Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Compare and Contrast Essay Sample on Parasites

Compare and Contrast Essay Sample on Parasites Creative writing on Compare and Contrast Two Parasites: A parasite is an organism that resides in the living tissue of a host organism mainly for food benefit. Thus, a parasite has its long maturity period inside the host and may cause certain diseases but as for others, they have no apparent harm on their host. Many of the parasites have specificity adaptations allowing them to exploit host resources. In most cases of infections, diseases are endemic through a parasitic mode during their physiological and morphological adaptations. Protozoa are single-celled microscopic organisms that have the similar behavioral functions and complexity of development, existing as free-living or parasitic in nature, which are able to multiply in humans just by single organism infection. Intestinal protozoa are transmitted through an oral or fecal route. For the most part, the protozoa are found where food and water is contaminated by human or animal waste. In its cyst period, a protective cover on the outer membrane allows the protozoa to infect the host through the digestive tract without damage. Thus, develop into a mature organism that is able to nourish and reproduce. Protozoa causes most of the common parasitic diseases, such as Amebic dysentery (Entamoeba Histolytica protozoan). Other types of protozoa that stream inside the blood or tissue of their humans are transmitted through a vector, where an organism transports carries from one host to another, (for an example through a bite wound of a mosquito i.e. malaria). They are considered to cause more death and sufferings to humans than any other type of disease causing -organisms. Amoebiasis infection resides in the gastrointestinal tract affecting a wide human population and therefore, responsible as a major health problem in the world, (Center for diseases and control and prevention, 2011). It can generate to sickness or not depending on the human resistant of the host. Virulence is defined as the extent of damage caused to the host, in other instances Amoebiasis parasites may reside in their host without harm. Unlike protozoa, the Helminths are usually large wormlike creatures, which cannot multiply in their adult stages. On a similar note, they are parasitic and free-living in nature with smaller body sizes compared with their host for survival adaptations. In addition, many of the parasites are reduced to inferiority through a process known as sacculinization .They include the following ;( nematodes) or roundworms that reside in the blood, gastrointestinal tract and the lymphatic system. Ascaris lumbricoides are the largest of parasitic roundworms which mature to almost fifteen inches long in the small intestines. (Flat worms) include tapeworms and flukes. A tapeworm infects the intestinal tract of its host by attaching itself with suckers on their head. Tapeworms depend on intermediate association with hosts such cattle or pigs. Flukes are transmitted through skin contact with contaminated water. They harbor one host for their development and growth; it’s called a direct life cy cle both in their larva and adult stages. While in contrast, if the organisms depends on association of intermediates hosts is known as the indirect life cycles. Ascaris lumbricoides(round worms ) usually have their eggs passed as stool of the infected host and stained brown by bile. In conclusion, (Ascaris lumbricoides) Nematodes and Entamoeba Histolytica protozoan are endporasties, which survive and develop in their hosts; both parasites cannot survive without a host. Many are considered to have long-life cycle on their hosts. If you need a custom creative writing essay contact our creative writing service CustomWritings.com. We will write a creative writing paper for you.

Friday, November 22, 2019

The Magic of Grammar

The Magic of Grammar The Magic of Grammar The Magic of Grammar By Maeve Maddox Glamor/Glamour: a magical or fictitious beauty attaching to any person or object; a delusive or alluring charm. Perhaps glamor is in the eye of the beholder, but in general, some things are felt to have it and others not. For example: Names: Marilyn Monroe vs. Norma Jean Baker. Occupations: actor vs. plumber. Fields of study: psychology vs. grammar. Outside a rarefied environment like an online site frequented by people who find it fascinating, what could have less glamor than grammar? Etymologically speaking, however, grammar and glamor are sisters under the skin. Scotsman Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) achieved international fame with his novels, many of which were set in his native Scotland and featured dialogue sprinkled with Scots dialect. One of the expressions he introduced to standard English was â€Å"to cast the glamour.† He was not the only literary Scotsman to include a bit of dialect in their writing. Here are OED citations from two of Scott’s countrymen: 1721  Ã‚   A. Ramsay Gloss. When devils, wizards or jugglers deceive the sight, they are said to cast glamour oer the eyes of the spectator. 1793  Ã‚   R. Burns Poems (ed. 2) II. 220  Ã‚   Ye gipsy-gang that deal in glamor, And you, deep-read in hells black grammar, Warlocks and witches. To discover the connection between magical glamor and ho-hum grammar, it’s necessary to trace the words to their mutual origin. In the 14th century when gramarye entered English from French gramaire, â€Å"learning,† a broad type of learning was meant, including Latin and philology. As time went on, (14th century) the learning associated with gramarye came to include astrology and magic. The word acquired a secondary meaning of â€Å"occult power† (late 15th century). This is the meaning that evolved into Scots glamour. Traveling further back takes us to Latin grammatia, from Greek grammatike tekhne, â€Å"art of letters.† The term comes from Greek gramma, â€Å"a letter, something drawn or written.† The alphabet is a set of magical symbols. Before literacy became available to the masses, the ability to write and read was recognized as a form of power. Not surprisingly, another word with the same pedigree as glamor and grammar is grimoire, â€Å"a magician’s manual for invoking demons and other supernatural entities.† Nowadays, grammar is understood to mean â€Å"the study of a language which deals with means of indicating the relations of words in the sentence, and with the rules for employing these in accordance with established usage.† The connection between glamor and grammar has become tenuous indeed. As an English teacher, I am painfully aware of the connotation the word grammar now bears. Tell any ten people you’re an English teacher, and nine of them will respond with a wince or a cringe and a mumbled â€Å"I never was any good at grammar.† Different times, different values. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsPeople versus PersonsAffect vs. Effect

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Engineering management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Engineering management - Coursework Example That is, desktops computers have been used for long periods of time for various purposes which range from personal to corporate (Charles 2002). Even though the use of desktops has been on decline as media of communication since the advent of laptops, iPhones, tables and mobile phones, they are still being employed in various communications as media through which communication is conveyed (Charles 2002). Normally, communication involves exchange of ideas between individuals. At times, the individuals communicate amongst themselves through live chats and through video links. The use video links in communication is only possible if the computer being used in communication is either installed with either external or internal web cameras (Shortened as webcams). Regardless of the fact the desktop computers have played important roles in conveying communication, their monitors are normally not installed with internal web cameras (Charles 2002). This has forced the users of desktop computers acquire external webcams or dispose their desktops for laptops. The costs incurred in acquiring external webcams or laptops may be high depending on a user’s economic and social status. It is therefore important that an extension is done to the desktop monitors such that they are pre-installed with internal webcams. ... Aspects to be considered while carrying market analysis for the modified computer monitors It is important to carry out extensive analysis of the market before the final modified product (computer monitors installed with internal web cameras) is released into the market. If the products are modified, manufactured and released into the market without carrying market analysis on the perception of the customers, customers may reject the modified product (Chryssides & Kaler 1996). The cost of rejecting this modified product may severe to the organization due to the fact that products have already found their way into the market (Cole & Kelly 2011). The factors that should be considered while analyzing market for proposed modified computer desktop are as stated below. i. Size of the current computer monitor market. ii. Market trends associated with computer monitors. iii. Customers’ likely perceptions of the customers with regard to the proposed extension on the computer monitors. iv. The performance of products being offered by the competitors, and likely actions to be taken by the competitors with regard to the proposed modification of the computer monitors. (Chryssides & Kaler 1996) The size of the current computer monitors market One of the most important factors that should always be considered while carrying out market analysis is the market size of the current products being produced by an organization. Market size can be defined as the volume or quantities of product consumers have both ability and willingness to buy (Chryssides & Kaler 1996). Typically, market size depends on both consumer’s ordinary demand as well as quantity of a good the consumers (customers) are willing to buy. It

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Impact of Globalization on Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Impact of Globalization on Cultures - Essay Example These countries import this labor from poor nations through globalization at no or very little cost (Effland et al, 2008). In addition, globalization has led to fierce competitive global markets that conduct business unethically. Moreover, through globalization, the terrorists have gained access to many countries including America and commissioned fatal attacks. Most significantly, globalization has led to the undermining of the indigenous culture by western adventures through acts of colonization and imperialism. As a result, colonized states are now prone to cultural invasion subject to the muted cultural disorientation. At the same time, the free production, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods and services has negatively led to commercialization of culture. Furthermore, globalization has led to the spread of fast foods across the world leading to adverse health impacts. Nevertheless, the positive impacts of globalization on culture supersede the negative impacts with a huge margin. In the medical field, the impact of globalization is synonymous. It affects the health care services and the health care professionals. There is convenient movement of patients from one country to another in search of better and cheaper health services. For example, some countries like India offer cheaper and professional surgical services than the US hence leading to medical tourism (International Society for Quality in Health Care, 2005). This program attracts many benefits to the patients who cannot afford expensive treatment in their home countries. We equally have the free movement of medical professional from one country to another for purposes of rendering treatment and in search of better pay. However, this... This essay approves that the positive impact of globalization is the spread of education where all genders can now seek for higher education from the best educational facilities in the world. In the recent times, we have seen many people from the poor and developing nations pursue their education in the developed countries like the US. Similarly, individuals can now access online education via the internet. Furthermore, globalization allows the spread of knowhow and innovations from the developed nation to the developing nations. Notably, the spread of medical innovations is significant in according better treatment to all nations. In addition, there has been considerable integration of culture, preservation of culture, quick access to various cultural heritages via the internet because of globalization. Globalization has equally led to the introduction of high quality goods in the market, new industries, and subsequent economic growth. The introduction of new industries further crea tes employment and investment opportunities in the developing nations. This report makes a conclusion that globalization promotes the investment and capital flows where countries like India that attract foreign investment thus giving developed countries like US good investment proposition. In matters of security, globalization boosts world security in that the international courts of justice and the understanding between the security agencies of reference countries allows the apprehending of terrorists from their hind outs thus curbing global terrorism.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

No File Essay Example for Free

No File Essay â€Å"Why Lawrence Summers was Wrong† In this article Summers portrays simply portrays women as genetic under dogs, being that he basis his claim off of genetic variances betrwwen men and women, and the â€Å"biological differences†. He claims that women shy away from more critical math and science fields because they â€Å"naturally† want to nurture a family, leaving them with the lack of desire to want to pursue a high stressed job. He also uses, genetic differences causes more males to have high aptitude for critical thinking. By mentioning scientific reasoning, Summers try to make his claim stronger, thus inarguable, but in this case, he failed. He failed to realize that sometime nurture, and social up-bringing, in some cases, is much stronger than scientific facts. The casual argument suggested in this article is society and how if effects culture and gender roles. Beginning decades ago women were portrayed as being the â€Å"damsel in distress†, whereas men were expected to be the family hero and safe-keeper. Media usually objectifies women in a light that enable them to think of their worth as low. Christianson, cleary and strongly opposes Summers claim with a great argument. She states â€Å"the societal forces working againt [women] encouragement are still pervasive. The act of women being smart and successful, in the social eye, is considered unattractive. The stereotypes given to women consequently shape the career paths women chose to take. Can you recall any child time book that portrays the man as the home-maker and not the bread winner. This leads to the fact that nurture is what causes expectections of gender roles to be engraved in their minds, not biology, although it does have a minute effect. From birth usually female infants are socialized, by their own mother to be dependent, as in the study that showed â€Å"Mothers of daughters tended to ask their daughters more question, encouraging social interaction, whereas mothers of sons were less verbal, encouraging their sons to be more independent†. The fact that women are peace keepers make them fail to realize that they are being discriminated against. We are sometimes oblivious to the fact that we are experiencing social inequality, and accept what we a given to us.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Alicia Zakon’s Poem, Remote Control Essay -- Poetry Alicia Zakon Remo

Two of the main elements in any poem are theme and symbolism. This holds true in Alicia Zakon’s poem titled â€Å"Remote Control†. It essentially tells about the relationship between a man and a woman, and how the man has the remote control to the woman's life. The symbols used are very meaningful to the overall theme. The theme of "Remote Control" is also very important, and not just a topic for a good poem but a real problem in society too. The writing would be much less effective if not for the symbols used throughout the very strong overall message.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Symbolism is defined as the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships. The whole poem is, in essence, one giant symbol. The opening line questions, "Why you let him play you like a video?". All in all, this summarizes the entire poem. Zakon uses symbols to question a woman why she lets her boyfriend, or possibly husband, treat her the way he does. Zakon asks why she lets him control her, ultimately stating he has the remote control to her life. She says that he "Change your channels because he can't stand your show", meaning he tells her how to act when he does not like her attitude. The line "Hypnotize you until the screen turns blue", representing the man putting the woman into a trance so to speak, so she says exactly what he wants her to say, and does exactly what he wants her to do.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, when Zakon states ...

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Portfolio Managemnt Essay

Overview KBIM Investment Inc. is a leading investment company incorporated in Barbados and licensed under the Companies Act cap 308 of the laws of Barbados. Founded in the year 2000, the company seeks to provide its investors with risk-adjusted returns in a management structure that closely aligns the  interests of investors and managers. Further, KBIM has continued to evolve from a dedicated private equity investment firm to a diversified management company. The fund buys US and Canadian stocks from the New York Stock Exchange as well as from the Toronto market. The fund has been equally divided among the following four industries; financials, technology, pharmaceuticals and energy. To assure that efficiency is maintained, the net assets are calculated weekly at the end of each week (Friday) of all stock market transactions. Global Economic and Market Outlook The global economy is in a dangerous new phase. Global activity has weakened and become more uneven, confidence has fallen sharply recently, and downside risks are growing. Against a backdrop of unresolved structural fragilities, a barrage of shocks hit the international economy this year. Japan was struck by the devastating Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, and unrest swelled in some oil-producing countries. At the same time, the handover from public to private demand in the U.S. economy stalled, the euro area encountered major financial turbulence, global markets suffered a major sell-off of risky assets, and there are growing signs of spillovers to the real economy. The structural problems facing the crisis-hit advanced economies have proven even more intractable than expected, and the process of devising and implementing reforms even more complicated. The outlook for these economies is thus for a continuing, but weak and bumpy, expansion. Prospects for emerging market economies have become more uncertain again, although growth is expected to remain fairly robust, especially in economies that can counter the effect on output of weaker foreign demand with less policy tightening. World Economic Outlook (WEO) projections indicate that global growth will moderate to about 4 percent through 2012 from over 5 percent in 2010. Real GDP in the advanced economies is projected to expand at an anemic pace of about 1 ½ percent in 2011 and 2 percent in 2012, helped by a gradual unwinding of the temporary forces that have held back activity during much of the second quarter of 2011. However, this assumes that European policymakers contain the crisis in the euro area periphery, that U.S. policymakers strike a judicious balance between support for the economy  and medium-term fiscal consolidation, and that volatility in global financial markets does not escalate. Moreover, the removal of monetary accommodation in advanced economies is now expected to pause. Under such a scenario, emerging capacity constraints and policy tightening, much of which has already happened, would lower growth rates in emerging and developing economies to a still very solid pace of about 6 percent in 2012. Strategic Objectives KBIM Investment Inc endeavours to provide an above average, long-term total return fund by investing in small capitalization stocks listed from within the US stock exchanges. The fund’s investment style of small capitalization values the investment objective of growth funds. A growth fund seeks to find companies that are expected to show rapid future growth in earnings, even if current earnings are poor, or possibly non-existent. The latter is directed towards more aggressive investors seeking good performance in an expected market rise. KBIM Investment Inc places heavy emphasis on asset allocation which is a very important decision for any investor in terms of portfolio construction. Fund managers have decided based on strategy and policy of the fund to utilize tactical asset allocation. This approach is performed routinely as part of the ongoing process of asset management. Using this approach, market risk is insulated, where exposure to a particular market is increased when its performance is expected to be good. On the other hand there is decrease exposure to the market when performance is expected to be poor. An investor’s fate is basically determined by having allocated funds to asset classes. Risk, expected return, market expectations, risk tolerance and goals of the fund is reflected in the allocation of weights The following characteristics should be present for companies in which the fund invests: 1. The company’s share price is depressed after a period of negative growth 2. An acceptable level of financial strength, efficient control and effective management of business assets should be exhibited by the said Company. KBIM Investments Inc reserves the right to rebalance the portfolio after decisions have been made from review of the portfolio ever quarter. Rebalancing reduces the risks of sharp losses and is less volatile than a portfolio not rebalanced. At any time where the fund liquidates or suitable equity investments are absence, KBIM investments Inc will seek investments in short term debt securities or money market instruments. Risk KBIM investment equity fund is specifically for an investor who seeks to attain high returns and by doing this is willing to tolerate high risk to receive the maximum benefit from their investment. Investors must take into consideration that investments in only one portion of the economy may offer greater risk than a highly diversified fund. In addition to the above, a fund that invests in well-established companies may be less risky than one that favors start-up companies. Limitations Investors must take into consideration the impact of taxes on the portfolio. Further, changing tax laws imposed can become bothersome in terms of forecasting future tax rates. Investors must also abide by regulation requirements imposed by state and federal agencies. The latter specifies the actions an investor should take in terms of achieving objectives, given the preference of the investor and any constraints imposed. Benchmark To evaluate portfolio performance, the following questions should be answered; the first being whether or not the return on the portfolio was adequate after all expenses was taken care of? Next the amount of risk taken by the investor or portfolio manager in creating and managing the portfolio should be assessed. Finally what return should have been earned on the portfolio, given the risk taken and the alternative returns available to be earned from investments over the same period. KBIM will be benchmarked against the S&P 500 small cap index. The stocks for the fund were selected based on the following criterion: ROE > 10 Market cap > 1,000,000,000 Six month return >0 P/E < 15 Competitive Advantage The fund managers of KBIM, are committed to offering returns above average of similar portfolios. Through our investment strategic policies, we hope to attract investors who are seeking to hedge funds. Here at KBIM we also value enhancement services such as risk management, insurance reviews, consulting and corporate governance. The firm’s comprehensive offerings provide private equity clients with numerous competitive advantages throughout the private equity life cycle, including fund development, portfolio growth and divestiture. Fee Details Annual charges: Annual Management charges: 1.65% of net asset value Fund Administrative charges: 0.05% Registrar charges: 0.13% Fund expenses: 0.2% Commission: Sales charge of 1.85% will be charged on amounts invested into the fund. During the first week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund grew by 3.5%, as U.S stocks rose, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its longest winning streak since February, amid optimism Europe’s leaders would announce a plan to contain the debt crisis and after McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) joined companies beating profit estimates. Financial shares in the S&P 500 added 3.9 percent as European finance ministers began negotiations to prevent a Greek default and shield banks. The S&P 500 climbed 1.1 percent to 1,238.25, the highest since Aug. 3, and had risen three straight weeks. It had surged 13 percent since Oct. 3, when it closed within 1 percent of a bear market, or 20 percent plunge, from its high in April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose a fourth straight week, gaining 164.30 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,808.79. Equities rose as European finance ministers approved a 5.8 billion Euro loan to Greece, and France retreated in a clash with Germany over expanding the bailout fund. Talks are to continue through Oct. 26. The S&P 500 also gained after 74 percent of companies that reported quarterly results topped the average analyst  projection. During the second week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund grew by 4.54% amidst a week which ended with most U.S. stocks falling, as data on consumer confidence and spending failed to boost equities a day after European leaders expanded the region’s bailout plan. Stocks pared losses in the final minutes of trading on Friday, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index erasing a decline as it completed a fourth straight weekly advance, the longest streak since January. About four stocks declined for every three that rose on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time on Friday. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,285.09, after rallying 3.4 percent on Thursday. It was up 3.8 percent since Oct. 21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22.56 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,231.11. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies retreated 0.6 percent. U.S. equity options expired Friday. Stocks rose Thursday, extending the best monthly rally since 1974 for the S&P 500, as European leaders agreed to expand a bailout fund and U.S. economic growth accelerated. Earlier this month, the index came within 1 percent of extending a drop from its peak in April to 20 percent, the common definition of a bear market. Since then, it has risen 17 percent. The S&P 500 rallied above the average strategist forecast for its closing level on Dec. 31, the third straight year that stocks ran ahead of projections. The index closed above the year-end forecast on Nov. 4 in 2010 and on June 2 in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the debt crisis won’t be over â€Å"in a year.† Italy’s borrowing costs rose to a euro-era record at a sale of three-year bonds, driving yields higher amid concern that efforts to contain the sovereign crisis won’t be enough to safeguard the region’s third-largest economy. Fitch Ratings said part of the plan to contain debt turmoil amounts to a Greek default. European leaders may struggle to maintain the euphoria that drove the euro to its biggest one-day gain in more than a year as scrutiny deepens on their latest attempt to stem the region’s turmoil. During the third week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 3.28%. U.S. stocks fell, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its first weekly decline since September, as a disagreement on Europe’s resources to fight  the debt crisis offset a drop in the American unemployment rate. The S&P 500 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,253.23 as of 4 p.m on Friday, November 4, New York time, after falling as much as 1.8 percent earlier. The gauge was down 2.5 percent this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 61.23 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,983.24. Benchmark gauges tumbled earlier this week as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced on October 31 a parliamentary confidence vote and his desire to hold a referendum on a European Union aid package needed to avert default. Equities rebounded on Thursday as Greece abandoned the referendum, moving closer to accepting the bailout. Global stocks slumped on Friday as the Group of 20 nations failed to agree on increasing the International Monetary Fund’s resources to fight Europe’s debt crisis. Ruling party lawmakers urged Papandreou to step aside and allow the formation of a new government that can approve the bailout plan for Greece. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a six-month low of 9 percent from 9.1 percent, even as the labor force expanded. The 80,000 increase in payrolls followed gains in the prior two months that were revised up by 102,000. Financial stocks had the biggest decline in the S&P 500 among 10 industries, falling 1.4 percent as a group. During the fourth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund rose by 1.17%. U.S. stocks rose this week, restoring the year-to-date gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as improving economic data and leadership changes in Greece and Italy bolstered investor optimism. The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,263.85, overcoming a 3.7 percent decline on Nov. 9 that was the largest one-day loss since Aug. 18. The Dow advanced 170.44 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,153.68 this week. Stocks resumed the rally that drove the S&P 500 up as much as 20 percent since the first week of October. Equities gained after U.S. consumer confidence improved and Italy’s Senate approved debt-reduction measures, paving the way for a new government led by former European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti. Greece swore in Lucas Papademos to head a unity government. The S&P 500 has rebounded 15 percent from a 13-month low on Oct. 3 as the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index for the U.S., which gauges whether reports are beating or trailing estimates, climbed to a seven-month high. The benchmark measure of U.S. equities rose 2 percent on Thursday, preventing a second weekly drop, after  a gauge of consumer sentiment topped estimates in November and reached the highest level since June. The Labor Department said on Nov. 10 that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven months. Stocks tumbled on Nov. 9 as yields on Italian government bonds surged, fueling concern European leaders will struggle to fund bailouts. During the fifth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 3.71%. U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its worst weekly loss in two months, as Spanish, French and Italian bond yields rose and Fitch Ratings said Europe’s debt crisis poses a threat to American banks. The S&P 500 decreased 3.8 percent, the most since the week ended Sept. 23, to 1,215.65. The index closed at the lowest level since Oct. 20. The Dow fell 357.52 points, or 2.9 percent, to 11,796.16. Equities slumped this week as higher government bond yields in Spain, France and Italy spurred concern the European debt crisis is intensifying outside Greece. The S&P Financials Index slumped 5.6 percent this week, the biggest drop among 10 industries, after the Fitch report spurred speculation the European crisis poses a threat to earnings. The S&P 500 advanced one day this week, on Nov. 15, amid speculation Mario Monti would succeed in forming a new Italian government to battle the debt crisis, while growth in retail sales bolstered optimism in the economy. Yesterday, he won a final parliamentary confidence vote, granting full power to his new government after pledging to spur growth and reduce debt in the euro-region’s third-largest economy. The benchmark measure of U.S. stocks erased gains yesterday after Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Germany’s Foreign Ministry said the nation was considering the possibility of â€Å"orderly defaults† beyond Greece. The index had rallied after a measure of leading U.S. indicators signaled the world’s biggest economy will keep growing in 2012. During the sixth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 4.07%. The euro touched a seven-week low against the dollar, falling for a fourth week, as Italian borrowing costs jumped to the highest level since 1997, adding to speculation Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis is spreading. U.S. stocks tumbled in the worst Thanksgiving-week loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index  since 1932 as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will spread and American policy makers failed to reach agreement on reducing the federal budget. The S&P 500 slid 4.7 percent to 1,158.67, closing at the lowest level since Oct. 7. The Dow fell 564.38 points, or 4.8 percent, to 11,231.78 this week. The S&P 500 has fallen for seven days, the longest streak in four months, and has tumbled 7.6 percent so far in November. U.S. equities erased an early advance on the final session of the week as S&P lowered Belgium’s credit rating and Reuters reported that Greece is demanding private investors accept larger losses on their debt. The cost of insuring European sovereign bonds against default rose to a record this week as Germany failed to find buyers for 35 percent of the bonds offered at an auction. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said market turbulence sparked by the euro region’s sovereign-debt crisis will last for â€Å"a few months.† Congress’s special debt-reduction committee failed to reach an agreement this week, setting the stage for $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts and fueling concern that economic- stimulus measures that are set to expire will not be renewed. Still, S&P reaffirmed it would keep the U.S.’s credit rating at AA+ after stripping the government of its top AAA grade on Aug. 5. Stocks fell Nov. 22 as revised Commerce Department figures showed that gross domestic product climbed at a 2 percent annual rate from July through September, less than projected and down from a 2.5 percent prior estimate. U.S. stock exchanges were shut Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving and closed three hours early on Nov. 25. Evaluation of Fund KBIM FUND PERFORMANCE WEEK 1-6 Initially, the first two weeks of the portfolio’s performance did exceptionally well. Due to extreme market conditions in Europe (European Debt Crisis), the fund was affected. The weaknesses of Europe’s common currency area, ranging from its design to a persisting dearth of bank funding and anemic economic growth, weren’t properly addressed in the measures revealed on to stem investor panic. Consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in October from the previous month, indicating the biggest part of the economy will help keep the U.S. recovery intact.  Performance fell in week 3 but stabilized in week 4 due to improving economic conditions in Europe (leadership changes in Greece and Italy), thus restoring confidence in the market. Week 4 and 5 dropped to record lows in the S&P 500. This was due to the negative result of the sale of government bonds in Germany, as investors lacked the confidence it once had in what is arguably the strongest economy in Europe. The fact that the German economy was unable to raise the money it expected to with the sale spoke volumes, as it was the one country in Europe which seemed to be stable and assisted in the bailout of its struggling member countries (Greece, Italy and Spain). This also led to a huge dip in the value of the Euro currency. Overall, the fund’s performance was below expectations. There was, however, directly related to unexpected market conditions, which affected the global market adversely. Invariably, that was passed down to the portfolio. During the six week period KBIM started out with $999,984.84 and ended with $977,853.00, thus making a loss of $22,131.82. Total return was then a negative return of 2.21%. The decision was taken to hold of the selling of equities with the portfolio. Instead, the strategy opted was one of riding the storm out, and in some instances, even buying more stock, as the markets were down and the share prices down as well. This would allow for the fund to make substantial profits when the market recovered or improved, as it could only improve from this point. Bibliography Jones, Charles P. Investment Analysis and Management, Eleventh Edition John Wiley and Sons 2010 http://www.bloomberg.com http://www.imf.com

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Communication in the Military

Communication has always been important with in the military from day one. Wihtout this communication no soldier would know where to be or when to be there. When the U. S. military first began we fought in a completely different style than we do today. Back then there was alot more chivalry to war to than there is today. They stood on line with their chests out proud of what they were doing. Without communication the first rank would not know when to fire their muskets, when to take a knee, when to begin reloading their weapons and when to stand back up to take aim to start the process all over again.According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary the classification of communication states it’s a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviour. In relation, communication is the heart of what makes the United States Army what it is today. Without Communication vital information would not be passed down from the Ch ief of Command to a chain of Non Commissioned Officers to the soldiers. Not to mention, innocent lives would be in jeopardy, missions would be misconstrued, and simple information from NCO to soldier would be conflicted.Lack of communication in the army means important decision on anything would not be made. Taking from the Chief of Command, if he did communicated to his dependents on decisions such as going to war, or even making the change of declaring General Martin Dempsey chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff how could we improved the nation better yet a team; because all in all the United States army is a TEAM. Not having communication within a constituency of people creates an anarchy of chaos. The smallest amount of information is always imperative.For example, if a soldier goes out over the weekend and doesn’t inform anyone of he or she whereabouts and something crucial happens to him or her no one would never know because that soldier failed to communicated with his /her battle buddy more importantly their NCO. It is important to notify your chain of command where you are at all times so that they know. This is why the Army has developed the TRiPs system so that if traveling outside of the 250 mile radius of post you are required to fill out this digital form and it be approved by your supervisor before taking the said trip so that your chain of command knows your whereabouts always.When others know about one’s location it is easier to manoeuvre to find them if anything should ever go wrong. No one wants to become a victim if something should ever go not according to plan; and that’s why it is critical to notify someone whenever going out. Communication is key due to the simple fact that if the individuals involved in the social interaction do not first form a bases of what is tolerable and what is not, how than, can they â€Å"respect† the other individual.They next element that would be necessary for a healthy respectful relationship would be empathy. Without an empathic outlook by all parties engaged in communication, how might they respect another’s point of view? Empathy must follow communication, for empathy shows acknowledgement and understanding of what was first communicated by all parties. After empathy, the final and most important step towards respect is submission. Submission is needed to assimilate each individual into respect, not per say, for one or more individuals to dominate the others.Lets break down these three ideals of respect, starting with communication. Communication is the very bases for respect. Without this very basic idea, an organization as prominent as the Army of the United States could simply not exist. The relationship between communication and respect is one sided. Communication can exist without respect, but not vice versa. An example of this could include two individuals fighting over the price of an item. Both individuals are communicating, but neither is respecting the other.By any means, the bane of communication when applied to respect is miscommunication. Miscommunication in itself is the very break down of communication. Communication plays an essential role in any institution, especially in the military. The military employs two basic forms of communication; which are verbal and non-verbal. All two forms are vital to the success of the military. Without effective communication in the military regardless of the status there cannot be a positive outcome of any situation with failure to understand what is passed.Military communication has played an important role in transmitting information, orders, and reports both in the field and at sea and between command centres and deployed units both in the field and at sea. Information is transmitted from superiors to subordinates utilizing the chain of command system. â€Å"The American Heritage dictionary of English language† defines Chain of command as a system where by authority is passed down from the top through a series of executive positions or military ranks in which each is accountable to the one directly superior.Individual unit leaders exercise command by communicating orders and instruction of commanders to their respective units. Traditionally, military communication had been in the form of sending and receiving signals. â€Å"The first military comms tool was the communication automobile designed by the Soviet Union in 1934. The basics of the communications in the beginning was the sending and receiving of signals – which were encoded so that the enemy would not be able to get hold of any top secret communication.Then the advent of distinctive signals which lead to the formation of the Signal Corps, this corp. , specialised in tactics of military comms. They evolved into a distinctive occupation where the signaller became a highly technical job dealing with all available communications methods including civil ones. In the modern world, m ost nations attempt to minimize the risk of war caused by miscommunication or inadequate communication by pushing the limits of communication technology and systems.As a result military communication is more intense, complicated, and often motivates the development of advanced technology for remote systems such as satellites and aircraft, both manned and unmanned, as well as computers. Computers and their varied applications have revolutionized military comms. Fortunately military communication does not always merely facilitate warfare, but often supports intelligence gathering and communication between adversaries, and thus sometimes prevents war. Signal communication is basically a means of conveying information from person or place to the other utilizing indicators such as gestures and smoke. Signal communication or signaling has long played an important role in warfare. â€Å"This form of communication is greatly employed when troops don’t want to be heard or detected an d it serves to provide a means of transmitting information from reconnaissance and other units in contact with the enemy. † The military uses signal communcations in many different ways and have done so since the beginning of the military.Whether it be in the form of hand and arm signals within an Infantry unit to allow everyone behind them to know what they need to do at a specific time whether it be halt or stop movement, or to take a knee, to get down in the prone, to mark a rally point to meet up at. The list goes on and on and by using a signaling form of communication it allows them to do so without being heard by an enemy force that may be in the immediate area. The signaling form of communication smoke is also used by infantry units and other ground force elements to notify others what they need to do or the position in which they are in.They use smoke to notify medevac of their position in case they have wounded or KIA within their element to be picked up. Ground troo ps would â€Å"pop smoke† and wait for the medevac helicopter to indicate what color of smoke that they see to know that it is they element in which they are intending to go to. Verbal communication is the most widely used form of communication in the military. This method has an advantage over the other forms of communication. It allows the person passing the information to interpret the facial expressions of those receiving the information being passed.You can also use the web now days as a form of verbal communcation. With the addition of this tool the military has become even more effective. With this tool leaders are able to send the same message to a large group of people without having to take the time out to have a formation or a gathering of the soldiers in order to do so. This method has become the primary source of communcation within the military because of its ease and almost everyone has access to a computer and the web at some point during their duty day.It red uces time in which it takes to get information put out and reduces the amount of time that one would waste by going to a gathering or formation. The people within the conversation is ultimately unlimited to whomever they would like within it and allows for multiple responses at one said time whenever they see the message and are able to send a response without taking them away from other tasks at hand and allowing them to efficiently transition from one task to the next.Military Communication is a key to the success of everything that we do in the military. Here is an example of how the web can help efficiently pass along information in the Army. With communicating in the military it has to be clear and to the point because many times it has to be passed on to someone else and there can not be any confusion. Just recently I received and email.It was to pass along what the Commander had worked out for the holiday schedule for Thanksgiving and wanted all the units to be aware of the d ays that we would have off and the days that we needed to post a duty also give us the days for leave that service members are allowed to take and posted a memo stating that if someone is to take leave on these dates they are not allowed to take leave for the rest of the year unless it was a red cross emergency. The purpose of this email so I can inform my team on the days that we would have off and the days allotted for leave.My commanding officer was the sender and I was the receiver. The message was the days we would have off for thanksgiving holidays. The technology used was a milper messages which is a military personal message. All involved had positive feedback. The technology used was very appropriate due to this needed to be sent out to many units at one time rather than the commander looking up each email address and sending that out that way he could send it out to each unit and then the Commanding Officer can see to it that the message was passed to each person.Another f orm of military communication is Cryptography. Cryptography is one of the most influential and important assets pertaining to government today. â€Å"Cryptography is the mathematical science of preparingcommunication incoherent to parties unintended to receive the message, or Cryptography is the study of methods of converting readable messages into guised unreadable information, unless one knows of the methods of decryption. This military comms method ensured that the messages reached the correct hands and eyes or ears.Nowadays digital cash, signatures, digital rights management and intellectual property rights and secure electronic commerce are its new purviews. It is also being used in computing, telecommunications and infrastructure. † In essence this what this statement is saying is that when using cryptography you are required to enter some sort of passcode or password in order to access the material contained within the message. The military uses this method when it com es to almost any kind of electronically sent mail or information.In order to access the Army Knowledge Online website which contains soldiers data and emails you are required to enter your username and password. The passwords the military requires people to use are some of the most difficult passwords to hack. All passwords must contain uppercase, lowercase letters along with numbers and special characters. Another form of Cryptography used by the military is the common access card. This card contains soldier data within a microchip that is inserted into an identification card. When using the CAC card you also have a 6-8 digit pincode that is required when acessing government computers or material.Each soldier has a CAC card that is used to get throught the gate on each military installation. This form of Cryptography takes two essential things in the miltary and forms them both into one idea. Written communication is another form in which the military uses. The written form of comm unication is probably the most commonly used form of communication within the military. Military uses written communication everyday. Whether it be in the form of an email which can also be considered verbal or in the form of a Memorandum for record or a DA form 4856 counseling form. One of the most important concepts to master is expressed several ways: put your bottom line first, hook your reader, make it relevant to him/her. DA PAM 600-67 lists this concept first among its seven style techniques in Paragraph 3-1 and hammers the idea home again in Paragraph 3-2. AR 25-50 says â€Å"focus first on the main point† (Paragraph 1-45) and â€Å"open with a short, clear purpose statement† (Paragraph 1-46). † A MFR can be for the purpose of many different things. It can be used to give guidence of off limit establishments or be a directive on how a task will be carried out.Beyond that there are even more ways a memorandum for record may be used but those are just a cou ple that come to mind right off hand. The DA form 4856 counseling is used amongst the Army. It gives guidence to the soldier on a monthly basis or whenever they do something negative in which his or her chain of command feels it is necessary to give the soldier a negative counseling. There are many other reasons for a counseling. They can be used for promotion purposes to give the soldier a guideline to things that he or she must accomplish in order to be recommended for promotion or reasons that they are not being recommended.On a monthly basis the counseling tells a soldier how the soldier ultimately did for the previous month whether it be good or bad. The counseling will have special emphasis on what the soldier did well as well as the soldiers shortcomings, giving the soldier guidence on what he or she should work on the following month. The DA 4856 is an excellent form of communication between the Team or Squad leader and the lower enlisted within his or her team or squad when used properly.Most people in the Army do not use the counseling form in the correct manner in which it was designed to be used. This is usually due to the fact that they themselves do not understand Army communication themselves or they just do not understand how the form is actually meant to be used. The Army is begining to go back to its old way and the ways that most soldiers have been brought up in the Army is in fact the wrong way leading to what is being known as Toxic Leadership and the Department of the Army is doing their best to begin getting rid of this toxic leadership.Toxic leadership could be defined as someone that does the bare minimum or in the case of a counseling form would what is referred to as hand jamming it. Meaning that they pay no attention to their soldier but when something comes up and they do not have the counselings prepared they go back and write them and instruct the lower enlisted soldier that they are in control of to back date the form to keep th em from getting in trouble as well. This form has become more and more common within the Army that is rediculous.If someone wants to be in charge of someone they should take charge and do what they are suppose to do in that position not throwing their soldier under the bus when they think thats something they have done is coming back to bite them based on their own actions†¦ They expect their soldiers to cover them but leadership is suppose to stick up for their soldiers not throw them under the bus. What kind of signal, what kind of communication is this to the lower level soldier? Not a good one and thats all that can be said.To sum up this essay there are several different forms of communication within the military that all serve their own purpose to the military. There is the communication form of signal that can be used to signal different things from telling other soldiers what they should do next when in combat, to informing air support of your position via smoke or a VS -17 panel. There is the form of verbal communication which can be used to give a platoon or company of soldiers a safety briefing for the weekend, or just to put out guidence to a select few individuals within the element.Another form of communication being cryptography. Cryptography allows one said person to send another said person a message or email or another form of typed material that you must use a passcode, pincode, or password to access. All forms of government email use this type of communication to ensure the safety and well being of the rest of the population of the United States. The last form of communication we discussed is written. Written communication is the most important and most commonly used among the military.Written comunication can be used as a MFR or counseling session for a lower level soldier. A MFR can be used in different ways, it can be used to notify soldiers of off limit establishments or just to give guidence to soldiers on how to accomplish a said task that has been given to them. A DA form 4856 is utilized to give guidence to the lower level soldier on how well they have performed over the period of a month. Commonly known as a monthly counseling but can also be used as a negative counseling to inform a soldier of wrong doing that he or she has done to recieve the statement.Negative counselings can be used in conjunction to ultimately punish the soldier using UCMJ action. All in all communcation is an essential part of the military. The lack of communication cause serious problems as well as just the lack of understanding the communication that has been given. Communication within the military is a must or nothing will get done, or get done to the standards anyway. It is imparative that all members of the United States military understand the importance of communication and excercises it on a regular basis on order for the military to effectively function.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Cause and Effect Outline Practice Exercise

Cause and Effect Outline Practice Exercise Here well practice making a simple outline: a list of the key points in a paragraph or essay. This basic outline can help us revise a composition by showing at a glance if we need to add, remove, change, or rearrange any supporting details. Why Outlines are Useful Some writers use outlines to develop a first draft, but this approach can be tricky: how can we organize our information before weve figured out what we want to say? Most writers need to start writing (or at least freewriting) in order to discover a plan. Whether you use an outline for drafting or revising (or both), you should find it a useful way to develop and organize your ideas in paragraphs and essays. Cause and Effect Paragraph Lets begin by reading a students cause-and-effect paragraph, Why Do We Exercise?, and then well arrange the students key points in a simple outline. Why Do We Exercise? These days, just about everyone, from toddler to retiree, seems to be running, pedaling, lifting weights, or performing aerobics. Why are so many people exercising? There are several reasons. Some people, the ones in designer jump suits, exercise simply because keeping in shape is trendy. The same people who a few years ago thought doing drugs was cool are now just as seriously involved in self-conditioning. Other people exercise to lose weight and appear more attractive. The paunchy crowd is willing to undergo extreme self-torture in the name of beauty: thin is in. Finally, there are those who exercise for their health. Regular, intensive exercise can strengthen the heart and lungs, build endurance, and improve the bodys immunity system. In fact, judging from my observations, most people who exercise probably do so for a combination of these reasons. Cause and Effect Paragraph Outline Now heres a simple outline of the paragraph: Opening: Everyone is exercising.Question: Why are so many people exercising?Reason 1: Be trendy (exercise is cool)Reason 2: Lose weight (thin is in)Reason 3: Stay healthy (heart, endurance, immunity)Conclusion: People exercise for a combination of reasons. As you can see, the outline is just another form of listing. The opening and question are followed by three reasons, each expressed in a brief phrase and followed in parenthesis by an equally brief explanation. By arranging the main points in a list and using key phrases rather than complete sentences, we have reduced the paragraph to its basic structure. Cause and Effect Outline Exercise Now try it yourself. The following cause-and-effect paragraph, Why Do We Stop at Red Lights?, is followed by the plan for a simple outline. Complete the outline by filling in the main points given in the paragraph. Why Do We Stop at Red Lights? Say its two in the morning with not a policeman in sight, and you approach an empty intersection marked by a red light. If youre like most of us, you stop and wait for the light to turn green. But why do we stop? Safety, you might say, though you can see perfectly well that its quite safe to cross. Fear of being nabbed by a sneaky police officer is a better reason, but still not very convincing. After all, the police dont generally make a habit of setting up road traps in the dead of night. Perhaps we are just good, law-abiding citizens who wouldnt dream of committing a crime, even though obeying the law in this case does seem faintly ridiculous. Well, we may claim to be following the dictates of our social conscience, but another, less high-minded reason probably underlies it all. We stop at that red light out of dumb habit. We probably dont consider whether its safe or unsafe to cross, right or wrong; we stop because we always stop at red lights. And, of course, even if we were to think about it as we idled there at the intersection, the light would probably turn green before we could come up with a good reason for why we do what we do. Fill out the simple outline for Why Do We Stop at Red Lights?: Opening: __________Question: __________?Reason 1: __________Reason 2: __________Reason 3: __________Reason 4: __________Conclusion: __________ Completed Cause and Effect Outline Now compare your outline with the completed version of the simple outline for Why Do We Stop at Red Lights? Opening:Â  Red light at two a.m.Question:Â  Why do we stop?​Reason 1:Â  Safety (though we know its safe)Reason 2:Â  Fear (though police arent around)Reason 3:Â  Social conscience (maybe)Reason 4:Â  Dumb habit (most likely)Conclusion:Â  We have no good reason. Once you have practiced creating a few simple outlines, youre ready to move on to the next step: evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the paragraph you have outlined.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Startups in Publishing †IPR License

Startups in Publishing – IPR License Startups in Publishing – IPR License What’s the â€Å"publishing industry†, really? It’s a mixture of a lot of companies, big and small, that all revolve around authors, books and readers. The big ones have been shaken by the digital disruption and are only now realizing the truth of â€Å"adapt or die†. And because they’re big, this will now obviously take time, as Hugh Howey recently pointed out (quite accurately).That’s where the smaller cogs in the wheel come in–and I’m going to say â€Å"we†, as Reedsy is a part of the machine, and I’m a part of Reedsy. Since the digital disruption, the landscape of publishing has become a fabulous playing ground for many startups. So many, in fact, that I hear this question a lot when presenting Reedsy: â€Å"Do you really think we need yet another self-publishing/digital publishing company?†My answer is usually a version of: â€Å"Are you satisfied by the current state of this industry? Do you think ind ependent publishing has now been made a simple process? Do you think we’ve all finally, fully embraced the digital disruption?† I dare you to say yes.Here at Reedsy, we’re big fans of all the little ships that enter the vast ocean of book publishing with the certainty that they will make a difference. We believe they will be the ones fashioning the future of the industry and turning it into something coherent and adapted to these modern, digital times.To celebrate them, we have decided to create a serial on startups that we will be publishing every Monday on this blog. These are all startups actually providing fantastic value to authors, and which we believe will play an important role in the future of publishing. For this reason, they are all startups that Reedsy is or will be partnering with in the near future.Today, we start with IPR License, the first and only online platform on which to acquire subsidiary book rights and permissions on a global scale. It was founded by Tom Chalmers back in 2012 and has greatly grown since. Read our interview with Tom below.RF: Why did you start IPR? What’s the founder’s story?Tom Chalmers: I founded my first publishing company in 2005, Legend Press, and with only a borrowed computer and no experience or contacts I licensed the second novel into seven editions and four languages. Five further companies were started between then and 2012, when the idea of licensing potential that had stayed with me since 2005 came to the fore. That led to my seventh company, IPR LIcense, the global rights licensing platform.RF: That’s great! I actually was at Frankfurt Book Fair, and felt it was more mess than â€Å"Messe†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ So I can understand the need for an online platform for trading rights, but how quick do you think big publishers can be to switch from a meeting-at-book-fairs model to an online one? Is your ambition to replace big international fairs or to complement them?TC: Itâ₠¬â„¢s not a case of switching from face-to-face meetings–publishing will always be a subjective and personable industry–but complementing them. Book fairs are now hubs of business and not the only place to do business, which does mean a smaller but more focused footfall.Technology not only means business can be completed 24 hours a day seven days a week, all year round, but at the book fair as well. We see a time shortly where meetings can be held and interested parties can then complete the deals immediately rather than waiting for the two-weeks-later follow-up.RF: What rights are most acquired by publishers on IPR License (digital, print, foreign, Film/TV, etc.)?TC: It is hard say as we have over 13 million titles on the platform, not only books but journals, manuscripts and screenplays too. The obvious focus is on print and in particular translations where there is huge potential, but we also see lots of for instance audio, large print and production materials deals being completed as well. The book is a single entity of intellectual property, one of many that can potentially be licensed.RF: How active are you in the negotiations and contracting that follow after a publisher has singled out a book whose rights they are interested in?TC: As much as the member would like us to be. In general we are a technology solution to allow the seller and buyer to directly complete deals. But we also have a team to help facilitate the transactions, so if a seller says they want a bit of help in the negotiation or contract and so on, we will provide that for them.RF: I think that’s great. It’s important to keep this individual approach to every single client even if you have a scalable model. Now over to the revenue stream; what’s your business model?TC: We charge a flat annual fee of  £99 for authors and a fee for publishers dependent on company turnover. We then take 15% commission from deals completed via the platform.When you join IPR License, you don’t only have access to market-leading technology but account management, licensing and marketing support. We usually say the annual fee is the equivalent to the fee from a single deal completed, a lot less for authors, so the risk is not unreasonable.RF: Now here’s something I’ve always been curious about: Some say indie authors start out self-publishing specifically in the hope of getting discovered by a traditional publisher. But on the other hand, you get the numerous stories of traditionally published authors switching to self-publishing as soon as their contracts end (or even sooner). From what you’ve seen at IPR, which wave is bigger: indie to trad or trad to indie? Or do you see a hybrid model becoming the norm?TC: We’ve seen a self-published author, Mary Wood, received a seven-book deal from Pan Macmillan and we have many authors who have reverted the rights from publishers and are looking to license them directly. Weâ⠂¬â„¢re not really focused on or interested in the trend, which I imagine is changeable anyway; we’re solely focused on helping the rights owner, whether an author, publisher or agent, license their valuable IP to third parties around the world.RF: What would be your top advice to self-publishing authors looking to sell their print or foreign rights? In other words, what do publishers look for on IPR License?TC: Get the basics rights: how the book is listed, what categories to use, what content to use to support the potential purchase of the rights, ensuring the correct sales and rights information is listed and so on. Also, making sure the key books are listed as key books as they are then prioritised in the search engine.RF: How should indie authors be using IPR? Should they be listing a particular kind of title? Or is the benefit of an open directory like IPR that even niche works can find an audience, and so all works ought to be listed?TC: We try to be as open as possibl e and we see licensing deals being completed for works completely across the spectrum. As well as getting the basics rights, as per above, I would also say to take a back step and think honestly about where the work may appeal and to tailor the listing details accordingly. A lot of authors say â€Å"perfect for film† or â€Å"should be big in the US† etc., but the most successful ones have a basic understanding of the markets and a realistic view of where the work will appeal.RF: You launched Rights Magazine last year to coincide with the five biggest international book fairs in 2014. What’s its content and who is it distributed to? Why a magazine?TC: It contains editorial, company news, publisher and author profiles and highlighted titles, etc. We have a market-leading technology platform but we also want to provide as much visibility and marketing for our members as possible and the magazine has been a very successful way of achieving that. It is distributed i n different ways at each book fair and is part of a wider promotional plan at each event.RF: From founder to founder, how do you see IPR License and Reedsy working together? What value would Reedsy add to IPR License (and its authors)?TC: I think two ambitious start-ups looking to be at the forefront of the market should have natural synergies, whether that means providing joint services, education or other forms of partnership, so I look forward to a long period of working together and discovering what can be offered to each other’s customers to improve their experience.RF: Easy one to finish: How do you envision IPR License in 5 years? Do you have any major milestones you plan to hit on the way?TC: Our plan is to be the industry standard tool for finding and transacting rights business. We are confident that will happen over the next 12 months, so saying where we’ll be in five years would sound far too grand.RF: Thank you for your time, Tom!Post edited by our lovely editor Becca!Find us on Twitter: Reedsy, IPR License, Tom Chalmers and Ricardo

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Tears of men and women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tears of men and women - Essay Example Also, the tasks associated by varied cultures to the two different sexes relate a lot to their emotional mindset. The women mostly take care of children while the men earn and take care of the material and social needs of the family. Also, under the situations marked by emotional distress, women are more capable of being obvious with their tears while the men remain emotionally restraint. Yet, in the light of the available facts, tears do enable a person to give vent to pent up emotions and the hesitation on the part of men to be forthcoming with tears could give way to many health, psychological and social problems in them (Hales 1). Hence, the modern men need to be more sensitive and must be willing to come out with tears, if the need be. Being scarcely conversant with how men deal with emotions in other cultures, the views expressed by me are qualified by the norms and expectations of the culture in which I was born. Crying is perhaps the truest expression of human emotions as it allows a person to express one’s emotions. For instance, even young children who cannot speak do tend to communicate with their parents through crying. People tend to shed tears both when they are sad and when they are very happy. For instance the death of a loved one could undeniably lead one to tears. I distinctly remember that I wept when my son was born. This is because my wife was suffering from serious gynecological problems at that time and the doctors had warned her against conceiving as she had already miscarried twice. The point that I am trying to make is that crying tends to be extempore amongst both the sexes when they suddenly comes across sad or elating situation. However, things are not as simple. In a social context, most of the human traditions and practices do tend to regiment the expression of tears amongst men and women, which places men in psychologically difficult situations, hampering them from the natural expression of their emotions (Mens Line Austra lia 1). Perhaps, men hesitate from shedding tears has a lot to do with the weak status of the women in different societies. There is no denying the fact that both men and women are looking for love, affection and understanding in their life. Yet, women are more forthcoming with emotions as compared to men. It is also true that women are more prone to emotional, financial and sexual exploitation, at least in a visible context. Even men who become victims of exploitation in intimate relationships prefer to hide their dilemma. Hence, the more obvious exploitation of women in many societies makes men think that shedding tears is a mark of weakness and if they are more outright with their emotions, it will make them more vulnerable and will make them appear weak. This factor also amply inhibits men from expressing emotions. Many experts tend to hold that mentally women happen to be wired differently as compared to men (Lloyd 1). The mental anatomy of women makes it easier for them to giv e vent to their emotions by crying (Lloyd 2). In contrast the approach of men towards distressing and challenging situations tends to be different. Men approach emotional issues and situations in a more logical and restrained manner (Lloyd 2). However, this development of disparate mental circuitry in women and men over the evolutionary progress has in a way placed the women in a situation of advantage