- People and Organisations Case Study 2012-2013 Essay

- People and Organisations Case Study 2012-2013 - Essay Example With respect to the given case in point, that of Microsoft before and after the fateful year of 2006, there are a number of points that this analysis will seek to make as a means of better informing the reader as to why such a shift in outcomes were noticed within this specific year (Dodds 2011, p. 33). Whereas group work and the performance review process had previously helped to elevate the level of overall output, profitability, and performance, the firm seemed to reach a type of critical mass in which the given formula of success that had set the firm on such a path of growth and rapid development seemed to fall apart. However, it is obvious from a study of business management theory that it is not possible for a given approach to merely stop working (Hult 2012, p. 5). Instead, one must assume that key personnel factors, dynamics of business, culture, or other factors have affected the ability of the previous system to continue to promote the high level and degree of success that the firm had formerly experienced. ... As a result of the high level of emphasis on groups and the way that the performance reviews ranked these groups and their individual members, a type of opportunism developed. This opportunism is a trait that can be linked to both management theory as well as human psychology; however, for the purposes of this brief analysis, the author will focus upon the level and extent to which the emphasis on group formation, recognition, and personal performance sought to develop a type of self-interested dynamic that quickly gave way to something of an extent culture within the Microsoft organization (Maddox 2005, p. 3). The fact of the matter was that the group dynamics that had given rise to such a high level of success within the organization were the very same dynamics that eventually would prove to be a net negative. It is a well known fact that a company’s culture is not something that is developed and implemented overnight (Muller et al 1999, p. 90). Rather, it takes many years, and the actions of management to solidify. In this way, the reader can quickly infer the that the true nature of the issues associated with Microsoft, as indicated by the case study which was reviewed in writing this brief response, stem not from the fact that the individual management or organizational style which was employed was fundamentally wrong; rather, the key errors only developed many years later as a function of the negative cultural developments associated with opportunism, selfishness, and the gradual shift from operating as a true group should and seeking only to maximize a sense of personal gain from each and every situation that the members of

Best War Ever Essay Example for Free

Best War Ever Essay The Causes of World War II History 1302 In the book The Best War Ever: America and World War II by Michael C.C. Adams, Adams discusses the misconceptions about world war two that America had and still has today. Through the title, one can assume that Americans came out of the five year war with a positive view. This was due to the way theatre and television portrayed it to the public, and like naà ¯ve children America ate it up. Television and other media didn’t want America to see the true horror that actually took place overseas, but what they didn’t know was how mislead America was going to become. This essay will discuss the argument Adams creates in chapter 6 about how sugar coating the war for America, was in a sense best for them, but for small businesses, immigrants and teens it was a different story. Before World War II became the center of attention in America, people lived their everyday lives. Most were small business owners that were just trying to make a living. As the war went on overseas, Pearl Harbor was attacked, which led to the U.S. joining the war. Do to this sudden need to protect our country, America became â€Å"obsessed† and young men volunteered to fight for the country they loved. Everyone including women and children had this attitude of supporting the troops and doing everything they could to help out, by women working jobs in factories that were originally created for men. As these factories like Ford, Coca-Cola, and Wrigley’s grew, â€Å"World War II undermined the world of the small producer in business and agriculture, completing the triumph of large corporations†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The Best War Ever: America and World War II, 1994)1. Small businesses closing down wasn’t the only cause of America joining the war but also, families losing their homes, farms, towns, and well basically their lives. These people had to move to bigger cities where factories that were being recognized, due to the war, were the o nly jobs available. While factories grew, violence towards immigrants grew as well. Due to Pearl Harbor being attacked by the Japanese, Japanese-Americans were seen as a threat and removed from their homes and put into detention centers. â€Å"More  than two-thirds of the Japanese who were interned in the spring of 1942 were citizens of the United States.† (Japanese Relocation Centers: During World War II, nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans were under lock and key, 2007)2. President Roosevelt felt that they were a threat to America and that anyone of them could be a spy. African-Americans were facing hard times as well, though racism was still going strong, many African-Americans were being attacked and miss treated because of mixed work environments as Adams states in his book (1994) â€Å"A white man in a wildcat strike at a Packard plant said ‘I’d rather see Hitler and Hirohito win the war than work beside a nigger on the assembly line.’†3 Wives of African-American men in the army were also treated as lower class while the American women would get preferred treatment. Another race that was targeted were American-born Hispanics. Teen Hispanics began to form gangs and â€Å"challeng[e] the traditional restraints of their behavior†. They did this by wearing zoot Suits. Because of this new fashion trend amongst Hispanics, military men began to harass and ended up creating a riot known as the â€Å"Zoot Suit Riot† . In this riot military and Hispanic men attacked each other but only the Hispanic teens got arrested for the violence. As immigrants were mistreated, young American teens were feeling a sense of freedom, this was due to the lack of parental control. â€Å"More girls got pregnant. And the venereal disease rate rose : between 194 and 1944, New York City’s VD rate among girls aged fifteen to eighteen years old increased 204 percent.† (The Best War Ever: America and World War II, 1994)4. Teens were getting into trouble cutting school and joining gangs. It was hard for schools to maintain a strong education among the youth and so a decline in intellectual quality began in young Americans. Media also had a small part to play in this lack of education. Mass entertainment was trying to win over the youth through T.V. and movies and because of this the armed services saw that students in this generation weren’t as prepared as generations before them, they lacked skills learned in high school. But one reason that as a main factor were the number of jobs that were available. Teens were able to get a job as young as thirteen years old, even though the job wasn’t helping out the war, money made the youth feel free like they could do anything they wanted, which they did. In conclusion, World War II in a sense was the best war ever but for small businesses, immigrants and teens, it was a war that ended up changing tradition into trends and  violence. Americans w ere blinded and lied to and through this it brought grave consequences . â€Å"†¦ it is the danger of arrogance and hubris – that is, the danger of going to war because a nations leaders are convinced of their own righteousness, or have persuaded themselves and the public that a foreign country should be attacked because its government or society is not merely alien, hostile or threatening, but evil.(The Good War Myth of World War Two, 2008)5. Bibliography Michael C. C. Adams, The Best War Ever: America and world War II (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1994) Japanese Relocation Centers: During World War II, nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans were under lock and key, 2007 http://www.infoplease.com/spot/internment1.html The Good War Myth of World War Two, May 24, 2008 http://www.ihr.org/news/weber_ww2_may08.html

Odysseus is an Epic Hero :: essays research papers

People are heroes in different ways for different reasons. American soldiers are heroes because they fight boldly for their country. Corrie Ten Boom is also a hero because she took risks and saved hundreds of Jews. Abraham Lincoln is another example of a hero because he fought for what he thought was right and helped free all slaves. Similarly, Odysseus, the main character in Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, possesses all of these characteristics and many more, making him a true epic hero. First of all, Odysseus is brave and courageous, giving him the initiative to fulfill his goals. One example is when Odysseus confronts Skylla. Odysseus purposely â€Å"made [his] way along to the foredeck—thinking to see her first from there† (Homer 217). If he was scared, he would have hidden underneath the deck. But instead, Odysseus goes out to face the beast. Odysseus knows that Skylla is immortal and cannot die, yet he is brave enough to confront her. Next, Odysseus fights the suitors, who are courting Penelope in his palace. The suitors greatly outnumber Odysseus, but Odysseus still chooses to fight even though the odds are against him and he is able to win. He stands up against those who do wrong. Having the courage to fight, Odysseus defeats the suitors and fulfills his goal of regaining his palace. If Odysseus was a coward and did not fight, then the suitors would have eventually won Penelope, resulting in Odysseus losing his palace and his wife. Ma ny people have bravery and courage, but not many use it, as Odysseus does, to achieve their purpose. Secondly, Odysseus has great self-control, which allows him to deeply contemplate his decisions. Moments before Odysseus falls asleep, he spots a â€Å"covey of women laughing as they [slip] out†¦to the suitors’ beds† (Homer 375). Seeing this, Odysseus is angered and wants to kill every one of the suitors right then and there. But Odysseus retains his self-control and does not strike yet. At that moment, if he did strike, he would have lost because he would not have been prepared. He retains all his anger for the final battle with the suitors. In that battle, Odysseus is fully prepared and ready to fight, resulting in all the suitors’ deaths. Next, when Antinoos throws a footstool at Odysseus, â€Å"Odysseus only [shakes] his head, containing thoughts of bloody work† (Homer 326).

Essays --

The populist and nationalist ideology of the Iranian Islamic revolution was attributed to the perception of a plague that has alienated Muslims from their roots and identity, and this plague was the Western culture. Western culture was a plague that must be fought and expelled as it influenced many young Iranians and deviate from the interpretation of Islam. To bring back the loyalty and faith to Islam as the one true way of awakening the oppressed and liberating the Third World from colonialism is a great manifestation of revolt and declaration. Ayatollah Khomeini dominated the revolution itself declaring that Shia Islam dictated for revolt and martyrdom against injustice and tyranny. He advocated for Muslims to reject the influence of the Soviet and American superpowers in Iran and developed the ideology that Muslims required guardianship. The Islamic jurists must rule to protect Islam from innovation and deviation by following the traditional sharia law and prevent poverty, injustice, and the deprivation of Muslim land by foreign non-believers. The establishment of and the obedience to the Islamic government were considered to be an actual obedience to God that was more necessary than prayer and fasting. The universal principle of true Islam was that the world only needed and deserved a just and true government which was the Islamic government. This revolutionary vision and ideology were supported by Khomeini and a great number of core supporters who were determined to establish a government ruled by Islamic clerics and defeated opposition from the different factions. America’s deep involvement in Iran for many years before the revolution was only for personal gain through government influence and through control of I... ...regime’s desire to recreate man was carried out with ideas of order and justice which revealed the true nature of its devastating power. Revolutionary Islamic justice is founded on the rejection of the concept of the individual as a juridical and moral person and was greatly manifested in the courts of the Islamic Republic as it rejected due process. Due process considers man as an autonomous and a fallible being and the denial of this logic is denial of due process. Khomeini’s regime saw the termination of the existence of many who resisted its ideology and protesting in the name of free will and freedom of conscience. It is therefore concluded that the Islamic rebels against God’s will by denying the existence of the very human beings He created; that the Revolutionary Islamist justice is ignorant of the true spirit of the traditional Muslim jurisprudence.

Pretty Flacko Nigga

The poem â€Å"Hard Rock† by Tethering Knight is a poem that takes place in a prison (or possibly somewhere else like a sporting event, a dining room, etc. But a prison fits the context better). The poem is about a black prisoner that comes back after being in the Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The Inmates are reminiscing on all the crazy stuff Hard Rock used to do that they had always wished they could do. During Hard Rock's time at the Hospital he had a brain surgery In which they â€Å"cut out part of his brain and shot electricity through the rest.The speaker of the poem Is recalling all the stones of crazy things Hard Rock used to do before he left and telling the listener how much of a bad ass Hard Rock was. The speaker of the poem Is an Inmate at the prison; maybe Hard Rock's cell mate, friend, or Just someone that knew about him. Who the speaker Is talking to Is unclear though. It Is most likely another Inmate, assuming that the setting is In a prison, however It Is not clear within the poem exactly who the auditor is. The situation of the poem and the whole reason why the speaker is even recalling all of these memories is because it's been said that HardRock is soft now. The â€Å"word† has it that Hard Rock is a shell of what he used to be and will just stand there with a stupid smile on his face when tested. The old Hard Rock didn't â€Å"take no sit from nobody' but now the word going around is that the new Hard Rock has been tamed. The tone of this poem begins as inspired and almost proud, like a little brother talking about his cool older brother. The speaker seems to have a lot of respect for Hard Rock. Hard Rock is a hero to the speaker because Hard Rock will act out situations that the speaker could only ever dream of doing; he was their â€Å"destroyer.The tone quickly changes in line 27 to sad, almost nostalgic sounding. The inmates are reliving all of the crazy stuff he did before his surgery. The fact that he has been tamed now leaves the inmates â€Å"crushed† and hopeless. They no longer have someone that will carry out the fantasies they dream of doing, whether it be sticking up for the blacks when the Jail block bully comes around or even beating up a guard. They want to convince themselves that it is all an act, Hard Rock Is a little bit smarter now and is waiting for his opportunities, but they know in their hearts that Hard Rock is no longer the same guy he used to be.The theme of this poem Is about race and what problems black people faced In those times. The poem was published in 1968- the same year that Martin Luther King Jar. Was assassinated. The poem Hard Rock could be a metaphor for timeline of events that happened In the ‘offs. Martin Luther King (Hard Rock) was one of, If not the most, prominent face of the civil rights movement. MILK wouldn't settle for anything less than what he wanted to see happen and nobody could stand In his way. If someone tried to stop him he would Just keep trucking and fighting for his goal. In the poem,Hard Rock would pummel any and every body In his way, regardless of who they were, similar to how MILK would â€Å"take out† whoever stood in his way. The surgery Hard Rock goes under could be a metaphor for the assassination of MILK. Hard Rock is no longer what he used to be, he can no longer kick ass and take names because he is physically unable to (MILK is physically unable to keep fighting because he is hopeless. They always dreamed of doing the things Hard Rock did but they feel incapable (the black population is shocked and devastated by Milk's death and feel hopeless and as if they can never achieve what he did).The fears of years, like a biting whip, Had cut grooves too deeply across our backs. † The years and years of slavery, torture and demutualization of black people is too ingrained into the current (sass's) black population's minds and they feel as if they are not brave enough, smart enough, or important enough to take a stand and make the kind of changes that MILK had once done. The poem is written in mostly iambic pentameter. Lambs are how people speak in everyday life so with it being written in iambs it makes the poem seem â€Å"regular† and not â€Å"poetic. The poem sounds like a conversation you would hear f you were to listen in on prisoners talking. The dialect of the poem also gives it more of a natural feel. The reader feels as if they're reading an excerpt from a prison conversation rather than reading a poem. No rhyme scheme is detected in the poem- except for 4 lines. The author adds two couplets in the beginning and the middle of the poem. He does this to reinforce the point what he is trying to get across within these lines. The break in the normal flow and rhythm of the poem with these couplets grabs the attention of the reader and makes them focus on what the lines have to say.

Spelling Bee Words Essay

Spelling Bee Words Essay Spelling Bee Words Essay stellar reckon axle talons heroic stomach patriot episode cabinet murmur uniform racial compass prism wriggle journal assign eyelet tissue posture thermos fashion chorus humane ugliness ransom flannel fragrance prevail sinus weasel oasis quarrel lightning foreground veil midriff munchkin kindergarten marshmallow question bristle delighted echoed therapy mortar intruder terrific curtain calculator blizzard virtue antelope blatant confection reality ingredient fanzine widget recruit airborne peruse genius eclipse unreadable defiantly acrobat clarinet plague tourism waiver imitate larceny altogether toilsome perturb delved cleave mischief interpret exotic laborious defunct audience thermostat pyramid carnival evidence microphone sequel carpenter replete pungent jealousy trespass hurriedly muscular envoy vegetarian damageable accommodation conclusion explanation actually conscience February alcohol conscious fierce although consequence forty analyse/analysis continuous fulfil argument creation furthermore assessment daughter guard atmosphere decide/decision happened audible definite health audience design height autumn development imaginary beautiful diamond improvise beginning diary industrial believe disappear interesting beneath disappoint interrupt buried embarrass issue business energy jealous caught engagement knowledge chocolate enquire listening climb environment lonely column evaluation lovely concentration evidence marriage material potential sincerely meanwhile preparation skilful miscellaneous prioritise soldier mischief process stomach modern proportion straight moreover proposition strategy murmur questionnaire strength necessary queue success nervous reaction surely original receive surprise outrageous reference survey parallel relief technique participation remember technology pattern research texture peaceful resources tomorrow people safety unfortunate ly performance Saturday Wednesday permanent secondary weight persuade/persuasion separate weird physical sequence women possession shoulder Common homophones and confusions advise/advice choose/chose quiet/quite a lot of cloth/clothe sites/sights affect/effect conscience/conscious source/sauce allowed/aloud course/coarse thank you bought/brought our/are threw/through braking/breaking practise/practice to/too/two Abscess is a localized collection of pus in tissues of the body. Accessible means easy to approach Accommodate is to do a kindness or a favor to; oblige. Accordion is a musical instrument. Annulment is the declaration that annuls a marriage. Appellate is of or pertaining to appeals. Assassin is a murderer, especially in politics. Atrium is the central room of an ancient Roman house. Automaton is another word for a robot. Baboon is a large monkey found in Africa or Arabia. Balloon is an inflated bag. Barbiturate is used to medicine as a sedative. Barrette is a clasp used to hold a girl's hair in place. Bassoon is a large woodwind instrument. Bazaar is a marketplace, especially in the Middle East. Beige is a very light brown. Benign is having a kindly disposition. Bizarre is markedly unusual. Bobbin is a reel upon which yarn or thread is wound. Bonsai is a tree that has been dwarfed, as by pruning. Bough is a branch of a tree. Bouillon is a clear usually seasoned broth. Bouquet is a bunch of flowers. Bursar is a treasurer or business officer. Butte is an isolated hill or mountain rising abruptly. Cache is a hiding place. Calendar is a table of days and weeks in a year. Camaraderie is good fellowship. Campaign is a military operation for a specific objective. Canvass is to solicit votes. Carafe is a wide-mouthed bottle used to serve beverages. Caribou is a large, North American deer. Cataclysm is any

The Jungle Essay essays

The Jungle Essay essays Allegory of Charles I of England and Henrietta of France in a Vanitas Oil on canvas painting as done by Frenchmen by the name of Simon Renard de Saint-Andre between the years of 1669 and 1677. The main purpose in evaluating this piece of work is to be aware and describe the physical features, content and symbolization of this painting. This will undoubtedly include the complexity of painting and historical content of the painting. Allegory of Charles I of England and Henrietta of France in Vanitas has many admirable physical features. At first glance , it is a massive painting. It is much larger than other painting sand it seems to engulf the whole wall. The large bulky frame of the painting is plain until your eyes wonder to the top center of it. There is a large flat shell like protrusion surrounded by a flower and imbedded in beads giving it a slight touch of class that it did not have before. Starting from the top, are a low solemn dark atmosphere and further down the painting y ou go the mood gets lighter and more colorful. However the first thing we see at the top are four bubbles floating in the air. They are floating up from a shell. The shell is resting in the hand of a white stoned sculpted baby boy. The shell itself also holds four more bubbles . They could represent the bubble s of life. Bubbles in general reflect things, as in a mirror. Could these bubbles exemplify the life of a man? They seem to be telling us of times to come or of times past. Behind the baby are two half statures of women. They look Roman-like in appearance. These classical busts have on robes of possibly something like a toga. The statues seem to be in a darker background than the baby boy is . It could be the background or it could be that during these times the Romans were looked down upon and in this portrait they were neglected from the light as Judas was in Leonardos Last Supper. Going further down the picture, the light and the colors seem...

How to Cancel Your ACT Scores

How to Cancel Your ACT Scores SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Think you did horribly on the ACT? Need to cancel your scores? Or are you just wondering what you would do if you ran into an emergency on test day? In this guide, we'll cover three actions you can take to deal with a bad ACT score: canceling scores, stopping college score reports, and deleting existing scores. Likely you would only need to use one or two of these methods if you run into trouble, but we will cover all three to make sure you know all of your options. Option 1: Canceling ACT Scores If you don't think you did well on the ACT, your first option is to cancel your scores. It's the most drastic option you can take if you think you did poorly on the ACT, and it stops your exam from even being graded. What Does Canceling Your Scores Do? If you cancel your scores, this means your test won't be graded and you won't get a score report. Students usually do this if something unexpected happens during the test– for example they get suddenly sick or an emergency pops up. Canceling your scores does not come with a refund, so we only recommend doing this in an extreme situation. You should only cancel your scores if you can't finish the test. Don’t cancel your scores just because you feel bad about your performance. Why not? Since you already paid for the test, if you were able to finish it, you might as well wait and see your test scores.Lots of students walk out of the test center feeling like they bombed the ACT, but they're often pleasantly surprised by their scores. You might be one of them. Plus you can learn about your performance from the score report, which is helpful if you decide to retake the ACT. And if your scores really are terrible, you can delete them later on (a process we'll explain later in this post). Finally, know that most schools do not require you to send all your ACT scores. In fact, you will need to send individual score reports to each school. You can take the ACT up to six times, and you don't need to send your lower ACT scores to schools. Our advice if you think you did poorly would be to wait for your score report but delete your college score recipients, which we will explain below. How Do You Cancel Your ACT Scores? You can only cancel your ACT score on the day of the exam, while you're still at the test center. In order to do this, tell the exam proctor to void your scores before you leave the test center. This will stop your test from being graded, and you won’t get a score. Again, only do this in extreme or unusual circumstances.If you don't tell the proctor to void your score before you leave, there is nothing you can doto stop your test from being graded. Once you’ve broken the seal on your test booklet, that test is yours and you either need to complete it or cancel the score. If an emergency comes up right before the test, just don’t break the seal and you will be able to move your registration to a different date. You can also do this if you can't make it to the test center the day of the ACT. (You can switch your test date online using your ACT student account. You will have to pay the test date change fee, but that's cheaper than a whole new registration.) Option 2: Getting Rid of Your College Score Recipients Once the reports are in the mail, it's too late. One thing you absolutely should do if you feel shaky about your ACT performance is to get rid of your college score recipients. This is different than canceling your score reports. While your ACT will still be graded, you can make sure no colleges see your scores. You can always send the score reports later if it turns out you did well (although you'll need to pay for those score reports). The ACT will send up to four score reports out to colleges of your choice for free as part of your test registration. You can cancel these reports up to the Thursday after your test. If you’re worried that your performance was bad, simply log onto your ACT Student account and delete those college score recipients. This guarantees no scores will be sent to anyone, unless you choose to send the scores later on. You have until the Thursday after the ACT to edit or delete colleges from that list. After that, the score reports will be sent no matter what. So if you complete the ACT but think you did poorly, simply delete the colleges off your score sending list so they won’t see your score. Option 3: Deleting Test Records If you end up with an ACT score you’re not happy with, aside from making sure it’s not sent to colleges, you can also delete the scores from the ACT’s records. You can do this by submitting a written request to ACT. Send a letter with your name and address, and state that you want to delete a test date record. Mail the letter here: ACT Institutional Services P.O. Box 168 Iowa City, IA 52243-0168 USA The ACT will then send you back a form that you can use to delete the test record. This can permanently remove a bad test score from your record. However, if you took the ACT as part of state or district testing, it can’t be deleted. This only applies for testing you signed up for and paid for yourself. Bottom Line If you’re feeling really sick or an emergency pops up the morning of the ACT, the smartest thing to do is to no-show and use your test registration for a later test date. If you start your test but are unable to finish, void your scores before you leave the test center to make sure a score report isn’t created. If you don’t void your scores, make sure to delete your college score recipientsby the Thursday after the ACT to make sure your score isn’t sent to colleges. And finally, if you get your score and decide you don’t like it, it can be deleted from ACT’s records. As long as you're aware of these options, you can make sure colleges only see the scores you want them to. What’s Next? Need to prep for the ACT, ASAP? Read our guide to making massive point improvements in just 10 days. Need more help on the ACT? Get a guide to must-know ACT Vocab and learn how to write an ACT essay, step-by-step. Also read a guide to each section on the ACT: English, Math, Reading, and Science. So there's no guessing penalty on the ACT, but that doesn't mean you should guess wildly and without a strategy. Read our guide to guessing wisely on the ACT to maximize your score. Disappointed with your ACT scores? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Doing History Response Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Doing History Response - Research Paper Example By looking at the historical account that is advocated by Foucault there are some similarities in the secrecy and opacity of a sovereign archaic regime. The criminal procedures of these states were secretive, and opaque, to the public and the person who was accused. Furthermore, these procedures used to take place without the knowledge of the accused, or the production of evidence that was able to make an accused to be guilty of a crime. The proposed anti-terrorism laws by the United Kingdom are therefore a reflection of these assertions that Foucault, in his book is able to bring about (Bennett, 56). Another law that similar to the justice system of the medieval Europe, as advocated by Foucault is the Patriots Act of the United States. This law is controversial in the sense that it allows the government to conduct surveillance activities on suspected terrorists, without their knowledge. This aspect of secrecy closely resembles what Foucault described, in the methods that the medieval Europe sovereign states of Europe were using to punish criminals. That is, investigating them without their knowledge. This is an aspect of power that a state was exercising towards an individual (Bennett, 62). Furthermore, the power of the state is depicted in its absolute role as a prosecuting agency. The state has the power of determining whether to prosecute an individual or not. Prosecutors in the medieval times were very powerful people, and they could decide on whom to prosecute, and on whom not to prosecute. This situation also happens in the current times, where prosecutors have a complete discretion on the kind of crimes to prosecute, and the ones not to prosecute. However, in the modern times, prosecutors are also answerable to elective officials and institutions such the legislature. This is for purposes of preventing prosecutors from abusing their power and authority. During the period that Foucault is able to describe, the production of

Detection masses in digital mammography images using neural networks Thesis

Detection masses in digital mammography images using neural networks - Thesis Example In film screen mammography, special films and intensifying screens are used to detect breast cancer. FSM provides high quality images at low radiation doses (DeFelice 2002, p. 12). Denise and Farleigh (2005) assert, â€Å"The major limitation of traditional mammography is that the film serves simultaneously as the image receptor, display medium, and long term storage medium for the image†. Digital mammography makes use of solid-state detectors in order to display images of breasts on the computer screen. Denise and Farleigh (2005) found that separation of image acquisition, image processing, and display to be one of the principal advantages of digital imaging system. Digital mammography also makes use of CAD (Computer-Aided Detection), which assists the physicians in image interpretation. Mass detection in mammograms refers to the detection of those groups of cells that cause breast cancer. Bick and Diekmann (2010, p.100) found that sensitivity to be not high enough in mass detection. Computer-aided detection system, cellular neural networks, a two-stage hybrid classification network, and some other techniques can be used for mass detection. Bruynooghe (2006), in an article, found that in case of hybrid network, an unsupervised classifier is used to examine suspicious opacities, and then some supervised interpretation rules are applied to reduce false detections. Cellular neural networks play a vital role in mass detection. Kupinski and Giger (2002) showed in a research that features extracted from potential lesion areas are sent through a neural network to decide whether the area is a true lesion or a false detection. Using CAD as a system for image interpretation is very facilitating for the physicians. However, some researchers suggest improvements in the current CAD technology. One of those suggestions includes development of a CAD system with increased ability to detect actual abnormalities instead of marking

Pakistan National Conservation Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Pakistan National Conservation Strategy - Essay Example The design of the Institute was initiated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature-Pakistan (IUCN-P) with significant support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), gratefully acknowledged as the Institute's key source of institutional support. The committee formulated for the constitution of SDPI consulted government officials, academics, intellectuals, NGOs and journalists while formulating the by-laws and identifying the first Board of Governors. During eleven years of SDPI's existence, there have been six changes in government. SDPI, as a policy-oriented research institute, has had to re-establish relationships with government each time the administration has changed. Despite this relatively unstable political environment, SDPI has, and intends to continue to produce quality policy research and advocate democratic governance and pro-people initiatives. to contribute to strengthening the social and physical infrastructure for research in Pakistan including the construction and dissemination of databases and research indices and the improvement of library systems There has been little amendment to the existing mandate and goals of the Institute. However, there has been a process of clarification and prioritization. We are keen to retain the strengths that have made SDPI the highly respected Institute it is. We are also aware that a process of restructuring and changing priorities is essential to maximize our comparative advantage and ensure we continue to improve our effectiveness. The strategies below reflect these needs and desires: strengthen linkages between policy, research, advocacy and training maintain the transparent, participatory, 'moral

Retailing Advertising Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Retailing Advertising Analysis - Essay Example The strong emergence of online communication among people in various regions of the world has made possible, the delivery of services and products using the online platform as a communication, as well as a delivery media. This very factor has contributed in a great way to the emergence of online retailing where retailers and wholesalers can provide bulk delivery of products or individual delivery of products to clients or individual customers, who are located in different parts of the world. The virtual world of internet has literally played a major role in removing the geographical barriers existing in the physical world, and has helped in the value communication, value distribution as well as value delivery of the retail products by catering to the global audience. The emergence of online retailing has led to the development of new retailing formats like consumer to consumer format which has been made popular by online retailing sites like eBay, dealdump, dealplus, etc. In this cas e, the product that is being advertised is handcrafted jewellery items, which are designed and developed in India and is marketed by Indian fashions through their retail website www.indianfashionstore.in (Indian Jewellery, 2009). The handcrafted Indian jewellery mostly has the ethnic as well as traditional Indian themes and is catered mostly to the consumers living in UK. The target market for the products is mostly the female consumers of UK who are essentially falling in the age group of 18 - 36 years. The online retail website www.indianfashionstore.in acts as a window for displaying the multiple ranges of jewellery items online to customers around the globe. The political analysis of the market reveals that there are certain checkpoints in regards to dealing in jewellery business. The jewellery that is supposed to be imported in the UK market needs to be tested by the law and also has to have the label of hallmark in regards to its authenticity. Apart from that, import duty is a lso applicable for jewellery that is being imported in the UK market from Asia Pacific regions like India (Harris, 2011, p. 5) The economic analysis of the market reveals that the consumers are increasingly trying to squeeze their spending as the UK market continues to suffer from the pangs of the economic crisis rolled out by the Euro zone. However, the consumers insists in buying jewellery that is trendy and is bold in making the fashion statement for them, even in the troubled economic times. The social demand for the jewellery market in the UK region reveals that the modern woman who has the purchasing power parity are treating themselves to buying more jewellery for their personal use. Also, the trend of buying jewellery by men for the purpose of gifting to their significant partners is picking up in the UK market as well. Apart from these two segments, a large section of UK consumers are also highly interested in purchasing jewellery which are affordable as per their budget an d are highly trendy at the same time (Harris, 2011, p. 9). So, it is quite evident that the advertising of the India made jewellery products should highlight the hallmark issues while displaying their product to the intended target audience. Also the advertising needs to highlight the latest jewellery trends on the boundaries of

Policy brief on Poverty and Development in Argentina Assignment

Policy brief on Poverty and Development in Argentina - Assignment Example This report declares that poor enrolment rate of the poor population in Argentina was further worsened by the recent economic recessions that occurred in the years 1995 and 1999. There are viable strategies that could be adopted by the Argentinean government to ensure that this problem is arrested once and for all. The government should ensure that there is extension of greater investments in educational facilities, for example, extending the â€Å"Plan Social Educativo† that is currently in place. In addition to that, the government should also grant cash grants to its poor populations to ensure that their children are kept in school especially at the secondary level as this will greatly offset some of the economic incentives arising from leaving school and also cope with the impacts associated with unemployment. This paper makes a conclusion that there is actually a lot that the government of Argentina could do to arrest poverty issues in the country. The establishment or the creation of a system that will entail cost recovery from public university students who at most times tend to come from poor families and the creation of a nationwide system comprising of scholarships for students coming from poor families will be a great step in poverty reduction. Indeed, hope is not lost for Argentina as a country and therefore the adoption of the above strategies will greatly make the country to become a great economic hub in the world.

Retailing Advertising Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Retailing Advertising Analysis - Essay Example The strong emergence of online communication among people in various regions of the world has made possible, the delivery of services and products using the online platform as a communication, as well as a delivery media. This very factor has contributed in a great way to the emergence of online retailing where retailers and wholesalers can provide bulk delivery of products or individual delivery of products to clients or individual customers, who are located in different parts of the world. The virtual world of internet has literally played a major role in removing the geographical barriers existing in the physical world, and has helped in the value communication, value distribution as well as value delivery of the retail products by catering to the global audience. The emergence of online retailing has led to the development of new retailing formats like consumer to consumer format which has been made popular by online retailing sites like eBay, dealdump, dealplus, etc. In this cas e, the product that is being advertised is handcrafted jewellery items, which are designed and developed in India and is marketed by Indian fashions through their retail website www.indianfashionstore.in (Indian Jewellery, 2009). The handcrafted Indian jewellery mostly has the ethnic as well as traditional Indian themes and is catered mostly to the consumers living in UK. The target market for the products is mostly the female consumers of UK who are essentially falling in the age group of 18 - 36 years. The online retail website www.indianfashionstore.in acts as a window for displaying the multiple ranges of jewellery items online to customers around the globe. The political analysis of the market reveals that there are certain checkpoints in regards to dealing in jewellery business. The jewellery that is supposed to be imported in the UK market needs to be tested by the law and also has to have the label of hallmark in regards to its authenticity. Apart from that, import duty is a lso applicable for jewellery that is being imported in the UK market from Asia Pacific regions like India (Harris, 2011, p. 5) The economic analysis of the market reveals that the consumers are increasingly trying to squeeze their spending as the UK market continues to suffer from the pangs of the economic crisis rolled out by the Euro zone. However, the consumers insists in buying jewellery that is trendy and is bold in making the fashion statement for them, even in the troubled economic times. The social demand for the jewellery market in the UK region reveals that the modern woman who has the purchasing power parity are treating themselves to buying more jewellery for their personal use. Also, the trend of buying jewellery by men for the purpose of gifting to their significant partners is picking up in the UK market as well. Apart from these two segments, a large section of UK consumers are also highly interested in purchasing jewellery which are affordable as per their budget an d are highly trendy at the same time (Harris, 2011, p. 9). So, it is quite evident that the advertising of the India made jewellery products should highlight the hallmark issues while displaying their product to the intended target audience. Also the advertising needs to highlight the latest jewellery trends on the boundaries of

Apples iPhone Smartphone Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Apples iPhone Smartphone - Research Paper Example The launch of the iPhone was done in UK on June 29th 2007 amid great fanfare and customer expectations. The phone was touted as a hybrid cellphone-computer-mp3 player. It has all the dream features of a touch screen, with 3G technology, video camera recording, internet access through wifi, Bluetooth, mp3 player and GPS mapping. "It is not a phone, but a hand held multi-function device, one for a person on the move" was the message sent out by the company. In the internet based market, new applications are a premium market. The iPhone offers download features that are a great value addition to the customer. The market for mobile applications, or apps, will become "as big as the internet", peaking at 10 million apps in 2020, a leading online store says.1Apple runs the most popular application store with more than 65,000 applications. There had been a record 1.5 billion downloads in July 2009. 3G spectrum allows faster download of data, simultaneous transfer of both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging e-mail, and instant messaging. The highlight of 3G is video telephony. 4G technology stands to be the future standard of wireless devices2. When the customer does not need to carry a separate device for listening to radio, internet access, locating places on maps, communicating through audio-visuals and connecting to other mobile and non-mobile devices, definitely, the value addition can be measured in terms of millions of $ saved on these gadgets. A hand held magical device that acts as a screen for a bank account, a demat account, gives access to online shopping from across the world, brings the best of Utube and FM, helps people communicate and trade has added value not only on monetary terms, but also in terms of satisfaction for the customer. Customer Support Genius Bar These are set up at all retail stores to help customers troubleshoot any problems they may face. The customer support workers are professionals thoroughly trained in the working of Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and iPhone. There's little they don't know about Apple products3. An appointment can be fixed over the internet at the local Apple store. Download Support The iPhone comes with download support for a user guide complete with troubleshooting hints, syncing with other phones, enabling MMS. Thus, help is at hand for both offshore and onshore problems. The website http://www.apple.com/support/ gives clear instructions on getting help at every step, whether for setting up the iPhone or downloading complicated data from websites. Discussion Forums Discussion forums have been set up by the company for people to exchange their ideas and experiences while using the iPhone. This would be very handy for the customer as simple problems could be solved by interacting with other iPhone users. New partnerships with technology partners New products open up new markets and avenues for partnerships with both service providers and customers. The iPhone has brought about a revolution in the way a phone is used. It has opened business channels for various parties. Service providers Internet service providers and mobile telephony service providers are falling over each other to provide their service through

Rates of reaction - molarity Essay Example for Free

Rates of reaction molarity Essay Chemistry Coursework Rates of Reaction Molarity (Concentration) Aim: to find out if the concentration of HCl affects the amount of hydrogen gas given off when a magnesium strip is added. Apparatus: Gas syringe to take all the gas from the reaction and measure it Test tube to hold the two reactants Measuring cylinder to measure amount of water and acid Stop watch to time the reaction Delivery tube to deliver the hydrogen into the gas syringe Ruler + Scissors to measure and cut the magnesium Reactants: Magnesium strip Hydrochloric acid 2HCl + Mg H2 + MgCl2 Preliminary Work: From preliminary work I have found out that using 20 cm3 of acid and using 2 cm of magnesium for 1 minute gives off sufficient gas to measure accurately and I also found that for the molarity I should not go lower than 0. 6 as there of gas given off will be too slow. This is how I did the experiment: I set up the experiment as shown above   Added 2 cm of magnesium strip to 20 cm3 of HCl   I then wrote down the volume of the gas every 5 secs for 1 minute of the reaction   Use concentrations   M to see which would be suitable. Scientific Knowledge: A chemical reaction needs reactant particles to collide successfully for it to take place. For the chance of a successful collision to take place more frequent collisions need to occur. These four factors affect the frequency of collisions therefore affecting the rate of reaction: Concentration there are more acid particles in the same volume so they are more likely to collide with the magnesium particles. Temperature when the temperature is increased the particles gain kinetic energy, which means the particles vibrate more which in turn means they are more likely to collide successfully. Surface Area a larger surface are means more particles are exposed. Therefore as larger number of collisions occur Catalyst the catalyst lowers the amount of energy needed for a collision without taking part therefore more successful collisions will take place. However I am only testing concentration so from this knowledge I know that the higher the concentration the more likely that the particles will collide. Prediction: I believe that as the molarity decreases so will the speed at which the gas collects. I predict this because of my preliminary work and scientific knowledge. This knowledge is that as the concentration increases there are more particles in the same volume so then there will be more successful collision. This means the volume of gas collected in the first minute should decrease as the concentration decreases.   Set up the experiment as shown above   Add 2 cm of magnesium strip to 20 cm3 of HCl   Write down the volume of the gas every 5 secs for 1 minute Use concentrations M To make the different concentrations I added water to 1M hydrochloric acid: Molarity Water/Acid cm3 1 Fair test/Reliability: By controlling all the other variables (temperature, surface area and using a catalyst) I am leaving only one thus making my results accurate and reliable and easier to test. I am also using the same amount of acid (variable) and magnesium each time making it a fair test. I have also repeated my experiment so that I can average out my results making it fair, as extremities will be averaged out. To make it a reliable and fair test I have made sure that the gas syringe is always at 0 at the beginning of each experiment and I will start the clock as soon as the Magnesium meets the HCl and always make sure that the Mg is cut to exactly to 2 cm. Safety: Always wear goggles so that no acid can go in your eye Wash acid after using acid so that acid does not transfer onto things that you touch and worse in your mouth (from the food that you eat). Results: Test 1 Molarity (M) Water/Acid cm3 T 5s I 10s M 15s E 20s 25s I 30s N 35s 40s S 45s E 50s C 55s S 6Test 2 Molarity (M) Water/Acid cm3 T 5s I 10s M 15s E 20s 25s IVolume of H2 collected Rate of Reaction: The rate of a reaction is how quickly the reactants turn into products. To work out the rate of reaction I have decided to find the time that each reaction took to reach 8 ml of H2 and converting it into a rate. The formula for Rate of Reaction is 1/time (secs) Molarity (M) Calculation Rate (3dp)   The rate of reaction tell you how fast each reaction takes to get to point as you can see from my rate of reaction graph as the molarity increases the reaction is quicker apart from 0. 8 (sources of error in evaluation). This graph is useful, as initially I has thought 0. 7 moles was the incorrect result but this graph proved otherwise. Also from this graph I can find out what the rate should have been for 0. 9 ideally which is 0. 036 so the time it would have taken for this experiment to reach 8 ml of H2 is 1/rate = 1/0. 036 = 28. 7 seconds. I can also predict other results:   Conclusion As my graphs and results show the volume of gas produced in the first minute increases with the increase in molarity apart from 0.8 moles, this anomaly occurred both times which is unusual but apart from that result I know that Molarity is proportional to volume of gas collected per minute. E. g. it takes longer for 8 ml of gas to be collected as the concentration reduces, which proves my prediction right. This is because there are more particles in the same volume if the concentration is increased. Here is a diagram: Less moles More moles Evaluation I believe the plan was good and enabled me to get the results that I needed. My experiment went very well apart from my one anomaly (0.8 Moles) this is unusual as it happened both time as but these are some reasons why this happened: Sources of Error Gas syringe was only to the nearest ml Magnesium it used up the HCl around it and turned it into MgCl but did not react with the acid at the bottom making the reaction slower Heat as the Mg reacts with HCl heat is given off speeding up the reaction Human Error reading the gas wrong, starting or stopping the clock at the wrong time etc. Solving these Errors Gas syringe use a position sensor on the gas syringe, which is attached to a computer. This will record the results with no anomalies. Magnesium shake the test tube every so often Heat cant solve this, the reaction is exothermic Human Error use a position sensor on the gas syringe, which is attached to a computer. This will record the results with no human anomalies. Extension To extend the investigation I would do the experiment again put try and put right all the sources of error and see if my results come out perfect. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Handwritten Character Recognition Using Bayesian Decision Theory

Handwritten Character Recognition Using Bayesian Decision Theory Abstract: Character recognition (CR) can solve more complex problem in handwritten character and make recognition easier. Handwriting character recognition (HCR) has received extensive attention in academic and production fields. The recognition system can be either online or offline. Offline handwritten character recognition is the sub fields of optical character recognition (OCR). The offline handwritten character recognition stages are preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction and recognition. Our aim is to improve missing character rate of an offline character recognition using Bayesian decision theory. Keywords: Character recognition, Optical character recognition, Off-line Handwriting, Segmentation, Feature extraction, Bayesian decision theory. Introduction The recognition system can be either on-line or off-line. On-line handwriting recognition involves the automatic conversion of text as it is written on a special digitized or PDA, where a sensor picks up the pen-tip movements as well as pen-up/pen-down switching. That kind of data is known as digital ink and can be regarded as a dynamic representation of handwriting. Off-line handwriting recognition involves the automatic conversion of text in an image into letter codes which are usable within computer and text-processing applications. The data obtained by this form is regarded as a static representation of handwriting. The aim of character recognition is to translate human readable character to machine readable character. Optical character recognition is a process of translation of human readable character to machine readable character in optically scanned and digitized text. Handwritten character recognition (HCR) has received extensive attention in academic and production fields. Bayesian decision theory is a fundamental statistical approach that quantifies the tradeoffs between various decisions using probabilities and costs that accompany such decision. They divided the decision process into the following five steps: Identification of the problem. Obtaining necessary information. Production of possible solution. Evaluation of such solution. Selection of a strategy for performance. They also include a sixth stage implementation of the decision. In the existing approach missing data cannot be recognition which is useful in recognition historical data. In our approach we are recognition the missing words using Bayesian classifier. It first classifier the missing words to obtain minimize error. It can recover as much error as possible. Related Work The history of CR can be traced as early as 1900, when the Russian scientist Turing attempted to develop an aid for the visually handicapped [1]. The first character recognizers appeared in the middle of the 1940s with the development of digital computers. The early work on the automatic recognition of characters has been concentrated either upon machine-printed text or upon a small set of well-distinguished handwritten text or symbols. Machine-printed CR systems in this period generally used template matching in which an image is compared to a library of images. For handwritten text, low-level image processing techniques have been used on the binary image to extract feature vectors, which are then fed to statistical classifiers. Successful, but constrained algorithms have been implemented mostly for Latin characters and numerals. However, some studies on Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Indian, Cyrillic, Greek, and Arabic characters and numerals in both machine-printed and handwritten cas es were also initiated [2]. The commercial character recognizers were available in the 1950s, when electronic tablets capturing the x-y coordinate data of pen-tip movement was first introduced. This innovation enabled the researchers to work on the on-line handwriting recognition problem. A good source of references for on-line recognition until 1980 can be found in [3]. Studies up until 1980 suffered from the lack of powerful computer hardware and data acquisition devices. With the explosion of information technology, the previously developed methodologies found a very fertile environment for rapid growth addition to the statistical methods. The CR research was focused basically on the shape recognition techniques without using any semantic information. This led to an upper limit in the recognition rate, which was not sufficient in many practical applications. Historical review of CR research and development during this period can be found in [4] and [3] for off-line and on-line cases, respectively. The real progress on CR systems is achieved during this period, using the new development tools and methodologies, which are empowered by the continuously growing information technologies. In the early 1990s, image processing and pattern recognition techniques were efficiently combined with artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies. Researchers developed complex CR algorithms, which receive high-resolution input data and require extensive number crunching in the implementation phase. Nowadays, in addition to the more powerful computers and more accurate electronic equipments such as scanners, cameras, and electronic tablets, we have efficient, modern use of methodologies such as neural networks (NNs), hidden Markov models (HMMs), fuzzy set reasoning, and natural language processing. The recent systems for the machine-printed off-line [2] [5] and limited vocabulary, user-dependent on-line handwritten characters [2] [12] are quite satisfactory for restricted applications. However, there is still a long way to go in order to reach the ultimate goal of machine simulation of fluent human reading, especially for unconstrained on-line and off-line handwriting. Bayesian decision Theory (BDT), one of the statistical techniques for pattern classification, to identify each of the large number of black-and-white rectangular pixel displays as one of the 26 capital letters in the English alphabet. The character images were based on 20 different fonts and each letter within 20 fonts was randomly distorted to produce a file of 20,000 unique instances [6]. Existing System In this overview, character recognition (CR) is used as an umbrella term, which covers all types of machine recognition of characters in various application domains. The overview serves as an update for the state-of-the-art in the CR field, emphasizing the methodologies required for the increasing needs in newly emerging areas, such as development of electronic libraries, multimedia databases, and systems which require handwriting data entry. The study investigates the direction of the CR research, analyzing the limitations of methodologies for the systems, which can be classified based upon two major criteria: 1) the data acquisition process (on-line or off-line) and 2) the text type (machine-printed or handwritten). No matter in which class the problem belongs, in general, there are five major stages Figure1 in the CR problem: 1) Preprocessing 2) Segmentation 3) Feature Extraction 4) Recognition 5) Post processing 3.1. Preprocessing The raw data, depending on the data acquisition type, is subjected to a number of preliminary processing steps to make it usable in the descriptive stages of character analysis. Preprocessing aims to produce data that are easy for the CR systems to operate accurately. The main objectives of preprocessing are: 1) Noise reduction 2) Normalization of the data 3) Compression in the amount of information to be retained. In order to achieve the above objectives, the following techniques are used in the preprocessing stage. Preprocessing Segmentation Splits Words Feature Extraction Recognition Post processing Figure 1. Character recognition 3.1.1 Noise Reduction The noise, introduced by the optical scanning device or the writing instrument, causes disconnected line segments, bumps and gaps in lines, filled loops, etc. The distortion, including local variations, rounding of corners, dilation, and erosion, is also a problem. Prior to the CR, it is necessary to eliminate these imperfections. Hundreds of available noise reduction techniques can be categorized in three major groups [7] [8]: a) Filtering b) Morphological Operations c) Noise Modeling 3.1.2 Normalization Normalization methods aim to remove the variations of the writing and obtain standardized data. The following are the basic methods for normalization [4] [10][16]. a) Skew Normalization and Baseline Extraction b) Slant Normalization c) Size Normalization 3.1.3 Compression It is well known that classical image compression techniques transform the image from the space domain to domains, which are not suitable for recognition. Compression for CR requires space domain techniques for preserving the shape information. a) Threshold: In order to reduce storage requirements and to increase processing speed, it is often desirable to represent gray-scale or color images as binary images by picking a threshold value. Two categories of threshold exist: global and local. Global threshold picks one threshold value for the entire document image which is often based on an estimation of the background level from the intensity histogram of the image. Local (adaptive) threshold use different values for each pixel according to the local area information. b) Thinning: While it provides a tremendous reduction in data size, thinning extracts the shape information of the characters. Thinning can be considered as conversion of off-line handwriting to almost on-line like data, with spurious branches and artifacts. Two basic approaches for thinning are 1) pixel wise and 2) nonpareil wise thinning [1]. Pixel wise thinning methods locally and iteratively process the image until one pixel wide skeleton remains. They are very sensitive to noise and may deform the shape of the character. On the other hand, the no pixel wise methods use some global information about the character during the thinning. They produce a certain median or centerline of the pattern directly without examining all the individual pixels. In clustering-based thinning method defines the skeleton of character as the cluster centers. Some thinning algorithms identify the singular points of the characters, such as end points, cross points, and loops. These points are the source of problems. In a nonpareil wise thinning, they are handled with global approaches. A survey of pixel wise and nonpareil wise thinning approaches is available in [9]. 3.2. Segmentation The preprocessing stage yields a clean document in the sense that a sufficient amount of shape information, high compression, and low noise on a normalized image is obtained. The next stage is segmenting the document into its subcomponents. Segmentation is an important stage because the extent one can reach in separation of words, lines, or characters directly affects the recognition rate of the script. There are two types of segmentation: external segmentation, which is the isolation of various writing units, such as paragraphs, sentences, or words, and internal segmentation, which is the isolation of letters, especially in cursively written words. 1) External Segmentation: It is the most critical part of the document analysis, which is a necessary step prior to the off-line CR Although document analysis is a relatively different research area with its own methodologies and techniques, segmenting the document image into text and non text regions is an integral part of the OCR software. Therefore, one who works in the CR field should have a general overview for document analysis techniques. Page layout analysis is accomplished in two stages: The first stage is the structural analysis, which is concerned with the segmentation of the image into blocks of document components (paragraph, row, word, etc.), and the second one is the functional analysis, which uses location, size, and various layout rules to label the functional content of document components (title, abstract, etc.) [12]. 2) Internal Segmentation: Although the methods have developed remarkably in the last decade and a variety of techniques have emerged, segmentation of cursive script into letters is still an unsolved problem. Character segmentation strategies are divided into three categories [13] is Explicit Segmentation, Implicit Segmentation and Mixed Strategies. 3.3. Feature Extraction Image representation plays one of the most important roles in a recognition system. In the simplest case, gray-level or binary images are fed to a recognizer. However, in most of the recognition systems, in order to avoid extra complexity and to increase the accuracy of the algorithms, a more compact and characteristic representation is required. For this purpose, a set of features is extracted for each class that helps distinguish it from other classes while remaining invariant to characteristic differences within the class[14]. A good survey on feature extraction methods for CR can be found [15].In the following, hundreds of document image representations methods are categorized into three major groups are Global Transformation and Series Expansion, Statistical Representation and Geometrical and Topological Representation . 3.4. Recognition Techniques CR systems extensively use the methodologies of pattern recognition, which assigns an unknown sample into a predefined class. Numerous techniques for CR can be investigated in four general approaches of pattern recognition, as suggested in [16] are Template matching, Statistical techniques, and Structural techniques and Neural networks. 3.5. Post Processing Until this point, no semantic information is considered during the stages of CR. It is well known that humans read by context up to 60% for careless handwriting. While preprocessing tries to clean the document in a certain sense, it may remove important information, since the context information is not available at this stage. The lack of context information during the segmentation stage may cause even more severe and irreversible errors since it yields meaningless segmentation boundaries. It is clear that if the semantic information were available to a certain extent, it would contribute a lot to the accuracy of the CR stages. On the other hand, the entire CR problem is for determining the context of the document image. Therefore, utilization of the context information in the CR problem creates a chicken and egg problem. The review of the recent CR research indicates minor improvements when only shape recognition of the character is considered. Therefore, the incorporation of contex t and shape information in all the stages of CR systems is necessary for meaningful improvements in recognition rates. The proposed System Architecture The proposed research methodology for off-line cursive handwritten characters is described in this section as shown in Figure 2. 4.1 Preprocessing There exist a whole lot of tasks to complete before the actual character recognition operation is commenced. These preceding tasks make certain the scanned document is in a suitable form so as to ensure the input for the subsequent recognition operation is intact. The process of refining the scanned input image includes several steps that include: Binarization, for transforming gray-scale images in to black white images, scraping noises, Skew Correction- performed to align the input with the coordinate system of the scanner and etc., The preprocessing stage comprise three steps: (1) Binarization (2) Noise Removal (3) Skew Correction Scanned Document Image Feature Extraction Bayesian Decision Theory Training and Recognition Pre-processing Binarization Noise Removal Skew correction Segmentation Line Word Character Recognition o/p Figure 2. Proposed System Architecture 4.1.1 Binarization Extraction of foreground (ink) from the background (paper) is called as threshold. Typically two peaks comprise the histogram gray-scale values of a document image: a high peak analogous to the white background and a smaller peak corresponding to the foreground. Fixing the threshold value is determining the one optimal value between the peaks of gray-scale values [1]. Each value of the threshold is tried and the one that maximizes the criterion is chosen from the two classes regarded as the foreground and back ground points. 4.1.2 Noise Removal The presence of noise can cost the efficiency of the character recognition system; this topic has been dealt extensively in document analysis for typed or machine-printed documents. Noise may be due the poor quality of the document or that accumulated whilst scanning, but whatever is the cause of its presence it should be removed before further Processing. We have used median filtering and Wiener filtering for the removal of the noise from the image. 4.1.3 Skew Correction Aligning the paper document with the co-ordinate system of the scanner is essential and called as skew correction. There exist a myriad of approaches for skew correction covering correlation, projection, profiles, Hough transform and etc. For skew angle detection Cumulative Scalar Products (CSP) of windows of text blocks with the Gabor filters at different orientations are calculated. Alignment of the text line is used as an important feature in estimating the skew angle. We calculate CSP for all possible 50X50 windows on the scanned document image and the median of all the angles obtained gives the skew angle. 4.2 Segmentation Segmentation is a process of distinguishing lines, words, and even characters of a hand written or machine-printed document, a crucial step as it extracts the meaningful regions for analysis. There exist many sophisticated approaches for segmenting the region of interest. Straight-forward, may be the task of segmenting the lines of text in to words and characters for a machine printed documents in contrast to that of handwritten document, which is quiet difficult. Examining the horizontal histogram profile at a smaller range of skew angles can accomplish it. The details of line, word and character segmentation are discussed as follows. 4.2.1 Line Segmentation Obviously the ascenders and descanters frequently intersect up and down of the adjacent lines, while the lines of text might itself flutter up and down. Each word of the line resides on the imaginary line that people use to assume while writing and a method has been formulated based on this notion shown fig.3. Figure 3. Line Segmentation The local minima points are calibrated from each Component to approximate this imaginary baseline. To calculate and categorize the minima of all components and to recognize different handwritten lines clustering techniques are deployed. 4.2.2 Word and Character Segmentation The process of word segmentation succeeds the line separation task. Most of the word segmentation issues usually concentrate on discerning the gaps between the characters to distinguish the words from one another other. This process of discriminating words emerged from the notion that the spaces between words are usually larger than the spaces between the characters in fig 4. Figure 4. Word Segmentation There are not many approaches to word segmentation issues dealt in the literature. In spite of all these perceived conceptions, exemptions are quiet common due to flourishes in writing styles with leading and trailing ligatures. Alternative methods not depending on the one-dimensional distance between components, incorporates cues that humans use. Meticulous examination of the variation of spacing between the adjacent characters as a function of the corresponding characters themselves helps reveal the writing style of the author, in terms of spacing. The segmentation scheme comprises the notion of expecting greater spaces between characters with leading and trailing ligatures. Recognizing the words themselves in textual lines can itself help lead to isolation of words. Segmentation of words in to its constituent characters is touted by most recognition methods. Features like ligatures and concavity are used for determining the segmentation points. 4.3 Feature Extraction The size inevitably limited in practice, it becomes essential to exploit optimal usage of the information stored in the available database for feature extraction. Thanks to the sequence of straight lines, instead of a set of pixels, it is attractive to represent character images in handwritten character recognition. Whilst holding discriminated information to feed the classifier, considerable reduction on the amount of data is achieved through vector representation that stores only two pairs of ordinates replacing information of several pixels. Vectorization process is performed only on basis of bi-dimensional image of a character in off-line character recognition, as the dynamic level of writing is not available. Reducing the thickness of drawing to a single pixel requires thinning of character images first. Character before and after Thinning After streamlining the character to its skeleton, entrusting on an oriented search process of pixels and on a criterion of quality of represe ntation goes on the vectorization process. The oriented search process principally works by searching for new pixels, initially in the same direction and on the current line segment subsequently. The search direction will deviate progressively from the present one when no pixels are traced. The dynamic level of writing is retrieved of course with moderate level of accuracy, and that is object of oriented search. Starting the scanning process from top to bottom and from left to right, the starting point of the first line segment, the first pixel is identified. According to the oriented search principle, specified is the next pixel that is likely to be incorporated in the segment. Horizontal is the default direction of the segment considered for oriented search. Either if the distortion of representation exceeds a critical threshold or if the given number of pixels has been associated with the segment, the conclusion of line segment occurs. Computing the average distance between the l ine segment and the pixels associated with it will yield the distortion of representation. The sequence of straight lines being represented through ordinates of its two extremities character image representation is streamlined finally. All the ordinates are regularized in accordance to the initial width and height of character image to resolve scale Variance. 4.4 Bayesian Decision Theories The Bayesian decision theory is a system that minimizes the classification error. This theory plays a role of a prior. This is when there is priority information about something that we would like to classify. It is a fundamental statistical approach that quantifies the tradeoffs between various decisions using probabilities and costs that accompany such decisions. First, we will assume that all probabilities are known. Then, we will study the cases where the probabilistic structure is not completely known. Suppose we know P (wj) and p (x|wj) for j = 1, 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦n. and measure the lightness of a fish as the value x. Define P (wj |x) as the a posteriori probability (probability of the state of nature being wj given the measurement of feature value x). We can use the Bayes formula to convert the prior probability to the posterior probability P (wj |x) = Where p(x) P (x|wj) is called the likelihood and p(x) is called the evidence. Probability of error for this decision P (w1 |x) if we decide w2 P (w2|x) if we decide w1 P (error|x) = { Average probability of error P (error) = P (error) = Bayes decision rule minimizes this error because P (error|x) = min {P (w1|x), P (w2|x)} Let {w1. . . wc} be the finite set of c states of nature (classes, categories). Let {ÃŽÂ ±1. . . ÃŽÂ ±a} be the finite set of a possible actions. Let ÃŽÂ » (ÃŽÂ ±i |wj) be the loss incurred for taking action ÃŽÂ ±i when the state of nature is wj. Let x be the D-component vector-valued random variable called the feature vector. P (x|wj) is the class-conditional probability density function. P (wj) is the prior probability that nature is in state wj. The posterior probability can be computed as P (wj |x) = Where p(x) Suppose we observe x and take action ÃŽÂ ±i. If the true state of nature is wj, we incur the loss ÃŽÂ » (ÃŽÂ ±i |wj). The expected loss with taking action ÃŽÂ ±i is R (ÃŽÂ ±i |x) = which is also called the conditional risk. The general decision rule ÃŽÂ ±(x) tells us which action to take for observation x. We want to find the decision rule that minimizes the overall risk R = Bayes decision rule minimizes the overall risk by selecting the action ÃŽÂ ±i for which R (ÃŽÂ ±i|x) is minimum. The resulting minimum overall risk is called the Bayes risk and is the best performance that can be achieved. 4.5 Simulations This section describes the implementation of the mapping and generation model. It is implemented using GUI (Graphical User Interface) components of the Java programming under Eclipse Tool and Database storing data in Microsoft Access. For given Handwritten image character and convert to Binarization, Noise Remove and Segmentation as shown in Figure 5(a). Then after perform Feature Extraction, Recognition using Bayesian decision theory as shown in Figure5(b). Figure 5(a) Binarization, Noise Remove and Segmentation Figure 5(b) Recognition using Bayesian decision theory 5. Results and Discussion This database contains 86,272 word instances from an 11,050 word dictionary written down in 13,040 text lines. We used the sets of the benchmark task with the closed vocabulary IAM-OnDB-t13. There the data is divided into four sets: one set for training; one set for validating the Meta parameters of the training; a second validation set which can be used, for example, for optimizing a language model; and an independent test set. No writer appears in more than one set. Thus, a writer independent recognition task is considered. The size of the vocabulary is about 11K. In our experiments, we did not include a language model. Thus the second validation set has not been used. Table1. Shows the results of the four individual recognition systems [17]. The word recognition rate is simply measured by dividing the number of correct recognized words by the number of words in the transcription. We presented a new Bayesian decision theory for the recognition of handwritten notes written on a whiteboard. We combined two off-line and two online recognition systems. To combine the output sequences of the recognizers, we incrementally aligned the word sequences using a standard string matching algorithm. Evaluation of proposed Bayesian decision theory with existing recognition systems with respect to graph is shown in figure 6. Table 1. Results of four individuals recognition systems System Method Recognition rate Accuracy 1st Offline Hidden Markov Method 66.90% 61.40% 1st Online ANN 73.40% 65.10% 2nd Online HMM 73.80% 65.20% 2nd Offline Bayesian Decision theory 75.20% 66.10% Figure 6 Evaluation of Bayesian decision theory with existing recognition systems Then each output position the word with the most occurrences has been used as the  ¬Ã‚ nal result. With the Bayesian decision theory could statistically signi ¬Ã‚ cantly increase the accuracy. 6. Conclusion We conclude that the proposed approach for offline character recognition, which fits the input character image for the appropriate feature and classifier according to the input image quality. In existing system missing characters cant be identified. Our approach using Bayesian Decision Theories which can classify missing data effectively which decrease error in compare to hidden Markova model. Significantly increases in accuracy levels will found in our method for character recognition

The Social Impact of Slavery on the Caribbean Society Essay -- Caribbe

The Social Impact of Slavery on the Caribbean Society In order for us to understand the Caribbean, we must acknowledge the tremendous social impact slavery placed upon the islands. We must not only consider the practice of slavery dating back to the indigenous peoples, but from what the introduction of the African slave trade did to the islands economically as well as culturally. In this paper let me reflect on slavery in the Caribbean not from an economical standpoint but, from the racial or what Knight calls ‘complextional mutations’ its social impact on society. Let us discuss historian Benitez-Rojo’s approach to the Caribbean, he tends to reject a single cultural definition of the Caribbean, believing that all the islands have a differing cultural structure referring to its original colonizer. However, he subliminally states in his book The Repeating Island that all the islands hold more in common than the plantation system. He says ..."the multiplication of the Plantation-each case a different one-brought to the Caribbean was such that the Caribbean peoples themselves, in referring to the ethnological process that derived from the extraordinary collision of the races and cultures, produced, speak of syncretism, acculturation, transculturation, assimilation, deculturation, indigenization, creolization, cultural mestizaje, cultural cimarronaje, cultural miscegenation, cultural resistance etc." This idea falls in line with Knight; Knight introduces the Spanish to the history of the Caribbean, as the Caribbean being their conquest. The Spanish, in the name of Christianity, under Queen Isabella and King Ferninad attempt to colonize the Caribbean. They force assimilation trying to re-create the social and political pattern... ...tresses the Jamaican’s separation from the outside world. Yet, he a Jamaican man is in a field of his own within his culture. He tends to separate himself from the African, African-American, all that seems to be ‘barbarian’, and ‘ignorant’. He separates himself from what he has been ‘educated’ or rather ‘mis-educated’ about. His own History. He separates himself unknowingly, for he is a black colonized person living within certain parameters that tend to cloud his judgement. This is the legacy left to us by the institution of slavery in the Caribbean. Bibilography Benitez-Rojo, Antonio: "The Repeating Island" Duke University Press Knight, Franklin W., : "The Caribbean The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism" Oxford University Press Cliff, Michelle: "Abeng" Plume Books Beckles and Shepherd: "Caribbean Slave Society ad Economy" The New Press, New York

An Exhibition of Portraits by Alice Neel Essay -- Art Appreciation

An Exhibition of Portraits by Alice Neel An exhibition of portraits of the family by Alice Neel, one of the finest painters of her generation, is at the Norton Museum of Art February 14 through March 29, 1998. Both critics and the subjects of her paintings have written of Neel's ability to portray the dynamics of relationships. Kinships focuses on particular family relationships: siblings, domestic pairs, parents and children, and members of her own family. The exhibition was organized by the Tacoma Art Museum, and is sponsored by The Elizabeth Norton Society. Born in 1900, Alice Neel worked as a figurative painter during the decades of WPA realism, postwar abstract expressionism, and 1970s minimalism. She persevered in her work despite a turbulent personal life that included a year of hospitalization after a nervous breakdown, the destruction in 1934 of over two hundred and fifty paintings and drawings, and little attention to her work until the 1960s. Her art demonstrates a vigorous working manner, an unsparing skill in observation and a generous tolerance for the unpredictability of human nature. Neel disliked being called a portraitist, but rather labeled herself as a "collector of souls." She believed that each person has an identity, an essential core of personality, and it was this that she sought to reveal in her paintings. She often captured aspects of relationships of which her subjects were not aware, and combined in her work her stringent analysis of their interactions with a broad acceptance of the depth of human emotions. She painted her subjects as distinct individuals, in the poses that were natural to them; poses that, in Neel's words, "involve ... all their character and social standing ... what the world has done to them, and their retaliation." The compositions, as well as the subjects' body language, of such works as The Black Spanish American Family or Annemarie and Georgia, allows the viewer to observe how family members draw together tenderly or reluctantly, look away, touch one another, draw back, or open up. The arms of the parents often encircle their children in Neel's paintings. The early Mother and Child, Havana, 1926, uses this pose to depict a simple, secure relationship. However, in later works, such as Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia), 1967, the poses are more attuned to the ambivalent emotions present in... ...t on Neel's own art. No better evidence exists than her portraits of pregnant nudes. It was a subject she first approached in 1964, ultimately painting a total of seven such portraits, with Evans's being her last. The subject had a powerful resonance at a time when women were newly educating themselves about the form and function of their anatomies. The Boston Women's Health Book Collective published Our Bodies, Ourselves in 1973, while Adrienne Rich's classic Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution appeared in 1976. As opportunities for women widened dramatically, debate and discussion about their biological destinies and responsibilities intensified. Neel's paintings of pregnant women offered no clear opinions or solutions. But, in retrospect, as with all of Neel's best work, Margaret Evans Pregnant endures as both a portrait of a person and a picture of a time. Ann Temkin is the Muriel and Philip Berman curator of modern and contemporary art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She organized the Alice Neel exhibition that opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art next month and travels to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, February 18 through April 15, 2001.

Amma Unavagam

Growth through CARS Initiatives Pfizer is the world's largest and one of the most admired pharmacy companies with an income of about US $52 Ban in 2013. In 2001 when Dry Hank McKinley took over as Chairman and CEO of the company, Pfizer was very stable and financially sound. It was poised to become the world's largest pharmaceutical company with revenues doubling In the next five years. But the CEO had other serious challenges to contend with.In response to these challenges, Dry McConnell formulated a new mission of Pfizer to become the world's most valued company not Just to Investors, patients and customers but also, to employees, partners and communities where we live and work. † In line with this mission, Pfizer became the first pharmacy company and one the first corporate in the world to sign up for support for the LINE Global Compact (UNC). UNC among other things envisages that businesses should: 1. Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human ri ghts and 2.Uphold the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. To deliver on his commitments to these principles of UNC, Dry McKinley created and launched Its The Global Health Fellows Program (GAFF) In 2003 under his personal oversight. Under this program, Pfizer would send their skilled employees to developing countries on short term assignments (2 – 3 months) to help Noose there build health and social infrastructure in communities ravaged by various dreaded diseases.These employees would transfer their professional, medical and business expertise to the Noose in such a way that the Noose would learn to promote more efficient access to quality health services for the needy. Starting with mere 18 people in 2004, today over 300 Pfizer employees participate in assignments in 45 countries in partnerships with 40 international development organizations. Experience shows that through GAFF initiative, the MONGO partners gained expertise in capacity-b uilding analysis, planning and training that they couldn't otherwise afford.This helped them to Identify health trends and plan Interventions, enhanced their drug-trial competence helping them attract more western resources, and manage their programs better. International social cause as good corporate citizen. The Program became a personnel development tool. Returning volunteers came home with new operational and business insights as well as better understanding of the company's stakeholder including patients, communities, medical professionals and MONGO etc around the world especially in emerging markets.This in turn contributed to better policy making and program planning including bringing better AIDS therapies to the market. This program also served as a valuable recruitment and retention tool. It also helped build better relationships with legislative and regulatory authorities. Interestingly, the success of the GHB Program enthused Pfizer to include reports of philanthropic a ccess programs in their financial reports to the investors.

A Reflection on Chasing Zero Essay

Chasing Zero, I believe, is a documentary that will never completely leave my mind as long as I work in the field of healthcare. Chasing Zero presents the topic of medical errors: it portrays the disastrous effects they can have on their recipients and how they can ruin the lives of the healthcare providers at fault. However, beyond bringing forth awareness about the harm that medical errors can cause, Chasing Zero also presents a goal. This goal is to decrease the amount of medical errors that occur, by such a significant amount, that the resulting number is zero. Zero is not an easy objective, and many people may think it is impossible. However, no matter the difficulty, it is the responsibility of every healthcare worker to do his or her part to reduce the general number of medical errors occurring as much as possible. As a nursing student, I am particularly glad that I was exposed to the concept of medical errors this early on in my training so I can actively define my role in preventing them. The documentary reminded me that I am entering a profession where my actions have real and significant consequences. A sloppy or incomplete performance in medicine is unacceptable and I must find the best way to become as competent as possible. I was immediately encouraged to become a better student in the classroom, to work harder and retain necessary knowledge that I know may be of great consequence one day. Additionally, since my skills have not yet been fully established, I can take certain measures to ensure that bad and perhaps dangerous habits which can lead to errors, do not develop. I further believe that Chasing Zero will reduce errors simply because it brought awareness of the subject to the public. Now, when people visit a healthcare facility for any reason, they will understand that the professionals working with them are human, and can therefore make mistakes. Through the documentary, people can learn to be their own advocates and to question anything that their healthcare provider is doing which is unclear to them. Chasing Zero presented many concepts to think about and a goal that, if worked for, can be achieved, at least on a personal level. As technology advances and awareness increases, this process might slowly become easier. Instruments such as bar code scanners for drug distribution are constantly being created or improved and new policies are continuously  being instituted in hospitals. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to watch Chasing Zero and I hope to be a part of the movement that strives, every day, to successfully remove the concept of medical errors from our lives.

Morality of Active Euthinasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Morality of Active Euthinasia - Essay Example Active euthanasia is sometimes called mercy killing whereas the physicians end the patients’ life directly, such as by giving lethal injection. The passive one is delivered by ending any life sustaining treatment. The result of both cases is the same, the death of the patients. However, some can argue that the former is caused by the physician while the latter by the disease. The conventional doctrine is that there is such an important moral difference between the two that, although the latter is sometimes permissible, the former is always forbidden. (Rachels 78) In my opinion, the morality of active euthanasia actually depends on the situation. In some rare cases whereas the patient suffers extreme pain and has absolutely no hope of surviving, active euthanasia, although it is illegal, can be seen as an act of kindness. This mercy killing is, in some sense, even more compassionate than passive euthanasia, whereas the physicians forgo the life sustaining treatment and let the patient suffer to death. However, in most cases, active euthanasia is absolutely immoral. When there is a chance for the patients to recover, no matter how tiny the chance is, mercy killing is obviously not the act of compassion. Even if the patient voluntarily ask for it, as long as the chance to recover is there, active euthanasia is still morally wrong. The morality of active euthanasia in individual cases can depend on the situation. The morality in the policy level, however, cannot depend on the situation. The question whether it should be legalized or not should only be answered after considering carefully the potential consequences. If active euthanasia is legalized, it will definitely generate good and bad consequences. Whether the good ones outweigh the bad ones or the opposite should be the main concern to answer the question of legalization. Let’s deal with the good outcomes first. According to Dan W. Brock, if active euthanasia is legalized, it means

Business Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Employment Law - Essay Example As it appears, all other employees apart from Mark agreed to work overtime. In his submission, Mark indicated that he was not under any contractual obligation to work overtime. This infuriated Rebecca who decided to take the matter to the manager. However, it is also indicated that there was always bad blood between the two employees, and this seemed to be an opportunity to settle the scores. The dismissal of mark from the work is unacceptable and therefore he has the right of appeal. While the law provides the employers with the prerogative to dismiss employees for gross misconduct and without warning, the case of Mark is different. Firstly, the company should have let the employees know of the staff shortage. Secondly, such employees ought to have been requested to offer themselves for overtime work to compensate for losses incurred due to such shortage of employees. As it stands, the request to have Mark work beyond his normal hours appears to be an ambush. In addition to that, th e manner in which the information was passed to him is also wanting. It is vital to note that employees just like employers, have their personal rights1. On that material day for instance, Mark had an appointment with his girlfriend. He made such arrangement because he had not been informed of any changes by his boss. Therefore, it seems that the company suffers from lack of good communication and relationship with the employees. Thirdly, the dismissal is unjustified based on the fact that when Mark was employed, he signed a contract that indicated the time that he was to be in the job. His decision however mean it may seem to be was justified. There was no prior complaint that he failed to provide quality work because of incompetent or any other factor. It therefore seems that he was a dedicated person who understood his rights well. It seems that the management failed to conduct its independent investigations to ascertain the allegations2. Relying on the information provided to th em by a fellow employee was wrong since there could have been other reasons which could have prompted Mark to take the decision he did. Even if this was a gross misconduct according to the management, law requires that investigation is carried out. For instance, it is indicated that Rebecca and Mark had a malfunctioned relationship which affected their communication. It is therefore possible that this was a malicious act meant to punish Mark by dismissing him. She may have passed communication to other employees about the overtime work and failed to let Mark know in advance. The management therefore was in contravention of the statutes guiding dismissal. There are various unfair grounds through which one may be dismissed. They include lack of good reason, being asked for flexible hours and also if one refuse to work overtime. From the case, it is outright that the firm did not have objective grounds to dismiss Mark. He was dismissed immediately even though he was innocent. He had a right to choose either to work or not. Employees have their flexible time which they may choose to offer or not. Depending on prior communication with the company, employees may choose to comply or refuse. From the above mentioned facts, it seems that Mark is entitled to make a claim of unfair dismissal and get remedies. The law gives him the right to make such a claim through a trade union3. Some of the methods that would be used to address this issue may include mediation and