Investment plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Investment plan - Essay Example There is usually a stated value on each stock certificate called the par value. However, some stocks have no-par value. The total par value is the number of shares issued multiplied by the par value of each share and is sometimes referred to as the dedicated capital of a corporation. Shares of common stock are the fundamental ownership units of the corporation. The articles of incorporation of a new corporation must state the number of shares of common stock the corporation is authorised to issue. The board of directors of the corporation, after a vote of the shareholders, can amend the articles of incorporation to increase the number of shares authorised; there is no limit to the number of shares that can be authorised. There is no requirement that all of the authorised shares actually be issued. Although there are no legal limits to authorising shares of stock, some practical considerations may exist. Authorising a large number of shares may create concern on the part of the invest ors, because authorised shares can be issued later with the approval of the board of directors but without a vote of the shareholders. Capital surplus usually refers to amounts of directly contributed equity capital in excess of the par value. The sum of the par value, capital surplus, and accumulated retained earnings is the common equity of the firm, which is usually referred to as the firm's book value. The book value represents the amount contributed directly and indirectly to the corporation by equity investors. The conceptual structure of the corporation assumes that shareholders elect directors who in turn elect corporate officers-more generally, the management-to carry out their directives. It is the right to elect the directors of the corporation by vote that constitutes the most important control device of shareholders. Directors are elected each year at an annual meeting by a vote of the holders of a majority of share who are present and entitled to vote. A proxy is the l egal grant of authority by a shareholder to someone else to vote his or her shares. For convenience, the actual voting in large public corporations usually is done by proxy. Many companies have hundreds of thousands of shareholders. Shareholders can come to the annual meeting and vote in person, or they can transfer their right to vote to another party by proxy. The value of a share of common stock in a corporation is directly related to the general rights of shareholders. In addition to the right to vote for directors, shareholders usually have the following rights: (1) the right to share proportionally in dividends paid (2) the right to share proportionally in assets remaining after liabilities have been paid in a liquidation (3) the right to vote on matters of great importance to stockholders, such as a merger, usually decided at the annual meeting or a special meeting (4) the right to share proportionally in any new stock sold (Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe, 1996, p. 365-369). A distinctive feature of corporations is that they issue share of stock and are authorised by law to pay dividends to the holders of those shares. Dividends paid to shareholders represent a return on the capital directly or indirectly contributed to the corporation by the shareholders. The payment of dividends is at the discretion of the board of directors. Here are

Indigenous Knowledge Amd Essay Example for Free

Indigenous Knowledge Amd Essay Pedagogy in First Nations Education A Literature Review with Recommendations. ’’ Marie Battiste, director of the Apamuwek Institute, in partnership with the Canadian Government has made a research conducting a literature review on indigenous knowledge. The author writes about the challenges that such a research implies. For example, the record of educational knowledge for indigenous people is not necessarily done through books as with the European knowledge system. Throughout the years, the rights of indigenous knowledge in the educational system under the constitutional Act of 1982 section 35 and 52 (p. 13) was not always respected. Her goal s to ensure that the right information about indigenous knowledge is integrated into classrooms. To achieve it, Battiste proposes three approaches. The first one would be to clarify insights into the tensions between Indigenous people and European ways of knowing. The second approach is on innovating program to help understand the challenges of Native People. The third part is based on the Author’s research and the Ministry recommendations in improving First Nations education. Marie Battiste suggests to focus on ‘’ Similarities between the two systems of knowledge ather than on their differences’’ as a start to introduce educational reform. (p. 11). Reference: Battiste. M. (2002) Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First Nations Education

SWOT Analysis Social Work

SWOT Analysis Social Work Life is a learning process and this involves a lot of interactions and interpretations to evaluate one and evolve as a better person. The observations made by the superiors, colleagues and self have enabled me to identify my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Below is a brief discussion on the same. (S)trengths Strengths just do not mean the obvious job skills one has. It means the resources a person has, to tackle a situation. These could be things like knowledge gained through a hobby, ideas absorbed from sports, family background, and sense of humor and much more. Developing a list of a persons strengths is a time killing process as inherent skills may not be recognized as strengths until specific situation brings them on action. Similarly, strengths in dealing with a situation may not be so when a person faces other issues. My strengths are best derived while at work. I could identify my strengths, whenever a task was assigned to me. My immediate response would be to step forward and ask the requester for his / her objective behind this task and his / her expectations out of this particular task. This has always helped me enhance my ability to focus on structuring my tasks and giving optimized output. This reminds me of a past instance at my work place where, there was difference of opinion emerging within the team, under the supervision of a colleague of mine who was nominated as the Acting Team Lead (ATL) of the month. ATL was a concept brought in to enable the team with team leading experience. The differences emerging had led the team into a cold war. This is a situation that no supervisor or any superior would desire his/her team to be in which might cripple the performance and relationship of the team. When this started to be visible, I was asked by my General Manger to handle the team until the issues were resolved. This task was critical for me, as this responsibility was given to me by my GM. He set his expectation and told why he chose me and I had to live up to his expectations. Since I had been with the team for more than two years, I was confident that I would be able to crack the puzzle. I had to be cautious in approaching the team. A wrong move or decision could turn things around for the worst. Hence, I decided to break ice by meeting every individual of the team to get a better perspective of the issue. This way, I was able to analysis the core issue and come up with a resolution to resolve the particular issue. I initiated a fish on table activity for the team, where everyone from the team was allowed to speak their mind out and discuss their issues. This activity helped them understand each other and sort their differences. Post this activity, the bonding of the team was further strengthened. There was a visible change amongst the members of the teams approach toward tackling any issue. They wouldnt wait for a third person to come and resolve their issues; rather they started walking up to each other and sort the issues themselves. With this particular incident, I was able to identify my strengths. When my GM looked up to me to handle the situation, it showed his faith and confidence in my problem solving techniques. A one to one session with my GM made me realize that I possessed a greater level of patience. I realized some of my strengths through this particular incident, which were my approachability, decision making, ability to negotiate and solve problem. (W)eaknesses ÂÂ  It may be very easy to identify a persons weakness, but it takes far more objectivity. For example, showing sympathy on a persons problem is a very good human characteristic, but if it exceeds, it may cause problems in leading a team. As in the case of STRENGTHS, it is important to be aware of all your weaknesses while dealing with an issue and also to know which weaknesses could be related to a particular situation. Some of my weaknesses that I would like to work towards is to improve my area of expertise i.e. my knowledge on MS office applications. This was necessary for me to understand and put to ease the complexities involved in my work. I also would like to bring about improvement in attaining best possible control over my emotions, to incorporate the skills attained to improve my social networking and to put to best possible use, my creativity. The main culprit to be blamed for this absolutely is the lack of time. Due to which, I am most of the time unable enhance my knowledge as mentioned above. Once, I planned to dig to the roots of my weakness, and approached my supervisor to give me a feedback. Thats when I realized that I couldnt say No when I had to say it. Let me quote an incident which is fresh in memory. One fact that was brought to my notice during a feedback session was, I had the habit of going out of my way to help others even when I was piled up with so much of work for the day. I would land up myself doing the extra work not oblivious of the fact that if I took even a smallest of extra work, I would miss my deadlines. This began to affect my regular deliverables. Knowing the fact that an adjoin on work would affect my regular deliverables, neither did I say No nor did I seek help. Though I had an opportunity to say no or to get the time lines extended, I did not do so. Instead I ended up extending my shift. After this feedback from my superior, I knew I had to change myself by working towards this issue to overcome this particular weakness of mine. (O)pportunities It is important to examine a problem in its entirety and also to identify the opportunities that may exist in it. A simple example is that of a production manager who has to lay off workers in order to reduce the production due to a fall in demand for the product of the company which he works. This is a problem. However, if he is updated of the happenings of his industry and the economy, he can use this problem as an opportunity to optimize the operations and prepare for product enhancements for the future which the market will require at that point of time. Similarly, I believe that my strengths could be my gateway for opportunities. I consider every challenge that I come across as an opportunity to learn. This would enable me to tackle different situations, undauntedly. I always try to learn from my own mistakes, as well as from others mistakes too. This has helped me narrow down my mistakes and even to correct the mistakes which I have already done. To me, approaching people to understand their requirements and providing them with the desired output is one of the strengths. According to me, this is a quality which can be put to use for the advantage of the others as well me. This trend not only creates a great visibility but also enables me to understand things better and look at things from a wider perspective and from different angles. This reminds me of an instance where in all the managers from different departments were asked by the SDL (Service Delivery Lead) to work on analyzing the attrition trend for their respective spans. The SDL also informed the managers that they could approach me for any kind of help with regard to data or for any details required for the analysis. At this moment I realized that I was noticed by my SDL and my capability to work efficiently was made transparent, by him to others. I also realized my way of working turned my strength into an opportunity of getting to know more people from the hierarchy, to widen my network and provide me the opportunity to work with all LOBs (Line of Business). (T)hreats ÂÂ  Every circumstance has its own threats. The one who faces it has to recognize it and gather his strengths to tackle those. Similarly, threats are easy to identify. But differentiating the impossible and the unlikely among them may be a difficult task. The unlikely is the one that often turns around to make you mad. It is the unexpected threats which could be the greatest danger than the obvious ones. Knowing the fact that the unexpected may suddenly occur and a pre-existing knowledge of ones strengths allow for most effective response to these situations. According to me, everything is a threat My strengths, weaknesses and opportunities My way of approaching people to understand their requirements creates visibility, which my competitors could find threatening and try to persuade others to go against me. This is a potential threat that I experience. I recall an instance when I was recognized for my hard work and dedication in many occasions. I was rewarded point and vouchers as gift as an appreciation for my hard work. My competitors started envying me for getting recognized. They started stretching their shifts and began to work on weekends as well to gain attention. For which they succeeded to some extent. When I noticed their behavior and actions, I realized that I had become a threat to them and that was a threat for me. In another instance, I had to take calls of our clients. Since I had no experience in taking calls, I found it difficult to understand their accent. This was a threat as the other were either well trained or had prior experience in taking call before they joined. Knowing the client and understanding them was the most important part of our job. Since I lacked such an understanding with the client, I was given the least importance when it came to attending client calls. Emotions are one of the weaknesses that can be exposing me to a threat of being misused. As I very easily get carried away emotionally, people could take advantage of me and get me to do things for their selfish motives. STAGE 2 Improvement Plan It is important for one to identify his/her strengths and opportunities, and work towards enhancing them at the same time; it becomes equally important to work towards improving the same to overcome threats and weakness. One of the strengths if feel is important and would add value or become an added advantage is to gain my supervisors reliability / confidence in me. As an individual, I was successful enough in gain my supervisors and co-workers confidence on any kind of work given to me. However at a supervisor level it was still verified. This could be due to the importance of the report or data or else it could be that I couldnt gain his/her complete confidence. I had to work on this and had to overcome by improvising an improvement plan or a strategy and reach the point of confidence where my supervisor would give me complete authority to send report without he / she cross checking. I intend to approach my supervisor and talk to him about the same. ask him to observe my work for a week and only once he is confident in me would send the reports directly to the concern departments or people. To achieve this I plan to adopt a strategic way of doing my work. This can be achieved by looking into each and every details of the given task, identifying the areas of modifications or areas which have some scope of improvement or areas of interest of the requestor and the purpose of the report. This way I would be working towards perfecting my skills, understanding the requestors requirements, improving on visualizing the minute details and gaining confidence of my supervisor to be confident in me. I also had work towards improving my knowledge on MS Excel. Due to my limitation on MS Excel knowledge, most of the time, I depend on the experts for complex formulas which had become one of the core areas of improvement. Improving the knowledge on Excel would widen my areas or expertise, help me improve or modify complex formulas and enable me to create new templates to ease the work for everyone. If I excelled on this, it would enable me to perform critical and complex tasks. Hence I intend to overcome this weakness of mine by attending some classroom trainings or online trainings on MS Excel and by reaching out the experts. I also intend to seek for help from my supervisor to help me understand complex formulas. The second weakness I thing I would like to improve is to say No when required. As I feel, I might offend a person by saying No or might give an impression that I am not willing or I do not possess the ability to perform that particular task. One way to do so is by gathering courage to say No, by sympathizing myself and not allowing others to take advantage. A sincere effort would help me overcome this challenge. Probably by saying No in different way rather than being curt. Probably addressing the same to my supervisor or by delegating / sharing the work with my colleagues would help me solve this problem. As mentioned above, my threats, my hard work and recognitions for the same could become a threat. This could lead to a bad relationship or unhealthy competition within the team. I would try to overcome the same by changing my approach to such situations. By getting others from the team involved in all my activities and cross training everyone on each others work can ease the pressure off. This approach wouldnt be a strategy to overtake others but a step or opportunity to work together as a team for good. This way both parties would get an opportunity to improve their skill and thoughts; and plan better for the best results. The lack of experience in taking calls as mentioned earlier was one of the most important drawbacks in my career. As this could set me back or leave me behind when it come to my assessments or performance review and would become a road block in my career growth. Hence I decided to approach my superiors and colleagues to help me over come on the same. At the same time I decided to side barge with my colleagues to learn how to take client calls and speed up my learning curve. This way would be back on track for the race and wouldnt allow this weakness to affect my performance or growth. STAGE 3 Summary of progress When I implemented the plan to improve my SWOT, I began to realize that my quality of work had improved. I was more confident in terms of structuring my daily activities related to work. I knew exactly how I had to achieve my goals. When I joined the team I lacked confidence in attending client calls. I did not want this deficiency to set me back or leave me behind in the race. As planned I addressed this issue to my supervisor. He then advised me to enroll myself for a voice and accent training. As I enrolled myself to the advised training I realized that it would take longer time than expected to learn. Hence I decided to attend the training every day and post that came to the work place and side barged with my colleagues to understand and learn quickly. This strategic move helped me finish my voice and accent training in two weeks which normally takes six to seven weeks. Post this training I was back on track to compete at power with the other team members. Post my training on voice and accent I start with my plan to gain confidence of my supervisor, I realized that this actually was working out. I approached my supervisor to seek for his help in observing my work, he was happy to do so. He in fact began giving me feedbacks regularly and gave me tips on how to overcome certain issues. And soon I got an opportunity to prove myself this was when my supervisor had to take his personal time off. This was an opportunity that helped supervisor gain confidence on me. I also received rewards from my GM for taking care of my supervisors work in his absence. This particular incident helped me to take more responsibilities and relieved my supervisor of his regular jobs allowing him to take new jobs from his supervisor. Because of this action plan it helped my supervisor and me to move ahead take up additional roles and responsibilities. During my improvisation of improvement plan, I had enrolled myself for class room trainings and online trainings on MS Excel. This was one of the tips by my supervisor to me. Since my supervisor was also good at MS Excel, I approached him for help when ever required. He helped me to read and understand complex formulas and worked with me in creating few. This way I began to gain confidence in myself and was able develop my own templates to make our jobs easier. As I began to improve on my MS Excel knowledge, I was being observed by everyone around me and was ask to help them in creating templates for their reports. Looking at my knowledge on Excel my supervisor appointed me to set test papers on MS Excel for interviews and was asked to train the team as well on the same. This was one of the important milestones I had achieved. As started to improve and began to receive rewards for my hard work, I was getting piled up with work. It so happened that the expectations were rising and I couldnt do anything about it to stop it. I had reached a point where I was only accepting more and more work, and could not put a stop to it. My health began to deteriorate, as I began to stretch my shift, pushed myself to complete the assigned tasks. My co-works realized this and advised me not to accept anything and everything. When I approached my supervisor to address him of the issue, he said that he knew about the pressure I was in but could not do much about as the profile demanded for it. He then told that he would look into the issue and look for an alternative. He then decided to appoint an additional person to help me. But it was a lengthy procedure to appoint a person to assist me, as it would take at least a month to appoint one. Hence I decided to delegate some of my work to my colleagues who were well equipped wit h the tools I used. As I began to get my work done by colleagues, my supervisor observed this and appointed one of my colleagues to help me. A process of appointing that took at least a month now was reduced to two weeks. This approach in fact led to more opportunity within the team and helped everyone get cross trained so as to work as a team to ease the pressure off. This way I was getting everyone in the team involved in different activities and shared my work. This approach was eliminating possibilities of threat in the team. The team no more felt threatened by anyone, as everybody was receiving an opportunity to learn, explore and expand their area of knowledge. I was a no more a war but a healthy competition, a race to learn more and not to pull down one another. There were rewards and recognitions delegated for the most helpful person of the team, knowledge priest award, most improved person award and the best performer award. The objective of these award titles was to create more opportunities, enhance skills, direct most of the people in the team towards a healthy competition and most importantly to work as a team to achieve organizational goals. STAGE 4 Future plan After the completion of my SWOT analysis, I was able to identify my SWOT in the initial stage of assessment, planned to improve by setting some milestones in the second stage and implemented the action plan to see the outcome of the same in the third stage. Post the successful implementation it is time for me to work on future plans to further improve my SWOTs. My future plans are to: Organize a forum where the best practices can be shared and implemented and look for new opportunities or scope for developing new strategies. I look forward to implement this in all the places where I would work. This would help the people around and me to work together towards creating a better place to learn and work. This forum can also be termed as Focus Group. As mentioned above, this group would concentrate on people development. Further it would focus on improvising corrective action plans, new idea generation in terms of reducing cost and time for a cost effective high performance and fun activities for stress busting in the work place. Organize an observation forum to identify the successful and potential areas of improvement. The forum would allow every individual to share their experiences. If a strategy they implement is successful, then, the forum would discuss how it can be utilized by others and how it can be improved and if the strategy fails, then this forum would look at what went wrong and how can it be corrected. We would then be able to list down all the dos and donts. Also look for new and innovative ideas to enhance our skills and work. The observation forums will observe all the implementations and give out a general feedback or individual feedback on the implementation methods. This forum would help to avoid or correct mistakes committed.

Farce and Satire in Shakespeares Comedy of Errors Essays

Farce and Satire in The Comedy of Errors      Ã‚  Ã‚   All is not as it seems in The Comedy of Errors.   Some have the notion that The Comedy of Errors is a classical and relatively un-Shakespearean play. The plot is, in fact, based largely on Plautus's Menaechmi, a light-hearted comedy in which twins are mistaken for each other. Shakespeare's addition of twin servants is borrowed from Amphitruo, another play by Plautus. Like its classical predecessors, The Comedy of Errors mixes farce and satire and (to a degree) presents us with stock characters.      Besides being based on classical models, is it really fair to call The Comedy of Errors a serious play?   I'm not sure it is. Three-quarters of the play is a fast-paced comedy based on mistaken identity and wordplay, and often descending to crude physical humor. The framing plot changes the total impression the play makes, mixing pathos, wonder, and joy with the hilarity. But it doesn't turn an essentially funny play into an essentially serious one. Still, there are serious elements in the play, and these may stay with us longer than the light ones. These serious elements are not limited to the framing plot, though they often depend on it. In fact, what is serious and thought-provoking in the play is often the source of laughter, too. Usually the laughter comes first, and then, if we're attentive, we'll notice that Shakespeare has given us something to think about. Let me offer some examples. First, the play treats with some seriousness issues related to marriage: jealousy, loyalty, love, misunderstanding, the need for patience, the "troubles of the marriage-bed," and the "joy" and "kind embracements" that can come with marriage (II.i.27; I.i.39, 43).    Second, the... ... to describe marriage. Adriana claims that marriage has made herself and her husband "one," "undividable incorporate": "For know, my love, as easy mayst thou fall/ A drop of water in the breaking gulf,/ And take unmingled thence that drop again,/ Without addition or diminishing,/ As take from me thyself and not me too" (II.ii.142, 122, 125-29). Shakespeare doesn't pretend that such a union is easily achieved. He is quite aware that to offer oneself to another is to risk oneself.    Works Cited * Fitch, Robert Elliot. Odyssey of the Self-Centered Self. New York: Harcourt, 1961. * Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans et al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. * Wilbur, Richard. Introduction. Tartuffe. By Jean Baptiste Poquelin de Moliere. Trans. Richard Wilbur. San Diego: Harvest-Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1963.

Collections INF

This subject focuses on the provision of appropriate Information resources for organizations and communities, with particular emphasis on the hardcopy and electronic materials required to achieve the goals of libraries, Information agencies and related organizations.It will also address the concept of tacit and explicit knowledge collections and the role of institutional repositories. Attention is given to the assessment of needs, selection, acquisition, evaluation, deselecting of resources and consortia, and issues such as policy formulation, budgeting, cooperative resource provision, outsourcing, preservation, electronic publishing and space planning.Introduction INFIX 0 focuses on the resources that librarians, archivists, record keepers and other information professionals make available and accessible to their clients, with reticular emphasis on how these materials are identified, selected, acquired, evaluated and removed when no longer of value. In the past, subjects of this kin d have been concerned mainly with printed materials, but in more recent years digital objects (any digital file of whatever type – a word document, email, database, video clip and so on, is commonly called an ‘object') have become at least as important as print materials.In the weeks ahead both types of materials will receive considerable attention. As you will see, the subject covers a lot of territory. This means a lot of org, and your task will probably be a lot easier and more palatable if you are able to work at a steady pace through the modules in Interact and associated readings, rather than neglecting the subject for two or three weeks and then attempting to absorb several topics in a day or two. If you do work at It fairly steadily, you should not find the concepts particularly difficult to absorb and understand.But the relevant area Is rapidly developing, largely because of the revolution In electronic resources that has been proceeding for some years. It does require an openness to new Ideas. It Is recommended that you supplement what you read here by examining recent Issues of journals and by monitoring Internet sites, and If you find yourself working In this field you really will need to make a conscious effort to keep up with new developments.However, this subject does aspire to provide a self-contained Introduction at a basic level. The subject now before you is a varied one with many possibilities for further study student who found nothing at all of interest. We hope you find this an interesting and stimulating subject, providing broad brush contexts and paradigms within which the ore practical focus exists. Both aspects are important to understand the work and how it fits in the broader information environment.Your Subject Outline The University, Faculty and School policies, regulations and procedures frame your studies detailing your rights and expectations, your requirements and the procedures necessary for successful Charles S trut University Subject Outline INFANT 201230 W D-30 January 2012-version 1 page 2 of 15 navigation through your studies. It is important for you to read all this information and clarify any issues with your Subject Coordinator.Faculty and School policies are published online in the Faculty/School Folio. Http://www. CSS. Deed. AU/faculty/educate/ folio/folio. HTML Your subject coordinator Robert Pym Academic biography Bob Pym has worked in libraries and related cultural institutions for more than 20 years. From 1993 until early 2005, he worked for the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, latterly as the manager of their Collection Development area.During this time Bob taught on a casual basis at the University of Canberra and Canberra Institute of Technology. His teaching interests include: collection development – leslies, selection and retention; preservation of digital materials; popular culture and libraries; and audio visual materials. Bob's PhD is in the area of Australian popular fiction and its preservation and he is interested in researching the role of popular culture materials and their place in documenting society.Subject author(s) John Kennedy, Bob Pym and Sue Terry Learning objectives – be able to discuss critically the means of assessing information needs of communities and organizations; – be able to participate in the development of an information resources policy; – be able to provide an overview of the range of information resources available; – demonstrate an appreciation of issues relating to the selection and deselecting of information resources; – display an understanding of the nature of acquisitions work as it relates to information resources in traditional and digital form and the formation of knowledge- based collections; – be able to outline the development of virtual information resources and participate in an informed consideration of the merits of such resources; – d emonstrate an understanding of the role of consortia in the provision of information resources; – demonstrate an understanding of how information agencies represent themselves in a digital world; – have developed a clear understanding of the role of institutional repositories and the policies and practices necessary to ensure their success; and – be able to discuss critically managerial issues such as censorship, budgeting, outsourcing and cooperative resource provision. All CSS courses leading to the award of Bachelor degree will foster in their graduates the attributes set out below. CSS graduate attributes build students' capacity to contribute to their community and to the wider society.

Community Corrections Paper Essay

When people think of community corrections they may imagine offenders coexisting with the community. To some this is cause for immediate alarm, but community corrections is happening all around us every day, and in many cases, community corrections is actively effective. Community corrections is practiced in countries other than the United States, and impacts each community it is practiced in. It was the late 70s, when officials finally began to take a deeper look into other ways to handle offenders besides the obvious. With growing prison and jail populations, and institutions filling up with first time offenders, offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes, and misdemeanors, many states determined that under proper limitations and regulations, many nonviolent and petty offenders could be maintained securely in their homes, or in halfway homes. These offenders could check in daily to drug treatment programs reporting centers, or community service centers. This notion is what helped ins pire the community corrections programs of today. The practice of community programs is beneficial to both offenders, and the communities they return to. The offender learns accountability in the sense that they learn to be responsible for their time and what they do within that time. Communities are impacted by community corrections in a partially indirect way. The community can claim those who successfully complete the community corrections programs, and utilize the resource provided by the programs, as law abiding and productive citizens of the community. Thus these offenders will no longer pose a threat to the community. My theory about community corrections and their overall effectiveness within the correctional system  is community corrections will evolved and find more efficient ways to help offenders become productive members of society. I imagine the evolution of community corrections programs will be a slow process, but I feel that it is with evolution and innovativeness during evolution that community corrections programs will improve there effectiveness. The United States is not the only country that focuses on humane treatment of prisoners, and rehabilitation within the prison system. Places like Norway, and Indonesia have a prison system that focus es on treatment and rehabilitation through programs. A prison in Norway has been accused of making the prions experience too cushy. Bastoy is equipped with a church, a library, and working toilets in the cells. What many in Norway view as a luxury some would consider necessity. Despite debates about the prisoner treatment in Norway prisons, this area of Europe has the lowest reoffending rate in Europe, and the crimes rates in this area of the world remain at an all-time, low, (James, 2013). Prisons in Indonesia view what they do as a service to the prisoner, and the public. According to the Forgiven Prisoner Support service, (2013), â€Å"services are offered to prisoners in the form of drug and substance abuse and rehabilitation services†, (p, 1). These efforts are specifically aimed at ensuring that the prisoners will be able to live a fulfilling and law abiding life after their release from prison. Considering that all of the prisons I researched seemed to focus on rehabilitation and treatment of prisoners, rather than stern and harsh punishment. During my research I found that it is not apparent that the United States’ prison system would be greatly if affected if it were to focus on imprisonment under the terms that foreign countries seem to focus on. Rehabilitation seems to be the recurring topic when referring to prison systems in this country, as well as others. In the end, it all comes down to the fact that community corrections programs are effective in many cases. If I were to suggest a community corrections program in my neighborhood, I would suggest a program that provides an opportunity for offenders to maintain work within the community. I would suggest projects that include cleaning dilapidated buildings and structures as a sort of beautification project. I would suggest these types of projects within the community that the offender  lives. I would suggest this type of program because I feel that if offenders played a part in cleaning up their communities they may be less likely to commit acts that will bring their communities down. This type of community correction would help build pride in the offender for where they live, and would make them what to keep the area nice. Community corrections is a reputable tool used to aid in the criminal justice system’s struggle to keep offenders functioning as active members of the comm unity. Countries all across the world have the same central focus, which is rehabilitation and treatment for prisoners. It is not plausible that so many prisons systems in the world have it all wrong with their treatment and rehabilitation approach. While some may question the effectiveness of community corrections, the active programs and growing implementation of community corrections in prison system across the country indicate that these programs indeed yield valid and tangible results for those who participate and complete them. References; James, E. (2013). Norwegian Prison. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people Foreign Prisoner Support Service. (2012). News at Foreign Prisons. Retrieved from http://www.foreignprisoners.com/prison-indonesia.html

Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century

Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century Introduction Henri Fayol has always been considered as an important pioneer of business administration theory. He is known for the formulation of the main management principles (Brunsson 2008, p. 34).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, he highlighted the main functions that managers were supposed to perform (Brunsson 2008, p. 34). However, modern scholars and practitioners often debate whether his ideas can be applicable to modern day organizations. This paper is aimed at discussing the main concepts and ideas introduced by Henri Fayol. In particular, it is necessary to evaluate them and determine the extent to which they are relevant to contemporary teaching and management practices. Overall, it is possible to argue that despite various limitations Henri Fayol’s theories continue to shape many modern busines ses; therefore they will influence education of managers. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that many people have a very simplified view of Henry Fayol, and his ideas may have more implications than it may seem at first glance. The concept of general management The ideas introduced by Henry Fayol have been both praised and criticized. In particular, one can speak about the concept of general management. Fayol believed that organizations could certainly differ in terms of their size or structure; however, there were specific tasks of a manager always had to do, namely, planning, coordinating, controlling, organizing, and commanding (Fayol, as cited in Brunsson 2008, p. 34).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To some extent, the notion of general management gave rise to a great number of theoretical works describing the functions of the management that are studied i n modern business schools. His idea of general management can be extended to the major activities of an organization. The thing is that Fayol singed out the main activities of a business, namely he spoke about the following processes: 1) commercial activities such as buying or selling; 2) accounting; 3) security activities or the protection of people and property; 4) technical activities or manufacturing; 5) financial activities or use of capital; and 6) managerial activities (McLean 2011, p. 32). He argued that to some degree, these activities were present in almost every organization (McLean 2011, p. 32). Therefore, one can say that Henri Fayol attempted to identify common patterns or features that are present in every company. In part, his theories are based on this premise. These ideas have been debated by many modern scholars. For instance, Karin Brunsson refers to empirical studies suggesting that managers do not always have to do the tasks outlined by Fayol (2008, p. 34). In this regard, one can mention some visionary leaders such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who are primarily responsible for planning or developing strategies of their companies. In turn, there are many managers who have to pay more attention to coordinating and organizing the work of employees. More importantly, the functions are often dependent on the type of organization, its structure or culture (Brunsson 2008, p. 34). This is one of the reasons why the theories of Henry Fayol have often been criticized by modern scholars.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Henri Fayol and the Relevance of His Ideas in the 21st Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Furthermore, scholars point out that the main activities highlighted by Fayol are not always represented in modern companies. For example, Fayol identifies technical activities such as manufacturing. There are many cases that contradict this argument. In particular, technic al activities can hardly be found in financial services industry or hospitality industry. These are service organizations that are not engaged in manufacturing. Thus, these are exceptions to the theories of Henri Fayol. Nonetheless, they do not completely disprove his ideas. It should be taken into account that Fayol tried to apply his theories to French steel industry (Wren 2001, p. 478). He focused on organizations that were engaged in product development (Wren 2001, p. 478). His ideas proved to be applicable to those companies. More importantly, they remain relevant to contemporary companies, for example, those one representing automotive industry (McNiff Whitehead 2000, p. 146). Therefore, it is possible to say that the notion of general management may have its limitations, but it is still important for modern practitioners. The fourteen principles of management Secondly, one should mention that Henri Fayol is often credited for formulating the main principles of management. Th e most important principles that he stressed was the division of work, unity of command, authority, centralization of power, order, efficient retention of employees, and so forth (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 499). These principles helped Fayol achieve success in steel and iron industry. These principles have been used in many organizations; yet, some scholars and practitioners may question them.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, we can refer to such a principle as the unity of command; it means that an employee must follow the commands of only one manager (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 499). The main issue is that in modern companies an employee can work under the command of several managers. These are the so-called matrix organizations in which people can work on two different projects at the same time (Galbraith 2008, p 10). Moreover, these projects can be guided by different managers. Among such companies one can single out Boeing, IBM, or Proctor Gamble (Galbraith 2008, p 50). Thus, there are exceptions showing that the rules set by Fayol do not always have to be followed. Apart from that, Fayol attached much importance to the primacy of general interests over individual ones. Certainly, this idea is accepted by many business administrators. However, contemporary organizations tend to focus more on the needs of individuals. Some critics of Fayol’s theories even argue that his managerial pr inciples portray an organization as a mechanism in which every part can be substituted. More importantly, too little attention is paid to creativity, emotions, or desires of workers (Jex 2002, p. 377). This is why many scholars may object to Fayol’s theories. Researchers also point out that some of Fayol’s ideas are too general. For instance, he advocates such ideas as fair compensation of workers and promoting team spirit in the workplace. Nevertheless, he does not explain how these principles have to be implemented (Jex 2002, p. 377). This is another way to critique the ideas of Henri Fayol. Overall, these examples suggest that his views can be questioned for several reasons. First of all, they often contradict empirical findings, and his concept of general management is not applicable to every type of organization. Secondly, he does not attach too much importance on individual needs of workers. Finally, his principles lack specific details. This is one of the views on Henri Fayol’s theories. Nevertheless, some of these criticisms can be addressed. Many concepts related to management may seem subjective or too general. For instance, even nowadays it may be difficult to give an exact definition of such a notion as fair compensation. Secondly, it is not quite appropriate to argue that the theories of Fayol are inhumane. They are aimed at maximizing the overall wellbeing of different stakeholders, rather than a separate individual. This is one of the ways in which one can justify the views of this theorist. The complexity of Henri Fayol’s ideas and their practical applications Some scholars argue that the criticisms of Henri Fayol’s views can be partly explained by the fact that many people have a very simplified view of this writer, practitioner and theorist. For instance, Lee Parker and Phillip Ritson point out that Fayol can be viewed as a forerunner of modern contingency theories (2005, p. 184). The thing is that in his wo rks, Fayol often compared an organization to a biological organism that has to adjust to various external factors. To some degree, this argument implies that there is no universal principle that companies should always follow. He certainly believed that it was desirable for a manager to follow the 14 principles that he established. Nonetheless, Fayol also argued that â€Å"there is nothing rigid or absolute in management affairs, it is all a question of proportion† (Fayol as cited in Parker Ritson 2005, p. 185). In this way, he could suggest that the behavior of a manager or a leader is determined by particular circumstances, rather than a set of rigid rules. These examples suggest that Fayol was a more complex thinker than many people believe. Overall, he strived to create a learning organization that could be agile and flexible. As it has been noted before, Henri Fayol has often been blamed for not paying too much attention to the needs of workers, for example, their need for empowerment. Yet, close analysis of his writings suggests that he set very high standards for managers. On the one hand, they hand to ensure that organizational goals were achieved. Nevertheless, they had to put trust in the creative capacity of workers and their ability to take independent decisions (Parker Ritson 2005, p. 188). The recommendations of these people could not be disregarded because they could improve the process of production. One should assume that Fayol’s theories promote complete separation of managers and workers. Therefore, one can argue that some criticisms of Fayol’s theories are not quite justified, especially the belief that he viewed workers only as subordinates. Additionally, he continuously advocated workers’ right to autonomy (Parker Ritson 2005, p. 181). Thus, people should not blame Fayol for viewing employees only as cogs in a machine. In fact, he opposed to this point of view. He developed his theories at the time when too little attention was paid to the rights and needs of employees. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Fayol’s ideas were radical and unconventional. It is vital to show real-life examples of how Fayol’s ideas can be applied by modern organizations. For instance, he was one of the first theorists to point out that high turnover adversely affected the performance of a company (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 497). He noticed that businesses in which people regularly came and went were less likely to produce very good results. This is one of the reasons why he advocated effective retention of employees. This idea appealed to many Japanese companies such as Toyota that tried to encourage life-long employment of their workers (Taniguchi 2006, p. 266). Later, this strategy was adopted by many other businesses and retention of employees is one of the top priorities for modern HR managers. Additionally, we can mention such concept as just-in-time production. To some degree, it ori ginates from Fayol’s principles of order; in other words, every peace of inventory has to be in the right place (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 498). Fayol attempted to develop the methods in which one could optimize the process of production. Nowadays, these methods are studied in educational institutions; moreover, they have profoundly changed modern manufacturing companies. Furthermore, such a quality control method as quality circles stems from Fayol’s concept of employee empowerment (Pryor Taneja 2010, p. 498). Thus, Fayol’s ideas continue to influence modern companies. Conclusion Overall, despite various limitations and criticisms, Henri Fayol’s ideas have significant implications for the education of future managers and business practices. This analysis demonstrates that this theorist had very complex views of organizations, and his contribution cannot be reduced only to the functions and principles of management. He attempted to create a very flexible co mpany that could react to the changes in its environment. Its success had to be based on effective cooperation of both managers and workers. Moreover, the relevance of his ideas to modern companies can be best illustrated by the practical applications such as just-in-time-production or quality circles. Therefore, Henri Fayol’s ideas will be relevant to educators and practitioners. Yet, it is quite possible that these theories will be modified so that they could better fit the needs of changing workplace. References Brunsson, K 2008, ‘Some Effects of Fayolism’, International Studies of Management and Organizations, vol. 38 no 1, pp. 30-47. Galbraith, J 2008, Designing Matrix Organizations That Actually Work: How IBM, Proctor Gamble and Others Design for Success, John Wiley Sons, New York. Jex, S 2002, Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, John Wiley Sons, New York. McLean, J 2011, ‘Fayol – standing the test of time’, British Journal of Administrative Management, vol. 10 no. 74, pp 32-33. McNiff, J Whitehead, J 2000, Action Research in Organisations, Routledge, London. Parker, L. Ritson, P 2005. ‘Revisiting Fayol: Anticipating Contemporary Management’, British Journal of Management, vol. 16 no. 10, pp. 175-194 Pryor, M Taneja, S 2010, ‘Henri Fayol, practitioner and theoretician revered and reviled’, Journal of Management History, vol. 16 no. 4, pp. 489-503. Taniguchi, M 2006, Careers in Japan, Emerald Group Publishing, London. Wren, D 2001, ‘Henri Fayol as strategist: a nineteenth century corporate turnaround’, Management Decision, vol. 39 no. 6, pp 475-487.

Mesolithic era Essay Example

Mesolithic era Essay Example Mesolithic era Paper Mesolithic era Paper It is thought too that the women, while the males were out hunting the animals- collected berries and other wild shrubs to cook with the meal as part of their diet. Thus, Mesolithic eating habits would not have had a significant impact on the landscape of Ireland. In contrast, Neolithic people are known as the first farmers in Ireland. It is wrong to think that Mesolithic people discovered farming and then became Neolithic people; rather Neolithic ways of life began to spread to Ireland from settlers across the sea and brought this new way of life with them. Neolithic folk were involved in cultivating the land they lived on and grew crops and vegetation as a food source, they still hunted and gathered in berries and nuts but now their diet was supplemented on a regular basis by the produce of their crops, and by the domesticated animals they kept such as pigs, sheep, cattle and hunting dogs. Evidence from Cashelkeelty, County Kerry, suggests that this happened between 3900BC and 3000BC wesleyjohnston. com/users/ireland/past/pre_ norman_history/neolithic_age. html. Findings around Neolithic sites, which have been excavated, have provided evidence of a new technology as described by J. P. Mallory T. E. McNeill; they go on to say There was also a new technology that has been especially developed for this new agricultural economy. The first farmer colonists introduced their own variety of polished stone axes for clearing away forests, flint tools for harvesting their crops, grinding stones for processing the cereal, and pots made from clay to assist in cooking and serve as containers. Even the tools used for hunting changes as these early farmers brought their own type of flint arrowheads and javelins, and now that there was easy access to animals whose hides were particularly useful to man, we begin to find abundant evidence for flint scrapers. (1991. P. 30. ) Such dramatic changes to diet brought would have brought about significant changes to the physical landscape of Ireland; people were now starting to cut away areas of woodland so they could cultivate the land for farming and building their settlements. The effects of this are evident today, with the creation of blanket bogland throughout Ireland and particularly around areas where Neolithic artefacts are discovered. Ireland has 12,000 kmi of bogland, consisting of two distinct types, blanket bogs and raised bogs. Blanket bogs are the more widespread of the two types. They are essentially a product of human activity aided by the moist Irish climate. Blanket bogs formed on sites where Neolithic farmers cleared trees for farming. As the land so cleared fell into disuse, the soil began to leach and become more acidic, producing a suitable environment for the growth of heather and rushes. The debris from these plants accumulated and a layer of peat formed. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Geography_of_Ireland#Bogs. The continuous falling debris has caused these bogs to grow and an example of the height to which they have grown is all too evident in the Ceide Fields, located in North County Mayo. Thus, most of Irelands upland peat bogs (although not the lower ones are actually features inadvertently created by Neolithic farmers). In relation to housing Mesolithic people did not build permanent settlements, this was due to their way of life, being from a hunter-gatherer culture, these individuals tended to be nomadic, moving from season to season, going where the food was. During the summer and early autumn months it is thought that these people settled beside coastal areas- were it was cooler and throughout the winter and spring they settled more inland, taking refuge and protection from the weather amongst the dense woodland. There is no absolute evidence for these assumptions however; tools from the Mesolithic era have been located around or close to coastal areas. The Curran (Near to present day Larne, County Antrim) is a raised beach where archaeologists have found thousands of flint tools, and in County Offaly, archaeologists uncovered evidence of a Mesolithic settlement at Lough Boora. Neolithic peoples contributed to the changing of the landscape through the settlement dividing which are evident in the Ceide Fields of northern County Mayo. The Ceide Fields are a series of stone field boundaries discovered preserved under peat on the edge of a cliff in Mayo. At the time, they were made; the climate would have allowed them to grow crops there, although today it is a bog. It would be on this land, beside that which they cultivated that their dwellings would be built. Neolithic settlers built more structured and permanent buildings for settlement than the Mesolithic. A Neolithic house was rectangular and made either from tree trunks sunk vertically into the ground or from woven branches covered with mud. A large beam leaning against the ridge of the roof supported the gables at each end. The roof itself was made from timber beams with reed thatch covering it. A small hole in the roof allowed smoke to escape because, unlike the Mesolithic Irish, the Neolithic farmers lit their fires and cooked indoors. We know what these houses looked like because, although most of the wood itself has gone, the post-holes have survived and engineers can thus determine the houses structure. wesleyjohnston. com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_ history/neolithic_age. html.

Sustainablity Marketing Plan -- 3M Corporation Speech or Presentation

Sustainablity Marketing Plan -- 3M Corporation - Speech or Presentation Example Currently, it is one of the premier manufacturing corporations. The corporation manufactures diversified products including more than 60000 different products which are observed to dominate in their respective markets. The corporation operates with 81 manufacturing sites in 28 states in the United States of America. 3M operates in more than 133 manufacturing and converting facilities in over 60 nations globally (3M Company, â€Å"Inspired innovation†). The corporation is engaged in various technology oriented segments. It manufactures products for wide-range of industries such as transportation, healthcare, safety, security and protection services, consumer and office, displays and graphics as well as electro and communication businesses. In addition to this, the corporation sells its products through various channels such as through the involvements of distributors, wholesalers, retailers, dealers, as well as directly to the costumers nationally and internationally across the world (Reuters, â€Å"Profile: 3M Co (MMM)†). Thesis Statement The discussion intends to critically identify the initiatives of 3M Corporation for ensuring sustainable growth and economic progress. It also intends to provide sustainable marketing plan for the corporation keeping in consideration the integral aspects such as promotion. Marketing Mission and Corporate Sustainability 3M Corporation is a global manufacturer and technology innovator successfully operating across the world primarily in six different operation segments. The corporation’s prime mission is to earn customer loyalty and respect by effectively differentiating it from its competitors. Moreover, the company is determined to operate with uncompromising authenticity and integrity in its all operational activities. It also aims at satisfy diverse customers with innovative technologies and superior quality products and services. Furthermore, it intends to place deep respects for its investors and provi de them high and attractive returns through sustainable and global growth. The corporation in relation to its mission concentrates on continuous development of social, physical and economic environment around the world. Least but not last, the company intends to develop employees skills and leadership qualities through its continuous initiatives (3M Company, â€Å"Sustaining Future†). The corporation’s sustainability strategies are primarily focused on customers’ satisfaction and its overall commercial success within social, economic and environmental values and frameworks. Its strategies are directed towards promoting healthy environment and safety measures at its different locations worldwide. The corporation’s sustainability strategies also emphasize on pollution prevention endeavors through continuous development of new and efficient technologies and products to be offered to its wide range of customers. As a part of its sustainability strategies its focuses on acquiring and retaining a pool of competent and skilled workforce as

Sustainable management futures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Sustainable management futures - Essay Example iv) The employee involved in whistle blowing should have stumbled with credible documentary evidence that convinces observers of the correctness of the circumstance where the product brings grave harm to the public. iv) The whistle blower should have a valid reason in believing that by informing the public, the necessary corrective measures will effected. v) The situation involving death or serious body injuries should be treat as severe than non physical harm and that the whistle blower is ready to take responsibility. Loyalty and integrity: The role they play in whistle blowing Personal loyalty is steadfastness of an individual in asserting allegiance, perseverance and upholding faithfulness to others. Integrity on the other hand refers to consistency of truthfulness to ones value system and moral principles by showing this consistency in ones day to day life. Loyalty informs the power of mutual respect, being confidential and keeping promises. In some cases, loyalty can be misplac ed or blind so that it diminishes from being a virtue as harm and not good emanates. Loyalty puts the profit motive of a firm in collision with loyalty to values, beliefs and ethos. Whistle blowing is not a capricious issue as it can cause an end to organizations or a person’s existence. ... It comprises employee protection for disclosing some information including evidence of activities that are illegal or adverse to the environment.They also protects employees from employer retribution like dismissal and promotional blackmail. The victimised individuals can obtain a remedy in the courts for compensation. The prescribed persons are the registrar for data protection, executives for health and safety, environmental agency, certification officer, and trade and industry secretary of state. Is â€Å"Whistle blowing a negative or positive force within society?† Whistle blowing has been a useful force to the society since many employers have started to constitute internal processes of reporting emerging issues. There is a new desire by companies to solve problems internally before they become public. Employers would find it apprehensive when employees choose to use the Act and not the internal processes created. Though it does not force employers to come up with policie s regarding disclosures, many do not know the existence of such policies. Examining the extent the ethics of lying in business transactions Lying in most situations is indispensable. It is the only way to keep the business moving when the stocks and profits are crippling. Investors would hear none of the failures that is shouted truthfully. Robert Diamond the CEO of Barclays Group did not acknowledge the deception that the bank gave to the London Interbank Offered Rate which affected the transactions of a huge amount. They had misreported interest rates. Even the bonuses to be paid to employees were clawed back. Mr. Diamond was forced to resign. Lying is unethical and results in poor business practices as seen the case

Should the US Taxpayer Bail Out the US Automobile Industry Term Paper

Should the US Taxpayer Bail Out the US Automobile Industry - Term Paper Example The answer to such a query should certainly be no, as such an approach goes against the sound economic principles and the spirit of a free market, which have been able to furnish the US economy with a competitive edge and a resilient sense of sustainability till date. Besides, there exist questionable approaches and elements within the framework of most of the top US automakers, which is supported by a bailout, stand to persist. The fact is that the American automakers seek money from the US taxpayers to retain their status quo, rather than for embarking upon an ambitious program to weed out the inefficiencies and lacunas existing within their setup (Gattuso and Loris 1). The politicians prefer to justify such emergency measures by citing the massive losses incurred by the US automakers. Off course, there exists ample truth in such claims. In October, the sales of GM fell by 45 percent (Gattuso and Loris 1). The Chrysler and Ford also reported respective plummeting of sales by 34.9 and 30.2 percent (Gattuso and Loris 1). The automakers ascribe this drastic drop in sales to the existing credit crunch. Still, one can not deny the reality that the US automakers did take many shoddy decisions before the credit crunch that unleashed the current crisis (Gattuso and Loris). Consequently, the US auto industry ought to change the way it works and operates, rather than attempting to stubbornly continue with its unsoun d policies by seeking a bailout. First and foremost, the US automakers must take care of the huge disadvantages in the costs that they suffer from when compared to the foreign brands. The average hourly compensation paid by the US automakers to their employees is way ahead of the remuneration extended by the foreign brands to their workers (Perry).  Ã‚  

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers - Research Paper Example They continue to say it’s a myth regardless of recent, clearly observable weather anomalies such as record heat, droughts, storms and floods in addition to melting ice caps and glaciers causing rising sea levels. These climate events were predicted by scientists’ years ago. Others admit the earth is warming but deny the source claiming naturally occurring global temperature cycles are to blame. By simply acknowledging the facts and ignoring political agendas, man’s impact on climate change becomes clear, unlike the air we breathe. Man-produced air pollutants, chiefly carbon dioxide, are commonly referred to as â€Å"greenhouse gases.† Carbon dioxide is emitted naturally by mammals when they breathe out and taken in by growing plant life. This cycle does not pollute the air, however, carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil by factories, electric power plants and automobiles not only pollutes the air but i s causing an imbalance of the earth’s greenhouse effect. Part of the sun’s energy is reflected back into space by the atmosphere while part is allowed through and warms the earth. Naturally occurring substances in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, keep this balance and the earth’s temperature relatively constant. ... We have records of massive hurricanes striking what’s now New York as far back as the mid-13th century.† (Cooke, 2012). However, the warming seas, altered currents and higher sea levels due to higher climate temperatures made the storm larger, directed it on a path closer to the coast and amplified the reach of inland flooding. It seems reasonable to assume that global warming deniers, in general, have not objectively researched the available data. The oil and coal industry tries to sway public opinion by spending millions to convince people â€Å"clean energy† is too expensive and not yet a viable option while hyping their own efforts to reduce carbon emissions such as by using â€Å"clean coal† technology, a process that does not exists. â€Å"The airwaves are filled with corporate-financed climate misinformation.† (Begley, 2011). Even those who refuse to believe the scientific data cannot escape the undeniable reality that unusually extreme weathe r events are taking place more frequently. â€Å"Worldwide, the litany of weather’s extremes has reached biblical proportions.† (Begley, 2011). In 2010 Texas experienced a record drought. Many parts of the state did not have rain the entire year. Nearly1000 tornadoes ripped across the nation’s Midwest killing hundreds of people and causing billions of dollars in damage while record flooding inundated this region. Flooding in Australia and Pakistan left millions homeless. Heat waves in Europe and Russian have killed thousands. China, like Texas, endured drought conditions in most of 2010 which destroyed several millions acres that were once fertile farmlands. Sea levels are rising by varying degrees on almost every coastline. This is just the beginning and the worst is yet to

What health and wellness means to you Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What health and wellness means to you - Essay Example In a personal context I believe health and wellness are primarily about achieving a broad based and holistic sense of balance dependent on nurturing and taking care of the varied facets of my life, are they physical, mental, spiritual, social, financial, or intellectual that blend together to endow the human life with happiness and peace. Yes I agree that keeping the body free of disease by avoiding unhealthy habits, exercising regularly and eating the right diet are essential to my innate sense of wellness. Yet, this is not the be all and end all of my sense of wellness. For me, staying healthy is about continually striving to strike the right balance between my career and academic pursuits, my commitment to my family and the society, in which I live, my spiritual life and the intellectual aspirations I tend to have. In fact for me all these aspects of my life are closely intertwined and linked to each other, and a deterioration or neglect even in one of them directly translates into negatively impacting the other aspects of my health and wellness. For instance my career pursuits endow me with a sense of security and confidence, and any deterioration in them not only shakes my confidence in my ability to lead a successful and secure life, but also gives way to mental anxiety and stress that may make me eat unhealthy , have sleepless nights, avoid my family and friends, and not able to concentrate on the spiritual side of my personality. Similarly, my association with my family and the society in which I live endows me with a sense of identity and acceptance (Cattan & Tilford, 2011). If for some reason, say too much involvement in my career pursuits, I start ignoring my family beyond what is acceptable and normal, I will eventually become victim of a sense of isolation and mental anxiety, irrespective of the progress I may be excelling in the career aspects of my life. This may also make me develop physical and mental maladies like high

Manufacturing Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Manufacturing Engineering - Essay Example Machine operators working on holonic systems focus their activity on complex problem solving (Oborski & Szafarczyk 2001). Fractal and bionic manufacturing ideas propose manufacturing system performance improvement by stressing work organization factors based on autonomous groups. The human operator also plays a vital role in computer integrated manufacturing (Nagalingam & Lin 1999). All of those new manufacturing engineering paradigms are aimed at creating so-called advanced manufacturing engineering systems. In such systems, several factors are decisive for success: technology, information processing and human factor. Moreover, those factors must coexist together. One of the most crucial and not yet appreciated factors in this combination is the cooperation of technical systems and the human operator. The proposed research will be based on advances in socio-technical approach in Manufacturing Engineering. The socio-technical approach to system design was introduced by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relation in London in the early nineteen-fifties.

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sea Levels and Melting Glaciers - Research Paper Example They continue to say it’s a myth regardless of recent, clearly observable weather anomalies such as record heat, droughts, storms and floods in addition to melting ice caps and glaciers causing rising sea levels. These climate events were predicted by scientists’ years ago. Others admit the earth is warming but deny the source claiming naturally occurring global temperature cycles are to blame. By simply acknowledging the facts and ignoring political agendas, man’s impact on climate change becomes clear, unlike the air we breathe. Man-produced air pollutants, chiefly carbon dioxide, are commonly referred to as â€Å"greenhouse gases.† Carbon dioxide is emitted naturally by mammals when they breathe out and taken in by growing plant life. This cycle does not pollute the air, however, carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil by factories, electric power plants and automobiles not only pollutes the air but i s causing an imbalance of the earth’s greenhouse effect. Part of the sun’s energy is reflected back into space by the atmosphere while part is allowed through and warms the earth. Naturally occurring substances in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, keep this balance and the earth’s temperature relatively constant. ... We have records of massive hurricanes striking what’s now New York as far back as the mid-13th century.† (Cooke, 2012). However, the warming seas, altered currents and higher sea levels due to higher climate temperatures made the storm larger, directed it on a path closer to the coast and amplified the reach of inland flooding. It seems reasonable to assume that global warming deniers, in general, have not objectively researched the available data. The oil and coal industry tries to sway public opinion by spending millions to convince people â€Å"clean energy† is too expensive and not yet a viable option while hyping their own efforts to reduce carbon emissions such as by using â€Å"clean coal† technology, a process that does not exists. â€Å"The airwaves are filled with corporate-financed climate misinformation.† (Begley, 2011). Even those who refuse to believe the scientific data cannot escape the undeniable reality that unusually extreme weathe r events are taking place more frequently. â€Å"Worldwide, the litany of weather’s extremes has reached biblical proportions.† (Begley, 2011). In 2010 Texas experienced a record drought. Many parts of the state did not have rain the entire year. Nearly1000 tornadoes ripped across the nation’s Midwest killing hundreds of people and causing billions of dollars in damage while record flooding inundated this region. Flooding in Australia and Pakistan left millions homeless. Heat waves in Europe and Russian have killed thousands. China, like Texas, endured drought conditions in most of 2010 which destroyed several millions acres that were once fertile farmlands. Sea levels are rising by varying degrees on almost every coastline. This is just the beginning and the worst is yet to

Manufacturing Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Manufacturing Engineering - Essay Example Machine operators working on holonic systems focus their activity on complex problem solving (Oborski & Szafarczyk 2001). Fractal and bionic manufacturing ideas propose manufacturing system performance improvement by stressing work organization factors based on autonomous groups. The human operator also plays a vital role in computer integrated manufacturing (Nagalingam & Lin 1999). All of those new manufacturing engineering paradigms are aimed at creating so-called advanced manufacturing engineering systems. In such systems, several factors are decisive for success: technology, information processing and human factor. Moreover, those factors must coexist together. One of the most crucial and not yet appreciated factors in this combination is the cooperation of technical systems and the human operator. The proposed research will be based on advances in socio-technical approach in Manufacturing Engineering. The socio-technical approach to system design was introduced by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relation in London in the early nineteen-fifties.

The decline of the Great Muslim Empires Essay Example for Free

The decline of the Great Muslim Empires Essay From the middle of the fifteenth century and up to the end of the eighteenth century three Great Muslim Empires had been dominating in the Islamic zone of then world: the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor, the Mughal Empire in India, and the Safavid Empire in Persia, forming the most rapidly expanding forces in world affairs (Kennedy 1989). They all failed sooner or later due to the internal factors such as weakening of centralized political control, excessive enlargement of the territories, religious diversity, and rulers conservatism resulted in failure to implement the modern technologies (Kennedy 1989). The prevailing factors of their sunset were not the same for each of them, although there were several common ones. But the major contribution to the process of their decay was made by the outer world. Internal weaknesses were enough to wreck the Muslim empires, but each also failed to recognize the threat to their dominance posed by the rise of the West. By the beginning of the seventeenth century the main world communication routes didnt pass through the Middle East any more and the European states dominated at sea turning a profit from their advances in science and technology and successfully carrying out the gunpowder policy as well as promoting their trade on the territories earlier controlled by the Muslim empires (Wells 1933). To find the factors which led to the decline of the Great Mughals, the Safavid Dynasty, and the Ottoman Empire, while the Europeans went ahead, we should investigate their features, compare them and draw a conclusion.   Considering chronology of their decline, one can find a certain similarity – the period of extinction went along by the reign of a certain leader: the Ottomans fell apart after Suleyman the Lawgiver rule, the Safavids – by the end of Abbas Is reign, and the Mughals – after Aurangzers rule. The timing of collapse for the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires substantially differ. While the Ottoman state declined for the period of three centuries, the Safavids drop was much faster as well as those of the Great Mughals. The reason of rapid Safavids decay noticeably lied in the uselessness to defend from the neighboring Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth century resulted in complacence of the Safavid Shans, their growing corruption and decadence. The Mughal Empires fall is owed to heavy hand rule and aggressive East India Company trade policy. Ottoman rulers in turn had a very short–term policy unwilling to develop their territory as well as to invest in it and mercilessly exploiting land and peoples, they relied on continuous expansion for stability, and when the empire did not grow, it gradually collapsed (Hooker 1999). The Ottoman Empire was the long–lived one in comparison with the Mughals and the Safavid dynasty (a short–lived one). It reached its peak by 1600 under the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent and then has been gradually declined up to the end of the eighteenth century, but even survived through the First World War, and was disbanded in 1918. The Mughal Empire survived until 1857, it, as Phillip Myers affirmed, lasted upwards of 300 years, – until destroyed by the English in the present century, but in fact its rulers after 1803 were the pensioners of the East India Company (Myers 1902). As for the Safavids their demise after the reign of Abbas I was too prompt, and internal disorder plagued the empire which resulted in Afgans successful conquest of its capital Isfahan in 1722 (Hooker 1999). The Ottoman Turks†¦ were to falter, to turn inward, and to loose the chance of world domination†¦ To a certain extent it could be argued that this process was the natural consequence of earlier Turkish successes: the Ottoman army, however well administrated, might be able to maintain the lengthy frontiers, but could hardly expand farther without enormous cost in men and money (Kennedy 1989). The latter thought by Paul Kennedy could be referred not only to the Ottomans – it also determines one of the main economic reasons underlying the nature of Safavids and Mughals sunset. It is very expensive business to run an empire encompassing vast territory and one day such empire becomes too big to be successfully governed. The rapid expansion of the Muslim Empires spread their governments and military administrations too thin. The enormous expenses impoverished them and built up long–standing hostility among the people towards the lavish emperors. This subsequently led to the frequent rebellions and instability in the society in all three concerned empires (Hooker 1999). The lack of flexibility in attitude to the newer weaponry and resistance to any military technology that threatened the dominance of the Muslim Empires caused them to fall behind Western nations. Backwardness of Janissaries, their hereditary membership since 1637 resulted in transformation of Ottomans powerful army into a mob of cobblers and weavers. In case of the Mughals the most dramatic effect was taken by the recruitment of slave armies that finally became to dominate their hirers and govern independently. Similarly to them the Safavid Shan Tahmasp I begun introduction of converted slaves into military since the middle of the sixteenth century who later would acquire positions of influence under Shah Abbas I. But after conclusion of the treaty delimitating frontiers with the Ottomans in 1639 the army got peace and declined in size and quality (Kennedy 1989). During the seventeenth century all three empires showed the signs of weakening centralized political control. At the same time vast corruption among the bureaucracy and local aristocracy became evident. In the Safavid Empire which was a theocracy unlike the Ottoman and Mughal nations a new class of wealthy religious aristocrats owed everything to the state, but plundered it. Later sultans in the Ottoman Empire reduced to puppets dominated by Janissaries and viziers. Venality and corruption run through all level of bureaucracy. The last Mughal powerful emperor Aurangzeb decided to extend the territory under his control to the entire Indian subcontinent, and this campaign although being successful emptied his exchequer and increased his enemies. He faced rebellions in the north, and throughout the empire Islamic invaders, Hindu separatists and Sikh revolutionaries caused centralized political control to break down. Furthermore the rebellions in all three empires were excited over economic reasons: the heavy tax burden posed on peasants, alienation of the non–Muslim merchant classes in the Ottoman Empire; land seizures from Quizilbash landholders by the Safavid ruler Abbas I; a punitive tax on Hindu subjects re–imposed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (Hooker 1999). Religious diversity also contributed to the Great Muslims decay, although not so much as the above mentioned factors. Without religious tolerance the empires got a great many internal enemies disposed to the rebellions. The complexity of religion issue interrupted also the further development of the Muslim Empires. For example, Paul Kennedy stated with respect to the Mughals, that the system was weak at the core. The sheer rigidity of Hindu religious taboos militated against modernization (Kennedy 1989). The crisis in the Muslim Empires deepened also due to the external factors. They all were based on land routes, not sea travel, and this enabled the Europeans to dominate in trade by sea after discovering African water route to India by the Portuguese explorers. Muslim monopoly of trade with Asia ended then which unsettled the Ottoman economy and led to the inflation there. Although the English occasionally traded through Persia, the Safavids economy was weakened as well by the general loss of trade. Since the seventeenth century the trade routes in the world went through the oceans, which let the Europeans to have a great advantage controlling the trade by sea with India and the Far East. Having no seafaring skills, the Muslim Empires failed to resist to such domination, and they were to be reconciled with the presence of the Europeans in their cities (Wells 1933). In conclusion, the immense Muslim Empires were doomed to lose to the Europeans who advanced in science and technology, removed one of the sources of profit for the Muslim merchants having discovered new trade sea routes, and rose powerful nation–states able to gain territories not only due to gunpowder policy, but as the result of successful economic invasion. The Western Europeans, and particularly the Dutch, the Scandinavians, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the French and the British were extending the area of their struggles across the seas of all the world†¦ Great innovation, the ocean–going sailing ship, was inexorably extending the range of European experience to the further most limits of salt–water (Wells 1933). Bibliography Hooker, Richard. World Civilizations. Islam. Washington State University Web Site. 1999. http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MODULES.HTM Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. London: Fontana Press. 1989. Pp. 10–16. Myers, Phillip V. N. A General History for Colleges and High Schools. Boston, U.S.A., and London: CINN Company Publishers. 1902. Pp. 460–464. Wells, Herbert G. A Short History of the World. London: Waterlow Sons Ltd. Printers. 1933. Pp. 168–235.

Role of Medicinal Plants for Health

Role of Medicinal Plants for Health General The use of natural products with therapeutic properties is as ancient as human civilization. For a very long time, mineral, plant and animal products were the main sources of drugs [1].The use of complementary medicine to alleviate and improve health conditions is increasing in developed countries [2]. New medicinal plants from different parts of the world are being investigated with this purpose in mind [3]. Although the utilization of botanicals has increased in the western world, there is a lack of information about mechanisms of action and potential differences among species within the same genus [4]. Now-a-days, several plants have been identified for their anticancer and anti-inflammatory compounds. Scientific experiments on the anticancer properties of plants and their components have been detected. Herbal medicines have been the basis of treatment and cure for various diseases and physiological conditions in traditional methods practiced such as ayurveda, unani and siddha. However no systematic studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the formulations from the plant were undertaken. Also no attempts were made to isolate and identify the active principles involved in these effects [5]. As an evolutionary response plants were obliged to produce and store a wide range of organic molecules. These substances are usually termed as secondary metabolites (SM). Some of these compounds are involved in the survival of the plants as a defense mechanism against natural enemies. Many SM could actively interact with targets in the human body inducing a bioactivity of interest [6]. The bioactive compounds of medicinal plants are used as anti-diabetic, chemotherapeutic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic agents where no satisfactory cure is present in modern medicines. The use of plants for medicinal purposes dates back to antiquity because they contain components of therapeutic value [7]. Medicinal plants are cheaper and more accessible to most of the population in the world. The acceptance of traditional medicine as an alternative form of health care and the development of microbial resistance to the available antibiotics has led researchers to investigate various therapeutic uses of medicinal plants [8]. Therefore, the quest for plants with medicinal properties continues to receive attention as scientists are in need of plants, particularly of ethno botanical significance for a complete range of biological activities, which ranges from antibiotic to anti-cancerous [9]. Bangladesh features a sub-tropical climate and low-lying landmass largely adjacent to extensive river deltas. The country comprises very fertile soils and is home to some rare ecosystems such as the Sundarbans mangrove forests. Given the fertile plains and high population density, the indigenous vegetation has mostly given way to cropland and extensive cultivation. Today, almost 60% of the landmass is used for farming, which is a global maximum value. However, originally large parts of Bangladesh featured tropical forests and marshy jungle with highly bio-diverse flora being also an excellent source for medicinal plants. The Bangladeshi traditional medicine is a unique conglomerate of different ethnomedical influences. Due to the geographic location and sociocultural characteristics of the country, it involves traditionally rooted elements influenced by local indigenous people and close-by Indian Ayurveda and Unani medicine [10, 11]. Given its inexpensive, easily accessible and well-established health services, the use of traditional medicine is an integral part of public health services in Bangladesh with its providers being deeply embedded within the local community [12-14]. Recent data suggest that the utilization of traditional medicine health services in Bangladesh is widespread [15] and plays a crucial role in providing health care for poor people, people in rural areas and for tribal people [16]. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of medicinal plants The anti-oxidative activity has been confirmed contributing kinds of cancer and inflammatory preventions for its multiple functional roles. The production of oxidants is a typical event associated with aerobic metabolism. When oxygen is supplied in excess or its reduction is insufficient, reactive oxygen species or free radicals such as superoxide anions, hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide are generated [17]. Accumulation of the free radicals in body organs or tissues can cause oxidative damage to biomolecules and membranes of cell, eventually leading to many chronic diseases, such as inflammatory, cancer, diabetes, aging, cardiac dysfunction and other degenerative diseases [18]. In the last 50 years, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of extracts from medicinal or food plants have been extensively investigated. Many pharmacological studies have shown that extracts of some antioxidant plant possess anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-tumor, anti-bacterial, anti-muta genic and anti-viral activities to a greater or lesser extent. Researchers reported that intake of fruits, vegetables and other foods having high antioxidant activity has been associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other diseases [17]. Trouillas et al. investigated the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties of sixteen French herbal tea and found some herbs exhibited high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative activities [19]. Antioxidant activities in twenty traditional anti-inflammatory herbs extracts were investigated. The results suggested that the anti-inflammatory activities of these extracts could be explained, at least in part, by their antioxidant properties [20]. Free radicals liberated from phagocyte cells are important in inflammatory processes, because they are implicated in the activation of nuclear factor kB, which induces the transcription of inflammatory cytokines and cyclooxygenase-2 [21 ]. Free radicals and oxidative stress Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a term that encompasses all highly reactive, oxygen containing molecules, including free radicals. Types of ROS include the hydroxyl radical, the superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, nitric oxide radical, hypochlorite radical, and various lipid peroxides. All are capable of reacting with membrane lipids, nucleic acids, proteins and enzymes, and other small molecules, resulting in cellular damage. ROS are generated by a number of pathways. Most of the oxidants produced by cells occur as: A consequence of normal aerobic metabolism: approximately 90% of the oxygen utilized by the cell is consumed by the mitochondrial electron transport system. Oxidative burst from phagocytes (white blood cells) as part of the mechanism by which bacteria and viruses are killed, and by which foreign proteins (antigens) are denatured. Xenobiotic metabolism, i.e., detoxification of toxic substances. Consequently, things like vigorous exercise, which accelerates cellular metabolism; chronic inflammation, infections, and other illnesses; exposure to allergens and the presence of leaky gut syndrome; and exposure to drugs or toxins such as cigarette smoke, pollution, pesticides, and insecticides may all contribute to an increase in the bodys oxidant load [22]. Most reactive oxygen species are generated as by-products during mitochondrial electron transport. In addition ROS are formed as necessary intermediates of metal catalyzed oxidation reactions. Atomic oxygen has two unpaired electrons in separate orbits in its outer electron shell. This electron structure makes oxygen susceptible to radical formation. The sequential reduction of oxygen through the addition of electrons leads to the formation of a number of ROS including: superoxide; hydrogen peroxide; hydroxyl radical; hydroxyl ion; and nitric oxide. Free radicals and other ROS are derived either from normal essential metabolic processes in the human body or from external sources such as exposure to X-rays, ozone, cigarette smoking, air pollutants, and industrial chemicals. Free radical formation occurs continuously in the cells as a consequence of both enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions. Enzymatic reactions, which serve as source of free radicals, include those involved in the respiratory chain, in phagocytosis, in prostaglandin synthesis, and in the cytochrome P-450 system. Free radicals can also be formed in non-enzymatic reactions of oxygen with organic compounds as well as those initiated by ionizing reactions. Some internally generated sources of free radicals are Mitochondria, Xanthine oxidase, Peroxisomes, Inflammation, Phagocytosis, Arachidonate pathways, Exercise, Ischemia/reperfusion injury etc. Some externally generated sources of free radicals are- Cigarette smoke, Environmental pollutants, Radiation, Certain drugs, pesticides, Industrial solvents, Ozone etc. Normally, cells defend themselves against ROS damage with enzymes such as alpha-1-microglobulin, superoxide dismutases, catalases, lactoperoxidases, glutathione peroxidases and peroxiredoxins. Small molecule antioxidants such as ascorbic acid (vitamin C), tocopherol (vitamin E), uric acid, and glutathione also play important roles as cellular antioxidants. In a similar manner, polyphenol antioxidants assist in preventing ROS damage by scavenging free radicals. In contrast, the antioxidant ability of the extracellular space is less e.g., the most important plasma antioxidant in humans is uric acid. Effects of ROS on cell metabolism are well documented in a variety of species. These include not only roles in apoptosis (programmed cell death) but also positive effects such as the induction of host defense genes and mobilization of ion transport systems. This implicates them in control of cellular function. In particular, platelets involved in wound repair and blood homeostasis release ROS to recruit additional platelets to sites of injury. These also provide a link to the adaptive immune system via the recruitment of leukocytes. Reactive oxygen species are implicated in cellular activity to a variety of inflammatory responses including cardiovascular disease. They may also be involved in hearing impairment via cochlear damage induced by elevated sound levels, in ototoxicity of drugs such as cisplatin, and in congenital deafness in both animals and humans. ROS are also implicated in mediation of apoptosis or programmed cell death and ischemic injury. Specific examples include stroke and heart attack. All the biological molecules present in our body are at risk of being attacked by free radicals. Such damaged molecules can impair cell functions and even lead to cell death eventually resulting in diseased states. In recent years it has become apparent that the oxidation of lipids, or lipid peroxidation, is a crucial step in the pathogenesis of several disease states in adult and infant patients. Lipid peroxidation is a process generated naturally in small amounts in the body, mainly by the effect of several reactive oxygen species (hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide etc.). It can also be generated by the action of several phagocytes. These reactive oxygen species readily attack the polyunsaturated fatty acids of the fatty acid membrane, initiating a self-propagating chain reaction. The destruction of membrane lipids and the end-products of such lipid peroxidation reactions are especially dangerous for the viability of cells, even tissues [23-25]. Membrane lipids present in subcellular organelles are highly susceptible to free radical damage. Lipids when reacted with free radicals can undergo the highly damaging chain reaction of lipid peroxidation (LP) leading to both direct and indirect effects. During LP a large number of toxic byproducts are also formed that can have effects at a site away from the area of generation, behaving as second messengers. The damage caused by LP is highly detrimental to the functioning of the cell [26]. Lipid peroxidation is a free radical mediated process. Initiation of a peroxidative sequence is due to the attack by any species, which can abstract a hydrogen atom from a methylene group (CH2), leaving behind an unpaired electron on the carbon atom (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢CH). The resultant carbon radical is stabilized by molecular rearrangement to produce a conjugated diene, which then can react with an oxygen molecule to give a lipid peroxyl radical (LOOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢). These radicals can further abstract hydrogen atoms from other lipid molecules to form lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and at the same time propagate LP further. The process of LP, gives rise to many products of toxicological interest like malondialdehyde (MDA), 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and various 2-alkenals. Isoprostanes are unique products of lipid peroxidation of arachidonic acid and recently tests such as mass spectrometry and ELISA-assay kits are available to detect isoprostanes [27]. Oxidation of proteins by ROS/RNS can generate a range of stable as well as reactive products such as protein hydroperoxides that can generate additional radicals particularly upon interaction with transition metal ions. Although most oxidized proteins that are functionally inactive are rapidly removed, some can gradually accumulate with time and thereby contribute to the damage associated with ageing as well as various diseases. Lipofuscin, an aggregate of peroxidized lipids and proteins accumulates in lysosomes of aged cells and brain cells of patients with Alzheimers disease [28]. Inflammation Inflammation is one of the body unique mechanisms that help body to protect itself against infection, burn, toxic chemicals, allergens or other noxious stimuli [29]. It is a body defense reaction in order to eliminate or limit the spread of injurious agent [30]. The process is created by immune cells invading the tissue like an army in full battle mode [31]. There are various components of inflammatory reaction that can contribute to the associated symptoms and tissue injury [30]. During inflammation, innate cells and molecules are usually stimulated to isolate, destroy infectious agents and repair tissue, or sometimes the adaptive immune system is also stimulated [32]. Consequently, the mechanism works in a cascade, where the inflammation is often triggered by circulating immune complexes that enter tissues [31]. Principally, inflammation is manifested by pain, swelling, redness band loss of function in the afflicted tissue [31, 33]. Saladin (2007) categorized process of inflammation into three major processes; mobilization of the bodys defenses, containment and destruction of pathogens, and tissue clean up and repair [34]. While Mahat and Patil (2007) classified the process into three phases; the first phase is caused by an increase in vascular permeability, the second one by infiltration of leukocytes and the third one by granuloma formation [30]. The inflammatory response is initiated by circulating proteins and blood cells when they contact invaders in the tissue. Microbial invaders that lodge in body tissue and begin to proliferated triggered inflammatory response [33]. Bacterial products interact with plasma factors and cells to produce agents that attract neutrophils to the infected area (chemotaxis). The chemotactic agents, which are part of a large family of chemokines, include a component of the complement system (C5a), histamine, kinins, leukotrienes, and polypeptides from lymphocytes, mast cells, and basophils [35]. The neutrophils also produce oxidants and release granular constituents comprising of lytic enzymes performing important role in inflammatory injury [36]. The innate immune system contributes to inflammation by activating the alternative and lechitin-binding complement pathways, attracting and activating phagocytic cells that secrete cytokines and chemokines, activating NK cells, altering vas. The result would firstly be increased in blood flow to the affected tissue which accelerates the delivery of immune system element to the site [33]. The vasodilation would later cause enlarged capillaries and lead to redness (erythema) as well as increase in temperature, which for an influx of fluid and cells, contributing to swelling [32]. Saladin (2007) explained that the increased in blood flow also washes toxin and metabolic wastes from the tissue rapidly. In addition, vasoactive chemicals cause endothelial cells of the blood capillaries to separate a little, widening the intracellular cleft between them and increasing capillary permeability that ease the movement of fluid, leukocytes, and plasma proteins from the bloodstream into the surrounding tissue [34]. In the area of injury, many of the neutrophils enter the tissues. As neutrophils encounter bacteria, they avidly phagocytize, digest and destroy them. Neutrophils also recruit macrophages and additional neutrophils by secreting cytokines [33]. Activated macrophages and T cells in the inflamed tissue also secrete cytokines called colony stimulation factors, which promotes the production of more leukocytes by the red bone marrow. Within a few hours of inflammation, neutrophilia (the rise in the neutrophil count in blood) would occur [37]. Then, the neutrophils are attracted to the endothelial surface by selectins, and they roll along it. They bind firmly to neutrophil adhesion molecules of the integrin family. They next insinuate themselves through the walls of the capillaries between endothelial cells by a process called diapedesis [35]. Leukocytes adhere loosely to the selectins and slowly tumble along the endothelium, sometimes coating it so thick that they obstruct blood flow. This adherence to the vessel wall is called margination [38]. Later, the fibrinogens are filtered into the tissue fluid clots in area adjacent to the injury, forming a sticky mesh that sequesters bacteria and other microbes [34]. This is caused by release of chemicals from tissues and migrating cells. Most strongly implicated are the prostaglandins (PGs), leukotrienes (LTs), histamine, bradykinin, platelet- activating factor (PAF) and interleukin-1 [39]. Prostaglandin is implicated in inducing the production of various chemo-attractants and pro-inflammatory cytokines [36]. Gislason (2009) mentioned that macrophages and neutrophils are responsible to secrete a number of mediators which is responsible not just for initiation, but also for progression and persistence of acute or chronic state of inflammation [31]. Finally, monocytes acts as the major agent in tissue clean up and repair. It enters the blood from the bone marrow and circulated for about 72 hours. Then, they enter the tissues and become tissue macrophage. The macrophage becomes activated by lympokines from T lymphocytes [35]. The activated macrophage migrate in respond to chemotactic stimuli and later engulf and destroy bacteria, damaged host cells, as well as dead and dying neutrophils. Besides that, it also acts as antigen presenting cells and activating specific immune response [34]. Edema may also contribute to the tissue clean up. Nitric oxide is responsible for vasodilatation, increase in vascular permeability and edema formation at the site of inflammation [36]. The swelling compresses veins and reduce venous drainage, while it forces open the valve of lympathic capillaries and promote lympathic drainage. The lymphatics can collect and remove bacteria, dead cells, proteins and tissue debris better than blood capillary can. An accumulation of dead cells of neutrophils with other debris tissue and fluid will form pus, a yellowish fluid. It may accumulate in the tissue cavity and known as abcess [32]. Pus is usually absorbed, but sometimes it may be released by its rupture. Blood platelets and the endothelial cells in an area of injury secrete platelet derived growth factor, an agent that stimulates fibroblast to multiply and synthesize collagen. Hyperemia at the same time delivers the oxygen, amino acids and other necessities of protein synthesis, while the hea t of inflamed tissue increases metabolic rate and speed of mitosis and tissue repair. The fibrin clot in inflamed tissues may provide a scaffold for tissue reconstruction [34]. In part, inflammation declines simply because the mediators of inflammation have short half-lives, are degraded after their release, and are produced in quick bursts, only as long as the stimulus persists. In addition as inflammation develops, the process also triggers a variety of stop signals that serve to actively terminate the reaction [38]. Anti-inflammatory Activity Anti-inflammatory refers to the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation. Anti-inflammatory drugs make up about half of analgesics, remedying pain by reducing inflammation as opposed to opioids, which affect the central nervous system. Drugs to control inflammation When healing is complete, the inflammatory process usually subsides [32]. However, an uncontrolled and persistent inflammation that sometimes is triggered by harmless agent such pollen or by an auto immune response. It may act as an etiologic factor for many of these chronic illnesses, where it may induce, maintain or aggravate the disease [29]. As mentioned, the inflammation would occur with the presence of antigen. Thus, constant supply of antigen is available from the food or environment may leads to chronic inflammation and causes diseases such as asthma, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases [31]. In such cases, the defense reaction themselves may cause progressive tissue injury. Hence, anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs may be necessary to modulate the inflammatory process [37]. Anti-inflammatory drugs are designed to targets the inhibition of the release of these mediators to control inflammation [36]. Harvey and Champe (2008) have classified anti-inflammatory drugs into three category; Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (COX-2 inhibitors) and other analgesics [32]. Aspirin is a prototype of traditional NSAIDs. It works by irreversibly inhibit Cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 (COX-1 and 2) enzymes, which results in decreased formation of prostaglandin precursors [40]. Due to this mechanism of action, aspirin also cause adverse effects such as gastric hemorrhages, hypersensitivity and thrombocytopenia [41]. It is becoming a concern of healthcare providers that patients are developing intolerance from day to day. About fifteen percent of patients show intolerance with aspirin. Therefore, newer NSAIDs with greater anti-inflammatory activities are developed. However, the newer NSAIDs are considerably more expensive than aspirin and some have proved to be more toxic in the other way [32]. The second category is COX-2 inhibitor. The mechanism of action is by selectively inhibiting the activity of COX-2 enzyme that results in decreased of prostaglandin precursors [37]. Unlike aspirin, COX-2 inhibitors have an advantage by showing lower risk of developing gastrointestinal bleeding and have no significant effects on platelets [42]. However, this drug is not recommended for renal impaired patients because it may cause renal insufficiency and increase the risk of hypertension [40]. It also has some possible adverse effects recorded in Malaysian Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS) that it may cause allergic reaction, dizziness, headache, rash, upper respiratory infection and gastrointestinal disturbances such as dyspepsia, abdominal pain and diarrheas [41]. Acetaminophen is categorized under other analgesic because it has little or no anti-inflammatory activity [32]. It inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandin in the central nervous system and peripherally blocks pain impulse generations [40]. They have therapeutic advantages over narcotic analgesics which they do not cause physical dependence or tolerance and does not affect platelet function or increase blood clotting time, but it does have many of side effects similar to aspirin [42]. Rarely, skin rash and allergic reaction may appear as the side effects [41]. There are also drugs from autacoids antagonist such as antihistamines used to prevent progress of inflammation. The term antihistamine, without a modifying adjective, refers to the classic H1 receptor blockers [32]. H1 histamine antagonists drugs are develop effectively to target the receptors to treat hay fever and some skin allergies such as urticaria. H1 receptor blockers act on immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody-sensitizing mast cell [37]. Rheumatoid arthritis is alleviated by drugs, which inhibit the cyclooxygenase enzyme and reduce synthesis of prostanoids, corticosteroids prevent the formation of both prostaglandins and leukotriens by causing the release of lipocortin that leads to inhibition of phospholipase A2 that reduces arachidonic acid release which is able to suppress the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis and asthma [39]. Anti-cytokines therapy involving target on Interleukin-1b (IL-1b) and tumor necrosis factor-ÃŽÂ ± (TNF-ÃŽÂ ±) that stimulate synovial cells to proliferate and synthesize collagenase, leading to degradation of cartilage, stimulation of bone resorption, and inhibition of proteoglycan synthesis is another method that is effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis [32]. Despite the benefits that the drugs hold, it also carries the side effects. As a result, it may lead various unwanted effects such as to gastric lesions, allergy reactions, tolerance and dependence, as well as resistance [40, 43]. Hence, worldwide researchers are still working to produce the ideal medicines of anti-inflammatory with highest efficacy, best potency and lowest or none side effects. Description of the plant investigated Bauhinia acuminata L. is a species of flowering shrub native to tropical southeastern Asia. The exact native range is obscure due to extensive cultivation, but probably from Malaysia, Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Islands), and the Philippines. It is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental plant. It may be found as an escape from cultivation in some areas, and has become naturalized on the Cape York Peninsula, Australia [44]. Common Name Bangla: Shwet Kanchan. Malaysian: Bunga Perak. English: Dwarf White Bauhinia, White Mountain Ebony [45]. Indonesian: Panawar Saribu (Sunda Islands); Kupu-kupu (Java) Thailand: Ka Long, SomSio Burma: Mahahlegabyu India: Kaanchnaara, Kovidaara (Ayurvedic); Kachnaal (Unani); Vellaimandarai (Siddha/Tamil); Kanchan (Assam); Shwetkachnar, Kachnalsafaid (Punjab) Sri Lanka: Sudu Kobalila (Singhalese) Japan: Moku-wan-ju. Taxonomical Hierchy: Kingdom : Plantae Subkingdom : Viridaeplantae Infrakingdom : Streptophyta Division : Tracheophyta Subdivision : Spermatophytina Infradivision : Angiosperms Class : Eudicots Superorder : Rosids Order : Fabales Family : Fabaceae Subfamily : Caesalpiniaceae Genus : Bauhinia Species : B. acuminata Binomial name : Bauhinia acuminata L. Botanical Description: Fig.-1.1: Bauhinia acuminata L. tree. Bauhinia acuminata L. is a member of the Fabaceae family. It is a rapidly growing shrub that can reach up to 3m tall. It rises with several strong, smooth, upright stems with many slender branches; young twigs being pubescent. The stipules are linear-lanceolate measures 1cm long. The leaves are cordate or nearly so are the base, bilobed to about one third of their length with obtuse or acute lobes 9-11 nerve, sparsely pubescent beneath, about 10cm long and broad. The flowers appear at the extremities of the branches 3-4 in a loose bunch with white petals. Thepedicels measure 6-12mm long. The flower buds fusiform, long attenuate at the apex and 5 setaceous dents, measures 3cm long. The calyx-limb laterally splitting, spathaceous; receptacle short. The petals obovate, measure 4cm long and 2cm wide. The stamens 10 all fertile, shorter than the petals; anthers small.The ovary shortly stipitate, sparsely pubescent. The pods are linear-oblong, stipitate, measure 10cm long and 1.5cm wide, d ark brown in colour containing 10 roundish compressed seeds [46, 47]. Traditional uses of Bauhinia acuminata L. The bark and leaves in a decoction helps relieve biliousness [48]. A remedy recommended by the Indian Vaiydas [45]. In Malaysia and Indonesia the plant is used in the treatment of common cold and cough [48]. The root seems to be the part made used of by the Japanese in treating cough and cold. In India the decoction of the leaves and bark is given for allying asthmatic attack. The Indians made used of the bark and leaves in a decoction to treat stones in the bladder, venereal diseases and leprosy [45]. Amongst the Mullu kuruma tribe of Karella the decoction of the bark is used in treating urinary discharge (gonorrhea). They make use of paste of the leaves applied on the throat for throat troubles. It is applied externally to treat skin diseases [49]. The root is boiled in oil and applied to burns and pain [45]. Objective of study To evaluate the free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activity of Bauhinia acuminata L. bark extracts in rats. Significance of study Bauhinia acuminata L. is one of the