Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Emperor Justinian's Code influenced government organization, views Research Paper

The Emperor Justinian's Code influenced government organization, views on leadership and church-and-state relationships throughout many future governments - Research Paper Example The laws became the legal binding laws of the state. The Emperor Justinian’s Code influenced government organization, views on leadership and church-and-state relationships throughout many future governments. Justinian was born 482 in the area that in modern times is called the Balkans, north of Greece. He was the nephew of the then emperor and thus had had a great deal of power even before he became the emperor. On his accession to the throne, he united the neighboring areas to become the sole emperor of the east region for thirty-seven years from 527. The then state was closely connected with the church. All emperors preceding Justinian, since the dominance of Constantine, had always incorporated religious extremism of intolerance into the legal framework and thus Justinian followed the same tradition. The past regimes had been very ruthless persecuting those who did not tow to the Christian teachings, Justinian’s reign became a very crucial era that affected future governments especially in antiquity and early epoch of the middle ages. In the Nicene religious wars, the emperor became an icon and a hero as he led successive campaigns against the classical thought, and all other people opposed to Christianity (Sarris 65). He achieved these victories against non-believers by imposing oppressive binding imperial decrees that were not to be opposed, the government of Justinian was unanimously supporting forced conversions, and the existing temples of other religions were destroyed with the government troops actively involved in the religious campaigns. Though the use of troops in the enactment of the religious agendas had been inexistence since the time of Constantine, it reached its climax during the time of Justinian. The emperor’s campaigns of using state machinery to force other people to do the bidding of the church became very formidable such that it lasted for generations until the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Parkinson Disease Essay Example for Free

Parkinson Disease Essay Parkinson disease is a gradually progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. Parkinson disease belongs to a group of conditions called movement disorders. There are four characteristic problems caused by Parkinson disease, including tremor at rest, balance problems, stiffness, and slowness of movement. Parkinson disease occurs when areas of the brain, including an area called the substantia nigra, is slowly destroyed. The exact reason for this destruction is not completely known. In some patients, it may be due to genetic, environmental, or a combination of both causes. The end result is a deprivation in the brain of an important neurochemical, called dopamine. Dopamine helps regulate movement, and its loss leads to increased tone, rigidity, and slowness of movement. Lack of dopamine results in the symptoms associated with Parkinson disease . Approximately 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson disease every year. 95% of those diagnosed are over 50 years old. At any given time, about 500,000 people, or 1% of those over age 50 in the US are struggling with this condition. Diagnosis of Parkinson disease is a clinical one, based on history and physical examination. There are no lab tests to definitively diagnose the condition. Your doctor will ask about your medical history and perform a thorough physical exam. A systematic neurological exam will include testing your reflexes and observing things like muscle strength throughout your body, coordination, balance, and other details of movement, including: * Muscle tone Rapid alternating movements * Gait, posture * Postural stability * Quickness and precision of movement * Observation of a tremor (during rest or activity) A mini mental status exam will be performed; questions pertaining to mood, thoughts, and behavior will be asked. Activities of daily living will be evaluated, such as dressing, cutting and eating food, swallowing, hygiene, walking, and falls. The exact cause of PD is unknown. It may have both genetic and environmental components. Some scientists think that viruses can trigger PD as well. Low levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, a substance that regulates dopamine, have been linked with PD. Abnormal proteins called Lewy bodies have also been found in the brains of people with PD. Scientists do not know what role, if any, Lewy bodies play a role in the development of PD. Certain groups of people have an increased risk of PD. Men are one and a half times more likely to get PD than women. Whites are more likely to get PD than African-Americans or Asians. PD usually appears between the ages of 50 and 60. It only occurs before the age of 40 in five to 10 percent of cases. People with a family history are more likely to develop this disorder. The four major motor problems seen in PD are: * tremor—shaking that occurs at rest * slow movements * stiffness of arms, legs, and trunk * problems with balance and tendency to fall Secondary symptoms of PD include: * blank facial expression * a tendency to get stuck when walking * small, cramped handwriting * muffled, low-volume speech * decreased blinking and swallowing * tendency to fall backwards * reduced arm swinging when walking Other, more extreme, symptoms of PD are: flaky white or yellow scales on oily parts of the skin, known as seborrheic dermatitis * sleep disturbances—including vivid dreams, talking, and movement during sleep * depression * anxiety * hallucinations * psychosis * problems with attention and memory * difficulty with visual-spatial relationships There is no specific test for PD. Diagnosis is made based on health history and a physical and neurological exam. Tests such as C AT scan or MRI may be used to rule out other conditions. Adequate rest, exercise, and a balanced diet are important. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy can also help to improve communication and self care. Surgical interventions are reserved for people who don’t respond to medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes. So are procedures such as deep brain stimulation (DBS). In almost all cases of PD, medication will be required to help control the various physical and mental health symptoms associated with the disease. Drugs and Medication Used to Treat Parkinson’s Disease | Medication A number of different drugs can be used to treat PD. Levodopa Levodopa is the most common treatment for PD. It helps to replenish dopamine. About 75 percent of cases respond to levodopa, but not all symptoms are improved. Levodopa is generally given with cardiodopa. This delays the conversion of levodopa to carbidopa until it gets into the brain. Dopamine Agonists Dopamine agonistscan imitate the action of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine agonists are less effective than levodopa. However, they can be useful as bridge medications when levodopa is less effective. Drugs in this class include bromocriptine, pramipexole, and ropinirole.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

warriors of god :: essays research papers fc

Warriors of God by James Reston Jr. is a non-fictional view of the third crusade. This particular crusade spanned from 1187-1192, containing many gruesome battles and a lot of intense moments between Islam and Christianity. Reston supplies the reader with a little background to the third Crusade when he talks about the first Crusades happening since 1095. Reston gives a fairly impartial view of this holy war. He discusses the battles, politics, and emotions of the Crusade as an outside party and if he takes any side at all it is with the Muslims. He often speaks badly of King Richard and he speaks well of Saladin, the sultan. He portrays Richard as a greedy, anti-Semite, who is intolerable of other religions, while he shows Saladin as tolerant to the Jews, reasonable, and an overall good leader. Reston wrote this book mostly to inform readers about the third Crusade but also to add some of his own insights. His thesis was a little unclear but he stated that the Crusades were the most violent event in history all the way up to Hitler’s rein. Reston did a good job in proving this when he told of battles and then analyzed them. He told of a time when King Richard had twenty thousand Muslims executed and when Saladin had Reginald of Chatillon beheaded along with many other Christian prisoners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reston is a well established writer, his most famous work being Galileo. Reston made a very extensive bibliography with many primary and secondary sources. He had about forty-five primary sources and about ninety secondary sources so I would say that he is now an authority on the third Crusade and probably all of them for that matter. Saladin says straight out in this historical book that Richard the Lionheart, King of England is a homosexual. This has been debated and so one really knows for sure one way or another so to call him an unquestionable homosexual is a little unusual. Reston says that Richard was gay with his childhood friend who in the future would rule France, Phillip Augustus. This relationship would later come into play in the book when they have to work side by side to overthrow the Islamic Empire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The way that Reston told the story in Warriors of God was very well done. He would tell a chapter from Richard’s point of view and then one from Saladin’s.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Kodak Company Case Study

Hyun Lee Eastman Kodak v. Image Technical Services — Plaintiff This is yet another case that concerns the standard for summary judgment in an antitrust controversy. The principal issue here is whether a defendant's lack of market power in the primary equipment market precludes — as a matter of law — the possibility of market power in derivative aftermarkets. Eastman Kodak Company manufactures and sells photocopiers and micrographic equipment. Kodak also sells service and replacement parts for its equipment. Respondents are 18 independent service organizations (ISOs) that in the early 1980s began servicing Kodak copying and micrographic equipment. Kodak subsequently adopted policies to limit the availability of parts to ISOs and to make it more difficult for ISOs to compete with Kodak in servicing Kodak equipment. Respondents instituted this action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that Kodak's policies were unlawful under both  §Ã‚ § 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, 1 and 2. After truncated discovery, the District Court granted summary judgment for Kodak. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed. The appellate court found that respondents had presented sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue concerning Kodak's market power in the service and parts markets. It rejected Kodak's contention that lack of market power in service and parts must be assumed when such power is absent in the equipment market. Kodak manufactures and sells complex business machines — as relevant here, high volume photocopier and micrographics equipment. Kodak equipment is unique; micrographic software programs that operate on Kodak machines, for example, are not compatible with competitors' machines. Kodak parts are not compatible with other manufacturers' equipment, and vice versa. Kodak equipment, although expensive when new, has little resale value. Kodak provides service and parts for its machines to its customers. It produces some of the parts itself; the rest are made to order for Kodak by independent original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Kodak does not sell a complete system of original equipment, lifetime service, and lifetime parts for a single price. Instead, Kodak provides service after the initial warranty period either through annual service contracts, which include all necessary parts, or on a per call basis. It charges, through negotiations and bidding, different prices for equipment, service, and parts for different customers. Kodak provides 80% to 95% of the service for Kodak machines. Beginning in the early 1980s, ISOs began repairing and servicing Kodak equipment. They also sold parts and reconditioned and sold used Kodak equipment. Their customers were federal, state, and local government agencies, banks, insurance companies, industrial enterprises, and providers of specialized copy and microfilming services. ISOs provide service at a price substantially lower than Kodak does. Some customers found that the ISO service was of higher quality. In 1985 and 1986, Kodak implemented a policy of selling replacement parts for micrographic and copying machines only to buyers of Kodak equipment who use Kodak service or repair their own machines. As part of the same policy, Kodak sought to limit ISO access to other sources of Kodak parts. Kodak and the OEMs agreed that the OEMs would not sell parts that fit Kodak equipment to anyone other than Kodak. Kodak also pressured Kodak equipment owners and independent parts distributors not to sell Kodak parts to ISOs. In addition, Kodak took steps to restrict the availability of used machines. Kodak intended, through these policies, to make it more difficult for ISOs to sell service for Kodak machines. It succeeded. ISOs were unable to obtain parts from reliable sources, and many were forced out of business, while others lost substantial revenue. Customers were forced to switch to Kodak service even though they preferred ISO service. In 1987, the ISOs filed the present action in the District Court, alleging, inter alia, that Kodak had unlawfully tied the sale of service for Kodak machines to the sale of parts, in violation of  § 1 of the Sherman Act, and had unlawfully monopolized and attempted to monopolize the sale of service for Kodak machines, in violation of  § 2 of that Act. Kodak filed a motion for summary judgment before respondents had initiated discovery. The District Court permitted respondents to file one set of interrogatories and one set of requests for production of documents, and to take six depositions. Without a hearing, the District Court granted summary judgment in favor of Kodak. As to the  § 1 claim, the court found that respondents had provided no evidence of a tying arrangement between Kodak equipment and service or parts. The court, however, did not address respondents'  § 1 claim that is at issue here. Respondents allege a tying arrangement not between Kodak equipment and service, but between Kodak parts and service. As to the  § 2 claim, the District Court concluded that although Kodak had a â€Å"natural monopoly over the market for parts it sells under its name,† a unilateral refusal to sell those parts to ISOs did not violate  § 2. Noting that the District Court had not considered the market power issue, and that the record was not fully developed through discovery, the court declined to require respondents to conduct market analysis or to pinpoint specific imperfections in order to withstand summary judgment. The court then considered the three business justifications Kodak proffered for its restrictive parts policy: (1) to guard against inadequate service, (2) to lower inventory costs, and (3) to prevent ISOs from free riding on Kodak's investment in the copier and micrographic industry. The court concluded that the trier of fact might find the product quality and inventory reasons to be perpetual and that there was a less restrictive alternative for achieving Kodak's quality related goals. The court also found Kodak's third justification, preventing ISOs from profiting on Kodak's investments in the equipment markets, legally insufficient. As to the  § 2 claim, the Court of Appeals concluded that sufficient evidence existed to support a finding that Kodak's implementation of its parts policy was â€Å"anticompetitive† and â€Å"exclusionary† and â€Å"involved a specific intent to monopolize. † It held that the ISOs had come forward with sufficient evidence, for summary judgment purposes, to disprove Kodak's business justifications. The dissent in the Court of Appeals, with respect to the  § 1 claim, accepted Kodak's argument that evidence of competition in the equipment market â€Å"necessarily precludes power in the derivative market. † With respect to the  § 2 monopolization claim, the dissent concluded that, entirely apart from market power considerations, Kodak was entitled to summary judgment on the basis of its first business justification because it had â€Å"submitted extensive and undisputed evidence of a marketing strategy based on high quality service. A tying arrangement is â€Å"an agreement by a party to sell one product but only on the condition that the buyer also purchases a different (or tied) product, or at least agrees that he will not purchase that product from any other supplier. † Such an arrangement violates  § 1 of the Sherman Act if the seller has â€Å"appreciable economic power† in the tying product market and if the arrangement affects a substantial volum e of commerce in the tied market. Kodak did not dispute that its arrangement affects a substantial volume of interstate commerce. It, however, did challenge whether its activities constituted a â€Å"tying arrangement† and whether Kodak exercised â€Å"appreciable economic power† in the tying market. We consider these issues in turn. For the respondents to defeat a motion for summary judgment on their claim of a tying arrangement, a reasonable trier of fact must be able to find, first, that service and parts are two distinct products, and, second, that Kodak has tied the sale of the two products. For service and parts to be considered two distinct products, there must be sufficient consumer demand so that it is efficient for a firm to provide service separately from parts. Jefferson Evidence in the record indicates that service and parts have been sold separately in the past and still are sold separately to self service equipment owners. Indeed, the development of the entire high technology service industry is evidence of the efficiency of a separate market for service. Kodak insists that because there is no demand for parts separate from service, there cannot be separate markets for service and parts. By that logic, we would be forced to conclude that there can never be separate markets, for example, for cameras and film, computers and software, or automobiles and tires. That is an assumption we are unwilling to make. â€Å"We have often found arrangements involving functionally linked products at least one of which is useless without the other to be prohibited tying devices. Kodak's assertion also appears to be incorrect as a factual matter. At least some consumers would purchase service without parts, because some service does not require parts, and some consumers, those who self service for example, would purchase parts without service. Finally, respondents have presented sufficient evidence of a tie between service and parts. The record indicates that Kodak would sell parts to third parties only if they agreed not to buy service from ISOs. Having found sufficient evidence of a tying arrangement, we consider the other necessary feature of an illegal tying arrangement: appreciable economic power in the tying market. Market power is the power â€Å"to force a purchaser to do something that he would not do in a competitive market. † It has been defined as â€Å"the ability of a single seller to raise price and restrict output. † The existence of such power ordinarily is inferred from the seller's possession of a predominant share of the market. Respondents contend that Kodak has more than sufficient power in the parts market to force unwanted purchases of he tied market, service. Respondents provide evidence that certain parts are available exclusively through Kodak. Respondents also assert that Kodak has control over the availability of parts it does not manufacture. According to respondents' evidence, Kodak has prohibited independent manufacturers from selling Kodak parts to ISOs, pressured Kodak equipment owners and independent parts distributors to deny ISOs the purchase of Kodak parts, and taken steps to restrict the availability of used machines. Respondents also allege that Kodak's control over the parts market has excluded service competition, boosted service prices, and forced unwilling consumption of Kodak service. Respondents offer evidence that consumers have switched to Kodak service even though they preferred ISO service, that Kodak service was of higher price and lower quality than the preferred ISO service, and that ISOs were driven out of business by Kodak's policies. Under our prior precedents, this evidence would be sufficient to entitle respondents to a trial on their claim of market power. To review Kodak's theory, it contends that higher service prices will lead to a disastrous drop in equipment sales. Presumably, the theory's corollary is to the effect that low service prices lead to a dramatic increase in equipment sales. According to the theory, one would have expected Kodak to take advantage of lower priced ISO service as an opportunity to expand equipment sales. Instead, Kodak adopted a restrictive sales policy consciously designed to eliminate the lower priced ISO service, an act that would be expected to devastate either Kodak's equipment sales or Kodak's faith in its theory. Yet, according to the record, it has done neither. Service prices have risen for Kodak customers, but there is no evidence or assertion that Kodak equipment sales have dropped. Respondents offer a forceful reason why Kodak's theory, although perhaps intuitively appealing, may not accurately explain the behavior of the primary and derivative markets for complex durable goods: the existence of significant information and switching costs. These costs could create a less responsive connection between service and parts prices and equipment sales. For the service market price to affect equipment demand, consumers must inform themselves of the total cost of the â€Å"package† — equipment, service and parts — at the time of purchase; that is, consumers must engage in accurate life cycle pricing. Lifecycle pricing of complex, durable equipment is difficult and costly. In order to arrive at an accurate price, a consumer must acquire a substantial amount of raw data and undertake sophisticated analysis. The necessary information would include data on price, quality, and availability of products needed to operate, upgrade, or enhance the initial equipment, as well as service and repair costs, including estimates of breakdown frequency, nature of repairs, price of service and parts, length of â€Å"downtime† and losses incurred from downtime. Much of this information is difficult — some of it impossible — to acquire at the time of purchase. During the life of a product, companies may change the service and parts prices, and develop products with more advanced features, a decreased need for repair, or new warranties. In addition, the information is likely to be customer specific; lifecycle costs will vary from customer to customer with the type of equipment, degrees of equipment use, and costs of downtime. Indeed, respondents have presented evidence that Kodak practices price discrimination by selling parts to customers who service their own equipment, but refusing to sell parts to customers who hire third party service companies. Companies that have their own service staff are likely to be high volume users, the same companies for whom it is most likely to be economically worthwhile to acquire the complex information needed for comparative lifecycle pricing. A second factor undermining Kodak's claim that â€Å"supracompetitive† prices in the service market lead to ruinous losses in equipment sales is the cost to current owners of switching to a different product. If the cost of switching is high, consumers who already have purchased the equipment, and are thus â€Å"locked in,† will tolerate some level of service price increases before changing equipment brands. Under this scenario, a seller profitably could maintain â€Å"supracompetitive† prices in the aftermarket if the switching costs were high relative to the increase in service prices, and the number of locked in customers were high relative to the number of new purchasers. Moreover, if the seller can price discriminate between its locked in customers and potential new customers, this strategy is even more likely to prove profitable. The seller could simply charge new customers below marginal cost on the equipment and recoup the charges in service, or offer packages with life time warranties or long term service agreements that are not available to locked-in customers. Respondents have offered evidence that the heavy initial outlay for Kodak equipment, combined with the required support material that works only with Kodak equipment, makes switching costs very high for existing Kodak customers. And Kodak's own evidence confirms that it varies the package price of equipment/parts/service for different customers. In sum, there is a question of fact whether information costs and switching costs foil the simple assumption that the equipment and service markets act as pure complements to one another. We conclude, then, that Kodak has failed to demonstrate that respondents' inference of market power in the service and parts markets is unreasonable, and that, consequently, Kodak is entitled to summary judgment. It is clearly reasonable to infer that Kodak has market power to raise prices and drive out competition in the aftermarkets, since respondents offer direct evidence that Kodak did so. It is also plausible, as discussed above, to infer that Kodak chose to gain immediate profits by exerting that market power where locked in customers, high information costs, and discriminatory pricing limited and perhaps eliminated any long term loss. The alleged conduct — higher service prices and market foreclosure — is facially anticompetitive and exactly the harm that antitrust laws aim to prevent. Respondents also claim that they have presented genuine issues for trial as to whether Kodak has monopolized or attempted to monopolize the service and parts markets in violation of  § 2 of the Sherman Act. â€Å"The offense of monopoly under  § 2 of the Sherman Act has two elements: (1) the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market and (2) the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power as distinguished from growth or development as a consequence of a superior product, business acumen, or historic accident. † The existence of the first element, possession of monopoly power, is easily resolved. As has been noted, respondents have presented a triable claim that service and parts are separate markets, and that Kodak has the â€Å"power to control prices or exclude competition† in service and parts. Monopoly power under  § 2 requires, of course, something greater than market power under  § 1. Respondents' evidence that Kodak controls nearly 100% of the parts market and 80% to 95% of the service market, with no readily available substitutes, is, however, sufficient to survive summary judgment under the more stringent monopoly standard of  § 2. The second element of a  § 2 claim is the use of monopoly power â€Å"to foreclose competition, to gain a competitive advantage, or to destroy a competitor. † If Kodak adopted its parts and service policies as part of a scheme of willful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly power, it will have violated  § 2. As recounted at length above, respondents have presented evidence that Kodak took exclusionary action to maintain its parts monopoly and used its control over parts to strengthen its monopoly share of the Kodak service market. Liability turns, then, on whether â€Å"valid business reasons† can explain Kodak's actions. Kodak contends that it has three valid business justifications for its actions: â€Å"(1) to promote interbrand equipment competition by allowing Kodak to stress the quality of its service; (2) to improve asset management by reducing Kodak's inventory costs; and (3) to prevent ISOs from free riding on Kodak's capital investment in equipment, parts and service. † Factual questions exist, however, about the validity and sufficiency of each claimed justification, making summary judgment inappropriate. As respondents argue, Kodak's actions appear inconsistent with any need to control inventory costs. Presumably, the inventory of parts needed to repair Kodak machines turns only on breakdown rates, and those rates should be the same whether Kodak or ISOs perform the repair. More importantly, the justification fails to explain respondents' evidence that Kodak forced OEMs, equipment owners, and parts brokers not to sell parts to ISOs, actions that would have no effect on Kodak's inventory costs. None of Kodak's asserted business justifications, then, are sufficient to prove that Kodak is â€Å"entitled to a judgment as a matter of law† on respondents'  § 2 claim. In the end, of course, Kodak's arguments may prove to be correct. It may be that its parts, service, and equipment are components of one unified market, or that the equipment market does discipline the aftermarkets so that all three are priced competitively overall, or that any anticompetitive effects of Kodak's behavior are outweighed by its competitive effects.. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals denying summary judgment is affirmed.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Acquiring the existing firm Essay

Abstract 1. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of acquiring the existing firm, and continuing production in Korea through acquisition for Zip-6. 2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of re-purchasing the licensing agreement and either establishing Zip-6 subsidiary through Greenfield venture and producing in South Korea, exporting the product to Korea, franchising to another firm or relicensing to another firm. 3. State your choice of options to pursue and reasons for this choice. Answers: 1. If you get it right, there can be many good reasons why buying an existing business could make good business sense. Remember though, that you will be taking on the legacy of the previous business owner, and you need to be aware of every aspect of the business you are about to buy. Advantages are: Some of the groundwork to get the business up and running will have been done. It may be easier to obtain finance as the business will have a proven track record. A business plan and marketing method should already be in place. A market for the product or service will have already been demonstrated. There are maybe established customers, a reliable income, a reputation to capitalize and build on and useful network of contacts. Many of the problems will have been discovered and solved already. Existing employees should have experience you can draw on. Disadvantages are: Zip-6 will often need to invest a large of amount up front, and will also have to budget for professional fees for solicitors, surveyors, accountants etc.. It will probably also need several months of working capital to assist with cash flow. If the business has been neglected Zip-6 may need to invest quite a bit more on top of the purchase price to give it the best chance of  success. Ravi and Keith may need to honour or renegotiate any outstanding contracts the previous owner leaves in place. They also need consider why the current owner is selling up and how this might impact the business and they are (Zip-6) taking it over. It is possible current staff may not be happy with a new boss, or the business might have been run badly and staff morale may be low. 2. I will define licensing agreement: in this case we are talking about an international licensing agreement which allow foreign firms, either exclusively or non -exclusively to manufacture a proprietor’s product for a fixed term in a specific market. Licensing is a relatively flexible work agreement that can be customized to fit the needs and interests of both, licensor and licensee. Advantages of using an international licensing agreement are: Is highly attractive for companies that are new in international business. Obtain extra income for technical know-how and services Quick expand without much risk and large capital investment. Reach new markets not accessible by export from existing facilities. Political risk is minimized as the licensee is usually one hundred percent locally owned. Retain established markets closed by trade restrictions. Pave the way for future investments I the market. Disadvantages are: Low income than in other entry modes. Risk of having the trademark and reputation ruined by an impotent partner The foreign partner can also become a competitor by selling its production in places where the parental company is already in. Loss of control of the licensee manufacture and marketing operations and practices leading to loss of quality. Franchising agreement compare to licensing agreement tends to be longer and the franchisor offers a broader package of rights and resources which usually includes ,equipment, managerial systems, operation manual, initial  trainings, site approval and all the support necessary for the franchisee to run business in the same way it is done by the franchisor. Franchising is limited to trademarks and operating know-how of the business. Advantages of the international franchising are: Low political risk Low cost Allows simultaneous expansion into different regions of the world. Well selected partners bring financial investment as well as managerial capabilities to the operation. Disadvantages are: Franchise may turn into competitors. Demand of franchisees may scare when starting to franchise a company, which can lead to making agreements with wrong candidates. A wrong franchisee may ruin the company’s name and reputation in the market. Comparing to other modes such as exporting and even licensing, international franchising requires a greater financial investment to attract prospects and support and manage franchisees. The key success for franchising is to avoid sharing strategic activity with any franchisee. Especially for Zip-6 Co they do have a secret ingredients to their soft drink. Sharing those strategic activity may increase the potential of the franchisee to be their future competitor due to the knowledge and strategic spill over. Greenfield investment is establishment of a new wholly owned subsidiary, its often complex and potentially costly, but it is able to provide full control to the firm and has the most potential to provide above average return. Greenfield is more likely preferred where physical capital intensive plants are planned. It is high risk due to the costs of establishing a new business in new country Zip-6 may need to acquire knowledge and expertise of existing market by third parties, such consultant, competitors, or business partners. And also this entry strategy takes much time due to the need of stablishing new operations, distribution network, and the necessity to learn and implement appropriate marketing strategies to compete with rivals in a new a market. 3. My option will be Acquisition because its quick access and it offers the  fastest, and largest, initial international expansion of any of the alternative. It is also a way to achieve greater market power. It is lower risk than Greenfield investment because of the outcomes of an acquisition can be estimated more easily and accurately. In overall, acquisition is attractive if there are well established firms already in operations or competitors want to enter the region. Of course there are many disadvantages and problems in achieving acquisition success. But where there is risk there is also success. References: http://www.export.gov/foreign_market_entry_modes. https://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/†¦/business†¦/buying. Retrieved from: Global Business Today, 8th Edition (Charles W. L. Hill 2014). 2012 books.lardbucket.org/books/challenges-and-opportunities-in-international-business/s13-exporting-importing-and-global.html.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Alienation in Contemporary Maori Society essays

Alienation in Contemporary Maori Society essays Contemporary Maori society has encountered difficulties in the absence of traditional Maori culture. Maori writers have emphasized alienation as a cultural and singular quandary within post settlement New Zealand. One such Maori writer, Witi Ihimaera, focuses on problems of contemporary Maori society in a number of his works. In the short story entitled, Big Brother, Little Sister, Ihimaera designs a Maori story replete with desperation and alienation that masks love, a corner post in traditional Maori society. In traditional Maori culture, the family was an integral part of the survival based on the clan's ability to cooperate and withstand a sundry assortment of tribulations ranging from agricultural issues to attacks by neighboring clans. By using love to contrast alienation the theme of abandonment is shown as a problem in contemporary Maori society. A sense of estrangement is first introduced in the first domestic scene of the story. The father and mother return after a night of drinking and after a fight about infidelities the father viciously beat his wife and daughter. After being battered the mother filled with fear, exclaims to the father, 'No, John, don't leave me. Don't.' This portrayal begins the departure from a traditional family to a contemporary one. In this encounter the two sides to the story are presented; by trying to protect their mother the children illustrated their love and devotion, the mothers' begging for her husband not to leave the mother's fear of alienation from male support is clearly shown. After these two sides are presented, the mother quickly establishes a trend; alienating her children in an effort to keep a male companion. The first example of this is illustrated shortly after the mother's lover, Uncle Pera moves in after the father leaves. Uncle Pera begins to dislike the children and grants them fewer liberties. At first, Uncle Pera forbids Janey to sleep with the mother. Eventually, the chi...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Battle of Taranto in World War II

Battle of Taranto in World War II The Battle of Taranto was fought the night of November 11/12, 1940 and was part of the Mediterranean Campaign of World War II (1939-1945). In 1940, British forces began battling the Italians in North Africa. While the Italians were easily able to supply their troops, the logistical situation for the British proved more difficult as their ships had to traverse almost the entire Mediterranean. Early in the campaign, the British were able to control the sea lanes, however by mid-1940 the tables were beginning to turn, with the Italians outnumbering them in every class of ship except aircraft carriers. Though they possessed superior strength, the Italian Regia Marina was unwilling to fight, preferring to follow a strategy of preserving a fleet in being. Concerned that Italian naval strength be reduced before the Germans could aid their ally, Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued orders that action be taken on the issue. Planning for this type of eventuality had begun as early as 1938, during the Munich Crisis, when Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, directed his staff to examine options for attacking the Italian base at Taranto. During this time, Captain Lumley Lyster of the carrier HMS Glorious proposed using its aircraft to mount a nighttime strike. Convinced by Lyster, Pound ordered training to commence, but the resolution of the crisis led to the operation being shelved.   Upon departing the Mediterranean Fleet, Pound advised his replacement, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, of the proposed plan, then known as Operation Judgement. The plan was reactivated in September 1940, when its principal author, Lyster, now a rear admiral, joined Cunninghams fleet with the new carrier HMS Illustrious.  Cunningham and Lyster refined the plan and planned to move forward with Operation Judgement on October 21, Trafalgar Day, with aircraft from HMS Illustrious and HMS Eagle. The British Plan The composition of the strike force was later changed following fire damage to Illustrious and action damage to Eagle. While Eagle was being repaired, it was decided to press on with the attack using only Illustrious. Several of Eagles aircraft were transferred to augment Illustrious air group and the carrier sailed on November 6. Commanding the task force, Lysters squadron included Illustrious, the heavy cruisers HMS Berwick and HMS York, the light cruisers HMS Gloucester and HMS Glasgow, and the destroyers HMS Hyperion, HMS Ilex, HMS Hasty, and HMS Havelock.    Preparations In the days before the attack, the Royal Air Forces No. 431 General Reconnaissance Flight conducted several reconnaissance flights from Malta to confirm the presence of the Italian fleet at Taranto. Photographs from these flights indicated changes to the bases defenses, such as the deployment of barrage balloons, and Lyster ordered the necessary alterations to the strike plan. The situation at Taranto was confirmed on the night of November 11, by an overflight by a Short Sunderland flying boat. Spotted by the Italians, this aircraft alerted their defenses, however as they lacked radar they were unaware of the impending attack. At Taranto, the base was defended by 101 anti-aircraft guns and around 27 barrage balloons. Additional balloons had been placed but had been lost due to high winds on November 6. In the anchorage, the larger warships normally would have been protected by anti-torpedo nets but many had been removed in anticipation of a pending gunnery exercise. Those that were in place did not extend deep enough to fully protect against the British torpedoes. Fleets Commanders: Royal Navy Admiral Sir Andrew CunninghamRear Admiral Lumley Lyster24 torpedo bombers, 1 aircraft carrier, 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 4 destroyers Regia Marina Admiral Inigo Campioni6 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 8 destroyers Planes in the Night Aboard Illustrious, 21 Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers began taking off on the night of November 11 as Lysters task force moved through the Ionian Sea. Eleven of the planes were armed with torpedoes, while the remainder carried flares and bombs. The British plan called for the planes to attack in two waves. The first wave was assigned targets in both the outer and inner harbors of Taranto. Led by Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Williamson, the first flight departed Illustrious around 9:00 PM on November 11.   The second wave, directed by Lieutenant Commander J. W. Hale, took off approximately 90 minutes later. Approaching the harbor just before 11:00 PM, part of Williamsons flight dropped flares and bombed oil storage tanks while the remainder of the aircraft commenced their attack runs on the 6 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 8 destroyers in the harbor. These saw the battleship Conte di Cavour hit with a torpedo that caused critical damage while the battleship Littorio also sustained two torpedo strikes. In the course of these attacks, Williamsons Swordfish was downed by fire from  Conte di Cavour. The bomber section of Williamsons flight, led by Captain Oliver Patch, Royal Marines, attacked hitting two cruisers moored in the Mar Piccolo.    Hales flight of nine aircraft, four armed with bombers and five with torpedoes, approached Taranto from the north around midnight.   Dropping flares, the Swordfish endured intense, but ineffective, antiaircraft fire as they began their runs. Two of Hales crews attacked Littorio scoring one torpedo hit while another missed in an attempt on the battleship  Vittorio Veneto.   Another Swordfish succeeded in striking the battleship  Caio Duilio with a torpedo, tearing a large hole in the bow and flooding its forward magazines.   Their ordnance expended, the second flight cleared the harbor and returned to Illustrious. Aftermath In their wake, the 21 Swordfish left Conte di Cavour sunk and the battleships Littorio and Caio Duilio heavily damaged. The latter had been intentionally grounded to prevent its sinking. They also badly damaged a heavy cruiser. British losses were two Swordfish flown by Williamson and Lieutenant Gerald W.L.A. Bayly.   While Williamson and his observer Lieutenant N.J. Scarlett were captured, Bayly and his observer, Lieutenant H.J. Slaughter were killed in action. In one night, the Royal Navy succeeded in halving the Italian battleship fleet and gained a tremendous advantage in the Mediterranean. As a result of the strike, the Italians withdrew the bulk of their fleet farther north to Naples. The Taranto Raid changed many naval experts thoughts regarding air-launched torpedo attacks. Prior to Taranto, many believed that deep water (100 ft.) was needed to successfully drop torpedoes. To compensate for the shallow water of Taranto harbor (40 ft.), the British specially modified their torpedoes and dropped them from very low altitude. This solution, as well as other aspects of the raid, was heavily studied by the Japanese as they planned their attack on Pearl Harbor the following year.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Frontiero v. Richardson - 1973 Supreme Court Case

Frontiero v. Richardson - 1973 Supreme Court Case edited with additions by  Jone Johnson Lewis In the 1973 case Frontiero v. Richardson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sex discrimination in benefits for military spouses violated the Constitution, and allowed the spouses of military women to receive the same benefits as did the spouses of men in the military. Fast Facts: Frontiero v. Richardson Case Argued: Jan. 17, 1973Decision Issued: May 14, 1973Petitioner: Sharron Frontiero, a lieutenant in the United States Air ForceRespondent: Elliot Richardson, Secretary of DefenseKey Question: Did a federal law, requiring different qualification criteria for male and female military spousal dependency, discriminate against woman and thereby violate the Fifth Amendments Due Process Clause?Majority Decision: Justices Brennan, Douglas, White, Marshall, Stewart, Powell, Burger, BlackmunDissenting: Justice RehnquistRuling: The Court ruled that the statute required dissimilar treatment for men and women who are similarly situated, violating the Fifth Amendments Due Process Clause and its implied equal protection requirements. Military Husbands Frontiero v. Richardson found unconstitutional a federal law that required different criteria for male spouses of military members to receive benefits, as opposed to female spouses. Sharon Frontiero was a U.S. Air Force lieutenant who tried to get dependent benefits for her husband. Her request was denied. The law said that male spouses of women in the military could only get benefits if the man relied on his wife for more than half of his financial support. However, female spouses of men in the military automatically were entitled to dependent benefits. A male serviceman did not have to show that his wife relied on him for any of her support. Sex Discrimination or Convenience? The dependent benefits would have included an increased living quarters allowance as well as medical and dental benefits. Sharon Frontiero did not show that her husband relied on her for more than one half of his support, so her application for dependent benefits was denied. She contended that this distinction between male and female requirements discriminated against servicewomen and violated the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. The Frontiero v. Richardson decision noted that U.S. statute books were laden with gross, stereotyped distinctions between the sexes. See Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 685 (1977). The Alabama district court whose decision Sharon Frontiero appealed had commented on the administrative convenience of the law. With a vast majority of service members being male at the time, surely it would be an extreme administrative burden to require each man to demonstrate that his wife relied upon him for more than half of her support. In Frontiero v. Richardson, the Supreme Court pointed out that not only was it unfair to burden women and not men with this extra proof, but men who could not offer similar proof about their wives would still receive benefits under the current law. Legal Scrutiny The Court concluded: By according differential treatment to male and female members of the uniformed services for the sole purpose of achieving administrative convenience, the challenged statutes violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment insofar as they require a female member to prove the dependency of her husband. Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 690 (1973). Justice William Brennan authored the decision, noting that women in the U.S. faced pervasive discrimination in education, the job market and politics. He concluded that classifications based on sex should be subjected to strict judicial scrutiny, just like classifications based on race or national origin. Without strict scrutiny, a law would only have to meet a rational basis test instead of a compelling state interest test. In other words, strict scrutiny would require a state to show why there is a compelling state interest for the discrimination or sex classification, instead of the much easier to meet test of some rational basis for the law. However, in Frontiero v. Richardson only a plurality of justices agreed about strict scrutiny for gender classifications. Although a majority of the justices agreed that the military benefits law was a violation of the Constitution, the level of scrutiny for gender classifications and questions of sex discrimination remained undecided in this case. Frontiero v. Richardson was argued before the Supreme Court in January 1973 and decided in May 1973. Another significant Supreme Court case the same year was the Roe v. Wade decision regarding state abortion laws.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Life after university Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Life after university - Assignment Example ty to work independently on a project is essential, because there can be deadlines and targets, and often people are busy with their own tasks and not able to give constant advice. An employee should, however, also be able to work together with other colleagues and all kinds of stakeholders and clients. Fitting into the rules and styles of the organisation is essential so that work relationships run smoothly and without any conflicts. There are obvious avenues of employment in the forensic science area, which would involve a Graduate employee learning about the law and keeping up to date with protocols for genetic testing, for example, as well as working on samples and preparing reports for different context in the criminal justice system. Excellent writing skills are needed for situations where scientific analysis has to be passed on to relevant investigatory or judicial authorities. There are occasions, too, where scientific experts have to give verbal reports, and so confidence in public speaking is a useful asset. Often it is thought that the forensic science domain is all about catching criminals, but in fact much of the work is also about proving the innocence of suspects, or simply understanding more about any kind of scene, whether it be a crime scene, an archaeological dig, or any other environment. I would be interested also in some of the non-human forensic science careers, such as for example work in a laboratory for wildlife conservation which may involve testing for species diversity and habitat erosion, or working with endangered species to ensure that healthy populations are maintained. Molecular biology specialists also can choose from many careers related to medicine, for example working in the testing of drugs or increasingly in the manufacture of drugs which are tailored to the individual genetic make-up of the patient. I am interested particularly in the area of cancer research and treatment, and I think that in the next twenty years there

Friday, October 18, 2019

Klu Klux Klan Organization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Klu Klux Klan Organization - Research Paper Example Although the Klan’s numbers have dwindled, the terrorist outfit remains a threat and voice in the United States. The present research provides a background summary of the Ku Klux Klan, considers the organization’s methodology, its tactics and method of operation, and the potential threat it poses to the United States. The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866. Of course, one recognizes that at this time slavery had recently been outlawed and the United States was entering into a major transition stage regarding the rights of African Americans. After its 1866 founding, the Klan quickly spread throughout the United States and by 1870 – only four years – the organization had a substantial presence in every state in the union. While the Klan experienced a slight period of decline in the late 19th century, in the early 20th century concerted efforts occurred that contributed to its revival during this period. Particularly, D.W. Griffith’s film the â€Å"Birth of a Nation† motivated much new Klan membership. While Klan membership would gradually decline throughout the 20th century, it experienced a period of revival during the Civil Rights Movement, as Klan organizations mobilized in protest efforts. Since this period the Klan’s numbers have gradually declined (Bullard, 20 05). As the organization began in the wake of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, one recognizes that white supremacy constitutes perhaps its primary epistemological assumption. Of course, one recognizes that the Klan’s most thematic message is its support of racism and white supremacy throughout the United States. While the Klan’s outward expression of racism is a major factor in its overarching methodology, the organization also is recognized as adopting Christian ideals and has historically been linked to Protestanism as a major religious element. In terms of structure, the Klan has evolved a significant amount throughout its extended

Making Decisions in a Legal Context Research Paper

Making Decisions in a Legal Context - Research Paper Example Answer: Not all of the employees of a registered BAS agent need be registered with the Board. However, any parties (including individuals or groups) contracted for BAS related work need to be registered with the Board to ensure compliance with relevant legal provisions. Typically, it is common for a BAS service to register some of its employees with the Board in order to meet a â€Å"minimum numbers† requirement and to demonstrate the competence of the BAS agent (TPB, 2012a). In order to manage the personal information of employees, Sophie Tiller will store information in personal records. A similar approach will be used for contracted BAS agents. Access to these records would be restricted except for Sophie Tiller or relevant authorities for auditing and compliance checks. Q2. Describe the process for managing the personal information, particularly the police checks and other personal information including Tax File Numbers, Bank Account details, personal and contact information. Answer: At the time of induction, both employees and contractors would be required to provide or sign a consent form for criminal history record check. For most general purposes, this form is the NAT 16358 that is available at the Australian Taxation Office website (ATO, 2012a). This form will then be attached to the particulars of the employee or contractor and sent to the local police authorities for verification. Once verified character certificates are received from the police, the employee or contractor would be cleared for work. In a similar manner, employees and contractors would be required to provide details pertaining to their bank accounts, personal taxation details etc. voluntarily. These details will be verified by correspondence with the relevant authorities, for example, bankers, tax authorities etc. Once replies regarding the clearances are received, these will be entered in personal record files. The records will be updated with the frequency of one year in order to ensure that they are current. Moreover, records will be kept in personal files for a period of five years before they are removed as being obsolete. Q3. Legislation guiding the business: Describe the legislation guiding this particular case study business – Sophie Tiller Bookkeeping Services. Answer: The BAS service was not required to be registered before March 2010, but new legislation has made it mandatory for BAS and tax practitioners to register themselves. The Tax Agent Services Act of 2009 (TASA) covers the area of BAS service or agent registration (ATO, 2012b). Previously, BAS agents or services did not have any defined prerequisites or other registration requirements. However, since the adoption of this new piece of legislation, BAS agents need to be furnished with minimum education requirements of either a Cert IV in Bookkeeping or a Cert IV in Accounting. Since Sophie Tiller is experienced but does not meet the minimum educational requirements, she must upgrade her educational qualifications in order to proceed with a new BAS business service. Moreover, new BAS agents are required to demonstrate a minimum of 1,400 hours of work experience while older BAS agents working under the umbrella of certified accounting and bookkeeping regulators such as ACCA are required to display around 1,000 hours of work experience. Sophie Tiller can gain an advantage since she has over 3 years of experience in the BAS service industry under this piece of legislation (ICB, 2012a). Q4. Consumer protection: How the business ensures that it does not engage in any conduct that is misleading or deceptive. Answer: Previously there were little restrictions on who could act as a BAS agent, but this has recently been changed under legislative changes. BAS agents must be registered

Thursday, October 17, 2019

BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The segmentation has been done by using demographics and behavioural strategies. The target market has been chosen after identifying the size and profitability of the segments. After developing the positioning strategy, the marketing mix has been created for the target market. Finally, an overview of the financial plan of Manga Cafe has been discussed. IDENTIFIED PROBLEM The business plan of launching Manga Cafe in London appears to be a unique idea as there is currently not such cafe in London however, because of the aggressive competition among the international brands in the UK Cafe industry; Manga Cafe needs a very well-organised and efficient marketing plan. INDUSTRY COMPETITION Various coffee brands are operating in London; however, the three largest market leaders include Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Nero. The following positioning map shows the positioning of major cafe providers in London based on their quality of services and prices. Starbucks being the market leader is offe ring average quality but at very high prices, therefore, shares of Starbucks are declining not only in UK but in most of its major markets (Bishopric, 2011). Costa is expanding throughout UK because of its reasonable prices and better quality and in 2010/2011, company aims to open 130 more outlets in the UK (Bakeryinfo, 2010). Nero is considered as a cheap brand which offers value through high quality products and services. Positioning Map THE PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION Manga Cafes are very popular among the Japanese communities. The increasing number of Japanese residents in the UK builds a strong demand for Manga Cafes in the UK, European and foreign markets. Since there is no Manga Cafe in London yet, therefore, launch of Manga Cafe in London appears to be a feasible business option. This cafe will fulfil the increasing demand of Japanese comics in Europe. The cafe will offer a platform to the people where they can come and enjoy reading Japanese comics. Moreover, additional ser vices will also be offered to entertain the visitors such as Japanese food, internet facility, games and DVDs. The visitors will be charged based on their duration of stay in the cafe. MARKETING PLAN Market Segmentation To segment the market, demographics and behavioral segmentation strategies have been used. In demographics segmentation, the consumers have been segmented based on their age, profession and nationality. Age: The age group structure of London in 2001 is given below (Office for National Statistics, 2002). Age Structure of People in London Source: Office for National Statistics Profession: The second demographic variable is profession and in London people belonging to different professions such as education, workers, professionals, unemployed reside. Nationality: The third demographic variable is nationality and since Manga Cafe is a Japanese cafe therefore, only Japanese nationals will be directly targeted. However, the total population of London in 2009 was 7,686,000 and it includes around people with 34 different nationalities (London.gov.uk, 2010). Table: London Population by Nationality Source: London.gov.uk In behavioral segmentation, the consumers who will be having knowledge, interest and positive attitude towards Japanese culture will be

Financial analysis for Performance management Research Paper

Financial analysis for Performance management - Research Paper Example After the merger, there is a substantial increase in the companys capital as well as a decrease in the liabilities. It shows that the company position to meet its financial obligation has improved after the merger. The equity multiplier calculated for the period before the merger shows that the company had funded a huge share of its assets using debts. After the merger, the company gets the additional capital that boosts its books, but still ratio remains relatively high. The interest cover ratio for the period the merger shows the company was not in a position to pay it interests obligation, the company made a loss. In the period after the merger, the period ended 26 July 2014, the company is in a better position to cater for its interest obligations though there are more interest obligations as results of the increase in debts. The gross margin shows the portion of the total sales that is left out after accounting for the direct costs related to the production of the goods and services. The gross margin ratio is within an acceptable range. There is increased in sales revenue in the period ended revenue in the financial year ended 26 July 2014 and point to a more efficient selling capacity. The fixed asset turnover ratio calculated is seen to increase over the period. The higher ratio in the period after the merger shows that the efficiency in utilising the fixed asset to generate sales has improved. During the period that ended 27 July 2013, the company was in a very poor position to meet its financial obligation. The company made a loss. After the merger, that is, the period that ended 27 July 2013, the company made a profit and can then be able to meet its financial obligations as and when they become due for payment. Therefore, the lender can now confidently trust to lend the firm without risking default. To the company management, I recommend they ensure the profitability trend is

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The segmentation has been done by using demographics and behavioural strategies. The target market has been chosen after identifying the size and profitability of the segments. After developing the positioning strategy, the marketing mix has been created for the target market. Finally, an overview of the financial plan of Manga Cafe has been discussed. IDENTIFIED PROBLEM The business plan of launching Manga Cafe in London appears to be a unique idea as there is currently not such cafe in London however, because of the aggressive competition among the international brands in the UK Cafe industry; Manga Cafe needs a very well-organised and efficient marketing plan. INDUSTRY COMPETITION Various coffee brands are operating in London; however, the three largest market leaders include Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Nero. The following positioning map shows the positioning of major cafe providers in London based on their quality of services and prices. Starbucks being the market leader is offe ring average quality but at very high prices, therefore, shares of Starbucks are declining not only in UK but in most of its major markets (Bishopric, 2011). Costa is expanding throughout UK because of its reasonable prices and better quality and in 2010/2011, company aims to open 130 more outlets in the UK (Bakeryinfo, 2010). Nero is considered as a cheap brand which offers value through high quality products and services. Positioning Map THE PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION Manga Cafes are very popular among the Japanese communities. The increasing number of Japanese residents in the UK builds a strong demand for Manga Cafes in the UK, European and foreign markets. Since there is no Manga Cafe in London yet, therefore, launch of Manga Cafe in London appears to be a feasible business option. This cafe will fulfil the increasing demand of Japanese comics in Europe. The cafe will offer a platform to the people where they can come and enjoy reading Japanese comics. Moreover, additional ser vices will also be offered to entertain the visitors such as Japanese food, internet facility, games and DVDs. The visitors will be charged based on their duration of stay in the cafe. MARKETING PLAN Market Segmentation To segment the market, demographics and behavioral segmentation strategies have been used. In demographics segmentation, the consumers have been segmented based on their age, profession and nationality. Age: The age group structure of London in 2001 is given below (Office for National Statistics, 2002). Age Structure of People in London Source: Office for National Statistics Profession: The second demographic variable is profession and in London people belonging to different professions such as education, workers, professionals, unemployed reside. Nationality: The third demographic variable is nationality and since Manga Cafe is a Japanese cafe therefore, only Japanese nationals will be directly targeted. However, the total population of London in 2009 was 7,686,000 and it includes around people with 34 different nationalities (London.gov.uk, 2010). Table: London Population by Nationality Source: London.gov.uk In behavioral segmentation, the consumers who will be having knowledge, interest and positive attitude towards Japanese culture will be

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Legal Aspects of Nursing. Homework 5 Case Study

Legal Aspects of Nursing. Homework 5 - Case Study Example These difficulties could have easily resulted in errors in the manual documentation. This hints at problems in the process, rather than a willful act of fraud on the part of the nurses and the nurse under trial in particular. (Case Facts, n.d.) 2. The testimonies of the other nurses are very relevant. They point to difficulties in following the process steps and in being accurate in their accomplishment of the manual documentation for the medications. First the nurses testified that the process prompted them to instances when they were prone to making errors in the manual documentation, because of problems with recall with regard to dosages and to the medicines administered. This is because the documentation was done towards the end of the shift, or during breaks, and not at the point of the administration. Second, this problem was compounded by the fact that in practice, nurses signed narcotics electronically in anticipation of need, and then threw them away when they were not used, especially with regard to the IV bags. This means that there were additional opportunities to make mistakes in the manual documentation later on (Case Facts, n.d.). 3. ... I would have ruled in favor of the nurse ,due to lack of evidence of fraud, and due to the testimony of other nurses that there is a flaw in the process that can understandably result in nurses making mistakes with the manual documentation (Case Facts, n.d.) ANSWERS TO HOMEWORK 5 FORM QUESTIONS (The responses are numbered in order of the appearance of the questions in the assignment form) 1. Patient safety principles relating to the accuracy of medications administered and in the accuracy and integrity of patient records are at play in this case. That there are mistakes in documentation that are used to keep track of patient progress, and that are used to plan future interventions, means that the well-being of the patients are put at risk. The testimonies by the nurses point to fundamental flaws in the hospital processes that need to be admitted to, as a first step to making changes to correct the discrepancies (Suydam et al., n.d., pp. 361-363; Sharpe, 2003; American Medical Associa tion, 2009; Ohno-Machado et al., 2004) 2. Strictly speaking, the nurses are not negligent in delaying the documentation for the medications that they took. For one, there are the electronic signings that cover them, and signify their earnestness to follow the rules. For another, they have to prioritize the manual documentation alongside other tasks, such as attending to the patients and helping the doctors in acute care. These are very pressing tasks. If a patient is unable to breathe on his own or has a very dire condition that needs full attention from the nurse, the documentation can fall by the wayside understandably. The issue is not negligence, but that the work flow forces the nurses to prioritize

Monday, October 14, 2019

Analysis of front cover of best Essay Example for Free

Analysis of front cover of best Essay Best is published by ACP-NatMag and falls into the category of womans lifestyle magazine. Best has to compete with some other major magazines such as Reveal and Bella. Bests front cover has to make an impression on its audience by making itself bright, bold and bubbly. This is achieved using different methods to entice the reader, with extremely eye-catching colours such as pink, yellow, blue and white which clash, using Fern Britton in the traditional picture used on every magazine, and through human interest stories as well as shocking stories which further invite the reader to buy the magazine The main story line Drop 7lb Faster suggests that the magazine is trying to tempt the audience into learning the secrets of a celebrity diet, but actually only tells the reader a fraction of what to do on the inside. Eventually, as the audience is not fully aware that there will not be the best tips and information inside, the reader still has become interested and wants to find out more. After the reader has looked into the main eye-catching story, the reader is left almost feeling cheated after the promise of a weight loss programme. The audiences eye is drawn to this as it is positioned to the left at the top of the page, right below the masthead.. The words in the phrase are used in the typical sans serif font, but with striking colours. It is located just underneath the Best logo in a contrasting colour which immediately draws attention to itself. The bright and bold text is the biggest size used on the cover besides the masthead, as the logo is most important. It clearly stands out from any other object on the cover. The word Faster is actually italicised, this leads to the word looking as if it is actually moving, going faster, almost blurring away from the other words. The television presenter, Fern Britton, is placed on the right side of the magazine, as the biggest photograph on the cover. The image of the presenter is conventional for this type of magazine, she is around the same age as the targeted audience, making her a potential friend, where she is acting as a symbol, almost as a mothering figure, someone you can relate to. She is a striking image compared to the bland white background which she is placed on. She looks straight out at the audience in a confident manner, smiling at the audience in a friendly way, reinforcing that the magazine is trying to make itself appear to be a friend to the reader. She is wearing a formal black dress which provides an interesting contrast between her and the background. Despite the celebrity status she appears to have in the photograph, she is pictured lower down to her right in a normal everyday situation with her child. The photograph almost makes the reader feel like that is her and can relate to her like family. The title next to the picture, FERN HRT has made me a NICER MUM is in a direct form of address which makes the audience feel like they are being spoken to directly. It is in a big, bright, contrasting colour compared to the background photograph. Also, the way the magazine refers to Fern, is almost as if the audience are close to her. As well as fulfilling some of the audiences needs, i. e. makeshift friendship, it suggests that because the magazine refers to the presenter in a close way, the audience is getting advice from a celebrity. One of the cover lines is cleverly written to entice the audience even more than any other story. Because it offers simple ways for 9 EASY DINNERS, most women would be interested in learning the secrets of quick appetising meals, as 5 dishes are displayed in images. However it is possible that the readers could somehow feel disillusioned because as they read on to they find that the meals actually take around 45 minutes to an hour. One other cover line SISTERS OF COURAGE stands out from the others, as it is not in big, bold multicoloured, yet in smaller red sans serif font, with bullet point styled border on a white background. This can make the impression that its a shocking story. The picture to the right of the cover line is of two normal looking sisters, together, with an exclusive tag underneath. This can make the reader feel smug as they are reading a story that other magazines may not posses. The phrase underneath the cover line is somewhat exaggerated slightly as it quotes We broke our silence to JAIL our EVIL DAD. The three words, JAIL, EVIL and DAD are in a dark red, bold font. As red is seen to be an evil colour, it emphasises the words more to make them more dramatic and shocking. My 3 Miracles, mended my broken heart underneath is a cover line with a photo of triplets. The three are placed on a bright pink background, easily noticeable. The triplets make a bold contrast as the colours are completely different to the background, making the image stand out. Yet as it does this, the photograph is a heart warming, enticing the reader to read on. Again, the way that the phrase is being displayed, it further reinforces that the magazine is your friend talking directly out to you in a informal manner, almost like the other person telling the story is there, next to reader. In conclusion, the BEST editor has used a proven publication model to entice the fickle public to purchase and read its magazine in preference to a competitor.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Non Hodgkins Lymphoma: Types, Causes and Symptoms

Non Hodgkins Lymphoma: Types, Causes and Symptoms Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. Lymphoma is divided into two types called Hodgkins lymphoma and non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Non-Hodgkins lymphomas (NHL) are a range of diseases emerging from clonal proliferation of lymphocytes which is a type of white blood cells resulting in cancer or tumour formation of lymphatic system.1 An estimated 8,000 new cases of NHL has been diagnosed annually in the United Kingdom at the end of the 20th century.2 NHL is a common hematologic malignancy and ranked eighth as the most common malignancy.2 Male has 1.5 times likelihood than female from being diagnosed with NHL. From the early seventies, cases of NHL have increased by threefold for both male and female throughout many countries beside United Kingdom.2 In 2007, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) caused 4,533 deaths in United Kingdom. Males and females share almost similar number of deaths but males has higher age standardized mortality rate. However, not all patients die from NHL as infections may be one of the causes. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma has 53% overall 5-year relative survival in an analysis3 conducted over 22 European countries with age adjusted figures 48% in men and 54% in womean. In Scotland, the total number of diagnosed non-Hodgkins lymphoma cases from 1990-1994 were 1,598 for men and 1,708 in women. The percentage of age standardized survival rate for patients diagnosed after one year and five years with 95% confidence interval were 63.5 (61.1-66.1) and 41.0 (38.2-44.0) respectively.3 NHL has no established cause factor and people diagnosed with NHL have no known risk factors. However, NHL can be associated with chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, coeliac disease, and Sjà ¶gren syndrome.4 Study by Lens and Newton-Bishop show association between NHL and cutaneous melanoma.5 Besides that, the risk of developing NHL increases with chronic infection from viruses and bacteria such as Epstein-Barr virus, human T-lymphotropic virus 1(HTLV-1) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).2 There was a strong link between Burkitt lymphoma and Epstein-Barr virus6 while adult T-cell lymphoma can be caused by HTLV-1.7 It has been noted that prevalence of NHL was higher in people with HIV infections compared to healthy adults.8 One study conducted by Stolte et al9 showed that there was association between Helicobacter pylori infection and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas. It has also been noted that primary effusion lymphomas can be associat ed with human herpes virus while ocular adenexal lymphomas can be associated with Chlamydia psittaci.10 Moreover, evidence has shown association between splenic or large cell lymphomas and hepatitis C infections.11 The risk of developing NHL increases when a person was immunocompromised such as undergoing organ transplant12 or patients with AIDS and autoimmune diseases. Certain chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy may increase the risk of developing NHL within 10 to 15 years after treatment.4 Solvents, pesticides and other chemical factors have also been associated with causes of NHL.2 Diagnosis In this case, a male patient has been recently diagnosed with NHL but the type of NHL and pathology were unconfirmed. Lymphoma can be divided into two types: indolent and aggressive. Indolent lymphomas such as follicular, marginal zone and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma13 are commonly accompanied by slow, progressing and painless peripheral lymphadenopathy. There might be history of patients with enlarged lymph nodes before regressing without diagnosis made. These spontaneous regressions of lymph nodes may occur, preventing biopsy diagnostic test from being done and patient was treated for an assumed infection. It is uncommon to see primary extranodal lymphoma or systemic symptoms occurring at early stages but can be encountered as disease progresses. Examples of systemic B-symptoms are fever, weight loss, and night sweats. Indolent lymphoma can undergo histologic transformation or changes to a different, more aggressive usually large-cell lymphoma type. Indolent lymphomas are usually sl ow growing and it may respond to treatment but relapse tend to occur frequently.14 Aggressive lymphomas such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are different from indolent with most patients presenting with lymphadenopathy or involvement of extranodal sites. Common extranodal sites affliated are gastrointestinal tract, skin, bone marrow, sinuses, thyroid, or central nervous system. It is usual to see presence of systemic B-symptoms in a third of patients with aggressive lymphomas. Aggressive lymphomas are fast growing and are treatable than indolent lymphomas.14 NHL has been hard to diagnose and recognizing people that has high risk of NHL is difficult. Patient can only be identified correctly after development of lymphadenopathy or other symptoms related to NHL. Even though with the advancement in imaging techniques, histology is mandatory to confirm diagnosis of NHL type before progressing to treatment. It is common to use surgical biopsy either by incisional or excisional with latter being recommended to provide biopsy specimens to be reviewed by hematopathologists. The morphologic appearance obtained with additional information from immunophenotype, genetics and clinical features were then used to classify NHL with definite clinical unit. These were the basis for World Health Organization (WHO) (Table 1) classification of neoplastic diseases arising from hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues. Fine-needle aspiration or large bore-needle biopsies can also be used to diagnose NHL but was discourage for initial diagnosis due to difficulty in co nfirming a specific diagnosis.15 Table 1. World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of non-Hodgkins lymphomas.15 B-cell neoplasms Precursor B-cell neoplasm Precursor B-lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma (precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia) Mature (peripheral) B-cell neoplasms B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma Splenic marginal zone lymphoma Hairy cell leukemia Plasma cell myeloma/plasmacytoma Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT Nodal marginal zone lymphoma Follicular lymphoma Mantle cell lymphoma Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma Primary effusion lymphoma Burkitts lymphoma/Burkitt cell leukemia T-Cell and NK-Cell Neoplasms Precursor T-cell neoplasm Precursor T-lymphoblastic lymphoma/leukemia Mature (peripheral) T-cell neoplasms T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia T-cell granular lymphocytic leukemia Aggressive NK-cell leukemia Adult T-cell lymphoma/leukemia (HTLV-1) Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type Enteropathy-type T-cell lymphoma Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma Mycosis fungoides and Sà ©zary syndrome Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, T/null cell, primary cutaneous type Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma Anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, T/null cell, primary systemic type MALT, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue; NK, natural killer. Source: Data from Zelenetz and Horwitz Lymphoma has been categorized into stages following modified Ann Arbor Staging System (Table 2) originally developed for Hodgkin disease. This system as shown in table 2 was based on area of involvement, presence or absence of extranodal involvement and B symptoms such as weight loss more than 10% of body weight, fever, and drenching night sweats.15 Histology and morphology of lymphoma largely determined the treatment outcome and prognosis. Due to different outcomes of patients with lymphoma and limitation of clinical staging, International Prognostic Index (IPI) (Table 3) was developed from 2,031 patients with 5 independent, easily obtained clinical features such as patient age, Ann Arbor stage, serum lactate dehydrogenase level, number of extranodal sites and performance status to predict survival. The IPI (Table 3) served as a guide for clinical management, clinical trial design and interpretation. However, this IPI was designed for aggressive lymphoma. Thus, the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) (Table 4) was developed from 4,167 patients for indolent lymphoma with clinical features such as patients age, Ann Arbor stage, haemoglobin level, number of nodal areas and serum lactacte dehydrogenase level. Examples of nodal areas are cervical, para-aortic, inguinocrural, celiac and other ancillary nodal si tes. FLIPI can help determine significantly different mortality risk of patients with indolent lymphomas and improve decision on different aggressive therapy options that may benefit certain patient groups.15 Treatment Non-Hodgkins lymphoma can be treated by a range of treatments available such as radiation therapy / radiotherapy, surgery, stem cell transplant, single-agent or combination chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radioimmunconjugate therapy. Treatments can consist of one or a combination of the options available with different treatments having different duration and doses. In this case scenario, the patient was recently diagnosed with NHL. Due to the lack of information, NHL diagnosed can be assumed to be either indolent lymphoma or aggressive lymphoma. Being 28 year old, patient was eligible for more aggressive treatment compared to patients aged 60 and above.16 Indolent Lymphoma Indolent lymphomas such as follicular lymphoma and MALT lymphoma were not treated at early stages if there were no symptoms present with doctors adopting watch-and-wait approach. In a study conducted by Division of Oncology, Stanford University Medical Center, 43 patients with follicular lymphoma stage I or stage II were observed after deferment of radiation due to a variety of reasons. After a median of 86 months of follow-up, 63% had not been treated and survival was almost the same to the patients that has undergo radiation.17 In this situation, toxic side effects of treatments should be considered against the advantages of undergoing treatments. Patients with low grade, stage I-II NHL lymphoma with localized disease can be treated either with surgery18 or radiation therapy. Radiation therapy as shown in a study conducted by Stanford University can be used to treat limited stage, low grade lymphomas of 177 patients with good remission rate.19 Another study conducted on 103 patient s with stage I and II MALT lymphoma showed 77% disease-free survival rate with radiotherapy.20 Surgery can be done in situations where low grade MALT lymphoma is localized and there is a risk of perforation but if the lymphoma progresses to a more advance stage, then surgery no longer present as first line treatment.21 As lymphoma mainly affects systemic system, surgery is normally used to establish diagnosis. Besides that, stem cell transplant can be used to treat NHL but was limited to younger patients and difficulty in determination of the time to treat patients. A study on autologous stem cell transplant after high dose therapy showed higher response rate compared to immunochemotherapy.22 Chemotherapy options for indolent lymphomas ranged from single-agents such as cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil or doxorubicin to combinations such as cyclophosphamide, vincristine and prednisone (CVP)23 chemotherapy. More aggressive combination of chemotherapy that combines cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) can also be use. In a study conducted in 228 stage III or IV follicular lymphoma patients that were treated randomly either with cyclophosphamide, a less toxic single agent or combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and bleomycin (CHOP-B) showed no initial advantage to combination treatment eventhough in an unplanned subgroup analysis showed improved disease control and survival.24 Cyclophosphamide is a nitrogen mustard alkylating agent that acts by causing DNA damage and interfere with cell replication. Besides fatigue, nausea, vomiting, bone marrow suppression and alopecia that were normally associated with anticancer treatment, prolonged use of cyclophosphamide might result in severely affected gametogenesis.25 Chlorambucil has similar mechanism of action to cyclophosphamide with lesser side effects but development of widespread rashes may occur.25 Doxorubicin is a cytotoxic, anthracyclines antibiotic that acts by intercalating DNA. Common side effects are present with additional potential cardiomyopathy and severe tissue necrosis due to extravasation when administering doxorubicin. Vincristine is a vinca alkaloids and act by depolymerising microtubules and thus inhibiting mitosis. It may not have significant myelosuppression along with other common side effects but may cause neurotoxicity and severe tissue necrosis due to extravasation.25 Prednisone is a pr odrug that is converted in liver to prednisolone that has a marked antitumour effect in NHL. However, it may cause immunosuppression, adrenal suppression, mood and behaviour changes, gastro-intestinal effects with mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid side effects. Bleomycin is a cytotoxic antibiotic that is metabolized to produce superoxide and hydroxyl free radicals which results in DNA damage. However it can cause skin pigmentation and dose related pulmonary fibrosis.26 In addition to chemotherapy, immunotherapy is becoming a standard treatment for indolent lymphoma. Rituximab is a recombinant chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets protein CD20 which is primarily found on the surface of malignant and normal human B cells involved with B-cell proliferation and differentiation. It is said to induce apoptosis of CD20 cells.25,26 Rituximab was generally well tolerated when used compared to other conventional chemotherapy with distinct reduction of haemotological events like severe neutropenia and associated infections.27 Studies28,29,30 conducted on the usage of rituximab for recently diagnosed follicular NHL as single first line therapy showed good response rates around 52% to 73% and a 12-month progression free survival. Rituximab can be combined with chemotherapy such as CHOP as CHOP-R to treat indolent B-cell lymphoma. The trial of CHOP vs CHOP-R31 conducted in 1999 showed 95% overall response rate for CHOP-R with 55% achieving complete remission and 40% in partial remission. Addition of cytokines such as interferon ÃŽÂ ±32, interleukin 233, and interleukin 1234 to rituximab therapy conducted in studies shown that good efficacy profile can be obtained but further studies need to be conducted to confirm. Interferon ÃŽÂ ± has antitumour therapeutic effect but is not side effect free with additional myelosuppression, ocular side effects, cardiovascular problems, hypersensitivity on top of common anticancer side effects. Interferon-ÃŽÂ ± can be incorporated into chemotherapy as a new approach in treating NHL. Incorporation of interferon-ÃŽÂ ± into anthracycline-containing has been demonstrated to increase the remission rate and remission duration. However the data has not been conclusive and further information must be obtained before making it as standard treatment. German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group has been conducting trial with continuous higher dose interferon maintenance therapy yield 45% relapse-free patie nts.35 Besides rituximab, Food Drug Administration in United States has approved two anti-CD20 radioimmunotherapy agents: iodine I 131 tositumomab36 and yttrium Y 90 ibritumomab tiuxetan37 for treatment of lymphoma. Both agents contain murine antibodies that target CD20 with ÃŽÂ ²-emitting radioisotopes but iodine I 131 tositumomab can also emit gamma radiation. Both still cause side effects although milder with significant one being myelosuppression. University of Michigan conducted a phase II trial where 76 patients were given treatment of iodine I 131 tositumomab as initial treatment for follicular lymphoma and resulted in 75% of complete response and 95% of overall response.38 Yttrium Y 90 ibritumomab tiuxetan has been shown to be effective when used in consolidation therapy after rituximab39 or in relapsed/refractory B-cell NHL.40 Radioimmunotherapy was deemed better than radiotherapy due to prevention of normal tissues from being exposed to radiation and systemic radiation can be a chieved to known and unknown tumour cells. There is another emerging strategy to counter low-grade NHL by administering vaccine to boost patients immune system which leads to tumour rejection by patients body. Trials conducted showed promising results among relapsed patients following chemotherapy with prolonged disease free progression and overall survival. This strategy has not been approved by FDA but personalized vaccine therapy has been received positively in its effectiveness as first line in countering slow progressing NHL. Vaccine therapy was deemed too slow for aggressive NHL but trials were ongoing to determine its efficacy.41 The management of indolent NHL have to depend on considerations such as symptoms, age, comorbidities, extent of disease, prior therapy and others. Most decisions on management of indolent NHL depend on physicians trying to optimize the treatment options to treat this chronic illness.15 Aggressive Lymphoma Aggressive NHL consist mainly of diffuse large B cells demands almost similar treatments to indolent lymphoma. As explained above, radiotherapy is one of the options available. The early treatment for early stage aggressive NHL was radiotherapy alone with relative cure rates of 50% for stage I and decreases to 20% for stage II. Therefore, combination of radiotherapy and a chemotherapy regimen were used to improve the chances of survival for aggressive NHL patients. A study conducted among 400 patients with localized immediate or high grade NHL compared the results of one group receiving 8 cycles of CHOP alone and another receiving 3 cycles of CHOP and radiotherapy. The study showed patients under combined CHOP and radiotherapy has statistically significant overall survival rate than patients receiving CHOP alone. Life-threatening side effects that were encountered by both groups were statistically significant in comparison with fewer patients under combined CHOP and radiotherapy suff ering from adverse effects. Therefore, combination of CHOP and radiotherapy are better for treatment of localized NHL compared to CHOP alone.42 There was another alternative treatment available for patients with aggressive NHL called high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplant (HDT ASCT). A number of trials among intermediate and high risk patients have been conducted to determine its efficacy following initial chemotherapy but there were conflicting results resulting in this treatment for not being first-line.43 Combination therapy has been known to be better than single therapy and used to increase the percentage of patients entering complete remission. In 1976 and 1980, CHOP regimen44 as explained above and COMLA regimen45 which includes cyclophosphamide, vincristine, methotrexate with leucovorin rescue, and cytarabine were published respectively. Both regimens have been shown to present a possible cure rate of approximately 30% for patients with aggressive lymphoma achieving long-term remission. In the ensuing years, new second and third generation of aggressive NHL regimens showed 55% to 65% patients being cured. An example of second regimen treatment was m-BACOD consisting of methotrexate, bleomycin, doxorubicin, cyclophosphasmide, vincristine, and dexamethasone.46 Third generation regimens were such as MACOP-B made up of methotrexate, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone and bleomycin47 and ProMACE-CytaBOM compromising prednisone, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, etopo side, cytarabine, bleomycin, vincristine and methotrexate.48 The effectiveness of all these regimens were not known as many of these studies were conducted with relatively small number of patients until 1993, a trial called national high priority intergroup Phase III was held to do a comparison between CHOP, MACOP-B, ProMACE-CytaBOM and m-BACOD regarding effectiveness and side effects.49 The four regimens demonstrate equivalent outcomes but CHOP showed the lowest side effects. Based on this trial, CHOP regimen became the standard treatment for NHL in the United States. Another regimen called ACVBP consisting of doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vindesine, bleomycin, and prednisone has been developed by Groupe dEtude des Lymphomes de LAdulte (GELA) in Europe which were compared in poor risk patients against CHOP and results favour ACVBP.50 In another trial, etoposide and CHOP termed CHOEP was shown to increase complete remission rate and survival rate in 18 to 60 year-old patient in a t rial that compared 3 week CHOP-21, 2 week CHOP-14 with CHOEP-21, CHOEP-14. CHOEP was recommended in the conclusion of this trial if the patient is young with good prognostic feature of aggressive lymphoma.51 Etoposide is a synthetic analogue to vinca alkaloids and binds to DNA and topoisomerase II complex in phase G2 to prevent DNA replication and causes strand to break.26 Etoposide is still associated with toxic effects such as alopecia, myelosuppression, nausea and vomiting.25 Immunotherapy also played a part in treatment of aggressive lymphoma with rituximab as a single agent. GELA has shown that the overall response of rituximab as a single agent was 37% with patients suffering from relapsed and refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.52 A randomized controlled trial has been conducted by Mab Thera International Trial (MInT) Group to investigate CHOP-like chemotherapy against CHOP-like chemotherapy with rituximab. The result showed that rituximab combined with cheomotherapy increased overall survival and with no significant increase in side effects.53 Rituximab and CHOP regimen is the most common chemotherapy regimen for diffuse large B-cell NHL. British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) implemented a new policy on 1 March 2001 recommending all patients newly diagnosed with advanced stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma to be treated with CHOP and rituximab based on evidences from trials conducted by GELA and MInT Group.54 Treatment recommendation. As stated earlier, limited information was available for this case scenario. Patient is only known as 28 year old male recently diagnosed with NHL. An appropriate treatment that could be given as first line is CHOP regimen with addition of rituximab (CHOP-R) based on evidences given above. CHOP-R has significant better results compared to CHOP alone and addition of rituximab does not increase side effects. CHOP-R can also be used for both indolent and aggressive lymphoma with positive outcomes as stated above although symptomless indolent lymphoma may require watch-and wait strategy. However in terms of cost-effectiveness, CHOP-R is more expensive than CHOP alone but CHOP-R is preferred due to its increased efficacy profile and similar side effects. In conclusion, CHOP-R can be given every 14 or 21 days with the course of treatment ranging from 3 to 8 cycles. CHOP-R cycle started with the first day drug administration consisting of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine and doxorub icin through injection into a vein or through drip and prednisone was taken orally from day 1 to day 5. Conflict: Newton Vs Leibniz Conflict: Newton Vs Leibniz Mathematicians everywhere contributed to the development of Calculus. However, the two most known founders of calculus are Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Nowadays, the credit is handed over to both men. Nevertheless, a controversy took place over which of them deserved the recognition. The controversy was both intense and widespread. Isaac Newton: Isaac Newton is known as one of the greatest scientists who have ever lived; in addition, he is recognized as one of the most accomplished mathematicians that England has ever seen. Newton became fascinated in mathematics at an early age. Later in life, he created Calculus. However, he did not publish it until later. This was an enormous mistake. His life: In 1643, Newton was born. Later, in 1655, Newton began the discovery of calculus with the general binomial series which led to him discovering integration, differentiation, and infinite processes. Thirty two years later, 1687, Newton published his work in a book called The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. At the age of eighty four, in 1727, Newton died. Gottfried Leibniz: Gottfried Leibniz is known as a worldwide scientist. He became a leading international philosopher as well as, a worldwide known comprehensive thinker. He studied forces and weight. He wrote about economics, theology, biology, geology, law, politics, metaphysics, and mathematics. He claims that he invented Calculus independently from Newton, but is it true? His life: In 1646, Leibniz was born in Germany. When Leibniz was 27 years old, in 1673, he moved to England. In 1675, Leibniz began using the integral symbol, which no one ever used before. In 1676, Leibniz developed the Leibniz Calculus. 8 years later, 1684, Leibniz published a superior system of calculus about notation which was easier to use. At the age of 70, 1716, Leibniz died in his home country, Germany. What is Calculus? Calculus is the branch of mathematics that deals with limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. Calculus has two branches: Differential Calculus: Differential calculus is the study of the derivative of a function. It is the study of how a function changes when its input changes. Differentiation is the process of finding the derivative. The derivative at any point equals to the slope of the tangent line of the functions graph. Basically, the derivative of a function determines the best linear approximation. Integral Calculus: Integral Calculus is the study of the properties, definitions, and applications of both, the indefinite integral and the definite integral. Integration is the method of finding the value of an integral. Integral Calculus is related to two linear operations. Indefinite Integral: The anti-derivative, inverse of derivative Definite integral: When you input a function in the definite integral, it outputs a number. This gives you the area between the graph and the x-axis. The Calculus Controversy: The conflict was an argument between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over who first invented calculus. Newton claims that he began working on a form of calculus in 1666, but he did not publish. Gottfried Leibniz began to work on his calculus in 1674, and he published his work in a paper in 1684. Newton created his clumsy method of fluxions, in 1655. However, he feared condemnation. Therefore, he did not publish his work until 1704. The fact that he fought with Leibniz before publishing anything raises the question: Was it Newton who invented Calculus? Leibniz developed his calculus in 1673; he used many symbols that we still use today- derivatives as dy/dx and many more. Leibniz published his work in 1684, 20 years before Newton. The last years of Leibnizs life were poisoned by a controversy with Newton over whether he discovered calculus separately, or whether he had invented another form of ideas that were Newtons. Newton influenced the quarrel. In 1673, Leibniz travelled to England. He met some of the leading scientists, like Robert Hookes and showed them his unfinished calculating machine. He did not meet Newton, but he was shown Newtons unpublished work. After Leibniz came back from England his two miraculous yeasr began. After these two years he was considered a creative genius. One of his inventions was calculus. Leibniz needed to contact a broader scientific community, so he became in contact with Christian Huygens, a Danish scientist, and Collins and Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society. Leibniz sent his ideas to Collin. In return, Collin sent Leibniz the latest ideas circulating the Royal Society. In Leibnizs defense, however, some documents sent did not reach Leibniz until after he developed his own way. It was clear that he had developed his own ideas on differentiation and integration. Both Newton and Leibniz had partners who helped them develop calculus. Johann Bernoulli, who used Leibniz calculus to maximize function, motivated Leibniz to fight with Newton. Newton was surrounded by people who Leibniz called enfants perdus, the lost children. Newton led the attack, and they continued to carry the battle. Leibniz was accused of plagiarism, a charge that doesnt carry on when you look at the evidence: 1. He published his method years before Newton published anything on Fluxions. 2. He always referred to his discovery as his own invention. 3. The way he developed his ideas of calculus were different than the way Newton developed his ideas. 4. Leibniz came up with ideas of differential and integral calculus before and of Newtons work was published. In June 1676, Newton wrote to Oldenburg, describing the binomial theory. He also stated that all curves can be reduced to infinite series. Moreover, he stated that areas, lengths of curves, and volumes can be obtained through series. Afterwards, Leibniz sent Newton a letter to clarify series. Newton replied by talking about finding the maxima and minima, differentials, and many other topics. However, he did not mention anything about fluxions. Later, Leibniz published his calculus in 1684. When Newton published his work, Newton found out that Leibnizs calculus was very similar to his. Newton also came to know later on that Leibniz has learnt ideas from Collins and Oldenburg; these ideas came from Newton and Gregory. In 1672, Leibniz learnt mathematics and got letters from Collins. What was unusual was that Newton sent Collins similar letters at the same time describing fluxions. Newton then accused Leibniz of copying his work. However, the case leaned towards Leibniz. In defense to the accusation, Leibniz said that when he was shown the works of Newton, but he did not learn anything useful because he did not know much mathematics at the time. Leibniz also said that Collins notes were irrelevant to the subject of calculus. Leibniz died dishonored; on the other hand, Newton was given a state funeral. However, History does authenticate Leibniz. As time goes on, the strength of the controversy decreases. And, Leibniz slowly finds his place as one of the best scientists of all time. All in all, Newton was known to be the first inventor of calculus because there is proof that he developed his theory of fluxions first. He also created differentials, and they were later explained by Leibniz. On the other hand, Leibniz also created calculus independently from Newton. Leibniz described his calculus in a different way than Newton. I personally think that Newton made a mistake by not publishing his work as soon as he created it. This is what led to the controversy. I also think that both men deserve the title of calculus inventors just as equally.