Monday, December 23, 2019
Research Paper on Illegal Immigration - 1814 Words
Illegal immigration has become a huge issue in the United States, it is estimated that there are about twelve million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. today and that number is growing larger every day. This issue has caused multiple social, economic, safety, and law issues within the country. The state and federal government is using billions of dollars on things such as school, welfare, and medical and receiving minimal or no money in return simply because they are giving out the money to illegal immigrants who do not pay taxes to help fund things. Even though illegal immigrants help the economy, take low paying jobs, and improve the overall image of America, the U.S. must not allow any persons who enter this country illegally toâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦12). A 2007 study on immigrants in Arkansas found that the total economic impact of Arkansasââ¬â¢ one hundred thousand, fifty one percent undocumented, on the state economy is nearly three billion dollars (Willis par. 5 ). Texas comptroller study found that the one million four hundred thousand undocumented immigrants living in Texas in 2005 contributed 17.7 billion dollars to the state economy (Willis par. 5). Illegal immigrants also take low paying jobs. Most Americans do not like to wash dishes, bust tables, and mop floors, but those are jobs that need to be done. Employers always have trouble finding regular employees to do that kind of work, which is also usually low paying. Americans are not willing to work them whereas the illegal immigrants are. When businesses have trouble filling positions of low skill jobs they only have two choices, raise the wage rate high enough to fill jobs or eliminate positions (Gheen par. 14). Businesses must then raise the prices of their items to make up the difference. Higher prices that the customers of those businesses will end up paying for. Illegal immigration also improves the overall image of America. No other country in the world has the diversity of ra ces,Show MoreRelatedResearch Paper Illegal Immigration2213 Words à |à 9 Pagesï » ¿Chynna Ellenburg ENG 1101-B03 Professor North January 10, 2015 Illegal Immigration In the United States, there are over 40 million immigrants, both legal and unauthorized (Auclair, Batalova, Nwosu 1). Of that 40 million, an estimated 11 million immigrants are not authorized to be in the country (Krogsadt, Passel 1). In recent news, there has been quite the debate over whether or not there should be amnesty or citizenship offered to some or all of the undocumented citizens in America. I have aRead MoreThe Economic Impact Of Illegal Immigration1603 Words à |à 7 PagesAbstract This paper examines the economic impact of illegal immigration in the United States. This country was built with the help of millions of legally admitted immigrants, however today illegal immigration is a controversial topic. Despite the illegal status, millions of men and women work and contribute to local, state and national economies. An accepted idea is that most of the illegal immigrants cross the Mexico-US border, therefore most of the illegal immigrants should be Mexicans or fromRead MoreIllegal Immigration And The United States1481 Words à |à 6 PagesPurpose Statement Illegal immigration can cause substantial tension on the current economic configuration in a country. However, it can also, assist the said configurations by providing cheap and effective manpower at the same time. Contemporary study on political opinions concerning immigration frequently pits points of view highlighting economic self-interest versus cultural or ideological rationalization. They (studies) are also based on the particular immigration policy at hand at the time,Read MoreIllegal Immigrants And The United States Illegal Immigration966 Words à |à 4 Pages Illegal Immigrants In the United States illegal immigration is a major problem. this problem has led to other issues in this country and has existed for decades . Although it is a problem, it is a source of business for farmers in the United States and drug dealers. It is a controversial issue with many opinions on it. There is not one solution to this problem, politicians including the president have proposed various solutions, but are not supported by the general public. In this research paperRead MoreThe Impact Of Immigration On The Us Economy929 Words à |à 4 Pagespast few years. This made me think about Immigration and the US economy on a same page in my mind. Many questions started populating in my head such as Does immigration in some way affect the US economy? If yes, how? After doing some research, I found that Immigration plays an important role in the US economy. Iââ¬â¢ll start with my own background, how this question is connected to me and what other people think about immigration. Next, Iââ¬â¢ll talk about my research findings and the unexpected answers I gotRead MoreAmerica: the Melting Pot?1342 Words à |à 6 PagesLaura Stoeckle 14 September 2010 ENG 201 TTH 9:30 America: The Melting Pot? For as far back as history books go there have been stories about people moving from one place to another. Immigration is defined as the movement of people from one country to another for the sole purpose of a stable residence. The United States of America has always been known as the melting pot of the world. Now our country is being faced with people trying to come here illegally and it is creating an argumentRead MoreHow Can We Deal with the Problem of Illegal Immigration Essay1122 Words à |à 5 Pages How Can We Deal With The Problem Of Illegal Immigration? Being here as an illegal immigrant is a huge problem. Tax payerââ¬â¢s money pays for their medical bills, the jails, and deportation back to where they came from. Our jobs and identities are being taken away as well. Coming to the United States is seen as an advantage to get ahead in life for most other countries. When they take advantage of breaking the system it effects the citizens more so than it does them. There are several people who cameRead MoreThe Effects Of Illegal Immigration1507 Words à |à 7 Pagesnation of immigrants but illegal immigration has created many consequences. The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. is 11 million in 2017 (Jens Manuel Krogstad) . An Illegal immigration can be defined as the action of come to live permanently in a foreign country without legal permits from the government. According to Immigration Laws, there are 28.4 million immigrants in the U.S. and roughly half of them are illegal immigrants (The Social Effects of Illegal I mmigration). There are many argumentsRead MoreDeportation Of Immigrants : Deportation Essay1456 Words à |à 6 Pagesdecade, illegal immigration and enforcement have dominated mainstream policy making (Meisnner, Kerwin, Chishti Bergeron, 2013). There has been a lot of public debate too, on whether or not the successive governments of the US have been able to effectively address illegal immigration and its enforcement thereof. However, as Meisnner et al. (2013) state, in the wake of the terror attacks of 2001, a paradigm shift appears to have been established, with the enforcement of illegal immigration takingRead MoreIllegal Immigration Speech Essay765 Words à |à 4 Pages Iââ¬â¢m against the millions of illegal immigrants that come to the U.S. and cause trouble and make things harder for the legal immigrants that are already here. Illegal immigrants have long been a problem in the United States, and there have always been so many controversies about illegal immigration Today, I would like to inform you about the serious problems illegal immigration could cause. First, by giving you all the facts, and by explaining how illegal immigration, if continued, will affect our
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Program for High School Drop Outs Free Essays
A New Dawn is a program which will help students who have dropped out of high school become members of society who will be more successful. It is our hope that with the implementation of this program that more students will be able to return to school to finish their education and learn vocational skills which will allow them to earn more, help provide for their families, and build better self-esteem. Participation should reduce the number of youth who are lured away by low-paying, entry-level obs and by other social entities that can defeat the positive attributes of their lives (i. We will write a custom essay sample on Program for High School Drop Outs or any similar topic only for you Order Now e. gang activity, drugs, alcoholism, etc. ). With this program outline, it should be evident that we can work with the budget allotted and still provide the essential services to our target population; the young people of the community who need to be able to return to school. A new day is dawning; how will you make it a successful one? educational, vocational, and training services to many sections of the local population. They have been involved in the community for many years (undefined in he scenario) and have decided to face a new and dangerous challenge; the increased dropout rates of high school age teenagers in the area. With increasing economic strains because of Job loss, relocation of companies to other cities, and budgetary losses due to lower property tax revenues, the students in the area are being forced to look for work to help support their families. It has been an ongoing challenge for local schools to retain and recruit qualified teachers that can hold the interest of these students. Unfortunately, this means that education comes second in heir lives and they lose the motivation to continue to improve themselves. Our agency proposes a new and innovative approach to allow them to complete their high school education, gain new skills, and be better prepared to handle lifeââ¬â¢s challenges as they present themselves. Statement of Opportunity We are a group of dedicated individuals who want to see the high school dropouts of today become self-sufficient, productive members of the community tomorrow by offering them the skills to begin a new Journey. Education, vocational skills, and training are the key to success; our plan is to make a seemingly impossible challenge nto success through hard work, perseverance, and the true spirit of belief in our fellow human beings to want to be better than they are today. Impact on Organizational Structure Vision in organizational program development is important because it gives hope and direction to all those who hold stake in a project; in this case, students, parents, educators, administrators, potential grant donors, community members, social services workers, and businesses in the area. An executive directorââ¬â¢s vision is crucial because it shows that they truly believe in the proposed program and that it will ucceed in its goals and objectives. Challenges present themselves every day; the true challenge is taking the problems and turning them into opportunities. The positive is far more productive than allowing others to wallow in despair and give up on the possibility of success. Reaching for the stars is unrealistic, but hope is a powerful motivator; my goal is to make that hope into a reality for the students who are often forgotten members of society. With any change within an agency, comes an mission, goals, objectives, and vision of any program. Structural changes must occur o allow for new programs to be implemented. Organizational mission, goals, and objectives may have to change slightly to reflect new aspects of the program being developed, but should pretty much remain the same. While all of these areas may be detailed, it is important not to make goals and objectives which are too expansive as it could cause the entire program to fold if not managed carefully. I can see where there may need to be some changes when incorporating youth into a program which may have been initially designed to assist adults who have different issues. The new oals and objectives of this project must dovetail with existing agency directives because if they do not, they may cause unpleasant and potentially devastating changes to services already offered. Organizational planning may be need to be revamped to include the program in the short- and long- term plans. Any time changes take place within an organization; there will be changes in the planning. From development to implementation and beyond, new plans which influence current programs will have to be addressed. In this scenario, the implementation of a dropout program may require facility changes, changes in staffing, community utreach that has not been needed before, coordination with school officials, budgetary changes, and development of new funding sources. It will be important to keep in consideration the needs of current programs when developing new structure for this program so as not to damage already successful programs. Organizational operations will also need to change based on the needs of clientele, staff members, and facility availability. There will be a need for more space for classrooms, more instructors, and different equipment and materials; using the same materials for igh school age students may not be realistic in terms of safety. Costs will quite definitely increase as the demand for hands-on vocational learning becomes reality for this group of students, hours are extended, and new materials for classroom learning need to be purchased. Administrative staff and Board of Directors support will require a clear and accurate picture of how things will need to be altered in order for them to run effectively and efficiently. Human resources is an area that will clearly need to be given a lot of thought and creative thinking to best utilize the staff hat is already employed by our agency. It has been difficult for local school districts to hire qualified, motivated instructors to work with this fairly specialized group. It is no easy task to work with students who have given up on the academic environment to search for work to support their families. The key to the success of this program is to grab their interest, give them the tools and resources to better themselves, and then help them to be successful in the outside world. Since we cannot offer extravagant salaries to these professionals, we must have more to offer them; the esire to help a group which is underprivileged and in desperate need of help in addition to fairly flexible class schedules may help convince them to come teach for this worthwhile project. In addition to this, formal classroom positions are being cut by all districts, so by hiring teachers who have been displaced and do not wish to relocate there is a benefit to all involved. Continued education may be necessary to ready these instructors for different types of students and teaching methods. Technological resources will need to be added or adapted to build this program and heir involvement, they may quit again which would defeat the purpose of the program. The project will require more computers and software for student use, new and safer machinery, improved software for administrative staff to be able to track, organize, and make formal reports of progress, budgets, and program usage. Because these students are high school age, the need for reporting to state agencies will be a requirement if this agency is to receive funding and the average daily allowance (ADA) for each eligible student; that money will be essential as the rogram grows and thrives. Training for staff members may be necessary to ensure that they have the required skills that have not been needed before. Financial resources are probably the largest challenge to making this opportunity a reality for this organization. Additional money will be needed to supplement the already lean budget of past years. Employing more teachers, counselors, trainers, and support personnel will not be inexpensive; salaries and benefits are required to attract qualified individuals. A reward and incentive program will need to be developed ince salaries and benefits may not be as rich as many are used to in the educational industry. The number of eligible high school dropouts is expected to be 1,000 individuals with a rise to 2,000 each year after inception. The total funding for this program at present is $1,600,000, so until further funding can be acquired budgets will still have to run very lean. Accumulating needed materials and equipment can be done on a graduated need base so that not all of the finances are spent on these line items. It will be necessary to apply for outside grants from government agencies and other non-traditional options. Community Environmental Factors The local economy in the area is severely depressed because many companies are leaving the area for other cities; the loss of property and other tax revenue has caused local cutbacks in services with significant impact on school budgets. When budgets are reduced in education, the first individuals who suffer are the students. Loss of teachers, materials, extra-curricular activities, and support staff markedly increase the dropout rate among teens. There are few choices for students other than to attempt to find work to help support their families; making school an mpossibility and limiting further success. Competition is a problem because students need to find work and will turn to businesses when they should be attending school. If the youth of this community feel that the needs of their families is too strong, they may forego returning to school; no matter how easy the road is made for them. They have to find value in furthering their education; our goal is to show them that there is a better life available through education and give them the skills they need to succeed. The employment market locally is not helping the situation; rather it is a hindrance. The more pressure exerted on the market, the more businesses will move out of the area because there is incentive to do so. As companies leave, property and other taxes drop which means less money is available for schools and other local services. The amount of teachers and support staff drops and students feel it is not worth their time to attend. Financial resources will always be limited, so the time is now to take advantage of loans and grants offered by the school district and government agencies. Applying for outside grants will need to occur, but without firm commitments they cannot be The risks that the agency will take will be directly correlated to the success of the program. If the project shows that it is successful, more money will be fed into its coffers. If the program is questionable or fails, money will be withdrawn which could seriously hamper current programs as well as the proposed program. In theory, this investment could make or break the organization which is more than likely working on a very limited budget in the first place. Adding additional staff and technical resources is expensive and if these people would have to be terminated because the rogram fails, there will be other separation costs associated; machinery and other items may have to be sold for a significant loss if they cannot be used in other programs. The benefits of this program to the community is that the teenagers who have given up on their education may return to school to learn more skills which will help them to find better paying Jobs in the future. By becoming more highly trained and better educated, it will be easier for them to find employment. The increase in the dropout rate from five percent to 15% is astronomical in Just two years and is nacceptable; something must be done to stop the bleeding! By developing and implementing a program which helps local youth, the status of this organization will increase; allowing more money to flow in for all programs and increase community support. This support encourages more students to see the value in returning to school because they can see the evidence of going through the program. Human Resources It will be important to hire new instructors, trainers, and more than likely some support staff to work with students and provide the administrative assistance to make this program operate efficiently and effectively. The one thing you cannot be short on is instructional staff to help students to learn the skills they need to be able to walk away with the ability to become productive members of the community. Because many school districts are cutting staff members, there is a surplus of unemployed or underemployed teachers and we may be able to secure some trainers from the private industrial sector on a part-time basis if they feel it will be to their benefit to have better trained employees. Our staff is truly one of the most important keys to the success or failure of this program; without them, there would e no way to make success a possibility. With staffing cuts, come reductions in pay for many school employees, so we will need to provide other incentives to attract qualified, motivated instructors. Paid time off, health benefits (at least partially covered by the agency), incentive rewards for number of students who perform well and/or graduate from our program, and other extrinsic reward systems will be implemented as the budget allows. Intrinsic rewards such as recognition by other staff members, community recognition, publication in journals to recognize the successes each member has worked hard to attain, and ven something as simple as a smile and a good Job from supervisory personnel will make a big difference in the way employees feel about their Jobs. As Executive Director, I personally will take this responsibility to make this happen and encourage others on my staff to do the same. The operating budget for this program is not large at only $1,600,000. It will take a great deal of hard work to make this budget work and still have a successful program. With the help and dedication of our staff, along with positive support from community members, we can make it work. We will be applying for grants from the National Education Association (NEA), California Teachers Association (CTA), government title grants (such as American With Disabilities Act (ADA)) funding, and other non-traditional grant donors. It is our hope that we can procure enough money to make this program operate smoothly and employ more staff members to encourage students to want to participate in a variety of programs. It is recognized that budgets will need to be increased each year because new students will be Joining established students in the program. It is estimated that for the first year there will be 1,000 eligible students and 2,000 each year after. If the program works well, we estimate this number will continue to grow as the individuals leave the program and find that their ability to find work at a better rate increases. As students hear that the program is working, they will want to participate more; word of mouth is by far one of the most important and cheapest methods of advertising. How to cite Program for High School Drop Outs, Papers
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Movement of Modernism Essay Example For Students
Movement of Modernism Essay Modernism described as movement in arts would best be described as a movement that was used to unit America after a period of crisis, it did this by it being centered on explorations into the spiritual nature of men and the value of his society and institutions. In a way it was like realism they too focused on the changes on society. The modernistic writers always wrote in a very formal defined form. Modernism also played a very important role as a movement in poetry. The way modernism did this was it brought so much more opportunity to the poet as a way of writing. The poet is now able to express themselves in new ways. If it was not for modernism who knows if we would be talking about the works of Emily Dickinson today, after all it was modernism that got her poetry discovered. Modernism is what kicked off Twentieth- Century American Literature. The authors of this modernistic period had the same goals so naturally wrote using the same ideas, methods, and principles. Modernists like realists both wanted to paint an unbiased, accurate picture of society by confronting the problems of the individual and of the society. The only difference in the two is the difference in societies. These principles could be called the tenents of Modernism. My working definition of modernism would be a movement in American Literature that allowed writers to be able to express themselves but at the same time be able to celebrate the changes that are accruing around them. This movement also allowed poets to write about anything that they saw which was thought to be modern. In short I guess it is somewhat safe to say that their writings reflect ongoing changes that are occurring in their society. As far representative themes go my definition ties into that. In nineteen thirty Hart Crane made a visionary pilgrimage though Americas geographical and emotional space. Around this time Crane published his epic poem The Bridge, which celebrates the Brooklyn Bridge as both an architectural achievement and a symbol of American modernity. Because of the type of descriptive writing that was being used the voice in the writings were in deep detail and strong emphasis on words were also used to help get the point across. This time in American Literature is a very important one. Without this strong movement we today would not have the please of being able to read someone such as Hart Crane and Ezra Pound, Eliot and Stevens along with Frost. This would be a major loss for the great American Literature as well as a loss to American History.
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Thomas Edison Analysis Essay Example For Students
Thomas Edison Analysis Essay Thomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison is considered one of the greatest inventors in history. He was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and died in 1931. During his life he patented 1,093 inventions. Many of these inventions are in use today and changed the world forever. Some of his inventions include telegraphy, phonography, electric lighting and photography. His most famous inventions were the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb. Edison did some of his greatest work at Menlo Park. While experimenting on an underwater cable for the automatic telegraph, he found that the electrical resistance and conductivity of carbon varied accordingly to the pressure it was under. This was a major theoretical discovery, which enabled Edison to invent a pressure relay using carbon rather than magnets, which was the usual way to vary and balance electrical currents. In February of 1877 Edison began experiments designed to produce a pressure relay that would amplify and improve the audibility of the telephone, a device that Edison and others had studied but which Alexander Graham Bell was the first to patent, in 1876. By the end of 1877 Edison had developed the carbon-button transmitter that is still used today in telephone speakers and microphones. We will write a custom essay on Thomas Edison Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Many of Thomas Edisons inventions including the carbon transmitter were in response to demands for new products and improvements. In 1877, he achieved his most unique discovery, the phonograph. During the summer of 1877 Edison was attempting to devise for the automatic telegraph a machine that would transcribe a signals as they were received into a form of the human voice so that they could then be delivered as telegraph messages. Some researchers had theorized that each sound, if it could be graphically recorded, would produce a distinct shape resembling short hand, or phonography, as it was known then. Edison hoped to make this concept real by employing a stylus-tipped carbon transmitter to make impressions on a strip of paraffined paper. To his amazement, the barley visible indentations generated a vague sound when the paper was pulled back beneath the stylus. In December 1877 Edison unveiled the tinfoil phonograph, which replaced the strip of paper wrapped in tinfoil. Many people would not believe what they were hearing including a leading French scientist who declared it to be a trick device of a ventriloquist. The publics amazement was quickly followed by universal approval. Edison became famous all around the world and was dubbed the Wizard of Menlo Park, although ten years passed before the phonograph was transformed form a laboratory curiosity into a commercial product. His most famous and most commonly used invention is the incandescent light bulb. American scientists including Samuel Langley needed a highly sensitive instrument that could be used to measure minute temperature changes in heat emitted from the Suns corona during a solar eclipse along the rocky mountains on July 29,1878. To please those needs Edison invented a microtasimeter employing a carbon button. This was a time when great advances were being made in arc lights so that electricity could be used for lighting in the same fashion as with small, individual gas burners. The basic proble m seemed to be to keep the burner, or the bulb, from being consumed by preventing it from overheating. Edison thought he would be able to solve this by coming up with a microtasimeter-like device to control the current. He proclaimed that he would invent a safe, mild, and inexpensive electric light that would replace the gaslight. Inventors had been attempting to devise the incandescent light bulb for fifty years, but Edisons reputation and past achievements commanded respect for his bold prediction. As a result, a group of leading financiers, including J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts, established the Edison Electric Light Company, and advanced him $30,000 for his research and development. Edisons idea was to connect his lights in a parallel circuit by subdividing the current so that the failure of one light bulb would not cause the whole circuit to fail. Some well-known scientists predicted that such a circuit could never be possible, but their findings were based on systems of lam ps with low resistance (the only successful type of electrical light at the time). Edison, however, determined that a
Monday, November 25, 2019
70 Dialogue Writing Prompts
70 Dialogue Writing Prompts 70 Dialogue Writing Prompts 70 Dialogue Writing Prompts By Ali Hale For some writers, dialogue comes naturally. They find it easy to ââ¬Å"hearâ⬠their characterââ¬â¢s voices and they have the knack of crafting dialogue that sounds natural without trying to replicate all the ââ¬Å"umsâ⬠and ââ¬Å"ersâ⬠of actual speech. For many writers, though, dialogue can be a struggle. Maybe they donââ¬â¢t know how to get started, or they find themselves writing long conversations that donââ¬â¢t have much point. Dialogue writing prompts can be a great way of kicking off your dialogue ââ¬â but they can also be helpful if youââ¬â¢re stuck for an idea or looking for an opening to a scene or a short story. Here are a bunch of different ones to try, all of which could suit lots of different scenarios ââ¬â and which could be spoken in different ways. Thirty Potential Dialogue Starting Prompts If youââ¬â¢re struggling to get started on a scene, or on a conversation, pick one of these starting lines as a prompt: #1: ââ¬Å"That was my favourite cup.â⬠#2: ââ¬Å"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?â⬠#3: ââ¬Å"What on earth happened in here?â⬠#4: ââ¬Å"Youââ¬â¢ve caught me at a really bad time.â⬠#5: ââ¬Å"Hang on. Whereââ¬â¢s the baby?â⬠#6: ââ¬Å"What have you done now?â⬠#7: ââ¬Å"Youââ¬â¢ll never guess what Sarah told me last night.â⬠#8: ââ¬Å"Maââ¬â¢am, Iââ¬â¢m afraid Iââ¬â¢ve got some bad news. Please, sit down.â⬠#9: ââ¬Å"How ââ¬â how did you find me?â⬠#10: ââ¬Å"Excuse me. Excuse me! Yes, you. Youââ¬â¢re sitting in my seat.â⬠#11: ââ¬Å"I donââ¬â¢t think it can be repaired.â⬠#12: ââ¬Å"Ouch, that mustââ¬â¢ve hurt.â⬠#13: ââ¬Å"Quick! Itââ¬â¢s going to explode!â⬠#14: ââ¬Å"Well, this is new.â⬠#15: à ââ¬Å"Letââ¬â¢s hear your side of the story.â⬠#16: ââ¬Å"I donââ¬â¢t know what happened, officer.â⬠#17: ââ¬Å"Thereââ¬â¢s blood everywhere.â⬠#18: ââ¬Å"Right, whoââ¬â¢s drawn the short straw this time?â⬠#19: ââ¬Å"I donââ¬â¢t even hate you. That would imply I cared.â⬠#20: ââ¬Å"Thereââ¬â¢s no point running.â⬠#21: ââ¬Å"How are you feeling today? A little better, hmm?â⬠#22: ââ¬Å"This is going to be way harder than we thought.â⬠#23: ââ¬Å"Was that a scream?â⬠#24: ââ¬Å"Do you ever hear noises in the night? Like scratching in the walls?â⬠#25: ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t move.â⬠#26: ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢m your biggest fan!â⬠#27: ââ¬Å"I love you! No time to explain ââ¬â gotta go.â⬠#28: ââ¬Å"When did you last see him? Think! This is important!â⬠#29: ââ¬Å"Oh man, Iââ¬â¢ve had the worst day ever.â⬠#30: ââ¬Å"This isnââ¬â¢t what it looks like, I swear! Okay itââ¬â¢s kind of what it looks like, but just give me a chance to explain.â⬠30 Potential Dialogue Response Prompts If you find it tricky to imagine a scenario from a starting prompt, try picking one of these prompts that might come slightly further along in a conversation. #1: ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢ll take that as a compliment.â⬠#2: ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s the first time Iââ¬â¢ve heard anyone call it that.â⬠#3: ââ¬Å"Woah, back up. Youââ¬â¢re losing me.â⬠#4: ââ¬Å"Stop yelling!â⬠#5: ââ¬Å"Well, thatââ¬â¢s not a very nice way of putting it. But yes, I suppose youââ¬â¢re right.â⬠#6: ââ¬Å"Okay, I think we do need to call an ambulance.â⬠#7: ââ¬Å"Oh my gosh, are you sure? Like, sure sure?â⬠#8: ââ¬Å"You must have misheard me.â⬠#9: ââ¬Å"Actually, I think this is the wrong wayâ⬠#10: ââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s taken me fifty years to get here. Iââ¬â¢m sure as hell not giving up now!â⬠#11: ââ¬Å"Believe me, my dear, no-one regrets this more than I do.â⬠#12: ââ¬Å"Didnââ¬â¢t your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?â⬠#13: ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t worry. I hated that wallpaper, anyway.â⬠#14: ââ¬Å"No. Hell, no. Absolutely not.â⬠#15: ââ¬Å"If you could just set it down ââ¬â very slowly ââ¬â and then back away.â⬠#16: ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢ve never actually liked chocolate.â⬠#17: ââ¬Å"I find it very hard to believe that, Iââ¬â¢m afraid.â⬠#18: ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s a very bold thing to say.â⬠#19: ââ¬Å"And you canââ¬â¢t think of any other reason?â⬠#20: ââ¬Å"Shut up.â⬠#21: ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢m going to give you five seconds to take that back.â⬠#22: ââ¬Å"Youââ¬â¢re wrong. Thatââ¬â¢s not what happened at all.â⬠#23: ââ¬Å"Hey. Look at me.â⬠#24: ââ¬Å"Apologise. Right now.â⬠#25: ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢m sorry. That sounds awful.â⬠#26: ââ¬Å"Do you maybe think, in retrospect, that this was a terrible idea?â⬠#27: ââ¬Å"Good. I meant it to hurt.â⬠#28: ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s not very nice.â⬠#29: ââ¬Å"So hang on, let me get this straight.â⬠#30: ââ¬Å"Actually, I think youââ¬â¢d find that most people have a pretty massive problem with that.â⬠Ten Other Dialogue Prompts to Try in Your Writing If the above prompts arenââ¬â¢t enough for you, there are loads of other prompts out there. Here are some of my favourites from around the web: #1: ââ¬Å"Just sit around and cry, then. I donââ¬â¢t have that luxury.â⬠(from 100 Writing Prompts Based on Dialogue, for Fiction, Screenplays, and More, Bryn Donovan) #2: ââ¬Å"You have to tell her. It wouldnââ¬â¢t be right not to.â⬠(from Dialogue Exercises: 40 Writing Prompts To Get You Going, Marylee MacDonald) #3: ââ¬Å"I need nothing but my mad skills, rugged good looks, and maybe half a million dollars.â⬠(fromà Rooftop Writing Prompt #42, Gabrielle R. Pollack) #4: ââ¬Å"I told you never to go in there, boy!â⬠/ ââ¬Å"But I heard screaming!â⬠/ ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s none of your concern.â⬠(from Writing Prompts 51-60 (Dialogue Prompts), Amina Cavallo) #5: ââ¬Å"Thatââ¬â¢s it! Iââ¬â¢m killing them all.â⬠/ ââ¬Å"Wait, but what about the plan?â⬠/ ââ¬Å"Forget the plan! These idiots keep getting on my nerves. They have no one to blame but themselves.â⬠(from Dialogue Prompts Writing things, theunamazingauthor) #6: ââ¬Å"I made breakfast, but I didnââ¬â¢t know what you liked so I made enough to probably feed a small tribe.â⬠(from #100 Dialogue Prompts to Make a Reader Swoon (Okay maybe not all of them), Yasmine) #7: ââ¬Å"Hey! Yeah itââ¬â¢s meâ⬠¦.guess whatâ⬠¦Iââ¬â¢m coming home.â⬠(from Dialogue Prompts, Tumblr) #8: Sweetheart, what did you bury in the garden? (from Random First Line of Dialogue, Writing Exercises) #9: ââ¬Å"How much of that did you hear?â⬠(from 50 Dialogue Prompts, Chrmdpoet) #10: ââ¬Å"For what itââ¬â¢s worth, I donââ¬â¢t know much about you either.â⬠(from Dialogue with Emotional Connotations: Part Deux, Your Local Writer) Let us know which prompt(s) youââ¬â¢ll be trying out (feel free to combine a few!) or share your own dialogue prompts with us in the comments. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:16 Substitutes for ââ¬Å"Becauseâ⬠or ââ¬Å"Because Ofâ⬠3 Cases of Complicated HyphenationDrama vs. Melodrama
Friday, November 22, 2019
Biko
A review of the biographical novel, Biko by Donald Woods. The paper reviews the book as a biography of both Steve Biko and Donald Woods. It illustrates how Donald Woods was able to combine his own story with that of Steve Biko in the novel. It begins with a background on Steve Biko and Donald Woods, goes on to state the main struggle of the book and gives a synopsis of the plot. The focus of this paper is on the way the events affected Woods.Biko tells the story of Donald Woods and his relationship with black consciousness leader Steve Biko. The author Donald Woods is a journalist and was a close friend of Steve Bikos. Biko is a biography of Donald Woods as well as a biography of Steve Biko as Woods sees him. Firstly, I will briefly detail who Steve Biko is so the events of the book can be seen in perspective. Steve Biko was a black South African who led the black consciousness movement in South Africa. He struggled for liberation from the apartheid regime. He was a political activist and believed that black liberation started with black psychological self-reliance. This idea was the basis for the black consciousness movement that Biko led. Biko believed that by doing this you could get to the base of the problem and change the way society operated. Biko was killed by South African security forces while in detention, aged thirty.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Management Skills in Adult Nursing Essay (4000 word reflection is to
Management Skills in Adult Nursing (4000 word reflection is to enable to develop a deeper, critical understanding of the development of knowledge and skill in Management) - Essay Example In order to improve my practice, I will reflect on this incident, and address issues of effective discharge planning, communication, and handover. The themes I will consider for this topic would follow the various questions raised by Johnsââ¬â¢ reflective model. This model is meant to be implemented by sharing with fellow practitioners or with a mentor, which then transforms the learning to a faster pace. Johnsââ¬â¢ model emphasizes the value of experienced knowledge as well as the power of the practitioner to access and implement information which has been secured via empirical processes (Grech, 2004). More specific themes on discharge planning, communication, and handover shall be incorporated into the text. The critical and analytical aspects of this discussion shall flow from the reflective process, with an evaluation of the specific actions based on standards of the practice (Callara, 2008). The scenario under evaluation involves the discharge of Patient X, a 65 year old male patient who recently underwent hip hemiarthroplasty surgery. During the discharge planning process, there were several orders which I was not sure how to implement. One of the discharge orders indicated that I needed to refer the patient to the rehabilitation ward for physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and that I needed to refer the patient to a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist, and arrange future schedules for therapy. Discharge orders also indicated that I needed to recommend an appropriate health and diet plan for the patient. Health and diet plans for elderly patients, especially those who have recently suffered hip fractures must be established because these elderly patients are prone to possible re-injury (Beaupre, et.al., 2005). Beaupre, et.al., (2005) discussed that the hip fracture would likely limit the mobility or elderly
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
IKEA Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
IKEA Analysis - Essay Example Retaining competitive advantage is inevitable for firms to ensure profitability. This can be achieved by implementing effective management strategies and processes that allow them to conduct a thorough internal analysis of their businesses, such as benchmarking, value chain analysis etc., to name a few. For the purpose of this paper, benchmarking as a method of internal analysis is used and applied on IKEA. The process of benchmarking is of vital significance for organizations today, since it affords them the ability to compare their performance with that of their rivals or similar processes within their own organizations. The process was first used and introduced by Xerox Corporation, with a view to gain competitive advantage over their rivals in the industry, and capitalize on their strengths by overcoming their weaknesses and limitations (Zairi, 1996). The process of benchmarking is evolutionary in nature, whereby the companies involved begin by analyzing the various internal proc esses employed by them, and seek improvements in areas identified as problematic, thus ensuring best practices within the organizations (Wireman, 2004). Definitions: The concept of benchmarking has been widely used within the field of management and is defined differently by different authors. According to Zairi (1996: 35) "A benchmark refers to something that serves as a standard by which others may be served". However one of the most commonly and widely used definitions of benchmarking is the one developed by Xerox, which states describes benchmarking as "the continuous process of measuring our products, services and practices against the toughest competitors or those companies recognized as industry leaders" (cited in Kozak, 2004: 5). 2. Introduction: The global furniture retail industry comprises of various stakeholders and players. IKEA is one such international furniture retail chains, which dominates the global furniture market. It was founded by a Swedish furniture manufactu rer, Ingvar Kamprad, in the year 1943 (IKEA, 2012a). IKEA today, has grown into a global retail brand, with as many as 131,000 employees working in 41 countries across the globe, generating annual sales worth 24.7 billion Euros (IKEA, 2012b). IKEA, as is apparent from the statistics mentioned above, has come to become one of the most globally trusted and appreciated brands in the retail furniture industry. However by the turn of the 20th century, several new players entered the industry, thus making it imperative for the existing businesses to improve and enhance their product capabilities in order to retain their competitive positioning in the industry. In present day competitive climate, the firms within the retail furniture industry are required to lower their costs, improve product range and quality, and cater to a wide consumer segment spread across the globe, in order to increase their profitability. The situation is worsened with the highly volatile external economic environm ent, making it difficult for firms to offer good quality products at lower prices. Its core business mantra is ââ¬Å"Low prices with meaningâ⬠which drives them to strive for lowering the costs of their
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Drug Cartel Violence Along the Mexican Border Essay Example for Free
Drug Cartel Violence Along the Mexican Border Essay In lines thirty-five through forty-five of Ian McEwanââ¬â¢s Black Dogs, June and Bernard stand upon the precipice of a cliff in the French countryside. The particular description in this section, when teamed with Juneââ¬â¢s observations as they near the cliff, provide a startling comparison to Juneââ¬â¢s inner turmoil and the changes inherent to the baby she carries within her womb. Like her own future prospects, the pathââ¬â¢s trajectory is a ââ¬Å"steep descentâ⬠that fills her with anxiety and place June and Bernardââ¬â¢s relationship and imminent future into the context of a fall. Like the ââ¬Å"bright, empty spaceâ⬠of ââ¬Å"baking rock dropping three hundred feetâ⬠, their future stretches out before them and represents the unknowable nature of human relationships. However, perhaps more important in relating to Juneââ¬â¢s anxiety is her own awareness that such a physical descent of the earth could as easily be seen in as the physical and mental transformation she will go through in becoming a parent. The danger she senses is not merely the physical danger of their present but the psychological and emotional danger inherent to their own relationship with one another and their future child. The couples relationship in particular is vulnerable to the chasm that opens up before them with the knowledge of this new life and responsibility. Like the earth at the bottom of this open space, they can guess what the future will bring when they return to England but they cannot truly understand the context of what such a journey entails. There is the sense that they will look back upon this moment for a significance that they can only partially understand. On July 16, 2009, James Boneââ¬â¢s article for the London Times reported a series of murders that had just taken place in Mexico. Michoacan, where the killings have taken occurred, is an area of Mexico along the Pacific coast. As the countryââ¬â¢s primary source of opium and marijuana, Michoacan hosts a great deal of drug cartel activity and violence the most recent being when a dozen federal agent bodies were found on a highway in the mountains. These anti-drug agents are among several who have been killed this year in a series of attacks. This killing spree is reported to have been sparked by the arrest of Arnoldo Rueda Medina, a commander of La Familia cartel, which took place in Morelia Michoacanââ¬â¢s capital. Seven cities came under attack from La Familia shortly after Medinaââ¬â¢s arrest, including the tourist sites of Patzcuaro and Zitacuaro. The twelve bodies that were found on the highway one woman and eleven men marks the most severe attack thus far. Found with the bodies were death threats from La Familia, saying ââ¬Å"â⬠¦Join its ranks or leaveâ⬠and ââ¬Å"Letââ¬â¢s see if you try to arrest another oneâ⬠, alluding to Medina being arrested. La Familiaââ¬â¢s killing spree is reported to be a turning point in the long-standing Mexican drug war, as they are now killing federal agents directly. Some believe this proves that the arrest of Medina was a serious setback for the cartel. According to Jorge Chabat, a drug expert, the cartelââ¬â¢s operations have been negatively affected and they are showing signs of weakness rather than strength. Putting an end to this cartel, however, is seemingly an endless task and due to La Familia having penetrated the legal system and obtaining protection, it is difficult to speculate when this violence is going to end. Link: http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6715478. ece
Thursday, November 14, 2019
2061 Odyssey Three :: essays research papers
What grabbed your attention first:Well, I think that the part that really griped me is when Dr.Rolf van der Berg had discovered that a Monolith (a huge black rectangle made of an unknown material) had just appeared on Europa (one of the moons of Jupiter).Summary:Dr.Heywood Floyd was sitting in the space station Pasture when he saw Haley's comet and decided to actually land on the surface (by convincing T'sung Corporation that it would be good advertising). So off go Dr.Floyd, Dr.Chant, Clifford Greenberg and the Universe's crew to haley's comet.Dr.Rolf van der Berg was called to his office at 5:00 in the morning to find that on Europa There was a new mountain three times the size of Everest had appeared and that a thousand kilometres away from the mountain a monolith about five hundred kilometres wide and a thousand two hundred kilometres long.When Universe landed The passengers were allowed on to the surface but only if they had some body with them so that if something went wrong t hey could help each other out. Floyd found some caves and decided to investigate it but came back empty handed. After The universe dropped the passengers back off at the moon base the universe was assigned to go pick up a ship that had crash landed on Europa. Universe went to pick up the people when it was hijacked by Universe's stewardess and was forced to land when Universe had landed The Hijacker killed her self by shooting herself in the head. after the ship had land the landing pads had sunk into the ground and the hijacker must have thought that they were stranded. After the event with the hijacker the crew decided to explore the mysterious mountain while picking up the survivors. When they got to the mountain they realised that it was infact a diamond three times the size as Everett. Dr.Chant took some "samples" and picked up the survivors. When they were flying back they noticed some thing on the ground it was a small village but no body was there. The universe landed and looked around and found no one then Floyd saw David Bowman, David said "The people here have fled to there waters and will be back once your poison has gone.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Introduction: Multi-brand Direct Selling System
Direct selling is the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location, marketed through independent sales representatives who are sometimes also referred to as consultants, distributors or other titles. Just about any product or service can be purchased through direct selling somewhere In the world.Many people think of cosmetics, wellness products and home dà ©cord as products that are often sold through direct sales, but add to that countless other product categories including kitchen products, jewelry, clothing, organic gardening applies, spa products, scrapbook supplies, rubber stamps and more. During the past couple of years, Callahan City has catered the location and opportunities for business ventures. Some of the said businesses that have taken their bloom are In direct selling market.Callahan City opened Its gateways to direct selling companies like Nathan, MESS, Departure Brands, Avon, Personal Collection and many others, which bec ame the norms and extra sources of income for some of the household mothers across the province. Having Callahan City as the location of choice for the ranches of these brand names, multi-brand outlets from other municipalities sprout. Direct selling outlets, are managed by individual members registered in a brand, which gained their own set of dealers. At first, a member will need to register Is a brand. Or example, he/she needs to be a registered dealer for Nathan to place an order directly to the Nathan branch. A Nathan dealer will have an option of purchasing the product by cash, with 22% discount, or placing an order by credit which will give him/her 2 months to pay benefit. In purchasing products by cash, there are no limits on purchase amount and no additional requirements. However, if a dealer wants to place an order by credit, he/she needs to have a checking account from any bank available within the country.The Nathan branch will get at least 10 blank checks Initially whic h postdated 2 months after the date of order. By doing these, Nathan branch will have a way to collect the amount needed for the placed order when the due date arrives. Initially, a registered Nathan dealer will have a maximum credit limit of UP, 000 which means that he can only order 22,000 worth of products by credit with corresponding 22% discount on all products. By time, this reedit Limit will Increase If Nathan recognized them as good payer (without past due records).Bilaterally, as his/her credit Increase, he/she can recruit new dealers under his/her name, on which can order directly from branch (which will follow the same procedure and requirements of the branch) or order from him. If a dealer/member reach a goal of either PEP,OHO within a single month or PEP,OHO within 2 months, he/ she will be promoted as a Fashion Pro(step higher than a dealer). With this, his initial 22% discount will be upgraded to 40%.By having this kind of benefit, a dealer can circuit more dealers un der his/her name, on which will place order to him (not from he can give his/her own dealer the 22% discount a new dealer is entitled to, and still keep 18% additional discount which will serve as his/her own revenue. By doing this, and he can now be categorized as a distributor. A distributor creates her own outlet which will then be the place for her own dealers to go to, inquire, place a product order and pay their dues.Similar procedures are applied on almost every other direct selling brand like Departure, Avon, MESS. Direct selling outlets can manage or eater multiple brands and can manage multiple individual dealers under one distributor. The outlets are the main link of the branch and the individual dealers who are not capable of reaching branches due to the distance between them and the hustles of commuting Just to get products.Since these outlets are intended to grow, task of monitoring the order and credit limits of its own dealers also grow. At current, the distributors are using manual monitoring of their dealers credit limit, orders and payments with an old fashioned ledger system on which they manually write down the list of credits and payments of dealer. Although brand branches uses a software that is provided by the brand, the direct selling outlets are left with manual monitoring of the credits and sales of their own dealers.At current status, there is no individual automated system that is created for the uses of these outlets since individual software of the brands are use solely for the branch operation. The outlet managers are left with the redundant work for monitoring individual sales and credits and the more dealers the outlet supports, the more paperwork the manager handles, the more likely human error will append in the computation and monitoring of the said sales and credits.This study aims to lessen the time being spent in manually monitoring the sales, credits and product inventory documents by providing an accurate and automated system that will not only help handle these files and records but will also help the outlet managers see projections future sales, get the clear view of the outlets performance per month, see the dealer's information and performance and the dealers pending dues for them to take actions and important decisions immediately. B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKThis study will consider the following theories in the design and implementation of the automated credit, sales and inventory system for direct selling distributors. This theory states that a careful planning process is necessary for direct sales people if they are to be successful. An analogy to a hurdle race seems to be appropriate to the direct sales process. If the salesperson cannot vault over each hurdle in its proper progression, he/she is unlikely to make a sale. (Gordon Stockholm 2009). This theory will support the study since the nature of the study is based on the current schemes and strategies of the direct selling business.By u nderstanding the theory, the outcome of the study will be guided accordingly in the main principles of the direct selling business. Business Management Theory This theory focuses on the principles and the practices of a business to attain its desired organizational goals conducting effective management. It is a range of approaches including the principles of accounting, public relations, operations, labor relations, time management to improve the performance of a business in some measurable or provable manner.This theory will support the study in consideration of business guidelines and reminisces in which the automated monitoring will follow. In this theory, all the principles especially the accounting, operations and time management will be deeply involved in the creation and designing of the automated system for the inventory of credits and sales of direct selling outlets. The Concept of Scientific Management The concept of Scientific Management is to perform the manual Job faste r than the old process of inventorying and with the efficiency of the company service in sales and marketing.This theory is applicable in the study by means of replacing the manual practices hat a multi-brand direct selling outlet is using for monitoring credits, sales and inventory for its individual and group dealers. These practices are also time consuming and there are certain errors that can't be avoided, mostly of having human errors. The proposed automated credit, sales and inventory system for direct selling distributors will helped to recover the process and attest that the concept of scientific management is applied in the study. C.CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK In generating full understanding of the whole process of direct selling business in Oriental Indoor, PIP (Input/Process/Output) model is used. Figurer . 0 describes the whole conceptual framework in which becomes the central theme, the focus, the main thrust of the study. It serves as the guide in conducting investigation. T he input describes the problems encountered on the existing manual practices that a multi- brand selling outlet is using for monitoring of the sales, credits and inventory for its individual and group dealers.The input will be acquired from the data to be gathered from interviews conducted with the distributors of Direct Selling Brands. Questioners for direct selling distributors, individual dealers of these distributors ND direct selling brand/branch managers.. Advantages of current Automated System of Direct Selling Branch available and operational here in Oriental Indoor will also be taken into account. Such inputs will be process to assess the need for the development of an Automated Sales, Credit and Inventory System for Direct Selling Distributors.These inputs will also be processed to create a unified process that can be applied by the Distributors in handling and monitoring multiple direct selling products that's under their outlets. Designing the system is to provide accura cy for ales, credits and product inventory to avoid errors in existing manual process of the said outlets. These inputs are generally considered in the formation of the automated system on which will help direst selling distributors in monitoring individual and group sales, credits as well as product inventory. D.OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY General objective of the study To design an automated system for the monitoring of sales and credits of each individual of group dealers, monitoring of product inventory that will be used by any multi-brand direct selling distributor in Oriental Indoor. Specific objective of the study To find out the benefits existing automated processes of direct selling brands/branch in monitoring their group and individual credits and sales. To identify the problems encountered by the multi-brand direct selling outlet on manual monitoring of their group and individual credits and sales.To provide a unified practice in monitoring credit and sales of dealers register ed under multiple Direct Selling Brands. To develop a reliable and efficient credit, sales and inventory monitoring system that will be used by any multi-brand direct selling outlets in Oriental Indoor To determine the acceptability of the proposed automated system This study will benefit the following: Outlet Managers/Distributors Automated credit, sales and inventory system for direct selling distributors can make transaction on dealers more reliable.The proposed system will also provide accurate sales inventory by providing individual or group sales report monthly. This system also serves accurate credit inventory by the use of credit statement by the distributors. With this report the direct selling distributors can gain control over the credit limit of group or individual dealers. Individual Dealers The proposed system can provide the dealers with their individual credit report so us for them to monitor their own credits.Implementing the system that monitor their own credit and sales that will help them make their own strategies. Proponents It will enhance their skills and knowledge throughout the development of the study. Future Researcher This study will be significant to other researchers since this study can serve as a reference to the conduct of similar study. F. DEFINITION OF TERMS Direct Selling Brand ââ¬â Company that uses direct selling method to distribute their products.Direct Selling Distributor ââ¬â Dealers of direct selling brand that acquired their own set of dealers, on which is the main link between the direct selling brand/branch and individual dealers Outlet ââ¬â the on which dealers under a certain direct selling distributor place their order and pay corresponding amount dues Credit ââ¬â the amount of products ordered by individual dealers on which will be paid in full after 30 days. Previous product ordered Inventory ââ¬â process of monitoring products that are coming in and going out Interview Guide Direction: Ple ase answer the following questions as honestly as you can. . How do you transact with the dealers and customers? 2. Did you find any errors on your transaction procedures? Cite an example. 3. Comment on your transaction procedures regarding its reliability, speed and accuracy. 4. Describe the method on how you monitor the credits of your individual dealers? 5. Describe the process of your payment transactions for dealers due. 6. Describe the processes on how a dealer places his/her order? 7. Did you find any problems in accurately monitoring dealer's credit limits using the manual process? . What are the reports that you need in monitoring monthly/quarterly and yearly ales 9. What are your current processes in monitoring the product inventory? 10. Are you using any computerized system in computing the credits and sales of individual dealers, If so please state the applications that you are currently using? 1 1 . Would you consider upgrading your current process of monitoring sales a nd credits so as to provide you a much more accurate and speedy transactions?Name: Designation: Gender: Date: General Directions: Put a check on the corresponding rating that you can think is most appropriate. Objective No. 1: To describe the existing sales and monitoring practices at your direct ailing outlet Legend: 4 ââ¬â Strongly Agree (Very Serious Problem) 3 ââ¬â Agree (Moderately Serious Problem) 2 ââ¬â Fairly Agree (Slightly Serious Problem) 1 ââ¬â Disagree (Not a Problem) Disadvantages (present procedure) 4 3 2 The manual process of monitoring sales and credits of dealers is laborious and difficult 2.The manual process of monitoring product inventory is laborious and time consuming 3. There are errors committed when checking the sales and credits There is a tendency to lose records while compiling order documents 5. Entry errors and computation errors are likely to be committed. Objective No. 2: To determine the advantages of the propose Automated Credit, Sa les and Inventory System 4 ââ¬â Strongly Agree 3 ââ¬â Agree 2 ââ¬â Fairly Agree 1 ââ¬â Disagree Advantages (proposed system) 4 An automated sales monitoring system is essential in reducing errors committed in recording.An automated credit and sales monitoring system will facilitate transaction faster. An automated inventory monitoring system is easier to manage. 4. An automated inventory, credit and sales monitoring system provides additional records security in terms of providing redundant soft and hard copy of documentsAn automated inventory, credit and sales monitoring system is acceptable and more reliable than the existing manual practices Questionnaires for Direct Selling Dealers The manual practice of monitoring individual sales and credits of dealers is laborious and difficult The manual practice of ordering product from outlet is laborious and time The manual practice of checking product availability from outlet is time consuming An automated sales monitorin g system is essential in reducing time consumed in checking individual sales and credit details.
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Tv Channels Project India in a Bad Light
TV Channels project India in a bad light Recently the rise of consumerism and a spurt in the number of satellites in the vicinity of our planet have led to rise in the number of TV Channels as well as their viewers across the country. We have specialized channels that cater to the different categories of human taste viz entertainment, music, news,sports,etc. The wider availability of channels helps the viewer to opt among them as per his or her choice. The news channels which are clubbed together in a word ââ¬Ëmediaââ¬â¢ is one of the pillars of democracy. It is the moral duty of these news channels to bring the truth in front of the masses.Talking about our country,a nation which is second largest in the world in the terms of population and the largest effective electorate is truly an exemplar of democracy. Like any other nation,it is also laden with issues-both domestic as well as of international concerns. These news channels bear the social responsibility of imparting the n ews, the happenings,the incidents or accidents which should be nothing but the truth. Also the RTI Act empowers any common Indian citizen to go to the depths of affairs and have access to information povide its disclosure does not pose a grave threat to the security and integrity of the nation.The ââ¬Ëtruerââ¬â¢ picture sometimes become harsh and pretty inconvenient to be comestible but scandals and other activities of corruption need to be brought to general awareness. And, it is not only the darker side of affairs, it is also about the achievements and the milestones the country makes in the various spheres-sports, science, humanities,etc. We have several programmes on the national television that are oriented towards the cultural and economic welfare-be it related to the promotion of agriculture,tourism,industry,services,etc.Besides there are programmmes which highlight the nations prosperity, its geographical and cultural diversity and also encourage communal harmony. The consumer oriented channels which basically thrive on the TRP ratings,drama and screenplay is of prime concern to them which helps in a maintaining a certain class of audience bound to it. The audience is engrossed as the way the theme is displayed has a glamour, a pomp and show associated with it. For this, they may exaggerate certain situations or circumstances.Nonetheless,they impart a social message under the rosy spicy recipe of drama-be it child marriage,female foeticide,ââ¬â¢honourââ¬â¢ killings,terrorism, etc. And, when a guy from the lower strata of society manages to win 5 crores in a game show by the dint of his knowledge and labour besides a grace of fortune,it clearly sends a strong signal to the society about the reachability of the capital to the masses. Last but not the least,the image of the news channels and the media might have been tainted over the issue of ââ¬Ëpaidââ¬â¢ news and the dubious string operations but their importance cannot be undermined a s a source of public information.There are reality shows which do not miss a opportunity to jeer at the widespread corruption but yes, one needs to appreciate them for their creativity for the ways they adopt to entertain people. It was an eminent personality of Bollywood who blogged regarding a movie getting Oscars with an acerbic response that the jury gets a kind of emotional satisfaction watching the widespread Indian poverty and the slums which the director of the movie has encashed upon. If that be the bitter truth, so be it.There are movies which highlight the unity , the cultural diversity , the celebrations in our country. It would be too early to conclude that TV Channels project our nation in a bad light. Frankly speaking, a sugar coated truth is the better word. Allowing mobile phones in class make students less serious in studies The world is getting smaller and we are living in the era of a ââ¬Ëglobal villageââ¬â¢ where communication and the exchange of ideas hap pens within the wink of an eye. Information is the key and the power,truly. And, there are several tools and gadgets that facilitate this flow of information.From print media to digital and electonic media, which are primarily used as means of mass communication, we have telephones and mobile phones which are important means of personal communication. Moreover, the recent splurge in the usage of gizmos and gazettes among the generation Y and the youngsters has becomea fad and a status symbol rather than a necessity and mobiles are no exception to it. Their use is not confined to a mere tete-a tete but incorporates several varied applications which diversifies their usage.And a modern day youngster would not be satisfied with a simple Nokia 3600 or1100. He or she would go for the more sophisticated or sleek designs provide there is no hole in the pocket created. Now, coming to the usage of mobile phones inside a class, there are norms which are both discipilnary and moral and make su fficient common sense,whch direct both the teacher/professor and the students who are partcipating in a lecture to put off their cells or keep them in such a mode which aviodsunnecessary distraction.But even the norms which are rarely followed in totto, and even when followed put a cap or restriction to their use as they are intended to. Ina large gatheing being addressed and lectured to,where it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of each and every student, there are hubs created inside the class where students fail to get engrossed in the monotonous lectures and find their own ways to do away with the time to which cellphones prove to be a great aid.It may include sharing information regarding the latest cell that the neighbour has recently bought, or texting to the pal sitting at the other corner regarding the shabby outlook of the professor,to playing games like snakes,tetris or other advanced versions to listening to songs and watching videos(of all kinds) on the tiny screen. The world of SMSes ahs virtually made the students handicapped of writing anything sincerely as they still cannot help writing those abbreviations of informal chat even when they are writing an answer to aquestion which clearly indicates to their frivolous attitude.Adding to the worse of it,these students would just take a snapshot of te notes of a sincere and laborious classmate thinking that it would suffice and save my time and labour getting ââ¬Ëwastedââ¬â¢. One may put forth the argument that even during the non mobile days there were always a section of students who were a source of nuisance and distraction by their activities . But the inadvertent entry of mobiles inside the classes provide innumerable creative ways to bolster their activities.A serious student who is trying his/her best to concentrate and attend the lecture would surely look askance at the slim mobile phone his pals are discussingabout for long. Now this seriously puts forward 2 very primary qu estions;first,why the pattern of education becomes so dread ful and tedious which call s for the students to distract and second, why cant we cater to the students interests and inclinations so that they are provided room to choose the lecture they want to attend?Mobile phones are just the present and a lame excuse for ignorance,we need to find the root cause and address it prooperly rather than to contemplate over its complete ban or usage. However, a partial ban like prohibiting its use during the class hours and allowing only after it, seems a temporary but an effective solution as per the need of the hour.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Cement Insudtry Overview Last 49 Years Essay Example
Cement Insudtry Overview Last 49 Years Essay Example Cement Insudtry Overview Last 49 Years Essay Cement Insudtry Overview Last 49 Years Essay Bangladesh 40 years on Introduction Last year Bangladesh celebrated its 40th birthday. Possibly a celebration for some but more likely, for others, the occasion brought back terrible memories of suffering and hardship. This country of fertile plains, luscious terrain, with its remarkably rich history and heritage, was born in 1971 following a bitter struggle for independence that claimed the lives of over 3à million people. The birth pains linger; there is much poverty and many challenges lie ahead, but there are also expectations for better things to come through foreign direct investment (FDI) and infrastructure development. Meeting infrastructure needs Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that Bangladeshââ¬â¢s economy had become the 48th largest in the world. The UK Investors Chronicle has identified Bangladesh as one of the worldââ¬â¢s seven hottest emerging markets due to its relatively stable currency with solid foreign reserves and record foreign remittances, as well as 6. 7% real growth rate in 2011. The Bangladesh government has set itself the challenge to transform into a middle income country by 2021. In line with this strategic vision, the government has undertaken massive programmes for infrastructure development in partnership with the private sector. As the government allows 100% FDI, the infrastructure sector offers an interesting mix of opportunities for overseas interests. In October 2011, Bangladesh and the ADB announced a US$4. 5 billion five-year Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), which will include an investment programme of about US$4. 5 billion for 2011 ââ¬â 15. ADBââ¬â¢s support will be focused on six sectors: energy, transport, urban development, education, agriculture, and natural resources and finance. In the energy sector, ADB will aim to enhance access to power, to improve energy efficiency and to develop a policy and regulatory setting conducive to private sector participation. In transport, ADBââ¬â¢s assistance will be targeted at better road and railway infrastructure for fostering higher growth, and support for environmentally friendly modes of transport. To accelerate growth, the CPS will prioritise private sector development by addressing major infrastructure constraints and skills gaps. Building for the future In February, transport expert, M. Rahmatullah, said that Bangladesh could earn about US$44 million pa by providing a transit facility to India and its neighbours over the next five years while developing the infrastructure for this facility. If the infrastructure was ready in five years, the country could earn US$0. 5 billion from the sixth year and US$1à billion from the sixteenth. He said: ââ¬Å"For Bangladesh, transit will open up new avenues of opportunities. It will make out a case for India and China investing in deep-sea port facilities in the country. Some 16 million t of cargo would possibly move between the northeastern Indian states and the rest of the country. Bangladesh would require US$7 billion over the next decade to develop its transport system, including roads, rails and waterways for the transit system to be in place. As might have been expected, these comments were met with a degree of derision and cynicism in some sectors, but with welc ome comments in others. Whatever the outcome of talks surrounding this and other projects, the construction industry in Bangladesh is currently booming. This is due to housing, industrial and infrastructure demand,â⬠says Mehedy Amin, Technical Director, Development Constructions Ltd. ââ¬Å"We expect this demand to stay on due to the high population and expanding middle class society. â⬠Cement production increases Mehedy Amin is predicting some problems in the future, especially regarding cement prices. ââ¬Å"The country imports most of its clinker from abroad and with the increasing value of the US$ against local currency, the price of cement is rocketing up along with most construction materials. In January 2012, Bangladeshââ¬â¢s Export Promotion Bureau released data confirming that cement exports had witnessed a 21% increase in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (July 2011 ââ¬â January 2012). Abdul Khaleq Parvez, Vice President of the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association, commenting on the export situation said: ââ¬Å"The export market is growing slowly as the prices of local cement increased sharply following devaluation of the local currency. Cement prices have increased by at least US$17/tâ⬠. The prices rose because of the sudden rise in production costs, this being a consequence of power shortages and a rise in labour wages. Shankar Kumar Roy, General Manager, Business Development, Holcim Bangladesh, told WORLD CEMENT that in 2011 there were 45 active cement companies in the country. ââ¬Å"Cement demand was 14 million t, while capacity reached 24 million t and exports totalled 250 000 tâ⬠. It is said that cement production has boomed in Bangladesh since the late 1980s, with many cement plants springing up across the country. New projects Shun Shing Group International Ltd (SSGIL) has developed into a successful bulk commodity trading, shipping and investment company. A landmark investment took place in 2001 when it established a 0. 5à million t cement grinding mill in Kaligoni in Bangladesh. By the end of 2012, SSGILââ¬â¢s cement production will be 3. 1 million t through increased capacity at the current site and a new plant in Khulna city, to cover the southwest market. In January of this year, HeidelbergCement officially inaugurated a new cement mill at its plant at the seaport of Chittagong. The project involved the installation of a cement grinding mill with a capacity of 105 tph, and a slag dryer with a capacity of 45 tph. HeidelbergCement has been active in Bangladesh since 1998 and is one of the largest German investors in the country. In addition to the grinding plant at Chittagong, the Group operates another grinding plant in Dhaka. Bashundhara Cement, part of the major Bashundhara Group, is currently building a 7000 tpd plant in Narayaganij. Meghna Cement, also part of the Bashundhara Group, together with Bashundhara Cement will jointly manufacture 13 500 tpd of cement, equating to 15 ââ¬â 18% of cement demand in the country. In July 2011, Indiaââ¬â¢s Supreme Court granted permission for Lafarge Surma Cement to resume mining limestone in the East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya state in the countryââ¬â¢s mineral-rich northeast. The limestone is transported from Meghalaya to Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt Ltd by a 17 km conveyor belt, where it feeds the companyââ¬â¢s cement plant at Chhatask in Bangladesh. In February 2010 the court halted Lafarge from extracting the limestone as it was mining in an environmentally sensitive zone. Indiaââ¬â¢s environment ministry told the court in April that it had cleared the mining project with strict conditions. Up to then it was reported that Lafarge had been importing clinker from abroad. The original agreement between India and Bangladesh to permit the cross-border industrial project was signed in November 2000. It was financed by Lafarge, Cementos Molins, the IFC, the ADB, German Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Netherlands Development Co. Unique Cement Industries Ltd. : Unique cement industries ltd established in the year 2002. The factory is built with modern machinery imported from Germany and China with production capacity of 1800 M/T per day. Unique cement industries ltd. as ISO 9001:2000 Certificate. They have two brands of cement in the local market namely FRESH and MEGHNACEM. Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd. : Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd started its operation in this country with of the acquisition of the-then Hyundai cement. Subsequently it acquired United Cement and Saiham Cement. Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd is affiliated with the Holcim Group worldwide and is one the lar gest multinational cement producers in the world with manufacturing in over 70 countries. The group has a produrtion capacity of mor than 120 million tones of cement per year. MTC Cement Industries Ltd. MTC Cement Industries Ltd established with the tehnical co-operation of CITIC engineering of PRC in year of 1998 is situated on the embankment of the river Meghna. There is a two unit cement plant with capacity of 1200 MT per day. TIGER BRAND Cement started its commercial voyage on july 2001. Currently MTC is on an expansion program in pagla with a small 150 MT per day capacity cement grinding plant. Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. : Lafarge/cement mills is setting up the only modern, integrated cement manufacturing plan known as Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. in Bangladesh at Chattak under Sunamgonj district. The majority of Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. Shareholding (60%) is held by a 50/50 joint venture company bewteen Lafarge and cementos molins. Founded in 1833, Lafarge operates in 75 countries, employing 77,000 people. In 2002, the group generated annual sales of Euro 14. 6 billion and globally holdstop ranking positions in Cement, Aggregates amp; Concrete, Roofing and Gypsum. Cementos Molins is a renowned spanish cement company with an annual revenue of Euro 485 million and net profit of Euro 70 million. Operating in Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico, it produces Portland and Calcium-Aluminate cement, Concrete and Precast concrete, Aggregates and Special purpose ortars. Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd. will extract and procss the basic raw materials like limestone and shale from its from its own quarry in Meghalaya, India. A 17 km crossborder belt conveyor will be installed to link the quarry with the cement plant for transportation of raw materials. A massive land filling and site development has been completed on the 90 acre plan t site. The construction and erection is also. The plant will initially produce 1. 2 millions tons of cement per year. Premier Cement Mills Ltd : Started its production in March, 2004, Premier is the second largest cement manufacturer in Bangladesh. With a total installed cement capacity of almost a million tons per year at Muktarpul, Munshiganj, the Company is recognized as a leading cement producer with abundant supply of raw materials, low production cost and an energy efficient operation. The Company currently employs 216 persons and has an extensive distribution system throughout the country. Its transportation subsidiary, with three prominent transport companies in Bangladesh, operate a large fleet of trucks to distribute cement products in bags almost anywhere in the country. The Company was founded in 2001 as the private cement producer in Bangladesh, with a factory in Muktarpul, Munshiganj. The Company started production in March, 2004 with Unit 1, which had an installed capacity of 730,000 tons of cement per year, and would be followed by Unit 2, also at 730,000 tons of cement per year, by the mid of 2005. The factory is equipped with world-class European technology built in Denmark and Germany. Within the span of first 5 months, the company has achieved the ISO 9000-2001 certification from TUV, with highly skilled employees.
Monday, November 4, 2019
Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1
Research Methods - Essay Example Management must be able to lead the employees through new techniques, which are based on the current market situations. The management must use different leadership traits so that the employees are easily able to adopt different strategies, which can help in the performance of the business. Finding an innovative idea for every problem can be a difficult task for all the management but it is essential for them to implement such ideas in the operational activities so that the production level of the employees increases which directly increases the profitability of the organization. From several studies it is observed that the role of leadership can create many changes in an organization and increase the efficiency of its employees. The importance of innovative management leads to innovative ideas. Different leadership styles help to implement the innovative ideas in the organizations and can enhance the performance of the employees. At the time of economic crisis, good leadership qualities are important to increase the performance of the organization (Cristina, 2013). There are mainly four types of leadership styles that could be observed in different organizations. The choice of leadership style depends upon the nature of business or objectives of the organization. The suitability of leadership style, therefore, varies in different industries. The aim of the proposed study is to compare different leadership styles and their traits and their impact on employeesââ¬â¢ performance. It would be an interesting study to compare different leadership styles on employee performance in different organizations as it will allow the users of the report to identify and understand traits of different leadership styles and their role in motivating and committing employees to perform better. A comprehensive study would be possible by taking case studies of four different organizations that support two types of leadership including Transactional and
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Devices and Practices for Sensory Impairments Coursework
Devices and Practices for Sensory Impairments - Coursework Example There are a number of devices and associated teaching practices that may aid students with sensory impairments in the classroom. The devices include: It also gets referred to as closed-circuit television, CCTV. It uses a video camera to display enlarged images or wordings on a monitor or television screen. It gets used by people affected with partial visual impairment. It helps them overcome reading and writing difficulties caused by visual impairment. CCTV gets manufactured in different shapes and sizes to aid any low vision needs. The video magnifier gets used in the classroom by the teacher to assist the partially visually impaired students to be able to see slide displays on the white board in class. By magnifying the images and words in the slide shows, the students are able to see clearly, and follow what becomes taught in class hence realizing their full academic potential (Farrell,2005). This device gets used by visually impaired students with low vision to assist them in their class work. The students are adventitious visually impaired and can access their visual memory to develop conceptual understanding. The video magn ifier gets used by students with sensory impairments who have typical learning processes and learning modes: but whose ability to access information gets restricted in some avenues, or have a varying order of acquiring new skills. With this device, the student grasps more than 50 percent of what gets taught. As with a palm view display, their focus is on details, hence maximum absorption of the taught content. Use of effective teaching practices help in additional benefits as the students focus on the detailed description by the teacher as opposed to vague description by the teacher. Printing the reading materials in alternative formats prior to the classes also assists the student since through the use of the video magnifier, they are able to
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Search Engine Optimization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Search Engine Optimization - Research Paper Example This is to mean that, white hats use terms appropriately to ensure that their websites are visible. On the other hand, black fill their websites with content or words that get plenty of hits from search engines. White hats, when compared to black hats have distinct characteristics that put them apart in favor or against one another as one of the uses unscrupulous means and makes attractive promises (Creative Momentum 1). In relation to white hat search engine optimization, it follows regulations and guidelines to the letter, as provided by search engines to ensure that websites are visible to all that require information from them. This includes careful use of words that get numerous hits from search engines such that the words used are not meant to bloat documents or articles in the website. Instead, the words used are of a unique nature in that they are informative and, at times, act as support words for the whole article and not for exploiting the abilities of search engines. As s uch, websites are designed with certain aspects in mind; these include rules and norms, as well as a code of ethics to ensure that all internet activities are conducted with transparency. Based on this, following the guidelines of search engines for optimizing visibility, ensures that the ever-changing algorithms applied by search engines (Revenuewire 2) achieve transparency. This shields legal or appropriate sites from relegation, and thus gets high ratings by following meeting the terms of use on multiple levels. The white hat optimizers or designers, therefore, apply to the intelligence and needs of internet users to deliver quality content that does not fool search engines by giving false information, including in the titles of the websites. In relation to domain naming, white hat optimizers allow the actual intent of the website to appear rather than mislead the search engine user into logging into it for irrelevant content. These are the distinct characteristics of ââ¬Å"whit e hatâ⬠search engine optimization due to their compliant nature, which offers protection from removal and relegation. On the other hand, black hat search engine optimizers have their own code of ethics, or lack of it thereof that sees them dump the rulebook and carry the day, but only for limited moment (Smith 5). Black hat optimization in search engines involves the application of hidden content, where there are numerous links and articles, as well as documents that are spammed with keywords, which serve as crucial gateway points for search engines. This is in relation to search engines accessing the site due to its heavy saturation with such words that are mainly used by internet users to query information from the internet. Information is usually hidden in scripts and non-script parts of code in a website, where search engines only expose it as its algorithms crawl the internet. In addition black hat optimizations tends to have meta-keyword stuffing, where in the descriptio n of the website, or even in its headers, it has numerous keywords (Wilding). These words raise the flags, both red and white for search engines thus improving the ranking of a website, especially in marketing and sites that market content to generate revenue. Through this, it is evident that black hat optimizers are only
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Relationship Marketing Through a Number of Pathways Research Paper
Relationship Marketing Through a Number of Pathways - Research Paper Example Citigroupââ¬â¢s relationship managers have realized that the Company met all these three aspects. First of all, the Company offers both investment and commercial services which means that clients have a lot of services at their disposal. Some of them include; Mortgages, priority banking for high net worth clients, loans, investment banking, telephone banking and card products. Secondly, clients in the banking sector are in continuous need of these services. Lastly, those customers who decide to do business with the Company normally select one service or product. In the case of Citigroup, some customers strictly come to obtain loans, some would like to save their money there but access it conveniently when the need arises (commercial services and care facilities). The organization has implemented relationship marketing through consumer tracking. Since Citigroup is B2B backed, then it was able to use a comprehensive database to analyze what consumer tastes and preferences are. It ha s been a leader in business communication with the client. Citigroup has been asking its clients about their thoughts on the institution. It found that certain services were preferred over others. It also realized that consumer kept coming back for certain products during definite seasons. It was able to establish a pattern and focused its energies on products that gave them maximum returns. This was also topped up by improving services that clients were dissatisfied with. One such service was the provision of housing loans. The Company found out that many clients were happy with their rate of loan processing.
Sunday, October 27, 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)â⬠¦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,â⬠¦,Wm where 1âⰠ¤ mâⰠ¤ p, are orthogonal axes onto which the retained variance is maximum in the projected space. Generally, W1,â⬠¦,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= à »iWi, where à »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 à 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 à 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 à ¾i is the slack variable, C is the user-specified penalty parameter of the error term (C>0), and Ãâ the kernel function [21]. A radial basis function (RBF) kernel defined as, was used, where ÃÆ' 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.
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