Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence And Aggression

Violent Video Games Over the past few years, the United States has seen violence that has come from the inside of the country. Various high schools, have had shootings inside of them from some of the high school students that go to that specific school. Some experts blame the shootings by categorizing the students as someone who has been tormented and bullied basically most of life, while other experts believe the shootings were caused by the violence in video games. There has been a lot of nation-wide discussion about if violent video games really do cause violence and aggression in young gamers ever since shootings at high schools increased. However evidence has shown differently than what most experts think. Violent video games do not cause violence and aggression in young gamers. Before we talk about the argument, let’s dive into the history behind violent video games. On the website ncac.org in their article â€Å"A Timeline of Video Game Controversies†, they have placed a timeline of the video game era. According to this website the first video game was produced in 1971, and expanded from there. Later on in 1976, the first violent video game (Death Race) was produced and later taken off shelves because citizens didn’t like what happened when people died in the game (â€Å"A Timeline of Video Game Controversies†). Later on in 1993 Mortal Kombat was created. This was the first game that the gaming world had seen that was a replica of lifelike violence. The game was highlyShow MoreRelatedDo Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?1713 Words   |  7 Pageseffects of violent video games and the development of today’s youth. Many people believe that the violence in video games promotes aggression. According to Doctor Brad Bushm an’s article, Do Violent Video Games Increase Aggression? he claims that violent video games leads to aggression because it is interactive process that teaches and rewards violent behavior. Yet others believe that this not the case. Gregg Toppo of the Scientific American, writes in his article, â€Å"Do Video Games Inspire Violent BehaviorRead MoreVideo Game Violence And Its Effects On Gamers1205 Words   |  5 PagesVideo Game Violence and its effects on Gamers In recent years there has been a significant increase of shooting incidents, specifically in America. When there is a shooting event the media is quick to question if the suspect had a history of playing violent video games. There is already the initial connection between video game violence and aggression; but is this connection scientifically correct? This topic interests me because of the increase in school shootings and violence. I have personallyRead MoreThe Truth about Video Games and Violent Children 1222 Words   |  5 Pages Violent video games are not training kids to be murderers. The video game industries have been called against and blamed for making kids more aggressive and violent for years. Although recent studies show that violent video games have been useful for kids to get their anger out. Only some kids were found to be aggressive after violent video game play, but they had three specific traits that lead to this aggressive behavior (â€Å"Violent...). Not al l kids are affected by violent video games, but peopleRead MoreEssay on Do Video Games Cause Behavior Problem1448 Words   |  6 PagesMr. Osso March 9, 2011 Do Video Games Cause Behavior Problems? Video games do cause aggression. The most games that cause aggression is games rating with M for mature games. About 90 percent of U.S kids from ages 8 to 17 play video games usually show more aggression after play a violent video games. Everyday odds are you are going to have more aggression while playing a violent video game with the Rating M for mature or higher. Even though video games are a big part in teens. Some parentsRead MoreNegative Effects Of Violent Video Games712 Words   |  3 PagesHave you heard? Many people are debating whether or not Violent Video Games cause kids to be aggressive and violent. While others, like myself agree violent video games aren’t the problem of violence, real-life violence is. And therefore, you should to why, because Violent Video games allow kids especially boys to let out anger and relax themselves from emotions. It also helps entertain kids. And creates less real-world aggression. Kids already know the difference between virtual and reality byRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Youth s Social And Communal Activities1231 Words   |  5 Pagesto examine the effect of video games on youth’s social and communal activities. The results showed that the youth that have ever played some social video games had more social and political capability than people who never played social video games. Among young gamers, 63% people have heard or seen â€Å"people becoming mean and more aggressive while playing violent games†, 49% people have heard or seen â€Å"people becoming hateful, racist and violent while playing violent games† and more people, 78% peopleRead MoreViolent Video Games Cause Violent Behavior1127 Words   |  5 PagesIt widely argued against whether violent video games can trigger violent behavior among those who play them. There s many cases of the violent video games being the main factor of the person being violent, however their is plenty of factors that play a role in the ca se from parental neglect to drug abuse. In 1983 C. Everett Koop, the U.S. Surgeon General, claimed that video games were a leading cause of family violence. Although video game advocates argue that majority of the research on the topicRead MoreDo Violent Video Games Promote Teen Aggression and Violence? 670 Words   |  3 Pagesteenagers playing video games and how it affects the youth mentally. Heavy consumption of violence video games does indeed stimulate a change reaction in the brain waves, but there is no hard evidence stating that those changes causes teenagers to act aggressively and violently. On the contrary, it is a popular beliefs that violence video games does indeed causes teenagers to displayed unpleasant behaviors and actions because that is what they learned and observed from the games. Therefore, parentsRead MoreMedia s Influence On The Youth Of America1454 Words   |  6 Pagestelevision, radio, newspapers, and video games practically any time they want. The vi olence in media, along with the availability of media are increasing, however the most predominant form of media for children is video games. Because of this, many are concerned with the effects on the youth. The violence in video games is a cause for aggressive emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in the youth of America. Media is defined as the main means for mass communication. Video games, television, radios, newspapersRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Children1742 Words   |  7 PagesVideo games have always been the subject of some type of controversy. Debates exist over whether or not playing them for too long is detrimental to your health, or if they have any positive aspects at all. Research indicates that gaming for long periods of time is not healthy, whereas light or occasional gaming yields benefits to reactions and skills when working under pressure. However, one aspect of video games always rears its head whenever some empathy-depraved soul commits an atrocity upon innocent

Polypharmacy in the Older Adult Too Much of a Good Thing...

Polypharmacy in the Older Adult: Too Much of a Good Thing Elderly patients that take several medications compound the risk of developing an adverse drug reaction. Not only does the aging process have an effect on how elderly bodies process medication, but elderly people take more medications than their younger counterparts. According to Conry (2005), the elderly patient takes an average of 5 prescription medications and two non-prescription medications (Conry, 2005). While medications are frequently necessary to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, non-pharmacologic methods should be used whenever possible. Healthcare providers need to understand how aging impacts the body’s response to medications, which drugs pose more risk to†¦show more content†¦As well as using multiple physicians, elderly clients may use more than one pharmacy. Each pharmacy attempting oversight of the client’s medication use may not be aware of all the medications prescribed. To further complicate the issue, side effects of medication can mimic disease symptoms. If an elderly client develops side effects of medication use, the healthcare provider may not recognize it. They may erroneously think that the new symptoms are a new problem, and prescribe more medication to control the symptoms his can cause even more side effects. Effects of Aging Physiologic effects of the aging process change the way the body processes drugs. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are both influenced by the aging process. Pharmacokinetics involves how the body interacts with the drug, and pharmacodynamics describes the effect of the drug on the body (Adams, Holland Jr., Urban, 2011). Pharmacokinetics consists of three components, absorption, distribution, and clearance. Absorption, especially from the oral route is the least influenced by the aging process and slows down, but remains complete (Adams et al., 2011). As the number of drugs ingested increases, the risk that absorption is interrupted increases (Adams et al., 2011). Distribution is significantly impacted with age. Older people have more body fat and less water than younger people. As a result, a drug that is fat soluble will remain in older bodiesShow MoreRelatedHerbal Medicines And Herbal Medications Essay860 Words   |  4 Pagesbe farthest from the truth. Herbal medications are more dangerous in older adults than other age groups for many reasons. When medications are taken orally decreased gastric pH and slowed motility may cause the drug to stay in the patient’s system longer and increase the chance of toxicity. Older patients have decreased saliva production and esophageal motility whic h may make it difficult for the patient to swallow. In older adult’s circulatory changes and chronic illnesses which affects circulationRead MoreCommon Misconceptions Of The Health Community1447 Words   |  6 Pagesaccurately dictate if herbal supplements work in aiding the body. Pill supplements are one of the most common ways people obtain vitamins and minerals that they are lacking, but pills are notorious for having fillers and excess things the body does not need which could undo the good that has been done by the nutrients in the pills. Doctors such as Josh Axe warn about the dangers in pill fillers such as hydrogenated oils, artificial colors, magnesium stearate, and titanium dioxide; links exist between theseRead MoreImproving Geriatric Health, Decreasing Healthcare Costs Essay1740 Words   |  7 Pagesthis it is only appropriate that the next chapter in healthcare begins under their influence as well. The first of the Boomers became of retirement age, sixty-five, in 2010 and every eight seconds another individual of this generation becomes a year older (When I’m 64: How boomers will change healthcare, 2007, p. 3). By the year 2030, â€Å"the over 65 population will nearly double as a result of the aging Boomers (When I’m 64: How boome rs will change healthcare, 2007, p. 2).† With this significant demographicRead MoreThe Effects Of Alcohol Abuse On The Elderly Population Essay2269 Words   |  10 PagesThe older population, according the US Census Bureau (2015) reports, individuals ages 65 and older make up 8.5% of the global population. In other words, the older population now equals 617 million, and subsequently will experience an expected rise within the next ten years, resulting in an increase of roughly 236 million people aged 65 and older throughout the world. Therefore, as our elderly population increases, so will the substance use epidemic. Currently the National Institute of Alcohol AbuseRead MoreGeriatric Assessment7902 Words   |  32 Pagesimpairment, immobility, instability, incontinence and iatrogenic disorders. The geriatric assessment effectively addresses these and many other areas of geriatric care that are crucial to the successful treatment and prevention of disease and disability in older people. Performing a comprehensive assessment is an ambitious undertaking. Below is a list of the areas geriatric providers may choose to assess: †¢ Current symptoms and illnesses and their functional impact. †¢ Current medications, their indications

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Free Essays

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, KCSI [1] (also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) (Urdu: ) (October 17, 1817 – March 27, 1898), commonly known as Sir Syed,[2] was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist. [3][4] Sir Syed pioneered modern education for the Muslim community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.His work gave rise to a new generation of Muslim intellectuals and politicians who composed the Aligarh movement to secure the political future of Muslims of India. We will write a custom essay sample on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan or any similar topic only for you Order Now In 1842, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II revived upon Syed Ahmad Khan the title of Javad-ud Daulah, conferred upon Syed Ahmad’s grandfather Syed Hadi by Emperor Shah Alam II in about the middle of the eighteenth century. The Emperor added to it the additional title of Arif Jang. The conferment of these titles was symbolic of Syed Ahmad Khan’s incorporation into the nobility of Delhi. 5] Born into Muslim nobility, Sir Syed earned a reputation as a distinguished scholar while working as a jurist for the British East India Company. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 he remained loyal to the British and was noted for his actions in saving European lives. [3] After the rebellion he penned the booklet Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (The Causes of the Indian Mutiny) — a daring critique, at the time, of British policies that he blamed for causing the revolt.Believing that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook, Sir Syed began promoting Western-style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organising Muslim intellectuals. Towards this goal, Sir Syed founded the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 with the aim of promoting social and economic development of Indian Muslims. One of the most influential Muslim politicians of his time, Sir Syed was suspicious of the Indian independence movement and called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj.He denounced nationalist organisations such as the Indian National Congress, instead forming organisations to promote Muslim unity and pro-British attitudes and activities. Sir Syed promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims, and mentored a rising generation of Muslim politicians and intellectuals. Although hailed as a great Muslim leader and social reformer, Sir Syed remains the subject of controversy for his views on Hindu-Muslim issues. How to cite Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Papers

Quality of Service and Conditions Customer †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Quality of Service and Conditions Customer. Answer: Introduction Operations Management refers to a process of designing and controlling of raw materials in conjunction with labor into desirable end products and services (Harvey et al. 2016, p. 89). It also includes the supply chain and delivery system of both raw materials and the products. Amazons operation management encompasses the following areas; designing of goods and services that are in alignment with the customer needs and delivering them at time of needs as pointed out by (Sun et al., 2013, p. 78), an aspect that leads to customer satisfaction. Satisfaction in simple terms is definable as a convinced assurance in fulfillment of a particular individual need (Vanitha 2012, p. 6). Customers level of acceptance of a good and service differ regarding their expectations. Therefore, Customer satisfaction means the market acceptance of a particular product. Customers satisfaction measurement is important in every business because it provides unbiased data to the company. It creates the tracking changes that have taken place in the firm over a period. Background information on customer experience in the company Amazon is an international online business that came into creation in 1994 due to the idea that revolutionary of the internet would create a large market to reach customers in the local and global business environment (Panagitelis et al., 2013, p. 90). Amazon is a customer- service-based company, mostly offering online reading books as well as other product delivery services. According to the (ACSI) American Customer Satisfaction Index, Amazon has been named by a client as the best organization due to its high level of customer satisfaction.(Lee et al., 2014) This article looks at the customer satisfaction taking into account the models and theories used by the Even though many different companies are offering online retail, Amazon Company has stand out to be among the top with the company creating a versed number of products and services that are reachable to customers. However, the company is affected by environmental factors related to regions or country of operation as well as the external factors involving the organization and the government laws and policies that often determine the terms and conditions of the business within the states of operation as pointed out by Goldsmith (2010, p. 56). Amazon has created an online customer care and personalization. The company has also established an email system that facilitates the conversation between the company and the client. Chua (2011) denotes that Amazon created Amazons Mayday button that allows live video chat; this has delighted many consumers since it allows face-to-face communication. The email system allows dialogue hence has created a robust personalization of the company and the client. Through this system, a customer can review the books and other products while in connection with the customer care personnel. Amazon has ensured improved customer care program by allowing every employee to spend at least two days at the customer care service desk for every two years. With the program, most of the employees at the company have a great customer care skills and knowledge required to ensure quality care. The functionality of Amazon allows it to perform direct marketing to the consumer. The website has a cookie that can r ecognize a customer and provide guidance and recommends to the customer depending on the customers history of purchase. However, there are still challenges with customer experience with customer satisfaction remaining the primary focal point to address as it is recording a decrease with time as depicted in table 1. Statement of the Problem and Analysis Amazon is a globally recognized retail company that should have an interactive technology that powerfully serves its high valued customers at low cost (Chua 2011). Amazon has an excellent merchandise, functionality, content, and price hence a need for a more interactive customer interaction platform that will give the customers a feeling of loyalty and value to its customers in the competitive global market. The well-integrated merchandise should allow all customers to access all products and make healthy choices that meet their needs without technical challenges with the system (Vanitha 2012, p. 89). It should be able to attend to customers at any time of the day and anywhere in the world. With this customer will be able to freely make their request at their will. In a systematic study, Maricic, Veljkovic, and Djordjevic (2012) point out that there are different factors that directly or indirectly control customer satisfaction and loyalty towards the goods and services offered to them by a business or a company. The factors are always achievable through intensive research and marketing. Despite the fact that there are many retailers in the e-commerce business globally, not all of them thrive. However, Amazon is at the top in online businesses globally coming second after Google Inc. Therefore, it is essential to understand what the company does to ensure good performance as well as the challenges that need to be address in the operation management with a focus on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is viewed to have both companys internal factors and external factors (Winker 2014, p. 90). The personal context of the client satisfaction encompasses every aspect of the enterprises products regarding a quality of customer care, packaging of the product, amortization of the product, the products values and their reliability. The external factors of customer satisfaction tend to involve a large number of customer choices depending on the company goods and products that meets their needs. The constant communication with the customers and effective customer care is as well essential to enable the company to work towards strategies that will ensure it improves the nature of customer services it offers to its customers. Amazon offers genuine products to their customers with high quality and varied features (Winkler 2014, p. 451). These high-quality products tend to attract a large number of customers who at the end need to get good experience in the process of service. The company has different subsidiaries in various regions of the globe that aids in delivering and distributing system of the products to the customers. It thus requires a well coordinated supply chain management system that can allow all customers to receive their orders in the shortest time possible. In a systematic study, Helm and Tolsdorf (2013) points out the completive global business environment require drastic, relevant, and easy to use customer interaction systems that will not only ensure services are delivered but satisfied as well. In other words, it is essential for the company to design and adopt different customer service methods and unique customer-oriented strategies to engage the customers and evaluate their response to both the quality of products as well as the services offered by the company. Amazon thus needs to carry out proper market research to identify the customer requirements in every region where they are operating as well as the potential markets that the business can expand into such as developing countries. According to Panagiotelis, Smith, and Danaher (2013), environmental factors such as geographical distance, temperature, rainfall pattern, and terrain of a place can be major destructors to effective supply chain and delivery of goods and services. Prospecting on the nature of the market will also helps the company to understand the nature of customers to deal with, duties and customers, and government policies that governs business operations in such areas. Workable Proposals Recommendations and Realistic Implementations Plan Respond to the feedback as quickly as possible as a necessary initiative that company needs to adopt to improve its performance towards customers (Lee et al. 2014, p. 8). For the company to get a strong response to the customer feedback, the company should understand what information the client is passing as well the most effective strategies that can be used to evaluate the information and make an informed decision. The company should understand the factors that led to the customers satisfaction or dissatisfaction. During the response to the customers concerns, there should be systematic feedback program placed by the company to evaluate their satisfaction on the solution provided. It should also allow a systematic follow up of the implementation of the reply. Through the system, everyone in the company should ensure that customers feedback is upheld to improve the satisfaction and loyalty. Through these reactions, the product and service are developed and enhanced regarding service and quality. Other client satisfaction measuring strategies that can be adopted by the company include the disconfirmation model that is based on the customers expectation against their ratings (Winkler 2014, p. 9). The outcome of the purchased item dictates the satisfaction of the product. The Kano model bases its theory on the product development. The model places customers satisfaction in five categories that are; Attractive, One-Dimensional, Must-Be, Indifferent and Reverse. The model gives a good insight into the product attributes that are important to the customer. SERVQUAL is a framework that measures customers satisfaction concerning the quality of the service provided .it used a barometer that gives a gap between customers experience and expectation. The model is more applicable in the service oriented companies such as hotels and banks. Critical Analysis of the recommendations Amazon has adopted the Voice of the Customer feedback practice (Panagiotelis et al. 2013, 202). Amazon receive receives customers information directly from the Amazon customers or through its merchants. The feedback of the client collection should be a routine of the company. And thus they should not wait till there is a change in the economy. All feedback collected should conform to the right methodology to give the best feedback. Most of the ways used in collecting customers feedback are such as qualitative data survey; customers experience data and information from the sales personnel. Keeping in connection with the client helps to gather information on the customers complaints, suggestions, ideas, and concerns. This collected information is helpful in developing the future versions of a product and service. Hence the company keeps in touch with the customers needs. However, Voice of Customer has been adopted by many other competitors in the global market and provides nothing uniq ue to capture the attention of customers or understand the dynamics of customer response and feelings towards the products. Alternative solution that can be adopted by the company and their relative merits A net promoter score is a tool that is used to measure the loyalty between the customer and the provider and can be effective when adopted by the company. It is calculated based on the responses to a single question (Bourne 2016, p. 34). The score is achievable by posing a question to a customer on how more likely will the customer be able to recommend the product to a friend at a score rates of 0 to 10. Using the system, those who score 9 to 10 are referable as promoters, also called the regular customers who are likely to increase the level of their purchases and are more likely to promote the company product. Those who give a response that ranges between 0 to 6 are the detractors or the most disappointed customers who are less likely to evangelize the product to any other clients. The response from those customers that range between 7 and 8 is referred to as Passive. These are customers who are satisfied at the moment of the service but can be easily swayed away by the potential customers. Their characters fall between the Promoters and Detractors. The Net Promoter Score is calculated by getting the percentage difference between Promoters customers and Detractors customers. NPS= % of Promoters - % of Detractors (Sun et al. 2013, p. 67) .When the difference is less or closes to zero, then the loyalty is termed as poor while when it is above seventy to one hundred, then the loyalty is termed as excellent.NPS can be used by Amazon in its drive to emphasizes on its customer's satisfaction, through improving on the development of their products and services. Potential barriers to the implementation The NPS has received criticism due to lack of causal connection to any correlated activity in the company as pointed out by Nassar (2015, p. 89). It tends to have the shallow level of prediction on the future of the customer's loyalty. It also lacks actionable data for responses to customer feedback making it a difficult task for most companies since it is hard for business to stress on the client's actions and result without a dominant platform. The robust platform should aid in collecting, measuring, analyzing and driving the best action as quickly as possible on customers responses. These principles should lie on big data technologies that provide immediate insights and solutions Helm and Tolsdorf (2013, p. 144). One of the best recommendations is customer loyalty. Customer loyalty, also known as customer retention is the measurement of how the customer is willing to spread the quality of the product to another client. Through this, the company creates new customers. When the proc ess continues, then the number of customers who purchase those end products also increases. With that large number of clients, the company will experience growth of sales. Conclusion Continuous listening and understanding the customers feedback is critical to every business. There is no shared client feedback across different companies hence each one should be able to come up with its method of developing the customer's information about the product. It helps in creating a product that conforms to every aspect of customer need. These clients need help the company to capitalize on the regular customer. Every company should understand that customer loyalty depends on the companys brand. There are no shared customer satisfaction tracks, so each company should be able to create one of its own that is able to give it the best data to analyze the customers current and future expectations. Building customer loyalty increases customer satisfaction. Customers loyalty is more important than customer satisfaction. Due to increased technological change, many customers tend to be captured by potential rival companies. To retain a customer, then a company should focus more on customer loyalty, satisfaction, and retention to ensure it sustains and improves the company profitability. The best ways are the company to create a system that will show the customer that is always on the thought of the enterprise. The company can create a system to remember them during special occasions such as birthday by sending a short message. Amazon should also strive to empower the customers with knowledge on how to make online purchases. Table 1: Amazon Customer satisfaction rate between 2000-2016 (Adopted from Lee, Park 2016) Year Rate of customer satisfaction 2000 62.6% 2012 61% 2014 59% 2016 56.7% Table 2: Evaluation criteria to be filled by the customer Criteria of evaluation Evaluation Rate Good Fair Low Company reputation Production functionality description Friendly support to the query of customers Was the product delivered in time The speed and quality of the technical support Are the products description and usage instructions clear and easy to understand Table 3: customer performance category and their respective score rates Category Detractors Passive Promoters Score Rate 0-6 7-8 9-10 List of References Bourne, P. 2016. Customer Satisfaction of Policing the Jamaican Society: Using SERVQUAL to Evaluate Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Healthcare Communications, 1(3). Chris Adalikwu 2012. Customer relationship management and customer satisfaction. African Journal Of Business Management, 6(22). Chua, A. 2011. How Web 2.0 supports customer relationship management in Amazon. International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management, 5(3/4), p.288. Gb, R. 2011. Comment on Modern analysis of customer satisfaction surveys: comparison of models and integrated analysis. Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, 27(5), pp.481-483. Goldsmith, R. 2010. The Goals of Customer Relationship Management. International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, 1(1), pp.16-27. Harvey, J., Heineke, J. Lewis, M. 2016. Editorial for Journal of Operations Management special issue on Professional Service Operations Management (PSOM). Journal of Operations Management, 42-43, pp.4-8. Helm, S. Tolsdorf, J. 2013. How Does Corporate Reputation Affect Customer Loyalty in a Corporate Crisis?. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 21(3), pp.144-152. Lee, E. Park, C. 2016. Does advertising exposure prior to customer satisfaction survey enhance customer satisfaction ratings?. Marketing Letters, 26(4), pp.513-523. Maricic, B., Veljkovic, S. Djordjevic, A. 2012. Customer satisfaction measurement. Marketing, 43(4), pp.235-244. Nassar, B. 2015. The customer trust and customer commitment of e-customer relationship management: study at Jordan of mobile phone services. International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management, 9(1), p.33. Panagiotelis, A., Smith, M. Danaher, P. 2013. From Amazon to Apple: Modeling Online Retail Sales, Purchase Incidence and Visit Behavior. SSRN Electronic Journal. Service Recovery-A Promising Strategy for Customer Loyalty. (2016). International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(2), pp.150-152. Sun, K. Kim, D. 2013. Does customer satisfaction increase firm performance? An application of American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35, pp.68-77. Vanitha, D. 2012. Customer Relationship Management on Customer Satisfaction. International Journal of Scientific Research, 3(4), pp.1-3. Winkler, R. Moczulska, M. 2014. Quality Of Service And Conditions Of Customer Satisfaction Measurement. Acta Logistica, 1(3).

MacbethS Supernatural Scenes Explained Essays -

Macbeth'S Supernatural Scenes Explained Macbeth's supernatural scenes explained In today's rational and scientifically explainable world, it would be hard for us to believe in supernatural intervention in our every day lives unlike during the times of the Shakespearean plays. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, there are three examples of this kind of thing: one with the witches, one with a ghost of a best friend, and one with the a few apparitions. In the first nonrational scene three old dirty hags (witches) are discussing where they should meet Macbeth to persuade him into thinking he should be the nest king. When Macbeth finally meets the three witches on the heath like they had planed, him and his best friend Banquo are there. The witches know form years of experience that people that are Thanes always want to be king some day no matter what it takes. With the witches knowing this, they make Macbeth think that he is to be king or made king by saying ?All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!?(I, iii, 50) Therefor most of what the witches say they know because the have many years of experience and wisdom under their sleeves. Banquo, knowing what the witches had said, has to be dealt with by Macbeth. So Macbeth hires a hit man to take care of Banquo, and at Macbeth's dinner party all the seats are filled except for Banquo's. Macbeth, feeling guilty about his best friend, starts to hallucinate and thinks he is seeing Banquo's ghost in his seat. So Macbeth says to everyone ?The table is full?(III,iv,46) and everyone thinks he is physco. Macbeth starts talking to the so called ghost that he thinks is sitting there saying ?Thou canst say I did it.?(III,iv,50) With Macbeth saying this it lets everyone know about the guilt that Macbeth feels and some of the other people know the crime he has committed as well. In the last witch scene Macbeth wants to see some things or people that he should beware of in the future. So the witches give Macbeth the descriptive physique of three apparitions: one of a solider in battle, one of a king that is a kid, and one of a bleeding child. While the witches call the apparitions out Macbeth sees them, and again it could be a figment of his imagination or it could be because it is at night and he can't see very well. So maybe there are some things in the Elizabethan era that then could not be explained and they were considered supernatural. But now as we look back into that era we can most likely find a rational explanation for most of the things called ?supernatural? in that day, like the witches, Banquo's ghost and the apparitions. In today's society most things are scientifically explainable. In today's rational and scientifically explainable world, it would be hard for us to believe in supernatural intervention in our every day lives unlike during the times of the Shakespearean plays. In Shakespeare's Macbeth, there are three examples of this kind of thing: one with the witches, one with a ghost of a best friend, and one with the a few apparitions. In the first nonrational scene three old dirty hags (witches) are discussing where they should meet Macbeth to persuade him into thinking he should be the nest king. When Macbeth finally meets the three witches on the heath like they had planed, him and his best friend Banquo are there. The witches know form years of experience that people that are Thanes always want to be king some day no matter what it takes. With the witches knowing this, they make Macbeth think that he is to be king or made king by saying ?All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!?(I, iii, 50) Therefor most of what the witches say they know because the have many years of experience and wisdom under their sleeves. Banquo, knowing what the witches had said, has to be dealt with by Macbeth. So Macbeth hires a hit man to take care of Banquo, and at Macbeth's dinner party all the seats are filled except for Banquo's. Macbeth, feeling guilty about his best friend, starts to hallucinate and thinks he

Critical Analysis of Efficiency Market Hypothesis Essay Essays

Critical Analysis of Efficiency Market Hypothesis Essay Essays Critical Analysis of Efficiency Market Hypothesis Essay Essay Critical Analysis of Efficiency Market Hypothesis Essay Essay In this essay. foremost. the Efficient Market Hypothesis ( EMH ) is given an assessment in relation to random walk. every bit good as its definition. uncovering theories in context of empirical grounds. A brief account of the 3 signifiers of EMH is highlighted alongside a brief description of its trials for cogency. The chief focal point of treatment is whether or non Technical A ; Cardinal Analysis can find unnatural returns by investors strategically utilizing a set of information to explicate purchasing and merchandising determinations to crush the efficient market. ( Graphs and sets of equations may be applied ) . Following general empirical surveies. the theory of Efficient Market typically asserts that. it would be impossible to systematically surpass the market by agencies of proficient A ; cardinal analysis. accordingly. in the visible radiation of this averment. proficient. cardinal and other anomalousnesss are revealed that may propose some degrees of market inefficiencies. Finally. a decision. subjectively underscoring the relevant points expressed supra. seting to perspective facts conveyed through the subject of critical treatment. Appraisal of the Efficient Market Hypothesis and Random Walk The efficient market hypothesis is a fiscal theory widely accepted by most academic fiscal economic experts. It was by and large believed that securities markets were highly efficient in reflecting information about single stocks and about the stock market as a whole. The recognized position was that when information arises. the intelligence spreads really rapidly and is incorporated into the monetary values of securities without hold. Therefore. when the term ‘efficient market’ was introduced into the economic sciences literature in the sixtiess. it was defined as a market in which monetary values at any clip â€Å"fully reflect† and ‘adjusts quickly to new available information’ ( Eugene F. Fama. 1970. p 383. ) . In the context of this hypothesis. â€Å"efficient† through empirical observation. means that the market is capable of rapidly digesting new information on the economic system. an industry. or the value of an endeavor and accurately attaching it into securities monetary values. In such markets. participants can anticipate to gain no more. nor less. than a just return for the hazards undertaken. hence neglecting to supply unnatural returns. Random Walk. is a Theory closely associated with the efficient market hypothesis. was originally created by Louis Bachelier ( 1900 ) . and developed by Kendall. in 1950s. Kendall ( 1953 ) found that stock and trade good monetary values follow a random walk. Random walk varies with respect to the clip parametric quantity. Harmonizing to capital markets theory. the expected return from a security is chiefly a map of its hazard. The monetary value of the security reflects the present value of its expected future hard currency flows. which incorporates many factors such as volatility. liquidness. and hazard of bankruptcy. However. while monetary values are rationally based. alterations in monetary values are expected to be random and unpredictable. because new information. by its really nature. is unpredictable. Therefore stock monetary values are said to follow a Random Walk. Versions of the Efficiency Market Hypothesis and trials Following the construct of information. as stated in the above paragraph. it is utile to separate among three versions of the EMH. Fama ( 1970 ) identified as: the weak. semi-strong. and strong signifiers of the hypothesis. These versions differ by their impressions of what is meant by the term â€Å"all available information. † The trials for each signifier. summarized in brief. through empirical observation shows grounds in favour of EMH: Harmonizing to Fama ( 1970 ) . Weak signifier efficiency claims that all past monetary values of a stock are reflected in today’s stock monetary value. Therefore. proficient analysis can non be used to foretell and crush a market. The Weak Form Tests. The trial of the weak signifier of the EMH is by and large taken to consist of ; an autocorrelation trial. a runs trial and filter regulation trial. An autocorrelation trial investigates whether security returns are related through clip. On the other. a runs trial. for illustration. measures the likeliness that a series of two variables is a random happening. A filter regulation ( or merchandising trial ) is a trading regulation sing the actions to be taken when portions rise or fall in value by x % . Filter regulations should non work if markets are weak form efficient. Overall. the trials highlighted. statistically tests for independency. to set up the weak-form holds. thereby annuling strategic regulations for proficient analysis. to obtain unnatural net incomes. Following the weak-form EMH. is the Semi-Strong signifier efficiency in which Fama ( 1970 ) states that security monetary values reflect all publically available information. The Semi-Strong Test. Trials for the semi-strong. significantly and reveals Event Study. The first event survey was undertaken by Fama. Fisher. Jensen and Roll ( 1969 ) . though the first to be published was by Ball and Brown ( 1968 ) . An event trial analyzes the security both before and after an event. such as net incomes proclamations. stock splits and analyst’s recommendations. The thought behind the event trial is that an investor will non be able to harvest an above norm return by trading. on an event including the Cardinal Analysis scheme.

The Concept of Communicative Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Concept of Communicative Action - Essay Example Knowledge-Constitutive Interest - a function of the objectively constituted problems of the preservation of life that have been solved by the cultural form of existence. Cognitive Interest - the relationship or the conforming of motivation and cognition. Knowledge and interest are essentially united. technical interest natural science practical interest human science emancipatory interest critical theory The technical interest relates to the human need to control nature for survival. Labor fulfills this need. Modern science and cost-benefits rationally serve this interest. The practical interest is the interest in human communication, interaction and common life. The discipline of psychology and psychoanalysis is needed. Emancipatory interest is the idea that knowledge must enhance man's freedom and improve human life by emancipating man from oppressive forces, be it in the field of politics, psychology, ideology, etc. The unit of knowledge and self-interest The achievements of the transcendental subject have their basis in the natural history of the human species. Knowledge equally serves as an instrument and transcends mere self-preservation Knowledge constitutive interests take the form in the medium of work, language and power. In the power of self-reflection, knowledge and interest are one. The unity of knowledge and interest proves itself in a dialectic that takes the historical trace of suppressed dialogue and reconstructs what has been suppressed. Approaches in the philosophy of Language The traditional way - it is characterized as interpreting language through the use of etymology, and understanding the application of language in a specific group The method of... Habermas focused his attention on epistemology, i.e. how knowledge is related to and affected by the interests of the knower. Habermas became critical of empiricism and positivism because of their assumptions and presuppositions deduced from practical interests in historical and social conditions. Habermas was influenced by Freud in trying to bring knowledge and interest into harmony through self-reflection. Decisionism - is a viewpoint concerning the irreducibility of categoral value judgments to scientific knowledge, hence not by scientific method, but the expressions of personal and arbitrary decisions. Thus, value judgments by themselves are purely subjectivistic. For Habermas, the above viewpoints of Weber are reductionist and limiting. Science (physical science) is not the only agency to have accurate and valid knowledge. There are limitations into it so with human sciences. Emancipatory interest is the idea that knowledge must enhance man's freedom and improve human life by emancipating man from oppressive forces, be it in the field of politics, psychology, ideology, etc. For Habermas, methodological scientific approach in the social sciences may end u

Statistical computation of maximum likelihood estimates using R Math Problem

Statistical computation of maximum likelihood estimates using R - Math Problem Example SMA do not account for seasonal changes. The duration of the moving average can best be determined according to the type of application data to forecast. Long time periods gives smoother response by removing random variations but react slower to changes in the data as it lags the trend. Short time periods produce more oscillation but closely follow the trend. SMA is calculated by averaging the most recent number of actual values. SMA is calculated by using the following equation (Chase & Jacobs 2006): Where Ft Forecast for coming period At-1 Actual value in the past At-2, At-3, Actual values two, three, periods ago. N Number of periods to be averaged In the attached excel document, SMA is calculated for three periods: three, four, and five. Different n time periods will produce different results of data values. The values of MAD corresponding to each period are shown in the following table: Table 1: MAD values for different periods of SMA Time Period (n) MAD 3 4.36 4 3.10 5 3.95 Table one demonstrates that the smallest value of MAD exists for the period of n=4. This indicates that the type of data being analyzed is best estimated using a period of four. Figure 1: SMA for periods of 3,4, and 5. Figure one confirms the results of MAD analysis from table one. The best fit trend line is the SMA for n=4. This line follows the actual data curve specially on the 15th, 22, and 25 where major change occurred in wind speed. The period that best fits the actual data is dependent on the type of data analyzed which is the wind speed. Weighted Simple Moving Average (WSMA): A weighted moving average puts different weights to each element, providing that the sum of all weights equals 1. Weights are...Short time periods produce more oscillation but closely follow the trend. In the attached excel document, SMA is calculated for three periods: three, four, and five. Different n time periods will produce different results of data values. The values of MAD corresponding to each period are shown in the following table: Figure one confirms the results of MAD analysis from table one. The best fit trend line is the SMA for n=4. This line follows the actual data curve specially on the 15th, 22, and 25 where major change occurred in wind speed. The period that best fits the actual data is dependent on the type of data analyzed which is the wind speed. A weighted moving average puts different weights to each element, providing that the sum of all weights equals 1. Weights are chosen by experience and trial and error. A general rule applies that recent past is more indicative of the future and should get higher weighting. However, if the data are seasonal weights should be established accordingly. The weighted moving average advantage over the simple moving average is the ability to vary the effects of past data. In the excel document, in the Weighted SMA sheet, the weights of the moving average are determined by trial and error to produce the least value of MAD since there is no expert opinion as to guide the setup of

Educator interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Educator interview - Essay Example There are a number of qualifications that nurses, doctors or any health care professional must meet in order to become an 'educator'. The main qualification, of course, is to have obtained the education necessary to educate others. Formal schooling, training, practice and instruction are all key components to obtaining that education. "The current emphasis on providing quality undergraduate and postgraduate medical education has focused attention on the educational responsibilities of all doctors. There is a greater awareness of the need to train doctors as educators and courses have been set up to satisfy this need" (Hesketh 2001, pg 556). Other training that this individual must go through is how to develop curriculum and effective lesson planning. It is important that they also develop the skills to communicate with students as well as appraising and assessing a student's progress. These skills can be obtained by attending courses focused on the training of teachers. Health care professionals can also be teachers who work with individuals already employed in the health care industry. Such roles may include providing education for staff development and continuing education. ... The teaching individual must keep current on the latest technology and training available in the field in order to communicate that to colleagues. Another method for obtaining the information to be taught is by participating in the industry, as a nurse, as a doctor or professional or even as a researcher. "Nurses are increasingly involved in clinical trials. Any nurse involved in clinical trials may perform one or more of the following roles; patient educator, patient ally, direct care giver, coordinator of care and research administrator of research resources and participant in the conduct of the study" (Ambaum 1997, pg. 5316). These increasing responsibilities for nurses also opens up a whole new world of opportunities for these individuals. Now, they can not only be educators in the 'normal' sense of the world, but in other situations as well. In order for these professionals to do so, they must have the support that any teaching professional would need to accomplish their objective. "A medical educator has needs that are specific to educators and needs that are common to all medical faculty members. And educator needs time to perform educational duties, space to carry out educational activities, and money to buy time, space and other resources." " Just as important as time, space, and money are to the success of an educator is having an infrastructure that supports the educator and the educational mission" (Collins 2005, pp 914-915).According to Collins, creating such an infrastructure would include building a system that could provide educational leadership opportunities, funding for medical educational research, students, student and peer feedback and faculty development and mentoring. It would also

Types Of Tree Diagrams

Types Of Tree Diagrams Total quality management is the philosophy of management for continuous improvement in term of quality in the process and the products. To implement the total quality management, it have several tool that can be used by the person who want to implement the total quality management. One of the tool is tree diagram. The definition of tree diagram is the graphical or diagram tool that systematically break down, and then mapped in detail in growing, all components or elements of the situation, phenomenon, process, or condition at the stage of succession. It also used when to make the calculations of probabilities and to make the decision. By using tree diagram also, the description of the problem can be seen in more clearly. Tree diagram know as systematic diagram, analytical tree, hierarchy diagram and tree analysis. It called systematic diagram because of the systematically map all the details related to a problem or project. That way it helps to achieve the ultimate goal and every goal related sub-issues under study. This is also called Dendrogram as the word dendro in Greek mean tree. The tree diagram starts with a node or item is divided into two or more branches, then each branch will be divide into two or more. With the branches of the tree it will look like a tree. Thats why its called a tree diagram. It is used to break down the big categories or problem into the smaller categories/problem with a more detailed level. By making a tree diagram, it helps us to think thoughts of a move to a move from general to more specific. Type of tree diagram Tree diagram have several different types. The types are : Cause and effect tree diagram Y to x tree diagram Functional tree diagram Abstraction tree diagram Each of the tree diagram has a core and strength which can be surprisingly challenging to capture when a project team tried to build one or more of them. Diagrams have enough similarities in the required data and building process that the team can tangle them up a little potentially dulling results. The table below outlines each type of tree diagram, providing information which helps differentiate the trees by style and function. Cause-and-Effect Tree Diagram Y-to-x Tree Diagram Functional Tree Diagram Abstraction Tree Diagram Application Uncover root causes that are actionable to change the problematic effect. Identify and classify factors (independent variables) that may drive an important results variable. Identifiy general and specific functionality that operates inconcert in a product or process. The tree structure helps check for completeness and reports the analysis in ways that can hide or expose details appropriate to different audiences. Distill fragments of data to find messages and themes that are not evident in raw data by itself. Tree powerfully and succinctly reports the insights derived by the team constructing it. Starting Point A documented effect A results measure (dependent variable) One or more functions delivered by a product or process Facts that answer a theme question Construction Top Down: Starting with the effect, asking why in a nested and branching pattern to surface fundamental causes. Top Down: Asking the question, What factors may drive changes in the measure at the current node? From Top, Middle or Bottom: Organizing a group of connected functions from the general view to the detailed view. Bottom Up: Understanding and grouping factual answers to a theme question using rules of abstraction. Discovering and reporting themes that may have been evident in raw data. Node Wording Describes factual situations without ambiguity Describes factors (variables) that can change value Uses positive, active verbs to describe the nodes functionality Uses factual report language, free of judgment, emotion or inference Cause-and-Effect Tree Diagrams Cause and effect diagram is easy and effective. But sometimes when we have a lot of causes, when a deeper analysis is required for each source individually, the best way to manage by making as tree diagram. Figure 3: Another Pitfall Branches That Do Not Answer the Why Example of Cause and Effect Tree Diagram Y-to-x Tree Diagram A Y-to-x tree diagram starts with an important decision step (Y) and ask the question, What are the factors drive this Y? Although it is not really different from the question of cause and effect, the thrust and content of this tree diagram wants to be distinctly different. Each node in the tree diagram must describe steps or factors that can take different valuesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹. Factors that could describe the steps that is diversified in continuous (such as time and capacity) for category (such as small, medium and large) but they all have to explain the steps. Although the spirit of inquiry is the same in each of these cases, by raising questions about the driving factors, the Y-to-x tree diagram interpreting to different languages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹in the node label, and it led to a different types of a lower level outcome or results, with x identified. Each node should define steps that factors which can take different values Figure 5: Section of Y-to-x Flowdown Tree for a Medical Device Example of Y-to-x tree diagram Functional Tree Diagrams It can be used to develop administrative functions. In this tree diagram type, it can be split as follows :- Target circumstances to work in every department Describe the purpose of the work. This will bring on the findings a new approach for work, facilitating the improvement and ultimately achieve departmental objectives. This will help to improve administrative structure of itself. Functional tree diagram also used as an engineering method dates back, with verbs are always be used to accurately describe the function. More recently, object-oriented mindset has developed use cases that extend the use of (still focused on verb) to the software and business systems. Example of Functional Tree Diagram A functional tree diagram it is easier to read and study if every node label focusing on the positive, active verb (such as measured, gathering or read). If a team slipped into the label describing the steps or where or how the function occurs, leaders need to pull the team back to the easier verb discipline. Abstraction Tree Diagrams (KJ or Affinity) A KJ (language of processing tool named after its creator, namely Jiro Kawakita) or properly performed affinity diagram to organize the facts in a hierarchy like a tree. Unique among other trees tools that are considered here because they are built from the bottom to the top, abstraction rules apply KJ discover and articulate key messages on the tree diagram. Some of the concepts or themes that may distill meaning is not immediately obvious when looking at the facts much lower. Figure 8: Section of KJ Diagram (Abstraction Tree) Example Abstraction Tree Diagram . When to Use a Tree Diagram When assigned tasks instead of tasks we always do and requires a thorough understanding of or attention and careful planning before we do. When problems or things to be resolved is in a large scope and we need to solve in detail and in-depth such as in producing a new product or concept to achieve the aims and objectives. When developing the solution or an action to conduct other plans. When reviewing and related analysis process in-depth and detail. When want to find the causes and the solution to a problem or error. When assessing or examining issues related to the Implementation of some or all of which maybe can be the solution to the problem. After the affinity diagram or relationship diagram has been successful in identifying significant issues or cause problems. As a tool to be used during the presentation in detail and depth to others. Tree Diagram Procedure Make or create goals, vision or planning projects or whatever is being studied or research. List and write at the top of the list and write (for vertical tree diagram) or far off of the work surface (for horizontal tree diagram). Ask a question that will lead you to the next level of detail. For example: For a goal, action plan or work breakdown structure: What tasks must be done to accomplish this? or How can this be accomplished? For root-cause analysis: What causes this? or Why does this happen? For gozinto chart: What are the components? (Gozinto literally comes from the phrase What goes into it? Brainstorm all possible answers. If an affinity diagram or relationship diagram has been done previously, ideas may be taken from there. Write each idea in a line below (for a vertical tree) or to the right of (for a horizontal tree) the first statement. Show links between the tiers with arrows. Do a necessary and sufficient check. Are all the items at this level necessary for the one on the level above? If all the items at this level were present or accomplished, would they be sufficient for the one on the level above? Each of the new idea statements now becomes the subject: a goal, objective or problem statement. For each one, ask the question again to uncover the next level of detail. Create another tier of statements and show the relationships to the previous tier of ideas with arrows. Do a necessary and sufficient check for each set of items. Continue to turn each new idea into a subject statement and ask the question. Do not stop until you reach fundamental elements: specific actions that can be carried out, components that are not divisible, root causes. Do a necessary and sufficient check of the entire diagram. Are all the items necessary for the objective? If all the items were present or accomplished, would they be sufficient for the objective? Tree Diagram Example The Pearl River, NY School District, a 2001 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, uses a tree diagram to communicate how district-wide goals are translated into sub-goals and individual projects. They call this connected approach The Golden Thread. The district has three fundamental goals. The first, to improve academic performance, is partly shown in the figure below. District leaders have identified two strategic objectives that, when accomplished, will lead to improved academic performance: academic achievement and college admissions. Tree Diagram Example Tree Diagram Example Lag indicators are long-term and results-oriented. The lag indicator for academic achievement is Regents diploma rate: the percent of students receiving a state diploma by passing eight Regents exams. Lead indicators are short-term and process-oriented. Starting in 2000, the lead indicator for the Regents diploma rate was performance on new fourth and eighth grade state tests. Finally, annual projects are defined, based on cause-and-effect analysis, that will improve performance. In 2000-2001, four projects were accomplished to improve academic achievement. Thus this tree diagram is an interlocking series of goals and indicators, tracing the causes of systemwide academic performance first through high school diploma rates, then through lower grade performance, and back to specific improvement projects. Excerpted from Nancy R. Tagues The Quality Toolbox, Second Edition, ASQ Quality Press, 2004, pages 501-504. A tree diagram is an illustration which generally displays all possible outcomes from one root event or how all of its components are related to one another. When thinking in terms of genealogy, a tree diagram would ideally start with one couple, then branch to their children, then on to their grandchildren and so on. In terms of science or mathematics, these diagrams show all possible results which may stem from one compound or event. Even in subjects like history or English, a tree diagram may be used to show how events or ideas connect to one another. Using a tree diagram in subjects like history may display events and related outcomes in a way in which students understand and remember easier. It is said that 60 percent of the population are visual learners, so diagrams such as these may not only help the individual students, but also aid in overall classroom performance. Other subjects like science and math may use this type of diagram for much the same reason, but diagrams in these subjects tend to show possibilities as well as relationships. The tree diagram may be used in many industries as well. Companies might create a decision diagram to explore the likely benefits and disadvantages of financial ventures before taking any risk. They can outline future paths to reach certain goals easily as well. Medical professionals sometimes create a tree diagram to explain a certain groups risk of disease based on lifestyles, genetics, and other factors. Genetic engineers can even use these diagrams to predict the outcomes of different couplings within the plant, animal, and even human kingdoms. There are even software programs available which create tree diagrams for different purposes. The user may put in a stem occurrence and the number of results he or she wants the program to return. Then the program can quickly analyze the potentialities and build a tree diagram from them. Some programs can even calculate and display the likelihood of each result, such as whether its more likely a couple will have a blue-eyed child or a brown-eyed one. A tree diagram shows how the elements in it are related or how one action or event might end. They are considered a safe way to assess risk and may even be used as a teaching tool. They are most effective when used as a general guideline, as they generally cannot allow for unforeseen variables.

Teens And The Media Essay -- essays research papers

Portrayal of Teens in the Media The media, that giant intimidating creation has taken the stereotypes of teens, the way people view teens, and the way we view ourselves, and has turned it into a delusional monster. The media at this point in time portrays teenagers as generally bad. Well to be honest, not generally bad, but mostly horrible. We are seen as the cause for alarm and trouble in society. The media portrays us as manic delinquents with no solid past and no concrete future. The main points of teenagers that are warped into a lie are appearance and generalization of actions. The media spreads the idea that just because some teens choose to get more piercing done, or a tattoo, or decide to get a different hair color that it is somehow related to a dysfunctional sector of society. People have to realize that the adolescent/teenager portion of ones life is a time of self realization and expression. Teens are just finding these things as outlets for emotion and expression. The media uses these things and utilizes them in a sort of campaign to portray us as bad and untrusting. Teens are not only portrayed as delinquents but also as disloyal, jobless, untrusting monsters. The media causes the public following to assume that all teenagers are bad and immoral just because of a few that have done things wrong. And even when a teen does something wrong, that too is sensationalized. We do not generalize that all adults are killers and rapists just because a few have chosen...

Cola Wars: Profitability of the soft-drink industry Essay

Historically, the soft drink industry has been extremely profitable. Long time industry leaders Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola largely drive the profits in the industry, relying on Porter’s five forces model to explain the attractiveness of the soft drink market. These forces allowed Coke and Pepsi to maintain large growth until 1999, and also explain the challenges that each company is currently facing. The relative duopoly that Coke and Pepsi share in the industry allows for higher profits, while also maintaining enough competition to promote firm improvement. The first of Porter’s forces is the threat of new entrants. Coke and Pepsi have been largely successful because of many barriers to entry that limits the risk of entry by potential competitors. Coke and Pepsi both have strong brand loyalty, made possible by their long history and adherence to tradition. When Coke strayed from its Coca-Cola Classic formula, its customers demanded a return to the original recipe. Pepsi and Coke also share an absolute cost advantage over others in the industry. They developed superior production operations by buying up bottling companies and performing the service in-house. These companies also have large economies of scale, as they both operate internationally and together control 84% of the market worldwide. Additionally, government regulations have prevented competitors from mimicking Coke’s secret formula, as evidenced by their relentless defense of their brand in court. All of these factors have made it difficult for competitors to enter the soft drink industry. The second of Porter’s forces is rivalry amongst established companies. The competitive structure of the industry has allowed Coke and Pepsi to sustain high profits. The industry is essentially an oligopoly, with Coke and Pepsi dominating the market. The firms are hurt by having similar products that are relatively undifferentiated. However, diversification of product lines into carbonated and non-carbonated beverages has created some product differences. High industry growth from 1975 to 1995 also provided a reprieve from the competitor pressure. Franchising and long-term contracts created higher switching costs, historically limiting the effects of rivalry on the two firms. Porter’s third force is the bargaining power of buyers. This has always been low in the industry, and continues to diminish over time. The low number of suppliers does not afford buyers much room to negotiate. Furthermore, the abundance of distributor options prevented the bottling plants from applying pressure on Coke and Pepsi. Exhibit 8 also shows that both Coke and Pepsi were among the top five consumer brands most important to retailers, suggesting that they were on the losing end of the transaction relationship. Porter’s fourth force is the bargaining power of suppliers. Coke and Pepsi have always set their price. Bottlers were forced to buy concentrate at set prices, usually negotiated in the favor of Coke and Pepsi. The small number of suppliers limited alternatives that could provide the necessary concentrate to bottling groups. Coke and Pepsi have continuously renegotiated contract terms to decrease their costs and enhance profitability. These contracts eventually eliminated marketing cost obligations for concentrate producers as well. Suppliers became so powerful that they eventually bought their own bottling plants. Porter’s fifth force is the threat of substitutes. Initially, other products that could fulfill the same objective of soft drinks (quench thirst) were very weak. According to exhibit 1, carbonated soft drinks were the most-consumed beverage in America through the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, bottled water has become increasingly powerful, cutting into U. S. consumption. A growing health awareness has led to higher demand for non-carbonated soft drinks. Coke and Pepsi have largely met this threat by diversifying into other product lines such as water, juice, tea, and sports drinks. A significant factor that has also allowed the soft drink industry to prosper is the success of the fast-food industry. By partnering with restaurants such as Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza Hut, soft drinks have become a complement to this other profitable sector. Pepsi has taken advantage of this trend in its merger with Frito-Lay. While these five factors all contributed to making the soft drink industry very profitable, the industry is more recently facing challenges that could lead to declining profitability. Industry demand is steadily decreasing, as the United States – the largest consumer of soft drinks in the world – becomes more health conscious. Furthermore, buyers are now threatening to produce soft drinks themselves, such as in-store brands at Walmart. This has increased the bargaining power of the buyer. Though the future profitability of the soft drink industry may be declining in America, Coke and Pepsi have taken substantial actions to spread their brands worldwide. Each has a long-term growth strategy to saturate new markets, whether domestically or abroad. Coke has already taken control of many international markets, while Pepsi claims that its progression to the snack industry provides synergy in its business. It is undeniable that the competition between Coke and Pepsi has resulted in a multitude of strategies employed by both sides.

Outline and Evaluate Msm Essay Example

Outline and Evaluate Msm Essay Example Outline and Evaluate Msm Essay Outline and Evaluate Msm Essay Psychology Outline and evaluate the multi-store model The MSM was created by Atkinson and Shiffrin  (1968) who suggested that memory was comprised of three separate stores. They were; sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory. The model shows how information is transferred between the three stores. The model simply shows that when your are given information of environmental stimuli it will enter your sensory memory and only if you pay attention will it enter your short term memory, which has a capacity of 7+/- 2 bits of information. The information can last up to 18 seconds, without rehearsal. STM is encoded mainly acoustically, however sometimes it is done visually. If maintenance rehearsal takes place it will remain in STM or be forgotten due to displacement or decay. Elaborative rehearsal will transfer information into LTM which has unlimited capacity and can last a lifetime. LTM is encoded mainly semantically. The retrieval of information from LTM to STM can happen when needed. This model is a linear model because the information just passes through the model one way. A particular strength of this model is that it is high in ecologically validity and therefore can be applied to everyday life. A good example is the case study of H. M. who had brain surgery to cure severe epilepsy but this resulted in the inability to transfer information from STM to LTM so that he could not form long term memories, supporting the concept that the MSM is not a unitary model. Another example is the lab experiment of Glanzer and Cuntiz (1966) who found that participants who were asked to remember lists of words could remember the first and last few words but the ones in the middle were more difficult. This would show that the first words in the list have been stored in LTM whereas the last words are still in STM. A weakness of this model is that the scientific evidence which supports this model lacks validity because it is carried out as a lab experiment. This is an artificial environment and the participants have to remember information which isn’t important to remember in everyday life e. g. trigrams. Another weakness of this model is that it is a much too simply explained because it explains STM and LTM however hardly describes them as fixed structures and does not take into account that there are different types of them e. g. for LTM the different types of structures are procedural or episodic.

Martha essays

Martha essays Marthas Vineyard which was once a deaf community has now became a resort spot for people to get away from their daily lives and enjoy the ocean, houses and beautiful surroundings. The year round population is about fifteen- thousand. During the summer months the population swells to almost one- hundred thousand and about twenty-five thousand each every day. In 1835 a man named John Wesley, a preacher, held camp meetings outside. This camp meeting was only one of one-hundred different revivals that were in an outdoor setting at the time. These meetings were held because the population of people who were mostly puritans were losing faith in God and the meaning of faith itself. The camp meetings became yearly events that caused the population of Marthas Vineyard to rapidly increase. So it is thought today that the new industry on Marthas Vineyard was God sent. The revivals became less spiritual and more recreational. The beautiful Victorian style houses that now cover the grounds of Marthas Vineyard were once tents that housed people for the revivals. This city where all of the revivals took place was Cottage City, and is now known as Oak Bluffs. It is now a historic site for visitors to come and visit. But that is only part of what Marthas Vineyard was once like. Marthas Vineyard was once known as a deaf utopia. The gene of deafness traces back to the early settlers who carried the gene over to the island. Jonathan Lambert was the first known deaf person and that was in the year of 1694. There was a census that was taken in the nineteenth century that measured the extent of deafness. There were two families in 1817 with deaf children, that was a total of seven deaf. A few years later in 1827 there was a total of eleven deaf. By the year of 1880 the town of Chilmark had nineteen deaf in...

5 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

5 questions - Assignment Example caused by physical factors such as exercise, hereditary and environmental factors such as radiation, pollution and climatic changes and personality traits. In addition, socio-economical factors in a cultural context that gives the human being the ability to interact communicate and position presented in the society such as education, wealth and the place of residence. However, nutrition factors or metabolic factors determine the rate human growth and development in the form of physical and cognitive characteristics. In addition, technology development plays a crucial role in the modern human development in the manner in which human beings acquire and control other factors such as environmental pollution, hereditary factors as well as social factors such as occupation (Rubenstein & Rakic, 2013). 2) The description of the divisions and systems of the mammalian nervous system, e.g. the central nervous system (areas of the brain, spinal cord) and peripheral nervous systems and their respective function (s) The gross organization of the Nervous System is divided into two divisions, the peripheral and the central nervous and their respective subdivisions both in functions and architecture. As single unit, the mammalian nervous system is responsible for the production, control as well as guidance on all mammalian actions, thoughts, and responses to their daily activities. However, each division and system is differentiated by different architecture and function. The peripheral nervous system division consists of the nerves connected directly to the mammalian skin, muscles, body organs as well as blood vessels excluding those nerves that are attached to the skull and the spinal column (Rubenstein & Rakic, 2013). Peripheral nervous system divisions include the somatic nervous system and automatic nervous system. Somatic nervous system is further subdivided into afferent and efferent nerve fibers responsible for mammalian physical sensation and voluntary movements.

What to do Being a city manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What to do Being a city manager - Essay Example Being a city manager I have been designated with all important tasks of maintaining the society. In order to achieve success in my course of action I have to consider many responsibilities that I owe to my community. State legislature is passing a bill which is intended to improve the society as a whole and decrease the underage drinking which can cause damage to the whole society. Having been provided with the situation I have limited options to select from in order to enact the bill implemented by the state. With less resources to avail from I have to decide on as to whom I should depend on. Firstly I would gather a meeting of the local councils in order to aware them of the situation that the city is currently going through. It is then that a proper agenda would be formed with the help of the advice that I would receive from my councils. Police department can only excel if I am provided with the resource of money so I can expand the police force of the community which can further keep a check on the underage drinking habits. For this program to be implemented I would advertise for volunteers who would like to keep a check on the problem which our society is currently facing. These volunteers can work for free so that underage drinking can be prohibited in the community. The current line of police officers can be designated the job of checking on bars and restaurants with feasible timings and timetable. These police officers can be assured of future perks and benefits that they would be provided for their hard work.

The United States Patriot Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The United States Patriot Act - Essay Example The PATRIOT Act was enacted to protect US citizens by augmenting the tools by which law enforcement agencies fight crime and improves communication capabilities between these government agencies. In spite of the prevailing majority opinion, the PATRIOT Act protects, rather than degrades, civil liberties. The name of the act, the USA PATRIOT Act, is a shortened acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. According to the Justice Department, the PATRIOT Act gives support to and encourages enhanced sharing of information among various law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. In addition, this law assists law enforcement in their efforts to â€Å"connect the dots† from a wider scope of agencies when assembling evidence so as to â€Å"develop a complete picture† regarding possible threats from terrorists. By enabling more fluid communications between the various agencies, information regarding a particular suspect can be matched up faster, often automatically by computer database, and more accurately identified. This assists in increasing the safety of citizens both by removing dangerous suspects from the general population before they are able to cause serious trouble and by ensuring innocent citizens are cleared and released in a timely and efficient manner if or when mistakes are made. Communications is the focus of the other major element of the act as well. The Act allows law enforcement officials more latitude when attempting to intercept transmissions of suspected terrorist’s discussions via electronic surveillance (Ward, 2002). This is not a blanket license for law enforcement to listen to anyone’s line based upon a simple whim or roll of the dice, but is instead intended to help investigators trace suspicious person’s through their more intimate and therefore

Fashion Channel Essay Example for Free

Fashion Channel Essay Analysis Following Rosewood through this case study we have seen the company come to a crossroads. The company had to redefine itself to stay relevant in an evolving space. Rosewood had a reputation for managing uniquely distinctive properties without widespread corporate brand name awareness. Each individual property enjoyed vast success in particular from repeat guests who mostly stayed at only one of their distinctive properties in their growing portfolio. Now the company is looking to the future and specifically evaluating whether or not to incorporate the Rosewood brand into the name of each hotel. Rosewood’s senior management is engaging several tools to make their decision. Implementing this new strategy could lead to a bright future or spell disaster. Pros and cons of Rosewood moving to a corporate brand What is branding? According to Entrepreneur magazine â€Å"The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.† Creating a corporate brand can come with positive and negatives. Rosewood’s objective will be to leave an imprint that no one else can leave and to create magic moments that their guests will never forget. Such as when the guest goes down memory lane years later after their stay, they will recall the positively outrageous service, the amenities, the food and the atmosphere created by Rosewood. No other hotel will duplicate what they experienced at their properties. Another positive to branding, Rosewood will create standards to measure the overall performance of all their properties. Such as curb appeal, beautiful landscaping, manicured green grass, flowers in season, to beautiful shrubs and trees. Additionally, as the guest arrives the people become part of the standard set, from the doorman, to the desk clerk, to the bellman, to housekeeping, to the engineering team that keeps the building and room temperature comfortable. This is where Rosewood can benefit from differentiation and drive performance. For that reason Jack Welch states in a World Press article, â€Å"Companies win when their managers make a clear and meaningful distinction between top- and bottom-performing businesses and people, when they cultivate the strong and cull the weak†. Some of Rosewood’s property managers, as mentioned in Harvard Business Review:  Rosewood Hotels and Resorts: Branding to increase customer profitability and lifetime value, many had â€Å"mixed feelings† about moving to a corporate brand. When you are measured against other hotels there is only so much room at the top. Naturally, there will some managers that will be asked to â€Å"ship up or ship out†. Thus, the upside is each hotel pushes each other to be the best they can be. Finally, the guest could anticipate what experience they will have at each Rosewood if they moved to a uniform brand. On the other hand, the down side or cons of moving to a uniform brand for Rosewood could be that data gathered from properties could be skewed or demographic information could not apply to all hotels across the brand. According to Phillip Kotler in A Framework for Marketing and Management â€Å"The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and the most prone to error† (p.39). Also, some management after differentiation is established and measured could be dismissed if their hotel is at the bottom. Finally, another con could be that some management and employees are not good team players and are not able to uphold the standards charted by management. Customer Lifetime Value Calculator Using a tool like the Customer Lifetime value calculator can be helpful to Rosewood management as they crunch the numbers. This tool helps management take quantitative information and funnel it down to several outcomes. However, garbage in garbage out must be considered here. The CLTV is only as good as the information provided. If one Rosewood hotel provides flawed information or has not collected the data properly, the assumptions arrived to by the CLTV are not accurate. Perhaps as JWMI 518 W2, L2 states â€Å"The best approach is often to make use of both qualitative and quantitative research†. This approach considers the ever changing market conditions, tangibles and intangibles contained within qualitative and quantitative research. They are both valuable and have their place. Finally, within all the data and assumptions gained from the CLTV, there is one factor not considered. The relationship factor. In order to carry out the legendary service brand Rosewood wants to create, the most critical factor the team should be focused on is building relationships. The data, the CLTV, the amenities and a uniform brand all revolves around the staff building meaningful relationships with the guests. The standardized expectation of  how the guests are served is the most important ingredient and the CLTV does not factor this into the equation. According to INC Magazine, â€Å"The truth is that entrepreneurs too often get caught up in the details of the kinds of products or services they are selling to notice how critical it is to build relationships not just with your customers, but also with your vendors, employees and–gasp–even your competitors. Without strong relationships, it is impossible to have success as a business owner, Recommendation My recommendation is that Rosewood should move to branding their hotels using the Rosewood brand immediately. Without setting standard foundations the guest will not know what to anticipate. Rosewood could use standardized data to help anticipate the needs of the guest before they even asked. Also, creating a uniform brand will help everyone come together as one team. When you are a consummate team player you elevate the performance of everyone around them and then there is no limit to what you can do as a team. When Rosewood has everyone on the same page going in the same direction they can create a wow factor the guest will be telling the world about. To most of the world, getting good service is common versus giving positively outrageous service is uncommon. Having a satisfied customer is common versus taking that satisfied customer exceeding his or her expectations and then taking the service one percent beyond that now Rosewood can create a raving fan that is uncommon. References Entrepreneur Magazine, (2013) http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/branding Harvard Business Publishing, (2007), Rosewood Hotels and Resorts: Branding to increase customer profitability and lifetime value, P. 5 INC. (2013) http://www.inc.com/guides/201101/how-to-build-better-business-relationships.html Kotler, Chapter 3: Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand, P.39 World Press, (2012) http://frrl.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/jack-welch-on-differentiation-or-making-winners-out-of-everyone/

Concrete Stitches In Segmental Prestressed Concrete Bridges

Concrete Stitches In Segmental Prestressed Concrete Bridges The in-situ concrete stitches of a segmental prestressed concrete bridge are locations of potential weakness for the entire bridge deck but relatively little work has been carried out in this area. In the current practice, these in-situ stitches are usually designed to be capable of sustaining considerable sagging moment but only minimal hogging moment. Therefore, failure of these joints is possible under exceptional circumstances when the hogging moment is high, which may potentially trigger a progressive collapse. In the light of this, an extensive experimental study on the structural behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitch under different combinations of parameters has been carried out. Two types of specimens are tested in the study, namely the beam specimens and the shear specimens, which both consist of two precast units joined together by in-situ concrete stitch of variable widths. The beam specimens are internally prestressed and subject to different combinations of bending m oment, shear, and prestressing force; while the shear specimens are either internally or externally prestressed and subject to direct shear only. Shear keys are provided to the stitch of several shear specimens to examine the contribution of the keys to the shear strength. The effects of various parameters on the strength of the stitch and ductility of the specimens are investigated. Detailed coverage on the experimental programme and the results of the experimental analyses are presented in this paper. KEYWORDS Experimental study, joints, prestressed concrete, segmental bridges, in-situ stitches. INTRODUCTION Precast segmental concrete bridges have gained popularity over the past 40 years due to their efficiency in coping with difficult site conditions. One of the most commonly used method of constructing this type of bridges is the balanced cantilever method, which essentially involves sequentially extending precast segments outwards from each pier in a balanced manner. A gap of 100 to 200 mm in width is usually provided around the mid-span location between the last two approaching segments to facilitate erection. In-situ concrete is then cast to stitch the segments together, thus making the bridge deck continuous. Under the current practice, the in-situ concrete stitches are usually designed to be capable of sustaining considerable sagging moment but its hogging moment capacity and shear resistance are only nominal. Failure of these joints can only occur under exceptional scenarios when hogging moment is high. However if it really occurs, this could potentially trigger a progressive collapse mechanism because the concrete stitches are locations of potential weakness. Studies on the joints of segmental bridges have been conducted in the past (Buyukozturk et al., 1990; Hewson, 1992; Zhou et al., 2005; Issa and Abdalla, 2007) but the joints studied are either dry or epoxy joints that exists between precast segments and not the in-situ concrete stitching joint that is of interest. As relatively little research work on this area has been conducted, understanding of the actual behaviour of in-situ stitches is limited. In the light of this, an extensive experimental study has been carried out to investigate the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches. The study mainly involves a series of loading test on specimens that are comprised of precast units connected by in-situ concrete stitches. The stitch is subjected to different combinations of internal forces by applying loading at different locations along the specimen. Various parameters of the specimens are varied to examine their effect on the strength of the in-situ stitch and its failure mode. These parameters include the width of the stitch, the grade of concrete, the prestressing force, the provision of shear keys, the type of tendon (bonded or unbonded) and the type of prestressing (external or internal). Although the experimental programme is still ongoing, based on the analysis of the current experimental results, several preliminary conclusions have been drawn and are presented in this paper. The experimental programme is also covered i n detail in this paper. TESTING PROGRAMME The experimental study involves load testing on two types of specimens, namely (i) the beam specimens, and (ii) the shear specimens. The beam specimens are used to study the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches subjected to different combinations of bending moment and shear, while the shear specimens are used to study the behaviour of the stitches under direct shear. Both the beam and shear specimens consist of two precast units joined together by the in-situ concrete stitches. Control beam specimens have also been fabricated where the entire beam is continuously cast without any stitch along the beam. Typically, the stitch is cast one week after the casting of the precast units. Loading test on the specimens is performed using a testing frame after 28 days from the day of casting of the stitch. Linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) are mounted on the specimens at various locations of interest to measure the displacements at these locations. Configuration of the Beam Specimens The length of the beam specimen is 1400 mm with the in-situ concrete stitch at either the mid-span of the beam or offset from the mid-span depending on the internal force that the stitch is subjected to. An actual beam specimen is illustrated in Figure 1. Three cases of internal force at the stitch are examined, namely (i) pure bending moment, (ii) pure shear, and (iii) both moment and shear. The loading test setup to induce the three cases of internal force condition is illustrated in Figure 2. Tendon (a) Case of pure bending moment (b) Case of pure shear (c) Case of moment and shear The section of the beam has an overall depth of 200 mm and a width of 150 mm. A 7-wire steel strand with a nominal area of 100 mm2 is used as the prestressing tendon. The tendon is placed at a depth of 133 mm for Case (i) and Case (ii), and 100 mm for Case (iii). For all beam specimens, Grade 60 concrete is used for both the precast units and the stitch. No shear key is provided to the stitch. Unbonded tendon with an effective prestressing force of 100 kN is applied to all beam specimens. Since the precast units and the in-situ concrete stitch are cast at different time, construction joints exist in the specimen. Prior to casting the in-situ concrete stitch, the laitance at the construction joint area on the surface of the precast unit is removed and the area is roughened by a needle gun until the aggregates are exposed. The construction joint is then wetted for at least 12 hours before casting by laying towels that are completely saturated with water over the joint area. Configuration of the Shear Specimens The shear specimens consist of two L-shaped precast units with the in-situ concrete stitch joining the two units as illustrated in Figure 3. The out-of-plane dimension of the specimen is 200 mm. The specimens are either made of Grade 60 or Grade 45 concrete and both the precast units and the stitch are made of the same grade of concrete. The stitch is subject to a prestress of either 1 MPa or 5 MPa, and stitch widths of 100 mm and 200 mm are examined. The shear specimens are designed in such a way that they are capable of simulating the shear behaviour of box girders of different web configurations. The web of a box girder may or may not be provided with shear keys and some parts of the web may or may not have prestressing tendon running through. Therefore, the specimens are either internally prestressed by bonded tendon or externally prestressed by a clamping device to provide the prestressing force acting on the stitch, while the stitch is either plain or provided with shear keys. For those specimens with shear keys, either one large key with a depth of 50 mm or two smaller keys with a depth of 30 mm are provided. Examples of an externally prestressed specimen with two shear keys and an internally prestressed specimen without shear key are illustrated in Figures 3(a) and 3(b) respectively. For the case where the specimen is internally prestressed, a 7-wire steel strand is used. Prior to casting of the stitch, light roughening is provided at the construction joint area on the precast units to remove the laitance. Similar to the beam specimens, the joint area is wetted for at least 12 hours before casting the stitch. (a) Stitch with shear keys; externally prestressed (b) Stitch without shear key; internally prestressed Figure 4. Examples of setup for shear specimen RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Beam Specimens The load-displacement relationships of the beam specimens tested are plotted in Figures 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) for the case of the in-situ concrete stitch subjected to pure bending moment (Case (i)), pure shear (Case (ii)), and a combination of moment and shear (Case (iii)), respectively. For the specimens of Cases (b) and (c), only the results of the specimens with 50 mm stitch and 100 mm stitch are available to date. Ductile behaviour is observed for the beam specimens of Case (i). Opening of the construction joints occurs at a load of between 70 kN and 80 kN, while the final mode of failure is concrete crushing in the compression zone at mid-span, as illustrated in Figure 6(a). From Figure 5(a), it is evident that the peak strength of the specimens without stitch (i.e. the control specimen) and those with stitch are approximately the same. The difference in the peak strength between the specimen with a 50 mm stitch and that with a 100 mm stitch is marginal. When the stitch is subject to pure shear, the behaviour of the specimen is brittle. As the peak strength is reached, a large diagonal crack suddenly forms across the stitch (Figure 6(b)) and the strength drops abruptly. It can be seen from Figure 5(b) that regardless of the size of the stitch, the peak strengths of the specimens are nearly the same. (a) Case (i) (b) Case (ii) (c) Case (iii) From Figure 5(c), it is evident that the behaviour of the specimens of Case (c) is ductile. Failure of the specimens is localized at the point of loading where there is significant cracking and crushing of concrete; while at the stitch, slight opening of the construction joint is observed and several diagonal cracks are found propagating from the construction joint towards the point of loading. The condition of the beam at failure is illustrated in Figure 6(c). For the specimen with a 50 mm stitch, the peak strength is approximately 100 kN, while that for the specimen with a 100 mm stitch is approximately 110 kN. The peak strengths of the two specimens are relatively close to each other. The results suggest that the width of the stitch has minimal effect on the strength of the stitch within the maximum width of stitch studied. The ductility of the specimens is also not affected by the width of the stitch but rather by how the specimen is loaded. (a) Case (i) (b) Case (ii) (c) Case (iii) Shear Specimens The load-displacement relationships of the five shear specimens tested are plotted in Figure 7. The shear displacement is the relative vertical displacement between the two precast units. All shear specimens are identified as explained below. Using E-K(M)-100-60-2 as an example, the first field represents the type of prestressing used, with E indicating external prestressing; the second field represents whether the stitch is plain or with shear keys, with K(M) indicating stitch with two shear keys, K(S) indicating stitch with single shear keys, and P indicating plain stitch with no shear key; the third field indicates the width of the stitch in mm; the fourth field indicates the grade of concrete in MPa; and the fifth field indicates the prestress applied to the stitch in MPa. Therefore, a specimen identified as E-K(M)-100-60-2 is composed of Grade 60 concrete with external prestress of 2 MPa applied and two shear keys are provided to the stitch that has a width of 100 mm. The specimens with plain stitch are first discussed. From Figure 7, it can be seen that the behaviour is largely the same for both specimens E-P-100-60-1 and E-P-200-60-1. The peak strengths of the two specimens are between 50 to 60 kN, which once again demonstrates that the width of a plain stitch has little effect on its strength. It is evident that as the prestressing level is increased to 5 MPa (E-P-100-60-5), the peak load-carrying capacity is significantly increased to approximately 220 kN. Therefore, the level of prestressing has marked influence on the load-carrying capacity of the stitch. For specimens with plain stitch, the failure mode is characterized by sudden occurrence of sliding along one or more of the construction joints. Upon failure, the strength of the stitch is mainly contributed by friction from sliding between the surfaces of precast unit and in-situ stitch. As observed from the load-displacement curves, a long smooth plateau is evident in the post peak range for specimens E-P-100-60-1 and E-P-200-60-1, which can be modelled as Coulomb friction. For specimen E-P-100-60-5, the post-peak behaviour as shown in Figure 7 is not as smoothed. Since the prestressing force is substantially higher, the resistance against sliding by the aggregates along the construction joint becomes very large. As the applied load is large enough to overcome that resistance, sudden slippage along the construction joint occurs and the load drops. Subsequently the resistance builds up again and sudden slippage occurs again when the resistance is overcome by the applied load. Therefore the post-peak branch of specimen E-P-100-60-5 has a zig-zag shape. This observation also implies that the roughness of the construction joint should have strong effect on the post-peak strength of plain stitches, which will be examined in due course. Since the post-peak strength of the stitch is mainly contributed by frictional forces, ductility can only be maintained if sufficient pre stressing force is provided. Therefore the presence of adequate prestressing force beyond the peak strength of the stitch is crucial in preventing sudden loss of strength in the stitch. Up to this stage, only two shear specimens with shear keys have been tested. However, the results from the test have already given indication that the behaviour of the stitches with shear keys is quite different from the behaviour of those without shear keys. Upon reaching the peak strength, the stitch of specimen E-K(M)-100-60-1 fails suddenly in a brittle manner by cracking diagonally across the stitch as illustrated in Figure 8 and an abrupt drop in load can be seen in Figure 7. This behaviour is much different from that of the specimens with plain stitches in which the post-peak behaviour is characterized by a long plateau in the load-displacement relationship. This type of stitch has little reserve strength upon reaching the peak load-carrying capacity. No brittle failure is observed for the specimen with one large key and a wider stitch, i.e. specimen E-K(S)-200-60-1. In fact, the specimen was not loaded to failure during the experiment but was stopped at a load of approximately 190 kN because at that load, the prestressing force was increased to a level that had almost reached the capacity of the load cell used to measure the prestressing force. However, at a load of 190 kN, continuous crack had already formed along the construction joint and there was sliding between the precast unit and the stitch along the joint but the stitch still remained intact. From Figure 7, it can be seen that the peak load-carrying capacity of specimens E-K(M)-100-60-2 and E-P-100-60-5 are approximately the same. This observation seems to imply same level of load-carrying capacity can be achieved yet less amount of prestressing can be applied by adding shear keys to the stitch. As aforementioned, there is an increase in prestressing force as load is applied to the specimens with shear keys. This behaviour is caused by dilation in the stitch as the shearing load is applied. Dilation is taken as the displacement between the precast units measured along the horizontal centreline of the stitch. The effect of dilation is much more pronounced for specimens with keyed stitches than those with plain stitches. The relationships between shear displacement and dilation of the various specimens are plotted in Figure 9. For the specimens with plain stitch, dilation is relatively insignificant compared to the dilation in the specimens with keyed stitch. The stress in the tendon can be increased due to dilation. The effect of dilation on tendon stress is rather insignificant for a segmental bridge with unbonded tendon because the strain increase due to dilation will be averaged along the entire length of tendon between end anchorages. However, for segmental bridges prestr essed by bonded tendon, dilation may cause substantial increase in strain at the location of the stitch, which can potentially overstress the tendon. Specimens with stitch prestressed by bonded tendon will be tested in the near future and the effect of dilation on tendon stress will be investigated in due course. CONCLUSIONS Extensive experimental studies have been carried out to investigate the behaviour of in-situ concrete stitches subject to a combination of internal forces and subject to direct shear by conducting a series of loading tests on the beam specimens and shear specimens respectively. Detailed coverage on the setup of the specimens and load testing has been included in this paper. Based on the results of the tests conducted so far, several preliminary conclusions can be drawn: The width of plain in-situ concrete stitch does not appear to have significant effect on the peak-load carrying capacity of the stitch regardless of the combination of internal forces that it is subjected to. The strength of the in-situ concrete stitch is strongly influenced by the level of prestressing applied and the strength of the stitch increases as the level of prestressing increases. For plain in-situ concrete stitches, failure occurs along the construction joint. Strength in the stitch is still present beyond the peak strength and it is mainly contributed by the frictional force from the sliding between the surfaces of precast unit and stitch. By providing shear keys to the concrete stitch, the level of prestressing can be reduced to achieve the same strength as those stitches without key. However, this may result in a brittle failure. For keyed concrete stitches, the amount of dilation is significantly higher than that of plain stitches. For segmental bridges prestressed by bonded tendon, this may have marked effect on the stresses of the tendons. With further testing on the specimens being carried out in the near future, it is expected that more definitive conclusions can be drawn on the behaviour of the in-situ concrete stitches. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study undertaken is supported by Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (RGC Project No. HKU 710207E).