The Importance of Acquisition, Conversion, and Retention Tools in Digital Campaigns

To: Sales Director at Playrite From: Marketing Manager at Playrite Subject: Investigation into opportunities for using digital marketing campaign tools to help build new and existing business Date: 30th November 2012 Contents The importance of acquisition, conversion and retention tools in digital campaigns3 Different types of digital marketing campaign tools4 Acquiring new customers4 Converting Sales5 Retaining Customers6 Search Engine Marketing for Acquisition7 Website for Conversion7 Email for Retention8 Appendix9 1:1 Background to Nearlygrass9 :1 Evaluation and measurement of current Nearlygrass website11 3:1 Statistics12 Statement16 Bibliography14 The importance of acquisition, conversion and retention tools in digital campaigns Acquisition, conversion and retention tools are incredibly important in digital campaigns and enable businesses to acquire prospective customers, convert to sales and retain for future purchases. Digital marketing tools support marketing activities aimed at achieving profitable acquisition and retention of customers throughout their lifecycle (Dave Chaffey 2012 [Online]).When digital tools such as email marketing are integrated with more traditional media such as direct mail they form the basis of successful marketing campaigns. Although we are currently in a recession, the contribution of the internet to the economy is growing and will continue to grow at more than 10% annually for the next five years. By 2016 the reach is estimated to top $4. 2 trillion (Economist 2012 [Online]). 80% of households in the UK now have access to the internet with 83% of those adults aged 24-44 years old using the internet daily which is an increase of 21% since 2006 (Office for National Statistics 2012 [Online]) see fig 3. and 3. 3. If Nearlygrass wants to increase awareness of their product range then digital marketing is essential to develop a more interactive and engaging relationship with customers. The internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media. Blogs, online video, news releases, and other form of Web content let organisations communicate directly with buyers (Scott, pg 11, 2010). With a business-to-consumer website like www. nearlygrass. co. k it’s important to acquire individuals who are web savvy, convert them once they are on the website and retain or get a recommendation for the Nearlygrass range to friends and communicate about our products and services online. Different types of digital marketing campaign tools Acquiring new customers What? | How? | Pros| Cons| Search engine marketing| * SEO to optimise www. nearlygrass. co. uk * PPC campaign to drive traffic. | * If the current website can be edited in house, SEO is quick and low cost * Continually improve www. nearlygrass. o. uk by adding new, engaging content * PPC campaigns are fast to set up, amend and can be managed in house to budget. | * If not edited in house, costly and time consuming to change * Some PPC terms are costly * PPC is time consuming, requiring constant research. | Email| * Sending out cold email marketing campaigns * Include details of new content and news. | * Promotes products and drive traffic * Increase engagement and stickiness * Convert into more sample orders/enquiries and sales * Easy to personalise (Chaffey, pg 550, 2009). * Difficult to buy quality list, emails could be classed as spam * Costly to send HTML emails, unless use free service like Mail Chimp. | Online PR| * Publish press releases on relevant websites. | * Grow brand and product awareness alongside USP * Drive traffic to the website by speaking directly to customers, unfiltered by the media (Scott, pg 86, 2010). | * Lots of competitors in current marketplace doing similar things * Time consuming * Costly. | Converting Sales What? | How? | Pros| Cons| Website| * Keep information relevant * Improve sample ordering processes * Clearer calls to actions. * Offer better user experience * Increa se conversions. | * Costly to change website, especially with database and CMS| Copywriting and presentation| * Create easy to understand DIY PDF’s * Create different pages for target audience * Use Google Analytics to determine questions searchers are using to get to the site and answer in weekly blog posts. | * Helpful information is more likely to be shared across the internet on social channels like Twitter (Mashable 2008 [Online]) * Nearlygrass seen as experts in their industry. * Need support from individuals inside organisation * Uploading information is costly if the website can’t be edited in house. * Requires time and know-how. | Customer support| * Live chat facility during office hours to answer questions. | * Relatively cheap to set up * Trace and track users * Prompt conversations * Encourages engagement and enhance user’s experience. | * Requires resources to run and control * Only useful during working hours and needs those with expert knowledge to control and manage. | Retaining Customers What? | How? | Pros| Cons|Customer service| * Feedback questionnaires * SMS to alert when delivery is on way * Order confirmation emails. | * Receive valuable customer feedback * Providing better services through mobile marketing. | * Difficulty getting emails and mobile numbers * Need resources to send and process responses. | Email| * Sending post sale emails with information about installation, maintenance and add-on products. * Email customers whose surfaces are near replacement. | * Increase user experience by offering helpful advice * Up-sell products * Recommend an installer in their area * Get repeat custom. * Could be duplicating information * Need to collect emails during sales process * Need resources to manage. | Referrals| * ‘Recommend to a friend’ * Tweet/upload images to Facebook to be entered into prize draw. | * Previous customers promote Nearlygrass range * Increase social reach * Engage with new customers t hrough previous customers| * Relies heavily on customers and getting them to upload/submit images * Difficult to get convince management into investing in social media (Scott, pg 267, 2010). | Search Engine Marketing for AcquisitionSearch engine marketing is the most important tool for acquiring new customers as it is the most cost effective method for driving traffic to a website. Improvements are needed for www. nearlygrass. co. uk to be found by prospective customers through search engine marketing. If a website isn’t listed in the first few search results, that business is out of the customer’s consideration set and has no chance to make that sale to that customer. Your customers must first find you to learn about your products (Moran & Hunt, pg 20, 2008). Looking at the top ten keywords www. earlygrass. co. uk appears with a ranking 100| grass artificial| 1| 60500| >100| what is artificial grass| 1| 60500| >100| grass artificial grass| 1| 60500| >100| artificial l awns| 1| 49500| >100| synthetic lawns| 1| 49500| >100| astro turf| 0. 8| 49500| >100| grass synthetic grass| 1| 49500| >100| grass synthetic| 1| 49500| >100| synthetic grass| 1| 49500| >100| 2:4 PPC advert example Artificial Grass www. nearlygrass. co. uk/samples UK made. No Watering, No Mowing, No Hassle Get your Free Samples. 2:5 Ranking from Open Site Explorer As you can see the current website gets a low rating in terms of domain and page authority Also the site only has 3 linking root domains. This can be tracked during the project to see what affect the acquisition tools are having on the trust of the site. 2:6 Top competitor sites * www. asgoodasgrass. co. uk * www. evergreenuk. om * www. lazylawn. co. uk * www. easigrass. com 3:1 Statistics 3:2 Households with Internet Access, 1998 to 2012 Households with Internet Access, 1998 to 2012| | Â  | Year| Per cent| 1998| 9| 1999| 13| 2000| 25| 2001| 36| 2002| 42| 2003| 46| 2004| 49| 2005| 55| 2006| 57| 2007| 61| 2008| 65| 2009| 70 | 2010| 73| 2011| 77| 2012| 80| 3:3 Adults who used a computer in the last three months, by frequency of use and age group, 2006 and 2012 Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | | Daily| | Weekly| | Monthly| | Between 1 – 3 months| Â  | 2006| 2012| Â  | 2006| 2012| Â  | 2006| 2012| Â  | 2006| 2012| 16-24| 63| 82| | 15| 12| | 7| 2| | 3| -| 5-44| 62| 83| | 16| 10| | 4| 2| | 2| 1| 45-54| 56| 71| | 13| 14| | 5| 2| | 3| 1| 55-64| 36| 63| | 17| 13| | 5| 2| | 3| 2| 65 +| 9| 29| | 8| 11| | 3| 4| | 3| 3| All| 45| 67| Â  | 14| 12| Â  | 5| 2| Â  | 3| 1| Base: Adults (aged 16+) in Great Britain| | | | | | | | | – Data too small to display| | | | | | | | | | Bibliography Chaffey, Dave 2012 Digital marketing definition http://www. davechaffey. com/Internet-Marketing/C1-Introduction/E-marketing-Internet-markeitng-%20definition [Online] Accessed 19th September 2012Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Mayer, Johnston (2009) Internet Marketing – Strategy, I mplementation and Practice Pearson Education Limited: Essex Economist 2012 How much does the internet contribute to the economies of G20 countries? http://www. economist. com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/04/daily-chart-2 [Online] Assessed 18th September 2012 Evans, Sarah 2008 HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter http://mashable. com/2008/11/10/twitter-community/ [Online] Accessed 23rd November 2012 Moran and Hunt (2008) Search Engine Marketing, Inc. IBM Press: USA Office for National Statistics 2012 Internet Access – Households and Individuals http://www. ns. gov. uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables. html? edition=tcm%3A77-270031 [Online] Assessed 18th September 2012 Peck, Dave (2011) Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign Wiley: USA Schachinger, Kristine 2012 How to Write Title Tags For Search Engine Optimization http://searchenginewatch. com/article/2154469/How-to-Write-Title-Tags-For-Search-Engine-Optimization [Online] Accessed 23rd November 2012 Scott, David Meerman (2010) The New Rules of Marketing & PR John Wiley & Sons: New Jersey StatementI confirm that in forwarding this assessment for marketing, I understand and have applied the CIM policies relating to word count, plagiarism and collusion for all tasks. This assignment/project is the result of my own independent work/investigation except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged in the body of the text and/or a bibliography is appended. The work that I have submitted has not previously been accepted in substance for any other award and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any other award. Total word count: 1,315/1,200

What are the key similarities and differences between Freud and Jung’s theories of dreams?

Introduction Historically, dreams have often been given cultural significance all over the world, and various speculations abound on the origin and function of this intriguing phenomenon. However, it was the pioneering work of Freud in the late 19th Century which truly revolutionised the way dreams are discussed in much contemporary discourse. Although as a theory it is unfalsifiable and does not easily lend itself to empirical investigation, it subsequently remains somewhat outside of the conventional scientific approach to the study of psychological phenomena, as do the ideas of Jung. Psychodynamic theories have nonetheless been influential particularly with regard to dreams since their exact purpose and the genesis of their content is not demonstrably explicable in terms of mechanistic perspectives on sleep and mind. Clearly then these theories appeal to people, and they have resulted in psychotherapeutic methods of analysis that have been helpful to some people (Freud, 1940). With this in min d, this essay will seek to establish the individual contributions of Freud and Jung, where they concur and where their theories come into conflict. In order to do this each theory must first be outlined. Freud ascribed a crucial central position of dreams in his overall model of the psyche (Jones, 1913). He saw dreams as indicative of pathologies and emotions affecting conscious life, either directly or through the action of his proposed concept of the unconscious. Freud believed that in fact the majority of the mental processes governing an individual’s thoughts, feelings and therefore behaviour, take place in the unconscious mind, and that an intrinsic censor keeps these processes and underlying drives from conscious awareness (Freud, 1922). This unconscious-conscious distinction is necessary, Freud argues, because the feelings evoked by conscious knowledge of true motivational drives and internal struggles would be unacceptable, and therefore these must be hidden in the un conscious. These unacceptable notions only become available to consciousness in transformed appearance; becoming something analogous but more acceptable to the individual. One of the primary ways Freud supposed that the unconscious communicated its contents to the conscious mind was via dreams. The actual experienced content of dreams Freud names the manifest content, whereas the true meaning of the dream as it is stored in the unconscious was dubbed the latent content (Freud, 1900). Through the method of psychoanalysis, utilising such techniques as free association and projective methods using external stimuli, such as the Rorschach inkblot test, Freud believed the latent content of dreams could be uncovered, and that the revelation of this information In the light of consciousness could alleviate many neurotic symptoms (Fenichel, 2006). As far as Freud was concerned, dreams communicate their message through symbolic means. Images encountered in dreams represent some aspect of the dreamer’s psyche and their interpretation can result in profound insights into the inner life of an individual. For Freud, the meaning of certain dream symbols could be ubiquitous between individuals; if one person was dreaming of the Eiffel tower then this could be interpreted in much the same way as if another person were also dreaming of the Eiffel tower. The only way the interpretation would differ would be in regard to the dream context; that is, the place the object of the Eiffel tower occupied in relation to other dream objects, the motifs and themes involved in the dream as well as more ambient feelings surrounding dream objects. Therefore, two dreams involving the Eiffel tower could be interpreted quite differently, but the symbolic Eiffel tower could be said to have similar if not synonymous meaning between persons, according to Freud (1954). A key aspect of Freud’s theory of the unconscious is that the ego (the symbolic self) develops defence mechanisms to p rotect itself from thoughts and feelings that it finds unacceptable, typically these are feelings of inadequacy, social comparisons or unbearable desires of some kind. This arsenal of defence mechanisms includes repression, denial, sublimation and projection. This list is not comprehensive but these are the primary mechanisms by which feelings that are deemed harmful to the ego are exiled to the unconscious (Freud, 2011). In Freud’s theory, these unconscious desires and feelings then manifest themselves symbolically in dreams through almost universally recognisable and interpretable symbols. Another aspect of this theory is that dream objects may form categories. In other words, different but perhaps similar objects may mean the same thing in terms of latent content. One classic example of a semantic category of this kind is phallic symbols; essentially anything cylindrical is often interpreted to denote a phallus, or more abstract ‘power’ (Orrells, 2013). The dr eam analysis would then proceed with the latent content supplanted in the place of the manifest content, and the true meaning of the dream could be interpolated depending on the dream context. Freud was essentially working towards an encyclopaedic knowledge of the meaning behind each dream symbol (Freud, 1900) and although there was some acknowledgement that these symbols could be represented differently between diverse people, much of his theory lacks generalizability. This point becomes especially relevant when it is remembered that his theory was developed using only qualitative data obtained from neurotics (Freud, 1922). As a contemporary of Freud’s, Jung developed his theories largely without his input. When the two met they found that most of their ideas regarding the unconscious and its expression in dreams were compatible if not identical. However, there were some key areas of divergence; chiefly there are new concepts introduced by Jung, and disagreements over the ex act nature of the unconscious. Despite specific differences, there is no denying the striking similarity of the theories with regard to the genesis of dreams, the structure of the individual psyche and to a large extent the interpretation of dream content. Freud and Jung agreed that dreams harbour feelings, thoughts and desires which are unacceptable or painful to conscious awareness. Jung took this notion a step further and coined the term ‘complex’. A complex centres on a certain theme which pervades a person’s life again and again in many different ways. It must be a recurring theme which profoundly influences the psychology of the individual. Unlike the more general terms used by Freud, the idea of a complex provides a more structured way of understanding an individual’s unconscious expressions through the methods used in psychoanalysis, and the term was adopted by Freud into his psychology (Schultz and Schultz, 2009). Jung also introduced the concept of the collective unconscious, as he felt that Freud’s formulation of the unconscious was apt when applied to the individual, but incomplete as it could not account for the consistency of certain dream themes and even specific symbols between individuals (Jung, 1981). Jung believed that the consistency of dreams between individuals was best explained by introducing a new level to the unconscious; a communal level where universally relevant archetypal symbols filter in disguised form into the conscious awareness of individuals through dreams. These archetypes are fundamental aspects of life which apply to all people, and as such are ingrained in some way in all cultures, but are expressed differently between cultures in their respective myths, legends and deities. For Jung, archetypal images include that of the mother, to give an idea of the sort of motifs supposedly inherent in the collective unconscious. Although Freud would later acknowledge the idea of a collective unconsc ious (Jung, 1936), he still did not attribute particular importance to it like Jung did, seeing it as more of an ‘appendix’ to the personal unconscious. The collective unconscious was of paramount importance in Jung’s theory of dreams; he supposed that many dream images and themes could be interpreted as representing archetypes present in the collective unconscious (Jung, 1981). It is necessary here to delve a little further into Jung’s theory of the general human psyche to fully appreciate his perspective on dreams. Jung believed the ultimate goal of life was ‘individuation’ (Jung, 1923), which refers to the unification of personality, and an acknowledgment of all unconscious impulses. This integration of the unconscious with consciousness can only occur with the two still operating in relative autonomy but with the conscious mind achieving a degree of acceptance of the unconscious; both the collective and personal unconscious that is. Until individuation can be achieved, the individual must continue to attempt to differentiate themselves from the collective consciousness through the establishment of an individual persona. The persona is shaped through the processes of socialisation and individual experience and therefore the persona an individual choses to project may not truly reflect how they are feeling or thinking. Jung argued this persona is also shaped by the collective unconsciousness, and this struggle for individuation against the archetypes, and the strain felt by wearing the persona like a ‘mask’ is expressed in dreams (Jung, 1923). The idea of integrating opposites features heavily in Jung’s theories, and he believed that dreams could be expressions of this internal struggle, which is a perspective shared by Freud. However, it is clear that there is disagreement on the origins of the internal struggles; for Freud they arise only from the pressure of individual desires which are deemed as unacceptable by the conscious mind, whereas Jung saw in dreams the process of socialisation via exposure to the collective unconscious and the archetypes, while at the same time the ego struggles against such influence for the possibility of individuation. It can be gleamed from this description of the theories of Jung compared to those of Freud that Jung’s had more of a spiritual aspect to them. The idea of a collective unconscious inhabited by concepts that are familiar to all people does have an air of transcendence compared to the personal unconscious, which is concerned only with the unbearable thoughts of the one individual concerned. The objectivist worldview of Freud can be clearly contrasted here with that of Jung who did not discount spiritual perspectives, but saw in them analogies, representations and affirmations of his own concepts, albeit expressed with some artistic licence and cultural influence. The goal of individuation, Jung thought, was at the mystical h eart of all religions, whereas the collective unconscious gave rise to all manner of representations in religious texts. This brings us to another way in which the theories differ. Freud conceptualised the unconscious as being overwhelmingly focused on negative emotions and thoughts concerning the ego. The complex for Freud was always a malevolent phenomenon. Jung did not believe this necessarily had to be the case, and stipulated that the unconscious could contain desires, thoughts and feelings of any emotional valence. Jung believed that the contents of the personal unconscious could have been repressed from consciousness for any number of reasons, which differs drastically from the opinion of Freud who believed that this was only possible through the activation of the defence mechanisms he conceived of. Indeed, Jung saw many of the archetypes as benign abstractions (Jung, 1981) shared by all cultures which are universally effective in shaping the socialisation of all members of a society. Jung’s theory then has greater scope, in encapsulating the macro-level influences which affect all people as well as individual tendencies expressed in dreams; Freud focused to heavily perhaps on the individual and their immediate relations. Both Freud and Jung believed that unconscious underlying emotions for certain concepts drive external behaviour, the primary disagreement is over the placement of these emotional drives. Jung proposed that images filter up from the collective unconscious and are given individualised guises appropriate to each individual (but they nonetheless represent the same archetype). Feelings regarding this archetype arise from personal experience and inherent inclinations. These feelings are then expressed in the personal unconscious through dreams and take on personal significance in the conscious mind. In Freud’s theory, the process of unconscious expression takes place solely in the personal unconscious and is concerned with emot ions, thoughts and desires surrounding personal relationships and experience (Williams, 1963). Both of these psychodynamic theorists saw dreams as a key diagnostic tool in psychotherapy. However, there was some divergence in interpretative technique; primarily that Jung did not believe that the meaning of one dream symbol could be transferred effectively between people. To reuse the earlier example, to dream of the Eiffel tower could be interpreted completely differently depending on who dreamed it, their personal circumstances and the dream context. The dream image of the Eiffel tower for Jung does not inherently mean anything in and of itself. Although both methods of interpretation have resulted in the lessening of neurotic symptoms for some patients (Freud, 1954; Jung, 1936) the fact that these theories are essentially speculative cannot be overlooked lightly. Both Freud and Jung attached paramount significance to dreams in the functioning of the human mind, reading great meanin g into sometimes seemingly arbitrary dream images, but the fact that these theories cannot be empirically tested and rely on mainly neurotic patients for the acquisition of evidence is a serious criticism of both theories. The purpose of dreams is another area in which these theories put forward different views. Both theorists agree that the unconscious is expressed in dreams, but Jung adds that socialisation occurs through exposure to the collective unconscious, and individuation is sought through the establishment of an appropriate place for the ego in relation to the archetypes (Jung, 1936). Therefore, dreaming is a process of growth for Jung, whereas Freud saw dreams as expressive and in need of interpretation for them to really be of use to the dreamer. A common theme in both theories though when it comes to the purpose of dreams is compensation. In psychoanalytic theory, it is assumed that dreams can arise to compensate for a conscious attitude thus balancing the position of t he ego, this perspective is shared by both Jung and Freud. In a compensatory dream, the dreamer may be expressing a contrary attitude to one consciously held, although this would occur in disguised form as the manifest content in the dream. This assumption would factor into the psychoanalytic strategy employed by both theorists, where they would most notably differ would be in their interpretation of the meaning of certain symbols; whether they represent archetypes (as in Jung’s theory) or are analogous to personal relationships with people or objects in conscious life (as in Freud’s theory). To conclude, there initially appears to be many more similarities than differences between the theories of Freud and Jung regarding dreams. Both postulate the existence of an unconscious which expresses itself with symbolic images through dreams for the purpose of compensation; both see the interpretation of the unconscious expression as potentially beneficial, and the pathology o f neuroses is seen to have a causal influence in the unconscious desire. Despite these fundamental similarities there is also much divergence. Most of the theoretical difference is created by the proposition of the collective unconscious by Jung. This introduces a spiritual element, and an additional purpose of dreaming, which involves communing with archetypal forms to establish personal identity, and maintain a properly socialised persona. This is mostly incompatible with Freudian theory, which takes a more objective view and focuses on patterns of unconscious expression within the personal unconscious between individuals, seeking to establish a universal method of dream interpretation, something Jungian theory would deem impossible. References Fenichel, O. (2006). The psychoanalytic theory of neurosis. London: Routledge. Freud, A. (2011). The ego and the mechanisms of defence. Exeter: Karnac Books. Freud, S. (1900). Distortion in dreams. The interpretation of dreams, 142-143. Freud, S. (1922). The unconscious. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 56(3), 291-294. Freud, S. (1940). An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 21, 27-84. Freud, S. (1954). The origins of psycho-analysis (p. 216). M. Bonaparte, & W. Flie? (Eds.). New York: Basic Books. Jones, E. (1913). Freud’s theory of dreams. London, England: Bailliere, Tindall & Cox Jung, C. G. (1923). Psychological types: or the psychology of individuation. Oxford, England: Harcourt, Brace Jung, C. G. (1936). The concept of the collective unconscious. Collected works, 9(1), 42. Jung, C. G. (1981). The archetypes and the collective unconscious (Vol. 9). Princeton: Princeton University Press. Orrells, D. (2013). Freud’s Phallic Symbol. Classical Myth and Psychoanalysis: Ancient and Modern Stories of the Self, 39. Shultz, D. and Shultz, S. (2009). Theories of Personality (9th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Williams, M. (1963). The indivisibility of the personal and collective unconscious. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 8(1), 45-50.

3 questions to answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

3 questions to answer - Essay Example Foreign direct investments and trades were encouraged under the â€Å"open door policy† to ensure rapid economic growth of the country (Zhao 114). During the Mao era, China tried to achieve its economic objectives under ideological and conservative foreign policies. However, the failure of â€Å"Great Leap Forward† and â€Å"Cultural Revolution† caused the deaths of millions of people and significantly crippled the Chinese economy and brought the country on the verge of failure in terms of political and socio-economic aspects (Solomon 60-97). By adopting the â€Å"Great Leap Forward† policy in the late 1950s, Mao tried to promote China’s industrialization by emphasizing on the development of domestic â€Å"backyard† steel manufacturing factories. Besides steel, other industries were particularly ignored. As traditional peasants were forced to work in factories instead of fields, most of the country’s crops were spoiled due to the lack of harvesting. Consequently, a great famine gripped the country from 1959 to 1961. According to official reports, over 45 million of people were died from starvation during the â€Å"three bitter years† (Southerland). During Mao’s 2nd disastrous policy, i.e., â€Å"Cultural Revolution†, enormous number of scientists, intellectuals, teachers, artists, and others, who were considered as a threat to the Communist ideology, were tortured, harassed, imprisoned, or executed under the name of social and political persecution. Mao’s oppressive ideological policies and self-isolation from global platform descended the country into chaos and lawlessness (Southerland). Historically, China had a troublesome relationship with its neighbors due to territory and border issues. India, Japan, and Soviet Union were the biggest competitors and threats to China and its objective of becoming an Asian powerhouse. In order to protect its sovereignty and national security, developing a strong military and overall,

Analysis of The Red Convertible by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Essay

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Harley Davidson - Coursework Example Over the years HD Motorcycle Company had to adopt many strategies in terms of marketing so that they could cope with stiff competition posed by the likes of Honda and Suzuki. According to a famous book written by Michael porter on the different competitive strategies adopted by companies and nations, we see that they may take the form of 3 basic strategies; the overall cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy or the strategy that focuses on just a particular niche of the market. These strategies are normally used to create a platform that can be used to outperform various competitors. Harley Davidson generally uses the ‘differentiation’ strategy widely as their generic competitive strategy. The differentiation strategy is where a company chooses to counter competition by attempting to offer something unique in the existing market in terms of products or services. The HD motorcycle company offers its heavyweight brand of motorcycles through various designs which are distinctive in terms of design. The company in itself has over 100 years of existence in the motorcycle industry, more than any other motorcycle company in the world. It was because of this that the Harley Davidson brand has become an American iconic brand and nostalgia therefore it was no longer a just a motorcycle brand but also a traditional brand that has been carried on through generations. The motorcycle brand in itself consists of an American flag that represents the nice feeling of freedom to the Americans, the type of freedom only compared to that of riding. This attachment to the consumers is what has given Harley Davidson the competitive edge over other motorcycle companies. Therefore the customers owning the American made versions always perceive the Harley Davidson bikes as the only high quality products and are always demanding for the additional exclusive value that can be added without even considering the increase in price. Also still on the differentiation str ategy, the HD motorcycle company produces over 30 different models of motorcycles. This diversity has increased their reach into the 4 different units of the target market which are; Touring market, Custom market, Performance market and lastly the Standard market. Harley Davidson Company allows buyers of their bikes to customize them through the use of chromes and other custom parts that are provided by Harley Davidson dealers all over America. This has made sure that they establish an unrivaled motorcycle empire in the American market only and not the other market areas like in Europe. This was because the company’s history and reputation affected only as far as American states alone. Further differentiation of their motorcycles and accessories then proved to be a good generic competitive strategy again. This was through the development of new motorcycle design that was called the ‘V Rod’ which is a Porsche designed engine heavy motorcycle. The V Rod or the VRSC model did not just impact positively (in terms of sales volume) for Harley Davidson Company in Europe alone, it also sold very well in Japan although this strategy was not that effective as the sales

Speech Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Speech Writing - Essay Example Though he was unjustly imprisoned for 27 years, he showed himself true to his education and that was what defined him through his lifetime. Without further ado, let me introduce an exceptional man who made us tremendously honored during our graduation ceremonies, Mr. Nelson Mandela. A man of character deserves more than just an articulate speech but perhaps there could be no honor that will give justice to a notable man such as Liu Xiaobo. For years, he has been the voice for those who did not have the courage, position or opportunity to speak their minds. We all have wars to fight and this brave writer and literary critic chose to fight for the rights of his people through the use of his sharp pen. It is one thing to fight for one’s self, a better thing to fight for one’s family but to fight for those whose knees are feeble and whose screams are unheard; it is worth more than a Nobel Prize. Anyhow, it is an honor to salute you sir Liu Xiaobo for a job well

5 Different Definition of Stem Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

5 Different Definition of Stem Education - Essay Example According to Veenstra et al, (2012), STEM education includes majors in natural sciences, engineering, science, health, and technologies. Many leaders have consistently created concern for the increasing number of STEM students who get well-paying jobs as compared to other degree holders. Though STEM is widely used throughout the education system, certain fields receive more attention in this more than others. Such fields include engineering, computer sciences, and the physical sciences. As a result, examination of STEM participation and resulting outcomes from examining narrow fields come up with differing conclusions as opposed to when a broader definition is used altogether. STEM education is an important interdisciplinary approach that incorporates various academic concepts with other real-world lessons, as the student is able to apply the four disciplines of STEM education. As a result, they are able to connect between school, global economy and community work thus developing STEM literacy giving the students a competitive advantage in the economy (Beatty, 2011). Educators seem to consider this concept from an educational perspective increasing the importance of succeeding in science and mathematics and increasing the integration in engineering and technology when needs arises. STEM education involves a study of sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology courses and having adequate knowledge to apply the skills and knowledge gained in the real world (DeBoer, 2011). The reason is that the competitive nature of every country requires that there is a strong educational program that is able to prepare innovative scientists and other engineers who are capable of providing innovations that can flourish the economy of a country. However, various educators involved in preparing students for important careers in STEM courses find the term

Different Methods of Cooking Essay Example for Free

Different Methods of Cooking Essay Introduction In cooking, there are Some basic methods of cooking That Are Used. Used commonly These basic cooking methods are Divided into two general groups. The groups are: Dry heat methods and Cookery Cookery Moist heat methods. The methods of cooking are Divided into two groups thes Because of the way food is cooked and the type of Heat That Is Used. Let us have a look at the Dry Heat Cookery Methods. Dry Heat Cookery Methods In dry heat cooking methods, the food cooked Being does not use water to cook the food. The food is left is dry and Applied heat to cook the food. Such methods of cooking are: baking, steaming, grilling, and roasting. When Heat Is Applied to the food, the food Cooks Its Own Juice in the water or added to food during the ITS Preparation evaporat during the Heating Process and the Cooks this food. Heat is Applied directly to the food by convection Thusis way of making the food to get cooked. The action or movement of air around the food, cook it. Let us now have to look at each of thes cooking methods Baking [pic] [pic] In baking method of cooking, the food is cooked Heating Using convection. The food is put into an Enclosed Area Where Is Then Applied heat and the movement of heat Within the confined space, the Act on food thata make it get cooked. Steaming To steam food, water is added to the pot and Then stand is placed inside the pot. Should the water level be under the stand and not abov it. There is in contact Between the food and the water That is added to the pot. Then food is placed on the stand and Heat Is Applied. The hot steam rising from the boiling water on the Food Act and the food gets cooked. It is the hot steam That Cooks the food, as there is in contact Between the food and the water inside the pot. This method of cooking for Vegetables is very good as the food does not Lose Its Flavour and much of the Nutrients are not lost during the cooking. Grilling There are two methods of grilling That are Used These Days. One type of grilling is The One That Is Used commonly by the people in the village. This is When food is cooked over hot Charcoal on an open fire. The food is placed on top of the Charcoal Burning. Sometimes people improvisations by Using wire mesh and place it over the open fire to grill fish or Vegetables. The Other Method That Is Using grills are inbuilt in Stove. In this method, the grill, whichis you have the tray, is heated up and the food is placed on the grill tray to cook. The Heat Can Be Gas-Electric-generated or generated depending on the type of Stove Used. The food is again left to cook on the grill with the grill of the doors open. People Who Can Afford to Buy a Stove would use the grilling part theire food to grill. What Happens in this type of cooking is the heat Seals Outside the part of the food and the juice inside the food Cooks it. The Flavour of the food is not lost and much of the Nutrients are not lost eith. Frequently food is pre Turned over to it from burning and to ensure thata Equal Heating and Cooking Time Is Applied to Both Sides of the food. By doing this, the food is cooked evenly and thoroughly. Roasting [pic] [pic] With roasting, direct heat is Applied to the food. The Heat Seals Outside the part of the food and the juice inside the food Cooks the food. Roasting is mainly fleshy Used When cooking food like fish, Meat or Chicken. When Heat Is Applied to the Outer Covering of the food, it thereby Seals Trapping it up all the juice inside the food. The direct action of Heating, heat up the juice inside the food, whichis Cooks Then the food. Again there is very little nutrient lost and the Flavour is not spoilt. Frequently food is Rotated so over the Spit That There Is Even Heating Applied to All Parts of the food. That this is so heat is evenly Applied to the food to make it get cooked properly. Moist Heat Methods Cookery Cookery In Moist heat methods, the liquid is Used to medium to cook the food. Such medium could be water, Coconut cream or oil. These liquid are added to the food befor Heat is Applied to it or Sometimes heat is Applied to the Liquid befor the food is added into the cooking utensils to be cooked. The Cookery Moist heat methods include: boiling, stewing, Shallow Frying, Deep Frying, barbequing and basting. All thes Moist heat cooking methods use liquid to cook the food in. Boiling This Is The Most Common Method of cooking and is the simplest Also. With this method of cooking, enough water is added to food and Then it is cooked over the fire. The action of the heated water Makes the food to get cooked. The liquid is usually thrown away after the food is cooked. In the Case of cooking rice, all the water is absorbed by the Grain Rice to make it get cooked. Heating During the process, the dog Nutrients get lost or Destroyed and the Flavour Can Be Reduced with this method of cooking. If you over cooked cabbage, all the Nutrients dog get lost. Stewing In the Process of Using the stewing cooking method, food is cooked Using a lot of liquid. Different Kinds Of Vegetables are chopped, diced or cubed and added to the pot. Sometimes pieces of Selected Meat, fish or chicken is chopped and Also added to the Stew. The liquid is thickened and Slightly stewed food is served in That Manner. This method is Also Used When Preparing Fruits That are going to be served as Desserts. Cooking With this method, Every food is cooked together at the same time in one pot. The Flavour, Colours, shapes and textures of the Different Vegetables That Are Used, stewing Makes a handy method of cooking. The only disadvantage is That Some of the Vegetables Might be overcooked and the nutrient content Thusis Becomes much less. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT Therefor the Vegetables That Longest to take the cook to be put into the pot and the First Ones That Need To Be Cooking least put in last. In this way much of the nutrient contents of the food does not get lost. Frying When food is fried Using oil or solid fat IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU Some observe rules in handling oil or fat. Simple rules to follow When Frying: 1. Make Sure there is enough oil or fat in the PUT or the Frying Pan Deep Frying Pan . 2. The food to be cooked must not have Dripping water from it. This is becaus When water comes into contact with hot oil or fat, You Will Have the oil sizzling and spitting out of the bread, whichis could burn your skin if you are Careful not. 3. Put the food into the hot oil carefully. Try not to make a big splash as the oil could burn your skin. 4. The oil of fat Should be heated to the temperature right befor putting food into the pan to be fried. If the food is put in When The oil or fat is not heated to the right temperature, the food Will Soak Up The Oil And You Will Have That food is all Oily or greasy. If the fat or oil is over heated, you WILL end up with Food That Is Burnt. Sometimes the food dough nuts Especially Will turn brown on the inside But the inside is uncooked dough. To cook food Frying Using the method, there are two Ways of doing it. There is the Shallow and the Deep Frying Frying Methods. Shallow Frying In Shallow Frying, food is cooked in a Frying pan with a little Amount of oil or fat. The oil or fat is heated to the correct Amount and the food is put into the heated oil. The food is Turned Over A Few minutes or is stirred around a couple of times befor it is cooked and Dished October If Patti, Coated or potato chips are fried foods, it is best to put a piece of brown paper napkin or paper inside the tray to Soak Up Any oil from the food befor serving it. Deep Frying When this is a lot of oil or fat is Used in cooking the food. The oil or fat is usually put into a deep pan and is heated to boiling point. Then food is put into the boiling hot oil and is cooked in That Way. Such food as fish fingers, potato chips, Meat balls, dough and nuts to name a Few, are cooked Using the Deep Frying Method. Barbequing [pic] [pic] The method of cooking food by barbequing is usually Associated with Fund Raising activities, parties or picnics. It is to suitabl Most cooking Meat cutlets, fish or chicken pieces. The food is usually marinated with Spices and tenderizers (for Meat Cuts) for sometime befor it is cooked. With this method of cooking, the sheet of metal is heated with stands up and oil is used to cook the food. The Amount of sufficient oil is heated up and food is added. Then the food is Turned Over a couple of times befor it is Dished October Basting This method of cooking is usually Associated with roasting. The Juice or Liquid That Comes Out of the Meat is cooked Being spooned over the roast while it is Frequently Being roasted. The outer part of the Meat is moistened Frequently during the cooking with the juice Process That Is Being spooned over. Usually, the extra juice from the cooked Meat is added to the mixture to make the Meat Sauce.

Purple color Essay Example for Free

Purple color Essay Purple color of tetraphenylcyclopentadienone was isolated by aldol condensation between dibenzylketone and benzil. Water was also produced, but it was eliminated by polar protic solvent, triethylene, and heat. Thus, the mixture was heated until the temperature of the mixture reached to 100 ? C so as to eliminate the water present and also to increase the rate of reaction due to increase in entropy. Benzyltrimethylamonium hydroxide was used as a base catalyst. Since catalyst increases the reaction rate much faster at higher temperature, it was added to the mixture at 100 ? C. Once the catalyst was added to the mixture, it turned to dark muddy like and the temperature went up to 120 ? C. Dark purple, muddy like mixture indicated the completion of the reaction. Increase in the temperature indicated that the reaction was exothermic reaction. The completion of the reaction was also confirmed by the color of the filtrate. Methanol washed the impurities and the catalyst on the filter and thus color of the filtrate changed from brown to purple. The product, tetraphenylcyclopentadienone, was purple even though the two reagents benzil and dibenzylketone were yellow and colorless respectively. Tetraphenylcyclopentadienone has extended conjugation between five carbon rings and four phenyl groups that increase stability and thereby lowers overall energy of the molecule. Thus, it absorbs light at lower energy and longer wavelength that is in visible spectrum. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was used to test purity of the product, i. e. , tetraphenylcyclopentadienone. Only one spot in the product lane in the TLC plate was observed under UV light which indicated that the product was relatively pure. The percentage of recovery was 76%. Some of the product was possibly lost when the mixture was heated. The mixture was heated quickly, so some of undesired product was also formed. Also, some of the product was possibly washed by methanol because solubility is not absolute.

Sociology Of The Family And Social Change Sociology Essay

Sociology Of The Family And Social Change Sociology Essay Throughout history  society and  families have undergone huge changes and these have been argued by many different  sociological  perspectives.   The reasons for the  argued changes  are  as diverse  as the theories themselves.   In this essay I aim to raise, evaluate and analyse the arguments raised by Functionalist, Marxist and Feminist theories with regards to why and when these changes occurred and their impact on the family and society in general.  Economic factors,  war,  changes in womens rights, reduction in religious beliefs and increase in divorce and a more recent  era of technology are just some of the factors that have affected  society  and thus changed the structure of the family as was previously known.  All of these could be said to have being responsible for what is seen as a breakdown in the  family unit as it was known but in this essay I will be looking at the effects  of  industrialisation on the family. Families have always been the foundation blocks from which we grow and learn, a means of support, whos components can change differently over time depending on where the families  exist. The extended family included three  generations of kin. The members didnt only share a household but also an important economic role which was to work together as a collective group, the purpose was to help keep the family alive and well, for example, the men would do more intensive labour such as subsistence farming, hunting and gathering, whilst the women would do crafts trades and domestic duties like cooking, brewing, caring for the offspring as well as perfecting the role of a successful wife and mother, which kept their husband happier and motivated to work hard for his family.   Eventually, the era of technology was introduced to society. This made a vast alteration in history by replacing most manual and animal labour in many countries across the world, which eventually forced the agriculture industry into an industrial working society. In the 18th  Century, industrialisation hit Britain and small industries started to rapidly grow across the country, specializing from metal production and mining to spinning, weaving and food production e.g. slaughter houses. More additional opportunities for employment were offered, altering the family structure dramatically, from as little as the age four, they were capable of working in factories. The growth of industrialisation resulted in more work for the unemployed. Wages were low, yet the house rent, food and living expenses increased. Many workers had no intentions of limiting their family size as their infant children continued to contribute to the family economy.   Eventually the small cottage businesss started to grow  into proto-industrial business  and families started hiring more workers other than kin. Functionalism was the main branch in society up until the early 1960s, since then it has been increasingly criticized by other sociologists who favoured different sociology perspectives (Martin Holborn and  Liz Steel -Collins Publications).  Institutions  such as schools and churches played a big part in society according to Functionalists and these institutions were functional for societies as a whole. The first main functionalists were G P Murdock and Talcott Parsons. Firstly, Murdock argued that the society was held together by four functions; Sexual, Reproduction, Economy and Education. Later on,  Parsons theory (which was widely criticised by historical evidence, notably studies by  Laslett and Anderson) was to study  nuclear and heterosexual  families,  Parsons Fit Thesis states that the Modern Nuclear family evolved to meet the needs of an industrial society, Feminists argued that tradition roles of the family restricted opportunities in employment. They also argued that although women were employed, that they were also expected  to carry out  the triple shift at home, which consisted of housework, child care and emotional work.  Marxists  argued that family helped a lot of children accept authorities without questioning which prepared them to accept capitalist authorities in work places. Another Marxism argument was that without the growing population of th e family, the  demand for products would decrease capitalist profits.   Marxist feminists agreed with these arguments but also pointed out that it was the women who were exploited most of all, they explained that the tradition role of the mother and housewife figure wasnt fair, but as they are prepared for this role, it provided help to their husbands at low prices which resulted to male workers being employed at low wages.   Marxists assumed the family had many roles which were beneficial to the Capitalist society, they  belived  that the family helped capitalism by being the major consumers of paid goods, this helped the bourgeoisie a great deal and proved that whilst the family exists, then the bourgeoisie would resume to make more profit.   They also believed that the next proletariat generation were created by housewives, as more children were produced, more jobs were filled which were currently left open by the retired. They believed that the family helped the main income provider,  which was usually the husband by relieving pressure from the previous evening allowing him to attend work the next day working and allowing the bourgeoisie to obligate a guaranteed workforce resulting in a beneficial outcome, the proletariat were less likely to rebel against the system due to little stress.   To Marxists, education was considered the main source of  socialisation,  this was also beneficial to the bourgeoisie since the family and education system would teach the children how the society they live in is precise.  Education made the proletariat believe the ideology of Capitalism which encouraged children to believe in the myth of meritocracy. Marxists believed that the bourgeoisie discouraged the proletariat extended family that once existed.  Marxists believe  that the proletariat had a mutual support system and acted communally as a support unit, which lead to many people becoming aware of which class they were in. This lead to the proletariat protesting against the capitalist ruling class for power, but as this was brought about by the extended family, the bourgeoisie taught the extended family to be immoral.   Engels saw industrialisation  negatively as  it increased exploitation of the workers, but also in a positive light  as it would eventually cause a communist revolution. The Marxist theories I have raised suggest that while Marxs theory makes sense, it has also been disproven throughout history as almost all of the countries that were introduced to the communist revolution eventually collapsed and became capitalist governments Communists didnt lead to freedom for the workers, but only to exploitive tyrannies that abused the proletariat more inferior than any bourgeoisie ever did, which concludes that although communism may well have been a great theory, it was never a practical one. Historically the feminist  approach is primarily aimed  at men,  there  view  on  the family  has an economic system which  encompasses   an  array of labour relation in which men benefit from the exploitation of women.   Marriage has existed for the benefit of men; and has been a legally sanctioned method of control over women We must work to destroy it. The end of the institution of marriage is a necessary condition for the liberation of women. Therefore it is important for us to encourage women to leave their husbands and not to live individually with men All of history must be re-written in terms of oppression of women.  (The Declaration of Feminism November, 1971) Many feminists came to the conclusion that when a member of the household worked, the income wasnt to contribute towards the household, but to the man. They saw the family a way for the man to dominate the woman, as he would benefit from all the work the woman does to contribute towards the family e.g. cleaning, cooking,  and bringing  up the children and more.   Which also includes  other view feminists  had involving the 57 varieties of unpaid service.   Radical feminists believe that the main problem in society is patriarchy,  they believe that a mans point of view is dominance and power, that they arent respected like they should be. A Marxist feminist believes capitalism is to blame for the problem, they believe that capitalism weakens the society  ( mainly  women ) , and if they eliminated  capitalism and introduce communism. A Liberal feminist believes that over time, sexism has started to diminish and society has started to improve.   In conclusion there are many arguments regarding the industrialisation of the family and its affects.   Many factors come into play and the many combinations of these along with the diversity of what family means to different people, I feel it makes it hard for any theory to, on its own, explain how and why these changes happened or to know if they would have anyway and are possibly down to evolution. External influences affect us all differently dependant in class, financial, social and emotional factors within a family unit.   There is no norm and so to claim any one theory alone correct would not take this in to account.  

The Neuropathology of AIDS :: AIDS Health Medicine Essays

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is a disease of an individual’s immune system caused by HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus 1). HIV-1 is a retrovirus of the lentivirus subfamily. This virus is atypical in that it does not require mitotically active cells to reproduce. Reproduction of the viral nucleic acids occurs in the nucleus of infected cells. Until recently it was believed that AIDS related deaths as a result of HIV infection were caused primarily by opportunistic infections, usually bacterial or fungal, gaining a foothold in an immuno-compromised individual. Many of these secondary infections are the result of T-cell mediated immunodeficiency induced by HIV. The sequels of HIV infection often leads to a neuropathological state as a result of unusual secondary infections such as Toxoplasmosis. Postmortem studies have demonstrated that in addition to secondary infection, neurological manifestations may be due to vascular events, tumors (CNS lymphoma) and direct HIV-1 infection. In humans, HIV is known to infect T-lymphocytes within the body binding to the CD-4 receptors present on the cell surface, but in the brain, recent studies have suggested that microglial cells and macrophages serve as the reservoirs of HIV. Direct central nervous system infection by HIV results in a condition known as AIDS Dementia Complex and as such will serve as the topic of this paper. AIDS Dementia Complex is defined as a constellation of signs and symptoms characterized by cognitive and motor decline. HIV-1 infection occurs early in the course of the disease and may be the sole symptom of infection. HIV encephalopathy is the most common neurological disorder of HIV positive individuals, even more common than neurological opportunistic infections. HIV encephalopathy is characterized by slowly progressing cognitive impairment, psychomotoric slowing and increased apathy, and is limited exclusively to the late stages of HIV infection. It is estimated that between 40 to 70 percent of full-blown AIDS patients are affected by HIV encephalopathy. The mechanism by which HIV invades the brain and causes the subsequent encephalopathy are yet to be fully understood. It has been hypothesized that indirect effects of HIV infection of the brain are the most pathogenic factors. Certain viral proteins and cytokines produced by infected macrophages or activated microglia induce ne uronal dysfunction and loss of nerve cells. An understanding of the role of microglia and its relationship with surrounding neuroglial cells appears to be vital. Microglial cells are present at all levels of the neuroaxis including the spinal cord.

Media Advertising - Women in the Media :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Women in the Media    The Psychological Power of the Media to Trap Women in A Role. The power of advertising to change, shape and mold the public's opinion has had a major impact on the lives of women. Women are the main target for many advertisements and are used in many forms of advertising. The media has historically used propaganda to define who women are and what they should be. The time period following WWII maybe one of the greatest examples of how completely media can control the ideas of the society on a specific group of people.    During WWII women were encouraged to go out to factories and work to support the war effort. This gave women a sense of need and belonging that many had been left out of before they had the opportunity to persue any type of career in an acceptable manner. With the men away at war, women were encouraged to find work outside the home due to a lack of factory workers who could produce war goods. Once the war ended, however, this propaganda not only stopped- it abruptly changed.    Once the men were back in the states there was an excess of workers. Men came back form war to find that there were no jobs or that their wives were occupying them. With production plummeting after war time highs there were few jobs to offer the men returning home. This started a media blitz on women. Women were encouraged to return to the home and take care of their families. Women's magazines were overflowing with ideas on how to make a perfect wife and mother. It was obvious that if you weren't happy making your family your job, there was something wrong with you as a woman.    The problem was that women were unhappy; President Kennedy commissioned a report on the he status of the American Woman due to the magnitude of this problem (Schneir 38-47). The report basically said that women were unhappy with the idea that they were fundamentally only responsible for being wives, mothers and homemakers; they had nothing they could associate as their own accomplishments.    Another study came out in 1963; it was called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan.

Article Summary Essay

Upon reading the article there was a strong emphasis on the interaction from within the virtual classroom and the communication that the students had developed with the instructor and other students in the classroom. Due to the flexibility that the online classroom offers many people are signing up. In the past many people preferred the classroom setting, because it gave him or her, the capability of having interaction amongst peers. However since this has turned into a text, and email world many people have chosen to go to college online. The number one method of conversation used to be either in person or on the phone, now it is through text message and by email. The online classes do require participation and the way that participation is graded is by the involvement that the student makes with his or he peers. While online course enrolments continue to climb, retention and success rates in such courses and programs are frequently reported as typically lower than those delivered in a traditional classroom format; those of us in roles that support online students have a role in reversing that trend! (Schreck, 2006).Online classes take much dedication, and a structure of independence. Life in general can be busy and full of circumstances. It takes a person who can independently work on his or her own, and have a desire to complete task and finish the course facilitator participation When teachers interact with students during online classes, the students tend to participate more. Just knowing that even if there is not a teacher that is standing over you insuring that assignments are done, or that you are participating in group discussions or activities, initiates interaction. According to the text â€Å"the student’s online posts, online quizzes, and tests were analyzed using ATLAS software (Nagel, Blignaut & Cronje, 2007). Since the virtual classroom does not have the capability of someone directly standing over a student, a strategic plan had to be developed in order to make sure the students were participating in daily classroom activities, as well as a test of his or her knowledge to  demonstrate that the student was actually obtaining and learning the information that has been taught. Through the discussion forum the teacher is able to analyze if the student is on the correct track, or if explanation needs to be given on a particular subject. Students have to have the desire to learn, as well as the desire to accomplish an online class. However the student must be dedicated to logging in, participating in the classroom discussions, and interacting with his or her peers and instructor. References Nagel, L., Blignaut, A.S., Cronje, J.C. (2007). Read-only participants: a case for student communication in online classes. Interactive Learning Environment, Vol17, 37-51.Retrieved December 10, 2012. Schreck, V. (2006). It takes a virtual village: Practical strategies for improving online learning Retention Rate. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from: www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p /38.htm.

Korea

I. Introduction Korea is divided country of eastern Asia. It occupies a peninsula, about 450 miles (725 km) in length, between the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. China and a tip of the Soviet Union border Korea on the north. The nearest Japanese islands are about 30 miles (48 km) away, in the Korea Strait.  Since 1945, Korea has been divided into two political units—the Democratic people’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). They are separated by a demilitarized zone, about 2  ½ miles (4km) in width, along the armistice line established in 1953 at the close of the Korean War. The total area (including the demilitarized zone) is 85,049 square miles (20, 538 km2) and South Korea 38,025 square miles (98, 484 km2).  This paper intents to: (1) know the physical geography of Korea; (2) understand the culture and customs of the country; (3) be acquainted on how basic human needs are met (types of careers, vocations, jobs, average yearly); (4) be aware of their language, religion, education, and types of food in their diets; (5) know about their television, newspapers, and other media and; (6) know its cultural differences related to the expected roles of men & women. II. Background A. Physical Geography In terms of land, the Korean Peninsula has rugged, mountainous terrain, with barely one-fifth of its surface in lowlands or plains. Few of the mountains are high compared to those of some other Asian countries, but they are so extensive that there are few places in Korea where mountains cannot be seen. Rivers are generally short, winding, and fast-flowing. A few streams drain northward into the Yalu or Tumen rivers. Among the larger rivers are the Taedong, the Han, and the Kum.  With some exceptions, the climate resembles that of the eastern seaboard of the United States from Maine to the Carolinas. There are sharp contrasts between the seasons, with cold winters and warm, humid summers. The climate is strongly affected by seasonal monsoons. In winter, cold dry air flows out of Siberia, dropping average temperatures over most of the peninsula (McCann, 2000). III. Discussion A. Culture, Customs and Holidays of Korea Distinct styles of living have emerged over the centuries and in much of Korea remain unchanged. The typical house in rural Korea is a two- to four- room structure with walls of clay or pounded earth and a thatched roof. Windows are small and may be of semi-transparent paper rather than glass. There is a crude outhouse but no bathing facilities. Water is obtained from a well often a village well. Most rural dwellings do not have electricity. Houses of the urban middle class and of well-to-do Koreans have walls of stucco, often with red and blue painted designs and perhaps a stone or cement foundation. Windows are of glass, sometimes set in fancy wooden frames, and roofs are tiled. Toilet facilities may be inside, but Western-style plumbing is rare. There may be a running outlet in the courtyard, but seldom inside the house. New housing mostly deviates from this traditional pattern, in the direction of the bungalow and other Western styles (McCann, 2000).   There is a considerable residue to Japanese-style homes, and many wealthier people live in essentially Western-style houses, though with some Korean or Japanese features. There are few apartment buildings. Principal national holidays are New Year’s Day, Samil Day (March 1, the anniversary of the 1919 independence), Constitution Day (July 17), Liberation Day (August 15) and many traditional festive days are still celebrated by some Koreans, especially the older generation in the countryside. Chief of these are the birthday of Buddha on April 8 and tano on May 5 (celebrated by feasting). B. How basic human needs are met? South Korea’s economy was largely agricultural at the time of the Korean War, when much damage was inflicted on the nation. Reconstruction and recovery were rapid after the war, in part because of large amounts of economic aid from the United States and other nations. In the early 1960’s industry began to grow rapidly; by the mid-1980 and at present, South Korea had become one of the world’s chief exporters of manufactured goods. While on the other hand, with the division of Korea after World War II North Korea acquired most of the mineral resources, hydroelectric dams, manufacturing plants, and industrial facilities developed during the Japanese occupation. Much damage was quickly repaired with aid from the Soviet Union and other Communist nations (Yi, 2001). Moreover, the South Korean government played a major role in directing and developing the economy, particularly through central planning and direct and indirect control of many manufacturing industries and banking. Rapid industrial development was also aided by large investments of capital and technology from the United States and Japan and by an abundance of skilled, cheap labor. Though few in number, corporate conglomerates—called chaebols— produce most of the nation’s goods and services. At present, there are various jobs which South Korea has offered to its people especially it is an industrialized nation and many investors invested their capital aside from agriculture, fishing, lumbering and mining. While it North Korea, all industry is nationalized, agriculture is collectivized, and the entire economy is rigidly planned. North Korea’s total output of goods and services is roughly one-third to one-fourth that of South Korea’s (Yi, 2001). Soviet technical and financial aid has played a major role in the development of North Korea’s economy. C. Its Language, Religion, Education, and Types of Food in their diets The Korean language is believed to be unrelated to any known tongue. There is, however, a strong infusion of Chinese words in the vocabulary. A phonetic alphabet—originally 28, now 24 letters—has been in use since 1443. Korea’s principal religions are Buddhism, Christianity, and Chondokyo (a native faith combining elements of Christianity and Buddhism). Korean ethics and morals are also shaped by Confucianism, which is not strictly a religion in the Western sense. Shamanism is strong in some rural areas. North Korea largely represses religious practices. In South Korea, education is free and compulsory through six years of primary school, which begins at age six. It is followed by three years of middle school and then three years of high school. The chief institution of higher learning is Seoul National University. In North Korea, education is free and compulsory through five years of primary school (which begins at age six), four years of middle school, and two years of high school. The major institution of higher learning is Kim II sung University at Pyongyang.   Technical education and the teaching of Communist ideology are stressed in North Korean education (Yi, 2001). Moreover, Korean people are known to be fond of noodles, rice, meats and vegetables. Steamed rice is the main dish of any Korean meal, so much so that the word for cooked rice, pap, has come to mean â€Å"food† or â€Å"meal†. Rice is eaten together with a variety of side dishes (panchan), the most basic of which is kimchi, a fermented saladlike food prepared mostly from a white radish (mu) and Chinese cabbage (paechu). Soups are frequently served and usually contain seaweed or chunks of meat or fish. Korean dishes typically are very highly seasoned. Beef and pork are the common table meats, chickens being something of a delicacy (Caldwell, 2004). D. Its television, newspapers, and other media. Publishing. The daily press of South Korea is predominantly concentrated in Seoul. Leading Seoul papers are the Dong-A Ilbo, Chosan Ilbo, Hankook Ilbo, and Kyunghyang Sinmun. The first two were founded in 1920 and boast proud records as voices of Korean nationalism. The Korean press is noted for detailed economic reporting, although it is often biased in favor of government policy. It is also depends on one semi-official news agency for foreign coverage. The Pusan Ilbo and the Taego Maeil Sinmun are prominent provincial papers (Schmid, 2002). More than one thousand periodicals are published regularly in South Korea, many devoted to business topics.  Popular Arts and Entertainment. Radio is dominated by the government’s Korean Broadcasting System, with three main and 39 affiliated local stations. Of 12 private stations, four are owned and operated by Christian groups (Schmid, 2002). The native film industry is very largely a development of period since 1945. A great many foreign films, especially American, are imported, and they draw four fifths of the movie audience. Korean filmmakers contribute an annual domestic production of about 100 titles. E. Cultural differences related to the expected roles of men & women Marriage in the old Korea was arranged by the parents through a go-between, and the most important consideration was the social standing of the bridegroom’s family. In yangban, or upper class, families it was customary for boys to be married when they reached 12 or 13, sometimes even earlier, in many cases to girls in the late teens. This custom has entirely changed, and men often are 30 or more before they can undertake the financial responsibilities of marriage. Social pressure still requires girls to marry relatively early. Marriage within the same clan is still forbidden by law. Concubinage is far less common today than it was in the past, but it is not rare for a man simply desert his wife for another woman (Caldwell, 2004). Women may now have recourse to the divorce court, though at the risk of social opprobrium. IV. Conclusion Nowadays, Korea is one of the most admired countries. Its people are really working hard to make their country more progressive and developed. The sciences are still in their fancy. There is an advanced of experimental technique, and facilities for scientific education and are research are improving. Reference: Caldwell, John C. (2004) The Korea Story. Henry Regnery. Chicago. McCann, David R. (2000). Korea Briefing: Toward Reunification. M. E. Sharpe. Place of Armonk, NY. Schmid, Andre. (2002). Korea between Empires, 1895-1919. Columbia University Press. Place of Publication: New York. Yi, Chae-Hyon (2001). Korean Perspective: A Picture and Word Tour through Old and New Korea. Office of Public Information, Republic of Korea. Seoul.

Mood

Mood disorders are those disorders that have a disturbance in mood as their predominant feature. This group includes several nosoforms such as affective disorders, psychotic bipolar disorder and depressive disorders. The last are presented by the involutional and postpartum depression, dysthymic disorder and seasonal affective disorder. All listed conditions are very frequent – about 14.3% of the population is stroked by the mood disorders. The aim of this review is comparing the different treatments for the mood disorders by example of postpartum mood disorders. Databases searched for this review included PsycINFO only.There are several risk factors of postpartum mood disturbances. After delivery the level of steroid hormones (estrogens, gestagens and cortisol) changes dramatically. Some women are very sensitive to these hormonal changes and can react with changes of the mood. Psychosocial risk factors include low income and inadequate social supports, recent negative life ev ents, marital conflict or dissatisfaction. Heredity and individual susceptibility are risk factors for postpartum depression. Thus women with individual or family history of a mood disorder have higher risk of postpartum depression. A prior history of postpartum mood disorder increases the risk of recurrence of the depression in two folds.Postpartum changes of the mood are not rare complications of accouchement. There are different symptoms of mood disturbance – from transitory and mild signs of postpartum blues and up to the severe postpartum depression and puerperal psychosis. Nonacs R. and Cohen LS. (1998) write that mood changes during the puerperium are often overlooked. This fact arouses the risk of the episodes of recurrent depression in mothers. Another important issue of the problem is a risk of the remote consequences of mother’s mood disturbance on the future mental and physical development of child. To prevent those long-term effects the early diagnostics a nd effective treatment interventions should be applied.Some forms of the postpartum mood disorder do not require any specific treatment, e.g. the most common (30-75% of new mothers) form of the mood disturbances, so called â€Å"baby blues† require only education, reassurance and support. More serious conditions, like postpartum depression, need more active interventions. This condition occurs in 15-20 % of all women recently confined. It is characterized by anxiety, irritability, insomnia, fatigue, low interest to the baby and other symptoms of major depression.Seyfried LS and Marcus SM. (2003) indicate that pharmacological treatment for patients with postpartum depression can be limited because some psychoactive drugs are contraindicated in lactation and psychotherapeutic approaches became the method of the choice. On other hand, rare cases of postpartum psychosis require psychiatric emergency care and urgent drug treatment. Thus the differentiation of treatment mode is imp ortant element of the care in the postnatal changes of the mood.Series of works by Dennis CL. et all. (2004) are dedicated to the problem of treatment of postpartum depression. Authors consider that the most effective schemes of psychotherapy include interpersonal psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, peer and partner support, nondirective counseling, relaxation/massage therapy, infant sleep interventions, infant-mother relationship therapy, and maternal exercise.Unfortunately the available clinical trials studied these methods and their effectiveness, were designed poorly and have low level of evidence. Thus definite conclusions about the relative effectiveness of the different treatments cannot be reached. Authors recommend to increase the number of randomized controlled trials needed for comparing different treatment schemes, examining the effectiveness of individual treatment components and selecting the optimum treatments for women with different anamnesis and status pra esens objectivus.Other group of interventions using in the psychiatry for treatment of postpartum depression includes antidepressant medication, estrogen therapy, critically timed sleep deprivation, and bright light therapy. Some of these interventions can be applied to other types of depressions unrelated to puerperium but the issues of pharmacological safety can limit them.As an example of mentioned above we can use the results of the study by Reck C. et all. (2004). They found, that mother-infant interaction plays a central role in the treatment of postpartum depression. They explain this fact with high sensitivity of infants to their mothers' emotional state. The authors consider that postpartum depression is a risk factor for disturbances of children's development. They proposed the integrated model of treatment which is based on   mother-infant-centered interventions.Similar propositions contains the research paper of Hofecker-Fallahpour M. et all. (2003). This group of Swis s investigators proposed the program of group therapy for depressive mothers, including those who has postpartum depression. The main therapeutic method in this program is behavioral therapy.Clark R, Tluczek A. and Wenzel A. from the University of Wisconsin Medical School published work (2004) about the priorities of psychotherapy in the patients with postpartum depression. They think that group psychotherapy and interpersonal psychotherapy should be superior to other methods of non-pharmacological treatment.The main objectives of the proposed treatment is â€Å"reducing maternal depressive symptoms, improving mothers' perceptions of their infants' adaptability and reinforcement value, and increasing mothers' positive affect and verbalization with their infants†. Authors urge that early intervention for mothers with postpartum depression is crucial point of successful treatment.Different point of view was demonstrated by Cooper PJ, Murray L, Wilson A. and Romaniuk H. (2003). They think that psychological interventions for postnatal depression can be beneficial in the short term but this benefit is not superior to spontaneous remission in the long term. In their research Cooper PJ. et all. used routine primary care, non-directive counseling, cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychodynamic therapy. They found that all chosen treatments had a considerable impact at four months on maternal mood but only psychodynamic therapy reduced depression significantly.The last kind of therapy focused on patient's experience and bygone conflicts of childhood and adolescence. All benefits of the treatment were not longer by nine months after delivery and did not reduce of recurrent episodes of depression in long-term perspective. These scientists urge that postnatal depression is associated with adverse child cognitive and socio-emotional outcome (2003). They found that early psychotherapeutic intervention had the short-term benefit to the mother-child relationship and i nfant behavior.In summarizing of foresaid we could said that the treatment of mood disorders in puerperal period includes two main components: medical interventions and psychotherapy. The choice of the methods and their combination depend on the severity of signs and risk of the recurrence of mood disorder. Women with mild disturbances of mood (postpartum blues) do not need specific treatment. This condition typically resolves spontaneously during first weeks.Because the medical interventions are not the subject of our competence we will focus on the findings in the field of psychotherapy. This approach is especially useful in women with mild or moderate severity of postnatal depression. The most of authors recommend group psychotherapy (cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapy), but individual therapy is effective too. These methods can be combined with educational programs. O'Hara MW. and his coauthors evaluated efficacy of different methods of psychotherapy for postpartum d epression. They proposed interpersonal psychotherapy as the method of the choice in treatment of postpartum depression.They found that â€Å"interpersonal psychotherapy reduced depressive symptoms and improved social adjustment, and represents an alternative to pharmacotherapy, particularly for women who are breastfeeding†. We can see that the main benefit of psychotherapy is absence of adverse effects of taking medications. But in severe cases of postnatal depression or when patients do not respond to non-pharmacological treatment and in all cases of postpartum psychosis the pharmacological treatment is indicated.The prevalent forms of psychotherapy in the postnatal depression include cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy. Both individual and group therapy can be used. All types of non-pharmacological treatment are effective in mild and moderate severity of the depression.Untreated mood disorders place the mother at risk for recurrent disease. Furthermore, maternal depression is associated with long-term cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems in the child. One of the most important objectives is to increase awareness across the spectrum of health care professionals who care for women during pregnancy and the puerperium so that postpartum mood disorders may be identified early and treated appropriately.Effective pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are available. Every approach has the advantages and demerits. But to compare their effectiveness we need better-designed clinical trials and the unification of the approaches to the examining of the effectiveness of individual treatment components. Selecting the optimum treatments for women with different background and severity of the postnatal depression should be evidence-based and take into consideration the possibility of long-term effects of the mood disorder. References: 1.Clark R, Tluczek A, Wenzel A. (2003) Psychotherapy for postpartum depression: a preliminary report. Am J Orthopsychiatry. Oct; 73(4) p. 441-454. 2.Cooper PJ, Murray L, Wilson A, Romaniuk H. (2003) Controlled trial of the short- and long-term effect of psychological treatment of post-partum depression. I. Impact on maternal mood. Br J Psychiatry. May; 182: p. 412-419. 3.Dennis CL, Stewart DE. (2004) Treatment of postpartum depression, part 1: a critical review of biological interventions. J Clin Psychiatry. Sep; 65(9): p. 1242-1251. 4.Dennis CL. (2004) Treatment of postpartum depression, part 2: a critical review of nonbiological interventions. J Clin Psychiatry. Sep; 65(9): p. 1252-1265. 5.Hofecker-Fallahpour M., Zinkernagel-Burri C., Stà ¶ckli B., Wà ¼sten G., Stieglitz RD., Riecher-Rà ¶ssler A. (2003) Gruppentherapie bei Depression in der frà ¼hen Mutterschaft Erste Ergebnisse einer Pilotstudie Der Nervenarzt Sep.; Band 74, Nummer 9; S.: 767 – 774 6.Murray L, Cooper PJ, Wilson A, Romaniuk H. (2003) Controlled trial of the short- and long-term effect of psychological treatment of post-partum depression: 2. Impact on the mother-child relationship and child outcome. Br J Psychiatry. May; 182: p. 420-427. 7.Nonacs R, Cohen LS. (1998) Postpartum mood disorders: diagnosis and treatment guidelines. J Clin Psychiatry. 59 Suppl 2: p. 34-40. 8.O'Hara MW, Stuart S, Gorman LL, Wenzel A. (2000) Efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy for postpartum depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. Nov; 7(11) p. 1039-1045. 9.Reck C., Weiss R., Fuchs T., Mà ¶hler E., Downing G., Mundt C. (2004) Psychotherapie der postpartalen Depression Mutter-Kind-Interaktion im Blickpunkt. Der Nervenarzt. November Band 75, Nummer 11 S.: 1068 – 1073 10.Seyfried LS, Marcus SM. (2003) Postpartum mood disorders. Int Rev Psychiatry.   Aug; 15(3) p. 231-242.

Health Services Organization Essay

Identify and evaluate at least three forces that have affected the development of the health care system in the U.S. The U.S. healthcare system has continually evolved due to the success of innovative fore-thought. These innovations have been both strategic and tactical, influenced by all segments of the health care industry. There are many key strategic and tactical innovations, I will elaborate on three forces I feel affect the development of the healthcare system in the U.S.; they are: Increasing cost of healthcare, affect of economics on the healthcare system, and labor force trends in the U.S. as it relate to healthcare. * The steadily increasing cost of healthcare in the U.S. 1. The Unites States is known as the land of plenty, but if you are a native of this great nation you might feel quite differently about that statement. Being poor here has to be much like being poor anywhere else in the world, poor is poor; what might be different is opportunity. The opportunity that we are going to discuss is that of the pursuit of receiving the best healthcare regardless of race, creed, national origi n, or station in life (being with or without money). The cost of health care in the U.S. neared 2.6 trillion dollars in 2010, this is a staggering amount of money; but what make it more astonishing is that this amount is ten times higher than the 1980’s sum of 256 billion dollars that was generated by health care system (population bulletin, 2008). The rate of funds generated by health care has slowed down in recent years, but still is expected to grow faster than the national income. Our country need to address this growing burden and not just let politician say it’s a major policy priority, really make it a priority for the overall good of our nation. Furthermore, the United States has been in a recession for most of the past decade, resulting in a high rate of unemployment and lower incomes for many Americans. These conditions have put even more attention on health spending due to its affordability. Since 2002, employer- sponsored health care coverage for employee and family premiums increased by 97%, making the pursuit of health care a burden on the workers and employers. Medicare covers disabled people as well as the elderly; while Medicaid provides medical coverage for low-income families. Medicare enrollment has grown tremendously over the years due to the aging baby boomers and Medicaid due to the recession. This has added considerably to government spending, straining both federal and state budgets. Health spending accounted for 17.9% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 (kaiserEDU.com, Health Policy from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Explained). * Economic affect healthcare. 2. Economics and health care is very simple to explain, especially by someone who has seen first-hand families being mentally tormented, because they could not afford dental care for their children, the check-up not covered by the company’s insurance to enable your child to be eligible to play football, or not being able to afford the prescription medication. There are many reasons families go without medical care, and far too many times it’s just because the individual is living just above the poverty line; which make them ineligible for assistance. I personally feel the affect economics have on healthcare or the lack there of, can never be explained any clearer; unless you are experiencing it yourself. * Labor force trends in the U.S. 3. In the 1960’s the U.S. labor force grow at the rate of 1.7 percent annually and continue to grow into the 70’s as the baby boomer (those born between 1946-1964 generation continued to reach adulthood and enter the workforce. During this same period women began to enter the workforce as never seen before causing the labor force to grow at a rate of 2.6 percent annually. One might not see this as a health issue, but with women joining the workforce men began to feel the pressure, causing health complication. Women on the other hand who at one time lived the life of a care free house wife, but now working in corporate America; has started to feel stress now heart attacks are the number one killer of the American female species. I know there was nothing glamorous about being a slave, but slaves lived with just about no illnesses or life threatening diseases, know blacks have the highest numbers when it comes to diabetes, HIV, and high blood pressure than any other ethnic group (but we are free), freedom should make us take life more serious and take care of ourselves as well as our children. During the 1980’s and 90’s fewer people entered the workforce, therefore the labor force growth slowed down and ranged from 1.6 to 1.1 percent. Even though we had covered on set of baby boomers we were about to see another set reach adulthood and struggle for a place in the workplace (U.S. labor force trends), in-turn means no health insurance because they are no longer their parents dependent. Healthcare is becoming a great necessity due to infectious diseases, the year of the flower children seem to have spread more than just flowers. Health Insurance Companies are not seeing their usual capital gain at this point, consequently a change in the way benefits are paid across overall is about to change. At one time people thought as long as they paid their insurance premiums the benefits would be there when or if it was needed (we learned to read the fine print). * Speculate whether or not these forces will continue to affect the health care system in the U.S. over the next decade. (Include a force that was not mentioned that you believe will impact the health care system of the nation. Unfortunately we show no immediate signs that the cost of healthcare will decline in the Unites States anytime soon. With all the bickering about healthcare, there’s one fact everyone seems to agree on: American medicine cost too much, especially considering what we’re getting for the money. As expert look toward the future, they don’t see the cost dropping dramatically anytime soon. Curbing the rise in healthcare cost depend on our ability to gain control of the many forces causing them to climb, technology has helped other industries lower costs by eliminating waste and increasing efficiencies, but it’s done the opposite in healthcare (Lisa Zamosky, Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2012. Without any dispute I’m sure we can all agree the economy will always affect healthcare and the people who need it, which will always be everyone. We all hope the economy will make a rapid recovery, but that’s just not how things work; just as it took decades of bad decisions to get us where we are today it’s going to take time for our nation to make a meaningful recovery. Over the next 50 years, the labor force is projected to grow even more slowly (at about 0.6 percent per year) as baby boomers retire. What will this mean as far as health care is concern; well as we grow older our need for healthcare on a regular base becomes more essential than it was when we were in our prime (population bulletin). Baby boomers, reaching senior living status promotes a different type of demand on the medical system; a tremendous demand for those employed by senior living facilities, as well as those providing home health care. * Evaluate the importance of technology in the health care system. Technology is the driving force behind the universe, if you are not a believer just think about the devices you use to get through your day; hence technology. Medical technology is constantly presenting us with new devices that make our lives more fulfilling, we have laser surgery, hip replacement, artificial limb to replace worn out or damaged ones, cataract surgery that have advanced so rapidly it’s amazing, can you believe a person can have heart surgery and be walking around the next day? This is all because of technology, it’s amazing. This is something we cannot put a price on, what is being learned and the advances being made due to research technology is saving lives as well as making lives better each and every day. References: KaiserEDU.com, Health Policy, from the Henry J. Kaiser family foundation, Explained, Cost and Spending. http://www.kaiseredu.org/en/Top ics/Costs-and-Spending Population Bulletin, Vol. 63 No. 2, June 2008, U.S. Labor Forces Trends By: Marlene A. Lee and Mark Mather (Marlene A. Lee is a senior research associate and editor of the Population Bulletin at the Population Reference Bureau. She holds degrees in public policy analysis and development sociology/demography from the University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill and Cornell University. Mark Mather is associate vice president of Domestic Programs at the Population Reference Bureau, where he coordinates several projects that communicate population research to advocacy groups, educators, the media, and the public. He holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in sociology/demography from the University of Maryland. http://www.prb.org