Strengths and Weaknesses of Structural Realism Essay

Strengths and Weaknesses of Structural Realism - Essay Example In midst of such scenario and global order, numbers of variables are drawn as metric of power. These include the economic dependency of others, the military might and strategic influence enactment. The absence of humane sentiment: The fact the world order is established on the principles of military and political might makes the theory the best recipe for present day circumstances. A nation without any stronger military force or any stronger armament unit would stand no chance in the battles and wars enforced. The case of cold war may stand as an example where the military alliances and other aggressive alliances came into existence on the account of the fact that the countries were stronger. A nation with greater say in context of military saying made it more suitable a choice for becoming an ally in the Cold war scenario which had split the world in to two distinct poles. This theory enables the nations considering the fact that the best way to establish a say and have dominance is through military and other facets strengthening. It allows for clear definition and demarcation of the means of possession that are essential. It supports its claims based on the events that took place in the Cold war that lasted for over five decades. This enables equipping oneself to the required level of defense and the subsequent budget that is needed for this purpose. Nationalism is one of the most powerful force that brings the people together. The theory in place brings the people alive through the spirit and concept of nationalism. It brings their patriotic sentiments out of them making for a strong shield against any outside offensive and counter alliance that may be in place at given time period. The theory is crafted in a way that would provide little regard to the sentiments and humane element, rather the order of the day is built along the lines of survival of the fittest and struggle for

Soviet Victory in the Eastern Front Secured Allied Victory in World War II Essay Example for Free

Soviet Victory in the Eastern Front Secured Allied Victory in World War II Essay I. Introduction The Second World War (1939 1945) was the most devastating and dreadful in the history of humanity. As the German troops and its allies advances in the western and eastern   fronts of   Europe as well   as in Africa , the Middle East and Asia, thousands of lives were lost and the damaged to property was almost incalculable.   Perhaps fifty million people died, both soldiers and civilians (Perry 713). In the early days and months of the war,   it seems that the Allied forces was in the losing end of the battle as European nations were invaded and occupied by the German Nazi forces.   The Allied powers (Britain and France) were no matched for the German army for the former were not prepared for the war. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union so that in the Eastern Front a fierce war broke out on June 22, 1941. Victory looks inevitable for Germany as they surrounded the city of Leningrad, and advances towards Moscow and Stalingrad. However, the Russian armies and civilians put up a courageous stand, refusing to surrender to Nazi troops for three years amidst the loss of lives in fighting and starvation. Soviet Union’s courageous resistance to German invasion was a major factor in the Allies’ ultimate victory in Europe, as the Germans suffered critical losses and depletion of resources on the war in the Eastern Front (Perry 700-713). This paper   discusses why the Soviet victory in the eastern front was critical for allied victory in the Second World War. The condition of the Allies in the western front is described as well as the situation in the eastern front where Germany suffered its major losses. II. Allied defeat in the western front By the time that Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, he was already successful in conquering and occupying most of Europe and rendered the Allied forces in the western front almost at his mercy. There are several reasons for this: A. Germany was prepared to dominate Europe Germany’s invasion of other European nations was planned in spite of the world’s efforts to prevent another world war. The Treaty of Versailles, as part of its provision for Germany, ordered the nation to reduce its army, limiting it only to 100,000 to   Ã‚  ensure that it will not indulge in another foolish idea of starting another war which the world had horribly witnessed and endured in 1914-1918.   However, Adolf Hitler, the German Fuhrer, rose to power in the early 1930’s. His first step in restoring Germany’s power was to rebuild its military forces, which the Versailles Treaty forbade. Under the Weimar Republic, Germany had begun secretly to rearm on a small scale. In 1935, Hitler openly declared that Germany would build a peacetime army of 550,000 men. This was a clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles (Perry 696).   In 1939, the German Imperial Office for Economic Planning of Warfare published the results of the census. They had stated â€Å"In the course of Germany’s rearmament, the economic planning of warfare increasingly came to the forefront. As the experience of the World War has shown for a country as Germany a clarification of the economic problems of warfare is of paramount importance for the result of a war† (   Fremdling 3 ). Moreover, Hitler had assessed that a slow form of warfare will only deplete their resources and led the people to be discouraged with war. He had envisioned a quick invasion and occupation through the use of the nation’s resources, advance technology and preparation.   Hitler also prepared the people psychologically for the upcoming war. Propaganda campaigns were successively launched to prepare the population for wartime sacrifices (Overy 2000). Britain and France renounced German rearmament, but neither nation took action. Both wanted to preserve peace. Britain was not prepared for war and France was not ready to fight alone. Overall, in spite of its preparation, Germany could not be considered as superior to the combine powers of Britain or France or other European nations that it had invaded. The Germans had in fact fewer and poorer-quality tanks but they emphasized high standards of training and operational preparation and technical efficiency. Furthermore, the policy of appeasement, where peacekeeping nations granted Hitler’s demands to avoid war, had largely helped Hitler to occupy European nations and territories in the first days and months of the war. He then used the food resources of this conquered nations to feed his forces and use their weapons, fuel and machines for warfare (Perry 699). At the start of the war, then, the German army was already prepared to dominate Europe.   In the years following the First World War, they had studied their mistakes, especially with the use of trench warfare, and opted for Blitzkrieg, a lightning attack that employed tanks and mobility to defeat an enemy before help from the allies arrived. They spent years perfecting the use of the new weapons of war tanks, armored divisions and air power (Overy 2000; Perry 698). B. Allied powers   and Europe was   unprepared and opposed war Despite the increasing aggression of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930’s, Britain and France were reluctant to opposed Germany. It was because they were not yet prepared for another war; for they had not anticipated that a war would break out so soon. They had dutifully observed disarmament and appeasement to avoid conflict in Europe especially as they had just witnessed the horrors of the First World War. So both psychologically and militarily, the two nations were not geared  Ã‚   for battle when Germany turned aggressive. Moreover, in the years after World War I, Britain faced staggering economic problems.   Merchant ships had been lost in the war and it was losing markets to other nations so that Britain had drastically reduced spending for armaments. Like Britain, postwar France faced economic problems, too, for under its soil most of the wars in the First World War were fought. Villages, farms and railroads had been destroyed. Retreating German’s had wrecked mines, factories, forest, and orchards. In addition, millions of young Frenchmen had been killed or wounded. To help them rebuild, the French had counted on Germany’s payment of reparations. In 1922, however, Germany declared it cannot pay no more. By the time Germany  Ã‚   threatened the peace in Europe, France was able to form a large army but it relied mainly on the defenses of the Maginot Line, its huge border fortifications. Built in the 1930’s the line was a series of massive forts and underground shelters, proceeded by minefields. It stretched the length of France’s border with Germany (Perry 699). Aside from the reluctance of the   two Allied superpowers ( Britain and France) to enter the war,   the early victory of   Germany was due to the fact that other   Europeans, including   the British,   thought that the treaty of Versailles were treating the Germans unfairly   hence,  Ã‚   there was a widespread   German sympathy at first. That is why Germany was unopposed when it invaded territories under the argument of self-determination (the right of national groups to determine their own political status, for example, Czech lands occupied by Germans would belong to Germany).   Besides, communism, led by Russia, was rising in Europe and to many people in Europe, Hitler’s fascism seemed more acceptable and stable (this was of course in the days when nations did not yet see how cruel Hitler really was)(Perry 670). C. United States noninvolvement The United States was a big help in winning the First World War for the allies. Like in the first war, United States at first did not interfere with what happened in Europe. In short, the American people once again wish to stay out of European wars.   In the 1930’s, many believed that US decision to participate in the   First World War was a grave mistake so that Congress passed the Neutrality Act that â€Å"isolates† the US from any armed conflict around the world. The provision of the Act does not allow the US to intervene, participate or interfere in a war between two countries (Perry 699). D. Nazi-Soviet Pact prevents Russia from stopping Germany Although the Soviet Union fought against Germany in the First World War, in the second war it agreed to enter in a Nazi-Soviet Pact.   This pact of friendship and nonaggression was signed between Germany and Soviet Union in August 1939. In this pact, the Soviet Union agreed, in return for half of Poland, not to interfere with Hitler’s invasion. Although Britain and France do not trust the Soviet Union, this move stunned France and Britain for they needed Soviet Union, which had a large army,  Ã‚   at their side especially to defend Poland. Therefore,   because the powers of the Soviet Union was put on hold as a consequence of the pact, early on the morning of September 1, 1939 ,   German troops marched into Poland, and German planes bombed railroad and cities. Country after country then fell to Germany and its allies, the Axis powers. In 1940, Nazi forces occupied Denmark and attacked Norwegian ports which were vital for German war effort. In the next month, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg also surrendered to Hitler, after heavy bombings had devastated cities and terrorized the civilian population. France then fell to German hands in June 1940. With the fall of France, Britain now stood alone to oppose Germany. Meanwhile, Germany became stronger as German troops were feed with the supplies of conquered lands and use their weapons for wars (Perry 700). III. Soviet invasion and victory in the eastern front Historians agree that Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union was Hitler’s biggest mistake (Perry 699). Hitler had ensured before that the Soviet Union will not interfere with his war plans in Europe and the latter had been successful in occupying almost all European countries, and even those in Africa, without any intervention of Russia. Yet he pushed beyond his limits and chose to takeover a country that had been unconquered in all wars, the Soviet Union. In this nation, Hitler squandered most of his military resources.   Two decisive battles that was a turning point for the Allies was the battle in Stalingrad and Kursk. A. Hitler’s ambition While British resistance continued in the western front, Hitler was planning to open a second front and attack the Soviet Union. Even though Hitler and Stalin had made a nonaggression pact, one of Hitler’s aims had always been to destroy communism and seize Soviet territory.   He wanted land for German settlers, rich grain fields to feed the German nation, and oil, and coal, and iron ore to supply the German war machines. To prepare the way for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler’s forces occupied Bulgaria and overran Greece and Yugoslavia. By June 1941, Germany had 3,300 tanks, 5,000 planes and nearly four million soldiers (including from Italy, Romania, Finland and Hungary) massed long the Soviet border. Although Britain and other democratic western countries do not trust the Soviet Union, nevertheless, they were ready to extend aid when Germany attacked it. Soviet Union was included in the United States Land-Lease Act of March 1941, wherein President Roosevelt was allowed by the US Congress to sell, lease or lend military equipment to nations whose defense was vital to American security. Aid was estimated to have reached about $11 billion in war material under that program (Perry 703). B. Soviet Union Resistance and victory At first, it seemed that Hitler was unstoppable even in the eastern front. It was in December 1940 that Hitler planned to invade the Soviet Union after he was successful in the western front. His war tactics in invading Russia was no different from what he had used in the west, which was using blitzkrieg or â€Å"lightning war† that used quick massive attacks on land and in the air. He began his assault in June 1941 wherein he divided his three million forces into three groups to attack the north, center and south of Russia using a series of devastating pincer movements. The Soviets were surprised and unprepared for this invasion so that it took only four months for German forces to penetrate towards Leningrad and Moscow (Overy 2000). Soviet armies suffered enormous losses in the first months of the German offensive, holding back the invaders while slowly retreating. By the first week in October 1941, German troops were only fifty miles from Moscow. The people of the Soviet Union suffered great hardship. In September, German forces surrounded the city of Leningrad, trapping some three million people there with only enough food and supplies for a short time. The siege was not completely ended for more than two years. Nearly a million people died from starvation and disease (Perry   Ã‚  701; Werth 442). As the Soviet troops withdrew, they burned crops in the fields and destroyed equipment. These â€Å"scorched earth† tactics left no food or supplies for the advancing Germans. The arrival of autumn rains and winter snow slowed the German offensive, for blitzkrieg tactics were not effective on muddy, snowy roads. Fresh Soviet troops arrived from Siberia with winter equipment, while the Germans shivered in summer uniforms as the temperature dropped to 30 degrees below zero. The Russian winter stopped the German army much as it had defeated Napoleon’s Grand Army over a century earlier. The attacking Germans were nearing to their target but failed to capture it because of physical and mental exhaustion and shortage of personnel (Perry 701). Despite the setbacks of the winter of 1941-1942, the next spring and summer brought a new German offensive in the Soviet Union. The main target of the German attack was Stalingrad on the Volga River. The city was a vital center for north-south transportation by river, railroad and canal (Fitzgibbon 214). In late August, German troops reached the Volga. Six hundred German planes bombarded Stalingrad, enveloping it in flames and killing 40,000 civilians. By September 1, German soldiers were in the suburbs, but people would not abandon their city. Soviet soldiers and civilians fought house to house and street to street. In the words of a Soviet general, the defenders fought â€Å"for every brick and stone, for every yard of Stalingrad earth†. Stalingrad became no longer a town. By day, it was an enormous cloud of burning, blinding smoke. In late November, Soviet Marshal Georgi Zhukov brought in new troops. They began a â€Å"pincer† movement, closing in from two sides and threatening to trap the German Sixth Army in the city (Perry 702). Zhukov had stated â€Å"It was clear to me that the battle of Stalingrad was of the utmost military and political importance. The fall of the city would enable the German command to cut off the south of the Soviet Union from the rest of the country. We might lose the great waterway of the Volga River, on which a heavy flow of goods was moving from the Caucasus† (Slabad 132). Exhausted and short of food, medical supplies, weapons, and ammunition, the German commander begged Hitler to order a withdrawal. Instead, Hitler’s Lufwaffe commander, Herman Goering, tried unsuccessfully to send in supplies by plane (Perry 702). Finally, in February 1943, the remnants of the German troops in Stalingrad surrendered. In this surrender, it was estimated that 300,000 German soldiers from the German 6th Army was taken prisoner by the Russians and this capture was considered by most historians as one of the turning points for the fall of Germany. The German armies attributed this defeat directly to Hitler who had been undecided when and where to actually strike in the Soviet Union so that his troops had suffered in the Russian winter. Many had felt that Hitler had led his forces to danger in overstretched steppe of southern Russia. In addition, they blamed Hitler for interfering in military strategies when he took direct command of the German forces in December 1941. Nevertheless, in spite of this, there was a general belief among Hitler’s generals that the Soviet Union was weak in the south and therefore was not capable of any serious resistance (Overy 2000). Meanwhile, in 1943 the Germans attacked Kursk in Operation Citadel (the German code name for the Kursk offensive). Kursk was situated halfway between Moscow and the Black sea.   In this attack an order was issued that German tank production be increased to a capacity of 600 units per month.(Fitzgibbon 215). Around 900,000 German troops was deployed for this battle including 2, 700 tanks and 2,000 warplanes around Kursk (Dupuy Martell 76). The Soviets were not ignorant of this attacked for the Russian intelligence and Lucy spy ring delivered to them pertinent information regarding the details of the offense. The Germans planned the attack in Kursk well; they build a defense stretching 250-300 kilometers from west to east (Caidin 74). Yet the fierce resistance of the Russian army forced the Germans to give up long stretches of held ground and before long they had retreated in Dnieper so that instead of pushing inland in the eastern front they were repelled to the west (Overy 2000). Needles to say, the Soviet Supreme Command was victorious in the battle at Kursk and were now preparing to liberate Soviet territories that were overtaken by the Germans in the south. In 1943, two-thirds of those German occupied territories were liberated and slowly but surely the Russians were now pushing the battles towards the west, approaching the borders of other German conquered nations. The Russian offensive would eventually take them to Berlin (Perry 705). Yet Hitler’s potential to conquer Russia was big at first especially if he drove straight to Moscow, the heart of Russia, instead of maneuvering down to the south after he already incurred severe Russian losses. Winning Russia at his side would greatly increase his capacity to dominate all of Europe and remove the Russian threat. However, his mistaken military diversions in Russia had needlessly plunged his troops to face the Russian winter in summer clothing and made him lose war resources. The Soviet Union also had other advantages. The advantage of the Soviet Union to other nations in times of battle is that it is a big country of large army and fierce winter that can stop its enemies in their tracks. Instead of expanding its power, it is in the battle in the eastern front that Germany suffered it severest losses, for they had deployed millions of men there along with thousands of tanks. The Soviet Union was in fact the place where Hitler gambled in the war.   It is estimated that 80% of German casualties was incurred in the battle in the eastern front which   stretches 1000 miles (Perry 703).   Historians were unanimous in declaring World War II was won in the east (Overy 2000). Many historians agree that as long as Hitler was not in war with Russia, he had options and possibilities of winning the Second World War. And even if he did invade Russia, he should have gone to Moscow directly and convinced the Russian people that he was going to liberate them from Stalin’s communism but as such, he was already known for Nazi brutality (Perry 703).

Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate

Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate Surface Area vs. Reaction Rate How does the surface area of pure cane sugar cubes affect the rate of dissolution in water? Chandler Hultine Abstract The purpose of this lab was to investigate how surface area affects the reaction rate of a substance in a solution. This lab was put together to find out how differentiating surface areas of pure cane sugar cubes would affect the rate of dissolution in water. The investigation was undertaken by using five different groups of sugar cubes, each group having a different surface area than the others. The cubes were submerged and stirred in a solution of water until they completely dissolved, and the time it that it took them each to dissolve was recorded. The longer the time it took for the cubes to dissolve, the slower the reaction rate, and vice versa. The initial hypothesis, if the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more collisions of particles to occur at a time, was accepted due to a positive correlation between dissolution times and surface area of cubes. The more broken up a cube was, the faster it tended to dissolve in water and vice versa, because the more broken up cubes had more surface area. (Abstract Words: 212) Introduction The overall aim of this lab is to investigate how surface area is related to reaction rate in terms of the dissolution rate of a substance in a solution. This lab will be experimenting with sugar cubes of the same volume, but different surface areas to see how exactly surface area affects the rate of dissolution. How does the surface area of pure cane sugar cubes affect the rate of dissolution in water? If the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more collisions of particles to occur at a time.3,6 With most things in life, size is a very important factor that people consider in many choices they make, whether it be deciding between the newest smartphones or burning wood chips versus entire logs in a fire.1 Seeing how size affects something is key when taking an item/idea and making it more effective. The purpose of this experiment is to see how the amount of surface area of a substance is related to the reaction rate when said substance is placed into a solution.5 This investigation is to see how the reaction rate of a substance can be either increased or decreased when placed into a solution. Investigation For the investigation, a variety of sources that related to how surface and dissolution/reaction rates are related. The [main] sources include but are not limited to: Research on the topic done by NASA, An excerpt from Ansel’s Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems, And experiment research from sciencebuddies.org titled Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?. These sources have provided a great amount of background information, especially the article by NASA involving an explanation on the correlation between surface areas and reaction rates. Materials In order to complete this experiment, the following materials were required: 25 Sugar cubes (any brand, just make sure all the same) 1 Timer 5 Beakers (250mL) 1 Pipet 1 Thermometer 1 Knife 1 Paper towel or piece of paper (cut sugar cubes on) 1 Hammer or weighted object (to crush one of the sugar cubes into a powder like state) 1 Pencil and paper (to record observations) 1 Stirring device of any kind (like a chopstick) Constants Water source, brand of beakers, size of beakers, amount of water, stirring device, type of sugar cube, temperature of water, temperature of surroundings, temperature of beakers, cuts in sugar cubes, pipets, timer, thermometer Procedure Divide the 25 sugar cubes into groups of five so that each group has five sugar cubes. Leave the first group untouched. This will be the group that has the smallest surface area. Take the second group of five sugar cubes and, using the knife, cut each cube in half. Take the third group of sugar cubes and cut each cube into quarters (cut each one in half then cut the halves in half). The fourth group will be cut into eighths. The last group of sugar cubes will be completely ground up into a powder. This will be the group with the greatest surface area. Once all the cubes are cut up and put into groups, fill up each of the 5 beakers with water to the 200mL mark. Use a pipet to make the measurement precise. Wait 30 minutes after filling the beakers with water to ensure they are all room temperature. Begin with the uncut sugar cube. With the timer and stirring device at hand, place the uncut cube into the water-filled beaker and begin the timer and stirring as soon as the sugar cube is placed in the water. Stir the sugar cube in the water until it completely dissolves/disappears in the water. Stop the timer as soon as the sugar cube completely dissolves. Record the results on a pre-made data table. Repeat steps 6 to 9 for all variants of the sugar cube for one group. Repeat the entire experiment for all 5 groups of sugar cubes, making sure that one group is finished before moving onto another group. DO NOT finish dissolving all of the sugar cubes of one specific surface area size and then moving onto another set of the same surface area sized cubes; make sure the experiment is carried out group by group. Treat each group with the five different surface area sized sugar cubes as an individual experiment. This way a total of 5 experiments will be carried out. Data Trial 1 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 412 Half 217 Quarter 123 Eighth 82 Powder 51 Trial 2 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 401 Half 202 Quarter 150 Eighth 77 Powder 58 Trial 3 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 426 Half 236 Quarter 120 Eighth 68 Powder 47 Trial 4 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 455 Half 241 Quarter 117 Eighth 81 Powder 55 Trial 5 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 423 Half 221 Quarter 136 Eighth 71 Powder 52 Mean time for full sugar cube: 423.4 Mean time for half sugar cube: 223.4 Mean time for quarter sugar cube: 129.2 Mean time for eighth sugar cube: 75.8 Mean time for powder sugar cube: 52.6 Results and Discussion The results of this experiment show that a more broken up sugar cube resulted in a faster dissolution rate of the cube in water, and vice versa when there were longer rates of dissolution for sugar cubes that were less broken up. Since the purpose of this experiment was to find the relationship between surface area and reaction rate, this experiment was successful. Trial 1 data shows the times nearly being cut in half as the sugar cube becomes more crushed up, except for the transition between the powder and sugar cube broken up into eighths. Trial 2 data also shows the time between each tier of sugar cubes being split in half as the surface area increases. However, this is not true for the half-broken up and quarter-broken up sugar cubes. The time in seconds for dissolution rate for those two sugar cubes only had a difference of ~50 seconds, which is not even close to half. This makes me wonder what happened during that part of the lab, because the data does not follow the conventional trend like the rest of my experiment results. A possible source of error for this trial was that I did not collect all of the sugar from the sugar cube after it was cut. When all of the sugar is not completely collected, the data can become skewed because not all of the sugar cube is actually being dissolved in the solution. Trials 3, 4, and 5 all show around the similar results. The times are very close to each other for each size sugar cube that was dissolved. Trials 3, 4, and 5 are also relatively close to the data shown in trial 1. This shows that there was a little less precision that went into trial 2. What does all of this data mean? Well for starters, the data and experiment are relevant for any other experiment out there that tries to determine the relation between surface area and reaction rate. The reason for this is because whenever different rates of reaction are being tested for, a change in the surface area of a reactant/variable will have an effect on the rate of reaction, because the alteration of surface area means that the frequency of particle collisions is altered as well.1,3,7 For example, if the surface area (of an object that is about to be placed in a solution) is doubled, that means there will be twice as much area for particles to potentially interact with on the object as compared to the original object that has the original surface area.3 This is true for all aspects of reaction rate; surface area plays a substantial role whenever reaction rate is tested for.1,3 Conclusion Initial Hypothesis: If the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more reaction between water and sugar cube to occur at one time.3,6 There was a strong, positive correlation between the data that was collected and the initial hypothesis. From looking at the data, it is apparent that the cubes that were more broken up that had more surface area dissolved much faster than a cube that was less broken up and did not have as much surface area. The data shows that more surface area does mean faster reaction rate, and vice versa.3 The powder/completely crushed up sugar cube had the quickest time for dissolution in water which was on average 52.6 seconds, whereas the full sugar cube that was untouched and had the smallest amount of surface area had the slowest time for dissolution which was on average 423.4 seconds. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted with the support of the data. The larger cubes that were not cut up took the longest to completely dissolve, whereas the finely crushed up cubes dissolved quickest.5 The accuracy of this experiment could be slightly improved in the future by adapting a more consistent and reliable method of stirring the sugar cubes around when they are placed in water. This would improve the accuracy of the time that each cube takes to completely dissolve in the solution of water. Bibliography Reaction Rates. Publication. NASA, n.d. Web. 1 Allen, Loyd V., Nicholas G. Popovich, Howard C. Ansel, and Howard C. Ansel.Ansels Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins, 2005. Print. 2 Clark, Jim. The Effect of Surface Area on Rates of Reaction.The Effect of Surface Area on Rates of Reaction. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. 3 Bayer HealthCare, 2005. Temperature and Rate of Reaction, Bayer HealthCare, LLC [accessed May 8, 2007]http://www.alka-seltzer.com/as/experiment/student_experiment1.htm. 4 Olson, Andrew. Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?Science Buddies, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. 5 Kenneth Connors, Chemical Kinetics, 1990, VCH Publishers, pg. 14 6 Isaacs, N.S., Physical Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition, Section 2.8.3, Adison Wesley Longman, Harlow UK, 1995. 7 (Bibliography Words: 126)

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Short Summary of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story of a boy living on the Mississippi River during the 1840's. It relates the experiences of Huck and Jim, a runaway slave. The book is a continuation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and recaptures its playful, lighthearted spirit. The book begins with Huck living with Widow Douglas who is trying to "sivilize" him. He finds this lifestyle terribly constricting but he tries to make a the best of the situation. The narrative takes a darker tone with the return of Pap Finn, Huck's drunken father. A judge rejects Judge Thatcher and the Widow Douglas' attempt to be appointed Huck's legal guardian, and Pap goes on a drinking binge to celebrate his victory. Pap excepts to get Huck's entire fortune and takes Huck to a deserted cabin three miles upriver, to keep a close eye on him. Huck is unhappy, fakes his own death, and escapes in a canoe to Jackson's Island. On his third day on the island, Huck meets Jim, a black boy, whom he knows from Hannibal. It turns out that Jim has run away from his master, to seek his freedom. The two boys get along very well and forge a strong friendship. After several weeks, Huck gets word that the island is about to be searched for Jim. The two pack up some things, and head down the river on a raft. Their plan is to reach Cairo, Illinois, where they will take a steamboat up the Ohio River to the free states. Their attempts are thwarted by poor weather conditions and they soon discover that they have passed the small town of Cairo in the fog. The two boys change their plans and continue their journey downriver. During the journey, Huck and Jim's friendship grows considerably, and the two become like family. Huck and Jim are separated when their raft hits a steamboat and Huck goes ashore to stay with a family, the Grangerford's. Huck soon becomes involved in their ongoing feud and leaves when several family members are killed. Huck finds Jim and they are able to continue their journey. At one point, they meet two swindlers, known as the King and Duke. The boys let the men join them on their raft and they in turn participate in their escapades. In one town that the group reaches, King and the Duke stage a "Shakespearean Revival" and they take in over $400.

The Financial Performance Measures Accounting Essay

During the last old ages, more and more attending is paid to the fillip construction of CEOs of big multinationals. CEO bonuses has become an international issue debated in the parliament and routinely featured in front-page headlines, screen narratives, and telecasting intelligence shows. Several factors have contributed to the widespread involvement in CEO fillips. First, the compensation of CEO has risen aggressively during the last decennaries ( Murphy, 1999 ) . Secondly, some houses in the Netherlands were in existent problem during the fiscal crisis, they needed fiscal aid from the authorities, but their CEOs still got a fillip ( Hooft van Huysduynen, 2011 ) . But since the regulations about CEO compensation were wholly ill-defined for companies which needed fiscal aid from the authorities, more arguments were held in the authorities and regulations were changed often. This contributed to the widespread involvement of the topic of executive compensation in The Netherlands ( de Horde, 2011 ) . And in conclusion, there has besides been an detonation in academic research on executive compensation, which contributed to the rosen involvement of CEO bonus-structure ( Murphy, 1999 ) .CEO compensationThe compensation bundles negotiated with main executive officers ( CEOs ) of big corporations largely contains four basic constituents: a base wage, an one-year fillip tied to accounting public presentation, stock options, and long term inducement programs ( including restricted stock programs and multi-year accounting-based public presentation programs ) ( Murphy, 1999 ) . The incentive constituent frequently is comprised of both an one-year fillip program and a long-run inducement program, where the final payments from these programs depend on an intricate portfolio of public presentation steps ( Bushman et al, 1996 ) . The compensation commission can take different public presentation steps, including stock return, accounting return and non-financial steps, to fin d how much of each signifier of compensation the CEO will gain ( Krolick, 2005 ) . Paying CEOs based on short tally accounting net incomes provides inducements to increase short-term net incomes ( by, for illustration, cutting R & A ; D ) even if making so reduces value in the long tally. Conceptually, the â€Å" perfect † public presentation step for a CEO is the Chief executive officer ‘s personal part to the value of the house. This part includes the consequence that the CEO has on the public presentation of others in the organisation, and besides the effects that the CEO ‘s actions this twelvemonth have on public presentation in future periods. Unfortunately, the CEO ‘s part to tauten value is about ne'er straight mensurable ; the available steps will necessarily except ways that the CEO creates value, and include the effects of factors non due to the attempts of the CEO, or neglect to uncover ways that the CEO destroys value ( Murphy, 2013 ) . A long line of literature has argued that compensation should be related to public presentation. The grounds for the linkage are both normative and positive. In a normative sense, compensation is considered just if it has been †earned † through superior public presentation. In a positive sense, bureau theoreticians argue that associating compensation to tauten public presentation steps provides inducement to increase steadfast value ( Balsam, 2002 ; Lewellen and Huntsman, 1970 ; Murphy, 1985 ) .Fiscal public presentation stepsFiscal public presentation steps consists of steps of hard currency flow, net income, earnings-per-share, gross revenues, economic value added, return on invested capital, return on assets, return on equity, return on gross revenues, stock monetary value return and cost decrease ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . The literature paperss that i ¬?nancial accounting steps, particularly steps of proi ¬?tability, are extensively used in executive compensation c ontracts. There is grounds of widespread, expressed usage of proi ¬?tability steps in the one-year fillip programs and in the long-run public presentation programs of corporate executives. The inexplicit usage of proi ¬?tability steps in the board of manager ‘s rating and compensation of top oi ¬?cers is supported by a robust, positive statistical relation between proi ¬?tability steps and assorted steps of executive wage, including managerial turnover chances ( Bushman and Smith, 2001 ) . The most of import ground of utilizing fiscal public presentation steps alternatively of utilizing nonfinancial steps, is that fiscal marks are cheaper and easier to mensurate, since all companies are already compulsory to print a balance sheet and an income statement ( Epstein, 2006 ) . Paul ( 1992 ) shows that stock monetary value need non supply efficient inducements in a multi-task scene because monetary value gaining controls the value of the house instead than the value-added by the director. Ittner et Al ( 1997 ) argues that fiscal steps entirely may non supply the most efficient agencies to actuate directors to move in the mode desired by the house ‘s proprietors. While companies use a assortment of fiscal and non-financial public presentation steps in their one-year CEO fillip programs, about all companies rely on some step of accounting net income such as net income, pre-tax income, or operating net income. Accounting net income measured over short intervals is non, nevertheless, a peculiarly good step of the CEOs part to tauten value, for several grounds. First, CEOs routinely make determinations ( such as sequence planning or R & A ; D investings ) that will increase long-term value but non short-term net income. Second, accounting net incomes ( lik e equity-based steps ) are constantly influenced by factors outside of the control of the CEO, including the effects of concern rhythms, universe oil monetary values, natural catastrophes, terrorist onslaughts, etc. Third, while the steps of accounting net incomes typically used in fillip programs take into history both grosss and disbursals, they ignore the chance cost of the capital employed. The usage of these accounting steps provides inducements to put in any undertaking that earns positive accounting net incomes ( non merely those that earn more than the cost of capital ) , and provides no inducements to abandon undertakings gaining positive accounting net incomes that are less than those needed to cover their cost of capital ( Murphy, 2013 ) .Non-financial public presentation stepsNon-financial public presentation steps consists of steps of employee satisfaction, merchandise or service quality, efficiency or productiveness, employee safety, market portion, non-financial strat egic aims, procedure betterments and re-engineering, new merchandise development, invention, employee development and preparation, work force diverseness, leading and client satisfaction ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . Recent grounds indicates that i ¬?rms are progressively utilizing non-i ¬?nancial public presentation steps such as client satisfaction and merchandise quality in the catching procedure within i ¬?rms ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . Anterior literature shows that noni ¬?nancial public presentation can counterbalance for â€Å" noise † and â€Å" end incongruence † of i ¬?nancial public presentation steps. Another desirable undertaking property of noni ¬?nancial steps is their ability to foretell future public presentation and to ease intertemporal fiting between current investings and future returns ( Matejka et al. , 2009 ) . Non-financial public presentation steps are assumed to ease the board ‘s appraisal of private managerial information so it ca n more closely supervise the executive decision-making procedure ( Schiehll and Bellavance, 2009 ) . The ground for the usage of non-financial steps in compensation contracts is that they provide information incremental to accounting steps in rewarding and motivation directors ( Davila and Venkatachalam, 2004 ) .Fiscal CrisisPearson and Clair ( 1998 ) developed a definition for organisational crisis ‘ : †An organisational crisis is a low-probability, high-impact event that threatens the viability of the organisation and is characterized by ambiguity of cause, consequence, and agencies of declaration, every bit good as by a belief that determinations must be made fleetly. † Several illustrations of organisational crisis ‘ are: Extortion, Bribery, Hostile coup d'etat, Information sabotage, Terrorist onslaught, Executive kidnaping, Product callback, Natural catastrophe that destroys corporate central offices ( Pearson and Clair, 1998 ) . The fiscal crisis started in September 2008. Assorted causes of the i ¬?nancial crisis have been cited, including slack ordinance over mortgage loaning, a turning lodging bubble, the rise of derived functions instruments such as collateralized debt duties, and questionable banking patterns ( Kothari and Lester, 2012 ) . This research is concentrating on this fiscal crisis, which started in September 2008, and is still go oning at the minute of composing this thesis. Ittner et Al. ( 1997 ) argues that as the noise in fiscal steps increases, houses tend to put more weight on non-financial steps. At the other side, Matejka et Al. ( 2009 ) i ¬?nd that proi ¬?t urgency and i ¬?nancial hurt ( which make i ¬?nancial public presentation steps more congruent with i ¬?rm ends ) are associated with a lower accent on noni ¬?nancial public presentation steps.Hypothesis developmentAlthough old literature us non consistent the usage of non-financial public presentation steps in times of fiscal crisis, more recent research ( Matejka et al. , 2009 ) leads to the premise that the usage of non-financial public presentation steps in CEO fillip contracts will drop during the current fiscal crisis. Based on this premise, the following hypothesis is developed: Hypothesis 1: The usage of non-financial public presentation steps in CEO fillip contracts has been decreased from 2005 to 2010, due to the impact of the fiscal crisis.III. MethodologyThis subdivision describes the research methods used to look into the empirical association between the fiscal crisis and the usage of non-financial public presentation steps. Sample A mark sample of 27 houses is identified from Dutch companies listed on the Amsterdam Exchange Index ( AEX ) at the beginning of the twelvemonth 2013. No differentiation is made between different sectors, all AEX-listed companies were taken in the sample. Data aggregation Data was collected from proxy statements in one-year studies in two different old ages. To mensurate the consequence of the fiscal crisis, the first twelvemonth which had been measured is 2005, since during 2005 no influence of the fiscal crisis could be perceived. The 2nd twelvemonth which is used to roll up informations, is the twelvemonth 2010. 2010 has been chosen because it was in the center of the fiscal crisis and all informations is now available from this twelvemonth. This research surveies the comparative weights placed on fiscal and non-financial public presentation steps in main executive officer ( CEO ) fillip contracts ( Ittner et al, 1997 ) . This method is similar to the method adopted by Ittner et Al ( 1997 ) and used by Schiehll and Bellavance ( 2009 ) . Variables The empirical theoretical account of this research will be as follow: Y = I ± + I?1Xi +I?2Xi Where Y will incorporate the dependant variable usage of non-financial public presentation steps, I?1 will stand for the state of affairs of the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2005 ( 0 will stand for the usage of a fiscal public presentation step in 2005, and 1 will stand for the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2005 ) , I?2 will stand for the state of affairs of the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2010 ( 0 will stand for the usage of a fiscal public presentation step in 2010, and 1 will stand for the usage of a non-financial public presentation step in 2010 ) , and Xi contains the house.

The Life Beathoven essays

The Life Beathoven essays I sit here listening to Beethovens Symphony No. 5, and wonder who this man was. I went to Ask.com, and asked whom he was, and they had a brief overview of the man. Beethoven, Ludwig van The composer of some of the most influential pieces of music ever written, Ludwig van Beethoven created a bridge between the 18th-century classical period and the new beginnings of Romanticism, ...and did much to enlarge the possibilities of music and widen the horizons of later generations of composers.(unknown author) His greatest breakthroughs in composition came in his instrumental work, including his symphonies. They think he was born Dec. 16 1770 in Bonn, Germany, and baptised on Dec. 17, 1770, the eldest son of a singer in the Kapelle of the Archbishop- Elector of Cologne, and grandson of the Archbishop's Kapellmeister, His father and grandfather worked as court musicians in Bonn. Ludwig's father, a singer, gave him his early musical training. I searched the ISU encyclopedias on his music, and realized that he had a predecessor, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for whom writing music seemed to come easily, Beethoven always struggled to perfect his work. Beethoven had only meager academic schooling, he studied piano, violin, and French horn, and before he was 12 years old he became a court organist. Ludwig's first important teacher of composition was Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787 he studied briefly with Mozart, and five years later he left Bonn permanently and went to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn and later with Antonio Salieri. Beethoven's first public appearance in Vienna was on March 29, 1795, as a soloist in one of his piano concerti. Even before he left Bonn, he had developed a reputation for fine improvisatory performances. In Vienna young Beethoven soon had a long list of aristocratic patrons who loved music and were eager to help him. Something that surprised me and about Beethov ...

The Marxist Perspective on Crime Essays

The Marxist Perspective on Crime Essays The Marxist Perspective on Crime Paper The Marxist Perspective on Crime Paper In sociology, deviance refers to behaviours or actions which are considered abnormal and undesirable; in other words, they contravene cultural/social norms (for example swearing in public). At a certain point in time, a society may decide that some specific acts are so undesirable that they warrant punishment. When laws are passed against deviant acts, they become crimes (for example murder). In this essay, I will look at the Marxist perspective and how it has contributed to the study and understanding of crime and deviance. Whilst Functionalism is a perspective based on value consensus, Marxism holds at its core the theory of conflict and class struggle in society. According to Marx, there is a fundamental division between what he sees are the two classes of society: the capitalists (or bourgeoisie), who own the means of production (e. g. oney, property, raw materials capital) and the working-class, who do not own capital. From a Marxist point of view, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie hold conflicting positions for example, factory workers will inevitably wish for high wages, whilst factory owners will want to maximise their profits by paying workers as little as possible. Marxist criminology is based around the view that crime is a product of the fundamental class conflict in capitalist societies. Marxists argue that the structural-conflict model of capitalism systematically generates crime by holding at its centre severe social inequalities whilst encouraging people to strive for monetary success. The nature of the system is competitive, promoting personal gain rather than collective well-being; it often leads to the exploitation of millions for the profit of a few. Right across the social spectrum, people are persuaded of the importance of material possessions through adverts of the latest fashion item and through the medias portrayal of exclusive lifestyles. Echoing Mertons strain theory, Marxists argue that those with barriers to success, from the businessman to the factory worker, are pressured to break the law in order to achieve the material desires which capitalism encourages. Marxs theory of alienation can be applied to those crimes which have no apparent financial gain, explaining them as an expression of the frustration produced by demeaning and unsatisfying work. For those who are most affected by the systems unequal distribution of wealth, crime can be seen simply as a means for survival. According to Marxists, the state passes laws which protect the interests and reflect the ideology of the ruling class the many laws which protect private property, the essence of capitalism, reflect the expansion of business and trade. They argue that laws which appear to be in the interest of the subject class are in fact just concessions and are there to create a false consciousness, an illusion of equality; they are in place to maintain the power of the ruling class and to keep the subject class under control. From a Marxist point of view, there is a systematic bias in favour of those at the top, and this is evident when looking at how laws are enforced. White-collar crimes, such as corporate/financial frauds, are rarely discovered and even more rarely prosecuted, despite the fact that they can have devastating effects; on the other hand, more visible street crimes are severely punished by the agents of social control. Moreover, people have unequal access to a fair trial having the money to pay for a good lawyer can mean the difference between being found guilty or not guilty. In this light, Marxists play down the significance of official statistics, which predominantly record blue-collar crimes, claiming that they are a social construction and that they do not reflect the truth. Radical criminology, a strand of neo-Marxism, developed in the 1970s through the work of Ian Taylor, Paul Walton and Jock Young as an alternative perspective to traditional Marxist criminology. Like traditional Marxists, they see the economy as the most important part of society and they believe that the inequalities in wealth and power between individuals in capitalist societies are the root cause of crime. However, unlike Marxists, they reject theories suggesting that external forces can direct human behaviour (for example the strain to anomie). Taylor et al insist that crimes are often deliberate acts with political motives, and that deviants are not just the passive victims of capitalism, but that they are actively fighting and trying to alter capitalism. By looking at the states role in the process of criminalisation, radical criminology draws both on Marxism and Interactionism in an attempt to produce a fully social theory of deviance. However, it has been criticised for failing to provide any substantial theories of crime and for offering a utopian socialist model as an alternative to capitalism. New left realism developed in the early 1980s both to compensate for some of the weaknesses of previous Marxist and neo-Marxist theories and to respond to a rise in zero tolerance right-wing policies. Left realists differentiate themselves from Marxists and left idealists by emphasising the significance of working-class street crime and by studying its effect on its victims. John Lea and Jock Young point to evidence from the British Crime Survey that there has been a massive increase in street crime since the Second World War. Whilst agreeing that crime is closely linked to deprivation, they reject the view that poverty is directly responsible for crime, arguing that unemployment levels in the 1930s were high, yet the crime rate was low compared to the 1980s. Their explanation of crime is based around the concepts of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation. According to Lea and Young, deprivation leads to crime when experienced as relative deprivation. When one feels deprived compared to someone else, they may use illegal means to feel less disadvantaged. As well as explaining property and financial crime, relative deprivation can be used to explain violent crime: relative deprivation can create frustration and aggression. The concept of subculture is explained by Lea and Young as a collective response to a groups problem. If a group sufferers from relative deprivation, it may adopt a lifestyle which to cope with their problem, either illegally or legally. The concept of marginalisation refers to groups at the margins of society, those without socio-political representation and clearly defined objectives. Typically, unemployed youths of minority ethnic groups resort to crime as an expression of their resentment to a society which doesnt offer them anything. Essentially, left realism is criticised for failing to explain the causes of crime it relies extensively on victimisation statistics and only takes into account the views of victims on certain issues. Also, left realism fails to explain why some people who suffer from relative deprivation commit crime and others do not. However, it has highlighted the importance of understanding street crime and has influenced crime tackling policies. The traditional Marxist perspective on crime has been essential in illustrating the many flaws of capitalism and pointing out that crime is not exclusively a working class phenomenon. In many respects, however, it has a rather simplistic view on the relations of power in capitalist societies. Moreover, it is in large part race and gender blind, and it emphasises the significance of corporate crime at the expense of other crimes. Most importantly of all, perhaps, it wrongly assumes that a communist system would eliminate crime. Despite these criticisms, Marxism has produced a basis for the understanding of crime and has influenced numerous new approaches which further enrich the study of crime and deviance.

Whos Tooth is it Anyway

Response to: Whos Tooth is it Anyway? Julie Kazimiroff, dental professor at NYU College of Dentistry, attempts to cover the issue of cusp patterns with respect to relatedness among the hominoids. She starts off by posing a question regarding the 5 cusp (Y-5) molar pattern present in extant primates. To begin with, she emphasizes the importance of teeth to phylogenetics, as they are often times all that survives from an organism. DNA is brought into the paper to explain how testing techniques have been utilized to enhance the answering of relatedness questions, particularly in terms of chimps, apes and humans. In her title she mentions Dryopithecus, an early dental ape thought to be an early hominoid. Dryopithecus possessed the Y-5 cusp pattern found among the extant primates, and this paper seems to indicate that it actually may be the origination of such a pattern in terms of the beginning of the hominoid lineages. In tracking an answer to the question posed, it appears that it lies in the study of mammalian molarization. It was here that a pattern emerged which seemed to define what was characteristic of primates, the Dryopithecus pattern, that of the Y-5 cusp pattern. In tracing the pattern, it was determined that it could be found in not only extant groups of primates, but in extinct groups such as those ancestral to the great apes and gibbons also. By combining the fossil evidence provided by the molar pattern data with the molecular data, it was determined that the gibbons was the earliest branch of the Hominoidea, and all primates are related through this pattern. The article goes beyond primates in addressing the question however, as reference to reptiles and the idea that their triangular molars ( 3 cusps) are considered to be principle cusps that have evolved over time as mammals began to emerge, carrying and modifying the cusps and patterns according to species divergences in

Discuss the role of the professional nurse in relation to a public Essay

Discuss the role of the professional nurse in relation to a public health issue - Essay Example Analysis of the distinct needs and problems of mentally unfit people, as a result of alcohol abuse will be initially discussed. The role of professional nurses in order to deal with the problem will also be discussed in detail. Consumption or abuse of alcohol may be a reason or a result of mental depression and ill health. Alcoholic abuse severally affects the personal as well as professional lives of the patients. These problems may take the form of family conflict, job loss and financial problems (Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, 2002). These issues eventually lead to serious mental problems like increased levels of anxiety and depression. But the abuser initially experiences placebo effect on consumption of alcohol, a state of feeling illusionary pleasures. Later the exploitation of alcohol starts to exert a depressing effect on the central nervous system, resulting in behavioral and mood changes (Vadlamudi, Adams, Hogan, Wu, Wahid, 2008). This results in increasing alcohol consumption to an extent that the mental health recovery becomes even more difficult. The role of nursing in influencing the mental health of great many people is highly important. The unique skills practiced by nurses in dealing with variety of patients puts a lot of pressure on their duties. Mental health nursing can be considered as one of the most multifarious and challenging fields of nursing. A mental health nurse may have to work in a group which possibly consist of general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and assistants or individually in dealing with public health issues. These mental health patients who feel themselves extremely excluded and rejected need not only medical but also emotional help. Hence it becomes very important to endeavor as much as possible to bring

Research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Research project - Essay Example The report by A.T. Kearney, Inc. (2015) also reveals that the US and China are among such nations that have a significant online market size. It is also notable that the UK, Japan, Germany, and France, are also among such nations, which have considerable online market size. A.T. Kearney, Inc. (2015) in its report also suggests that Hong Kong, and Singapore, is among such nations that have a significant infrastructure, which largely contribute to the growth of e-commerce. The other nations including the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, also have considerable development in infrastructure, which significantly contribute to the growth of e-commerce. In the report by A.T. Kearney, Inc. (2015), the nations such as Denmark, the UK, Germany, South Korea, Hong Kong, Netherlands, and Sweden are considered to possess potential consumer behaviour, which has led to the growth of e-commerce in retail in such nations. It is also notable that the other nations such as the US, Japan, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada have considerable potentiality in consumer behaviour, which has led to the growth of e-commerce market in such nations. However, the report by A.T. Kearney, Inc. (2015) also suggests that apart from China, and Venezuela, very few nations have considerable growth potential in e-commerce retail industry. The underneath tabular description represents the current scenario of e-commerce retail industry in some of the nations. According to the report by A.T. Kearney, Inc. (2015), majority of the nations do not possess a considerable potentiality in e-commerce retail market. This is largely because of the fact that although the e-commerce retail market is growing positively in the global context, but it is in decreasing rate. It is only notable in China, Venezuela, and few other nations, where retail e-commerce market is growing at an increasing rate. The underneath graphical

Maternal Obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Maternal Obesity - Essay Example Maternal obesity is a significant concern for the society since it poses a lot of health threats not only for the mother, but also for the conceived child. Indeed, Galtier-Dereure, Boegner, & Bringer (2000) found that children born to obese mothers were 35% more likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit due to complications of care. The obese mother is also at an increased risk for hypertension and diabetes. In addition to these, the CDC (2010) also noted severe health consequences to the mother (i.e. preeclampsia, caesarean delivery, etc.) and the newborn (i.e. macrosomia, neural tube defects, etc.). Given these dangers of maternal obesity, there is then a need to increase the awareness of mothers regarding the hazards posed by it, and what can be done as means of prevention and treatment. By utilizing the Health Belief Model (HBM), obese mothers can be motivated to change their diets and lifestyle to decrease the harmful effects of obesity. By using this model, the healthcare provider will provide health education and information dissemination to obese mothers, and they will then monitor the impact of these interventions. The rest of this paper will then explore the means of evaluating the success of such interventions. Essential Elements of Evaluation Process/Model One component of the intended intervention for maternal obesity involves assessment: the identification of the mothers in need of treatment obesity. With this intervention, a significant element of the evaluation process is assessment itself, as well as the establishment of an actual need for the interventions within the community. This element (assessment) is justified by the fact that without assessment, the nurse would never know who needs help, and the patients themselves may never become aware of the need to watch their weight before, during and after pregnancy (Kozier, et al. 2008). In addition, assessment would allow the nurse to develop programs that can cater to the indivi dual needs of the different members of the community. More importantly, assessment of the need for treatment will provide for opportunities for establishing patient goals and reasonable expectations (Foster, Wadden, Vogt, & Brewer, 1997). Another major component of the intervention for maternal obesity involves information dissemination of nutritional information, of the health risks of maternal obesity, and of the benefits gained from maintaining a healthy weight and diet. Therefore, in relation, an essential element of the evaluation process involves the degree by which the given information is understood and impacts the intended population of obese mothers. This element is essential for the whole intervention because in knowing the degree of impact of the disseminated information through evaluation, the nurse is assured of the mother’s compliance. Indeed, according to the HBM, if the mother understands the risks of the unhealthy behavior or condition, then change in health behavior can be better facilitated (National Cancer Institute, 2005). Additionally, another part of the intended interventions is the submission of a proposal to authorities and organizations for appropriate funding and possible policy changes. Thus, in relation to this, another element of evaluation is collaboration. Indeed,

Existential Questions OR Achieving Perfection Essay

Existential Questions OR Achieving Perfection - Essay Example It relates to one’s inner world. Many philosophers have tried to provide answers to such a question in their own interpretation, but no final verdict has ever been given. In the philosophical literature elaborate commentaries about self-discovery are available in plenty, but the original questions relating to the multifaceted existentialism remain without tangible explanations. The generalization of their answers is impossible, and each inquisitive individual has to tread the investigation path of the inner world with their own efforts. Someone else cannot do the spiritual journey for your benefit. Practical Vision of the Divine is Possible How a lamp that remains extinguished can light another lamp? One can impart only what one possesses. That which does not exist, cannot be shared. The fox says that the grapes are sour, when it fails to reach up to the height of the bunch. The so-called present day saints and intellectuals proclaim that the practical vision of God is impossi ble, because they do not own that practical experience. Such people succeed in shifting the load of their darkness and ignorance on the inquisitive people. They repeatedly assert that it is impossible for the human beings to have the practical vision of God. ... on continues to ponder over questions like what the purpose of existence is, whether God exists, etc., applying logic to understand the issues that are beyond the scope of logic and reason. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Existentialism The character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s famous drama throws light on existential questions relating to the inquiry of truth. Human beings try to reach out solutions to questions that are beyond the scope of intelligence. Hamlet on encountering his father’s ghost does the same mistake. He exclaims, â€Å"Let me not burst in ignorance; but tells / Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, / Have burst their cerements . . . Say, why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?† (Shakespeare, I.iv.46-48, 57). The sight of his father’s ghost confuses him, and he fails to decide the right course of action. Even though Hamlet is a highly logical character and anti-existentialist from the beginning of the story, his logical prowess get s diluted slowly, and he begins to understand the superior strength of destiny. His emotions and feelings take a different turn and suicidal tendencies engulf his inner world. He proclaims, â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles "(Shakespeare, III.i.58-61). He asks God that suicide should not have been a sin. Life and death are two fundamental existential questions, and Hamlet is confused, unable to find answers to them with the power of reason. When Hamlet Changes his Perceptions about Life Hamlet does some profound thinking and wonders why man is hailed as the crown of creation. He proclaims, â€Å"What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in

Explanation Of Two Financial Giant Merger Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Explanation Of Two Financial Giant Merger - Essay Example It is apparent that due to increased local and international stiff competition in the banking sector, many organizations have resorted to mergers. Nevertheless, these merges have to be well planned for and articulated in a manner that would lay a firm foundation for the newly formed organization to maintain competitive advantage (Yates 7). One of such things that must be considered is the applicability of information system. With online banking services being on the increase, banks are very sensitive on how they engage in information system in order to retain and attract new customers. The case of merger between Wells Fargo and Wachovia is no exceptional to the importance of prioritizing on integration of information system in their merger. In fact, having been familiar with purchasing and merging smaller banks and failing institutions especially in 2006, just before the merger with Wachovia took place, Wells Fargo is cited to have had been successful and had steady increase in stock value. In this regard, for such an achievement to take place, information system plays an important role in enhancing the success.... In light of this, it was crucial for the two firms to integrate information system in their merger in order to strengthen their approach on information system matters. Perhaps, one of the firms could have a workforce with proficient information system, but lacking personnel to propel such knowledge to a higher notch while the other could be having ideas of propelling such ideas, but lacking people to propel them. In such a case, integrating information system in the merger would have created a strong information system (Prakken 7). 2. It is apparent that although integration of information system in the merger was crucial and enabled the merger to be successful, difficulties were noted by the two firms. For instance, after being successful in most of its mergers before the merger acquisition of Wachovia, Wells Fargo had been successful in these mergers. The firm was well aware of the challenges of such a merge especially with a firm recording decrease in stock value. In essence, it i s evident when a firm is recording decrease in stock value, either it’s IT or the human resource or both could be less functional. In this regard, there was a challenge of incorporating the information system of Wachovia. This is because it could have been the one that led to decrease in its stock value. However, although there could be some aspects of it that was significant, the effort to identify and incorporate such aspects in the new merger could have been difficult as well. On the other hand, human resource that manages the information is system is very important. Therefore, if the Wachovia’s human resource was incompetent and probably leads to the downfall of the firm, then it is apparent that there were difficulties in incorporating it into the

Understanding and interpreting financial data Coursework

Understanding and interpreting financial data - Coursework Example The vast competition and globalization that businesses face today means necessary steps to ensure continuous growth must be put in place. One method of doing this is the analysis of financial ratios. In this case, Bravo Ltd can obtain financial ratios using their latest financial statements and comparing the results with a competing business within the same industry. Alternatively, a business with the best business practice and a good track record is chosen as a benchmark for Bravo Ltd's improvement.It is a tool for interpreting the financial statements to assess financial and management performance. There are several types of financial ratios available that will benefit Bravo Ltd: Liquidity Ratios, Asset Management Ratios, Profitability Ratios and Gearing Ratios. Each ratio is measured differently and used according to the necessary analysis needed. This measures the ability of Bravo Ltd to meet its short-term financial liabilities as they fall due. It is of particular interest if Bravo Ltd wishes to extend its short-term credit facilities. There are two kinds of Liquidity Ratio - Current Ratio and Quick Ratio.Stocks are excluded in the calculation because stocks may include items that have uncertain liquidation values. Ideally, a ratio of 2 is considered safe for the former while a ratio below 1 is recommended for the latter.This measures how well Bravo Ltd utilizes its assets for the benefit of its business. Having a sound ratio will ensure that Bravo Ltd is better received by would-be investors. We will look at Inventory Turnover, Receivables Turnover, Average Collection Period and Fixed Asset Turnover. Inventory Turnover = Cost of Goods Sold / Inventory Receivables Turnover = Credit Sales / Accounts Receivables Average Collection Period = 365 / Receivables Turnover Fixed Asset Turnover = Sales / Fixed Assets Generally, a high turnover ratio is preferred. 2.3 Profitability Ratio There are several ratios available that can measure the ability of Bravo Ltd to generate profits from its sales. These include Gross Profit Margin, Return on Assets and Return on Equity. Gross Profit Margin = (Sales - Cost of Goods Sold) / Sales Return on Assets = Net Income / Total Assets Return on Equity = Net Income / Shareholders' Equity A good profit margin is essential in any form of business to ensure there is always enough cash to run its operations. Thus, it is also important that receivables are collected on a timely basis. 2.4 Gearing Ratio This assesses the financial risk of Bravo Ltd. A high gearing ratio poses risks if Bravo Ltd is unable to meet its financial obligations as this can very well lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, it is important that this is constantly monitored. The ratio is used is Debt to Equity Ratio. 3 FINDINGS RATIO 2007 ('000) 2008 ('000) Working Result Working Result Current Ratio 1770 / 560 3.16 2490 / 840 2.96 Quick Ratio 1770 - 930 / 560 1.50 2490 - 1250 / 840 1.48 Inventory Turnover 3020 / 1770 1.71 4550 / 2490 1.83 Receivables Turnover 4940 / 820 6.02 6850 / 1230 5.57 Average Collection Period 365 / 6.02 60 Days 365 / 5.57 66 Days Fixed Asset Turnover 4940 / 2600 1.90 6850 / 3210 2.13 Gross Profit Margin 1920 / 4940 39% 2300 / 6850 34% Return on Assets 460 / 4370 11% 450 / 5700 8% Return on Equity 460 / 3810 12% 450 / 4860 9% Debt to Equity 560 / 3810 15% 840 / 4860 17% Our findings show that Bravo Ltd has a good Liquidity Ratio. Its Current Ratio is 2.96 (3.16 in 2007) and its Quick Ratio is 1.48 (1.50 in 2007). This means Bravo Ltd is more than able to generate enough cash to settle its short-term liabilities. There has only been a slight change in its Liquidity Ratio over two years. As a guide, a current

Existential Questions OR Achieving Perfection Essay

Existential Questions OR Achieving Perfection - Essay Example It relates to one’s inner world. Many philosophers have tried to provide answers to such a question in their own interpretation, but no final verdict has ever been given. In the philosophical literature elaborate commentaries about self-discovery are available in plenty, but the original questions relating to the multifaceted existentialism remain without tangible explanations. The generalization of their answers is impossible, and each inquisitive individual has to tread the investigation path of the inner world with their own efforts. Someone else cannot do the spiritual journey for your benefit. Practical Vision of the Divine is Possible How a lamp that remains extinguished can light another lamp? One can impart only what one possesses. That which does not exist, cannot be shared. The fox says that the grapes are sour, when it fails to reach up to the height of the bunch. The so-called present day saints and intellectuals proclaim that the practical vision of God is impossi ble, because they do not own that practical experience. Such people succeed in shifting the load of their darkness and ignorance on the inquisitive people. They repeatedly assert that it is impossible for the human beings to have the practical vision of God. ... on continues to ponder over questions like what the purpose of existence is, whether God exists, etc., applying logic to understand the issues that are beyond the scope of logic and reason. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Existentialism The character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s famous drama throws light on existential questions relating to the inquiry of truth. Human beings try to reach out solutions to questions that are beyond the scope of intelligence. Hamlet on encountering his father’s ghost does the same mistake. He exclaims, â€Å"Let me not burst in ignorance; but tells / Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, / Have burst their cerements . . . Say, why is this? Wherefore? What should we do?† (Shakespeare, I.iv.46-48, 57). The sight of his father’s ghost confuses him, and he fails to decide the right course of action. Even though Hamlet is a highly logical character and anti-existentialist from the beginning of the story, his logical prowess get s diluted slowly, and he begins to understand the superior strength of destiny. His emotions and feelings take a different turn and suicidal tendencies engulf his inner world. He proclaims, â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles "(Shakespeare, III.i.58-61). He asks God that suicide should not have been a sin. Life and death are two fundamental existential questions, and Hamlet is confused, unable to find answers to them with the power of reason. When Hamlet Changes his Perceptions about Life Hamlet does some profound thinking and wonders why man is hailed as the crown of creation. He proclaims, â€Å"What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in

Understanding and interpreting financial data Coursework

Understanding and interpreting financial data - Coursework Example The vast competition and globalization that businesses face today means necessary steps to ensure continuous growth must be put in place. One method of doing this is the analysis of financial ratios. In this case, Bravo Ltd can obtain financial ratios using their latest financial statements and comparing the results with a competing business within the same industry. Alternatively, a business with the best business practice and a good track record is chosen as a benchmark for Bravo Ltd's improvement.It is a tool for interpreting the financial statements to assess financial and management performance. There are several types of financial ratios available that will benefit Bravo Ltd: Liquidity Ratios, Asset Management Ratios, Profitability Ratios and Gearing Ratios. Each ratio is measured differently and used according to the necessary analysis needed. This measures the ability of Bravo Ltd to meet its short-term financial liabilities as they fall due. It is of particular interest if Bravo Ltd wishes to extend its short-term credit facilities. There are two kinds of Liquidity Ratio - Current Ratio and Quick Ratio.Stocks are excluded in the calculation because stocks may include items that have uncertain liquidation values. Ideally, a ratio of 2 is considered safe for the former while a ratio below 1 is recommended for the latter.This measures how well Bravo Ltd utilizes its assets for the benefit of its business. Having a sound ratio will ensure that Bravo Ltd is better received by would-be investors. We will look at Inventory Turnover, Receivables Turnover, Average Collection Period and Fixed Asset Turnover. Inventory Turnover = Cost of Goods Sold / Inventory Receivables Turnover = Credit Sales / Accounts Receivables Average Collection Period = 365 / Receivables Turnover Fixed Asset Turnover = Sales / Fixed Assets Generally, a high turnover ratio is preferred. 2.3 Profitability Ratio There are several ratios available that can measure the ability of Bravo Ltd to generate profits from its sales. These include Gross Profit Margin, Return on Assets and Return on Equity. Gross Profit Margin = (Sales - Cost of Goods Sold) / Sales Return on Assets = Net Income / Total Assets Return on Equity = Net Income / Shareholders' Equity A good profit margin is essential in any form of business to ensure there is always enough cash to run its operations. Thus, it is also important that receivables are collected on a timely basis. 2.4 Gearing Ratio This assesses the financial risk of Bravo Ltd. A high gearing ratio poses risks if Bravo Ltd is unable to meet its financial obligations as this can very well lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, it is important that this is constantly monitored. The ratio is used is Debt to Equity Ratio. 3 FINDINGS RATIO 2007 ('000) 2008 ('000) Working Result Working Result Current Ratio 1770 / 560 3.16 2490 / 840 2.96 Quick Ratio 1770 - 930 / 560 1.50 2490 - 1250 / 840 1.48 Inventory Turnover 3020 / 1770 1.71 4550 / 2490 1.83 Receivables Turnover 4940 / 820 6.02 6850 / 1230 5.57 Average Collection Period 365 / 6.02 60 Days 365 / 5.57 66 Days Fixed Asset Turnover 4940 / 2600 1.90 6850 / 3210 2.13 Gross Profit Margin 1920 / 4940 39% 2300 / 6850 34% Return on Assets 460 / 4370 11% 450 / 5700 8% Return on Equity 460 / 3810 12% 450 / 4860 9% Debt to Equity 560 / 3810 15% 840 / 4860 17% Our findings show that Bravo Ltd has a good Liquidity Ratio. Its Current Ratio is 2.96 (3.16 in 2007) and its Quick Ratio is 1.48 (1.50 in 2007). This means Bravo Ltd is more than able to generate enough cash to settle its short-term liabilities. There has only been a slight change in its Liquidity Ratio over two years. As a guide, a current

Axia College of University of Phoenix Essay Example for Free

Axia College of University of Phoenix Essay The purpose and meaning of life, is to live it in the most meaningful way a person can. I work hard on this daily, and try to show the younger generation that life can be so beautiful in a lot of positive ways if you lead it the way you want it. My personal narrative will be away to express myself like I have not done before by using theories in my readings. I am a thirty-year-old man who is very energetic, outgoing, hard working that not only values my life, but everyone else’s as well. The past five years of my life have been a five-part movie that could have big as the Lord of the Rings series. I started school, two businesses, regular job I got promoted, and bought a new house. I have had to take a back seat on being there for all my family, and friends like I am use to, because for once I had to utilize time for myself. My meaning of life stayed the same thru out these years; I think these things have made me more mature on things, and to love myself a little more. The major thing that made me really evolve in the past 5 years I believe is starting school. Six years prior to me starting at UOP I dropped out of college, because I had no clue what I wanted to use my skills for, I was very lost, unhappy, and I was doing nothing for myself it was for everyone else. That single event by enrolling back in school changed my personality over night for the better. The next day I started weeding people out of my life that where imputing nothing but negatives in it. That was defiantly the turning point for me without a doubt. This event came at the right time also in my life since I was in a very dark place at the time, so I guess you can say it was meant to be. Then I started two business ventures that I had wanted to start which proved to me that I could do something for myself to benefit my life and stability. I now have more than enough responsibilities that I did not have before, like keeping my business in order supplies to maintaining my customer relationships. My new house has been the biggest ordeal and not in a bad way it has been extremely difficult to get it to my standards, and since I am so busy I have not taking time just for my house. These challenging changes in my life now are very hard to deal with, but I would not make any changes at all, because this is the happiest I have been. I have been hard on myself, but not to the point of stressing. Happiness proves to be an interesting window through which to view continuity and change in personality (McAdams, 2006). With that said it shows in my everyday life that no matter what I am faced with today my life is a lot better now than then. I took a lot growing up without a father from not being able to afford things I wanted to not having the self-confidence in myself to make change. When you receive that unexpected high grade on a tough assignment, you are likely to feel good, and your well-being shoots way up (McAdams, 2006). Starting my businesses, buying the house, and getting promoted where some very tough assignments in the past five years, but I feel so much better about who I am with a better well being. What roles have religion, race, culture, family, and gender played in the development of my personality, well the major thing that played a role was family. My family pushed me so much to a point where failing would not be expectable in any manner. My girlfriend has never stopped believing in me she always said I will be somebody, and no one can take that from me. My race, and religion beliefs did not have a huge factor in any part of this, but my personality got me sixty percent of what I have today. Looking back on the past seeing the transition that has taking place in my life from five years ago is something in itself to boost my ego. Five years ago without UOP I can honestly say that there is no way I would be where I am now. Life is a wonderful thing to have, we make our own destiny, and being rich or poor should not make us who we are, but being in love with life and our good talents that we possess should play a huge part of what we are. McAdams, D. (2006). The person: a new introduction to personality psychology. (4th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons.

The Effects Of Divorce Children And Young People Essay

The Effects Of Divorce Children And Young People Essay Divorce is always a dreadful experience in a persons life, especially a childs. When parents divorce, children are not always acknowledged during the termination and settlement process. This oversight can lead to problems with the childs perception of day to day life. The impact divorce has on a family is far more noticeable to the children of the family than to the parents. As a child, there are many circumstances or situations that affect a view, opinion, attitude, and/or memory. Children have many daily struggles of their own to cope with, such as peer pressure and learning exactly who they are. Adults and parents sometimes forget what it is like to be a child dealing with some of the childhood pressures that children face, especially in todays society. Many parents do not realize how something like divorce could possibly affect their children as much as it does them. In any case, most children are strongly affected by divorce. Some react and handle the situation differently than others, but all experience some kind of emotional change. Divorce can cause many different emotions to arise that children may be unfamiliar with, and those behaviors may cause some behavioral changes. Feeling angry and sad are some common feelings of children dealing with divorce (Schor, 2004). Children have a hard time comprehending why their mother and father are arguing and cannot figure out why they are deciding to separate. The family needs to try their best to explain to the child why they are separating, while comforting the child as much as possible (Schor, 2004). Much research has been conducted to study the effects of divorce on children. While there are some basic truths these studies reveal, the fact is that each child is unique and may react differently from other children (Sember, p. 9). A child may have certain emotional reactions to separation and divorce, including sadness, embarrassment, concerns about being cared for, regression, maturity, and physical symptoms. It is believed that reactions to a divorce can be similar to the reactions of losing a loved one. According to Pickhardt, There is a fear of rejection: If my parents can stop loving each other, can they stop loving me? There is fear of the future: What will happen to me now? There is fear of abandonment: If my parents can leave each other, they can also leave me. In the face of these uncertainties, a child may regress by acting more immature and dependent in order to receive more attention and caretaking support. The fighting that occurs between parents can cause children to react negatively and they can begin to show aggression towards others. Children can also begin to act up in class and become defiant towards authority, which usually results in their grades dropping. Often children have difficulties learning to cope with their feelings and feel like they are on an emotional rollercoaster (Ford, 2005). Theyre also often stuck between a battle zone and as result can suffer psychological problems. Feelings of hopelessness may take over for many kids because they have no control or input to what is going on in their lives (Ford, 2004). Divorce itself is inevitably an unpleasant situation, but it has been seen that children with siblings tend to cope better than any single child household in most instances, especially in cases where thoughtless parents take the unpleasant route of trying to split up the children in an effort to hurt the other party. Effectively, children with siblings develop best with the divorce, single children trailing behind, with split siblings ultimately taking the worst mental beating out of the lot. The reasons for this may not at first be obvious, but let us take a moment to review the family dynamic itself and just what divorce does to the relationship of siblings. A once intact family is effectively torn in two with the legal action of divorce, children are torn in their views in loving both mother and father, and ultimately they mourn for what is almost literally the death of the family dynamic itself. It is no longer the normal life of mother, father, and children, but now a complicated life split between the children and their parents, possibly further complicated by a step family or the constant tension between mother and father. In this situation a sibling becomes a sort of buffer zone, an emotional barrier between the pain and loss of the divorce and a happy family life. The sibling represents something concrete, a brother or sister that will (or should) remain. An individual who shares in the same pain and can be used as a more than viable coping mechanism, perhaps one of the only truly healthy coping outlets available to a child going through the divorce process. Starkly in the opposite direction one can see the further damage caused when divorcing parents choose to split their off springs like they have their various possessions. Here, the child(ren) need not only cope with the loss of mom or dad, but must also wrestle with the torment of being removed from someone who has been a lifelong companion. Instead of being given a viable outlet in the shape of a brother or sister this child(ren) is removed from most everything he or she has known in one solid legal swoop. Divorce brings about a lot of legal issues, which include child custody, visitation, holiday issues, and child support. There are a few different types of custody arrangements. There is joint custody with visitation, which means that you share custody with the other parent. You are supposed to make all decisions together that may affect the child, and both parents must agree to the visitation schedule. Second, there is sole custody with visitation which is where one parent makes most of the decisions and does not need the other parents approval. Lastly, shared custody is where the childs time is split evenly between both parents. Both parents are responsible for all decisions and neither parent is considered residential. But regardless as to what type of custody agreement is decided, the child(ren) are the one(s) who will be the most affected by this decision. Once a custody agreement is made then the non-custodial parent is granted visitation. Visitation is important so that the child can spend time equally with both parents. This sometimes requires splitting holidays. Holidays are probably the worst part about visitations because children are use to spending the holidays together as a family, but as children age the visitation schedules change to accommodate both the child and the parents. This is simply because an infant shouldnt be expected to adhere to the same schedule as an older child. For example, infants may have a harder time adjusting because it is more important for them to stick to a schedule; frequent and short visits from the other parent is best. Also, sticking to feeding and nap times is important, otherwise, the baby can be extremely cranky. Toddlers have difficulty with separation anxiety from either parent. Transitions should be made gradually as toddlers often display aggression by biting or hitting. Preschool aged children begin to realize that their parents dont live together anymore and start to ask questions and they can also begin another type of visitation schedule, such as weekend visits. Elementary aged children need more time for homework after school and it is important for both parents to help the child stay organized so that they are able to turn in their assignments on time to their teacher. Children from 8-12 are considered tweens and may start to take sides or try to act perfect in hopes that their parents will get back together. It is ok to let them know that nobody is perfect and that nothing can bring you and the other parent back t ogether. You child will have more homework and more friends so it is important to fit this into the schedule as it continues to change through that childs life. Teenagers may experience the worst symptoms from the divorce. They often discredit marriage and refuse to get close to another person in that way or they blame themselves for the separation. In some cases they feel that they had to grow up quickly because they felt the need to assume the role of the other parent. It may also be difficult for teens to stick to a schedule because friends are more important now and they may also have jobs of their own that they are scheduled for. Dating also begins to become a factor in the scheduling conflict. The teen should be able to go out on dates as long as both parents agree, but there also needs to be a restriction on the number of outings so that both parents are able to spend the appropriate amount of time with their son/daughter. You shouldnt expect this to go perfectly, but do offe r the teen to give their input on the situation and try to all come to a compromise. Most days you experience with your child may be good days, so you should enjoy these days while they last because there may come a time when something happens and your child tells you that they hate you and would rather live with the other parent. This is just another part of trying to adjust. If most times are bad then it may be time to readjust your position. You may need to try to change some things including the visitation schedule. Divorce not only affects the child(ren) emotionally but it also plays a major role in many other aspects of their lives. Two of the strongest and most widely held beliefs about the family life today are that marriage should be a lifelong commitment and that parental divorce has serious negative effects on children. These convictions are held with such value that many people are alarmed by the high divorce rate in the United States.   The divorce rate is very high in the United States, where about 50% of all first marriages formed in the early 1990s ended in divorce (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1998).   According to the Heritage Foundation, Each year, over 1 million American children suffer the divorce of their parents and most children will see their parents divorce before they turn 18 (Fagan and Rector, 2000). What are the major impacts being seen in these children? What are the effects on these children?   One area where divorce has a major impact on children is in their academic progress.   In 2002, USA Today did a study that used a government-sponsored database that examined 10,000 adolescents (Crouch. 2002).   This study found that the psychological damage to the child builds before the divorce but dissipated afterwards, but academic progress continues to weaken.   It speculates that these children fall behind academically and then are not able to catch up once this happens.   They lose self-esteem and motivation.   There have been many studies done and the conclusion is the same.   One study found that students from intact families outperform those students from divorced families and have higher grade point averages.   Another one found that teens from single-parent homes are twice as likely to drop out of high school.   I found it interesting that one study found that parental divorce affected female high school students more that it affected male high school stude nts. A second area where divorce has a major impact on children is their housing arrangement.   The level of home ownership among people who have divorced is much lower than those who have married and never divorced.   According to the Census Brief published by the U.S. Department of Commerce in September of 1997, more than a quarter of Americas children now live with one parent.   They did a study with divorced and never-married mothers and found that divorced parents are more educated and less likely to live in rental homes, and are less likely to be poor in comparison to the never-married mothers.   It appears from this study that being a single parent divorcee has a slight advantage over a never-married mother.   This study also showed that four million children live in the homes of their grandparents. The third area where divorce has a major impact on children is the income level of the custodial parent.   Following divorce, custodial parents, mostly mothers, generally have less income than most two-parent families.   One of the ways that lower income may impact children is through disruptions that may result from less money.   Many divorced families change residence, which may result in changing schools, childcare, friends, and other supportive relationships.   In short, less money due to these disruptions may lead to more problems for children because of the stress that change creates. The fourth area where divorce has a major impact on children is the economic losses that it creates.   Studies have shown that custodial mothers often face dramatic economic losses following divorce, leading to feelings of stress that adversely affects parenting. Researchers believe that divorce is disruptive for children largely because the custodial parent faces a significant amount of economic stress in the time period immediately following the divorce (Furstenberg 1990). These economic losses may produce major transition periods for the child like moving, changing schools or living with other household members, which can adversely affects the childs well being. It is important to remember that not all of the effects mentioned in the studies above will be experienced by all children of divorce and those problems that do emerge can be made less intense with further education, nurturing, good communication, and lots of love.   Divorce not only affects the child(ren) emotionally but it takes a toll on the parent- child relationship. In the wake of a divorce, most custodial parents expresses differing degrees of anger, disorder, decreased expectations from their child(ren), and a decline in the aptitude to separate the child(ren)s needs and actions from those of the adults involved. Studies have shown that approximately 15% of children interviewed at the 10 year follow-up point in a 15 year study showed significant effects from taking on the role of holding a custodial parent together psychologically (Eloeff, 2008). Children dealing with divorce are often left with a lot of questions because they are going through something they have never experienced before. It is important to answer every question that might arise in order for the child to better understand what is going on. Change is hard and the fear of the unknown can be difficult for children to handle on their own. Both parents need to try to make this new adjustment period as comfortable for the children as possible (Schor, 2004). Everyones life is impacted by divorce and children often have a hard time adjusting to change. For all too many kids, nonresidential parents eventually will come to play a greatly diminished role in their lives. It doesnt have to be this way, and with sensitivity, planning, and common sense, parents can sidestep many common visitation problems (Neuman, p.272). So therefore, it is up to the parents to help their child(ren) to cope with the divorce and try to prevent this from happening. There are two general cha nnels that can be taken to help the child(ren) deal with the divorce experience. They are parental effort and outside help. During parental effort, it is important to communicate with your child(ren) that you love them and that you dont hate them even if you dont normally do those things, but it is important for your child(ren) to feel reassured. Avoid talking to your child(ren) about the divorce situation or any financial woes that you may be experiencing. It is best for your child(ren) to continue to be neutral to both parents. You should also not use your child(ren) as a messenger to see what the other parent is up to. This can make your child feel stressed and feel like they are betraying their other parent. Also, dont make promises you cant keep. It only disappoints them and causes them not to trust you. Children need to be reassured; just because the marriage is over doesnt mean that they arent a family anymore. Children must be told and told again: Divorce means your parents have lost love for each other and do not want to live together anymore. However, divorce in no way changes our love for you ( Pickhardt, p. 84). Both parents need to try to avoid bad mouthing the other parent in front of the child(ren). This may prevent the child from feeling stressed out about double loyalties. You need to keep a sense of normalcy for your child so that they can feel that their lives have some stability after such a drastic change in their living situations. One of the best ways to help a child feel rooted, protected, and loved, is to have rules (Pickhardt, p. 25). It is important to create the rules together so that the child has the same boundaries at either home and that the other parent doesnt appear to be better because the child has no responsibilities when they stay with them. The parents should keep the lines of communication open with their child(ren) and never stop attempting to make contact with their child(ren). They should also maintain an interest in what is going on with the child(ren); know who theyre hanging out with and how theyre doing in school and extracurricular acti vities. Most children want to make both parents happy, and it is up to the parents to make this an easy task. As for the outside help avenue, this is a route to take when the parental effort is not helping. Counseling and/or an intervention program can help improve matters by being a neutral third party. They help in accomplishing things like, helping children to express their anger, as well as helping the parents to better understand how to appropriately respond to the concerns that the child(ren) may have. Parents should consider seeking professional help when their child is having problems accepting reality about the divorce or seem to be going through some serious behavioral changes. Meeting with a psychiatrist or a counselor who specializes in divorce can be very beneficial for everyone involved. It doesnt matter which route is used to help them get through the divorce process as long as the child(ren)s best interest is kept as the top priority during and after the divorce. All in all, children can be severely traumatized by divorce. Many of the effects felt can be long lasting or some may go away within a few weeks. If the divorce is nasty or is prolonged due to a custody battle, then the effects can last a lifetime. Children face many issues when going through a divorce. There are issues with self-esteem, loss of sense of security, the sleeper effect, and it even has an effect on birthdays and holidays. These problems can last forever in a child, even into adulthood. When children have to go through a divorce, they deal with issues regarding their self-esteem. They may feel like they caused the divorce themselves. The child(ren) may also feel like they did something wrong to where mommy or daddy doesnt want to be with them anymore. If these issues are not addressed early on, they can be long lasting and when developing, the older child will have low self-esteem. This can lead to poor grades in school, little to no friends, using drugs, and trouble in the streets. Another issue children deal with when going through a divorce is in the area of security. The child(ren) may develop fears that both parents will abandon him or her. There may also be fears about what is to come. What will happen from here? Where does the child(ren) end up? These are thoughts about security that may come during a divorce. In addition, the absence of one of their parents can make the child(ren) feel extremely lonely. This can also last a lifetime if not dealt with early on. It can lead to the child(ren) growing up feeling scared and worried. He or she may have relationship problems and may not be able to trust anyone and can also lead to depression. Some studies suggest that there is a sleeper effect. This is the idea that a child that goes through a divorce and recovers rather quickly. Then, because of denied feelings at the subconscious level, they will have a resurgence of fear, anger, guilt, and anxiety which doesnt kick in until well into adulthood. These feelings tend to arise when a young adult is attempting to make important life decisions, such as marriage. Another effect divorce has on children is dealing with holidays and birthdays. This will last a lifetime, because birthdays and holidays will have to be split, if this is the agreement. If there is time-sharing in place, or an agreement has been made, the child may have to spend every other birthday with the mother and father. With holidays, there may be time-sharing involved, where the child spends half the holidays with the father, and the other half with the mother. This can certainly last into adulthood, because the family will not be together, and there may have to be time split between the two parents homes. Some children are affected more by divorce than others. However, all children will be affected by a divorce no matter what. The things that parents do and dont do will greatly impact exactly how much a child is affected by the divorce. In addition, the childs gender, age, psychological health, and maturity will also all affect how a divorce impacts a child. Dealing with the divorce as best as possible will help lessen the effects on a child and make it easier to get through. Only time will tell how much it has actually affected the particular child in a particular circumstance. Of course, as we all know, divorce is a painful process for everyone involved; the legal act of breaking apart a family is taxing on both the heart and mind, but we see this most in children. Divorce rates are high and our children are suffering. Everyone should take their childrens feelings into consideration when going through a divorce because the childs life is impacted as well. It is very important that parents help their children adjust to all the changes going on in their life and address any behavioral or psychological problems the moment they arise.