Monday, September 30, 2019

John Nash

Using the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR) John Nash has been given the primary diagnosis of being undifferentiated. Plus abnormalities of the brain structure and function, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations. Nash often has panic attacks, withdrawal from social activities, and loss of attention to personal hygiene and grooming, and the inability to separate real form unreal events. John Nash is classified under Undifferentiated Type because he had a number of symptoms such as delusions, disorganized behavior, disorganized speech, and hallucinations. He believes he is being forced to work for the government to decipher codes. That they inserted a coded chip in order to keep track of him, and if he doesn’t comply with their wishes, they will expose him to the Russians, who in turn will kill him. This interferes with his personal and work life tremendously. He also thought the imaginary person William Parcher, who belonged to the United States Department of Defense, was out to get him. In his mind, William Parcher was black-mailing him to do as he was told, or the US government would have him killed. I also believe that Nash could also be classified with anxiety and depression because after leaving the mental hospital, he wasn’t able to work, wasn’t able to properly take care of his child, or even feel attracted to his wife. Axis II: Schizophrenia Nash would be determined best under Schizotypical Personality. Nash has excessive social anxiety at times, few or no close friends, paranoia and suspiciousness, and odd disorganized speech. Axis III: John had a late onset of symptoms starting at around age 30. His first hallucination was that of a roommate who moved in shortly after he started at Princeton. His Thoughts are delusional and paranoid. He thought no one liked him and he had no close friends or relationships. He thought that every one of his peers where beneath him. He also thought he was a government agent. He thought people where following him, and he would show paranoid behavior by looking out the windows and over his shoulder. Axis IV: John Nash is a 51 year old, Caucasian male. He has a family wife and child,and is exceptionally smart. Nash’s stress can be blamed on his wife not understanding his problem or he felt like she did not believe him. Another is when Nash came home from the mental hospital and was brought into a house with a new child, which would be a big environmental stressor. He did not know how to take care of the child properly. Also, a new job promotion at Princeton University was also a stressor. Axis V— between 31 and 40 On the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, I believe Nash is in between 31 and 40. John Nash had disorganized speech and disorganized thoughts. John Nash is extremely intelligent has no learning disorder and also had a strange fixation with mathematics. Treatment: Some medication individual psychotherapy so that the Nash can get regularly talked to, focuses on current and past events or problems, experiences, thoughts and feelings. Cognitive-Behavioral Conclusion: John Nash will probably never be completely cured of his mental disorders but the treatment plan that I recommended for him should make him suitable to certain thing so that he can fit into a normal society.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Letter Format

This letter illustrates the use of the full-block style. Because of the efficiency with which this letter can be keyboarded, its use is growing in popularity. (blank line between paragraphs)Some persons object to this letter style because everything is at the left margin; they believe that the date and closing lines should be centered or started at the center of the page. Others would like to indent the first line of each paragraph. 80th variations are acceptable; the letter style is known as modified block style. Notice that the â€Å"open† style of punctuation is used in this letter; there are no marks of punctuation after the salutation (greeting) or complimentary close.However, it is acceptable, regardless of the letter style, to use â€Å"mixed† punctuation, which requires a colon (:) after the salutation and a comma after the complimentary close. Finally, notice how your title is shown after your name on the first line of the inside address. However, my title is o n the next line in the closing. We try to equalize the line length by doing so. A comma is required if you place the title on the same line as the person's name. (blank line before complimentary close) Sincerely (three blank lines before typed signature)

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Political Science - Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Science - Global Warming - Essay Example The most prevalent of these gases is carbon dioxide. There has always been a natural layer of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, but the present augmentation is widely held to be the result of human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and environmental alterations, especially deforestation. The burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas – is mainly done in industrial processes, in energy production, and also in transport. Because fossil fuel consumption is much greater in industrialized and more economically developed countries, North America, Europe and Asia are responsible for over 90% of global fossil fuel output. Deforestation, meanwhile, is most serious in South America, and especially in the Amazon basis. Furthermore, if current trends continue, fossil fuel consumption will continue to increase, especially as countries with large populations, such as India and China with a combined population of over 2 billion, rapidly indust rialize. All of this is causing the temperature of the Earth to increase at a much faster rate than is usual, and perhaps at a rate faster than it has been for thousands of years. The increasing blanket of greenhouse gases traps heat from solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, and as the temperature within becomes higher, water stored as ice in glaciers or the ice caps is melting, causing sea levels to rise.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Answer the questions 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer the questions 6 - Essay Example Some sentences do not adhere to the correct use of phrases such as â€Å"beyond a shadow of doubt â€Å" is a clichà © and should be, â€Å"beyond any shadow of doubt.† In this same paragraph there is misuse of the word impersonal. Following your request for suggestions on how to improve customer relations, I wish to submit some ideas. I am of the opinion that we can enhance customer satisfaction easily by making a change in our counters. Last December, glass barriers were installed in our branch separating tellers from customers. These barriers have air vents that allow tellers like to communicate freely with our customers. Management thought that since these barriers are bulletproof; they would help in stopping thieves from gaining easy access to the tellers’ cubicles. However, there were customers who were not pleased by these glass partitions especially since communicating with them became extremely difficult. This is because both the customer and teller had to raise their voices for them to be heard. It becomes even more inconveniencing when dealing with elderly people or someone from another country. This makes the customers think they are being treated in an inhospitable manner. After some careful research from other banks, I realized we are the only bank in town using such barriers. Most of the other banks are trying causal kiosks and open counters to make their customers feel at

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Assignment (most current IT threats) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignment (most current IT threats) - Essay Example Trojan.Premele infects a computer system by presenting itself as a fake Adobe Flash update (Symantec, 2013). When a user allows the software to be downloaded and installed, it is executed to form a new executable file. The software also creates a new registry entry that makes the file to be executed every time Windows starts. The program further modifies a number of registries. When the computer is connected to the Internet, the malware connects to some remote locations and may install other malware into the infected system. The malware that is installed by Trojan.Premele way cause further harm to the computer system and expose it to even more malicious software. Trojan.Premele can be detected by antivirus or antimalware software installed in a computer (Symantec, 2013). It can also be detected by the changes that it makes to registries and the new registries that it creates. It can also be detected by the computers that it connects to remotely. The malware can be avoided by installing a firewall or/and antivirus that is up-to-date. The use of complex passwords on computers also lowers the risk of infection by the

Kola King Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kola King Advertising - Essay Example This will help us get in touch with a wide variety of consumers, specifically the kids and young adults. Summer is a great time to enjoy the outdoors, spend time with the family, and enjoy cool, refreshing drinks. So why not enjoy the summer with us? With a dedicated team of trained professionals, the campaign will kick off on the first of June. All team members will be wearing T-shirts and caps featuring the unique King Kola logo and design. There will be numerous stalls and tables strategically designated around the metro area handing out King Kola brochures and pamphlets detailing product info and company history. There will be skilled team members at each place ready to answer consumer questions and concerns. One main location will be picked to hold regular weekend BBQ’s where people and families from all over will be able to enjoy the summer fun and get a taste of our new product, King Kola. Staff will be available handing out free samples of the product along with short surveys to gather consumer opinions and feedback. A local celebrity or spokesperson will be sponsored for the campaign and be fully trained about the product and its uniqueness. The celebrity will be present at the summer BBQ’s and share in with the consumers’ experience.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Society gender differences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Society gender differences - Essay Example The present research paper concentrates on the works of Richard Rodriguez and Malcolm X in a comparative way in order to find out similarities and dissimilarities they present in their valuable writings. The works reveal the very fact that both the writers have depicted their views on the significance of education and learning in the life of individuals. Both the authors belong to divergent racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds with absolutely different parentage and socioeconomic status. In addition, both the writers, under study, had experienced quite different socialization process, atmosphere and environment during their learning process. Even then, the most dominant of the similarities between the two include their passion and eagerness regarding quench their thirst for knowledge and wisdom by studying more and more and seeking new dimensions of awareness, vigilance and insight from the books offering depth of knowledge and wisdom to them. Both Rodriguez and Malcolm X have identified the existence of racial discrimination in their society, where the population as well as ethnic group, other than the White Anglo Saxon Population (WASP), is looked down upon by the overwhelming white US majority. Richard Rodriguez, in his essay the Achievement of Desire exclaims how his Spanish background had become a grave hurdle on his way to learning and seeking knowledge offered at American schools in English language. Similarly, Malcolm X also views education as the way of broadening one's views and eliminating racial prejudice and biased attitude towards other groups and communities of societies, though he also looks annoyed and irritated because of the hatred of the white people towards the minority races, particularly towards the blacks.Human societies, in all parts of the globe, have been divergent since ever; this diversification is on the foundation of caste, class, clan, community, region, religion, race, gender and socioecon omic status. Though all the above-given bases of differentiation polarize the societies into different groups, yet racial background and socioeconomic status play the most influential role in unraveling the individuals from one another. Hence, all man's belongings, schooling, education, financial activities and life-style determines to which class he has come from. An individual can facilitate himself and his family on the foundation of his resources. If he is well-to-do and earns money in plenty, he can offer his family a comfortable and luxurious life. On the other hand, if he has to work hard to make both ends meet, his family will also sure to suffer and is forced to lead a miserable and sorrowful life. Both Rodriguez and Malcolm X discuss the problem of social discrimination in their works; Jonathan Kozol's "Savage Inequalities" also portrays the same while keeping special attention towards school children belonging to different socioeconomic status.Jonathan Kozol is a renowned American writer, researcher, educationalist and reformer. In his award-winner book "Savage Inequalities", he has described the pathetic condition of innocent school children at the school

Monday, September 23, 2019

The emergence, opportunities and importance of mobile e-commerce using Essay

The emergence, opportunities and importance of mobile e-commerce using smartphone - Essay Example Businesses have the opportunity to grow big since they are having tremendous amounts of sales just through these smart phones. Taking Amazon for instance, it has been noticed that people all over the world has made â€Å"transactions worth $ 1 Billion through smart phone in the last 12 months† (Johnston, 2010). â€Å"A mobile e-commerce report was released in which it was shown that online shopping has tripled between 2008 and 2009† (Johnston, 2010). In addition, they predicted that there will be a quicker increase in 2010 (Jackie, 2010). It is important for business who does not accept online payments to get themselves online and get mobile compatible to accept mobile orders so that they can take the advantage of increased sales. As mobile usage is continuing to grow and is gaining popularity across the globe, so it is predicted that international E-commerce will also expand as a result. Not only businesses and companies can take advantage of mobile ecommerce, but it i s growing important among the farmers as well. If their tractor breaks down in the middle of the field, so they can always order the other part through mobile, which saves a lot of their time and money. However, some risks involved are that one cannot completely depend on this, as there can be viruses, which can stop the whole business. In addition, it is difficult for some people to view the entire page, as the screen of the smart phone is so small.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Task 1 and Task 2one is essay and one is repport choose The - 1

Task 1 and Task 2one is and one is repport choose The Philippines currency - Essay Example This causes the domestic currency to appreciate. In addition, under this regime, an increase in international real interest rates increases domestic output, decreases exchange rates and domestic price level on condition that money demand is more elastic to changes in the real income than the real interest rates. An increase in domestic money supply causes a proportional increase in the price levels. In this model, the income of a consumer is assumed to be exogenous. The consumer is also assumed to be living in both the present and future periods. The consumer can also borrow and lend regardless of the prevailing world interests rates. The model also assumes that there is no investment made and the current and future government expenditure (G and G’ respectively) is exogenous. A Current Account Surplus implies that a particular country saves more than it invests. It is reflected by an excess of domestic savings over domestic investments and an increase in a country’s net foreign assets evidenced by positive sales abroad. The model suggests a positive relationship between the current account surplus and the current income. As the current income increases, the current account surplus also rises due to an increase in current consumption and government expenditure. The current account surplus experiences an inverse relationship with anticipated future income. As the fu ture income is expected to rise, the current account surplus is expected to reduce as a result of reduction in savings. When the current account surplus is zero, the country’s savings equals the investments. Capital controls refer to prohibitions enforced by the government or Central Bank of a country to restrict the flow of foreign capital in the domestic economy. Capital controls could be exchange controls, taxes, legislation, volume restrictions and reduction in foreign remittances which reduce foreign trade. Capital

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Science Essay Essay Example for Free

Science Essay Essay Science to me is everything that surrounds us. Its to discover information about this world we live in, study this information, and use it however we will; a process that has started long, long ago, and will continue in generations to come. Everything in our world that we use somehow or someway was made by science. It started with discovering something new; then study what it can be capable of. See where this new founded information can be fit into use. Science was used to create something new. In this day and age science has taken us to an entirely new place. From better batteries, to faster computers, to better gas mileage, there has just been a huge breakthrough in science. It is both chemistry and physics. In science of chemistry there is discovering elements and using these elements in chemical bonding. For physics, there are already discovered laws, and properties; such discoveries as gravity, motion, force, speed, velocity, acceleration, etc. Science even branches off as far as the universe and its discoveries. Whether the discovery is 200 years old, 100 years old or present, its science nonetheless. Science is all around us, from the laptops we use to the cars we drive, something had to be discovered and study for us to able to use either. Maybe it was chemical combustion to get the energy from oil so our cars can move, or even some physics to help us understand how much energy we can save if we make something for aerodynamic. Science is to discover information about our natural world, and even about space, to help us understand our existence.Science has helped to improve the lives of people around the world. Today, science has improved human health and medicine to help people live longer, and help people live with diseases people had little hope of living with a few decades ago, such as AIDS. While our scientific advances continue, ethical questions arise about how science should advance, such as stem cell research. Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, and Michael Bishop, who wrote the article Enemies of Promise, have different views about how scientific knowledge affects humanity. Mary Shelley was born the daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and political theorist William Godwin. While on vacation with her husband, she began to write the novel Frankenstein, about a scientist who created life. The scientists name was Victor Frankenstein. In a selection from the novel, Frankenstein says The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with  loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion (232). Frankenstein is disgusted because he must go to a slaughter-house to get parts for his creation. Frankensteins disgust shows how horrible and demoralizing his scientific endeavors are, and he continues his experiment despite the negative affect his experiment has on his health. He realizes the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections, and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasure in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind (233). Frankenstein worked so hard to give life to his creation he thought of nothing else, and he was living his whole life to accomplish one goal. He realizes how much time he has been spending on his experiment and the effect his work is having on him, so he believes humans do not have the ability to deal with work in this manner. Therefore, scientific experimentation is not worth the negative effects the experiments have on the human mind. Eventually, Frankenstein accomplishes his goal, but his creation does not turn out like he expected. After giving his creation life, Frankenstein is horrified and leaves his home. Frankenstein concludes Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to be greater than his nature will allow (231). Frankenstein wanted to have the knowledge to create life, and when he final had the knowledge to create life, he did. After he created life, he was miserable. Therefore, humans cannot be God and create life because their nature will not allow them to be like God, and those who try to create life will be miserable, unlike those who do not seek dangerous knowledge. Michael Bishop is a professor of microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco. In his article Enemies of Promise he warns about the misconceptions people may have about scientific advances. Bishop states science has sounded the alarm about acid rain and its principal origins in automobile emissions, but our society has not found the political will top bridle the internal combustion engine (239). Science has helped to improve the quality of life of people by discovering the cause of acid rain is from car emissions, and the reduction of acid rain could result  from better emission standards. Science is not to blame for helping to create the internal combustion engine, but the lack of government funding to find other means to propel automobiles should be blamed. Bishop says Resistance to science is born of fear. Fear, in turn is bred by ignorance. And it is ignorance that is our deepest malady (241). People fear science because they do not understand how science works, and the purpose of science is to better mankind, not to recombine DNA to create a deadly virus, or mutations. If people are educated, then they will have a better understanding of science, and will no longer fear science. Once all people understand science, and no longer fear science, mankind can move towards new goals, and improve the lives of all people. When scientists perform experiments, the scientists are trying to solve the mystery of something they do not understand, such as stem cells. Bishop believes scientists take things apart in order to understand the whole, to solve the mystery an enterprise that we regard as one of the great ennobling tasks of humankind (238). Scientists experiment to better understand the world around them, and all the things in the world, as well as the relationships between different parts of the world. Scientists do not take things apart just because they can, but scientists have a purpose for their actions. The experiments to understand the world around us, Bishop believes to be a noble task for mankind, and with scientific discoveries, our lives can be improved. Comparing the claims of both Mary Shelley and Michael Bishop, I find Bishops claims that science is good for mankind, to be more persuasive than Mary Shelleys warning about the limitations of man and science. Bishop states Science has produced the vaccines required to control many childhood infections in the United States, but our nation has failed to deploy properly those vaccines (239). If mankind did not have the benefit of scientific knowledge, there would be no vaccine for illnesses such as small pox, or life threatening diseases. Humans have the ability to produce large amounts of vaccines beneficial to children in our country and other countries around the world. Science cannot pay for, and distribute vaccines for diseases throughout the world, but science is blamed because people in  our world still suffer from curable diseases. Also, Bishop states that resistance to science is born of fear, which is the result of ignorance. When the University of California, San Francisco wanted to perform biomedical research in a residential area, which they have not been allowed to do, Bishop noted that another [agitated citizen] declared on television her outrage that those people are bringing DNA into my neighborhood (241). The person who stated that the University was bringing DNA into their neighborhood does not understand what DNA is. By making the statement about bringing DNA in their neighborhood, the person is opposing having DNA in her neighborhood compared to the Universitys encroachment into their neighborhood. If the person who made the statement were simply opposed to the possibility of increased traffic in the neighborhood, then the person would have made that statement on television. The person made the statement about DNA instead, showing that they fear DNA because they do not want DNA in their neighborhood. Therefore, the opposition this person has to science stems from their misunderstanding of DNA. Bishop points out a possible reason for people not understanding science caused by a lack of education. Bishop states In a recent international testing, U.S. high school students finished ninth in physics among the top twelve nations, eleventh in chemistry, and dead last in biology (241). If science is not learned by pupils in school, then the pupils will not understand science. Judging from the international testing, students in our country do not have an understanding of science, and the lack of understanding will breed ignorance, and will result in fear and resistance. Therefore, some people fear science because they were not properly educated when they were students and they do not understand how science can improve mankind as a whole. Bishop states The price of science seems large, but to reject science is to deny the future (242). Although science may not always give people one solid choice, and scientific endeavors may have ethical problems, we need to work out those ethical and moral dilemmas. Science will not go away, but will continue to explore the world around us. Science cannot be rejected because science will help to improve the quality of life, and rejecting science would result in the rejection of the improvement in quality of life. Other  evidence Bishop should have examined was the overall decrease in respect for institutions by the public. Alan H. McGowan is a program director for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology, as well as the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). McGowan states although there seems to have been a decrease in the respect the public has for scientists, this is part of a general trend of decreasing trust in institutions of all kinds. While Bishop has stated that people have been attacking science, Bishop does not compare how much science is being attacked compared to other institutions, such as the press. If all other institutions are being attacked more fervently than science, then science is not in as bad a shape as Bishop believes science to be. Therefore, unless science is being attacked as much as every other institution, science is still be viewed by the public with more respect compared to the other institutions. While Mary Shelleys Frankenstein show the problems with mans thirst for knowledge, Michael Bishop puts science in a positive light, showing how science has help mankind. I believe Bishops claims about science to be more persuasive, and the positive effects of science to be well worth the effort of scientists. Although Bishops claims could have been improved with some more evidence about the publics view of science, science will continue to improve our lives.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Factors for the Development of Trigger Points

Factors for the Development of Trigger Points Introduction The primary mean of locomotion which enables human and other animals to move on their foot is running. There are some regular points the gait cycle during which both the feet are not on the ground in running. Running has aflightphase during which neither limb is in ground contact. Running gait can be divided into two phases in context to the lower extremity which is  absorption, propulsion, initial swing and terminal swing. As per electromyographic data suggests: as speed increases, ilio-psoas, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, hamstring and rectus femoris all developed larger peak forces throughout the stride cycle. The peak force exerted by gastrocnemius increases as speed increased from 3.5 to 7m/sec but showed no significant changes thereafter. The peak force exerted by soleus also increased from 3.5 to7m/sec, but furthermore t decreases till 9m/sec. soleus, gastrocnemius and vastus provides approximately 75% of the total vertical support impulse needs to accelerate where soleus alone contributes 50% of all. The vertical ground reaction force increases for speeds up to 7 m/sec is almost entirely of soleus whereas vastus to the vertical ground reaction force does not affect with increase in running speed. The rate of ankle plantar flexors shortening increases with the running speed and solus and gastrocnemius contracts at37% and 23% of their maximum shortening velocities respectively.as a result, onl y 30 and 40% of their peak potentially developed by soleus and gastrocnemius respectively during sprinting.inspite of producing significant and large amount of forces whetreas they did not contribute in knee-hip joint accelerations during swing phase. if we compare sprinters with non sprinters;the previous one has greater thickness with longer fascicles of their gastrocnemius and vastus lateralis muscles on ultrasound imaging,than later one.(abe et al.,2001) The plantar flexion moment arms were 25% smaller of sprinters than those of non-sprinters and this difference was highly significant. garth and miller examined 17 athletes who presented for treatment of incapacitating pain and soreness located posteromedially along the middle two thirds of the Symptoms were aggravated by repetitive wt.bearing which was referred to as shin splints. Due to excessively pronation caused by hyper mobile midfoot flexible pes valgus, muscular imbalance etc, the flexor digitorumlongus and flexor hallucislongus can become overloaded and vulnerable to develop trigger points in these muscles. The lateral compartment syndrome is likely to develop in runners with excessive pronation and abnormally mobile subtalar joints can also be overloaded in high arched supinated foot with triceps surae weakness as well as can be suggestive of peroneus longus and brevis trigger points. Myofascial trigger points:-Travell and Simons defined it as a hyperirritable contraction knot usually present within muscles or its fascia which produces pain on compression and can give rise to specific referred pain ,motor dysfunction ,and autonomic phenomena in a specified referred zone which rarely coincides entirely with dermatomal segment. Trigger points are manually palpated with following characteristics including local twitch response, jump in sign, referred pain zones and autonomic phenomenal changes. As suggested by Travell and simons in 1999 in their trigger point manual book,the etiology of trigger points involves all three factors that includes biomechanical,CNS,and local myofascial tissues. As per microscopic and biopsy studies, which has been done of local myofascial tissue where there is presence of trigger points revealed and explained these contraction knots as round,large and,darkly staining fibers.presence of these knots causes significant increases in average diameter of muscles. spontaneous electrical activity (SEA) in TrPs have also seen and studied through electromyographic studies while adjacent muscle tissues were electrically silent which suggested and implicated neuromuscular junction and motor end plates interchangeable, nevertheless the motor end plates describes structure and the neuromuscular junction reflects function. Gunn and Milbrandt in 1977 was first explicated and find correlation between motor end plates and trigger points also known as myalgic spots . As stated by Travell and Simons in context to motor end plate dysfunction that due to  excessively release of Ach from presynaptic nerve terminal leads to rapid activation of the  nicotinic Ach receptors on the post synaptic terminal which results in muscle action potential and muscle contraction. Since this hypothesis of travell and simons was one way to interpret EMG results but EMG for post synaptic fibers ,there is increase in SEA in trigger points that could be a characteristics to the result of presynaptic,synaptic or post synaptic dysfunction and can be inherited or acquired. As a general rule, factors for the development of trigger points includes muscle overuse or direct/ indirect trauma which may be the results of sustained low level or repetitive muscle contractions,eccentric/concentric,submaximal/maximal muscle contractions. Although muscular damage is not necessary all the time for development of trigger points there may be injuries at the microlevel which includes damage of cell membrane ,sarcoplasmic reticulum with release of high amounts of ca2+ ions,and disruption of proteins like desmin,titin or dystrophin. Mechanical muscle contractions exceeding respective muscles capacity is defined as overuse.as we know that arterial capillary beds blood pressures approx 35mm hg at the beginning and venous capillary beds pressure at the end is 15mm Hg which used to be obstructed during muscle contractions and recovers with relaxation;known as muscular pump. However,Muscular metabolism is maintained by oxygen and glucose which faces crisis during sustained muscle contractions.Even contractions performed at only 10 % and 25 % of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) may alter and produce impairment in blood circulation of muscles, As per Otten ;pain and trigger points may be developed by increased or alterations in the pressure gradients during low level exertions(personal communications 2005). During submaximal concentric contractions, ATP is utilized for 4-6 seconds initially from muscle’s storage and subsequentally it shifts to direct phosphorylation of ADP through creatinine phosphate. Stored ATP and CP provides enough energy and power for approx 14-16 sec but thereafter physiologically a short span of rest is needed to replenish the exhausted reserves of intracellular ATP and CP. As a general rule if ATP demands are within the capacity of the aerobic pathway muscles  can continue its activities for hours but as demand exceeds;anaerobic glycolysis will start contributing of the total generated ATP. This further leads to crisis of ATP and sustained sarcomere contractions starts the progression of trigger points. The Eccentric contractions are commonly used to control the rate of movement in our body. although there is no solid correlations between eccentric loading and development of trigger points. Itoh et al found in their study in which middle finger extensor muscle was being eccentrically loaded. After 3 sets of exercise ,one day and two days after exercises ,findings were similar encapsulating tender taut bands which were painful on compression;suggests that eccentric  loading may be correlated with development of trigger points. There are biopsy studies also who confirms and suggest the role of eccentric contractions in disruption of cytoskeletal structures especially desmin , and titin (largest in our body);a protein which interconnects the adjacent myofibrils and connects myosin filaments to the z-bands with a linkage to actin filaments ;respectively. Prolonged ecentric exercises enlarge the muscle fibers microscopically and all these enlarged fibers are exclusively fast glycolytic type(typeII) which considered as highly fatiguable and unable to regenerate ATP in early exercise period It results a high stiffness state of fibers which on stretch disrupts leading to cytoskeletal and myofibrillar damage. Apart from this in eccentric exercised muscles there is increase concentration of calcium due to sarcoplasmic reticulum disruption that keep actin and myosin molecules together an activates several mechanisms which may further damage cell membrane and cytoskeletal disruption and again the same results that is development of trigger points. Jump in sign is an response to pressure applied on a trigger point which may leads to wincing, crying, or withdrawing by patients. Local twitch response is a fleeting response or contraction of tense muscle fibers or group that traverse a trigger point on response to stimulation via snapping palpation or needling of trigger point or its surrounding area. Referred autonomic phenomena: vasoconstriction (blanching), coldness sweating, pilomotor response, ptosis, and/or, hyper secretion that occur in a same region or area where trigger points refers pain and its sensations. Referred pain zones: an area of pain which is entirely remote from its source. Generally  in case of trigger points ,specifically activated and central trigger points and sporadically  infrequently,conjoin entirely with the peripheral nerve distribution or dermatomal segments. The lower extremity functional scale (LEFS) is a functional status questionnaire that aims to investigate the degree of difficulty a patient experiences in performing everyday tasks, due to disorders of his/her lower extremity.The LEFS consists of twenty items, each of which is scored on a 5-point scale (0 to 4) (appendix 1). Beck depression inventory-ii is a depression measurement scale or an instrument to measure the emotional, motivational,somatic and cognitive symptoms observed in patients.this scale consist of 21 questions which is symptom related to quantify degree of depression in subjects usually it covers adolescents and adults and given in appendix 2. VAS is a psychometric response scale and a measurement instrument for subjective characteristics or attitudes that cannot be directly measured. Respondents specify their  level of agreement to a statement by indicating a position along a continuous line between  two end-points. Pressure algometer is force gauze with a rubber disk of 1 cm surface which is very helpful in clinical setup for diagnosing trigger points ,fibrositis,myalgic spots as well as it helps in quantification of pressure pain threshold and Pressure pain threshold for measurement of  normal and abnormal surfaces are given in appendix 3.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

George F. Handel Essay -- essays research papers

The Artistry of G.F.Handel (1685-1759) First Part Halle - Hamburg - Rome 1690-1712 It's hard today to speak about Handel's life and works without mentioning the similarities between him and Bach; first of all they were born in the same year:1685, even if it's not a case than the most geniuses of the late baroque era (Couperin, Telemann Scarlatti ) would have almost been all co-aged.Neverhless unlike Bach, Handel immortalised the name of a family of cheesemakers or of the Prince of Saxony's barber/surgeon -his father. And really it was under the influence and the strong expectations of the latter that like many other aspirants gentlemen, the young Haendel enrolled the university of Halle as a law student. But after his father death he decided not to pursue the legal career and began instead to perfection those skills as a musician which some three years of lessons taken in his hometown from the reknown organ player Wilhelm Zachau had awakened in him When in 1703 Haendel eventually left Halle and went to Hamburg as a violino in ripeno (an ordinary violin player in an orchestra) his bad talent as a lawyer and good skills as an artist, both characterizing every sudden and proverbial decision taken by him in the future were both proved. At those times Hamburg, the mercantile capital city of Northern Germany, was well known also for its Gansenmarkt Thater (literally: 'Theatre at the goose market'), which workers were yet trying to create the millenary dream in advance of Goethe by combining Italian creativity with German methodology. And what better even if "oleographic" example can be brought to this aim if not the librettos of the operas represented at the Gansenmarkt Theater between 1700 and 1720 ehich appear to be written in German with the execption of the Italian "belcanto" arias. A Ture master in this mixed and eclectic genre, neglecting the lutheran poetry (preferred by Bach) in favour of the Italian an Viennese writers (Zeno, Pariati, Pasquini etc.) was Reinhard Keiser who, naturally, claimed to be the master to all the new-comers, including Haendel who far from accepting this rule, successfully sought the friendship and maecenatism by Gian Gastone de Medici (1671- 1737) , son of the Gran d Duke of Tuscany: Cosimo III. And in what it seems it was in this environment that The young Haendel met Johann Mattheson, the most reknow... ...ovanni" (represented only in Prague in 1787) could only be hosted by the Dublin Catholic Theatre and never saw the glories of the Covent Garden where at those times the Neapolitan composer Niccolò Porpora, together with his pupil Roberto Farinelli had come to triumph and to outhshine Haendel himself. If the Same Farinelli is said to have taken the party of Haendel during one of the not infrequent "Querelles" made by the supporters of Theatre of nobility against modern impresarios, Haendel accused to have conspired against the king together with the so called Jacobites didn't take much success anymore and in 1745 the representation of the beautiful opera Hercules had to be cancelled from tghe program of the Kings Theatre. So outshined by history the Master died in 1759 of the same blindness which had affected Bach after having arranged the last representation of the Messiah and having composed other oratorios such as: Judas Maccabeus (1742), Alexander Balus (1748), Susanna (1749), Theodora (1750), Jephta (1752) . It's not a case then if the latter appear to be a quotation of the most famous Italian Oratorio ever Written Jephte (1749) by Giacomo Carissimi

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Cloning :: essays research papers

Human embryo cloning should not be done because of the religious, moral, ethical, and social concerns that it places upon the human race. Although there may be some positive affects to cloning humans, there are far too many opposing factors in this situation. Many religious leaders of expressed their concern and condemnation of human cloning. The moral and ethical aspects outweigh any scientific evidence, and the social concerns are frightening. The most important question that needs to be asked, is whether the gains out weigh the losses--the gains being scientific research and the losses being the religious, moral, ethical, and social concerns that it poses on today’s society. A clone, as defined in â€Å"The Human Genome Project,† is; 1. a population of genetically identical unicellular organisms or viruses arising from successive replications of a single ancestral unicellular organism or virus. 2. a recombinant clone. 3. the fragment of foreign DNA contained in each member of a recombinant clone. 4. a population of identical cells arising from the culture of a single cell of a certain type, such as a human fibroblast or a rodent-human hybrid cell containing a full set of rodent chromosomes and a single human chromosome. Human embryo cloning starts with a standard in vitro fertilization procedure. Sperm and an egg cell are mixed together on a glass dish. After conception, the zygote (fertilized egg) is allowed to develop into a blastula (a hollow mass of cells). The zygote divides first into two cells, then four, then eight... A chemical is added to the dish to remove the â€Å"zona pellucida† covering; this material provides nutrients to the cells to promote cell division. With the covering removed, the blastula is divided into individual cells which are deposited on individual dishes. They are then coated with an artificial zona pellucida and allowed to divide and develop. That is how a human embryo clone is made using the â€Å"twinni ng method.† Some scientists believe that human embryo cloning and related research can have some positive results, however, many religious leaders feel that cloning and related research should not be permitted. Religion and science have been involved in an ongoing battle over many subjects in the past, but human embryo cloning has caused the biggest debate thus far. Many religious philosophies teach that human life is unique and special and should be created, determined and controlled only by their deities.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Julius Caesar :: essays research papers fc

Julius Caesar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Themes play an integral role in the play Julius Caesar. The actions and the way that the characters express themselves define the themes in the play. The play is not comprised of one or two themes, but rather made up of an innumerable amount of them. A major theme in the play is fate. Fate is found from the smallest instance such as a dream to the prediction from a soothsayer. Another theme that is prevalent in the play is betrayal. Julius Caesar is betrayed along with many other people. Love is another theme that appears many times throughout the play. The love that is demonstrated in this play ranges from love between a husband and wife to the love for a country. Trust is another common theme in this play. Many characters in this play have trust in each other. They trust each other with their lives resulting in the death of many people. Loyalty is the final theme that is evident in this play. There are people who are loyal, and then there are people who are not loyal. The actions that these different characters make create a multitude of themes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme that stands out the most in this play is fate. There is no doubt that there is divine intervention in this play. The destiny of many of the characters in this play have been prearranged because there are so many predictions or visions of the future that actually come true. For example, the soothsayer predicted that Julius Caesar was going to die on the Ides of March. (I. ii ll. 11-20) He did not make this prediction after he heard that Caesar was going to be assassinated, or the night before when everyone knew that he was going to die. He made this prediction many months in advance. The soothsayer knew that Caesar was going to die, because it was Caesar’s fate to die on the Ides of March. It has been predetermined that it was Caesar’s time to go on the Ides of March. Another instance of fate relating to the death of Caesar was the night before he died. His wife had an awful dream predicting that her husband was going to die in the house of the Senate the next day. Although Calpurnia told her husband of this, he chose to ignore resulting in his assassination. This is a strong example of fate because frequently throughout time people see the future in dreams.

For the Love of Sports

In this paper, I will apply the functionalist theory to answer the question: â€Å"Why are people fanatically interested in playing and watching sports? † Culture, social structure, and social interaction play major roles in contributing to the reasons why people are fanatically interested in sports. Sport fans have a personal connection to their sport and/or team because it represents something that is important to them: city, state, favorite player, their past or future, hobby, and entertainment. Culture consists of the shared ways of life and the shared understandings that people develop as they live together (Coakley, 2009, p. 5). I grew up in a house with my two Uncles who were very influential to my fascination with playing and watching sports. They boxed and also played baseball. Their athletic abilities were exceptional and were represented by the numerous trophies that filled the trophy case in our home. It was no surprise that I took a liking to sports because I was surrounded by it everyday of my life. I would go to the baseball field and watch them play baseball and I went to the gym and watched them train for boxing. My Uncles would also set up pick up leagues for my friends and me. These actions by my Uncles contributed to me becoming a fan of sports. Today I have the same influence on my sons that my Uncles had on me. My sons grew up watching me watch, play and coach sports so it has become a part of their life. They are both athletes that watch and play all the sports that were part of their culture. Many athletes today grew up with sports in their home. Michael Jordon’s sons play basketball, Ken Griffey Jr. played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds where his father, Ken Griffey Sr. , once played and Bob and Brian Griese both won Super Bowls while playing in the NFL. Social interaction consists of people taking each other into account and, in the process, influencing each other’s feelings, thoughts and actions; social structure consists of the established patterns of relationships and social arrangements that take shape as people live, work and play with each other (Coakley, 2009, p. ). I remember when I was stationed over in Afghanistan. My friend and I would get up really early in the morning to watch football. He was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and I really disliked the Steelers but would get up with him to watch them play because he would watch my games with me. However, through the social interaction with my friend I would catch myself cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers because they were his favorite team. Social interaction is a critical part of why people play and watch sports. Sports create opportunities for conversation that enable people to form and nurture relationships and even enhance their status as they describe and critique athletes, games, teams, coaching decisions and the content of media commentaries (Coakley, 2009, p. 18). Everyone in my office where I work is a sports fan. We will spend all day Sunday, while the games are on, texting each other talking about our fantasy football team. Monday mornings are our soap box to discuss all the football action from Sunday. Like ESPN analyst we break down each game and player and this goes on all day. The emotional intensity, group camaraderie, and sense of accomplishment that often occur in sports make sport participation more memorable than other activities (Coakley, 2009, p. 18). Every Wednesday the guys and I from work play very competitive but fun basketball. It has provided us with very memorable moments and camaraderie that is forever lasting. I was at my son’s football banquet yesterday and I bumped into to a friend of mine who use to play ball with us and we talked for almost 30 minutes about the basketball that we use to play on Wednesday when he was there. Sport is both a constituent, and a constitutor, of the broader social context in which it is located. It is a vehicle through which the forces and relations of societal power are covertly communicated and, if infrequently, explicitly challenged, to the benefit of some groups within society, yet to the detriment of others (Zirin, 2008, p. 29). Sport fans have a connection to their sports or sport teams because they represent their city, state and/or community. They watch their favorite team on television or attend the game live to cheer their team to victory over the other team and the fans that cheer for them. Sports and sport teams can, and often do, reflect and represent specific locations and local identities (Crawford, 2004, p. 52). Greenville High School and T. L. Weston were the two high schools that divided my town. Greenville High represented the north side and the south side was represented by T. L. Weston. It was considered a rival game whenever these two teams played each other. The communities for each team came out in full force wearing team colors and other replica to represent the high school in their community. Winning this game would give one side of the town bragging rights over the other. Both sides of the stadium were always packed with fans for both teams. A town divided by two football teams that represented their community but brought together by their love for sports. In conclusion, culture, social interaction and structures influence the actions and relationships of sports fans and contribute to their fanatic obsession with watching and playing sports. Culture can influence what team you cheer for, what sport you like to watch or play, and what kind of sports fan you are. Social interaction and structure provide a forum to discuss your favorite team, cheer with other sport fans, talk about the game you watched on TV, and the opportunity to play the game with friends who also enjoy sports. Many sport fans share the same values and that is their love for sports, even though they may not be cheering for the same team. Sports develop relationships, build camaraderie and gives sports fans something to own outside of themselves.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Poverty is one of the worst issues in the United States

Poverty is one of the worst issues in the United States. Despite this, poverty has potential to be fixed. Poverty as Capability Deprivation introduces â€Å"capability deprivation† as a method for lowing poverty and strengthening society. Amartya Sen emphasizes social gender roles and other countries’ prioritization on health, education, and job training. We are told that these are areas where United States lacks focus. In The Capabilities approach and Social Justice By Martha Nussbaum, similar issues are addressed and the text supports the same claims that Sen introduces. Nussbaum, however, goes further. She moves into the areas of social justice, gender justice, and the central human capabilities. She proves that central human capabilities are important traits that we have within ourselves, but fail to strengthen due to the lack of experience, skills, and resources. In the last reading, Swamp Nurse by Katherine Boo, we see an example of a case study that took place in Louisiana. This case study focused on what can be done for the part of the population living in poverty. The article examined programs made to help these people in poverty and enhance their skills so that they can find a job, properly care for their children, and take care of themselves. These programs are centered around steps and lectures on health, education, and social skills. Capability deprivation is a more powerful approach to fighting poverty than focusing on the income of the poor because it creates an independent population rather than a government dependent population. At current, low income people are dependent on the government without earning it. They are forced to rely on the government because they do not have the skills, jobs, or means to provide for their families due to their impoverished situations. If we raise the incomes of the poor we would have more balance in our society. Ideally it would be best to raise the income slightly as well as creating programs to teach the poor new trades and skills because this would open more opportunities for people that are in poverty. Capability deprivation is the key for helping fight poverty because it empowers poor people to motivate themselves to get out of poverty. Sen begins to explain ways to enhance capabilities and how other countries show importance to education and health as he says† Asian economies – first Japan, and then South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and later post-reform China and Thailand and other countries in East Asia and southeast Asia- have done remarkably well in spreading the economic opportunities through an adequately supportive social background, including high levels of literacy, numeracy, and basic education; good general health care; completed land reforms; and so on†( Sen 3). Sen states that in the Asia countries they are more focus on providing education and health care for free then providing just and people depending on government help. This is not only in Asia countries but in Latin America countries. Having Cuban roots my family tells me how things are different from the United States and some of the things that the Cuban society focused on. For example my aunt has never paid school tuition and she went to school to be a doctor. She is very proud that she is and can provide for her family. Another big thing is that they do not pay for health care, its free for her and her family. In many Latin Americas this follows as well. Sen believes in capability deprivation and proves facts that this can lower poverty in many societies, Sen states â€Å" Better basic education and health care improve the quality of life directly; they also increase a person’s ability to earn income and be free of income-poverty as well. The more inclusive the reach of basic education and health care, the more likely it is that even the potentially poor would have a better chance of overcoming penury† ( Sen 3). Sen is explaining that we have many different always to improve poverty and isn’t just providing people with financial help from the government but, its providing them with the basic educational skills, health care and social skills. To have a foundation of basic knowledge to help provided for yourself, to find jobs, know how to take care of yourself and family. Making the society dependent on government help is not going to help these people in the long run because they have become so dependent on getting financial support that it makes it hard to become independent. The government should provide for more programs to enhance the human inter capabilities that we already instinctively have. In the Holy Bible there is a passage where John teaches the people how to fish rather than just giving the hungry people dinner. You are teaching a group of people to fend for hemselves, to acquire what they need by means that they have learned. In giving the poor skills to raise their income, or the ability to do so, you are eradicating poverty. You are not treating it like a chronic disease you are curing it. By the government providing necessary services that accentuate people’s natural abilities capabilities, they are creating a society that tries to help itself rather than relying on just funding. That goes next to what Nussbaum discusses about the central human capabilities that we have. These categories are: life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses, imagination, thought, emotions, practical reason, play, control over one’s environment and affiliation. Each of these categories has its own meaning and is a natural aspect of our lives that we understand innately. Nussbaum specifies that not everyone reaches these capabilities. Out of the ten capabilities, the three most important are: â€Å"control over one’s environment†, â€Å"bodily health† and â€Å"sense and imagination. The environment includes one’s political view, being able to participate effectively in political choices that govern one’s life having the right of political participation and protections of free speech association. Bodily health includes staying healthy and taking care of one’s body. This also includes being adequately nourished and having adequate shelter. Lastly, sense, imagination and thought exist as senses we use. To imagine, think and reason and to do these things in a â€Å"truly human† way, a way informed and cultivated by an adequate education, including basic mathematical and scientific training are all part of this category. This also includes using imagination and thought though experiencing and producing works and events. Why does Nussbaum think these human capabilities are important? She states â€Å"Central human capabilities as a focus both for comparative quality of life, basic political principles of the sort that can play a role in fundamental constitutional guarantees. These ten capabilities are supposed to be general goals that can be further specified by society. In some form, all are part of a minimum account of social justice: a society that does not guarantee these to all its citizens, at some appropriate threshold level, falls short of being a fully just society, whatever its level of opulence† ( Nussbaum 5). This statement demonstrates that it is not only important to further education, but Sen and Nussbaum are also implying it’s often the most basic aspects of life that are forgotten. Certain programs would help to enhance people’s lives and help them become independent. Nussbaum says that you have to be dependent before becoming independent.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Evaluation of Iraq war through group think Essay

The War on Iraq was decided by a small group of people that was headed by the President and comprised of the Vice-President, Defense Secretary, CIA Director and other senior administrative officials. The decision to go to war was a decision of a small think-tank rather than of an individual or a larger group of people. The decision of the think-tank pushing the case for the Iraq War seems to be an apt example of confirmation bias. This confirmation bias during the events leading to the Iraq War has led to a widening rift between policy makers and the intelligence community. It is widely believed that the war think-tank defied the pointers presented by the official intelligence. Instead, the intelligence available in a raw form was misused to publicly justify the war on Iraq and build a positive public perception that would endorse the war. As the Washington Post reports the discussion on the war; â€Å"The case was thin,† summarized the notes taken by a British national security aide at the meeting. â€Å"Saddam was not threatening his neighbours and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. However, the think-tank was convinced about going for a war with Iraq and it used the available intelligence to confirm its beliefs. Cognitive diversity was missing in the think-tank that drew up the plan for the Iraq War. All members involved in the decision process had same political leanings, were to a large extent a culturally homogenous group and formed a small team that worked closely with each other on various policy making issues. The team did not comprise of various political voices even though the decision to go to war impacted the entire country. It did also not take advice and heed to objections of World bodies like the United Nations when some of the member countries objected to the unilateral action of the United States and its ally Britain to go to war. The team did not invite any new members to its coterie of decision makers to infuse fresh or alternative thinking in its decision making process. As Senator Barbara Boxer said, â€Å"Iraq was a war of choice, not necessity†. The intelligence community was roped in only to substantiate claims made by the think-tank on the reason to go to war. The group behaved with a preset agenda ignoring the alternatives at hand and made biased decisions. The Iraq War is also an example of group comparison where the decisions of the individual members could have been different from the decisions of the group that they were part of. The study of group polarization began with an unpublished 1961 Master’s thesis by MIT student James Stoner, who observed the so-called â€Å"risky shift†, meaning that a group’s decisions are riskier than the average of the individual decisions of members before the group met. After the wide public criticism of the U. S. handling of the war, two prominent members of the Iraq think-tank put in their papers. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell resigned after almost 4 years of at the helm of affairs. He was seen as less supportive of the war even though he was the public face on international forums to drum up support amongst its traditional allies. Whereas Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld who took over the course of foreign policy after Powell’s exit was seen as a hardliner. It seems that the hardliners would have grown even more resolute in their decision to go to war after several rounds of deliberations that the think-tank might have had. They would have presented intelligence information and other reasons to hard sell their belief thereby subduing the reluctant supporters of the war.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Employee Performance Essay

The methods presented here are designed to develop elements and standards that measure employee and work unit accomplishments rather than to develop  other measures that are often used in appraising performance, such as measuring behaviors or competencies. Although this handbook includes a discussion of the importance of balancing measures, the main focus presented here is to measure accomplishments. Consequently, much of the information presented in the first five steps of this eightstep process applies when supervisors and employees want to measure results. However, the material presented in Steps 6 through 8 about developing standards, monitoring performance, and checking the performance plan apply to all measurement approaches. A HANDBOOK FOR MEASURING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE foreword The handbook has four chapters and three appendices: ⠝™ CHAPTER 1 gives the background and context of performance management that you will need to understand before beginning the eight-step process. ⠝™ CHAPTER 2 defines accomplishments, which is key to using this handbook successfully. ⠝™ CHAPTER 3 includes a detailed description of the eight-step process for developing employee performance plans that are aligned with and support organizational goals. ⠝™ CHAPTER 4 provides study tools, including a followup quiz and a quick reference for the eight-step process. ⠝™ THE APPENDICES contain example standards that were written specifically for appraisal programs that appraise performance on elements at five, three, and two levels. After reading the instructional material, studying the examples, and completing the exercises in this book, you should be able to: ⠝™ DEVELOP a performance plan that aligns individual performance with organizational goals  Ã¢ â„¢ USE a variety of methods to determine work unit and individual  accomplishments ⠝™ DETERMINE the difference between activities and accomplishments ⠝™ EXPLAIN regulatory requirements for employee performance plans P E R F O R M A N C E M A N A G E M E N T: B A C K G R O U N D A N D C O N T E X T emember the story about the naive student in his first English literature course who was worried because he didn’t know what prose was? When he found out that prose was ordinary speech, he exclaimed, â€Å"Wow! I’ve been speaking prose all my life!† Managing performance well is like speaking prose. Many managers have been â€Å"speaking† and practicing effective performance management naturally all their supervisory lives, but don’t know it! Some people mistakenly assume that performance management is concerned only with following regulatory requirements to appraise and rate performance. Actually, assigning ratings of record is only one part of the overall process (and perhaps the least important part). Performance management is the systematic process of: ⠝™ planning work and setting expectations ⠝™ continually monitoring performance ⠝™ developing the capacity to perform ⠝™ periodically rating performance in a summary fashion ⠝™ rewarding good performance The revisions made in 1995 to the governmentwide performance appraisal and awards regulations support â€Å"natural† performance management. Great care was taken to ensure that the requirements those regulations establish would complement and not conflict with the kinds of activities and actions effective managers are practicing as a matter of course. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT PLANNING In an effective organization, work is planned out in advance. Planning means setting performance expectations and goals for groups and individuals to channel their efforts toward achieving organizational objectives. Getting employees involved in the planning process will help them understand the goals of the organization, what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and how well it should be done. The regulatory requirements for planning employees’ performance include establishing the elements and standards of their performance appraisal plans. Performance elements and standards should be measurable, understandable, verifiable, equitable, and achievable. Through critical elements, employees are held accountable as individuals for work assignments or responsibilities. Employee performance plans should be flexible so that they can be adjusted for changing program objectives and work requirements. When used effectively, these plans can be beneficial working documents that are discussed often, and not merely paperwork that is filed in a drawer and seen only when ratings of record are required. MONITORING In an effective organization, assignments and projects are monitored continually. Monitoring well means consistently measuring performance and providing ongoing feedback to employees and work groups on their progress toward reaching their goals. The regulatory requirements for monitoring performance include conducting progress reviews with employees where their performance is compared against their elements and standards. Ongoing monitoring provides the supervisor the opportunity to check how well employees are meeting predetermined standards and to make changes to unrealistic or problematic standards. By monitoring continually, supervisors can identify unacceptable performance at any time during the appraisal period and provide assistance to address such performance rather than wait until the end of the period when summary rating levels are assigned. MEASURE WHAT IS IMPORTANT—NOT WHAT IS EASY TO MEASURE It is easy to count the number of days since a project began, but if that is all that you measure, is that enough information to assess performance? No, probably not. Or if, for example, a customer service team only measures the number of calls that come into the team (the easy measure) and does not attempt to measure customer satisfaction with its service (the more difficult measure), the team does not have complete information about its performance and has no idea how well it is serving its customers. In addition, because what gets measured gets done, the team will probably focus on how it can increase the number of calls it receives and ignore the quality of service it provides. As a result, organizations need to anticipate the behavioral and unintended consequences of measuring performance. As an example, recently a medical laboratory came under fire because of the errors it made in certain of its cancer tests. A high number of cancer tests that the laboratory had approved as negative turned out to be wrong—cancer had actually been

Friday, September 13, 2019

Effects of Using Onion and Garlic as House Rat Pesticides Essay

Effects of Using Onion and Garlic as House Rat Pesticides - Essay Example The lachrymatory factor together with its color also contributes to its flavor. On the contrary, Onions do not provide only flavor but it promotes health through the nutrients that we can get from it - the phytochemical. Aside from that, it contains acrid which stimulates our tear glands and our mucous membranes causing us to produce tears or makes us cry. Other compounds that we can get from onions are sulfur and quercetin. These two compounds are considered as an anti-oxidants. Recent studies shown that these two compounds help to neutralize all free radicals in our body and protect our cell membranes from any damage. There are some studies conducted in Japan wherein they used onion as feeds for some rats. Rats shown delay in aging process. So it is therefore considered that onion is an effective anti-oxidant for our cells. The compound quercetin helps to eliminate free radicals in our body, it also helps to protect and regenerate our damaged cell membranes. Apart from onions, apples and tea are good source of quercetin. This compound is said to have anti-oxidants that is twice of what we can get from tea and even in apples but we can get little contents from white onions compare with yellow and red onions. As previously discussed, the pungent smell of onion is due to thiollyl or alliins co

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Business Sustainability Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Sustainability - Assignment Example The three factors work together with the aim of creating an excellent working environment and exciting experience (Edi.com). The factors also enable an organization to work through the day to day challenges that the business faces. As a result, the team achieves its goals and objectives. Therefore, this creates a possibility for growth and expansion. The factors that influence the social environment of a business include job satisfaction, teamwork, leadership and customers among other factors. Teamwork revolves around the cooperation of employees in the workplace. The interaction of individuals tends to create a suitable working environment for the business. The science of working together as a team results in the reduction of competition among individuals. Information sharing takes place, and the benefits employees of each and every person considered (Global market analysis). The benefits result from sharing ideas and information, and this boosts the morale of workers. Good managers always ensure that the employees work together as a team. They carry out particular programs that make teamwork motivate employees. The conducive working environment created as a result of partnership increases the reputation of the enterprise (Ananthan). The culture of a company encompasses on a lot. In most companies, culture mainly relates to how managers treat and relate to their employees (Trompenaar). The culture of any given society dictates how the employees and the customers get treated. Companies that punish their employees more than the way in which they reward them create fear among the employees. The workers lack the morale of working. The way in which a customer gets treated speaks a lot for the organization. The customers are great assets in the body, and excellent treatment of the customers improves the reputation of the business. The culture of a group that emphasizes more on rewarding and treating the employees well enhances the relationship

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

The tell-tale heart short story Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The tell-tale heart short story - Coursework Example He thus interpreted love and hate similar to Freud as universal emotions, hence severed from the particular conditions of time and space (Poe, 2014). He is, therefore, motivated to kill the old man whom he loved by neither passion nor desire for money but a fear of the man’s pale eye that triggers his hatred. Argument two is that Poe’s terror results to the narrator’s simultaneous love for himself and hatred of his rival. Such a double depicts the inseparability of love and hate and hence two forms of the key intense form of human emotion. The narrator thus loves himself, however, when feelings of self-hatred appear in him, the narrator projects such a hatred onto an imaginary copy of himself (Poe, 2014). Thus, he confesses a love for an old man whom he violently murders and dismembers. He thus decides to tell a story in which he will defend his sanity yet admit to having killed an old man. Argument three is that the narrator instigates the story by addressing the reader and claiming that he is nervous but never mad. Therefore, the narrator reveals his madness through an attempt to delink the person of the old man, whom he loves, from that of old man’s supposedly evil eye, triggering the narrator’s hatred (Poe, 2014). Subsequently, such delusional distinction helps the narrator to remain unaware of the paradox of claiming to have loved his

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Future, past. present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Future, past. present - Essay Example Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the past, present and future of law enforcement, with a view to establishing how this particular component of the legal system has evolved over time, how it has related with the other components forming the criminal justice system, its present state, and the likely nature of this component in the future. The past of law enforcement The history of the concept of law enforcement dates back to the settlement of the colonists in America, where the colonists who settled in America imported their constable system of law enforcement, with each community required to constitute a watchdog force that kept peace while dealing with the criminals and crime resolution, under the leadership of a chief peacekeeper, also referred to as the constable (Bumgarner, 2006). This was mainly applicable in the urban regions where the settlers had established their settlements. In the southern states, the concept of law enforcement developed with the establishment of the slave patrols, which was meant to whip and terrorize slaves, to prevent them from holding meeting or leaving their plantations without the express authorization of their masters, or even travelling (Roth, 2011).The first organized and paid policing force was established by City of Boston in 1635, followed by Texas in 1835, whose police force was referred to as the rangers, followed by the Municipality of New York in 1884, and eventually the other cities started following suit, but it is only until the Civil War, that a uniformed law enforcement force was established, which used nightsticks as their main weapon (Roth, 2011). Despite this organization, the law enforcement forces were controlled by politicians who presided over the cities and the municipalities, and thus they operated on the basis of their orders. However, the data of the number of the police officers in America remains scanty especially regarding the past, considering that the police officers established by diffe rent municipalities and cities could not be practically enumerated, since the law enforcement forces were not organized into a full disciplined force (Bumgarner, 2006). However, the existing data regarding the earliest disciplined force that was well organized is that of the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) formed in 1852, which comprised of the 7 officers, with a chief officer, 4 assistant chiefs and 2 other ground patrol officers (Bumgarner, 2006). The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) forms one of the few primary law enforcement force, still maintained by the federal government, which currently comprises of over 1,000 disciplined officers, forming the USCP federal department. The major reforms in the law enforcement started in the 20th century, where reforms regarding the qualifications, education and training of the enforcement officers, as well as the elimination of the political control over the law enforcement came into the limelight. The present of law enforcement The present state of la w enforcement in the US now comprises of well trained and disciplined forces, with well structured recruitment formulae and requirements. The other aspect of the current state of the law enforcement component of the justice system is that their duties and responsibilities are now well cut out, with such provisions enshrined in the constitution and in the law enforcement policies and regulations that guide their operations. Presently, as

Monday, September 9, 2019

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business law - Essay Example For claiming the business deal undertaken by Sally to be a contract, there must be four significant aspects which are: Offer and Acceptance: Any legal contract must have proper offer and acceptance where one party makes the offer and the other agrees to it. Offer is demarcated as an instance when one individual indicates the willingness to make a business deal. Offer is made by a party by considering the acceptance of other party. The true purpose of offer should be to make legal association2. An offer is an appearance of readiness to contract on specific terms. Offer must be made with the aim that will become obligatory on acceptance. Offer allows the party to approve it and delivers the base of agreement. Offer can exist when objective is involved in purchaser’s words or conduct i.e. intention to commit certain act lawfully to the terms the purchaser recommends3. Communication: Effective communication is a vital aspect for a business contract. The offeree should know regardi ng the offer. The communication should be developed or sanctioned by the offeror. The purchaser cannot approve to something which he/she has no knowledge. Accordingly, the seller should communicate the offer in an intended way4. Consideration: Consideration is essential for proving the validity of contract. Only an ordinary statement of agreement cannot develop a contract. Consideration is regarded as a promise to provide something and gain something in exchange of it5. Assurance: The conditions of contract which are involved in the offer should be clear enough so that they can provide sensible basis for defining the reality of breach in relation to the contract and thus help to enforce action. In terms of product sale, Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) provides criteria in several occasions such as price, time, location of delivery, or payment rules4. Step 3: Application of Law to the Fact In the context of the case study, the above aspects of a legal contract were missing. For instanc e, proper offer and acceptance was not made by the parties. Peter and Burt both had stated to Sally that they intend to purchase the bike. However, it differs from an offer because they did not reach an agreement with Sally that they will purchase the bike. The second essential element of contract i.e. proper communication was absent between Sally and the parties. Although Peter has offered a deal to Sally regarding purchasing of the bike, without his awareness the offer of Peter has been accepted by Sally which was her intentional communication for selling. Furthermore, communication should be made or certified by the offeror. With respect to mutual consideration, it can be observed that the contract had lack of consideration. Although Peter and Burt had specified that they expect to purchase the bike, they had not promised about purchasing. Ultimately, there was no assurance of parties about purchasing. Peter and Burt had not specified any time for purchase in the e-mail and Sally also did not approve any reasonable time for delivery of the bike to Peter. Without a reasonable time, offer cannot be measured as lawful. Step 4: Conclusion Judging from the above aspects, it can be observed that Sally has not made proper contract with any of them i.e. Peter and Burt. There was absence of communication, assurance and consideration. Besides, appropriate offer and

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Analytical paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Analytical paper - Essay Example ocratic reshaping is proving to be a contradictory, uncertain, and conflict-ridden process, one that has provoked sharp debates both within Bolivia and among observers of Bolivia abroad† (Wolff 3). The problems inside and outside of Bolivia with respect to democratic reforms are certainly not easily definable. Most would also agree a move towards socialism by the current Evo Morales regime is troubling for democratic proponents. Though most would agree that democratic change in Bolivia could be sincerely philanthropic venture by democratic proponents, economic vitalization of Bolivia is usually the anticipated motivation and priority assisting any efforts for ‘changing’ governments, â€Å"†¦creating order is a central task for establishing the foundations of long term economic growth† (North, 1999). It is reasonable then to consider the perceived ‘value’ of Bolivia post-change in light of simple economic potential. The future does not look bright for Bolivian democracy with change as a constant drumbeat from Bolivia’s past. The geography of Bolivia suggests that independence, whether democratic or socialist, is always going to be a matter of dependence upon others. Bolivia is one of two ‘land-locked’ countries in the Western Hemisphere (Paraguay the other) and relies on neighboring countries for exporting its mineral resources (Bolivia’s primary export) throughout the world. This dependence upon neighbors, specifically Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Paraguay, is more significant than some may think. Bolivia once had access to the sea but lost this territory to Chile in the War of the Pacific in the late 1800’s. Bolivia has suffered poverty and government instability ever since the War of the Pacific. Bolivia’s main obstacle to ‘independence’ is Bolivia’s land-locked juxtaposition. The easiest and cheapest route for one of Bolivia’s chief exports, Bolivian crude oil, is directly through Brazil via a pipeline. Brazil also

Saturday, September 7, 2019

All forms of government welfare should be abolished Essay - 3

All forms of government welfare should be abolished - Essay Example Social services herein refer to healthcare, education, social welfare programs, care for elderly or aged, and, provision of necessary infrastructures to make government effective in their relation with people (Tanner, 2012). The abolition of this government welfare means relinquishing its role and allowing private entities to offer services that can respond to peoples needs. The recent trend and dominion of private enterprise and services in our society is an attempt to exculpate or exonerate government’s role in delivering quality services as its mandate to fully realize its functions in realizing the social contract with the people it ought to serve. The abolition of social services therefor means that the government, as a bureaucracy, will relinquish its functions to accord social services and welfare to its constituents. Why spend $14,848 for every poor man (Tanner, 2012)? But on the other hand, why pay for taxes if government intends to negate the foundation of its very existence? A famous social philosopher once said that a government is a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Its object and subject of being are its constituents. It is for this reason that electorates during election wanted to nominate leaders who can uphold democracy to ensure peoples participation in decision-making and those who can reform the government structure to guarantee that delivery of services are given more importance than their selfish interests as bureaucrats. People wanted to see a government that is effectively translating its goal to have a peaceful, developed and prosperous nation. Both candidates and electorates wanted to pursue an agenda where children’s education are prioritized; quality health services are delivered in remote villages and in state-owned hospitals; people’s poverty are supplemented with social programs that can help eradicate poverty; and, social

Information Systems Technolog Essay Example for Free

Information Systems Technolog Essay Information systems technology changes and the well-managed implementation thereof can indeed be such a difficult undertaking for organizations. Though the adaptability of the employees and the management – and oftentimes, the customers as well – largely vary from one industry to another, it does remain that the shift from the old ways to the new ones is not always a welcomed development. The lessons that can be learned from the case of the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), as cited by the Bert Painter, are as well applicable to other companies that have similarly transformed their information systems into advanced and more efficient ones. One of the advantages afforded by better information systems is increased productivity in the workplace, which usually translates to higher income levels for the company. Not all functions, though, can be reduced to formulas and technical processes – like those of Claims Officers in WCB. But putting aside the tasks that thrive on the personal touch, creativity and imagination, as well as duties that require the exercise of judgment and the use subjective discernment, there will definitely be big changes in the entire organization. Information systems technology changes are commonly sought by management as a way to reduce wastage in terms of company resources and manpower hours, based on the accumulated employee hours devoted to such outmoded routines as sending via fax the same sheets to a number of customers. However, systems upgrading should always go with adequate change management, as cited by Bert Painter. This way, heightened efficiency at work will be achieved without causing any employee to feel displaced and demoted. The complication that goes with replacing the information and network system of a company should not be underestimated. It definitely brings in a lot of equally awkward and uneasy consequences – the necessary trainings for the employees, the shortcomings of the systems and the employees’ reactions thereto, and the removal from the organizational chart of job posts that are hence rendered useless. These issues have to be properly handled. As Prof. Khalifa has written, high-technology solutions usually are not welcomed as positive developments by people who are prone to be adverse to change. Thus, managing change involves leading the people in the organization to overcome the natural inertia that makes change not easy to implement. There are lessons, too, that Bert Painter did not so much dwell on. For one, it must be understood that the setting up of the company’s improved systems by itself will not boost the revenues generated and will not endear the company to its customers. The same improved systems also will not help the company win the loyalty of its employees. Thus, the interrelationships of people within the organization must not tend toward becoming less personal, not even if more and more old routines that used to foster camaraderie among them are becoming obsolete. Furthermore, there are alignment difficulties that will have to be dealt with during the critical learning stage. In the case of WCB, some of them already have taken form. In such a situation, it is important that professional Information Technology (IT) groups with impressive track records be tapped to address the company’s needs throughout the transition phase. It will entail costs to avail of their services, but it will save the company from losing more in terms of adverse consequences of a poorly managed transition. Without a doubt, the successful upgrading of information systems will, in the end, turn out to be the right move. Work Cited Khalifa, Mohamed. Introduction: Evolving Role of IT. Khalifa, Mohamed. Fundamentals of E-Business.

Friday, September 6, 2019

The Quest for Identity Essay Example for Free

The Quest for Identity Essay In some point of our lives, we all try to find our identities; try to find a place that we can fit in completely. Most people struggle, some does not. The question of identity is especially difficult for immigrants and their coming generations since they have different cultures and different views. In the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, the main character Gogol struggles with his cultural identity due to the ideological difference between him and his parents on the concept of name. According to Bengali naming traditions, everyone has two names, a pet name and a good name. The good name is for the public to use, the pet name is for family and friends to use in private places, it is also â€Å"a persistent remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people† (26). Different traditions represent different cultures; In the United States, many people name their son after the father or the grandfather to honor the elders and also act as a symbol of heritage. On another hand in India, every name is sacred and cannot be inherited. Ashima and Ashoke decided to name their first child Gogol, this name doesn’t just represent the life of this child, it also represents the life of the father-Ashoke. However, this shapeless and weightless name has become a burden of Gogol’s life for a long long time. The first lesson that Gogol learns about his names is at the town’s public elementary school. At first, he does not want to go to kindergarten because his parents have told him that he will be call a new name-Nikhil at school which he does not want and does not understand. He is afraid to be Nikhil, someone he doesn’t know† (57). Of course, he is not the only one who doesn’t understand about the pet name and the good name. When Ashoke tries to explain to the principal Mrs. Lapidus about why they want her to call Gogol Nikhil, Mrs. Lapidus tries to understand, but ends up in confusion due to the cultural difference. â€Å"I’m not sure I follow you, Mr. Ganguli. Do you mean that Nikhil is a middle name? Or a nickname? Many of the children go by nicknames here† (58). She has never deal with this issue before, even with the other Indian students at school. And the big problem with this is that Gogol does not respond to the name Nikhil. Therefore, Mrs. Lapidus decides to ask Gogol about his own opinion towards this new name, Gogol shakes his head as his answer, so Mrs. Lapidus writes a note to Ashima and Ashoke telling them Gogol will be known as â€Å"Gogol† instead of â€Å"Nikhil† at school due to his preference. In here, Gogol is just a kid who doesn’t understand about his culture, but at the same time, the author is trying to hint us that even though Gogol is an Indian looking kid, he is Americanized; his thoughts are very different from his parents who are typical Indians. And in the United States, his parents’ thoughts are not so accepted which increases the gap between Gogol and his parents. As Gogol is getting older, he then realizes how unusual his name is. As an Indian-American, his name is neither Indian nor American, but Russian. He does not know about the story behind his name yet, all he knows is that he starts to hate his name. Before he goes to college, he decides to change his name to Nikhil officially. It seems like he believes that changing his name would make him who he wants to be. So he goes home and asks for his parents’ opinion and complaints about his name. â€Å"I don’t get it. Why did you have to give me a pet name in the first place? What’s the point? † â€Å"It’s our way, Gogol,† his mother maintained. â€Å"It’s what Bengalis do† (99). Until this point, Gogol still doesn’t accept this naming tradition because he feels inferior for his name. However, â€Å"The only person who didn’t take Gogol seriously, the only person who tormented him, the only person chronically aware of and afflicted by the embarrassment of his name, the only person who constantly questioned it and wished it were otherwise, was Gogol† (100). The conversation ends with a sentence by Ashoke, â€Å"In America anything is possible. Do as you wish† (100). This sentence sounds normal, but it is filled with helplessness and sadness. Ashima and Ashoke can’t change anything, they are just two Indians living in America, no one cares about them, not even their son. They have no choice but to give in† (60). Now, he is officially â€Å"Nikhil†, but â€Å"Gogol† is still like a splinter in his heart. He doesn’t want to touch it, doesn’t like to talk about it, but the dull pain inside his heart always reminds him that it’s there. After Ashoke’s death, he learns to seize the time with Ashima. But when he knows that Ashima is planning to move back to India, he suddenly realizes that â€Å"Without people in the world to call him Gogol, no matter how long he himself lives, Gogol Ganguli will, once and for all, vanish from the lips of loved ones, and so, cease to exist. Yet the thought of this eventual demise provides no sense of victory, no solace. It provides no solace at all (289). He finally realizes that as he gets mature, his love once are getting older too. His name will die just like the people. This shows that finally accepted himself as a whole, and this name is part of him. Maybe â€Å"Gogol† is not who he wants to be, but â€Å"Gogol† is who he really is. Ashima and Ashoke are the first generation immigrants, they consider themselves Indians, but learning to adjust their minds and live like Americans. Struggles are parts of their daily lives. Gogol, as an American born Indian, he has an Indian appearance, but growing up in America and getting American education make him a real American inside. â€Å"Living with a pet name and a good name, in a place where such distinctions do not exist-surely that was emblematic of the greatest confusion of all† (118). No wonder, the quest for identity is exhausting, but eventually, you will get to the destination. Open your mind, accepts who you really are, life is beautiful.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Testing Issues in Java Technology

Testing Issues in Java Technology INTRODUCTION: Software testing is the method of examining software, to confirm that it satisfy its necessities and to identify errors. Software testing is an experimental examination which is conducted to afford stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test, with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. Testing can never entirely establish the exactness of computer software. As an alternative, it provides an analysis or a relationship that compares with the state or behavior of the product against a specification. Over its survival, computer software has sustained to grow in convolution and dimension. Testing in the world of Java technology proposes many distinctive and dissimilar challenges. Todays Java engineers are not only faced with multiple platforms, but also the scalability issues like limited memory, nonstandard input, network traffic considerations which are encountered with an increasing array of Java technology-based computationa l devices—from Java Rings, to telephones, to set-top boxes. Because of dealing with many different platforms, and many different types of devices the tests are written in the Java programming language. An automatic software testing is a software function which is used to authenticate that a particular unit of source codes is running as expected. Software testing can be written as: Unit Tests; Integration Tests; or Acceptance Tests. The report also gives an overview of the role of these technologies in Java testing. (ece.cmu.edu) Integration Testing: Integration tests is used to test integration of several classes as against to testing classes in isolation. Mainly in J2EE environments like Web or EJB container gives a more important functionality, hence integration testing has to be conducted in a container. This would test interaction across different application tiers like access to database, EJBs and also other resources. Integration test is occasionally done by Programmers but not as frequently as unit test. Acceptance Tests: Acceptance Test is explained as the group of tests which guarantee the contract between the application API and end user. These tests are done for the completed and deployed application. It is used to check each use-case in which the application is supported. It provides less test coverage and it is main in testing integration of application tiers such as containers and web servers. These tests are done by Quality Assurance testers and not by developers as test operates on external Application Programming Interfaces. Unit Tests Checking of the Developed Project, Programmers write unit tests to verify their own code. Unit testing vary from integration testing, which works well together, and acceptance testing, works according to the customers requirements. Unit testing is the testing mechanism which is used to test a single unit of code. In the case of Java, a unit testing that frequently connects to a distinct class. A unit test is fully automatic, non interactive, and dual ie, it moreover succeeds or be unsuccessful. By executing the code and verifying the output is not a testing. Neither instead of writing a small â€Å"test driver† that neither drives the code nor allows checking logs to see if its working correctly. Unit testing is the code which is written, as a good thing since it leads to higher-quality code, higher productivity, and lower maintenance with good evolution costs. The following report will analyze various Unit Testing technologies like JUnit, TestNG and JTiger. (devx.com) JUnit: JUnit is a unit testing method which is simple and open source frame work for regression testing released by IBM under common license version 5.0 and to write and run repeatable tests on the Java programming language it was hosted on the source forge.Junit is a instance of Xunit architecture which was used for unit testing framework , XUnit was developed by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck. Knowledge and Experience gained with JUnit is very use full in developing test driven application development, and due to this knowledge of JUnit is in use in test driven development. JUnit is also ported to other programming languages like PHP, C#,python, Fortran, Perl,and C++. It is used as PHPUnit in PHP, Nunit in C#, PyUnit in Python , fUnit in Fortran , Test::Class and Test::Unitin Perl and CPPUnit in C++ . All this unit testing frameworks family is collectively reffered as XUnit. Now recently due to the development of new client frameworks like AJAX, Junit has also been developed for use in java sc ript as JSUnit.Junit improves the quality of code and increases the speed of programming. (en.Wikipedia.org) Junit Features include: API for Easily creating Java test Cases Assertions for testing expected results verify expected versus actual result Test fixtures to share test data commonly Test runners to run tests For forums and mailing lists. Aggregating tests (suites) Junit Mechanics: Define a subclass of TestCase. Override the setUp() tearDown()methods. Define one or more public testXXX()methods Exercise the object(s) under test. Asserts the expected results. Define a static suite() factory method Create a TestSuite containing all the tests. Optionally define main() to run the TestCase in batch mode. JUnit Extensions: JUnitReport -Apache Ant extension task -Uses XML and XSLT to generate HTML Cactus -Simple unit testing framework for server side Java coding JWebUnit -Framework for creating acceptance testing for web based applications XMLUnit Provides an XMLTestCase class which enables assertions to be made about the Content and structure of XML MockObject double agent used to test the behavior of other objects Dummy object which mimics the external behavior of a true implementation observes how other objects interact with its methods and compares actual behavior with preset expectations StrutsTestCase testing code based on the Struts framework (javapassion.com) TestNG: TestNG is an annotation-driven Java unit testing framework inspired by JUnit and NUnit which aims to overcome many limitations of JUnit. TestNG isnt just really powerful, innovative, extensible, and flexible; it also illustrates an interesting application of Java Annotations, a great new feature in JDK 5.0. TestNG is designed in such away that it covers all categories in testing like:   unit, functional, end-to-end, integration, etc(testng.org) TestNG Features include: Annotations; no mandatory naming patterns for test methods or extending classes Also Supports Java doc annotations for Java 1.4 Powerful test-fixture set-up and tear-down options JDK 5 Annotations JDK 1.4 also supports JavaDoc annotations. Test configuration is flexible. Data driven testing support using @Data Provider. Parameters support. Distribution of tests in slave systems is allowed. Execution model is much Powerful no need of Test Suite. It is supported many plug-ins and variety of tools like Eclipse, Maven, IDEA, etc. By Embedding with Bean Shell improves flexibility. JDK functions are available by default for logging and runtime. Methods for testing of application server. TestNG Mechanics: Write the business logic of the test and insert TestNG annotations in the code. Adds informations about the test in testng.xml file or in a build.xml (eg. class name etc). Execute TestNG. JTiger: JTiger is a framework for unit testing and has tools for Java 2 Platform. It gives useful abstraction for writing unit test cases and fixtures. Functionalities provided by JTiger is most desired in unit testing of softwares. Generally Test-Driven Development is encouraged by JTiger development, though it is not mandatory, and any unit testing technique in software development is sufficient. Many features of Java Programming Language 1.5 is heavily used by JTiger like Generics, variable argument lists, annotations, etc,. JTiger also encourages users to do documentation of unit test cases and fixtures to give a robust and easy maintain regression harness and unit test. Published and documented API is provided by JTiger frame work if there is a need for extending the functionality. The ability to run the test cases written by using JUint framework is a good example of extending JTiger framework. As a part of JTiger framework JUnit plugin implementation classes are included. (en.Wikipedi a.org) JTiger Features include: JTiger makes every effort to ensure a robust unit test harness by providing a rich set of tools, and a reliable, usable framework on which to develop unit test cases. JTiger is an implementation that is based on improvements in software development methodologies, such as eXtreme Programming (XP), which have matured since their inception. JTiger has been implemented using the same techniques that it encourages, specifically, Test Driven Development. JTiger includes its own unit test and regression harness with 100% method coverage. This aids in new or modified requirements for JTiger that arise in the unforeseen future. The JTiger source code base has been designed to ensure the absolute maximum possible amount of decoupling of components and encapsulation such that future enhancements will not have a negative impact on future versions on JTiger. (userdoc.com) JTiger System Requirements: JTiger requires that tests are executed using a Java Virtual Machine version 1.5 or higher. This does not mean that the code under test must be written using Java 1.5 language features. The software under test may target any JVM version such as 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4. It is merely the test run that must execute under a JVM version 1.5. JTiger is capable of executing test cases that have been written using the JUnit test framework. JTiger Extensions: JTiger future development is being investigated. Some of the features and topics that are under review include the development of a swing GUI interface from which to execute unit test cases, the development of IDE (Integrated Development Environment) plugins for Eclipse, and Intellij IDEA, and the possibility of a mock objects package that mocks J2SE and J2EE core classes. (userdoc.com) Testing Of Java Language Recommended By Other Companies: Microsoft Java Virtual Machine Support: To be familiar with the need is to afford a smooth evolution for present users of the Microsoft ® Java Virtual Machine (MSJVM), Sun Microsystems and Microsoft have agreed to widen Microsofts license to use Suns Java source code along with their compatibility test cases and the test suites. (microsoft.com) Open Quality Program to Improve the Quality of Java Software: Agitar: This Software has declared a new multi-vendor scheme committed to take very careful attention on the testing side to improve the efficiency and the quality of java software packages. Based on the Open Quality Program, Agitar software has published a wide range of unit level testing metrics in its own products, It has even including a formal weekly build results on its future unannounced new products and the new trends over time. The Agitar software has also published these software testing metrics for many popular open source software Java projects, which including JUnit, Hibernate, Cruise Control, Struts, spring, and even lot of other commercial products which is based on the open source such as the Oracles BerkeleyDB Java edition and JasperSofts JasperServer. (qthreads.com) Recent Testing News on upcoming Java products: Java Graphical User Interface Testing Tool Known as Squish is Supporting the New Eclipse Ganymede version 3.4 Five weeks Two days ago(2008-07-08) Germany BasedHamburg( froglogic GmbH )has announced today , to give support for automated the testing of new Java Rich Client Platform the RCP applications which is based on the new Eclipse version 3.4 release code that is named as Ganymede. The Squish GUI for Java is a leading functional Graphical User Interface and also regression testing tool which is enabling the execution, creation and Modification of automated Graphical User Interface tests for Java programming on AWT/Swing and SWT/RCP applications. The Squish GUI, and all the other all tests created with this, are completely made as cross-platform software and work on almost all the top leading operating systems like the Windows Operating Systems, Linux Operating Systems, Unix Operating Systems, and Mac Operating Systems X and even also on the embedded Linux. The support for testing Eclipse Version 3.4 the latest one, RCP Software applications has been completed and it is also available with the just newly released GUI Squish version 3.4. The availability of the third party tools, like the Graphical User Interface testing tools, is very important for the open source Eclipse community to increase it demand. The resent glad news is to see froglogic has very quickly adopting the new Eclipse version releases with its Testing GUI Squish tool, said Mr. Mike Milinkovich, Who is the Executive Director of the Company Eclipse Foundation. The new Ganymede version release is said to be another very important and great release of the Company Eclipse community which has make it even more easy, attractive and flexible for the application developers who uses it. The Quickly integrated support for testing tools on Eclipse software version 3.4 applications with the new GUI Squish tool has been a new and great logical step for the company, said Mr. Harri Porten, platform chief of froglogics company. Squish software offers a multipurpose testing based framework for Graphical User Interfac e (GUI) applications with a base choice of the popular test scripting languages like Perl , Python, Tcl, TSL and JavaScript, VBScript extended by the new test specific functions scripts, lot of new open interfaces, many add-ons, with integrations to the test management tools, a new powerful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) aiding the selecting, creation and finally debugging of the tests and a collection of command line testing tools and the test management integrations facilitating the fully automated test runs on the applications. Contact email: [emailprotected] or visit the URL: www.froglogic.com/squish to get an evaluation pack or to purchase the GUI Squish for the java Application or to know more about the product. Squish GUI tool also supports automated testing of java applications based on GUI technologies like as Trolltechs Qt, Swing-AWT, and Qtopia, also supports Web technologies DOM, HTML, AJAX, DHTML Mac OS X Carbon/Cocoa , JavaScript and other technologies also. (embedded-computing.com) JAVA‘S ENCOURAGEMENT IN TESTING: Todays software manufacturers face a variety of challenges when creating products to meet the increasing demand for software that takes advantage of Java technology. The growing complexity and diversity of softwares—with their varying operating systems, processors, and memory configurations—increases the need for thorough testing to ensure customers will be satisfied. At the same time, service providers and manufacturers face the challenge of managing—and, if possible, lowering—internal costs caused by excessive engineering overhead, disorganized development of test cases, or the impact of new data services on support operations. The Java software Test Suite simplifies quality assurance and reduces time-to-market for Java implementations by providing comprehensive tests and a robust test manager. These enable suite users to evaluate, validate, and verify the quality of implementations on particular software. The Java Test Suite that helps the software manu facturers ensures their reputation for quality, while building customer satisfaction and loyalty. It helps lower engineering costs by standardizing and simplifying testing, and by minimizing the need to write quality assurance tests manually. Java is free and open. So java Testing is an important part of software development because of Open Source Testing Tools which are available in Java for an Effective testing key factor which reduces the total cost of maintenance of any application over its lifetime. Because of the reduced cost and time of development; this can increase savings on quality assurance and of course on sustaining. Without knowing when to invest in better design, in post development quality assurance, in manual tests or in automatic testing forms a basic difference between successful and unsuccessful software projects in these tough and competitive days. (newsgroups.derkeiler.com) Suns Recommendation for testing Java: Testing Java in an Object-Oriented Way To apply eXVantage (a tool suite for code coverage testing, debugging, performance profiling, etc.) to a large, complex Java application at the implementation and unit testing phases in Avaya. Two open source-based tools that can help to generate workloads for the enterprise application: SLAMD Distributed Load Generation Engine and Sun Java Studio Enterprise software. Container-Free Testing With Mockrunner Fitnesse Testing for Fast-Paced Agile Web Development JUnit Reloaded Using In-Process Testing Metrics to Estimate Software Reliability ECLIPSE IN JAVA SOFTWARE TESTING: Eclipse is a very widely used Open Source Integrated Development Environment (IDE), particularly for Java- and Web-based applications. Its very widely extensible with the use of scores of plugins available to help in developing these applications, so here I would like to discuss some of the plugins available for software testing. Eclipse TPTP (an evolution of Eclipses prior Hyades project) is an Open Source collaborative project that seeks to provide a common platform upon which specialized, differentiated, and interoperable offerings for software test and performance tools are created. TPTP, which stands for Test and Performance Tools Platform, supplies extensible frameworks and services for test and performance tools that are used throughout the application lifecycle, from development through production. It also delivers extensible exemplary tools that verify the utility of, illustrate the appropriate use of, and support the development and maintenance of the platform itself. (fres hmeat.net) TPTP This provides a reference implementation of the recent UML2 Testing Profile based upon the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). For logging and tracing, TPTP employs the Common-Base-Event (CBE) Format, which defines the structure of events in a unifying format. Data pools are a concept which appears to be innovative for testing in Eclipse. A datapool contains data usable during a test run. Data pools are stored in a comma-separated file and can be displayed as an Excel-alike data sheet. Test cases can load datapools in the setUp() method and use the dedicated iterations to retrieve cell values for evaluation purposes. Separating test data from the tests themselves appears to be new functionality. Test Deployment requires the allocation of test artifacts to test locations. These locations can also be workbench locations. Through the concept of service abstraction, the Automatable services framework introduces a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) concept to TPTP. The framework introduce s a layered architecture in which a client at a lower layer employs a model adapter to employ a service provided at a higher layer. Automation Client Adapters allow normal Java programs to consume Eclipse services. These adapters can launch a headless Eclipse from a specified Eclipse home, and are available through the tptp-automation-client jar. Various properties are made available through this API (e.g., the project property specifying a specific project in the workspace of the Eclipse instance). (freshmeat.net) Solex Web Application Testing with Eclipse Solex is a free open source Web application testing tool built as a plug-in for the Eclipse IDE. It provides functions to record a client session adjust it according to various parameters and replay it later typically in order to ensure non regression of the applications behaviour (with stress testing capabilities being added at a later stage). By recording, we mean that Solex acts as an HTTP proxy and records all HTTP requests and responses going through the wire between a Web client (eg. a Web browser) and a Web server. The task of replaying a scenario consists in sending the previously recorded and eventually customized HTTP requests to the server and asserting each response. Solex 0.5.0 works with Eclipse Release 2.1.2, Build id: 200311030802 and Solex 0.5.3 works with Eclipse Release 3.1.1, Build id: M20050929-0840. (Solex.com) Unit testing Checking of the Developed Project, Programmers write unit tests to verify their own code. Unit testing vary from integration testing, which works well together, and acceptance testing, works according to the customers requirements. Unit testing is the testing mechanism which is used to test a single unit of code. In the case of Java, a unit testing that frequently connects to a distinct class. A unit test is fully automatic, non interactive, and dual ie, it moreover succeeds or be unsuccessful. By executing the code and verifying the output is not a testing. Neither instead of writing a small â€Å"test driver† that neither drives the code nor allows checking logs to see if its working correctly. Unit testing is the code which is written, as a good thing since it leads to higher-quality code, higher productivity, and lower maintenance with good evolution costs. (devx.com) Unit Testing in Eclipse Using JUnit Unit Testing in Eclipse 3.1 move towards through the JUnit mechanism which was constructed in the Workplace. Eclipse permits a quick creation of test case class and also to provide a testing suite class to write the testing codes in. By means of Eclipse, we use a Test Driven Development (TDD) which suit for a very simple mechanism to systematize and implement. The class which we wanted to test is created at 1st and so that the Eclipse finds a class that is underneath test and construct the test case class. The test cases are constructed with the desired trade in and expansion for JUnit to Execute. The test case classes are constructed with the real test case and then it is coded in through the programmer. The formation of test suite in Eclipse is still simpler. By designing a test suite, Eclipse will specify a name for specifying all of the test cases in the scope of the project. The code is to Execute test suites and to add test cases in the created software is added to the test sui tes. (open.ncsu.edu) JUnit Naming Convention: Testing Cases and Classes: Named with [classnames]First.java, hear classname is being tested for the classnames. Testing Cases with Test Methods: Name test [methodnames], where methodnames are the method name to test. Applying Test Suites: Eclipse which has a default name as First.java It is a well known thought-out for a good performance in testing, and to split the test case code from the application code. It is also a good idea which is to separate the JUnit and FIT tests as well. (open.ncsu.edu) EMPIRICAL i.e. STATISTICS AND NON-EMPIRIC TESTING: Empirical testing: Similar to theoretical tests, there is one more test called empirical test; which is being done by computers. As per the computer point of view ‘empirical means ‘experiments with certain PRNG. The generator itself is treated as black box; only the sequence of PRNs is generated and is taken for evaluating the test statistic. In order to find the empirical test, one has to implement the PRNG and the test statistic. The limitations of empirical testing are commonly proposed by the amount of time and memory needed due to the complexity of the computations. (random.mat.sbg.ac.at) Non-empirical testing: Non-empirical testing deals with non-parametric statistical models and non-parametric inference, including non-parametric statistical tests. Nonparametric methods which are often referred as distribution free methods, since they do not rely on assumptions in which the data are drawn from a given probability distribution. Non-parametric statistic can be explained as a statistic (a function on a sample) whose interpretation does not depend on the population fitting any parameterized distributions. The example for one such statistic is order statistics; which plays a vital role in many non-parametric approaches. (en.wikipedia.org) Applications and purpose: For studying populations that has been taken on a ranked order (such as movie reviews receiving one to four stars) is called Non-parametric methods. The uses of non-parametric methods may be necessary, when the data has a ranking but no clear numerical interpretation, such as when assessing the preferences. Usually non-parametric methods make fewer assumptions; other than the parametric methods, depends upon their applicability. In particular, they may be applied in situations where less is known about the application in question. Non-parametric methods are more robust due to the reliance on fewer assumptions and simplicity. Non-parametric methods may be easier to use in certain cases, when the use of parametric methods is justified. As per some statisticians, non-parametric methods are not useful because of their simplicity and greater robustness leading to leave less room for improper use and misunderstanding. (en.wikipedia.org) Recommendations: Example of a JAVA Based Application: The Table below represents an example security standard for a Java application; and mentions the type of software testing used in each controls. These Kind of security standard in applications will define how exactly the application security functionalities will behave. TYPE Questions Unit Integration Acceptance Input Validation Whether all the user inputs are proper in length and data type? X X X Authorization of Application Whether the application properly controls the accessing privileges? X X Storage Whether authentication privileges are stored securely? X Manipulation Whether application enforces its access controls? X X Special Characters Whether special characters are handled securely? X X X Error Messages Whether error message generic? X X Legacy data Whether data are removed? X It is clear that the Above Types can be tested more on using functional than, integration testing techniques. Lesser security functionality is tested by Unit tests, as lot of security functionality are provided in other modules like, web server and web container. The following sections will provide more details on performing security based tests in unit test, integration test and acceptance test: Testing in Unit Tests: Testing of classes and methods individually provides a best approach to functionality testing of codes. A unit test has to be performed on classes and methods individually without a any dependency on the other methods and classes. This issue gives limitation to the types of security tests which has to be performed, Hence this is going to test is going to be executed in very early stage of the development process. Testing Independently: Unit tests should only depends on the single independent class and it should not depend on Composition class or any base classes Testing Vulnerability: The number of security Types that are been verified by us