Mitochondrial Diseases

Mitochondrial Diseases are very diverse. Specialized organelles in every cell of the body (only red blood cells lack mitochondria). Mitochondria generate more than 90% of the energy required by the body. Mitochondrial dysfunction depletes cells of energy causing cell damage and even cell death. Due to the high energy requirements of brain and muscle, mitochondrial disease typically affect these parts of the body causing Brain and Muscle disease. Other organs are frequently affected including: eye, ears, heart, liver, gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney, endocrine system, nd blood.The diseases predominantly affect children, but adult-onset disorders are being recognized with increasing frequency. Mitochondria are unique organelles because they are the products of their own genetic material and nuclear DNA. Therefore, mitochondrial diseases are caused by mutations in either mtDNA or nuclear DNA. Mitochondrial diseases are often difficult to diagnose and therefore, it is important for patients to be evaluated at a medical center with appropriate expertise.Physical examination and laboratory tests are necessary to characterize involvement of various organs and to reach the correct diagnosis. Laboratory studies typically include: blood tests, brain MRI or CT scans, heart tests, ophthalmological and neurological evaluations. Finally, genetic testing of blood, urine, or muscle is performed to pinpoint the exact mutation responsible for a specific disease. Treatment of mitochondrial diseases is limited. Therapies to treat specific symptoms and signs of mitochondrial diseases are very important.For example, in mitochondrial patients, epilepsy typically responds to anti-convulsant drugs while insulin and other standard treatments are effective for diabetes mellitus. Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited mitochondrial condition that involves both eyes. If it starts in one eye,it usually moves to the next eye. There are about 75,000 people in the United States with retini tis pigmentosa (RP). Since retinitis pigmentosa begins as rod degeneration, the patient first notices increasing difficulty in night vision, followed by ifficulty seeing in the periphery.Slowly progressive constriction of the visual field leads to tunnel vision. A small area of central vision in both eyes usually persists for years. Generally night blindness precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Total blindness eventually ensues in most cases. For years, vitamin A therapy has been recommended for many RP patients, based on research dating back to the early 1990s. , it has been the only treatment found that slows the RP process. Mitochondrial Diseases By eliJahcolas1

Egyptian Art: Sakhmet

The archaeologist came to this conclusion based on hieroglyph samples at Gaza, which showed clear and deep cuts in diorite and granite. Sesames is an Egyptian, African sun goddess whose name meaner â€Å"The Powerful One†. Sesames reigned over Egypt from 1390- 1352 B. C. E. It's said she was known to have always been draped in red garments hence another one of her many nicknames was â€Å"Red Lady'. The symbolism of her red garments, were from the blood of her conquered enemies. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word â€Å"Seem† (which meaner â€Å"power† or â€Å"might†) and is often translated as the â€Å"Powerful One†.She is depicted as a lion-headed woman, sometimes with the addition of a sun disc on her head. Her seated statues show her holding the ankh of life, but when she is shown striding or standing she usually holds a scepter formed from papyrus (the symbol of northern or Lower Egypt) suggesting that she was associated primarily wit h the north. However, some scholars argue that the deity was introduced from Sudan (south of Egypt) where lions are more plentiful. It was said that her breath formed the desert. She was seen as the protector of the harass and led them in warfare.Sesames was associated with the goddesses given the title â€Å"Eye of Re† she wore a sun-disk and cobra on her brow, identifying her as the daughter of the sun god Re. According to myth, Ra became angry because mankind was not following his laws and preserving Matt Justice or balance). He decided to punish mankind by sending an aspect of his daughter, the â€Å"Eye of Ra†. He plucked Hath from Areas on his brow, and sent her to earth in the form of a lion. She became Scheme, the â€Å"Eye of Re† and began her rampage. The fields ran with human load. However, Re was not a cruel deity, and the sight of the carnage caused him to repent.He ordered her to stop, but she was in a blood lust and would not listen. So Re poured 7,000 Jugs of beer and pomegranate Juice (which stained the beer blood red) in her path. She gorged on the â€Å"blood† and became so drunk she slept for three days. When she awoke, her blood lust had dissipated, and humanity was saved. In another version of the myth, Path is the first thing she sees on awaking and she instantly fell in love with him. Their union (creation and destruction) created Unfetter (healing) and so re-established Matt. The saving of mankind was commemorated every year on the feast day of Hath/Scheme.Everyone drank beer stained with pomegranate Juice and worshipped â€Å"the Mistress and lady of the tomb, gracious one, destroyer of rebellion, mighty one of enchantments†. A statue of Scheme was dressed in red facing west, while Bass was dressed in green and faced east. Bass was sometimes considered to be Sesames ‘s counterpart (or twin depending on the legend), and in the festival of Hath they embodied the duality central to Egyptian mythol ogy. Scheme represented Upper Egypt while Bass represented Lower Egypt. In her role as the eye of Re, Sesames was dispatched abroad to destroy Egypt enemies.Sesames became angered when she discovered Re set another goddess in her place while she was away. The Eye refused to return and protect Egypt, until pacified by wine, music, and dance. The Egyptians explained the sun's annual motion toward the south and then back to Egypt as the Eye's departure and return. In other myth's, Re's Eye symbolized natural phenomena, such as the Niles flood and the Egyptian new year. Although Kismet's true form was believed to be hidden, this bust's lioness face refers to her power and fierce nature, which could either defend or destroy.The goddess's benevolence and protection were deemed particularly necessary at times of transition, such as the new day or year. Amputated Ill commissioned two or more Sesames statues for each day in the year, compelling the goddess's favor and protection. Many statue s of Sesames were found in the precinct of Mute Kara. Since Kismet's actions were primarily destructive while Mute represented protection, the two goddesses were sometimes insider as the positive and negative aspects of one deity.In conclusion, my trip to the Brooklyn Museum of art was not my first, nor will it be my last, but it was the most entertaining and informative trip. Next time I go I will definitely bring some friends along so they can enjoy the rich Egyptian culture as much as I did. This is a statue of Sesames. Medium: Grandiosity Place Found: Thebes, Egypt Dates: ca. 1390-1352 B. C. E. Dynasty: XVIII Dynasty Period: New Kingdom Dimensions: 39 x 19 7/8 x 15 9/16 TN. (99 x 50. 5 x 39. 5 CM)

Paraphrase..rewrttin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Paraphrase..rewrttin - Essay Example However, cancer treatments are conducted by two radiation methods i.e. ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. The ionizing radiation includes X-rays and Gamma rays, as (Yale 2001) identified a disadvantage of passing ionization radiation process from the body. The ionization radiations are absorbed by thick tissues in the body that enables them to be chemically reactive resulting in a cell damage. The study concluded restrictions for using ionization radiation to a minimal as it can raise issues related to human health. Disclosure to ionization radiation is another factor that needs consideration, as there are evidences available that has linked disclosure of low-level ionization radiation by the doses, which are given for the development of cancer by medical imaging. An inclusive review of biological and epidemiological data associated with health risk of ionization radiation exposure was conducted by the ‘National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council. Moreover , the review is recently published in the form of a report named as the Biological Effects of Ionization Radiation (BEIR) VII Phase 2. In the report, the epidemiologic data demonstrated the survivors of the atomic bomb along with the population living near the facilities that are equipped with nuclear technology throughout the releases of Chernobyl, which is a radioactive material. Moreover, report also includes the workers who are exposed by occupations and populations, who faced exposure with the aid of therapeutic and diagnostic medical studies. Commonly used CT examinations that includes radiation doses that are received by humans, amplify the risk of cancer. For instance, increased risk of cancers is identified within the survivors of Hiroshima, as Nagasaki atomic bombs affects on these people were exposed by the ranges of 10 to 100 milli-sieverts (mSv). This value is equivalent to a single CT scan radiation exposure and patients do conduct CT scans multiple times during the tr eatment. (Smith-Bindman et al 2009) Risks involved in the use of Ionizing radiation The first hard tumour that was found, resulted from the ionization radiation effects. Consequently, securing from the ionization radiation methods that facilitates medical procedures has grabbed significant concerns. Predominantly, the rise in various medical procedures incorporating ionization radiation(Davros et al 2007). In order to protect people from this kind of radiation, an establishment of an International Commission for Radiation Protection took place in 1928. "The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) estimates that the average person has an approximately 4-5% increased relative risk of fatal cancer after a whole-body dose of 1 Sv. However, other studies on multiple cohorts of radiation workers have largely failed to establish statistically significant cancer risks. When multiple occupational cohorts were combined and evaluated in a somewhat systematic way, a combined excess relative risk of cancer death of just less than 1% was estimated" (Cardis et al 2005). In between years 1950s and 1960s, many traces become visible conclusion that the ionization radiation is dangerous for humans. Likewise, experimentations were conducted on rats by passing X-rays has also concluded the contribution of ionization radiation at low levels causing imminent deaths. Similarly, there are many proofs to conclude that the frequent use of radiation can cause

Personal Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Personal Reflection Paper - Essay Example I was able to change my thinking from having goals of childish nature to a more mature outlook on life. The activity gave me an opportunity to compare my life goals with those of my classmates. This is critical in terms of comparing me with other like-minded and equally intellectual formidable classmates. This comparison showed me that despite my ambitious nature in terms of my life goals, there are others who are more ambitious and aggressive. It was a revelation and a challenge for me to work harder and be more ambitious in order to compete on the same level with my intellectual equals. As the exercise proceeded, I was able to reevaluate my life goals and coalesce them with a more realistic and tangible future. The defining moment for the entire exercise was the peer review section where classmates were tasked with evaluating each other’s life goals. The result of this activity was that my teammates gave me the second highest score in the entire class. It was a defining moment for me in terms of not just my self-esteem but also my general outlook on life. This event truly gave me an opportunity to evaluate and reevaluate my life goals. This activity also helped me to distinguish between the tangible life goals and what is pure fantasy. The score given to me by my classmates was evidence of the progress I am making in terms of fulfillment of my life goals. I honestly feel that I am making huge strides in the right direction, and I have a more confident approach to life and achievement. A bulk of this is fully attributed to the activity presented to us by the professor. My book club facilitation focused on chapter 6 of the book titled, "Becoming a leader" by Benis. The title of the chapter was effectively dubbed leaders perspective and desire. This activity was rather significant because I had never thought of myself as a leader. The activity was a revelation into my potential as a

Critique of a nursing theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critique of a nursing theory - Essay Example 19) to a situation where one requires assistance with the end goal of preserving and attaining a specified "health and wellness" (Johnson & Bayliss, 2005, p. 19). Given this definition, it follows that there exist theories on how such knowledge, skills, values, meanings, and experiences should be applied to a given situation. In this vein, there would also be theories on how these factors should be gained and learned. As one of the most celebrated nurses of all time and as the person who singlehandedly popularized nurse training, which eventually led to the establishment of nursing as a new profession for women (Attewell, 1998, p. 151), Florence Nightingale and her early theories on nursing are both fascinating. Hence, I have decided to write a critique on the Florence Nightingale's Environmental Model. The environmental model, it is clear that it was a product of Florence Nightingale's meticulous observation of her career as a nurse and that of others as evidence by the Notes on Nursing (1860) she compiled. This model, together with the notes, is enough proof that the Nightingale of her uniqueness in her time. Though borne by wealthy parents, she was different. According to Mary Garofalo and Elizabeth Fee (2010), She wanted a higher calling; she wanted to work; to use her intellect, her skills, her moral passion; and to make a difference in the world. She refused to be a subordinate to a husband; she was bored with the trivial lives that upper class women led; she had her destiny to fulfill. She told her parents that she wanted to be a nurse. (p. 1588). In spite of the reactions of her parents, she persisted. She wrote that her parents were horrified. "It was as if I had said I wanted to be a kitchen-maid" (Garofalo & Fee, 2010, p. 1588). Instead of submitting to the will of her parents, she persevered and after 9 years of struggling with them, she was eventually was allowed to train. This characteristic is just one of the many that I admire in Florence Nightingale. While I was researching for this paper, I thought to myself that if I only have an ounce of her determination, then I would achieve my dreams and goals easily. The environmental model maintains that the "manipulation of physical and social factors" (Johnson & Bayliss, 2005, p. 121) can significantly affect the state of health of an individual and the probability that such individual will eventually acquire an illness. The intent of the theory therefore is to emphasize that health and wellness can be adversely affected by how one's environment is managed or mismanaged. As Johnson and Bayliss (2005) themselves admit, though this theory was developed by the Nightingale more than 150 years ago, it is still relevant and as a matter of fact has created the standard for the prevention of illnesses and the restoration of health and wellness (p. 121). Specifically, she identified several factors that are present in a patient's environment and which have large impact on health and illness. These are pure or fresh air, pure water, sufficient food supplies, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light (e.g., direct sunlight). What is interesting is that even not knowing these factors and without any knowledge of the environmental m

ESSAY PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

PAPER - Essay Example Most of the litter is so small that it is present in the top layer of the water columns. Due to this fact, they are very hard to see, even with a satellite view. These plastics end up in stomachs of birds and marine animals. Not only the larger animals are affected, but whole eco-systems (starting with the smaller fish or jellyfish) can be suffering from hormonal disruptions and toxins. The water and wind currents have gathered masses of garbage in some kind of soup. Scientists say that the biggest one, the Pacific Garbage Patch, is about the size of the state of Texas (UNEP). The Creation of the Garbage Patches At first, the thought was that the islands were formed by the water currents in the oceans, gathering all the rubbish. But, the rubbish also seemed to come from the land, where the wind takes it and brings it out to the sea. According to researches, 80% of the plastic in the sea originates from land and roughly 20% comes from boats (Greenpeace Int.). A passenger cruise ship c an produce about eight tons of solid waste every week (Greenpeace Int.). Most of this waste is organic, but much of it will directly go the garbage patches. Due to the currents in the oceans, the garbage is contained and trapped in the swirling waters. Because of these currents, several garbage patches were created in our oceans; the North Atlantic Gyre, the South Atlantic Gyre, the Indian Ocean Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre and the North Pacific Gyre. The patches were already predicted in 1988, in a research paper from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This research was based on measurements of plastic and concentrations of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean (Day). The Problems of the Garbage Patches Plastic does not decay, but disintegrates into constantly smaller particles, till the molecular level. The molecules don’t decay any further and stay plastic polymers. Because they don’t fall apart, they stay afloat in the top layers of the water, where they are easily mistaken for food by fish and birds, that normally would get their food out of this part of the water (Greenpeace Int.). These animals will eat the plastic and give the toxins to their young, which sometimes die because of this. When the dead animals decay and end up back in the ocean, the plastic will return as well, where it can kill again. The levels of toxins in the water can become very high (Morton). Smaller fish, which swallow the toxins, are also food for other sea life like turtles or albatrosses, which will swallow the toxins and so on and so forth, until the chemicals end up on our own diner plate as well. The United Nations Environment Program (2005) says that the plastic is responsible for the deaths of more than 1.000.000 million seabirds and more than 100.000 sea animals, like whales, dolphins and seals. Further investigation has concluded that at least 267 animal species are being affected by this pollution (Greenpeace Int.). Around 6.4 m illion tons of litter comes into the seas every year. 8 million items are dumped in the sea every day, of which 5 million is thrown from ships (UNEP). The plastic does not only stay at the top of the water, it also sinks to the bottom. Here it covers and smothers the coral and sea life on the bottom of the ocean (UNEP). Greenpeace claims that about 70% of the plastic that ends up in the sea, will eventually

Global business strategy case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global business strategy case - Essay Example The application of management theories helps the organizational management to design appropriate strategies geared towards performance improvements. Additionally, there are customer relationship management models, which provide effective frameworks on how an organization like Marco Polo in Brazil can improve its relationship with their available customers, as well as analyzing the impacts that may be felt when the organization would design ways of reaching more target consumers in China. Proximity, cost, environment, and learning are items of quality consideration in regards to the global management strategies for the company (Lasserre, 2007). This paper investigates the aspect Global Strategic Management, analyzing a case of Marco Polo and the type of plant type of plant. The understanding of such a case is enhanced by the study of its steering for business in China in regards to cost, proximity, environment as well as learning realms. An overview of Global Strategic Management stra tegies at Marco Polo Company The business operations for Marco Polo are based on the 3L’s (location, localization, as well as linkage). They are the major determinants of its success in the global realms. Location of the company at Brazil is suitable for it is central to business operations in the global fields. Its location will enable it to steer to China without transportation and communication challenges. The importance is accompanied by the rationale of location area consideration, in addition to the consideration of the best strategies that suit location of the reinstated business in Brazil. Since Marco Polo Bus Company chooses to invest in China, it will need the application of comprehensive plans in the setting up of its business entity in an acceptable region (Lasserre, 2007). The company has to consider its localisation forces; the consideration of crucial global success features that enable the enhancement of competitive advantage and growth opportunities. These co mpetitive forces are inclusive of cost of commodities, physical and intellectual support resources, proximity, legislation as well as learning and relationship with consumers. The linkage forces for the company portray the scope of global operating businesses in regards to projects handling and production capacity. Nevertheless, the interplay of the forces provides a rationale for the desire of Marco Polo in Brazil to steer business in China (Lasserre, 2007). Marco Polo as a Global plant network and its choice of China Marco Polo can be classified as a contributor factory type of production plant. The factory in Marco Polo is also a lead factory due to its supply to global networks. This company deals with bus manufacture accessories and distributes them to other countries as well as local markets. The possession of procurement offices is a rationale that provides a ground for planning, procurement, as well as management strategies application. The company will have to embrace the i nteraction theory, which implies that market expansion and involvement in the activities in the affairs of others is a rationale for learning and productivity. The act of purchasing raw materials and bus

Attraction and Mate Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Attraction and Mate Selection - Essay Example Grochowski, 2006). No society encourages its members to select spouse with complete freedom. Moreover the problem with the kin marriage is that it can lead to undesirable genetic consequences in offspring which increases the chances of death before they even grow up. Exogamy is influenced by factors such as size, diversity and sex ratio of the community; it is thought that marriage is an institution that functions to preserve race, class, education and social distinction. The society in which a person lives determines its mate selection; some societies consider people who are related by birth and some consider people who live together in same households, other societies by adoption, marriage or clan. Wikes et al. further states that, in most of the societies a person marries outside one's nuclear family (exogamy) but is encouraged to marry to a member of one's own class, race or religion (endogamy). Thus exogamous group is small and endogamous group is large. In some societies both t hese groups can be equal too as when they are divided into clans and lineages. (2006) Sociological factors also play their part in mate selection. Looking at the homogamy theory, which supports the idea that like is attracted to like, thus people are more likely to choose a mate who is similar to them in many dimensions. "Homogamy theory states that people select mates who are like them in physical characteristics such as height and weight and psychological characteristics including intelligence, interest, attitude, values and personality" (Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, Gardner Lindzey, 1998). In most of the families it is assumed that their children will marry within same race, status, religious affiliation and ethnic group. People usually search mates within their own race; norms with respect to race are strongly adhered to. Gilbert et al further explains that religion also plays an important part in this selection, in the orthodox, Jewish communities if the son or daughter married outside they were considered dead. People are said to be in same social class if they have similar education, occupation and occupational background. So with similar life experiences they share similar views and thus associate together in similar style of living. People prefer to marry in same socio-economic groups. Age also counts in mate selection as mostly a few years age difference is expected and the husband is considered to be older then wife in most of the societies. These are few common characteristics which people choose in making their mate selection. Psychological factors play an important part in mate selection. "The complementary needs theory states that two need are complimentary if one partners need also satisfies the need of other; for e.g. one enjoys being submissive and other dominant" (Chris Segrin, Jeanne Flora, 2005). The complimentary interaction between the two partners increases their attractiveness to each

The Influence of the Media on Politics in America Research Paper

The Influence of the Media on Politics in America - Research Paper Example This is all the more relevant because the voter turnout in America has always been less than half of the total number of voters (Denton and Woodward, pp.1). So, what is interesting to probe, along with all the other aspects of the relationship between media and politics, is whether the television or new media have any role in voter turnout or voter behavior. The mutual dynamics between media and public life has come under scrutiny in many research works. Craig (2004, pp.3) has put forth the idea that â€Å"media are an indissoluble part of the contexts, the messages and the relationships that create and give shape to politics and public life.† In other words, one can say that though the public life had existed even centuries before the new media forms were born, once the mass media came into being, they have become part of the rich social fabric from which the political processes emerge as consequences. Here, politics is defined as â€Å"a specific sphere of society incorporating the workings of formal institutions and their legal relationships† on one side, and on the other, the term is defined to represent the â€Å"struggle over the values that inform all social relations† by Craig (2004, pp.24). To make functional any element of this process, communication is an inevitable factor and this is where the role of media becomes crucial. From cave drawings and social orator ship to internet and ICT-enabled new media, in all formats, media have supported the political processes, whether it has negative or positive consequences for the society, as a whole. It is also observed that media is not merely an onlooker and reporter of social events or a simple fictional entertainer, but has a mediating role to play in the society (Craig, 2004, pp.3). And most importantly, it is this mediating role that determines to an extent, the political life of the society (Craig, 2004, pp.4). During Gulf War and William

Wright, Nies, and Me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wright, Nies, and Me - Essay Example For example, in the war over South Ossetia that occurred in 2008, there was an apparent demonstration of the existing security patrol, monitoring, and peacekeeping efforts in order to stabilize the Georgian-Abkhaz and other areas. Moreover, the conflicts were only aimed to achieve political goals without the concerns of meeting the needs of the affected communities. Even though there is adequate improvement of the physical security, the local people, including myself continue to face various challenges in the daily hustle. As a kid from Caucasians race, I would like to explain the challenges I’ve encountered in my livelihood. This is in comparisons to the life of â€Å"Black Boy† as narrated by Richard Wright, and Judies Nies’ story called â€Å"The Girl I left Behind.† The comparison of my life to the two struggle stories aim at demonstrating the phenomenon encountered by numerous people around the world due to race, ethnic, gender, and religious discrimi nation. The purpose of this write-up is also to establish the grounds under which the challenges faced by people in racial, ethnic, or gender disparities can be solved in order to have a cohesive relationship among the societies with diversities. The â€Å"Black Boy† is Richard Wright’s memoir that reflected his childhood and the adulthood sufferings and struggles to brighten his future. The ‘Black Boy’ faced several challenges, especially after his father deserted their family, forcing him to look for opportunities in order to save his starving family. The exposure into the society made him encounter various challenges such as racial discrimination in employments, but heads to North, where he found the atmosphere to have less discrimination context than the South. The boy involved himself in any immoral acts like stealing and lying, as a survival tactic in their poverty status. He faced brutal violence and extreme racism, although they could not prevent h im from his reading passion. In the North, he formed many concrete ideas in relating to American races that motivated him to hold many jobs to do such as floor cleaning during the day, and reading medical and Proust journals at night. His family continued to encounter poverty, his mother was crippled by a stroke, and the relatives continue annoying him due to his atheistic reading. Luckily, ‘Black Boy’ found a job in the post office, where he found links to a magazine called Left Front, which was advocating for social change and arts. This is where he continued with the revolutionary activities and joined the Communist Party, then left due to idealistic differences of fighting for equality, tolerance, and unity. On the other hand, the Judies Nies’ story called â€Å"The Girl I left Behind† is a narrative that explains about the transformation of feminist in the United States. She also discuss about the way social class and race affects the women in the soc ieties, especially during the period of imperialism such as the Vietnam War and other affairs facing the global society. She also took a lot of time seeking employment, probably because of her lower social class, which ended after getting an opportunity to work in an employment agency. The opportunity to work in an employment bureau might be because of her experience in job seeking, especially to find a meaningful work. This is because she possessed a master’s degree since professional women were only given an opportunity to teach or other secretarial work. She at one time worked for the first Senator who opposed the war in Vietnam. Therefore, she has encountered many challenges in life to earn a living. The regions dominated by Caucasians had

Montage and New Wave Film Essay Example for Free

Montage and New Wave Film Essay The differences between soviet montage and French new wave cinema are interesting and many. Both genres of film seek to create contrast between adjacent shots via discontinuity editing, but subtle differences in their editing styles allow this contrast to produce very different results. In French new wave editing is used to both draw the audience in, and push them away, it draws the audiences attention and inspires distaste. Soviet montage on the other hand uses editing not as a method of controlling the audiences focus, but as a way to create ideas. An analysis of the editing in the Godards â€Å"Breathless† and Eisensteins â€Å"Battleship Potemkin† will highlight these different effects. In â€Å"Breathless†, the first use of editing to keep the audiences attention is in the scene where Micheal shoots the cop. In this scene Goddard makes use of editing to twist and distort time. The audience hears the cop tell Micheal â€Å"Stop, or ill kill you† in a calm voice at nearly the same time that Micheal cocks the gun. Immediately thereafter we jump cut to Micheal firing the gun and jump cut again to the police office falling to the ground as he is shot. From a narrative point of view it is understood that these events do not take place so close to each other. The events happen in much too quick a succession to mimic reality. The jump cuts elapse time in an odd uncomfortable manner. It can be argued that this is jarring, and distasteful, but it is exactly this jarring and distaste that makes this scene so fascinating. Rushing through the event which is clearly the inciting action of the film (flying in the face of CHC) yields a certain fascination with this scene that typical CHC could not hope to match. An effect similar to the one described above is present in the scene where Micheal and Patricia track down Micheals money in the taxi. This exemplifies the use of new wave editing to focus the audiences attention on the visual. In this scene, the visual difference between shots is minimal. If one were to imagine it without the jump cuts it would be long and monolithic but the prolific use of jump cuts counters this would-be-dullness. Once again the jump cuts elapse time and quickens the pace of the scene artificially. The audience hears Micheal barking orders at the drive in succession that is faster that he speaks in the story, and they understand that this artificial fast precisely because of the jump cuts and he obviousness in which they are presented. In this way Goddard is able to present a potentially long and dull car ride in the story much faster in the plot. Unlike the previously discussed scene, this scene does not quicken the pace past the point of comfort, it is intentionally fast paced and helps to excite the audience. First lets take the Odessa Steps scene from â€Å"Battleship Potemkin†. This scene feels almost as if it is a CHC film. Shots are spliced together smoothly and invisibly. The audience is never jarred by

Criticism And Drawbacks Of The Kuznets Curve Economics Essay

Criticism And Drawbacks Of The Kuznets Curve Economics Essay Environmental Kuznets Curve The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is a pragmatically, relationship that is assumed to trace the pollution path followed by countries as their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) grows and describes the relationship between per capita income and of environmental degradation indicators (Unruth and Moomaw, 1998). In the infant stages of development, the levels of some pollutants climb with increases in per capita income, while at advanced levels of development, environmental degradation follows a downward trend as income per capita is moving upwards. These results give rise to a bell shaped curve relating economic growth to environmental degradation, redolent of the relationship hypothesized by Kuznets (1995) between economic and income inequality (Nahman and Antrobus, 2005). The concept of EKC came out in the early 1990s with Grossman and Kruegers (1991) path-breaking study of the potential impacts of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Origins of the EKC The environmental Kuznets curve is a hypothesized relationship between different indicators of environmental degradation and income per capita. At first stages of economic growth degradation and pollution increase, but further than some level of income per capita, the movement reverses, so that at high-income levels economic growth leads to environmental improvement. This means that the impact of environmental indicator is an inverted U-shaped function of income per capita (Stern, 2003) In other words, the distribution of income becomes more asymmetrical in early stage of income growth and then the distribution moves towards greater equality as economic growth continues (Kuznets, 1955). This liaison between income per capita and income inequality can be represented by a bell-shaped curve. This is viewed as an empirical phenomenon known as the Kuznets Curve (Dinda, 2004). Criticism and drawbacks of the Kuznets Curve The Kuznets Curve has helped in studying the relationship between environmental pollutants and GDP of countries but it does have drawbacks too. Even Kuznets (1955) himself indicated that the Kuznets Curve Theory is not a perfect one and the relationship between income inequality and economic development cannot be assumed. He also declared that lot information in the paper has been speculated and thus further research work must be carried out. The reason behind the development of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Since the last decades, the increasing threat of global warming and climate change has been of major continuing concern. Organisations such as the United Nations have been trying to diminish the unfavorable impacts of global warming through intergovernmental and binding accords. After immense negotiations, the agreement namely the Kyoto protocol was signed in 1997. This protocol has the objective of reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) that cause climate change. The Kyoto protocol recognises limitations to environmental pollutants and necessitates a timetable for realisation of the emission reductions for the developed countries. During 2008 2012 periods the demands reduction of the GHG emissions to 5.2 % lower than the 1990 level. In 2005 it came into force: 178 states have signed and approved the protocol since April 2008 (Halicoglu, 2008). Greenhouse gas emissions particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, are considered to be the core causes of global warming. Consequently, to prev ent global warming a number of countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to diminish their emission levels. Galeotti and Lanza (1999) indicated that some developing states refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol based on the argument that the industrialisation and development process should be subject to no constraints, particularly for energy production and consumption. One probable foundation for this position is the belief that while pollution increases with growth in GDP, it happens a point where pollution goes down. This view calls for a careful analysis of the relationship between economic growth and pollution. This relationship is obviously very complex as it depends on numerous different factors such as: The countrys size, The sectoral structure, including the composition of the demand for energy, The vintage of the technology, The demand for environmental quality, The level and quality of environmental protection expenditures. Shafik (1994) reports that the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality has been a source of great disagreement for a lengthy period of time. On one side it has been observed that greater economic activity unavoidably leads to environmental degradation and finally to possible economic and ecological collapse. At the other side is the view that those environmental nuisances worth solving will be tackled more or less automatically as a consequence of economic growth. Previous to 1970, there was a conviction that the raw materials consumptions, energy and natural resources were growing at the same pace as economy grows. In the early 1970s, the Club of Romes Limits of Growth view (Meadows et al., 1972) was brazen about the concern for the accessibility of natural resource of the Earth. They argued that the finiteness of ecological resources would prevent economic growth and advocated for a solid state economy with zero growth to avoid striking ecological circumstances in the future. This view has been criticised on both hypothetical and empirical grounds. Experimental works shows that the ratio of consumption of some metals to income was falling in developed countries during the 1970s, which brings divergence with the predictions set out in the Limits to Growth view (Maleness, 1978). Natural environment not only provide natural resources important for economic development but also execute the vital function of supporting life, if man persist to exp loit environment recklessly, then it would not be able to sustain life any longer. Environmental Kuznets Curve definition and graphical illustration The EKC follows the name of Nobel Laureate Simon Kuznets who had remarkably hypothesized an inverted U income-inequality relationship (Kuznets, 1955). In the 1990s economists detected this relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. Since then this relationship is known as Environmental Kuznets Curve. According to the EKC theory as a country develops, the pollution increases, but after reaching a specific level of economic progress pollution begin to decrease. The EKC hypothesis suggests that environmental degradation is something unavoidable at the first stage of economic growth, so a developing country is forced to tolerate this degradation in order to develop. In a graphical representation the x-axis symbolize the economic growth which is measured by GDP per capita and the y-axis represents the environmental degradation which is measured by many different pollution indicators such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, deforestation etc. The shapes of the Environmental Kuznets Curves. The relation between income and environmental pressure can be sketched in a several ways; firstly one can distinguish monotonic and non-monotonic curves. Monotonic curves may show either mounting pollution with rising incomes, as in the case of municipal waste per capita or decreasing. But, non-monotonic patterns may be more probable in other cases and two types have been recommended, namely inverted-U and N-shaped curves. The pattern discovered in experiential research depend on the types of pollutants scrutinised and the models that have been used for inference. Four speculative opinions are presented in favour of an inverted-U curve for (local) air pollutants, which can be listed as: Positive income elasticitys for environmental quality, Structural changes in production and consumption, Rising information on environmental consequences of economic activities as income rises and More international trade and more open political systems with increasing levels of income (Selden and Song 1994). Others, for example Pezzey (1989) and Opschoor (1990), have argued that such inverted-U relationships may not hold in the long run. They anticipated a so-called N-shaped curve which demonstrates the same pattern as the inverted-U curve initially, but beyond a certain income level the relationship between environmental pressure and income is positive again. Delinking is thus considered a temporary phenomenon. Opschoor (1990), for example, argues that once technological efficiency enhancements in resource use or abatement opportunities have been exhausted or have become too expensive, further income growth will result in net environmental degradation. Despite these considerations empirical evidence so far has been largely in favour of the inverted-U instead of the N shaped relationship (de Bruyn et al., 1998). The shortcomings of EKC analysis A number of critical studies of the EKC literature have been published (e.g. Coodoon, 2003; Ekins, 2000; Fare et al.,2001; Perman, 2003; Stern et al., 1996; Stern, 2004). Theoretical critique This section discusses the criticisms that were raised against the EKC on theoretical (rather than methodological) grounds. One of the main criticisms of the EKC models is the assumption that environment and growth are not interrelated. In simple words the EKC hypothesis assumes no feedback between income and the pollution of environment. Fare et al., (2001) refer that due to the non-availability of actual data on environmental quality is the major restriction of all EKC studies. Environmental quality is something that is not measured accurately. Therefore, a guide of environmental quality, which could be a better measurement, should be developed and used to examine the EKC hypothesis. According to Ekins (2000), consideration in assessing the strength of the estimation is the reliability of the data used. However, there is little sign that the data problems are serious enough to shed doubt on the basic environment-income link for any particular environmental indicator, but the results in fact imply that this might be the case. Stern (2004) draws his attention to the mean median problem. He underlines that early EKC studies showed that a number of indicators: 2 SO emissions, x NO, and deforestation, peak at income levels around the current world mean per capita income. A hasty glimpse at the available econometric estimates might have lead one to believe that, given likely future levels of mean income per capita, environmental degradation should turn down from the present onward. Income is not yet, normally distributed but very skewed, with much larger numbers of people below mean income per capita than above it. Hence, this shows a median rather than mean income that is the relevant variable. Another problem related with the EKC studies is the little attention that has been paid to the statistical components of time series analysis. Very few studies in the past investigated the presence of unit root in time series of variables used to investigate the validity of the EKC. 2) Econometric critique Stern (2004) in a survey argues that the econometric criticisms of the EKC fall into four main categories: heteroscedasticity, simultaneity, omitted variables bias, and cointegration issues. Perman and Stern (2003) investigate the data and models for unit roots and cointegration respectively. Panel unit root tests designate that all three series log sulfur emissions per capita, log GDP capita, and its square have stochastic trends. Results for cointegration are less definite. About half the individual country EKC regressions cointegrate but many of these have limitations with incorrect signs. Some panel cointegration tests point out cointegration in all countries and some accept the non-cointegration hypothesis. However, even when cointegration is found, the form of the EKC relationship varies radically across countries with many countries having U-shaped EKCs. In case theres a common cointegrating vector in all countries it will be strongly rejected. Coondoo and Dinda (2002) carried out an analysis for Granger Causality between CO2 emissions and income in various individual countries and regions. In general model that emerges is that causality runs from income to emissions or that there is no significant relationship in developing countries, while in developed countries causality runs from emissions to income. Still, in every case the relationship is positive so that there is no EKC type effect. Data and Time Series Properties To study the relationship between the GDP of Mauritius and the C02 emission in Mauritius the annual data that are being used are; total C02 emission from 1976 to 2008, the real GDP from 1976 to 2008, the population of Mauritius from 1976 to 2008, inflation rate of Mauritius and the unemployment rate of Mauritius. Source: Energy Data Book(2010) Figure 1: Per Capital CO2 Emission Estimate for Mauritius From these sets of data it can be clearly seen that while population was increasing (Figure 2), during these years the real GDP (Figure 3) has been fluctuating a bit. In mid 1970s after the independence there has been a lot of development and transformation in our country. Our economy was diversified and more jobs were created. Furthermore we received more foreign aid. By the late 1970s our economy deteriorated a bit mainly due to the increase in petroleum price in the world market and this lead to less government subsidies and devaluation of our Mauritian Rupees. Then by late 1980s the economy experience steady growth and also a high level of employment, declining inflation and more domestic savings. This period was also marked by the boom in the sugar industry. Though the development slowed down in the 1990s there was a gradual development of the local financial institutions and at the same time our domestic information telecommunication industry boomed. By the start of the 21st ce ntury there our financial services sector became a very important pillar of the economy with an increasing number of offshore enterprises. Finally our economy developed a lot due to the seafood processing and export during the last 10 years. Figure 2: Population Estimates for Mauritius Figure 3: GDP for Mauritius (without inflation) In the short term real GDP is affected by inflation (Figure 4) because the latter causes a rise in general price of goods and services and consequently this causes a change in investments, savings, consumption and import and export of a country and thus the GDP of a country is affected too. [The equation used to calculate real GDP is; GDP = private consumption+ gross investment + government spending + (exports imports)] Source: Federal Bank of Cleveland (2010) Figure 4: Inflation in Mauritius GDP is also depended on unemployment rate (Figure 5) because according to this equation GDP =  compensation of employees  +  gross operating surplus  +  gross mixed income  + taxes less subsidies on production and imports. Thus if unemployment rate increases in a country, the GDP will decrease. Source: Index mundi (2010) Figure 5: Unemployment Rate in Mauritius While trying to prove the relationship between GDP of Mauritius and the C02 emission of Mauritius, we can also observe how the GDP also affects the C02 emission in each specific sector of Mauritius. Graph 6 shows how the Energy sector and the Transport sector are the main contributors to C02 emission from 2000 to 2006. Source: CSO Mauritius(2010) Figure 6: C02 emission per sector

Behaviour Management of Crying Toddler in Dentistry

Behaviour Management of Crying Toddler in Dentistry Management of Sobbing Tot In A Pediatric Dental Office- A Review ABSTRACT The most common way by which child expresses fear and anxiety is by crying at dental office. Proper knowledge and understanding is required to deliver effective dental treatment to a child by the application of various behavioral management techniques. Treating a crying child is one of the most demanding and tiring situation encountered in dentistry. Behavior management in a crying child is a comprehensive continuous methodology targeted to build relationship between child, parent and doctor aimed at eliminating fear and anxiety and ultimately building trust. This article was aimed to review the various reasons for stimulation of cry of child in dental office and behavior techniques employed by the dentist for proper management of the child. Key Words-Anxiety, Behavior Management, Fear INTRODUCTION Behavior management is a comprehensive continous methodology targeted to build relationship between child, parent and doctor aimed at eliminating fear and anxiety and ultimately building trust. As most of the young children do not cooperate during dental procedures, thus a dentist plays a crucial role to forestall a positive dental attitude, to guide the child through their dental experience and to perform quality treatment safely. 1 Children and young adults and indeed all patients, exhibit some form of anxiety or fear when about to receive dental care. Many factors have been proposed as contributory to children’s anxiety about dental procedures which include the dental clinic environment, equipments, past dental treatment experience and the attitude of the dental staff. To address these causative factors, various behavior management strategies are being practiced which including verbal and non- verbal communication, tell show do distraction , presence or absence of parents in the surgery, modeling, audio visual aids , positive reinforcement , visual aids, physical restraints, HOME(Hand over Mouth) technique, sedation, general anesthesia etc. 2 Dental anxietyand fear has been a constant dynamic of the child patient. 2 A child patient tends to be anxious and fearful during dental treatment due to previous traumatic experience in dental office or during hospitalization for other purposes. It is very difficult to carry out any dental procedure if a child is uncooperative in dental office. It is crucial that a dentist must understand and share the feelings of a child and show concern before starting any treatment.3 Treating a crying child is one of the most taxing and difficult job for a dentist due to unanticipated attitude of a child during treatment. Delivery of effective dental treatment in a crying child requires incorporation of various behavior modification techniques. Thus acquisition of skills that allow a dentist to handle such â€Å"uncontrollable† situations in the best possible way is of utmost importance. A dentist should take a child’s cry as an advantage rather than a drawback as crying is a mode of expression of the personality traits, hence should be used as a diagnostic tool.3 Dental fear and anxiety is a dilemma concerning pediatric patients, their parents, and dental professionals. Its prevalence in children and adolescents ranges from five percent to twenty percent. Fearful pediatric patients often tend to be uncooperative during dental visits. This renders treatment difficult or even impossible, causes occupational stress among dental staff, and increase the chance of discord between dental professionals and patients or their parents. Dental fear and anxiety are the main cause of dental avoidance that leads to deterioration of ones oral health and may impair ones psychosocial functioning and quality of life. 4 Dental Fear: Dental fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm during dental treatment. 5 It is characterized by change in body physiological symptoms due to changes in cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The response of a child usually occurs by a real or imagined threat to his own safety. The patient readies himself in a fight or flight stance to either escape the stimulus or stands and conquer it. Rachman’s model of fear acquisitioning is one of the most accepted theor, which is supported by several studies. This theory has proposed that fear might develop through three pathways: direct conditioning (classical conditioning), vicarious conditioning (modelling), and information/ instruction. The second and third pathways are manifestations of indirect fear acquisition.3 Dental Anxiety: Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. Dental anxiety is defined as â€Å"an abnormal fear of visiting the dentist for any dental procedure and unjustified anxiety over dental procedures† and may have psychological, cognitive and behavioral consequences. Dental anxiety may be a problem in childhood as it is associated with poor oral health outcomes and an increased dependence on costly specialist dental services. Children who show more anxious behavior have a greater chance of having dental diseases as compared to children who are non-anxious in the dental office. Dentists need to understand the anxiety of the child and implement procedures that enhance a feeling of control which include giving child’s choices, helping within treatment or otherwise manipulating dental objects and acknowledging the child’s experience.4 Due to less communication skills exhibited by children, they are not able to properly express their fears and anxieties. When children cannot manage, they attempt to escape the upcoming event. This ultimately leads to crying of a child which also is a way of a child to show their anxiety and discomfort. 3,4 Different anxieties and fears that children have about visiting the dentist are: Mostly children are anxious during a new experience. There is uncertainty about what is going to happen which increases the child’s restlessness. Past negative experiences associated with medical treatment may be co-related with more anxiousness in dental treatment as well. Previous fearful dental visits have also been related to poor behaviour at subsequent visits. The parents who are unable to contain their own dental anxieties, make the child more conscious. Mass mediaandcartoonsalso contribute to the negative image of dentist which may lead to development of dental fear. Management of Crying child during Dental Treatment Successful treatment of a disruptive child depends partially upon selection of an appropriate behavior management technique. Each child possess different behavior pattern on visiting the dentist. For managing a child in dental office various factors have to be seen like -the type of behavior, the child’s anxiety, age of the child, child rearing techniques, personality variables, parental attitudes toward behavior management techniques, dental treatment to be rendered and the legal implications.6 Behavior management is of children in clinics is an integral part of pediatric dentistry. It is not just the application of individual technique formulated to deal with individuals but rather a comprehensive methodology meant to build a relationship between patient and dental professional. Behavior guidance is based on scientific principles but also requires skills in communication, coaching, tolerance, and active listening. The aim of the behavior management is to instill a positive dental attitude on patient, alleviate fear and anxiety, deliver quality dental care, build a trusting relationship between dentist, child, and parent and create long term interest on patient’s part so as to facilitate ongoing prevention and improved dental health in the future. Since the child may enter the dental office with some fear and anxiety, the first objective of the dentist should be to put the child at his ease and make him realize that this experience is not unusual. It is better to have morning appointments for patients and dentist should be realistic and reasonable to the child. This may help in developing a positive attitude of the child towards the dentist. Parents exert a significant influence on the behavior of their children. Most of the characteristics of the child like behavior, personality, anxiety and reaction to stress are directly influenced by parent’s characteristics. Parents should be educated before their child’s visit as it may be helpful in promoting a positive dental experience. Behavior Guidance is a continuum of interaction involving the dentist, the dental team, the patient and the parent directed towards communication and education which ultimately builds trust and allays fear and anxiety. Both non pharmacological and pharmacological behavior guidance techniques may be used by dental health care providers in providing oral health care for infants, children, adoles ­cents, and persons with special health care needs. Some of the behavior modifications techniques include:- Communication and communicative guidance First objective in successful management of a crying child is to establish communication. By involving the child in communication, the dentist not only learns about the patient but also helps in relaxing the patient. The fear and anxiety of the child demands that each step should be explained. Appropriate use of commands may help the child develop a positive attitude toward oral health Distraction Distraction is a newer method of behavior management of diverting the child’s attention from sounds or sight of dental treatment, thereby reducing anxiety. Audio or Audiovisual distraction will help in eliminating dental sounds and sight of the dental treatment, hence helping in gaining control of the child. Voice control Another modification of behavior modification in crying child is controlled alteration of voice volume, tone, or pace to influence and direct the crying child’s behavior. It helps the dentist to gain the patient’s attention and compliance and to avert negative behavior. Positive reinforcement Positive reinforcement is an effective technique to reward desired behaviors and, thus, strengthen the recurrence of those behaviors. If a child stops crying or show good behavior he should be rewarded with tokens or toys. Tell-show-do Tell-show-do technique can help in modifying the behavior of a crying child. It is the cornerstone of behavior management given by Addleston in 1959. The technique involves the dentist telling the child what is going to be done in words the child can understand. Second, the dentist demonstrates the child exactly how the procedure will be conducted and then, without deviating from the explanation and demonstration, completion of the procedure. Conscious Sedation Nitrous oxide/oxygen inhalation helps in providing a minimally depressed level of consciousness which helps in reducing anxiety and enhancing effective communication in a crying child. Its onset of action is rapid and the child responds appropriately to physical stimulation and verbal commands. The effects are reversible and recovery is rapid and complete. But before giving conscious sedation, proper diagnosis and treatment planning must be done. 6 Other techniques include hand-over-mouth exercise (HOME) and medical immobilization. The behaviors of the dentist and dental staff members play an important role in behavior guidance of the pediatric patient. Successful behavior management enables the oral health team to perform quality treatment safely and efficiently and to nurture a positive dental attitude in the child. 6 Knowing that pain is not the only reason for a child to cry during dental treatment will help parents and dentists to understand why a child’s behavior is managed a certain way. As the children learn to cope with the dental situation, the crying usually eases up. The learning process varies in every child. The role of the pediatric dentist is to help the child to get through his dental experiences so that the child may develop a positive attitude towards dentistry. CONCLUSION The most common emotional upsets exhibited during dental treatment are anxiety and fear and the most common way a child expresses fear is by crying at the dental ofà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ce. The pediatric dentist can use an appropriate behavior management technique to make the child cooperative throughout the dental procedure and can help the child to develop a positive attitude towards dentistry. 1

My First Memory :: First Person Narrative Examples

There's always one life-altering, mind-blowing, view-changing point in human existence when memory starts. The first substantial memory I hold in my memorial arsenal is the memory of a play day outside with my oldest brother. I remember this day like it were yesterday; the healthy, cared for grass was green as money; the sun was shining like the face of a newly made contest-winning billionaire. My brother and I were masters of outside play, just like a sensei is master to his students. My oldest brother, Sam, was a gorilla of a brother. He was big, bulky and much of the time, mean. Sam beat me at every game we played. He beat me at anything from toy cars to basketball. Sam was an earth-conquering tyrant. The only thing was that I was Sam's earth to conquer. However, today had a different course of events in store; I was bound to alter history this day. Shortly after returning from a Boy Scout campout; Sam was still in an adventurous, scout-like, kick-Ted's-Butt mood. He was going to teach me to play capture the flag. Capture the flag was a game that I could do well in and proceed past my brother's performance, therefore dethroning him and his dominant rule. I was crystal clear on how to play this game and now it was time to play. I looked high and low for a superexcellent, well-camouflaged hiding place for my flag. I needed a hiding place that Sam would never find, never even think of. The nook I decided on was the best ever; my flag was never to be found. Sam's as pirations were hopeless. The place I decided on was high up in a gum tree. After I hid my flag, the game was on and I expedited out for Sam's flag. Our yard was the only thing between me and his flag. Our yard, however, was jam-packed with thorny sticker bushes, piney pine bushes, and plenty of pine cones. The journey to his flag was going to be long and strenuous, but I was determined. I started out with a nerve cringing, skin-piercing secretive crawl through the sticker bushes. My passage through the bushes was like a passage through a locust-plagued tunnel. I got through that only to be greeted by a mine field of pine cones. Every step could hold my life in its hands. If I was loud, Sam was sure to hear and come tag me.

Gendre Stereotyping :: essays research papers

In the year 2000, the average person is spending more of his/her leisure time watching television, or using their computer. The shows on TV and the information available to us available through all types of media influence our decision process. An individuals perception of the world is ever-changing as he/she recieves more and more information. Although being informed is good, it can be very dangerous. TV influences every aspect of our lives; our life style, what we wear, how we look, and how we act. Children are more susceptible to the influence of television compared to adults. This is true because of a lack of maturity. Children often identify with a popular movie or television character although both adults and children are influenced by television. Information acquired through all media can be destructive. We know information can be harmful when we use the terms "tomboy" and "sissy". These terms automatically make the accused party an outcast. The term "tomboy" is used when referring to a girl who may seem slightly masculine, whereas the term "sissy" is used to describe a boy whe may seem slightly feminine. The socially accepted despcription of what it is to be masculine is to be strong, to be able to support a family, and to have high stamina. On the other hand, what it is to be feminine is to be a loving mother, and to stay home with their kids. Men and women have very specific and very different dress codes. Men must where suits and women must wear dresses. Men must stay away from feminine colours such as purple and pink. Whoever crosses the gendre based lines may be made fun of or shunned by others. We are not only trying to fit in the gendre molds ourselves, but also tend to pass them on to our own children. We attempt to protect them from being shunned by society by setting the mold for them as well. The key differences between men and women seem to have been existing since the beginning of time. This is because from birth, a boy is dressed in blue and a girl wears pink. Children even have much different toys. Boys play with trucks and violence oreinted toys, and girls play with dolls. Since men and women are conditioned to be different from birth, it is not surprising that there is a huge gender gap. Gender gaps are common in sports, because sports are traditionally regarded as masculine activities.

Analyzing Cafe at Night Painted by Vincent Van Gogh Essay -- Cafe at N

Analyzing Cafe at Night Painted by Vincent Van Gogh I have chosen to write my paper on painting titled â€Å"Cafà © at Night† by Vincent Van Gogh. Since this picture is a very popular one, I might have seen it a couple times before I actually decided to write about it. I feel warmth, streaming out of it, when I take a look at the â€Å"Cafà © at Night†. This comfortable feeling made me select this artwork. This picture shows a cobbled street, probably somewhere in the south of Europe, at night. In the very front there is just the street, and in the left corner there is the edge of a building that is painted in dark blue. It looks like there is no light coming out of this building, and it does not seem to be very important for the view, Van Gogh caught for this image. Next to the dark building another one is shown. This building is wider and thus reaches more in the back and middle of the whole painting. Different yellow shades light the building up which shows that it is busy, people are most likely in there. Three windows, painted in a darker yellow, or orange, make the viewer feel like ...

A Look at Megan’s Law

Issues of crime and punishment are often at the center of controversy.   In part, this is certainly because often, the issues raised in matters of crime and punishment do not have easy answers and sometimes, there may not be any solution at all.   Certainly, each time a legal matter arises, even with similar circumstances, the resolution to such matters can be complex and can differ with each and every case.   We can gain some understanding as to the difficulty in deciding how to view and treat such matters by considering the case of Megan's Law.On July 29, 1994 Jesse Timmendequas, already a convicted sex offender at the time, is believed to have used a puppy to lure Megan Kanka, the 7-year-old daughter of his neighbors, into his home in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, NJ and brutally raped and murdered her (Flanagan, 2004; Vachss, 1994).  Ã‚   Once inside, Timmendequas is said to have slammed Megan’s head into a dresser and suffocated her with a plastic bag before s trangling her to death with a belt.   Subsequently, he moved and raped Megan's dead body again before dumping the body in a nearby park in West Windsor, NJ.Timmendequas was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for his crime.   After his conviction, New Jersey passed a law that has come to be known as Megan's law.   The law was designed to protect a community when dangerous sex offenders move into the community.   Some states require notification only for certain types of sexual assaults while other states extended the requirement to individuals convicted of sodomy or consensual sodomy, an act that was illegal in some states even between consenting adults before the U.S. Supreme Court declared such laws unconstitutional in June 2003.Timmendequas’ actions and the subsequent legal proceedings raise questions as to just how such a situation, or any similar serious legal situation should be handled.   Was he treated fairly?   Did the Kanka family receive proper l egal restitution for the crime?   How should such cases be handled?   We want to use the Megan Kanka/Jesse Timmendequas case to ask four basic questions and seek the answers to similar questions.   First, what are the goals of punishment?Is it actually the â€Å"punishment† of the individual who committed the crime, protection of the community, both, neither or more?   Second, in situations of serious crimes of this nature, should offenders be subjected to a lifetime of repayment for their crimes after serving their allotted term of imprisonment?   Third, when considering punishment, are the rights of the victim, the community or the offender more important; are all the rights equally important?   Finally, what goal(s) was(were) the Criminal Justice System attempting to achieve by instituting Megan's law.Megan's Law has been the focus of considerable controversy and heated debate.   After Megan’s rape and murder, there was considerable controversy regardi ng the question of whether the Kanka family may indeed have known that a sex offender (not necessarily Timmendequas, however) lived in the house across the street.   Although the Kanka family denied having any knowledge of Timmendequas' criminal past as a sex offender, there was evidence to suggest that it was common knowledge that at least one of the residents of the house where Timmendequas lived had a criminal past that included sexual assault, rape and gang shootings. (Vachss 1994)Even before Megan's rape and murder, law enforcement officials knew that three convicted sex offenders lived in the house where Timmendequas lived.   Although Megan's parents' claimed not to have been aware of this fact, some of their neighbors did know of the three men's past.   Even so, Maureen Kanka, Megan's mother, felt that people should not need to rely on gossip and rumors in order to learn about the presence of convicted sex offenders in their neighborhood.Perhaps first and foremost in an y legal situation is the question as to the goal(s) of punishment.   What exactly are the goals of punishment?   Punishment for crimes is supposed to be to deter crime.   Punishment penalties and law are based on utilitarianism, the idea that there should be no unnecessary punishment (UBSBA).   This idea says that we should evaluate laws on the basis of future consequences and suggests that punishment is always bad because it causes pain.Thus, â€Å"The reason to punish is to prevent future crime and the limit is to punish only if the pain is outweighed by the happiness it creates.†Ã‚   Crime and Punishment theory proposes the four questions should be asked when analyzing legal theories of punishment.   They are, 1) Is the punishment to prevent future crimes or to punish past misconduct, 2) Does the theory of punishment assume that the crime was caused by the individual or social problems, 3) Does the theory express blame for the proscribed act and actor and4) What is the relationship between the criminal and the rest of society?   That is, is the criminal part of society or excluded from society?   The threat of punishment is believed to stop rational people from doing something that ultimately will not be to their benefit, but the deterrent value of punishment is only thought to be effective if people are aware of the punishment prior to committing crimes.Megan's law was not meant to be a form of punishment.   Rather, it was designed to be an act that would provide information to prevent potential crime in situations where the potential may be real.   Some have argued that the law may lead to vigilantes formed against convicted sex offenders and the harassment of those offenders, but that was not the intension of the law.   Its purpose was to enhance public safety.   Although former sex offenders may be harmed by the law, supporters of the law claim that whatever incidental inconvenience or harm the former sex-offender may suffer as a result of the law is an unavoidable consequence of their own past illegal behavior.   It does not outweigh the community's right to know the possible danger of their presence.This case raises the question, â€Å"Should offenders be subjected to a lifetime of repayment for their crimes after serving a term of imprisonment?†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is not an easy question to answer.   Theoretically, a person should not need to continue to pay for past crimes a second time, or continue paying for them once they have paid, but that idea is fraught with problems and more or less impossible to enforce.   In fact, it is also impossible to determine what actually constitutes â€Å"payment for crime.†In life, individuals may pay for things they have done long after they have done whatever it was even if their legal payment has been completed.   We may pay in terms of paranoia, feelings of guilt and other mental and psychological payments long after any legal payment or e ven without legal payment.   So, psychological repayment for crimes may continue for a lifetime even if social and legal repayment do not.   A person's own mental and psychological retribution for their acts may continue indefinitely.Many psychological situations are viewed as diseases even though we don't really have a definition for (or officially believe in the existence of) the soul.   Psychology, for example, is, by definition, the study of the soul, but if asked, most people, including psychologists and psychiatrists would state that psychology is the study of the mind.   Ironically, psychologists do not officially believe in the existence of the mind either!Furthermore, sex offenses are often treated as if such crimes were caused by a disease or were a disease themselves.   However, even with real or other diseases (if we allow, just for the sake of argument, that some such offenses are the results of disease), there is no hard and firm definition of a disease even in situations where virtually everyone would agree that the situation (such as with cancer of cardiovascular disease) is a disease.The â€Å"retribution† theory of punishment holds that individuals should only be punished if they have done something wrong and their punishment should be in proportion to the wrong they have done.   This theory proposes that it is right to inflict pain, but recognizes that the innocent can get punished for things they did not do.   This is certainly a very serious consideration in any case of capital punishment.In other situations, an alleged criminal may eventually get a reprieve and be exonerated for a crime he or she did not commit even though their exoneration might come until after they have lost a few or even many valuable years in prison serving a term for a crime they did not commit.   However, in capital cases, exoneration is of little value after the alleged individual has been executed, and certainly, the criminal justice system must have executed many innocent individuals over the years.In such cases, both the known victim(s) of the crime and the individual accused of the crime become victims while the guilty party may permanently escape justice.   No one is punished for the crime because the individual who is punished is innocent.   So, the actual criminal has more or less committed an additional crime and gotten away with it.Whose rights are most important?   This question cannot be answered as asked.   The answer is not merely a matter of rights, but more a matter of safety.   The intent is to err on the side of safety, so the initial question has more to do with, â€Å"What will render the individuals of a community safe† than â€Å"Whose rights are most important†, certainly an important issue as well.   Some feel that Megan's law gives a false sense of security.   Statistics from the Bureau of Justice indicate that the overwhelming majority of sexually assaulted minors we re victimized by family members or acquaintances rather than by strangers.In fact, these statistics suggest that those who appear on a sex offenders registry would not really significantly resolve the problem of sex offenses against minors.   Thus, laws directed against the occasional stranger who might sexually assault minors would be like the tip of an iceberg in dealing with the actual problem.   Most victims will still be victimized and most of those guilty of the offense will never serve justice.   With the guilty party still free, laws similar to Megan's law would not really make most people any safer even if made people feel that way.However, statistics from the Bureau of Justice also indicate that sex offenders discharged from prison or sentenced to probation generally have a lower rate of re-arrest than other violent offenders but are substantially more likely than other violent offenders to be rearrested for a new violent sex offense (U.S. Department of Justice Press Release).   In cases of rape alone, execution is not an option.   Some have proposed that rapists be castrated (Vachss, 1993).   Castration is thought to emanate the male sex drive, but castration won't prevent murder as was the case in Megan Kanka's situation and some individuals get a vicarious thrill from the act of murder itself.Ultimately, the questions raised here are neither easy or straightforward.   Society may find those individuals who have committed violent sex offenses, try them, convict and sentence them and the accused individual, whether or not actually guilty, may pay for the crime.   However, it is certain that some guilty individuals will never be found, some innocent individuals will pay for sex (and other) crimes they have not committed and the laws designed to make society safer will work successfully at times and not at others.Perhaps we must live with the realization that answering the difficult questions raised here will not resolve our dilemma no matter what decisions we are ultimately to make.   All that we can actually do is to put laws in place that we believe will achieve a goal and then deal with every situation that arises on a case by case basis.   If we are honest and fair with our assessment, we will not trample the rights of victims nor victimize criminals any more than is necessary, if at all.   Our goal must be to try to be fair while protecting the safety of communities and those who live in them.   While we will never get the balance completely right, fairness is the key.ReferencesFlanagan, Russ.   â€Å"Megan's legacy, A child's death serves as a call to action†.   The Express Times, February 26, 2004.Vachss, Andrew.   â€Å"How Many Dead Children Are Needed to End the Rhetoric?†Ã‚   New York Daily News, August 12, 1994Vachss, Andrew.   â€Å"Sex Predators Can’t Be Saved.†Ã‚   New York Times, January 5, 1993Wikipedia, February, 7, 2007. ;https://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Murder_of_Megan_Kanka#Jesse_Timmendequas; 4 January 2007.

Suggest reasons why the memberships of trade blocs, such as the EU, has changed over time

Memberships of trade blocs changed over time because countries realized that there are a huge amount of benefits to joining a trade bloc union. Benefits such as Free trade within the bloc which means that they have free access to each other’s markets, members of the trade bloc are encouraged to specialize. This means that at the regional level there is a wider application on ability to carry out a particular economic activity e. g. making a specific product more efficiently than another activity.In addition countries have Market access and trade creation which is when countries have easier access to each other's markets meaning that trade between members is likely to increase. Trade creation exists when free trade enables high cost domestic producers to be replaced by low cost and also allow more efficient imports. Because low cost imports lead to lower priced imports, there is a ‘consumption effect', with increased demand resulting from lower prices.Also Producers from the member country can benefit from the application of scale economies, which will lead to lower costs and lower prices for consumers. Jobs may be created as a consequence of increased trade between member economies. There is increased protection. Firms inside the bloc are protected from cheaper imports from outside, such as the protection of the EU shoe industry from cheap imports from China and Vietnam. There are other long-term political and social benefits to trade blocs.The countries’ economies become more intertwined also the political reasons for close cooperation within the bloc increases. Countries understand that they have a stake in each other and make greater efforts to get along. In that same way, increased business contacts usually mean that people must learn the culture of their trading partners. Many must learn new languages and different business practices. In short, more people will come into contact with each other and will need to learn more about each oth er. This breeds increased understanding amongst people.Another reason for the change is as for consumers are that there is often a greater variety of goods and services available in free trade blocs. Products like beer, detergent, clothing, and machine tools are often produced in all the countries after the free trade agreement they are often stocked in many stores. Products like satellite hook ups for televisions, computers and telephones are usually made more available to developing countries. Internet service providers are now able to sell to larger markets and more consumers have opportunities to purchase or use these services.

Maman/Louise Bourgeois

Louise, a twelve year old girl drawing missing segments on a tapestry for her parents’ tapestry repair shop lives her life lacking the knowledge of what she is going to be when she grows up. She begins to study math which she loves to do, but she had no idea that her studies had a close association with her exceptional drawing skills. One day, coming home from school, she walks by a tapestry, and begins to reminisce about the times when she had to draw them, so it struck her. She wanted to focus her studies in art. As she began to study art, she soon found out that she also exceeded in painting. She started out small, but her hard work and determination got her to the well-known artist that we know today as Louise Bourgeois, the artist of Maman. Any art piece can have multiple interpretations depending on how you look at it, but knowing the artist’s background will give you a complete understanding of their work of art. In addition, breaking down the artistic terms and one’s interpretation on a work of art are vital and usually different compare to other spectators. Knowing the artists’ background can be quite intriguing because it shows the reason and the process of creating their art, but for Louise Bourgeois’ background, it was straight forward. She was born on Christmas day, December 25, 1911, in Paris, France and now today living in New York at age 98. Her parents anticipated that she will be a boy, and name her Louis Bourgeois after her father’s name. Despite being a girl, she still retained the name, Louise Bourgeois. She is the second oldest of her siblings, but she is actually the third oldest because the first baby died. Her older sister is six year older than her, and her younger brother is one year younger. They lived above a tapestry gallery which belongs to their parents. In 1932 when Louise passed her high school exam, her mother passed away naturally. Family members were a great deal to Louise. Each member of the family has a special part of the family’s role. While studying art and painting art pieces, she met an American art historian, Robert Watergold which she married in 1938. They adopted an orphan boy named Michel which made them move to New York. She felt guilty leaving France, but she wanted to be able to care for the orphan boy. When they moved, she gave birth to two sons in the U. S. Shortly after giving birth, she began her painting career and soon started sculpting abstract sculptures. Her art work was displayed in many museums all over the United States. She regularly exhibited her art work in museums and was an active member of the American abstract artist group. Next, she transformed her paintings into sculptures. An example of such pieces is the sculpture, The Nest in the 1990’s, which is a group of spiders with the mother watching over the little ones. Later she made a giant spider called, Maman and was first displayed outside the Tate Museum of London in 2000. When you walk by Maman, the art piece just captures your attention and draws you in. Once you are in front of this breath taking sculpture. You wonder what is underneath it; how big is it? Well, Maman means mother in French. It was first put on show outside the Tate Museum of London in 2000. The sculpture Maman is a 30 feet tall female spider constructed of stainless steel. The whole sculpture is colored black, and beneath the body, there is a sac attached to the body of the mother spider in which she carries 26 pure white marble representing eggs. In addition, there are eight long thin legs supporting the sculpture to stand up. While assembling the sculpture, Bourgeois paid careful attention to details, such as positioning the legs and detailing the legs in order to attain a well-balanced structure. The sculpture emits a strong aura with all the little details put into it. Besides the original stainless steel version owned by the Tate Museum, London, there are other several brown bronze casts, located at: Kansas City, Canada, Tokyo, Boston, Cuba, and many more. The three main artistic terms are subject matter, content, and artistic form which I will be breaking down in this sculpture. First the subject matter. The sculpture is an image of what appears to be a giant spider with a sac of eggs and eight long thin legs. Secondly, content. The giant spider looks threatening, but the eggs that she embraces in her sac give her a sense of weakness. Louise attached the sac of eggs underneath the spider’s body demonstrating that the spider is more of a mother figure like than a predator. This spider was a tribute to her mother. Ms. Bourgeois said in a statement. â€Å"She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother. † (Marie-Laure Bernadac 10) The oversize spider is also frightening which also means pain and fear to some others. So when one walks by, they can reminisce about the old memories of pain or fear. Louise Bourgeois said. â€Å"My sculpture allows me to re-experience the fear, to give it physicality so I am able to hack away at it. Fear becomes a manageable reality. Sculpture allows me to re-experience the past, to see the part in its objective, realistic proportion. † (Marie-Laure Bernadac 8) Finally, artistic form, where she placed the sac of eggs beneath the spider’s body, and the in depth designs on Maman’s legs; especially the size too. From my point of view, I wondered why she made this one so tall compare to all the other spider sculpture she made. Another spider sculpture she made is called The Nest which I have seen in person. The Nest is similar to Maman because Maman has a sac of eggs beneath her, and The Nest has smaller spiders beneath the tallest one in which it is the mother. Since The Nest is about 6 to 8 feet tall, it is saying that we are the predators because it is almost the same height as us. Why does one compare the spider to us you say? It is because we squish them when see them at home. Now she made a bigger and taller sculpture which we all know is Maman; it is saying that we are endanger now if we got too close to her eggs. The size of Maman is saying that who is looking down on whom now? Spiders can make cob webs in the corner and aggravate you. In this case, Maman wants to live her life in peace with her kids, and if you get too close the spider will fight back. Maman is a tribute to her mother because she was not only a mother, but also a best friend. Moreover, her mother was a weaver and was very clever just like a spider. Maman is almost practically a self portrait of Louise’s mother; a protective mother and defend her kids with all her might.

Inventory Management System of a Printing Press in Dagupan City

Chapter I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Rationale The success of every business depends on how it is managed, whether it is on the management of human resources, finances, operations or production. Focusing in the production process, one aspect to consider is its proper inventory management. The need for proper inventory management system is indispensable nowadays especially in coping up with global competition. As firms deal with their inventory systems, problems still arises and most of which are experienced worldwide.For instance, Bhattacharjee (2012) attributed the pickup in sales to inventory flow â€Å"getting back on track, as they did not flow product appropriately. † This was a statement in his article as it discussed the latest experience of Abercrombie and Fitch, also known as  A&F, an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged eighteen to twenty two, got a handle on excess inventories that had discounting that worried their investors last y ear. Said dilemma was due to negligence of identifying excess inventories ahead of time.Thus, inventory management, or balancing orders with demand, has been a major concern for Abercrombie. In recent quarters, it has been compelled to offer discounts to its teenaged clientele who had held back on purchases. On the other hand, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. branded as  Walmart, is an American  multinational  retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the  world's third largest public corporation, according to the  Fortune Global 500  list in 2012, the  biggest private employer  in the world with over two million employees, and is the  largest retailer in the world.Walmart remains a  family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the  Walton family, who own a 48 percent stake in Walmart. It is also one of the  world's most valuable companies. The company was founded by  Sam Walton  in 1962,  incorporated  on October 31, 1969, and publicly traded on the  New York Stock Exchange  in 1972. It is headquartered in  Bentonville,  Arkansas. Walmart is also the largest  grocery  retailer in the United States. In 2009, it generated 51 percent of its US$258  billion sales in the U. S. from grocery business. It also owns and operates the  Sam's Club  retail warehouses  in North America.Walmart has 8,500 stores in 15 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under the Walmart name in the United States, including the 50 states and  Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as  Walmex, in the United Kingdom as  Asda, in Japan as  Seiyu, and in India as Best Price. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada. Walmart's investments outside North America have had mixed results: its operations in the United Kingdom, South America, and China are highly successful, whereas ventures in Germany and South Korea were unsuccessful. ( http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/Walmart) Walmart is recognized with their continued success in catering the needs of their customers on time. One aspect that makes this success possible can be attributed to their inventory management system. According to Chandran (2008), Wal-Mart  was able to reduce unproductive inventory by allowing stores to manage their own stocks, reducing pack sizes across many product categories, and timely price markdowns. Instead of cutting inventory across the board, Wal-Mart made full use of its  Information Technology (IT) capabilities  to make more inventories available in the case of items that customers wanted most.The Company entered into collaboration with P&G for maintaining the inventory in its stores and built an  automated re-ordering system. Also, employees at the stores had the â€Å"Magic Wand†, a hand-held computer which was linked to in-store terminals through  a radio frequency network. These helped them to keep track of the inventory in stores, deliveries, and back up merchandise in stock at the distribution centers. Another highlight of the company’s inventory system is their employment of Point-Of-Sales (POS) system, which monitors and tracks the sales and merchandise stock levels on the store shelves.Wal-Mart also made use of the  sophisticated algorithm system  which enabled it to forecast the exact quantities of each item to be delivered, based on inventories in each store. Wal-Mart also is using  bar code technology and radio frequency technology  to manage its inventories and enabled accurate distribution of goods. Wal-Mart also owned the largest and most sophisticated computer system in private sector. The company used  Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) computer system  to track the movement of goods and stock levels.By making effective use of computers in all its company’s operations, Wal-Mart was successful in providing uninterrupted service to its customers, suppli ers, stockholders and trading partners. The processes that Wal-Mart incorporated into its system are adapted worldwide. The extent to which said processes will be implemented depends on an entity’s capability to manage and handle the finances associated with it. The problems encountered by said firms in other countries contribute to the success and operation of local firms in the country.However, the more adjacent the country is, the more impact it can have of the inventory system employed in the country. Just like for instance, the recent experience of China regarding their inventories was inevitable. According to the report given by Wang (2012), after three decades of torrid growth, China is encountering an unfamiliar problem with its newly struggling economy: a huge buildup of unsold goods that is cluttering shop floors, clogging car dealerships and filling factory warehouses.The problem crosses from manufacturing industries, car dealers up to real estate industries. Actua lly, interviews conducted by Wang (2012) with business owners and managers across a wide range of Chinese industries presented a picture of mounting stockpiles of unsold goods. It was also provided in the article given by Wang (2012) that Huang Yi, the chairman of Zhongsheng Group, China’s fifth-largest dealership chain, said that inventory levels for them now are very, very high. If they hadn’t done special offers in the first half of the year, their inventory would be even higher.Wu Weiqing, the manager of a faucet and sink wholesaler, said that his sales dropped 30 percent in the last year and he has piled up extra merchandise. Yet the factory supplying him is still cranking out shiny kitchen fixtures at a fast pace because they cannot cut production. This massive problems experienced by China has called out the attention of firms in the Philippines to look into the flaws of their inventory system for possible downturn. Thus, concepts and theories on inventory given by different authors became significant.In the Philippines, many academicians provided their own version and understanding of inventories. According to Guerrero (2010), most manufacturing firms consider their inventories a major investment of the firm; these must be accompanied by appropriate systems. This is the use of proper inventory management which is a method for storing and issuing materials to ensure that the company’s investments in inventories are protected. In addition to these, Agamata (2011) stated that a company may either choose to use traditional or modern inventory management system to its inventory process.In the traditional inventory management, the production costs and purchasing costs are not treated with much relevance because these costs are assumed not to change in total regardless of the order size and frequency in orders to be made. On the other hand, the modern inventory management introduces the use of electronics technology wherein communications have been strongly emphasized. Internal communications have been made open, closer, and on-line with suppliers and customers and external communications have been created on an on-line, real-time model.The main objective of the Inventory Management System is to maintain inventories at appropriate level to avoid excessive or shortage of inventories because both the cases are undesirable for business. With this particular aim, management is to keep inventory at sufficient high level to perform production and sales accounts smoothly. This ensures that investment in inventories is minimized at minimum level to maximize profitability. In case of manufacturing business, management must ensure that the supply of raw materials and finished goods will remain continuous so that production process is halted and demands of customers are duly met.If this is met, carrying costs of inventories is cut down. With the implementation of this Inventory Management System, business entities can reduce t he losses due to theft, obsolescence, and wastage because it would be easier to keep tracks for slow- moving items and makes arrangements for those. (http://www. careerride. com/fa-inventory-mangement-objectives) Those principles mentioned above aided in the successful inventory management system of the firms in the Philippines. Belonging to the small enterprises in the country is Metro Print Asia. ———-(background of MPA) The implementation of a specific inventory system was not an easy task for the owner himself because he has no knowledge on how to run a printing press business. He even used the words â€Å"accidental business† to describe his involvement in such venture because he was just appointed by the family to take over the management of the business which they received as payment for the indebtedness of one company. For this reason, the researchers assessed the system and identified the problem encountered by Metro Print Asia as requested by the owner himself.Although it has been operating for more than five (5) years, they are not able to perform at its maximum level, thus this matter needed immediate attention. This assessment purported to help not only Metro Print Asia but other small enterprises as well to help them trace whatever inefficiencies they currently have in their inventory management system. Statement of the Problem The main objective of the study was to assess the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia, Dagupan City to provide a basis for leading the company’s inventory management system to contribute for its overall success.Specifically, this study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. What is the current status of Metro Print Asia in terms of: a. Purchasing of inventory such as papers and inks; b. Warehousing of inventory; and c. Issuing of inventory to production? 2. What problems are encountered in the implementation of the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia? 3. What m easures can be proposed to improve the implementation of the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia? Scope and Delimitation This study focused on the assessment of the inventory management system of Metro Print Asia, Dagupan City.This included the process involved in the purchasing of inventories such as papers and inks, warehousing of those inventories and issuing of such to production. The researchers also examined the documents used in the said areas of inventory system. And although the entity maintains many kinds of inventories, the researchers focused to dwell their study only on papers and inks as these are the entity's primary inventories. Aside from that, emphasis on how the employees involved in the said area of inventory system comply with the company's policy is also included in this study.Relevant to this research, current operations was the main focus of the researchers since the entity experienced the same problem for the former years of their operations. Sim ultaneously, the physical flow of inventoriable goods from suppliers down to issuance of inventories to production is included. In sense, the inventory study started from the moment the entity orders goods from suppliers followed by the arrangement and segregation in the warehouse monitored by the assigned warehouse-in-charge which consists of checking and updating the said inventory.After that, the preparation and issuance of goods and inventories requested by the production personnel assigned to the job was done. The information relevant to the said process was gathered through interview with the owner, Mr. Danny Cuna and observation for the actual inventory process with the full assistance of the owner himself. The study did not cover the financial information relating to inventories and recording of such as requested by the owner.This was to ensure that entity’s financial operations are not exposed for some private reasons. Also, the study did not cover the events subsequ ent to the issuance of inventories to production such as conversion of raw materials to finished goods and the delivery of such to the customers. Significance of the Study (not edited) The study of the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia was conducted to assess their existing system. This addressed the issues and problems currently present in their process.The study assisted the following beneficiaries: First was the company, Metro Print Asia, because the study focused on the company’s Inventory Management in order to achieve an ideal system which helped in reducing cost, minimize unwanted/unnecessary processes and made the system more organized and controlled. Metro Print Asia’s proprietor, Mr. Danny G. Cuna, was another beneficiary in the assessment, for the reason that there has been a better inventory system along with an improved flow of inventory from purchasing to issuance, therefore maximizing profits.Companies with the same line and size of busines s with Metro Print Asia also benefited, since the study served as a guide or idea on how to improve their existing management of Inventory System. Lastly, business students and future researchers would gain knowledge and exposure to the actual issues on inventory systems businesses use in the real world and would not just base their understanding on the theoretical definitions provided in textbooks. Definition of Terms (not edited) The terms were defined in operational or conceptual manners as follows:The Inventory Management System supervises the flow of goods from suppliers to warehouses and from these facilities to point of sale. A key function of Inventory Management System is to keep a detailed record of each new or returned product as it enters or leaves a warehouse or point of sale. (http://searchmanufacturingerp. techtarget. com). Metro Print Asia (MPA) is a printing press located in Fernandez St. Dagupan City, under the management of Mr. Danny G. Cuna which his family recei ved as payment for the indebtedness of one company.The said company offers different kinds of printing like offset printing, letter press printing, Risograph Quick printing, Docucolor printing, color separation, plastic lamination and metal engraving. Status of Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia refers to the current condition of the entity’s process of purchasing, warehousing and issuing inventories to production. This involves the methods and practices adapted by the company in the said areas of inventory management. The company is using the traditional system which is highly labor intensive to ensure appropriate stocking levels of inventories.Purchasing of inventory starts when Mr. Danny Cuna, the owner or Myrna Lambino, the operating manager usually chooses the supplier where to purchase inventories such as papers and inks at the lowest possible cost. Then either of them now negotiates purchase contracts, prepares purchase orders, and follows up deliveries de pending upon the job order requested by the client. Warehousing of inventory involves the storing of inventories purchased by the purchasing officers of the warehouses-in-charge, Nerissa Pael and Dennis Roquiza.Upon admission, the warehouses-in-charge then maintains material ledger cards for every inventory stored in the warehouse. Issuing of inventory to production arises when there are job orders from their client which shall be approved by Marivic Domagas, the marketing manager. Such approved orders are given to Vanessa Serafica, the head of the pre-press department. She will then assign the job to one of the production personnel whom shall request the materials needed for production from one of the warehouses-in-charge.Problems Arising from the Implementation of the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia were the flaws existing in the company’s process as to purchasing, warehousing, and issuing of inventory to production. Proposed Measures to Improve the Implemen tation of the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia were the actions suggested by the researchers based on the findings in the study conducted in their system. Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter covered different related literature for the purpose of putting together concepts and theories relating to the present study.The reviewed materials aided as a useful guide in assessing the study and outlining data- gathering tools. Conceptual Literature Making use of thematic approach, this segment tackles diverse ideas and aspects pertaining to purchasing, warehousing and issuing of inventories such as papers and inks to production. Purchasing of inventory It was cited in The Journal of Commerce (2011), manufacturing companies, which are flexible and dynamic just like any other company, should be changing with time as goods are manufactured for stock and order for consumption.So it is required that manufacturing companies produce goods by looking at t he future trends of demand. With that, manufacturing companies should also have to complete the task of making the right quantity and quality of goods according to customers’ orders, taking into consideration the future requirements and uncertainties in their estimate of inventories and ordering of raw materials. This concern has been established for the continual existence of any manufacturing company. Starting with raw materials, these are bought and kept for further production so as to pass through the manufacturing process.These raw materials are known as stock. The keeping of stock is called inventory. â€Å"Inventories are stock of materials of any kind stored for future use, mainly in the production process. Today’s inventory is tomorrow’s production. Therefore, the success of any organization depends on its effective and proper management of its inventory. According to Hall (2008), the ideal process used in purchasing inventory materials in a good inven tory control system begins with recognizing the need to restock inventories through the observation of the inventory records.Inventory levels decline through either direct sales to customers (a revenue cycle activity) or transfers into the manufacturing process (a conversion cycle activity). Inventory requirement information is set to both purchasing and accounts payable processes. The purchasing process determines the quantity to order, selects a supplier, and prepares a purchase order. The information is sent to both the supplier and the accounts payable process. After a period of time, the firm receives the inventory items from the suppliers. Goods received are inspected for quality and quantity and sent to the stores and warehouse.Information about the receipt of inventory is used to update the inventory records. The accounts payable receives the invoice from the supplier. Accounts payable reconciles this with the other information it has compiled for the transaction and records and obligations to pay at some future date, depending on the terms of trade with the supplier. Usually, payment will occur on the last possible date to take full advantage of interest earned and discounts offered. The general ledger then receives the summary information from accounts payable and inventory control.This information is reconciled for accuracy and posted to the accounts payable and inventory control accounts. Inventory management consists of everything from accurate record-keeping to shipping and receiving of products on time. An inventory management that is properly maintained can keep a company’s supply chain running smoothly and efficiently. It was also mentioned that a flawed or unrealistic business plan for a business for the future is one of the problems encountered by firms in their inventory management system.To predict how well a company may do in the future, you have to collect enough data and accurately analyze it. This affects inventory management be cause if a company predicts more growth than they actually experience, it can lead to an overstock of inventory. Another problem encountered by most firms regarding their inventory management system is falling victim to the â€Å"bullwhip effect†. This is an over-reaction by a company to changes in the market. As the demand of a market changes, a company may panic and order an overstock of inventory, thinking the new market conditions will move the inventory.Also, another is not keeping up with the rising price of raw materials. By not keeping current with the rising price of raw materials, a company will lose profits because they are not adjusting the price of their finished products. Finished items in inventory must be relative to the cost of raw goods. (http://wwww. wbiconpro. com/462-aarti. pdf) Warehousing of inventories Proper storage of  inventory  is vital. Improper storage  can cause  a product to ruin, resulting in a loss of  inventory  and money. Accord ing to Bizmanualz, Inc. 2008), storage refers to protecting inventory  from both damage and shrinkage or theft. Coltman and Jagels (2008) provide the following control practices that should be used for product storage: 1. Immediately after goods have been delivered and all receiving checks performed, they should be moved to storage areas or sent directly to the departments that requested them. Proper  storage facilities  should be used. 2. Storage areas should be locked when the storekeeper is not present. Access to storerooms should be limited to the storekeeper and other authorized employees. 3.Storekeepers should not maintain or have access to formal inventory  records, nor should accounting department employees who maintain those records have access to storerooms except to take inventories. 4. Inventory  counts of stored products should be taken periodically by accounting office employees and compared to material  ledger  cards (if used). A material ledger  card is maintained for each separate item in stock. It has recorded on it, for each item, quantities received in and quantities issued from the storeroom to provide a running balance of what should be in inventory. 5.The best procedure for taking  inventory  is to make two accounting office employees responsible. One completes the actual physical count; the other compares this with the perpetual inventory  card figure and then records the actual count on an inventory  sheet. 6. If there are any significant differences that cannot be reconciled between  the inventory  count and what should be in  inventory according to perpetual  inventory  cards, the differences should be investigated to determine the cause. 7. To aid in inventory count, preprinted inventory sheets that list items in the same order as they are located on storeroom shelves should be used.Some of the problems encountered by most firms regarding their inventory management system such as existence of unqual ified employees in charge of inventory and too many companies put people in charge of their inventory distribution who either don’t have enough experience, are neglectful in their job, or don’t have adequate training. Another is when the supervisor in charge of inventory management failed to look over their inventory on a regular basis to make sure enough products are in stock. Identifying shortages ahead of time is an important factor in achieving Customer Satisfaction.Waiting for the shipment to come in can slow down the supply chain process. Not having enough products in stock to meet customer demand can lead to bad customer relations. Also, too much distressed stock in inventory can lead to another problem. Distressed stock is products or materials in inventory that has or will soon pass the point where it can be sold at the normal price before it expires, excessive inventory in stock and unable to move it quickly enough. This is probably the most common problem fo r most businesses. Cash-flow comes from moving inventory.If a company buys an amount of product for their inventory and they do not move it, the company ends up losing money. Without proper organization, items in-stock gets misplaced. Even if the computer accurately shows the item as in stock, it may have been misplaced somewhere at the warehouse, or in the wrong location within a store. This can lead to a decrease in profits due to lost sales and higher inventory costs because the item must be re-ordered. Plus, the company must spend the time for employees to track down the misplaced item. (http://www. biconpro. com/462-aarti. pdf) Issuing of inventories to production After properly keeping the inventories in the warehouse, the determination of the inventory requirement and the authorization of the release of raw materials into production will take place. There must be controls to consider in determining which materials to be issued to production, these are as follows: (Coltman and Jagels) 1) The person responsible in receiving a purchase order from a customer must pass on the details of inventory needed for production to the storekeeper. ) The storekeeper should be the only person authorized to have access in the inventories located in the store room. 3) The storekeeper then be required to release these inventories to the specified person assigned to that job. These control practices should be followed in order to arrive at a good and properly organized inventory management system. Otherwise, problems may arise from non-fulfillment of control policies. These inventory management problems can interfere with a company’s profits and customer service. They can cost a business more money and can lead to an excess of inventory overstock that is difficult to move.Factors enumerated above gave the researchers an overview on the typical problems that entities encountered in their respective inventory systems. These problems together with the other related stud ies conducted by various individuals and groups guided the researchers in assessing the status of the inventory management system of Metro Print Asia. Such guideline directed the researchers in pointing out the strengths and weaknesses in Metro Print Asia’s current inventory system which aimed to help the entity in improving its inventory management system.Research Literature Operating a printing press can be physically and mentally demanding, and sometimes tedious. Press operators are on their feet most of the time. Often, operators work under pressure to meet deadlines. Most printing presses are capable of high printing speeds, and adjustments must be made quickly to avoid waste of inventories. (http://www. umsl. edu/services/govdocs/ooh20002001/363. htm). One of the strong points that would make this study more comprehensible is its omparison with another study with the same objective; that was to assess the inventory management system of a certain entity. The study conduc ted by Adupa on Monitor Publication Ltd. in Uganda gave the researchers a guide on the flow of the study since both studies aimed to assess the inventory system of Monitor Publication Ltd. and Metro Print Asia respectively and they were in the same line of business. As a result of his study, Adupa (2011) said that the inventory control and customer satisfaction in Monitor Publication Ltd. as mainly based on three research objectives that are to investigate the inventory control techniques used by the organization, to determine the level of customer satisfaction in the organization and to determine the relationship between inventory control and customer satisfaction in Monitor Publication Ltd. Manufacturing companies like Monitor Publication Ltd. faced inefficiencies in its attempts to maintain optimal inventory levels as well as inconsistencies of poor color prints, delayed deliveries, long supplier lead time, poor quality prints of its advertisements and magazines, low customer tur n over and uncertainty of customer demand.This had greatly compromised inventory control and operation efficiency of Monitor Publication Ltd. (Adupa, 2011). Despite the considerable effort by Monitor Publication Ltd. to solve the above inefficiencies by training staff in latest techniques of inventory management, reducing supplier lead time, improving on the quality of color prints and magazines and training customer care personnel, a high level of customer complaints still exists. The study employed a cross section design together with descriptive and analytical research design, based on both quantitative and qualitative data.Questionnaires and interview guide were used to collect data and a sample size of 45 respondents was selected using stratified sampling technique. Data was summarized, sorted, edited and analyzed using statistical packages for social scientists (SPSS) and Microsoft word and the findings were presented in a report format. Recommendations on Inventory control we re that Monitor Publication Ltd. needed to train and sensitize employees regarding the importance of Inventory Control and also ensure that all items were inspected so that they do not get problems concerning Inventory monitoring and record keeping.Recommendations on Customer satisfaction were that Monitor Publication Ltd. needed to put more effort on improving product quality as well as improve on its distribution channel so as to make its products more convenient and attractive to customers. Therefore more effort was given on Inventory control to achieve Customer satisfaction. His findings revealed that the enumerated inventory control techniques were not well understood by majority employees even if inventory control was conducted annually by the organization.Inventory controls must be introduced and oriented to all employees to achieve an efficient process. Also, the organization puts greater emphasis on monitoring optimal inventory levels and keeping inventory records. In this particular aspect of their study, the researchers, guided by specific criteria were of the same opinion. And because raw materials and finished goods occupied the highest level of activity, not all inventories were inspected by the organization and that economic order quantity was not the most preferred inventory control techniques.With this, the entity is expected to apply a more effective inventory control technique that would address all their weaknesses in their existing system. The study of Adupa (2011) about Monitor Publication Ltd. was made extensively and was conducted in a sufficient time frame of three years. He was able to gather all necessary and relevant data from the customers and the management because they were open in distributing such, regarding the study. He had pointed out issues concerning the assessment, traced its causes and had able to make recommendations that addressed the problem.The conduct of the study covered almost all necessary concerns and delivered those with an intense analogy and is expected to be responded accordingly. With the appropriate data gathered in the study conducted by Adupa (2011), the researchers accumulated necessary data and studies in the Philippine setting so as to identify the similarities and differences with the system applied in the foreign country. So, the researchers were able to gather another related study regarding the enhancement of the inventory control system of MDC pharmacy in Laguna, Philippines.Said study was conducted by the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy students in Colegio  de San Juan de Letran-Calamba. This served as compliance to their requirements of their thesis subject. With this, the researchers decided to make their study as a basis for the continuance of their study since both studies cover the same topic on inventory management of MDC pharmacy and Metro Print Asia, except that the inventories involved are different in nature; medicines for MDC pharmacy and printing materials for Metro Print Asia.The study conducted with MDC pharmacy revealed that the flaws of the inventory system employed in their business was due to several factors such as limited number of employees with no accounting knowledge and no proper training in handling inventories, overstocking and understocking of inventory supplies, weak internal control in the segregation and storage of inventories and absence of criteria in selecting suppliers that would comply with their inventory needs.Their assessment were also based on their problems identified wherein they have assessed the current status of MDC pharmacy, pointed out their weaknesses and strengths and made recommendations on the flaws discovered. Their enumerated problems are the same problems that this study anticipates to point out. After the study, some of the recommendations given by the students were designed to address MDC pharmacy’s problem on inventory valuation, receiving, storage, rotation and segregation. This inv olves the introduction of ROP system, EOQ model, stock rotation and others to MDC pharmacy.The discussion of these principles was evident in related literature of their study and is not included herein as the researchers focus only on the details significant to the inventory system of Metro Print Asia. Also, the research design used by the Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba students is almost similar with the research design of the study with Metro Print Asia. Interview and observation was used as a major means of gathering the data needed. With the nature and line of business of Monitor Publication Ltd. nd the focus of the study of MDC Pharmacy, the researchers were able to relate to the study conducted by the former researchers. The problems cited in the studies were the same problems that the researchers expected to identify in their assessment of Metro Print Asia except Adupa’s concern about customer’s satisfaction and MDC pharmacy’s medicine inventory. W ith regard to the methods of research implemented by Adupa and the Accountancy students of Colegio  de San Juan de Letran-Calamba which were both descriptive and analytical in nature, the researchers were guided by the descriptive-assessment method.The researchers assessed the Metro Print Asia’s Inventories Management System based on criteria. And at the end of the study, the researchers proposed a solution to the problem of the said entity as inefficiencies were proven to exist. The theories and concepts adapted by Adupa (2011) in his study were general and were explained globally, such fit the concerns of the researchers of this study as well. While the results of the study conducted in MDC pharmacy resembled the same scope and focus of this study with Metro Print Asia. The only difference between them was the nature of the business that they are into.So as a summary, the study conducted by Adupa (2011) helped the researchers foresee the extent of the study conducted sinc e the nature of their business is similar in nature although it is based in a foreign country. As for MDC pharmacy, the students’ focus on enhancing the current inventory system was the same objective that the present researchers attained in their study of Metro Print Asia’s inventory system. With all the aforementioned information gathered by the researchers, the assessment of the inventory system of Metro Print Asia was possible for they already have related studies.This served as a basis for the researchers in formulating criteria guided by the objectives of proper inventory management. Chapter III RESEARCH DESIGN This chapter indicated the procedures by which the study population was selected, how these subjects were used to yield the required data, how the data were collected, and how these data were analyzed. Research Method The researchers assessed the Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia, therefore, descriptive assessment method was used by the resea rchers because it concentrated on the recent condition of the entity.The researchers have no control over the entity and only reported about what had happened. Specifically, under this method, the descriptive assessment method was used to relate to the practices or policies implemented by Metro Print Asia. Essential information for this research work was collected through primary and secondary sources the combinations included: (i) Interview with the owner of the company. ` (ii) Observation of the purchasing process, warehousing and issuing of inventory to production was done. Materials handling and storage were also observed and so was the inspection procedures.Locale of the Study Dagupan City, is found in Northwestern Philippines, on the island of Luzon, particularly in Pangasinan Province. Located on Lingayen Gulf, Dagupan is the chief port and commercial center of the province. (Encarta, 2009) Since Dagupan is regarded as a first class city and the commercial center of the provi nce, many business entities were established here. For about hundreds of business establishments here in Dagupan City, few of them are printing presses. Printing presses are a great help in one’s business’ success.Today, every business needs to advertise their products and services they offer to gain the public’s attention. One way of advertising is through distribution of pamphlets, brochures, etc. which are produced by the printing presses. In that way selling expenses of the businesses will be minimized compared to TV or radio advertisement. One of these printing presses is Metro Print Asia which is located at Fernandez Street at the back of Malimgas Market. The reason why the MPA Figure 1. Map of Dagupan City, Pangasinan indicating Metro Print Asia Figure 2.Metro Print Asia Site Map researchers chose Metro Print Asia is because of its accessibility. Also, Metro Print Asia’s location is in the Dagupan proper which is near the researchers’ univer sity wherein for practical reasons, expenses were minimized. Metro Print Asia had already established its own name and already had a good reputation in the industry specifically here in Dagupan. Subject of the Study Interview was conducted where a set of preconceived questions were asked to the general manager regarding material control policies of the entity.The interviewers raised questions not specifically included in the interview schedule and obtained further information during the flow of conversation and made observations of the actual inventory process. This helped the researchers have a deeper understanding of the subject of the study. Data Gathering Instrument The researchers used an interview schedule wherein questions were formulated to specifically assess the current status of Metro Print Asia. The researchers have come up with the questions and necessary information essential to the study was gathered.Each member of the team was asked to formulate questions regarding t he inventory management system of Metro Print Asia after which, questions were finalized by all the members. These set of questions was based primarily on the standards of inventory management system stated in chapter II. This interview schedule actually established a link between the existing inventory management system of Metro Print Asia and the recommendations that may be beneficial or practical to improve their inventory management system as problems were identified.Said interview schedule can be seen in the appendices. Since the questions formulated by the researchers were general in nature and further clarifications were raised, semi-structured interview was conducted in which set of open questions were asked with the opportunity for the interviewer to explore particular themes or responses further. A semi-structured interview does not limit subjects to a set of pre-determined answers. Semi-structured interviews are used to understand how interventions work and how they could be improved.It also allows subject to discuss and raise issues that researchers may not have considered. Data Gathering Procedure Research as an intensive form of study, necessitates the collaboration of information which talks about center of study. Thus, data gathering was indispensible in this type of study. The kind and method of accumulating data were clearly defined by the researchers. In deciding the method to be used, the kind of data needed was pointed out simultaneously. Since the study used interview as data gathering tool, the researchers formulated an interview schedule.The researchers designed the interview schedule that they used to know the actual status of Metro Print Asia’s inventory management system and assessed if such system was properly followed. Said questions were subject for further corrections by the research professor after which, the researchers conducted the interview. The researchers were equipped with necessary instruments such as recorder, no tepad, pen, and the interview schedule. The group leader decided on the division of duties during the interview. This included decisions on who will record and jot down important notes.Then, the researchers set their schedule with the interviewee. With the aid of the interview schedule, the researchers obtained the answers to their primary concerns directly from the interviewee. Answers given by the owner gave rise to follow-up questions from the researchers that gave more elaboration about the issue, beneficial to both parties. Data Analysis and Interpretation Data alone is not sufficient without thorough analysis. Proper procedure is needed to interpret these data to become useful information that is essential to the researchers and users.The data gathered by the researchers through interview and observation were compared for evaluating the truthfulness of the data. After the procedure of comparison, further analysis was done to evaluate the existing process of purchasing, warehou sing and issuing of materials to production. This compiled information served as the basis for the interpretation of the researchers’ findings. Chapter IV DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION This chapter presented, analyzed and interpreted the data gathered by the researchers in the assessment of Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia.This gave emphasis on the problem stated in Chapter I. The presentation is in the sequence of the specific questions and includes the following topics: 1) the status of the inventory management system of MPA, 2) the problems encountered and 3) the necessary recommendations to improve the existing inventory management system as to purchasing, warehousing and issuing of materials to production. Current Status of Inventory Management System of Metro Print Asia This section covered the inventory management process of Metro Print Asia where it discussed the three stages which are the purchasing, warehousing and issuing materials t o production.Purchasing of inventory such as papers and inks This stage starts when the owner, Danny Cuna, or the operating manager, Myrna Lambino, usually selects the supplier from whom they can purchase the materials at the lowest possible price. The cost and quantity of materials to be ordered are primary concerns of the company that is why they consider purchasing their items from Metro Manila rather than here in the province because items in Manila are cheaper when purchased in large volumes.After the owner and the operating manager were informed of various sources of supply and their prices, the owner or operating manager then now negotiates purchase contracts, prepares purchase orders and follows up deliveries depending upon the job order requested by their client. Rarely, upon delivery, Nerissa Pael, one of the warehouse-in-charge, checks if goods received are in good condition before accepting it from the shipping company.This part of the process resembles the quality contr ol of the company to ensure that inventories received met the specifications of the orders of the company. According to the standard cited in Chapter II by Adupa and Hall, a good inventory management system in purchasing process should consider the cost of materials to be purchased specially when acquiring materials of large quantity. Aside from these, it is also essential to consider the proper timing, selection of suppliers and the preparation of the purchase order.When the goods arrived it should be inspected by the authorized personnel to ensure that the conditions of the goods are in good condition, and then it should be properly stored. Based on the status of the company, consideration of the cost, quantity, selection of suppliers and inspection on goods received has complied with the standards. But the companies have also violated some of it such as taking into account the timing of the purchase which leads to delay in production. In addition, the owner and the operating mana ger sometimes miscommunicate resulting to double orders.Warehousing of inventory such as papers and inks In this process, purchased materials by the purchasing officer are received, recorded and stored in a certain place which serves as the company’s warehouse and keep the materials therein prior to their use in the production process. In the case of Metro Print Asia, two warehouses are designed to accommodate all their inventories arriving in different time intervals. Each warehouse keeps different set of inventories as the company maintains varieties of inventories in the form of papers and inks.Each warehouse is also given separate warehouses-in-charge, Nerissa Pael and Dennis Roquiza, to keep the inventories monitored and updated. Upon admission, both the warehouse-in-charge then maintains a material ledger card for every inventory stored in the warehouses. However, these material ledger cards are not regularly updated and maintained. Papers and inks, as their primary inv entory materials, the former is sensitive to light, air and humidity and the latter may not be usable if not properly stored so storage for such materials is of great importance.Though the responsibilities of administering the warehouses are given to each of the warehouses-in-charge, the owner himself also monitors them to ensure that those responsibilities are carried out regularly. Aside from keeping the inventories stored in a safe place, it is also the responsibility of both the warehouse in charge to issue materials to be used in the production. Here are the control policies set as to keeping inventories in the warehouse as indicated in Chapter II. After delivery of purchased inventory, it will then be moved to the warehouse or directly sent to production.The warehouse must be locked when the warehouse-in-charge is not around thus the access is only to the warehouse-in-charge and other authorized personnel. Also, material ledger cards for the inventory item must be maintained b y the warehouse-in-charge. In addition, list of items of each shelf is necessary to have a well-organized inventory. The company complied with the standard of Coltman and Jagels in moving the delivered goods in both warehouses, but facilities in the second warehouse are not maintained so there is a high risk for damage.Locking of the warehouse is also neglected when the warehouse-in- charge is not around resulting to unrestricted access of inventories. Failure in updating the material ledger cards and proper organization of inventories in the warehouse results to problems such as theft. Issuing of inventory such as papers and inks to production When there are job orders, Marivic, the marketing manager, will authorize the approval of such orders to Vanessa, head of the pre-press department.She will then assign one of the production personnel who will do the job and request from one of the warehouse-in-charges to issue the materials needed for the production of that specific order. Bo th the warehouse-in-charge, Nerissa and Dennis, will now be responsible for the issuance of the inventory needed in the production. But sometimes when the warehouse-in-charges are not around or are doing other jobs assigned to them by the owner, they are not the ones who get the needed materials from the warehouse. This issuance of inventories is given a maximum of twenty percent allowance of allotted number of inventory needed in case of spoilage.These are the following standards or control policies which a manufacturing company should follow with regard to its issuance of materials to production in order to arrive at a good and properly organized Inventory Management System. First, the person responsible in receiving a purchase order from a customer must pass on the details of inventory needed for production to the store keeper. Second, the warehouse-in-charge should be the only person authorized to have access in the inventories located in the warehouse.And lastly, the warehouse- in-charge is then required to release inventories to production personnel assigned to a specific job. The first standard, which serves as an internal control was not being followed by the said company with regard to its issuance of inventory to production because Marivic, the marketing manager, who is responsible in receiving purchase orders authorize the approval of order to Vanessa, head of the pre-press department. Vanessa also assigns other personnel to request from one of the warehouses-in-charge to issue the materials needed for the production.Any personnel can enter in the warehouse which does not limit the access of inventory in the warehouse. This only shows that the company did not comply with the second standard as stated above. As for the last standard, the researchers found that the company was not in entire compliance because there were times when the warehouses-in-charge are assigned to do other duties which sometimes require them to be outside the warehouse thereby l eaving it unattended. As a result, other personnel directly get the inventory from the warehouse. Problems encountered by the businessProblems are always present in various parts of a business. These problems must be properly addressed in order to take preventive measures to counterfeit the existence of a more serious one. This is why in any kind of research study, problems are identified and taken into account as an entire analysis for further recommendations by the researchers. In this sense, the researchers were able to identify Metro Print Asia’s problems in their Inventory Management System. This system was a critical part of a printing press being a manufacturing company.Different problems arising from purchasing, warehousing, and issuing of materials to production were considered for it can interfere with the company’s profits and customer services. These problems were inevitable but the effect of such can be minimized. Most of the problems identified in Metro P rint Asia’s inventory management system rooted from the inconsistency of proper implementation of the company’s policy with their inventory control procedures, no segregation of duties and knowledge of the employees in their inventory system is not enough.Such problems encountered in each phase are as follows: Purchasing of inventory such as papers and inks In a manufacturing business, purchasing comprises the initial phase of the whole inventory management process. In this phase, raw materials are acquired to be used in the production process. However, this task requires the combination of knowledge, experience and expertise in handling inventory. Failure to do so will lead to disorganized purchasing process. One of the problems that arise in Metro Print Asia’s inventory management system was the failure of having updated inventory count.Because no updated counts are available, purchasing process becomes time consuming in the sense that the warehouse-in-charge still needs to count the inventories before purchasing. According to Hall (2008), the purchasing process determines the quantity to order, selects a supplier, and prepares a purchase order. It begins with recognizing the need to restock inventories through the observation of inventory records. Also, it was mentioned by Coltman and Jagels (2008) that the inventory counts of the stored products should be taken periodically by specific personnel and compared to perpetual inventory cards.Metro Print Asia has complied in the said procedures stated by Hall (2008) wherein they first gather information on materials to be ordered, conducts canvassing to suppliers, and prepares purchase order. In gathering information on materials to be ordered, it takes time for the warehouse-in-charge to give such information because it is the only time that she will update the said inventory. This problem not only affects the purchasing process, but also the warehousing procedures which make the inventory management system of Metro Print Asia disorganized.Also, even if the company assigns the purchasing of materials to Myrna Lambino, the operating manager, she still needs the approval of the owner to order materials from the supplier. There are times when the owner himself does the ordering without properly communicating with the operating manager. With this scenario, the materials are oftentimes ordered twice. It is a practice, especially in large companies, to control inventories by segregating the responsibilities of personnel to avoid conflict and connivance that may lead to fraud.But taking into account that Metro Print Asia is a small entity, they maximize their work force by assigning other duties to their employees. The operating manager is an example of this; she was authorized by the owner to purchase inventory materials aside from doing her usual job. The owner was the former person in charge in purchasing their inventory materials, but since he is hands-on in running his business and is out from time to time, he is no longer capable in doing such task.But even as he had delegated this work to Myrna, he still oftentimes purchases the needed materials without referring to Myrna. With respect to the problems identified in purchasing, miscommunication between the owner and the operating manager as to ordering inventories can be solved. The existence of purchase orders will not confuse both the owner and the operating manager on what, when and how much inventories are to be ordered. Warehousing of inventory such as papers and inks Warehousing is the phase where the purchased materials are stored and kept in good condition intended for its use.The complexity of the warehouse structure depends on the type of materials stored therein. Just like in the case of Metro Print Asia where their main inventories are papers and inks, papers must be properly stored since they are sensitive to different weather conditions. The researchers found problems concerning the disorganized storing of materials like large sized papers lying directly on the warehouse floor which may cause spoilage or damage. Bizmanualz, Inc. (2008) cited that storage refers to protecting inventory from damage, shrinkage and theft.Coltman and Jagel (2008) also provided a control practice that immediately after goods have been delivered and all receiving checks performed, they should be moved to storage areas or sent directly to the department that requested them. Proper storage facilities should be used. Metro Print Asia provided two warehouses in order to have room for all the inventories. However, these inventories are still not protected from damages because they do not have enough warehouse storing facilities such as cabinets and shelves. In addition, items are not properly labeled, maintained and updated by the warehouses-in-charge.One standard to aid in the inventory count is the use of preprinted inventory sheets that list items in the same order as they are located on storeroom shelves. Metro Print Asia segregated its inventories according to their sizes where one warehouse accommodates smaller papers, and the other big sized ones without labeling them. Thus, they find it hard to physically check and count the inventories stored. Moreover, the warehouse-in-charge has no regular inspection on the conditions of the materials which can result to high percentage of obsolescence or damage.Both the warehouses-in-charge also do other duties aside from administering the warehouses causing poor performance on their primary duty. It was stated that segregation of duties must be followed, but since it was also mentioned that Metro Print Asia is a small company, it is inevitable that employees are expected to be assigned to do another job. Therefore, every so often, Nerrisa or Dennis is busy doing his/her other duties and leaves the warehouse unattended that is why production personnel can get materials easily for production without authority, because of these, inventories are susceptible to theft.It should be followed that storage areas should be locked when the storekeeper is not present and that access to storerooms should be limited to the storekeeper and other authorized employees. Stated in chapter II of this study, one of the common problems with inventory system is due to unqualified employees in-charge of inventory. In Metro Print Asia’s case, two of its warehouses-in-charge lack knowledge regarding the management of inventories. The owner did not give a specific policy for hem to follow, thus the responsibilities and objectives of a properly controlled inventory were not clear to the assigned personnel. Issuing of inventory such as papers and inks to production Issuance of materials to production can also be critical. This requires issuing the materials to the right person assigned to the job. However, this is not strictly implemented since any of MPA’s personnel are allowed to get hold of the items whenever the warehouse-in-charge is assigned to work outside office or on another job.When this happens, the warehouse-in-charge needs to go elsewhere thereby leaving the warehouse open to anybody who needs materials. The standard mentioned in the chapter II of this study states that person responsible in receiving a purchase order from a customer must pass on the details of inventory needed for production to the storekeeper. Metro Print Asia failed to comply with this standard since any of the production personnel can present the request for materials to the warehouse in charge. Another problem is when they issue damaged materials for production process and were only identified during production.This happens when the warehouse-in-charge or other employees simply get materials in the warehouse without properly checking if those are free from damages. The standard in chapter II indicates that the storekeeper should be the only person authorizes to have access on the inventories located in the warehouse and release these inventories to specified person assigned to the job. Said standard was not followed by Metro Print Asia since accessibility to the warehouse is made open to anybody who needs the materials especially when the warehouse in charge is not around.Thus, in certain cases, damaged materials are issued to production because checking of materials before issuing is not done. Also, Metro Print Asia failed to track the right inflows and outflows of inventories in the warehouse. Another standard mentioned by Coltman and Jagels (2008), storage areas should be locked when the warehouse in charge is not present. Metro Print Asia did not conform to this standard so access to inventories is not limited to the authorized personnel only.Proposed measures to the problems identified With every problem, there is always a solution. In Metro Print Asia’s case, the researchers proposed the following measures in order to help improve the recent condition of Metro Print Asia ’s Inventory Management System in terms of purchasing, warehousing and issuing of materials to production. Purchasing of inventory such as papers and inks As to failure of having updated inventory count, the management should impose a well-defined process of updating inventory count, e. g. aintaining and placing a list in every material, so as to determine the level of stocks per item. In this manner, level of materials to be ordered can be determined easily thus, resulting to a controlled ordering process. Log books are needed in each warehouse in order to monitor the flow of materials from purchasing to issuance for production. And with regard to overstocking of materials due to miscommunication of the two persons in charge in purchasing, the operating manager will be the only person in charge to do the purchasing.The owner will only inspect by checking the bulletin board provided by the operating manager which shows the updated inventory that are still needed to purchase. Warehousing of inventory such as papers and inks The researchers suggested that the management should properly orient their employees before sending them to actual operations regarding their tasks and duties. The researchers also proposed that the management should set a specific poli