Communicating Anywhere, Anytime with Tablet Computing Essay -- Technol

6.4 The application of artwork in tablet computing The IPad art is created using the Brushes application which is drawn with the finger or a special pen. After that, IPad also released SketchBook Pro application,this application become top ranking artists’ application bar none. Autodesk reports that 10000 download in the first five days. The SketchBook Pro application has more brushes and tool options, and new â€Å"big screen† features or easy tool selection, drawing and editing. This application is draw with finger-controlled brushes or uses the optional Pogo stylus. The features of Brushes are high-quality brushes (with an erase mode), up to 6 layers (768x1024): reorder, merge, and adjust transparency, desktop-class colour picker, eyedropper tool, in-application replay of your paintings, Layer Blend Modes: normal, multiply, screen, overlay, and colour, eyedropper tool, extremely responsive zooming from 50% to 3200%, high resolution export with Brushes Viewer on Mac OS X, import photos to your canvas, generous level of undo and redo, in-app replay of your paintings, upload your paintings directly to Flickr . While the features of Sketchbook Pro are canvas size: 1024x768, two finger pan and zoom navigation with 2500% zoom, three finger tap for controls, three finger swipe gestures for quick access, flood fill and smear tool, draw styles for creating brush settings for each brush, synthetic pressure sensitivity, 75 preset brushes, including pencils pens, marker, natural media and photo brushes, 10 level of undo and redo,6 layers allowing ease of editing and control, import layers from Photo library, export to Photo Library, e-mail images, export as layer PSD file, eye-dropped colour selection, eye-dropper colour selection, eye-drop... ...port. The application of watercolour is named Auryn lnc. This application is pretty real watercolour experience for iPad. The Art Range has some great watercolour options but it may want to check out Auryn Ink. This is due to this application manipulate the precise amount of water on brush and on the paper. Works Cited http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/picture-galleries/7926157/Apple-iPad-art-paintings-created-using-Brushes-ArtStudio-and-Sketchbook-Pro-apps.html http://blogs.computerworld.com/16776/six_reasons_ipad_is_a_productivity_tool http://www.openculture.com/2010/11/david_hockneys_ipad_art_goes_on_display.html http://www.appcraver.com/drawing-apps-ipad-art/ David Hockner (2009) http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-british-painter-hockney-reveals-ipad.html http://todayinart.com/2010/04/16/drawing-on-the-ipad-a-brushes-sketchbook-pro-walkthrough/

Asperger?s Syndrome and Instructional Intervention Essay -- essays res

Asperger’s Syndrome and Instructional Intervention   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disability first identified in 1944 by Dr. Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician. However, since his paper was written in German and published during World War II, his findings were not well known in the United States and in other non-German speaking countries. In 1981, Dr. Lorna Wing, a British researcher, brought AS to the attention of the English-speaking world. In addition to summarizing Asperger’s findings, she also pointed out the similarities between AS and autism, raising the question: Are they the same disorder or two separate ones (Ozonoff, Dawson, & McPartland, 2002)? It was not until 1994 that the American Psychiatric Association included AS as a diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; Myles, 2002). Although some debate exists among researchers, AS is considered part of the autism spectrum (Attwood, 1998). Autism is generally defined as having an impairment of both normal social interactions and communication (Out of the Deep Freeze, 2003). However, individuals with AS are often highly verbal (Gottlieb, 2003). Even though labeled high-functioning autism, AS may cause the greatest disability in adolescence and young adults when it comes to developing social relationships. People with AS desire social interactions, however they lack the appropriate social skills (Barnhill, 2002) and, in turn, have trouble interacting with people (Travis, 2003). They do not have the ability to read social cues and will often display socially and emotionally inappropriate behaviors: lack of empathy, one-sided interactions, pedantic and repetitive speech, and intense absorption in certain subjects (Attwood, 1998). Non-verbal communications skills are also impaired. These may include: limited use of g estures, clumsy body language, limited facial gestures, inappropriate expression, and peculiar, stiff gaze (Attwood, 1998). Additional characteristics of AS include literal thinking, poor problem-solving skills, poor organizational skills, and difficulty in discriminating between relevant and irrelevant stimuli (Myles & Simpson, 2002). Identifying an individual with AS usually does not occur until after the preschool years. The symptoms are not generally recognized ... ....nasponline.org/publications/cq313asperger_ss.html Gottlieb, S. (2003). US study shows 10-fold increase in autism over the past 20 years. British   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Medical Journal, 326, 71. Myles, B. S. (2002). Introduction to the special issue on asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(3), 130-131. Myles, B. S., & Simpson, R. L. (2002). Asperger syndrome: An overview of characteristics. Focus on Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(3), 132-137. Out of the deep freeze. (2003). The Economist, 336, 71. Ozonoff, S., Dawson, G., & McPartland, J. (2002). A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome &   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Functioning Autism. New York: Guilford Press. Safran, S. P., Safran, J. S., & Ellis, K. (2003). Intervention ABCs for children with asperger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  syndrome. Topics in Language Disorders, 23(2), 154-165. Travis, J. (2003). Autism advance. Science News, 163(14), 212-213. Watkins, C. E. (2000). Asperger’s disorder. Retrieve June 12, 2003 from Northern County Psychiatric Association Web site: http://www.baltimorepsych.com/aspergers.htm

Human Nutrition in the Developing Country of Guyana

Topic:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Human Nutrition in the Developing Country of Guyana * Introduction * According to the United Nation and the International Monetary Fund, countries are categorized according to their socio-economic position with respect to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), income per capita, life expectancy and the wellbeing of the natives. These factors are compared to all the countries all over the world. Countries with a low level of material wellbeing are considered developing or underdeveloped. According to the Human Developing Index, approximately 85. % of the world’s population lives in developing countries making this issue of Health and Nutrition in this global community a major and pressing issue. Economically, many of these countries cannot establish stable enough economies due to the history of imperialism and colonization that caused a disruption in the development of these countries. Because of the lack of funds to cultivate the raw materials, t hese countries cannot establish successful and stable systems to produce food to feed their populations or even hospitals to cure many of the diseases and disorders created as a result of malnutrition. For this study, focus will be localized to a village that is located in Guyana, South * America. This is the native country of my parents, and I was fortunate to make several visits to this location, the most recent of which was last summer, so I am familiar with the lifestyle practices of the inhabitants not only from a first hand basis, but also from the inherited practices that were passed down to my family through my parents. * Brief History of Imperialism and Development as a Developing Country Guyana is located on the northern tip of the continent of South America, and the location of this case study is also on the northern tip that referred to as the coastal plain. Guyana recieved its name from the Native Indian tribe called the Amerindians, and it means â€Å"Land of Many wat ers† because of the many rivers and streams that are found in the country. The country is also near to the equator, so it has a tropical climate for most of the year, with only tow seasons, the wet season and the dry season. The former season is usually rainy and occurs between October to May and the latter which is usually dry and hot (temperature ranging from the early 80 degrees to 100 on humid days) from June through September. * Guyana is also below sea level, and like many of the other countries in the region was subjected to colonial expansion, so it changed Imperial governments between the British, Dutch and Spanish for a brief period. The Dutch and English had longer influences, with the English finally securing dominance for the last and longest period in the history of the country. So, due to the many rivers and the fact that that the country is susceptible to flooding, when it was occupied by the Dutch large systems of sluices, dams and sea walls were constructed to prevent excessive flooding, but the rich silt deposits from the river made the coastal plain fertile for agricultural initiatives, so the main produce from Guyana have always been sugar from the cane plants and rice. * The System of Self Sufficiency in Union Village, Guyana, SA: Introduction * Since Union Village is located on the coastal plain of the Corentyne River, the land is also fertile and it is one of the many farming communities along that plain. Some of the villagers have become wealthy rice farmers as they own large plots of rice lands, but the majority of people are self sufficient by planting kitchen gardens to supplement the staple ric e diet with ground provisions, fruits and vegetables. Those villagers also rear livestock of chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats and cows. Some of the rice farmers also rear fish farms. They use the waste from the rice covering/ shell to feed the fish, and their livestock. The milk comes from the cows and goats; eggs come from the chicken and ducks and meat come from all livestock and fish. Since fish is in most abundance and is therefore the cheapest, fish is usually the protein of choice for the diet. * The System of Self Sufficiency in Union Village, Guyana, SA: Environmental Perspective * Environmentally, the living habits of these villagers generate positive carbon footprint because of their waste management and recycling habits, long before the awareness was created at the international level. They were engaged in those activities out of necessity, but it paid off very well for the community and ensured sustainability for them. By planting seasonal crops, they learned to rotate the crops they plant and maintain the fertility of the soil by natural eco-balancing. They also use even the waste produced by the cows, especially as fertilizer, so helped by the rain and sunshine, the land stays lush and green. The dogs eat leftovers from the family meals, so they do not incur additional expenditure of having to buy separate dog food and the livestock eat the waste products of the plants such as the rice and corn. Because a majority of the food in Guyana is produced locally and sold in large market places their carbon footprint is significantly lower than a majority of other countries that rely on outside imports of food. Limiting the importation of food and exportation of goods decreases carbon emissions in transportation like large jets, freight planes and other large automobile s that emit pollution in the air. However, during the 21st century Guyana has begun to follow the growing trend of increasing its involvement in the global community through the exportation of minerals like Gold and Bauxite. In addition to the few food products that Guyana is historically known for since imperialism: sugar and raw materials. * Because Guyana is increasing its involvement in the global community exports as well as few imports have increased due to sanctions from the International Monetary Fund’s involvement in the project of developing small countries like Guyana industrially and economically. As shown in the graphs below, Guyana’s carbon emissions have increased significantly since the 1950’s especially at the turn of the 21st century when the United Nations introduced their initiatives to better developing countries. * Graph 1a. (http://rainforests. mongabay. com/carbon-emissions/guyana. html) * * Graph 1b. (http://rainforests. mongabay. com/carbon-emissions/guyana. html) * * The System of Self Sufficiency in Union Village, Guyana, SA: Socio-Economic * As a result, from the socio-economic perspective, based on their life styles, the villagers eating habits may not b e sufficient enough to ensure proper nutrition because their foods are not imported they have to rely on the fickle patterns of nature in order to yield a good harvest and raise healthy livestock. Guyana’s weather correlates with their socio-economic standing and the problem of malnutrition. * With many floods, monsoon type weather and the rainforest atmosphere, villagers rely heavily on the weather that develops a particularly unbalanced eating regiment. From a social perspective, meats like chicken, cows and other animals are only cooked on special holidays and large festivals while on a regular basis, rice is the main staple for many impoverished families. From rice and pepper to shine rice (rice and butter), these dishes will not suffice nutritionally. In most cases however, village people consume a lot of fresh fruit on a daily basis from their personal yards. While these foods are healthy, fresh and organic, with no addition of chemicals, artificial fertilizers or pesticides, the foods are eaten leisurely and not measured daily to ensure a balanced and accurate amount of nutrition. With the lack of education on how to properly balance their diets with vegetables, proteins and even fruits, they eat leisurely and do not fairly balance their diets per day. While many industrialized and developed countries hold health classes that teach children from a young age to balance a fruit a day and a proper portion control. In actuality, although the foods in Guyana are fresher, the genetically altered or artificial products that are produced by developed countries guarantee a higher yield of foods to be distributed along with added vitamins and proteins that still ensure a sufficient amount of nutrition. Despite these set backs in education on diets, Guyana still produces a variety of foods that can suffice in feeding the people to ensure healthy nutrition (See Graph 3 Below). * Graph 3. (ftp://ftp. fao. org/es/esn/nutrition/ncp/guymap. pdf) * Also, owing to the location from the centralized city, they do not have quick access to quality medical facilities as the nearest medical center is approximately 25 miles from the village and the hospital is almost 40 miles away. As a result, they have non-traditional attitudes towards conventional medic al practices such as screenings, for example, which are considered as routine and expected from an international stand-point. In addition, socially, since they are semi-rural, some of them do have access to technology and amenities such as electricity, radios and even a sprinkling of television, but that is not widespread. Therefore, Internet and computer access or in many cases, even access to a telephone is not widespread. This is a blessing in disguise because economically it saves both the people and the government money and most of all saves the environment from utilization of so much electricity. Even for cooking, they use outdoor brick ovens that are fuelled by dry brushes and wood or coal collected from forest fore remnants. Resulting Issues from the Environmental and Socio-economic Factors * As aforementioned in the introduction of the topic, countries are still categorized according to their socio-economic position with respect to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), income per capita, life expectancy and the wellbeing of the natives. These factors are compared to all the countries all over the world. The wealth of countries are categorized according to their abilities to export and their level of industrialization. * According to the Human Developing Index, approximately 85. % of the world’s population lives in developing countries making this issue of Health and Nutrition in this global community a major and pressing issue. Economically, many of these countries are not capable of establishing stable enough economies due to the history of imperialism and colonization that contributed to their dependency on foreign aid as well as their economic destabilization. Due to the absence of capital to process the raw materials such as bauxite, in the case of Guyana to produce aluminum, dependency is on ALCAN in Canada and Reynolds in the USA to purchase that raw material. The same case is with the excess rice and sugar produced, so the local economic system is incapable of sustaining quality hospitals and health care services that could address disease prevention and cure and even some kinds of malnutrition. * When examined environmentally, in an article in the Health and Wellness Magazine discussing underdeveloped countries, Dr. Majid Ezzati from Harvard School of Public Health points to the lack of clean water and sanitation as the major problem causing the malnutrition. Potable water is a problem in many of the Guyanese communities, as many people still cannot afford indoor plumbing. Furthermore in an article from the Royal Society of Medicine Press on Experimental Biology and Medicine the article deals with the problem of nutrition and infectious disease in these developing countries and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The institute states, â€Å"Infectious diseases are the major causes of death and morbidity in underdeveloped countries, particularly in children† which is caused by malnutrition. * One major effect of malnutrition is an increase in child mortality rate. As seen in the graph below * One Step forward in Industrialization, Two Steps back in Sustainability * Because of the new push towards development, many supermarkets and grocery stores are replacing the marketplace and the tiny food shops in Guyana. As shown in the chart below Guyana’s carbon emissions have increased significantly since the 1950’s. This increase is largely due to the development of supermarkets and the importation of processed goods from United States companies that have specific relations with the Guyanese government. In order to ensure that Guyana returns to its more sustainable systems, the country should create better programs to educate its people on eating well balanced meals to avoid malnutrition with respect to the three major forms of malnutrition in Guyana as recorded by the Food and Agriculture Organization are Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), anemia, and overweight/obesity are the most common nutrition-related disorders. As seen in Graph 4, Guyana produces a large amount of varying foods and products that can adequately resolve its problems of malnutrition. YEAR| Carbon emissions| Per capita emissions| 1950| 71| 0. 17| 1951| 78| 0. 18| 1952| 92| 0. 21| 1953| 123| 0. 27| 1954| 129| 0. 27| 1955| 141| 0. 29| 1956| 150| 0. 3| 1957| 146| 0. 28| 1958| 125| 0. 23| 1959| 151| 0. 27| 1960| 180| 0. 32| 1961| 201| 0. 34| 1962| 185| 0. 31| 1963| 168| 0. 27| 1964| 177| 0. 28| 1965| 294| 0. 46| 1966| 322| 0. 49| 1967| 361| 0. 54| 1968| 363| 0. 53| 1969| 373| 0. 53| 1970| 431| 0. 61| 1971| 409| 0. 57| 1972| 426| 0. 59| 1973| 492| 0. 68| 1974| 424| 0. 58| 1975| 498| 0. 68| 1976| 478| 0. 65| 1977| 518| 0. 7| 978| 561| 0. 75| 1979| 415| 0. 55| 1980| 488| 0. 64| 1981| 491| 0. 65| 1982| 383| 0. 51| 1983| 340| 0. 45| 1984| 383| 0. 51| 1985| 387| 0. 51| 1986| 285| 0. 38| 1987| 357| 0. 48| 1988| 383| 0. 52| 1989| 326| 0. 44| 1990| 311| 0. 42| 1991| 306| 0. 42| 1992| 287| 0. 4| 1993| 288| 0. 39| 1994| 364| 0. 49| 1995| 404| 0. 53| 1996| 417| 0. 54| 1997| 437| 0. 56| 1998| 451| 0. 58| 1999| 450| 0. 58| 2000| 431| 0. 58| 2001| 414| 0. 56| 2002| 422| 0. 56| 2003| 409| 0. 54| 2004| 394| 0. 52| 2005| 407| 0. 54| * Table 1. (http://rainforests. mongabay. om/carbon-emissions/guyana. html) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Graph 4. (ftp://ftp. fao. org/es/esn/nutrition/ncp/guymap. pdf) * * * * * * * * * References: * Colchester. Marcus. (1997). Guyana, fragile frontier : loggers, miners and forest peoples. Kingston, [Jamaica] : Ian Randle Publishers ; New York, NY : Distribution in North America by Monthly Review Press * Currie-McGhee. (c2009). Leanne Protecting ecosystems. Ann Arbor : Cherry Lake Pub. * Grant, Nancy S. (2008) The pocket idiot's guide to your carbon footprint. New York, NY : Alpha Books. U. S. G. P. O. (1990-[2002]. Country reports on economic policy and trade practices : report submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Finance of the U. S. Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Ways and Means of the U. S. House of Representatives by the Department of State in accordance with section 2202 of the Onmibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Washington : U. S. G. P. O. , Congressional Printing Office http://rainforests. mongabay. com/carbon-emissions/guyana. html

Big Foot Research

Cornell Notes Topic: Sasquatch Page _1 & 2_ of _5_. | Lesson 21 Monster Research| Main Idea: Origins of the Sasquatch. Where they are. What they eat. Any predators? | * Notes: Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot, is an ape-like creature said to live in the United States and Canada. Although sightings have been reported in numerous states, most reports come from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Numerous Bigfoot sightings have also been reported in British Columbia, Canada. In Wisconsin, the Lakota Indians call the creature â€Å"Chiye-tanka†, a word meaning â€Å"Big Elder Brother. Sasquatch is described as a large, hairy bipedal hominoid. Many people think that Bigfoot's relatives can be found in different areas of the world under different names, such as the â€Å"Yeti† in Nepal and Tibet. The Sasquatch’s footprints can be twenty-four inches long and up to eight inches wide. People who have reported seeing a Sasquatch, that in addition to resembl ing an ape, it has large eyes and facial structures that bear a resemblance to a male gorilla. The most common color of a Sasquatch's hair is black.However, several colors have been reported such as dark brown, reddish brown, light brown, gray, and in rare instances, white. Most sightings have reported that the hair on Sasquatch is quite wiry and appears to be matted to the creature. Sasquatches are foragers. A few cases to support this statement are that they have been seen washing and eating wild onions in a stream. Crouching over a water hole washing edible grass roots. There were two piles, one washed and the other unwashed. Walking through a forested area stripping spruce buds off the trees and eating the seeds. It would also pull down branches to eat the buds.Head lights of a car caught a Sasquatch eating apples in front of a house. Many trees had the fruit stripped off higher than a human could reach. Stealing corn and turnips from a vegetable garden, chickens and turkeys als o missing. A bedding area was found in an abandoned mine shaft, there were many brussel sprout stalks were found near the entrance. A thousand 16 inch tracks were found, they showed a Sasquatch stripping the bark from trees to look for insects. Two deer hunters witnessed two dark brown Sasquatches 7 to 9 feet tall reaching down under rocks to find insects and worms.Two Sasquatches in a creek turning over rocks and eating something, possibly insects or small fish. A witnessed an animal digging up clams on the shore. They shot at it thinking it was a bear it stood up, screamed and ran away on two legs. Twenty people on two commercial fishing boats approached the shore, a Sasquatch on a mud flat stood up and ran away. They checked the spot where the creature stood and realized it was digging clams. Two adults and one juvenile witnessed digging up hibernating ground squirrels and feeding on them. Scavenging on road kill.Stealing game animals from hunters. Stealing fish from nets. The li st goes on. As you can probably guess they have no predators. | | | Cornell Notes Topic: Sasquatch Page _3 & 4_ of _5_. || Main Idea: Body structure. Sightings. Proof? Any attacks on humans? How long have they been around? | Notes: Over the last two hundred years there have been thousands of reported sightings of Sasquatch and Possibly thousands of unreported sightings as well. Hundreds of footprints have been found and cast all over North America. Wide shoulders and a deep chest.Arms are longer than legs and hang down below the knee. Short thick neck or the appearance of no neck. This is due to the fact that the spine connects to the back of the skull and the Trapezius muscles are more developed. Pointed head, a unique anatomical characteristic of the Gorilla. This is attributed in the adult male to a prominent sagittal crest overlaid with a pad of fibro fatty tissue. This characteristic is less pronounced in females and smaller bodied adult males. Extreme muscularity. Broad, flat face. Jaw that protrudes beyond the nose.This anatomical feature (prognathism) is distinctly ape-like. Prognathism is due to the need for large jaws and teeth for mastication. Brow-ridges, above the eyes is a huge shelf of bone. Hair color is most often described as light brown, dark brown or black. Other colors that have been reported are grey, light, white, silver-tipped, and red to reddish-brown. Hair length is longer on the head, shoulders, and arms, than anywhere else on the body. Hair distribution, body is completely hair covered except for patches of bare black skin on the face, chest, soles of feet, and palms of hands.There have been reported attacks on humans but they cannot be proved. Stories of an ape like creature roaming the forests of North America have been around as long as some of the Native Americans tribes started in certain areas, due to the finding of cave painting of sasquatches. However, the earliest written account was made in 1811. | | | | Cornell Notes Topi c: Sasquatch Page _5_ of _5_. | | Main Idea: Life span. How do they survive in the winter? | * Notes: Based on Bigfoot sightings, researchers believe that Sasquatch does not migrate far distances.They do shift their patterns of movement and can move deeper into forests when they need to. Researchers concluded this by the fact that there are less Bigfoot sightings in the winter. Their life expectancy is right around 50 years. | | | | Summary/Questions: All of this information is very useful and will help me a great deal. All of my questions were answered. I have more than enough information to do a research paper on the Sasquatch. | cryptidz. wikia. com/wiki/Sasquatch www. exploringtheunexplained. com/sasquatch. htm www. bigfootproject. org/articles/eval_sas_photos. html sasquatch. net/

Head Ski Case Essay

1. The best indicators to assess whether Head Ski had the competitive advantage in the ski industry would be to look at profit ratios and compare them to competitors, which will allow us to assess whether Head Ski has above average profits. The best ratios to look at are: return on assets, return on sales as compared to other ski companies that sell high-priced skies, and return on equity, combined with numbers that show how much Head Ski is financed by debt. Looking at net margin as compared to competitors would also be useful. If they have the highest net margin as compared to competitors, than they have the most competitive advantage. 2. Head Ski successfully matched customers demand for high quality metal ski for which consumers were willing to pay premium (as reflected by industry trends), with Head Ski capacity to create differentiation by producing ski with superior features and quality. The skies were sold primarily by experienced specialty retailer in the ski specialty shops, which reflected growing customer preference to buy skies in ski specialty shops. Head ski used differentiation strategy by using strategy focused on superior product quality, and focusing on exceptional service, and prestigious high-quality image. Head Ski created a new metal ski almost 5 years before the introduction of next competitive product, by deploying its superior R&D and creating skies that were radically different in design than anything before. Head skies had unique product features (durable and long lasting, reliable: did not break, and unique performance (turning, tracking, traversing), which were superior to other products and for which customers were willing to pay more, costly to imitate (Head ski introduced several considerable upgrades to the product line over the years and did not hesitate to recall defective product), and organized to be exploited (VRIO). Despite the difficulty of organizing complex ski manufacturing process, Head ski developed many processes from scratch, bettered them, and deployed manufacturing cost efficiencies when possible (laminating press). It implemented effective compensation reward system that consisted ofraises based on seniority, merit reviews and profit sharing plan. As a result, attempts to unionize Head ski plant have been consistently rejected. Quality in service: Head ski was known for exceptional service thorough its ski dealer organizations and regarded them be the most valuable asset. 85% of Head skis were sold through carefully chosen high quality ski specialty shops, where sales staff was highly knowledgeable. Dealers were expected to service Head skies, and for more comprehensive repairs, skies were sent back to the Head ski factory, where skies were repaired under 3 weeks. This level of after-sale service was superior to competition, unique to Head ski, customers valued it, and were willing to pay more for it. It was organized to be exploited but not very costly to imitate, as others could set up similar service (VRO). Shaping perceptions through marketing(Superior to competition): 85% of Head skies were sold through carefully chosen high quality ski shops, with experienced and knowledgeable sales staff, as part of marketing strategy. This strategy helped to shape the perceptions of Head ski being superior in quality and the choice ski for knowledgeable and experienced skiers. This reflected customer needs as ski sales through specialty outlets stores grew faster than through other stores. In addition, Head ski established itself as an important factor in ski racing world, as â€Å"one third of top ten places on all ski racing events were on Head skies), thus adding legitimacy to the product and adding to the value of its brand. Moreover, customers were able to test the product before purchasing it, by renting skies. Ski rental strategy was the most effective way to introduce new customers to the â€Å"ease if Head ski†. This integrated soft-sale approach that relied on word of mouth marketing was unique to Head ski, valuable to the customer, costly to imitate as it required integration of complex relationships, and well organized to be exploited (VRIO). 3. The uniqueness of Head ski has a sustainable competitive advantage can be sustained. Head Ski understands its customers requirements and preferences and creates a unique product that customers value and are willing to pay more for. Sources of Head Ski competitive advantage are sustainable, hard to replicate, and hard and costly to imitate. Head ski had a long history of culture focused on quality and attention to detail that grew out if its entrepreneurial history. It is difficult to imitate such distinctive, integrated strategy that involves â€Å"service, dealer relations, product quality, style, advertising†. Attempts to imitate Head ski strategy would likely fail because of the difficulty of replicating every aspect of the strategy, followed by integrating them in the right way.

Education System Essay

The education system of India is very old. It has started from the ancient times. The Vedas, puranas, ayurveda, yoga represent some forms of education. There are evidences of imparting formal education in ancient India under the Gurukul system. Under the Gurukul system, young boys who were passing through the Brahmacharya stage of life had to stay at the Guru or the teacher’s home and complete their education. Earlier women and people of lower castes didn’t have a right to educate themselves. But Jainism, Buddhism and Sufi movements had some liberating effects. The Britishers can be credited for bringing a revolution in the Indian education system because it is the English language and the reformation movements of the 19th century that had the most liberating effect in pre-independent India. India Education Present Condition  After independence, making education available to all had become a priority for the government. As discrimination on the basis of caste and gender has been a major impediment in the healthy development of the Indian society, they have been made unlawful by the Indian constitution. The 86th constitutional amendment has also made elementary education a fundamental right for the children between the age group- 6 to 14. According to the 2001 census, Total literacy rate – 65.38%. The female literacy rate – 54.16%. Only 59.4% of rural population is literate as against 80.3% urban population according to the 2001 census. Read more: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/education-system-of-india.php#ixzz2KBxKSaq0

Evidence based practice critique and application Dissertation

Evidence based practice critique and application - Dissertation Example The aforementioned article reports the findings of a randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled monotherapy trial which was conducted with the aim of elucidating the efficacy and the safety profile of the pharmacological agent Pregabalin in patients who were suffering from Fibromyalgia (Arnold, et al., 2008). Moreover, as a co-primary objective, this study also aimed at determining the impact of Pregabalin on other parameters and symptoms of fibromyalgia, in addition to pain, in patients in which a significant improvement in pain was found (Arnold, et al., 2008). The study assessed the outcomes of a group of 750 patients suffering from fibromyalgia (as diagnosed using the American College of Rheumatology criteria for fibromyalgia) who were randomly assigned to two different groups, viz. those who received placebo and those who received Pregabalin in three different doses (i.e. 300 mg/dL, 400 mg/dL and 600 mg/dL) twice a day for a cumulative period of 14 weeks (Arnold, et al., 200 8). ... pain score and the PGIC and FIQ scores, amongst patients who received Pregabalin as compared to those who received the placebo (Arnold, et al., 2008). Moreover, all the three tested doses of Pregabalin were found to be efficacious in improving sleep and were not found to be associated with any major adverse affects. Thus, the study concluded that the use of Pregabalin as a monotherapy for the alleviation of the symptoms of fibromyalgia was both safe and efficacious over a dose range of 300-600mg/dL, over a treatment period of upto 14 weeks (Arnold, et al., 2008). Evaluation of study: In the article â€Å"A 14-week, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Monotherapy Trial of Pregabalin in Patients with Fibromyalgia,† the authors have provided sufficient background information regarding the disorder, its prevalence, common manifestations and possible etiological factors, in the introduction section. Moreover, they have also shed light on the mechanism of action of the pr oposed drug to be used in this study, i.e. Pregabalin. However, with regard to the literature review, in my opinion, the authors have conducted an inadequate literature review and have not reported the findings of the relevant studies. They have just cited a single study and have not explored the topic adequately. Moreover, since the study focuses on monotherapy for fibromyalgia, the authors should have shed some light on the available treatment options for this disorder and whether any treatment regimes which propose the use of a combination of multiple drugs exist. They should have also justified their choice of monotherapy and the pharmacologic agent being used and should have discussed whether this option is the drug of choice for