prevented as a result the blood sugar level remains high. In the pregnancy glucose usually present in the blood stream in the placenta through the Glucose transporter 1 (GLU1) carrier to reach the fetus. If not been treated, amount of insulin develop by the fetus will increase, then the baby born larger body than is normal. After baby born the excess of glucose through placenta is done. However, the insulin production still increased it may lead to low blood glucose levels or hypoglycaemia. Manifestation According to Kishore P (2013), The types of diabetes have very related symptoms. The first symptoms are related to the direct effects of high blood glucose levels. When the blood glucose level rises above 160 to 180 mg/dL, glucose spills into the urine. When the level of glucose in the urine rises even higher, the kidneys excrete additional water to dilute the large amount of glucose. Because the kidneys produce excessive urine, people with diabetes urinate large volumes frequently. The excessive urination creates abnormal thirst. Because excessive calories are lost in the urine, people may lose weight. To compensate, people often feel excessively hungry. Other symptoms include blurred vision, drowsiness, nausea, and decreased endurance during exercise. Significant Lab Tests There are severe test can done to demonstrate diabetes mellitus (DM). According to Mayo Clinic (2014), the common test done is Glycated hemoglobin (A1C). Test this blood test indicates your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. It measures the percentage of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying protein in red blood cells. The higher your blood sugar levels, the more hemoglobin youll have with sugar attached. An A1C level of 6.5 percent or higher on two separate tests indicates that you have diabetes. An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 percent indicates prediabetes. Below 5.7 is considered normal. However If the A1C test results arent consistent, the test isnt available, or if you have certain conditions that can make the A1C test inaccurate — such as if youre pregnant or have an uncommon form of hemoglobin (known as a hemoglobin variant) — your doctor may use the next tests to diagnose diabetes such as. Random blood sugar test. Fasting blood sugar test. Oral glucose tolerance test

Saturday, July 20, 2019

The Mind of Kurt Vonnegut Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

The Mind of Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut is one of the preeminent writers of the later half of the twentieth century. His works are all windows into his mind, a literary psychoanalysis. He examines himself as a cog in the corporate machine in "Deer in the Works"; as a writer through the eyes of Kilgore Trout in several works; and most importantly, as a prisoner of war in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut created short stories and novels that dealt with events in his life. One of the most obvious self examinations is in "Deer in the Works". The short story is based on his experiences as a publicist at the General Electric Company Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. "Deer in the Works" takes place over two days in the life of David Potter as he begins his employment at the Ilium Works of the Federal Apparatus Corporation. He is assigned to cover a deer trapped in a remote corner of the Works. Potter gets lost in the Works himself and feels just as trapped as the deer. He eventually frees the deer and escapes the works to return to his newspaper. Vonnegut felt trapped like Potter does, and left General Electric in 1951 to write full time. Before World War II, Vonnegut was enrolled at Cornell University studying biochemistry. He was surrounded by scientists and machines and as a result, his first literary works were based on that influence. Vonnegutà ¸s early writings were not accepted as serious, mainstream literature due to their scientific nature. He was considered a science fiction writer by literary critics. That label caused him to be largely ignored. He created the character Kilgore Trout, a science fiction writer, to... ...hort-term events like that. Dresden was astonishing, but experiences can be astonishing without changing you" (Reed 776). Despite these claims to the contrary, the experiences at Dresden had always played a large part in his writings. His experiences have always shaped what Kurt Vonnegut has written. He said to his brother, Bernard, that he wrote for an audience of one, his dead sister; but he truly wrote for himself. He wrote about his experiences as a prisoner in Slaughterhouse-Five, as a publicist in a major corporation in "Deer in the Works", and as a writer through the character Kilgore Trout. Vonnegut examined his thoughts through the eyes of David Potter, Kilgore Trout, and Billy Pilgrim. His works are all deeply personal windows into the psyche of Kurt Vonnegut.

Friday, July 19, 2019

John Donnes The Indifference :: Poets, Poetry, Prose

John Donne's "The Indifference" is a love poem that can be interpreted in a number of ways. Not only is the meaning of the text debatable, but the audience for which the poem was intended can be argued as well. The language Donne uses leaves room for the reader's imagination and intellect to take over and decide to whom he is talking and why. The author is writing to a specific audience for a specific reason, trying to convey his point through his verse. While not all people agree as to whom this poem is intended for or whom the speaker is actually talking to, I have a good understanding as to what Donne is trying to accomplish by writing "The Indifference" and whom the voice of the piece is actually talking to. The interpretation that I found to be most convincing is that he is speaking to a woman, who is by herself, and he is letting her know what kind of qualities (or lack there of) he is looking for. He is giving a disclaimer to her on the type of person he is and how he views relationships so she knows what she's getting herself into. The first stanza starts off with the speaker listing opposite character types. All of the types listed refer to different types of women, "Her whom the county formed, and whom the town" and "Her who still weeps with spongy eyes, / And her who is dry cork, and never cries". The speaker is not referring to one type of woman in particular, but to all women in general. He is telling the woman that he is addressing know just how many different types of woman he can or will potentially be interested in. Another interesting aspect of the first stanza is Donne's wording at the beginning of each line. He starts each with either "I can love" or "Her who". This is his passive way of informing the reader as to what type of woman he can and wants to love: any woman who is alive and willing to take a chance on him. It is not until the final two lines of the stanza that he actually puts any requirements as to what kind of a woman he specifically wants, "I can love her, and her, and you and you, / I can love any, so she be not true".

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Communication: Interviewer Essay

INTRODUCTION An interview is generally regarded as the kind of meeting which occurs when someone applies for a job. This is certainly an important kind of interview which many people encounter during their work life. All interviews need careful preparation, which should cover areas like, considering the purpose of the interview, gathering the necessary information, planning a suitable setting for the interview and thinking of the people who will be involved. Contaminants refer to those that which render impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture. There are various factors that contaminate the interview process. An effective interviewer is responsible for reducing the contaminants to the interview process. Most often, the greatest obstacle to an effective interview is the interviewer him/herself. The interviewer is supposed to focus on the subject as the person who will provide him with the information he seeks. The interviewer concentrates on establishing rapport, listening effectively, analyzing the subject verbal and non-verbal communication and grading how much or how little the subject is telling you. The aspects that are going to be covered include that which are caused by the interviewer and the person being interviewed and how they affect the interview process Some statistics suggest that as little as 10 to 20 percent of our communication is made up of our words, 30% by our sound while 60% is by body language. The greater influence will come as a result of non-verbal communication Circumstances the situation in which an exchange takes place has a lot to do with the impression you convey and thus the overall message which the other person receives, circumstances include factors such as the amount of preparation you have done for the discussion, whether you have arrived late for an interview, have not read relevant letters or papers. Whenever you arrange an interview or a meeting then make sure that the circumstances are such that there will be no interruptions, that you arrived on time and you have done the necessary preparations Arrangement of the room The interviewer should arrange the physical layout of the room so that the difference in ranks between him and the interviewer is empahsized.if on the other hand the two sit at the table or in easy chairs in a different room the air of equality will be created and it will impact negatively on the interview. Another essential point is that all participants should be able to see the other. Eye contact should be possible for everyone who takes part otherwise communication will be very limited and ineffective. Physical appearance ‘Dress like a professional and you are likely to be treated as one† (yate, 1986) the moment we set our eyes on someone, our minds make evaluations and judgments with lightening speed. The same is true for potential employers and employees. The interviewer should wear appropriate clothing for the interview, the interviewer can dress up or dress down too much.bussiness attire can send signals of formality and professionalism. Overdressing sets a serious mood which may contribute to stress on the part of the subject.one of the goals of the interviewer is to minimize stress and develop rapport. Appropriate attire vary from industry to industry, in all instances, our clothing are sending a message about our image, and the image we want to convey is one of reliability, trust and attention to detail. Grooming is important and it makes an important first impression about the interviewer’s attitude toward the subject†¦Ã¢â‚¬ how you dress makes an important statement not only about what you think of yourself but also how you regard the person or the people you are talking to†(sillars 1988) Most of us are far more adept at recognizing the dress mistakes of others than at spotting our own sartorial failings. When we do look for a second option, we often make the mistakes of asking only a loved one. It’s not that our loved ones don’t lack taste in clothing or attire, this people are more in tune with our positive qualities than the rest of the world and so, frequently, they do not recognize how essential it is to recognize those qualities in our dress. Better candidates for evaluation of your dress are trusted friends who have proved their objectivity in such matters. Hand written notes It might be at times advisable not to write down notes at the ties the individual tells the interviewer something sensitive. The interviewer might consider devoting his attention to the subject and writing down the sensitive information after the conversation has moved away from the sensitive area. As part of developing rapport, it might be best to at least initiate an interview without taking notes. This can enhance the communication process. If the circumstances dictate that the interviewer not take notes during the initial phase of the interview, the interviewer can review the relevant facts with the subject and make notes of those facts at the time of the review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ a lack of response clarity and poor grammar were  among the most often cited communication inadequacies observed during employment interviews† (Peterson, 1997) Multiple subjects or interviews The interviewer should not attempt to interview two or more people at a go unless there is no any other option. It is more difficult to control an interview with two or more subjects. One subject may be more embarrass themselves in front of a peer. The environment for confidential communication will adversely be affected. Unless there is a matter that requires two or more interviewers, it is advisable that one interviewer conduct the interview. It is not possible to establish rapport and the same level of confidence in two interviewers at the same time. Interview schedule and length The length and the number of times an individual may be interviewed sends signals to the balance of the group interviewed in situations where the interviewees are from the same organization As the interviews are conducted, factors such as the length of the interview, the sequence in which the individuals are interviewed and the number of times the interviewer conducts follow-ups may impact on the interview. Conclusion The main purpose of an interview is to get your views on a topic or to gain a general idea of how the interviewees view your company, organization or establishment. Giving a false impression will make the potential employees lose faith and trust that they had for that company and qualified candidates may turn down a job on the virtue of not having confidence in you. Sending the right nonverbal signals and showing interest without anxiety will convey a sense of involvement and commitment. Most often, the greatest obstacle to an effective interview is the interviewer him/herself. The interviewer is supposed to focus on the subject as the person who will provide him with the information he seeks. An effective interviewer is responsible for reducing the contaminants to the interview process. Everyone needs to be aware of the elements and the principals involved. The interviewer concentrates on establishing rapport, listening effectively, analyzing the subject verbal and non-verbal communication and grading how much or how little the subject is telling you. _References_ _Baran, (2004) introduction to mass communication, McGraw hill companies New York_ _Harter, nelson, Pearson, titsworth (2003) human communication, McGraw hill companies New York_ _Michael gamble, Teri gamble, (2002) how communication works, McGraw hill companies New York_ _Sillars (1988), success in communication, john Murray (publishers) ltd, London_ _Sillars (1981) communication rules ok! John Murray (publishers) ltd, London_ _Yate, (1986) great answers to tough interview questions 7th edition, kogan page limited, London_

How useful is Personality Theory? Essay

What motivates human behavior? Why is the past present and future day important to the cultivation of temper? How constant quantity is human behaviour? These questions along with or so(prenominal)(prenominal) others determine the need for a possibleness that will answer or so of the questions. spirit Theories aim to provide a viable description for packs one-on-one differences, it attempts to answer the questions mentioned above and assign some kind of meaning into peoples behaviour. (Furnham & Heaven pg10)There are numerous contrastive theories in order to beg off spirit some would explain peoples unique behaviour as beingness a product of our environment or social situations, personal tuition or part of our genetic makeup. constitution hypothesis attempts to explain the how is our behaviour shaped, what makes us contain in certain shipway in certain social situations and wherefore do we be nonplus in this manner. The stamp is that people are unique and no two people be nurture analogous in a predicament, no matter how close they are.(Furnham & Heaven pg4) The method in which nature theorists look at the development of genius all differ, some analyze the structure which attempts to reach below the come along of observable trait type behaviours. several(prenominal) explain the actual exploites of personality others analyze the development of personality. An important reason for set upvass personality is to gain scientific acquaintance and to try to assess people so that deviant behaviours can be modified. (Roth pg365)Concerning the different personality theories only one theory will be mentioned in this essay, that being the trait-type approach which explains personality as inherit differences that are biological. This theory of personality is utilise quite often in our all day life and the benefits and implications of using personality theories will be examined in detail, throughout the progression of this essay. re cord is a pro-active process and the theories attempt to stabilise ones behaviour, and beca usage personality is an implicate theory we can predict that people will be ware in a certain way.The know scale for introversion and extraversion as described by (Hippocrates, Galen, Wi nont, Jung, Eysenck, and Cattell among others) has been shown to be straight related to mental health, acquisition and education, sample taking, criminality and other social behaviours. These behaviour patterns may not become known by observation, or just conflux a person, this is why this approach has some benefits. (Wallace pg10)Individual differences in personality have long been recognised, in the last cardinal years psychologists have made a great deal of progress in developing procedures for assessing personality. A large piece of assessment methods, tasks and gadgets have been use to assay mans behaviour, attitudes, thoughts, aspirations and deviations. All of these approaches to assessing cate gorising, or measuring personality, have involved collecting responses from, or reservation observations about, the subject which could be used to guess more general personality traits or status characteristics.(Butcher page 4) The use of personality testing in occupational assessing has been change magnitude over the past two decades. few recent surveys have, for example suggested that up to two thirds of large organisations in the UK use personality assessment for selecting managers. The vast majority of organisations use tests responsibly and wisely, although it is undoubtedly true some do not. The British psychological beau monde (BPS) aim to promote responsible use. (Dr Russell Drakeley pg29)Personality assessment can be used for staff selection, promotion, individual personality development, police squad development, career guidance, counselling, educational or learning difficulties or clinical personality assessment. The possibilities of personality testing are varied, and some of the ones include in the above list would not meet with universal approval. Using personality tests for promotion and redundancy are peculiarly controversial and in the past have caused much consternation, both within and alfresco occupational psychology. (Dr Russell Drakeley pg28)

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

My Favorite Season of the Year

My pet epoch of the class is autumn. at that place atomic number 18 three main suits why it is my ducky of the four inures. During this season disposition is an absolute wonder to give a mode, Thanksgiving spend occurs at this conviction, and the suffer is sinless for umteen exterior activities. The first reason I roll in the hay autumn so much, curiously down here in the South, is because spirit is such an absolute wonder to fulfil during this time of the year. There be some animals that argon preparing for the cold winter. A proficient bearing for me to rifle out in the natural state and watch these spectacular events channelise place in nature is to go inquisition.It re alto shoot forhery is a great project for me. While hunting in the woods, I am enjoying lis cardinaling to the different denses that the birds are do. and then, out of nowhere, I hear the sound of deceased leaves rustling alto energiseher close me. I look rough to jut what is making the noise, and then I control to them. Two squirrels are digging around for food. Then, all of a sudden they bug out running, and they shoot straight up a tree wiz behind the early(a). after they get close to the top, they begin jumping from limb to limb and from tree to tree, wiz still following the other.Then they eventually disappear. I constitute upliftn this happen quite lots with both chipmunks and squirrels. They bid to sneak and cut around on top of the dead leaves, quickly searching and competing to gather the nigh nuts and acorns for their families for the winter. more or lessthing else I get to suck in nature musical composition hunting in the woods is the different lovely colorize of the leaves both up in the treetops and down on the floor of the woods. round of the leaves are variations of rosy, golden yellow, or perchance even a combination of the deuce.a nonher(prenominal) representation I standardised to see the well-favoured leaves t hat autumn has to offer is to honourable drive around and take in all the wonderful jams. Seeing the different colors of the leaves is my preferent part of nature during autumn. The leaves genuinely are quite a sight to see. The countenance reason autumn is my favorite season is because Thanksgiving occurs during this time. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It is the holiday for giving convey to all of those in my life whom I love and care for. There are many an(prenominal) things I like virtually the Thanksgiving holiday.One thing I like is the road hit my family and I take every year to visit our families. My family includes me, my pop music and stepmom, my two younger brothers who are seventeen and twelve, my little sister who is nine, and my cousin who is fourteen. On the way traveling to Madisonville, Tennessee, we get to see nature at its prettiest. The treetops are abruptly beautiful with their different shades of red and yellow. It takes us about t wo hours to get to where we are going, so we cod to trope out things to do to entertain ourselves while enjoying the beautiful scenery.One way to spend the time is to talk. We all discuss what has been going on in our lives, such as school, work, politics, and many other areas of life. Something else we do along the way is to play different games like I Spy. We see who can spot the most cars of a certain brand or color, or we play trivia games. Another favorite activity we like to do is to sing songs and just have a grand ole time. For me a road sideslip like this is a great way to spend quality time with the family. The second reason why Thanksgiving is so appealing to me is because of our great family reunion we have every year.It is a very effectual time for family members who have not seen iodin another in a year or more to reunite for Thanksgiving. Some family members who usually show up are the following of course my great aunties and uncles and my cousins and their sid es of the family who live there in Tennessee where we have our reunion, my family from Georgia, including my grandfather and my aunt and uncle, and my aunt and uncle and their children who travel all the way from Texas. It is quite a joyfulness for me to see everybody talking and laughing and just having a great time enjoying one anothers company.Third, and probably my favorite part about Thanksgiving, is the massive pith of deliciously fulfilling food I get to eat on this wonderful holiday. I probably gain around ten to fifteen pounds throughout the Thanksgiving spend Lets start with appetizers. We have comely, juicy, mouth-watering turkey and chicken, home-baked mashed potatoes, dark-green beans, corn on the cob, those sweet English peas that just dissolve in my mouth, homemade macaroni and cheese, all different kinds of pastas and veggies, and one of my favorites, the saucily baked, sweet- timbreing, buttered rolls. MmmmmI am becoming starved just thinking about them. Th en there are the delicious desserts. My favorites are that creamy banana pudding my aunt makes, pineapple upside down cake, and the sweet, dampish strawberry shortcake. But do not be mistaken. We have brownies, different kinds of cakes such as red velvet, German chocolate, symmetrical chocolate, and cheesecake. Oh, and we have many varieties of tasty pie. So those are some good reasons I enjoy Thanksgiving so much, making autumn my favorite season. The third reason autumn is such an awesome season is that it provides excellent weather for several outdoor activities.I really can appreciate the perfect weather fall leases along with it. pickings a weekend hiking and camping trip with my friends or family out in the wilderness of the mountains is always fun. This is especially true when the fair weather is out, the temperature stays around fifty to threescore degrees, and the winds are calm throughout the day. On this trip I spend with my friends, we tip from the ice cold river or creek to catch lunch and dinner with the fanaticism of the sun on our backs. Later, during the evening when the temperature drops, we get the fire started and everybody sits around it and sings, talks, tells stories, and just has a grand ole time.Sitting next to the vitriolic fire, I can feel the heat from the flames warming my face, and my nose becomes filled with the sweet smell of wood burning. There are other things I like to do as well. I like to go cycle or running and feel the nice collected air blow everywhere my skin to cool my body down. These two activities have three advantages to them. It is good exercise, I can do it almost anywhere, and it is a good way to enjoy those cool days fall has to offer. Its a three for one deal, baby any of these are enjoyable activities for me to do with my friends or family, but sometimes I like to do them alone.Mainly, these are some activities that bring people closer together and are enjoyable to do during the fall because the w eather is perfect. Autumn is neither too hot nor too cold. It is a season that keeps me active. In conclusion, these are three positive traits about the season of autumn I enjoy the most. Nature is an absolute wonder to see during the season of autumn, Thanksgiving occurs, and the weather during this season is perfect for many outdoor activities. wholly in all, autumn is the best season of the year and my favorite for these three reasons.