Monday, December 23, 2019

Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury - 1823 Words

The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury Case Study At four years old, Casey was in a car accident. Her mother, Gloria, was driving while under the influence of alcohol and ran a red light, causing a side collision with another vehicle. Casey, who was in the passenger seat without a car seat, struck her face and head on the dashboard with great force. Upon hospitalization at Cook Children’s Medical Center, Casey was diagnosed with severe closed traumatic brain injury. The injury was initially assessed by a physician and then a neurologist in the emergency room, and was found to need surgery. Later that day, Casey was prepped and a neurosurgeon successfully performed the procedure on her frontal cortex to reduce swelling. This injury has†¦show more content†¦Teaching the caregivers to be the â€Å"therapists† and helping Casey practice her communication skills is vital to Casey’s outcome. Since Casey is only four years old, they are in complete control of her environment and are the people around Casey the majority of the time. Implementing these strategies at home is the only way that Casey will get enough repetition to help her make immediate improvements. Because of the many professionals that would be involved in Casey’s recovery and treatment, it would be vital to be a team member and to stay connected with the other professionals. Dr. Brimo would schedule time for a weekly check-in with all other professionals, if not more often. With Fort Worth being a large metropolitan area, Casey and her caregivers would have access to all of the different services and professionals that they would need for recovery. They would not have a long commute and would even benefit from the opportunity for lots of home treatment. The naturalistic environment that the home provides would be best for Casey, at least at the beginning stages of therapy, considering her fear of cars and memory loss. While it would be easy in such a large city to be referred to any type of specialist, the sheer number of different professionals can become confusing, sometimes leading to being referred to the wrong professional. Also the waitlist to see the differentShow MoreRelatedTraumatic Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injury1278 Words   |  6 PagesTraumatic Brain Injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of death and long-term disability in children (Kraus, 1995). It is an acquired brain injury that occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain (NIH,2016). The symptoms for Traumatic Brain Injury include frequent headaches, lightheadedness and dizziness. An individual may experience having blurred vision tired eyes, and fatigue. Even stressors prior to having an injury can contribute to the result of postRead MoreEffects Of A Traumatic Brain Injury1906 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction A traumatic brain injury also known as a TBI is an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects educational performance. The term applies to mild, moderate, or severe, open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas. (Florida Dept. of Education 2015) Although I have never met anyone with a brain injury, I wanted to learn moreRead MoreThe Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injuries On The Brain And Lesions1553 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Traumatic brain injuries are one of the leading causes for damage in the brain and lesions (TBI) (Wheeler, Nickerson, Long Silver, 2014). Two types of injuries that occur following brain damage are open and closed head injuries. Open head injuries are often fatal and occur in such cases as when objects such as bullets penetrate the head of the victim. Closed head injuries result from blows to the head in situations such as car accidents or sports injuries. TBIs normally evolve in twoRead MoreThe Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injuries On Children899 Words   |  4 Pages Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are the one of the leading causes of cognitive impairments in children (Ryan, p. 86). In any given year, the United States will have about 475,000 cases of TBI in people under 14 years old (Lewis, p. 348). While, injuries such as these in adults can be severe, the effects of the injury on a child’s developing brain may be devastating. A lesion on a rapidly developing brain may be particularly detrimental, often resulting in delays or cessation of development (BraineRead MoreThe Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injury ( Tbi )805 Words   |  4 Pages Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), often called concussions, are very common occurrences in children. These are bruises in the brain which occur when an impact to the head causes the brain to shake back and forth against the skull. Children, including preschoolers, toddlers, and even infants, often bruise or bump their heads from variety of methods, including motor vehicle or bicycle accidents, falls from heights (beds, stairs, etc.), and sport related impacts (Duhaime et al., 1992). Occasionally, theseRead MoreThe Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury Essay880 Words   |  4 PagesI. Introduction The focus of this study was to examine the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and adolescents on prospective memory. The purpose of the study was to add to the scant research on the effects of TBI on prospective memory in children and adolescents. The authors were also interested in adding support to the existing theory that the prefrontal areas of the brain meditate prospective memory. (Ward et al., 2005) The authors were, for the purposes of this study, assumingRead MoreThe Effects Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries2160 Words   |  9 Pages The Effect of Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries on Physical and Cognitive Function Jessica Halme Clark College Author Note This paper was written for Psychology 100, taught by Professor Fieldingâ€Æ' Abstract Concussions, classified as a mild traumatic brain injury, are a growing problem in the United States. Research is being done to determine immediate, short-term, and long-term effects as well as the most effective way to treat concussions and the best way to prevent them. The generalRead MoreThe Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injuries On Our Society1574 Words   |  7 PagesThe human brain is an enormously complex and intricate structure; however, it is incredibly susceptible to injury and irreversible damage. Traumatic brain injuries can affect any member of the population at any given moment, damaging vital areas of the brain responsible for an entire spectrum of tasks, most of which are often taken for granted. Numerous medical professionals are involved in the rehabilitation of patients that sustain traumatic brain injuries. Because traumatic brain injuries have suchRead MoreThe Long Term Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injuries1918 Words   |  8 PagesLiterature Review Examining the long-term effects of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are one of the many areas of brain behavior relationships neuropsychologists focus on. Consequently, studies review the effects obstacles have when attempting to remediate coping following TBI (Krpan, K. M., Anderson, N. D., Stuss, D. T., 2013) while other studies have looked at the relationships between development in children who have suffered from TBI (Ganesalingam, K., Yeates, K. O., Sanson, A. and AndersonRead MoreThe Effect Of Intracranial Pressure On Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury Essay1618 Words   |  7 Pagesadults with traumatic brain injury. Introduction: The use of mannitol (MTL) and hypertonic saline (HTS) are the main medical management for elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Marko, 2012). The use of hyperosmotic agents to reduce brain volumes has been known since 1919 (Ropper, 2012). HTS is gaining in popularity over the last few decades (Colton, et al., 2016), but MTL remains the gold standard in the treatment of ICP in the setting of post traumatic events and

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Macbeth as a tragic hero Free Essays

The focal point of the paper is to trace the instances of Macbeth’s character as a tragic hero. This would also include the appearance of the witches when he was pure and loyal and gradually descend to the point of near insanity when he found himself nearing the ultimate stage of becoming evil himself. It could well be mentioned in this context that concept of a hero and a tragic hero is rather a perspective of the reader. We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth as a tragic hero or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, it can be stated that a character is defined as a hero when he appears to be a central character of the story. This same person is labeled as a tragic hero if the readers find him indulging in acts that are not moral or legal. Macbeth fits this criterion of a tragic hero perfectly. (Tyerman, 233-35) The text reveals in the opening phase of the drama that Macbeth is an extremely capable warrior in accordance to the account of the captain, thus making him an important aspect of the drama. It is here through the captain’s point we come to know that Macbeth is one of the most loyal subjects of King Duncan. Next we see that Macbeth is interacting with three witches who helps us understand the three major attributes of Macbeth i.e. self-doubt, ambition and physical bravery. At the same time it beyond doubt in the basement Macbeth’s character is clean and as a solder he is true to his job and his king. (Powell, 49-50) However, at the end of this scene we see the ignition of evil in the form of ambition but in an understated phase. This was a state where he was fighting for his king and now when victory was achieved he wanted the better part of it for himself. Things started changing at a faster phase and Macbeth found himself submerging into the various aspects of evil. First he, with the instigation of Lady Macbeth, he killed King Duncan then it was the turn of Banquo. Banquo was a friend but he was eliminated in the process of keeping Macbeth’s throne safe. He did not stop to this and eliminated the family too. By the end of the play, at his death, Macbeth was completely a tragic hero as a character. (Powell, 51-53) The transition of Macbeth from being a heroic character to a tragic hero came in various phases and aspects of circumstances and political developments. It was not a justification from Macbeth’s point in the act of killing King Duncan. The only justification of Macbeth was his ambition. He was not pleased with his possession of Glamis and Cawdor, he wanted more. He wanted to be the king himself. It is true that he was instigated by the witches. The witches stated â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee. Thane of Glamis! / All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee. Thane of Cawdor! / All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be king thereafter!† (Shakespeare, I.3) This lead to the assassination of Duncan with ample moral and physical support from Lady Macbeth and all this time Macbeth tries to be brave and just to himself but deep inside his morality is broken although Lady Macbeth tried her heart out to justify each evil acts of Macbeth. Macbeth knows that he is on the wrong side. For Macbeth, as he mentions time and again, Duncan is more than a king to Macbeth and is like a father to him. Thus with this act of treachery and treason he was, at a sphere, murder his father. This was a huge leap towards becoming a tragic hero as well as a negative character. (Tyerman, 235-37) Banquo too fought beside him with almost equal success and that created doubts in Macbeth’s mind as Banquo was about to become an important foe in the line of his ambition. This too was prophesied by the witches stating that the decedents of Banquo would reign as ruler. Thus it became more obvious that Banquo should be killed. However, he himself knows very well that whatever he is doing is unethical and unjustified and he becomes more aligned with the witches where the inner self represented as the witches are depicted as ridiculous and bizarre and obviously unholy with their actions like â€Å"Double, double, toil and trouble, / Fire burn and cauldron bubble† (Shakespeare, IV.i.10–11) and â€Å"eye of newt and toe of frog†. (Shakespeare, IV.i.14). At this part Macbeth becomes an extension of evil spirit such as the witches themselves. At this point whatever Macbeth acts or represents becomes a manifestation of ill fate and unholy intensions. He orders assassinations and tries to kills any and every heir to the throne like a true negative character and this plays an impact over his mind. One major part of this follow through was Macbeth’s misapprehension of blood. (Prawer, 224-5) He saw blood everywhere and it appeared to him that this blood was of Duncan’s and that it could not be rinsed away. â€Å"I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er† (Shakespeare, III. 4. 135–137). It would be relevant to mention that the playwright William Shakespeare depicted the character of Macbeth as a metaphor of human ambition gone wrong. This makes a character that starts as a brave and powerful warrior who is completely loyal to his abilities and more so to his king. He is well loved by his men and friends and the King himself and there is no reason to accept him as a positive hero but gradually we find him rolling into the abyss of evil procedures and ultimately becomes a tragic hero as a character. The arrival of the three witches also signifies the contributing factor as an instrument. This part of the text appears to us as a superficial metaphor but this is apparently no illusion as per the drama. This is because there was another person who witnessed the witches and he is Banquo. Therefore, it could be ascertained that the characters of the three witches are in reality not illusions but a simple dramatic manifestation of the underlying sense of ambition of a courageous warrior who has tasted success few moments ago for his King, Duncan. This was a state where he was fighting for his king and now when victory was achieved he wanted the better part of it for himself. It is but human to ask more and it is human to be prone towards errors. But these are not qualities of a hero. Thus Macbeth is more tragic hero than a hero. (Prawer, 221-2) In this context it would be relevant to mention that the trace the instances of Macbeth’s `visions’ also contributes to the fact that Macbeth was becoming a tragic hero as a character. His visions were so powerful because his desires were authoritative, commanding and extremely influential. Macbeth’s visions in the end appears to be born out of the conflict of morality and ambition and thus could be well be narrated as a manifestation of the argument of the inner self. These visions are therefore both illusions and imprint of the psychological analysis at the same time. But the overall aspect of these illusions is negative as they are all inclined towards evil visions of death, blood and fear. A character that experiences these visions makes the character negative with a malevolence vibe. Such a person is never a hero. But as he is the central character of the drama it would be logical to address him as a tragic hero. (Prawer, 223-4) In the later stages we see that illusions in the true sense of a psychologist appear in the scene with Macbeth visualizing the appearance of Banquo’s ghost. This is nothing superficial but the inner fear of an otherwise physically brave individual. Macbeth tries to be brave and just to himself but deep inside his morality is broken although Lady Macbeth tried her heart out to justify each evil acts of Macbeth. Macbeth knows that he is on the wrong side and the fear of remaining in the wrong side ultimately was manifested as the ghost of Banquo. Macbeth’s subconscious morality projected the act of murder as a ghost. It is a true illusion but of the psychological context. Psychology plays a deep impact on Macbeth all the text and another superficial aspect of Macbeth’s inner fears were revealed when he visualized Banquo’s dead body looking at him and he is tremendously terrified that Banquo might still be alive. This one vision or illusion appears as a striking note to Macbeth’s morality and thus expose the inner contradiction of Macbeth’s ambition, morality, justification and self doubt. (Gervers, 17-22) In conclusion it can be stated that Macbeth is a villain in many senses but a lovable villain without doubt and this contributes this character to become one of the crafted tragic hero of literature. Reference: Shakespeare, W; Complete Works of Shakespeare; (National Book Trust 1982) Prawer, H A; Kings and Kingdoms: Analysis of Royalty in Shakespearean Plays (Allied Publishers 1998) pp 221-5 Powell, M; Anatomy of a Character: Macbeth (ABP Ltd 2001) pp 49-53 Gervers, V; Power Mechanism in Literature (HBT Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2000) pp 17-22 Tyerman, J; Invention of the Tragic King (Allied Publications 2001) pp 233-37 How to cite Macbeth as a tragic hero, Essay examples

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Financial Statement Analysis of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd free essay sample

? University of Dhaka Faculty of Business Studies Department of Finance Course Title: Financial Accounting and Reporting Course Code: F – 504 Submitted By: Sifat Monjur Shamrat Roll: 24040 Submitted To: Samia Sultana Tani Assistant Professor Department of Finance Faculty of Business Studies University of Dhaka Date of Submission: Sunday, August 18, 2013 August 18, 2013 To Samia Sultana Tani Assistant Professor Department of Finance Faculty of Business Studies University of Dhaka Sub: Financial ration analysis from financial statement of a company. Dear Madam, I am pleased to submit the Term paper that you have assigned. My assignment was on â€Å"Ratio Analysis from financial statement of a reputed company†. I hope and believe that you will be kind enough to consider any types of mistakes that occurred at the time of preparing this proposal. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Sifat Monjur Shamrat Roll : 24040 Executive Summary A few comments on the organization and content of the report may be helpful to reader. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Statement Analysis of Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In doing so, we realize that some topics may be more important to some reader then to other. For that reason we some advanced material (e. g. questionnaires) appears in appendices. Our goal is to help the reader who must compare financial position of these two companies. First we focused on the essential element of this report. We have included here the introduction of this report, objectives of the report, findings, methodology, so that the reader can get ideas easily. The second part is very important from the sense of this report. Here we have given our recommendation of the report. We have tried out level best to give the commendation neutrally. It also contains the conclusion of this report. Contents: Topic Page Introduction 1 Objective of the Report 1 Limitation of the Study 1 Literature 2 Analysis 4 Summary and Conclusion 11 Introduction: Financial Statement includes the Balance Sheet, Income statement and other statement which determine the company’s performance. Financial ratio analysis is the calculation and comparison of ratios which are derived from information in company’s financial statements. Financial ratios are the analyst’s microscope. It allowed them to get a better view of the firm’s financial health than just looking at the raw financial statements. Objective of the Report This term paper is prepared under submitted as a major requirement of the Financial Accounting Course. Financial Accounting provides the facts needed to make informed economic as well as operational control. Limitation of the Study Limitation of the study is about: a) Based on only secondary source of data b) Time bound restrict me for further research on the topic c) There is not possible to analyze every ratio of the financial statement Literature: Financial Ratio: Financial ratios are useful indicators of a firm’s performance and financial situation. Financial ratios can be used to analyze trends and to compare the firm’s financials to those of other firms. Current Ratio Current ratio is the ratio of current assets of a business to its current liabilities. It is the most widely used test of liquidity of a business and measures the ability of a business to repay its debts over the period of next 12 months. Current ratio is calculated using the following formula: Current Ratio = Current Assets Current Liabilities Receivables Turnover Ratio An accounting measure used to quantify a firms effectiveness in extending credit as well as collecting debts. The receivables turnover ratio is an activity ratio, measuring how efficiently a firm uses its assets. Receivables turnover ratio = Net receivable sales/ Average accounts receivables Inventory Turnover A ratio showing how many times a companys inventory is sold and replaced over a period. The days in the period can then be divided by the inventory turnover formula to calculate the days it takes to sell the inventory on hand or inventory turnover days. Inventory Turnover = Cost of Goods Sold Average Inventory Asset Turnover : The amount of sales generated for every dollars worth of assets. It is calculated by dividing sales in dollars by assets in dollars. Asset Turnover Ratio = Net Sales Average Total Assets Return On Asset: An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. ROA = Annual Net Income Average Total Assets Return On Equity: The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a corporations profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. ROE = Annual Net Income Average Stockholders Equity Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Balance Sheet As on 31. 03. 2009 As on 31. 03. 2008 As on 31. 03. 2007 Non-Current assets 9,407,730,001 8,291,290,984 6,804,429,292 Property, Plant and Equipment-Carrying Value 4,899,679,832 4,088,432,171 3,531,003,509 Capital Work-in-Progress 591,114,649 481,239,419 Investment – Long Term (at Cost) 4,508,050,169 3,611,744,164 2,792,186,364 Current Assets 3,843,512,855 4,411,836,436 3,682,510,712 Inventories 2,098,755,231 2,026,736,322 1,544,191,798 Trade Debtors 477,562,002 360,245,646 322,864,637 Advances, Deposits and Prepayments 260,330,162 288,806,440 236,455,395 Investment in Marketable Securities (at Cost) 20,250,000 20,250,000 20,250,000 Short Term Loan 693,157,720 1,510,502,334 1,418,893,703 Cash and Cash Equivalents 293,457,740 205,295,694 139,855,179 TOTAL ASSETS 13,251,242,856 12,703,127,420 10,486,940,004 Shareholders’ Equity 9,949,397,634 8,417,040,705 7,333,257,612 Share Capital 1,207,224,000 894,240,000 596,160,000 Share Premium 2,035,465,000 2,035,465,000 2,035,465,000 General Reserve 105,878,200 105,878,200 105,878,200 Tax Holiday Reserve 1,101,935,237 1,101,935,237 1,101,935,237 Retained Earnings 5,498,895,197 4,279,522,268 3,493,819,175 Non-Current Liabilities 660,976,668 785,241,612 598,116,106 Long Term Loans – Secured 449,757,608 602,584,615 492,569,379 Deferred Tax Liability 211,219,060 182,656,997 105,546,727 Current Liabilities 2,640,868,554 3,500,845,103 2,555,566,286 Short Term Bank Loans 1,534,345,782 2,669,693,184 1,818,777,878 Long Term Loans – Current Portion 295,590,601 297,002,646 225,176,449 Trade Creditors 124,222,699 100,953,258 60,601,743 Liabilities for Expenses 69,573,702 32,290,235 24,565,248 Liabilities for Other Finance 617,135,770 400,905,780 426,444,968 TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 13,251,242,856 12,703,127,420 10,486,940,004 Square Pharmaceutical Ltd Income Statement For the year ended 31-03-09 For the year ended 31-03-08 For the year ended 31-03-07 NET TURNOVER 9,820,796,568 8,257,843,739 7,500,811,349 Less: COST OF GOODS SOLD 5,672,565,973 4,856,061,933 4,268,447,662 GROSS PROFIT 4,148,230,595 3,401,781,806 3,232,363,687 Less: Operating Expenses 1,779,793,368 1,692,475,988 1,406,611,448 PROFIT FROM OPERATIONS 2,368,437,227 1,709,305,818 1,825,752,239 Other Income 665,520,915 604,628,504 220,144,368 Less: Financial Expenses 397,135,963 351,868,423 236,845,084 NET PROFIT BEFORE WPPF 2,636,822,179 1,962,065,899 1,809,051,523 Less: Allocation for WPPF 125,562,961 93,431,709 86,145,311 NET PROFIT BEFORE TAX 2,511,259,218 1,868,634,190 1,722,906,212 Less: Provision for Income Tax 592,644,226 409,660,827 347,984,083 Less: Provision for Deferred Income Tax 28,562,063 77,110,270 71,679,289 NET PROFIT AFTER TAX 1,890,052,929 1,381,863,093 1,303,242,840 Earnings Per Share (EPS) 156. 56 114. 47 145. 74 1. Current ratio: Current Assets (2008-2009): Cash and Cash Equivalence + Inventories + Trade Debtor + Advance, Deposits and Payment + Investment at Marketable Securities (at cost) + Short Term Loan = 293,457,740 +2,098,755,231 + 477,562,002 + 260,330,162 + 20,250,000 + 693,157,720 = 3,843,512,855 Current Assets (2007-2008): Cash and Cash Equivalence + Inventories + Trade Debtor + Advance, Deposits and Payment + Investment at Marketable Securities (at cost) + Short Term Loan = 205,295,694 + 2,026,736,322 + 360,245,646 + 288,806,440 + 20,250,000 + 1,510,502,334= 4,411,836,436 Current Assets (2006-2007): Cash and Cash Equivalence + Inventories + Trade Debtor + Advance, Deposits and Payment + Investment at Marketable Securities (at cost) + Short Term Loan = 139,855,179 + 1,544,191,798 + 322,864,637 + 236,455,395 + 20,250,000 + 1,418,893,703 = 3,682,510,712 Current Liability (2008-2009): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans – Current Portion + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabili ties for Other Finance = 1,534,345,782 + 295,590,601 + 124,222,699 + 69,573,702 + 617,135,770 = 2,640,868,554 Current Liability (2007-2008): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans – Current Portion + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabilities for Other Finance = 2,669,693,184 + 297,002,646 + 100,953,258 + 32,290,235 + 400,905,780 = 3,500,845,103 Current Liability (2006-2007): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans (Current Portion) + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabilities for Other Finance = 1,818,777,878 + 225,176,449 + 60,601,743 + 24,565,248 + 426,444,968 Table 1: Calculation of Current Ratio Year Current Assets (I) Current Liability (II) Current Ratio IV= I ? II 2009 3,843,512,855 2640868554 1. 46 2008 4,411,836436 3500845103 1. 26 2007 3682510712 2555566286 1. 44 Debt to Equity Ratio: Total Debt (2008-2009): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans – Current Portion + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabilities for Other Finance + Loan Term Loan (secured) + Deferred Tax Liability = 1,534,345,782 + 295,590,601 + 124,222,699 + 69,573,702 + 617,135,770 + 449,757,608 + 211,219,060 = 3301845222 Total Debt (2007-2008): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans – Current Portion + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabilities for Other Finance + Loan Term Loan (secured) + Deferred Tax Liability = 2,669,693,184 + 297,002,646 + 100,953,258 + 32,290,235 + 400,905,780 + 602,584,615 + 182,656,997 = 428,60,86715 Total Debt (2006-2007): Short Term Bank Loans + Long Term Loans – Current Portion + Trade Creditors + Liabilities for Expenses + Liabilities for Other Finance + Loan Term Loan (secured) + Deferred Tax Liability = 1,818,777,878 + 225,176,449 + 60,601,743 + 24,565,248 + 426,444,968 + 492,569,379 + 105,546,727 = 315,36,82392 Share holder’s Equity (2008-2009): Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 1,207,224,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 5,498,895,197 = 9,949,397,634 Shareholder’s Equity (2007-2008): Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 894,240,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 4,279,522,268 = 8,417,040,705 Shareholder’s Equity (2006-2007): Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 596,160,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 3,493,819,175 = 7,333,257,612 Table 2: Debt to Equity Ratio Year Debt (I) Equity (II) Debt to Equity Ratio III = I ? II 2009 3301845222 9949397634 0. 33 2008 4286086715 8417040705 0. 51 2007 3153682392 7333257612 0. 43 Receivable Turn Over: Annual Net Credit Sales: Assuming that all sales are on credit. 2008-2009: Gross Turnover – Value Added Tax = 11,366,597,928 – 1,545,801,360 = 9820796568 2007-2008: Gross Turnover – Value Added Tax = 9,565,715,902 – 1,307,872,163 = 8,257,843,739 2006-2007: Gross Turnover – Value Added Tax = 8,711,034,758 – 1,210,223,409 = 7,500,811,349 The practical data of the Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd. show the following results: Table 5: Receivable Turnover Ratio Year Net Sales (I) Receivable (II) Receivables Turnover Ratio III = I ? II 2009 9820796568 477562002 20. 56 2008 8257843739 360245646 22. 92 2007 7500811349 322864637 23. 23 Average Collection / Receivable Turnover in Days: This indicates the average number of days it takes a company to collect unpaid invoices. A ratio indicates that the company is having problems getting paid for service or products. The ratio is sometimes seasonally affected, rising during busy seasons, and falling during the off season. To account for this seasonality, the average accounts receivables (beginning + ending account receivables / 2) could be used instead. Average collection period can be determined by the following formula: Table 6: Average Collection Period Year Receivable Turnover (I) Average Collection Period II = 365 ? I 2009 20. 56 18 2008 22. 92 16 2007 23. 23 16 Inventory Turnover: Cost of Goods Sold: 2008-2009:Raw material consumed+ Packing Material Consumed+ Work in Process (opening) – Work in Process (ending) + Factory Overhead + Purchased of Finished Goods+ Finished Goods (Opening) – Finished Goods (ending) = 3,004,618,146 + 1,318,695,068 + 141,106,414 – 146,340,693+ 1,123,414,629 + 218,136,279+ 581,543,862 – 568,607,732 = 5,672,565,973 2007-2008: Raw material consumed+ Packing Material Consumed+ Work in Process (opening) – Work in Process (ending) + Factory Overhead + Purchased of Finished Goods+ Finished Goods (Opening) – Finished Goods (ending) = 2,770,478,855 + 1,144,141,207 + 119,969,662 – 141,106,414 + 874,353,806+ 211,761,614+ 458,007,065 – 581,543,862 = 4,856,061,933 2006-2007: Raw material consumed+ Packing Material Consumed+ Work in Process (opening) – Work in Process (ending) + Factory Overhead + Purchased of Finished Goods+ Finished Goods (Opening) – Finished Goods (ending) = 2,401,727,164 + 927, 381,432 + 108,390,739- 119,969,662 + 748,199,160 + 247,748,512 + 412,977,382 – 458,007,065) = 4,268,447,662 Inventory: 2008-2009: Raw Materials + Packing Materials + Work-in-Process + Finished Goods + Spares Accessories + Goods in Transit = 712,447,113 + 203,170,462 + 146,340,693 + 568,607,732 + 99,673,071 + 368,516,160 = 2,098,755,231 2007-2008: Raw Materials + Packing Materials + Work-in-Process + Finished Goods + Spares Accessories + Goods in Transit = 688,846,968 + 186,341,475 + 141,106,414 + 581,543,862 + 87,243,576 + 341,654,027 = 2,026,736,322 2006-2007: Raw Materials + Packing Materials + Work-in-Process + Finished Goods + Spares Accessories + Goods in Transit = 562,131,687 + 166,890,495 + 119,969,662 + 458,007,065 + 90,596,538 + 146,596,351 = 1,544,191,798 Table 7: Inventory Turnover Ratio Year Cost of Goods Sold (I) Inventory (II) Inventory Turnover ratio III = I ? II 2009 5672565973 2098755231 2. 70 2008 4856061933 2026736322 2. 40 2007 4268447662 1544191798 2. 76 Return On Equity (ROE): Net Profit After Tax: 2008-2009: Gross Profit – Operating Expense + Other Income – Fin ancial Expenses – Allocation for WPPF – Provision for income tax – Provision for deferred income tax = 4,148,230,595 – 1,779,793,368 + 665,520,915 – 397,135,963 – 125,562,961 – 592,644,226 – 28,562,063 = 1,890,052,929 2007-2008: Gross Profit – Operating Expense + Other Income – Financial Expenses – Allocation for WPPF – Provision for income tax – Provision for deferred income tax = 3,401,781,806 – 1,692,475,988 + 604,628,504 – 351,868,423 – 93,431,709 – 409,660,827 – 77,110,270 = 1,381,863,093 2006-2007: Gross Profit – Operating Expense + Other Income – Financial Expenses – Allocation for WPPF – Provision for income tax – Provision for deferred income tax = 3,232,363,687 – 1,406,611,448 + 220,144,368 – 236,845,084 – 86,145,311 – 347,984,083 – 71,679,289 = 1,303,242,840 Shareholder’s Equity: 2008-2009: Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 1,207,224,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 5,498,895,197 = 9,949,397,634 2007-2008: Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 894,240,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 4,279,522,268 = 8,417,040,705 2006-2007: Share Capital + Share Premium + General Reserve + Tax Holiday Reserve + Retain Earnings = 596,160,000 + 2,035,465,000 + 105,878,200 + 1,101,935,237 + 3,493,819,175 = 7,333,257,612 Table 12: Return On Equity Ratio Year Profit After Tax (I) Shareholder Equity (II) ROE III = I ? II 2009 1890052929 9949397634 0. 19 2008 1381863093 8417040705 0. 16 2007 1303242840 7333257612 0. 18 Summary and Conclusion Considering the entire financial ratio for the Square Pharmaceutical Ltd. we can say that at present the overall condition of the company is good. It had a mixed period from the year 2007 to 2009. It has decreasing tend in 2008 but then again went up in 2009. The company gross profit margin is stable at around 42% constant rate. Net profit margin was stable at 17% over 2007 – 2008 and showed an increasing trend in 2009 to reach 19%. But the company had a weak asset turnover ratio over this period. But we find that heir financial management is as stronger as required to attract large number of shareholders. At the end we can conclude that, the company has strong growth rate in recent years with a strong market reputation. But still the company should keep keen eyes in management operation to improve the financial condition.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Titanic Analysis Essay Example For Students

Titanic Analysis Essay TitanicWhen people hear the name Titanic manyvivid and emotional images come to mind. Visions of the very lastyet frantic final moments titanic spent afloat before sinking to its waterygrave miles below the surface. No one however pictures everythingthat had happened before and after the great liner sank, or the passengersand crew who were doomed to be aboard the massive ship. Many factors madewhat was titanic, her crew the passengers and the inevitable crash. The story of titanic started in Belfast,Ireland where hundreds of hard working men spent countless hours buildingwhat was at 46,328 gross tonnage the largest moving object at the time. The R.M.S. Titanic was owned by American tycoon J.P. Morgan, but was beingoperated on the British owned White Star line. The ship was reportedto have cost some where between $7,500,000 $10,000,000. It wasto be Bruce Ismays crowning achievement and at 882 ? feet longand 100 feet high it truly was. Mr. Thomas Andrews the ship designergave her a revolutionary layout, and it appears that titanic was builtto accommodate up to 64 lifeboats yet had only 16 aboard and 4 collapsiblelifeboats were added last minute giving a life boat capacity of only 1,176. We will write a custom essay on Titanic Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Now we come to the passengers and crewwho were aboard the ill-fated liner. The captain was Edward JamesSmith a very reputable and respected captain. The maiden voyage wasto be Captain Smiths last and he has even been quoted as saying nothingexciting ever happens on my trips. As Titanic was the ship of al shipsher passengers were the whose who of the world. Aboard were Americanmillionaire John Jacob Astor and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Isador Strauss,Mr. Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress, the unsinkable Molly Brownand the Countess of Rothes. As it seems the massive liner was doomedto infamy from the very beginning. At on Wednesday April 10, 1912the R.M.S. Titanic started to depart from Southampton on its way to NewYork City. Just as titanic left port a dangerous suction started and pulledanother ship the New York into a crash course with the immense ship andit wasnt until the last possible minute that a huge surge of water pushedthe New York out of harms way. Yet just as it seemed that disasterwas averted another major problem started. In coal bunker # 5 spontaneouscombustion caused a very destructive fire that took 3 days to extinguish. Mr. Andrews was sent to examine the damages and reported that the firecompromised the steel and could have possible damaged the airtight compartments. The next topic needed to cover is the controversial events leading up toand including the crash on April 14, 1912. The day started out withclear weather and with the boat at a full 22 ? knots what seemedto be smooth sailing, but nothing could have prepared them for what wouldhappen later that night. That night the temperature suddenly droppeddown t a chilling 31 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of only 0 degreesFahrenheit in the crows nest. Titanic was travelling too fast in conditionso dangerous that other ships had stopped for the night. At 10:00p.m. Frederick Fleet took his place as look out in the crows nest, withonly one problem his binoculars had been missing since leaving Southampton4 days earlier. At 11:40 p.m. that night everything was calm includingthe usually turbulent ocean, but the calm was suddenly shattered by whatis now one of the most famous quotes ever Iceberg right ahead. .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .postImageUrl , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:visited , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:active { border:0!important; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:active , .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5 .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u767f771691afa3dce36cc185f423dac5:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Lessons Learned from Tuesdays With Morrie EssayAlmost immediately Officer Murdoch ordered the ship to full reverse andhard to port which basically means to turn left. One major designflaw came into play here, the rudders were too small so the ship did notturn in time and so the ship hit the iceberg on her starboard side leavinga tiny trail of small punctures in the hull. These small breaks wereall that was needed to seal the fate of titanic and her passengers fornow over 400 tons of water was pouring in every minute. As soon asthe reality of everything set in Mr. Andrews was sent to inspect that damagecaused by the iceberg, the results were almost unbelievable. Theiceberg caused 5 of the 16 airtight compartments to fill with water, onemore that ever imagined in any accident. Mr. Andrews conclusion wasthat the ship everyone said, G-D himself could not sink was going tobe at the bottom of the ocean in a matter of hours. With this tragicnews the crew was instructed to start evacuating the boat women and childrenfirst and so a little past mid-night the 1st class was being awaken tohead towards the lifeboats. At 12:10 a.m. Captain Smith ordered theMarconi operators to send out a distress call that the ship was sinkingby the head. One of the first ships to respond was the German Shipthe Frankfort, but because it was operated by a competitor the operatorsignored all of the Frankforts messages. A nearby ship the Californianwas with in eyesight but the operators were off duty and asleep. Finallyat 12:45 a.m. the Carpathia responded but they were over 4 hours away. By now everyone was aware of their impending doom and chaos was startingto break out, but through it all many people came to terms with their fateand accepted it. Mr. Guggenheim and his valet dressed in their bestan were prepared to go down as gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Strauss laid intheir suite in what was to be a final embrace. Though some found peacemany were frantic and beginning to become desperate, but the ships musiciansplayed non-stop in order to calm the passengers. What made all mattersworse was that the life boat capacity was only that of ? the passengersand crew on board. Their was 318 1st class, 262 2nd class, 740 3rdclass passengers and 860 officers and crew on board a total of 2180 souls,2180 and only 1,176 were to be saved if all seats were filled. Thiswas a very scary and confusing time so one cannot put blame on the crewbut they were sending lifeboats able t fit 65 heavy men filled with only12 people in some out to sea. At 2:15 the ship stern was submergedat an 80 deg ree angle in the water and at 2:17 all power to titanic hadfailed. Just as the horrid sight of the once grand ship adhering straightup sunk in the minds of all watching the sturdy hull began to give wayand the immense body off titanic split in two and the stern came crashingback down to the surface. Slowly the stern began an eerie decent into theocean which some described as similar to an elevator ride. The once loadroaring of the ships destruction now turned into the painful cries of1,500 men, women and children who were now battling to stay alive in thefreezing ocean water. As most survivors testified to the most hauntingnoise was not the breaking or even the shrieking of all those waiting todie in the ocean but the unearthly silence once everyone eventually frozeto death. It wasnt for hours that the Titanics sister ship the Carpathiafinally arrived and pulled aboard only a little over 700 survivors. .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .postImageUrl , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:visited , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:active { border:0!important; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:active , .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700 .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc77aac108de0a9a92a2519d0f50ec700:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Reasons For Being Vegetarian EssayNews headlines around the world soon readof how the Unsinkable titanic perished in the night and how over 1,500souls came to an untimely end in the middle of the North Atlantic. Mostof the blame was placed on Bruce Ismay who was reportedly the man who orderedto ignore the ice warning and for the ship to gain speed. Reportshowever of how the ship sank widely varied, some said the boilers explodedsome said the ship was in one piece and some said that crew men were sopanicked that they were shooting men who got unruly. No one knew what hadhappened or even the exact location of the wreckage until a joint U.S. ? French expedition discovered titanic 1,600 miles NE of New York, 95 milessouth Grandbanks Newfoundland @ 41.16 degrees N. latitude and 50.14 degreesW. longitude. The expedition surveyed and photographed the wreckageand reported that the ship had indeed broke in two and laid about ?a mile apart. In July 1986 a 3-man U.S. exploration team in Alvin submersiblesonce again surveyed and photographed the wreckage. It wasnt until a controversialFrench salvage team in 1987 began collecting artifacts from the ocean floor. They collected glasses, dishes, jewelry, suitcases, currency, and a bunchof little insignificant objects. This caused a major uproar what the scientistcalled preserving many people considered grave desecration, yet throughall the protests the artifacts were displayed in Paris in September 1987. Till this day scientist flock to titanic in order to determine what happenedand why, there are even countless movies which depict almost every theoryof what happened out today. With all the pain and suffering that surroundedtitanic no one stops and looks at what good came out of the tragedy. Due to all the faults aboard the Titanic there are now laws which statethat there must be lifeboat seats for all passengers on board. There mustbe full time maintenance and operating crews on radio watch while at sea. There must be lifeboat evacuation drills and there has been an internationalice patrol set up. So now when people hear the name Titanic they can visionnot only the crash and the anguish it caused but they also can envisionthe what went into titanic, the people who lost their lives that unfortunatenight, and the great achievements that came about because of it.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays

Ralph Waldo Emerson essays Many writers created during the 18th century, but none influenced so many people as did Emerson. Emerson was confused with his place in society in the beginning of his life, but as his ideas of philosophy grew, so did his reputation. Emerson turned his back on past family generations when he walked out on his career in ministry. As he absorbed knowledge and ideas of other philosophers, so did his own mind begin to expand. Before Emerson realized it, he was a well know lecturist who had people listening to him and being strongly influenced by his thoughts. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer and leader of his own philosophy, gained his recognition and knowledge through his lectures, his religion, and his own ideas as a philosopher. Ralph Waldo Emersons great lectures were based around natures ordeals and his religious and philosophical beliefs. Emerson was said to be a great teacher and lecturist by the many who heard him speak. To hear him lecture in his best days must have been a rare experience, for he required much of his audiences in concentration and understanding - more than many of the pioneer communities... (Kunitz 254). Emerson was never given the full credit he deserved for his speeches and books. He was more in it for the sheer desire of doing it. ...When he was most famous he no more then $600 a year from his books, so to support his family, his only way to do this was by lecturing (Kunitz 253). Emerson was never a popular man, but he always drew crowds when he spoke of the religion, philosophy, and society of his era. He intrigued people with his sophisticated mind and his intellectual theories on the subjects he spoke of. The people spoke highly of him once they heard his modest ideas. To them, as finally to America, he typified Man Thinking, the ideal scholar who would in the end, as in Platos Republic, be the worlds ideal king (Kuni...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Automatic imitation – copying observed actions without intention – is known to occur, not only in neurological patients and those with developmental disorders, but also in healthy, typically-developing adults and children. Previous research has shown that a variety of actions are automatically imitated, and that automatic imitation promotes social affiliation and rapport. We assessed the power of automatic imitation by comparing it with the strength of the tendency to obey verbal commands. In a Stroop interference paradigm, the stimuli were compatible, incompatible and neutral compounds of hand postures and verbal commands. When imitative responses were required, the impact of irrelevant action images on responding to words was greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. Control group performance showed that this asymmetry was not due to modality effects or differential salience of action and word stimuli. These results indicate that automatic imitation was more powerful than verbal command. 1 Actions speak louder than words Introduction Even when we do not intend to imitate others, we are inclined to copy their body movements. This tendency, known as ‘mimicry’ or ‘automatic imitation’, was once thought to be confined to patients with frontal brain damage (Lhermitte, Pillon, Serdaru, 1986), atypically-developing individuals (e. g. Charman Baron-Cohen, 1994), ‘savages’ (Darwin, 1989) and nonhuman animals (Thorndike, 1898). More recent research has shown that automatic imitation is also common in healthy, typically-developing adults (e. g. Wallbott, 1991; Lakin Chartrand, 2003; Brass, Bekkering, Wohlschlager, Prinz, 2000) and children (Simpson Riggs, 2007). The purpose of the present study was to estimate the strength of our tendency automatically to imitate the behavior of others by comparing it with the strength of our tendency to do what we are told; to perform actions on verbal command. Most previous research on automatic imitation has been concerned, not with the strength of this tendency, but with its pervasiveness and effects on social attitudes. Carefully controlled laboratory studies have found automatic imitation of facial expressions (e. g. Wallbott, 1991), as well as finger (e. . Brass et al. , 2000), hand (Heyes, Bird, Johnson, Haggard, 2005) and arm movements (e. g. Kilner, Paulignan, Blakemore, 2003). Studies investigating the ‘chameleon 2 Actions speak louder than words effect’ in semi-naturalistic social situations have shown that gestures such as eartouching and foot-wagging are automatically imitated, that this kind of mimicry can occur without the imitator’s conscious awareness, and that it prom otes affiliation and rapport between social partners (e. g. Lakin Chartrand, 2003). Indirect evidence of the pervasiveness of automatic imitation has been provided by functional imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). For example, imaging has shown that the observation of hand, foot and mouth movements activates the same areas of premotor cortex active during their execution (Buccino et al. , 2001). Revealing yet further specificity, the observation of hand and arm movements selectively increases TMS-induced motor evoked potentials from the particular muscles involved in executing these movement (e. g. Strafella Paus, 2000). In behavioral studies, stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) procedures are often used to detect automatic imitation. These procedures provide some indication of the strength of the automatic imitation tendency by showing that it can interfere with performance based on task instructions. For example, Kilner et al. (2003) instructed participants to make sinusoidal arm movements in a vertical plane while observing a model perform the same vertical movements (compatible condition) or sinusoidal arm movements in a horizontal plane (incompatible 3 Actions speak louder than words condition). Although participants were, presumably, equally motivated to obey instructions in the two conditions, their movements showed more, counterinstructional deviation from the vertical plane in the incompatible than in the compatible condition. Other SRC studies have shown that automatic imitation interferes, not only with the spatial properties of movement, but also with its timing. Participants instructed in a simple reaction time (RT) task to open their hand as soon as an observed hand began to move, initiated the opening movement faster when the stimulus hand opened than when it closed (Heyes et al. 2005). Similar studies have shown that automatic imitation can influence the timing of hand and finger movements even when the observed movements are taskirrelevant, i. e. when participants are instructed to respond, not to the observed movements, but to arbitrary stimuli such as digits (Brass et al. , 2000), crosses (Bertenthal et al. , 2006) or colors (Sturmer, Aschersleben, Prinz, 2000 ). As far as we are aware, only one study has explicitly compared the strength of automatic imitation with that of other response tendencies (Brass et al. , 2000). This study found that the impulse to imitate finger movements was stronger than the tendency to respond with finger movements to arbitrary symbols and to static spatial markers. The results were important in providing evidence that automatic imitation is genuinely automatic (i. e. that it occurs contrary to task instructions), and that it is not reducible to spatial compatibility (see also Heyes et al. , 2005; 4 Actions speak louder than words Bertenthal et al. , 2006), but Brass et al. (2000) provided only a very conservative estimate of the strength of automatic imitation. Theories of imitation assume that it is based on stimulus-response connections that are either innate (e. g. Meltzoff Moore, 1997) or the product of long-term learning (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000). If this is the case, it is not surprising that the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency, based solely on task instructions, to respond differentially to symbolic cues. Like imitation, spatial compatibility effects depend on innate or learned response tendencies (Tagliabue, Zorzi, Umilta, Bassignani, 2000). However, Brass et al. s study did not show that automatic imitation is generally stronger than the tendency to respond to the site of stimulation; only that automatic imitation is stronger than spatial compatibility when the spatial cue is smaller and less dynamic than the body movement cue. The present study provided a more stringent test of the strength of automatic imitation by comparing it with that of the tendency to obey verbal commands. Like imitation, verbal command is a common method of instruction in everyday life, and the power of words to evoke actions is a product of deeply engrained mechanisms. Indeed, one theory of imitation, the associative sequence learning (ASL) model (e. g. Heyes Ray, 2000), suggests that the two response tendencies become engrained in the same way; that we learn to imitate through correlated 5 Actions speak louder than words experience of observing and executing action units, just as we learn the meanings of words through correlated experience of the words and their referents. We used a Stroop procedure to compare the strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command. There were four groups of participants. In the focal group (Manual-Auditory), participants were required in each trial to open or to close their hand in response to a compound stimulus. The compound consisted of an image of a hand in an open, closed or neutral posture, and the sound of a word: ‘open’, ‘close’ or a neutral nonword. In one condition, participants were instructed to imitate the action and to ignore the word (action-relevant task), and in the other condition they were told to obey the verbal command and to ignore the action (word-relevant task). In any given trial, the stimulus on the taskirrelevant dimension (the word in the action task, and the action in the word task) was compatible, incompatible or neutral with respect to the stimulus on the taskrelevant dimension. For example, in the action task, an image of an open hand was accompanied equally often by the word ‘open’ (compatible), the word ‘close’ (incompatible) and by a nonword (neutral). If the tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, then, in this focal group, one would expect the impact on performance of action stimuli in the word task to be greater than the impact of word stimuli in Actions speak louder than words the action task. More specifically, one would expect the compatible taskirrelevant stimulus to speed responding, and /or the incompatible task-irrelevant stimulus to slow responding, more in the word task than in the action task. However, an effect of this kind would not be sufficient to show t hat automatic imitation is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, for two reasons. First, it could be that the action images used in this experiment were more salient or easier to discriminate than the word stimuli. In this case, one would expect action images to be more potent stimuli, not only for automatic imitation, but also for nonimitative responding. To address this issue, we included a second group of participants (Vocal-Auditory) who were presented with exactly the same stimuli as the focal group, action images in compound with word sounds, but they were required to make vocal rather than imitative responses. For example, in the action task, this group said ‘open’ when they saw an opened hand, and ‘close’ when they saw a closed hand. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (1996, Experiment 5) found that irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. Therefore, we expected that, in contrast with the focal group, the performance of the Vocal-Auditory group would be affected equally by irrelevant actions in the word task, and by irrelevant words in the action task. 7 Actions speak louder than words The second issue concerns modality of stimulus presentation. In the focal group, actions were presented visually and words were presented in the auditory modality because those conditions are typical of everyday life. In the course of development, it is likely that simple verbal instructions, consisting of a single word, are more often heard than seen. However, because spoken words unfold over time, whereas images are instantaneously available for processing, auditory presentation of verbal commands could put them at a disadvantage. In other words, if irrelevant actions have a greater impact than irrelevant words in the focal group, this could reflect, not the relative strengths of automatic imitation and verbal command, but faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. To address this issue we included two further groups in which the word stimuli were written rather than spoken. One of these groups (Manual-Visual) made hand movement responses, and the other (Vocal-Visual) made vocal responses. Thus, there were four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, ManualVisual and Vocal-Visual. We predicted that in the focal Manual-Auditory group the effect of irrelevant actions on speed of responding to words would be greater than the effect of irrelevant words on responding to actions. If this asymmetric effect indicates that the automatic tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands, rather than an effect of nonspecific features of the stimuli or stimulus-response mapping, then it should also be present in the Manual-Visual group, but not in the Vocal-Auditory or Vocal-Visual groups. 8 Actions speak louder than words Method Participants Forty-eight right-handed volunteers (15 men, mean age: 22. Â ±7. 5 years) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Manual-Auditory, Vocal-Auditory, Manual-Visual and Vocal-Visual. All had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal hearing. The experiment was carried out with local ethical approval and written consent. Stimuli and Apparatus Warning and imperative stimuli were compounds of hand action s and words with coincidental onsets. Hand actions were life-sized images of postures made by a male right hand, taken from the angle at which one normally views one’s own hand, and presented on a laptop computer screen (60Hz, 400mm, 96DPI) in color on a black background. For the warning stimulus, the hand was in a neutral posture, with the fingers closed and pointing upwards in parallel with the thumb (visual angle: 6. 96Â ° x 13. 33Â °), and was shown for a variable duration between 800ms and 1520ms. For the imperative stimuli, the hand was in an opened (15. 5Â ° x 13. 5Â °), closed (7. 0Â ° x 11. 2Â °) or inverted neutral posture (see Figure 1D for examples), and was shown for 640ms. Word stimuli were either sound files presented via the laptop’s internal speaker (auditory) or superimposed in white 9 Actions speak louder than words nk on the hand stimuli in the centre of the screen (visual; 6. 5Â ° to 7. 1Â ° x 2. 6Â ° to 3. 1Â °). For the warning stimulus, the nonword clepo was presented for 650ms (auditory) or between 800 and 1520ms (visual). For the imperative stimuli, the word ‘open’, ‘close’ or the nonword pocle (see Figure 1C for examples) were presented for 640ms (visual) or between 600ms and 640ms (auditory). The nonwords clepo (warning stimulus) and pocle (neutral stimulus) were phonotactic amalgams of phonemes contained in the two words ‘open’ and ‘close’. Pocle contained the same syllables as clepo, presented in reverse order. For the manual response groups, response onset of opening and closing hand movements was measured by recording the electromyogram (EMG) from the first dorsal interosseus muscle of the right hand (see Heyes et al. , 2005). For the vocal response groups, onset of voice responses was measured via a free-standing electret microphone (Vivanco EM 32, Vivanco-direct. com). The RT interval began with the onset of the imperative stimulus, and ended with EMG onset (manual responses) or the activation of the microphone (vocal responses). Design and Procedure Participants sat at a viewing distance of approximately 700mm from the stimulus presentation screen. For the manual response groups, the participant’s right forearm lay in a horizontal position across his/her body, supported from elbow to wrist by an armrest. The wrist was rotated so that the fingers moved 10 Actions speak louder than words upwards during opening responses, and downwards when closing. Thus, the plane of response movement (up-down) was orthogonal to the plane of action stimulus movement (left-right), controlling for any effects of left-right spatial compatibility. After making each response, participants returned their hand to the neutral starting position; their fingers closed and parallel to the thumb. Each trial began with the presentation of the warning stimulus. After a variable duration it was replaced by the imperative stimulus. Participants were instructed to respond to the imperative stimulus as quickly as possible, without making errors, by opening or closing their hand (manual response groups) or by saying ‘open’ or ‘close’ (vocal response groups) as soon as they saw an open or closed hand posture (action-relevant task), or heard or saw the word ‘open’ or ‘close’ (word-relevant task). They were instructed to ignore the irrelevant dimension. After the presentation of the imperative stimulus, the screen went black for 3000ms before the next trial. Four action-relevant and four word-relevant task blocks of 60 trials were presented in alternating order, counterbalanced between participants. Relevant and irrelevant stimulus compounds were compatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘open’), incompatible (e. g. an open hand accompanied by the word ‘close’) or neutral (e. . an open hand accompanied by the nonword pocle). The six trial types, defined by compatibility (compatible, neutral or 11 Actions speak louder than words incompatible) and relevant stimulus (open or close), were equiprobable and randomly intermixed within each block. Results Mean RTs are plotted as a function of task and compatibility in Figures 1AD. Incorrect responses and RTs less than 100ms or greater than 1500ms were removed (3. 1%). Figure 1 about here As predicted, in the focal Manual-Auditory group (A) the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on responding to actions; there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This asymmetry was not observed in the Vocal-Auditory group (B), who responded to exactly the same stimuli using vocal responses rather than hand actions, suggesting that the asymmetry was not due to greater salience of the action than of the word stimuli. The asymmetry favoring actions over words was present in 12 Actions speak louder than words the Manual-Visual group (C), who saw rather than heard the word stimuli, indicating that it did not depend on faster processing of visual than auditory stimuli. Providing further confirmation that this asymmetry was not due to nonspecific factors, the Vocal–Visual group (D) showed the reverse asymmetry; irrelevant actions had a lesser effect on responding to words than did irrelevant words on responding to actions. These impressions were confirmed by an initial ANOVA, in which task (action-relevant, word-relevant) and compatibility (compatible, neutral, incompatible) were within-subject factors, and response mode (manual, vocal) and word modality (auditory, visual) were between-subject factors, and by subsequent analyses in which a 23 ANOVA (task x compatibility) was applied to the RT data from each group separately. The initial analysis indicated a significant three-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode: F(2, 94) = 35. , p lt; . 001), and a nonsignificant four-way interaction (task x compatibility x response mode x word modality: F(2, 94) = 1. 1, p = . 341). The separate analysis of the data from the focal Manual-Auditory group yielded a significant interaction between task and compatibility (F(2, 22) = 20. 8, p lt; . 001), confirming that there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words. This interaction was also significant in the Manual-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 25. 5, p lt ; . 001), but it was 13 Actions speak louder than words bsent in the Vocal-Auditory group (F(2, 22) = 1. 5, p = . 252), and reversed in the Vocal-Visual group (F(2, 22) = 5. 5, p = . 017). In the two groups where there was an asymmetry favoring actions over words, mean RT in the action-relevant task was shorter than in the word-relevant task (Manual-Auditory: F(1, 11) = 48. 7, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 172. 3, p lt; . 001). To check whether the action-dominant asymmetry was dependent on this main effect of task on RT, the data from these groups were subjected to bin analyses. For each group, RTs of each participant in each task were divided into five bins of equal size (Ratcliff, 1979). Three quintiles were selected in which, within group, mean RT on neutral trials was approximately equal in action-relevant and word-relevant tasks. The data from these quintiles were subjected to 2x3x3 ANOVAs (task x compatibility x bin). These analyses showed that, in each group, although there was no main effect of task on RT (Manual-Auditory: F lt; 1; Manual-Visual: F(1, 11) = 1. 1, p = . 16), there was a significant task x compatibility interaction (Manual-Auditory: F(2, 22) = 11. 8, p lt; . 001; Manual-Visual: F(2, 22) = 11. 9, p = . 001). Thus, the action-dominant asymmetry observed in the Manual-Auditory and Manual-Visual groups did not depend on faster responding in the action task than in the word task. 14 Actions speak louder than words Discussion Previous research has shown that healthy adult humans have a pervasive and automatic tendency to imitate the actions of others, but this is the first study to provide a stringent test of the strength of this tendency. Using hand actions in a Stroop procedure, the power of actions to elicit imitative responses was compared with the strength of our tendency to obey verbal commands. The results from the focal group, who made manual responses to simultaneously presented actions and spoken words, showed that the impact of irrelevant actions on responding to words was greater than the impact of irrelevant words on imitative responding to actions. The same asymmetry was observed when written, rather than spoken, words were presented, indicating that it was not due to faster processing in the visual modality. The same asymmetry was not observed when participants made vocal, rather than imitative, responses, indicating that the action-dominant asymmetry was not due to greater salience or discriminability of the action images than of the verbal stimuli. Therefore, these findings suggest that the human tendency to imitate is stronger than the tendency to obey verbal commands. Previous studies have indicated that irrelevant actions influence the control of movements made in response to color, spatial and symbolic cues (Sturmer et al. , 2000; Bertenthal et al. 2006; Brass et al. , 2000). The present findings show for 15 Actions speak louder than words the first time that automatic imitation effects occur, not only when the imperative stimuli bear an arbitrary or purely spatial relationship with responses, but also when they are verbal commands; that is, when the relationship between the imperative stimulus and the response is both specific and overlearned. Langton, O’Malley, Bruce (199 6, Experiment 5) used a Stroop procedure to compare the power of actions and words, but they did not examine imitative responding. Instead, they required participants to make vocal responses to directional gestures (a person pointing up, down, left and right) and to their verbal equivalents, and found symmetrical compatibility effects; irrelevant gestures affected vocal responses to words to the same extent as irrelevant words affected vocal responses to gestures. We found the same symmetrical pattern in our Vocal-Auditory group, when participants were making nonimitative responses, but a contrasting pattern, indicating action dominance, when participants were making imitative responses. Thus, comparison of the two studies i) confirms that action dominance is specific to imitation, and ii) indicates that, in the case of nonimitative vocal responding, actions and words have comparable impact both when the action stimuli are pointing gestures and when they are opening and closing hand movements. 16 Actions speak louder than words In a variant of the game ‘Simon says’, played at teatime in Victorian England, children were required to grip the tablecloth when an adult, gripping or releasing the cloth, said ‘Hold tight! ’, and to release the cloth, regardless of the adult’s action, when he said ‘Let go! . Presumably, amusement derived from the fact that, like the participants in the present experiment, children could not resist the influence of automatic imitation, and were therefore compelled flagrantly to disobey the authority of verbal command. However, the results of the present study do not merely vindicate the disobedient behav ior of Victorian children. They show that automatic imitation is much more than a parlour game, or a device that experimental psychologists can use to investigate the processes involved in stimulus-response translation. These findings show that automatic imitation is not only pervasive but also powerful. Even among healthy, typicallydeveloping adults, it is more powerful than the tendency to obey verbal commands. In this context, actions do indeed speak louder than words. 17 Actions speak louder than words References Bertenthal, B. I. , Longo, M. R. , Kosobud, A. (2006). Imitative response tendencies following observation of intransitive actions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 32, 210–225. Brass, M. , Bekkering, H. , Wohlschlager, A. , Prinz, W. 2000). Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues. Brain and Cognition, 44, 124-43. Buccino, G. , Binkofski, F. , Fink, G. R. , Fadiga, L. , Fogassi, L. , Gallese, V. , Seitz, R. J. , Zilles, K. , Rizzolatti, G. , Freund, H. J. (2001). Action observation activates premotor and parietal areas in a somatotopic manner: an fMRI study. European Jour nal of Neuroscience, 13, 400-404. Charman, T. , Baron-Cohen, S. (1994). Another look at imitation in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 403-413. Darwin, C. (1989). Voyage of the Beagle. London: Penguin Books. 18 Actions speak louder than words Heyes, C. M. , Ray, E. D. (2000). What is the significance of imitation in animals? Advances in the Study of Behavior, 29, 215–245. Heyes, C. M. , Bird, G. , Johnson, H. , Haggard, P. (2005). Experience modulates automatic imitation. Cognitive Brain Research, 22, 233-240. Kilner, J. M. , Paulignan, Y. , Blakemore, S. J. (2003). An interference effect of observed biological movement on action. Current Biology, 13, 522–525. Lakin, J. L. , Chartrand, T. L. (2003). Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334-339. Langton, S. R. H. , OMalley, C. , Bruce, V. (1996). Actions speak louder than words: Symmetrical cross-modal interference effects in the processing of verbal and gestural information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 1357–1375. Lhermitte, F. , Pillon, B. , Serdaru, N. (1986). Human autonomy and the frontal lobes. Part I: Imitation and utilization behavior: a neuropsychological study of 75 patients. Annals of Neurology, 19, 326-334. 19 Actions speak louder than words Meltzoff, A. N. Moore, M. K. (1997). Explaining facial imitation: A theoretical model. Early Development and Parenting, 6, 179-192. Ratcliff, R. (1979). Group reaction time distributions and an analysis of distribution statistics. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 446–461. Simpson, A. Riggs, K. J. (2007). Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions? Developmental Psychology, 43, 417-428. Strafella, A. P. Paus, T. (2000). Modulation of cortical excitability during action observation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Neuroreport, 11, 22892292. Sturmer, B. , Aschersleben, G. , Prinz, W. (2000). Correspondence effects with manual gestures and postures: a study of imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 1746-1759. Tagliabue, M. , Zorzi, M. , Umilta, C. , Bassignani, F. (2000). The role of longterm-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception Performance, 26, 648-670. 20 Actions speak louder than words Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An Experimental Study of the Associative Processes in Animals (Psychological Review, Monograph Supplements, No. 8). New York: Macmillan. Wallbott, H. G. (1991). Recognition of emotion from facial expression via imitation? Some indirect evidence for an old theory. British Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 207-219. 21 Actions speak louder than words Author note AB is now at Faculte de Psychologie et des Sciences de lEducation, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 22 Actions speak louder than words Figure caption Figure 1. RTs in compatible, neutral and incompatible trials for word-relevant (solid line) and action-relevant (broken line) task conditions. Results are presented separately for the four different participant groups: (A) ManualAuditory, (B) Vocal-Auditory, (C) Manual-Visual and (D) Vocal-Visual. Vertical bars indicate standard error of the mean. Images show compatible, neutral and incompatible stimulus compounds in action-relevant (Panel C) and word-relevant (Panel D) task conditions for the visual word modality groups (C and D). For the auditory word modality groups (A and B), words were spoken. 23

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Im not sure about the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Im not sure about the topic - Essay Example Cardio-respiratory exercise engages and relies on the type of exercise, period, concentration and the speed. Examples of aerobic training activities are swimming, basketball, running among others while weightlifting is an example of anaerobic exercise. Preventable diseases that result from lack of exercises include obesity, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular ailments. Body composition is the bodily fitness aspect that is determined from the relative quantities of body organs, body fat content, muscle, and skeleton. Determining body composition is crucial in the establishment of the baseline measurement, conducted prior to the launch of the exercise program. The analysis of body composition is also vital in evaluation of the progress in the course of the fitness program. Several methods of establishing body composition exist. A simplified method relies on the use of the thickness in skin folds to establish subcutaneous fat. This method is however less accurate when compared with the hydrostatic testing which involves underwater weighing. Hydrostatic testing is nonetheless expensive and as such is not easily available and certain individuals do not tolerate this

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Hitch Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hitch - Movie Review Example This discussion stresses that Smith emphases the use of non-verbal cues such as how to make one’s eye look heroic, what to tell women at the first ate and what one should not say to such women. The date doctor’s advice involves many strategies, both long and short term that acts through different ways to achieve the same objective. Other strategies are much subtle and require patience. Will Smith gives an array of recommendation that eventually assist his friends in their romantic life. Such non-verbal cues remains foremost in establishing comic effects and romance within the movie.From this paper it is clear that  Hitch receives his first client, Albert (Kevin James) who has been having many troubles in initiating romantic relationships. Kevin is in love with a very affluent and powerful cute lady, Allegra, whom he is not able to get. Allegra is hesitant in dating a young, boring and shy accountant because it will be demeaning her ego. Kevin consults Hitch on the way to go about the problem.   Kevin uses non-verbal cues by resigning when Allegra gets angry in a board meeting. He is trying to win Allegra by implying that he cares about her emotional turmoil due to wrong advice that she has just received from the investors. Allegra notices how caring Kevin is and gets attracted to him.  Kevin’s non-verbal trick seems to have worked perfectly for him in winning the beautiful lady.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay Example for Free

To what extent are the poems Nothings changed and Half-caste a message of protest Essay The two poems, Nothings changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika and Half-caste by John Agard, both deal with issues of race. Nothings changed describes the return to district six after the apartheid in South Africa it presents a voice angry that nothing has changed since the apartheid has been abolished, and that racial segregation still exists. Half-caste also communicates a protest against racial prejudice. It questions the use of the term half-caste and promotes more open views. The discontent behind both messages is clear in their tones. From the start Afrika sets a bitter and angry mood, the hot, white, inwards turning anger of my eyes the use of how deeply resentful he is about what is going on. Also the alliteration of the strong t consonant enhances the frustrated quality of this phrase. On the other hand Half-caste challenges the reader with a mocking phrase Excuse me standing on one leg Im half-caste. This appears to set up a more relaxed atmosphere in first three lines. The poet makes this more assertive with his use of imperatives such as excuse and explain. Throughout the poem he continues to play with the term half caste but the light atmosphere is soon over ridden by the seriousness of the message. Nothings changed is written in six main stanzas which draw attention to the harsh reality of district six. Interestingly there is a mini stanza of two lines no sign says it is but we know where we belong. this could show the racial segregation enforced and illustrates that although it is not official everybody accepts the unwritten rule. Afrika uses the power of three and the skin and the soft and the hot to demonstrate how complete and overwhelming the anger is. Also use of the refrain like phrases no board says it is and no sign says it is continue to emphasise how embedded the segregation is in society. The structure in Half caste is less obvious although it has strong implications. For example the unequal line lengths so spiteful deem dont want de sun pass/ ah rass suggest an odd untidiness and imbalance. As in nothings changed Agard uses refrain to reinforce an idea, explain yuself/ what yu mean. Although here is is more aggressive and upfront. It is repeated as he demands for an answer. There is a flow to the poem created by enjambment with no punctuation. This could reflect the release of anger. The forward slashes add pauses ? is a half-caste weather/ well in dat case which keep the reader aware of the theme of standing up against society. Both poets continue to develop the themes through rhyme and rhythm. In Nothings changed there is half rhyme, for example trees and cuisine. This could symbolise inequality and a sense of uprising against what society imposes. The rhythm is heavy and strong with hard consonant sounds like trodden and gatepost this gives a feeling of oppression. Also there is enjambment, which is shown when the poet says seeding grasses thrust/ beaded seeds/ into trouser cuffs this suggests urgency to release anger it is building up to the last line, nothings changed the short sentence ends the flow and implies defeat as the protest is replaced by acceptance that the separation still stands. Similarly the rhyme in Half-caste is random which continues the theme. The main images highlighted by rhyme such as mix a black key with a white key is a half-caste symphony. The rhythm is uneven which again emphasises the concept of half. The interesting use of colloquial language provides lots of focus on the sounds of words for example yu, de or dem which makes the rhythm more confident and direct. In nothings changed the poet begins with monosyllabic language. The first line is small round hard stone click which echoes the sound of walking on gravel this sensory language draws in the reader to the message. He uses words showing oppression like trodden on, crunched, and crushed this conveys the aggressive nature of district 6. Afrika also uses lots of heat associated words like flaring, hot white and burn. These immediately portray a build up of anger. He uses pronouns such as I press my nose making it a more personal account which engages the reader with the personal emotions. On another level he could be expressing the voice of black people against discrimination. Similarly Agard uses pronouns he engages the audience by saying yu which is directing the poem to a wide audience. He also uses colloquial language like wha, yu and on dem cloud this is Jamaican slang which sets up a background and displays his pride to be from that culture. His repeated use of the term half-caste reminds us of the taboo of the term inflicting guilt upon the reader. The clever use of half links all the imagery listening to yu wid de keen half of mih ear. This is all leading up to the last line when he challenges the reader to accept him as a whole person. Afrika uses subtle imagery like tall purple flowering amiable weeds The word weeds suggests inferiority but a struggling to stand tall against segregation. He uses personification to describe the whites only inn it squats shows how unwanted the white people are, because they impose on the black people. A strong metaphor clear panes is like a physical representation of the social barrier. It lets the wealth of the white people be seen. This is emphasised by the contrast of images created. Linen falls, the single rose are compared to bunny chows and plastic tables. Here a clear gap of living standard is shown. I think the most important image in the poem is leaving a small mean O of small mean mouth which describes the circular mark of breath on the window. This shape will disappear, and metaphorically describes how his voice of protest is lost within him. The imagery that Agard uses imagery is based around these of mix and half. Opposites like black and white and light and shadow shows two extremes which in people should be accepted as equals. He also says things like half of mih ear , half of mih eye and half-hand these are unrealistic concepts which is mocking the term half-caste. He uses a metaphor of Tchaikovsky writing a symphony and Picasso mixing colours. The use of an artist and a composer gives out a message universally. Also using art and music, pleasant things, shows how wrong and unpleasant using the term half-caste is. Finally, the change in imagery at the end of the poem shows Agards encouragement of open mindedness. He uses whole and tomorrow which suggest in the future the prejudice can change. Overall both poems show a protest although I think half-caste is defiant outwards protest that chalenges the reader with clever imagery and language. Nothings changed seems to show protest and anger held within or inwards turning anger. It also shows frustration of accepting the harsh life of being an inferior in South Africa.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Explorers of Africa :: Geography

Explorers of Africa Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer who led one of the first expeditions to investigate the course of the Niger river in Western Africa. Mungo Park was a 23 year-old scottish surgeon who had just returned from a journey to Sumatra on a ship of the East India Company. There he had discovered 6 species of fish, and he had published descriptions in a Scientific Journal. In 1795, Park had gone to Piscina, on an offer to research further into Africa. Park had accepted and a severe fever overcame him during his journey. Park also had been captured by certain muslim leaders. After he had gotten out of the Prison he had wandered around and had finally found the Niger River. Park was amazed at how beautiful the River was. Park had stated "I saw with infinite pleasure, the object of my, mission". Park had returned home to London where became famous on his publications of his voyage across Africa. Later in 1806 he sailed downstream to the Bussa rapids, where he drowned, trying to escape an attack by the Africans. Rene Callie was a 27 year old man who was fascinated by the stories told about peoples travels to Africa. His readings of Mungo park also stimulated his fascination. Callie had entered a contest for the first person to reach Timbuktu and reach back. He had reached Timbuktu. During Callie's trip he did not find it easy to prove to the French Authorities that a young man with no experience could discover Timbuktu. On his way back Callie had joined a Arab Caravan preparing to cross from Western Sahara to Morocco. Callie had stated "I am the first European to cross from the sandy ocean from the south to the north". On his return to Paris, Callie was known as a hero. Later, questions were asked if he was telling the truth or not. Johann Rebmann Johann Rebmann was a German missionary, who was not like Mungo Park or Rene Callie. The purpose of Rebmann's explorations is to find a place where he might serve God. His most helpful weapon was a umbrella, which he used to fight off lions and would be attackers. Rebmann was the european explorer who kept a careful record of his journey. Together with his

Monday, November 11, 2019

Are Gmos Good for Our Health Essay

So, its been a long day, your exhausted, really hungry, and don’t think too much about what you want to eat. You just know that you will go for anything tasty that is fast and easy to make. Choosing what we we want to eat in this way should be familiar to all of us, its the American way: We want it and we want it now, and it always has to be better, faster, and last longer. Due to our forever growing population this demand only gets stronger and stronger; alas our creation of genetically modified organisms. The dominating corporate in charge called Monsanto promised to create this ‘miracle’ food that will feed countries around the world, last longer, and make our diets healthier. After finding out that these genetically modified foods can cause health problems and aren’t provided enough for the malnourished, third world countries, can we really say that the creation of GMOs are living up to what Monsanto is telling us? One of the main defenses for GMOs is to help out third world countries; places where starvation and malnutrition hit the hardest. An article for Times magazine titled Grains of Hope illustrates all the excitement and hope that GMOs will solve world hunger. Reporting that the new GM strain in rice creates a new species of rice called Golden Rice. â€Å"This new rice produces beta-carotene, which the human body converts into Vitamin A. † â€Å" Nearly a million children die every year because they are weakened by Vitamin A deficiency and an additional 350,000 go blind† (Robbins, 2012, pg 1). You would think that this golden rice would be the answer to all malnutrition problems, but unfortunately it is not. According to a New York Times article titled Can GMOs Help End world Hunger? , â€Å"golden rice will not grow in the kinds of soil that it must to feed the hungry. To grow properly, it requires heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides. For the poor, developing countries it is unaffordable. Plus the heavy amounts of pesticides could travel into the bloodstreams of people and make them resistant to essential antibiotics. Research shows that â€Å"an eleven year old boy would have to eat twenty-seven bowls of golden rice a day in order to satisfy his minimum requirement for the vitamin† (Robbins, 2012, pg 2). The Monsanto Corporation and other biotechnology companies have invested billions of dollars to gain control over what we eat. Their main goal is not to feed the world but to retrieve maximum profit. Part of how their doing so is by ‘monopolizing’ farmers. They do so by creating a Technology Protection System. This system creates â€Å"terminator seeds. †These seeds are altered so that they are sterile. Meaning that after the crop grows, it will not produce more seeds for farmers to harvest and grow next season. Instead, they have to buy more seeds over and over again. Due to the corporate patenting and monopolization of GM seeds, farmers also have to use excessive amounts of chemicals on their crops. â€Å"It is frequently argued that the high debt incurred by Indian farmers and resultant farmer suicides (over 250,000 since 1997) have largely resulted from the need to purchase costly pesticides and expensive seeds each year because they contain a ‘terminator’ gene† (Todhunter,2012). In the earlier times of GMOs, many farmers couldn’t wait to try out these products because the World Health Organization came out and said that they benefited agriculture productivity, human health and revived infertile crops. The World Health Organization stated in their article, Weighing in the GMO Arguments: For, â€Å"Genetically engineered resistance to pests and diseases could greatly reduce the chemicals needed for crop protection. Farmers are already growing maize cotton and potatoes that no longer have to be sprayed with bacterial insecticide. They also included that removing lignin found in trees will get rid of toxic chemicals in paper and wood made products, being healthier for people and the environment. WHO also goes on to add that â€Å"Genetic modification to become more tolerant of salt [found in infertile soil] and drought. † An article I found to support these findings called GM crops ‘aid plant neighbours’ talks about a study done in ch ina where they modified strains of cotton DNA so that the crops could make their own insecticide and solve pest problems. The results were positive, the insecticide Bacillus Thuringiensis, caused a reduction in the use of insecticide because it got rid of the cotton bollworm, a major pest to cotton. The newly engineered cotton also created greater biodiversity by attracting more lady bugs, causing the population of aphids, another cotton pest, to decrease. In the article, an advocate for organic farming shares that she agrees with the modified cotton because â€Å"organic farmers avoid pesticides by using natural processes to encourage beneficial predators. Getting rid of pests by introducing predators and reducing the use of pesticides is very similar to organic processes. † The new pest resistant crop may have been beneficial for a little while but as time went on they are began to build up in our bloodstreams. A recent study done by researchers from the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Quebec, Canada found that ninety-three percent of maternal blood and eighty percent of fetal cord blood test positive for the Bt toxin Cry1ab, Proving that transgenic materials are not effectively broken down and eliminated during digestion. Another harmful chemical 3-MMPA, showed up in 100 percent of pregnant women’s bloodstreams. The chemical 3-MMPA is produced when our bodies metabolize gluphosinate, also found in GMOs. A study done in Europe found that gluphosinate can cause cancer, DNA damaged, and reproductive toxicity. Another recent study done by European researchers found that after feeding rats a diet of GM corn through out their lifetime have developed tumors all over their body and died prematurely. One thing Monsanto might try to tell you is that there are no long term affects to genetically modified products. Truth is, over years and years of Americans eating meat been changed overtime so that it is plumper and lasts longer has caused a growing epidemic that especially effects children. The additives we have been consuming were designed to have longer shelf lives, but the chemicals added also mimic human hormones that have estrogenic qualities and anabolic steroids. Because of these increased uses in poultry production children are starting puberty earlier and earlier. The article, Additives and Hormones in Our Food: A Growing Epidemic that effects Our Children, Includes a table showing how the trend of the onset age for puberty decreasing; showing that in 1970 the onset age for puberty was 12. 6 years old. In 2000, that number decreased to 9. 8 years old. Another growing the epidemic that is not only effecting America’s children but America as a whole is obesity. And guess what, chemicals added to our food are linked to that too. Based off of what Stephen Perrine, author of New American Diet, â€Å"We have all sorts of chemicals put into our newly, genetically engineered foods. † The Pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones that make our food more resistant to diseases and environmental stress contain obesogens. According to Perrine, â€Å"obesogens can cause heart disease,diabetes,obesity and high cholesterol. Most of the obesogens come from pesticides, non-organic produce, and GM corn-fed beef and chicken. For many years, GMOs seemed to be a great idea because they benefited agriculture productivity, human health and revived infertile crops. The whole intention for the creation of GMOs are great, they have proven to last longer and get rid of major pests and all but the fact that these modified organisms have caused major health problems to our people and haven’t benefited our poorer countries as they were suppose to, the invention of genetically modified organisms have done more bad than good. With that, people should be more careful about what they choose to eat. So, the next time you head out to go grocery shopping, look for labels for 100 percent organic foods, or go to the farmer’s market where everything is locally grown.