Spirit Bound Chapter Twenty-Three

I DIDN'T NEED THE BOND to find Lissa. The crowd tipped me off to where she–and Dimitri–were. My first thought was that some kind of stoning or medieval mobbing was going on. Then I realized that the people standing around were simply watching something. I pushed through them, heedless of the dirty looks I got, until I stood in the front row of the onlookers. What I found brought me to a halt. Lissa and Dimitri sat side by side on a bench while three Moroi and–yikes–Hans sat opposite them. Guardians stood scattered around them, tense and ready to jump in if things went bad, apparently. Before I even heard a word, I knew exactly what was going on. This was an interrogation, an investigation to determine what Dimitri was exactly. Under most circumstances, this would be a weird place for a formal investigation. It was, ironically, one of the courtyards Eddie and I had worked on, the one that stood in the shadow of the statue of the young queen. The Court's church stood nearby. This grassy area wasn't exactly holy ground, but it was close enough to the church that people could run to it in an emergency. Crucifixes didn't hurt Strigoi, but they couldn't cross over into a church, mosque, or any other sacred place. Between that and the morning sun, this was probably as safe a location and time as officials could muster up to question Dimitri. I recognized one of the Moroi questioners, Reece Tarus. He was related to Adrian on his mom's side but had also spoken in favor of the age decree. So I took an instant dislike to him, particularly considering the haughty tone he used toward Dimitri. â€Å"Do you find the sun blinding?† asked Reece. He had a clipboard in front of him and appeared to be going down a checklist. â€Å"No,† said Dimitri, voice smooth and controlled. His attention was totally on his questioners. He had no clue I was there, and I kind of liked it that way. I wanted to just gaze at him for a moment and admire his features. â€Å"What if you stare into the sun?† Dimitri hesitated, and I'm not sure anyone but me caught the sudden glint in his eyes–or knew what it meant. The question was stupid, and I think Dimitri–maybe, just maybe–wanted to laugh. With his normal skill, he maintained his composure. â€Å"Anyone would go blind staring into the sun long enough,† he replied. â€Å"I'd go through what anyone else here would.† Reece didn't seem to like the answer, but there was no fault in the logic. He pursed his lips together and moved on to the next question. â€Å"Does it scald your skin?† â€Å"Not at the moment.† Lissa glanced over at the crowd and noticed me. She couldn't feel me the way I could through our bond, but sometimes it seemed she had an uncanny sense of when I was around. I think she sensed my aura if I was close enough, since all spirit users claimed the field of light around shadow-kissed people was very distinct. She gave me a small smile before turning back to the questioning. Dimitri, ever vigilant, noticed her tiny movement. He looked over to see what had distracted her, caught sight of me, and faltered a little on Reece's next question, which was, â€Å"Have you noticed whether your eyes occasionally turn red?† â€Å"I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Dimitri stared at me for several moments and then jerked his head back toward Reece. â€Å"I haven't been around many mirrors. But I think my guards would have noticed, and none of them have said anything.† Nearby, one of the guardians made a small noise. He barely managed to keep a straight face, but I think he too had wanted to snicker at the ridiculous line of questioning. I couldn't recall his name, but when I'd been at Court long ago, he and Dimitri had chatted and laughed quite a bit when together. If an old friend was starting to believe Dimitri was a dhampir again, then that had to be a good sign. The Moroi next to Reece glared around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from, but discovered nothing. The questioning continued, this time having to do with whether Dimitri would step into the church if they asked him to. â€Å"I can go right now,† he told them. â€Å"I'll go to services tomorrow if you want.† Reece made another note, no doubt wondering if he could get the priest to douse Dimitri in holy water. â€Å"This is all a distraction,† a familiar voice said in my ear. â€Å"Smoke and mirrors. That's what Aunt Tasha says.† Christian now stood beside me. â€Å"It needs to be done,† I murmured back. â€Å"They have to see that he isn't Strigoi anymore.† â€Å"Yeah, but they've barely signed the age law. The queen gave the go-ahead for this as soon as the Council's session let out because it's sensational and will make people pay attention to something new. It was how they finally got the hall cleared. ‘Hey, go look at the sideshow!'† I could almost hear Tasha saying that word for word. Regardless, there was truth to it. I felt conflicted. I wanted Dimitri to be free. I wanted him to be the way he used to be. Yet I didn't appreciate Tatiana doing this for her own political gain and not because she actually cared about what was right. This was possibly the most monumental thing to happen in our history. It needed to be treated as such. Dimitri's fate shouldn't be a convenient â€Å"sideshow† to distract everyone from an unfair law. Reece was now asking both Lissa and Dimitri to describe exactly what they'd experienced the night of the raid. I had a feeling this was something they'd recounted quite a bit. Although Dimitri had been the picture of nonthreatening composure so far, I still sensed that gray feel to him, the guilt and torment he felt over what he had done as a Strigoi. Yet, when he turned to listen to Lissa tell her version of the story, his face lit up with wonder. Awe. Worship. Jealousy flashed through me. His feelings weren't romantic, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that he had rejected me but regarded her as the greatest thing in the world. He'd told me never to talk to him again and sworn he'd do anything for her. Again I felt that petulant sense of being wronged. I refused to believe that he couldn't love me anymore. It wasn't possible, not after all he and I had been through together. Not after everything we'd felt for each other. â€Å"They sure seem close,† Christian noted, a suspicious note in his voice. I had no time to tell him his worries were unfounded because I wanted to hear what Dimitri had to say. The story of his change was hard for others to follow, largely because spirit was still so misunderstood. Reece got as much out of it as he could and then turned the questioning over to Hans. Hans, ever practical, had no need for extensive interrogation. He was a man of action, not words. Gripping a stake in his hand, he asked Dimitri to touch it. The standing guardians tensed, probably in case Dimitri tried to grab the stake and go on a rampage. Instead, Dimitri calmly reached out and held the top of the stake for a few moments. There was a collective intake of breath as everyone waited for him to scream in pain since Strigoi couldn't touch charmed silver. Instead, Dimitri looked bored. Then he astonished them all. Drawing his hand back, he held out the bottom of his muscled forearm toward Hans. With the sunny weather, Dimitri was wearing a T-shirt, leaving the skin there bare. â€Å"Cut me with it,† he told Hans. Hans arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Cutting you with this will hurt no matter what you are.† â€Å"It would be unbearable if I were a Strigoi,† Dimitri pointed out. His face was hard and determined. He was the Dimitri I'd seen in battle, the Dimitri who never backed down. â€Å"Do it. Don't go easy on me.† Hans didn't react at first. Clearly, this was an unexpected course of action. Decision finally flashed across his features, and he struck out, swiping the stake's point against Dimitri's skin. As Dimitri had requested, Hans didn't hold back. The point dug deep, and blood welled up. Several Moroi, not used to seeing blood (unless they were drinking it), gasped at the violence. As one, we all leaned forward. Dimitri's face showed he definitely felt pain, but charmed silver on a Strigoi wouldn't just hurt–it would burn. I'd cut a lot of Strigoi with stakes and heard them scream in agony. Dimitri grimaced and bit his lip as the blood flowed over his arm. I swear, there was pride in his eyes at his ability to stay strong through that. When it became obvious he wouldn't start flailing, Lissa reached toward him. I sensed her intentions; she wanted to heal him. â€Å"Wait,† said Hans. â€Å"A Strigoi would heal from this in minutes.† I had to give Hans credit. He'd worked two tests into one. Dimitri shot him a grateful look, and Hans gave a small nod of acknowledgment. Hans believed, I realized. Whatever his faults, Hans truly thought Dimitri was a dhampir again. I would love him forever for that, no matter how much filing he made me do. So, we all stood there watching poor Dimitri bleed. It was kind of sick, really, but the test worked. It was obvious to everyone that the cut wasn't going anywhere. Lissa was finally given leave to heal it, and that caused a bigger reaction among the crowd. Murmurs of wonder surrounded me, and those enraptured goddess-worshipping looks showed on people's faces. Reece glanced at the crowd. â€Å"Does anyone have any questions to add to ours?† No one spoke. They were all dumbfounded by the sights before them. Well, someone had to step forward. Literally. â€Å"I do,† I said, striding toward them. No, Rose, begged Lissa. Dimitri wore an equally displeased look. Actually, so did almost everyone sitting near him. When Reece's gaze fell on me, I had a feeling he was seeing me in the Council room all over again, calling Tatiana a sanctimonious bitch. I put my hands on my hips, not caring what they thought. This was my chance to force Dimitri to acknowledge me. â€Å"When you used to be Strigoi,† I began, making it clear that I believed that was in the past, â€Å"you were very well connected. You knew about the whereabouts of lots of Strigoi in Russia and the U.S., right?† Dimitri eyed me carefully, trying to figure out where I was going. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Do you still know them?† Lissa frowned. She thought I was going to inadvertently implicate Dimitri as still being in contact with other Strigoi. â€Å"Yes,† he said. â€Å"So long as none of them have moved.† The answer came more swiftly this time. I wasn't sure if he'd guessed my tactic or if he just trusted that my Rose-logic would go somewhere useful. â€Å"Would you share that information with the guardians?† I asked. â€Å"Would you tell us all the Strigoi hideouts so that we could strike out against them?† That got a reaction. Proactively seeking Strigoi was as hotly debated as the other issues going around right now, with strong opinions on all sides. I heard those opinions reiterated behind me in the crowd, some people saying I was suggesting suicide while others acknowledged we had a valuable tool. Dimitri's eyes lit up. It wasn't the adoring look he often gave Lissa, but I didn't care. It was similar to the ones we used to share, in those moments where we understood each other so perfectly, we didn't even need to vocalize what we were thinking. That connection flashed between us, as did his approval–and gratitude. â€Å"Yes,† he replied, voice strong and loud. â€Å"I can tell you everything I know about Strigoi plans and locations. I'd face them with you or stay behind–whichever you wanted.† Hans leaned forward in his chair, expression eager. â€Å"That could be invaluable.† More points for Hans. He was on the side of hitting out at Strigoi before they came to us. Reece flushed–or maybe he was just feeling the sun. In their efforts to see if Dimitri would burn up in the light, the Moroi were exposing themselves to discomfort. â€Å"Now hold on,† Reece exclaimed over the increasing noise. â€Å"That has never been a tactic we endorse. Besides, he could always lie–â€Å" His protests were cut off by a feminine scream. A small Moroi boy, no more than six, had suddenly broken from the crowd and run toward us. It was his mother who had screamed. I moved in to stop him, grabbing his arm. I wasn't afraid that Dimitri would hurt him, only that the boy's mother would have a heart attack. She came forward, face grateful. â€Å"I have questions,† the boy, obviously trying to be brave, said in a small voice. His mother reached for him, but I held up my hand. â€Å"Hang on a sec.† I smiled down at him. â€Å"What do you want to ask? Go ahead.† Behind him, fear flashed over his mother's face, and she cast an anxious look at Dimitri. â€Å"I won't let anything happen to him,† I whispered, though she had no way of knowing I could back that up. Nonetheless, she stayed where she was. Reece rolled his eyes. â€Å"This is ridic–â€Å" â€Å"If you're Strigoi,† the boy interrupted loudly, â€Å"then why don't you have horns? My friend Jeffrey said Strigoi have horns.† Dimitri's eyes fell not on the boy but on me for a moment. Again, that spark of knowing shot between us. Then, face smooth and serious, Dimitri turned to the boy and answered, â€Å"Strigoi don't have horns. And even if they did, it wouldn't matter because I'm not Strigoi.† â€Å"Strigoi have red eyes,† I explained. â€Å"Do his eyes look red?† The boy leaned forward. â€Å"No. They're brown.† â€Å"What else do you know about Strigoi?† I asked. â€Å"They have fangs like us,† the boy replied. â€Å"Do you have fangs?† I asked Dimitri in a singsong voice. I had a feeling this was already-covered territory, but it took on a new feel when asked from a child's perspective. Dimitri smiled–a full, wonderful smile that caught me off guard. Those kinds of smiles were so rare from him. Even when happy or amused, he usually only gave half smiles. This was genuine, showing all his teeth, which were as flat as those of any human or dhampir. No fangs. The boy looked impressed. â€Å"Okay, Jonathan,† said his mother anxiously. â€Å"You asked. Let's go now.† â€Å"Strigoi are super strong,† continued Jonathan, who possibly aspired to be a future lawyer. â€Å"Nothing can hurt them.† I didn't bother correcting him, for fear he'd want to see a stake shoved through Dimitri's heart. In fact, it was kind of amazing that Reece hadn't already requested that. Jonathan fixed Dimitri with a piercing gaze. â€Å"Are you super strong? Can you be hurt?† â€Å"Of course I can,† replied Dimitri. â€Å"I'm strong, but all sorts of things can still hurt me.† And then, being Rose Hathaway, I said something I really shouldn't have to the boy. â€Å"You should go punch him and find out.† Jonathan's mother screamed again, but he was a fast little bastard, eluding her grasp. He ran up to Dimitri before anyone could stop him–well, I could have–and pounded his tiny fist against Dimitri's knee. Then, with the same reflexes that allowed him to dodge enemy attacks, Dimitri immediately feinted falling backward, as though Jonathan had knocked him over. Clutching his knee, Dimitri groaned as though he were in terrible pain. Several people laughed, and by then, one of the other guardians had caught hold of Jonathan and returned him to his near-hysterical mother. As he was being dragged away, Jonathan glanced over his shoulder at Dimitri. â€Å"He doesn't seem very strong to me. I don't think he's a Strigoi.† This caused more laughter, and the third Moroi interrogator, who'd been quiet, snorted and rose from his seat. â€Å"I've seen all I need to. I don't think he should walk around unguarded, but he's no Strigoi. Give him a real place to stay and just keep guards on him until further decisions are made.† Reece shot up. â€Å"But–â€Å" The other man waved him off. â€Å"Don't waste any more time. It's hot, and I want to go to bed. I'm not saying I understand what happened, but this is the least of our problems right now, not with half the Council wanting to rip the other half's heads off over the age decree. If anything, what we've seen today is a good thing–miraculous, even. It could alter the way we've lived. I'll report back to Her Majesty.† And like that, the group began dispersing, but there was wonder on some of their faces. They too were beginning to realize that if what had happened to Dimitri was real, then everything we'd ever known about Strigoi was about to change. The guardians stayed with Dimitri, of course, as he and Lissa rose. I immediately moved toward them, eager to bask in our victory. When he'd been â€Å"knocked over† by Jonathan's tiny punch, Dimitri had given me a small smile, and my heart had leapt. I'd known then that I'd been right. He did still have feelings for me. But now, in the blink of an eye, that rapport was gone. Seeing me walk toward them, Dimitri's face grew cold and guarded again. Rose, said Lissa through the bond. Go away now. Leave him alone. â€Å"The hell I will,† I said, both answering her aloud and addressing him. â€Å"I just furthered your case.† â€Å"We were doing fine without you,† said Dimitri stiffly. â€Å"Oh yeah?† I couldn't believe what I was hearing. â€Å"You seemed pretty grateful a couple minutes ago when I thought up the idea of you helping us against Strigoi.† Dimitri turned to Lissa. His voice was low, but it carried to me. â€Å"I don't want to see her.† â€Å"You have to!† I exclaimed. A few of the departing people paused to see what the racket was about. â€Å"You can't ignore me.† â€Å"Make her go away,† Dimitri growled. â€Å"I'm not–â€Å" ROSE! Lissa shouted in my head, shutting me up. Those piercing jade eyes stared me down. Do you want to help him or not? Standing here and yelling at him is going to make him even more upset! Is that what you want? Do you want people to see that? See him get mad and yell back at you just so you don't feel invisible? They need to see him calm. They need to see him†¦ normal. It's true–you did just help. But if you don't walk away right now, you could ruin everything. I stared at them both aghast, my heart pounding. Her words had all been in my mind, but Lissa might as well have strode up to me and chewed me out aloud. My temper shot up even more. I wanted to go rant at both of them, but the truth of her words penetrated through my anger. Starting a scene would not help Dimitri. Was it fair that they were sending me away? Was it fair that the two of them were teaming up and ignoring what I'd just done? No. But I wasn't going to let my hurt pride screw up what I'd just achieved. People had to accept Dimitri. I shot them both looks that made my feelings clear and then stormed away. Lissa's feelings immediately changed to sympathy through the bond, but I blocked them out. I didn't want to hear it. I'd barely cleared the church's grounds when I ran into Daniella Ivashkov. Sweat was starting to smudge her beautifully applied makeup, making me think she'd been out here for a while watching the Dimitri-spectacle too. She appeared to have a couple friends with her, but they kept their distance and chatted amongst themselves when she stopped in front of me. Swallowing my anger, I reminded myself she'd done nothing to piss me off. I forced a smile. â€Å"Hi, Lady Ivashkov.† â€Å"Daniella,† she said kindly. â€Å"No titles.† â€Å"Sorry. It's still a weird thing.† She nodded toward where Dimitri and Lissa were departing with his guards. â€Å"I saw you there, just now. You helped his case, I think. Poor Reece was pretty flustered.† I recalled that Reece was related to her. â€Å"Oh†¦ I'm sorry. I didn't mean to–â€Å" â€Å"Don't apologize. Reece is my uncle, but in this case, I believe in what Vasilisa and Mr. Belikov are saying.† Despite how angry Dimitri had just made me, my gut instinct resented the dropping of his â€Å"guardian† title. Yet I could forgive her, considering her attitude. â€Å"You†¦ you believe Lissa healed him? That Strigoi can be restored?† I was realizing there were lots of people who believed. The crowd had just demonstrated as much, and Lissa was still building her following of devotees. Somehow, my line of thinking always tended to assume all royals were against me. Daniella's smile turned wry. â€Å"My own son is a spirit user. Since accepting that, I've had to accept a lot of other things I didn't believe were possible.† â€Å"I suppose you would,† I admitted. Beyond her, I noticed a Moroi man standing near some trees. His eyes occasionally fell on us, and I could have sworn I'd seen him before. Daniella's next words turned my attention back to her. â€Å"Speaking of Adrian†¦ he was looking for you earlier. It's short notice now, but some of Nathan's relatives are having a late cocktail party in about an hour, and Adrian wanted you to go.† Another party. Was that all anyone ever did here at Court? Massacres, miracles†¦ it didn't matter. Everything was cause for a party, I thought bitterly. I'd probably been with Ambrose and Rhonda when Adrian went searching. It was interesting. In passing on the invitation, Daniella was also saying that she wanted me to go. Unfortunately, I had a hard time being as open to it. Nathan's family meant the Ivashkovs, and they wouldn't be so friendly. â€Å"Will the queen be there?† I asked suspiciously. â€Å"No, she has other engagements.† â€Å"Are you sure? No unexpected visits?† She laughed. â€Å"No, I'm certain of it. Rumor has it that you two being in the same room together†¦ isn't such a good idea.† I could only imagine the stories going around about my Council performance, particularly since Adrian's father had been there to witness it. â€Å"No, not after that ruling. What she did†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The anger I'd felt earlier began to blaze again. â€Å"It was unforgivable.† That weird guy by the tree was still waiting around. Why? Daniella didn't confirm or deny my statement, and I wondered where she stood on the issue. â€Å"She's still quite fond of you.† I scoffed. â€Å"I have a hard time believing that.† Usually, people who yelled at you in public weren't too â€Å"fond† of you, and even Tatiana's cool composure had cracked near the end of our spat. â€Å"It's true. This will blow over, and there might even be a chance for you to be assigned to Vasilisa.† â€Å"You can't be serious,† I exclaimed. I should have known better. Daniella Ivashkov didn't really seem like the joking type, but I really did believe I'd crossed the line with Tatiana. â€Å"After everything that's happened, they don't want to waste good guardians. Besides, she doesn't want there to be animosity between you.† â€Å"Yeah? Well, I don't want her bribery! If she thinks putting Dimitri out there and dangling a royal job is going to change my mind, she's wrong. She's a lying, scheming–â€Å" I stopped abruptly. My voice had gone loud enough that Daniella's nearby friends were now staring. And I really didn't want to say the names I thought Tatiana deserved in front of Daniella. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. I attempted civility. â€Å"Tell Adrian I'll come to the party†¦ but do you really want me to go? After I crashed the ceremony the other night? And after, um, other things I've done?† She shook her head. â€Å"What happened at the ceremony is as much Adrian's fault as it is yours. It's done, and Tatiana let it go. This party's a much more lighthearted event, and if he wants you there, then I want him to be happy.† â€Å"I'll go shower and change now and meet him at your place in an hour.† She was tactful enough to ignore my earlier outburst. â€Å"Wonderful. I know he'll be happy to hear that.† I declined to tell her that I was actually happy about the thought of flaunting myself in front of some Ivashkovs in the hopes that it would get back to Tatiana. I no longer believed for an instant that she accepted what was going on with Adrian and me or that she would let my outburst blow over. And truthfully, I did want to see him. We hadn't had much time to talk recently. After Daniella and her friends left, I figured it was time to get to the bottom of things. I headed straight over to the Moroi who'd been lurking around, hands on my hips. â€Å"Okay,† I demanded. â€Å"Who are you, and what do you want?† He was only a few years older than me and didn't seem at all fazed by my tough-girl attitude. He crooked me a smile, and I again pondered where I'd seen him. â€Å"I've got a message for you,† he said. â€Å"And some gifts.† He handed over a tote bag. I looked inside and found a laptop, some cords, and several pieces of paper. I stared up at him in disbelief. â€Å"What's this?† â€Å"Something you need to get a move on–and not let anyone else know about. The note will explain everything.† â€Å"Don't play spy movie with me! I'm not doing anything until you–† His face clicked. I'd seen him back at St. Vladimir's, around the time of my graduation–always hovering in the background. I groaned, suddenly understanding the secretive nature–and cocky attitude. â€Å"You work for Abe.†

Quality of Healthcare Essay

In today’s consumer market, people are not only looking for the best price for what want, but also the best quality for his or her dollar; health care is no different. The consumer is more educated and particular than ever when determining where they would entrust their health care needs. Word-of-mouth is no longer enough, so people are turning to research firms to help them make their final decision in finding quality care. Consumers are also looking for as many perks and additional services they can receive. Why go to a traditional hospital that only treats the immediate problem then sends a patient back home without aftercare information and support? Specialty, additional, and non-traditional services provided can set a facility apart from others, and provide a higher standard of quality care in specified areas that may appeal to a patients’ need. How do health care facilities and staff improve upon existing services? Patient satisfaction surveys conducted by external research firms such as from DSS research (www.dssresearch.com) can help improve quality of patient experience from the entire facility experience down to specifics such including costs and treatment by staff. Results from research firms help consumers determine what facilities would best suite them with their current and future needs or those of a loved one they are responsible for. Surveys are not only conducted by patients, but also physicians, and staff also. For example, 32.5% of the scoring for the top 10 ranking hospitals in the U.S.in 2009 is based on physician input (Comarow,  2009). Every patient or staff member who completes these quality surveys provides facility administrators the information they need to focus on the areas needing improvement. These results may lead to additional staff training, restructuring, or improvements to the esthetics of the facility. When a patient is in need of emergency care for a cardiac problem, the emergency medical technician (EMT) may ask the patient or a family member what hospital he or she would prefer to be transported to if there is an option. An expectant mother sometimes has several choices of hospital to delivery her baby at through her provider. A person with a chronic condition may want to choose a specific facility to be seen at for his or her condition. Because patients do need to make these decisions, looking into a facility’s availability of specialty, additional and non-traditional services becomes very important to the quality of that patients’ care. Staffing availability and qualifications along facility affiliations affect quality of care. Informed patients want to be seen by doctors and facilities that have the specialty training in their area of need. Peace of mind adds to the quality of care if the patient knows there are options open to him or her through the affiliations between his or her doctors and the hospitals they are contracted with through insurance companies. Cooperative care between affiliated personal physicians, specialty physicians, and health care facilities through the use of current technologies also increases the peace of mind of the patient and reduces risks to the parties involved. Catering to patients’ personal preferences also adds to quality of experience in facilities. In recent years, doctors and hospitals and insurance companies have changed to their approaches to prenatal care and birthing. A family has numerous options open to them as far as what type of provider they choose for prenatal care and the type of facility and birth experience they want to have. As at Baptist Memorial Hospital, quite a few hospitals’ maternity rooms are used for labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum care (U.S. Health Care System, Axia), and some go even beyond to  include water birthing rooms with special atmospheric conditions, such as, lighting, temperature, and sounds. Quality is a subjective term, one person may highly recommend a facility or doctor, and another may have a negative opinion. The most important thing to do is to research beforehand, and give feedback through surveys after the experience. Health care quality can only change and improve with the help of everyone. Resources Axia College (2010), The U.S. Health System, p194 Dss research, www.dssresearch.com Comarow, Avery (7-15-2009), America’s Best Hospitals: the 200-10 Honor Roll â€Å"They’re the best of the best-the 0.4 percent of all hospitals with high scores in 6 or more specialties† written for U.S. News & World Report

An Analyses of When the Saints Go Marching in

An Analysis of When the Saints Go Marching In The origins of When the Saints have never been fully explained in modern times. It was originally written as a Negro Spiritual hymn sometime near the beginning of the twentieth century. On written music, composers usually notate it as a traditional piece, but the identity of the original author remains up for debate.Some sources claim that the original lyrics of When the Saints were penned by Katherine Verves and put to music by James Black in 1896, but many scholars today believe that Verves ND Blacks composition was a completely different piece of music due to it being titled When the Saints Are Marching In. Regardless, the original lyrics contain many spiritual references, particularly to heaven and the coming of Gods kingdom.In one of the verses, the author writes Oh when the trumpet sounds Its call, Oh when the trumpet sounds Its call, I want to be In that number, when the trumpet sounds Its call, which is a reference to a passage in the book of Revelations, located in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The passage describes the sounding of seven trumpets by angels of heaven. Each trumpet brings about a specific catastrophic event upon the world below, which is filled with those who were not taken in to heaven at the onset of the worlds end. Other references to things such as The moon turns red with blood And . .. When the new world is revealed Are tied in with the end of days described in Revelations, which the author describes a desire to avoid by being in heaven. Though the original lyrics describe dark and unfortunate events, today When the Saints has a positive connotation attached to It. When It Is performed In modern times, It Is at a much faster tempo and the melody swings at an Infectiously catchy pace.This change started probably due to a trend that originated In New Orleans that consisted of inserting a verse that discussed how a former friend or relative had died, moved away, or was estranged from them and how they desired to see them again, often in the next life (I. E. Heaven). In one of the earliest know recordings of When the Saints, the blues artist Barbeques Bob sings L had a dear old mother, hes gone on to heaven I know, I promised the Lord Id meet her, when the Saints go marching in. The belief that a one will be able to reunite with all of their loved ones who have passed away before them, coupled with an image of heaven as eternal paradise for a soul instills hope in an Individual. Taking this into account may explain the prevalence of bands performing When the Saints in New Orleans funeral marches. It may be that in the culture of New Orleans a funeral Is not only a place for mourning the dead, but also a time to celebrate the deceases passing Into eternal paradise. Thus, When the Saints began a transformation from a solemn time. This transformation is quite staggering.When the song was first written, there was no recording technology that enabled its original form to be preserved. Barbeques Bob performed the earliest recording of When the Saints in the early twentieth century. His rendition is performed on acoustic guitar and has a very resigned tempo with the overall tone of the piece being one that fosters reflection. This style was probably representative of the standard way to play the piece at the time and most keel remained so until Louis Armstrong recorded his rendition of When the Saints in the format that most people recognize.Armstrong played When the Saints at a much faster tempo than Barbeques Bob and with a more upbeat and fun tone and with a full band featuring trombones, drums, a string bass, trumpet, clarinet, and several other instruments. Armstrongs rendition ushered in the more common rendition of When the Saints that emulates his fast tempo and upbeat tone. Armstrong also created a way of playing When the Saints that allowed for passages f improvisation, a mainstay in Jazz music.The strophic form of the verses and running bass allows for other instruments to take turns improvising before returning to the original melody. However, this also caused When the Saints to become a more secular piece as it lost its previously sacred themes and lyrics. In a duet between Louis Armstrong and Danny Okay, the lyrics previously talking about the end of days and Joining with others in heaven are replaced with a series of clever puns of the names of famous classical composers. This shows the shift of When the Saints room a sacred hymn intended to inspire to a song intended to entertain.Instead of being played in church sanctuaries, it mostly is performed at concerts by ensembles not affiliated with any particular church. In listening to different recordings of this timeless piece that I myself have performed a few times in my life, I was most surprised to learn that When the Saints was not always an upbeat Jazz piece. Hearing the evolution of this song through the various recordings was very interesting. I can say that I have a newfound interest in this piece that was not there before.

Nursing Leadership and Management Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nursing Leadership and Management - Article Example Nurses function as team-builders, decision-makers, communicators, negotiators, delegators, and mentors and they help in the planning, directing, leading, and implementation of health services in order to achieve strong and improved health outcomes. In effect, with these functions taken as a whole, nurses become effective leaders and managers. Nursing Leadership and Management Introduction Nursing leadership and management are essential elements of the nursing profession. They are tools for nurses to use in their practice as they help in the implementation of nursing interventions and in the establishment of clear goals for the patients. Nursing leadership and management requires various tools in their implementation and these tools may sometimes be difficult to develop for various practitioners. In some cases, these are elements required for each nurse to develop because these nurses are responsible for various activities and interventions often crucial to improved patient outcomes. There are various elements of this leadership. This paper shall provide an overview of nursing leadership and management, including the different elements involved in its incorporation into the practice as well as its impact in the efficacy of nursing care. This study is being carried out in order to establish a clear and comprehensive discussion of the various elements of nursing leadership, including its applications, and impact on the delivery of health care services. Management has long been in existence and has been a vital element for many organized communities. Managers impact on the different phases and activities of organizations (Clarkson, 2009). The primary role of managers is to guide organizations in the accomplishment of their essential goals. Most organizations and professions have a particular purpose and objective and the managers have the burden of ensuring that activities are implemented efficiently in order to reach such goals (Yoder, 2010). Managers propel organ izations towards these goals by designing and planning activities, as well as assigning particular functions to particular competent individuals. Managers seek to support individual activities which would likely lead to the achievement of goals; and they also discourage individual activities which may interfere with the achievement of said goals (Clarkson, 2009). Nursing is one of the activities often under the supervision of managers. Nursing service administration is a well-coordinated activity and it often provides the services necessary for the fulfillment of nursing goals. Nursing service administration is a system of activities which is focused towards the care of clients and it includes the formation of goals based on the goals of the health agency (Clarkson, 2009). Nursing service administration includes the process of planning, organizing, and controlling human, material, financial, as well as informational resources (Clarkson, 2009). Nursing services includes interrelated social and technical functional activities which are seen in formal organizational health settings. Nursing service managers are individuals whose functions are based on positions of authority (Yoder, 2010). These positions may be top level, middle level, and first line or front line supervisors including head nurses and staff. These managers often assign

Psychology Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Psychology Research - Essay Example art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets†, they could provide a more truthful answer without fear of retribution or disapproval (Matthew 16:14, King James Version). When Jesus further quizzed the disciples about what they thought, the disciples knew that the first answer was not right. Thus â€Å"Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God† (Matthew 16:16, King James Version). In which Jesus rewarded him with a blessing stating â€Å"Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven† (Matthew 16:17, King James Version). Jesus would have made an excellent interrogator. The methods he used are used today when interviewing a criminal or trying to get to the truth about a matter. He first asked whatever one else thought. This gives the individual being questioned a way to tell the truth without being embarrassed or looking guilty. When the disciples gave the wrong answer, then Jesus pressed them for what they thought. This allows a person to explain themselves. Finally after giving the answer being sought by Jesus, the disciple that answered was praised. Another point is Jesus questioned a crowd (at least twelve). That gives a sense of competition to get the answer right, sort of peer pressure. In the end, the statement of being â€Å"Son of man† was confirmed by Simon Peter. Jesus not only sublimely planted the answer, but made Simon Peter think it was his

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project management - Essay Example The paper tells that project management has been defined as a discipline (science and art) that entails planning, managing, organizing and securing the components or resources of a project so as to ensure its success. A project is usually a well defined endeavor with a beginning and end that are well defined and time constrained so as to meet desired objectives and goals by adding value or bringing change. A project is not like normal business operations which are permanent and repetitive. A project is usually temporary and is created once to achieve a specific purpose. Project management is necessary because a lot of resources are put into these projects. In any project, performance, cost and time should be managed so as to ensure a project is controlled and executed well to achieve its goals and objectives. The key elements of project management that will be outlined in this report include managing human resources through directing and coordinating the administration of people invo lved in the project. Another key element of project management that will be outlined in this project is managing quality through the fulfillment of the quality standards set up for performance of the project. The final element of project management that will be discussed in this essay is the Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors. The Scottish Parliament Building (Edinburgh) project was specifically started to provide a parliamentary building complex that would house members of parliament, civil servants and other staff.... be discussed in this essay is the Managing the scope of the project in controlling the project through aims, goals and objectives of its sponsors (Joseph 2003, p. 60). The Scottish Parliament Building (Edinburgh) project was specifically started to provide a parliamentary building complex that would house members of parliament, civil servants and other staff (Taylor 2002, p. 4). The project was a very crucial one because it was a political project that could easily be affected by the politics of the country. The project was launched in 1999 and construction of the building began in June 1999 (Taylor 2002, p. 21). The project was successfully completed in 2004 and the building was officially opened on October 9th 2004 by Queen Elizabeth (Taylor 2002, p. 11). The project of constructing the Scottish Parliament Building was one of the most successful known projects. The success of the project can be attributed to a number of factors, mostly revolving around its management (Taylor 2002, p. 25). The first factor that led to the success of the project was the effective managing of human resources through directing and coordinating the administration of people involved in the project. The history of the project dates back to when the Scottish electorate held a referendum on September 11th 1997 that allowed Scottish Parliament to legislate on some of the common domestic affairs (Taylor 2002, p. 11). This led to the decision to construct a purpose built facility in Edinburg that would house the Scottish Parliament. Enric Miralles design was chosen out of the twelve proposed ones and the work was given to a company called EMBT/RMJM that was specifically set up to manage this project (Harrison & Dennis 2004, p. 28). One of the key factors that led to the success of the project

International law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International law - Essay Example Despite existence of the political, global and territorial differences the whole world is considered as a global village and such concept mainly enhances the idea of universal brotherhood. At the same time in the context of trade, cultural intercourse, the idea of globalization plays a major part. In this context it needs mentioning that no matter how much the globalization aspect seems positive and flawless but at the same time it includes several lacunas. In this global society also the superior nations are finding an opportunity to show their aggression, to inflict oppressive approaches towards the other nations, their people and their economy. The rate of crime has also increased to a great extent and most of the criminal, after committing the criminal deeds flee to other nations to seek shelter. As administrative system of a particular nation does not have the power to exercise the hold over other jurisdictions, the fear of being caught is reduced to a great extent for those cri minals. At the same time economic aggression is also taking a brutal shape. According to modern international treaties in the post World War II situation it has not been possible for the nations to exaggerate the power of politics to express their imperialistic mentality. Thus, those nations have adopted the procedure of economic aggression through which a superior nation can enjoy economic hold over the other nation through trade relationship. Thus, the importance has also been realized by legal scholars that there must be some kind of restraints that prevent one nation to become havoc over the other. These are some of the typical situation; rather problems at the international level that generated the emergence of this new discipline of legal jurisdiction: International Law. Legal and scholars of jurisprudence have attempted to provide definition of the International Law in different

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 22

English - Essay Example by FIFA, or Federation International de Football Association which organizes the immensely popular FIFA World Cup, the sport’s principal event, once in every four years. It also regulates all levels of soccer- including the professional games on the international level, Olympic competitions and youth leagues. America’s National Football League or NFL is the principal professional league in the world, several other leagues forming later in North America and Europe. On par with them is the Major League Soccer with many teams with fans world over, the most famous ones being A.C. Milan of Italy, Ajax Amsterdam of The Netherlands, Manchester United of England, Real Madrid of Spain, Boca Juniors of Argentina, Sao Paulo of Brazil, and Colo Colo of Chile. There are certain aspects which are common to both games and rhere are some differences. What is common to both forms of soccer -association football, and American football is the fact that both require two teams with 11 players each, in which players try scoring a goal by hitting the ball into the opponents’ goal, using any part of their body other than the hands requiring remarkable skills in use of feet and heads for kicking, dribbling, or passing the ball toward the goal or to another player. Important contrasts are as follows. Firstly the area of the playing fields differs which for soccer, is 90 and 120 m (100 and 130 yd) long and between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) wide and for American football is 120 yd (110 m) long and 53 yd 1 ft (48.8 m) wide. While in soccer 11 players serve as goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and attacker American football having no such clear definitions, the players have to adapt to many roles. In soccer a referee single handedly decides and is assisted by two linesmen signaling when a player is â€Å"offside† or when a ball crosses the boundary line. In American football however there is a referee, an umpire, a linesman, a field judge, a back judge, a line judge, and a side

Should education be regarded as a public good or merit good Essay

Should education be regarded as a public good or merit good - Essay Example It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace." (art.26 - Universal Declaration of Human Rights) This is a research paper to find out if education falls under public good or merit good. For this purpose it is important to define public good or merit good. A public good in economics can be defined as a good that is non-rival which means consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce the amount of the good available for consumption by others (Varian, 1992). The term public good is often used to refer to goods that are non-excludable which means that it is not possible to exclude individuals from the good's consumption. If we take an example of a sweet, if it is consumed by a person it is not available for another person. Where as fresh air and clean drinking water may be considered a public good as it is not generally possible to prevent people from breathing and drinking it (Wikipedia, 2007a). There are very few absolutely public goods, but common examples include law, parks, street-lighting, defence, traffic light, etc. The theory of public goods was first developed by the economist Paul A. Samuelson. In his classic paper The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure published in the year 1954 he defined a public good as follows: ...[goods] which all enjoy in common in the sense that each individual's consumption of such a good leads to no subtractions from any other individual's consumption of that good... (Samuelson, 387-389) In other words public goods are those products where, for any given output, consumption by additional consumers does not reduce the quantity consumed by existing consumers. Since there is no marginal cost involved in producing the public goods, it is commonly thought that they must be provided free of charge. In other words those who benefit less than the cost of using the public good will not use it which will lead to a loss of welfare. Public goods are mostly non-excludable, which means that if once provided anyone can use them, which when charged will lead to "free-riding". This is the reason that these goods will not be provided by free market. However, the public pays a price through the taxes paid to the government (ieg.ee, N.D.). A merit good is defined as a good that is under-consumed if provided by the market mechanism. The main reason for this is individuals take into consideration how the good benefits them as an individual. They do not consider the benefits that consumption generates for others in society. In pure economic terms, this is because the positive externalities of the good are not internalized by consumers. A merit good is a product that society values and judges that each and every individual should have it regardless of whether an individual wants it or not (Wikipedia, 2007b). Merit goods are products that are generally not distributed by means of the price system, but based on merit or need of the society. These goods can be supplied by free market, but not on the right quantity. They are provided by state as "good for you" (ieg.ee, N.D.). Should education be considered as a public good or a merit good Traditionally, in many parts of the world

Consider three different definitions of insanityMNaughten (cognitive Essay

Consider three different definitions of insanityMNaughten (cognitive interpretation), MNaughten (affective interpretation), and the American Legal Institute - Essay Example This requirement, however, would seem to exculpate cold or vicious criminal who victimize innocent people without experiencing sympathy or remorse. However, the insanity defense certainly is not intended to exculpate such criminals. The mere fact neither the psychopathology nor the lack of usual affective responses would exculpate independently does not establish that the conjunction of the two factors should not excuse. Simple ignorance of wrongfulness should not be enough for excuse. It is defined as, "at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect, (lacks) substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law." As A.L.I is the modified version of the M'Naghten standard and by exchanging the word 'appreciate' with 'know' give a broadened meaning to the concept and thus, that makes it more effective than M'Naghten rules of insanity defense. When 'know' is interpreted to mean simple that the defendant was the aware of the fact what he was doing. The Model Penal Code has a caveat to the insanity defense that initially appears to exclude the psychopath from using it. Schopp. Robert. Automatism, Insanity, and the Psychology of Criminal Responsibility: A Philosophical Inquiry. 1991.

Osmosis and Diffusion Essay Example for Free

Osmosis and Diffusion Essay The basic principles of Osmosis and Diffusion were tested and examined in this lab. We examined the percent increase of mass and molarity of different concentrations of sucrose in the dialysis bag emerged in distilled water and the potato cores emerged in concentrations of sucrose. The data reinforces the principles of Osmosis and Diffusion, and in a biological context, we can simulate how water and particles move in and out of our own cells. Introduction Objective: 1. Investigate the process of osmosis and diffusion in a model of a membrane system. 2. Investigate the effect of solute concentration on water potential as it relates to living plant tissue. Background Information: Molecules are in constant motion; they tend to move from areas of high concentration, to areas of low concentration. This broad principle is divided into two categories: diffusion and osmosis. Diffusion is the random movement of molecules from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration. This is considered a passive form of transportation because it does not require any additional energy to transport the molecules. In the body, carbon dioxide and oxygen can diffuse across cell membranes. Osmosis is a special type of diffusion where water moves through a selectively permeable membrane from a region of higher water potential to a region of lower water potential. In our body, water diffuses across cell membranes through osmosis. Water potential is the measure of free energy of water in a solution and is shown with the use of the symbol ÃŽ ¨. Water potential is affected by two factors: osmotic potential (ÃŽ ¨Ãâ‚¬) and pressure potential (ÃŽ ¨p). Osmotic potential is dependent on the solute concentration, and pressure potential which is the energy that forms from exertion of pressure either positive or negative on a solution. The equation to find the sum of water potential is: Water Potential = Pressure Potential + Osmotic Potential ÃŽ ¨w = ÃŽ ¨p + ÃŽ ¨Ãâ‚¬ The purpose of this lab is to observe the physical effects of osmosis and diffusion and to determine if it actually takes place. We hypothesize that, because molecules diffuse down a concentration gradient, the mass of the dialysis tubes will increase, and we believe that as the molarity increases, the percent of change in mass will also increase. Hypothesis: Diffusion and osmosis will occur until dynamic equilibrium is reached. As the sucrose concentration of the solution increases so will the mass. Materials Exercise 1: 1. 6 strips of dialysis tubing 2. Distilled water 15-20ml 3. 0.4 M sucrose 15-20ml 4. 0.8 M sucrose 15-20ml 5. 0.2 M sucrose 15-20ml 6. 0.6 M sucrose 15-20ml 7. 1.0 M sucrose 15-20ml 8. 6 Beakers Exercise 2: 1. 100ml of distilled water 2. 100ml of 0.4 M sucrose 3. 100ml of 0.8 M sucrose 4. 100ml of 0.2 M sucrose 5. 100ml of 0.6 M sucrose 6. 100ml of 1.0 M sucrose 7. 6 Beakers 8. Potato slices (4 for each solution) 9. Scale 10. Plastic wrap 11. Thermometer Methods Exercise 1: 1. Obtain 6 strips of dialysis tubing and tie a knot in one end of each. 2. Pour approximately 15-20ml of each of the following solutions into separate bags. 3. Remove most of the air from the bag and tie the baggie. 4. Rinse the baggie carefully in distilled water to remove any sucrose that may have spilled and carefully blot. 5. Record the mass of each baggie and record. 6. Fill six 250ml beakers 2/3 full with distilled water and place a bag in each of them. Make sure that you record which baggie is which. 7. Let the bag sit for 20-30 minutes. 8. After 20-30 minutes, remove baggies from the water, and carefully blot dry. 9. Measure the mass of each baggie and record. Exercise 2: 1. Pour 100ml of your assigned solution into a beaker. Slice a potato into 4 equal lengths about the shape of French fries or tubes. 2. Determine the mass of the 4 potato cylinders together and record. 3. Place the cylinders into the beaker with your assigned solutions and cover with plastic wrap. Leave overnight. 4. Remove the cylinders from the beakers and carefully dry them. Record the room temperature in Celsius. 5. Determine the mass of the 4 potato cylinders together and record. From these results, it can be concluded that the hypothesis is justified and correct. The data shows that the mass increased as the concentration of the sucrose solution increased. Osmosis is clearly being replicated in the physical form. Analysis Change in mass depends on the concentration of sucrose within the dialysis bags. If the concentration of sucrose is greater inside the bag than outside, then water will move into the bag. If the concentration of sucrose is lower inside the bag than outside, then water will move out of the bag. These two things are directly proportional. As the mass increases, so does the molarity. These are inversely proportional because whenever the sucrose molarity inside the bag is more concentrated, it will become more dilute and vise versa. The solutions will reach equilibrium somewhere between the two concentrations. The hypothesis is accepted based on the data that was obtained because as the sucrose concentration increased so did the final mass of the solutions. One possible source of error could be the tightness of the string that tied off the dialysis tubing. If there was a leak or a break in the dialysis tubing, all of the data would be off. Another possible source of error could be that the students did not pat dry the potato sample well enough causing drops to be left on the electronic balance, tarring it incorrectly, causing all other data to be off slightly. Simple mathematical errors always occur, so there is always room for simple algebraic mistakes in this section of the lab. Conclusion The purpose of this lab was to describe the physical mechanism of osmosis and diffusion and describe how molar concentration affects diffusion. We have  now observed how solutions diffuse in different situations, always from a high concentration to a low concentration, and how molar concentration affect diffusion, as the molarity goes up, more solution is diffused. We hypothesized that because molecules diffuse down a concentration gradient, the mass of the dialysis tubes will increase, and also that as the molarity increases, the percent of change in mass will also increase. Our data did support our conclusion. Exercise 1 proved that water moves across the selectively permeable membrane of the dialysis tubing much easier than sucrose sugar does. The water moved to reach equilibrium between the solutions. Sucrose must be too large a molecule to pass through the membrane quickly. Exercise 2 showed that the potato samples took in water when immersed in a distilled water solution. Potatoes must contain sucrose molecules due to the conclusion of this lab because the potatoes take in water in the distilled water beaker. Potatoes had a lower water potential and higher solute potential than the distilled water. It is just the opposite inside the beaker. Works Cited â€Å"PHSchool – The Biology Place.† Prentice Hall Bridge Page. Pearson Education, June 2007. Web. 12 Sept.2011. Moulton, Glen E. â€Å"Cell Theory, Form, and Function: Fluid Mosaic Model of Membrane Structure and Function — Infoplease.com.† Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. http://www.infoplease.com/cig/biology/fluid-mosaic Bowen, R. (2000, July 2). Osmosis. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/cmb/cells/pmemb/osmosis.html Sheppard, T. (2004). Diffusion and Osmosis. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from http://www.blobs.org/science/article.php?article=20 Campbell, N. A., Reece, J. B. (2005). Biology (7th ed.). New York: Pearson Education Inc.

Growing Pain Essay Example for Free

Growing Pain Essay So by the end of 1992, Waterway had begun selling its own line of compact, inexpensive, high-impact plastic kayaks. Within one quarter, Maher had known that the move had been a smart one. Almost all of Waterway’s existing canoe customers— mostly wholesalers who then sold to liveries and sporting goods stores—had placed sizable kayak orders. A number of private-label entities had also inquired about Waterway, and Maher was considering producing privatelabel kayaks for those companies on a limited basis. For the most part, the staff had adjusted easily to the company’s faster pace. The expanded business hadn’t changed Waterway’s informal work style, and people seemed to appreciate that. Maher knew that most of his employees were avid outdoor types who viewed their jobs as a means to an end, and he respected that perspective. On days when the weather was particularly good, he knew that the building would be pretty empty by 4 P. M. But he also knew that his employees liked their jobs. Work was always completed on time, and people were outspoken with new ideas and with suggestions for improving current designs and processes. There was no mistaking the genuine camaraderie. Maher walked through the design room, stopping to talk with one of the two designers and to admire the latest drawings. Then he headed for the administrative suite. His thoughts returned to the company’s recent history. Until 1990, Waterway’s sales and revenues had increased with the market, and Maher hadn’t been motivated to push any harder. But when he had decided to venture into kayaking, he also had thought he should gear up marketing— get ready for the big trend if it came. Until then, there had never been a formal, structured marketing department at Waterway. He had thought it was time. That’s why he had hired Lee Carter. Carter had gotten her M. B. A. when she was 31. To do so, she had left a fast-track position in sales at Waterway’s major competitor in the canoe market to devote her full attention to her studies. Finch, who was something of a mentor for Carter, had told her that she would hit the ceiling too early in her career if she didn’t have the credentials to compete in her field. In her final term at business school, which had included a full course load plus a demanding internship with the Small Business Administration, Carter had interviewed ith Waterway. Finch had called to introduce her, but once Maher had met her and she had begun to outline the ways in which she could improve the company’s sales and marketing efforts, Maher had needed no other references. He had thought from the start that Carter might be the right person to nurture the company’s interest in the growing kayaking business and to run with it if the sp ort’s popularity really took off. When it had, he was proved right. True, the market was extremely favorable, but Carter had brought in more orders than even Maher had thought possible. Fortunately, the company had been able to keep up by contracting with other manufacturing companies for more product. Waterway had been extremely effective in keeping inventory in line with customer demand. Maher was impressed with Carter’s performance. From day one, she had been completely focused. She traveled constantly— worked so hard that she barely had time to get to know the staff. She came in on weekends to catch up with paperwork. Along with two of her direct reports, she had even missed the annual Waterway picnic; the three had been on the road, nailing down a large order. It was a dedication—a level of energy—that Maher had never seen before, and he liked what it said about his company. Back in his office, Maher found that he couldn’t concentrate on the product development report in front of him. That bit of conversation he had overheard outside Carter’s office was troubling. He certainly knew about the lucrative packages that were being offered in the sporting goods industry—even in Waterway’s niche. He’d even heard that some sales managers were commanding a quarter of a million dollars or more. He had read enough of the annual reports of his publicly traded competitors to know that larger organizations created all sorts of elaborate systems—supplemental retirement packages, golden handcuffs, stock options, deferred compensation arrangements— to hold on to their top performers. harvard business review †¢ july–august 1996 page 2 Growing Pains †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢HBR C AS E S TUDY â€Å"The business could stand to pay more,† Maher said, â€Å"but I want to avoid the habit of paying now for results down the road. † Maher wanted to recognize Carter’s contribution.

Tcp Congestion Control Methods Tutorial Information Technology Essay

Tcp Congestion Control Methods Tutorial Information Technology Essay Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the two core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. Together with IP, they constitute the backbone stack of many internet applications like the World Wide Web, the e-mail and file transfer (FTP). Its main function is to provide a reliable stream service utilizing an unreliable packet delivery system inherited by its underlying IP layer. By the term reliable, we mean the reliable ordered delivery of a stream of bytes from one peer to another that runs the same TCP protocol stack. To add this substantial functionality and reliability, TCP imposes complexity. It is a much more complex protocol than its underlying IP protocol. The main mechanism TCP uses to offer reliability is the positive acknowledgement and retransmission scheme. Transmitted segments must be acknowledged and if there is a loss, a retransmission takes place. To make the network utilization more efficient, instead of transmitting each segment only after reception of an acknowledgement for the previously transmitted segment, TCP uses the concept of a window. The window includes all those segments that are allowed to be sent without waiting for a new acknowledgment. TCP allows end to end adjustment of the data flow a sender introduces to the network by varying the window size. How can a sender know what is the suitable window size? A receiver indicates it in a window advertisement which comes to the sender as part of the acknowledgment. Since modern internet applications are hungry for bandwidth, there is a high possibility that network becomes congested at some time. Routers have a finite storage capacity for handling IP packets. If the packet flow rate becomes excessive, routerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s queue buffers will become full and their software will start to discard any new packets arrived. This has a negative impact in the TCP operation and performance in general. Increased delays and losses will impose retransmissions and hence increased traffic. In its turn, increased traffic will make congestion more severe and in this way, Internet will experience what is known as congestion collapse, exhibiting a performance fall of several orders of magnitude. To overcome this problem, TCP uses many mechanisms-algorithms to avoid congestion collapse and achieve high performance. The main idea behind these algorithms is to control the rate of data entering the network and keep it below a threshold rate. If this threshold we re to be crossed, a new collapse phase could be triggered. Data senders can infer from an increasing number of delays that the network is congested and so adjust the flow in order to mitigate the phenomenon and give the network the necessary time to clear the queues and recover from congestion. TCP Congestion Algorithms RFC5681 describes four congestion control algorithms. Slow start, congestion avoidance, fast retransmit and fast recovery. All these algorithms work with the admission that sender infers network congestion by observing segment losses. As mentioned above, in TCP, receiverà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s buffer capability can be advertised backwards in the acknowledgement messages. This helps the sender to adjust its window size. Congestion algorithms introduce a second limit which is named congestion window. This new window is used for restricting the data flow of sender below the limit that main window determines. Actually, in a congested phase, the TCP window size used is the minimum value between the normal and congestion windows sizes. Reducing the congestion window reduces the injecting data flow to the network. Congestion avoidance algorithm reduces the congestion window by half upon each segment loss. For those segments that remain in the window, it also backs off the retransmission timer exponentially. In this way, quick and significant traffic reduction is achieved. Upon loss of successive segments, the algorithm uses an exponential rate to drop the data flow and increase the retransmission timers. This gives enough time for the network to recover and become stable again. Slow start algorithm is used when the network has recovered from the congestion and the windows start to increase again. To prevent oscillation between network congestion and normal conditions coming immediately after recovery, slow start indicates that congestion window must start at the size of a single segment and increase by one segment for each acknowledgement arrived. This effectively doubles the transmitted segments during each successive round trip time. To avoid increasing the window size too quickly, once congestion window reaches one half of its size prior to congestion, TCP enters a congestion avoidance phase and the rate of increment is abruptly slowed down. During this phase, congestion window increases by just one segment and only after all segments in the current window have been acknowledged. Upon detection of a duplicate acknowledgment, sender cannot deduce if there was a loss or a simple delay of a segment. If ordinary out-of-order conditions are present, one or two duplicate acknowledgements are typically expected. If however, sender receives three or more acknowledgements, it can infer that there is loss of segments due to congestion and so it retransmits the segment (indicated by the position of the acknowledgement in the byte stream) without waiting for the retransmission timer expiration. This constitutes the fast retransmit algorithm. Fast recovery follows fast retransmit algorithm and in the real TCP implementations these two algorithms are usually working together. Since reception of duplicate acknowledgements is a clear sign that data is still flowing in the receiver, fast recovery algorithm puts the sender in the congestion avoidance phase instead of the slow start phase. Therefore, if losses are not due to congestion, there will be a faster recovery of data flow without the penalty experienced by the use of slow start. However, fast recovery only works well for moderate congestion conditions. Newer algorithms Although the aforementioned four algorithms offer substantial congestion control, newer techniques have emerged in the bibliography as a result of extensive research in this specific area. These new algorithms try to build upon the old methods, enhancing TCP performance and increasing the responsiveness to congestion. One limitation of normal TCP operation is that if a transmitted segment is lost but subsequent segments in the same window are delivered normally, the receiver cannot send acknowledgements for these last segments. The reason for this is that receiver can acknowledge only contiguous bytes that it has received. Sender will be forced, once retransmission timer for the lost segment expires, to resend not only the lost segment, but all subsequent segments in the window too. This was identified as a potential case for improvement which led to the creation of the selective acknowledgments (SACK) algorithm (Jacobson and Braden, Oct. 1988). The algorithm helps to reduce the number of unnecessary retransmissions by allowing the receiver to send some feedback to the sender about the contiguous byte stream blocks it has already received. In order to take advantage of the new technique though, the two TCP endpoints must agree on using SACK upon negotiation (by using the option field of the TCP he ader). Two TCP original software implementations in the BSD Unix environment were named Tahoe and Reno. Tahoe includes the slow start, congestion avoidance and fast recovery algorithms whereas Reno includes all four basic algorithms described in the second section of this tutorial. NewReno is a slight modification of the Reno implementation and aims in boosting the performance during the fast retransmit and fast recovery phases. It is based on the notion of partial acknowledgements. In the case where multiple segments are dropped from a single window, sender enters fast retransmit phase and gets information about the retransmitted segments in terms of the first acknowledgment it gets. If only a single segment was dropped, then the acknowledgment will probably contain all segments previously transmitted before entering fast retransmit phase. If on the other hand, there were losses of multiple segments, the acknowledgment will be partial and will not contain all segments transmitted prior to fast retransmit phase entry. Using partial acknowledgements, fast recovery performance is enhanced as described in RFC2582. NewReno also improves round-trip and back-off timer calculations. In the literature, it is found that its main drawback is the poor performance in bursts of losses of segments within the same window (Wang and Shin, 2004). Non-TCP congestion control There are also some non-TCP techniques that can indirectly affect congestion control performance of TCP. These methods are not directly implemented in TCP software. The most popular technique of this kind is Random Early Detection (RED). In order to understand the method, one first has to consider what is called the global synchronization problem (D. Comer, 2000). Routers in the global Internet use the tail-drop policy for handling datagrams. When their input queue is full, any incoming datagram is discarded. Since datagrams are usually multiplexed in the Internet, severe problems can occur regarding congestion. Instead of dropping many segments of one TCP connection, tail-drop router policy actually causes single segment drops from many TCP connections. This, in turn, put the senders of these connections in slow start mode at almost the same time causing the global synchronization problem, which degrades performance considerably. To overcome this problem, RED (which is implemented in router software) defines two different thresholds that are associated with its internal queue, Tmin and Tmax. The following three rules govern the operation of RED It the queue size is less that Tmin, add any new incoming datagrams to it If the queue size is bigger that Tmax, drop any new incoming datagrams If the queue size is between Tmin and Tmax, randomly discard incoming datagrams with the help of a probability p. The main reason for this approach is to drop datagrams as congestion increases so as to avoid a queue overflow and a subsequent transition of many TCP connections to the slow start phase. As it is obvious, success of RED algorithm is based upon careful selection of the two thresholds Tmin and Tmax along with the probability p. Tmin must ensure high network utilization whereas Tmax must take into account the TCP round trip time so that it can accommodate the increase in queue size. Usually, Tmax is at least twice large as Tmin, or otherwise the same global synchronization problem may occur. Probability p computation is a complex task that is repeated for every new datagram. Non-linear schemes are used for this calculation in order to avoid overreacting to short bursts and protect TCP from unnecessary discards. These schemes usually take into account a weighted average queue size and use that size for determining the probability p. Details of RED are described in (S. Floyd and V. Jacob son, Aug. 1993). Research simulations show that RED works pretty well. It successfully handles congestion, eliminates the global synchronization problem that results from tail-drop policy seen before, and manages to allow short bursts without the need for extensive discards that could compromise TCP performance. When implemented by routers together with the TCP congestion control methods already built in the various network software implementations, it provides the necessary protection for network performance, securing its high utilization. Conclusions TCP performance is essential for providing true experience to single users, enterprises and everyone connected to the global Internet. One of the biggest challenges TCP faces as years come by, is congestion control (along with security which is another hot topic for TCP and other protocols). The original TCP standards described four methods that succeeded to almost eliminate congestion. As Internet increases in size and applications are becoming bandwidth hungry, new techniques that enhance inherent limitations of the four original algorithms are introduced and overall performance is kept in acceptable levels. Ongoing TCP research still focuses on congestion control and many new methods or variations are coming to fill any gaps that are gradually discovered by the ever-increasing Internet utilization.

Essay --

Advantages and Limitations of the Conventional Brick Manufacturing Methods:- The brick making process starts with the preparation of the clay with which the bricks will be made. This clay is then molded into the specified dimensions. There are two types of molding-Slop Molding & Sand Molding. Once dried, these molded bricks are transferred to a fire kiln where the bricks are subjected to a very high temperature to harden them. Now-a-days new manufacturing methods are replacing the conventional ones and some are still in practice. It’s because the conventional methods have some advantages as well as some disadvantages in some or other step. Based upon their disadvantages and advantages either they are being replaced by new methods or are still in practice. The advantages and disadvantages of these steps could be as follows:- Preparation of the Clay:- The right type of clay is extracted from the ground. This clay contains hard lumps in it. To get smooth, soft and moist mixture which contains no hard lump, the clay is treated. The treatment is done in two steps:-Tempering and mixing. In Tempering, water is added in exact proportions based on the clay quality in the tempering process and left for around 1 to 5 days which softens and lumps. Conventionally clay pits are flooded with water for tempering purpose (excess water added). It could seem better way for the digging becomes easier but in terms of the strength of the final brick, with which we can’t play much, it’s a big disadvantageous approach. Instead we should dig the soil first and then mix adequate amount of water to it. This step is followed by Mixing to break big lumps and to homogenize the softened clay mixture. The mixing could be done mechanically, by the use of some ani... ... Types of Conventional Bricks The Building bricks are classified based upon their strength which is directly affected by the baking temperature. So the less baked brick is of poor quality and vice versa. These are termed as A/B grade bricks in Indian countryside. Now-a-days the A grade bricks cost is around INR 3500 per 1000 bricks and around INR 2500 for B grade bricks. There are other types of bricks also like Facing Bricks, Glazed Bricks etc. The price of these bricks is highly varying based upon the properties you want to have like texture, color, heat resistance etc. References:- 1. http://www.gate-international.org/documents/publications/webdocs/pdfs/bas-tb11e.pdf 2. http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/resources/studentprojects/bricks/process.htm 3. ‘Village Level Brick-Making’ by Anne Beamish & Will Donovan. 4. http://www.brickability.co.uk/products/bricks.htm

Victorian Law Reform Commitee :: essays research papers

Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee Functions The functions of the Committee, as defined by Section 12 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, are: 1) To inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on any proposal, matter or thing concerned with – a. Legal, constitutional or parliamentary reform; b. The administration of justice; c. Law reform. 2) It is not a function of the Law Reform Committee to inquire into, consider or report to the Parliament on any proposal, matter of thing concerned with a. The joint standing orders of the Parliament; b. The standing orders or rules of practice of the Council or of the Assembly. Inquiry into Administration of Justice Offences Terms of Reference Law Reform Committee of Parliament is required To inquire into, consider and report to Parliament on: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The current state of law in Victoria in relation to administration of justice offences (such as perjury, perverting the course of justice, falsifying evidence and threatening witnesses); and 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether these laws should be amended, and in what way, having particular regard to interstate laws and the recommendations of the Model Criminal Code Officers Committee Discussion Paper on Administration of Justice Offences (July 1997). PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA LAW REFORM COMMITTEE Inquiry into Administration of Justice Offences The Governor in Council has asked that the Law Reform Committee inquire into, consider and report to Parliament on: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The current state of law in Victoria in relation to administration of justice offences (such as perjury, perverting the course of justice, falsifying evidence and threatening witnesses); and 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether these laws should be amended, and in what way, having particular regard to interstate laws and the recommendations of the Model Criminal Code Officers Committee Discussion Paper on Administration of Justice Offences (July 1997). A copy of the Committee’s terms of reference and a copy of a Discussion Paper prepared by the Committee can be obtained by telephoning (03) 9651 3644 or from the Committee’s website, http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform/ The Committee invites written submissions from individuals and organisations on any aspect of this reference. Submissions should be sent to the address below by 31 October 2003. All submissions are treated as public documents unless confidentiality is requested. Executive Officer Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee Level 8, 35 Spring Street MELBOURNE VIC 3000 Mr Rob Hudson, MP Chair Recommendation 1 p. 55 MCCOC Model Code That a new statutory provision be created for perverting the course of justice that incorporates the common law elements of the offence so that the new provision would make it an offence to â€Å"do an act that is capable of and has a tendency to pervert the

Mega Farms :: essays research papers

Mega Farms Effects On Water Water pollution has been an increasing problem over the last few years. Pollution itself is when a substance or energy is introduced into the soil, air, or water in a concentrate. Pollution comes in many forms; agricultural, urban runoff, industrial, sedimentary, animal wastes, and leeching from landfills/septic systems just to name a few. These pollutants are very detrimental to the environment. Whether they are alone or combined with another form of pollution they are very harmful. Over the last hundred years the problems with pollution have been increasing with time. This is due to both the increase in human population, and the increases in technology we have made as a society. If we plan on having our resources here for many years to come we are going to have to make some drastic changes in the way we treat the earth, and these changes will have to start with our pollutants. (Jones,1993,pp.4-15)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Agricultural pollution is a very big contributor to water pollution. Problems we see with agriculture are applications of fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides. We have made vast improvements in the types of chemicals we are using, as to how environmentally friendly they are. In 1985 the amount of fertilizer added to America’s fields was 11.5 million tons. Not only do these chemicals leech in to the soil, but they are also swept off the soils by rain and wind. When these fertilizers reach the water there is a sudden boom in plant growth. When the plants die, bacteria that need oxygen to live eat their bodies. This starts to deplete the amount of oxygen in the water for other fish and animals to live and breath, and they end up dying. Besides the chemical contamination on the farm there are major problems with animal wastes. (Jones,1993,pp.39-60)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the last 30 or so years there has been an increased demand for food. Foods like pork, chicken, turkey, and beef. With the demand for meats, there is also an increased demand for grains to feed these animals. So more land is needed to grow the feed, less space is available for the feedlots. More and more of these feedlots have been popping up over the landscape. And the amounts of animals crammed into the small spaces are also increasing. There can be as few as 50 to as many as 7 million in a single confinement.

Alienation & People

Realist. A word, which would greatly, depicts the ascendancy of Herman Melville’s work – Bartleby, the Scrivener. An oeuvre that depicts and denounces the harsh conditions of workers, particularly of the copyists of laws during his time. As such, the opus serves as an eye-opener for the whole humanity. It embarks upon the exploitation and dehumanization of an individual in a capitalist society wherein accumulation of capital is the primary if not the only goal of the bourgeoisie. As such, this results to the seemingly obliviousness of the bourgeoisie to the real conditions and needs of his employees.This can be evidently seen in the story as the narrator gives only about four cents a folio, that is four cents for one hundred words of every copied document. One may argue that such amount has a great value during that period. Indeed it may be the case. However, if one would analyze the value of the wage given compared to the laborious task of a scrivener, it can be deduce d that the given wage evidently does not equally compensate for the arduous job of a scrivener. The clear manifestation of such is the fact that employees in the story cannot provide for themselves an adequate supply of their basic necessities.In the epoch of industrialization and technological advancements, it is quite paradoxical to see the employees subsisting in an adverse condition. Such order is the contradiction in a capitalist society. The story illustrates how at first an individual would succumb to a system which pledges social and economic change from its success in overthrowing the old form of society, the feudal system. As such he takes a particular wok under a new economic system, the proletariat in his desire to make himself a living and essentially, to make his life better. However, as his work continuous, he realizes that he is being exploited and alienated.First, he is alienated to his products; in this particular case the copies of law that Bartleby produces. As h e continuously produces products for his employer, his labor is being continuously objectified. If such is the case, then the number of things, which he produces in the external world yet does not belong to him continuously increases as he produces more. Hence, he is alienated in his products in two ways: first, by continuously producing products which does not belong to him; secondly, by increasing number of products he produces which he cannot acquire for he does not have the purchasing power to do so.Second, he is estranged from his labor. It is because his labor does not belong to him but to his employer. He works accordingly not from his own willingness to work rather to what his employer wanted him to do. His employer imposes on him what kind of work he should do. And this phenomenon is what Marx called as forced labor. As a result, his labor becomes mechanical and void of progress. Third, he is estranged from his species being. Human beings have the right to self-determinatio n. This feature separates him from other species and can only be carried out thru his life activity.However, his activity under the capitalist economy, his being tied in his work forbids him to exercise his life activity – his self-determination. Fourth, he is alienated to his self. This is due to the alienation he experienced from his product and labor wherein he is not anymore treated as a rational being or even a human being in his Isness rather a commodity needed by the capitalists to procure monopoly of capital. These alienations were clearly depicted in Bartleby, the Scrivener and were eventually realized by Bartleby.He realized that he is a victim of such exploitations. He struggles to reject the prevailing economic system together with its authority structure and exploitative practices. Its manifestations though not much articulated is the refusal of Bartleby to first do trivial tasks and eventually, to stop the demeaning work. Essentially, he stop to become a scriven er. Bartleby represents an â€Å"enlightened man† of his time even if he does not have the ideological grounding Marx and Hegel possessed during the emergence of the socialist ideology.However, such realizations places him in history. Undeniably, in every society where there is a class, there is a class struggle. As such, a bourgeoisie would do anything to neutralize if not to totally obliterate the emergence of an ideology, which challenges the prevailing one. As such, the narrator is the epitome of the bourgeoisie. This was shown by the pseudo-kindness he is offering to Bartleby, seemingly oblivious of the exploitation and alienation his class is causing to the majority.It is because if he indeed wanted to help Bartleby, he would do measures to step by step end such exploitation. Bartleby realizes how oppressed he is in a capitalist society yet he has not yet ponder upon what would topple down this kind of oppressive economic system as well as the manner on how the society can be changed. This can be attributed to his lack of education and knowledge of the basic principles of socialism, which is emerging during his time.Unfortunately, he passed away before he can rationalize on how the existing society can be revolutionized Evidently, Melville is depicting the realities of his society during his time – the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. As such, the struggle between the prevailing yet oppressive ideology during that epoche– capitalism and the ideology which challenges capitalism and aspires to eliminate the oppression within the society – communism. Source: Bartleby, the Scrivener. Herman Melville. http://www. yahoo. com.

War and Witchcraft

The struggle of holiness withal kn receive as the Hugue nons War lasted for close to forty age (1562-1592). This struggle was mainly between the Huguenots and the Catholics of France. inwardly France a Feudal Rebellion took put down between the church, nobles, courts, guilds, towns and provinces all of which rebelled against the King. A traditional saying Une foi, un loi, un roi ( unity faith, one virtue, one King) (Newman, 2004) indicates how family, enjoin and pietism ar all take form within the peoples minds. Although religion was the main close behind the wars, it likewise was definitely not the just reason. Social and Cultural Issues trust affects society in many argonas and in such a profound way. It also shapes the moral standards of those individuals in which entrances policy makers decisions (Gale Group, 2007). For some(prenominal) societies, sharing a religion makes for a powerful bond socially. However, when these people with divergent religions try to live with otherwises of different faiths, this corporation threesome to conflict as considerably war (Gale Group, 2007). The social consensus in atomic outcome 63 for over a millennium was organize through religion. The essential view to rear was one faith or how else would fill society been held together (Newman, 2004).Because without the right faith, pleasing God and up flirt withing natural order, disaster was to follow. As tumefy, innovation was also trouble go away things the way they were is how they should be and any novel ideas could lead to anarchy and ruin (Newman, 2004). So, during this stop consonant no one would dare let that they were an innovator (Newman, 2004). In addition, the Renaissance was notion as rediscovering a much purer peak in their history and Reformation was do not to feel new yet a return to the true religion of Christianity (Newman, 2004). Women in the WestFor many centuries women were assort as unequal to that of man and considered property. They could h doddery their own power in a private area because a humanity sphere was for the men only, which had to do with politics, law and markets (Cooper, 2007). Womens private spheres consisted of mothers, family, wives and their households (Cooper, 2007). However, if a woman became a widow she becomes the sole responsibility to her own lands and was granted extensive legal rights and could be received in the public sphere with the mission of sanctioned authority (Cooper, 2007).The Renaissance, the Reformation, the while of Discovery and the Age of Information brought round many changes for women. Women became teachers, writers, artist and knights. However, women in refined numbers started as early as the Medieval period. But, during the fifteenth nose candy to the ordinal degree Celsius, saw an increase in the number of women in the arts. These women frequently struggled for public co-occurrence and were not always accepted by the trade. Men placed restri ctions on the symbol of art they could do, including not being equal to use a live nude model.The women who choose to write, became influential when their works were allowed to be published they wrote books on love, romance and war as well politics. As well, women began to protrude their own power and beauty as something to be shared and appreciated. The women writers of early periods wrote about poetry and the beauty of women as opposed to the period of the War of Religion in which women began writing their political views and their rights as women and as equals to men. For example, Moderata Fonte (1515-1582) also cognise as Modesta Pozza wrote a book named The Worth of Women (Sunshine For Women, 2001).Political Issues The Wars of Religion in France were between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants, loosely Huguenots who fought for control of their rights as Protestants and political influences. The absolute major(ip)ity of Catholic France instigated the war against the Protestants however, the most well known was the Bartholomews Day Massacre on August 24, 1572. On this day capital of France Catholics raised arms against visiting and topical anaesthetic Calvinist, which resulted in the death of more than 3,000 Calvinist.Because the war expanded for forty years, in between that time there was also a period of peace (Butler, 2007). However, history identifies heptad wars during this period with short periods of peace in between them, which has caused confusion in french history (Butler, 2007). In addition, it is well known that religion was the biggest reason for the wars however other concomitantors such as the noble factions combat amongst themselves, old feudal provinces lead revolts, which added and open the French States languidnesses (Butler, 2007).As well, foreign handling by Spain and England added to the turmoil and violence. Finally, France was lead by a very weak monarch in which allowed these forces to force apart the area (B utler, 2007). Number One Social fuss of the 17th Century The seventeenth century saw many political, social and cultural changes. With the decline of wars, plagues and economic depression it also brought about the hunt for witches. Witchcraft trials were considered a common place between 1580 and 1650 that lead to almost 100,000 trials.Additionally, this lead to widespread holy terror of mass hysteria. The majority of witches tortured and penalize by burning at the saki were women and in Calvinist areas (Big state of affairs of History, 2010). Historians are not agreed on wherefore an outbreak of witch persecutions would occur in one place rather than otherin Scotland and New England, in Switzerland and Franceexcept to say that where popular magic was commonplace, so was the care of witches. Trials also usually followed a period of fear about the upcoming and concern over apparent changes in ordered and stable conditions.Nor were the educated sparedindeed, they were often in the lead when a federation sought out a witch. (Big Site of History, 2010) Conclusion Although religion was a major factor behind the wars, it was not the only reason because of noble factions fighting amongst themselves, old feudal provinces lead revolts to weaken the French and foreign intervention by Spain and England added to the flux of turmoil and destruction and a weak French monarch allowed all these factors to tear apart the country.Europe for over a millennium had one view one faith and without it disaster is sure to follow. Womens influence on the west was substantial, in fact they became more aware of their influence in the private and public sphere and lastly, society was plagued not by disease further by witchcraft during the seventeenth century and even though magic was commonplace, witches brought fear and widespread mass hysteria. Although the reasons for the outbreak are unknown, more than 100,000 trials and executions were performed on a wide majority of wo men and in Calvinist areas.

Imperfect Competition Essay

In a perfectly competitive marta foodstuff in which there is galore(postnominal) demoraliseers and sellers, n hotshot of whom represents a large part of the market business firms are wrong takers. That is, they are sellers of crossroads who believe they chamberpot sell as much as they akin at the current price but can non becharm the price they receive for their convergence. For example, a stalk husbandman can sell as much wheat as she likes without worrying that if she tries to sell more wheat, she go out depress the market price. The reason she need not worry about the effect of her sales on prices is that any individual wheat grower represents just a tiny fraction of the world market. When and a few firms produce a good, however, the fact is different.To take perhaps the most dramatic example, the aircraft manufacturing jumbo Boeing shares the market for large jet aircraft with altogether one major rival, the European firm Airbus. As a result, Boeing knows that if it produces more aircraft, it will have a square effect on the total supply of planes in the world and will therefore significantly rally down the price of airplanes. Or to put it another(prenominal) way, Boeing knows that if it wants to sell more airplanes, it can do so only by significantly reducing its price. In imperfect rival, then, firms are aware that they can lick the prices of their products and that they can sell more only by reducing their price. This situation occurs in one of dickens ways when there are only a few major producers of a particular good, or when to distributively one firm produces a good that is some(prenominal)ise from that of rival firms.Monopoly profits rarely go uncontested. A firm making high profits normally attracts competitors. Thus situations of pure monopoly are rare in practice. Instead, the usual market structure in industries characterized by internal economies of scale is one of oligopoly, in which several firms are separately larg e enough to change prices, but none has an uncontested monopoly. The general abridgment of oligopoly is a complex and controversial subject because in oligopolies, the pricing policies of firms are interdependent. Each firm in an oligopoly will, in setting its price, consider not only the responses of consumers but also the expected responses of competitors.In monopolistic competition models, two key assumptions are make to get around the problem of interdependence. First, each firm is assumed to be able to differentiate its product from that of its rivals. That is, because a firms customers want to buy that particular firms product, they will not rush to buy other firms products because of a push aside price difference. Product differentiation thus ensures that each firm has a monopoly in its particular product within an industry and is therefore somewhat insulated from competition.Second, each firm is assumed to take the prices charged by its rivals as giventhat is, it ignores the impact of its own price on the prices of other firms. As a result, the monopolistic competition model assumes that even though each firm is in reality facing competition from other firms, each firm behaves as if it were a monopolisthence the models name. winghttp//classof1.com/homework-help/international-economics-homework-help