Sunday, December 29, 2019

Sanity of the Narrator in The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar...

Sanity of the Narrator in The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe In Edgar Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart we question the sanity of the narrator almost immediately, but we cannot prove either way whether or not he is insane. I have read a lot of Poes work although not all of it. His mysterious style of writing greatly appeals to me. Poe has an uncanny talent for exposing our common nightmares and the hysteria lurking beneath our carefully structured lives. I believe, for the most part, that this is done through his use of setting and his narrative style. In The Tell-Tale Heart, the setting was used to portray a dark and gloomy picture of an old house lit only with lantern light with a possible madman lurking inside. I think this was†¦show more content†¦Without that initial statement, why would we think him mad? Then he says; Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. How does he know that madmen know nothing? I wrote in my own journal once; Insanity is not madness. Sanity is madness, if one can distinguish the differe nce between sanity and insanity, does that not then make you sane? So then, if the narrator questions our thoughts on his sanity, he must then know the difference or that there is a difference between sanity and insanity, does that not then create some question as to his own sanity? I think from the very beginning he questioned his own sanity to himself thereby creating the question of insanity to the reader! Isnt that insane? (ha ha) But was he insane? Insane is defined in Websters New Concise Dictionary as: Not Sane; mentally deranged or unsound. Set apart for demented persons. Not Whole. OK, well we still cannot prove that he was or was not insane. Was he a psychopath? Some would say yes, most definitely. But what is a psychopath? Psychopaths have a character type that enables them to pursue pleasure with indifference to the suffering they cause others. Psychopaths are completely lacking such virtues as benevolence and compassion. In this story, the narrator says; I loved the ol d man.Show MoreRelatedEssay on Insanity: The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe1165 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allan Poe is a first-person narrative short story that showcases an enigmatic and veiled narrator. The storyteller makes us believe that he is in full control of his mind yet he is experiencing a disease that causes him over sensitivity of the senses. As we go through the story, we can find his fascination in proving his sanity. The narrator lives with an old man, who has a clouded, pale blue, vulture-like eye that makes him so helpless that he kills the old man. HeRead MoreEssay about â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† 1448 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allan Poe is a first-person narrative short story that features a disguised-cum-mysterious narrator. The narrator does not reveal any interest while proving his innocence regarding the murder of the old man. Moreover, he makes us believe that he is in full control of his mind but yet suffering from a disease that causes him over acuteness of the senses. As w e go through the story, we can find his obsession in proving his sanity. The narrator lives with an old man, whoRead MoreThe Final Days of Edgar Allan Poe by Roger Francis 1732 Words   |  7 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the nineteenth-century. Poe’s short stories posses the recurring themes of death, murder and his narrators often show signs of mental instability, like the old man in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and Montressor in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†. Since tragedy was prominent throughout Poe’s life, his work reflects the darkness ingrained by continuously being faced with adversity. Poe’s mental stability also comes into question whenRead MoreGuilt And Sanity Of The Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe962 Words   |  4 Pageshappening. For example, In Tell-Tale Hearts by Edgar Allan Poe, a man with a lost soul tried to defend his sanity and yet confess to the damage that he had ma de. The man’s guilt crept up to him and was constantly haunting him. The narrator’s motives and intentions were to never commit the crime that he did. It was the old man’s eye that he considered as â€Å"the eye of a vulture† and it was the fear of his eye that lead him to do make insane and psychotic decisions. Edgar Allan Poe uses the fiction elementsRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s Life1092 Words   |  5 Pages Edgar Allan Poe lived in a constant state of struggle and misfortune. Poe was raised with no father, while his mother suffered from tuberculosis for the first three years of his life. Following the death of his mother, a young Poe moved into the house of John and Frances Allan. In his lifetime, Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester, The United States Military Academy at West Point and enlisted in the military under an alias of â€Å"Edgar A. Perry.† (Ober, 1960) After constantly beingRead MoreInfluence That Endures Ever Mo re: Edgar Allan Poe908 Words   |  4 PagesInfluence That Endures Ever More: Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe once said, â€Å"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.† Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential people in literary history and his words had the great power to impress the mind. More than 150 years after the death of Edgar Allan Poe, his writings are still influencing and inspiring writers today. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the a greatest literary influences of the 19th century andRead MoreGothic Literature : `` Tell Tale Heart `` And `` The Raven ``1698 Words   |  7 Pagesdemonstrated through Edgar allan Poe. Edgar Allan has a number of common Themes, motifs and structures that make his work easily recognizable and more importantly, fits his stories into the classification of the gothic. Among these elements, they include the theme of death and decay, which is almost always in Gothic fiction, the theme or presence of madness, insanity or other internal chaos, and haunted or creepy locations. Some stori es by Poe that include these elements are, â€Å"Tell-Tale heart† and â€Å"The Raven†Read MoreThe Tell Tale Heart By Edgar Allen Poe993 Words   |  4 PagesIn â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† by Edgar Allen Poe, it is classified as a short story with horror fiction as the genre. This was written in three different types of fear during the Romanticism period. In this short story the encounter is filtered through the eyes of the unnamed dynamic narrator. The narrator consumes upon the old man’s eye and determines to perform a conscious act of murder. Fear is defined as a horrid feeling that is caused by a belief that a person or something is unsafe, most likelyRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe s The Tell Tale Heart1581 Words   |  7 PagesEdgar Allan Poe wrote many gothic stories with twisted themes and ideas. An example in his works is the conception of overthinking something that is not there. Many of these tales end with someone being killed due to the fascinat ion of an unrealistic problem trying to be solved. Imagination is a main factor that drives the narrators to become worried. The obsessing narrators in Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, â€Å"The Black Cat†, and â€Å"The Imp of the Perverse† demonstrate the idea that guiltRead MoreAn Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe s The Tell Tale Heart 1015 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Insane in the Membrane† Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most acclaimed short story writers of all time and is considered the father of the psychological thriller. He has achieved ever-lasting fame for his work in various fields of literature, from prose to verse. However, it is his Gothic narrative, in the short story realm he is greatest known for and is regarded as one of the foremost masters of horror that the United States has ever fashioned. The crucial component to these horror stories is

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Essay on Comparing Christianity and Buddhism - 1675 Words

Comparing Christianity and Buddhism The task at hand is quite impossible, especially in a ten-page paper. I am about to compare two entire religions, that is two entire belief systems that certain individuals have devoted their entire lives towards; that generations have sought to follow, further, and protect with their lives. I will attempt to do this, but please bear in mind that my personal views will inevitably surface to a great degree and I will be prone to taking sides. I believe in fact that these two systems are poles apart and have very few similarities indeed. In this sense I am forced to conclude that they are hugely incompatible and that very few people will be able to accept both. In other words, a person who is†¦show more content†¦Indeed, though his personal suffering Christ has erased the sins of an entire civilization. Buddhists believe this is not possible and that only through personal effort can good be produced and bad reduced in the life of an individual. ‘We save ourselvesà ¢â‚¬â„¢ is the very much the message of Buddhism. In any case, Christians venture to say no one can be saved except through love for and faith in Christ. This appears egotistic and self-centered. Buddhists do assert that certain saintly and highly gifted people exist and can help us, such as the Buddha himself, yet they still maintain that personal salvation will only occur though one’s own individual effort. I would also contend that the profoundly judgmental Christian concepts of sin, guilt and shame have been psychologically damaging to the people who have come in contact with them. Christians also believe in such polarities as good and evil, God and Devil, Heaven and Hell -- none of which form an important part of any Buddhist teachings. Christianity is likewise authoritarian and dictatorial -- you must believe this or you will be condemned -- whereas Buddhism tends to be more liberal and allows people to believe more or less whatever they like. Christians ban certain teachings as heretical, evil and harmful, butShow MoreRelated Comparing Buddhism and Christianity Essay1410 Words   |  6 PagesComparing Buddhism and Christianity In the early sixth century Christianity was evolving at a rapid pace. The spread of Christianity was not only moving westward through Europe, but it was also moving eastward down the Silk Road. The eastward spread of Christianity was primarily a form of Christianity known as Nestorianism, after the teachings of Nestorius, a fifth century patriarch. By 635 Nestorian Christianity had reached the heart of China spreading through all of Persia and India. DuringRead More Comparing the Philosophy of Life in Christianity and Chinese Buddhism820 Words   |  4 PagesComparing the Philosophy of Life in Christianity and Chinese Buddhism Chinese Philosophy not only is the fruit of thinking of the Chinese nation, but also is the important component part of world culture. In Chinese philosophy, there are three main parts: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Among them, Chinese Buddhism, which came from India, experienced a course of sinicization under the influence of Chinese traditional culture represented mainly by Confucianism and Taoism , so it keeps theRead MoreChristianity vs Buddhism923 Words   |  4 Pagestruths,† said by Muhammad Ali. Religion is the belief and reverence for a supernatural power and powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe (2003). The religions I’ve chose to compare and contrast would be non denomination/ Christianity and Buddhism. Each religion would be broken down by their religious belief, religious ritual, and religious experience. The definition of these religious things are: religious belief is a statement to which members of a particular religion adhere, rel igiousRead MoreChristianity Is Materialistic While Buddhism Is Philosophical.1517 Words   |  7 PagesChristianity is Materialistic while Buddhism is Philosophical Name of Student Institution Affiliation Abstract Christianity was started by Christ through his teachings on earth. Though the son of God, he was born in a humble home and started his ministry at thirty years of age. He was crucified and rose from the dead after which he instructed his disciples to spread his gospel to all parts of the world. Born Gautama Siddhartha, son of a king who hoped the prince would becomeRead MoreSimilarities Between Buddhism and Christianity814 Words   |  4 Pagesdetrimental influences of cultural globalization. It is generally acknowledged that Buddhism and Christianity are ancient and global religions; however, whether the belief in Buddhism is credible or not, has sparked spirited debate. The Christian believes the Buddha is a â€Å"shadow†, and he is not to be believed. Actually, there are some similarities in terms of histories, main figures, and beliefs between Buddhism and Christianity. In order to solve sources of conflict, the Buddhists and the Christians shouldRead MoreHealthcare Provider and Faith Diversity Essay1557 Words   |  7 Pagescare professional to respect and understand the ideals that affect our patients and their family members. In this paper we will compare the philosophies of three diverse faiths. The faiths chosen are Islam, Christian Science and Buddhism, and how they compare to Christianity. We will learn about basic beliefs, spiritual perspectives on healing, and the components of healing such as meditation, prayer and other rituals they follow. Furthermore, addressing the importance and perceptive of how to careRead MoreDevotion Is A Major Theme1608 Words   |  7 Pagessoul to the true teachings of the religion. Devotion in the religions of Christianity and Buddhism is very important, but what they devote their lives to, and how they devote themselves is what makes the religions different. In the religion Christianity, devotion is a major theme. In order to be a successful Christian, a person must devote himself or herself to God, loving others and to the law. To start off, in Christianity they must devote themselves to loving god in order to reach salvation. SalvationRead MoreBuddhism : Buddhism Vs. Christianity1247 Words   |  5 PagesRUNNING HEAD: Journey 3 Buddhism vs. Christianity Brianna M. Stutheit George Fox University We can define rituals as repeated actions that provides us with meaning and significance. Symbols are a small unit of a ritual. Both rituals and symbols play an active role in religion. According to Clifford Geertz, religion can be defined as â€Å"a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivations in both men and women by formulating conceptions of generalRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity And Christianity1220 Words   |  5 PagesWhen comparing two of the world’s largest and oldest religions, Buddhism and Christianity, it is easy to find similarities and differences, even when these two religions developed thousands of miles, and 500 years apart. Both of the religions developed as reforms to existing religions (Hinduism and Judaism respectfully). Both of these religions have their founder as its central figure. Yet these two religions are quite different in their ideas about life, death, the nature of man and th e natureRead MoreHinduism and Budhism: Two of the World ´s Largest Religions1201 Words   |  5 PagesHinduism and Buddhism. While some do not see these as extremely prominent, they are pinocle belief systems in the Asian continent, with over 1 billion followers all together. (Feldhaus) These two religions along with few other traditional Asian belief systems are very different from traditional western belief systems in ways of their origins, practices and philosophy.(Chen) What is it that makes these Asian religions different from western religions? What is similar and different in Buddhism and Hinduism

Friday, December 13, 2019

Strategic Analysis of Argos UK Retail Company Free Essays

string(111) " any country whether it is a superpower with global reach or a small nation struggling to emerge from poverty\." 1.0 Introduction This study will review Argos Retailer UK, an organisation, which focuses on customer services as its differentiating factor in an increasingly competitive retail service sector. In the course of this study we explicate how the organisation’s marketing strategies align with its overall strategic objective. We will write a custom essay sample on Strategic Analysis of Argos UK Retail Company or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the current climate of economic recession carrying in its wake a wave of unprecedented company failure the need for survival and excelling others has become ever more important. Therefore, organisations such as Argos will need to develop innovative strategies to lure customers who are not only reluctant to buy products but are becoming very savvy in their choice of such products. 1.1 Organisation Profile This study will focus on Argos UK Retail Company, which is one of the UK’s largest general merchandise retailing store. The company was founded in 1973 by Richard Tompkins and went into London stock exchange in 1990 after it had demerged from BAT industries. Argos Uk sells over 18,000 products in a week and services about 2.5million customers respectively. It has about 7000 stores in UK and 51,000 staff strength. Argos UK Retail Company is not part of a group, which includes Argos Business Solution. Argos Business Solution benefits from the scale of its combined buying and merchandising strategy. The retail brands provide the convenience of home shopping through different routes to market and services, Argos retail group includes Argos Limited, Homebase and Argos retail group financial services. The organisation deals on retail product that is group into two distinctive brands of products. These include Argos and Homebase. The Retail products are toys, jewellers, small domestic appliances, furniture sports and leisure equipment. It deals on consumer’s electronics and large domestic appliances, it also engages in retail services of Home improvement goods and garden related products. Argos is one of the larges stores in the world. This company is well known for its new stylish and innovative design of wide range of electronics. The organisation offers a wide range of well- designed, efficient, quality and good home domestic products at low prices that attract a wide range of customers to buy their products. The group as a whole had annual sales of over 32.4 billion pounds in the financial year ended in 2008. 1.2 Objectives of Argo This objectives is to develop Argos, a general framework for dynamically composing web services. Many scientific problems can be modelled as a workflow that includes information gathering and processing operations. We propose a unifying framework where these operations are modelled a web services and the scientific workflow as composition of web services. This objective is to use Argos in an metropolitan planning application, in consultation with an advisory team of government representatives, from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the San Bernardino Associated Governments, the Southern California Association of Governments and the Port of Long Beach. This objective is to extend the transportation planning domain to address problems of urban spatial structure that heretofore have not been practical for social science researchers to study due to the lack of tools integrating and analysing available data. 1.3 Definition of Globalisation. Globalisation is the system of interaction among the countries of the world in order to develop the global economy. Globalization also refers to the integration of economics and societies all over the world. Globalization involves technological, economic, political, and cultural exchanges made possible largely by advances in communication, transportation, and infrastructure and it refers to the rapid increase in the share of economic activity taking place across national boundaries. This goes beyond the international trade in goods and includes the way those goods are produced, the delivery and sale of services, and the movement of capital. The origin of the term Globalisation is often attributed to Marshall McLuhan’s concept of the ‘global village’. McLuhan (1962) observed that advances in electronic mass media were collapsing space and time barriers to enable people to communicate on a global scale. But this is just one aspect of globalization, albeit an important aspect of globalization, where the term ‘global village’ is used as a metaphor to describe the interconnectedness of the world through the internet and web. Other researchers attribute the globalization phenomenon to historical, social, political and technological changes, which have enabled the free flow of people, investment, products/services, information and knowledge across the globe. This has led to a fundamental shift in the world economy, where national economies are no longer isolated from each other by barriers to cross-border trade/investment; by distance, time zone, language and by national differences in government regulation, culture, and business system. National economies are merging into an interdependent global economic system.Globalisation in broad terms is the process of integration of countries and people politically, economically and culturally, into global communities. In the context of business, globalization is the phenomenon by which industries transform themselves from multi-national to global competitive structures. Multi-national companies have an international presence of some form or other, where global companies operate in the main markets of the world, and do so in an integrated and co-ordinate way. Globalisations is mush talked about in the media. Of course the term ‘globalisation’ is by no means the preserve of economists alone.indeed it has been approached from the perspective of at least four academic disciplines, within each of which it tend to take on different characteristics. Economists focus on the growth of international trade and the increase in international capital flows. Political scientists view globalization as a process that leads to the undermining of the nation state and emergence of new forms of governance Sociologists view globalization in terms of the rise a global culture and the Domination of the media by global companies International relations experts tend to focus on the emergence of global conflicts and global institutions Effects on National Economies Influence of International Institution Role and Responsibilities of the EU Membership. The national economy is the engine of growth for any country whether it is a superpower with global reach or a small nation struggling to emerge from poverty. You read "Strategic Analysis of Argos UK Retail Company" in category "Essay examples" Every citizen is a participant in the economy, as they work to create income for their families, pay taxes, spend their earnings of products and services, or draw from government programs, such as welfare or Social Security. And yet the workings of the economy remain a mystery to most, even as the demands on our economic resources increase. When one looks at the aftermath of the collapse of systematic soviet domination over politics and policy making in East Central Europe, one could be truly astounded at the amount of change that has occurred. Both the Czech Republic and Hungary are in the process of democratization while simultaneously integrating themselves into Western institutions. There is no question that the democratic transitions in Eastern Europe were spurred by the loosening of soviet control, and there affected by international influence. Democratic values, crucial to democratic consolidation, from outside could undermine other aspects of democracy, specifically plurality and rule of law. Democratic policies imposed from outside might amount to rule by law, if policies put in place by domestic elites due to international pressure, are not adequately debated, supported, enforced and implemented at the local level. A consolidated democracy requires the full rooting of democracy, which can be seen by policy debate and policy choice for citizens.(Plurality) it also requires the internalization of rules and procedures (rule of law) and the human rights.(Pridham and Lewis) it is widely accepted that international influence, whether directly or indirectly, but as it is generally diffuse and not quantifiable the nature of the relationship has not been fully explored. We believe that the conditions of Post-Communism provide a filter through which this specific influence can be assessed. These condition can be generally defined as the need to develop the market economy and financial institutions. This economic and social transformation and the desire to integrate remove socio- economic issues from the political landscape. The nature of post- Communist transition therefore provides a unique opportunity to assess the ability of international institutions to craft democracy from the outside and ‘assist’ democratic consolidation. My research considers plurality and dissemination of democratic values through looking at domestic and international influences on minority policy, central to democratic values, as well a looking at rule by considering how this policy is internalized and implemented and enforced at local level. This research, by isolating the international influences on aspects of democracy also has policy implications for wider European Democracy. International influence affects all democracies but its effects are difficult to distinguish from domestic influences in established democracies. Hopefully due to the prism that post-Communist environment provides (though it has unique characteristics, the international influences are universal), we will be able to ascertain what increasing international influence and democratic crafting means in wider context, beyond post-Communist transition. Over the past two decades the functions of international economic institutions have greatly expanded to include programmes and policies, which affect a wider range of people, groups, and organizations than before. Where previously people could hold their national governments to account for such policies, they must now look to international institutions where the decisions are being made. But to who are these institutions accountable and are they accountable to those whom they direct affectThis course work sets out to answer that question in respect of the International Monetary Fund(IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization(WTO). The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund(IMF)which are meant to assist governments in achieving development aims through the provision of loans and technical assistance. They have championed the trade liberalization policies mentioned above. Governments and these international institutions are in determining the outcome of globaliza tion. 1.4 EFFECTS OF EU MEMBERSHIP OF BRITAIN ON ARGOS Home Retail Group ,owner of Argos and Homebase, warned yesterday the weakness of the pound could push up prices of non-food good as sourcing costs for retailers rise by up to 10%. At the same time it predicted another year of sharp sales declines at its chains. Home Retail chief executive Terry Duddy said the group was planning for 2009 to be a â€Å"as difficult as 2008†, when profile fell 24% to ?32m. He said the weak pound would be a â€Å"headwind† for all non-food retailers, predicting cost inflation of up to 10% on foreign- made goods. More than half the group’s goods are made in china. â€Å"our main worry is the impact sterling may have on product pricing and therefore the impact it may have on consumer demand.† Despite some lower costs, such as shipping, down 60%,retailers, suppliers and consumers would have to share the pain: â€Å"we will raise prices where we can but at the same time maintain our price position.† Home Retail is cutting 1,300 head office and supply chain jobs. It has also cut shop workers’ hour and will open fewer new outlets this year. Despite these measures some analysts think profit could fall by the spending downturn, with half of Argos sales from consumer electronics and Homebase’s fortunes linked to the housing market, which remains frozen. Like–for-like sales were down 10.2% at Homebase and 4.8% at Argos in the year to February 28.Duddy predicted similar falls this year. Argos, Britain’s second larges consumer electronics retailer after Curry’s owner DSG International, said sales of discretionary items such as flat-screen TVs had slowed â€Å"substantially†. The underlying weakness of non-food retail may affect possible cash calls. DSG is thought to be assessing investors’ appetite for a ?300m rights issue and share placing that could come imminently. Home Retail fell to an operating loss of ?402m after writing down the value of Homebase by more than ?650m. The dramatic move is an admission it overpaid for the business, which it bought for ?950m in 2002. Profits at the chain were down nearly 70% at ?14.9m, compared begun to see Argos-home of ?4.69 kettles and ?15.59 DVD players- with new eyes. With a 19% decline at Argos to ?303.6m. Duddy said Homebase had held market share: â€Å"BQ has been quite vibrant {lately} but for five to six years Homebase was outperforming them.† Home Retail benefited from the collapse of rival retailers such as Woolworths and MFI last year. 2.0 Economies of Adopting Policies of Environmental Awareness Trying to promote an environmental message within a company as geographically and operationally diverse as Argos is a major challenge. My research evidence reveals that Argos are aiming to get the massage across to all members of staff that the work they do can have an impact on the environment, in which they live, work and play. They are developing training packages that are tailored to different audience to ensure that all employees, from senior management to operational quayside staff, are aware of the possible environmental implications of their actions. The development of Argos intranet is making the internal dissemination of information available to a much wider audience than traditional training methods. The Aim of Argos is for their staff to be as aware of environmental issues as they are of heath and safety matters and to consider the effects their actions might have, even if it is something as simple as switching-off lights in an unused office, or making sure that a computer printer is switched off over the weekend. Not only will this save energy, but it will also save money and they hope the good practice will be implemented beyond the work environment. As educators, the major objective should be to educate people to use plant resources sustainably through: promoting awareness among policy makers in the community providing training for botanic garden staff and selected group leaders in the community. promoting greater public awareness and motivation forenvironmental action. 2.1 Atmospheric Pollution Leading high street retailer Argos is trailing a new process for the waste arriving at its distribution centres from stores, with the of aim of further reducing the volumes going to landfill. Despite having an impressive record on waste, (Argos currently recycle over 80% of the rubbish produced, 9 of its distribution centres are ISO14001 accredited and a store- wide scheme has been introduced to reduce the waste amounts going to landfill)the new trial aims to tackle the remaining rubbish to further reduce volumes. Mark Jones, Distribution Project Manager said: â€Å"Our internal ‘Argos Cares’ scheme has proved very successful in reducing landfill waste from stores. This trial will drive this process further. The business is committed to reducing landfill waste to help the environment and reduce landfill costs as a result. If we can find a similar solution at other regional distribution centres we could potentially see cost savings in to the business of ?40,000 over twelve months.† The trial, which commenced in mid-January, will continue with two collections per week from Magna Park distribution centre. Argos expect to gain valuable feedback on the content of the compacted rubbish from the contractor, Cwikskip. This, in turn, will reinforce the need to further improve the waste segregation rates in the Argos stores. If the trial is successful Argos will seek to find similar solution at their other 8 distribution centres and elsewhere across Home Retail Group. 2.2 The hole in the ozone layer Cwikskip Waste Management Services are collecting the compacted loads from Magna Park twice a week and moving it to their material recycling facility (MRF) at nearby Rugby. Once there, the loads are then sorted to ensure that as much as 98% of the store and distribution centre waste generated will be recycled. The hole in the ozone layer A remote measuring system, which is based o the principle of differential absorption and diffusion lidar, is developed for detection of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone. The ARGOS (Advanced Remote Gaseous Oxides Sensor) system uses differential absorption of light with different wavelengths: for that two short light pulses from pumped dye lasers are simultaneously sent in the atmosphere. A three component Doppler sodar is used for measuring wind direction and velocity. The system allows atmosphere backscattering coefficient to be estimated as a measure for spray and dust concentration in the air. The ozone layer in the stratosphere provides protection from harmful solar ultra-violet (UV)radiation. Manmade ozone depletion is caused by the mass use and emission of choro fluoro carbon (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substance (ODS). This has led to an increase in harmful ultraviolet radiation and the incidence of irradiation-induced skin cancer. Ozone depletion is estimated to be greatest over the western parts of Europe where chloroflurocarbons have been commonly used in refrigerators and aerosol propellants. In these same countries, other ODS have also been used extensively, for example as coolant, foam and cleaning agents. 2.3 Wastes Population growth, increasing urbanization, industrialization and rising standards of living have all contributed to an increase in the amount of waste generated in the EU countries. In 1995, the total amount of waste generated in Eu-15(excluding agricultural waste) was estimated to be 1.3 billion tones (or 3.5 tonnes per capital). These figures show a 10% increase in total waste production between 1990 and 1995. very shortly, annual waste levels will be approximating 2 billion tonnes, with gains from recycling measures outweighed by an increase in economic activity and total waste production (European Environment Agency, 1999). Countries are faced not only with massive volumes of waste but also with the challenges related to hazardous wastes materials. Each year, the Community generates around 40 million tonnes of Hazardous waste. Waste, which arise from virtually all- human activities, can be broadly classified with respect to their source. The major categories include ‘municipal waste’, industrial, agricultural, sewage and nuclear waste, levels for which are shown in Argos household and public wastes An efficient way to cut down the volume of waste is to reduce the use of packaging and to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminium tins, and glass. Levels of recycling in the member states range from 28% to 53% for paper and cardboard (EU average 49.6%) and between 20% and 76% for glass (European Parliament, 1999). These figures highlight extreme variations in performance between the member states. 2.4 Measure to improve heath and safety in the work place. In December 2005, a full safety management review was conducted and January 2006 the Argos and Homebase health and safety teams were merged together. The current team of 12 is led our Health and Safety Manager, who is also chair of the British Retail Consortium’s Risk and Safety Policy Action Group, which ensure we keep abreast of current thinking and in this area. A key aspect of the review was to develop an approach to health and safety that drew on best practice within Argos and Homebase, and to develop a system that was straightforward and simple for our colleagues to understand and use. We call this programme ‘Simple Safer’. we have taken a stepped approach to introducing this programme focusing our efforts on Argos first and then Homebase. Key attributes were consultation with our heath and safety champions, who were elected by employees at our location and whose role is to represent the view of colleagues at regular health and safety meetings and during the implementation of our simply safer programme. We have also rationalized the number of risk assessments performed by our colleagues. For example, in Homebase we reduced the number of different assessments types from 180 down to 30 integrated templates, which can be tailored to suit individual site circumstances. The feedback from our colleagues on the introduction of this new way of working has been very positive. In order to make our health and safety policy statement effective, we have established a health and safety management, control and support structure as a framework for activity that reaches every part of our Group. The Group HR Director is responsible for implementing the health and safety policy and has established and chairs a health and safety risk management group comprising senior management representative from all area of the business. The committee’s role is to keep under review the effective management of health and safety across the Group and to provide the executive directors with appropriate advice and guidance. The health and safety management group meets quarterly and minutes of the meeting are produced and circulated across the business. We recognize that different areas of our business need to be actively involved in health and safety management so to facilitate this we have set up a number of committees that report into the health and safety risk management gro up. All health and safety committee members are provided with information, attend update meetings and consult over health and safety issues. Each store or site manager is responsible for implementation of the Group’s health and safety arrangements in their own store or site. In addition, it is our intention that every store and distribution centre will have an appointed health and safety champion (currently in place across Homebase and underway in Argos). They are responsible for representing the employees and promoting health and safety agenda in their location. Each operation office and distribution centre also has a site health and safety committee chaired by an appropriate manager. We are currently in the process of rolling this into all stores and we expect this to be completed in 2007. We provide health and safety training to all our new colleagues, mainly through the induction process. Specific health and safety training is also provided for those individuals required to manage and supervise others. We regular monitor our health and safety performance across the business. For example, stores undertake and record regular assessments, including all relevant fire safety checks. They also conduct a periodic checklist and there are various other checks based on the risk assessments and accident/incident experience (e.g Ladder register fire alarm checks etc.) Every store conducts a formal self-audit on business critical issue, which are collated and reviewed by line managers. Any failure can lead to disciplinary action. In addition, the health and safety team regular audits stores. Action plans are produced for failing stores and the results are linked to bouses.The health and safety champions are also involved in reviewing these and conducting re-audits on stores in their area. We provide a bullying; harassment and stress help line, which gives employees access to trained counselors. In addition, all employees can be referred for face to face counseling through this service. 3.0 Responsibilities of organization to improving workforce welfare. AEGON today announced that an agreement has been signed to acquire a 49% interest in Seguros Argos S.A. de C.V.,a Mexican life insurance company specializing in the sale of life insurance to individuals through their employers (the worksite marketing channel),for an undisclosed sum. AEGON’s existing operations in Mexico include AEGON Direct Marketing Services, which works with insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions to provide direct marketing service. In addition, Transamerica Reinsurance(an AEGON company) is active in the life reinsurance market in Mexico. Executives started Argos in 2002 with a long tenure in Mexican insurance market. At the end of 2005 Argos had more than 420,000 policies in force and 1,266 million pesos (EUR 86.6 million ) in premium income. We welcome this opportunity to further expand into Mexico’s life insurance market with one of the country’s leading providers of individual life insurance and related saving and investment products,† said Don Sheppard, Chairman of AEGON’s Executive Board. This investment is consistence with AEGON’s strategy to expand into countries that offer long-term growth opportunity for the products and services we look forward to working with Argos to bu ild on their solid platform. Over time, as our client grew familiar with the translation services that Argos Translations offered, they began to request additional assistance in the medical device market.This occurred largely due to the fact that we were based in their targeted local market and thus could offer additional business support. Many of our clients not only needed their devices localized and their documents translated, but also needed to understand the regulatory issues connected with entering central and Eastern European markets. Argos Translations understood that by being able to offer a turnkey solution that would include assisting in market entry as well as taking care of the translation/localization process; we would provide our clients with unique additional benefits. As a result, Argos Translation joined forces with PMR Consulting, a local consultancy firm with the reliability and extensive experience that complemented Argos Translations services. The result of this collaboration is an offer of a complete solution for all medical device manufacturers interested in entering East European markets. This white paper has been commissioned by Argos Translation and is intended to provide investors with information about the basic devices. While some of the issues raised in this white paper may be common across other East European market it is important to note that each country has its own regulatory requirements and thus it is important not to draw any far-reaching conclusion about the region without consulting a local expert for advice. 3.1 Approaches to the management of diversity Fishing is an important industry, dependent on a natural resource. To protect stocks, satellite monitoring of fishing fleets has been made mandatory by certain governments. Such surveillance can guarantee that application regulations concerning authorized zones and quotas are enforced. The Argos Net solution development by CLS enables authorities to determine the position of fishing vessels, and to monitor fishing activity and catches. Indonesia, Peru, Europe, the United State, Korea, Chile, Taiwan and many other countries rely on CLS to monitor vessels flying their flags or operating in their waters. To improve security for shipping, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requires all ships over 500 tonnes to be fitted with an onboard warning system (SSA-Ship Security Alert System). One of these systems, called Shiploc, is based on the Argos system and enabled ship owners to comply with IMO standards and monitor their fleet continually. In the event of an incident, the crew activates an alert button which automatically sends a signal to land. In the framework of an international agreement,Shiploc has joined forces with the anti-piracy centre at the International Maritime Bureau. The Argos system provides vital support for UN humanitarian programmes. Hundreds of transmitters have been installed throughout the world to verify distribution of resources, use of food rations, and a number of crucial parameters concerning the schooling of children. In the event of epidemics, Argos transmitters also inform authorities and humanitarian associations about the zones at risk and the number of individuals affected. 4.0 Conclusion This course work has examined the impact of globalization and EU integration of Britain on Argos Retail Group. Globalisation and Integration has brought wider benefits to many countries and organizations, but has equally resulted in challenges never before imagined. The management of Argos in the wider environment must evolve to take advantage of new emerging markets. Such management must be innovative in adopting new set of precepts and protocols that are robust to accept changes in market dichotomy and technology. Competition has increase as a direct result of globalization and European integration. There are new entrants and players in the retail market that can not only challenge Argos but also possible take away its business. Such threats must be anticipated and clearly articulated in advance there by setting the scene not only to embrace change but to also covert the threats into opportunities. There are also issues of legislation, which now spans across boundaries. The national regulatory environment, which hitherto determines the mode of operation, has now been expanded to wider legislative environment. The management of Argos will need to learn and implement new wider rules and regulations in order to survive. In conclusion, one must postulate that globalization creates new avenues of opportunities. Argos must take advantage of the opportunities whilst at the same find innovative ways of converting the threat of globalization and integration into advantages. Sadly, research shows that Argos has not fully embraced this concept although efforts are being made to effect the changes that must happen. 5.0 REFERENCES  ¦ European Environment Agency,(1999) Environment in theEuropean Union at the Turn of the Century EEA.  ¦ En (2006), wiktionary globalization, www.wiki.org.uk  ¦ European Parliament,(1999) Environment policy: general principles, European parliament Fact Sheets.  ¦ Marshall McLuhan’s, (1998) The Marshall McLuhan’s Center Global communications.  ¦ McLuhan’s (1996) Gutenberg Galaxy,the making of typographicman.  ¦ Pridham and Lewis, (2004) Stabilising Fragile Democracies:New Party System in Sounthern and Eastern Europe.  ¦ Welford,R. (1992) Corporate Environmental Management,Earthscan.  ¦ llLs, (2004) International Institute for Labour Studies, Globalisation and Employment. How to cite Strategic Analysis of Argos UK Retail Company, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Managing Health in Adults

Questions: 1. List and briefly describe in a sentence for each, up to 10 mental health services in your location? 2. Which types of mental health issues are well provided for by services in your area? . Do you think there are gaps? Why do you think this is? 3. Compare the roles of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in dealing with mental health patients? 4. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of group therapy? 5. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of remote mental health services, such as online and telephone counselling? Answers: 1. Mental health services Mental health service represents a wide range of action which is indirectly or directly connected with the mental well being of a patient suffering from mental disorder. The types of mental health services are as follows: Outpatient counselling: It provides counselling in an office or other community setting. Teens, adults and children can take the benefit of this counselling. The duration of this counselling is less than one hour and its a one-to-one therapy. Family therapy and group therapy also comes under this (Helpguide.org, 2015). Intensive case management: It is a community based therapy. In this therapy people with mental problem seek help of the professionals for living in the community (Dhs.vic.gov.au, 2015). Home based treatment services: It is an in-home service provided to the patients at their home rather than any healthcare or midwifery centre. The home plays a critical role for the patient. Medical management: It is the management of psychological disorder by medication. Partial Hospitalization or Day hospital: Here Patients will be provided with all kind of psychological therapy. In this therapy patients can go home every evening. Inpatient Hospital treatment: Patients are provided with all range of psychiatric treatment. Here service is provided to patients for twenty four hours. Therapeutic group homes or community residence: These are structured living situation where patients dont need inpatient hospital service but need twenty four hour therapeutic service (Coloradohealthpartnerships.com, 2015). Community support program: It offers skills and training for daily living. The skills include maintaining proper hygiene, budgeting, enhancing recreational skills, controlling mental health. Consumer-run or peer programs: It runs by people who experience mental illness. It includes clubhouses, job clubs and drop -in centres. It offers supports groups, peer counselling, social opportunity and recreational activities. Counsel alcohol and Drugs: In this program, the counsellor has special knowledge in alcohol and drug abuse. Counsellor provides individual or group counselling. All of the above mentioned mental health services are provided in Australia (Mhsa.aihw.gov.au, 2015). 2. well provided service and gaps The types of mental health problems prevalent in Australia are anxiety, bipolar mood disorder, and schizophrenia. Mental illness is the third highest cause of disability in Australia. Each year around 4% people experience mental disorder, of which 5% are women and 3% are men. The prevalence of anxiety in Australia is 14% in each year and for schizophrenia the percentage is 3. Women are more prone to develop mood disorder than men. The percentage is 7.1% compared to 5.3%. The prevalence of drinking in Australia is 36.7% (Mindframe-media.info, 2015) The above mentioned health problems are well addressed in Australia. Both Government and healthcare centres are working together to reduce the prevalence of different mental disorders by the way of community therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling, etc. Besides the initiative of Government and healthcares, the mental health care issue is not completely resolved (Health.gov.au, 2015). The issues are as follow Only a quarter portions of patients get mental health support out of the total and the number is very low in villages where people dont have accession of good facilities and education. There is a scarcity of trained and specialized person in mental health care. Due to shortage the shortage many people left untreated. Due to the shortage, most of the patients and their families do not pay any interest to go for treatment. It is one of the main reasons why most of patients remained untreated. The confidence of public in health system has reduced to a significant level. It is because of the inability of the system to reach to public and looks after everyone who seeks help, when it is required. Many reports have evidenced that there is lack of transparency and indiscipline has observed among mental health experts and other health professionals. Many patients are the victim of negligence and due to this negligence they are devoid of getting quality treatment. Mental patients are stigmatized with different kinds of false stereotypical allegations. These include They are aggressive in nature, They can produce harm to anyone, They do not maintain proper hygiene etc. All this allegations lead to create a wrong image of mentally challenged people to the mind of common people. It is because of the image, a mental patient is always deprived of getting a good job, good life style, a good friend circle, a good relation with other people. Being neglected by everyone, the patients developed low esteem and lack of confidence about themselves. It makes the condition more critical and patients become irresponsive to treatment. 3. Roles of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology which deals with the application of psychological techniques based on different theories and practical analysis based on scientific conditions. Clinical psychologist is the trained practitioner in counseling and psychotherapy and in the assessment of mental health conditions. Clinical psychologists adopt the scientist-practitioner model of mental health. The scientific tests employed by psychologists is used to assess personality traits, clinical syndromes combined with mental health disorders, intelligence levels, visuospatial abilities, cognitive deficits, depression, anxiety, behavioral problems, and many more. Psychiatrists complete a residency program in psychiatry and diagnose, treat to prevent mental disorders. They are licensed to prescribe medication they may also provide psychotherapy, but mostly tend to prescribe medication. They treat people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or chronic major depression Psychology and Psychiatry are complementary professions, which identifies and treat the mental health issues. They cover the large area of human behavior both normal and abnormal conditions (Finkelman, 2014). 4. Advantage disadvantages of group therapy Advantage: Group support: patients feel a sense of relief as they can relate to problem of others. They understand that they are not the only one having challenges whether its panic attacks or mental issues or stress (Vlasto, 2010). Sounding board: group may help as a sounding board which gives the client a broad perspective of his situation. Hearing from others has a great effect on mental stress and may help the patient to overcome his situation. Pushing boundaries: group can propel the patient forward and help them to overcome their challenges easily by observing what others are doing. Discover yourself: group help the patient to discover his abandoned sides to overcome his issues. Disadvantages: Unstable emotional state: group therapy should not be undertaken if the patient is going through some emotional break down as it can lead to clashes between group members and leads to harmful conditions (Oliha and Audu, 2010). Privacy: It is not beneficial if someone is conserved or not likely to share their personal issues, emotions with strangers. Social phobia: group therapy is complete failure if the patient is social phobic because they are focused to their fears but not to the flow of the topics (purehsan and saed, 2010). Unfocussed or impersonal topics: sometimes the topics provided in groups are impersonal and unfocussed. No treatment to the problem is provided (Guilfoyle, 2015). 5. Advantage and disadvantage of telephonic and online counseling Telephonic counseling Advantages: Accessibility: This process provides direct access for people who are living in remote areas where transport system is not developed. Anonymity: Caller anonymity is another very strong point which favors this telephonic counseling process as the psychological barrier which prevents the client to seek help is not present. Less distraction and more concentration is the biggest advantage. They have the power to decide the process whenever they want, which makes this process easier (de Oliveira, 2013). Physically disable: disabled people or have any kind of anxiety or social phobia can be helped through this process. Long term ill patients and people with no child care can apply for this session. Twenty-four hour services: This service helps people to overcome the waiting list problems and go for the session anywhere anytime they want (Chavan, Garg and Bhargava, 2012). Disadvantage: Visual communication: it is the biggest limitation for clients as well as the counselors as the body language of client is not visible (de Oliveira, 2013). Disabilities: Patients with hearing difficulties or those with special needs, severe personality disorders or drug, alcohol addicts cannot be treated with this procedure. Suicidal condition: People who are suicidal or under eighteen are not appropriate for this kind of sessions.(Murray et al., 2015). Confidentiality: cannot be guaranteed with this process because calls on cellular phones might be recorded in the centers. Online counseling Advantage: No communication coverage: there may be some difficulties to attend the face to face and telephonic process like no communication coverage in the area (Anthony, 2014). Privacy: Privacy is the biggest advantage to the client as they freely vocal to their problems. Writing ability: if someone feels free to the written words, they may use this process. Clients may find that putting their thoughts, emotions, and problems in wilting may give them insight of their routine life and they can write in comfortably in their own surrounding. Disadvantage: Suicidal tendency: It is not suitable if the client is in crisis or have suicidal tendency. Addiction: If the client is engaged in bad habits like addiction to drug and alcohol. Competence: Client should have certain level of competence with technology as well as confidence communicating using the written word. Language barrier: clients may face some problems if English is not your first language. References Coloradohealthpartnerships.com, (2015).Kinds of Mental Health Services: Services: CHP. [Online] Available at: https://www.coloradohealthpartnerships.com/services/kinds_of_mental_health_services.htm [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Dhs.vic.gov.au, (2015).Intensive Case Management Program on Family Violence - Department of Human Services, Victoria, Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/about-the-department/documents-and-resources/reports-publications/intensive-case-management-program-on-family-violence [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Health.gov.au, (2015).Department of Health | Quality, transparency and accountability in mental health. [online] Available at: https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/nmhr11-12~nmhr11-12-challenges~quality [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Helpguide.org, (2015).Choosing an Alcohol Treatment Program: What to Look for in Alcohol Rehab. [online] Available at: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addiction/choosing-alcohol-treatment.htm [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Mhsa.aihw.gov.au, (2015).Mental health services in Australia. [online] Available at: https://mhsa.aihw.gov.au/home/ [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Mindframe-media.info, (2015).Mindframe. [online] Available at: https://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-mental-illness/facts-and-stats [Accessed 15 Jul. 2015]. Anthony, K. (2014). Psychoanalysis online: mental health, teletherapy, and training. British Journal of Guidance Counselling, 43(1), pp.171-173. Chavan, B., Garg, R. and Bhargava, R. (2012). Role of 24 hour telephonic helpline in delivery of mental health services. Indian J Med Sci, 66(5), p.116. de Oliveira, M. (2013). Emergency telephonic medical triage and counseling system: A new approach. Resuscitation, 84, p.S70. Finkelman, J. (2014). Psychologists and Psychiatrists as Leaders and Managers. Journal of Psychology Clinical Psychiatry, 1(1). Guilfoyle, M. (2015). Therapy and the aesthetics of the self. British Journal of Guidance Counselling, pp.1-11. Murray, A., McKenzie, K., Murray, K. and Richelieu, M. (2015). Do close supportive relationships moderate the effect of depressive symptoms on suicidal ideation?. British Journal of Guidance Counselling, pp.1-9. Oliha, J. and Audu, V. (2010). Effects of counselling techniques in rehabilitating emotional maladjustment problem among adolescents. ejoc, 3(1). purehsan, S. and saed, O. (2010). Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) on reduction of social phobia. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, pp.1694-1697. Vlasto, C. (2010). Therapists' views of the relative benefits and pitfalls of group work and one-to-one counselling for bereavement. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 10(1), pp.60-66.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

The State of Discord

The debate between Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan can throw light on various aspects of globalization, especially its effects on individuals and societies. In particular, one should focus on the role of different states and governments or the factors that increase the integration of different markets, technologies, and finance.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The State of Discord specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, the authors pay attention to such an issue as personal rights and freedoms in the globalized world. These are the main questions that should be discussed more closely. On the whole, this debate is both interesting and thought-provoking because it can enable readers to understand how different communities can evolve in the environment when people from countries can easily interact with one another. Certainly, one cannot tell that the arguments of Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan are always su bstantiated with empirical data. This is one of the limitations that should be taken into account. However, this shortcoming does not undermine the value of this discussion since Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan illustrate different pathways of globalization. First of all, Thomas Friedman is quite right in pointing out that the process of globalization is driven by the development of technologies, rather than political changes within various communities. For instance, information and communication technologies make the world more interconnected. They create many opportunities for entrepreneurs. Therefore, one should not suppose that the efforts of different states can stop the process of the integration of markets. Such efforts are not likely to be effective because modern people can communicate with one another through a great number of channels. This is one of the main arguments that can be put forward. It seems that this comment is important for understanding the reasons why eco nomic and cultural relations between various countries intensify. Still, one should not forget about availability of natural resources, since this factor affects the patterns of immigration. The availability of natural resources is vital for explaining the origins of conflicts between states. It is possible to argue that the scholars underline the complexities of globalization. This is one of the details that can be important for understanding the changes in the international relations. One of the central questions examined by Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan is the role of governments in the world in which the borders become more blurred. On the one hand, the process of globalization is possible when the government decreases its interference into the lives of citizens. Furthermore, this institution does not erect any barriers for businesses.Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn Mo re So, one can say that the role of the state can weaken However, the authors also note that under such circumstances, countries are exposed to a great number of economic or ecological risks. Thus, the skills of policy-makers and legislators can profoundly shape the long-term development of a country. They should make sure that a country can derive benefits from new trade agreements or technological innovations. Therefore, one should not disregard the role of governmental institutions. This discussion is important for showing that it is difficult to predict the role of the state in the globalized world of the future. This is one of the main issues that can be singled out. In my view, this question is relevant to modern political leaders who have to safeguard their countries against various threats. Apart from that, it is critical to focus on the impacts of globalization on the identities of individuals. Both authors argue that it is not possible to disregard a person’s atta chment toward a certain region, country, or city. This situation can be observed in various parts of the European Union. For instance, one can mention the development of the nationalist movement in the modern Catalonia. Moreover, one should not suppose that people lose their attachment to the customs, values, or traditions which are familiar to them since childhood. In my opinion, the scholars explain people’s resistance to complete eradication of borders and the domination of only one culture. To a great extent, the scholars show the integration of cultures and regional identities of people can co-exist. Additionally, researchers identify some important risks associated with globalization. For instance, Robert Kaplan notes that the economic development within a country results in political instability. In many cases, one can speak about the change of political regime and open violence that are usually preceded by transformation of the society. This is one of the most importa nt claims that Robert Kaplan makes. In particular, one should focus on countries as Egypt or Libya. Yet, the development of a state is dependent on the political culture of a country and its historical legacy. These questions are of great interest to Robert Kaplan and Thomas Friedman. On the whole, one can say that this issue should be taken into account by the readers, especially if they take interest in political science or geopolitics. Admittedly, one cannot say that the globalization is process that can be easily analyzed or predicted with the help of existing methods. However, it is possible to single out some patterns of its development in the future.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The State of Discord specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another important question that should be discussed is the protection of civic and human rights. The scholars agree the process of globalization increases the role played by middle classes. This layer of the population can limit the authority of the state and its ability to infringe upon the rights of citizens. Robert Kaplan and Thomas Friedman can show how communities may evolve in the future. Certainly, this debate does not contain the reference to any empirical data or models which can explain how societies can adjust to the process of globalization. Therefore, one should not suppose that the predictions made by these scholars will necessarily come true. However, these authors examine hypothetical scenarios that can eventually unfold in various states that can be both advanced and developing economies. This is why their discussion should not be overlooked by readers. Furthermore, this debate can be used by policy-makers who have to reduce the risks of globalization. On the whole, Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan can give readers a better idea about different implications of globalization. The scholars do not debate one particular point or thesis st atement. Instead, they attempt to gain a better understanding of this economic, political, and cultural process which affects many people and organizations. It seems that this approach is very productive. The reading can show how various societies can influenced by the integration of various markets and the blurring of national borders. The debate between Thomas Friedman and Robert Kaplan can be used as a starting point for the study of globalization. These are the main issues that can be singled out. This essay on The State of Discord was written and submitted by user Elvis Hayes to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

buy custom The Canadian Tourism Human Resource essay

buy custom The Canadian Tourism Human Resource essay In any part of the world tourism is a very dynamic sector that needs a lot of staff to succeed. Tourism needs people in all aspects of the tourist circuit and this poses an insatiable demand for the well trained personnel. In British Columbia, the human resource challenge brought about by dynamism is the fact that not many people working in the tourism sector have been specially trained. One may find a professional waiter taking on the duties of an usher when the demand arises. Some professionals are only needed when the demand arises and as such they result in taking on other jobs to fend for their families. According to Tourism Industry advisory council. (2006) most of the tourists visiting British Columbia are people who have prior experience in tourism having visited other parts of the world. They tend to compare the services offered in British Columbia with those they experienced elsewhere. This comes in total disregard to the numerous new opportunities and experiences that the country has to offer. The human resource well conversant with the country is thus found to be wanting in the eyes of the frequent traveler. Most of the people that work in the tourist attraction areas, in British Columbia have had no prior training in professional colleges. Rather, they have been trained on the job in the relevant institutions where they work. The human resource is rich in experience but lacks the fine touch that professional school training can offer. More and more establishments are beginning to value the training that comes with attending one of the few approved tourism colleges in the country. There are a couple of internationa training colleges that offer various courses covering the hospitality and tourism sectors present in British Columbia that train students. However, due to the dependability on seasons of the tourism sector in the country, most of them end up finding work in foreign countries. This is because competition is more dynamic in foreign countries leading to better pay for the graduates. This is not good for the long run since the tourism sector will end up lacking professionally trained staff (Propel Industry Credentials, 2008). There is also a large discrepancy in the employment numbers through the different sectors in the tourism industry. For instance, according to Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (2011) the accommodation services required more than 66,000 members of staff as compared to 43,500 in 2001. The problem with this growth pattern is that it is unstable and as such it can record substantial increases in some years and steep declines in the following years. Another factor affecting the human resource in British Columbia is the inability for the sector to attract large numbers of talented individual to pursue careers in tourism and hospitality. This is mainly because the sector is still struggling and people look into pursuing strongly cemented careers that will guarantee success in both monetary and career growth aspects (McCallum, 2009). The food and beverage sector attracts more employees than any other sector in the tourism circle. Preliminary data for 2001 shows that tourism related employment in British Columbia stood at 14% of the overall employment in British Columbia. The rates have increased over the years to stand at 18% in the year 20099 (Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council, 2011 and The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council and Capilano College, 2001)). This is evidence of the growth in the tourism thus it is important for the industry players to ensure that their establishments are ready to cater for the growing numbers. Tourism has also continued to attract tourists into British Columbia increasing at a rate of 11% in the last decade (BCJobs.ca , 2010). The larger numbers of these tourists are those who are attracted into the country for adventure tourism activities like skiing and golf. These are occasional adventurers who in turn require part time staff to take care of their needs during these ti mes. The tourism sector thus has to be flexible enough to accommodate these needs (Industry Canada, n.d). Projections have shown that employment in this sector is likely to reach 37,700 by 2012 and increase by a further 10,600 through to the year 2020. The annual employment growth rate is projected at 4.2%, though this figure is slightly below the growth rate experienced in this sector during much of the early 2000 (Go2, n.d.). The projections show numbers well above employment growth rates for other areas of tourism related industries. In conclusion, it is important for the industry players to take into account the different needs of tourists who frequent British Columbia and adjust accordingly (Kootenay Rockies, 2007). This will ensure that the current human resource remains employed and relevant in the sector if the tourists keep coming. Tourism is a very viable sector the world over and the staff in this sector need to be well taken care of to ensure that they remain in British Columbia to serve within it own boundaries (Victoria, 2006). Buy custom The Canadian Tourism Human Resource essay

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Impact of age diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact of age diversity - Essay Example Specifically, these aspects will be examined in the context of the impact of age in the labor force and how this will affect the roles of the managers in the labor organizations as a recent study reported that by 2020, individuals of 50 years old and up will take up a third of the region’s workforce population. Article Analysis The age of the workers is recognized as a relevant determinant of their performance at work. Some employers prefer the old ones for their developed skills from experience, while the others choose the younger for their flexibility and other characteristics. Such assumptions have rooted from a number of research findings pointing out how workers of specific age ranges easily adapt to changes implemented in the work places (e.g., technology, roles and responsibilities, and etc.) while others can or do not (Morris & Venkatesh, 2000; Morris, Venkatesh, & Ackerman, 2005). Other studies also suggest that an employee’s age can tell employers his or her p robable productivity rate. Specifically, groups of researchers have previously proposed that valuable attitudes and behaviors of the workers decline as one ages (Ferris, et al., 1985; McEvoy & Cascio, 1989; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991; Lawrence, 1988); others, on the other hand, cannot particularly point out concrete evidences of the existence of such relationships in â€Å"different age categories of employees† (Duncan & Loretto, 2004). ... Specifically, groups of researchers have previously proposed that valuable attitudes and behaviors of the workers decline as one ages (Ferris, et al., 1985; McEvoy & Cascio, 1989; Salthouse & Babcock, 1991; Lawrence, 1988); others, on the other hand, cannot particularly point out concrete evidences of the existence of such relationships in â€Å"different age categories of employees† (Duncan & Loretto, 2004). Nevertheless, because of prior assumptions related to these, age discrimination has been inevitable (Ferris & King, 1992; Issacharoff & Harris, 1997; Taylor & Walker, 1997); putting the welfare of the members of the workforce -- especially the old ones -- in line while necessitating further management reorganization and implementation from those with higher positions in the workplace. As such dilemmas coexist, it is then important to consider several aspects that affect and, likewise, become affected by the consequences of the age of the employees by the overall performan ce of the workforce as well as the management of the organization. This is particularly true as an unexpected shift of the age of the workforce is to be anticipated after nine years; that is, more than 30% of the members of the United Kingdom workforce â€Å"will be over 50 by 2020† (Snowdon, 2010). In Snowdon’s article, it was noted that the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reported in a research that majority of the managers in the work organizations in UK are still unprepared for this shift. Although the author seems to lack the efficiency of properly addressing the audience that he intends to tap with his article, it is without a doubt that

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Describe urban blight Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Describe urban blight - Essay Example The main reason which can be identified for the phenomenon of urban blight includes the neglect from the respective governments of the particular region. Lack of economic support towards the proper maintenance of the areas can also result in the deterioration of the older buildings and portions of the cities. Effects of urban blight can be of high significance. Urban Blight has the possibility of causing hazard to other buildings and also is threatening for the lives of human beings. The buildings in the city with poor conditions are very much prone to fire and also have the high probability of collapsing down at any times which may cause considerable damage to the society. (What is urban blight, n. d). Another significant cause of urban blight can refer to the process of urban renewal scheme, where the government focuses on the development of the cities in areas near to the highways. As a result of such projects they fail to concentrate on the older parts of the city which leads to their deterioration. The increase in tax in The United states property improvement gave rise to the urban Blight in the area. (Soares, et al, p.675, 2011) Shanty town refers to the settlement of people in slums. The presence of shanty town is mostly observed in the developing and the partially developed nations where unequal distribution of wealth prevails. The people in shanty town lead a treacherous life and their primary needs are often not fulfilled. They lack a proper shelter as their dwellings are made up of scrap materials which may collapse easily under any sort of environmental calamity. People living in shanty town lack proper sanitation facility and leads an unhygienic lifestyle (Clark, 2003, p.122). The slums in which they live are generally one room and are shared by many people who make it clumsy and suffocating. There is no facility of electricity in the

Monday, November 18, 2019

Question of risk assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Question of risk assessment - Essay Example In case of an accident, there are possibilities of planning errors, storage errors, and execution errors in the management field. For example, if the employees of an organization went on strike demanding better remuneration and working conditions. The planning error can occur in this case where the management uses a wrong approach to the problem hence accelerating the problem. This can happen where the managements plans to fire the striking workers instead of addressing their grievances. The storage error that can happen in this scenario may involve how the management will try to contain the strike. Where the management decides to ignore the demands of the striking employees this amounts to a storage error. An execution error in this case may involve how the management makes the ultimate address to the strike. Where the management fires the striking employees, this will jeopardize the operations and performance of the organization. All these errors question the reliability of the sys tematic procedures adopted by the management as stipulated under the SHARP

Friday, November 15, 2019

Wavelet Packet Feature Extraction And Support Vector Machine Psychology Essay

Wavelet Packet Feature Extraction And Support Vector Machine Psychology Essay ABSTRACT- The aim of this work is an automatic classification of the electroencephalogram (EEG) signals by using statistical features extraction and support vector machine. From a real database, two sets of EEG signals are used: EEG recorded from a healthy person and from an epileptic person during epileptic seizures. Three important statistical features are computed at different sub-bands discrete wavelet and wavelet packet decomposition of EEG recordings. In this study, to select the best wavelet for our application, five wavelet basis functions are considered for processing EEG signals. After reducing the dimension of the obtained data by linear discriminant analysis and principal component analysis, feature vectors are used to model and to train the efficient support vector machine classifier. In order to show the efficiency of this approach, the statistical classification performances are evaluated, and a rate of 100% for the best classification accuracy is obtained and is compa red with those obtained in other studies for the same data set. Keywords- EEG; Discrete Wavelet Transform, Wavelet Packet Transform, Support Vector Machine, Statistical analysis, classification. 1. Introduction In neurology, the electroencephalogram (EEG) is a non-invasive test of brain function that is mostly used for the diagnosis and classification of epilepsy. The epilepsy episodes are a result of excessive electrical discharges in a group of brain cells. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder of the brain that affects over 50 million people worldwide and in developing countries, three fourths of people with epilepsy may not receive the treatment they need [1]. In clinical decisions, the EEG is related to initiation of therapy to improve quality of epileptic patients life. However, EEG signals occupy a huge volume and the scoring of long-term EEG recordings by visual inspection, in order to classify epilepsy, is usually a time consuming task. Therefore, many researchers have addressed the problem of automatic detection and classification of epileptic EEG signals [2, 3]. Different studies have shown that EEG signal is a non-stationary process and non-linear features are extracted fr om brain activity recordings in order to specific signal characteristics [2, 4, 5, 6]. Then these features are used as input of classifiers [11]. Subasi in [7] used the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) coefficient of normal and epileptic EEG segments in a modular neural network called mixture of expert. For the same EEG data set, Polat and Gà ¼nes [8] used the feature reduction methods including DWT, autoregressive and discrete Fourier transform. In Subasi and Gursoy [9], the dimensionality of the DWT features was reduced using principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The resultant features were used to classify normal and epilepsy EEG signals using support vector machine. Jahankhani, Kodogiannis and Revett [10] have obtained feature vectors from EEG signals by DWT and performed the classification by multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function network. Wavelet packet transform (WPT) appears as one of most promising methods as shown by a great number of works in the literature [11] particularly for ECG signals and relatively fewer, for EEG signals. In [12], Wang, Miao and Xie used wavelet packet entropy method to extract features and K-nearest neighbor (K-NN) classifier. In this work, both DWT and WPT split non stationary EEG signals into frequency sub-bands. Then a set of statistical features such as standard deviation, energy and entropy from real database EEG recordings were computed from e ach decomposition level to represent time-frequency distribution of wavelet coefficients. LDA and PCA are applied to these various parameters allowing a data reduction. These features were used as an input to efficient SVM classifier with two discrete outputs: normal person and epileptic subject. A measure of the performances of these methods is presented. The remaining of this paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the data set of EEG signals used in our work. In Section 3, preliminaries are presented for immediate reference. This is followed by the step up of our experiments and the results in section 4. Finally, some concluding remarks are given in Section 5. 2. DATA SELECTION We have used the EEG data taken from the artifact free EEG time series database available at the Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn [23]. The complete dataset consists of five sets (denoted A-B-C-D-E). Each set contains100 single-channel EEG signals of 23,6s. The normal EEG data was obtained from five healthy volunteers who were in the relaxed awake state with their eyes open (set A). These signals were obtained from extra-cranially surface EEG recordings in accordance with a standardized electrode placement. Set E contains seizure activity, selected from all recording sites exhibiting ictal activity. All EEG signals were recorded with the same 128 channel amplifier system and digitized at 173.61Hz sampling. 12 bit analog-to-digital conversion and band-pass (0.53-40 Hz) filter settings were used. For a more detailed description, the reader can refer to [13]. In our study, we used set A and set E from the complete dataset. Raw EEG signal Feature extraction: Energy, Entropy and Standard deviation from DWT and WPT decom-position coefficients Dimensionality reduction by LDA and PCA Classification and Performance measure Healthy Epileptic Figure 1 The flow chart of the proposed system 3. methods The proposed method consists of three main parts: (i) statistical feature extraction from DWT and from WPT decomposition coefficients, (ii) dimensionality reduction using PCA and LDA, and (iii) EEG classification using SVM. The flow chart of the proposed method is given in figure 1. Details of the pre-processing and classification steps are examined in the following subsections. 3.1 Analysis using DWT and WPT Since the EEG is a highly non-stationary signal, it has been recently recommended the use of time-frequency domain methods [14]. Wavelet transform can be used to decompose a signal into sub-bands with low frequency (approximate coefficients) and sub-bands with high frequency (detailed coefficients) [15, 16, 17]. Under discrete wavelet transform (DWT), only approximation coefficients are decomposed iteratively by two filters and then down-sampled by 2. The first filter h[.] is a high-pass filter which is the mirror of the second low pass filter l[.]. DWT gives a left recursive binary tree structure. We processed 16 DWT coefficients. Wavelet packet transform (WPT) is an extension of DWT that gives a more informative signal analysis. By using WPT, the lower, as well as the higher frequency bands are decomposed giving a balanced tree structure. The wavelet packet transform generates a full decomposition tree, as shown in figure 2. In this work, we performed five-level wavelet packet deco mposition. The two wavelet packet orthogonal bases at a parent node (i, p) are obtained from the following recursive relationships Eq. (1) and (2), where l[n] and h[n] are low (scale) and high (wavelet) pass filter, respectively; i is the index of a subspaces depth and p is the number of subspaces [15]. The wavelet packet coefficients corresponding to the signal x(t) can be obtained from Eq. (3), l (3,0) (3,1)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦(3,6) (3,7) h l h l h l h h l h l h l SIGNAL (0,0) (1,0) (1,1) (2,0) (2,1) (2,2) (2,3) Figure 2 Third level wavelet packet decomposition of EEG signal Table 1 gives the frequency bands for each level of WPT decomposition. Figures 3 and 4 show the fifth level wavelet packet decomposition of EEG segments, according to figure 2. We processed 32 WPT coefficients. Therefore, in this study, three statistical parameters: energy feature (En), the measure of Shannon entropy (Ent) and standard deviation (Std) are computed, (4) (5) (6) 3.2 Principal component analysis To make a classifier system more effective, we use principal component analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction. The purpose of its implementation is to derive a small number of uncorrelated principal components from a larger set of zero-mean variables, retaining the maximum possible amount of information from the original data. Formally, the most common derivation of PCA is in terms of standardized linear projection, which maximizes the variance in the projected space [18, 19]. For a given p-dimensional data set X, the m principal axes W1,†¦,Wm where 1≠¤ m≠¤ p, are orthogonal axes onto which the retained variance is maximum in the projected space. Generally, W1,†¦,Wm can be given by the m leading eigenvectors of the sample Table1 Frequency band of each wavelet decomposition level. Decomposition level Frequency band (Hz) 1 2 3 4 5 0-86.8; 86.8-173.6 0-43.5; 43.5-86.8; 86.3-130.2 ;130.2-173.6 0-21.75; 21.75-43.5; 43.5-54.375; 54.375-86.3; 86.3-108.05; 108.05-130.2; 130.2 130.2-151.95; 151.95-173.6; 0-10.875; 10.875-21.75; 21.75-32.625; 32.625-43.5; 43.5-54.375; 54.375-65.25; 65.25-76.125; 76.125-87; 87-97.875; 97.875-108.75; 108.75-119.625; 119.625-130.5; 130.5-141.375; 141.375-152.25; 152.25-163.125; 163.125-173.6 0-5.44; 5.44-10.875; 10.875-16.31; 16.31-21.75: 21.75-27.19; 27.19-32.625; 32.625-38.06; 38.06-43.5; 43.5-48.94; 48.94-54.375; 54.375-59.81; 59.81-65.25; 65.25-70.69; 70.69-76.125; 76.125-81.56;81.56-87; 87-92.44; 92.44-97.87; 97.87-103.3; 103.3-108.75; 108.75-114.19; 114.19-119.625; 119.625-125.06; 125.06-130.5; 130.5-135.94; 135.94-141.38; 141.38-146.81; 146.81-152.25; 152.25-157.69; 157.69-163.125; 163.125-168.56; 168.56-173.6 covariance matrix where is the sample mean and N is the number of samples, so that SWi= ÃŽ »iWi, where ÃŽ »i is the ith largest eigenvalue of S. The m principal components of a given observation vector xi are given by the reduced feature vector . 3.3 Linear discriminant analysis Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) projects high-dimensional data onto a low-dimensional space where the data can achieve maximum class separability [19]. The aim of LDA is to create a new variable that is a combination of the original predictors, i.e. the derived features in LDA are linear combinations of the original variables, where the coefficients are from the transformation matrix i.e. LDA utilizes a transformation matrix W, which can maximizes the ratio of the between-class scatter matrix SB to the within-class scatter matrix SW, to transform the original feature vectors into lower dimensional feature space by linear transformation. The linear function y= WTx maximizes the Fisher criterion J(W) [19], where xj(i) represents the jth sample of the ith of total c classes. k is the dimension of the feature space, and  µi is the Figure 3 Fifth level wavelet packet decomposition of healthy EEG signal (set A). Figure 4 Fifth level wavelet packet decomposition of epileptic EEG signal (set E). mean of the ith class. Mi is the number of samples within classes i in total number of classes. where is the mean of the entire data set. As a dimensionality reduction method, LDA has also been adopted in this work. 3.4 SVM classifier In this work, SVM [20] has been employed as a learning algorithm due to its superior classification ability. Let n examples S={xi,yi}i=1n, yià Ã‚ µ{-1,+1}, where xi represent the input vectors, yi is the class label. The decision hyperplane of SVM can be defined as (w, b); where w is a weight vector and b a bias. The optimal hyperplane can be written as, where w0 and b0 denote the optimal values of the weight vector and bias. Then, after training, test vector is classified by decision function, To find the optimum values of w and b, it is required to solve the following optimization problem: subject to where ÃŽ ¾i is the slack variable, C is the user-specified penalty parameter of the error term (C>0), and φ the kernel function [21]. A radial basis function (RBF) kernel defined as, was used, where ÏÆ' is kernel parameter defined by the user. 4. results and discussion Before we give the experimental results and discuss our observations, we present three performance measures used to evaluate the proposed classification method. (i) Sensitivity, represented by the true positive ratio (TPR), is defined as (ii) Specificity, represented by the true negative ratio (TNR), is given by, (iii) and average classification accuracy is defined as, (16) where FP and FN represent false positive and false negative, respectively. All the experiments in this work were undertaken over 100 segments EEG time series of 4096 samples for each class set A and set E. There were two diagnosis classes: Normal person and epileptic patient. To estimate the reliability of the proposed model, we utilize ten-fold cross validation method. The data is split into ten parts such that each part contains approximately the same proportion of class samples as in the classification dataset. Nine parts (i.e. 90%) are used for training the classifier, and the remaining part (i.e. 10%) for testing. This procedure is repeated ten times using a different part for testing in each case. As illustrated in Fig.3 and 4, feature vectors were computed from coefficient of EEG signals. Taking energy as feature vector, figure 5 shows that the features of both normal and epileptic EEG signals are mixed. The proposed analysis using wavelets was carried out using MATLAB R2011b. In literature, there is no common suggestion to select a particular wavelet. Therefore, a very important step before classifying EEG signals is to select an appropriate wavelet for our application. Then, five wavelet functions namely Daubechies, Coiflets, Biorthogonal, Symlets and Discrete Meyer wavelets are examined and compared, in order to evaluate the performance of various types of wavelets. Figure 6 shows accuracy, sensitivity and specificity from different wavelets. We see that the best wavelet giving good correct rate is the Db2, Db4, coif3 and Bior1.1.The choice of the mother wavelet is focused on daubechies where the length of the filter is 2N, while coifflet wavelet filter is 6N and biorthogonal wavelet (2N +2). After EEG signal Db2 wavelet decomposition and dimensionality reduction, results of correct rate classification are showed in Table 2. The classification accuracy varies from the optimum value (100%) to a lowest value (87%). The results using standard deviation are the best results obtained and using entropy is better than using energy in EEG signals classification. In this study, experimental results show that linear discriminant analysis based on wavelet packet decomposition improves classification and the optimum SVM results are obtained by using standard deviation feature computed from wavelet packet coefficient and LDA reduction method. For this proposed scheme, the accuracy of the classification is 100%. This method presents a novel contribution and has not yet been presented in the literature. Figure 7 shows the average rate of classification (accuracy, sensitivity, specificity) obtained with different methods of decomposition (DWT or WPT), two reduction methods (LDA or PCA) and three characteristic features (standard deviation, energy, entropy) using the four best wavelet (Db2, Db4, coif3 and Bior1.1). We see that the combination of LDA with standard deviation have an optimum average accuracy rate of 99.90% and combination of standard deviation with PCA reaches 99.50 %. Table 3 gives a summary of the accuracy results obtained by other studies from the same dataset (set A and set E) using extraction of features from EEG signal and their classification. 5. conclusion In this paper, EEG signals were decomposed into time-frequency representations using discrete wavelet transform, wavelet packet transform and statistical features were Figure 5 Energy feature vector coefficient D3versus D2 (adapted from [22]). Table 3 Epilepsy classification accuracies evaluation obtained in literature from the same data sets Authors Method Accuracy (%) [7] Subasi DWT + Mixture of Expert 94.50 [8] Polat and Gà ¼nes DWT+DFT+ Auto-regres-sive model + Decision Tree 99.32 [9] Subasi and Gursoy DWT+PCA+ LDA+ICA +SVM 98.75(PCA) 100(LDA) 99.5(ICA) [12] Wang, Miao and Xie WPT+ Entropy-hierarchical K-NN classification 99,44 [14] ÃÅ"beylà ¯ Burg autoregressive + LS-SVM 99.56 Our method WPT + Standard deviation+ LDA + SVM 100 computed to represent their distribution. The most suitable mother wavelets for feature extraction and classification were found. The selection of the suitable mother wavelet and using reduction methods lead to the improvement of performance of EEG signal classification. It has been shown by experiments that for the SVM and the combination of the standard deviation with LDA have the highest correct classification rate of 100% in comparison with other techniques. The interest in expert systems for detection and classification of epileptic EEG signal is expected to grow more and more in order to assist and strengthen the neurologist in numerous tasks, especially, to reduce the number of selection for classification performance. These promising results encourage us to continue with more depth our study and to apply it to other databases recorded with other diseases.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Images and Imagery within Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Reinforcing Imagery Within Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the classic Shakespearean drama Macbeth it seems that every scene is laden with copious imagery - and for a purpose. Its intended purpose is to play a supporting role for more important facets of the play, for example theme.    In his book, On the Design of Shakespearean Tragedy, H. S. Wilson interprets the imagery of Macbeth:    Macbeth is a play in which the poetic atmosphere is very important; so important, indeed, that some recent commentators give the impression that this atmosphere, as created by the imagery of the play, is its determining quality. For those who pay most attention to these powerful atmospheric suggestions, this is doubtless true. Mr. Kenneth Muir, in his introduction to the play - which does not, by the way, interpret it simply from this point of view - aptly describes the cumulative effect of the imagery: "The contrast between light and darkness is part of a general antithesis between good and evil, devils and angels, evil and grace, hell and heaven . . . and the disease images of IV, iii and in the last act clearly reflect both the evil which is a disease, and Macbeth himself who is the disease from which his country suffers."(67-68)    Roger Warren comments in Shakespeare Survey 30 , regarding Trervor Nunn's direction of Macbeth at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1974-75, on opposing imagery used to support the opposing notions of purity and black magic:    Much of the approach and detail was carried over, particularly the clash between religious purity and black magic. Purity was embodied by Duncan, very infirm (in 1974 he was blind), dressed in white and accompanied by church organ music, set against the black magic of the witches, who even chanted 'Double, double to the Dies Irae. (283)    L.C. Knights in the essay "Macbeth" explains the supporting role which imagery plays in Macbeth's descent into darkness:    To listen to the witches, it is suggested, is like eating "the insane root, That takes the reason prisoner" (I.iii.84-5); for Macbeth, in the moment of temptation, "function," or intellectual activity, is "smother'd in surmise"; and everywhere the imagery of darkness suggests not only the absence or withdrawal of light but - "light thickens" - the presence of something positively oppressive and impeding.   (101)    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye shows how the playwright uses imagery to reinforce the theme: