Phantom Limb: Possible Treatments to Kill the Pain Essay

The phenomenon of phantom limb was first described by a French doctor, Ambroise Pare, in the 16th century however it was not until 1866, after the American Civil War, when Doctor Wier Mitchell published his first account of the malady, coining the term â€Å"Phantom Limb†. Phantom limb is the experience of persisting sensory perceptions after limb amputation and remains one of the best-known, but puzzling phenomena within medical science (Oakley & Halligan, 2002). Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a frequent consequence of the amputation and causes considerable discomfort and disruption of daily activities. Originally, PLP was thought to have been secondary to nerve damage at the site of amputation but succeeding evidence showed that patients who have undergone regional anesthesia continue to experience phantom limb pain despite the cut-off of pain sensation to the amputated area (Melzack, 1997). This lead to the belief that the pain sensation experienced by patients with PLP may be due to nerve impulses or signals generated at the spinal cord level. This, however, was refuted on the basis that patients with transection of the spinal cord still complain of persisting phantom limb pain. It has been argued then that the brain areas that correspond to the human body could be the one responsible for the phantom sensations (Melzack, 1997). This was based on the fact that much of the human (and primate) body is represented by distinct brain areas located in the somatosensory and motor cortex on either side of the central sulcus. Consequently, even after limb removal, the brain areas representing those parts remain structurally and functionally intact. It has been argued that the activation of these bodily disconnected brain areas by adjacent brain areas (representing other intact body parts) may be a partial neurophysiological explanation for the production and maintenance of the continuous perceptual experience that is the ‘phantom limb’. This functional remapping results in some cases in the referral of selective sensory information from an intact body area (such as the face or shoulder) to the phantom limb (Halligan, Zeman and Benger, 1999). The remapping hypothesis is supported by functional imaging (Kew, Halligan, Marshall, Passingham, Rothwell, Ridding, Marsden and Brooks, 1997) and behavioural studies (Ramachandran, Stewart and Rogers-Ramachandran, 1992; Halligan, Marshall, Wade, Davies and Morrison, 1993). Given the magnitude and speed of onset of the reorganization (within 24 hours of amputation) it is unlikely to be a product of neural sprouting but rather the unmasking of existing but previously inhibited neural pathways (Ramachandran and Blakeslee, 1998). In addition, these abnormal plastic changes in the central nervous system associated with the phantom experience have been used to explain the consistently high incidence of pain attributed to a limb that no longer exists (Ramachandran and Blakeslee, 1998). Several other theories have been proposed to explain the pathophysiological processes behind the PLP phenomenon but despite all of these, the exact cause of PLP remains uncertain. As a consequence, the current treatments for the condition are just as varied as the litany of many possible yet complex mechanism of PLP. This literary review will assay the possible treatment options available for the management of PLP using information from published literature through searches in research databases using the keywords phantom limb, phantom limb pain, biofeedback, treatment, and phantom limb illusions. Treatments of PLP There are different modalities available in treating PLP ranging from pharmacological agents to psychophysiological therapy. The treatment outcome varies from approach to approach and more even from patient to patient. A careful evaluation is essential before considering any of of these treatments in order to obtain a more individualized approach in the management of PLP. Thermal biofeedback Biofeedback relies on instrumentation to measure moment-to-moment feedback about physiological processes. It provides patients with information about their performance in various situation (Saddock & Saddock, 2003). Using this electronic feedback, the patient is made aware of certain sensations such as skin temperature and muscle tension. A case report describing the use of thermal biofeedback combined with electromyogram (EMG) in treating a 69-year-old man suffering from burning and shooting phantom pain suggested that biofeedback is an effective treatment modality for severe phantom limb pain (Belleggia & Birbaumer, 2001). The rationale behind the treatment was based on the premise that most patients complain of intolerance to cold after amputations which tend to aggravate unpleasant or pain sensations in the stump. The treatment, however, required several sessions and in this particular case, there were 6 sessions of EMG biofeedback followed by another 6 sessions of temperature biofeedback. The patient presented in this case also did not use a prosthesis and did not receive prior treatment for chronic pain and the entire treatment process was done in a controlled environment where everything is calibrated and maintained to avoid external bias. Although the treatment outcome of the case report was favorable, there is no absolute guarantee that the same beneficial results can be expected to other patients with PLP especially to those who are already using prosthesis and to those who are already refractory to previous chronic pain therapies. Also its efficacy and adaptability in actual clinical settings remains to be studied. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) The use of electroconvulsive therapy have been common in patients with psychiatric disorders such as depression. This involves the utilization of electric stimulation by means of two electrodes placed bilaterally on the temple to produce convulsion. The artificial seizure that followed have shown efficacy in patients with a variety of pain syndromes occurring along with depression (Rasmussen & Rummans, 2000). Using this evidence, 2 patients with severe phantom limb pain refractory to multiple therapies but without concurrent psychiatric disorder were treated using ECT. One of the patient’s previous treatments included biofeedback, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, hypnosis, epidural injections, and multiple analgesic medications including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opiates, and adjunct analgesics including carbamazepine and nortriptyline. He was referred for ECT by the anesthesia pain service due to previous good responses in depressed patients with a variety of non-phantom limb pain syndromes. The other patient in the case study also had numerous treatments including transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, intra-axillary alcohol injections. Epidural steroid blocks, stellate ganglion blocks, biofeedback, and medications including antidepressants, benzodiazepines, opiates and carbamazepine. After ECT, both patients enjoyed substantial relief of pain with one case in remission from PLP 3. 5years after ECT. From this clinical note, it was concluded that patients with PLP who are refractory to multiple therapies may respond to ECT. It should be emphasized that ECT have several complications including dental and muscular injuries secondary to the severe muscle twitching accompanying the induced convulsion. The concurrent use of muscle relaxants have been effective in minimizing such injuries. The most troublesome side effect of ECT, however, is memory loss. Some patients report a gap in memory for events that occurred up to 6 months before ECT, as well as impaired ability to retain new information for a month or two after the treatment (Smith, et al, 2003). You may equate this to the data loss in computers after an unexpected reboot. Hypnotic mirrors and phantom pain Hypnotic procedures have long been used in treating a variety of pain syndromes. This involves the use of suggestion and imagery to alleviate the patient’s pain experience (Chavez, 1989). A case study reports the use of a hypnotically induced ‘virtual’ mirror experience which modified long standing intractable phantom limb pain despite generating a qualitatively inferior experience of movement in the phantom limb compared to that produced with an actual mirror (Oakley & Halligan, 2002). Using hypnosis, two main approaches to modifying phantom limb pain experience were identified in the study: ipsative imagery approach and a simulated movement approach. The ipsative imagery approach takes into account the way the individual represent their pain to themselves and attempts to modify that representation in order to alleviate the pain experience. The movement imagery-based approach encourages the PLP patient through hypnosis to ‘move’ the phantom limb and to take control over it. In the study, a case of a 76-year-old woman who had an above-knee amputation of her right leg secondary to peripheral vascular disease was presented. The investigators emphasized that she was pain-free at the time of her operation and that her PLP only begun two years after surgery. There were several components of her pain in her missing limb. She complained of feeling pins and needles in her ‘foot’, her ‘toes’ felt like they were being held in a tight vice, a slicing, cutting pain in the sole of her ‘foot’ and a chiselling pain in her ‘ankles’. After several sessions using the ipsative imagery approach, the patient claimed significant pain relief of most of her pain but the vice-like pain remained. The movement imagery-based approach also showed notable pain alleviation in another case that was presented, this time of a 46-year-old man who had experienced PLP since suffering from an avulsion of his left brachial plexus some five years prior to the study. At the beginning of the study, the patient rated his pain at 7 using a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 as pain free and 10 as the worst pain imaginable. During treatment, the patient had 0 rating and immediately after treatment it was 2. 5. The result of the study showed that hypnotic movement imagery is worth investigating further, considering the comparative ease of use and the potential of additional information as to the possible neurocognitive mechanism involved in PLP. Mirror treatment Mirror treatment uses leg exercises performed in front of a mirror to demonstrate increased ‘motor control’ over the phantom limb. In contrast to hypnotic imagery techniques which uses hypnotically induced ‘virtual’ mirror experience, mirror treatment involves the use of a real mirror apparatus to replicate the movements of the real limb with the phantom limb. The first case study of the use of ‘mirror treatment’ in a person with lower limb amputation who was reporting PLP was presented by MacLaughlan, M. McDonald, D. , & Waloch, J. (2004). During the intervention, there was a significant reduction in the patient’s PLP associated with an increase in sense of ‘motor control’ over the phantom, and a change in aspects of the phantom limb that was experienced. Although this effect was successfully replicated by using hypnotic imagery alone, the significant difference between the two approaches was the qualitatively more powerful experience of movement in the phantom left hand with the real visual feedback. The case study which was conducted in a conventional clinical setting supports the potential of ‘mirror treatment’ for PLP patients with lower limb amputations. The investigators, however, emphasized that the case study cannot indicate the extent to which beneficial effects are due to somatosensory cortex re-mapping, psychosocial factors such as individual differences in ‘body plasticity’, somatic preoccupation or creative imagination, or to other factors. Since it is the first case study of the use of ‘mirror treatment’ in a person with lower limb amputation, similar case studies are needed to ascertain the treatment’s applicability to other patients with lower limb amputations. Botulinum toxin Pharmacological agents have also been employed in the management of PLP. , Botulinum toxin type A, however, has not been previously used for this indication. In fact, it was only recently that this toxin has been used for medical purposes, especially in the field of cosmetics. Botox, as it is popularly known, has been beneficial in relieving muscular tension in the face due to its muscle-relaxing effect. Once considered a biological weapon which causes gas gangrene, this toxin inhibits the synaptic transmission of acetylcholine at the motor end plate and muscle spindles of the skeletal musculature and influences nociceptive transmitters. A pilot study on the influence of the agent on phantom pain after amputations was recently reported (Kern, Martin, Scheicher, et al, 2003). Four cases of patients with knee amputations who were suffering from severe stump pain following surgery were presented. After botulinum toxin injection, significant reduction of pain in the amputation stump was experienced among the patients. Citing a strong correlation between stump pain and PLP and the occurrence of of stump pain without obvious pathology, the study clearly emphasized the need for further investigation into the use of botulinum toxin in the treatment of post amputation pain. Other treatments of PLP Multiple other modalities, adjunct medications and anesthetic/surgical procedures have been used in the treatment of PLP with varying long term success. Although at least 60 methods of treating PLP have been identified, successful treatment of persistent type is not commonly reported. Tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, calcitonin and mexilitine have been used with varying success (Delisa, Gans, Bochenek, et al, 1998). Other surgical procedures and drug regimens have also been proposed. Despite all these, an established role of each of these treatments in the management of PLP remains a subject for future investigation. Summary Despite the advances in medical research and treatment, PLP is a phenomenon that continues to perplex the medical field. Several theories that were proposed to explain the etiology of the condition remain the subject of continued discussion. The pathophysiology involved in PLP could be multifactorial rather than the effect of a single factor. In the United States, there are approximately 1. 6 million people are living with limb loss according to the National Limb Loss Foundation Information Center. Between 1988 & 1999, an average of 133,735 hospital discharges per year was due to amputation. It is estimated that 50%-80% of patients with amputations complain of PLP (Delisa, Gans, Bochenek, et al, 1998). The actual incidence of this problem is, however, unclear because the condition tends to be underreported because of the complexity and strange nature of the complaint. Finding the most appropriate treatment for PLP has proven to be a difficult challenge for medical practitioners. The current treatment options for the condition are just as varied as the litany of many possible yet complex mechanism of PLP. Thermal biofeedback combined with electromyogram (EMG) have been demonstrated to completely eliminate PLP after treatment. In a case study, the use of ECT have shown pain relief in patients with PLP refractory to multiple therapies. The use of hypnosis and visual imagery in several case reports has indicated significant success in modifying the pain experience of PLP patients. Interestingly, the success of this technique in treating PLP has given a deeper insight on the psychological aspect of the condition. Botulinum toxin, a drug considered as a very dangerous toxin that causes gas gangrene, has also shown promising results in alleviating stump pain. Multiple other modalities, adjunct medications and anesthetic/surgical procedures have been used in the treatment of PLP with varying long term success. Establishing an accepted role of each of these treatments in the management of PLP, however, would require further investigation. The highly varied approaches involved in the treatment of PLP present a unique burden especially for the General Practitioners (GPs) who provide the primary health for amputees in the community. A recent study suggests that GPs underestimate the prevalence, intensity and duration of phantom and residual limb pain. Moreover, inconsistencies in the reasons given for referral to specialist services for the management of phantom pain were reported. These findings have serious implications for the management of phantom limb pain, disability and psychological distress in amputees in that GPs not only provide first line treatment, but are also the gatekeepers for referral to other services (Kern, Martin, Scheicher, et al 2003). The prevalence of case studies presented in this review clearly shows the lack of major clinical trials targeted into identifying the best approach in the management of PLP. Most of these treatments are already being used for other diseases and there is ample literature to justify their use for PLP yet there is not a single searchable literature involving a bigger study population investigating any of the above methods. It is obvious that the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these individual treatment methods cannot be ascertained by only a handful of case reports. More comprehensive studies should be done in order to formulate an acceptable protocol for the adequate treatment of PLP.

APWH Rome and China Notes

There were 3 wars, and the Romans won every time. This war turned Rome from a small city state to an empire. When they won this war, they got land, slaves, and wealth. This caused the Patricians to benefit greatly, but the plebeians did not. This caused a larger gap between the rich and poor. D The roman army started recruiting people and pay them for their service. This is when the Roman army shifts from a citizenship army to a Professional army. This change = very Important. The USA is now a professional army too and we also have a wealth gap. We are the modern day Rome. Republic In Crawls (146-31 BCC) a Patricians wanted to malting their privileges so they wanted to support political parties that would benefit the rich. B Plebeians wanted to support ones that would help the poor. This caused an outbreak and a loss of respect for the law (murder, and overall breaking laws) When people begin to not care about the law the republic started to fall. D Julius Caesar came from a Patricia n family, but made everyone love him. He tried to help the Plebeians too. He then got himself elected Consul for life. But, they assassinated Caesar because they thought he had too much power.They thought that they were saving the Republic, but his friends and family (Octavia {nephew} and Marc Antonym {friend)) They hunted down and killed everyone who was involved in killing Julius. But, Marc and Octavia hated each other, but they worked or with each other in memory of Julius. So, they broke out in a Civil war over who would have control of Rome. Octavia won, even though Marc Antonym had the help of Cleopatra behind him. After he won, Antonym and Cleopatra committed suicide. So, Peace= long period of Roman Prosperity) (31 BCC-ACE)- Octavia made governors that ruled each city state and he appointed them.They eventually dominated. F The Romans built things- Arches and Concrete were what they used. Concrete was good because you could mix it on site and it was easy to make. The arch was good because the more weight at the top the more weight got funneled through the columns award the ground which made it harder to destroy. They made aqueducts which transferred water from mountain stream to city. They had to keep it moving to keep it clean, so on flat areas they had to elevate it and have it gradually go down so it would keep moving. G They also had bath houses that they built.They were like spas with gyms, and they were segregated for women and men. Paid for by the state. H Coliseum- entertainment provided by state, the state provided so much so no one could or would complain and try to over throw them. 60,000 people could sit in the Coliseum and it has a retractable awning/roof. You could flood they floor and have mock naval battles. They used the violent acts to educate the people in the Punic Wars and promote Rome and its victories. I They also built basilicas that were like court houses that were also used for church structure on Sunday when there was no court .J Made use of the dome with a hole in the rooftop give light. When it rains, there is grated floor that can funnel the water off to the side. K They built roads to connect the empire I Bridges over water which helped make everything connected. M Walls to protect the frontier. N Ceremonial arches that commemorated war victories A level of urban life that no one had ever seen before. A When Vesuvius erupted, it preserved the city perfectly. This is good for us to help us see how life was then for them. B SLAVES- slaves had to wear a belt so you knew who they were. Legal system believed that people were innocent until proven guilty. 2 DECLINE AND FALL- Diocletian (tried to persecute Christianity and divided the empire between and east and west. This is important because they Western Roman empire collapses but the east rises into (180-476 BCC) a They had to satisfy the people like they had always been doing, but they over time ran out of slaves and $ to do it. Germanic Tribes (Anglo Sa xons, Franks, Goths) Hung also swept across central Asia and invaded Central Europe which displaces may Germanic tribes. They took advantage of this and moved in to western roman empire and took over.Western Empire fallen different people trying to compete for power) 3 classical belief systems then made Legalism- top down kind of way of looking at things. Imagine you're a coach of an unruly team with a bad coach before. The quickest way to whip them into shape is to give them clear rules and punishments, and it would generally work. It uses fear psychology because if people are scared then they do what you want. The biggest proponent of this kind of government was Sin Shih currency, text and punished people severely if they used something else.Began the great wall of China- built by slaves with staggering numbers of slaves that died. Tomb and Terracotta Army- obsessed w longevity or not dying. As he was dying, he had a tomb built that was in a secret place that no one at all could k now. In the tomb there were thousands of terracotta warriors with a river of mercury. It was accidentally discovered in the 20th century and is now a tourist attraction When he died, his successor was overthrown because everyone hated the Sin dynasty, but legalism did help them to get out of the warring states period.After he died, the Han dynasty came to power (206-220 BCC) Confucianism was the beliefs of the Han dynasty Sports ex: I am the coach and I think that I will train us to win, I value everyone's contributions. I Just expect you to work hard and so will l. If legalism is about fear- Confucianism is about respect for each other and honor. Capital Changed (Asian) outside is the Weaning Palace and is one of the largest Palace complexes in the world. About 100 football fields.

4 Anthropological Concepts Applied

Anthropologists believe that we learn to interact by picking up cultural codes of conduct starting from infancy; hence human behavior isn’t biologically acquired, but shaped by a guider. For example, in the documentary â€Å"Acting like a thief† by Kerim Friedman and Shashwati Talukdar,the â€Å"Chharas† were brought up in a nomadic lifestyle,where stealing was the norm. Dakxin’s grandmother admits that â€Å"people saw them as artists as well as thieves†. In 1871, they were labeled as a â€Å"criminal tribe† and were sent to prison camps by the British. Here the government kept strict checks on them, to the extent of following the women to the bathrooms, while men were forced to work or were beaten up. The social stigma that developed as a result of the people being labeled â€Å"born criminals† was internalized by their own grandparents, and the children let it define who they were as they grew up. This is evident by the response of one of the children, Vivek after he saw his mother getting beaten up on a street because she was caught in a burglary was that, â€Å"I don’t have a problem saying that my mother used to be a thief. Since I live in a society of born criminals, so of course I am a son of a thief, not a government official. † The idea that the guider shapes the identity of the community is also exemplified by the fact that even if the children wanted to get rid of the criminal stigma attached to them, it wasn’t an option. They weren’t given the opportunity to get jobs and hence had to resort to the illegal brewing of liquor as their only source of income. As is evident in this documentary, we can see that the behaviors and culture of a person is influenced by the culture of the society or group that he was born in. The concept of racism developed in the 19th century when colonialism was at its height and anthropologists tried to understand the many diverse people they encountered. They tried to evaluate the differences, classifying the world according to biological aspects like skin colorant important part of the social practices of racism is Ethnocentrism, which is the â€Å"belief that the moral standards,manners,attitudes and so forth of ones own culture are superior to those of other cultures† (Bailey,Garrik and James 15). This helped people justify the systematic violence and oppression on people of one society by another on the basis of factors like ethnicity and caste. At that time, on top of the framework of evolution was the western European civilization. The British believed themselves to be the pinnacle of evolution, the most culturally, physically and socially evolved (Bailey, Garrik and James 68). This thought process was a big part in the colonial apparatus and was also one of the reasons the British were able to label the people of chhranagar as â€Å"Born criminals. This label attached the stigma of a criminal community to the Chharas even after they got de-notified after India gained independence. Therfore, it allowed the police to get the power that they had accumulated and abused. According to Kalpana, â€Å"the police used to take the women back to the station after bail, tie them to a tree, beat them and give them electric shocks. †Innocent people were forced to admit to crimes , and if they refused they were beaten to death-as in the case of Buddhan. The injustice of such acts was apparent but so was the fact that â€Å"the police could do anything they want to. According to Dakxin, even the proof of a man’s innocence was rendered â€Å"useless. † Based on their ideas of being morally and culturally superior, the police had taken away the Chharas basic rights to freedom of speech and expression. â€Å"Rites of passage are a specialized set of rituals associated with the life cycle of individuals; the culturally defined age categories through which a person passes between birth and death. It is a public ceremony or ritual that marks a change in social status, usually brought about or related to increasing age† (Bailey, Garrik and James 201). People from various religions have different kinds of rituals with varying meanings attached to them. In Hinduism, an important event in the life cycle is marked by invoking the presence of the warrior goddess; Durga. This ritual is called a Jagrata. In Cat Viberts documentary, â€Å"a Rajasthani Jagrata, we see how Rathore takes his first born child to the â€Å"village of his heritage† for a ceremonial head shaving on his second birthday. Vibert described her experience of the ritual at the temple, â€Å"mediums gathered around a drum and began collectively chanting. A man stood up and began to lurch and yell. After sometime his eyes rolled back into his head, he ran into the temple and rang the bell. He was being possessed by the Goddess and the embodied deity sealed herself in the temple and the villagers went in one by one to ask her questions. † Besides the ritual, there is a lot of singing and dancing and the hair cutting ceremony to welcome the child in the family as he turns two. Gender Classification is one example of cultural knowledge. Cultural Knowledge involves shared knowledge about how we behave in ways that are meaningful and acceptable. It guides behavior such that the people can survive, reproduce and transmit their culture. † Every individual has a different social identity and expectations attached to them. Women typically are expected to stay in their homes and fulfill their domestic duties, whereas men take care of the responsibilities outside the house. During the whole trip that Vibert took for the ceremony, we saw the responsibility of the women to overlook the children, make the chapattis and do the domestic chores. Even during the ritual, the women were seated at the back whereas the men stayed in front. Moreover, the fact that the barber performing the ritual was a man and that the goddess possessed a man, shows how men had a more elevated stand in society. An anthropologist views different societies from an insider’s perspective and tries to understand human nature and behavior. Through their ethnographies and documentaries, they give people a voice to express their point of view and rid themselves of generalizations that put them at a disadvantage.

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What were the main features of Russian economic backwardness Essay

What were the main features of Russian economic backwardness - Essay Example The more backward the economy is the higher level of production and enterprise is; the higher the dependence on borrowed instead of indigenous technologies is; the higher the prominence of the production of producer groups compared to consumer goods is; the higher the emphasis on capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive production is; the bigger the dependence on productivity growth is (Gerschenkron 1962, p.6). In approaching the economics of Tsarist, Russia one encounters two remarkable and entirely opposite features of the Russian economy at that period, namely: a) the industrial â€Å"boom† of the 1880s and (2) the economic backwardness of 1914. Economic historians attest to the fact that in the period ranging between 1891 and 1900 Russian economy did grow (Spulber 2003, p.33). This period details the period of industrial boom within Russia and featured the period at which the industrial output of Russia rated among the highest. During this period, majority of the indu strial areas were growing speedily whereby the â€Å"Tsarist empire, Europe’s biggest economy has by 1900 displaced France from 4th position within the world iron production and had raked 5th position within steel output (Goldsmith 1961, p.441). The railway system rose in mileage by 87% in the period 1892-1903 while oil extraction tripled in the period 1887-1898. These were evidently significant achievements of Russian economic planning, especially the Russian finance minister of the time. At the period, from 1892-1903, the finance minister attempted to do his best to improve Russia in both fiscal and industrial capacity to be at par with other European powers and the entire government awarded support in this endeavor. Russian government was eager to foster industrialization since (1) the market featured deep control from the state (2) the expansion of heavy industry enabled a speedy catch-up, speedily covering the gap that manifested within the country’s economy, and (3) the industrialization enhanced the overall military capability of Russia. Nevertheless, the massive project demanded enormous investments. The investments demanded entailed: (a) the capital resource investments, (b) workforce investment, and, (c) knowledge capital investments. With regard to capital investments, Russia was unable to avail capital investments in adequate quantities and, as a result, foreign investments were broadly encouraged. Ultimately, some of the industries fell into the hands of the foreigners (Goldsmith 1961, p.442). By the start of the Crimean war, Russia featured as the world’s largest debtor nation. The war can be regarded as one of the core obstructions that hindered the progress of Russia economically. This detailed one of the core reasons for Russia’s further incapability to keep the pace of the â€Å"boom† given that significant energy and finances directed towards supporting the war against Britain and France (O'Brien 1998, p.2 27). With regard, to workforce investments, the rapid pace of industrial development owed much of its accomplishment to the common working people, frequently regular peasant who went to the cities to seek new industrial jobs (Gregory 1973, p.486). The flow of the labor force from the villages to the cities yielded a highly unbalanced economy. The Russian economy at this period cannot be likened to a plan of a system. As Alexander Gerschenkron outlines it, this economy of industrialization was fundamentally a â€Å"powerful spur† out of backwardness (Gerschenkron 1962, p.5). The Main Features of Russian Economic Backwardness The economic successes that Russia experienced then (after 1914)were practically unsustainable owing to a number of reasons, namely: (1) originally, the full-scale Russian industrialization

RF and Microwaves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RF and Microwaves - Essay Example In this paper, we are going to investigate the behavior of the antenna and make a proposal for a suitable solution to the circuit issue. Analysis in this experiment will be conducted using the Finite Difference Time Domain method (FDTD) method. This analysis will expose the variation of these characteristics with the height of the antenna. The Finite Difference Time Domain method (FDTD) method allows for direct calculation of the Maxwell’s curl equations on lattices in a given time domain. The choice of the rack server is very critical in the application of the Finite Difference Time Domain method (FDTD). It should have a size small enough to allow the realization of results that have high accuracy at frequencies that are very high and large enough to allow manageability of the available resources. The size of the cell is affected by the type of materials that are present in the rack server (Hiebel, 2010). The higher the amount of permittivity, the shorter the size of the wavelength that will be realized at a defined frequency and hence a smaller size of the cell will be required (Nurnberger & Volakis, 2000). This is defined by a rule that is smaller than a tenth of the size of the smallest wavelength and this can be defined by the size of the Finite Difference Time Domain method (FDTD) space and the maximum fr equency of interest. After the size of the cell has been selected, the time step that is maximum can be determined using the Courant condition of stability. Step times that are smaller are also permissible in this experiment and if they are used, they may result into results with an improved accuracy. Large time steps normally result into instability (Luebbers, 2004). In the use of the FDTD method, the field of incidence must be incident and must also be analytically specified. If the resonant geometries used are strong, the excitation of the finite- difference time-domain

The Management Challenges of Facebook as a Platform Case Study

The Management Challenges of Facebook as a Platform - Case Study Example Thus developers prefer Facebook to write the application than on MySpace. Facebook has a unique application area which offers and promotes the different applications from the developers. To strengthen this idea Facebook introduced the viral injection of News Feed which automatically spread the application once it was installed by a user. This competitive asset of Facebook spread the applications like wildfire resulting to which many developers are attracted towards the site for the easiest way to spread their applications to the users. Soon with this new concept, Facebook was considered as a platform for the small group software developers all over the world. Scrabulous is a Facebook application developed by two brothers Rajat & Jayant Agarwalla from Kolkata, India. It’s a Scrabble clone which allows the user to play online by inviting friends or other users. The application was a huge success for the developer and was awarded as the PC Worlds 100 best products in the year 2008 earning around $ 25,000 per month from the advertising. But since the two brothers don’t have the copyright for Scrabble legally they are forced by many players in the market like Electronic Arts and Real Networks to stop their application due to copyright issue and supported Scrabble to create an online version for the game to compete to take the place for Scrabulous. With over 140 new applications added each day almost 95 percent of the users have installed at least one application. To name a few Mafia Wars and Firm Villa is the most popular of all which attracted millions of customer each day for its uniqueness in designing and interesting social g aming technique generating about $ 600 million annually. The Facebook platform provided this shortcut path for success for the developer.

Tax Incident Essay Example for Free

Tax Incident Essay Government generally collect taxes to generate revenue and question arise here is that after imposition of taxation, which group will bear the tax burden. After implementation of tax, there would be the division of tax burden between byres and sellers which is known as tax incidence. Tax incidence is linked to the price elasticity of demand and supply. If supply is more elastic than demand then the tax burden falls upon the buyers and when the demand is more elastic than supply then the producers will bear the cost of the tax. Tax incidence is basically the analysis of the effect of taxation on the distribution of economic welfare. Tax incidence expose that which group either consumer or producer is going to pay the price of new tax and it falls mostly on the group that has the inelastic price quantity or respond least to the price. Tax incidence or the tax burden does not depend on that where the revenue is collected but it depends upon the elasticity of demand and supply. The purpose of this review on the literature is that to analyze the effect of particular tax on the distribution of economic welfare. Section 2 is related to the literature review and section 3 is related to the conclusion. 2. Review of Literature 2.1 The incidence of sin taxes: Kotakorpi (2008) has examined the incidence of taxation on sin commodities. Sin commodities are those commodities whose current consumption causes utility cost in the future. Consumers are considered to be time inconsistent or having too much consumption of unhealthy goods. Sin taxes means taxes on unhealthy commodities. In the context of monetary cost sin taxes would lead to influence the individual’s utility. Increase in the consumption of sin commodities would lead to a higher monetary cost or higher utility benefit from self controlling. The author has analyzed the welfare effect of the sin taxes and the welfare effect of sin taxes depends upon the elasticity of demand. The individuals with less income group having higher elasticity of demand as compare to the high income group. There is possibility of progressive taxation as the benefit is high for the less income group. He has measure the incidence on individual utility through the overall impact of the tax. Sin taxes would lead to increase the welfare if the demand for  the unhealthy good is more elastic. For the case of poor demand is more elastic so the burden of sin taxes falls least on the poor as compare to the rich. It’s not necessary that taxation always hurts low income group but can be fair for the poor. The welfare of the economy would increases in case of sin taxes. 2.2 The incidence of tax on pure rent in a small open economy: Petrucci (2006) has investigate the effects of a land tax on capital structure and foreign investment in a life cycle small open economy with the assumption that labor supply is take as endogenous. Land is an as asset which is used as an input for the production. Tax on land means the higher would be the capital stock. The land tax leads to reduce the price of land but crowds out investment, consumption and welfare of nationals would increase. The consequences of land taxation depends upon that how government adopted the tax transfer program. Labor supply and domestic output reduced by land taxation, while the wealth and national income are increased. If land taxation were used to finance the un-productive government expenditure then the effects of taxation on the capital stock and aggregate wealth would be neutral. The main assumption of this article is the endogenous labor supply regarding the long run incidence of taxes. The final effects of land taxation on economic growth and wealth formation depend upon that the government tax transfer program. When tax revenues are distributed as lump-sum payments then the land taxation increases consumption and stimulate wealth but leads to reduce the capital stock. 2.3 Tax incidence in bargaining: Chae (2002) has investigates two-person bargaining model where one party is taxed and the other is non-taxed party who shares the burden of taxes. Sufficient condition is that tax party would entirely bears the tax burden are given and non-tax party would actually to benefit from taxation is given. In a competitive market, buyers and sellers share the tax burden and the larger burden falling on the party that has lower price elasticity. In a bargaining model, if the gross revenue of the tax party does not change then the taxation does not affect the other party. Thus the tax burden will falls completely on tax party. If the tax party is risk neutral and has zero opportunity cost then the burden of taxation falls completely on the tax party. If the tax party is risk averse with the constant relative risk  aversion, then the tax burden is shared by the non-tax party as initial wealth is also positive. The results show here that a risk loving party loses more form taxation than the ri sk averse party. In general, a bargaining party that is less risk averse has more bargaining power but the party with more bargaining power can also be more at risk to taxation. 2.4 The general equilibrium incidence of environmental taxes: Fullertton (2007) used a simple general equilibrium with pollution and has found the incidence of pollution tax on prices of outputs and on the returns to inputs. When both sectors are equally capital intensive and capital is a better substitute for pollution then is labor. Then return to capital would rise comparative to wage. These results provide evidence that the substitutability of capital and labor has very important consequences for environmental policy. The results show that a 10% increase in the pollution tax rate reduces pollution from 2% to 10%. The model in this paper provides theoretical analysis of the incidence and distributional effects of environmental policy. It shows that how differential substitution between factors greatly effect the burdens of a pollution tax. Environmental taxation has mostly focused on efficiency effects. This paper provides theoretical general equilibrium model of tax incidence of an environmental tax that allows for general forms of substitution among inputs of labor, capital and pollution. Pollution is modeled as an input along with capital and labor. Environmental policies can have important effects on firms’ demands for capital and labor inputs, which can impact the returns to owners of capital and labor in general equilibrium. 2.5 The tax system incidence on unemployment: A country specific analysis for the OECD economies: Ramon et.al (2008) examines the incidence of different tax structure on unemployment in OECD countries through wage bargaining model. The first important result from the analysis is that fiscal wedge does not play an important role in explaining unemployment. The more the payroll taxes are influenced towards the employees, the higher would be the unemployment. This is due to the higher elasticity of taxes impose on workers so that tax components affect unemployment even when the overall fiscal wedge remains unchanged. As unemployment determination is considered, supply side determinants (productivity growth) positively related to the  unemployment determination but negatively related with demand side determinants (inflation). This suggests that high situation of unemployment persistence may tend to require more structural reforms. If changes in the tax composition that leave the overall amount of revenues unchanged are harmless in terms of unemployment persistence then new possibilities for policy makers can be considered. 2.6 Tax and subsidy incidence equivalence theories: experimental evidence from competitive markets: Ruffle (2005) stated that tax burden does not depend upon that where revenue is collected but the division of tax burden between buyers and sellers only depend upon the elasticity of supply and demand. The theory of tax incidence equivalence is strongly related to the market formation and also enlarges to the subsidies. The benefit of the subsidy is not related to the one that who is in fact getting the subsidy. Basically, government should charge tax to decrease the agreement costs and it should not to leave the restrictive producers at disadvantages. In the competitive equilibrium market, particular shifts of supply and demand curves are considered to analyze the tax and subsidy equivalence theorems. Both the smaller no of markets and sufficiently large no of markets can trade profitably at the competitive price. The results propose that the discussion topic is that who is paying the tax or receiving the subsidy should pay attention on formation that at what degree market is under the competition level. And if the market is competitive then the tax should be manage in a manner that reduces the expenditure cost. 2.7 Tax incidence under oligopoly: a comparison of policy approaches: Hamilton (1999) examined the tax incidence under the oligopolistic market structure. Basically two forms of commodity taxation considered are the unit (or specific) tax and sales (or ad valorem) tax. The author has incorporated the shift parameters in a generalized tax schedule to analyze the incidence of taxation under oligopoly. Greater industry output and increased output per firm is associated with output elastic schedule. If there is a case of free entry in oligopoly then there would be the larger reduction in industry fix cost relative to the tax schedule that is less responsive to the equilibrium level of output. Taxation under oligopoly, benefit would be  increased with revenue neutral reforms to relatively output elastic tax plan. The results of other studies show that with specific or ad valorem taxation leads to efficiency loss in oligopolistic industries with a fix number of firms. Degressive taxes with both specific tax and ad volarem tax leads to efficiency gain, when the tax output is elastic enough. 2.8 The incidence of income tax on wages and labour supply: Bingley and lanot (2002) has analyzed the determination of equilibrium and labor supply in the presence of income taxes. They found the strong evidence of fractional shifting of income tax from worker to employer. As tax is not fully shifted if the income tax is incident on equilibrium wage. There is not shifting of burden of taxation as labor supply response to wages is measured. And the labor supply elasticity with respect to wage is very small after income taxation. Higher income tax leads to a higher employment. In the article, the author showed the effect of income tax on gross wages and labor supply wage elasticity. The incidence of taxation on gross earnings is a mix of labor supply and gross wage responses. In this model the author has chosen the Denmark country. In Denmark, income tax varies regionally as workers pay tax according to where they live rather than where they work. The result shows that the, in Denmark, gross earnings bear less than the full burden of labor taxation and gross wages bear proportionately more of that tax burden. The results shows, by ignoring the labor supply response to a tax change may lead to a wrong conclusion that the tax is fully incident on equilibrium earnings. 2.9 The incidence of personal income taxation: evidence from the tax reform act of 1986: D. kubik (2004) examined in this paper about the short run incidence of personal income taxation in US by analyzing that how wage structure shifted after the tax reform act of 1986. In this analyses pre tax wages and income of workers are endogenously determined through tax policy. Workers of an economy with different skills, the pre tax wage of each skill depend upon the quantity of labor supplied. Basically, the purpose of the paper is that whether changes in personal income tax affect the US wage formation through the evidence from the tax reform act of 1986. Firstly, the author has tested that how marginal tax rate of the median worker in  each occupation changed due to the tax reform and then tested the wages of workers in each occupation before and after 1986. Personal income taxation changes through the tax reform act of 1986 have affected the wage distribution and results shows that the legislation has lowered the marginal tax rate of high income individuals but low income individuals relatively unaffected. If the training and potential earnings of the people are quite similar then the tax reform act of 1986 will affected the people in the same way. High skill workers in a profession earns high incomes leads to a sharp decline in marginal tax rate but on the other hand low income individuals faced minor changes in marginal tax rate. The result depends on the assumption that labor supply decisions are affected by the marginal tax rate. Labor supply decision changes as individuals change their work hour decision or can cause a worker to drop the profession. Wage rate were affected by the shifts of workers supply in the labor market due to the tax reform 1986. 2.10 Tax incidence when individuals are time-inconsistent: the case of cigarette excise tax: Gruber and Koszegi (2004) stated that lower income groups consume much of the unhealthy or sin commodities to which excise tax is imposed in a greater proportion as compare to the higher income level. There is negative relationship between income and part of income which is spending on sin commodities. For example the imposition of tax on gasoline would be fall on the low income level and their utilities would be affected after increase in taxes. In this model consumers are considered to be time inconsistent in their consumption decision. In the model author has considered the smoking decision which is more appropriate in time inconsistent structure. The basic purpose of the incidence analysis is to determine that who is going to bear the tax through different tax policies and the adequate measure for this analysis is utility. Bad commodities such as smoking have been under discussion among policy makers and academics. The important point here is that tax on harmful addictive commodities is equal to the external cost and such taxes are highly regressive. Conclusion Government basically collects taxes to generate revenues the important thing  is that through which procedure it is being collected and who is going to bear the larger part of tax. After implementation of tax what would be the effect of tax on the welfare of the economy. Redistribution of income can be increased through taxation. Employment can be increased through labor income taxation. Welfare of the economy can be increased through sin taxes. Taxation on the unhealthy commodities leads to increase the welfare of the economy. References: Bingley, Paul and Lanot, Gauthier (2002), The incidence of income tax on wages and labour supply†, â€Å"Journal of public econmics†, vol: 83, page 173-194 Chae, Suchan (2002), â€Å"Tax incidence with bargaining†, â€Å"Economics Letters†. Vol: 77, page 199-204 Fullerton, Don and Heutel, Garth â€Å"The general equilibrium incidence of environmental taxes†, â€Å"journal of public economics†, vol: 91, page 571-591 Garcà ­a, Josà © Ramà ³n and Sala Hector, (2008), â€Å"The tax system incidence on unemployment: A country-specific analysis for the OECD economies†, â€Å"Economic Modelling† Gruber, Jonathan and Koszegi, Botond (2004), Tax incidence when individuals are time-inconsistent: the case of cigarette excise taxes†,† Journal of public economics†, vol: 88, page 1959-1987 Hamilton, Stephen F. (1999), â€Å"Tax incidence under oligopoly: a comparison of policy approaches†, â€Å"Journal of public economics†, vol: 71, page 233-245 Kotakorpi, Kaisa (2008), â€Å"The incidence of sin taxes†, â€Å"Economics Letters† vol: 98, page 95-99 Kubik, D. Jeffrey (2004), â€Å"The incidence of personal income taxation: evidence from the tax reform act of 1986†, â€Å"Journal of public economics†, vol: 88, page 1567-1588 Petrucci, Alberto (2006), â€Å"The incidence of a tax on pure rent in a small open economy†, â€Å"Journal of public economics†, vol: 90, page 921-933 Ruffle J.Bradley (2005), â€Å"Tax and subsidy incidence equivalence theories: experimental evidence from competitive markets†, â€Å"Journal of public economics†, vol: 89, page 1519-1542

Reading Skills Essay Example for Free

Reading Skills Essay Reading daily, Reading deeply, Reading widely are the few important skills of reading from which we can enhance our understanding of passage, ameliorate our vocabulary, correct our grammatical mistakes, increase our thinking capacity and helps in improving or learning any part of a language. The more you read the one thing you realize the key to doing well in the examination, and the key to perform or present any task in a well equipped way. There are many techniques used in reading to get and understand whole idea or summary of the passage to improve reading. But few important skills of reading are given below to improve reading. 1. Styles of reading 2. Active reading 3. A tip for speeding up your active reading 4. Spotting authors navigation aids 5. Words and vocabulary [pic]1. Styles of reading There are three styles of reading which we use in different situations: Scanning: Scanning is what you do to find an answer to a specific question. You may run your eyes quickly down the page in a zigzag or winding S pattern. If you are looking for a name, you note capital letters. For a date, you look for numbers. Vocabulary words may be boldfaced or italicized. When you scan for information, you read only what is needed. Its useful to scan parts of texts to see if theyre going to be useful to you: †¢ the introduction or preface of a book †¢ the first or last paragraphs of chapters †¢ the concluding chapter of a book. Skimming: for getting the gist of something Skimming is covering the chapter to get some of the main ideas and a general overview of the material. It is what you do first when reading a chapter assignment. You don’t read for details at this point. Here is how you skim a chapter: . To preview a passage before you read it in detail  · Read the first paragraph of the chapter line by line.  · Next, read all the bold print headings starting at the beginning.  · Read the first sentence of every paragraph.  · Study any pictures, graphs, charts, and maps.  · Finally, read the last paragraph of the chapter. As you skim, you could write down the main ideas and develop a chapter outline. Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used. [pic]2. Active reading When youre reading for your course, you need to make sure youre actively involved with the text. Its a waste of your time to just passively read, the way youd read a thriller on holiday. Always make notes to keep up your concentration and understanding. Here are four tips for active reading. Underlining and highlighting Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading. Do this with your own copy of texts or on photocopies, not with borrowed books. If you are a visual learner, youll find it helpful to use different colours to highlight different aspects of what youre reading. Note key words Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each point. When you dont want to mark the text, keep a folder of notes you make while reading. Questions Before you start reading something like an article, a chapter or a whole book, prepare for your reading by noting down questions you want the material to answer. While youre reading, note down questions which the author raises. Summaries Pause after youve read a section of text. Then: 1. put what youve read into your own words; 2. skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is and 3.fill in any gaps. [pic]3. A tip for speeding up your active reading You should learn a huge amount from your reading. If you read passively, without learning, youre wasting your time. So train your mind to learn. Try the SQ3R technique. First developed by researchers at Ohio State University, SQ3R is a useful technique for absorbing written information. It helps you to create a good mental framework of a subject, into which you can fit the right facts. It helps you to set study goals and prompts you to use the review techniques that will help you to remember. The acronym SQ3R stands for the five sequential techniques you should use to read a book: Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Survey Gather the information you need to focus on the work and set goals: †¢ Read the title to help prepare for the subject †¢ Read the introduction or summary to see what the author thinks are the key points †¢ Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is †¢ Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a purpose †¢ Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the end of the chapter. They are all there to help you understand and remember. Question  Help your mind to engage and concentrate. Your mind is engaged in learning when it is actively looking for answers to questions. Make questions that can be answered during the reading of the material. This will give a purpose to your reading. Take a heading and turn it into a question. For example, if a heading in a chapter about Cell Division is in your biology text, make a question by turning the title around: â€Å"How does cell division occur? † or â€Å"How many steps are involved in cell division? † Read Read the first section with your questions in mind. Now you read the material trying to find answers to your questions. This is a careful reading, line by line. You may want to take notes or make flashcards. Recall As you read, look away from your book and notes and try to answer your questions. This checks your learning and helps put that information in your memory. After each section, stop and think back to your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as often as you need to.. Review To check your memory, scan portions of the material or your notes to verify your answers. Review the material and note the main points under each heading. This review step helps you retain the material. The SQ3R method is just one technique that can be used to retain information you collect while reading. Students learn in different ways. Therefore they should be aware of their learning styles. Knowing whether you are an Auditory (learn by hearing), Visual (learn by seeing) or Kinesthetic (hands-on) learner helps you to understand your best learning environment. The SQ3R technique of reading can help to enhance your reading skills no matter what your style is. [pic]4. Spotting authors navigation aids Learn to recognize sequence signals, for example: Three advantages of or A number of methods are available leads you to expect several points to follow. The first sentence of a paragraph will often indicate a sequence:† One important cause of followed by Another important factor and so on, until The final cause of General points are often illustrated by particular examples, for example: General: Birds beaks are appropriately shaped for feeding. Particular: Sparrows and other seed-eating birds have short, stubby beaks; wrens and other insect eaters have thin pointed beaks; herons and other fish hunters have long, sharp beaks for spearing their prey. Whatever you are reading, be aware of the authors background. It is important to recognize the bias given to writing by a writers political, religious, social background. Learn which newspapers and journals represent a particular standpoint [pic]5. Words and vocabulary When youre a graduate people expect you to use a vocabulary which is wider than a school-leavers. To expand your vocabulary: Choose a large dictionary rather than one which is ‘compact or ‘concise. You want one which is big enough to define words clearly and helpfully (around 1,500 pages is a good size). Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by just giving synonyms. A pocket dictionary might suggest: ‘impetuous = rash. A more comprehensive dictionary will tell you that impetuous means ‘rushing with force and violence, while another gives ‘liable to act without consideration, and add to your understanding by giving the derivation ‘14th century, from late Latin impetuous = violent. It will tell you that rash means ‘acting without due consideration or thought, and is derived from Old High German rasc = hurried. So underlying these two similar words is the difference between violence and hurrying. There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary; most of them have different meanings, (only a small proportion is synonyms). Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by using very complicated language to define the term youre looking up, leaving you struggling to understand half a dozen new words. Keep your dictionary at hand when youre studying. Look up unfamiliar words and work to understand what they mean. Improve your vocabulary by reading widely. Reading skills in a precis form Comprehensions Reading comprehension is a basic skill that each college student must possess. Believe it or not, reading is a complex, accrued skill—not acquired overnight learning to read and comprehend takes practice. Comprehension involves obtaining information from written text. A reader who comprehends a text accurately understands what the writer intended to communicate. She understands the purpose and the main idea. Comprehension cannot be observed directly, but a reader who is able to retell, paraphrase or summarize a text demonstrates comprehension. Interpretation †¢ When a reader interprets a text, he is employing a critical thinking strategy. He uses evidence and clues from the text to draw conclusions and looks for larger or more universal principals in what he has read. Interpretation requires going beyond the initial impression of what he has read to develop a more complex and complete understanding. Analysis †¢ When a reader analyzes the text, she identifies the assumptions of the writer and examines the structure of the argument. She asks questions such as, Does the evidence support the argument? and Does it support the conclusions the writer draws? She is looking for evidence of a logical and/or consistent argument. Synthesis †¢ With synthesis, the skilled reader is able to show how a text develops or builds meaning. He sorts out and reconstructs ideas in a text to point out how they are interrelated. He compares and extends meaning from multiple sources. Evaluation †¢ Evaluation, determining the quality and effectiveness of a text, is the highest level of critical thinking associated with reading, according to Lesley Thompson, Senior Assessment and Accountability Program Associate at the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. An effective reader evaluates the merit of the text by drawing on her own experience and knowledge and considering whether other sources provide evidence that agrees with or contradicts the writers argument.

Analysis of Creative and Innovation Management

Analysis of Creative and Innovation Management According to Tidd, Joe and Bessant, John, innovation management is defined as the discipline of managing processes in innovation. It is essentially a process within an organization that embarks on new models and ideas that deploy the creative juices of the work force towards a common understanding of goals and processes. (more in Appendix A) Why is it important? The importance of innovation is ever so increasing. In this day and age, innovativeness has come to become a force in wealth creation and business success. It leads to new business ideas and technological revolutions. According to management expert, Peter Drunker, he stressed the survival aspect that an established organization would need to innovate or face the consequences of extinction. In line with this point, many organizations today are upping their efforts measures to strengthen their ability to innovate. Innovation, besides the products and services, also includes the new processes, new supply chain systems, new marketing methods and new leadership/management styles, which would ultimately have a significant impact on productivity and growth. Today, more than ever before, the importance of innovation cannot be overlooked. With the impact of globalization, coupled with technological and knowledge revolutions, organizations and businesses will be have to constantly adapt to the ever changing business climate. Innovation will help add value and propel organizations forward towards overall improvement. This report extends research into Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5), College of Central London (CCL) and the Gilt Groupe. Heathrow Terminal 5 The Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5) project was a megaproject launch in the United Kingdom to increase the current capacity of 67 million passengers a year to 95 million passengers a year. It was a  £4.6 billion project that was large, complex and expensive. In its initiation phase, the BAA, the owners of Heathrow Airport and Laing ORourke push forth with a novel approach to extend the scope of existing research to build on the new project capabilities. The end result: it meets expectations and it is on schedule, within budget and has a high safety record. This represents a major breakthrough in project management practices of the UK construction industry. The T5 utilized state-of-the-art systems and technologies that would indefinitely make T5 one of the most modern and efficient major airport terminal in the world. It incorporated several innovative methods gathered from other industries which included Lean techniques in areas within the IT and infrastructure. For example, the BAA created incentives for contractors to work together, introduced digital tools to facilitate the collaboration between designers, engineers and project managers. It also took advantage of the revolutionary single design visualization system which in effect replaced numerous proprietary in-house IT systems with standard software linking into the logistics systems. Today, the T5 is running beyond expected levels of efficiency in all areas of customer service, and it regarded as an exception achievement. Gilt Groupe Gilt Groupe is an e-commerce retailer based in the United States. Established in 2007, its business model centers in the provision of invitation-only access to highly coveted products and experiences at insider prices. It stages online flash sales that offer its members luxury merchandise, including apparel, accessories and lifestyle items, at a bargain price for a limited period of time. For example, it will inform its members of the launch of a sale beginning noon which typically lasts for 36 hours, with bargains on luxury merchandise at up to 60% off. The Gilt Groupe is the brainchild of Alexis Maybank, a former eBay founding member, and Alexandre Wilson, a merchandising executive at Louis Vuitton and Bulgari. Long time friends, it was not until 2007 that these entrepreneurs brought their complementary strengths, interest and areas of expertise to create something innovative together. With plenty of momentum going forward, the Gilt Groupes innovative business model has attracted a total of $48million to date, and its considering a public offering in 2012. 1.2 Leading and Embracing Innovation and Change As the world economy progresses forward, evolution in organizational design continues to take on new configurations. Organizations today are eager to jump on major opportunities and embrace innovation as changes unfold. We are seeing the proliferation of good ideas that could potential become successful innovations. However, more often than not, there exist strategic barriers and bottlenecks to obstruct the implementation process of valuable innovations. Thus, organizations are willing to invest to enlist the right people and ensure the optimal use of their knowledge and experience. In leading the case for innovation, there are several approaches to embracing creativity and innovation. Anchor Innovation in Strategy According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and McKingsey Co, their joint-surveys have indicated that innovation is in fact one of the top three strategic corporate priorities. Looking at some of the pioneer of visionary companies, they found a common trait whereby innovation is imbued in the organizations strategy, from top to bottom, and from the delivery to its execution. It maintains center stage in Board agenda, and is regularly discussed in meeting on equal footing with sales, finance, marketing and operations. Similarly, these forward thinking companies strive to shed visibility on innovation by their implementation of new technologies to achieve marked improvements in the facilitation, management and measurement process from idea generation to its final implementation. Build an innovation culture on participation Another novel approach would be to infuse innovation within the companys corporate culture that encourages participation. In this setting, individuals are most highly incentivized by the power to make autonomous decisions and respect knowledge and a willingness of cooperation towards a joint goal of future value creation. The organizational culture should foster a comfort in employees to freely articulate challenges and express their ideas, regardless of the feasibility. Leaders should encourage the participation and allocate time and resources on innovation through developing a system of recognition that fosters and rewards all kinds of constructive behavior that would enrich and shape the culture of innovation. Make innovation a well-managed process Despite innovation clearly being one of the top three strategic corporate priorities, few if not any would actually manage innovation as a process. Whats most important here is to set in motion initiatives to garner ideas from within the organization. This could be as simple as gathering one idea per employee, and handling these suggestions to explore areas of improvement within the business processes. This will enable an organization to advance the entire innovation process, from idea capture, enrichment and evaluation through to decision-making and implementation. Presentation on The Importance of Creative and Innovative Management Task2 2.1 Influence of Vision and Mission In any leadership position, people count on the leader to set the direction and provide a bearing for the future. In broad terms, this is usually expressed and articulated in the vision or mission statement to serve as a guiding post for the organization. It sets the stage for the strategic planning and objectives, and illustrates a vision that is desirable, challenging and believable. To address the creative and innovative management processes of an organization, I will extend research into a third organization, which is a small-medium size enterprise (SME), The Dance Studio. The Dance Studio The Dance Studio is a leading retailer in Singapore, offering a myriad of latest collection dance apparel and shoe wear. Established in 2009, The Dance Studio was founded by Sally Teo to fill in the gap in providing an affordable option for all dance enthusiasts. A passionate dancer for several years, she noticed a lack of quality in affordable Latin and Ballroom competition gowns in the marketplace. Her vision was to create a niche store that understand the needs of dancers and allow them to shine on the dance floor. Since its initial launch two years ago, the retailer has embraced innovation and expanded into providing dancing shoe-wear and customized costume outfits. It also took advantage of the internet and launched an e-commerce website to expand its geographical reach to its customers. The Dance Studio has come a way in establishing their presence and constantly reiterate its vision through its support in dance events in the community. Thus far, they has sponsored two major events: (i) The Lush event at the Zouk Club, in conjunction with Imperial College London UK Boudn Event, (ii) The National University of Singapore (NUS) Social and Ballroom Club Dinner and Dance event. The Dance Studio today follows a relatively lean organizational structure, where employees hold multiple responsibilities in their contribution to the firms success. 2.2 Analytical tools to identify potential innovative ideas Leaders should inspire employees to search for innovative ways of doing things. This refers to lateral thinking, which is defined as a set of techniques and approaches to look for radically new ways to approach the problems. In the case for the Dance Studio, we could identify that the use of lateral thinking in their focus of bringing their vision to fruition. They have achieved organic growth by the expansion into dance shoe-wear and customized professional dancing costumes market. In the application of analytical tools available on the Dance Studio, it can be illustrated in the four quadrant diagram SWOT analysis in the following: Strengths: Niche market Very focused approach Lean corporate structure Flexible organization culture; ease of implementing change and ideas High profit margin business Weakness: Lack of economies of scale Vulnerable to currency fluctuations; since goods are sourced from the United States and China Opportunities: New markets to explore and expand towards Expand its geographical reach by opening retail stores in other countries Development of their brand as a niche provider to the professional dancing scene Threats: Low barriers of entry; easy penetration into this markets by competitors Business model is easily imitated. Large retailer with economies of scale could easily gain market share. Additional section on PESTLE analysis is included in the appendix 2.3 Assessment of risk and benefits of creative and innovative management ideas Risk management techniques could be applied in this case in the provision of creative and innovative management ideas. According to the ISO, it is defined as the identification, assessment and prioritization of risk as followed by the application of resources to minimize, monitor and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events. In any organization, it is vital to have risk measurement in place to deal with the creative and innovative management ideas. An approach will be to impose a structured platform to guide the innovation process by including mandatory steps such as organization of ideas, researching of patents, exploration of new markets and competition and evaluating the overall risks to ensure the most lucrative ideas are undertaken. This will enable the organization to have enhanced risk management capabilities and safe measures in place designed to make innovation a process that is sustainable and repeatable. In this aspect of pursuing these ideas, it is important to analyze all risks in this process as the higher the degree of innovation will mean the higher level of uncertainty. The sub-factors of risks can be concluding in the table: Factor of risk Sub-factor of risk Technological risk This risk arises from the feasibility in technical terms, the rate of advancement of technology, uncertainty of middle test and production. This could refer to high difficult in RD, insufficient anticipation of key techniques, methodology, etc. This type of risk will be more evident in technological innovation. Market risk This risk arises from the uncertainty of the market size and the industry. This includes the general economy, customers demand, competitive advantage in products, and lifespan of new products. This component is usually broken down to three aspects: Market demand risk difficult to access the market size and capacity prior. Market competition risk new entrants usually face severe competition as similar products or providers could already exist in the market. Market risk of entering the market difficult to decide on the ideal time to introduce products, timing here plays a critical role. Organizing risk This risk arises from the organization activity of running the company. It includes all functions within the organization structure such as: Decision-making risk leaders making wrong decision should they lack foresight and long-term view. Capability risk lack of capability and expertise in the product development process would hinder the creative and innovative management ideas. Human resource risk the diathesis and availability of employees, the retention of good people. Financial risk the available of capital and the management of finance. Information management risk lack of sufficient information of market demand could lead to innovation failure. External environment risk This risk arises from the macro political, economic, social and technological environment that could potentially cause external environmental risk. It includes a very broad view and awareness of the external environment, from the stability of national political situation to the changes of the economic cycle and the social and cultural factors that was identified in the PESTLE analysis. The 4 major components here are: Political and legal environment risk, Economic environment risk Social and culture environmental risk Technological environment risk To conclude, the innovation process with its main risks should be analyzed in detail. It is crucial for an organization to pay attention to the possible relation among different risks and access the full extent of uncertainty. 2.4 Using Change models In order to support the implementation of creative and innovative management ideas, models of change management could be applied as it simplifies a process to allow the follow through implementation success of these ideas. These models were created to cope with the unpredictability of implementing change. In reality, there is no right or wrong. It is the way to go about implementing change that would differ depending on the model utilized. The IDEAL model, for example, is an organizational improvement model that serves as a roadmap for initiating, planning, and implementing improvement actions. IDEAL refers to: initiating, diagnosing, establishing, acting, and learning. The IDEAL model essentially provides a structure to allow organizations in the planning and implementation process. It allows firms to effectively integrate the creative and innovative management ideas with the organizations strategy to establish a successful improvement programme. It comprises of a five phases that has proven beneficial in many improvement efforts through establishing a foundation for long-term improvement strategy. The five phases of IDEAL: I Initiating Laying the groundwork for a successful improvement effort. D Diagnosing Determine current position and set a target for future position. E Establishing Planning the necessary steps to reach the target destination. A Acting Follow the schedule according to the plan. L Learning Learn from experience and improve on your ability to adopt new technologies in the future.

Garbage Laws :: English Literature Essays

Garbage Laws Garbage Laws, a Narritive Essay The town of Kabawaga, where I live, has some very strict garbage bylaws that were first introduced some ten years ago in an effort to use new recycling guidelines and to save money as authorities at that time stated that the landfills were almost at capacity. And what started out as a conservation measure has now escalated into a stack of â€Å"garbage laws† for our community. The town claimed that it was progressing as each year saw a new bylaw regulating garbage come into effect. Every year more was expected from the taxpayer in abidance to these new bylaws and the town appointed officers to enforce them, who went out and gave out fines to taxpayers not obeying the garbage law. I saw many neighbor get cited for taking their garbage out to the curb too early. The law states that garbage must be taken to curbside after 6:00pm the night before pickup. I suppose that's fine if you have a daytime job. Did anyone at town hall ever hear of shift-workers? The most recent change, just passed last week by town council prohibits putting plastic bottles in a plastic bag. Now all plastic bottles must be taken out to curbside in an open top square plastic recycle box provided by the town for five dollars. Plastic bottles that are not in this box will not be picked up and violators will be fined according to the channel 7 news report I saw. And so, this year we already have another new nonsense bylaw. And why are these laws nonsense? This list explains it: there can be no more than five garbage cans out at one time at any one residence, no cans can be put out to curbside until six p.m. the day before pickup, all garbage must be tightly wrapped in a clear plastic garbage bag, no oil bottle, paint cans, or other chemical bottles are allowed with regular garbage, no sand, concrete, or rocks allowed in garbage, no cardboard allowed except only twice a year at special pickup time, newspapers must be bundled with string only, no tape, and put out separately every second week, and no metal except twice a year. All appliances such as old broken refrigerators, stoves and washers etc. must be called in by appointment. Furniture must also be called in. Wood can’t be longer than four-foot sections and must be bundled with string.

Alternate Worlds Essay -- Movie Film Matrix Essays

Alternate Worlds We are all living our lives day-to-day, thinking that everything we encounter is truly in existence. But what if we are all in a dream world? With many science fiction forms of media, they pose this question: Is there any way to tell that everything we do is really happening? One movie that embraces this topic is The Matrix. The matrix could almost be called a dream world. The world outside of the matrix is basically the real world, where humans are not controlled by computers. Zion is the only real city left in the movie. Morpheus, a main character in the movie, states, the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. In Ursula K Le Guins The Lathe of Heaven there is also a confusion of the real world and the dream world. In the movie The Matrix and the book The Lathe of Heaven there are many similarities, even though the story lines are quite different. The curiosity that comes from both the movie and the book is the fact that the world is not what is seems to be. The main characters in the movie The Matrix and Le Guins book The Lathe of Heaven both have many similarities. The main character in the movie is Neo, a computer hacker, who is seeking the truth about the matrix. However, when he finds the truth, he ends up discovering more than he expected. After being discovered by Morpheus, he is taken into the real world where he becomes 'The One' and receives computer generated powers. In The Lathe of Heaven the main characters name is George Orr, who is a man who has the capa bility to dream things that can become reality. His dreams become such a nuisance that he begins taking prescription drugs, which later get him in trouble. He is punished by having to consult a psychotherapi... ...way to find close similarities, seeing how science fiction has one common theme based on speculative scientific discoveries or changes. There are many arguments showed that could link this book about a man who discovers his ability to dream things that became reality, to the movie The Matrix, which is about a computer generated reality. In these science fiction stories they both contain strong characters that all posses a pivotal role in each story, which makes it easier to compare these two different narrations. After reading The Lathe of Heaven and seeing The Matrix, the importance shows Neo and Orr and how they affect the world around them. Works Cited Le Guin, Ursula K. The Lathe of Heaven. New York: First Perennial Classics, 1971. The Matrix. Dir. The Wachowski, Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburn, and Carrie Ann Moss. DVD. Warner Bros, 2001. Alternate Worlds Essay -- Movie Film Matrix Essays Alternate Worlds We are all living our lives day-to-day, thinking that everything we encounter is truly in existence. But what if we are all in a dream world? With many science fiction forms of media, they pose this question: Is there any way to tell that everything we do is really happening? One movie that embraces this topic is The Matrix. The matrix could almost be called a dream world. The world outside of the matrix is basically the real world, where humans are not controlled by computers. Zion is the only real city left in the movie. Morpheus, a main character in the movie, states, the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. In Ursula K Le Guins The Lathe of Heaven there is also a confusion of the real world and the dream world. In the movie The Matrix and the book The Lathe of Heaven there are many similarities, even though the story lines are quite different. The curiosity that comes from both the movie and the book is the fact that the world is not what is seems to be. The main characters in the movie The Matrix and Le Guins book The Lathe of Heaven both have many similarities. The main character in the movie is Neo, a computer hacker, who is seeking the truth about the matrix. However, when he finds the truth, he ends up discovering more than he expected. After being discovered by Morpheus, he is taken into the real world where he becomes 'The One' and receives computer generated powers. In The Lathe of Heaven the main characters name is George Orr, who is a man who has the capa bility to dream things that can become reality. His dreams become such a nuisance that he begins taking prescription drugs, which later get him in trouble. He is punished by having to consult a psychotherapi... ...way to find close similarities, seeing how science fiction has one common theme based on speculative scientific discoveries or changes. There are many arguments showed that could link this book about a man who discovers his ability to dream things that became reality, to the movie The Matrix, which is about a computer generated reality. In these science fiction stories they both contain strong characters that all posses a pivotal role in each story, which makes it easier to compare these two different narrations. After reading The Lathe of Heaven and seeing The Matrix, the importance shows Neo and Orr and how they affect the world around them. Works Cited Le Guin, Ursula K. The Lathe of Heaven. New York: First Perennial Classics, 1971. The Matrix. Dir. The Wachowski, Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburn, and Carrie Ann Moss. DVD. Warner Bros, 2001.

Alcohol Abuse Essay -- Diseases, Disorders

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the United States. Although the consumption of alcohol by itself is not a social problem, the continuous and excessive use of alcohol can become problematic. There are four symptoms associated with alcohol dependence which are craving, loss of control, physical dependence, and tolerance. 17.6 million People, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence along with several million more who engage in risky, binge drinking patterns that could lead to alcohol problems. (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, n.d.) The United States has banned drugs such as heroin, LSD, and marijuana in the United States because they claim that these drugs dangerous and that these drugs have no medical purpose. Should the United States ban the sale of alcohol? Why would people put something poisonous inside their body that would cause bodily harm? Everyday people do that when they consume alcohol. Alcohol can have long lasting effects that can lead to serious health complications later in life. Studies have shown that long-term alcohol abuse produces serious, harmful effects on a variety of the body's organ systems. Parts of the human body most affected include the liver and the immune, cardiovascular, and skeletal systems. (Alcohol Research & Health Winter 2000) Heavy alcohol use is the leading cause of illness and death from liver disease in the United States. Deaths from chronic liver disease are among 4 times higher among Native Americans and Alaska Natives than among the rest of the U.S. population. Alcoholism is a not a curable disease but it can be treated. There are several different ways to treat Alcoholism. Relapse prevention uses methods for recognizing problem... ...nts. Those suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) were more likely to be associated with alcohol than those who do not appear to have any symptoms. Works Cited National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. (n.d.). Learn about alcohol. Retrieved from http://www.ncadd.org/index.php/learn-about-alcohol/faqsfacts "Medical Consequences of Alcohol Abuse." Alcohol Research & Health Winter 2000: 27. Academic OneFile. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. Edward M. Brecher, E. O. C. R. M. (n.d.). Should alcohol be prohibited?. Retrieved from http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu32.html Dryden-Edwards, R. (n.d.). Alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_abuse_and_alcoholism/page6.htm National center for ptsd. (2011, December 20). Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/ptsd-alcohol-use.asp

Animism and the Alphabet: David Abram

Edward Chiang Professor Shaffer ENC1102 12 September 2011 Summary Assignment In â€Å"Animism and the Alphabet†, David Abram, a journalist in the Environmental Ethics and a founder of the Alliance for Wild Ethics (AWE), asserts that through the evolution of the human language, there is a widening gap in the relationship between humanity and nature. Through the examples of pictographic systems and hieroglyphics, Abram suggests that our earliest forms of writing stemmed off of our ecological origins and â€Å"remained tied to the mysteries of a more-than-human world† (30). As a result of these primitive methods of expression, Abram then describes humanity’s need to convey and define other terms that cannot be expressed through pictures: The development of phonetic script. This was the transfer of sounds and the speaking voice rather than a simple picture that depicts meaning through vision. This innovation came with the creation of the Semitic aleph-beth, later to evolve into our modern-day alphabet, which created a new detachment between human culture and the rest of nature. Abram believes that the major turning point in our connection with nature lies in the Greek’s lasting contributions to the written world allowing for the â€Å"indebtedness of human language to the more-than-human perceptual field†¦preserved in the names and shapes of the Semitic letters† (34) to be forgotten. Abram states that the Homeric epics ballads and songs in Greek culture supported the idea that men interact with the non-human world. These original â€Å"oral texts† (36) were first memorized through a series of formulas and then performed with the poets own creativity and improvisation; however, when these songs became the first large written texts, Iliad and the Odyssey obtained a timeless quality, remaining forever preserved on paper. Abram believes that it is through this alphabetic technology that â€Å"language was beginning to separate itself from the animate flux of the world† (38). Occurring†¦