Bidding on the Yell Group Essay

1. Introduction Yell Group consists of two businesses that are operating across countries. Yellow Page is a classified directory business in the UK, while Yellow Book is an independent directory business in the USA. These businesses are currently owned by British Telecom which is under pressure to reduce its heavy debt load and had been wavering for months about the future of these two Yellow Pages divisions. Apax Partner and Hick Muse are two private equity firms that are interested in the acquisition of the Yell Group by using debt for a majority of the purchase price and equity for the remainder. The deal is crucially important to both Apax and Hicks Muse because of its high visibility — simply by virtue of its size and complexity, it will leave its mark on the reputations of both PE firms. But the team faces a challenge when valuing a cross border business involved in the LBO. Not only are those business located in different markets, but they also are characterized by different growth rat es and cash flow characteristics. Furthermore, each business unit faces an immediate uncertainty. 2. Overview of LBO The Equity Sponsor borrows the debt portion of the purchase price, typically through public or private bonds and bank loans issued by the company and contribute the equity portion typically through a private fund. Debt is serviced and repaid with the company’s operating cash flows. The buyer later sells all or a portion of the company and realizes a return on its initial equity investment — Sale of Sponsor equity typically through an initial public offering or a sale to a strategic buyer or another LBO firm. The LBO transaction focuses on cash flows generated by operations and the use of the cash to pay down debt, thereby increasing equity value. Additionally, improvements in operating performance can increase value. Assuming the enterprise value remains unchanged, as debt is repaid, value reverts to the equity holders, thereby generating equity returns. Through this cross-border LBO, our team wants to achieve three fundamental goals: a) Determining the enterprise value of Yell Group by measuring its ability to generate sufficient cash flows to meet required equity returns while complying with leverage parameters. b) Calculating financial ratios and other measurements to determine the balance sheet and credit impact of the LBO c) To justify whether they can get reasonable returns given financial projections and leverage assumption in the model. Our team is aim to use as much leverage as possible to minimize initial equity check and create an aggressive financing structure that can be eff ectively syndicated to the market. 3. Yell Operations When valuing Yell, we find that Yell currently has two well-established business lines in two different markets. While the environment is different in each market, Yell’s business lines achieve somewhat steady cash flows that are on pace with market growth, even the OFT is expected to recommend the imposition of a limit on the annual increase in rates for advertising in the U.K. market. The projected EBITDA for both BT Yellow Pages in the U.K. and Yellow Pages USA combined are more than enough to cover the considerable interest expense. Furthermore, with the ambitious growth plan, Yellow Book hopes to capture much of the predicted market share gains. A good LBO candidate should have some characteristics on its business specific and industry specifics. That means, the underlying Yell fundamentals and competitive advantage should be much more scrutinized by the team. Indeed, BT Yellow Pages as a market-leader in the classified directory business and Yellow Pages USA as a market leader in the independent publisher of business directories. Finally, shortly before Apax and Hicks Muse had initiated talks with BT executives about the future of Yell, the telecom giant had announced plans to pay down its debt, so this deal should be a fire-sale transaction, the sale of Yell is good for BT and its shareholders. However, BT Yellow Pages and Yellow Book USA represent two very different businesses. The U.K. business is subject to heavy regulation which will restrict the price. Thus the only way to expand profits is through the advertisement volume. Unfortunately, the growth in the classified directories advertising market has been declining over the last few decades and will probably continue in this tendency even though the total advertising market has seen increasing growth. The potential good opportunities for this business could be the additional divisions that BT Yellow Pages owned. Prospective investment indicated these businesses are in the early stages. The U.S. market is an important source of new business for SMEs throughout the country and the independents are projected to increase their market share from 11% to 30% over the 2000 — 2005 period. For Yellow Book, this growth is to be fueled by expansion efforts as launching new directories into contiguous markets and launching wide area books into cities without an independent presence. In terms of the industry life cycle, BT Yellow Pages is most likely in the late maturity / early decline stage while Yellow Pages USA was still in the growth phase. These factors combined with the buyers’ investment horizon will influence their exit strategy. Yell Group Ltd. provided Apax and Hicks Muse team with projections for both BT Yellow Pages and Yellow Book USA based on what a potential growth in the upcoming years. Since Yell is trying to sell their business, we have to be careful about the assumptions used to come up with these projections. As a financial buyer, we tend to leave the day-to-day operations with management and thus would hope that they can meet their projections. These numbers should be viewed conservatively, as Yell would want to make the company look as attractive as possible to potential buyers. For BT Yellow Pages, their growth is dependent on the number of advertisements sold in a given year and the advertisements’ prices. Thus, as a potential buyer, these areas need to be scrutinized to come up with a reasonable projection. The growth rate (nominal) of advertisement volume from 2001 to 2007 may be as high as the rate of past years at 6.6%, and for SMEs, BT Yellow Pages were considered a â€Å"must buy†, since the yellow pages are their principal means of reaching customers in UK. Yellow pages advertising expenditures tends to be more stable than other forms of media advertising and do not fluctuate widely with economic cycles. For advertisement prices, the trend is slightly increasing from 2001 to 2003 and flat thereafter. Yell’s management seems to be too optimistic here as the OFT is expected to announce its new recommendation for the following years soon. Since the cap is 6% below the inflation rate and the projections for inflation is 2.4% in 2002, 2.3% in 2003, and 2.0% thereafter, the advertising prices should be expected to show a decreasing trend. For example, the Weighted Average Advertisement Fee in 2002 should be 621.78 = 645 x (1 + 2.4% – 6%). The year-over-year revenue growth for Yellow Book USA ranges from 10.0% to 15.0% with an average of 12.5% and a compound average growth rate of 12.4%. Organic growth in the US market is 4-5% and so the additional growth for Yellow Book USA must be coming from new market launches as well as increasing market share as an independent publisher. The growth rates seem quite aggressive and so additional new market launches may be required in years 2005 and 2006, currently not projected, to ensure that there is a buffer to hit revenue projections. It may make sense to also decrease the revenue growth rate to be more realistic and use yell’s projection as an upper limit case. We think it important to segregate organic revenues from new launch revenues and only apply an EBITDA margin to organic sales while separately adding in the impact of new launches in order to roll the two very different types of markets together. This approach also affords an opportunity to give a more sophisticated treatment to operating income from new launches. We believe that a 17% EBITDA margin on organic sales is a more realistic target for 2002, improving at a 2% increase per year as business goes up until the 25% target rate is hit in 2005 and maintained thereafter. Capital Expenditure and depreciation also need to be reviewed as they are somewhat positively related, which means an increase in Capital Expenditure usually results an increase in depreciation and vice versa. Overall, the numbers for both markets should be viewed with skepticism as these are Yell’s projections and may not reflect the buyer’s expectations in terms of the growth in the market. 4. Transaction Assumption The following transaction assumptions must be considered at the beginning of LBO analysis: a) BT Yellow Pages has its price adjusted for inflation as stated by the OFT. b) The U.K. discount rate is calculated using the comps Telefonica Publicidad e Informacion and Enriro. c) The U.S. discount rate is calculated using McLeod USA and World Pages. d) The model assumes the debt is held in the U.K. and the U.S. business line will have its cash flows converted to U.K. denominated pounds at the spot rate- For the base case, the terminal value growth rate of BT Yellow Pages is 3.47% which is a forecast of the compound average growth rate of FCF from 2002 to 2007 based on our projection. Sensitivity analysis should be applied to see how the growth rate of terminal value would affect the overall valuation. e) For the base case, the terminal value growth rate of Yellow Book USA is 4.3% which is the historical growth of the RBOCs. Sensitivity analysis should be applied to see how the growth rate of terminal value would affect the overall valuation. f) New launches in the U.S. are fore casted to return 5% EBITDA to Sales in the first year. This is a conservative estimate and sensitivity analysis should be applied to see how the EBITDA margin of new launches would affect the overall valuation. g) Once launched, the new markets are assumed to reach organic EBITDA margins in the following year. h) The risk premium of both markets is set as 6.5% and sensitivity analysis should be applied to see how the risk premium would affect the overall valuation. 5. Valuation Method It is accepted that CCF valuation is widely used for LBO. WACC is not applicable here because the calculation of WACC assumes constant D/E ratio. Based on the debt repayment schedule, it is unlikely that the firm will be able to maintain a constant ratio. CCF is ideal for this transaction because the debt repayment schedule is known in advance. CCF separates the calculation into two parts: unlevered cash flow using unlevered cost of equity and tax shield using the unlevered cost of equity. For our calculation, CCF is more suitable due to the known debt repayment schedule and the more conservative valuation. Coming up with an accurate valuation becomes more complex when dealing with different currency of cash flows from cross border assets. Yell’s two business line, BT Yellow Pages and Yellow Book USA, operates and generates revenue from their respective countries; therefore, we must look each asset as a separate part. We could do a separate valuation on each asset based on the home country’s currency and financial projections. To determine a representative discount rate, we used betas and Debt/EV ratios of comparable listed companies in Exhibit 10 from each region. For example, for Yellow Book USA, we only used betas and Debt/EV of comparable American firms and not European firms and we assume the risk premium is 6.5%. We also had to take into account difference in risk-free rates by looking at country-specific yield on 30 years Treasury Bills when calculating the cost of equity for each asset. Depending on the capital structure, each asset may have tax benefit from tax-deductible interest payments. The interest tax shield must be calculated using the local country’s corporate tax rate; therefore, each business line may have different cost of debt. At Yell, we used the U.K. tax rate of 30% because the acquired company is incorporated in the U.K. thus everything is consolidated in pound. When building a valuation model, we also consider the growth potential of each asset separately as well. We take into account the firm’s local business strategy, competitors, and overall market potential to develop a representative perpetuity growth rate. Once we get the enterprise values for both assets, we can then use the spot rate to convert the enterprise values into pound for comparison. All these factors play a vital role when forecasting revenue growth / free cash flows, determining the discount rate and eventually calculating a fair enterprise value for the firm. Using our pro forma assumptions and CCF valuation, the total acquisition fee is  £2.09 billion (shown in excel). The U.S. business is valued and converted to the pound to reach a total valuation. These values include the 5% in transaction fees. 6. Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity is done on five major variables. The first variable is the terminal growth rate of the U.K. business since BT Yellow Pages represents a huge part of the total valuation (see excel file for the sensitivity of growth rate on BT Yellow Pages valuation). If the terminal growth rate is 5%, the total acquisition price with fees is  £2.28 billion, compared to the  £2.09 billion with the base case of 3.47% growth rate. The second variable is the terminal growth rate of Yellow Book USA. This scenario analysis doesn’t affect the overall valuation much as the Yellow Book USA only accounts for a small fraction of the overall valuation. For the third variable, the analysis performed is the change in regulatory imposition when keeping the terminal growth rate of UK business at 3.47%. Currently the base case is that revenue decreases by the inflation subtracting 6% annually. The results are shown in Sheet ‘Sensitivity Tables’. When there is no regulatory imposition applied and the price grows with inflation, the acquisition price with fees is 3.01 billion. If they can negotiate with the UK government to reduce the rate to 5%, instead of 6%, the acquisition price with fees is 2.30 billion. It is highly sensitive to the change in regulatory imposition. This implies there is significant upside if the regulatory imposition is lower than 6%. For the fourth variable, we change the projections of Yellow Book USA’s EBITDA margin of new launches in order to create a range where revenue projections are uncertainty. But there is not much of a difference among those valuations. The last scenario analysis performed is the risk premium for both markets, at the very beginning we assumed a 6.5% risk premium, but we also want to get a range of the valuation as the numbers changes. The results are from 2.4 billion to 1.85 billion. Overall, we are confident that the bid would be somewhere between  £1.85 billion to  £2.3 billion. 7. Conclusion For this financial acquisition, we are more opportunistic and thereby looking for value creation based on the assets itself in order not to overvalue the target firm and thus overbidding for the company. In addition, we are looking to expand its presence on the European LBO market. We viewed Yell as a compelling investment opportunity, particularly in light of the company’s growth potential, low valuation and leverage capacity. This deal will leave its mark on the reputations of both PE firms.

Literature Review Global Financial Crisis Regulation

â€Å"Global Financial Crisis: Regulatory Arbitrage and Paradigm Shifts† In early 2008, the economy ground to an almost complete halt. As the stock indexes were overwhelmed by a virtual tsunami of never relenting red digits, it became clear that the financial markets had been hit by a crisis the scope and scale of which had not been witnessed since the Wall Street Crash of the 1930’s. Over time the causes became more clear, and as the dust settled, the world was left with several important questions to answer. First of all, there was the question of whether or not the global financial crisis was actually caused by flawed regulations and financial institutions or whether it is the fundamental behaviour of the financial market that is flawed, as caused by behavioural issues such as moral hazard and principle agent problems. As an extension of this, the second question involves whether or not financial regulation will be sufficient in realizing a stable and sustainable financial system or if a true paradigmal and behavioural shift is required. Finally and more practically, the third question is how such a change may be brought about in practice, and which exact aspects of the financial paradigm should be altered in order to realize sustainable financial markets. As we look more closely at the following questions and the appropriate literature, one can discern several issues, which may form the basis for further academic inquiry. First of all, it is clear that despite far reaching efforts of scholars, governments and other institutions to develop and introduce financial regulation in response to the financial crisis, recent evidence suggests that these measures fail to recognize fundamental flaws in the paradigms and values Freewriting exercise – Skills 3: Academic Writing S. N. Geesing – 342570 2010-2011 underlying actions of main financial institutions and firms, which need to be addressed in order to realise a sustainable financial process in the long term. From this main statement, we can now look into several direct causes of the crisis that can be related to the incentives that underlie these markets. One of these causes, as it appears, is the fact that Wall Street managed to lure the brightest minds in economics and mathematics with promises of wealth and fame, thus managing to consistently outsmart governmental institutions. By exploiting loop holes in regulatory frameworks, often done by developing complex financial derivates, the bulge bracket firms that set the tone in investment banking gained access to nearly limitless profits, foregoing issues of ethics and risk minimization in favour of short term and often personal gain. After recognizing this pattern, one may conclude that simply increasing bank reserves or bailing out mortgages (as many governments have done so far) will not allow for long term sustainability within financial markets. Other measures, such as increased transparency, caps on bonuses and reinvented incentive reward systems are more effective, but have proven difficult to practically implement. Introducing new regulation is always troublesome and this type of regulations has been met by heavy resistance, especially in the US, the place where new regulation is especially necessary. For this reason and more, a more indirect way of changing values and paradigms must be sought. Scholars have suggested that such measures are most likely to be found in economic theory and, more specifically, in forms of game theoretical applications, in which the government and the financial institutions act as â€Å"players† in a game that can be described as the general economy and financial markets.

Adolescents as a Vulnerable Population for Obesity Essay

The adolescent, aged 12 to 18 years, is in the stage of identity versus role confusion. Life for teens is complex and the transition from the previous stage is tremendous. Teens are expected, and desire, to commence taking charge of their lives and their futures. They make decisions about who they are and how they will fit into the world. Knowledge and experience as these are related to education, health, politics, sex, environment, culture, family, and social relationships, all shape the teen’s identity. If adolescents do not successfully navigate this stage, they experience role confusion (Pantea, 2011). During the stage of adolescence, children attempt to self-identify or gain a sense of who they are and their role in life, while facing the challenges of peer pressure and other environmental factors. It is important to educate adolescence on the importance of maintaining self-strength to avoid the influence of the society around them. For us, as educators, this may be one o f the greatest challenges because we must try to relate to an adolescent in reference to their age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. There are many theories that describe the changes an adolescent may go through; a popular theorists, Sigmund Freud describes both psychosexual as well as personality development throughout childhood. Adolescence is a very important time for teaching maintenance of healthy habits. The goal being, to carry these healthy habits into adulthood. Some factors which influence adolescent obesity are, limited access to healthy and affordable foods, environment, food insecurity related to lack of money, poor eating habits, an increase in â€Å"screen time† such as television, computers and video games causing a decrease in activity, and food marketing targeting children and adolescents. Adolescents eat more  food prepared away from home than in the past. Eating away from home increases calorie consumption, and many of the calories come in the form of saturated fats. Bottom line, kids are eating more unhealthy foods and they are a lot less active. â€Å"In 2009, less than 20 percent of high school students engaged in the recommended amount of physical activity of 60 minutes every day and over 20 percent did not get exercise on any day, though rates vary by gender and race† ( Schwartz & Peterson, 2010). In 1992 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the food guide pyramid. This basic drawing explained the pieces of a healthy diet. The pyramid was widely used in schools, on food labels, in print media and medical brochures. However this was not based on much scientific evidence and did not do much to encourage healthy eating. In 2011 the USDA replaced the pyramid with â€Å"My Plate†. This new image is a simple way to remind people to think about food choices when eating a meal. The www.choosemyplate.gov website is designed to help people of all ages and backgrounds incorporate better eating habits. This site offers meal planning, education, games for children, and also links to other sites that can enhance your knowledge on nutrition (USDA, 2014). â€Å"Epidemiology is the science and practice which describes and explains disease patterns in populations and puts this knowledge to use to improve health† (Bhopal, nd), or the science or study of epidemic. It is the scientific study of disease exploration. According to the CDC the ten steps used in investigating an outbreak of a disease are: 1) Prepare for field work, 2)Establish the existence of an outbreak, 3)Verify the diagnosis, 4)Define and identify cases, 5)Describe and orient the data in terms of time, place, and person, 6)Develop hypotheses, 7)Evaluate hypotheses, 8)Refine hypotheses and carry out additional studies, 9) Implement control and prevention measures, 10) Communicate findings. (Centers for Disease Control, 2004). The epidemiologic triangle is a model that scientist have established for studying health problems. The triangle has three corners called vertices. The three vertices of the triangle are the agent, host, and environment. In relationship to adolescent obesity, the primary agent influencing adolescent obesity is high caloric food and its availability, the host is the teenager being physically inactive and/or over eating, and  the environment is the absence of accessibility to nutritious healthy foods, education resources and support Epidemiologists prefer two types of studies for searching out risk factors for disease, case-control studies and cohort studies. A cohort study would be most suitable for the research of adolescent obesity since it would provide a much better opportunity to establish a cause-effect relationship as it begins with the exposure, high calorie food and moves forward in time to the disease, adolescent obesity, which could be stretched further into adulthood obesity and the diseases related to it. The three levels of epidemiological disease prevention are, primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary level focuses on prevention methods before the person gets the disease. So in the case in adolescent obesity the primary level of prevention would be to develop a plan that is effective both at home and in school for preventing weight gain by promoting healthy eating and exercise habits. Schools possess the opportunity to give students the tools and strategies for them to adopt and continue healthy lifestyles even after they graduate or leave. Assuring there are strategies in place at schools to promote healthy activities is also crucial to reshaping student’s habits for the better. First, they must build the foundation for healthy activity and eating. Schools need to have a coordinated school health program in place as a guideline. CSHPs provide a systematic approach to promoting Student health and learning. The model promoted by CDC consists of eight components that can strongly influence student health and learning including health education, physical education, and school meals, which are present in most schools (CDC, 2013). â€Å"Active coordination is needed to engage school staff,   implement district/school priority actions assess programs   and policies; create a plan based on data, sound science, and analysis of gaps and redundancies in school health programming; establish goals, and evaluate efforts. A well-coordinated school health program results in an organized set of courses, services, policies and interventions that meet the health and safety needs of all students† (CDC, 2013, pg.3). So primary prevention reduces both the incidence and prevalence of a disease. The secondary level focuses on after the disease has occurred but before the person realizes anything is wrong. The goal of secondary prevention is to find and treat disease early. So, say for instance, the adolescent is â€Å"a little overweight† or â€Å"thick but not fat†, by the time the teenager is recognizing and using these terms, they are most likely well on their way to being classified as obese. Finally the tertiary level is aimed at those people who already have symptoms of the disease. The goal of tertiary care is to prevent the disease from causing any further health related complications and to perhaps slow down the disease process. There is also a goal of providing better care to the patient and maybe even doing it well enough that the disease can be reversed and the patient can be healthy again. So an obese adolescent who has been diagnosed as obese and is aware they are obese would fall into this category. In conclusion, epidemiologists study the adolescents and their health problem of obesity and from these studies they try to find the contributing factors to the problem of adolescent obesity. Then the epidemiologist look for a solution to the problem, by perhaps researching ways to eliminate the contributing factors, in hopes of preventing the disease of adolescent obesity before it starts. References Bhopal R nd What is epidemiologyBhopal, R. (nd). What is epidemiology? Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu/super7/18011 20140413220211460672974 Center for Disease Control 2004 Steps for an Outbreak InvestigationCenter for Disease Control (2004, November 17). Steps for an Outbreak Investigation. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/excite/classroom/outbreak/steps.htm. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) Adolescent and School Health. Retrieved 04/12/14 from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth Pantea, M. (2011). Adolescence. In M. Stange, C. Oyster, & J. Sloan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of women in today’s world. (1st ed., pp. 26-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.413 5/97814129vcvvvvcffffddfdfr 95962.n11 20140413222409263847828 Schwartz S Peterson J 2010 Adolescent Obesity in the Unted StatesSchwartz, S., & Peterson, J. (2010, November). Adolescent Obesity in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_977.html United States Department of Agriculture. (2014). Choose my plate. Retrieved from http://choosemyplate.gov/ 20140413214914517867326

The Creation of Modern Capitalism- The history of multinationals and Essay

The Creation of Modern Capitalism- The history of multinationals and the creation of global capitalism have been distinctly u - Essay Example Globalization is a course of action by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become incorporated in the course of global network of political thoughts through interactions, trades and transportations (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2010). Also, with the rise of multinational firms and corporation making and creating a world of collaboration, highly-dependent from each other by means of economy as well as political to survive in the global eco-political battle. Thus, we could view our world now being a spider web wherein each and every country is connected by one another through its dependency in resources and information. Moreover, with the rise of advanced technology like internets, telecommunications and alike, creating a stronger bond between and among countries through faster exchange of information. In this case, we are bounded by the things that these corporations had created. We shall tackle aspects on the history of globalization and its effects in the sphere of economy, politics and even in the society. Thus we shall see the benefits of this phenomenon and its disadvantage though comparative analysis to the studies, investigation and critical analysis made by other people. History It is believed that the process of globalization had started long time ago during the early ages where trades are used by the people to exchange goods and services. Also, in colonization era where one needs to import goods like spices, gold and even cultures from their colonizing countries. What seems to be the turning point of this event is during the 19th century where Industrialization occurs in the Western countries whereas processed goods are being introduces and new inventions are being catered to the business owners. During that time, Europe being the lead country producing goods highly needs materials that it will utilize to materialize the inventions of machineries in support to their production. Also, the dependency of the country to other country to ai d its resources for it to create the materials needed and the invention of communication gadgets like telephones strengthen the globalization. The first phase of modern globalization break down during the Word War I in the 20th century because of several monetary forces brought by this phenomenon boost the conflicts between the states during that time (Yeates, pp54-55, 1962). Countries during these times were focused on the battle and their triumph in it. Thus, multinational firms are being used by the state as an asset to support the spending on their warfare. Globalization eventually reached its peak after the World War II wherein international organizations like the United Nations (UN) were being established to solve state-to-states conflict in the international arena and that to settle disputes between and among states in matters of economy as well as politics. Furthermore, the attempt to cut down boundaries of trade was done through the Bretton Woods conference creating a frame work of international

It Week8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

It Week8 - Assignment Example However, the old network, IPv4, cannot be done away with until the transition period is complete (Venkata et al., 2012). The benefits that IPv6 offers surpass the limitations that IPv4 has. For instance, the new IPv6 makes it possible to have a plethora of IP addresses as opposed to IPv4. The burgeoning protocol has 128 bit addresses as compared to IPv4, which only has 32 bit addresses. The bit addresses that IPv6 uses enable the availability of numerous IP addresses. In addition to this, IPv6 eradicates the need for network address translation (NAT) which is present in IPv4 resulting in better peer-peer networks connectivity. Further, IPv4 presents security issues, which IPv6 eliminates as it promotes interoperability between myriad implementations (Venkata et al., 2012). Venkata, P., Reddy, P., Mohammed, K., Ali, I., Sandeep, B., & Ravi, T. (2012). Importance and benefits of IPV6 over IPV4†¯: a study. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(12), 1-2. Data Definition Language (DDL) refers to statements that define the schema or database structure. For instance, CREATE – creates objects, ALTER – alters the database structure, DROP – deletes objects, COMMENT – adds comments to the dictionary of date, and RENAME – Renames database objects. DML refers to Data Manipulation Language, which are simply statements that manage data within schematic objects. For instance, SELECT – helps in retrieving data, UPDATE – updates data already present in a table, and CALL – Calls Java or PL/SQL. Data Control Language (DCL) includes commands such as GRANT. It mostly deals with permissions, rights, and additional controls of the database. SQL Server 2012 relies on the above SQL commands for interaction. Transact-SQL presents as central in sending and receiving communication with the SQL server (Microsoft, 2006). Distributed File System (DFS) enables administrators to make a group of shared

Microeconocs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Microeconocs - Essay Example This "supply schedule" is usually represented by relationship between market price and amount of goods produced. On the other side, "demand is defined as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time" (Clasquin 24). This schedule represents the amount of goods that consumers are willing to purchase at different prices as long as everything else remains the same. While there are numberless different markets that vary from country to country, there are a few producers that find a demand throughout the world. One of these is the demand for oil, with almost all machines depending on the energy it provides. The production and consumption of oil makes for a perfect example of how supply and demand works. One of the largest and most well known oil producers is The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). This organization ties together the biggest oil producing countries in the world including: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. "OPEC's influence on the market has been widely criticized. Several members of OPEC alarmed the world and triggered high inflation across both the developing and developed world when they used oil embargoes in the 1973s" (Clasquin 24). OPEC has weathered the ups and downs of supply and demand like no other producer has because the demand for oil in today's fluctuating market is constantly changing. With the worldwide economic crisis currently taking over many parts of the world, the demand for oil has been significantly reduced. "For years, the world's oil surplus was negligible. This year, OPEC's spare capacity is expected to surge to around four million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In 2009, global oil demand will fall by 800,000 barrels a day -- the sharpest retreat since the recession of the early 1980s, the Energy Department predicts" (King A.6). This sharp decline in demand can be directly linked to the pocketbooks of everyday citizens. A massive amount of the demand OPEC sees comes from everyday citizens needing oil to power their cars. Many of these citizens are losing jobs and feeling the crunch due to economic stress. They have less spending money and are sticking only to necessities. In this case, less spending money means less demand. For example, citizens have less money to spend on leisure activities which almost always require some kind of transportation to and from. It seems that people are driving only to and from work, sticking to their homes and surrounding neighborhoods in their time off. People can't afford to take vacations, depleting the demand of oil needed to operate airplanes, and an allover tightening of pocketbooks is restricting the amount of work needed to be done by the machinery using oil as a power fuel. Therefore, with all of these factors facing OPEC, they have "announced that the group's largest supply cut, --2.2 million barrels a day - after pledging to cut two million barrels a day in the autumn, when the slowdown began to take hold" (King A.6). Global economic stress has stalled OPEC actions along with signs ofa weakening energy demand. At the end of 2008 reports of crude oil stocks rising in cost and falling retail sales in the U.S. were driving oil prices down.

Answer the question separate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer the question separate - Essay Example ure and can climb the steps of success, but call of heart unleashes the stress at heart and makes life more worth of living enabling an individual to see the world under a benevolent light. Therefore, if I needed to omit anything from Thoreau’s words in my definition of a beautiful life, I would have excluded the phrase â€Å"live according to its [wisdom] dictates†, while including other attributes like â€Å"a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust† at the same time, with a bit more importance (Thoreau, 1882). Des Pres envisions the human moral senses from the experiences of the concentration camp survivors, where humans were kept under most strict surveillance so far in the modern world. Therefore, the visions about moral senses and humanity framed by Des Pres are worth of modern life style. According to Des Pres, human moral order evolves from an evolutionary survival strategy and is definitely illusionary and idealistic. Worthily, Des Pres comments, â€Å"Group formation in defense against predation is common from insects to primates, and protective strategies often depend on intricate systems of communication and mutual aid† (Des Pres, 1976, pp. 199). Therefore, morality or sense of compassion and virtues like empathy or sympathy in human nature is not imbibed, neither they are inherent as Des Pres envisions them. According to him, human moral order is the consequence of collective effort and survival support system rendered to each other during the time of

Alternative Approaches to Slowing Global Warming Essay

Alternative Approaches to Slowing Global Warming - Essay Example This paper offers a thorough review of the article â€Å"To Tax or Not to Tax: Alternative Approaches to Slowing Global Warming†, written by William D. Nordhaus. The article written by the author is a comprehensive study and analysis of the various issues relating to global warming from an economic point of view. The articlewas written to find out, how a control by the government on the public goods would help to combat the problem of global warming. The different control mechanisms which are either price controls or quantity controls have undergone a thorough analysis in the article. Along with that the various prospects and the setbacks that the government face relating to these controls have also been discussed by the author. The scientific analysis of the problems of global warming has been provided. This is a constructive approach which would help the reader understand why there is a necessity for the control of pollution. An outline of the source of the problems has been discussed. The issue of climatic changes has been explained with the help of suitable examples. The reader can understand that the emission of various industrial gases are the reasons why the atmosphere around the earth is getting polluted and how it is linked to the changes in the climate. Although the scientists had made the world aware about the negative consequences of global warming a long time back, countries have been instrumental in taking formal actions only at a later stage. In this context the author has put forward the example of United States. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the body that started its functioning with the Kyoto Protocol in 2005. The framework was adopted by the participating industrialized countries where the emissions take place the most. The European Emissions Trading Scheme was an attempt made by the countries of the European Union to tackle the problems of Carbon dioxide emissions in the countries with the implementation of the economic principles (European Environment Agency 11). However, according to the author the Kyoto Protocol had major problems because there was very little scope for inclusion of the other countries. The United States also did not participate in the treaty which acted as a major setback for the success of the mission. The treaty also suffered a failure because the growth in the industrialization took place in the countries that did not come under the purview of the treaty. This is a valid argument put forward by the author because any schemes that are being adopted by the countries have to be remodeled with time. Unless all the countries come forward and participate, a global issue cannot be countered only by a few nations. Therefore Nordhaus posited that the nations did not do enough in the initial stage to combat the pollution levels of their respective countries. Therefore the article does a detailed analysis of the Kyoto Protocol and also tries to look for an alternative solution in case of non viability of the former. The author has presented the first section of the article with global public goods, an example of which is the phenomenon of global warming. The author has describes these goods as those which affect the entire world and are not specific to any country. The global public goods are becoming more prominent with time because of the extensive of use of technology. This representation of global warming is somewhat not appropriate because it is a result of production or consumption of a good and therefore should be considered as a negative externality rather

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Economics - Assignment Example Marginal revenue and Average revenue are constant and equal to price. The optimal level of output is given by Q* where, average variable cost, AVC is minimum. Thus for the competitive firm, the maximising profit condition is AR=P=MR=MC. b) The term monopoly means single to sell and the person who sells is called a monopolist. Monopolists are called â€Å"price setter† and there is restriction to entry of innumerable firms in the market. The monopoly market is a one seller market and many buyers. Indian Railways example of monopoly. The main objective of a monopolist firm is to maximize its profit. The monopolist’s profit maximization point is illustrated in the Figure 2: Here in short run, SRMC is the short run marginal cost and SRAC is short run average cost curves respectively. The monopoly equates MR=MC to find the optimal output Qm. at price Pm. In case of the cost conditions, if price (P) is less that the average cost, then the firm is experiencing loss and will shut down. In case of Long run equilibrium, monopolist requires LRMC=SRMC=MR and P≠¥LRAC. d) Monopolistic competition falls between the two extreme economies of Perfect competition and Monopoly. The main characteristics of the monopolistic market is price differentiation , non-price competition as the products are differentiated among themselves, large number of firms in the market and freedom of entry and exit and freedom of the consumers. The monopolistic market faces a serious problem of decrease in the market revenue through price differentiation. The major problem in the monopolistic competition is the introduction of product heterogeneity which makes difficult for the consumers to differentiate among competitive groups. Under monopolistic market is not clear to draw line. 3. A Price Discriminating Monopolist is better than a pure monopolist. Price Discrimination especially of third degree is always desirable from a social welfare point of view as it results in more

PUBLIC LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

PUBLIC LAW - Essay Example udicial review, is where the law is contravened at some point by an administrative body in its actions or inactions, as was defined in White and Collins v Minister of Health.1 In this case, procedural ultra-vires is evident. This is whereby an administrative body fails to follow the right procedure in its actions or inactions (Fitzroy 2014, 1). As much as Catford district council is vested with the power to issue licenses, procedure as per the relevant statute law requires it to conduct consultations where necessary. Bearing in mind that the shop operates within a residential flat, it was necessary for the council to consult the adjacent household dwellers regarding the same before issuing the license. As a renter of a dwelling premise, Alya has a right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment of his property. Therefore, she has every right to protest due to the nuisance emanating from the shop during Sunday. Had the council consulted her prior to the issuance of the license, things might hav e turned differently, as some conditions could have been attached to the operating license. It was therefore illegal for the council to issue the license without conducting necessary consultations as the relevant authority suggests. Unreasonableness: The principle of reasonability is to the effect that an administrative body should be rational in acting or making its decisions. Unreasonableness is seen when an administrative body acts or makes a decision in a manner so absurd or outrageous, that a reasonable person acting in the same capacity and under the same circumstances would to do or make, as was defined in Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesburry Corporation.2 In this case, the reason given for the council’s failure to conduct consultations, something which is done by all other local authorities, is so unreasonable that one would not expect such an authority to fail to act on that basis (Harel and Kahara 2010). Time and money saving is not reasonable enough to

Plan is a Magic Instrument for All Essay Example for Free

Plan is a Magic Instrument for All Essay Plan is a small, four-lettered, apparently innocuous-looking word packed with power that can make or break the world, both literally and figuratively. In fact the connotation of the word plan spreads across the universe, as even the universe is an outcome of a divine plan! There is a plethora of definitions of plan (Definitions, 2010), but this author finds plan as an instrument applicable under any circumstance that needs a systematic arrangement of thoughts, things, actions and outcomes. It is a Magic Instrument for All The above definition carries a fair hint about the potential of this word, besides hinting about its multidimensional utility value as an instrument, applicable in all possible spheres. To Jack Welch, a plan may sound the outcome of a business venture, while to Le Corbusier, a plan may sound as the precursor of joy associated with an architectural form, to a football coach, plan might sound as the passage towards victory over the opponent. This shows that plan acts as a procedure towards achieving both physical and metaphysical objectives. In the process it can be seen that plan is associated with futuristic implications and present state of skill with which one plans. From this perspective plan brings forth the issues like ability and application, where the ability serves a pointer to both cognitive and emotional intelligence, because there is no denying the fact that the degrees of emotional and cognitive ability have correlations with the quality of a plan. It is that internal organization of individuals that gets reflected in their actions. Another subject is virtually embedded with plan, i. e. , innovation. Plan does not follow the beaten path more often than not, and thus it requires a unique organization of a thought that would be capable of coming into a full cycle like beginning, middle and end. From this perspective one can say, plan is an instrument to unearth dreams – it helps humans to give form to the intrinsic desires. Conclusion While plan is an all-pervasive instrument to cut short the road towards goal in general, for a thinker it is a magic instrument that enables humans to organize their intrinsic thoughts to cut short the road towards self-actualization. References Definitions of Plan on the Web. (2010). Retrieved May 1, 2010, from http://www. google. co. in/search? hl=enclient=firefox-arls=org. mozilla:en- US:officialdefl=enq=define:planei=MO_bS95RxbasB8PPsP0Hsa=Xoi= glossary_definitionct=titleved=0CAkQkAE

Mary Shelley Essay Example for Free

Mary Shelley Essay Victor neglects his paternal duties as soon as he realises them. He runs away from the creature at the moment of birth and shows negligence immediately to his child. This highlights how pathetic Victor is, he cannot commit himself to anyone apart from himself . In comparison the creature desires a family so he wont be alone, unlike Victor. He goes to great lengths in a quest for a companion, he makes threats and kills people to ensure himself of a companion. Victor has a family who care for him very much, but he shows very little regard to them and their feelings, however the creature is dedicated to a family who dont even realise is existence. The creature expresses an ongoing desire for companionship, whereas Victor never expresses that he is lonely, he just wallows in his own self pity. Victor has all the creature wants, whereas Victor couldnt care less, it is this ignorance of others feelings that makes Victor a much lesser man than the creature. The creature however is not perfect, once he is divorced from the De Laceys he becomes incredibly vindictive and spends the rest of the novel inflicting pain. The way in which the creature does this to Victor is by hurting Victor deeply then waiting for him to recover from the loss of another family member, then hurts him again. These murders are also pre meditated, he kills essentially in cold blood which may be a product of his upbringing but it makes him a killer. The creature says, I gazed on my victim, about William, this is evidence that the creature is a cold blooded killer. Another example of his vindictiveness is the way in which he leaves notes behind when being pursued by Victor, he taunts him when Victor is a broken man. In the novel Victor is not a killer, he never sets out to hurt others intentionally. He becomes blinded by his work, but never sets out to kill in cold blood. This highlights the point that Shelley may be stereotyping the creature as most people would as a killer, but it shows that the creature cannot be considered as a man. A most significant contrast between the two is how selfless the creature is in contrast to Victor. The creature helps the De Laceys with their work out of the goodness of his heart, as well as that he feels remorse for stealing their food and tries to make up for it by helping them. He is never greedy or self obsessed, he just wants to be accepted. Victor is incredibly selfish throughout the novel, emotionally especially. Clerval shows huge dedication to his friend throughout the novel, he cares for him when ill, but Victor never reciprocates this care. When with Justine in prison he claims, deep and bitter agony that she will never feel, to himself, he thinks he is suffering more than someone on death row. In the entire novel Victor never helps out anyone, which is why the creature is a better person than Victor. Victor is also self obsessed with his own feelings after the deaths of William, Justine, and Clerval he generally thinks about himself and his own feelings.

Costing a Building Construction Project

Costing a Building Construction Project SALUM NASSOR MOHAMED Task 1 Identify and further describe any five (3) components of cost in the building construction? Cost is a calculation which can be calculated by evaluating the actual cost which is paid by the client or the contraction industries. The cost of building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. All building construction projects include some elements in common – design, financial, estimating and legal considerations. However, the commercial of building construction is procured privately by various delivery methodologies, including cost estimating, profit, price and management contracting, In addition, there are some components of cost in the building construction. These are; Cost of profit. Cost of overheard. Cost of material. COST OF PROFIT. Profit is the amount of financial reward which base on the contractor aim that achieves the risk which take during the meeting of construction work. Example, Profit = Total sales – Total cost. Perhaps, cost of profit can be define as the major component of cost which variable change during in work or in discussion of the cost between the client and contractor. However, this component of cost is important source of finance for business like; construction work, which earned amount of financial in a company. This is known as retained profit. For example, the higher the risk the more profit is needed, this profit is varies according to the types of construction risk and the time of construction, therefore when the contractor take a more risk in the work and time the cost of profit will be needed to the construction work. COST OF OVERHEAD. One among the component of cost in a building construction are cost of overhear, which can be define as the cost of resources which is used by an organization just to maintain its existence. Although, the awareness of cost overhead is important for more than just knowing how much profit is being made. Usually, cost of overhead is measured in monetary terms, but non-monetary overhead is possible in the form of time required to accomplish tasks. For examples, salaries, maintenance, utility, rent and production expenses. In addition, the total overhead is calculated by % basic and as lump sum between 5 – 10% of total component of cost. Furthermore, the cost of overhead is divided into two categories. These are Fixed cost. Variable cost. Fixed cost. Fixed cost is the one among the categories of overhead cost which deals in a salary of administrative staff which is include the contribution and allowance, rent and taxes on the office. This is usually occurring in short period time. Variable cost. This variable cost is the categories of overhead cost that change according to a crease or decrease in the work. For example, interest, rate, loans, and director’s salary which is based on rate of profit. COST OF MATERIAL. Cost of material is the amount of money invested in the production of a product. Also it can be define as the cost of materials which can be easily identified with the unit of production. A contractor must submit his own material cost in the measured rate analysis. For example, the cost of glass is a pure materials cost in light bulb manufacturing. This manufacturing’s of products are good required material as the prime element. In general, these materials are divided into two categories. These categories are; Direct materials. Indirect materials. In addition, material cost includes this cost; Basic cost of material which is bought by manufacturer or supplier. Transportation, which deals about the cost of transport material to site, and some time it’s depend on how long will take to there (distance and time). Unloading and storage of material, the cost must be taken into consideration in overall cost. For example, if the site is inaccessible, the contractor will incur additional cost of material and send to the site. (b) There are many sources of cost data in construction industry. Do some research and identify the main sources of cost data that available in Malaysia. Cost data is every important in control construction activities, this is critical data which is used to establish whether the estimate is reasonable or not. The main sources of cost data are; Cost planning during design. Contract estimating for tendering purpose. Cost planning during design. Cost planning is mostly referred to the designing to a cost or target cost planning since a cost limit is fixed for the scheme and the architect must then prepare a design not to exceed this cost. ‘’Is a typically for buildings, which enables the cost of a scheme to be monitored during design development’’ this known as cost planning during design. Cost planning ensures the amount of money which including the requirement for the building and construction industry. During the design cost planning is allow the options to be analysed and may be required to determine best value for money by assessing recurrent costs. The cost planning and analysis may include a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis for the contractor and client requirements. For example, when the contractor and architect are determine the total cost of the project and design that ensure the estimated cost produce are close. Contract estimating for tendering purpose. Contract estimating for tendering purpose are the one of the purposes of cost data in construction industry which is control a contract operation especially in the interim payment and final accounting procedure. A full Estimating and Tendering solutions to all of the client in a construction industry including Main Contractors, Sub-Contractors and Private Clients, can be provide by Quantity Surveyors. For example, a cost reconciliation and speed up tender submission. In addition the purpose of producing a contract estimating tendering for the client can be classified into two (2) categories. These are; Budgeting This decides whether the project should proceed as envisaged. Controlling This uses the estimate as a control mechanism throughout (c) Discuss on the precautions should be adopted before attempting to use existing Cost Data and applying that to the new projects. Cost data are needed in the construction industries at different stages of sophistication for the theory and practice of building economics. For example, a contractor’s are required during the inception levels of the design process, so that they can provide clients with an indication of possible cost associated with a correct proposed construction project. These are precautions of cost data. These are; Prediction of cost. The prediction of cost can show both time and hourly rate that would be supplied to the other side at the first opportunity. Thus it would be sent with the letter of claim or with the defendant’s response to the letter of claim. Also this use of cost data (Prediction of cost) can be used to predict cost of information for example, cost of various buildings, element unit rate, equipment and schedule of rate in the bill of quantities. In this case the contractor can be use this form in order to estimate the whole cost of the project in a construction industries and he can also save in word excel. Comparison of cost. Comparison of cost is the ways which help a contractor and engineer to identify the correct cost of the project in construction industries. Also, this use of cost data is used to compare the cost of different building. In addition, the aim of the constructors when they applied this use of cost data is to make the best and beneficial comparison of a various item, element, tools and equipment of the building in different design. For example, this use of cost data, occur when the contractor is calculate the total cost of the building includes all the function, element, design and payment of all engineering, Architect, survey and etc. in last year and total cost of the building in this year, in order to compare the cost of the building. In this case the contractor can save the money in the next building. TASK 2 MR Ahmed is a project manager at GEDS Developer Sdn Bhd just realizes about the construction cost database is an importance sources of information for those who are directly or indirectly involved in the building industry. It is not only important to quality surveyors but also other disciplines such as architects, engineers, accountants, administrators, amongst other. He is seeking for your help to construct their own construction cost database. Define Gross Floor Area (GFA) and explain how the GFA is used to organize the construction cost database. Gross Floor Area (GFA) is the total amount of floor space in a building, â€Å"Gross Floor Area (GFA) is a real estate term referring to the total floor area inside the building envelope. Including the external walls and excluding the roof†. In the construction work Gross Floor Area is very important for determining rent and advertising with real estate companies and the acquiring building permits. For example, the area within the perimeter of the outside walls of a building can be measured from the inside surface of the exterior walls, with no designed for hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns, or other interior features. Gross Floor Area (GFA) is a real estate term referring to the total floor area inside the building envelope. Including the external walls and excluding the roof. In addition, databases may exist in the form of physical files folders, documents, or formatted automated data processing system data files. According to the above scenario the main uses of Gross Floor Area (GFA) in a construction of cost database are shown as follow; Gross Floor Area (GFA) can be used as GLA, even though GLA usually excludes corridors and other public areas inside the development, while both figures include areas occupied by structure, like walls and columns. Gross Floor Area (GFA) in a construction of cost database is used to measure the length of the surface area or wall area, for example Balconies, this are intended to be covered semi-outdoor spaces. Covered balconies constitute gross floor area (GFA). Also the provision of balconies is encouraged to achieve the planning objective of enhancing the garden city ambience and promote greenery in the sky. The GFA of the balconies is allowed to be computed over and above the Master Plan control, However, this would not apply to existing developments whose building form, height or use are not in accordance with the planning intention as indicated in the Master Plan, Building Height Plan or Special and Detailed Control Plan. Suggest and display the format and the construction cost database. Cost database is an organization or collection of cost data. In addition, database means a collection of data fields that make up a record. This information is easily updated and edited. A contractor can create charts for the construction work using the records of a database. The term database is correctly applied to the data and their supporting data structures, and not to the database management system (DBMS). The database data collection with DBMS is called a database system. Although, a database can provide the ITS professional community with quick and easy access to costs data to be used in developing cost estimates of ITS deployments. For example; entries of unit cost components have been compiled from available sources and provided in table format. Perhaps, when you base the above scenario there are so many format of cost database in a construction industry. One among those is; Bill of Quantities (BOQ). Bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document which is used in tendering in the construction industry in which materials, parts, and labour and their costs are itemized. Also it (BOQ) can be define as â€Å"the major source of cost information that must be used with the great care as the rates between 2 BQ for the same project that will show a considerable variation for may item†. This bill of quantities can be proceed and prepare by the quantity surveyors and is the one among the source of development of Quantities surveyor’s as a separate profession. Bills of quantities may prevent contractors from developing effective cost control systems. However bill of quantities can be prepare by a taking of process in which the cost of building and the structure of the building are estimated for measurement in the structural engineer drawing, this form can be used to create a cost estimate, for example in regard to the square are in meter of wall and roofs. TASK 3 Define Price Analysis Cost Analysis Elemental cost analysis Price Analysis Price analysis is an evaluation of a proposed price without analysing any of the separation of the cost element. Also this is essentially price comparison. In addition this price analysis is used or applied whenever the estimator comparing lump sum price. Example of price analysis, comparisons of prospective bidders in the current procurement. Cost Analysis Cost analysis is an evaluation of a separate material that make up a contractor’s total cost proposal or price to determine if they are allowable, directed related to the requirement and ultimately, reasonable. For example, labour and material cost. This cost analysis is needed by using a competitive proposal method of contracting like Survey, Engineering or Architect services, also this method are required to submit a cost proposal that identify all element of cost, example, material, labour, profit and overheard cost. Elemental cost analysis: is an arrangement of Cost analysis and Cost control, commonly for structures, which empowers the expense of a plan to be checked throughout outline improvement. Describe the FIVE (5) principle of cost analysis The main aim of cost analysis is to provide cost centers for the work under examination. The Standard Form of Cost Analysis for building projects is used throughout the UK to provide data which allows comparisons to be made between the costs of achieving various building functions in one project with that of achieving equivalent functions in other projects. In addition the standard forms of cost analysis to identify the major cost items for the project cost manager to address himself. There are 5 principles of cost analysis Building within a project shall be analyzed separately. Analysis should be in stages with each stage giving progressively more details; the total detailed costs in each stage should equally the cost the relevant group in the proceeding stage. Information shall be provided to facilitate the preparation of estimates based on abbreviated. Preliminaries shall be dealt with as a separate item (not apportioned amongst elements). Lump sum adjustment shall be spread pro-rate amongst all elements if the buildings and external works, excluding prime cost sum and the provisional sum contained within the elements. In addition the principle of cost analysis is; â€Å"if the material increase also the cost will be increase†. This show that cost is increase when the material are high quality. Also â€Å"An element should be easy definable and capable of having the appropriate costs allocated against it with a minimum of effort on the part of the user†. However the analysis of cost should bring out those features in different building which bear most heavily upon cost, also the qualitative aspect of the project should be expressed by means of reference to accompanying specification notes. For example, after soliciting competitive sealed bids, one receives only on bid, and it differs substantially from one independent estimate of the contract price. In that case, one must obtain a cost breakdown of the single bid price and use cost principle to determine if that price is reasonable. (C) Describe the contents of cost analysis. (i) Complete contract document: in order for the cost to be analysed it must be prepared in the form of full document. (ii) Quantity factors and other working drawings and specification to calculate the quantity: if we want to make this cost analysis we in order for it to be done we must sketch first and we must calculate Tender report- in the cost analysis we must have a special report we it can show the information regarding the market, and the numbers of tenders etc. Manual for preparing cost analysis. Cost analysis if its prepared by manually it will be good because someone concentrate on doing it Standard form of cost analysis: in making the cost analysis everything in the project must be standard. References Ashworth, A. (2004).Cost studies of buildings. 1st ed. Harlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Hillebrandt, P. (1974).Economic theory and the construction industry. 1st ed. [London]: Macmillan [Distributed in the U.S. by Halsted Press, New York. Langston, C. (2005).Life-cost approach to building evaluation. 1st ed. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. Myers, D. (2004).Construction economics. 1st ed. New York: Spon Press. Smith, J. and Jaggar, D. (2007).Building cost planning for the design team. 1st ed. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann.

White collar and corporate crime Essay -- essays research papers

Why does white collar and corporate crime tend to go undetected, Or if detected not prosecuted White collar and corporate crimes are crimes that many people do not associate with criminal activity. Yet the cost to the country due to corporate and white collar crime far exceeds that of â€Å"street† crime and benefit fraud. White collar and corporate crimes refer to crimes that take place within a business or institution and include everything from Tax fraud to health and safety breaches. Corporate crime is extremely difficult to detect for many reasons. One major reason is that many people do not realise a crime is being committed as corporate crime is often seen as a victimless crime. At face value this may seem to be the case but if you look deeper you will see that this is not true. Every year the FBI estimates that 19,000 Americans are murdered every year compared with the 56,000 Americans who die every year from occupational disease such as black lung and asbestosis (Russell Mokhiber 2000). Deaths Caused by corporate crime are also very indirect so it can be very difficult to trace the problem to the corporation. Another reason it can be difficult to detect corporate crime is that directors within a corporation are unlikely to report the criminal activity of their colleges for the fear that it will hinder their own career success and could even lead to them losing their jobs. Within a company illegal practices could be seen by many as the â€Å"in thing† and the people work...

American Slavery Essay -- Slavery in the United States

Enormous changes swept through nearly every facet of American society in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War, and the institution of slavery was no exception to this rule. Prior to the Revolution, slavery existed in every American colony. The growing population of settlers was founded on and maintained by notions of inequality, in which indentured servants and slaves provided the necessary manpower for the development of a largely agricultural economy and the settlement of an ever-diminishing frontier. First- and second generation whites began to equate race and servitude as white indentured servitude waned and black slaves came to represent the primary source of forced labor in the Americas. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many whites and blacks negotiated the terms of slavery for the first time – new slaveholders sought to define the status of slaves and to create a viable workforce out of individuals unfamiliar with the language, land, or expectations of their keepers; new slaves, still intimately tied to their native languages and cultures, struggled to comprehend the new status forced on them in a strange land. As each group viewed the other as hostile strangers, dehumanization and brutality were commonly employed by new masters to conform African behavior to their expectations and needs. After the American Revolution, slavery underwent significant transformations in concert with larger changes sweeping the political, economic, and religious structure of the nation. The spirit of liberty in which the revolution was fought gave pause to whites who had begun to take the status of bondsmen for granted and elicited different responses in the North and South. Gradual emancipation in ... ... different from that of the colonial years – it was a distinctly Southern institution, grounded in the accepted tradition of generations past, bringing masters and slaves into closer contact, and eliciting radical opposition for the first time in the North. In other ways, antebellum slavery was a product of its earlier embodiment, shaped and transformed by the political, economic, and religious revolutions of the interwar years, just as the rest of society was. By 1861, an even greater revolution would be necessary to form a society free from its yoke. Works Consulted Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, Written by Himself. New York: Signet, 1968. Ginzberg, Lori D. Women in Antebellum Reform. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2000. Kolchin, Peter. American Slavery, 1619-1877. New York: Hill and Wang, 2003. American Slavery Essay -- Slavery in the United States Enormous changes swept through nearly every facet of American society in the years between the American Revolution and the Civil War, and the institution of slavery was no exception to this rule. Prior to the Revolution, slavery existed in every American colony. The growing population of settlers was founded on and maintained by notions of inequality, in which indentured servants and slaves provided the necessary manpower for the development of a largely agricultural economy and the settlement of an ever-diminishing frontier. First- and second generation whites began to equate race and servitude as white indentured servitude waned and black slaves came to represent the primary source of forced labor in the Americas. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many whites and blacks negotiated the terms of slavery for the first time – new slaveholders sought to define the status of slaves and to create a viable workforce out of individuals unfamiliar with the language, land, or expectations of their keepers; new slaves, still intimately tied to their native languages and cultures, struggled to comprehend the new status forced on them in a strange land. As each group viewed the other as hostile strangers, dehumanization and brutality were commonly employed by new masters to conform African behavior to their expectations and needs. After the American Revolution, slavery underwent significant transformations in concert with larger changes sweeping the political, economic, and religious structure of the nation. The spirit of liberty in which the revolution was fought gave pause to whites who had begun to take the status of bondsmen for granted and elicited different responses in the North and South. Gradual emancipation in ... ... different from that of the colonial years – it was a distinctly Southern institution, grounded in the accepted tradition of generations past, bringing masters and slaves into closer contact, and eliciting radical opposition for the first time in the North. In other ways, antebellum slavery was a product of its earlier embodiment, shaped and transformed by the political, economic, and religious revolutions of the interwar years, just as the rest of society was. By 1861, an even greater revolution would be necessary to form a society free from its yoke. Works Consulted Douglas, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, Written by Himself. New York: Signet, 1968. Ginzberg, Lori D. Women in Antebellum Reform. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2000. Kolchin, Peter. American Slavery, 1619-1877. New York: Hill and Wang, 2003.

Prejudice: A Worldwide Problem :: essays research papers

Prejudice: A Worldwide Problem There is a dangerous and often deadly problem in the world today. It reaches beyond political and religious boundaries and spans across all economic and social statuses. It affects the homeless, middleclass, and the richest people in society. The problem is prejudice. In America, when we think of prejudice we often think of it in terms of Black and White. However, prejudice is much more than that. It is a broad term that can encompass things like racism, sexism, and religious persecution. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines prejudice as "a preformed opinion, usually an unfavorable one, based on insufficient knowledge, irrational feelings, or inaccurate stereotypes" and "the holding of opinions that are formed beforehand on the basis of insufficient knowledge". When I read those definitions, I have to wonder why prejudice still exists today. If it really is based on "insufficient knowledge", then it seems to me that there is no logical reason why prejudice is still so prevalent. Throughout our entire lives we are exposed to issues dealing with prejudice. In school we study history, geography, government, and psychology, and at some point in each of those subjects, the issue of prejudice is more than likely discussed. In the corporate world we attend countless classes and seminars on discrimination, and sensitivity training on issues that could be deemed prejudicial. The issues are well known and a vast amount of information is ava ilable on the subject, so how can "insufficient knowledge" and "preformed opinions" still be a factor? I believe it is because when we discuss prejudice or any other similar issue, we tend to discuss it at a societal level as opposed to a personal level. We discuss the history of prejudice and talk about things like slavery in America and Hitler's persecution of the Jews, but we never discuss the prejudice that we, as individuals, experience everyday. Certainly, no one would stand up in a classroom, point a finger at a student, and ask accusatively, "What act of prejudice did you commit today?" That would not be "politically correct". How then, can we bring this issue down to a personal level? Someone once said to me, that if I didn't like jelly donuts, then I was prejudiced. The issue of whether or not I like jelly donuts is not an issue of prejudice, but rather a personal distaste for jelly donuts, based on the fact that I have tried several different types and determined that I do not like them.

Being a Nutritionist Essay

What is a nutritionist? A nutritionist is an health practitioner who works with a person’s diet to help heal or prevent disease. A doctor who calls himself/herself a nutritionist may have several different levels of education. They could have a degree in Nutrition or Dietetics from a University or certification in Nutrition Education or Counseling from a professional training school. Most people who have a degree in Dietetics in the United States will be registered with the national board and will call themselves Registered Dieticians or R.D.’s. These professionals have a slightly different perspective from the more holistically oriented Certified Nutrition Educators or Counselors also called C.N.E’s and C.N.C’s. While a nutritionist may have a vast scientific knowledge of the body and nutrition, they are often quite strict in their approach to patient care. Their focus is entirely within the focus of western medicine, meaning they have guidelines when it comes to dietary recommendations. They often work directly with medical doctors or in hospitals. In many ways, they are trained to treat the disease rather than the person as a whole. They might help a patient by helping them make a diet plan, or even suggesting them to other kinds of doctors that can help the patient recover or prevent an illness. For example, the reason the patient is not getting many nutrients since he/she doesn’t eat much food could be because of stress or not getting enough sleep; therefore, the nutritionist would send the patient to the sleep holistic doctor, or a stress management program or professional. One important fact that makes nutritionist so important is that they link the patient with many other doctors that could help them. They help make the connection between proper diet and a good holistic health. They can make the link on how eating the right food can either prevent a disease or even treat a disease. They are the experts in the area of food, nutrients, and vitamins. It is imperative that once a patient faces a problem with diet, he/she must visit a nutritionist. Since most health problems are linked to some kind of factor, nutritionists are connected to other kinds of doctors, such as social coordinators and sleep holistic doctors. Nutritionists are important in the field of disease treatment and prevention. Visiting a nutritionist can increase better knowledge on one’s diet and what they should eat more. Finally, they are the kind of doctors that can change one’s life.

Building Technology Sba

Building Technology School Based Assessment Name: Kevan Taylor Subject: Building Technology School: Meadowbrook High School Centre Number: 100075 Territory: Jamaica Topic: Concrete Production Year of Exam: 2011 Introduction This research focuses on the production of concrete at a concrete producing factory, Pre-Mix Jamaica, located in the corporate area of Kingston and St. Andrew. The aim of this research was to get a substantial and in depth analyses of the concrete producing company so that a report can be presented.In the report, definitions, descriptions and explanations will be given on the contents presented and also, the details of the aggregates used and the tests done to ensure acceptable quality of the products ; this will be outlined with the aid of pictures and diagrams. The data was collected by visiting the production site where an analysis was done after interviewing managers, specialists and other officers and personnel on the ground. Cameras were used to take photos of critical areas of production and testing. Table of Contents Topics Page ? Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd. †¢ Careers †¢ Norms/regulations/codes Impact of technology on careers †¢ Employment/Unemployment †¢ Security or Processing †¢ Environmental ? How Moral and ethical issues are addressed †¢ Legal policies on safety, health and welfare †¢ Moral approaches to handling health, †¢ safety and welfare issues ? Summary ? Appendices Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd. Careers As with any other organization, Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd. has workers of several different career fields in each of their departments. Through the employment of these various professionals and skilled workers the company is able to adequately function and achieve its objective. In fig. 1. a sample of the various skilled areas and career/posts are shown. |Careers | | | | |Site Managers |Quality Controller | |Drivers |Office staff | |Pump Operators |Security personnel | |Supervisors |Maintenance | |Batchers |personnel |Table outlining the career fields present a Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd. Fig 1. 1 Norms/Regulations/Codes For any organization to function properly there must be regulations and codes to guide its operations. Every organization also has a culture, norms and values that it develops overtime. Outlined below are norms that were observed as well as some of the codes and regulations, that governs the operations of Jamaica Premix Ltd. Codes- †¢ The workers in the production department wear vests of different colours. This is done as a means of identification. Workers |Colour Codes | | | | |Supervisors |Red | |Driver |Green | |Pump Operators |Orange |Table outlining the colour codes of the workers Fig 1. 0 †¢ While some of the workers wear vests, others wear formal clothes on which the logo of the company is attached. Norms/Regulations- †¢ While on the plant, it is ensured that safety precautions is taken, such as wearing safety gears. Some of the safety gears worn ar e goggles, hard hats, gloves ,hard boots and dusks masks. Pictures of some of the safety gears used on the plant Fig1. 2 †¢ Before each batch of concrete is dispatched to its destination, samples are taken and tested.This is done to ensure that the best quality is delivered at all times †¢ Concrete mixing/ delivery trucks and other concrete carrying equipment are weighed before and after they enter and leave the plant in order to ensure that they contain the right amount of concrete desired by costumers ; and also to ensure that their weights are appropriate to traverse the public roads. Impact of Technology on Careers Employment/unemployment Technology has great impacts on jobs and opportunities in organizations on a whole.Through the employment of machines, the need for an intensive labour force is reduced. This will result in reduced labor cost and may subsequently result in reduced production cost. Pre-Mix Jamaica has made much use of technology for its everyday operat ions which has made them less reliant on human labor for certain every day routine tasks. Processing Technology has impacted careers involved with processing in both positive and negative ways. Careers such as quality controlling, batching and maintenance engineering all involved some form of processing.Positives- †¢ Tasks are able to be carried out more efficiently and in a logical manner, for instance, one mixing truck can mix much more concrete than several laborers mixing manually. Negatives- †¢ The application of technology to processing can result in loss of jobs for unskilled workers †¢ It can also make us overly dependent on machines such that we loose our craftsmanship. †¢ Technology is antisocial and thus can promote this at the workplace. Environmental Careers relating to the environment are very important and they also are greatly impacted by technology.Pre-Mix Jamaica is located in a built up area where there are institutions such as schools and othe r business close by. Hence Pre-Mix has the responsibility to be as environmentally friendly as possible, especially because their production of concrete produces a lot of pollutants. In mitigating against this problem, the supervisors at the complex ensure that the compound is watered regularly using water trucks. Methods of addressing Ethical and Moral Considerations Legal policies on safety, health and welfareAt any established organization, the safety health and welfare of the staff must be considered. In other words, policies have to be put in place to ensure that the staff rights are observed and respected. Companies such as Pre-Mix Jamaica Ltd. adhere to guidelines or regulations that are enforced by trade unions such as the National Workers Union. Some of the policies at the Pre-Mix Jamaica Ltd. involve; †¢ Providing health covering arrangements such health insurance through the company for the benefit of the staff and their familiesMoral approaches to handling health, s afety and wealthfare issues As welfare issues are encountered in our day to day lives whether at home or at a plant, moral approaches have to be made concerning how they are handled. Pre-Mix Jamaica Ltd. ensures that they make responsible approaches in handling these matters as they are mostly dealt with by persons in authority such as their managers or their human relations officers. †¢ Before entering the plant, visitors are briefed on the rules and regulations concerning their safety while on the plant. Personnel from the Ministry of Health visit the plant to make sure the immediate surrounding contains uncontrolled toxic elements that could threaten the life of anyone. †¢ Vehicles are made available so that that if anyone on the plant should have an accident, reliable transportation Summary Major Findings ? Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited is the only fully computerized concrete plant on the island of Jamaica ? The have maintained a high standard of being the islands top produc er of concrete. ? The company is a ready mix organization, meaning they manufacture in a batching plant according to a set recipe, then deliver to construction sites.Recommendations ? It is recommended that enough protective gears are available to visitors on the site for future use. ? It is also recommended that the organization is given advanced notice for research visitors so that they can be well prepared. Limitations ? The length of time of the visit was too short; hence it limited the amount of knowledge that could be gained. ? Not all departments were visited at the company; therefore a lot of useful information was unfortunately not received. Appendices Fig1. 3 Figure 1. depicts concrete being batched into a mixing truck from one of the silos. The Aggregates will then be mixed into the truck so that the concrete may be suitable for use. Fig1. 4 Figure 1. 4 shows samples of concrete placed into moulds. After they are hardened, they are demoulded then placed into a curing tank for seven days. Their strength is then tested by compressing them with machines. Fig1. 5 In Figure 1. 5, there is a heavy duty machine seen on the plant. It is used to get large quantity of materials such as gravel from one point to another. [pic]

Research Article Critique

Research Article Critique Tonya L. Smith, RN Liberty University NUR 225 Research Article Critique The title of the research article I chose to critique is from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. â€Å"Hypertension, orthostatic-hypotension, and the risk of falls in a community-dwelling elderly population: The maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the elderly Boston study†; this title fits well with the content presented in the research article. The independent variables are clearly defined as well as the dependent variables for the research being conducted.The content of the abstract is a very good overview of the content and it is consistent with the content. The abstract summarizes the objective, design, setting, participants, measurements, and results. Problem/Purpose The problem being investigated is the risk of falls in the elderly population related to the effects of controlled and uncontrolled hypertension and orthostatic hypoten sion. The authors do identify the significance of the problem as falls for being the leading cause of disability for the elder generations.Adequate background information is not provided to support the problem because the subject at hand â€Å"has not been investigated previously† (Gangavati, et al. , 2011, p. 383). Explanation of the purpose of this study being conducted is provided by the authors. Literature Review The previous research articles and their outcomes are briefly described with different amounts of time from 1-3 minutes after individual is standing before a decrease in blood pressure of 10-20mmHg would occur and be related to a fall.The purpose â€Å"was to assess the association between hypertension, OH using multiple definitions, and their combination and the risk of recurrent falls in a community-dwelling elderly population† (Gangavati, et al. , 2011, p. 384). The list of twenty eight references is used is this article. There are eight references date d up to ten years old, four references dated five years old or less, and sixteen references that are more than ten years old with one of them being twenty-three years old. The authors do very briefly summarize their review of the literature as to what is known and not known to the study.They do explain a need for further study from previous research with a lack of knowledge in definitions of orthostatic hypertension presented. Framework/Theoretical Perspective The study is based upon a specific situation theory regarding the relationship between falls and changes in blood pressure of the elderly population older than seventy. The authors connect their theory to the study by demonstrating a connection between a change in systolic orthostatic hypotension and standing for one minute.This change in systolic orthostatic hypotension would prove to be increasing falls for the elder population with uncontrolled hypertension. Research Question(s) OR Hypotheses The hypothesis was that the ris k of falls would be highest in people with uncontrolled hypertension and in those with orthostatic hypotension. The questions at hand of the research were to assess the association between hypertension, orthostatic hypotension using different definitions, and to assess their combination and the risk of falls in a community-dwelling elderly population. VariablesThe independent variables were the total number of individuals that were seventy years old or older living within a 5-mile radius of the study. These individuals would present with no hypertension, controlled hypertension, uncontrolled hypertension, and systolic orthostatic hypotension. The dependent variables are the blood pressure measurements, number of falls reported, and the amount of time standing from one to three minutes. The blood pressure measurements were taken at two different times at two minutes apart after five minutes of rest and an average of the two would be used in the analysis.The measurements of blood pres sure were obtained using a manual blood pressure cuff that was accurate for size. The number of falls was reported over a year of time and at the end of each month on a monthly falls calendar and only counted if they had experienced two falls. Demographics of Sample A few examples of the demographics used in the sample was 22% non-white, 64% female,70% receiving antihypertensive medications, 38% history of falls and 25% with a history of stroke. Research Design The research design used was prospective population-based study.Prospective designs are a type of longitudinal design that can be experimental or non-experimental and they are â€Å"studies that begin in the present and end in the future† (Schmidt & Brown, 2012, p. 158). This study was a non-experimental prospective study completed on a population of the elderly followed over a course of a year. This design was appropriate to obtain the necessary data. Subjects were not necessarily assigned to the group but they were c hosen depending on if they lived within five miles of the study, seventy years old or older, and the ability to meet certain criteria.There was no indication of a pilot study having been conducted. Sample/Setting The sampling criteria that had to be met were the individual had to be living in the five mile radius of the study and they had to remain in the area for three years. This research study used simple random sampling for the sampling method; with equal chances of being selected, less risk of bias, and ample representation of the population. People were chosen based on â€Å"ability to understand and communicate in English, ability to walk 20 feet without personal assistance, sufficient vision, and able to live in the area for at least 3 years† (Gangavati, et al. 2011, p. 384). Individuals were assessed with a baseline assessment that included medical history, fall history, cognition, medication, and in-clinic evaluations of balance, and muscle strength. Informed consen t was obtained from all participants by written informed consent. The setting of the study was the community; this setting fit well with the study’s objectives. Measurement, Methods & Instruments Kaplan-Meier curves and Multivariate Cox proportional hazard modeling were used to assess the risk of falls in participants with orthostatic ypotension. Fisher exact test was used for categorical variables. Wilcoxon rank sum was used for continuous variables. A manual sphygmomanometer was used to obtain blood pressure readings. The type of measurement used was physiological measure at the ordinal level of measurement. The authors did discuss the reliability of measurements being obtained with individuals who had been trained in appropriate blood pressure techniques and for potential sources of error. Data Collection The data was collected for the number of falls by mail.The one month calendar was mailed back at the end of each month charting number of falls. Measurements for blood pr essure were taken at 1 minute after standing and 3 minutes after standing, 2 blood pressures were taken while laying supine, and then again after resting 5 minutes. Data was collected by longitudinal design. The data was collected at home by the participant or the caregiver. Data Analysis The data analysis procedures were clearly described using description of follow-up time of truncation.The analysis listed characteristics of the groups and how they were compared. The data analysis procedures were appropriate for the type of data being collected because it was a systematic review of the data that was collected for the research study. Statistical Analyses The analysis included an alpha level of 0. 05 to determine statistical importance. This alpha level indicated that the researchers felt 95% confident in that the risk of falls in the population being tested would be related to uncontrolled hypertension and orthostatic hypotension. LimitationsThe limitations that were identified by this research study was a bias for number of falls through the use of a falls calendar and standing blood pressure was not measured beyond 3 minutes. The findings were also limited because of the population was a majority of Caucasians, and limited to community-dwelling adults. There was also limitation on knowledge of any medication changes during this time. Other limitations I can think of is we do not know if individuals were accurately checking the blood pressure each day or was it just in the preset of the study. Implication of FindingsThe implications for nursing were not clearly described in this study. Some implications for nursing that were not described are to become more aware of orthostatic hypotension upon standing of the elderly and to oversee compliance of hypertensive medications. Further study was suggested in order to confirm findings in a clinical trial setting. Generalization of Findings The authors did generalize the findings in this research study. They did not apply their findings beyond this study. It is not indicated in the study that they applied any findings to the population in general.Format I did not see any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. The sentence structure was good. This research was difficult to interpret at first but after reading it a couple of times and breaking down the information being provided it was more logical. Overall Evaluation The steps of the research process were logically linked together. The hypothesis of this study did make sense based on review of the literature. The method used in this research prospective population-based study and the qualitative data collected did fit well with the intent of the study.The impression this research gave was that individuals over the age of seventy are going undiagnosed with orthostatic hypotension and those with uncontrolled hypertension are at a high risk for falls. Recognition of fall risk is an important subject for me; I can relate to the findings beca use I work with the geriatric population in a long term care facility. Awareness needs to be raised not only to geriatric nurses but all caregivers about the importance in acknowledging the high risk of falls related to hypertension or hypotension. References Gangavati, A. , Hajjar, I. , Quach, L. Jones, R. , Kiely, D. , Gagnon, P. , & Lipsitz, L. (2011). Hypertension, orthostatic hypotension, and the risk of falls in a community-dwelling elderly population: the maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the elderly of Boston study. Journal Of The American Geriatrics Society, 59 (3), 383-389. doi:http://dx. doi. org. ezproxy. liberty. edu:2048/10. 1111/j. 1532-5415. 2011. 03317. x Schmidt, N. , & Brown, J. (2012). Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses: Appraisal and application of research (2 ed. ). Valparaiso, IN: Jones & Bartlett Learning.