Organizing an Exploratory Essay on Earthquake Prediction

Organizing an Exploratory Essay on Earthquake Prediction This is the last part of the guide which will assist you in writing an exploratory essay on Earthquake Predictions. Just to recap, the first part of this guide was 10 facts on earthquake prediction for an exploratory essay, the second part was 20 topics on earthquake prediction for an exploratory essay, in which we also discussed a sample essay, and in this final part, we’re going to tackle the art of organizing an exploratory essay on earthquake prediction. Writing an exploratory essay about earthquakes is going to be a little different than the essays you’re used to writing. In this essay you won’t just be writing about the topic itself but rather establish arguments on popular beliefs. You aren’t just supposed to fill up the word count on validating a thesis, but also critique an existing study or research, and present your take on the matter. There is another thing that you need to know which is essential to the essay: your exploratory essay on earthquakes should be a retrospect of your thinking process, while you’re working your way through a problem. The essay should complement your research, explaining how you did it and where you got the information from. That’s what differentiates an exploratory essay from a normal one; you need to tell the reader how you worked through that problem. How to Start It Off The introduction to your essay should have a clear outline of what the problem is and why it caught your attention. You have to tell your reader what the cause of the problem is, who  bears the responsibility and what the possible solutions are. It should also have a brief overview of your research sources. Body The body should have the inquiry process that you used to learn about the problem and solve it. This section will contain most of the information and should be able to sell your idea to the reader. You should include where you got the information from. The section should be detailed with proper references. End At the end of the essay, the conclusion should connect everything together. It all needs to fit in harmoniously; i.e. recalling the problem you found in the subject, the main causes to that problem and finally, wrap it up with the solutions you proposed. This is just a single essay, not a research paper. So naturally you would have to cut it short, but you should mention this in the conclusion that there are still a few concerns you have with the subject in question. Express that you’ll pursue this in your further education and write a proper paper about it.

5 Factors for Effective Business Writing Training

5 Factors for Effective Business Writing Training When it comes to business writing, which encompasses everything from email and report writing to marketing messages, even the Fortune 500 companies face crisis. All around theglobe, organizations spend millions onstaff training for leadership, motivation, team†building and whatnot, but invest far less in business writing training. This is a costly mistake.In mostcompanies, employees spend fully 40% of their time †Ã¢â‚¬  or more †Ã¢â‚¬  writing each day. Enhancingthis skill will greatly reduce time writing each document and yield better business writing. Traditionally, business writing typically referred to reports, proposals and memos. Thatnarrow definition is long gone. Every aspect of every business function is carried in some formof writing. New documents have emerged †Ã¢â‚¬  and some of them must be written and maintainedfor compliance with corporate or federal governance and other regulations. In such cases, the last thing your business needs is employees with poor writing skills. This iswhy your business’s primary objective, at the time of hiring, should be to assess the writing skills of your potential employees. After assessing your employees' writing skills, you will have a clear idea (ideally you will have a clear measurement) of current business writing skills and how to improve business writing skills overall. If you feel that your company lacks the necessary business writing skills to write relevant and structured content that clearly elicits the right business response, you can improve employee business writing abilities either by conducting an internal tutorial program or hiring outside expert training. In either case, here are the five most important factors that make up an effective business writing training session: 1) Qualification(s) The first step is to evaluate and verify the credentials of the writing expert and trainer who will conduct the business writing training. The instructor should be well†trained and experienced specifically in business writing, not writing in general. Look for a background in rhetoric, which indicates the trainer understands all aspects of business writing, including thinking, organization, creativity, relevance to audience purpose. Without an understanding of rhetoric, your business writing training could devolve to simplegrammar training. Good business writing training is much more than that. 2) Program Structure An effective business writing training class addresses both the substance and the syntax of documents. While syntax is easier to teach and to find an instructor for, substance requires a thorough understanding of your business, writing requirements, and relevant information involved. It is necessary to appoint an instructor who has both a mastery of English languageand who has taught writing and rhetoric as a subject previously.3) Customization There are several off†the†shelf business writing training programs and software available in the market. They offer a cost†effective way to improve business writing skills for your employees, but they may or may not be the right match for your particular company documents and employee skill gaps. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work with business writing, given its wide application. Search for a company that specializes in offering customized business writing training in addition to off†the†shelf options. This will ensure you’re dealing with a company that truly understands business writing. You will also save costs by gaining a customized business writing training program that does not have to built from scratch. 4) Continual Support Effective business writing training is not just a single event. Transforming your employees’ business writing skills involves continual training. After any business writing training program, make sure there is opportunity to ask ongoing questions and receive ongoing resources. Business writing standards evolve quickly. Make certain your employees have access to new information. 5) Flexibility Lastly, the business writing training should be flexible in two ways. First, it should achievethe desired results †Ã¢â‚¬  improve your employees’ business writing skills. Secondly, the training logistics should be flexible to match your requirements. Can the training support a large, onsite delivery? Can the training support a large, online delivery? Are online and onsite and general and customized options available to best match your needs? Will the company work with you to ensure logistics match what you want? Demand this. Download my eBook, â€Å"Four Steps to Improve Your Team’s Business Writing Skills"to learn more on what makes up a good business writing training session.Read and discover the secret art to effective business writing and maintaining your company’s image and efficiency through proper communication. Or, schedule a complimentary consultationwith a business writing expert to help your team write better at work.

Asda and Tesco - Restructuring to reflect multichannel markets Assignment

Asda and Tesco - Restructuring to reflect multichannel markets - Assignment Example Therefore, the study has utilized different leadership theories to explain the required traits and skills for the new managerial positions. The report is based on the study of the current restructuring plans of Asda and Tesco, the two retail giants of the UK. This report has also emphasised on different theories of leadership practices in any business environment, to understand the relevance of these theories in the restructuring plans of Asda and Tesco. Tesco Plc. is one of the leading supermarket chains in the UK. Tesco has its stores in 12 countries worldwide and it generally deals with food, books, clothes, electronic gadgets and furniture. The company is successfully restructuring its multichannel market operations over a period of time. In this process, they are redeploying near about 100 staffs to new job roles. They are also creating several vacancies across the organisation. Their initiative called â€Å"Building tomorrow’s Tesco† is focused on achieving the global multichannel leadership (Channel management, 2014). Asda stores Ltd. is a renowned name in the retail industry of the UK. The organisa tion deals in grocery items, general merchandise, clothes and toys. Following the trend of Tesco, Asda is also focusing on a massive restructuring of its multichannel business operations. They are creating near about 5670 new roles for various departments of its multichannel operations (Harrison, 2014). These restructuring plans are massively changing leadership roles and responsibilities of several employees in these organisations. The importance of different leadership theories on the success of the restructuring plans of these organisations have been described in this report. Leadership in an organisation describes the role where leaders utilize the available resource and capabilities of a team to attain a common goal. The

Continue American Airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Continue American Airlines - Essay Example 352). The airline industry is gravely affected by the rising fuel costs in the global market, rapid evolution of the internet, and other technological factors. 2. Competitive Forces of the Airline Industry Competition in the airline industry is becoming more aggressive since the â€Å"world is experiencing massive expansion of both domestic and international air travel† (Williams, 2009, p. 80). However, the industry has been shakedown by highly dynamic environment that influenced the industry’s competitive forces which include entry of competitors; threat of substitutes; bargaining power of suppliers; bargaining power of buyers; and rivalry among the existing players (Hubbard, 2004). The entry of competitors is determined by the existing barriers that include intense competition, differentiation and the high capital costs of entry. However, when the market is deregulated the liberalized the industry is becoming saturated with new entrants like the LCCs. In terms of thre at of substitutes, customers can also use other carriers such as train, bus or cruise lines in order to reach the desired destination. Furthermore, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers is among the critical competitive forces of the airline industry because of its direct impact on prices, volume, and profit (Porter, 1998, p. 45). Air travel carriers particularly those that are sharing the same routes need to have their own effective strategies in order to attract travelers, considering that the industry is centered on Boeing and Airbus suppliers. Lastly, competitive rivalry in the airline industry is high because of its low-cost nature; high fixed costs and competitive pricing make the industry grow at a very slow rate. 3. Airlines Firm Competes Today In the history, the airline industry is heavily regulated wherein almost all of the firm’s activities are highly supervised. This isolated manner of competition had initiated in the U.S.; however, it has been remodeled a nd â€Å"for the first time of history of commercial aviation, an open market situation in which competitive market pricing was to be the norm, and market entry was to become legally open to new airlines† (Williams, 2009, p. 78). The fact that U.S. is one of the highest performing countries in the world, and the reform strategy has been effective in the country, then the other countries are encouraged to adopt the diverse market deregulation. Today, airline firms are competing based on their sizes, assets count, competitive pricing and technological advancement. 1. Firm Competitiveness: Their Key Strengths and Weaknesses AA is one of the world’s largest air freight carriers, and they remain to be competitive despite of the existence of LCCs because they believe on their strengths from the principles of low costs, valued customers, cooperation, and strong financial condition (Subbarao & Murthy, 2005, p. 75). AA’s key strengths include 621 passenger fleet in more than 251 destinations in 41 countries, its alliances and partnerships with American Eagle and AmericanConnection (regional affiliates), Oneworld Airline Alliance, and trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific joint business agreement. All these activities are realized by AA because of their strong relations with the government. Their key weaknesses include unstable financial position because of on-going economic crisis, high operating expenses and

Electrotherapy and Osteoarthritis Essay Example for Free

Electrotherapy and Osteoarthritis Essay Osteoarthritis has been described and defined as a condition involving the human bones that is caused by the breakdown of the joints, leading to the loss of cartilage, or what is known as the ‘cushion’ between the bone and the joint, in the affected joint or joints. Osteoarthritis is known to affect more than twenty million people every year in the United States of America alone. This degenerative disease affects persons aged above forty five, and it is found in both sexes, and it does not distinguish between races and colors and ethnicities. The hands, the feet, the spine and the large joints of the body fall prey to this debilitating disease, and until today, research has not been able to reveal the specific cause of osteoarthritis, although it is true that it can be directly attributed to the impact of ageing. Injuries in a joint, ageing and being overweight can also lead to the onset of osteoarthritis. The pain in osteoarthritis is caused due to the rubbing of the bones together after the cartilage that cushions them has been worn out. Some of the prescribed therapies to deal with the disease are exercise, stringent weight control, resting of the painful joints, pain relief medication, electrotherapy, and alternative therapies, and if the pain is excruciating, surgery. Electrotherapy is today one of the most accepted and used skills of physiotherapists, although it is by no means new. The use of heat, cold and electrical stimulation have been in use for a long time now, but the inherent problem is that the benefits and the advantages or disadvantages if any have not been analyzed or accounted for, and this means that the method is not as widely used as it can be. However, it remains a fact that electricity has been used by medical practitioners for hundreds of years now, and it is now one of the most common treatment approaches, giving new hope to millions of sufferers across the globe. (Kitchen, Sheila 2002) Take for example this table demonstrating the improvement in the management of pain in osteoarthritis using electrotherapy. Recent research has been able to prove that electricity would be able to bring immediate relief for both acute as well as chronic pain, and it must be remembered that in the case of osteoarthritis, the pain can be both acute and chronic. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of electrotherapy is not known yet, although it is true that the method can block the transmission of pain signals across the nerves, and can also cause the release of endorphins, or the natural painkillers that are created by the body to combat pain. There can be several different types of electrotherapy methods, and some of them are: TENS, or ‘transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation’, inferential current, and galvanic stimulation. One must note that all the three methods use electrotherapy to stimulate nerves and muscles, through the adhesive pads that are applied on the skin. Electrotherapy must never be used over malignancies, open infections, over pacemaker leads, and over the throat, because it may cause lowered blood pressure, and over a pregnant uterus, as it may affect the fetus. In the year 2004, a randomized double blind pilot study on the impact of electrotherapy on about sixty four osteoarthritis patients suffering from moderate to severe pain in their various joints was conducted. The aim was to study whether the therapy would be useful in alleviating the pain for these patients, and it was found that it would definitely be able to provide temporary relief from severe and intolerable pain. At the present time, stated the researchers who were involved in the experiment, pain relief for osteoarthritis is predominantly medication, and this approach could bring better relief. In the study, the approach was to apply micro to milliamp current to certain specific areas of the patient’s head. This would result in the release of endogenous opioids from the various pain management areas located within the human brain. For a period of two weeks prior to and tow weeks after the study, the subject pain was self assessed using the ‘value scale’, and none of the physicians, patients and the device operators were let in on which device was real and which, false, and the data thus collected revealed the interesting fact that electrotherapy was indeed beneficial in bringing down the pain of the patients of osteoarthritis. According to the Australian Physiotherapy Association, there is sufficient evidence available to prove that physiotherapy management of the knee joints is a very good idea, and that there is a lack of evidence to prove that electrotherapy, specifically shortwave diathermy, including ultrasound, microwave and shortwave may be useful in managing the pain. It may however be true that a recent Cochrane review was able to prove conclusively that TENS or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation may be quite effective in controlling pain in these patients. However, better designed studies have to be made before it can be stated that TENS can be used to treat pain for osteoarthritis sufferers. (Bennell K, Hinman R, Crossley K 2001) It is important that the treatment plan must be made with the complete cooperation and consultation with the patient. The treatment goals would depend on the timescale of the treatment that he or she is undergoing for his osteoarthritis, the patient profile, and the affected joints. This would ensure that the patient achieves the maximum benefits of the treatment, so that he may be able to continue living a healthy and active life. Although research has shown that electrotherapy methods like laser therapy and ultrasound do not bring in any significant levels of improvement in the long term for the pain, they do bring in immediate relief from the pain. (EMHM Vogels, HJM Hendrick et al 2003) This cannot be taken to mean that electrotherapy does not bring relief for patients of osteoarthritis; it has been found that low power laser therapy has brought great relief for the pain of sufferers of osteoarthritis in Russia and in Eastern Europe. A study showed that electrotherapy brought relief for pain, mobility, tenderness and functioning in these patients, with relatively little adverse effects. In all probability, the mechanisms treated successfully using laser electrotherapy included peripheral nerve stimulation, resolution of inflammation, enhanced chondrocyte proliferation and increased matrix synthesis. (Ghassemi, M, Marks R 1999) There can be no doubt that the studies conducted so far are by no means conclusive, and the issue of handling the joint pains of those suffering from osteoarthritis with electrotherapy must be analyzed and studies further to bring in real statistics and real results. Perhaps, very soon, there may be available some sort of revolutionary treatment for the management of pain, which these patients would be able to use without fear of side effects or other complications, so that they may be able to continue to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

SHOULD WE FAVOR DRUG LEGALIZATION Essay examples -- essays research pa

SHOULD WE FAVOR DRUG LEGALIZATION? In the article â€Å"Drug Policy and the Intellectuals,† William J. Bennentt, chides intellectuals who believe drugs should be legalize. Bennett challenges his audience , by attacking intellectuals. However Bennett tries to win over his audience of intellectuals in two ways: by calling upon their talents and by attacking on the arguments of intellectuals who favor legalizing drugs. .He shows an understanding of others’ viewpoints by addressing points of opposition several times during the article. Bennett demonstrates knowledge of the subject by supporting his points with examples and facts. In his opening remarks, Bennett comes close to insulting his audience of intellectuals by referring to those he is attacking as "they" (617 ). Early in the speech, he diplomatically praises some intellectuals, especially in medicine and science, who are using their talents to combat the drug problem. Bennett makes clear that his speech will not be politically partisan. Bennett will be criticizing intellectuals, whether on the left or the right, who hold either or both of these views: that the drug problem can be solved by legalization and that the problem is so hopeless we should give up trying to fix it. Although some of Bennett's coun...

Maruti 800 Car

There are many cars on the market that are exciting with respect to power(Accord), interior design(Octavia, Benz), overall execution(again Accord) & the vitality in the segment they play in (New City) [pic][pic][pic][pic] but no other car is as close to what ALTO is in the entry level segment. Santro & Indica do have a strong hold on the upper level where Alto plays (Alto 1. 1) but with respect to the range that Alto has from mid 2 to low 4 lac it is the only choice. August 05 Alto is being launched with better styling (clear head-tail lamps), changed nose and a few more vibrant colors to make matters interesting. The seat fabric have received an upgrade. Although Swift continues to take limelight, guess Alto is serving Maruti and entry level buyers just fine. I wish they again launch it with the 1. 1 liter engine. Given that Alto has longer wheelbase and (more) modern chassis than Zen it would kill Zen’s sales if launched with 1. 1 liter engine. June 04: For the first time ever a model (Alto) outscored 800 on the sales chart. This is due to Maruti positioning Alto as entry level car & in order to phase out 800 & also they slashed entry level price by 25,000 (without AC) at 2,34,000. Recently I had a test ride of a used Alto 1. without power steering. The car was in a good condition. I really liked the power of 1. 1 engine. With 4 passengers it was pulling very well. The transmission was typical Maruti/Suzuki, a little rough but spot-on. As I am used to Palio’s butter smooth gears I found the gears in Alto a little crude but accurate & easy to locate specially from 2nd to 3rd, it is easy to find it. Although I have heard a few complaints from some owners about Grinding noises from transmission. So better watch-out for that. The AC was good enough but left me for wanting as it was VERY hot. Also with AC on the acceleration suffered a bit. Can’t blame as I had 4 full grown adults with me! 🙂 Overall I was very satisfied but when finally we sat for negotiations the Doctor was asking a little too much than I thought a used Alto should cost. This led to me test drive of the new Alto (800), at 2,60 it was very close to the used 1. 1! The test drive without AC was very good but with AC full blown the acceleration did suffer significantly. So I tried shutting off AC when I was speeding & then started it when cruising, it worked just fine. I thought I can manage with this power by effectively shutting off AC when I needed to Pass & on inclines (valleys etc). The interior was a bit lacking compared to Palio & also Santro but at this price point it did meet my expectations. It is only a matter of getting used to. I didn’t like the shifter coming out of teh floor as opposed to much better treatment in Palio/Santro. Here in Alto it seem to come out of the floor! 🙂 But not a point that would affect my decision. The interior room is satisfactory if not significant. 4 Adults can fit in for trips of say 3/4 hrs with some halts. The seats themselves are good & I found a very comfortable seating position except some room for my legs as I am 6’ 1’ with the legs of same length as of my 6’ 3’ friend! ) The fuel economy I was told as phenomenal with at least 14 in city & 17-18 on the highways! That was MUCh better than 10/14 of my Palio. As this car is for my father I thought he would get a little better than what I can extract! Driving style you know! 🙂 I was a bit concerned about the tire size & t hought for a longer trips bigger tires would be preferable but it would affect the fuel economy I guess. You can’t have all!! The styling is conservative but tasteful for the common man who thinks that car is an extension of their personality. The fashion seekers should shop elsewhere. Both front & rear styling is interesting enough but at the same time toned down to take out the last drop of boldness.. The car looks much better with body colored bumpers than the ugly black ones! They look like an accessory externally attached than the integral part of the car! Only black car looks ok with those bumpers. Anyways, who buys a black color car in a counry of hot summer! 🙂 (There are quite a few mind you! ) I am almost set on Alto 800. I compared it with all the competition & it bits the competition when you factor in the price & daily running costs (fuel/maintenance) & have decided to go for Alto 800 Lxi. I think it is worth to pay for the extra features for some price. At the same time I didn’t think it was a good idea to spend more than 4 lac for 1. 1 as I thought the level of interior materials & overall comfort would be more justified in Santro/Indica/Palio for a little more cash. Fuel economy is again where Alto 1. 1 would do better than most though. The color availability is again ok for this price range. I would love to see more colors coming out soon to keep interest in the product. I would recommend Alto to anyone planning to buy a entry level car. It is a must to have a loot at this car before buying any other car you like. This is the perfect as far as the segment it plays in goes. MARUTI UDYOG LIMITED – Managing competition successfully Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981 through an Act of Parliament, to meet the growing demand of a personal mode of transport caused by the lack of an efficient public transport system. It was established with the objectives of – modernizing the Indian automobile industry, producing fuel efficient vehicles to conserve scarce resources and producing indigenous utility cars for the growing needs of the Indian population. A license and a Joint Venture agreement were signed with the Suzuki Motor Company of Japan in Oct 1983, by which Suzuki acquired 26% of the equity and agreed to provide the latest technology as well as Japanese management practices. Suzuki was preferred for the joint venture because of its track record in manufacturing and selling small cars all over the world. There was an option in the agreement to raise Suzuki’s equity to 40%, which it exercised in 1987. Five years later, in 1992, Suzuki further increased its equity to 50% turning Maruti into a non-government ganization managed on the lines of Japanese management practices. Maruti created history by going into production in a record 13 months. Maruti is the highest volume car manufacturer in Asia, outside Japan and Korea, having produced over 5 million vehicles by May 2005. Maruti is one of the most successful automobile joint ventures, and has made profits every year since inception till 2000-01. In 2000-01, although Maruti generated operating profits on an income of Rs 92. 5 billion, high depreciation on new model launches resulted in a book loss. COMPANY HISTORY AND BACKGROUND The Evolution Maruti’s history of evolution can be examined in four phases: two phases during pre-liberalization period (1983-86, 1986-1992) and two phases during post-liberalization period (1992-97, 1997-2002), followed by the full privatization of Maruti in June 2003 with the launch of an initial public offering (IPO). The first phase†¦ Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. Hincon House, LBS Marg, Vikhroli (W) Mumbai – 400083 email: [email  protected] com Tel: +91 22 25775959 Fax: +91 22 25775732 Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. 706-707, 7th Floor Surya Kiran, 19, KG Marg New Delhi – 110001 Tel: +91 11 23358717, 23358727 Fax: +91 11 23358837

Life and Work of John Bowlby

Bowlby was born in London to an upper-middle-class family. He was the fourth of six children and was brought up by a nanny in the British fashion of his class at that time. His father, Sir Anthony Bowlby, first Baronet, was surgeon to the King's Household, with a tragic history: at age five, Sir Anthony's own father (John's grandfather) was killed while serving as a war correspondent in the Opium Wars. Normally, Bowlby saw his mother only one hour a day after teatime, though during the summer she was more available. Like many other mothers of her social class, she considered that parental attention and affection would lead to dangerous spoiling of the children. Bowlby was lucky in that the nanny in his family was present throughout his childhood. [1] When Bowlby was almost four years old, his beloved nanny, who was actually his primary caretaker in his early years, left the family. Later, he was to describe this as tragic as the loss of a mother. At the age of seven, he was sent off to boarding school, as was common for boys of his social status. In his work Separation: Anxiety and Anger, he revealed that he regarded it as a terrible time for him. He later said, â€Å"I wouldn't send a dog away to boarding school at age seven†. [2] Because of such experiences as a child, he displayed a sensitivity to children’s suffering throughout his life. However, with his characteristic attentiveness to the effects of age differences, Bowlby did consider boarding schools appropriate for children aged eight and older, and wrote, â€Å"If the child is maladjusted, it may be useful for him to be away for part of the year from the tensions which produced his difficulties, and if the home is bad in other ways the same is true. The boarding school has the advantage of preserving the child's all-important home ties, even if in slightly attenuated form, and, since it forms part of the ordinary social pattern of most Western communities today [1951], the child who goes to boarding-school will not feel different from other children. Moreover, by relieving the parents of the children for part of the year, it will be possible for some of them to develop more favorable attitudes toward their children during the remainder. [3] He married Ursula Longstaff, herself the daughter of a surgeon, on April 16, 1938, and they had four children, including (Sir) Richard Bowlby, who succeeded his uncle as third Baronet. Bowlby died at his summer home on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Career Bowlby studied psychology and pre-clinical sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, winning prizes for outstanding intellectual performance. After Cambridge, he worked with maladjusted and delinquent children, then at the age of twenty-two enrolled at University College Hospital in London. At the age of twenty-six, he qualified in medicine. While still in medical school he enrolled himself in the Institute for Psychoanalysis. Following medical school, he trained in adult psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. In 1937, aged 30, he qualified as a psychoanalyst. During World War II, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he was Deputy Director of the Tavistock Clinic, and from 1950, Mental Health Consultant to the World Health Organization. Because of his previous work with maladapted and delinquent children, he became interested in the development of children and began work at the Child Guidance Clinic in London. This interest was probably increased by a variety of wartime events involving separation of young children from familiar people; these included the rescue of Jewish children by the Kindertransport arrangements, the evacuation of children from London to keep them safe from air raids, and the use of group nurseries to allow mothers of young children to contribute to the war effort. [4] Bowlby was interested from the beginning of his career in the problem of separation and the wartime work of Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham on evacuees and Rene Spitz on orphans. By the late 1950s he had accumulated a body of observational and theoretical work to indicate the fundamental importance for human development of attachment from birth. [2] Bowlby was interested in finding out the actual patterns of family interaction involved in both healthy and pathological development. He focused on how attachment difficulties were transmitted from one generation to the next. In his development of attachment theory he propounded the idea that attachment behaviour was essentially an evolutionary survival strategy for protecting the infant from predators. Mary Ainsworth, a student of Bowlby’s, further extended and tested his ideas, and in fact played the primary role in suggesting that several attachment styles existed. The three most important experiences for Bowlby’s future work and the development of attachment theory were his work with: Maladapted and delinquent children. James Robertson (in 1952) in making the documentary film A Two-Year Old Goes to the Hospital, which was one of the films about †young children in brief separationâ€Å". The documentary illustrated the impact of loss and suffering experienced by young children separated from their primary caretakers. This film was instrumental in a campaign to alter hospital restrictions on visiting by parents. In 1952 when he and Robertson presented their film A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital to the British Psychoanalytical Society, psychoanalysts did not accept that a child would mourn or experience grief on separation but instead saw the child's distress as caused by elements of unconscious fantasies (in the film because the mother was pregnant). Melanie Klein during his psychoanalytic training. She was his supervisor; however they had different views about the role of the mother in the treatment of a three-year-old boy. Specifically and importantly, Klein stressed the role of the child's fantasies about his mother, but Bowlby emphasized the actual history of the relationship. Bowlby's views—that children were responding to real life events and not unconscious fantasies—were rejected by psychoanalysts, and Bowlby was effectively ostracized by the psychoanalytic community. He later expressed the view that his interest in real-life experiences and situations was â€Å"alien to the Kleinian outlook†. [2] Maternal deprivation Main article: Maternal deprivation In 1949, Bowlby's earlier work on delinquent and affectionless children and the effects of hospitalised and institutionalised care lead to his being commissioned to write the World Health Organization's report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe. [5] The result was Maternal Care and Mental Health published in 1951. [6] Bowlby drew together such limited empirical evidence as existed at the time from across Europe and the USA. His main conclusions, that â€Å"the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment† and that not to do so may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences, were both controversial and influential. The 1951 WHO publication was highly influential in causing widespread changes in the practices and prevalence of institutional care for infants and children, and in changing practices relating to the visiting of infants and small children n hospitals by parents. The theoretical basis was controversial in many ways. He broke with psychoanalytic theories which saw infants' internal life as being determined by fantasy rather than real life events. Some critics profoundly disagreed with the necessity for maternal (or equivalent) love in order to function normally,[7] or that the formation of an ongoing relationship with a child was an important part of parenting. [8] Others questioned the extent to which his hypothesis was supported by the evidence. There was criticism of the confusion of the effects of privation (no primary attachment figure) and deprivation (loss of the primary attachment figure) and in particular, a failure to distinguish between the effects of the lack of a primary attachment figure and the other forms of deprivation and understimulation that may affect children in institutions. [9] The monograph was also used for political purposes to claim any separation from the mother was deleterious in order to discourage women from working and leaving their children in daycare by governments concerned about maximising employment for returned and returning servicemen. 9] In 1962 WHO published Deprivation of maternal care: A Reassessment of its Effects to which Mary Ainsworth, Bowlby's close colleague, contributed with his approval, to present the recent research and developments and to address misapprehensions. [10] This publication also attempted to address the previous lack of evidence on the effects of paternal deprivation. According to Rutter the importance of Bowlby's initial writings on ‘maternal deprivation' lay in his emphasis that children's experiences of interpersonal relationships were crucial to their psychological development. 8] Development of attachment theory Bowlby himself explained in his 1988 work â€Å"A Secure Base† that the data were not, at the time of the publication of Maternal Care and Mental Health, â€Å"accommodated by any theory then current and in the brief time of my employment by the World Health Organization there was no possibility of developing a new one†. He then went on to describe the subsequent development of attachment theory. 11] Because he was dissatisfied with traditional theories, Bowlby sought new understanding from such fields as evolutionary biology, ethology, developmental psychology, cognitive science and control systems theory and drew upon them to formulate the innovative proposition that the mechanisms underlying an infants tie emerged as a result of evolutionary pressure. [12] â€Å"Bowlby realised that he had to develop a new theory of motivation and behaviour control, built on up-to-date science rather than the outdated psychic energy model espoused by Freud. [5] Bowlby expressed himself as having made good the â€Å"deficiencies of the data and the lack of theory to link alleged cause and effect† in Maternal Care and Mental Health in his later work Attachment and Loss published in 1969. [13] Ethology and evolutionary concepts â€Å"From the 1950s Bowlby was in personal and scientific contact with leading European scientists in the field of ethology, namely Niko Tinbergen, Konrad Lorenz, and especially the rising star of ethology Robert Hinde. Using the viewpoints of this emerging science and reading extensively in the ethology literature, Bowlby developed new explanatory hypotheses for what is now known as human attachment behaviour. In particular, on the basis of ethological evidence he was able to reject the dominant Cupboard Love theory of attachment prevailing in psychoanalysis and learning theory of the 1940s and 1950s. He also introduced the concepts of environmentally stable or labile human behaviour allowing for the revolutionary combination of the idea of a species-specific genetic bias to become attached and the concept of individual differences in attachment security as environmentally labile strategies for adaptation to a specific childrearing niche. Alternately, Bowlby’s thinking about the nature and function of the caregiver-child relationship influenced ethological research, and inspired students of animal behaviour such as Tinbergen, Hinde, and Harry Harlow. Bowlby spurred Hinde to start his ground breaking work on attachment and separation in primates (monkeys and humans), and in general emphasized the importance of evolutionary thinking about human development that foreshadowed the new interdisciplinary approach of evolutionary psychology. Obviously, the encounter of ethology and attachment theory led to a genuine cross-fertilization† (Van der Horst, Van der Veer & Van IJzendoorn, 2007, p. 321). [14][15] The â€Å"Attachment and Loss† trilogy Main articles: Attachment theory and Attachment in children Before the publication of the trilogy in 1969, 1972 and 1980, the main tenets of attachment theory, building on concepts from ethology and developmental psychology, were presented to the British Psychoanalytical Society in London in three now classic papers: The Nature of the Child’s Tie to His Mother (1958), Separation Anxiety (1959), and Grief and Mourning in Infancy and Early Childhood (1960). Bowlby rejected psychoanalyst explanations for attachment, and in return, psychoanalysts rejected his theory. At about the same time, Bowlby's former colleague, Mary Ainsworth was completing extensive observational studies on the nature of infant attachments in Uganda with Bowlby's ethological theories in mind. Her results in this and other studies contributed greatly to the subsequent evidence base of attachment theory as presented in 1969 in Attachment the first volume of the Attachment and Loss trilogy. [16] The second and third volumes, Separation: Anxiety and Anger and Loss: Sadness and Depression followed in 1972 and 1980 respectively. Attachment was revised in 1982 to incorporate recent research. According to attachment theory, attachment in infants is primarily a process of proximity seeking to an identified attachment figure in situations of perceived distress or alarm for the purpose of survival. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some months during the period from about 6 months to two years of age. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to ‘internal working models' which will guide the individual's feelings, thoughts, and expectations in later relationships. [5] In Bowlby's approach, the human infant is considered to have a need for a secure relationship with adult caregivers, without which normal social and emotional development will not occur. As the toddler grows, it uses its attachment figure or figures as a â€Å"secure base† from which to explore. Mary Ainsworth used this feature plus â€Å"stranger wariness† and reunion behaviours, other features of attachment behaviour, to develop a research tool called the â€Å"Strange Situation Procedure† for developing and classifying different attachment styles. The attachment process is not gender specific as infants will form attachments to any consistent caregiver who is sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant. The quality of the social engagement appears to be more influential than amount of time spent. 16] Darwin biography Bowlby's last work, published posthumously, is a biography of Charles Darwin, which discusses Darwin's â€Å"mysterious illness† and whether it was psychosomatic. [17] Bowlby's legacy Main article: Attachment theory Although not without its critics, attachment theory has been described as the dominant approach to understanding early social development and to have given rise to a great surge of empirical research into the formation of children's close relationships. 18] As it is presently formulated and used for research purposes, Bowlby's attachment theory stresses the following important tenets:[19] 1) Children between 6 and about 30 months are very likely to form emotional attachments to familiar caregivers, especially if the adults are sensitive and responsive to child communications. 2) The emotional attachments of young children are shown behaviourally in their preferences for particular familiar people, their tendency to seek proximity to those people, especially in times of distress, and their ability to use the familiar adults as a secure base from which to explore the environment. ) The formation of emotional attachments contributes to the foundation of later emotional and personality development, and the type of behaviour toward familiar adults shown by toddlers has some continuity with the social behaviours they will show later in life. 4) Events that interfere with attachment, such as abrupt separation of the toddler from familiar people or the significant inability of carers to be sensitive, responsive or consistent in their interactions, have short-term and possible long-term negative impacts on the child's emotional and cognitive life.

The eNotes Blog Goodbye to a Modern Pioneer Michael S. Hart, ProjectGutenberg

Goodbye to a Modern Pioneer Michael S. Hart, ProjectGutenberg Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people. ~ George Bernard Shaw. On September 6, the literary world lost a true pioneer. Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, died of a heart attack in his home in Urbana, Illinois. He was 64. Hart was the inventor of the now nearly-ubiquitous electronic books, or eReaders, which he conceived in 1971. The idea for eReaders came to him after he received a free copy of the Declaration of Independence.   At the time, Hart was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and had access to their (then powerful) computers. He typed up the Declaration and sent it through the computer network to other users. This free transmittal of literature became Harts lifes work for the next forty years via his Project Gutenberg. As of today, there are 100,000 works available to anyone who cares to download them, all free of charge. Dr. Gregory Newby penned the obituary for his friend and colleague.   It reads, in part: Michael prided himself on being unreasonable, and only in the later years of life did he mellow sufficiently to occasionally refrain from debate. Yet, his passion for life, and all the things in it, never abated. Frugal to a fault, Michael glided through life with many possessions and friends, but very few expenses. He used home remedies rather than seeing doctors. He fixed his own house and car. He built many computers, stereos, and other gear, often from discarded components. Michael S. Hart left a major mark on the world. The invention of eBooks was not simply a technological innovation or precursor to the modern information environment. A more correct understanding is that eBooks are an efficient and effective way of unlimited free distribution of literature. Access to eBooks can thus provide opportunity for increased literacy. Literacy, and the ideas contained in literature, creates opportunity. In July 2011, Michael wrote these words, which summarize his goals and his lasting legacy: â€Å"One thing about eBooks that most people havent thought much is that eBooks are the very first thing that were all able to have as much as we want other than air. Think about that for a moment and you realize we are in the right job. He had this advice for those seeking to make literature available to all people, especially children: Learning is its own reward. Nothing I can say is better than that.

Biography of Robert Hanssen, Spy Who Betrayed the FBI

Biography of Robert Hanssen, Spy Who Betrayed the FBI Robert Hanssen is a former FBI agent who sold highly classified material to Russian intelligence agents for decades before he was finally arrested in 2001. His case is considered one of Americas greatest intelligence failures, as Hanssen operated as a mole within the bureaus counterintelligence division, the highly sensitive part of the FBI tasked with tracking foreign spies. Unlike Cold War spies of an earlier era, Hanssen claimed to have no political motivation for selling out his country. At work, he often spoke of his religious faith and conservative values, traits which helped him avoid any suspicion during the years that he was in secret communication with Russian spies. Fast Facts: Robert Hanssen Full Name: Robert Phillip HanssenKnown For: Worked as a mole for Russian spy agencies while serving as an FBI counterintelligence agent. He was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life without parole in federal prison in 2002Born: April 14, 1944 in Chicago, IllinoisEducation: Knox College and Northwestern University, where he received an MBASpouse: Bernadette Wauck Early Life and Career Robert Phillip Hanssen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 18, 1944. His father served on the police force in Chicago and was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II when Hanssen was born. As Hanssen grew up, his father was reportedly verbally abusive to him, often ranting that he would never succeed in life. After graduating from a public high school, Hanssen attended Knox College in Illinois, studying chemistry and Russian. For a time he planned to become a dentist, but eventually wound up obtaining an MBA and becoming an accountant. He married Bernadette Wauck in 1968 and, influenced by his devout Catholic wife, he converted to Catholicism. After a few years working as an accountant, he decided to enter law enforcement. He worked as a policeman in Chicago for three years and was placed on an elite unit that investigated corruption. He then applied and was accepted into the FBI. He became an agent in 1976, and spent two years working in the Indianapolis, Indiana, field office. Initial Betrayal In 1978, Hanssen was transferred to the FBI office in New York City and was assigned to a counterintelligence post. His job was to help assemble a database of foreign officials posted in New York who, while posing as diplomats, were actually intelligence officers spying on the United States. Many of them were agents of the Soviet intelligence agency, the KGB, or its military counterpart, the GRU. At some point in 1979, Hanssen made a decision to sell American secrets to the Soviets. He visited an office of the Russian governments trading company and offered to spy. Hanssen would later claim that his goal was simply to make some extra money, as living in New York City was putting a financial squeeze on his growing family. He began providing the Soviets with highly valuable material. Hanssen gave them the name of a Russian general, Dimitri Polyakov, who had been providing information to the Americans. Polyakov was carefully watched by the Russians from that point on, and was eventually arrested as a spy and executed in 1988. Robert Hanssens business cards, chalk and thumb tacks, which he used to communicate with his Russian contacts, according to the FBI. FBI.gov In 1980, after his first interactions with the Soviets, Hanssen told his wife what he had done, and she suggested they meet with a Catholic priest. The priest told Hanssen to stop his illegal activities and donate the money he had gotten from the Russians to charity. Hanssen made the donation to a charity affiliated with Mother Teresa, and cut off contact with the Soviets for the next few years. Return to Spying In the early 1980s, Hanssen was transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. To his colleagues in the bureau he seemed to be a model agent. He often steered conversations to talk of religion and his very conservative values, which were aligned with the very conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Hanssen appeared to be a devoted anti-communist. After working in the FBI division that developed secret listening devices, Hanssen was again placed in a position to track Russian agents operating in the United States. In 1985 he approached the Soviets again and offered valuable secrets. During his second round of dealing with Russian agents, Hanssen was much more cautious. He wrote to them anonymously. While not identifying himself, he was able to gain their trust by initially providing information which the Soviets found both credible and valuable. The Soviets, suspicious of being lured into a trap, demanded to meet him. Hanssen refused. In his communications with the Russians (some of which were eventually made public after his arrest) he insisted on setting the terms of how he would communicate, pass information, and pick up money. His Russian contacts and Hanssen were highly trained in espionage techniques and were able to work together without ever meeting. At one point Hanssen spoke to a Russian agent over a pay phone, but they generally relied on placing signals in public places. For instance, a piece of adhesive tape placed on a sign in a park in Virginia would indicate that a package had been placed in a dead drop location, which was usually under a small footbridge in the park. Undated file photo released by the FBI February 20, 2001 shows a package recovered at the Lewis drop site containing $50,000 cash allegedly left by Russians for FBI Agent Robert Philip Hanssen. FBI / Getty Images A Third Stint of Betrayal When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Hanssen became much more wary. During the early 1990s, KGB veterans began to approach western intelligence agencies and provide information. Hanssen became alarmed that a Russian with knowledge of his activities would tip off the Americans that a highly placed mole was operating within the FBI and the resultant investigation would lead to him. For years, Hanssen stopped contacting the Russians. But in 1999, while assigned as an FBI liaison with the State Department, he once again began selling American secrets. Hanssen was finally discovered when a former KGB agent contacted American intelligence agents. The Russian had obtained Hanssens KGB file. Realizing the importance of the material, the United States paid $7 million for it. Although his name was not specifically mentioned, evidence in the file pointed to Hanssen, who was put under close surveillance. On February 18, 2001, Hanssen was arrested at a park in northern Virginia after he had placed a package at a dead drop location. The evidence against him was overwhelming, and to avoid the death penalty, Hanssen confessed and agreed to be debriefed by American intelligence officials. During his sessions with investigators, Hanssen claimed his motivation had always been financial. Yet some investigators believed anger about how his father treated him as a child triggered a need to rebel against authority. Friends of Hanssen later came forward and told journalists that Hanssen had exhibited eccentric behavior, which included an obsession with pornography. In May 2002, Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison. News reports at the time of his sentencing said American intelligence agencies were not entirely satisfied with the extent of his cooperation and believed he was holding back information. But the government could not prove he had lied, and wishing to avoid a public trial, the government chose not to void his plea agreement. He was sentenced to life in prison. Robert Hanssen moments after being arrested. Getty Images   Impact of Hanssen Case The Hanssen case was regarded as a low point for the FBI, especially as Hanssen had been so trusted and had committed such betrayals for so many years. In court proceedings the government stated that Hanssen had been paid more than $1.4 million during his spying career, most of which he never actually received, as it was held for him in a Russian bank. The damage Hanssen did was considerable. At least three Russian agents he identified had been executed, and it was suspected that he compromised dozens of intelligence operations. One notable example was the information that the Americans had dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington to install sophisticated listening devices. Hanssen was incarcerated in a supermax federal prison in Colorado which also houses other notorious inmates, including the Unabomber, one of the Boston Marathon bombers, and a number of organized crime figures. Sources: Hanssen, Robert. Encyclopedia of World Biography, edited by James Craddock, 2nd ed., vol. 36, Gale, 2016, pp. 204-206. Gale Virtual Reference Library,A Search for Answers: Excerpts From the FBI Affidavit in the Case Against Robert Hanssen. New York Times, 22 February 2001, p. A14.Risen, James. Former FBI Agent Gets Life in Prison For Years as a Spy. New York Times, 11 May 2002, p. A1.

Strategic Audit of Twitter Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Strategic Audit of Twitter Company - Essay Example Additionally, the alternative strategy relating to advertising services will be an effective measure for improving profit margin. Current Performance. In the present contemporary era, social media technologies are identified to play an effective role in the field of communication. Presently, there are several social networking service providers and Twitter is one of them. Online users with the use of Twitter are able to convey as well as read short messages with 140 characters. The social networking service provider has offered the global people with a platform for expressing as well as performing conversation relatively at cheaper rate. The service provider has been performing operations with better effectiveness over the years. In this respect, during the year 2013, the company has been conducting operations with revenue of around US$ 176.2 million. However, the company incurred loss of around US$ 645.3 in the same year. The revenue growth rate of the company has been slow due to lessening user base (Twitter, Inc., â€Å"Annual Report 2013†). The company has made investment in different spheres that include technology infrastructure, sales and marketing, research and development (R&D), expansion operations, retaining employees and strategic opportunities among others. In this regard, the company is identified to witness fluctuation in return on investment (ROI) for investors and shareholders. ROI of the company has been positive for the advertisers, as they are able to generate better returns on their investments (Twitter, Inc., â€Å"Annual Report 2013†). Twitter is a US based company. The company has expanded business operation on a global context in different countries that include Brazil, the UK, Australia, Canada and Japan. In this regard, the number of users of the company has increased to a substantial level. Based on the