Thursday, December 26, 2019

Emotional Learning Disability And Physical Education - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1556 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/05/23 Category Education Essay Level High school Topics: Physical Education Essay Did you like this example? Emotional disturbance, as defined by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a condition demonstrating one or more of the following features over a long time, to the extent it severely impacts a studentrs educational performance. The first of which is an inability to learn aside from intellectual, sensory, or health factors, followed by an inability to engage in adequate interpersonal relationships with other students and teachers. Additionally, students with emotional disturbance may display inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, a general inescapable mood of unhappiness or depression, as well as a propensity to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems (Algozzine, 2017).. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Emotional Learning Disability And Physical Education" essay for you Create order If a child demonstrates one or more of the characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, the child is considered disturbed and eligible for special education services. Over the years, while the relative number of students identified as qualifying for special education in other categories, such as other specific learning disabilities and autism, has ebbed and flowed, the number of students acknowledged to be eligible for special education in the category of emotional disturbance has remained constant (MacFarlane, Woolfson, 2013). The emotionally disturbed child is the student who, after receiving supportive educational assistance and counseling services available to all students, still exhibits persistent and consistent severe to very severe behavior issues affecting their ability to learn and interact with others. The behavior issues associated with said student cannot be attributed primarily to physical, sensory or intellectual shortcomings (Algozzine, 2017). Students with emotional and behavior disturbances are more likely to face disciplinary exclusions and receive lower academic grades than other students with disabilities. Only 20% of students with emotional disturbances ages 14 to 21 who exited the school system in the last decade received a high school diploma. Similarly, these students experienced disproportionate rates of arrest by the justice system (Smith, Katsiyannis, Ryan, 2011). Learning disabilities are the most common type of disability among special education students today. For many years, almost half of special education students were identified as having a specific learning disability as their primary disability. The share of special education students with learning disabilities dropped from 46 percent in 2000-01 to 38 percent in 2009-10, but these students still continued to make up the single largest disability group (Aron Loprest, 2012). Children with learning disabilities are characterized by lasting feelings of isolation and social rejection over time. Students who are less frequently chosen by peers at school have fewer opportunities to interact and build friendships, leading to increased loneliness, poor social behavior and emotional distress. Conversely, having positive relationships with other students leads to improved mental and psychological adjustment (Cavioni, Grazzani, Ornaghi, 2017). Students with learning disabilities seem to have more difficulty identifying expressions of emotions such as anger, fear, joy, and embarrassment, as well as correctly interpreting social situations and the behavioral consequences of certain actions. In addition, students with learning disabilities are more likely to manifest behavior problems, such as difficulty in maintaining positive social interactions and aggressive behaviors toward other students (Martin, 2013). Education is important for all children, but for those with disabilities or special needs it could mean the difference between a socially fulfilling, intellectually stimulating, and productive life and a future deprived of these qualities. Additionally, education has the potential to positively affect a studentrs ability to advocate for themselves, manage chronic health conditions, and learn how to deal with a variety of problems in childhood and later in life. There are varying opinions on how to properly educate children with learning disabilities (Aron Loprest, 2012). A popular approach in the education of children with learning disabilities is the concept of inclusive education. According to this ideology, all students belong and are valued members of their classroom, and school communities at large. Proponents of inclusive education believe that when students are segregated, the opportunity to interact with a broad range of differences and interests is lost. On the other hand, inclusion creates connections between students, enabling them to pursue shared objectives. Inclusion realizes all students are unique, giving them the feeling they belong, not only in their class, but in the outside world (Specht, 2013). The self-esteem of children with learning disabilities may be negatively affected by classroom isolation and the difficulties of dealing with the demands of school. Children with learning disabilities tend to compare their performance with their peers, often seeing themselves as different, less valued and less skilled (Cavioni, Grazzani, Ornaghi, 2017). Since 1975, there has been a push for inclusive education classes in which students with disabilities are educated alongside their classmates without disabilities in the least restrictive environment. The level of inclusion is up for discussion, with some seeing inclusion as full-time integration, and others viewing it as mainstreaming by placing a student into special rotations for certain subjects such as art, music, or physical education, with the expressed purposed of aiding students in their ability to socialize with others. Some have describe inclusion as providing the support needed to ensure students with disabilities remain successful when they take part in general education classroom. Physical education is no exception to this practice. Despite their disabilities, students should have the opportunity to participate with other students in general physical education class (Umhoefer, Vargas, Beyer, 2015). PE teachers are tasked with ensuring students with disabilities, as well as the students without disabilities are equally successful in their classes. Many researchers have found teachers feel inadequately prepared to adapt and modify their lesson, especially when teaching combined groups of students (?–zer, et al., 2013). General physical educators often lack the support, knowledge, and skills necessary to develop appropriate and safe programs. This is not fair to the teacher, the students with disabilities, or the other students in the class. Children with disabilities have the right to be exposed to the same variety of activities, learning them to the best of their ability. In order to accomplish this, PE teachers must be highly qualified, possessing specific knowledge and skills to instruct children with and without disabilities in physical education (Lieberman, 2010). While most PE teachers support and express positive attitudes toward inclusion, the actual practice of inclusive physical education is not an easy task. PE teachers are often frustrated with their inability to cope with children with disabilities, expressing feelings of inadequacy. There are many benefits to inclusive physical education; especially considering the fact children with a disability are particularly at risk for physical inactivity (Simpson, Mandich, 2012). PE teachers must be adequately supported when including students with learning disabilities in PE. These supports include the presence of educational aids, as well as the ability to consult with special education specialists and school psychologists. Access to adapted and specialized sports equipment is equally important, in addition to adapting curriculum expectations to meet the students needs (Winnick Porretta, 2016). Effective strategies for instructing students with an emotional learning disability include having an effective lesson introduction, setting a positive tone for the remainder of the class, and providing a brief introduction with an anticipatory activity. Since students with emotional learning disability are easily distracted, it is important to properly position the equipment, teacher, and students to minimize distractions (Young, 2012). A special consideration should be made to safety, with any relevant safety rules explained and reiterated often, along with a clear explanation of consequences for any misuse of the equipment. Difficulty sustaining attention may be alleviated by limiting the number of new motor skills taught in a lesson to two or three, depending on their complexity. Research supports the use of visual support for children with behavioral disorders, especially in tandem with verbal instruction, examples may include pictures, diagrams, sign language, or other body movements used in addition to verbal information (Winnick, Porretta, 2016). PE teachers should provide frequent specific feedback, as well as keeping students motivated to stay on task maintaining motivation to stay on task. Other recommendations include establishing an entry routine, making transitions efficient, having a routine for gathering and dismissing students, providing very specific instructions, organizing equipment, and clearly marking boundaries for the playing area. Every effort must be made to group students in formations that fully utilize space and prevent long wait periods, as well as providing students with enough equipment or, if this is not feasible, create stations where students have the opportunity to work on a variety of skills (Young, 2012). In conclusion, the writer found children with emotional learning disability simply need an appropriate support system in order to take advantage of the benefits of participating in PE class. Despite some obvious challenges, students with learning disabilities must be made to feel like they belong, therefore inclusion in PE is extremely beneficial, affording all students an opportunity to not only engage in physical activity, but feel they are part of a group. PE teachers must work in conjunction with special education teachers and school psychologists, making up a unified team dedicated to ensuring the well being of all students. Though many PE teachers see themselves as poorly equipped to deal with students with learning disabilities, with proper support, they have the ability to truly make a difference in the lives of all their students, especially those with learning disabilities. Physical educators are able to provide a quality PE program to students with learning disabilities s imply by making modifications to their classes, paying special attention to minimizing distractions, as well as teaching all students specific classroom routines and behaviors.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

John Locke s Views On Private Property And Politics

Each Philosopher in the early modern world has different perspectives regarding private property and politics in society. Although John Locke, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Karl Marx/Frederick Engels are from different times their criticism are crucial onto the world. Being from different eras gives them a unique perspective of how one should rule or govern. Each philosopher displays his own ideas and can seemingly disagree with one another in their methods of government. Therefore when issues of malicious rulers, private property, and politics arise, each philosopher handles these situations differently in which they criticize their method to what they believe is the right way. Locke s views in the social environment would criticize†¦show more content†¦Machiavelli did not view all men equal. He believed that some men were a better fit to be rulers than others. Machiavelli felt this because of the corrupt government that was taken in action at that time so he knew that the government needed a ruler who can ensure stability and can properly manage it. These are the characteristics that the Prince had in Machiavelli’s book. An example from the book can be seen as the Judeo-Christian values as faulty in the state s success. Such visionary expectations, he held, bring the state to ruin, for we do not live in the world of the ought, the fanciful utopia, but in the world of is.(Machiavelli) The role of The Prince was not to gain integrity or virtue, but to guarantee security within the government. John Locke has a dissimilar opinion than Machiavelli. He is basically against Machiavelli because he believes that â€Å"an authoritarian government is unlawful and unjust to society.†(Locke) John Locke believes that† all men are created equal, have the right to own property and are naturally moral and rational.† Locke believed in a natural right to life, liberty, and property; â€Å"inherent rights to freedom and self-governance that no one can take away from people.† (Locke) He thinks that people should govern themselves and be accountable for their actions. Locke describes â€Å"political power as the right to make the laws for theShow MoreRelatedThe Second Treatise Of Government By John Locke1593 Words   |  7 Pagespublication The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke was the first to promote individualism over society. Though his ideas were considered as liberal, now are embraced by many conservative. 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John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the three philosophers that have the most developed view of human nature as it applies to government. a. Each of these philosophers has a literary work or works that look at human nature and its application to government. b. We will be examining Locke’s Second

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Project Management Contemporary Organization for Managing

Question: Discuss about the Project Management for Contemporary Organization for Managing. Answer: Project management has become a necessity of the contemporary organization for managing their external as well as internal projects. Huge cost of the inputs and scarcity of resources have forced companies to employ scientific tools and techniques for strategically monitoring projects. Effective project management techniques ensure completion of the projects within time and budget constraints by efficiently utilizing all the available resources. Over time project management techniques have evolved considerably reflecting the changes in the technology and business environment. The course has provided me an in-depth insight into the contemporary project management techniques necessary for successful completion of a project. This module has helped me to get accustomed with the emerging trend and patterns in the area of project management. The tools and techniques of Project management have strong practical implication in all the projects undertaken by the companies. In my opinion, project management techniques are finding greater acceptance due to growing emphasis for timely completion of the work assignments. The projects are becoming complex due to advancement in technology, changing requirements of the consumer and demand for new products and services. If not managed efficiently, a project can cause severe loss for the company and can even lead to winding up of business. Therefore a project is required to be managed scientifically for optimal utilization of resources. I have learned a lot of things from the module of Project Management which will help me to oversee project assigned to me in my work life. I have come to know that a detailed and comprehensive plan is necessary to formulate before initia ting any particular project. I will try to employ the principles of project management in all work assignments to ensure their completion before schedule. There are five phases of a project Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Control and Closure. These steps are followed strictly in executing the large projects of an organization. The learning from this course has changed my perspective of looking into a project. I came to know that a project should be viewed in terms of time-bound deliverables. This course has taught me that project can be external or internal to an organization. A project should be divided into a number of sub-projects for effectively and efficiently managing all necessary aspects related to it. Again all tasks and activities comprising a particular project need to be organized and managed employing the principles of project management. I will conduct an extensive preliminary analysis of the project in question for assessing the feasibility in terms of profit and loss. If I find from the analysis that undertaking a particular project is not profitable for the company, I will recommend planning team to further investigate in detail to reach a final conclusion. If the investigation reveals that the project has potential to gain dividends, then I can proceed with finalizing the resources requir ed for pursuing the project. I also learned that managing closure is also crucial for any project. It helps in smoothly allocating the resource from one project to another project. In my opinion time is an important factor which is often ignored in planning and execution compared to cost. Time should also be considered as important as cost because the delay in a project ultimately adds to the cost. Modern project management tools and techniques like CPM and PERT can be used for setting starting and finishing timelines of a project. These techniques are also used for monitoring activities and tasks during execution and calculating any deficit. This is one aspect which is going to be very useful in keeping a close tab on all activities and tasks in my future work assignment. I think using these techniques will greatly reduce the risk up to a great extent. Apart from it, this will contribute in ensuring effective and efficient utilization of resources. I can manage multiple projects simultaneously by applying principles of project management in my projects. Project management is the most sought after management principle owing to complex nature of modern day projects. It not only ensures the timely completion of the project, but it also leads to smooth termination of a project. Modern project management tools and techniques use statistical and mathematical principles for scientifically monitoring and controlling all activities and the tasks comprising a project. The learning from this course has immensely helped me in developing skills and abilities that will guide me in managing projects in future. All techniques taught to me are very much relevant in relation to my future work assignment.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Marginal cost curve Essay Example

Marginal cost curve Essay Marginal cost curve A curve that graphically represents the relation between the marginal cost incurred by a firm in the short-run product of a good or service and the quantity of output produced. Diagram: Marginal cost curve. * The MC curve is generally increasing. This is due to the decreasing  marginal productivity  of   labour. (Referred from econ http://www. econmodel. com downloaded on 14th May 2013). b. ) The Average Cost (AC) The average cost is the total cost divided by the number of units produced. Average cost curve – The graphical representation of average cost.Diagram: Average cost curve. The AC curve is U-shaped. This is because the ATC is made up of AVC, which is increasing, and AFC, which are decreasing. At low production quantities the decline in AFC dominates, but eventually the increasing AVC overwhelms the average costs. c. )The Average Fixed Cost (AFC) A cost that does not change with an increase or decrease in the amount of goods or services prod uced. Fixed costs are expenses that have to be paid by a company, independent of any business activity. It is one of the two components of the total cost of a good or service, along with variable cost.Average fixed cost curve A curve that graphically represents the relation between average fixed cost incurred by a firm in the short-run product of a good or service and the quantity produced. Diagram: Average Fixed Cost Curve: * AFC curve is always declining with quantity. This is because the same amount of fixed costs  is being averaged over a growing quantity of output, leading to a decline in the curve. * (Referred by web. pedia http:// www. amosweb. com downloaded on 14th May 2013). d). The Average Variable Cost (AVC) A cost that change with the change in volume of activity of an organization.Average variable cost  (AVC) is an  economics  term that refers to a firms  variable costs  (labour, electricity, etc. ) divided by the quantity (Q) of  output  produced. Va riable costs are those costs which vary with output. Diagram: Average variable cost curve: * The AVC is decreasing when it is above the MC curve and increasing when it is below the MC curve. This is because AVC is essentially the average of the marginal  costs of each unit of output. This will lead to an increasing or a U-shaped AVC curve. (Referred by http://en. wikipedia. org downloaded on 14th May).Answer 2. ) Relationship between the law of diminishing returns and the concept of economies of scale: * Law of diminishing returns. The tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved. The law of diminishing returns say that each time we do something to receive a benefit, the benefit will be less and less. (Reference – Michale W. Newell, Marina N, Grashina : The Project Management). * Features. The main features of this law are as follows:- . ) Only one v ariable input is varied and all others are held constant. 2. ) No change in technique of production. 3. ) Variable proportions production functions. It means more of a variable factor can be used with the constant input of the fixed factors. 4. ) All units of variable factor are homogeneous. 5. ) Adequate or standard doses of variable factor are applied. * Explanation. The law of diminishing returns means that the productivity of available  declines as more is used in  short-run production, holding one or more inputs fixed.This law has a direct bearing on  market supply, thesupply price, and the  law of supply. If the productivity of a variable input declines, then more is needed to produce a given quantity of output, which means the cost of production increases, and a higher supply price is needed. The direct relation between price and quantity produced is the essence of the law of supply. Total Product Curve: The curve labelled TP in the top panel is the  total product c urve, the total number of goods produced per hour for a given amount of labour.The increasing slope of the TP is attributable to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Marginal Product Curve: The Marginal curve indicates how the total production of goods changes when an extra worker is hired. The negatively-sloped portion of the MP curve is a direct attributable to the law of diminishing marginal returns. Average Product Curve: The  average product curve indicates the average number of goods produced by workers. The negatively-sloped portion of the AP curve is indirectly caused by the law of diminishing marginal returns.As marginal product declines, due to the law of diminishing marginal returns, it also causes a decrease in average product. * Arleen J. Hoag,  John H. Hoag(2006), Business and Economics, pg. 122 (London: World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd. ) Returns to scale,  in economics is the quantitative change in output of a firm or industry resulting from a proportion ate increase in all inputs. If the quantity of output rises by a greater proportion—e. g. , if output increases by 2. 5 times in response to a doubling of all inputs—the  production process  is said to exhibit increasing returns to scale.Such economies of scale may occur because greater efficiency is obtained as the firm moves from small- to large-scale operations. Decreasing returns to scale occur if the  production  process becomes less efficient as production is expanded, as when a firm becomes too large to be managed effectively as a single unit. Brit http://www. britannica. com downloaded on 19th May 2013. According to Leibhfasky, †Returns to scale relates to the behaviour of total outputs as all inputs are varied and is a long run concept. * Explanation:In the long-run, output can be increased by increasing all factors in the same proportion or different proportions. Ordinarily, law of returns to scale refers to increase in output as a result of inc rease in all factors in the same proportion. Such an increase in output is called Returns to Scale. * Aspects of Returns to Scale. As in the case of returns to a factor, there are three aspects of returns to scale, viz. (1) Increasing Returns to Scale, (2) Constant Returns to Scale, (3) Diminishing Returns to Scale. 1. Increasing return of scale:-Every firm tries to earn more and more profit by multiplying its output.Initially production increases at faster rate than increase in the input. It is evident from the following schedule that by doubling additional labour and capital, output increases from 16 units to 25 units. It shows that inputs increased by 100%, whereas capital increased by 150%. By doubling, production increased from 25 to 60 showing that input increased by 100% but the output increased by 140%. this shows the law of increasing return. Thus, any percentage increase in inputs is causing a greater percentage increase in output. Increasing returns to scale are thus oper ative.The main cause of its operation is that when scale of production is increased then due to indivisibility of factors such as labour, tools, implements and machines, division of labour and specialization and many types of economies are available. On account of these economies, proportional increase in returns is more than the proportionate increase in factors of production. All these economies are only internal economies as these are related to the scale of production of the concerned firm. 2. Constant Return to Scale:-If the scale of production is further increased, it is found that the both input and output increase at equal rates i. . , at the same percentage. Thus increasing the production, the increase in output remains constant i. e. , 100%. * This situation arises, when after reaching a certain level of production, economies of scale are counter-balanced by diseconomies of scale. In mathematical terminology, that production function which reflects constant returns to scal e is called Linear and ‘Homogeneous Production Function’ or homogeneous function of First degree and is important in elucidating Euler’s Theorem in distribution.This function states that if labour and capital are increased in equal proportion then output will also increase in the same proportion. 3. Decreasing Return of Scale:-The increase in percentage of input is more than the output. In the following diagram, with every increase in input i. e. , 100%, output increases at lesser than 100%, showing the law of decreasing return of scale. S. A. Siddiqui (2006), Managerial Economics and Financial Analysis, pg. 107 (New Delhi: New Age International Publishers) Returns to scale are thus diminishing.The main cause of its operation is that diseconomies outweigh economies of scale, e. g. unwieldy business, indivisible factors becoming inefficient and less productive, difficulties of control and rigidities due to large managements, higher cost of skilled labour, price o f raw material going up, high transport charges, etc. (Reference – TR Jain and OP Khanna, Business Economics p. 142). Answer3. ) (a) ‘In the real world there is no industry which conforms precisely to the economist’s model of perfect competition. This means that the model is of little practical value’.Perfect competition: (1) buyers  and  sellers  are too numerous and too small to have any  degree  of  individual  control over  prices, (2) All  buyers and sellers seek to maximize their  profit  (income), (3) buyers and  seller  can freely  enter  or leave the  market, (4) all buyers and sellers have  access  to  information  regarding  availability, prices, and  quality  of  goods  being traded, and (5) All goods of a particular nature are  homogeneous, hence substitutable for one another. Also called  perfect market  or  pure competition. (Reference:   http://www. businessdictionary. om downloade d on 19th May 2013. ) Diagram for perfect competition: (Referred by http://www. economicshelp. org downloaded on 19th May 2013). A perfect competition is unrealistic as many of its conditions are quite difficult to fulfil. Especially no barriers to entry, is very rare as even start up cost can act as a significant barrier. While other conditions like perfect information and identical products are though possible not common. Apart from these there are many other conditions like no transportation cost which is again highly rare.The example of perfect competition would be in agriculture. Identical products (fruits, vegetables, etc. ), and not really need any advertising. There are no barriers to enter. It is the most realistic example, in reality perfect competition does not exist. (Reference: khan academy). (b). Short Run Price and Output for the Competitive Industry and Firm: 1. Short Run Equilibrium of the Firm A firm is in equilibrium in the short run when it has no tendency to enl arge or contract its productivity and needs to earn maximum profit or to incur minimum losses.The short run is a period of time in which the firm can vary its productivity by changing the erratic factors of production. The number of firms in the industry is fixed since neither the existing firms can leave nor new firms can enter it. 2. Short Run Equilibrium of the Industry An industry is in equilibrium in the short run when its total output remains steady there being no propensity to enlarge or contract its productivity. If all firms are in equilibrium the industry is also in equilibrium. For full equilibrium of the industry in the short run all firms must be earning normal profits.But full equilibrium of the industry is by sheer accident for the reason that in the short rum some firms may be earning super normal profits and some losses. Even then the industry is in short run equilibrium when its quantity demanded and quantity supplied is equal at the price which clears the market. Roger A. Arnold,(2005,08) Economics, 8th ed. (USA: Thomson Learning, Inc. 2008) In the short run the equilibrium market price is determined by the interaction between market demand and market supply. In the diagram shown above, price P1 is the market-clearing price and this price is then taken by each of the firms.Because the market price is constant for each unit sold, the AR curve also becomes the Marginal Revenue curve (MR). A firm maximises profits when marginal revenue = marginal cost. In the diagram above, the profit-maximising output is Q1. The firm sells Q1 at price P1. The area shaded is the economic (supernormal profit) made in the short run because the ruling market price P1 is greater than average total cost. Not all firms make supernormal profits in the short run. Their profits depend on the position of their short run cost curves. Some firms may be xperiencing sub-normal profits because their average total costs exceed the current market price. Other firms may be makin g normal profits where total revenue equals total cost (i. e. they are at the break-even output). In the diagram below, the firm shown has high short run costs such that the ruling market price is below the average total cost curve. At the profit maximising level of output, the firm is making an economic loss (or sub-normal profits) The Effects of a change in Market Demand In the diagram below there has been an increase in market demand (ceteris paribus).This causes an increase in market price and quantity traded. The firms average revenue curve shifts up to AR2 (=MR2) and the profit maximising output expands to Q2. Notice that the MC curve is the firms supply curve. Higher prices cause an expansion along the supply curve. Following the increase in demand, total profits have increased. An inward shift in market demand would have the opposite effect. Think also about the effect of a change in market supply perhaps arising from a cost-reducing technological innovation available to al l firms in a competitive market. Reference: tutor http://www. tutor2u. net downloaded 19th May 2013. (c) The long-run perfectly competitive equilibrium for the firm:-  ¦ Economic profits bring entry by new firms. The industry supply curve shifts rightward and reduces the market price. The fall in price reduces economic profit and decreases the incentive to enter the industry. New firms enter until it is no longer possible to earn an economic profit.  ¦ Economic losses lead to exit by existing firms, which shifts the industry supply curve leftward. The price rises, and the higher price reduces economic losses.Firms exit until no firms incur an economic loss. Firms change their plant size if it increases their profits. D=P= MR = AR — the firm maximizes its profits. P = minimum short-run average cost (SRAC) The firm’s economic profit is zero. P = minimum (LRAC) — the firm’s plant size cannot be changed in order to increase its profits. Frank Machovec, (2 003), Perfect Competition and Transformation of Economics, (New York: Taylor;amp; Francis e-Library, 2003). Answer 4. ) MonopolyA pure monopoly is a single supplier in a market.For the purposes of regulation,  monopoly power  exists when a single firm controls 25% or more of a particular market * Less Efficient:- * ABCPM :-Supernormal Profit (AR-AC) Q * Shaded portion:- Deadweight welfare loss (combined loss of producer and consumer surplus) compared to competitive market * Higher Prices:-Higher Price and Lower Output than under Perfect Competition. This leads to a decline in consumer surplus and a deadweight welfare loss * Allocative Inefficiency. A monopoly is allocative inefficient because in monopoly the price is greater than MC.P ;gt; MC. * Productive Inefficiency A monopoly is productively inefficient because it is not the lowest point on the AC curve. * X Inefficiency. It is argued that a monopoly has less incentive to cut costs because it doesnt face competition from o ther firms. Therefore the AC curve is higher than it should be. * Supernormal Profit. Leads to an unequal distribution of income. * Higher Prices to Suppliers   A monopoly may use its market power and pay lower prices to its suppliers. E. g. Supermarkets have been criticised for paying low prices to farmers. Diseconomies of Scale   It is possible that if a monopoly gets too big it may experience diseconomies of scale. higher average costs because it gets too big   * Charge higher prices to suppliers. Monopolies may use their supernormal profits to charge higher prices to suppliers. Economic organisation(2013) Website:-http://www. economicshelp. org/microessays/markets/monopoly. html 2More Efficient:- * Research and Development. Monopolies can make supernormal profit; this can be used to fund high cost capital investment spending. Successful esearch can be used for improved products and lower costs in the long term.. * Economies of scale. Increased output will lead to a decrea se in average costs of production. These can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. If a monopoly produces at output Q1, average costs (AC 1) are much lower than if a competitive market had firms producing at Q2 (AC 2). * Monopolies Successful Firms. A firm may become a monopoly through being efficient and dynamic. A monopoly is thus an efficient. For example Google has gained monopoly power through being regarded as best firm for search engines.Tejvan R. Pettinger, Economic Dictionary,(UK: Economics Blog, 2013)Retrieved from:-http://www. economicshelp. org/microessays/markets/advantages-monopoly. html Answer 5. ) Economic governance in Australia has undergone radical changes since the 1970s. Many of these changes are associated with the market-oriented policies collectively referred to as ‘microeconomic reform’. Broadly speaking, microeconomic reform can be defined as government policies or initiatives aimed at improving the performance and/or the effi ciency of industries or sectors in the economy (Forsyth 1992).Remarkably, such a quest for efficiency was not a major policy focus for much of the twentieth century in Australia. However, since the 1970s, growing pressure on the economy, together with evidence of widespread inefficiency, saw microeconomic reform become a key aspect of economic policy in Australia. The era of microeconomic reform in Australia may be divided into three main phases, with a degree of overlap. In the first, deregulatory, phase, the main focus was on rationalising public intervention in private sector markets, with the object of ‘getting prices right’.In the second phase, referred to here as the ‘privatisation’ phase, attention shifted to market-oriented reforms of the public sector, including corporatisation and competitive contracting as well as privatisation. In the third ‘competitive regulation’ phase, the idea of deregulation was replaced by regulation designed to produce, or simulate, competitive market outcomes (see also Parker this volume). The central argument of the chapter is that each of these phases was associated with the prominence of particular institutions and with specific tendencies in economic governance. In particular, whereas he governance models associated with the privatisation phase, the private corporation was taken as the ideal model of public sector governance. By contrast, in the competitive regulation phase, governments have relied on increasingly intrusive systems of regulation to control both public and privately-owned monopolies Privatisation often appears to be driven by political expediency and ideology rather than by economic theory. This dislocation between theory and practice led Kay and Thompson (1986) to declare privatisation in the United Kingdom a ‘policy in search of a rationale’.In fact, there has been significant economic research on optimal ownership in the past 20 years, including the comparison between government and private ownership. This work provides the basis for understanding both the success and failure of privatisation. Three Causes of Privatisation: Performance in privatisation must be judged on a case-by-case basis. Three key privatisations in Australia have been the Commonwealth Bank, the partial privatisation of Telstra and the privatisation of the Victorian electricity system. How do these privatisations ‘stack up’ against the theory? 1. The Commonwealth BankIn the 1940s and 1950s the Commonwealth Bank was the central banker for Australia. The Reserve Bank of Australia took over this role in 1959, placing the Commonwealth Bank in a similar position to a number of highly regulated private banks. Deregulation of the Australian banking sector in the 1980s meant that there was little if any special role for State-owned commercial banks, and the Commonwealth bank was privatised in three tranches during the 1990s. The first sale of 30 per cen t of the Bank in 1991 was the first large privatisation by share float in Australia and it set the benchmark for future sales, such as the sale of GIO and Qantas.Overall, it is likely that the Government sold the Commonwealth at a discount to its true market value (Harris and Lye 2001). But in terms of 17economic welfare it seems clear that the sale of the Commonwealth Bank made perfect sense. The bank operated in active competition with private banks and its functions were essentially identical to those private competitors. In fact, given the tendency for politicians to seek short-term electoral kudos by railing against the banking system, it is likely that continued government ownership of the Commonwealth Bank would have opened it up to political exploitation in the 1990s.In economic terms, the privatisation of the Commonwealth Bank was clearly sensible policy. 2 Telstra Telstra was formed in 1992 by the merger of Telecom Australia and the Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (OTC). Both of these were fully owned by the Commonwealth Government. Telecom Australia controlled Australia’s domestic telephone network while OTC controlled overseas telecommunications. In the late 1990s, 49. 9 per cent of Telstra was sold by the Government in two tranches. This partial privatisation is the largest by value in Australia, reaping over $30 billion for the Commonwealth. 1At first blush, the sale of Telstra might appear similar to the sale of the Commonwealth Bank. After deregulation in July 1997, Telstra competed vigorously with privately-owned carriers. Since then, Telstra has lost market share in both domestic long-distance calls and overseas calls. Telstra also currently faces vigorous competition in mobile telephony. 18Unlike banking, however, telecommunications involves a key natural monopoly element, the customer access network (CAN) that provides the ‘last link’ in the telephone network between a switch and a customer’s phone.Telstra owns the CAN and its private competitors rely on Telstra providing them access to the CAN in order to compete. Telstra could eliminate its private competitors outside the CBD areas of Australia if it refused them the right to either originate or terminate calls using the CAN. Telstra faces a wide range of regulations, including retail price controls, procedures for setting wholesale access prices and rules to prevent any anticompetitive behaviour. This regulation has been modified over the past five years and in 2001 the Productivity Commission recommended further reform of Telstra’s regulatory regime (Commonwealth of Australia 2001).In 2002 the Federal Government investigated and rejected reforming Telstra by accounting separation to ‘isolate’ the CAN. The partial privatisation of Telstra failed to adequately recognise the source of market failure—the natural monopoly CAN. Neither did it establish appropriate procedures to deal with this problem. One sol ution might have been vertical separation of the CAN from the rest of Telstra. The CAN could have remained in public ownership with open access while the remainder of Telstra could have competed with other telecommunications companies. Alternatively, the management of the CAN could have changed.For example, the CAN could be 19jointly owned by a number of licensed carriers. These carriers would have a mutual obligation to maintain the CAN but otherwise would compete. The sharing of infrastructure facilities between competing firms sometimes occurs with gas pipelines. Discontent with the partial privatisation has made it politically difficult to sell the remainder of Telstra. In the absence of a restructured approach to the CAN, further privatisation will simply mean ongoing costly regulation. Such regulation will continue into the future as the CAN grows in importance for data rather than voice telecommunications traffic. The Victorian electricity system The creation of a National El ectricity Market (NEM) was a key part of the Hilmer reforms. This market involves generators competing to sell power into a grid connecting South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The proposed construction of BassLink will connect Tasmania to the NEM. Privatisation is not required under the NEM but private generators are able to compete with government-owned facilities. The Kennett Government in Victoria decided to sell the State’s electricity assets to the private sector.Privatisation was preceded by vertical and horizontal restructuring, including the creation of five distribution/retail companies, five competing generation businesses and a single transmission business. The total proceeds of the privatisations in the mid-201990s were approximately $22. 5 billion; second only to Telstra in terms of total revenue raised. 22By separating competitive generation from natural monopoly elements, like transmission and distribution, the Victorian electricity priva tisations avoided the issues of access and competitive abuse that have dogged telecommunications.Further, some measures of performance, such as the reliability of the distribution, have significantly improved. 23 However, both transmission and distribution have limited scope for competition and these prices need ongoing regulation. As noted earlier, this regulation has been contentious. Political interference still occurs, as both generation prices are capped under the NEM and maximum prices for power to households are set. For example, in 2001 the Victorian Government rejected recommended increases in household power prices, leading to comparisons with the Californian electricity crisis and oncerns over the long-term viability of distributors/retailers if they are unable to pass on increased wholesale electricity prices to customers. 24 The shift to a national market has also required modifications, for example, in the face of claims of price rigging by generators. 25 Further, it i s not clear that long-term competition between State-owned electricity systems and private systems is viable. While generation and retailing can be open to competition, a preferred approach might have been to retain public ownership of transmission and distribution lines. 1Rather than heavy-handed profit-based regulation, the ongoing operation and maintenance of these facilities might have been handled through private contractors, with the relevant governments setting transmission and distribution charges to cover cost. At the same time, electricity experience shows that privatisation is not a cure for short-term political interference in key infrastructure assets. (b). The privatisation process has slowed in Australia. But this is to be expected. Most of the obvious privatisations have been completed and both politicians and bureaucrats are realising the limitations of a naive approach to privatisation.Public pressure against privatisation has grown. Despite the Federal Governmentà ¢â‚¬â„¢s preference for privatising the remainder of Telstra, such a policy is currently unpalatable to the electorate. Similarly, in New South Wales attempts by senior politicians to push for electricity privatisation have been thwarted by public opposition. While privatisation in Australia is not dead, it is ‘on the nose’. The current public backlash against privatisation is a direct consequence of its naive application. Some privatisations have not worked.While these sales have raised short-term revenue for the government, they have not resulted in improved social welfare because they have not carefully considered any sources of market failure and dealt appropriately with these failures. 22At the same time, the underlying motivations for privatisation remain relevant. Government still feels the need to reduce fiscal pressures and public–private partnerships (PPP), where the government ties the private development of infrastructure assets to long-term governmen t funding, represents a new face of privatisation.Thus privatisation continues, but under another name. Australia requires an integrated approach to privatisation and regulation. Private ownership with regulation is simply one of a number of options for dealing with market problems and public policy needs to recognise the costs and benefits of alternative options. This means that some previous privatisations might need to be radically re-evaluated. For example, it might be desirable to restructure Telstra with current private shareholders owning the potentially competitive assets, while the government retains the CAN.It also means that some privatisations should proceed, such as the sale of the NSW electricity generation facilities, while some other assets, such as the Victorian electricity transmission system, might better be returned to government ownership. Finally, it means that governments should not be allowed to use privatisation as an expedient source of funds. An alternatio n to government accounting is required so that privatisation revenues cannot be used to prop up a government budget. While this reform has already started, with analysts focusing on ‘underlying’ deficit figures that remove privatisation revenues, it needs to be formalised.Privatisation and regulation are all about incentives—and the first incentives that need to be fixed are those facing our politicians.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Huntington Disease Essays

Huntington Disease Essays Huntington Disease Essay Huntington Disease Essay Huntington Disease Huntington disease ( HD ) is an autosomal-dominant upset, characterized as disease of progressive encephalon devolution in late maturity with subsequent encephalon wasting. The affected countries of devolution are the basal ganglia, which play an of import function in the control of motion. This devolution causes assorted motor jobs such as behavioural abnormalcy, chorea, incoordination and dystonia ( Folstein, 1989 ) . George Huntington was the first adult male that described HD in the nineteenth century in item particularly its familial nature of chorea ( Huntington, 1872 ) . New findings have shown that HD involves the mutant protein huntigtin. This protein is translated from a CAG repetition organizing a polyglutamine strand of variable length at the N-terminus. The molecular mechanism of HD is non to the full understood but new findings utilizing carnal theoretical accounts have provided valuable information. The cistron associated with HD is termed the HD cistron and can be found on the short arm of chromosome four. As the disease is autosomal dominant, merely one HD cistron is sufficient to do the upset. The HD cistron is composed of a trinucleotide CAG repeats.The allelomorphs of the HD cistron are grouped as normal, intermediate or HD-causing. Each group has a characteristic figure of CAG repetitions. The normal allelomorphs have 26 or fewer CAG repetitions whereas intermediate allelomorphs have 27-35 CAG repetitions ( Potter et al. , 2004 ) . Carriers of normal allelomorphs and intermediate allelomorphs are non at hazard of developing HD. However, persons with intermediate allelomorphs are at hazard of giving birth to a kid with an allelomorph of HD-causing characteristic ( Semaka et al. , 2006 ) . Thus, intermediate allelomorphs are besides termed changeable allelomorphs as they may mutate to do HD phenotype in the progeny. The ground for the mutant lies in the instability of the re production. The longer the figure of trinucleotides, the greater the instability. In 73 % of the instances, the instability leads to an enlargement of the trinucleotide repetitions and therefore an addition in the hazard of developing HD whereas merely 23 % show a contraction of the figure of repetitions associated with a low hazard of developing HD ( Chattapadhyay et al. , 2005 ; Djousse et al.,2004, MacDonald et al. , 1999 ) . HD-causing allelomorphs normally contain 36 or more CAG repetitions and present the bearer at an increased hazard of developing HD. HD-causing allelomorphs have been categorized into two groups: Reduced-penetrance HD-causing allelomorphs and Full-penetrance HD-causing allelomorphs. Reduced-penetrance or uncomplete HD-causing allelomorphs are composed of 36-39 trinucleotide CAG repetitions ( Rubinsztein, 2003 ; Rubinsztein et al. , 1996 ; McNeil et al. , 1997 ) . Carriers of this allelomorph may be symptomless and non demo the symptoms. On the other manus, full-penetrance HD-causing allelomorphs are characterized by 40 or more CAG repetitions and bearers of this allelomorph have a high chance of developing HD ( Rubinsztein et al. , 1996 ; McNeil et al. , 1997 ; Langebehn et al. , 2004 ) . The instability of the trinucleotide repeats occurs more frequently in males ( spermatogenesis ) than in females ( oogenesis ) . This phenomenon can besides be observed in the progeny with paternal heritage of the HD cistron where the oncoming of HD is more powerful and occurs in the early young person. In add-on, households with no history of HD may develop HD via new mutants originating by the elaboration of trinucleotide CAG repetitions and most of these new mutants come from the paternal side ( Anca et al. , 2004 ; Squitieri et al. , 2003 ) . Bodily instability of CAG repetitions can besides originate and hold been observed in human existences every bit good as animate being theoretical accounts. Furthermore, indistinguishable twins demonstrate different clinical syndromes and have about a similar age of oncoming. Twins that are bearers of homozygous allelomorphs have no difference in the age of oncoming ( Georgiou et al. , 1999 ) . Carriers of the HD allelomorph are clinically healthy before the oncoming of the HD disease symptoms. However, in the so called preclinical stage, there are little alterations happening in motor accomplishments, knowledge and personality ( Walker, 2007 ) . The oncoming of HD disease symptoms normally occurs in the average age of oncoming which is 35 to 44 old ages ( Bates et al. , 2002 ) . In 66 % , initial symptoms are abnormalcies in the neurological map or psychiatric alterations. Other symptoms are minor involountary motions, trouble in mental planning, depression and little alterations in the oculus motion. In 25 % of HD bearers, the visual aspect of initial symptoms such as chorea, dysphagia and pace perturbation is delayed until after 50 old ages with the disease symptoms taking a more drawn-out and soft class. At the same clip, the life style of the affected persons does non alter and they can still go on with their current employment. The initial oncoming of the symptoms is followed by an increased diagnostic chorea, trouble in commanding voluntary motion every bit good as aggravation of dysarthria and dysphagia. As a consequence of the deterioration symptoms, the affected persons must go forth employment and may necessitate extra aid to get by with some activities in their day-to-day life. The concluding phase of HD demonstrates terrible motor disablement. The symptoms have worsened so much that so that the bearers can non cover with their damage at all and necessitate the aid of other people. The bearers are tongueless and incontinent and demo a average endurance clip of 15 to 18 old ages after the first oncoming of HD related symptoms. The life anticipation is suggested to be at 54 to 55 old ages ( Harper, 2005 ) . The diagnosing of HD is based on mutant analysis. For this intent, PCR based methods can be utilised which musca volitanss alleles up to about 115 CAG repetitions. Likewise, southern smudge is employed for allelomorphs with more than 115 CAG ( Potter et al. , 2004 ) . Such big enlargements are linked with juvenile-onset of HD triggered by homozygous HD genotypes. Moderate-to-severe Huntington s disease illustrate larger frontal horns of the sidelong ventricles and lack in striatal volume when modus operandi MRI and CT scans are performed ( Stober et al. , 1984 ) . However, scans are non helpful for the diagnosing of early upset. Functional MRI surveies and informations from PET have displayed that affected encephalons started to change before the oncoming of symptoms ( Kunig et al. , 2000, Paulsen et al. , 2004 ) . Using these techniques, it is possible to acknowledge caudate wasting every bit easrly as 11 old ages before the expected oncoming of the disease, and it is possible to re cognze putaminal wasting 9 old ages before the expected oncoming ( Aylward et al. , 2004 ) . Tensor-based magnetic resonance morphometry demonstrates increasing loss of striatal loss in persons who are preclinical transporting the HD cistron and do non demo grounds of progresson by clinical or neuropsychological trials over 2 old ages ( Kipps et al. , 2005 ) . Familial proving for HD is merely considered by 5 % of HD hazard bearers due to household planning and employment. Many HD hazard bearers do non undergo proving as there is no efficient intervention for HD available ( Laccone et al. , 1999 ) . Furthermore, prognostic testing can hold psychological effects for HD hazard bearers taking to suicide due to mental depression ( Almqvist et al. , 2003 ) . Therefore, it is important to place self-destructive forms in immature HD hazard bearers and give pretest guidance. Epidemiologic surveies suggest that HD is most prevailing in the white Caucasic population with 5-7 people affected per 100000. There are besides exclusions in countries where the full population is derived from a few laminitiss such as in Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela or Tasmania ( Pridmore, 1990 ) . Across most of Asia and Africa the incidences of HD are much lower. The ground for the assorted distribution of HD incidence lies in the CAG repetitions. White Caucasians have a much higher frequence of HD allelomorphs that are composed of 28-35 CAG repetitions ( Kremer, 2002 ; Harper A ; Jones, 2002 ) . The high frequence of this HD alleles in the white population is non to the full understood. The HD cistron may give a wellness benefit as in other familial upsets such as reaping hook cell trait. It is thought that the HD cistron is associated with a lower hazard of developing malignant neoplastic disease, perchance due to the upregulation of TP53 in HD disease ( Bae et al. , 2005 ; DiF iglia etal. , 1995 ) . The pathogenesis of HD affecting the protein huntingtin is ill understood. Even though orthologs of that protein have been detected in zebrafish, drosophilia and sludge molds, the function of the protein is still unknown ( Jones, 2002 ) . Huntingtin has a high laterality in all human cells. Most of it is expressed in the encephalon and testicles whereas bosom, lungs and liver show moderate sums of it ( DiFiglia et al.,1995 ) . One hypothesis suggests that happloinsufficiency plays an indispensable function in the pathogenesis of HD. This would intend that deficient sums of huntingtin protein are generated for the cells to work decently ( Ambrose et al.,1994 ) . However, this hypothesis besides have been refuted by other findings which suggest that a lack of HD cistron in adult male does non do HD in adult male ( Rubinsztein, 2003 ; Ambrose et al. , 1994 ) . This is besides supported by transgenic mouse theoretical accounts. One allelomorph of the HD cistron does non do HD in transgenic mouse theoretical accounts and complete absence of the HD cistron is linked to mortality in mouse embryos ( Squitieri et al. , 2003 ) . Therefore, new findings explain the pathogenesis of HD as a toxic addition of map derived from the mutant HD cistron. Likewise, this phenomenon can besides be observed in other familial diseases such as muscular wasting or dentatorubropallidoluysian ( Ambrose et al. , 1994 ; Andrew et al. , 1993 ) . There is non sufficient grounds to back up the claim of happloinsufficiency in any of these familial disease but an accretion of polyglutamines with subsequent neurodegeneration. This is farther supported by the relationship betwe en length of polyglutamine repetition and age of oncoming. Longer polyglutamine repetition ironss are associated with more aggressive patterned advance of HD disease symptoms and the juvenile oncoming of HD ( Mahant et al. , 2003 ; Squitieri et al. , 2002 ; Forproud et al. , 1999 ) . The biological construction of polyglutamine gives more insight into the toxic addition of map in HD. Experiments performed in vitro show that polyglutamine sums by organizing dimmers, trimers and oligomers. For this collection to be efficient, a minimal figure of 37 glutamine residues in sequence is required. The rate of collection additions as more glutamine repetitions are added to the long concatenation of glutamine polypeptide. This in vitro observation may be an explaination why some persons experience late oncoming of HD while others have a juvenile oncoming of HD. Some cardinal points have been discovered in the mechanism explicating how aggregative polyglutamine leads to neural disfunction. The mutant huntingtin protein is more prone to proteleolysis than its wild type opposite number. This higher hazard of protein debasement creates truncated proteins, which lead to the formation of sums of abbreviated huntingtin. Additionally, shorter glutamine repetitions are less likely to organize steric clangs than longer 1s. It is believed that these sums are toxic and locate in the cell nucleus. ( Saudou et al. , 1998 ; Peter et al. , 1999 ; Wellington et al. , 2000 ) . Finally, the rate of collection overcomes the rate at which proteosomes or autophagic vacuolisation degrade the proteins in the cell. This farther exacerbates the formation of aggregative protein in concurrence with the ability of sums to enroll normal organic structure proteins to their matrix. Examples of normal organic structure proteins are those proteins that interact with the wil d type signifier of huntingtin straight ( Mills et al. , 2005 ) . Some documents besides propose that the protein huntingtin may exercise non merely a toxic addition of map but besides a dominant negative consequence on the typical map of the wild type protein huntingtin. This manner, mutant huntingtin could interfere with proteins that regulate written text, programmed cell death, tumour suppression or axonal conveyance ( Bae et al. , 2005 ; Busch et al. , 2003 ; Charrin et al. , 2005 ; Gauthier et al. , 2004, Hickey A ; Chesselet, 2003 ) . Last, one other hypothesis provinces that mutant huntingtin may interfere in neuron-neuron interaction. This has been illustrated in mice where the mutant protein huntingtin disrupts the axonal conveyance and cyst release of neurotrophic factor in nerve cells taking to intrinsic disfunction of striatal nerve cells ( Pulst et al. , 1996 ; Komure et al. , 1995 ) . Mentions Almqvist EW, Brinkman RR, Wiggins S, Hayden MR. Psychological effects and forecasters of inauspicious events in the fi rst 5 old ages after prognostic testing for Huntington s disease. Clin Genet 2003 ; 64: 300-09. Ambrose CM, Duyao MP, Barnes G, et Al. Structure and look of the Huntington s disease cistron: grounds against simple inactivation due to spread out CAG repetition. Somat Cell Mol Genet 1994 ; 20: 27-38. Anca MH, Gazit E, Lowewenthal R, Ostrovsky O, Frydman M, Giladi N. Diff erent phenotypic look in monozygotic twins with Huntington disease. Am J Med Genet 2004 ; 124: 89-91. 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Benzodiazepine receptor binding in Huntington s disease: [ 11C ] Florida umazenil consumption measured utilizing antielectron emanation imaging. Ann Neurol 2000 ; 47: 644-48. Kremer B. Clinical neurology of Huntington s disease. In: Bates G, Harper P, Jones L, eds. Huntington s disease. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002: 3-27. Komure O, Sano A, Nishino N, et Al. Deoxyribonucleic acid analysis in familial dentatorubral-pallidoluysian wasting: correlativity between CAG repetition length and phenotypic fluctuation and the molecular footing of expectancy. Neurology 1995 ; 45: 143-49. Jones L. The cell biological science of Huntington s disease. In: Bates G, Harper P, Jones L, eds. Huntington s disease. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002: 348-62. Laccone F, Engel U, Holinski-Feder E, et Al. DNA analysis of Huntington s disease: fi ve old ages experience in Germany, Australia, and Switzerland. Neurology 1999 ; 53: 801-06. Langbehn DR, Brinkman RR, Falush D, Paulsen JS, Hayden MR.A new theoretical account for anticipation of the age of oncoming and penetrance for Huntington s disease based on CAG length.Clin Genet.2004 ; 65:267-77. MacDonald ME, Vonsattel JP, Shrinidhi J, et Al. Evidence for the GluR6 cistron associated with younger oncoming of Huntington s disease. Neurology 1999 ; 53: 1330-32 Mahant N, McCusker EA, Byth K, Graham S. Huntington s disease: clinical correlatives of disablement and patterned advance. Neurology 2003 ; 61:1085-92. McNeil SM, Novelletto A, Srinidhi J, Barnes G, Kornbluth I, Altherr MR, Wasmuth JJ, Gusella JF, MacDonald ME, Myers RH.Reduced penetrance of the Huntington s disease mutation.Hum Mol Genet.1997 ; 6:775-9. Mills IG, Gaughan L, Robson C, et Al. Huntingtin interacting protein 1 modulates the transcriptional activity of atomic endocrine receptors. J Cell Biol 2005 ; 170: 191-200. Paulsen JS, Zimbelman JL, Hinton SC, et Al. fMRI biomarker of early neural disfunction in preclinical Huntington s disease. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2004 ; 25: 1715-21. Peter MF, Nucifora FC Jr, Kushi J, et Al. Nuclear targeting of mutant Huntingtin increases toxicity. Mol Cell Neurosci 1999 ; 14: 121-81. Potter NT, Spector EB, Prior TW.Technical criterions and guidelines for Huntington disease testing.Genet Med.2004 ; 6:61-5. Pridmore SA. The big Huntington s disease household of Tasmania.Med J Aust 1990 ; 153: 593-95. Pulst SM, Nechiporuk A, Nechiporuk T, et Al. Moderate enlargement of a usually biallelic trinucelotide repetition in spinocerebellar ataxy type 2. Nat Genetics 1996 ; 14: 237-38. Rubinsztein DC. Molecular biological science of Huntington s disease ( HD ) and HD-like upsets. In: Pulst S, erectile dysfunction. Geneticss of motion upsets. California: Academic Press, 2003: 365-77. Rubinsztein DC, Leggo J, Coles R, Almqvist E, Biancalana V, Cassiman JJ, Chotai K, Connarty M, Crauford D, Curtis A, Curtis D, Davidson MJ, Differ AM, Dode C, Dodge A, Frontali M, Ranen NG, Stine OC, Sherr M, Abbott MH, Franz ML, Graham CA, Harper PS, Hedreen JC, Hayden MR.et al.Phenotypic word picture of persons with 30-40 CAG repetitions in the Huntington disease ( HD ) cistron reveals HD instances with 36 repetitions and seemingly normal aged persons with 36-39 repeats.Am J Hum Genet.1996 ; 59:16-22. Rubinsztein DC. Molecular biological science of Huntington s disease ( HD ) and HD-like upsets. In: Pulst S, erectile dysfunction. Geneticss of motion upsets. California: Academic Press, 2003: 365-77. Rubinsztein DC, Leggo J, Coles R, et Al. Phenotypic word picture of persons with 30-40 CAG repetitions in the Huntington disease ( HD ) cistron reveals HD instances with 36 repetitions and seemingly normal aged persons with 36-39 repetitions. Am J Hum Genet 1996 ; 59:16-22. Saudou F, Finkbeiner S, Devys D, Greenberg ME. Huntingtin acts in the karyon to bring on programmed cell death but decease does non correlate with the formation of intranuclear inclusions. Cell 1998 ; 95: 55-56. Squitieri F, Cannella M, Simonelli M. CAG mutant eff ect on rate of patterned advance in Huntington s disease. Neurol Sci 2002 ; 23 ( suppl 2 ) : S107-08. Squitieri F, Gellera C, Cannella M, et Al. Homozygosity for CAG mutant in Huntington s disease is associated with a more terrible clinical class. Brain 2003 ; 126: 946-55. Stober T, Wussow W, Schimrigk K. Bicaudate diameter: the most specifi degree Celsius and simple CT parametric quantity in the diagnosing of Huntington s disease. Neuroradiology 1984 ; 26: 25-28. OHearn E, Holmes SE, Calvert PC, et Al. SCA-12: shudder with cerebellar and cortical wasting is associated with a CAG repetition enlargement. Neurology 2001 ; 56: 299-303. Walker FO.Huntington s disease.Lancet.2007 ; 369:218-28. Wellington CL, Leavitt BR, Hayden MR. Huntington disease: new penetrations on the function of huntingtin cleavage. J Neural Transm Suppl 2000 ; 58: 1-17.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Abolitionists, Who They Were And How They Became Influential

The Abolitionists, Who They Were And How They Became Influential The term abolitionist generally refers to a dedicated opponent to slavery in the early 19th century America. The abolitionist movement developed slowly in the early 1800s. A movement to abolish slavery gained political acceptance in Britain in the late 1700s. The British abolitionists, led by William Wilberforce in the early 19th century, campaigned against Britains role in the slave trade and sought to outlaw slavery in British colonies. At the same time, Quaker groups in America began working in earnest to abolish slavery in the United States. The first organized group formed to end slavery in America began in Philadelphia in 1775, and the city was a hotbed of abolitionist sentiment in the 1790s, when it was the capital of the United States. Though slavery was successively outlawed in the northern states in the early 1800s, the institution of slavery was firmly entrenched in the South. And agitation against slavery came to be regarded as a major source of discord between regions of the country. In the 1820s anti-slavery factions began spreading from New York and Pennsylvania to Ohio, and the early beginnings of the abolitionist movement began to be felt. At first, the opponents to slavery were considered far outside the mainstream of political thought and abolitionists had little real impact on American life. In the 1830s the movement gathered some momentum. William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator in Boston, and it became  the most prominent abolitionist newspaper. A pair of wealthy businessmen in New York City, the Tappan brothers, began to finance abolitionist activities. In 1835 the American Anti-Slavery Society began a campaign, funded by the Tappans, to send anti-slavery pamphlets into the South. The pamphlet campaign led to enormous controversy, which included bonfires of seized abolitionist literature being burned in the streets of Charleston, South Carolina. The pamphlet campaign was seen to be impractical. Resistance to the pamphlets galvanized the South against any anti-slavery sentiment, and it made abolitionists in the North realize that it would not be safe to campaign against slavery on southern soil. The northern abolitionists tried other strategies, most prominently the petitioning of Congress. Former president John Quincy Adams, serving in his post-presidency as a Massachusetts congressman, became a prominent anti-slavery voice on Capitol Hill. Under right of petition in the U.S. Constitution, anyone, including slaves, could send petitions to Congress. Adams led a movement to introduce petitions seeking the freedom of slaves, and it so inflamed members of the House of Representatives from the slave states that discussion of slavery was banned in the House chamber. For eight years one of the main battles against slavery took place on Capitol Hill, as Adams battled against what came to be known as the gag rule. In the 1840s a former slave, Frederick Douglass, took to the lecture halls and spoke about his life as a slave. Douglass became a very forceful anti-slavery advocate, and even spent time speaking out against American slavery in Britain and Ireland. By the late 1840s the Whig Party was splitting over the issue of slavery. And disputes which arose when the U.S. acquired enormous territory at the end of the Mexican War brought up the issue of which new states and territories would be slave or free. The Free Soil Party arose to speak out against slavery, and while it didnt became a major political force, it did put the issue of slavery into the mainstream of American politics. Perhaps what brought the abolitionist movement to the forefront more than anything else was a very popular novel, Uncle Toms Cabin. Its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, a committed abolitionist, was able to craft a tale with sympathetic characters who were either slaves or touched by the evil of slavery. Families would often read the book aloud in their living rooms, and the novel did much to pass abolitionist thought into American homes. Prominent abolitionists included: William Lloyd GarrisonFrederick DouglassAngelina Grimkà © and her sister Sarah Grimkà ©Wendell PhillipsJohn BrownHarriet TubmanHarriet Beecher Stowe The term, of course, comes from the word abolish, and particularly refers to those who wanted to abolish slavery. The Underground Railroad, the loose network of people who assisted escaped slaves to freedom in the northern United States or Canada, could be considered part of the abolitionist movement.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

HI 325C The Frontier Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HI 325C The Frontier - Essay Example Kit Carson uses those virtues and skills to overcome challenges and hardships in the Rocky Mountains. One, he uses his keenness to protect himself and other traders. One instance when Kit Carson’s promptness of action is tested is the night when an inexperienced guard alerts them of invading Indians. Kit Carson is seen to be on his feet in an instant with a pistol on his hand (Abbott 12). It is asserted that the loss of a single second may give an enemy the opportunity to launch its attack and disappear in the dark night. Kit Carson reacts quickly and shoots his mule. Nevertheless, it is a false alarm. Two, his persistence enables him to hunt for food and find a suitable location to set camp. Carson travels for over fifty miles with his mule and horse, looking at every stream and creek, being on the lookout for any indication of a beaver. Kit Carson selects a location for his camp after travelling past a meandering stream circling through the centre, which he believes has a la rge number of beavers (Abbott 17). Finally, his acquaintance of the Spanish language becomes a beneficial investment to him. It enables him to retain everything that the expert ranger of the woods convey in respect to the topography of the Far West, the challenges to be encountered, and the ways of dealing with them. Part 2 Last of the Mohicans This part will discuss whether the movie Last of the Mohicans portray the Trans-Appalachian frontier of the 1750s as a bloody â€Å"no-man’s-land† between clashing empires, or as a â€Å"middle ground† in which settlers and natives interact peacefully and exchange culture on equal terms. It will also evaluate whether it portrays Indians as bloodthirsty and savage or as peaceful and virtuous, and look at how the British and French officials in this film differ in their attitude toward Indians and colonial settlers. The movie portrays the Trans-Appalachian frontier of the 1750s as a bloody â€Å"no-man’s-land† between clashing empires. From the start of the movie there is a battle for the control of colonial America by the French and British troops. The British troops seek military assistance from a number of Native American war groups who are not willing to leave their residence undefended. As the French and British soldiers fight for the control of the North America, the natives and the settlers are compelled to take sides. In recruiting Native Americans for their military battles, the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Annotated Bibliography for Organizational Analysis Essay

Annotated Bibliography for Organizational Analysis - Essay Example The Political Frame recognizes the power play within and between institutions. The Symbolic Frame believes that schools produce symbols to create commitment and meaning. This article is important, because it describes different forms of leadership. However, it does not consider that some school leaders may be integrating these different frameworks. This source is important to my field of study, because it will help me analyze and prescribe the best frameworks for different goals and conditions in the Training and Doctrine Command. Managementhelp.org. (no date). What is an open system? Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/misc/orgs-open-systems.pdf This article describes the main elements and concepts of an open system. An open system is a system that interacts with its external environment through feedback processes. Some of the important components of an open system are inputs, processes, outputs, goals, assessment, and learning. This article is a good source of the basics of an open system, but further research on its real-life applications is needed to understand its strengths and limitations further. This source is important to my field of study, because I want to know how the Training and Doctrine Command works as an open system and what can be done to exploit the advantages of this system. I also want to learn the issues with an open system, especially in how the external environment affects the internal system. Nadler, D.A., & Nadler, M.B. (2000). The Congruence framework - a roadmap for understanding organizational performance. Mercer Management Journal, (13), 4-10. Retrieved from http://www.oliverwyman.com/deu-insights/MMJ13-OrganizationalTrans.pdf Nadler and Nadler (2000) argued that the congruence framework analyzes the roots of organizational performance. They described that it is not a prescriptive model, but an analytical framework that helps leaders understand the interaction between social and technical factors that affect the performance of each organization, so that people can design and execute their own solutions to their organization’s distinctive performance problems. The strengths of the article are its explanation of the components of the congruence model and its application of the model on the Harley-Davidson’s case. Its weakness is that it was not tested empirically using other companies and industries. This source is important to my field of study, because it will help me analyze the best way to implement large-scales changes to the Training and Doctrine Command. McLeod, S. (2007, June 25). Bolman & Deal frameworks. Big think.com. Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/ideas/bolman-deal-frameworks McLeod explains the Bolman & Deal frameworks. These frames are different on their main beliefs about schools as organizations, and the means in achieving their goals. The strength of this article is that it underlines that it is possible to use all frames in understanding and resolving school problems and in implementing organizational changes. It is not an academic source, however, and it will help to do more research on these frameworks and how they are actually used or changed during design and implementation changes. This source is important to my field of study, because I am interested in knowing different ways of analyzing issues in the Training and Doctrine Command and in determining the best leadership approaches. Bolman & Deal fr

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Eddie and beatrice created and sustained Essay Example for Free

Eddie and beatrice created and sustained Essay Throughout the play Beatrice and Eddie have contrasting views about various issues.Eddie has strong veiws on masculinity which leads him to reject effeminate behaviour and be aggressive when he is challenged. Beatirce on the other hand is a more laid back personality. Miller uses this friction between husband and wife to create and sustain tension by making the issues gradually more serious as the play progresses At the opening of act one, Eddie and Cathrine appear to be almost flirting. (Eddie is pleased and therefore shy about it.)This type of relationship is surprising because Cathrine is Eddies niece and proves to be a source of friction between Eddie and Beatrice. This is openly shown at the end of the play when Beatrice tells Eddie you can never have her.  Further disagreement comes from Eddies protectiveness of Cathrine. He feels that as an uncle it is his duty to protect her from the world; he tells her that her revealing clothes attract unwanted attention, and he is not keen for her to get a job. Beatrice thinks that Eddie is over protective of Cathrine and convinces him that she is old enough. Look, you got to get used to it, shes no baby no more. Miller continues to increase the tension between Beatrice and Eddie when later they begin to argue about Rodolpho; his sexuality and his relationship with Cathrine. Eddies affection for Catherine leads him to dislike Rodolpho and find faults in him, at every opportunity. He interprates Rodolphos effeminate behaviour ( singing, cooking and stiching dresses) as homosexuality and tells Cathrine that Rodolpho is decieving her, in order to gain an American passport ( Rodolpho is an illegal immigrant ) . The tension in the play is fueled further as Beatrice openly tells Eddie that he is being too protective of Cathrine and harsh on Rodolpo. Miller uses these arguments to create a sense of mounting tension between the couple as the arguments become gradually more serious.This climaxes when Beatrice asks Eddie to forgive Marco for acussing Eddie of turning the two imigrants in. This argument is very heated and long before a lull when Marco appears.  MARCO: Eddie Carbone!   all stand transfixed for an instant  Miller uses this to create the effect of a fuse reaching its end before the explosive finale of Eddies death at the hands of Marco.At this point Miller turns the tables on the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice. EDDIE: Then why of B!  BEATRICE: Yes, yes!  EDDIE: My B!  (He dies in he arms..)  This shows their ultimate unity.  Miller could be trying to sustain the tension by showing the audience that Eddie refuses to acknowledge his attration to Cathrine upto his last breath.  As this play is a tragedy reminiscent of the Greek style, Miller could be trying to redeem the tragic hero by showing that despite all of Eddies shortcomigs, he is ultimately devoted to and in love with Beatrice.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Effects of Hydraulic Fracturing :: Energy

Advanced technology created the possibility to extract a natural gas beneath the earth which has never been possible before. Oil industries are once again booming deploying hydraulic fracturing method to access the natural gas lies beneath the earth, specifically the Marcellus Formation which contains limestone beds that is black shale or black rock due to presence of iron pyrite and siderites. Marcellus shale formation lie under New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and other parts of the US states according to Parks & Recreation Journal (Dolesh 57). Its vast richness of natural gas is no doubt that it will help America’s energy demand but using hydraulic fracturing to bring that energy to the surface is disturbing the already troubled environment. Although my opponents claim that hydrocracking create jobs and reduce oil imports but it also poses environmental disaster that outweighs its profits which could be irreversible. Environmental disaster such as pollu tion increase, water contamination and risk to the public health in inevitable if gas companies are allowed to continue for drilling America’s soil. As energy demand is increasing throughout the world, America is not least, its demand for energy is increasing and energy supply dependability is at risk. The calls for cleaner energy is at its momentum with production of natural gas using hydrocracking method are deployed vast major cities across America. According to Analysis environment journal released on May 2011 has stated that new Environmental Protection Agency have â€Å"found that greenhouse gas emissions from fracturing are almost 9,000 times higher than previously calculated† this is no surprising because there are no federal regulation on hydraulic fracturing techniques (Nelson 24). Fracking products account 25% in oil industries which will increase in the near future as we are turning to other sources of alternative energy. According to EPA on â€Å"recent research into the complete life cycle of natural gas emissions raises questions about its relative cleanliness† which means as we see the increase of extracting natural gas as means of hydrocracking the pollution will drastically increase. The main component of natural gas is methane â€Å"which leaks from fractured wells or is otherwise released during natural gas drilling, transportation and power-plant accord to CQ Researcher (McGlynn 1054). It’s clear and not concise that emission of methane escaped to the earth’s atmosphere will increase as drilling of hydraulic fracture increases which will create havoc to our already ailing environment. Our existence depends on the accessibility of clean water which our life depends on.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Explication of Phllip Larkin’s “Cut Grass” Essay

In Cut Grass, Philip Larkin uses onomatopoeia, color and flower symbolism, and punctuation to show that death is inevitable, and is unaware of specific circumstances. By contrasting the cut grass with the typically vibrant, lively month of June, Larkin shows the harsh nature of death, and its disregard towards its surroundings, while simultaneously providing a sense of hope once death does arrive. In the first stanza, Larkin uses onomatopoeia to create a vivid image of mown grass. The sharp sounds of â€Å"cut grass† imply fierceness, while the next phrase â€Å"lies frail,† is reminiscent of helplessness and weakness. He continues to parallel sounds by using phrases such as â€Å"brief is the breath,† and â€Å"exhale,† whose sounds resemble their respective actions. Through his use of onomatopoeia, Larkin connects the reader to the grass, and thus evokes sympathy. While the reader is sensitive towards the death, it nonetheless continues, regardless of the liveliness of â€Å"young-leafed June.† Larkin also contrasts the â€Å"brief breath† with â€Å"long death† to show that life is relatively brief when compared to the eternity of death. He makes the majority of the poem, in describing death, one sentence, from â€Å"long, long†¦Ã¢â‚¬  until the end, in order to illustrate the prolonged and slow dying. He describes the death â€Å"at summer’s pace;† a lazy and dawdling movement that disregards its blooming surroundings. He shows that death is unavoidable, and is continually occurring, even at supposed joyful moments. However, Larkin also ends the poem with movement, to show that death, although inevitable, is not necessarily final, and that there is potential for an afterlife. The repeated reference to white also serves to show the two sides of death; while it is pure and innocent, it is also melancholy. By personifying death, Larkin shows that though one can evaluate death from different perspectives, it inevitably returns to the unfair and merciless nature of death. He also mentions â€Å"chestnut flowers,† â€Å"white lilac,† and â€Å"Queen Anne’s lace,† three white flowers, to represent the two sides of death. Larkin personifies the white lilacs, which are typically symbolic or youthful frankness, to bow to death to show that death is unyielding to its subordinate, youth. However  Ã¢â‚¬Å"white hours,† â€Å"and chestnut flowers† serve to depict a luxurious, pleasant atmosphere, which also describes death. Thus, Larkin shows a glimmer of hope for a future after death, and allows the reader relief and relaxation when approaching death. In using the symbolism of white and flowers, onomatopoeia, and relevant punctuation, Larkin is able to portray death as both eternal and hopeful, and to restore a sense of relief around death’s depressing nature.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Paper Ratio and Financial Statement Analysis Essay

Executive Summary In corporate finance, both ratio and financial statement analysis are important tools that can be used in order to assess a company’s strength financially. They can be used in order to forecast a business’ prospective cash flow and ability to grow in the future, as well as a company’s strengths and weaknesses. Income statements, balance sheets, the statement of retained earnings, and the statement of cash flows are the four primary types of financial statements used in corporate finance. All of these financial statements serve to analyze a firm’s cash flows from different perspectives and are all interrelated. Ratio analysis, another important tool in financial analysis, analyzes the probability that a firm will be profitable or not. The different kinds of ratios used are liquidity ratios, efficiency ratios, leverage ratios, profitability ratios, and market-value indicators, with each type including various different specific ratios that one can calculate when examining a firm’s operability. Both the financial statements and ratio analysis offer an analysis of a firm’s finances at a particular point in time, while also forecasting its financial stability in the future. Another advantage is that they allow a firm’s finance team to compare its finances to that of other similar companies, known as benchmarks, in order to value the strength of their firm in the marketplace. However, financial statements and ratio analysis can also lack in their accuracy since financial analysis is often based on historical figures from the past several years and thus only offer the prospective financial future rather than concrete data since often a firm’s finances are based on the ever-changing marketplace or other factors not in control of the firm’s managers, such as economic conditions. Despite such disadvantages, financial statements and ratio analysis is a very important aspect in the corporate environment and essential to examining a firm’s viability. Overview In business, financial statements are important tools, which allow a firm to clearly state its financials in terms of figures, such as revenues, expenses, net incomes, etc. and analyze strengths and shortcomings of the firm. This allows the firm’s managers to clearly see what is and is not working for the firm. Ratio analysis is used when identifying and analyzing multiple variables in the firm’s operations, such as inventory, accounts receivable, net sales, etc. When completing financial statement and ratio analysis, it is beneficial for the firm to examine its financial figures over several previous consecutive years, so that any and all patterns in its operability can be observed and analyzed. Such patterns can reveal aspects of the company where efficiency is not at its finest and thus there is a financial loss. As a result, the company can implement changes in order to improve upon these shortcomings and increase its profits. Ratio analysis is both a qualitative and quantitative way of looking at the data in order to analyze how a company functions and ways to improve it by looking at present and previous functioning and forecasting the future of the company. Both financial statement and ratio analysis can provide insight into the success or failures of specific product lines, allowing managers to make intelligent decisions regarding what their firm should offer in the future to consumers. Financial statement analysis is also a way to assess and validate a company’s viability in the marketplace to outside investors/creditors. Financial statements assist managers in understanding how profitable their firm is. It is often used to make comparisons of one firm to another or of a specific time period to another time period for the same firm. The main aspects of a financial statement are revenues, expenses, and net income. Revenues are sales numbers that come from products or services a firm creates through its business operations (Parrino, 2011). For a firm, such as Microsoft, its revenue would come from products such as the computers, phones, tablets, and software it sells to consumers. On the other hand, for a consulting firm, such as Accenture, revenues would stem from the fees it charges for its consulting services contracts with various government agencies around the world. Both companies are providing a product to a consumer, one simply happens to be a tangible product that people buy, while the other is a service product that agencies need for their functionality. Expenses are the costs a firm incurs while generating its revenues (Parrino, 2011). For Microsoft, expenses would stem from the costs of building its products, marketing them, developing new products, shipping them around the world, etc. For Accenture, expenses would stem from the cost of all of its consultants, which includes their wages, insurance, company laptops it provides to each of them, travel costs for sending consultants around the world on projects, etc. Again both types of firms exhibit expenses; some of them are just different. Net income shows the company’s revenue relative to its expenses. If revenues exceeds expenses then the company has a net profit and is â€Å"in the black† for that time period (Parrino, 2011). On the other hand, if expenses exceed revenues then the company has a net loss and is â€Å"in the red† for that time period (Parrino, 2011). By looking at financial statements from one fiscal period to the next or annually, managers can observe how their firm is progressing. If the numbers show that the firm is not operating at an optimal level or there is a sudden decline in profit, managers can delve further into the firm’s operations using ratio analysis to look for problem areas and address them accordingly. For instance, ratio analysis can allow analysts to view the rate turnover of a specific product line and examine whether something is lacking in that product line that is hindering the firm’s ability to get rid of that inventory to consumers. Such ratio analysis will be elaborated upon later in this paper. There are four types of financial statements; income statements, balance sheets, the statement of retained earnings, and the statement of cash flows, which are all vital and interrelated. The income statement calculates the firm’s net income or its earnings after expenses have been deducted and is used to calculate retained earnings at the end of the year (Parrino, 2011). Net income is calculated as followed: Net Income = Revenues – Expenses The balance sheet summarizes what assets the firm has at a specific point in time, as well as how the firm has financed such assets (Parrino, 2011). Total assets is calculated as followed: Total Assets = Total Liabilities + Total Stockholders’ Equity The value of assets will change annually since firms often buy and sell assets, thus altering the firm’s value and financing. Such changes are indicated in the  statement of cash flows, which gives a summary of changes in the firm’s balance sheet from the beginning of a period to the end (Parrino, 2011). The statement of retained earnings summarizes changes in the retained earnings in a simpler manner for managers than the statement of cash flows and basically shows the firm’s expenses and loss from one period to the next (Parrino, 2011). These financial statements can provide a lot of information to managers regarding the operations of the company. If Microsoft sees a decrease in its net income or total assets from one year to the next, this can indicate many things. A decrease in net income can indicate maybe some products are not selling as well as they have in the past, meaning Microsoft may need to change its marketing strategy or release a new product. A decrease in total assets can mean several things. Perhaps the company’s products are of less value than before or perhaps they have fewer liabilities. Deciding what specifically financial statements mean for the future of a firm often requires more in depth analysis through ratio analysis. Ratio analysis is the use of financial figures to analyze a firm’s overall operability and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses (Parrino, 2011). It can be used from various perspectives including stockholders, managers, and creditors, in order to evaluate the profitability of a firm. Specifically, a financial ratio is a â€Å"number from a financial statement that has been scaled by dividing by another financial number† in order to show something about the company’s operations (Parrino, 2011). There are several types of financial ratios; liquidity ratios, efficiency ratios, leverage ratios, profitability ratios, and market-value indicators. Liquidity ratios focus on whether â€Å"a firm has the ability to convert current assets into cash quickly without loss of value† (Parrino, 2011). Two liquidity ratios are as followed: Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities Quick Ratio = (Current Assets – Inventory) / Current Liabilities Liquidity ratios indicate a firm’s ability to pay short-term obligations, such as interest payments for debt. This is very important because every firm has creditors, whether its investors, banks, or even tax collectors and even the most profitable company can go under if it is unable to pay all of its obligations for any reason. Efficiency ratios measure â€Å"how efficiently a firm uses its assets† and include the following: Inventory Turnover = Cost of Goods Sold / Inventory Days Sales in Inventory = 365 Days / Inventory Turnover Accounts Receivable Turnover = Net Sales / Accounts Receivable Days Sales Outstanding = 365 Days / Accounts Receivable Turnover Total Asset Turnover = Net Sales / Total Assets Fixed Asset Turnover = Net Sales / Net Fixed Assets Efficiency ratios are a useful tool in financial analysis because they can examine and identify inefficient use of any kind of asset. For instance, in our case of a decrease net income for Microsoft, financial analysts can look at the inventory turnover for each of its products and analyze whether one is too low indicating that the rate at which they are selling that specific product line is not efficient compared to the cost of producing that product line. Based on this managers can decide whether they should decrease the amount of inventory they produce or cut the product line all together. Leverage ratios are used to examine a firm’s financing or ability to meet long-term financial obligations. Leverage ratios are as followed: Total Debt Ratio = Total Debt / Total Assets Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt / Total Equity Equity Multiplier = Total Assets / Total Equity Leverage ratios are important because every firm uses debt or equity and often both for its financing, but the more debt a firm uses, the greater the risk it will default on those debt payments. So, for instance, the total debt ratio can tell you how much debt a firm uses in its capital structure and thus how volatile its earnings are (Parrino, 2011). Profitability ratios â€Å"measure management’s ability to efficiently use the firm’s assets to generate sales and manage the firm’s operations† (Parrino, 2011) and include the following: Gross Profit Margin = (Net Sales – Cost of Goods Sold) / Net Sales Operating Profit Margin = EBIT / Net Sales Net Profit Margin = Net Income / Net Sales Return on Assets(ROA) = Net Income / Total Assets EBIT ROA = EBIT / Total Assets Return on Equity(ROE) = Net Income / Total Equity Profitability ratios are important because they indicate a company’s ability to be profitable relative to its expenses. Market-value indicators predict the future of a firm’s finances using market value trends and financial statements. They include: Earnings Per Share(EPS) = Net Income / Shares Outstanding Price-Earnings Ratio(P/E) = Price Per Share / Earnings Per Share Market-to-Book Ratio = Market Value of Equity Per Share / Book Value of Equity per share Market-value indicators are important because they can assist in predicting the future for a firm. Whether the firm will be profitable using its current strategy or should it maybe switch to a different strategy to keep up with competing companies. All of these financial ratios are crucial to financial analysis in corporations and used very often by analysts, managers, creditors, stockholders, etc. Advantages and Disadvantages of Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis has several benefits. First, it offers various methods of analyzing a company’s financial wellbeing, going beyond just the financial statements by looking at specific aspects of operations. This can indicate strengths and shortcomings that managers should be aware of. Improvements can be made in order to increase profitability as a result. For instance, if a Microsoft notices that one product line has a higher days sales in inventory than another, this indicates that the specific product stays on the shelf longer and perhaps the firm should focus more on the product line with the lower days sales in inventory as it sells better. Secondly, ratio analysis can assist in predicting earnings or showing a pattern, which managers can use to find the best way to maintain financial profitability. While financial statements provide numbers such as revenues or expenses, ratio analysis can offer a concrete number describing revenues relative to the cost of the goods sold, such as with the gross profit margin. Such a ratio can indicate how profitable a firm’s operations were in a specific  period of time and if very profitable a concrete method of recreating such success. Essentially, ratio analysis simplifies the information provided in financial statements by compartmentalizing them to show patters and trends, which are very useful. Thirdly, ratio analysis can also be used in order to compare the firm’s operations to that of its competitors. Often, how well a company is doing depends on the market and how well other companies are doing, so ratio analysis provides a very useful tool to companies in making such comparisons. There are some disadvantages to ratio analysis. Predictions based on ratio analysis can be inaccurate from time to time. This is because ratio analysis is mostly based on historical data from previous time periods, which only offers so much information about the future. Yes, analysts can predict that the market will behave a certain way through market value indicators, but such predictions are only so accurate. The market can be affected by a variety of aspects, such as volatile economic conditions or even a natural disaster. For example following Hurricane Katrina, at â€Å"the end of the first week following†¦U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels from the previous week,† indicating a strong market effect on petroleum due to the disaster (â€Å"Hurricane Katrina’s impact,† 2011). Businesses cannot control environmental disasters or economic conditions, which is why while ratio analysis is a very useful tool, it cannot always be relied on 100%. The use of market-value indicators is increasingly used in order to better forecast the future of a firm as it takes into account the economic climate at a specific point in time in order to predict the trend of future financial entities (Niazi, 2011) but again sometimes something like a natural disaster can negatively affect business. This is why having a high operating income and total assets is important to be prepared for such events. While not a perfect model as random economic turbulence can skew results, market-value indicators do still provide some insight into the future. Furthermore, when using ratio analysis to compare to another similar benchmark firm, there can also be pitfalls. Often it is impossible to find a company similar enough in size, corporate structure, and operations to properly compare to and gauge a market comparison. Thus, often ratio analysis when benchmarking can provide a skewed impression of where the firm stands against its competitors in the market. Financial statement and ratio analysis are very useful in corporate finance that provide much information to analysts, managers, stockholders, and creditors about the financial state of a firm. While there are some shortcomings to ratio analysis, its advantages in practice surely outweigh its disadvantages and offer valuable tools to cultivate a thriving company. References Hurricane Katrina’s impact on the U.S. oil and natural gas markets. (2011, September 12). Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/oog/special/eia1_katrina_091205.html Niazi, G. S. K., Hunjra, A. I., Rashid , M., Akbar, S. W., & Akhtar, M. N. (2011). Practices of working capital policy and performance assessment financial ratios and their relationship with organization performance. World Applied Sciences Journal, 12(11), 1967-1973. Parino, R., Kidwell, D. S. & Bates, T. W. (2012). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance: Second edition. John Wiley & Sons; Hoboken, NJ.