Apple’s Fdi and Globalization Essay

Globalization- Today the world has become a global village where each and every thing is interlinked.The concept of global village or global merger is based on the grounds of globalization. Now thequestion arises in one ¶s mind what is globalizationThe term globalization means the concentration of world economy in to a single international market rather than many national markets. For example, the APPLE INC, an American multinational corporation that concentrates in computer hardware and software components. It assembles its best known product i.e. ‘mac’ computer, best selling phone ‘iphone’ in china. This is because the cost of production is low due to cheap labour force. Thus globalization involves:- Free trade of goods and services Free movement of labour and capital Free access in technology Now, we will discuss the above points with more details. Free trade of goods and services- Based on APPLES INC business operation the company is selling its product such as the ‘iPhone’, ‘MAC’ computer in many countries in the world. Generally it is a US based company which is doing its business world-wide, there are no restriction for the company not to sell its product in any country. So its means free trade of goods and services. Free movement of labour and capital- In regard with APPLE INC it means, apple can move its labour force and inject capital in any country with no restriction. When talking about labour force it means the people who work for APPLE can travel from one country to the other. For instance, officers travel from one country to the other. We normally see in the news that APPLE has appointed new officers in the UK, Germany or the US. Technical team travel from one country to the other when there is a major problem where other technician can not figure out what the problem is. In terms of capita l, it means APPLE has invested capital to make industries where its product are made and assembled. They have factory in china and other countries in the world. Free access in technology- It means the the software of APPLE i.e. the ‘iOS’ are being used in many countries in the world. This is because the products that APPLE is selling use iOs software and these products are being sold in many countries in the world, so it means the technology is being freely moving from one country to the other. This encourages globalization. Another example is, a potential customer from Bangladesh looking to buy a shirt, he looks on the ‘New look’ website. It normally making the sense that, a customer can access the catalogue from any where of the world. This is commonly known as globalization. Apple Inc. is an American based multinational company whose stocks are listed in the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ (National Association of Securities DealersAutomated Quotations) under the symbol AAPL. The company specializes in the design,development and manufacturing of electronic equipments like computers, software and smart phones. Business strategy: Apple is currently working on the differentiation strategy by putting unique elements in the design and development of its products. The differentiation strategy is defined as a strategy that aims to develop the products and or services that have unique characteristics that are well liked by the customers and are valued by them. This strategy enhances the market position of the companies with respect to their counterparts (Porter, 1998).The success of the company in the global markets is due to its extensive focus on the market research and development for the development of its products and services. With reference to its business strategy, the company is in a continues process to build and advance the robust platform that can enhance the listing of third party content like mobile phone apps, games etc on its online stores or its iTunes store (Apple Inc.,2010). Markets and Distribution The customer segments of the company are divided into various categories. The needs of the main customers markets it caters are of small and medium businesses, education sectors,large corporations, government departments and other related markets. In order to meet the needsand wants of these consumer markets, the company is utilizing direct and indirect distributionchannels including online sales services, retail stores and direct sales force as well as third partysellers, retailers etc. Using direct sales contacts with the customers is, believed by the company,leveraging its product sales and has demonstrated as an advantage to the company over itscompetitors. In order to maximize its sales and to make sure that the buyers are receiving highquality experience, the company is in a process to expand and improve its existing channeldistribution network (Form 10-k S EC Filing, 2010). Competition The company faces aggressive competition from the other market players. According toHoover (2011) the top three competitors of Apple Inc. in United States are Fujitsu TechnologySolutions (Holding) B.V., International Business Machines Corporation and MediaNet Digital,Inc. respectively. The needs of the markets it caters are highly competitive in nature due to the ever changing and advancing technological environment and the rapid introduction of new technology based products. The main competitors of the company are following cost leadership strategies by reducing the prices of their products or by maintaining low profit margins to maintain their market share. There are various forces that can impact the business and profitability of Apple. These factors may include the marketing mix  ± product, price, place, promotion strategies, product performance, the quality and reliability of the product, innovative designs as well as then availability of up to date software services.Moreover, some of the competitors of the company have number of resources which they can utilize against the company to provide the product and service offerings related to Apple,offer the business and consumer products and services similar to Apple ¶s products at low price range(Form 10-k SEC Filings, 2010). Products and Services Apple is currently using in house manufacturing system for the production of all of its products. All the products like Mac, iphone, ipad and ipod etc. are designed, developed and marketed via its main manufacturing hub which is located in the USA. But, as mentioned earlier,the company is outsourcing the production of some of its product parts to the various international and national supply chain partners; subcontractors. Some of the components of its products, ipod, are outsourced to its subcontractor in Hong Kong from where it is sent to theoutsourced production plant of the company (Linden et al, 2007).Some of these components are of high cost. While the other products like hard drive andflash memory etc. are sent to the other companies or outsourcing companies like Toshiba inJapan or Samsung in Korea. Large number of its components is of low cost. The metalcomponents of the products are made by the outsourcing unit in Taiwan called Foxconn and the plastic components are products by the outsourcing units in Singapore (Brown, 1998, p.198).Finally these parts are assembled in the China and then transported to its sales outlets across theworld (Kahney, 2008).Outsourcing plants:It has built its integrated manufacturing and design facilities in the various countries for example in California, Singapore etc. This global network allows the company to develop andlaunch the products in its markets of America, Asia and Europe. It produces its products, for example ipads, in the Shanghai, China which has given it a cost saving advantage and lead to theincreased profitability for the company (Chaffin, 2002). But on the other hand, this outsourcing has increased the downsizing and unemployment rate in the home country (Rodriguez-Clare,2011).some of the outsourcing plants managed by the company are showing troubled situations for Apple. ConclusionThe economy of the world has now become free from any boundary. All the countries are now considered integrated with one another as one global market for carrying out variousactivities like trade, relations, etc. Evaluate: Evaluate; From one perspective, Apple’s world could not be rosier and its future shinier. Rising from the rubble of a disintegrating company in 1997, Apple has reached the pinnacle of success in 15 short years. With a market capitalization of over $500 billion, Apple is amongst the most valuable and highly profitable companies in the world. When it comes to customers, Apple is a bold innovator that leads the industry into new directions and forces others to follow. However, when it comes to the management of its supply chain and treatment of workers in the Chinese factories that make its products, it hides behind the constraints of prevailing industry practices. Foxconn and its China-based subsidiaries are owned and controlled by the Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Most of Apple’s worker-related problems were focused on Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn and its subsidiaries. Reports over the past few years have described instances of Foxconn employees committing suicide, presumably from working in an extremely high stress environment. In addition there are reports of deplorable living conditions, underage workers, below-standard wages, involuntary labor, and health hazards associated with the use of toxic chemicals and inadequate air filtration systems Finally, in the closing days of 2011, Apple announced with great fanfare that it had joined the Fair Labor Association (FLA. Over the concept , Chinese factories have honed their tactics in concealing problems from the auditors by keeping workers away from plants during audit visits, maintaining multiple sets of accounting books and workers’ personnel files, coaching workers to give right answers to the auditors’ questions in terms of working hours, wage rates, and overtime, et cetera, with promises of bonuses if the auditors were satisfied and implied threats of punishment if serious problems were identified. Thus a highly choreographed audit allows for certain violations—albeit manageable—to be disclosed and promises for corrective action to be taken. Cutting out excessive hours would entail additional costs. For example, a reduction in the average working hours from the current 60-70 hours per week to 48 hours per week would entail approximately a 30 percent + increase in the labor force to maintain the current rate of output. The Indicators of Globalization There are three main economic and ï ¬ nancial indicators of globalization, these are: †¢ international trade in goods and services †¢ the transfer of money capital from one country to another †¢ the movement of people across national borders. Of the three, international trade and foreign investment are the most important. Each of the three indicators will be examined in turn. International Trade International trade means that countries become more interconnected through the exchange of goods and services, that is, through imports and exports. Multinational companies (MNCs) are major traders and account for a large proportion of international trade, with signiï ¬ cant proportions accounted for by trade between subsidiaries within the same company. So for example, Ford makes gearboxes in its factory in Bordeaux and exports them to its assembly plants in other European countries. Around one half of US manufactured exports and more than 60% of its imports ï ¬â€šow within MNCs. International trade has increased more rapidly than global output which has been increasing by around 3% per annum. 2004) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) FDI is the main source of investment in developing countries. Recent year FDI has increased in these countries due to three reasons: – †¢ The rise of multinational companies †¢ Liberalization of world capital market †¢ Liberalization of world economies As in regard to APPLE INC, it has built factories in china to make its product so it has invested in china which is foreign direct investment. In the recent years FDI has increased in this country due to three reasons: – †¢ The rise of multinational companies †¢ Liberalization of world capital market †¢ Liberalization of world economies The advantages of these FDI are as the following: – †¢ This FDI will allow a country to invest more than their saving. It is a crucial source of investment in a country such as in china where it is difficult to encourage savings. FDI also helps to increase the import than the export. Again a FDI can be assumed as an injection which, in terms has a large multiplier effect in the economy. It creates demand in the receipent country and hence helps to increase real GDP. †¢ FDI helps to increase the employment in a country. For instance, the investment by apple in chine has created jobs for Chinese people to work and earn a living. They, sometimes offer higher wages than other national companies which helps to increases the living standard of that country. For e.g. in 1999 30 million people were employed in the developing countries directly or indirectly by the multi national companies. This has a positive externality in the economy in the long run. †¢ Sometimes FDI goes in the tradeable goods sextor of a country. Thus the c ountries export performance may increase and the country may enjoy higher competitiveness. The disadvantages if these FDI are as the following: – †¢ Multinational companies, such as APPLE tends to send back their profit to their country. This may create a balance of payment deficit in the receipient countries if they fail to increase their export earnings. †¢ Apple tends to use expertise of staffs from their country so the benefit that should come from employment becomes insignificant. †¢ Multinational companies such as these APPLE tends to locate their factories in the urban areas so there may be an increase in inequality in the economy. Again it may create pressure in the urban sector. †¢ There is a risk of tends that multinational companies such as APPLE tends to exploit the natural resources of a country like gas, coal, electricity. Thus in the long- run there may be an environmental degradation and the country may suffer from natural degradation. †¢ Deficit in the long- run- However, FDI may have positive impact on a country but they tend to be fuelled only in some developed countries.

Anita and Meena in Anita and Me and Piggy and Ralph in Lord of the Flies Essay

In both Anita and Me and Lord of the Flies, the characters have very much the same type of friendship. The two people in the friendship are not on the same level when they are together. For example, in Anita and Me, Meena is never seen as more superior to Anita and Piggy is never seen as superior to Ralph. Despite this fact, the reader can obviously tell that both Meena and Piggy are more intellectually superior to Anita and Ralph. These two friendships in both books undergo changes as incidents occur such as the forming of Jack’s tribe in Lord of the Flies and when Anita’s other friends abandon her. These changes really force both Anita and Ralph, the more superior of the two friendships to rely heavily on the inferior of the friendships, Piggy and Meena for emotional support. If these parts of the two books were looked at in detail, the reader would see that both Ralph and Anita usually feel as if they cannot continue and Meena and Piggy are usually the people who help them through their difficult times and provide support. At the beginning of Anita and Me, Anita is portrayed as quite an attractive young girl and one with the power to have control over people, ‘Anita was the undisputed ‘cock’ of our yard†¦her foghorn voice, foul mouth †¦ indicated she was carrying enough testosterone around to earn the title†¦she had the face of a pissed-off cherub, huge green eyes, blonde hair and a curling mouth†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Here we can see that Anita is described as the ‘undisputed ‘cock’ of our yard’. This illustrates how she is a very powerful girl. The fact that features such as blonde hair, large green eyes and a face of a cherub are resembled in her suggest that she is quite an angelic, good and polite young girl. This, however, is contradicted by her ‘foghorn voice’ and ‘foul mouth’. This shows us how she is not really what she seems and that even though she may look tough and powerful, she really is quite a lonely, sad girl. If we compare Anita’s appearance to Meena’s, we see a large difference: ‘†¦the winter coat, the scabbed knees, my stubborn nine-year old face†¦ not because I was too young or badly dressed, it was something else, something about me so offputting, so unimaginable†¦.’ Meena describes herself as very unattractive. When compared to Anita, we can see that it is the truth. Anita’s description gives her maturity and superiority while Meena’s make her seem as if she is a little ‘nine-year old’ girl who does not possess the same maturity and superiority as Anita. It is very much the same as Lord of the Flies with Piggy and Ralph’s friendship. At the beginning, our first impression gained of Ralph is of an athletic and attractive young boy: ‘He was old enough, twelve years and a few months, to have lost the prominent tummy of childhood†¦you could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, buy there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil’ Here Ralph is described in an attractive way and he, like Anita, can be described in two different ways: firstly as a ‘boxer’ which portrays Ralph as a strong, powerful man while the ‘mildness about his mouth and eyes’ shows that he is still an innocent pleasant young boy. In the same way Anita is friends with Meena in Anita and Me, Ralph is friends with Piggy. Piggy is very similar to Meena. Both Piggy and Meena are not as attractive as Ralph and Anita. In this way, they are seen as insuperior to them: ‘The naked crooks of his knees were plump, caught and scratched by thorns’ Here Piggy’s description does not portray him as either very attractive or very interesting. The fact that his knees are scratched by thorns makes Piggy seem quite young as you normally imagine young children to have scratched knees. Ralph is described as almost a man. This is another way in which Piggy is depicted as inferior to Ralph. Another way in which Ralph and Anita are described as greater than Piggy and Meena are when they meet. When Anita talks to Meena for the first time, she assumes that she is more superior to Meena. ‘†¦then snatched the bag off me and began walking away as she ate’ When Anita meets Meena, she snatches a bag of sweets from her and starts to walk away. She expects Meena to follow and what I find surprising is that Meena seems to think that this is fine and she feels happy to follow her a few paces behind. Meena feels privileged to be in Anita’s company. Anita realises this and uses it to her advantage. Anita has got used to realising that she is normally the leader of a group and that she has the ability to exert a lot of power. Ralph also assumes that he is superior when he meets Piggy. When Piggy asks what Ralph’s name is, Ralph does not return the gesture: ‘The fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn buy this proffer of acquaintance was not made’ Here Ralph is portrayed as quite arrogant. We can see that Ralph obviously feels in some way superior to this fat boy and therefore he feels that he is not the same level as him. Throughout the book, Ralph has a certain amount of superiority over Piggy and uses it often. When Jack, Simon and Ralph explore the island for the first time and Piggy asks to come, Ralph embaraces him by refusing to let him come. The same is done in Anita and Me, as Anita is throughout the book more superior to Meena. Both Meena and Piggy do not belong to the groups that are formed in the books. Piggy is far too intellectual and mature for the games played and he is the odd one out of the group, as is Simon. Meena too does not fit in to Anita’s group. She describes herself as ‘too young for Anita’s consideration and too old for the children’. Even when she does join Anita’s group, she sometimes feels out of place. Towards the end of both books, both Anita and Ralph find that they need support when their close friends leave them. In Anita and Me, Anita experiences this when her mother leaves: ‘†¦she always seemed older than her peers. But when I spied her sitting alone on the park swings, from a distance, her crumpled face and hunched shoulders turned her momentarily into a little old lady. When Anita’s mother and the poet leave her, Anita feels depressed and lonely. Meena, although she is angry with her, feels sorry for Anita and tries to comfort and support her. This shows how Meena, even though she is portrayed as insuperior to Anita, is the more stable of the two girls. Meena has two loving parent who look after her well and a baby brother while Anita lives with her unreliable mother who is hardly there for her and a father who sees her very rarely. Ralph also finds himself in this situation when the boys divide into two groups and Ralph is left only with Simon and Piggy: ‘Piggy’ ‘Uh?’ ‘What are we going to do?’ Piggy looked at the conch. ‘You could-‘ ‘Call an assembly?’ Ralph laughed sharply as he said the word and Piggy frowned. Here we can see the difference in Ralph’s way of talking to Piggy. We can see that Ralph has no idea of what to do now that Jack has made his own tribe. Ralph now finds that he is relying on Piggy to help and support him through his time of need. Ralph also uses the word ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. This shows how Ralph feels that both him and Piggy are now in their own tribe. It also shows how Ralph is letting Piggy be on the same level as him by using ‘we’. Another way in, which the friendship of Anita and Meena and the friendship between Ralph and Piggy are similar, is the ending of the friendship. At the end of the book, Meena realises that Anita is not the person she should be a best friend with: ‘I don’t give a toss what your sister [Anita] does, Tracey. Yow can tell her that from me.’ At this point, Meena has realised that Anita has not treated her as well as she should have been treated. Meena learns this from making friends with two other people who treat her well and are true friends. When Meena returns from hospital, she doesn’t socialise much and is happy doing things alone. Anita, jealous of her happiness and the love she receives from her parents, sends threatening notes to her in the hope of scaring Meena. At this point we can really see that Meena is superior to Anita as Anita tries to make a desperate attempt at trying to feel more superior and secure by threatening her. The same happens in Lord of the Flies. After Piggy has died, Ralph realises what a great friend Piggy really was to him and how much he needs him when Jack’s tribe turn against him: ‘And in the middle of them, with filthy body, unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy. Here we can see that Ralph’s image of a strong, powerful young man is lost and we see him as a young naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve boy in contrast to Piggy who is described as ‘wise’. Before, Piggy was portrayed as a fat, asthmatic boy who was inferior to Ralph but now we see that Piggy is superior to Ralph. Ralph realises this and feels bad in the way he treated Piggy. Towards the end of both books, the characters who were portrayed as superior: Anita and Ralph find it hard to cope when Meena and Piggy leave them. In Anita and Me, when Meena breaks the friendship between herself and Anita, Anita begins to find that she is jealous of Meena and sends her threatening notes. Similarly in Lord of the Flies, when Piggy dies, Ralph finds it hard to cope. He is left all alone and is abandoned by his so-called friends who he preferred to Piggy in the beginning. In both cases we find how much Ralph and Anita depended on Piggy and Meena to make them feel superior. While in actual fact, Meena and Piggy were the superior ones.

Calvin Coolidge - 1924 Speech on Individual Sacrifice and Taxes

Calvin Coolidge Speech on Taxes, Liberty, and the Philosophy of Government delivered 11 August 1924, The White House Grounds, Washington, D.C. [This] country needs every ounce of its energy to restore itself. The costs of government are all assessed upon the people. This means that the farmer is doomed to provide a certain amount of money out of the sale of his produce, no matter how low the price, to pay his taxes. The manufacturer, the professional man, the clerk, must do the same from their income. The wage earner, often at a higher rate when compared to his earning, makes his contribution, perhaps not directly but indirectly, in the advanced cost of everything he buys. The expenses of government reach everybody. Taxes take from everyone a part of his earnings and force everyone to work for a certain part of his time for the government. When we come to realize that the yearly expenses of the governments of this countrythe stupendous sum of about 7 billion, 500 million dollars we get700 million dollars is needed by the national government, and the remainder by local governments. Such a sum is difficult to comprehend. It represents all the pay of five million wage earners receiving five dollars a day, working 300 days in the year. If the government should add 100 million dollars of expense, it would represent four days more work of these wage earners. These are some of the reasons why I want to cut down public expense. I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. This is the chief meaning of freedom. Until we can reestablish a condition under which the earnings of the people can be kept by the people, we are bound to suffer a very severe and distinct curtailment of our liberty. These results are not fanciful; they are not imaginary. They are grimly actual and real, reaching into every household in the land. They take from each home annually an average of over 300 dollars and taxes must be paid. They are not a voluntary contribution to be met out of surplus earnings. They are a stern necessity. They come first. It is only out of what is left, after they are paid, that the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter can be provided and the comforts of home secured, or the yearnings of the soul for a broader and more abundant life gratified. When the government affects a new economy, it grants everybody a life pension with which to raise the standard of existence. It increases the value of everybodys property, raises the scale of everybodys wages. One of the greatest favors that can be bestowed upon the American people is economy in government. Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by McGraw-Hill (2008) See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB-9G0tp2fs Audio, Image (Screenshot) Source: http://www.archive.org Copyright Status: This text and audio = Property of AmericanRhetoric.com. Image = Public domain.

Software applications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Software applications - Essay Example It is the reason why it is better not to rely too much upon this service in order to prevent mistakes in spelling or grammar. One of my favorite services is the ability to make footnotes and endnotes. It is very convenient when I need to add information or leave a reminder to check something later. It is also very convenient to create well-formatted outlines with updatable page numbers. PPT and Exel are very useful for creating presentations and tables. PPT gives much space for creativity; one can select different styles and formats or slides. Moreover, it is possible to insert multimedia files such as music, video or pictures in the presentation to make it entertaining. When I have to present something, I usually use this application to create some support for my speech. Exel is applicable in working with data. It makes it simple to craft table or diagrams, where variable can be changed and other numbers will update automatically. For instance, I can count my expenditures in Exel and create a comprehensive report. I think that services from MS Office are more convenient than handwriting. First of all, the produced result is easily readable. When any text is typed, it be sent anywhere by one clock only. Also, it is easy to highlight something in the text, select appropriate font type and size. Handwriting is less convenient in terms of formatting. However, it is more applicable when I need to take some notes watching the film, write down a phone number or create an outline. Using these applications every day, I am sure that they are more convenient than hand-writing. Even though writing can be faster and more convenient than typing sometimes, typing makes texts more accurate and readable. It becomes more applicable for further work because it is better structured, formatted and

The Impact of Oil spills on our Eco-system Essay

The Impact of Oil spills on our Eco-system - Essay Example The blowout preventer which was expected to alert and prevent the release of oil into the natural environment, failed to activate thus causing disastrous environmental consequences (BBC News, 2012). Furthermore, according to reports, the miss management at BP and its inability to control or prevent the damage is held accountable as one of the key reasons of this huge environmental disaster. The report presented by the Oil Spill commission, stated BP had relatively little knowledge regarding the geology of the site in question, which is perhaps the main underlying cause of the disaster. Apart from that there were several other factors such as oversight and the inability of the management to ensure effective implementation of proper safeguards to prevent such an event from happening. The report also stated that over and above the failure to predict the unfortunate event, BP also failed to implement adequate safety and control measures to prevent the damage (Oil Spill Commission Report, 2011). 2. Describe the risk factors associated with this incident/accident. Apart from the loss of lives of the workers and employees working on the rig, the oil spill has lead to several ecological, social, financial as well as environmental consequences. ... oard), BP was aware of the significant safety issues, well before the explosion occurred but still implemented cost cuts of about 25 per cent during the years 1998 and 2000. This measure on the part of the management led to a significant negative impact on the maintenance and infrastructure expenditures at the refinery (Regester and Larkin, 2008). Also the design of the cement used to seal the bottom of the well was flawed and ought to have been repaired promptly to avoid the dangerous consequences. The management failed to analyze the problem with the seal, and incorrectly validated the test result by approving it, despite the apparent fault. The workers hired on site, failed to foresee the looming disaster, and alert the concerned management regarding the same, which resulted in the blowout (BBC, 2011). 5. What were the short-term effects of this incident/accident on the surrounding environment? Any disaster of this magnitude and scale is likely to result in threatening consequence s which reach beyond the routine issues faced by organizations in their day to day operations. The short term effects of the BP Oil spill are listed below: Source: BBC News (2011) - Impact on the marine life: The oil spill underwater affects the marine environment causing damage to the aquatic life. The site of the oil spill is home to a wide variety of rich and diverse marine life including cold-water corals, fish, etc. Furthermore it is also reported that the endangered sperm whales frequent this water bed in search of giant squid and other prey. The oil spill destroyed the natural habitat of these species and affected their life cycles in the process. Since the marine species are highly interdependent, the food web is completely destroyed. - The environment: As many as 60,000 sea birds

Comparative Analysis of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and Luck Essay

Comparative Analysis of A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner and Luck by Mark Twain - Essay Example The presence of a universal characteristic in literary works also means that there are also texts that provide scenarios, feelings, thoughts, or experiences that are unique and not experienced by the majority. In this paper, a comparison of two short stories is provided as an illustration of Johnson's point in elucidating the meaning of "just representations of general nature. The literary texts included in the comparative analysis are "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner and "Luck" by Mark Twain. The choice for these texts is motivated mainly by the 'level of representativeness of each.' That is, Faulkner's short story is identified as more universal in its theme, while Twain's equally entertaining short story differs from Faulkner's because of its unique quality. The discussion and analysis posits, then, that "A Rose" is an example of a literary work that possesses the "representativeness" quality that Johnson talks about because of its utilization of society's hostility of an individual because Emily chose to deviate from the norms of her community. Meanwhile, Twain's "Luck" lacks the universality that Faulkner's work has because luck is an uncommon phenomenon, not universally experienced by people throughout their life, as opposed to what was illustrated in the life of the story's primary subject, Lt. Gen. Arthur Scoresby. Emily Grierson is depicted as a social outcast in the community that she lived in, setting the mood early on in Faulkner's short story. The relationship between the community and Emily was one that bordered between hostility and indifference: while most of the people in the community had considered Emily as an individual who lived in the past (i.e., trying to live the affluent life that she had when she was young), and thus they became indifferent, even uninterested, in her, there were some members of the community who reveled on the fact that there lived a woman in their place that does not 'fit' the image of a 'pleasant' community member. This relationship is effectively illustrated by the narrator's description of people's behavior during her funeral: "our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity" The fact that Emily managed to survive on her own and with the help of her servant, Tobe, is not the only mystery that intrigued her community. Despite her denial to admit that she lives in poverty at the time of her death, another mystery that remained was the fate of Emily's relationship with Homer Barron, her supposed fianc who had suddenly disappeared from the community and Emily's life. Emily's deviant behavior was indeed confirmed when it was revealed later in the story that she was both poor and a murderer, having killed Homer when he denied her of her love for him. Though deviant in nature, the community's treatment of Emily as a deviant is a universal experience among us. At some point in our lives, we had experienced fair or unfair persecution by our society and community, and Faulkner's effective and sensitive portrayal of this theme through Emily and her community makes the short story truly representative of humanity's behavior and nature. The reason for "Luck"'s lack of representativeness or universality to humanity's general experience in life is because the story focused on the phenomenon of luck, which is not only uncommon, but an unpopular phenomenon in a human society that is currently dominated by the ideology of rationality, logic, and science. Embodied by the character of Scoresby, luck

Globalization and Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization and Education - Essay Example be a consensus among many scholars regarding the association between the interests of the richer countries’ programs and the prevailing states of poverty and adversity in the developing world. The scholars also cite the impact of colonialism within the general aspect of inequality (Bigelow & Peterson, 2002). Some of the themes that appear common in many of these discourses include the association between formal education and inequality and the association between globalization and world poverty. These themes tie together with the challenges facing Africa, The Caribbean, and other struggling parts of the world (Bigelow & Peterson, 2002). Regarding the theme of education and global inequality, the scholars contend that the formal education system lacks tune with the needs of the developing world. The scholars explore the manner in which the western powers imposed their systems of education on the natives in the different places they conquered. Such imposition ignored the previou sly existing structures of education and resulted in a serious mismatch between the needs of the natives and the objectives of the system of education. The study cites the case of the Maya who lost their reading materials to the Spanish at the time of the conquest (Bigelow & Peterson, 2002). The destruction of the traditional Mayan educational system resulted in the destruction of the people’s reservoir of culture. The Spanish case of destroying the Mayan culture represents a trend of the colonial culture where dominant powers systematically destroyed indigenous cultures using brute force and replaced them with foreign systems of education. Alienation of the weaker civilizations resulted from the education system that was based purely on the foreign systems. Loss of culture eventually led to... This paper approves that this pressure resulted in the systematic weakening of the indigenous economic systems that underpinned the growth of the economy. Farming and the production of powder milk were ruined due to the influences that followed the economic interventions of the developed countries and the structures created by the global financiers. These interventions appeared well meaning at first but gradually descended into ruin in the aftermath. Some of the long-term consequences included job losses and the destruction of local investing capacities. Many theorists and economic analysts argue that globalization essentially denies weaker countries the opportunity to trade favorably with the stronger powers. Cases are given of Jamaica, which continues to experience the devastating effect of global economic competition as a result of yielding to the pressure of structural reforms. This essay comes to the conclusion generally, globalization denies the developing powers the opportunity to protect their own markets. Globalization entails liberalization of the market economies, which essentially means that the developing world opens up its markets to global competition with the world powers. Weaker powers have stronger marketing powers and often use the synergies of their development to dominate the markets and push the weaker countries out of the markets. In the long term, the weaker countries become increasingly dependent on the developed countries for their sustenance. This dependency eventually yields a situation where the poor countries increasing descent into a cycle of debt.

Diabetes and Evidence-based Nursing Research Paper

Diabetes and Evidence-based Nursing - Research Paper Example The day following his admission, his blood sugar level was more than 999. As a patient advocate, I was concerned for the patient’s treatment and I approached the patient and his wife about seeking a second opinion from an Endocrinologist. I recommended this with the hope of ensuring that they would gain the best possible care for the patient’s condition. The couple agreed and several weeks later returned to thank me for making the recommendation. The patient was diagnosed by the Endocrinologist with Flatbush Diabetes which is a rare form of diabetes presenting among African-American males. It calls for insulin administration for a short period of time and later to be shifted to oral diabetic medications. When untreated, it can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis. The nursing situation in this case is based on the appropriate care of the diabetic patient, on the assistance given in the administration of the patient medications, and on the monitoring of the patient’s vit al signs, diet, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. Since the patient’s blood sugar levels were not sufficiently being lowered by the oral medications, the nursing role extends to patient advocacy – helping protect the rights of patients and ensuring that they receive the best possible care. ... B. Description of Medical/health Condition Insulin is the hormone which regulates the uptake of glucose from the blood into the cells of the body (Medical News 2011). Deficient insulin or issues with its receptors therefore play a crucial role in the manifestation and development of diabetes mellitus. Most carbohydrates in food are broken down into monosaccharide glucose, which is the main carbohydrate which is found in the blood and used as fuel by the body (Medical News, 2011). When blood glucose levels in the body are high, insulin is released in the blood by the beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Insulin is then utilized by the body’s cells in order to absorb glucose from the blood and use as fuel, and later for conversion to other molecules, and for storage (Medical News, 2011). Insulin also serves as the control signal for the conversion of glucose to glycogen for internal storage in the liver and the muscle cells. Decreased glucose level leads to re duced release of insulin. This then leads to the reverse conversion of glycogen to glucose. Glucose is mostly managed by the glucagon which then acts in opposition to insulin. Glucose recovered by the liver is re-introduced into the bloodstream; the muscle cells do not have the necessary capacity for export (Medical News, 2011). Significant insulin levels highlight the anabolic processes, including cell growth and duplication, protein synthesis, and fat storage. Insulin serves as the main signal in the conversion of bidirectional processes of metabolism from the catabolic to the anabolic direction, and vice versa (Medical News, 2011). In effect, low insulin levels trigger the onset of

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ethics - Essay Example They therefore, greatly encourage critical thinking so as to make the right decision under the given circumstances. In the contemporary environment of fast changing dynamics of socio-cultural and economic environment, ethical consideration and morality have become big issues, especially in the corporate world. The multicultural societies encompassing people from different race, color, culture and nations have increasingly become common across the globe. The inclusion of diversity within and outside the business paradigms have turned into major ethical issues that must be addressed. In fact, racial differences and lack of understanding of cross cultural values have fast emerged has vital ingredients of workplace conflicts leading to unethical conduct. I believe that rational thinking rather than emotions or intuition is the key facilitator for ethical decision making process. Rationalizing events and looking at the pros and con of the situation are major tools of critical thinking tha t helps to come up with right solution that is fair and is based on informed choices. The interpretation of events and human behavior must be accompanied by proper dissemination of information. The understanding of the issues promotes wider acceptance of the decisions made.

How to be a great teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

How to be a great teacher - Essay Example Through online teaching and interactive learning environments, teachers are playing a considerable role in improving the communication skills of the children by making them interact with other students in different activities. Teachers are also playing a vital role in improving the social behaviors of the students by injecting the senses of responsibility and ethics in the minds of the students. How to Become a Great Teacher Not every teacher is a great teacher. Ragos states, â€Å"The influence of a great teacher is reverberating†. A great teacher possesses such qualities and characteristics, which distinguishes him/her from all other teachers. Some of the main qualities of a great teacher include sense of humor, positive attitude, high expectations, consistency, fairness, and flexibility (Kelly). Let us now discuss in detail what a teacher needs to become a great teacher. In the discussion, we will also include the ideas and responses of Mr. Bob Overstreet, who is a high sch ool teacher from Walton High School. High Enthusiasm A great teacher is always enthusiastic about the job. According to Mr. Overstreet, high enthusiasm and passion to teach students are the keys towards a teacher’s professional success. ... Therefore, teachers need to develop interest of students in the subjects in order to make them successful. Responsiveness Another important factor, which plays a considerable role in development of a great teacher, is responsiveness. A teacher needs to respond to the queries of the students in order to satisfy them. A teacher should never ignore the query of any student. It is also one of the main responsibilities of a teacher to strengthen the concepts of the students and it can only happen if the teacher shows interest by responding to all questions raised by the students about the lecture. According to Mr. Overstreet, a great teacher is one who never leaves any question made by any student unanswered. A great teacher not only responds to the students but also ensures that the students have understood every issue related to the topic. Moreover, a great teacher is one who not only shows interest in the subject related questions raised by the students but also answers other questions related to sports, physical fitness, or any other topic. Friendliness and Communication Skills Another quality, which makes teachers great, is the friendliness and excellent communication skills of the teachers. â€Å"There are many ways to be a successful teacher but the secret lies in excellent communication skills† (Reed). According to Mr. Overstreet, teachers need to be friendly with their students in order to create an effective learning environment. Friendliness of teachers plays a vital role in making the students learn in an effective manner. It is because when a teacher creates an open and sociable learning environment in the classroom, it motivates the students to get

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay Example for Free

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay 1. Describe the standard policy regarding confidentiality for a police psychologist. Be sure to address handling records, being a counselor versus evaluator, and your role during critical incident debriefing. Different legal foundations have set standards regarding the standard of confidentiality for every police psychologist. Psychological services for the police have considerably grown providing a number of clinical and occupational functions. They include operational support services, training, research and counseling services. However, handling confidentiality matters have grown recently and an evaluation between counseling roles and evaluation abilities. By and large, the police psychologist is an evaluator and therefore at liberty in making independent and fair assessments. He/should should prove high levels of confidentiality in records concerning work fitness. This is to imply that a police psychologist should be professionally sound in matters of handling records. Any disclosure of the records pertaining physical fitness can only be done during times of necessity. The evaluation process should avoid discrimination or unfair justice to the assessed. Like an evaluator, he should posit high morals concerning fair assessment of the fitness to work by the police officers. This is presumed important because the assessment regarding work fitness is what shows whether an officer can perform or not. They should maintain highest caution in protecting the confidential information that is stored in various media forms and the regulation for such disclosures should be within the limits of the law. Above been record keepers, police psychologists should obtain adequate permission before recording any images or voices from individuals with whom they are giving services. The confidential information that is obtained from the people is only useful for professional or scientific purposes allied to the concerned persons. Police psychologists are also counselors. They should offer counseling services to client who has various social problems such as family matters, unfitness for work and other issues. Like a counselor however, he is supposed to ensure confidentiality in all matters under concern for a particular person under the counseling service. Conceptually, a police psychologist should have the professionalism for addressing critical incident debriefing. This should involve encounters that relate to urgent matters. In the debriefing process, he should be professionally tactful to avoid arousing discomfort, instability of the mind, stress, shock and social inadequacies to the person he is offering the service. Critical incidence debriefing should therefore be structured in a manner that is comfortable to the client and which should not destabilize the state of the client’s mental stability. 2. What elements in an assessment are required to ensure reliability in a pre-employment screening? How do these factors predict performance? Evaluations by psychologists for pre-employment test for physical fitness have grown to be subject of extreme importance. This has been a concern that arises from police violations and misconduct from the civil rights. The pre-employment evaluations have been described as a tool for evaluating a police physical fitness in his/her duty. However, this growing demand for pre-employment and comprehensive psychological evaluation has stood in conflict with values about disability and privacy accommodating issues. Pre-employment evaluation has been argued as a cornerstone factor towards guiding the safety of the public. This is because only officers who are physically fit for the profession are the one offered with employment at the expense of those who show no substantial qualifications into their physical fitness. Physical fitness for the police officers is a growing requirement from state of the modern police departments which are allied to various law and order provision that does not hesitate physically fit and able professionals. Elsewhere, since the selection, hiring and training process of the police officers is a highly costing exercise, it would rationally be uneconomical to incorporate officers who have no substantial qualification in to the profession.   Ã‚  When these officers have consecutive personal crisis that come along their way such as family and marital problems, depression and stress, divorce, memory lapses and accidents, their physical insufficiencies may have negative influences in their functionalities. They are paused with various risks and stress factors that often keep them astray from their work. Officer’s physical fitness remains a mandatory factor in their service delivery. However, impaired officers have showed higher chances of identification while at demanding situations, have high probabilities of removal from their working positions and have more referrals for treatments. However, this evaluation should not violate the individual’s psychological requirement and perhaps violating their privacy. Therefore, some physical complications should be addressed in specific organizational development and management techniques. Various police agencies use contract and in-house services in conducting this fitness evaluation. In the process, they involve in psychology counseling in evaluating possible psychological stigma that may be held by the evaluation. It is therefore of great substance for evaluation of physical fitness in response to fitness for work. 3.   Ethical issues in fitness for duty evaluation. The psychological test for fitness of work in the police department is a compliment of various ethical issues. At one level, every information whether collected through tapes or images should be done at the request of the individual in service. No forced sourcing of information for record purposes should be from forced attribute of the individual in the evaluation. Either, every information obtained from the evaluation process should be used solely for research work in an adequate area of concern or coined towards an issue related to the police professionalism. The collected information should not be for personal use by the evaluator. Either, it demands professionalism that personal information retrieved in the evaluation process of fitness for duty should be treated with a lot of confidentiality. No personal information should be retrieved, disclosed or magnified for any public use unless for the interest of the sake of professional good which includes the individual him/herself. (h ttp://www.danielrybicki.com/wfstud3b.htm) Inquiry for the evaluation should be guided by fundamental limitations of the requirement of the disclosures of the confidential information. The counselor/investigator should not be inquisitive of confidential information which is of no substance to the profession. The psychologist should ensure the most minimal levels of intrusion into privacy as possible. Oral and written reports should only include the information that is relative for the need for which the inquiry was constituted. In any external consultation with his/her colleagues the psychologist should ensure that the no disclosure of confidential information with which it can easily lead to client disclosure unless with a prior authority of this client. The psychologist should take all the reasonable steps in minimizing and correcting misrepresentation or misuse of the professionalism. He/she should avoid any unfair discrimination that comes up against the respondents. He should not act in a manner of denying the respondent possible chance of promotion to the SWAT team. His/her mode of conduct of the evaluation should not have conflicted with the law and regulations. His evaluation process should be guided by the requirements of law and professionalism. 4. Lopez’s process of counseling bears various ethical concerns. It should concur with the provision of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At one level, homosexuality should be understood as a social matter and not surgical. It is a situation which affects the social and psychological attitudes of Lopez. The feeling of homosexuality may mean aspects of depression and tress which is complimentary psychological attributes associated which her sexual situation. Generally, this psychological depression may be a factor towards the rationale for been physically unfit for the work. However since homosexuality is among the many senses of disability, the provisions of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would require that she still continue in her capacity. One important factor/attribute that she should embrace is personal acceptance of her situation. Since this is not a surgical problem but social issue, unfitness for job would only occur due to the levels of depression and low self-esteem which comes as a result of low self evaluation. Personal acceptance would give her strength and therefore restore her fitness for work.

Realism and the Future of World Politics Essay Example for Free

Realism and the Future of World Politics Essay First and foremost it is important to remember that state interest or state preference operates in an anarchic environment. The international system is inherently unstable and is aptly characterized by widespread anarchy. Due to the absence of a suprastate or overarching Leviathan authority, states are placed in inevitable and perpetual competition, described as the security dilemma. This has been evidenced by the state of European affairs since 1789. Because of the anarchic nature of international affairs, states are perpetually concerned with their survival. For realists, the international system is a â€Å"dog-eat-dog world† and ensuring survival is paramount for any and all states. According to Hans Morgenthau, pioneering German political scientist and an early proponent of realist thought, due to the inherent instability of the international system, the fundamental national interest of all states is to â€Å"protect [its] physical, political, and cultural identity against encroachments by other nations† (Morgenthau, 1952). Specifically, threats to states are determined by their relative power vis-a-vis one others in the international system. The structure of the system – the distribution of power and capabilities state wide is important because threats or challenges facing a state which affront the national interest should be â€Å"calculated according to the situation in which the state finds itself† (Waltz, 1979). Thus, power and security requirements are paramount in attempting to define state interest and what motivates states to act. Furthermore, Power and wealth supply the means for states to survive, to meet their security requirements, and thus to continue to compete in a system in which other states are necessarily either actual or potential threats. State officials ad policy analysts are therefore advised realistically to asses the distribution of power; they should overcome their ‘aversion to seeing problems of international politics as they are’ in order to objectively asses the national interest in light of the distribution of power. Every state, that is, must pursue its national interest â€Å"defined in terms of power† (Morgenthau 1952) because this is the surest road to security and survival (Weldes, 1999). If we apply the realist conception of states power and apply it to the future of the international world, conflict over resources and war will be a defining feature of the international system. Europe has been plagued by conflict since the late 18th century and despite global interdependence and the existence of multilateral organizations in the form of the UN and the European Union, there is little evidence to suggest that armed conflict is not the future of international affairs. Nationalism, a concept created in Europe, has been responsible for much armed conflict over the past three centuries. Nationalism in International Affairs Nationalism is an important force in international relations and has been so for centuries. As a basic principle of the international order, concepts of state sovereignty are intrinsic to our understanding of the world system. Accordingly, the international system is predicated upon the existence of nation-states and nationalism is a belief or sense of identity within the nation. The Treaty of Westphalia established the principle of state sovereignty, another fundamental principle of the international order which established the nation-state as an autonomous political entity. Similar to tribalism or a sense of social kinship, nationalism as a potent political force began in Europe in the late eightieth century and was connected with a decline in overall religiosity, the development of industrialization, Enlightenment thoughts and a concerted effort by political elites to â€Å"build states†. By inculcating a sense of nationalist fervor in the citizens of their respective countries, elites have been able to manipulate nationalism for political purposes. Mass mobilization towards a variety of specific causes through an appeal to nationalist sentiment has been used as a political tool for centuries. Although not exclusively a negative force, nationalism remains an important ordering principle of the international system and a force to be reckoned with (Waltz 2000). Concluding Remarks Keeping in mind our realist conception of state interest, conflict will be an inevitable feature of the international system in the next 50 years. Europe has descended into bloodshed and armed conflict and has been the feature of the European continent for centuries. When global war broke out in 1914 dreams of world peace and prosperity were shattered. Accordingly, the First World War was arguably one of the most traumatic episodes in the history of international affairs. Geopolitically speaking, the First World War (also described as WWI in this essay) was unprecedented in both scale and sheer loss of human life. Never before had the world witnessed such carnage and violence perpetuated through the use of modern technology. The First World War touched much of the world the implications of this conflict reverberated across the globe. In addition to WWI, Europeans states fought dozens of wars and were home to countless revolutions aimed at changing the political order. From the French Revolution to the Spanish Civil War and the â€Å"War to End All Wars†, World War II, the history of Europe since 1789 has been wrought with conflict with nationalism playing an important role in the outbreak of violence.

MGMT Methylation Status and Glioblastoma Multiforme Outcome

MGMT Methylation Status and Glioblastoma Multiforme Outcome ABSTRACT Background: O6 – methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation has been associated with increased survival among patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) who were treated with various alkylating agents. We examined the relationship between MGMT methylation status and clinical outcome in newly diagnosed GBM patients treated with BCNU wafers (Gliadel ®). Methods: MGMT promoter methylation in DNA from 122 newly diagnosed GBM patients treated with Gliadel was determined by a Quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay (QMSP) and correlated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Results: The MGMT promoter was methylated in 40 (32.7%) of 122 patients. Overall median survival was 13.5 months (95%CI: 11.0-14.5) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 9.4 months (95%CI: 7.8-10.2). After adjusting for age, KPS, extent of resection, temozolomide (TMZ) and radiation therapy (RT), newly diagnosed GBM patients with MGMT methylation who were treated with Gliadel had a 15% reduction in hazard of death compared to patients with unmethylated MGMT (Hazard ratio: 0.85, 95%CI: 0.56-1.31). Patients aged over 70 with MGMT methylation and treated with Gliadel had a significantly longer median survival of 13.5 months compared to 7.6 months in patients with unmethylated MGMT (p=0.027). A similar significant difference was also found in older patients with a median recurrence-free survival of 13.1 versus 7.6 months (p=0.01) for MGMT methylated and unmethylated, respectively. Conclusions: Methylation of the MGMT promoter in newly diagnosed GBM patients who were treated with Gliadel followed by RT and TMZ, was associated with significantly improved survival compared to the non-methylated patient population with similar treatment. For the elderly population, methylation of the MGMT promoter was associated with significantly better OS and RFS. INTRODUCTION Glioblastome multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor, with a median survival of less than two years [1]. To date, only two different alkylating agents have been shown to be consistently associated with prolonged survival – temozolomide (TMZ) and the locally delivered BCNU wafers (Gliadel) [1-3]. Gliadel wafers (Eisai Inc. for Arbor Pharmaceuticals, LLC) are implanted and locally deliver Carmustine (also known as (1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1- nitrosourea (BCNU)) at the site of tumor resection, allowing for a higher concentration of local chemotherapeutic doses while minimizing systemic adverse effects [2-4]. These wafers provide a controlled- release form of local chemotherapy for approximately 3 weeks [4, 5]. Methylation of the MGMT promoter in gliomas was found to be an important predictor of the tumor responsiveness after several cytotoxic regimens [6], including BCNU treatment [7]. It was found that expression of the DNA repair protein, O6 – methylguanine-methyltransferase (MGMT), results in GBM resistance to alkylating agents. Alkylating agents cause cell death by binding to DNA, most commonly to the O6 position of guanine, and forms cross-links between adjacent DNA strands. This cross-linking of double strand DNA is inhibited by the cellular DNA-repair protein MGMT. In this study, through a unique analysis of 122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who were treated with Gliadel, we retrospectively examined the association between MGMT promoter methylation status and survival. METHODS Patients and Tumor Specimens We retrospectively reviewed 185 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who received Gliadel after tumor resection, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA, between July 1997 and December 2006. Of these patients, only 122 patients had stored samples that were available for MGMT analysis. The clinical, radiological and hospital course of these patients were retrospectively reviewed. Age and gender were recorded, as well as Karnofsky performance score (KPS) at time of diagnosis, tumor location, time to recurrence and dates of death were recorded. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from the time of surgery to death, and recurrence free survival (RFS) was calculated from the time of surgery to time of recurrence or censored at the last time of follow-up. GBM was histologically confirmed in all cases. Extent of surgical resection was determined based on a postoperative MRI performed Treatment Algorithm Gliadel wafers were typically not implanted in patients after tumor resection when the tumor largely extended into the ventricles or was multifocal. DNA Extraction After initial patient de-identification, all original histologic slides from the GBM specimens were reviewed to reconfirm the diagnosis of GBM by a senior neuropathologist (PB). A representative block with tumor was retrieved for DNA extraction. Histologic slides from the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue were obtained. One representative slide was stained with HE and the tumor was marked by the senior neuropathologist (PB). An additional five correlating unstained 10 micron slides were also obtained. The tumor cells in the unstained slides were microdissected according to the marked HE stained reference slide. DNA was extracted from paraffin embedded tissue after xylene deparaffinization. The microdissected tissue was digested with 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 200ug/mL proteinase K (Roche, Nutley, NJ) at 48 °C for 48 hours, followed by phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation of DNA. Extracted DNA was dissolved in either LoTE (2.5 mM EDTA, 10 mM Trisâ⠂¬â€œHCl [pH 8]) or distilled water. Bisulfite Treatment Extracted DNA was subjected to bisulfite treatment, to convert unmethylated cytosine residues to uracil residues. Briefly, 2  µg genomic DNA from each sample was treated with bisulfite using the EpiTect Bisulfite kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Converted DNA was stored at -80oC. Methylation Analysis Bisulfite-modified DNA was used as a template for fluorescence-based real-time PCR. Amplification reactions were carried out in triplicate in a final volume of 20  µL that contained 3  µL bisulfite-modified DNA; 600 nmol/L concentrations of forward and reverse primers; 200 nmol/L probe; 0.6 units platinum Taq polymerase (Invitrogen); 200  µmol/L concentrations each of dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP; and 6.7 mmol/L MgCl2. Primers and probes were designed to specifically amplify the promoter of MGMT and the promoter of a reference gene, ACTIN B; primer and probe sequences and annealing temperatures are provided in Table 1. Amplifications were carried out using the following profile: 95 °C for 3 min followed by 50 cycles at 95 °C for 15 s and 60 °C for 1 min. Amplification reactions were carried out in 384-well plates in a 7900 sequence detector (Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems) and analyzed by a sequence detector system (SDS 2.2.1; Applied Biosystems). Each plate included patie nt DNA samples, positive controls (Bisulfite-converted Universal Methylated Human DNAStandards (Zymo Research) in serial dilutions 20ng to 2pg) and molecular grade water was used as a non-template control. The ÃŽ ²-actin gene was used to normalize and act as an internal loading control. The methylation ratio was the ratio of values for the gene-specific PCR products to those of the ACTIN B and then multiplied by 1,000 for more efficient tabulation. Statistical Methods The overall survival (OS) time was defined from the date of initial diagnosis of the disease (surgery) to the time of death or censored at the time last known alive. The recurrence-free survival (RFS) was counted from the date of initial diagnosis of the disease to the time of disease recurrence or censored at the time last known alive and recurrence-free. Probabilities of OS and RFS were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier (KM) method [15] and compared using Log-rank test. Confidence intervals were calculated using the method of Brookmeyer and Crowley[14]. Cox proportional hazards model [16] was used to estimate the association between OS or RFS and MGMT methylation status, treatments and well known prognostic factors. Schoenfeld residuals were used to test the proportionality of factors in Cox proportional hazards models. Radiation status was treated as a stratification factor in the Cox regression model. TMZ has FDA approval for newly diagnosed GBM patients aged between 18-70. Subgro up analyses were performed for patients who were aged over 70. All p values were two-sided. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis System, version 9.2. MGMT was considered as promoter methylated if the methylation ratio was higher than 8, and unmethylated if below 8. RESULTS Patient Population Six hundred patients with newly diagnosed GBM underwent craniotomy between 1997 and 2006, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. One hundred eighty five patients received Gliadel (30.8%) after tumor resection. Methylation specific PCR was performed in 122 of the 185 patients (66%) because 63 patients did not have sufficient paraffin embedded tumor tissue for MGMT analysis. The characteristics of the patients and type of treatments are shown in Table 2. The clinical course of forty patients who had methylation of MGMT promoter was compared to 82 patients without promoter methylation of MGMT. The similarity of distributions among patients characteristics, and treatments between MGMT methylated and unmethylated is also shown in Table 2. There was a slightly male predominance in both groups. The median age of the MGMT methylated group was 65.5 years compared to 60.5 years in the non-MGMT methylated group (p=0.59). Most of the patients in both groups had KPS score of ≠¤ 80 (p=0.67). Most of the patients in both groups underwent gross total resection (GTR) (85% vs. 74% in the methylated and non-MGMT methylated group, respectively), (p=0.19). Most of the patients in the MGMT methylated and non-MGMT methylated groups received post-operative radiation therapy (RT) (80% and 72% respectively). However, there were 31 patients (25%) without radiation treatment recorded in their medical chart. Only 33% and 29% of MGMT methylated and non-MGMT patients, respectively, were treated with TMZ due to majority of patients was treated prior to 2005 when RT+ TMZ became the stadnadrd of care for the newly diagnosed GBM patients. Overall Survival The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the median OS for the122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM was 13.5 months (95% CI: 11.0, 14.5). Median OS for those with MGMT methylation was 13.9 months (95%CI: 9.5, 17.1) compared to 12.9 months (95%CI: 10.9, 14.5) (p= 0.86) in patients non methylated. Univariate and multivariate association of survival with treatment factor, baseline prognostic factors, and MGMT methylation status are shown in Table 3. There was a 15% reduction in hazard of death (Hazard ratio: 0.85, 95%CI: 0.56-1.31) for patients with MGMT methylated tumor compared to those with MGMT unmethylated tumor after adjusting for age, KPS, extent of resection, TMZ and RT. A subgroup analysis was performed among 35 patients who were 18-70 years old and treated with Gliadel, RT and TMZ ( Gliadel+ Stupp’s regimen) [1]. The median OS was 19.8 months (95% CI, 14.5, 22.2) in this subset of patients. There was no statistically significant difference in OS among these 35 patients with MGMT pr omoter methylation (median OS:20 months,95% CI: 9.2, 37.0), compared to patients without MGMT promoter methylation (median OS: 18.9 months, 95% CI: 11.9, 22.2), (Table 4). Only two out of 30 elderly patients aged above 70 years were treated with TMZ, one was MGMT methylated and another was not. Among these elderly patients, those with MGMT promoter methylation showed a significantly longer median survival of 13.5 months (95% CI, 0.49, 17.1) compared to 7.6 months (95% CI, 2.9, 9.4) when the MGMT promoter was non-methylated (p=0.027). A similar significant difference in median recurrence-free survival was also found in elderly patients where the median survival was 13.1 versus 7.6 months (p=0.01) for MGMT methylated and unmethylated, respectively. The overall median recurrence-free survival was 9.4 months (95%CI: 7.8-10.2) for all patients. There was no difference in RFS between patients 18-70 years old with and without MGMT methylation. DISCUSSION In this study we investigated the significance of MGMT methylation status in a series of 122 patients with newly diagnosed GBM who underwent surgical resection and implantation of Gliadel wafers. The results of our series show a reduction in hazard of death for patients who were MGMT methylated compared to non-methylated. Interestingly, this effect was much more profound in the elderly group of 35 patients who were older than 70 years old when they were diagnosed with GBM. Elderly patients who were MGMT methylated had significantly better OS, compared to non-methylated (13.5 vs. 7.6 months respectively, p=0.027). The methylation of the MGMT promoter region leads to a reduced ability to repair DNA damage induced by alkylating chemotherapeutic agents [7]. Methylation of the MGMT promoter was found to be associated with responsiveness to alkylating chemotherapeutic agents such as temozolomide [6] and BCNU [7], and an increase in OS and progression free survival. The median survival of patients who received the combination of Gliadel, temozolomide and radiation therapy in our cohort ranged between 18.9 to 20 months, six months greater than that for the radiation therapy and temozolomide historic cohort [1] (Figure1). For patients younger than 70 years old, the median survival of the MGMT methylated sub-group was slightly greater that MGMT non-methylated. KPS in a known prognostic factor for patients with brain tumors [8]. Most of the patients in our study cohort had poor KPS of less than 80. Still, our results were in line with the report of Lechapt-Zalcman et al. [9] who assessed the prognostic impact of MGMT promoter methylation in patients with newly diagnosed GBM that received Gliadel in addition to radiation therapy and temozolomide. The OS of their study cohort was 17.5 months. Patients with MGMT methylation had a significantly longer OS of 21.7 months compared with patients without MGMT methylation who had OS of 15.1 months. Two recent phase III clinical trials in the elderly age of patients with malignant astrocytoma, the NOA-08 [10] and Nordic trials [11], demonstrated that temozolomide therapy alone was not inferior to radiotherapy alone, and methylation of the MGMT gene promoter was associated with a benefit from temozolomide. However, there is a concern that combination therapy of radiation therapy and temozolomide may be less active and less well tolerated in the elderly population [12]. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-26981/National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) CE3 trial have suggested that with increasing age, the relative benefit of addition of temozolomide to radiotherapy decreases and the patients suffer from increased chemotherapy-associated side effect such as neutropenia, lymphocytopenia, thrombocytopenia , raised liver-enzyme concentrations infections and thromboembolic events. As opposed to systemic chemotherapy with its limitations, local delivery of Gliadel wafers may be promising in this subset of patients. Chaichana et al. compared 45 elderly patients who were treated with Gliadel to 88 elderly patients who did not receive Gliadel [13]. The survival for older patients who received Gliadel was significantly longer than for patients who did not receive Gliadel (8.7 months vs. 5.5 months respectively, p=0.007). The median survival of MGMT methylated in elderly patients in the current cohort was doubled. These results may support the use of Gliadel in this sub-population. Limitations There are several limitations to this study. Its retrospective nature carries a potential bias. Moreover, the time period of this study ended in 2006, only one year after temozolomide became the standard of care in the treatment of GBM, thus most of the patients were not treated with the combination of temozolomide and radiation therapy. Furthermore, because this is a tertiary referral center, there is a bulk of patients who were operated in this center, but received further neuro-oncology treatments elsewhere, near their home, and therefore, their complementary oncology treatment is not available. Still, this large and unique cohort of patients with newly diagnosed GBM who were operated in one tertiary center provide novel data that may assist in optimizing and personalizing the treatment for GBM patients.

Essay on Female Companions in The Awakening and A Dolls House

Importance of Female Companions in The Awakening and A Doll's House      Ã‚  Ã‚   Female companions are very important to the development of the main characters in Kate Chopin's The Awakening and in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House. Mademoiselle Reisz and Madame Ratignolle, in The Awakening, and Kristine Linde, in A Doll House, help Edna Pontellier and Nora Helmer discover their inner selves.    Mademoiselle Reisz, Madame Ratignolle, and Kristine Linde all act as role models for the protagonists. Edna deeply admires Mademoiselle Reisz's piano playing. When Edna hears Mademoiselle Reisz's playing, "the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body" (Chopin 35). Mademoiselle Reisz makes Edna see the strong emotions inside herself. Edna admires Madame Ratignolle's "comforting and outgoing nature" (Solomon 118). At the beginning of the novel, Edna wishes she could have Madame Ratignolle's easygoing nature.    Kristine Linde is a role model for Nora because of her independence. Kristine Linde has suppo...

Thomas Hardys Tess Of The Durbervilles Essay -- Thomas Hardy Tess Dur

Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The Durbervilles In this essay I will contrast and explain the description of Flintcomb Ash and Tolbothays Dairy. These two places are very important, because each place shows an important time in Tess' life. Hardy uses Tolbothays Dairy to represent the love and happiness she found and the chance for a new beginning after what happened with Alec. Alec raped her, he saw her as an object of desire. He took away her innocence. This was replaced with the burden of a child that dies. At this time, having a child out of wedlock was a form of public shame. In comparison, Flintcomb ash is where she was unhappy and shows us the audience a time of hard ship. Tess goes to Tolbothays because she cannot face any one in her own town, this is because Alec raped her. Then her baby dies her mother might have been partly to blame for the rape because she dressed her as an object of desire, because of all this happening Tess leaves and goes to Tolbothays Dairy there she hopes to start over again. Flintcomb Ash is a farm, She is forced to find work as a result of her husband (Angle) leaving her and going to Brazil. When Tess arrives at Talbothays she is feeling that there is great optimism and hope for the future. She has now recovered from her recent tragic experiences and feels stronger and healed. "Her hopes mingled with the Sunshine." This shows that she is happy and the colour yellow from the sun represents this. Hardy uses pathetic fallacy to represent the season and the greatness of the place in the narrate. It shows images of fertilely, a new start and a new life for Tess, this is a happy time for Tess. When Tess is at Tolbothays it is in the month of May, "thyme scented bird hatching mor... ...lec's appearance at the farm to represent this as she was also at a low point on her first meeting with Alec. In conclusion, Hardy has made these two different place (Talbothays and Flintcomb - Ash) very important parts in his novel because together with the use of colour, similes, metaphors, personification, pathetic fallacy and Hardy's good use of description, it helps us to create two different parts in Tess' life. One of which was full of love with Angle, happiness and sunny days spent at Talbothays. But in total opposite to this she also spent an equally important part of her life at Flintcomb - Ash. Where she felt nothing but pain and suffering in the long cold hard months she spent there, to give an image of her break up with Angel and the thought that she may be left with a future of suffering compared with what she could have had at Talbothays.

The Role of Fear Depicted in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Essay

The play â€Å"The Crucible† is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play â€Å"the crucible† and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean â€Å"the practice of making accusations of disloyalty†, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society. The witch hunt in the crucible is initiated when Abigail and her friends fear the consequences of their ‘dancing’ in the forest. This connects to McCarthyism as the HUAC is represented by the judges and the ‘accuses’ (the girls) are representatives of Elia Kazan and others like him. The theocratic society of Salem is what the girls fear as the forest is seen as the devils resting place and the puritan nature of the town forbid dancing as it was seen as ‘vain enjoyment’ which as Miller himself states at the beginning of the novel to not be allowed. The character of Mary Warren begs the girls to just admit they were dancing as â€Å"†¦you’ll only be whipped for dancin’†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , but as Abigail is questioned and Parris mentions the kettle and how he believed â€Å"†¦there to be some movement- in the soup†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , the devil becomes prominent in the conversation. This is due to Abigail fearing that she will be bl amed for devil worshipp... ...h, his wife, does not want to admit her husband’s deceit, proctor is accused of lying to the court. When Proctor confesses his sin of lechery he feels better and his internal guilt is freed. This is different to the end of the play where he signed the confession to witchcraft. He later rips it up as could not live with himself if he were to allow Abigail to get away with her lies, through confessing to something he did not do. In ripping up the confession he is also able to keep his good name which he says at the end is all he has left, his name, and he does not want to give it away. In conclusion, the fear generated by Abigail and the other girls, which began initially with their own fear of punishment, caused the town’s fear and lead to John proctor’s external and internal conflict. Therefore making true the statement the prime instigator of conflict is fear.

Individual Rights Essay

When I am at my placement which is a day care centre for the elderly, I treat patients with respect; I do this by talking politely to the patients, knocking on the door before I entered patient’s room and asking them how they wish to be named (e. g. Mr, Mrs) To be treated as an individual: While I was at placement I treat everyone as an individual, I did this by talking to the patients and finding out about their interests and watching how they act. I did not treat all the patients the same. Just because 2 were diabetic I didn’t stop all patients having sweets. To be treated in a dignified way: I tried to maintain the patient’s dignity by taking them aside if they wanted to tell me something or closing the door behind them if they were going to the toilet. When the patients said or did something laughable, I didn’t laugh at them. To be treated equally and not to be discriminated against: Everyone at placement is different based on their religion, race, sexuality, disabilities or age. But I didn’t not discriminate them against this or treat them unfairly. To be allowed privacy: If the patients wanted privacy when I was with them during my time on placement I would have closed the door which would have blocked other people out from seeing into the room or would have gone outside the room with the patient where they could have privacy to do what they wanted. To be cared for in a way that meets out needs and takes account of preferences and choice: I take it into account what patients say to me and about their choices. If they wish to do a certain activity, I would have gone out of my way to do as they wanted. To be able to communicate using a preferred method: At placement I communicate in which method the patient wanted, if a patient wants to write on a piece of paper and have a conversation this way that is what we would have done. To be allowed access to information about themselves: When at placement patient information is confidential but if the patient asks something about themselves, they were give the information as this may have help them through something. To be safeguarded from danger or harm: Patients should always be in an environment which they feel safe in; they should feel like they are safe in the building and safe with the people caring for them. During my time at placement I have reassured patients when they are feeling unsafe and calmed patients when they are worried about their safety. An example of this; when patients see people entering the centre they worry about who they are and what they are doing here, I then reassure them.

Emerging Markets in International Business

[pic] Introduction: The buzz words in the international trade are India and China. They jointly account for 2. 4 billion people in the world i. e. about 40% of the world’s population, and an estimated future GDP growth of 8-10%. Modern economists believe that the future of international trade lies in the economies of emerging markets like India, China, Iraq, Brazil, Africa etc. Economist Thomas L Friedman has rightly said that there are three technological events that have contributed to the growth of these economies- The Personal Computer, through which individuals could become authors of their own content in digital form. The Internet – that provides the convenience of sending information to any part of the world. Lastly Software Manufacturing – which has made everyone’s computer interoperable. Convergence of these technologies have made economies which were once underscored as â€Å"Third World Economies† as the emerging hubs for International Business. However these economies are faced with new challenges when competing globally, such as lack of infrastructure, quality in education and corporate governance. The challenges that showcase their weakness can be an investment opportunity, thus making them viable markets worth venturing into. Objective: Our study focuses on the significance and impact of new markets in international trade on countries, companies and also on individuals. This study will also aim at understanding the trade problems faced by them in this area and to propose ways and measures to tackle them. Methodology: Our methodology comprises of information search, observations, questionnaires and opinion interviews with industrial experts and faculties. Various statistical measures will also be used to analyse the data. Outcome of the research: Through this study, we intend to bring out the different roles of emerging markets in international trade. These measures are taken via questionnaires; opinion of industrial experts, faculties specialized in international business and pre dominantly from few exporters who focus on international trade. We believe that the outcome of this study will help the corporate and individuals to prepare themselves to overcome the problems they are facing in the emerging battlegrounds of international trade. INTRODUCTION: The term â€Å"emerging markets† is used to describe a nation's social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization. The Center for Knowledge Societies defines Emerging Economies as those â€Å"regions of the world that are experiencing rapid informationalization under conditions of limited or partial industrialization. † Currently, there are approximately 28 emerging markets in the world, the largest being those of India and China. Examples of other emerging markets include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Russia, some Arab Gulf States and South Africa. The rapid integration into world markets by six of the largest non-OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) economies (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa, together known as the BRIICS) was an important component of globalisation during the past two decades. Economic incentives across world markets and in the BRIICS in particular, have been aligned more closely with countries’ and businesses’ genuine strengths. From the past few decades, all of the BRIICS have opened their economies significantly and improved their connectedness to world trade networks. The substantial reduction of trade barriers at the border can be seen, for example, in the decline of the average applied tariffs on non-agricultural products. However, the pace varied across these countries. Dispersion of tariffs also fell, contributing to a further reduction in economic distortion. However, in this study we focus on the emerging engines in the Asian Business – India and China, which together accounts for 2. 5 billion people, China and India are today the driving forces of growth in the midst of rapid economic transformation in the global economy. The Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) designed to provide early signals of turning points in business cycles, rose by 0. 4 point for India in April 2009, and 0. 9 for China. For much of human history, what China and India had in common was the fact that they were the richest nations on earth. Long before Europe emerged, China and India had higher standards of living and more numerous technical and scientific inventions. Yet starting in the early nineteenth century this began to dramatically change with both countries experiencing a long relative decline, eclipsed ultimately by Europe and North America. By mid twentieth century, both countries were relatively poor. The reversal of China’s fortunes began in 1978 when Deng Xiao Ping came to power and instituted market oriented economic policies and that of India began in the early 1990s when, in response to a financial crisis, the government reversed decades of socialistic policies and began a gradual path toward market orientation. Since those policy reversals, both countries have grown rapidly. For the first time since the early nineteenth century, they have expanded their share of global GDP. [pic] Figure 1: Global GDP share expressed as a percentage from 1600-2001 for the key players in global economy. Global investment firm, Moody’s say that driven by renewed growth in India and China, the world economy is beginning to recover from one of the worst economic downturns in decades. The Chinese GDP has risen by 7. 9 per cent while that of India has grown by 6. 1 per cent in the April-June 2009-10 periods. Moody’s has now revised India’s growth forecast to 6. 4 per cent for the current fiscal. FACTORS AFFECTING CHINA’S GROWTH: International trade makes up a sizeable portion of China's overall economy. The course of China's foreign trade has experienced considerable transformations since the early 1950s. In 1950 more than 70 percent of the total trade was with non-Communist countries, but by 1954, a year after the end of the Korean War, the situation was completely reversed, and trade with Communist countries stood at about 75 percent. POLITICAL REFORMS The Chinese Economy was on the forefront of economic greatness under the periods of Mao Zedong from 1949 – 1978 who introduced the â€Å"Great Leap Forward† under this economy, the country was a centrally planned economy. Though this idea of planned economy was inculcated in the economy, the intervention of state in agriculture led to massive corruption, ultimately leading to the deaths of millions of people due to starvation. Market Oriented Mixed Economy: This led to a period rule under Deng Xiaoping , who introduced the â€Å"market oriented mixed economy†-based on private property . Under this system China saw much growth in both national and international trade. Farmlands were privatized and agriculture was now a concern of both the state and the individual. A market economy is an economy based on the division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system set by supply and demand. This is often contrasted with a planned economy, in which a central government determines the price of goods and services using a fixed price system. Market economies are also contrasted with mixed economy where the price system is not entirely free but under some government control or are heavily regulated and may sometimes be combined with state-led economic planning. SOCIAL REFORMS: Another area which is pivotal in the area of growth is the social and cultural condition which is important to enhance the growth. One Child Policy: This is a measure which was started in China to curb the population explosion in China. China’s one child family policy, which was first announced in 1979, has remained in place despite the extraordinary political and social changes that have occurred over the past two decades. It emerged from the belief that development would be compromised by rapid population growth and that the sheer size of China’s population together with its young age structure presented a unique challenge. Most population growth rate targets were abandoned in the early 1980s, and from 1985 the official goal was to keep the population at around 1. 2 billion by 2000. Protection for Private Property Rights: Prior to 1978, private ownership of property was not encouraged at any cost. However later the government started to proportionate and distribute private property. Harmonious Society: This is a socio-economic vision that is said to be the ultimate end result of Chinese leader Hu Jintao's signature ideology of the Scientific Development Concept. It serves as the ultimate goal for the ruling Communist Party of China along with Xiaokang society, which aims for a â€Å"basically well-off† middle-class oriented society. First proposed by the Chinese government under the Hu-Wen Administration during the 2005 National People's Congress, the idea changed China's focus from economic growth to overall societal balance and harmony. Grasping the Large and Letting the Small Go Policy: These reforms (1996) included efforts to corporatize state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and to downsize the state sector. The â€Å"grasping the large† component indicated that policy-makers should focus on maintaining state control over the largest state-owned enterprises (which tended to be controlled by the central government). â€Å"Letting the small go† meant that the central government should relinquish control over smaller state-owned enterprises. Relinquishing control over these enterprises took a variety of forms: giving local governments authority to restructure the firms, privatizing them, or shutting them down. ECONOMIC REFORMS: One of the main factors which contributed to the economic growth of China was the Economic liberalization which was started in 1978. Its economy changed into a market oriented mixed economy. They implemented several instruments to increase their economic growth. Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s): China was the first country to introduce SEZ’s and they followed a western style of management which resulted in survival of best in the market. It is a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws. The category ‘SEZ' covers a broad range of more specific zone types, including Free Trade Zones (FTZ), Export Processing Zones (EPZ), Free Zones (FZ), Industrial Estates (IE), Free Ports, Urban Enterprise Zones and others. Usually the goal of a structure is to increase foreign direct investment by foreign investors. Special Economic Zones were founded by the central government under Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s. The most successful Special Economic Zone in China, Shenzhen, has developed from a small village into a city with a population over 10 million within 20 years. Five Year Plans: The economy was shaped by the Chinese Communist Party through the plenary sessions of the Central Committee and national congresses. The party plays a leading role in establishing the foundations and principles of Chinese communism, mapping strategies for economic development, setting growth targets, and launching reforms. Planning is a key characteristic of centralized, communist economies, and one plan established for the entire country normally contains detailed economic development guidelines for all its regions. China is in its 11th Five year plan guideline (2006-2010) Private Ownership: With production being introduced in the agricultural sector, private ownership of production assets became legal, although many major non-agricultural and industrial facilities were still state-owned and centrally planned. The government also encouraged non-agricultural activities, such as village enterprises in rural areas, promoted more self-management for state-owned enterprises, increased competition in the marketplace and facilitated direct contact between Chinese and foreign trading enterprises. The development of the private sector was allowed and was permitted to compete with state firms in a number of service sectors, and increasingly in infrastructure operations, such as construction. Foreign direct Investment: China has principal attractions like low-cost labor and an enormous domestic market of more than 1. 2 billion consumers. The investment climate has been opened up gradually. In the 1980s, foreigners were restricted to export-oriented joint ventures with Chinese firms. In the early 1990s, they were allowed to manufacture goods for sale in the domestic Chinese market; and by the mid-1990s; the establishment of wholly foreign-owned enterprises was permitted. China's accession to the WTO forces the government to open up the services sector. In 2004, China being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world attracted actual FDI of more than US$60. 6 billion, up 13 per cent from the previous year. As of 2009, China has around US$ 80 billion alone-the highest FDI in the world. Chinese economic stimulus plan: The stimulus package announced by the central government of the People's Republic of China on 9 November 2008 was its biggest move to stop the global financial crisis from hitting the world's third largest economy. The State Council had approved a plan to invest 4 trillion Yuan in infrastructure and social welfare by the end of 2010. The stimulus package will be invested in key areas such as housing, rural infrastructure, transportation, health and education, environment, industry, disaster rebuilding, income-building, tax cuts and finance. Export Driven Economy: China’s export was US $0. 30 trillion higher than its imports. The country mainly drives the economy through its exports. It also had a healthy Foreign Exchange Reserve of US $ 2. 1 trillion and is the 3rd largest GDP with $4. 4 trillion. Government Owned Banks: One of the reasons that China was able to drive its economy through exports was because of the efficient controlling of the money supply by the banks, even in the midst of recession. China has not let its banking system run roughshod over its productive economy. Chinese banks work for the people rather than the reverse. China hasn’t allowed its banking sector to become so powerful, so influential, and so large that it can call the shots or highjack the bailout. In simple terms, the government preferred to answer to its people and put their interests first before any vested interest or group. And that is why Chinese banks are lending to the people and their businesses in record numbers. The Chinese stimulus was large compared to the U. S. and has been much more effectively channeled into employment than that in the U. S. Manufacturing as a low-cost producer: China is well known for its low cost products. The production rates of electronics and other goods are the lowest in China when compared to other countries, which is mainly because of the low cost of production by the manufacturer. The methods used in production such as poke-yoke (error free) have helped them to attain low costs in production. Another reason for low cost production is the cheap labor available in China. Infrastructure: The infrastructure facilities provided by government to the companies contributed immensely to their growth. The period since 1978 saw rapid industrialization from 53% in 1981 to 8% in 2001. FACTORS AFFECTING INDIA’S GROWTH POLITICAL REFORMS: India celebrated 60 years of Independence on August 15, 2007. It is now the second fastest growing major economy, after China. It has also caught media attention because companies like Tata Steel acquired Corus; India is now the second largest investor by number of projects in London; and Mr. L. N. Mittal – an Indian – owns the largest steel company in the world. Visionary Leaders: It all began in 1947, the year of Independence, where India’s first prime minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru chose Democracy which was modeled on Westminster. The Soviet Union however presented an economic model that appealed in terms of growth. The Planned Economy: Self – sufficiency and fear of economic dependence on foreigners after two centuries of overseas rule shaped early thinking at Independence. Nehru modeled the economy on Soviet socialist lines of central control and state-run heavy-industry firms dominating the economy to avoid reliance on the West. The License Raj: During the 1950-1990, in order to promote self sufficiency policies of high import tariffs and duties, controls on production through licenses, public sector monopolies and isolating India to the outside world were followed. The unintended results were a shackled economy. Poor economic growth resulted due to the economy stifled by licensing, socialist red tape, excessive bureaucracy and regulation (â€Å"the License Raj†). Many state run monopolies were run by bureaucrats with little commercial experience. Corruption was nurtured. Private industry was starved of badly needed funds that went to state-run firms, often loss makers. The result was the poor allocation of scarce resources to unproductive channels. Competition was curbed and consumers fared badly. Balance of Payments crisis in 1991: Crisis in 1991 pushed the country to near bankruptcy. In return for an IMF bailout, gold was transferred to London as collateral, the Rupee devalued and economic reforms were forced upon India. That low point was the catalyst required to transform the economy through badly needed reforms to unshackle the economy. Controls started to be dismantled, tariffs, duties and taxes progressively lowered, state monopolies broken, the economy was opened to trade and investment, private sector enterprise and competition were encouraged and globalisation was slowly embraced. The reforms process continues today and is accepted by all political parties, but the speed is often held hostage by coalition politics and vested interests. SOCIAL REFORMS Agriculture: India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 16. % of the GDP in 2007, employed 60% of the total workforce and despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, it is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India. The introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds after 1965 and the increased use of fertilizers and irrigation known collectively as the Green Revolution, provided the increase in production needed to make India self-sufficient in food grains, thus improving agriculture in India. Removing Socio- Economic Barriers: The biggest challenge in the period of LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) in 1991 was the removal of social and economic barriers, through a variety of measures which included family planning, economic welfare programmes, women empowerment initiatives, midday meal scheme, Rural Employment guarantee scheme, Compulsory Education, Union’s intervention in the State etc. Mixed Economy: India has adopted the concept of a mixed economy, in which both the private and public enterprises are given freedom to co-exist. Prior to 1991, the country was grappling itself with unwanted bureaucracy, which tried to hamper the growth in India leading widening gaps in the Indian culture. Population Conscious: A country with a billion marks in population has started to tread on a road in order to reduce the population. Families are encouraged to have 2-3 children, and the government is not too keen on an impenitent restriction in childbirth like China. Progressive Economy: India is a progressive economy, where emphasis is made on the people’s growth. All laws of the country are spearheaded to making India a better place for Indians to live in. Government controls have been reduced on foreign trade and investment; privatization of domestic output has proceeded slowly but steadily over the years. ECONOMIC REFORMS: India Inc s stupendous growth can be attributed to ‘ India Economic Reform ‘ earnest in July 1991. The balance of payments crisis opened the way for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) program that led to major ‘ India Economic Reform ‘. The foreign-exchange reserves recovered quickly and arrested the crisis related IMF and World Bank. Some of these factors which influenced the reforms were: Balance Of Payments Crisis: Balance of Payments crisis in 1991 pushed the country to near bankruptcy. In return for an IMF bailout, gold was transferred to London as collateral, the Rupee devalued and economic reforms were forced upon India. That low point was the catalyst required to transform the economy through badly needed reforms to unshackle the economy. Controls started to be dismantled, tariffs, duties and taxes progressively lowered, state monopolies broken, the economy was opened to trade and investment, private sector enterprise and competition were encouraged and globalization was slowly embraced. Revenue Deficit: India’s biggest problem arose out of the fact that it had huge revenue deficits. From 1950- 1980, the budget was characterized by Revenue surplus and Capital account deficits. The governments voluntarily allowed Revenue deficits use. It was caused by excessive employment in the government sector, mounting subsides, growing interest burden, unequal pricing of goods and services by the private sector. They tackled the problem by downsizing the employees in the public sector. Fiscal deficit: The measures to reduce the fiscal measures were started in 1991 – 1992. They initially reduced the fertilizer and food subsides. Then in 1995 the government reduced public expenditure in social welfare. Deficit Financing: The concept of printing currencies was curbed in tackling problems of Fiscal financing, which was in fact crippling the economy by the means of unwanted money supply. RBI’s measures: The RBI managed to control the money supply in India by Bank rate, Cash reserve ratio, and by Open market operation. Tax Reforms: †¢ Expanding the tax base by including the service sector. †¢ Reducing the rates of direct taxes in India †¢ Abolishing Export subsides †¢ Lowering import duties †¢ Value Added tax †¢ Tax incentives for Infrastructure and Exports Special Economic Zones: is a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws. An SEZ is a trade capacity development tool, with the goal to promote rapid economic growth by using tax and business incentives to attract foreign investment and technology. Today, there are approximately 3,000 SEZs operating in 120 countries, which account for over US$ 600 billion in exports and about 50 million jobs. By offering privileged terms, SEZs attract investment and foreign exchange, spur employment and boost the development of improved technologies and infrastructure. There are 13 functional SEZs and about 61 SEZs, which have been approved and are under the process of establishment in India. The SEZ policy was first introduced in India in April 2000, as a part of the Export-Import (â€Å"EXIM†) policy of India. Considering the need to enhance foreign investment and promote exports from the country and realizing the need that level playing field must be made available to the domestic enterprises and manufacturers to be competitive globally Divestment: The government also started the process of divesting which is a way by which the government reduces its interest in assts for financial objectives. It is mostly done so that the companies would divulge their interests in its core businesses. Chinese Experience: The reforms in India's foreign investment and external trade sectors followed the Chinese experience with external economic reforms. †¢ In the industrial sector, industrial licensing was cut, leaving only 18 industries subject to licensing. Industrial regulation was rationalized. †¢ Abolishing in 1992 the Controller of Capital Issues which decided the prices and number of shares that firms could issue. †¢ Introducing the SEBI Act of 1992 and the Security Laws (Amendment) which gave SEBI the legal authority to register and regulate all security market intermediaries. Starting in 1994 of the National Stock Exchange as a computer-based trading system which served as an instrument to leverage reforms of India's other stock exchanges. The NSE emerged as India's largest exchange by 1996. †¢ Reducing tariffs from an average of 85 percent to 25 percent, and rolling back quantitative controls. (The rupee was made convertible on trade account. ) †¢ Encouraging foreign direct investment by increasing the maximum limit on share of foreign capital in joint ventures from 40 to 51 percent with 100 percent foreign equity permitted in priority sectors. Streamlining procedures for FDI approvals, and in at least 35 industries, automatically approving projects within the limits for foreign participation. †¢ Opening up in 1992 of India's equity markets to investment by foreign institutional investors and permitting Indian firms to raise capital on international markets by issuing Global Depository Receipts (GDRs). †¢ Marginal tax rates were reduced. †¢ Privatization of large, inefficient and loss-inducing government corporations was initiated. FACTORS HAMPERING CHINA’S GROWTH: Low level of education The level of education is an area of concern, where the population is dominant of 30-40 age barrier which causes serious hampering in the economic growth. Language problem One of the main problems that the Chinese people facing is the language barrier. English language is not popular in china and the people in china are behind India in the language proficiency of English. So when they have trade between other countries, the medium of language becomes a problem for them. Poor living conditions One of China’s most serious problems is that over the past 50 years China’s leaders have constructed two China’s: a modern wealthy China and a backward rural poor China. This â€Å"house divided† is a major weakness in contemporary China and to unite this house into a major Asian power will take enormous effort and resources and may require decades to accomplish. Low level of institutional infrastructure and corporate governance: The government is primarily one where the government has maximum amount of control on almost any level of economy. So if greater autonomy is not given, the growth tends to be very slow. Necessity of skilled labor: Even though labor cost is perceived to be low, the skilled labor remains a serious question to be analyzed. The necessity skills are very much necessary in the sectors of manufacturing and industry. The country severely faces many problems with respect to skilled labor. FACTORS HAMPERING INDIA’S GROWTH: Poverty level: According to the a 2005 World Bank estimate, 42% (456 million Indians)of India's falls below the international poverty line of $1. 5 a day (PPP, in nominal terms Rs. 21. 6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14. 3 in rural areas); having reduced from 60% in 1980. According to the criterion used by the Planning Commission of India 24. 5% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2006–2007, down from 51. 3% in 1977–1978, and 36% in 1993-1994 While poverty rates in India are high, they are not on a par with what neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh ex perience. The main reasons for this are large population, and low literacy level. Lack of Resources Natural resources are derived from the environment. Many of them are essential for our survival while others are used for satisfying our wants. Natural resources may be further classified in different ways. On the basis of origin, resources may be divided into: †¢ Biotic – Biotic resources are those obtained from the biosphere. Minerals such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they were formed from decayed organic matter. †¢ Abiotic – Abiotic resources comprise of non-living things. Examples include land, water, air and minerals such as gold, iron, copper, silver etc. lack of hese resources makes a huge difference in the growth of India. So now India has to depend on renewable resources. On the basis of ownership, resources can be classified into: individual, community, national, and international Individual resources: Process Resources The following types of resources can execute an activity within a process. Tangible resource – Conventional resources like plants, equipments , IT infrastructure etc. Intangible resource – Increasingly important resource type including brands and patents and India is lacking these resources. Infrastructure A well-knit and coordinated system of transport plays an important role in the sustained economic growth of a country. India has a well-developed transport network comprising rail, road, coastal shipping, air transport etc. The commercialization of infrastructure is not progressing fast enough to provide decent living conditions to citizens at large. Lack of Capital Domestic demand in India is rising, but the country does not have the matching supply, making it essential for it to rely on foreign capital. India is in the early stages of a new economic cycle†¦ It offers a delectable mix of improving political backdrop, strong structural drivers of growth, and accelerating domestically-driven growth, Unlike China, India is a supply constraint and will have to continue relying on foreign capital†¦ Barring any dislocating effect of global events, foreign inflows should continue although at a slower pace. Political problems The main political problems t. hat India faces is the political instability in the country. The decisions which one political party has taken will be removed by the next government, which leads to instability in the process or activity which is on the way. And other problems are lack of visionary leader, who can lead the country to become a super power. CONCLUSION: Both the countries India and China will grow rapidly, taking a much larger share of global GDP. In both countries, the domestic market will become increasingly attractive to global companies. The division of labor between India and China will become blurred as both countries excel in services and manufacturing. Trade between India and China will expand, enabling companies in both countries to achieve critical mass. For global companies selling in these markets, this means more local competition. Both countries will create new world-class companies that will be competitive with companies based in the West. For some Western companies, this will create new challenges. Both countries, while remaining relatively poor, will experience rapid growth of the middle class, creating vast new opportunities for Western companies to sell in those markets. If the above challenges can be tackled in the perspective of both India and China’s growth, then surely we see both the country’s contribution in the world economy as significantly large. We firmly believe that India and China will become world super powers by 2025, but the question is who is first and who is second†¦ ———————– NITTE Meenakshi Institute of Technology ALBERT JACOB and JAISON JAMES KRISTU JAYANTI COLLEGE, BANGALORE [email  protected] com Emerging Markets in International Trade THEME International Business & the World Economy – Issues and Innovations