Chinese History Essay

The Tang dynasty came into existence after the collapsed of emperor Yangdi’s imperialist reign which unified China, and his death in the hands of his own trusted aid in 618 A. D. From the rubbles of rebellion and war against the emperor, a powerful General named Li Yuan; Duke of Tang and chief officer of Taiyuan City, emerged as the man of the hour. General Yuan joined the rebellion against the emperor and reestablished order and the authority of the central government when the smoke of rebellion had cleared. He became the founder of the Tang dynasty and reign as Tang Gaozu. Li Shimin (Tang Gaozong) on the other hand is the second son of General Li Yuan. Being thoroughly trained in martial skills and was very much acquainted of the administrative procedures he has acquired primarily from his exposure when his father was the principal commander of the Sue dynasty, appointed to command the army facing the Sue remaining forces, at the age of only nineteen. David Graff described his military skills as â€Å"one case where the use of the word genius does not seem at all inappropriate† Li Shimin was highly successful in his career as a military general and his military strategy according to Graff â€Å"is worth noting. † Before he became emperor in 626, he has displayed contrasting behavior with regard to his strategy, which was extremely cautious, and when he is in combat in which he always places himself â€Å"at the head of the final, decisive cavalry charge†¦. † How Well the Respective Career of the first two Tang Emperors fit to the Chinese Proverbs on Empire Building and Governance and Model to this Proverb. The proverb maybe fits rightfully to the first two Tang emperors in terms of the way they acquired the empire and how they built it to become the most prosperous and most powerful country in the world during this time. It was during the reign of these two emperors that China experienced its glorious period as their economy, culture, politics and military might attained an unequaled superiority level. Tang Gaozu seized the imperial power after a bloody rebellion that took the life of emperor Yang that mark the end of Sue dynasty, while it heralded the coming of a new dynasty under the able military leadership of Li Yuan. The reign of Tang Gaozu as the first emperor of the Tang dynasty spent its reign mostly in subduing the remaining forces loyal to Emperor Yang in different provinces and cities of the whole country. All throughout his reign he was facing major problems relating to the threat of war by the Eastern Turks and the Tibetans who posed serious challenges to China’s security, and major invasion was a constant possibility. Until his last moment in power however, Tang Gaozu’s hold in China was not sufficiently secure to risk committing the forces to war against the Turks, thus, his reign can be characterized as more on military maneuvering in order to survived the different challenges the empire were facing. The Emperor then being the chief of the military forces assigned his sons and relatives to command forces numbering thousands, and all throughout his reign, the empire did not perform political and economic activities; it was purely military that characterized this particular reign. That means, Emperor Tang Gaozu ‘conquer the empire on horseback’ but it was his son Li Shimin who ‘built the empire from horse back. ’ Tang Gaozu spent his reign in conquering the whole empire that was broken into many independent forces loyal to the former emperor. This situation has indeed proved to be difficult as the empire was unable to wage war against the Turks and the Tibetans. According to Warren Cohen, â€Å"Gaozu had little choice but to buy peace;† however, what Tang Gaozu had failed to accomplished, his son did. Tang Gaozong also known to most Chinese historians as Tang Taizong, came into power in 627. His ascendancy to the throne was not at all smooth and easy, rather marked by his murderous scheme in connivance with some of the high-ranking military officials particularly those in-charge of the palace gates. Xueshi Guo noted that Li Shimin found himself at a â€Å"disadvantage in challenging his brothers,† to be heir to throne. After getting support from some powerful military generals, he staged a military coup against his brothers in 626 after which he killed both his brothers. According Guo, bare two months after the successful coup, â€Å"Gaozu was forced to to appoint Li Shimin as his successor and two months later he handed over his power completely to Li Shimen. † Taizong Ascended to the throne in 627, which marked a new era for the Chinese society. Having warned by the officials who recalled the disastrous consequence of Sui Imperialism, they urged the new emperor to concentrate on domestic affairs. Warren Cohen noted that Taizong or Gaozong listened to their advice and implements a more diplomatic policy in relation to the Turks. Because of this diplomatic policies, Cohen Pointed out â€Å"in due course China was prosperous again, its people well fed and responsive to his rule. † Taizong was indeed a great leader but he was moderate in his expansion policies compared to his father who. Taizong had more time to economic activities that bolstered China’s growing prosperity, he re opened trade routes, and the eliminations of tolls once exacted by those who had previously controlled passage across central Asia. Cohen further noted, â€Å"Student of Tang history will note the peaceful expansion of China’s contacts with rest of the world during Taizong’s days on the throne and China’s power and wealth attracted people from all over Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. † Based on these historical accounts, the implication of the Chinese proverbs rightly fits these first two Tang emperors. They were both powerful military ruler. Li Yuan curved out the empire on ‘horseback’, that is; through rebellion and war, and reestablishing the empire through conquering every forces that challenges the new power, while Tang Gaozong or Tang Taizong, the successor, strengthened the empire and brings more prosperity, stability and peace through a more enlightened civil and military administration. They may have some difficulty to be model of this Chinese proverb, for some reason. Both had acquired imperial power through violent means. Li Yuan had staged a rebellion against the emperor Yang and had perhaps connived with some palace officials to murder the emperor. Tang Gaozong on the other hand, conspired with some powerful military generals and orchestrated a coup against his own brothers and killing them and forcing his own father to hand over to him imperial throne. Nevertheless, on the ground of their accomplishment, they can fit to be model of this proverb. Gaozu was able to curve out a new empire that has more regard to its citizens, unlike with its predecessor who was ruthless and oppressive. An empire that was willing to take on new economic challenges that brought stability, peace and prosperity to its citizens. These two Tang emperors must be credited in their efforts that has brought enormous prosperity, and respect to Chinese people all over Asia, and to the world and if making them heroes will be a compensation of their achievements for the Chinese society, then they were very much deserving of such compensation. They deserved to be model of the proverb.

Do environmentalists overstate their

Do Environmentalists Overstate Their Case? The very interesting article â€Å"Do Environmentalists Overstate Their Case? † is included in an academic book â€Å"Taking sides†. In the article writer provides articles for and against the motion. Both the sides are well addressed and are very convincing. However, I personally think that, environmentalists do overstate their case. According to environmentalists the world is going to hell in a handbasket but I disagree with the statement because Various individuals organizations and nations re taking initiatives to improve the condition of the environment.Like for instance, according to the article published in Japan Times in Feb 23, 2013, Tokyo and Beijing are cooperating to decrease the air pollution and it's menace. Similarly, according to article published in Delhi(lndia) government site various steps have been taken to reduce pollution like: ban of vehicles older than 15 years, ban in vehicles driven in conventional fue ls etc. These rules are being effectively implemented though transportation enforcement team.These are few among many examples of initiatives taken to improve the environment thus world is definitely getting better and not worse in days to come. Furthermore, environmentalists are focusing too much on environmental degradation and totally ignoring about the improvement in environmental condition. They fail to address the cases of environmental improvement. For example: according to â€Å"The economist† in the article â€Å"The east is gray† America and Europe combined are cutting down their emissions by 60m tones a year in spite of increase in industrial activities.The above shown chart as published by world bank clearly shows that sulphur- dioxide concentration in all the major places are in decreasing trend. These are some of the facts that environmentalists forget to mention. Most importantly environmentalists have to understand that environment is a dynamic and not static. If it's degraded today, it can always get better tomorrow. We don't really have to make a fuss out of it and exaggerate to the extent that it makes people panic. We can also notice it in our real lives that the environment is actually dynamic.For example: My father told me that â€Å"The Bagmati river† which is one of the most important river of my country Nepal was very clean when he was a child. However, as a child I saw only the polluted version the river. But, as the time passed by various measures were taken to clean up the river. At local level people started cleaning it up and at national level various policies were set up. Now, I can see it for myself that the river is cleaner than it used to be. Similarly, the western countries have followed the pattern of â€Å"grow first, clean up later†.During the process of development and progress the environment is affected adversely. However, later they take the initiatives and clean up the environment. In this way, the environment is changing, sometimes for bad and sometimes for good. Thus, environmental degradation is not a big issue. TO the environment is improving every passing day. The government policies and rules indicate that, the statistics proves that and our own experiences assures the point.

Capital Gains and Losses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Capital Gains and Losses - Research Paper Example Other than inventory items, companies may end up in selling other assets. If the ‘other’ assets generate gains or losses, they are referred to as capital gains or capital losses (Hammer, 2013). A capital gain is, therefore, the profit realized by an investor from selling an asset at a higher price than he bought it.1 Companies may also decide to exchange assets in the absence of tax-free exchange rules. In such an exchange, capital gains or losses may be incurred. Capital gains receive a more favorable treatment compared to other types of income. According to Weltman (2011), tax law is more favorable on all incomes categorized as capital gains. Tax law also provides a special treatment for capital losses. Capital gains and losses are realized from capital assets. All property except inventory accounts receivable from the sale of inventory, depreciable property such as telephones, U.S. government publications, and real property used in the business are treated as capital assets. Most properties that one owns and uses for personal purposes or investments are considered to be capital assets. Examples of capital assets include cars, furniture, stocks, bonds, and houses. During the transfer of assets, if the amount received for the asset exceeds the adjusted basis of the property, a gain is recorded. If the amount received from the buyer is less than the adjusted basis of the property, a loss is recorded (Weltman, 2011). In order for the company to record either a capital gain or a capital loss, an exchange must occur. Though it may take hundreds of pages to define the tax code and limit what may be accounted for as capital gain or loss, the basic idea is simple. A capital gain is the increase in value of a capital asset. Cordes, Ebel & Gravelle (2007) define capital gains as the changes in value of capital assets such as real estate, business interest, or corporate stock. Gains and losses can either be

Supply chain work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply chain work - Essay Example Different products demand different supply chain and the difference may be in total depending on nature of products and involved organizations and managements. I, in this paper, outline supply chain for paper, and discuss the product’s transportation and storage through its current supply chain and possible improvements, planning and control for the product, and lean manufacturing ideas. Outline of the supply chain for paper Outline of supply chain for paper begins with the growth of trees, raw materials for paper, up to the nearest storage facility to the product’s final consumer. The first stage in the chain is identification of suitable seeds by a gardener for quality trees. The gardener then grows the seeds into seedlings and in a process that is informed of agricultural skills. The gardener tends the seedlings, in a nursery, for a period until a stage at which the seedlings are mature enough to survive in a real environment for its species’ growth. The young tree is then transferred into a designated location that may be a domestic environment or a forest at which it is planted. Care of the young plant transfers from the gardener to an expert in tree husbandry who cares for the young plant until its maturity time. The mature tree is the cut into logs of wood and chipped to align the material into the production process. Chipping converts the blocks of wood to â€Å"wood pulp† that is modeled into â€Å"raw paper† (Palgrave n.d., n.p.). Further processing results into â€Å"large rolls of paper† that is then refined to smaller packages. At this stage, the product has been developed and further processes relates to packaging in desirable shapes and sizes for ultimate utility. Cutting of the smaller paper rolls follows into development of â€Å"sheets of paper† that is then wrapped as the final product. Transportation of the products follows from this point into wholesalers’ warehouses and storage facili ties before further distribution to retailers’ warehouses from which the product is sold to consumers (Palgrave n.d., p. 8). The product’s supply chain outline identifies with features of the traditional supply chain. According to McKinnon et al., traditional supply chain consists of â€Å"suppliers, manufacturers, distribution centers, retailers, and customers† (2010, p. 102). Suppliers deliver raw materials to manufacturing companies that generate the finished products before delivery to intermediaries or retailers. Delivery to the intermediaries leads the products to retailers who offer the commodity to consumers. In the supply chain outline for paper, suppliers consist of the owners of the trees that are delivered as raw materials for the production process. The gardener, if operating independently from the tree farmer, can however be identified as a preliminary supplier. Processing companies that chip the delivered logs and process the raw materials into pa per and paper sheets are the manufactures under the traditional supply chain. Transportation companies and wholesalers can be considered as distributors and retailers and consumers complete the traditional supply chain outline. This means that even though the supply chain outline for paper has a long process with numerous players and activities, it identifies the structure of the traditional supply chain (McKinnon et al. 2010, p. 102; Palgrave n.d., p.

Health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Health care - Essay Example The Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 (ACA) was a historic piece of legislation and addresses many important health issues but stops short of universal coverage which should still be the goal. The ACA, more commonly known as â€Å"Obamacare,† was unpopular at first but since its passage two years ago the facts about the law along with the lies perpetuated to destroy it have become more generally understood causing it to gradually gain wider acceptance. Those opposed liked the individual parts of the law including the ending of health insurance company abuses such as not accepting patients due to preexisting medial conditions, ceilings on payouts and dropping people just because they got sick. However, they did not like the overall ideological implications. They thought, due to being misinformed, that the ACA was leading the country down a path toward socialism, not that this faction understood what the term meant. Still, they were frightened that their beloved country was being turned into something resembling the old Soviet Russian type regime or a European style of governance. Obama had already taken the automobile industry over, so they were told, along with the financial system. They did not want America to be radically changed to a system that was unrecognizable to them. Now that the realities of the ACA are slowly surfacing the minds of at least some former opponents have been eased. Though the ACA will cover millions of Americans and end insurance company abuse it does not go far enough. The U.S. is still the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee cradle to grave coverage for its citizens. In fact, it works in opposition to socialist philosophy. The individual mandate insures everyone who can afford insurance must pay on a sliding scale according to income. Forcing people to buy a service from private companies is institutionalized capitalism. Had the public option been part of the law almost

Organization People and Performance in Iberia Airlines Research Paper

Organization People and Performance in Iberia Airlines - Research Paper Example The firm adopts effective HRM strategies that call for first-class flight rewards to best employees. In so doing, the productivity of employees is maximized. Thus, employees are rewarded with respect to their performance. Additionally, the firm employs structural training system aimed at enhancing the quality of employees as well as enabling them to grow in their careers. The training strengthens the abilities and expertise of employees that enables them to handle more responsibilities while paving the humble way for promotion resulting in career growth (Asquith 2012, p.1). Communication plays a significant role in determining bonus and stock option as it calls for employees to be engaged in determining these issues especially when the pay rates are low when the firm is going through financial crisis. The aligned recruitment process to the cultural and strategic requirements of the company together with effective training and development initiatives makes the firm to enhance career g rowth of its employees. The reward system employed is formal since appraisal and promotion process goes through multiple channels thus making employees to be loyal productive and highly motivated. The rewards system in Iberia airline is based on performance and this motivates employees to perform better while fostering innovations in the firm.  On the aspect of workforce statistics, Iberia has a capacity of over 25,000 employees and flies to seventy nine destinations within thirty nine countries across the globe.

Article Review(Mirror Molecules) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Article Review(Mirror Molecules) - Essay Example L from its name L-amino acids is actually a derivative of ‘laevus’ which means left in Latin while D in D-amino acids is from ‘dexter’ which means right in Latin (Everts, par.5). This substance had only been of significant regard in bacteria. The D-amino acid is considered to be the mirror image of L-amino acid and their mismatch made scientists conclude it was an irrelevant component until recently. There are two theories explaining the prevalence of left-hand amino acids over their right-handed counterparts. The first is based on the argument that it was simply providence that the chemical entities that developed first utilized L-amino acids instead of D-amino acids. Robert Hazen, a geophysicist and an origins-of-life authority from George Mason University, suggests that they were â€Å"grandfathered in† and, thus, initiated the partiality (ibid). ... This indicates the catapulting of left-handed amino acids as the prevailing variation simply by derivation and the consequent years of adherence to this belief. The significant challenging of this rule started in the 1990s when it was found that right-handed amino acids actually play a vital role in the human brain as transmitters. Then by 2002, the discovery of platypus poison with right-handed amino acids was discovered by Philip Kuchel. The year of 2009 was also a pivotal point in the new discovery as â€Å"researchers at Harvard and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute reported that several D-amino acids performed new and unexpected functions in bacterial cell walls† (ibid, par.7). Furthermore, D-amino acids have seen imperative advances in understanding their role in human beings. To illustrate, D-aspartate is an important component in the development of the brain while D-serine combines with L-amino acid glutamate to produce synaptic plasticity which is an element of deve loping memories. The level of right-handed amino acids also has a correlation in certain disorders as researchers have found out. Too little D-serine can be attributed to schizophrenia whereas too much of it can be threatening with a stroke for patients. As a result, studies have been conducted by pharmaceutical companies to address these issues in the hope of developing new cures for these ailments. An important factor in these studies is the benchmark proposition that the body through the brain cells does not actually build D-serine out of nothing, but it creates an enzyme that turns the L-amino acid into the kind of D-amino acid that it needs. Another important use of D-amino acids that

Concerns and Benefits Regarding the Use of the American Psychological Article

Concerns and Benefits Regarding the Use of the American Psychological Association (APA) Format of Citation - Article Example Numerous citation formats are currently being used by most researchers and scholarly writers based on their specialization. The most popular style that can be used in any field is the Chicago or Turabian style, MLA is most used for the humanities, and APA style is used in the social sciences, and in recent years in education, research, and business as well (Lipson, 2011). The styles may vary according to what is needed to be presented, but all of these are borne out of the necessity of presenting thoughts or ideas as scholarly and as professionally as possible, all while giving appropriate recognition to the writers that presented the original ideas beforehand (Winkler & Metherell, 2011). Also, because the different writing styles are designed in order to properly present information in the field that these are most often used, one type of citation style may not be appropriate to use in other fields of study, and some necessary information that is usually needed in referencing may be omitted, or added, which could cause confusion (Lipson, 2011). Due to this, the use of a citation style must be in accordance to what kind of information is being presented. In addition, the use of specific styles for each field of discipline is needed to homogenize the presentation of information, especially for publications (Szuchman, 2010). The American Psychological Association (APA) created a format of information presentation around 80 years ago, in order for social scientists to establish a standard for communications in that field (American Psychological Association, APA, 2012a). This format is now popularly known as APA Citation Style, and is widely used because of its focus on sparing and straightforward presentation of information (APA, 2012a). There is much focus on the content, as well as the condensation and rephrasing of information from other sources, making this citation style more authoritative than other methods (Beins, 2012). Another characteristic of APA Citati on Style is it being parenthetical, with much more focus on the name of the research writer and the date it was written. This is due to the fast nature of scientific research in generating new information and making other ideas obsolete in a short period of time (Winkler & Metherell, 2011). With this in mind, this kind of format is much more applicable in the field of nursing, since most concepts are most often needed in a condensed form, as well as the fast turnover rate of information in this field. The use of APA Citation Style in writing scholarly articles is very useful in my field of nursing, especially when writing research papers, position papers, or even short papers such as summaries of one or more articles. The use of the parenthetical method in citing information previously published is able to quickly tell the reader of the paper when this information was generated, and it could either strengthen the validity of an argument without adding any bias (APA, 2012b). Also, th e style is designed to be as minimalist as possible for researchers to write and edit

Joan durrant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Joan durrant - Essay Example The significant research of Durrant concentrates on various dimensions such as cultural, legal and psychological frameworks of corporal punishment of children in Canada and worldwide. Moreover, the research works of Dr. Durrant emphasizes upon prohibiting physical maltreatment of children. The research also provides an adequate support within the context of disciplinary approach that is taken into concern towards preventing the children from any sort of physical maltreatment. The studies of Durrant are applied in different parts of Canada, Sweden and Germany that provides elimination of corporal punishment of children by a significant level (University of Manitoba, 2012). The paper intends to discuss the detailed research works that conducted by Dr. Joan Durrant. Moreover, the linkage of the research of Dr. Durrant with the developmental health perspective and certain recommendations that would enhance the quality of care children will also be depicted in this paper. Explanation of t he Research Conducted By Joan Durrant The dimensions relating to physical punishment or maltreatment of children have been observed from previous few years and are regarded to be an important concern in the context of international affairs. According to various researches, it has been noted that physical or corporal punishment has been raised considerably in the year 1990. The research works of Dr. ... Moreover, it has also been viewed that the physical punishment or maltreatment of children belonging to the age group of six to nine years result increased levels of antisocial behavior with the application of different controls. In this regard, the controls may include family or socio-economic status and emotional support levels among others. The aforementioned study further indicates that physical punishment is a major factor of jeopardy for rising aggression in children that compels them to perform antisocial behaviors (Durrant & Ensom, 2012). The research works conducted by Durrant & Ensom are related to the significant aspect of child aggression. The works in the research observes connectivity between physical punishment and psychological aspects. It has been viewed that physical punishment is related with wide ranging mental health related difficulties of children, youths and adults that include sadness, grief, anxiety, use of drugs and alcohol among others. Moreover, the resea rchers also observed that physical punishment or maltreatment is mainly connected with mental development of children that ultimately affects in the educational development of the individuals or rather the children. From the perspective of the development of children, it has been observed that the studies relating to neuroimaging played an imperative part. In this regard, the studies linked with neuroimaging suggest that physical punishment can lessen the volume of grey matter of brain in relation to different development areas of children. It can be stated that physical punishment can cause significant changes in dopaminergic regions that are related with susceptibility towards the ill-treatment of drugs and alcohol. On the basis of the

Culture and the service user's experience Essay

Culture and the service user's experience - Essay Example Mrs. B is a 72-year old immigrant from India. She has recently joined her son after retiring from her work in one of India’s leading banks. Mrs. B’s son is a tenant in our neighborhood and he recently transferred to the hospital that I was placed in, taking a position in the hospital’s IT department. We have been acquainted for several months now and I have met his mother on several occasions. It is for this reason why I have chosen Mrs. B as my subject fore this study. She is comfortable with me perhaps because I have taken a strong interest in her cultural traditions. We have had several insightful conversations about matters such as food, yoga and Indian religious practices. I felt that the study is no more intrusive than these conversations and Mrs. B and her son approved of the whole undertaking. I was able to get a hold of her medical record and have thoroughly studied it before proceeding with my interview. Mrs. B is obese, deeply religious but very pleasant. About a month ago, she was admitted to the hospital due to fatigue, blurry vision, numbness and noticeable weakness in her body. Mrs. B’s son initially thought that his mother’s complaints were due to stress and difficulties in adjusting to a new cultural environment. Mrs. B believed that she is being punished for some previous sin. But the obvious discomfort led them to the hospital, wherein she was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. According to Margaret Andrews and Joyceen Boyle (2007), cultural beliefs and values influence health promotion, disease prevention, and the treatment of illness. (p. 154) This is because once an illness has social connotations the issues become more complex. It is common for cultural groups to have a body of knowledge and beliefs about health and disease. But the cultural influence on healthcare beliefs and practices has its positive and negative effects.

Personal Learning and Capacity Essay Example for Free

Personal Learning and Capacity Essay Reading through the following pages you are able to see my weekly entries of the text I read. My interpretations and questions that occurred towards reading, my initial reactions or developments after reading and some conclusions about text and literacy. As a person I never really enjoy literature. I am not the kind of person who enjoy reading big books or long articles because is difficult for me just to know that I had to read a very long article and remember it. When I saw a big one-coloured cover book I connecting it with small letters, no space between the lines that is hard to read it and remembers me an encyclopaedia. I was always prefer reading numbers due to that I like very much maths and science. There is no long theory to remember. So as you can see on the following journal, my reading collection is very limited on books and long text except whenever is needed. Regarding the way, where and how I read, depends on what I am reading. (see Appendix 4, p.17). When the reading had to do with study I have to be very concentrate and I prefer to sit straight on a chair and open all the books and papers on a big desk. This helping me to underline or write down useful key words. On the other hand reading as a hobby, I prefer to read when is dark, lying in my bed and holding my book. In addition I find it excellent trick to listen to the music when I am reading in both ways. I like to put smooth, chill out music, because it eliminates all the rest noises and distractions and help me to get clear mind from other things I might thinking. According to first’s week directed task I had to write everything that I read for a week. The following are reflections of the most important kinds of texts I read, and those that made me reconsidered the way I looked them before. A list of other kinds of texts I gathered and a short reflection, are available in Appendix 1, p.14. As well, on the following pages you can find, my reflections towards next weeks directed activities. Entry: Even though that cooking instructions are in written form are also available to read in the form of small representing pictures. Doing this activity I notice that when I am looking for the cooking instructions my eyes always focus on that tiny pictures and can’t see the written form of the instructions. Is the first think I looked for and I realized that my eyes used to focus there first. Then I had to explore those pictures in my mind to understand the preparation for cooking the product. â€Å" Image can be used to reinforce the meaning of what is said, what is written and so on† (Jewitt, 2005 p.316). In addition I notice that after seen the pictures I look for the written form too, to make sure that I read and understand the pictures right. Entry: It just came into my mind a funny situation I had with cooking instructions, when I first came to England. Now I am not really sure if it is good idea to put it in the log but is shows the difference of reading a text, expectations, and differences between cultures, ideologies and perspectives. You can see the above funny incident by reading Appendix 2 p.15. Entry: Text messages and e-mails, that I send to my friends back to Cyprus contained a lot of information in just few sentences. I have so many to say and is a bit expensive to send messages. Due to that I limited my words by putting symbols, write only the first letter or just the half word. (instead â€Å"and† I use the symbol +). After I read again those messages I send, I realized that if someone else was reading them couldn’t be able to understand them. This is because of the â€Å"code† of the written form and the long background and ideologies that are connecting me and my friends. For example in my first message I wrote â€Å"how is c.† , but only she is able to understand the name of the person I asked about. I also recognized that in just five sentences -that represent a whole message- I wrote so many things, that if I was writing them to a paper and to someone else it would take me probably 10 sentence to write them all. Though I prefer e-mails more than the messages, because is free, and I can  write as many sentence I want in just one e-mail and send it when I feel like. â€Å"With e-mail you just write your message and send it.. Even during the early hours of the morning† (Lyle, 2005).E-mail offers fast receipt and enables the recipient to reply immediately. In addition I can write it more easier and quicker using the keyboard and looking through a bigger and more clear screen. Furthermore I can add emotions in the style of J and use from a large list of font style and size and even colour. Even though I use more Msn to communicate with my friends due to the fact that it has the same advantages as e-mailing and in addition I can send those things I write and take reply back at the same time. Is like speaking by the phone but in written form. Also I can send and take files and connect a web camera to see each other. Entry: Considering second week’s directed activity on session 2, I choose â€Å"Vampires Breath† (Greek Version) of â€Å"Goosebumps† collection to cope with the activity for identifying the ideological assumptions within its text. (see Appendix 3 p.16 for a short summary) â€Å"Vampires breath† put me in the action part from the first pages and all the action happened in only one day (in the story). Stine is very illustrative within the story because is putting many descriptions to the story’s persons and places that it seems like you can imagine them as real, as you can see them now, in reality. The motivation theory proposed by Glenberg and Langston (1992) also suggest that â€Å"illustrations may make a book more appealing and engage the reader better† (Cited in Andrews, Scharff and Moses, 2002). There is a lot of conversation and I had the feeling that I was taking part in the story and this make me curious to read more and see what happens after to the main characters. Also the double identity of the â€Å"bad† characters, who could transformed their appearance from human into buds and the tricks they were doing to trapped the 2 heroes, just made me to want to finish it. The main characters are small children that get trapped from their curiosity and naivety of searching places and things that not supposed to do. The â€Å"happy ending† though is show up at the very last pages and I like it because it gives hope that things are going to be happy again  but also leaves a hind that things are going to repeat again from the same mistake. A weird and peculiar ending that allocates a twist in the tail. Even that it was a kind of low level to me, reading the book it make me wondered, what can be happened again to those two kids. Children that the book refers to (9-12) by reading it can find themselves into the heroes situations and bad positions that might have. Reading this book I remembered mine childhood phobias and related with those in the story, and this what makes the story more interesting. Children can encountered within the story’s heroes and happenings because they can feel the same in their life as the heroes and have the simila r phobias. Moreover I notice that the good and nice language and vocabulary is approaching with the children’s age ability to read and also can reflect positive to improve their language and reading skills. With the use of big letters and large space between the lines it helps me to read it more easily and quick. For children will be very appealing and smooth to read. The soft cover, full of bright colours, is the first thing I notice to choose to read the certain book, its cover’s appearance is something that make you wonder what is the story about. Genette (1997) comes to agree by saying that â€Å"a book’s cover is a threshold that a reader is invited to interpret and step across if induced to read on† (Cited in Harris and McKenzie, 2005 p.32) Additionally I enjoyed read this book because I like scary horror books like this collection, and also I can get very afraid sometimes and at the same time so excited. Entry: In view of directed activities of session 3 you can refer to Appendix 4, p.17-24 which include detailed answers, information and reflections regarding both online texts and my personal appreciations on ways of reading, my fears, and my imagination journey. The following are short reflections from the activities as whole, based on the following two main questions: What are the essential differences between reading on line and the more traditional way How these books (texts) tell us about the nature of childhood The Secret Garden as well as The Journey to the Centre of the Earth were easy to cope with by reading online. The vocabulary and language were easy to read and comprehend, apart from 3-4 words I didn’t know (and I had to look for their meaning in a dictionary). I find harder to understand The Secret Garden because of the conversation that was held between the interact persons of the story. It was very complicated to understand them due to there were missing some letters. I had to read all the dialogues again and again for 5-6 times until I understand what actually was written on the lines. I realize then that this was the dialect of the story’s heroes. Although reading onscreen those text was much easier for me because I am a big fun of technology and especially of computers. I find it more relax and quick due to the fact that just by pressing one button you can transfer from the top of the page and through the lines until the bottom of the page and also to turn on to the next page. Letters and generally the whole view was more clear to read and easily could copy and paste the unknown words in my pc’s dictionary. Even if technology is developing more each day to help us, I can outline some disadvantages towards the traditional way of reading a text, ex from books. Through my online reading there were missing colourful covers of the books, and as I mentioned in a previous entry book’s covers are very important as a first impression of the text. And this is because covers are the first thing you see and considered when you are going to buy or read a book. The illustrations of pictures which help you to empathize better the story’s happening didn’t included on screen. Although Jewitt (2005, p329) argues about online book’s illustrations by saying that â€Å"The multimode character of the screen does not indicate a single entry point, beginning or end. This offers the reader new potentials for reading a text. Reading a written text on pages is usually a linear event in which the author and illustrator guide the eye in particular direction connected to the reading of the text† Another thing is that the lines are too long and sometimes, people that don’t used to it can get bored and tired only by looking them. In addition another disadvantage is that you can’t save this texts to your library collection except if you keep your pc’s library with books and text from internet. Although is much nicer to collect the original  books in your house library and have them for a life. The Secret Garden and The Journey to the Centre of the Earth are showing the writers’ thoughts and appreciations about the world and the aspect of child, considering the matter of friendship and cultural perspectives on children behaviours. In my opinion, the matter of friendship appeared more clear in the Secret Garden, than in the Journey in the Centre of the Earth. In the first text, the Heroine is a young children that was neglected during her life. Although Mary finds someone to socialised with, in Dickon’s personality, even if he is from lower social class. The matter of friendship also reflect on me and make me bring in mind my own appreciations of friendship. Is showing that it doesn’t matter how rich you are in money or goods, but how rich you are in sole. Also that children supposed to be free from ideologies and believes of their environment and social background. As a children, Mary is more free and innocent than adults to do things and she is not afraid to be friend with â€Å"a common moor boy†. (See Appendix 4, p.19-20). I find secret garden revealing my perceptions because I believe that friends are very important, especially in childhood but in adolescence too. Making friends we have someone to socialize talk, laugh and do things together. Furthermore is showing the author’s perspective towards the child, to be free, good innocent, and free from taboos and in one word to be perfect as Dickon. Although Dickon’s description make me feel that he is not a real person maybe because no one can be perfect in everything. Mary in the other hand appears to be more natural person in contrast with the â€Å"magical† description of Dickon. Mary feels free inside the garden which becomes her new home. The secret garden is a place of adventure and everything inside it is perfect and this is one of the reason that Mary shares her secret with the magic, and good child, Dickon. All this also showing what readers expect to see about the child. How readers interpret and expect childhood years to be and that children supposed to be good and innocent . Although reading the second text make me engage with it more because as a children I had almost the same feelings and phobias as Alex (See Appendix 4, p.22-23).â€Å"Readers interstitial backgrounds provide resources for engaging with text, even  amongst young children† (Crawford and Hade, 2000, Cited in Harris and McKenzie, 2005, p. 32) Another thing that can be reveal from the texts is adults’ role in children lives even that is more evident in the second text. Adults are the persons who are expected to be responsible and take decisions about children’s future. In the Secret Garden Mary forced to go and live in another house because she didn’t have the power not to. That’s why Mary keeps the garden as a secret place. The author wants to express that when adults are in a situation they like to control and force things and that’s why the magic perfect secret garden is only for innocent, good children. This is more obvious in â€Å"The journey in the Centre of the Earth† when the hero, Alex, who is a young children and nephew of an eccentric scientist feel very terrify and scared about, both him and his uncle lives, during their experimental purposed journey. In front of the exhaustion, thirst and hunger Alex is fainted and his uncle giving him the last drops of water, to bring him back. The Professor do not considered his thirsty because, as an adult had to take care Alex first. After Alex is terrified and express by crying his fears about the uncertain and unknown remained of the journey, his uncle take the control and the responsibility for Alex and decide to send him back to earth with the servant‘s help, to be safe. The professor still insist to stay and continue his journey, because as a scientist was so curious and determined and nothing could stop him not even the fear of death. After all, Alex do not agree with his uncle and choose to travel along with him because he didn’t want to give up or letting down his uncle. This appeared as a conflict with the first text when Mary couldn’t choose the place to move, although Alex took his decision because he might was afraid to leave without his uncle. Here, Alex is having the change to do what he wants but he refused it. and he choose to stay knowing that his uncle will do anything to protect him. Entry: First time listen to the song â€Å"I aint mad at cha† by Tupac Shakur, I have to admit that I didn’t understand a lot of what Tupac was saying apart from the chorus. Although I don’t really listen to rap music I find it very nice and  different from other songs. It sound like a smooth, sweet melody into my ears, considering the background melody of a piano. I couldn’t believe the combination of rap music with piano, although it was something that attract me. Before seeing the video clip of the song I thought that 2puc was talking to a friend that lay him down and Tupac wanted him know that he has no harm feeling for him. First time I watch the song’s video clip I was very amazing. Surprising, the clip was a expressing a very different believes of what I first encountered. The video shows Tupac being punctured with bullets on his way, coming out of a restaurant with a friend. He is dying in the ambulance vehicle and he is attend into heaven who meets some people , probably some famous legends or relatives. The film was something like Tupac knew that he was going to be killed and seeing his life in Heaven. It seems a kind of prefigured his death. Watching the film make me feel sad and miserable about his tragic end. It was very pessimistic film for someone to make and for others to see, especially after his actual death, hence he is appearing laughing, smoking, and be in Heaven in the clip. Also I saw his thoughts about how he considered the life after death and the image of Heaven and make me somehow confident about my thoughts and appreciations of the life after death in Heaven. Somehow my thoughts were revealing in the film illustrations. Despite the brutal language and street words Tupac is expressing, through the song lyrics an optimistic and hopeful massage towards his friends and relatives and then to the rest audience. ABT indicates some of the music video characteristics by claim that: They must gain and hold the viewers attention †¦ help establish, visualize, or maintain the artists image†¦ and perhaps, carry one or several direct or indirect messages . . .† (Cited in Rybacki and Rybacki) Through the lyrics, Tupac conveys that the change of getting out from the ghetto life, is not something bad or to be ashamed of. He has no harm feelings, he is not mad with friends that been a lot of time to talk, friends that change and get out of the streets, friends that get married, find a religion and get matured. Tupac is not mad with them for not doing the â€Å"bad† things and habits they used to do together, because they change.  He has nothing but love for them. Analysing the song I realize that a large amount of life’s values and ethical ideals were encountered in it, by just few words. The matter of religion, friendship, love, the role of the mother, and the value of God. Also the lyrics are expressing the stereotype of rap music containing offensive language between the â€Å"brothers†, a nice contribution of conflict words between the bad and good, the male and female, material world and God. An optimistic ending that he is praying for the good fortune of all. The very last sentence showing that in Tupac’s efforts to display a meaning to his family, friends and enemies that he is not mad with them and don’t want them to be sad for his lost, the song meanings refers also, to those that lost their loved ones! The song script is available in Appendix 6 p.27 Entry: I was watching an episode from The Coffee shop series and it really make me reconsidered it from a whole different aspect during this activity.  The â€Å"Coffee Shop† (or â€Å"Kafeneio†* see Appendix 5, p.25 and p.25-26 for a summary of the film) is one of the most known comic series in Cyprus. All episodes are take place in the Kafeneio and showing in a funny way, some special aspects of Cypriot people’s characters. When I am in Cyprus I never watching it because there are some other new series which catch my interest. Although this day I was very miserable and sad, with nothing to do so I decide to watch Kafeneio through internet from the satellite channel of Cyprus. The episode title was â€Å"The Fiancà ©Ã¢â‚¬ . Andreas who always trying to find cheating ways to earn money decide to married his just few days girlfriend who was a rich old women reaching death. Saying that he is truly in love with her. Although they never rich marriage because the old women dies after the party. At the end Andreas ends up with no money and owns the funeral’s costs. Watching Kafeneio made me crying from laugh because of the story’s reversed happenings and the good ability of the actresses to play with in the hilarious situation. Even though laugh its all you can expect from this type of series, I also felt like home watching it. The traditional coffee, the language, the very strong Cypriot dialect, the place of Kafeneio, and the whole scene make me feel for a moment that I was back in Cyprus. Although Kafeneio is considered only for entertainment for those who  watching it, I realised that many cultural, ethical and moral issues can express from it. Good friends are always there to help you in difficult times and also the traditions of wearing black clothes for grieving death. Another thing is that money you never work hard for, can easily lost as quick as you earned them. You have to earn your money by working hard and not trying to earn them by deceitful and cheating innocent people. Entry†¦ During the module’s assessment of online presentation, as a group we choose to based our research on Cinderella story. And this, because, all group members could related with the text as it was present in our childhoods even though my group was representing 3 different cultures, countries and age groups. Doing the actual online presentation things became very complicate considering the way to present it. We wanted to make it very attractive to the audience and easy to reflect in and understand. At the beginning the presentation was going to held in Power point accompanied with animations, pictures and music. As I said in previous entry, pictures are helping the reader to comprehend better the written part, and show better some key-issues. This was going to help audience to concentrate on the themes we wanted to express more. The animations will make it more attractive to the audience and the music was going to drift and drawn them into the story itself smoothly and easier. Although we realized that doing it in power point it might produced a probability of confusion towards the audience and make a mess during their efforts to follow it. So we change our mind and decided to do it in movie maker as a video. With the movie film we wanted to make it easier to follow by the reader, without being confused or distracted from the importance of the written text, by clicking buttons. We also considered that it was going to be even more easier and relaxed for the reader to enhanced more, accompanied with music. (Much alike as watching a short video or movie, by sitting back and enjoy it.) In addition we thought that if we were using a Cinderella’s song from only one version of the Cinderella story (Disney’s song) it would be so unfair  and narrow-minded because the four versions that we analysed in the presentation are all of the same importance with their own special characteristics. So we choose a chill out instrumental music without speaking words for avoiding the readers’ thoughts to concentrate on music words and do not follow what we expressing throughout the presentation. Although it was hard to find that special song because we wanted one that its effects to go along with the page transactions and pictures and also focused on the most important information we include within the text. Another thing that was with vary importance was the time we supposed to give to our audience to read the written part of the presentation. We wanted to make sure that it was enough time to read them before the next slide show up. So we double-check the time providing for each written text by using a third slow-reader person, whose English is his second language. With this we make sure that the providing time was enough for all of our audience potentials to read. Bibliography Andrews, J., Scharff, L., Moses, L., (2002), â€Å"The influence of illustrations in Children’s Storybooks†, AERA, Reading Psychology, Vol. 23(4), pp. 323-339.[Last viewed December 2005] Burnett, H.F., â€Å"The Secret Garden-Dickon† [www]http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Frances_Hodgson_Burnett/The_Secret_Garden/Dickon_p1.html [Last viewed October 2005] Harris, P. McKenzie, B., (2005), â€Å"Networking around the Waterhole and other tales: the importance of relationships among texts for reading and related instruction†, UKLA, Literacy.[Last viewed December 2005] Jewitt, C., (2005), â€Å"Multimodality ‘Reading’ and ‘Writing’ for the 21st Century†, University of London, UK, Vol26, No. 3, pp. 315-331.[Last viewed December 2005] Lyle D., â€Å"E-mail Versus the telephone†, Last update 2005. Available from: URL: http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/email/pop5d.cfm [Last viewed December 2005] Lyrics and songs, â€Å"Tupac- I’ aint mad at cha† (Remix) [www]http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/135052.html Rybacki,C. K., and Rybacki, J. D., (1999),â€Å"Cultural approaches to the rhetorical analysis of selected music videos† Northern Michigan UniversityAvailable from:URL:http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans4/rybacki.htm[Last viewed November 2005] Stine, R.L., (1996), â€Å"Goosebumps: Vampire Breath†, Parachute Press Inc, New York USA Greek version: copyright by Kerdos 1998 SySat, RIK Chanel, (2005), CoffeShop: The Fiance [www]http://www.tv4all.com/portal.htm?http://www.tv4all.com/television/index.html?http://www.tv4all.com/television/55.htm[Last viewed November 2005] Verne, J., â€Å"Journey to the Centre of the Earth- The wrong road† [www]http://jv.qilead.org.il/vt/c_earth/18.html[Last viewed October 2005]

Autism and Mental Retardation Essay Example for Free

Autism and Mental Retardation Essay Respond to the following: 1. List the primary features of autism. Extremely unresponsive, uncommunicative, repetitive, rigid, changing events that the child is use to doing on a daily basis can result in an outburst where he or she becomes angry and very confused, loud noises can cause an outburst as well for some 2. Which explanation for autism is no longer considered valid and lacks research support? The sociocultural view is no longer valid. It is now believed that cognitive limitations and brain abnormalities are more suitable explanations. 3. What forms of treatment are helpful for a person with autism? At this time there are no treatments that can reverse autism. Some treatments that are helpful would be behavioral therapy, communication training, parent training, and community integration. Psychotropic drugs and vitamins combined with other approaches are also quite helpful. 4. List the criteria for a diagnosis of mental retardation: People with mental retardation are well below average in both intelligence and adaptive abilities. A person with mental retardation has trouble with communicating, living at home, self-direction, and work/safety. 5. Explain one way in which sociocultural biases in testing might pose problems for assessing mental retardation. Sociocultural biases would be environmental conditions and social status. People may not understand that children from good backgrounds and stimulating environments can be mentally retarded. Most people think this is limited to lower social classes 6. Of the four levels of mental retardation, into which category do most people with mental retardation fall? The four levels of retardation are mild retardation, moderate retardation, severe retardation, and profound retardation, 85% of mentally retarded people have mild retardation. 7. What are the main types of biological causes of mental retardation? The primary causes of moderate, severe, and profound retardation are: biological,although people who function at these levels also are affected greatly by their family and social environment. Sometimes genetic factors are at the root of these  biological problems, in the form of chromosomal or metabolic disorders. Other biological causes of these kinds of mental retardation come from unfavorable conditions that occur before, during, or after birth, such as birth injuries. 8. What is the only way to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome? For the mother to not drink alcohol while pregnant 9. What are normalization and mainstreaming? Normalization: The principle that institutions and community residences should expose people with mental retardation to living conditions and opportunities similar to those found in the rest of society. Mainstreaming: The placement of children with mental retardation in regular school classes, also known as inclusion 10. What is your opinion about mainstreaming and normalization for children and adults with autism or mental retardation? My thoughts about mainstreaming for the children and adults with autism and mental retardation, I feel that it is not a good idea placing the children with mental retardation, they do need more supervision and attention, and for this reason if being in a regular class they would not get the attention and or supervision they need. I do feel that it is good to expose the children and adults into the society, they are not no different than anyone else.

Hereditary Spherocytosis: Review of the Genetic Disorder

Hereditary Spherocytosis: Review of the Genetic Disorder Ginamar Galvan Abstract This review is on the studies of several scientists whom completed research on the genetic disorder, spherocytosis. Based on several articles in the literature, it was learned that spherocytosis is an inherited anemia caused by the dysfunction of the cell’s cytoskeleton. These articles provide information of hereditary spherocytosis comprising of the disorder on the molecular level and how the patient’s diagnosis is concluded using laboratory testing. Patients can be found to be affected on a certain level ranging from mild to severe. They are then prescribed remedial medical attention pertaining to their level. The research showed that a form of response is to undergo a splenectomy which can ease a patient’s ailment, but has been found to not correct the life span of erythrocytes unlike speculation that it did. Hereditary Spherocytosis: A Review on the Genetic Disorder Introduction Hereditary spherocytosis is an anemic disorder affecting the blood that causes erythrocytes to be produced as spheres while normal erythrocytes are shaped as concave disks. The spheroidal shape is caused by a loss of membrane surface relative to intracellular volume (Gallagher 2005). Spherocytosis is genetically based, meaning that it can be passed down from either parent who already encompasses the disorder. This disorder can be found in all racial classifications but is more prevalent in Caucasians (Oliveira et.al 2012). Spherocytosis in Northern Europe and North America have a 1 in 5000 births in reported incidences and is usually the cause of inherited chronic hemolysis (Huq et al., 2010 and Bolton-Maggs et al., 2004). In the reviewed literature, spherocytosis has been researched and discussed regarding various aspects of this disorder, including the functionality of erythrocytes and what occurs after diagnosis. Cellular Level of Spherocytosis In 1871, hereditary spherocytosis was first explained and the first splenectomy was also performed shortly after (Bolton-Maggs et al., 2004). Between family members, the expression of spherocytosis is somewhat similar but the degree of severity differs throughout. The cause of the irregular shape and lifespan of the erythrocytes is the defect of an element in the cytoskeleton which is made of proteins in which the vertical attachment of the proteins to the lipid bilayer membrane is affected and therefore it is weakened (Bolton-Maggs et al., 2004). Other elements that influence the shape of the cell includes problems with spectrin, ankyrin, band 3 and/or protein 4.2 and the severity of the disorder is influenced by how many of these proteins are affected (Bolton-Maggs et al., 2004). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophorese is used as to determine whether or not these proteins have deficiencies. The defects in the genes of spherocytosis are present in five genes in chromosomes 1, 8, 14, 15 and 17 (Oliveira et al., 2012). Dysfunctions of these genes affect the membrane of the red blood cell which can threaten the cytoskeleton which is meant to maintain the form and elasticity of the cell. When the cytoskeleton is infringed upon, the red cell becomes abnormally shaped and does not live as long as a normal healthy cell (Oliveira et al., 2012). According to the article, â€Å"Guidelines for diagnosis and management of hereditary spherocytosis†, a hundred and seventy-four individuals were recruited from a hundr ed and twenty-three families and spectrin-deficient pro-bands were a larger cause than any other protein defect in patients when compared to parents who were seemingly regular. Diagnosis of Spherocytosis Hereditary spherocytosis is usually diagnosed when the patient is a child who has a varying extent of anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly (Bolton-Maggs et al., 2004). Family history is also very important when diagnosing because in most cases seventy-five percent of patients will have a family history of the disorder (Gallagher 2010). There are different varieties at which hereditary spherocytosis affects people and treatments can sometimes require blood transfusions. Complications may develop which include severe anemia which may cause growth delay, deferred sexual maturation, tumors, and skin ulcers and many of these patients are transfusion dependent (Gallagher 2010). The patients that participated in the clinical study at the Pediatric Hematology Center of Hospital das Clà ­nicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in the journal, â€Å"Clinical course of 63 children with hereditary spherocytosis: a retrospective study†, were followed for about 19 years and had scheduled follow ups for every three months or in some cases more often if it was deemed necessary. They were diagnosed based upon their clinical history, physical examination and tests done in the laboratory and family histories were studied. Patients were classified as mild, moderate or severe depending on their hemoglobin concentration, bilirubin concentration and reticulocyte count and were also screened by ultrasonography to see if they had cholelithiasis. Splenectomy happened when there is an increase in the size of the organ and hemoglobin is decreased while reticulocyte count increased. Ones that needed a spleen sequestration were given immunizations and penicillin. When hemoglobin and reticulocyte count both decreased the patient was categorized to be in aplastic crisis. Most patients have somewhat balanced hemolysis accompanied by slight to average anemia. Anemia can be asymptomatic except for some fatigue and jaundice occurs in patients about half of the time which is usually in association with viral infections (Gallagher 2010). When some patients’ erythrocytes are stressed, patients may notice symptoms because their body is compensating with amplified erythropoiesis for their hemolysis (Gallagher 2010). In the journal, â€Å"Guidelines for diagnosis and management of hereditary spherocytosis†, several laboratory tests were used for diagnosis which includes osmotic fragility, acidified glycerol lysis test, osmotic gradient ektacytometry, and eosin-5-maleimide binding. Osmotic fragility is affected by elevated reticulocyte count while acidified glycerol lysis test detects autoimmune hemolytic anemia, hereditary persistence of fetal haemoglobin, pyruvate kinase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency as well as chronic renal failure. The osmotic gradient ektacytometry measures red cell deformability and the eosin-5-maleimide binding shows distinct histograms for red blood cells of spherocytosis. And in the journal, â€Å"Clinical course of 63 children with hereditary spherocytosis: a retrospective study†, the tests in the laboratory include the patient’s complete blood count, smear, reticulocyte count, concentration of bilirubin, positive osmotic fragility test and negative direct antiglobulin test. The osmotic fragility of the patients’ looked at the red blood cells in tubes that were washed in mixtures of increasing sodium chloride concentrations that were either put in incubation for 24 hours or not. Treatment of Spherocytosis There are ways to manage hereditary spherocytosis such as using folate therapy if the patient is severe, routine observation, frequent blood tests and in some cases splenectomy. Splenectomy can improve anemia in most patients including even the most severe. The splenectomy can be performed laproscopically and is the more preferred method because it causes less discomfort after the surgery, quicker recovery time, shorter hospitalization, and decreased costs. Splenectomy complications can occur including infection, bleeding and pancreatitis (Gallagher 2010). This operation used to be considered routine in hereditary spherocytosis patients but now is being reconsidered concerning the complications that can arise. The patients that usually receive a splenectomy are diagnosed to be severe or are older patients whose vital organs are inhibited vascularly (Gallagher 2010). Moderate patients possess more options and may not need a splenectomy. In â€Å"Clinical course of 63 children with hereditary spherocytosis: a retrospective study†, when patients were followed up, thirty-five patients needed transfusions and the need for them was more common in the severity group. Fourteen needed spleen sequestration, three had aplastic crisis, twenty-two had a splenectomy, seventeen developed cholelithiasis and ten had a cholecystectomy. Patients had different degrees of jaundice and anemia while most had some enlargement of the spleen. About 2/3 of the patients were anemic and seventy percent had splenomegaly. Patients that were classified as severe were younger and needed more blood transfusions than the other groups. A viral infection could lead to an overestimated severe classification because anemia level rises. All the patients were told and arranged to take folic acid. Does Splenetomy return Red Cell life span to normal? In some patients, anemia, reticulocytosis, and hyperbilirubinemia may disappear and cause some to infer that the patient no longer has problems with their red cell survival rate (Chapman 1968). Using a micro-hematocrit the hematocrit was determined, the reticulocytes were found in a methylene blue contained cover slip smear, and the red cell was counted by an electronic counter (Chapman 1968). The red cells that were being circulated were labeled with Diisopropyl fluorophosphates. DF32P were given to eleven patients that had a splenectomy two to twenty seven years before. The mean cellular hemoglobin content and concentration were higher in males than females. The concentration was of a normal degree in the females and above normal in all but one of the males (Chapman 1968). Mean red blood cell life spans were determined by the disappearance of radioactivity from the circulating blood by calculating linear regression. From the evidence the life span of the red blood cells seems to be somewhat dependent on age after their splenectomy. Patients that are within the same family do not show any consistency of the degree of spherocytosis expression. The red blood cell life span was averaged at about ninety-six days when normal life span is about one hundred twenty-three days (Chapman 1968). The range of life span between the patients ranged from seventy-six to one hundred eighteen days. From these results it is inferred that splenectomy does not repair red blood cell life span. Conclusion Hereditary spherocytosis is often identified in a patient’s childhood or early adult life, although, spherocytosis can be diagnosed at any age conditional to the entirety. This molecular disorder impacts their quality of life regarding aspects of treatment, finances, stress and recovery. As discoveries are made in this area of research, individuals will have a greater knowledge of spherocytosis and advancement in the treatment of this disorder including more options. References Bolton-Maggs, P. H. B., Stevens, R. F., Dodd, N. J., Lamont, G., Tittensor, P., KIng, M. -. (2004). Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hereditary spherocytosis.British Journal of Haematology, (126), 455-474. Retrieved from http://www.bloodmed.com/contentimage/guidelines/2121.pdf Chapman, R. G. (1968). Red cell life span after splenectomy in hereditary spherocytosis.The Journal of Clinical Investigation,47(10), 2263–2267. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC297390/ Gallagher, P. (2005). Red Cell Membrane Disorders. Hematology 2005, 2005(1), 13-18. Retrieved , from http://asheducationbook.hematologylibrary.org/content/2005/1/13.long Huq, S., Pietroni, M. A. C., Rahman, H., Alam, M. T. (2010). Hereditary spherocytosis.J Health Popul Nutr.,28(1), 107-109. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2975852/ Oliveira, M. C. L. A., Fernandes, R. A. F., Rodrigues, C. L., Ribeiro, D. A., Giovanardi, M. F., Viana, M. B. (2012). Clinical course of 63 children with hereditary spherocytosis: a retrospective study.Rev Bras Hematol Hemoter,34(1), 9-13. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3459613/pdf/rbhh-34-009.pdf What Is The Importance Of Chelates In Biology? What Is The Importance Of Chelates In Biology? Chelation is the formation or presence of two or more separate bindings between a polydentate (multiple bonded) ligand and a single central atom. Usually these ligands are organic compounds, and are called chelants, chelators, chelating agents, or sequestering agents. The ligand forms a chelate complex with the substrate. Chelate complexes are contrasted with coordination complexes composed of monodentate ligands, which form only one bond with the central atom. The denticity of a central atom, of course, refers to the number of bonds formed by the central atom. Chelants, according to ASTM-A-380, are chemicals that form soluble, complex molecules with certain metal ions, inactivating the ions so that they cannot normally react with other elements or ions to produce precipitates or scale. The chelate effect. The chelate effect describes the enhanced affinity of chelating ligands for a metal ion compared to the affinity of a collection of similar nonchelating (monodentate) ligands for the same metal. Consider the two equilibria, in aqueous solution, between the copper(II) ion, Cu2+ and ethylenediamine (en) on the one hand and methylamine, MeNH2 on the other. Cu2+ + en [Cu(en)]2+ (1) Cu2+ + 2 MeNH2 [Cu(MeNH2)2]2+ (2) In (1) the bidentate ligand ethylene diamine forms a chelate complex with the copper ion. Chelation results in the formation of a five-membered ring. In (2) the bidentate ligand is replaced by two monodentate methylamine ligands of approximately the same donor power, meaning that the enthalpy of formation of Cu-N bonds is approximately the same in the two reactions. Under conditions of equal copper concentrations and when the concentration of methylamine is twice the concentration of ethylenediamine, the concentration of the complex (1) will be greater than the concentration of the complex (2). The effect increases with the number of chelate rings so the concentration of the EDTA complex, which has six chelate rings, is much much higher than a corresponding complex with two monodentate nitrogen donor ligands and four monodentate carboxylate ligands. Thus, the phenomenon of the chelate effect is a firmly established empirical fact. Cu2+ complexes with methylamine (left) and ethylenediamine (right) The thermodynamic approach to explaining the chelate effect considers the equilibrium constant for the reaction: the larger the equilibrium constant, the higher the concentration of the complex. Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid, Widely abbreviated as EDTA is a polyamino carboxylic acid and a colourless, water-soluble solid. Its conjugate base is named ethylenediaminetetraacetate. It is widely used to dissolve scale. Its usefulness arises because of its role as a hexadentate (six-toothed) ligand and chelating agent, i.e. its ability to sequester metal ions such as Ca2+ and Fe3+. After being bound by EDTA, metal ions remain in solution but exhibit diminished reactivity. EDTA is produced as several salts, notably disodium EDTA and calcium disodium EDTA. EDTA is used to bind metal ions in chelation therapy, e.g., for mercury and lead poisoning. It is used in a similar manner to remove excess iron from the body. This therapy is used to treat the complication of repeated blood transfusions, as would be applied to treat thalassaemia. EDTA acts as a powerful antioxidant to prevent free radicals from injuring blood vessel walls. Dentists use EDTA solutions to remove inorganic debris (smear layer) and prepare root canals for obturation. It serves as a preservative (usually to enhance the action of another preservative such as benzalkonium chloride or thiomersal) in ocular preparations and eyedrops. In evaluating kidney function, the complex [Cr(edta)]- is administered intravenously and its filtration into the urine is monitored. This method is useful for evaluating glomerular filtration rate. EDTA is used extensively in the analysis of blood. It is an anticoagulant for blood samples for CBC/FBEs (complete blood count also known as full blood examination). Laboratory studies also suggest that EDTA chelation may prevent collection of platelets on the lining of the vessel [such as arteries] (which can otherwise lead to formation of blood clots, which itself is associated with atheromatous plaque formation or rupture, and thereby ultimately disrupts blood flow). These ideas are theoretical, and have so far been proven ineffective; however, a major clinical study of the effects of EDTA on coronary arteries is currently (2008) proceeding. EDTA played a role in the O.J. Simpson trial when the defense alleged that one of the blood samples collected from Simpsons estate was found to contain traces of the compound. In nature Virtually all biochemicals exhibit the ability to dissolve certain metal cations. Thus, proteins, polysaccharides, and polynucleic acids are excellent polydentate ligands for many metal ions. In addition to these adventitious chelators, several biomolecules are produced to specifically bind certain metals . Histidine, malate and phytochelatin are typical chelators used by plants. Histidine (abbreviated as His or H) is one of the 22 proteinogenic amino acids. In terms of nutrition, histidine is considered an essential amino acid in human infants. After reaching several years of age, humans begin to synthesize it, at which point it becomes a non-essential amino acid. Its codons are CAU and CAC. Histidine was first isolated by German physician Albrecht Kossel in 1896. Malic acid is an organic compound with the formula HO2CCH2CHOHCO2H. This carboxylic diacid is the active ingredient in many sour or tart foods. Malic acid is found mostly in unripe fruits. Malic acid has two stereoisomers, a left-handed L-enantiomer and a right-handed D-enantiomer, but only the L isomer exist naturally. The salts and esters of malic acid are known as malates. The malate anion is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle. Phytochelatins are oligomers of glutathione, produced by the enzyme phytochelatin synthase. They are found in plants, fungi, nematodes and all groups of algae including cyanobacteria. Phytochelatins act as chelators, and are important for heavy metal detoxification.They are abbreviated PC2 through PC11. A mutant Arabidopsis thaliana lacking phytochelatin synthase is very sensitive to cadmium, but it grows just as well as the wild-type plant at normal concentrations of zinc and copper, two essential metal ions, indicating that phytochelatin is only involved in resistance to metal poisoning. Phytochelatin seems to be transported into the vacuole of plants, so that the metal ions it carries are stored safely away from the proteins of the cytosol. In biochemistry and microbiology Virtually all metalloenzymes feature metals that are chelated, usually to peptides or cofactors and prosthetic groups. Such chelating agents include the porphyrin rings in hemoglobin and chlorophyll. Many microbial species produce water-soluble pigments that serve as chelating agents, termed siderophores. For example, species of Pseudomonas are known to secrete pycocyanin and pyoverdin that bind iron. Enterobactin, produced by E. coli, is the strongest chelating agent known. Porphyrins are a group of organic compounds of which many occur in nature. One of the best-known porphyrins is heme, the pigment in red blood cells. Heme is a cofactor of the protein hemoglobin. They are heterocyclic macrocycles composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at their ÃŽÂ ± carbon atoms via methine bridges (=CH-). Porphyrins are aromatic Hemoglobin (also spelled haemoglobin and abbreviated Hb or Hgb) is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of vertebrates and the tissues of some invertebrates. Hemoglobin in the blood is what transports oxygen from the lungs or gills to the rest of the body (i.e. the tissues) where it releases the oxygen for cell use. In mammals the protein makes up about 97% of the red blood cells dry content, and around 35% of the total content (including water). Hemoglobin has an oxygen binding capacity between 1.36 and 1.37 ml O2 per gram of hemoglobin, which increases the total blood oxygen capacity seventyfold. Hemoglobin is involved in the transport of other gases: it carries some of the bodys respiratory carbon dioxide (about 10% of the total) as carbaminohemoglobin, in which CO2 is bound to the globin protein. The molecule also carries the important regulatory molecule nitric oxide bound to a globin protein thiol group, releasing it at the same time as oxygen. Heme group Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is a green pigment found in almost all plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Chlorophyll absorbs light most strongly in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, followed by the red portion. However, it is a poor absorber of green and near-green portions of the spectrum, hence the green color of chlorophyll-containing tissues. Chlorophyll was first isolated by Joseph Bienaimà © Caventou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier in 1817. In geology In earth science, chemical weathering is attributed to organic chelating agents, e.g. peptides and sugars, that extract metal ions from minerals and rocks. Most metal complexes in the environment and in nature are bound in some form of chelate ring, e.g. with a humic acid or a protein. Thus, metal chelates are relevant to the mobilization of metals in the soil, the uptake and the accumulation of metals into plants and micro-organisms. Selective chelation of heavy metals is relevant to bioremediation, e.g. removal of 137Cs from radioactive waste. Applications Chelators are used in chemical analysis, as water softeners, and are ingredients in many commercial products such as shampoos and food preservatives. Citric acid is used to soften water in soaps and laundry detergents. A common synthetic chelator is EDTA. Phosphonates are also well known chelating agents. Chelators are used in water treatment programs and specifically in steam engineering, e.g., boiler water treatment system: Chelant Water Treatment system. Heavy metal detoxification. Chelation therapy is the use of chelating agents to detoxify poisonous metal agents such as mercury, arsenic, and lead by converting them to a chemically inert form that can be excreted without further interaction with the body, and was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1991. In alternative medicine, chelation is used as a treatment for autism, though this practice is controversial due to no scientific plausibility, lack of FDA approval, and its potentially deadly side-effects. Though they can be beneficial in cases of heavy metal poisoning, chelating agents can also be dangerous. The U.S. CDC reports that use of disodium EDTA instead of calcium EDTA has resulted in fatalities due to hypocalcemia. Other medical applications Antibiotic drugs of the tetracycline family are chelators of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions. EDTA is also used in root canal treatment as a way to irrigate the canal. EDTA softens the dentin facilitating access to the entire canal length and to remove the smear layer formed during instrumentation. Chelate complexes of gadolinium are often used as contrast agents in MRI scans. Copper-64 is a radioactive nuclide of copper which has unique decay properties making it useful in nuclear medicine for both imaging and therapy. 64Cu-ATSM (diacetyl-bis(N4-methylthiosemicarbazone)) has been shown to increase the survival time of tumor-bearing animals with no acute toxicity. Areas of low oxygen retention have been shown to be resistant to radiotherapy because hypoxia reduces the lethal effects of ionizing radiation. 64Cu was believed to kill these cells because of its unique decay properties. In this experiment, animal models having colorectal tumors with and without induced hypoxia were administered Cu-ATSM. Cu-ATSM is preferentially taken up by hypoxic cells over normoxic cells. The results demonstrated that this compound increased survival of the tumor bearing hamsters compared with controls. In the control groups, death due to tumor burden occurred within 4 weeks while animals with a dose greater than 6 mCi of the radioisotope tumor growth was inhibited and survival increased. The results also suggested that multiple doses and a single dose of 10 mCi were equally effective while the multiple dose regimen i s safer for non-target tissue. Radiotherapy of cancer cells using 64Cu can be applied in medical research and clinical practice. The advantages of radiotherapy with beta emitters of this energy are that there is enough to do substantial damage to the target cells but the mean range in tissue is less than a millimeter so non target tissues are unlikely to be harmed. In addition, 64Cu is a positron emitter making it a viable PET imaging radionuclide which can give real time images of the physiological processes in the system. These abilities in conjunction enable accurate monitoring of drug distribution and biokinetics simultaneously. Radiotherapeutic efficacy of Copper-64 depends highly upon the radioligand delivery to the target cells, so the development of bifunctional chelates is central to development of 64Cus potential as a radiopharmaceutical. With sufficient development, 64Cu is likely to become a central element in nuclear medicine in the years to come. A preliminary study of the bio availability of iron- and zinc-glycine chelates Groups of rats were fed diets containing marginal levels of Fe and Zn as glycine chelates (tradename Chelazome, Albion Laboratories, Verona, New Jersey, USA), or the same level of mineral as ferrous sulphate or zinc carbonate. The Fe diets were fed to weanling rats for 4 weeks and the Zn diets to young adult rats for 5 weeks. Blood Hb concentrations were significantly higher in the group fed Fe-chelazome than ferrous sulphate, 149 and 128 g/l respectively (P

Bullying in Schools Essay -- Bullying Essays

Introduction Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agen cies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices. I chose to write about bullying because I experienced it first hand while working in Japan. As an English teacher at Tomobe Junior High School in Kasama, Japan, I witnessed how one twelve year old boy routinely abused not only his schoolmates, but physically assaulted teachers as well. At times when all students were seated, he walked around the classroom and picked on the other students; I saw how the classroom teacher glanced at him then turned his head so he would not bear witness and need to act. I saw how this boy verbally bullied his classmates by yelling and making comments in a hostile, insolent tone; I saw how he would often get physical and smack, shove, push an... ..., K., & Coie, J. (1987). Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1146-1158. Fried, S. (1997). Bullies and victims: Children abusing children. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 19, 127-133. Olweus, D. (1984). Aggressors and their victims: Bullying at school. In N. Fmde & H. Gault (Eds.), Disruptive behavior in schools. New York: Wiley. Smith, P., & Sharp, S. (1994). School bullying: Insights and perspectives. London: Routledge. Roland E., & Munthe E. (1997). The 1996 Norwegian program for preventing and managing bullying in schools. The Irish Journal of Psychology, 18, 233–247. Ross, D. M. (1996). Childhood bullying and teasing: What school personnel, other professionals, and parents can do. Virginia: American Counseling Association.

Free Essays - Fatal Flaws in Hamlet -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Fatal Flaws in Hamlet          In the ending to Shakespeare's Hamlet, each of the main characters fatal flaws leads them inevitably to their destruction.   The process of the play could not lead one anywhere else but to their ultimate fate.   Claudius is basically an opportunist whose blind ambition erases his moral sense.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude, through the eyes of Hamlet, is to eager to remarry her husbands brother.   Hamlet himself, driven both by his need for vengeance and his inability to act was perhaps as guilty as anyone else in the play because his behavior indirectly resulted in the deaths of Ophelia, Rosencratz and Goldenstein.   In each of these characters, the lack of the firm moral structure leads them in only one direction which is toward their death.   In the ending of the play, then, is both inevitable and fitting given the evidence that precede it.    In the case of Claudius, his actions betray a moral feeling from the start.   Having first murdered his brother in cold blood, he then proceeded ... Free Essays - Fatal Flaws in Hamlet -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays Fatal Flaws in Hamlet          In the ending to Shakespeare's Hamlet, each of the main characters fatal flaws leads them inevitably to their destruction.   The process of the play could not lead one anywhere else but to their ultimate fate.   Claudius is basically an opportunist whose blind ambition erases his moral sense.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gertrude, through the eyes of Hamlet, is to eager to remarry her husbands brother.   Hamlet himself, driven both by his need for vengeance and his inability to act was perhaps as guilty as anyone else in the play because his behavior indirectly resulted in the deaths of Ophelia, Rosencratz and Goldenstein.   In each of these characters, the lack of the firm moral structure leads them in only one direction which is toward their death.   In the ending of the play, then, is both inevitable and fitting given the evidence that precede it.    In the case of Claudius, his actions betray a moral feeling from the start.   Having first murdered his brother in cold blood, he then proceeded ...

Romantic Period :: essays research papers

Dr. George Boeree best describes the Romantic Movement in the following, â€Å" Reason and the evidence of our senses were important no doubt but they mean nothing to us unless they touch our needs, our feelings, our emotions. Only then do they acquire meaning. This ‘meaning’ is what the Romantic Movement is all about.† There were many changes that made this movement. The Romantics turned to the poet before the scientist to harbor their convictions. They found that Science was too narrow-minded, and held no room for emotion or feelings. In England, there was a resurgence into Shakespearean drama, and numerous techniques and styles such as Sturm and Drang, a style of writing in Germany, and in art the title sublime to describe the power of natural disasters that developed in the Romantic period. The perception that the Enlightenment was destroying the natural human soul and substituting it with the mechanical, artificial heart was becoming prevalent across Europe. Also another thought that was at the wake of romanticism were the words of the French revolution emphasizing liberty, freedom, and individuality as well as the need in England to escape what the industrial revolution was doing to the country. There are many people and expressions either art, thought, or music that made the romantic period what is was. There are however key people who are involved in cementing certain expressions. Many writers such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, and George Gordan, Lord Bryant, classified the Romantic period. One writer however Johann Wolfgang von Goethe of Germany really expressed this movement with "The Sorrows of Young Werther", which epitomized what Romanticism stood for. His character expressed feelings from the heart and gave way to a new trend of expressing emotions through individuality as opposed to collectivism. He was also known for the Sturm and Drang style that was popular in Germany. This style was the free spirited answer to the restraint of the classical period. Another popular writer was Mary Shelly. To go without saying her book Frankenstein which describes a man (Frankenstein) who lets science get out of control and creates a being that eventually hunts down and kills him was revolutionary at the time. This book was clearly is a revolt against the scientific happenings that caused the Romantic Movement. The aspect of philosophy on Romanticism can be attributed to two great thinkers. G. W. F. Hegel, a German philosopher, rejected philosophy of the 18th century because he believed in "Idealism".

Marketing techniques Essay

Introduction The businesses and products I chose happened to be, Nike and their Mercurial football boots, and Sony and their PS3 gaming console. I chose these products because I think they are both reasonably diverse, and in their time, both these products have experienced a range of sections within the product life cycle. For example, due to Nike’s football boots having to be constantly refreshed and renewed due to high competition, they have experienced, each sector, a number of times. In contrast, the Sony and their PS3 have also experienced similar experiences. For example, due to this specific console being one of the most successful and exclusive gaming consoles of all time, the overall competition has been reasonably low, and due to this, this certain product has seen the product life cycle at a very different perspective by experiencing each sector at a much slower rate. Product The diagram presented above dictates the process in which businesses go through, when marketing. Every business will follow this strategy when they advertise and market a product in order to gain the most sales, and to generate a substantial amount of profit. For example, the first stage of this Product Life Cycle is the Development. This stage entitles a business to conjure up a selected idea, in which they will later hope to produce as a product and then sell. The development stage is where the business will discover the blue prints of their product and how they will later market it. In other words, the development stage provides a foundation for the selected product as it will be built as a prototype to be later sold to the public in order to increase sales and profits. This certain stage is very secretive within any organisation. Other businesses do not want to let their competitors have knowledge of what they’re producing, in case they steal and release the idea before, a nd generate a mass of publicity, sales and profits. The next stage is referred to as the introduction stage; this is  where the business launches its completed product for the first time. This certain sector is vital as it will later determine how successful the product is, and whether it should be develop further. Within the Introduction stage, sales begin to grow slowly if the product begins to generate publicity, this is usually due to the lack of knowledge people have about your product, and it is also due to the lack of advertising. However, a business may not want to advertise straight away, as they may waste money on advertising a product that their piers may not essentially want or need. Therefore, business tend to use the certain advertising scheme, known as informative advertising, this includes small processes in which a business can build their products reputation or publicity. If this section of the product life cycle is successful, businesses can later develop on their products, thus enabling them to create further marketing schemes, beneficial to them, in regards to their sales, profits and annual turnover. The next stage within the Product life cycle is, Growth. This is where a business’s product begins to increase in sales, rapidly. This is due to increased demands, and the fact that all the business’s persuasive marketing schemes are working, thus increasing sales and profits. The growth sector within this product life cycle basically classifies how successful a business is, by being within the growth sector; this indicates that the business’s product is successful and popular. The fourth and pen ultimate stage is known as the Maturity stage. This is where a selected product, created by a business begins to sustain profits, and generate sales slowly. This stage takes place after the growth stage, due to many factors such as an increase in product competition due to the publicity of your product, as well as an increase in advertising due to businesses trying to sustain the success of their product. After this stage, comes the final stage, or otherwise known as the Decline. This stage entails a business’s product to begin to drop in sales, reduce in publicity and popularity, it begins to lose its appeal and competition becomes stiffer and bigger, therefore fewer units are sold. At this stage, advertising is either halted or completely stopped, and possibly the production of the item may decrease in activity in order to retain money and boost the production on other marketing schemes/ideas. Brand: Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc or Nike is a very popular and successful business that originated  in the early 70s. This business firstly began, known as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, however, 7 years later saw them changing their name into what we know them today as; Nike Inc. This organisation specialises in sports apparel and accessories. This sport based business sells items within sports such as Football, Rugby, Golf, Basketball, Cricket, tennis, athletics and pretty much every other sport. However, I feel they are extremely notorious for their very professional and popular football boots. For example, Nike have earned international success and have worked with the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Mario Balotelli, Wesley Sneijder, Wayne Rooney and Landon Donovan in regards to promoting their Football related range of goods. However, in regards to my product, Nike has formed many advertising schemes with players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovià „‡ (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right). Product: Nike Mercurial Vapor This certain product is a very popular and renowned piece of sports apparel. This certain product is linked with football, as they are, a selected type of football boot. This variation of football boot comes in many shapes and sizes, this enables the product to appeal to all different, acquired tastes, and overall this will help the brand Nike Inc, reach out and attract customers. However, my reasoning for choosing this brand would be its placement within the product life cycle, due to increased and increasing competition, businesses such as Nike Inc have to constantly refresh and renew their produce, in order to maintain customers and as a business become more appealing and modern/stylish. Therefore, I believe these products fluctuate between growth and Maturity, for example, due to the competition, new boots are brought out every couple of months or year, this causes older boots, and their predecessors to be regarded as â€Å"old†, â€Å"boring† or â€Å"out of fashion†. Therefore, each boot only has a selected amount of time, until the next big style or football boot gets released. Like I mentioned before, I believe this product is mainly situated within the growth sector, as each boot only obtains a selected amount of time to succeed and become appealing, until the next brand gets released; therefore, it’s time to mature and become a cemented item is limited. Brand: Sony Corporation Sony Corporation, or Sony, is a very successful and popular Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in electronics, game systems and game entertainment. Sony is one of the leading providers of game entertainment in today’s society; they have produced some iconic titles/products like the PS1, the PS2, the PS3 and its most recent addition, the next generation of console, known as the PS4. These gaming, entertainment systems have altered and revolutionised the way we play virtual games, and they have truly made their mark on gadget history. Sony is a Japanese business that began in 1946, its name, at the time stood as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, however, since 1958, this iconic brand has been referred to as Sony. Product: Sony, Play station 3 The product I will be using during this task will be Sony’s, award winning creation/product, known as the PS3. I believe this product has been very, very successful, and I think I it will be an ideal product to evaluate and analyse. For example, seeing as this certain console is one of few gaming entertainment systems to be released in the modern era, the competition is reasonably low, therefore, its time during the product life cycle has sustained and gradually evolved into being a product within the Maturity sector. However, due to recent events, a new range of console appeared, formed by the same brand; Sony. This new range of gaming console is referred to as, the next generation of gaming entertainment, and this specific console is known as the Sony PS4. This PS4 was released into stores and gaming retailers on such dates as the 15th of November 2013 (for North American Citizens), the 29th of November 2013 (for European Citizens) and 22nd February 2014 (for Asian Citizens); and as of March 2nd 2014, this product has already sold as many units as 6 million worldwide. Because of this, the Sony PS3 will eventually fall into the declining sector within the product life cycle, due to decreasing demand, decreasing popularity and a decrease in advertising and production. This certain factor is one prominent reason why I have chosen this product to feature within my coursework. Promotion The promotional process within a business is where an organisation would advertise a selected product to either inform existing customers of new modifications to their products, or to advertise a new product they have just created and finished. The methods and messages business use when displaying their products are very important, as it can overall determine the outcome/success of the product. For example, businesses want to sustain and attract new and existing customers by using persuasive and informative promotional materials, and if their promotional schemes do not achieve this substantial amount of money can be lost, thus negatively affecting the business and potentially damaging the business. There are many forms and ways in which business can promote their products for example: Advertising – Through TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, internet Direct selling – directly approaching and â€Å"targeting† customers, e.g. public speakers, telesales, door salesmen Direct Marketing – Leaflets, mailshots, emails Point-of-sale – selling point stands, free samples, vouchers, offers Incentives – loyalty cards, bonus points or point systems i.e. these exist on many crisp and cereal selling brands Public Relations – Ensuring the organisations name is well known and grown or growing publicity. Catchy slogans, and brand names or e.g. sponsorships like Nike’s Cristiano Ronaldo sponsorship deals Sales Promotion – special offers, deals, sales to attract customers All these ways are commonly used by business in order to boost the publicity and overall speculation on their product, as every business needs to achieve a certain amount of customers, in order to generate profit. As well as these promotional ideas/methods, businesses also use certain features like AIDA. This stands for (A) Attraction, (I) Interest, (D) Desire, (A) Action. This diagram is used to represent a customer’s approach to reviewing a product. For example, when seeing a advert that appeals to them, these (potential) future customers will have a mental review of the product, and over a period of time, this AIDA process should unravel and take its formation. This is a process in which many businesses follow, in regards to promoting and releasing their product/ideas so they can identify what techniques to use, when advertising and promoting their products. For example, firstly comes the Attraction of the product, businesses want to represent their newly formed product as a new revolutionary item that will  benefit someone in every way, where it’s needed. Therefore, business will present their item as â€Å"cool†, â€Å"modern† and highly â€Å"anticipated† despite it’s not even released yet. This is in order to obtain the focus of customers and to gain their attention to their product. The success rate in which businesses do this will determine how many people will feel encouraged to buy your product, an increase of this will overall benefit the business and generate them with increase/grown profits. Secondly comes Interest, this is where business aim to achieve the focus and publicity of their product . Because of this, businesses want people/customers to gain an interest to their product, they want people to feel they need and have to purchase it. If a business successes within this stage, this could impact the business in a number of positive ways. For example, an increased amount of people interested within your product could mean, an increase in profits, and this will most certainly benefit a business. Businesses do this by containing people within their adverts or promotional materials looking happy with the product, or featuring famous figures in order to promote how stylish a product can be. Like I briefly mentioned, businesses want customers to feel the need to have their product, this stage is referred to as the Desire stage, this is where business feature many promotional materials in order to obtain the attention of customers and make them feel the need to want to buy and purchase their product. Again businesses can do this through featuring famous figures like Cristiano Ronaldo in order to promote their new product. By doing this, many fans of these famous figures may feel desired into purchasing the product as they deem it as stylish or maybe they just feel loyal to the role model/celebrity who promoted it. Finally features the stage/section known as Action. This the physical side to this AIDA cycle, for example Action is where the customer/reviewer will eventually purchase the good and use it/consume it for its purpose. Within this cycle, businesses don’t really have to do anything more at this stage, the customer has bought their product, all the business can do now is wait and assume the certain client has grown fond of their product, thus potentially forming them into an existing customer/loyal consumer. What are the promotional techniques used by your businesses? Within the two businesses I have chosen, there are multiple promotional techniques. Within the paragraphs displayed below, I will present this and eventually outline their strengths,  weaknesses, and comparison with compe titors and their differences. Nike Inc, Mercurial Vapor: For this selected product, I found many promotional schemes, however, I commonly found promotional processes within the advertising side of promotion, and these TV advertisements included famous footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović in order to boost the attraction of their product as well as the desirability. For example, some screen shots/links of the adverts collected: Advertisements: Cristiano Ronaldo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWVYwppLPdE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mdgTR5ZyDs Zlatan Ibrahimović: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqVk1FHYeFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SBnk3lKzzg Strengths: Within this set of Nike commercials, I thought the real strengths and positive aspects had to be the way in which they want people to perceive their products. For example, within each advert/promotional technique, they indicate how their style of football boot could change the way in which you perform, and how it can alter your abilities. For example, within the Cristiano Ronaldo adverts, it depicts Ronaldo, running through a whole team, easily with such pace, the advert then finished with the simple statement of: Be fast. Be Mercurial. This would indicate to customers that their special brand of football boot could enhance their abilities and the way they perform on the football pitch. For many football fans, and aspiring football players, these factors may be very important and this may encourage them to buy the item as they desire the certain traits these products supposedly provide. This is also a good way of advertising, because when people purchase this variation of football bo ot, it’s another way of advertising, however it’s free. For example, potential customers may see other people wearing the advertised boots, and this may cause them to feel jealous due to them knowing what the boots supposedly provide trait wise, as well as the fact, their favourite footballer may be the cover of that  certain brand, therefore they could feel further experiences of jealousy. This factor is very important because, in modern day football, the competitiveness between aspiring players may be extremely high, therefore each player wants/needs a certain factor such as new boots that may pose them with an â€Å"advantage† over everybody else/their opponents. Overall this will encourage more people to purchase Nike’s product as the certain products may feel increasingly desired, thus potentially increasing their profits and reputation. I also feel strength of these advertisements is the involvement/featuring of worldwide known sports figures like Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović. Many young people interested within sports and football idolize over certain role models like these players, therefore, when these people see the Nike adverts featuring them, they feel obliged to purchase the certain piece of sports apparel in a way of supporting their role model. Therefore, Nike can use this to their advantage by exploiting how these players â€Å"benefit† from their products, and how it will reflect on their customers. For example, many fans and expiring footballers may feel, that wearing the same football boot as Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimović will grant them with their abilities and skill. Because of this, Nike’s advertisements can easily attract more customers by featuring these great athletes, thus potentially boosting their profits due to increased attraction and desirability. Weaknesses: Within these adverts, I felt it was very hard to find a significant weakness; however, I came to the conclusion of their adverts potentially degrading people. For example, due to the adverts representing how football players could be boosted/enhanced by the certain football boot, certain people who may desire the item, however can’t afford it may feel, when they play football, they do not have enough skill or power when on the pitch in comparison to people wearing these advertised boots. Because of this, many people may feel degraded, and they may also feel potentially weaker as a footballer, and this could potentially have a negative effect on Nike due to some people possibly feeling depressed about their abilities when being reminded of their products and their brand faces like Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović. Therefore, Nike may suffer some reductions in customers,  therefore a decrease in overall profits. Comparisons with competitors: When comparing to competitors, I believe Nike is probably at the best stage, I believe Nike is at the top of their game. For example, I think the way in which these commercials are conducted, represent these products with style, professionalism, power, speed, agility, and skill, precision. Because of this, I believe Nike’s target audience has been expanded for example, due to the professionalism and smart appearance of these products and their commercials, elder customers may also be enticed to purchase the products, as well as young, aspiring players. I also feel Nike made the correct choice when choosing players like Cristiano Ronaldo when advertising their products. For example, over the past couple of years, Ronaldo has accomplished many individual and joint awards and has successfully earned his place as the one of the best, if not the Best player in the world. Because of this, more people may have been enticed to buy Nike’s products, thus potentially booting their profits and overall reputation. Sony, Play Station 3: Again, with this certain product, I found Sony Corporation used many promotional techniques in order to advertise their product, especially within television, posters and billboards. For example: Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyTlxHwuPZY – Long Live Play Michael https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU – PS3 Baby Commercial Strengths: Within these Sony, PS3 commercials/promotional material, I found that theses commercials had many aspects about them that were positive. One of these was the engagement to the audience a special individuals that are avid console gamers. For example, within the Long Live Play commercial, a group of gaming characters formed in order to celebrate the background character known as Michael who controlled their stories, as he PLAYED their games. I believe this is a positive effect as certain people may recognise these gaming characters, therefore they already obtain some variation of emotional  attachment to them, because of this, more people may be attracted to Sony’s products. For example, by seeing characters from certain games they have played may trigger many good memories of these people playing these games when they were younger. Because of this, they may feel encouraged to buy the console in order to recap on old memories, because of this, and increased amount of people buying Sony’s products will mean, and increased amount of profits, thus benefitting Sony in a number of ways. Another strength could be the suspense during the commercial. For example, the Long Live Play commercial depicts a group of characters speaking and celebrating about this person called Michael, however, customers watching the commercial don’t’ actually get told who this Michael is and why he’s important until the very end. I believe this is a very good promotional technique as this may cause customers having to watch the entire commercial as they are curious to whom Michael is, and by that time, they are drawn in and notified of the brand â€Å"Sony – PS3†. This suspense could ideally cause more people to remember the commercial, and overall these factors could increase the amount of people wh o will buy Sony’s products, thus increasing their profits further. Weakness: In comparison to the Nike commercials, I felt there were more negatives within these certain promotional methods, especially within the first commercial I watch, the PS3 baby commercial. I feel there were certain negative, such as how vague the promotional method was, for example, I don’t feel and can’t seem to analyse any form of message or purpose into why Sony depicted a baby doll, glancing at their product and making a series of different noises. If anything I believed this certain commercial was quite weird, and if I were to watch this commercial, my initial reaction would probably deter me from buying this product,, as I found little about the product itself, and the way I think the commercial was conducted was very strange and dysfunctional. I believe this would overall be a negative effect in regards to Sony. For example, if people are deterred from buying you product, due to your commercial, this could result in reduced sales and ultimately a decrease in your a nnual turnover. I also find, within the Long Live Play commercial, if you were new to gaming and unaware of some of the figures within the production, the advert wouldn’t really appeal to you,  therefore the way Sony aimed to increased sales through this promotional method may not work as well as hoped. For example, how do you expect to connect with some of the characters when you’re un aware of their story/history? Ultimately this could affect the turnover and sales created through this product and it could mean less people may purchase Sony’s products, thus potentially affecting their profits. However, in relevance to my last point, it could also be perceived as a positive, for example, if some people are unaware of certain characters, this may leave them questioning their purpose, and why they’re there. Because of this, people unaware of this information may feel the need to purchase a games console and some related game titles in order to find understand why certain characters were within the commercial. Due to this, businesses like Sony who sell gaming systems may receive increased sales due to people new to games, and are searching for a correct platform to play on. Overall this would positively affect Sony as sales may increase, as well as profits, thus benefiting the company economically. In comparison to their competitors I feel Sony don’t feel the need to input as much effort into their advertisements. They seem to focus on sales promotions within shop windows like Game or Game Station. I also feel Sony withdraw from increased advertising as it costs money, and they seem to find leaving their customers without that many details, It might give them an increased chance in regards to buying the console as the negative effects of the product may be unknown until purchased, this is beneficial to Sony as again, more sales mare be generated, thus a potential increase in profits. Pricing Strategies Used Pricing strategies is another word for the structure, and how businesses decide to sell their goods, and depending on these products, the type of pricing may change. Nike, Mercurial Vapor: The first pricing strategy I think Nike use in regards to this specific product happens to be the strategy known as Promotional Pricing. This is where businesses provide offers, and sales on their certain products. And in Nike’s case I believe this is exactly what they do, for example, considering the competition for this variation of product is very high, businesses like Nike have to constantly circulate new products and new Mercurial Football  boots, otherwise, their competitors will receive the upper hand and potentially an increase in customers due to less competition and other competitors not releasing new, updated stock. So, businesses like Nike release new stock/products like Mercurial Football boots in order to maintain their customers interest, therefore a majority of their older stock falls into the category of sales, deals and special offers. For Example: For example, Nike cut down this special type of Mercurial Football boot down from  £55.00 to  £43.00, a  £12.00 price decrease. Nike also follows the pricing strategy of Price Skimming. For example, when Nike first releases a new rendition of the Nike Mercurial Football boot, the price is initially, extremely high. I believe they do this because they know people would pay so much, just to stay up to date and modern in regards to the latest range, I also believe they do this because they know they are going to later decrease the price, therefore they initially sell their products at an extremely high price, just to take advantage of the limited time it’s going to be that price for to ensure they may generate a major profit per unit, thus potentially increasing their sales and overall increasing their profits. For example: The screen shot displayed above represents how much Nike initially release their Mercurial Vapor range at, later this price will decrease as new boot ranges will circulate, and this certain style will eventually go decrease in fashion/popularity. Sony, Play Station 3: The Sony PS3 has been around for around for around 7 – 8 years now, therefore the pricing strategies Sony used may or may not have changed during the products long lasting existence. Over that period of time, the Sony PS3 has been altered, re-mastered and perfected, therefore the pricing has obviously had to be changed, and considering the release of the new PS4, the Sony PS3 price has probably fluctuated at an even greater scale. One of the price  strategies the Sony PS3 withheld was, Price Skimming. Sony needed and has used this strategy due to the products huge market life. In order to generate and receive the most sales/turnover, Sony needed to keep the price as high as they could until something like the PS4 appeared. For example, since its release, the Sony PS3 has maintained a price between  £400 –  £150, therefore within that 8 year product life bracket, Sony has only cut the pricing down from around  £250, and like I mentioned before, Sony did this in o rder to generate the highest amount of sales/turnover in order to sustain a substantial amount of profit. Sony have also used the pricing strategy known as promotional pricing, for example, since Sony and their consoles involve features such as buyable accessories and games, Sony seem to release the occasional deal which involves a mix of a variety of games, certain gaming related accessories and obviously, the console itself. These deals appeal to many people as they receive the highly anticipated console as well as many other beneficial features. However, businesses like Sony use these added features in order to boost people’s encouragements as they believe the deal is better than it actually is. This is beneficial to the business as it overall could result into increased sales/profits due to deal prices and bundles potentially being sold for more than the individual console. This then leads me on to my next and final pricing technique, for example, business use the pricing strategy known as Psychological pricing. This is where businesses sell products at a price to deceive customers and trick them into thinking it’s cheaper than what it really amounts to. For example, many businesses sell items ending in 00.99, this is due to it seeming like it’s much cheaper than the price following it, for example, people feel they’ve received a great deal off an item for  £19.99 instead of it being  £20.00, despite it’s one penny less, your eyes deceive you and it seems to look like a much smaller number/price. For example, in regards to Sony, their PS3 has been usually sold at a price ending within 00.99 in order to trick and deceive people, thus causing Sony, to generate an increased amount of money, thus boosting sales and potentially enlarging the business’s profit. For example: As you can see, this certain retailer has applied this strategy on order to generate a increase within each unit sold. This will overall benefit Sony as  more money will be generated within their company, causing them to receive a positive cash flow. Place Nike: Nike is business that specialises within sports apparel and sports related accessories, therefore you will find most Nike goods within common Sports retailers. For example, popular European stores like Sports Direct, JD sports and the Nike shop will supply these related goods as they are all featured within the same business sector – Sporting and Leisure activities. These products produced by Nike are supplied within these stores as Nike is a multinational brand, and it’s becoming increasingly popular, therefore, over the past couple of years, the demand for Nike produce, such as Mercurial Football boots has increased. Because of this, businesses like Sports Direct and JD sports want to sell their goods as Nike will cause them to generate increased profits due to increase popularity of Nike products and increasing demand for the certain stock, supplied by Nike. This is beneficial to both stores, for example, Nike will receive money through the selected stores Nike stock sales as a percentage of this money will be generated and transacted to them, as long as Nike provide these businesses with suitable and updated stock. The only negative I can picture could be the certain percentage of the money Nike might receive, for example, this percentage may be quite low, and therefore it might actually negatively affect Nike as they may spend more money manufacturing and transporting the goods than what they receive in return. Sony, Play station 3: Since Sony and their PS3 is categorized as a gaming entertainment system, the stores that usually sell this product are gaming retailers like, Game, HMV, Game station, and CEX, however, since PS3 became a worldwide product, they have gradually been sold within basic superstores like Tesco, Wall mart, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, ASDA and Waitrose. Again, due to the products speculation and overall success, these businesses decided to get in touch with Sony and sell their produce (PS3) as they were certain its success will provide them with increased sales, and overall profits. Many businesses like  Tesco also bought the stock in order for more people to enter their stores, fro example, by increased amounts of people entering a Tesco in search for a PS3, they may buy a certain drink or product provided by Tesco, and because of this Tesco and other superstores selling the PS3 may have also generated increased product/stock sales and well as potential increased profits. Much like the positive effect presented above this will also overall benefit Sony, as an increased amount of businesses wanting to sell their produce, will mean an increase in funding and overall boost in the finances within the organisation as more money will be externally inserted within the company. The only negative again could possibly be an insufficient amount of money to compensate for the immense amount of demands from businesses wanting to sell Sony’s products, however their funding/money should cover it, thus evading this problem and providing Sony with no real negative issue in regards to this problem. Evaluate the marketing techniques used by a selected business Nike: After evaluating and analysing Nike and their Mercurial Vapor football boots, I have resulted in a conclusion, and have formatted my final opinion, on their way of marketing. I personally believe Nike used very smart and successful marketing strategies, as the popularity of their business represents how they have globally attracted people to their brands, and sports apparel. For example, in regards to their Product, I believe the way they’ve dealt with the growing/fast competition really functions well within their business. For example, Nike has adapted and became accustom to bringing out and releasing new products, like football boots every couple of months/year in order to sustain the interest of their customers and target audience. For example, they need to sustain each of their products like the Mercurial Football boots within the growing sector in regards to the product life cycle, until the next brand or style of boot gets released. Without these certain functions, and Nike standardized approach, I doubt the business would be as successful as it has been over the past few years, this certain function has certainly helped Nike achieve success, sales and profits; and these are all very beneficial features within an organisation. Due to these factors, I also believe Nike has breached its customers’ expectations; they have released consistent and fashionable products, much  like the rapid production and competition of football boots, and they are definitely one of the best within their selected sector of Sports and Leisure apparel/equipment. This is why I believe Nike could be regarded as one of the best, if not the best football boot producers/retailers within the world, and I believe they are definitely one of the feared businesses, in regards to their competitors like Adidas, Puma, Umbro, Sondico and Warrior. Secondly, I believe Nike’s Promotional sector is also very effective, for example, as I mentioned previously, I believe the way Nike advertise and present their products is very professional, stylish and smart in regards to their appearance. And because if this, I believe Nike’s target audience is expanded, for example, by appealing to an increased amount of people, Nike’s football boot sales may increase, therefore Nike may even result in an increase within profits; thus benefiting the business further. I also believe Nike conducted their sponsors very professionally and successfully as well. For example, Nike and their range of football boots obtain sponsorship deals with players like Zlatan Ibrahimović and the two time Ballon d’Or winner; Cristiano Ronaldo. I believe these deals have secured Nike’s success, for example, due to players like Ronaldo promoting their produce, an increase amount of people have been encouraged to buy their products , like the Mercurial football boots; thus boosting their sales, revenue and overall, profits. Again, in comparison to their competitors, I believe Nike are the best in their business sector. For example, the way they’ve conducted each commercial, poster or other promotional source, they do it with certain features that I feel provides them with an edge in regards to attracting and generated desiring customers.  Within Nike, I feel their pricing strategies were extremely good / beneficial to the organisation, and I believe, there isn’t any other form of strategy that I would follow, in terms of generating sales, and ultimately profits. For example, I believe the strategies they used were very good, in regards to their products, and how it will function with their target audience/customers. For example, one of the pricing strategies they used was, promotional pricing, this is where business sell their goods by offering certain deals and sales and cutting down the price in order to attract and generate an increased amount of customers. I believe it was  convenient for a business like Nike to use this certain strategy, as the football boot market is very competitive, and new boots will have to be released every couple of months/ year. Because of this, it’s only right if they cut down the price on their other goods by introducing sales, offers and other forms of promotional pricing, in order to attract more customers, and potentially increase sales/profits. Another form of Promotional pricing that Nike conduct is the strategy known as Price skimming. This is where businesses initially release their item at a very high price; however, as it progresses through the product life cycle, this price tends to decrease in order to benefit the business and customers by producing potentially more sales, thus more profits, as well as a cheaper price, therefore increasingly affordable. Again in Nike’s case, this is mainly due to the strong, competitive market. For example, new products like Mercurial football boot s will have to be released, therefore the stock referred to as the old stock will slowly come down in price as new products and goods get released. This will benefit Nike as the cheaper prices could attract more customers, because of this, Nike could face an overall sales increase, and this sales increase could eventually lead to the increase in Nike’s profits. Nike could improve the sales of this by promoting these reductions in such things as Television Adverts or posters, combined with popular retail stores such as Sports Direct. By promoting these reduced offers, more people within their target audience may feel interested to purchase their products, due to this Nike’s sales and overall profit may lead to an increase. Within these advertisements further deals with popular sports personalities such as Cristiano Ronaldo could take place; further promoting these reduced products, ultimately leading to more people having a desire or wanting for these items, resulting in an increase in Nike’s sales and profits. I believe the way Nike sells their produce, like their Mercurial Vapors is very convenient and bene ficial to the organisation. Therefore I believe these certain pricing strategies are very effective and this specific range of marketing techniques are very successful in terms of generating the business with increased sales and overall increased profits. Nike has overcome their competitors by formulating certain schemes to override their opponents and receive increased customers, sales and profits. Like I mentioned previously, to strengthen this, Nike could promote their discounted and reduced prices  even more. For example, since a new style or variation of their products such as Football boots are renewed monthly in order to maintain a controlling position within the Market, a vast amount of their old products are slightly forgotten about in regards to customers and their target audience. Therefore I think it would be highly beneficial to Nike if they compensated more for the promotion of their older products with reduced prices as it could overall increase the sales of their business, and ultimately lead to increase publicity. More people would be interested to purchase these promoted items with reduced prices, creating a larger attraction to the Company (Nike) and its products, either new or old. Further promotional materials with sports personalities would also help solidify their position, as certain sporting figures may attract a larger audience to their business, increasing the publicity and knowledge of their products; this would be highly beneficial to Nike as it may result in increased sales, ultimately leading to an increase within profits, further benefiting the organisation. However, if I had to make one improvement I would say the pace at which the company skims the prices off its products. For example, many times I have been looking at popular football boots and noticed how the prices are extraordinarily high. For example, popular football boots promoted by famous athletes sometimes cost over  £200. For children, and sometimes adults, this type of money to compensate is nearly impossible, or considered a â€Å"waste†. This high price may result in push factors for people in search for the adequate balance I regards to sporting goods such as football boots, people will look for price, fitting and appearance; and if the price is high, it may deter people from purchasing it, ultimately reducing Nike’s sales, potentially leading to a decrease in profits. By increasing the rate at which these products are reduced, and shortening the period they are sold at a very high price for, more people may be attracted to buying and using the product, thus promoting the business’s content furthermore, and ultimately leading to an increase in profits due to increased customers and sales. Lastly, within the marketing sector, comes the section known as Place. This basically refers to where the products are actually sold. For example, for Nike this is the common sports retailers like Sports Direct, JD sports and  more. This encourages greater sales as the product is widely available. For example, it would be common to provide businesses who have generated success, prior to you letting them sell your specific items. Therefore, it was only beneficial for businesses like Nike to sell their good to businesses like Sports Direct who are very successful and have generated an array of customers in search for products like Nike’s Mercurial football boots. This will benefit them as the business’s success could potentially mean, more people might purchase Nike’s products, like their Mercurial Vapors, therefore Nike would benefit as they could potentially result in an increase within profits, and sales. Another way Nike may be able to improve the promotion and success of their sporting related goods could be the increase in personal customization, for example, many people buy and purchase products such as football boots to stand out within their selected sport, by allowing your customers to personalize a product, catered to their wants and desires will enable an increased level of individuality. For example, this customisation technique may allow people to feature their own personal initials and colour combinations on their selected Nike products. Also, this certain function should not only be introduced via the internet, but also via located outlets. This would enable people and customers to receive a visual on how their selected product would appear. Certain physical features such as a wider Nike product customisation would potentially lead an increased amount of customers, for example, like I mentioned previously, within their selected sports, people want to stand out, in order t o attract attention or an increased chance of remembrance. Therefore, by allowing people to customize their personal products whether it is tops, shoes, boots, shorts or even tennis rackets, a wider audience may be attracted. Ultimately this may increase Nike’s sales, leading to an increase in their overall profits. The only recommendation for Nike, in my opinion would be if they were to provide more promotional pricing methods in order to prevent certain items falling into a decline, for example, due to the high competition within the market in regards to football boots, they have to release new boots, every couple of months, therefore the â€Å"older† boots decline in price and popularity quickly. In order to prevent this, I think Nike should increase the amounts of offers within their football boot range; this will potentially increase sales and even boost profits as an  increased amount of people would be encouraged to purchase Nike’s products due to the falling/cheaper prices. Again this will benefit the business as more money could be generated, and this could possibly mean Nike may sell more, thus increasing their overall sales.