James Cook

James Cook Essay Alice Holder James Cook Essay Alice Holder In 1788, the Europeans invaded Australia after the First Fleet of British ships landed in Botany Bay on the 18th of January, but then docked in Port Jackson, which we know as Sydney, New South Wales. At the time, there were Over 750000 Aboriginal people in Australia. Lieutenant James Cook had declared Australia to be terra nullius (no one’s land) in 1770 after which the colonists agreed together that they could make the land their own. Cook believed that the Aboriginals lived well.They had everything they needed in that time, and were in his view to be healthier and happier than most Europeans. Cook’s opinion can be considered valid because in 1788 the indigenous people had very complex social structures, and communication was a strong part of their lives. There were various different tribes or group gatherings around this period of time, and the Aboriginals loved to get together to talk and see each other, whe ther they were talking about their day, their problems, or anything. They had many different groups of people to talk to, or refer back to, and most of these relationships were fairly strong.A few of these groups were kinships, religious groups, nations, and moiety and physical structures. Family is a very strong aspect in the aboriginal culture. Most of the time they had extended families and the eldest few in the family took on major roles in looking after the family and helping out. Communication and gatherings were taken for granted in the families, except the mother-in-law rule, which is when you cannot speak directly to your mother in law. This rule applies to both men and women, and if communication was necessary, then they would talk via third person, but never make one on one communication with the person.This is an example of Cook believing that the aboriginals were rich in friendship, family and communication, because they had so many different tribes to refer back to, an d are great at communication and getting involved with other people and groups. In this time of life, there wasn’t the local shop to go and buy your food and basic needs. There wasn’t a dance school nearby to learn the latest moves. There wasn’t spearing classes to learn how to fight for your food, everyone had to learn everything by themselves, or learn off each other.The Aboriginal culture was very fortunate in having the skill to get what they want, wether that was fighting for food, making weapons, etc. They kept warm by sleeping or just sitting in between two small fires, and they also had dingos, which is a camping dog which they slept next to keep warm. They developed spearing skills because that was the only way they could get food to live off. They were never sick and just seemed to make the most of what they had, and never had bad thoughts about what they had, because they knew they had the best, and all they needed to survive; and they were wealthier than the average European.In summary, Cook’s view that aboriginals were not savages is most certainly correct. They had everything they needed to live a long and happy life compared to the Europeans. Many people did not believe this, and had a clear stereotype of the Aboriginal culture in their head, but this was wrong. Traditional Life, Housing, (date unknown), Aboriginal Culture, [web page], <http://www. aboriginalculture. com. au/housing. shtml>, [accessed 8th May 2012]

Putting the Enterprise Into the Enterprise System

Davenport’s article â€Å"Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System† discusses the pros and cons of Enterprise Systems. These systems gather data—manufacturing, sales, logistics, financial, etc. , and then pull this data into a central warehouse that helps companies make informed business decisions. However, the Article’s main theme is, that while these can be powerful tools for an organization, the adoption of a cookie cutter solution may be counterproductive.The part that most interested me was the Article’s discussion that very often a software system designed by the software experts may, in fact, remove the competitive edge of that company. While we tend to think of computing systems as enhancing operations and making them more efficient through faster communication, automation, removing the need for people, etc. , I had never thought of them as having the potential to remove a company’s competitive advantage.Competitive advantage , of course, is doing something different that makes your company better than the others. The difference, as cited in the Article, is typically the service, speed of delivery, etc. , and not the product itself. If, however, you and your competitor all sign up for the same or similar systems that define your business methods, then you begin to operate the same. Now all you have to compete on is price, which is going to squeeze margins.Of course there is a way around this, as the Article discusses, and that is to customize the system to match your existing processes and differentials so that you get the benefits of the efficiencies where you want them, but still maintain the uniqueness that makes your customers continue to come to you. This Article should be read by any company that is about to embark on the integration of an Enterprise System into their organization.The Article gives a lot of good pointers, particularly on the last page of the items to consider and the need for peopl e who truly understand the company’s methods of operations and DNA to ensure that these carry on even after the software is introduced. For the cost investment of such software, it is vitally important that an organization comes out with a product that makes them better and stronger and doesn’t get pulled down to be just another one of the pack.

Adults with Learning Difficulties Essay

â€Å"People with Learning Difficulties are unique individuals with their own likes and dislikes, history and opinions. They have the same rights as everybody else† To begin my assignment I will be discussing the history of social exclusion in relation to people with l’earning difficulties/disabilities . I will then outline process of Social work and in particular I will be focusing on intervention and how intervention has been used in relation to my chosen case study. In addition to this I will pay attention to a number of key issues in relation to society’s views on people with Learning Difficulties. I will also be discussing what Laws, Policies and Practices have been implemented to protect people with learning difficulties from oppression and discrimination and how effective these Laws have actually been in assisting people with Learning Difficulties to live the life they choose to live. During the late 19th century in particular, socially excluding people with learning disabilities was particularly inherent. At the time, those with ‘mental deficiencies’ were regarded as degenerates, and would often be blamed for social problems such as crime and poverty. This in turn led to the removal and institutionalisation of people thought to be ‘feeble minded’ and those referred to as ‘idiots’. Wolf Wolfensberger first published his thoughts about normalisation in 1972, through his works ‘The principle of Normalization in human service’. Wolfensberger argued that many of the problems with the institutions arose from the way in which they were designed and run. The residents of these institutions were treated like numbers rather than individuals, losing their identity and also their dignity. They were often regarded as primitive, uncontrollable and unable to be educated. The basic ideas and aims of the principles of normalisation have aimed to advocate community-based support for people with learning disabilities, whilst moving away from institutionalisation. But one of the most apparent obstacles in achieving this has been the attitude of those in the ‘community’ towards people with learning disabilities. Up to this point Social workers were still using the â€Å"tick box format† when conducting assessments and the medical model of practice was used which resulted in oppression of the service user. It was not until the NHS and community care Act and the community care (Direct Payments) Act was implemented in 1990’s that the attitudes towards people with Learning Difficulties began to improve along with the balance in power between Social Workers and Service Users. Further implementations of legal frameworks, policies and practices such as Valuing People 2001 and the Mental Capacity Act have helped to improve Social Work practice and in turn protect the rights of vulnerable people whilst promoting Anti-Discriminator practice, Social role valorisation and normalisation. Today’s process of Social Work consists of five key stages. These are Assessment, Deciding on outcomes, Planning, Intervention and Evaluation. Inter professional working should be placed centrally throughout all stages of the social work process in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the service user. Once the service users initial assessment has been carried out, decisions can then be made regarding the individuals overall needs and also their eligibility to receive funding for care packages and/or direct payments. Intervention can differ according to setting, but when looking at the intervention process for people with learning difficulties working in partnership and respecting the service user’s expertise is vital when putting agreed plans into action. This aspect of the intervention process can be linked to the exchange model as this approach promotes Anti Discriminatory Practice by empowering the service user to help make decisions about their future wellbeing. It also meets the expectations of the service user that social workers are respecting their expertise. Milner and Obrien 2002) During the intervention process it is the duty of the care manager/social worker to ensure that services provided are meeting the required standards and that the care is co-ordinated successfully to prevent deterioration due to gaps or lapses in care. It is also the responsibility of the care manager to ensure that services users are not excluded from services or receiving care that is of poor quality by constantly checking for discrimination stereotypes and assumptions made during the social work process. It is at this point that the intervention process can be linked with the objectives of Social role Valorisation; the objectives being to prevent people from attaining negative social roles and to promote positive valued roles in the first place. Work to reverse, or at least reduce the impact of existing negative roles and promote positive valued roles. The two key processes od social role valorisation are to enhance the social image of vulnerable people and to enhance their competencies. Social workers are expected to monitor and review intervention lans on a regular basis. Because of this it is vital that these plans can be changed at any time to suit the needs of the individual. When changes are made it is important that other organisations involved are kept up to date with these changes to ensure that the plan remains co-ordinated and effective. Although this theory of intervention illustrates a person centred approach, there is evidence to suggest that people with learning difficulties are still being failed by society due to standardisation and computerisation which can also be known as the â€Å"tick box format†. There are also many instances where there is an incorrect assessment of finances during the initial assessment process, due to the focus on resources available rather than needs. This can lead to the service user being denied access to services that they are entitled to. When looking at my case study Gemma, she has successfully been integrated into society after a comprehensive process of assessment, planning and intervention has been completed to form a person centred care package that suits her needs as an individual with profound and multiple learning difficulties, but also as a young woman who is a human being. The implementation of policies such as Valuing People 2001 and Valuing People Now promotes personalisation within society and has given people with Learning Disabilities like Gemma the right to their own independence, choice and inclusion. Also to have the option of appointing an advocate. However, I cannot help but feel that her story of success was down to the sheer determination of her mother, who had to fight for her daughters individual needs to be met. Social Workers and other multi professionals who were involved in assessment of Gemma’s needs obviously felt that she would have benefited from institutionalisation, as it is stated that this was suggested as a future plan on numerous occasions. I cannot help but wonder whether this has been due to professionals focusing on Gemma’s disability rather than focusing on her as a person. Valuing people 2001 states that the role of services is to help people no matter how complexed their disability, to live full and equal lives in their local communities. Although the article states that ideas for Gemma to live as independently as possible were well received and finally implemented, It is also obvious that there have been constant struggles to obtain funding such as direct payments to accommodate Gemma’s visions to live a normal life within her community. Following Wolfensbergers development of Social Role Valorisation, Obrien developed the five service accomplishments, which provided a practical framework to work towards Social Role Valorisation. Obrien suggests â€Å"Each accomplishment supports a vital dimension of human experience which common practice limits for people with severe Learning Disabilities. They challenge and strengthen the relationship between people with disabilities and other community members. (Obrien 1989) Recent articles published on the community care website have suggested that social workers themselves are witnessing the target-driven culture of bureaucracy within councils (just like Gemmas mum experienced ),and are aware that this has created numerous barriers to people with mental health problems gaining access to direct payments. It has been reported that a Social Work Team Manager within Adults with Learning Disabilities actually left her role at Doncaster Council in 2010 because she had encountered these problems and felt that it hindered the intervention process. She has since started up her own Personalisation Forum Group to bring these service users together. The weekly meetings at a community centre now attract 30 regulars, providing support and regular socialising opportunities. I utilise my social work skills to help the group solve the problems that they face; this involves reducing dependency on professionals by highlighting people’s strengths, and encouraging them to think through solutions on their own and with other group members. People describe feeling part of something, like they have some power over their own future and many for the first time can see something positive,† Hicks says. Michelle Lefevre, senior lecturer in social work at the University of Sussex, says it is a â€Å"sad indictment† that Hicks felt she had to leave local authority social work to build such meaningful relationships with users. Not only is local government overly focused on administration rather than spending time with children and families, she says, but problems in social work degree programmes and supervision mean practitioners are not equipped to deal with the emotional dimensions of the job. Overall it is very refreshing to read success stories like Gemma’s as it seems that she is living her live as independently as possible, whilst being supported by a dedicated team of people who are constantly ensuring that she is receiving person centred care and that her wishes remain central. It is my only hope that in the future it will not require a loving parent to fight the rights of a service user and to overcome hurdle after hurdle to receive the funding and care package they are rightful entitled to, but that the service user will be granted access to the services and funding they are eligible for with ease.

Marketing plan stage 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing plan stage 1 - Essay Example 1 due to increase in total revenue and operating income but in the year 2012 the net income has decreased due to significant increase in income tax expenses and decrease in earnings from operations although the total revenue and gross profit has improved than the previous year. In the year 2013, the net income has increased than the previous year due to decrease in income tax expenses and increase in the earnings from continuing operation and also due to the increment in revenue and gross profit for the year. Income growth was negative for the year 2009 and 2011 due to decrease in net income but otherwise the growth was good for the remaining years. Stock price of the company has decreased from 2009 to 2011 which indicates expectations of investors were not met but after 2011 to 2013 it has increased significantly which indicates investors are gaining confidence in the company. Microsoft has such huge variety of product offering in the market that they have product for almost every type of customer. They are spread across all the continents in the world and reach out to everyone in this century. The reason they can target all types of customers lies in their products and services. They have software, games, browser, and the list goes on. Individuals need purchase safe so purchasing from #1 would appear to be the protected decision. However Microsoft never directed this strength into a solid brand position. They drank excessively of their own cool support and accepted their answers were more focused than they truly were. Being enormous has headed them to being a huge mush of significance, being such a variety of sorts of programming, fittings, administrations, and frameworks they have no brand center. As their predominance has faded, their brand position has flattened to the disgraceful "Im a PC" fight. Microsoft Office – It is their office suite which includes accessibility features that both make it easier for people with disabilities to use it, and, for

Canadian Aboriginal Community Assessment and Diagnosis Essay

Canadian Aboriginal Community Assessment and Diagnosis - Essay Example Statistically, Aboriginal or First Nations peoples regardless of their location face similar pre-dispositions for certain diseases, such as type II diabetes. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disorder of carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism caused by a discrepancy between the amount of insulin required by the body and the amount of insulin available (Sommers, 2011). The disease leads to inappropriate glucose utilization within the body which causes a variety of related diseases, thus modifying the mortality rates. Type II DM is often called ‘adult onset’ diabetes and is related to obesity, poor diet, and other factors. Diabetes is a life-long disease that can be treated with diet, exercise, supportive medications and close management of blood glucose levels, and also treated for its effects on other body organs and systems.Aboriginal communities in Canada commonly believe that diabetes prevention is ineffective in Aboriginal populations because it fails to offer d iabetes prevention strategies specific to their needs (Ghosh & Gomes, 2011, pg. 246). The Alberta Diabetes Surveillance System (ADSS) has reported that in status Aboriginals the diabetes incidence and prevalence rates are twice the incidence rates compared to the general population. Accordingly, the use of hospital and emergency department services is 2 to 3 times higher for the Status Aboriginal population as compared to the general population.The Type 2 diabetes is about 3 to 5 times higher among First Nations people.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 14

Assignment Example The two sets of answers that contradict one another are those pertinent to questions 6 and 7. Most respondents were comfortable with the pace of reforms in Qatar. However, when asked if things were done slowly, do they believe the changes would last longer – respondents strongly agreed that the pace should be done more slowly. These are therefore contradictory responses. 8. Looking at Table 2, what are the two sets of answers that contradict one another? For example, do students believe that reforms are a good thing but do not believe that children in school should learn English? The two sets of answers that contradict one another are those answers pertinent to questions 10 and 11. Majority of the respondents believed that the reform is turning Qatar into a copy of the West but still they strongly support learning English as part of the reform. Question number 9 has 11 respondents answering that they strongly agree (2) that reforms have a positive influence on Qatari culture. The rationale for this is because respondents in Table 1 are all Qatari students who are most aware of the impact of the reforms on their national culture. Question number 10 has 8 respondents who believed that the reform is turning Qatar into a copy of the West. Again, the rationale for this is because respondents in Table 2 are comprised of non-Qatari students who could have had the opportunities of attending western schools. The acknowledgment of the respondents that English plays an important role in education and should be included as a critical part of the reform, regardless of the nationality of the students who participated in the

Tenant vs Landlord Case Paper Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Tenant vs Landlord Case Paper Review - Essay Example lure to comply fully with all applicable environmental laws, or by reason asserted or actually falling to comply with the provision of the above paragraph. In line to the landlords earlier view, tenant may dispose, handle, use or store those products that contain little quantities of hazardous materials to the extent necessary and for premises use as a general office provided he shall handle, dispose, store, and use them in a lawful and safe manner and does not allow them to contaminate the building, premises, land or the environment. The definition of a hazardous materials clause comes about. This is because the law places the responsibility of hazardous materials on the owner of the property where it was created, disposed, used, spilled and any other involvement with the material that regards the environment. The landlord should consider what kind of business the tenant is engaging in and the past records in regarding hazardous materials. It would be unfair on the side of the tenant because, even if a lease may be industrial or retail, the tenant has to use general office purpose, and will force him to use some equipment that are regarded by the law as hazardous. The tenant can bring things that are hazardous but use them without causing harm to the environment. Restricting him not to bring them is absurd. The landlord’s clause is, therefore, unjust to the tenant. The tenant clause is, therefore, good because it considers that the equipments a business or a resident is dealing with may not be totally free of any hazardous materials. It includes that the tenant shall handle, dispose, store, and use them in a lawful, and safe manner, and does not allow them to contaminate the building, premises, land or the environment. Again the landlord’s clause is limiting the business of the tenant to grow, evolve and transfer from one tenant to another. Being involved in dealing with one thing may lead to the need of complementary goods or services which may be limited

Critically Evaluate the Progress (or otherwise) Made with Regard to Essay

Critically Evaluate the Progress (or otherwise) Made with Regard to the Implementation of the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 - Essay Example Sections 54 and 55 of the act establish a new partial protection to murder of loss of control, to reinstate the existing partial protection of aggravation, which is revoked by section 56 of the act. Section 57 makes minor modifications to the law connected with the offence/protection of infanticide. A coroner is a government bureaucrat who examines the death of the humans, finds out the reason(s) of death, issues certificates of death, maintains records of death, reacts to deaths in mass tragedies, recognizes the unknown and unidentified body of the deceased, and various other functions on the basis of local laws. At the same time, local laws describe the cases of deaths a coroner must examine, but most frequently they consist of those that are unexpected, unforeseen, and which have no general practitioner to attend, and deaths that are doubtful or aggressive. Registration fees and death tax have major impact on this case. Chapter 5 of the Coroner and Justice Act 2009 talks about the provision regarding the death and investigation. Under this, Schedule 5 builds provision regarding powers of senior coroners and also at the same time the Coroner for Treasure. Schedule 7 builds provision regarding fees, allowance, and expenses of the case. ... (2)The amount of the fees is to be whatever is agreed from time to time by the assistant coroner and the relevant authority for the area. (3)The fees to which an assistant coroner for an area is entitled under this paragraph are payable by the relevant authority for the area† (Coroners and Justice Act 2009). Prohibition of Fees: Except as the certain circumstances permitted by or in the act a senior coroner, part coroner or any assistant of the coroner may not admit or admit any payment or fee regarding anything done by that concerned coroner in the specific performance of his or her duties and functions. Public reaction to the changes in law has guided to numerous interesting circumstances on what is to be considered competent of constituting aggravation. â€Å"The new law is a major shift in government policy and one towards gender equality, but many people have had concerns that these new laws would also allow the courts to be more lenient towards woman that kill abusive hu sbands by now allowing women who suffered from â€Å"slow-burn† to be able to use this defense† (Mubin 2012). Public reaction to the changes is to develop the accuracy and quality of the death certification in England and Wales. It will help to deliver a service that is gave attention on the requirements of bereaved people. Medical Examiners were constituted by the particular Act 2009, to offer better examination of certification of death, more precise data on reasons of death, suggestion to Coroners, and to help input of appropriate information to the clinical governance systems of the health service. The Department of Health is presently running numerous pilot

Ethical Considerations of Health Information Management Essay

Ethical Considerations of Health Information Management - Essay Example Naturally, human beings are secretive and tend to limit the extent to which certain information concerning their social and health status should reach the public ear. Societal response to healthcare services often depends on the extent to which the health care service would infringe their civil liberty. This research examines possibility of privacy violation among the medical professionals as well as the effects of such violations to the patients. Problem Statement Handling of patients’ information is critical concern in the medical practice because it affects the liberty of the patient in one side and on the other side, it dictate the ability of the healthcare profession to discharge his duty. The consequent of the above phenomena is the need to create ethical codes that define the manner in which healthcare professionals should handle the patients’ information. In practice, medical officer often request clients to volunteer information concerning their health or perso n problems. This data is instrumental in discharging the right service to the patient as well as designing of an intervention mechanism to a disease outbreak in the society (Harman, 2001). Nevertheless, protection of the patient liberty is critical in ensuring effective service delivery. In this sense, handling of the patient’s information within the stipulated codes necessary, but the code should not bar the medical professional from protecting life. Summary of Research Sources Some critics have demonstrated concerns about the use of social network among medical professionals (Thompson et al., 2011). The fact that the medical professionals use social network aggravate the danger of violation of patient’s privacy. Recent studies indicate that medical institutions have established that some unprofessional medical students post medical information in the social network thereby breaching the patient’s privacy rights. Various laws defining medical practice tend to o utlaw activities or engagements between the medical professional and the public that would lead to breach of patient’s privacy. The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act define the extent to which the medical professional can share confidential information of the patients. The relationship between medical professionals and the patients is not only instrumental in defining the nature of the service delivered to the patients, but also affects the societal perception to the medical practice. Some critics show that patients are unwilling to visit healthcare facilities if their personal information were to reach the public ear (Neurodiagn, 2012). Arguably, this finding does not only affect the patient, but also the societal values establishing the medical practice. Some studies have sought to establish the influence of trust in medical practice (Thompson et al., 2011). Such studies shows that trust between the medical practitioner and the client dictate the nature of response that the patient would give to the medical officer. Information dissemination is a critical component of the medical practice. The medical practitioners rely on the information given to them by the patients. It follows that, lack of trust or breach of trust between the parties involves elicit poor service delivery. The handling of patient’

Discuss how attitude gender in Shakespeare's play Othello affect the Essay

Discuss how attitude gender in Shakespeare's play Othello affect the outcome of the play - Essay Example e bed is at the very heart of the tragedy of Othello; offstage but dramatically the center of attention in the first scene and again in the first scene of the second act, it is literally and symbolically at the center of the last scene and is explicitly hidden from sight at the conclusion. Whether the marriage is consummated, when it is consummated, and what the significance of this consummation is for Othello and Desdemona have all been an important source of debate about the play. Throughout its critical history, Othello, like the other problem plays, has generated passionate and radically conflicting responses--responses that are invariably tied to the critics emotional responses to the characters and to the gender relations in the play. Othello, Iago, and Desdemona have been loved and loathed, defended and attacked, judged and exonerated by critics just as they are by characters within the play. "Almost damned in a fair wife" is Leslie Fiedlers alternate title for his chapter on Othello in The Stranger in Shakespeare. In it he asserts of the women in the play: "Three out of four, then, [are] weak, or treacherous, or both." Thus he seconds Iagos misogyny and broadens the attack on what Leavis has called "The sentimentalists Othello," the traditional view of the play held by Coleridge, Bradley, Granville-Barker, Knight, Bayley, Gardner, and many others. These "Othello critics," as I shall call them, accept Othello at his own high estimate. They are enamored of his "heroic music," affirm his love, and, like him, are overwhelmed by Iagos diabolism, to which they devote much of their analysis. Like Othello, they do not always argue rationally or rigorously for their views and so are vulnerable to attacks on their romanticism or sentimentality. Reacting against these traditionalists, "Iago critics" (Eliot, Empson, Kirschbaum, Rossiter, and Mason, as well as Fiedler and Leavis) ta ke their cues from Iago. Like him, they are attracted to Othello, unmoved by his

Resolving Matters of Externalities in Systematic Bargaining Assignment

Resolving Matters of Externalities in Systematic Bargaining - Assignment Example The legal framework and procedure that should be followed to resolve the potential or existing dispute between the firms or other parties to an externality are critical (Kaul, 1999). It is therefore important that strategic tools are put in place and surrounding factors captured in settling the affecting individuals.There are legal frameworks that guide the bargaining power of the affected parties when it comes to externalities.It is therefore important that strategic tools are put in place and surrounding factors captured in settling the affecting individuals.The objective of this study would involve determining various forms of externalities that a firm presents to the society. It would also help in establishing whether there are diverse resolutions legal mechanisms to the affected individuals through systematic bargaining approach. Externalities have remained a critical aspect of the corporate world and its relationship with the members of the community (Kaul, 1999). The establishment of a legal bargaining process for the affected members is key in promoting the general welfare of the society by the firms. Besides, the outcomes of the research would provide information that would serve as a literature review in further future studies. Collecting relevant data and incorporating them into existing legal framework reforms would be an uphill task considering the deep political aspects of the corporate world. Besides, the research requires a significant amount of funds and time which poses a real challenge to the resolution mechanism establishment.

Social Implications of Medical Issues Essay Example for Free

Social Implications of Medical Issues Essay Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is primarily a disease of young women. The disease has a wide array of manifestations and can be fatal. SLE produces antibodies to the body’s own cells leading to full-body inflammation and tissue damage. The causes of the disease are unknown but have been linked to genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors. A patient with SLE may experience times of extreme illness and full remissions. The disease can affect joints, skin, brain, lungs, kidneys, and blood vessels. Common signs and symptoms of SLE are fatigue, pain or swelling in joints, skin rashes, and fevers. Multiple providers are required in treating lupus due to the number of organ systems and body areas involved. A diagnosis of SLE impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year. A diagnosis of SLE can impact a patient’s life physically, emotionally, and financially. There are numerous campaigns and programs available for those that have been diagnosed from self-management education of the disease and it’s symptoms to physical activity programs to improve the health and endurance of the patient. These programs offer evidence based interventions to help minimize the impact of SLE on a patient’s life. There are also numerous research efforts of the disease for the health care providers in better treatment of the disease and for the patient’s in coping with the signs and symptoms. The medical description of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is an auto-immune disease of un-known cause. The disease affects multiple organs and causes multiple systemic symptoms. It is a very unpredictable disease; it can progress quickly or slowly and the experienced symptoms vary from patient to patient. The disease has no cure and may result in early death. Patients can live years in remission and manage their flare-ups with medications and medical care management. Falvo states that for patients, â€Å"The goal is to improve or maintain organ function and to prevent permanent organ damage. † (2009) The disease is not easily diagnosed. These patients tend to be young females and are more apt to be African American. The Lupus Foundation states on their website that, â€Å"Because many symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) mimic those of other illnesses, lupus can be a difficult disease to diagnose. (2012) Laboratory tests in combination of the patient’s physical signs and symptoms is how the disease of SLE. It is not common to make a diagnosis immediately. The Lupus Foundation also states on their website that, â€Å"More often than not it is a diagnosis that evolves over time, leading towards more certainty that a person does or does not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of lupus. (2012) The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) developed a list of 11 common measures to assist is the diagnosing of SLE. According to the ACR if a patient is currently experiencing or has experienced at least four from the list there is a strong chance that the patient has lupus. Some of the most common and apparent symptoms that the patients experience are â€Å"butterfly† rashes (over the nose and cheeks) and joint discomfort. Another common symptom that is experienced is chronic and extreme fatigue. The ACR gives a comprehensive list of the symptoms including, rash, photosensitivity, oral ulcers, arthritis, serositis (inflammation of the linings around the heart and lungs), kidney disorder, seizures, anemia and a compromised immune system. Patients with SLE may also experience fevers over 100 ° F and hair loss. The impact on the body areas and organ systems is a slow process but, is very destructive. Being that systemic lupus erythematosus is an auto-immune disease that creates antibodies against the bodies own cells and causes inflammation and tissue damage. It has an impact on the body as a whole and is eventually fatal. The number of cases each year is, â€Å"†¦difficult to obtain because onset is difficult to determine (non-specific symptoms and signs) and the required, resource-intense studies are done in small areas. (CDC, 2012) It is also stated that case estimates range from 1. 8 to 7. 6 per 100,000 people in various parts of the United States. Systemic lupus erythematosus has a high mortality rate when compared to other rheumatic type conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists on their website, â€Å"From 1979 to 1998, the annual number of deaths with lupus as the underlying cause increased from 879 to 1,406. Crude death rates increased with age (35% were in 15-44 year age group), among women (5x higher than in men), and among blacks (3x higher than in whites). Death rates were highest and increased the most over time among black women aged 45-64 years. † (2012) The deaths mainly occurred when a patient was experiencing active disease and went into organ failure. Usually, failure of the kidneys and/or the heart were the main contributors to the deaths. The treatments can often result in extreme side effects. A common treatment involves the use of immunosuppressive drugs that may cause reproductive issues. This often causes compliance issues with the treatment plans and exacerbation of symptoms. Psychosocial challenges that patients with systemic lupus erythematosus experience come into effect at different stages of the disease. Patients with SLE often do not have apparent symptoms that can be seen by others. The Lupus Foundation states, â€Å"†¦because you may not have any visible signs of disease, the people around you may not realize how much discomfort and pain you are experiencing, or they may not know that you are sick at all. † (2012) That makes it difficult for patients to explain that they are ill or to receive the needed support from family, friends and co-workers. After the initial diagnosis, people surrounding the patient may be supportive but, as time goes by, those people may show annoyance and/or irritation to symptoms of fatigue and pain. There is also fear experienced by the family that they will lose their loved one to the disease. This can cause overly pampering and tiptoeing around the family member with systemic lupus erythematosus. This need for extra care can also cause feelings of guilt in the patient because the life that they and their family used to know has been adjusted around their condition. Spouses tend to have a very difficult time because the intimacy that was once shared can change dramatically. The patient’s self-esteem and body image can be challenged due to symptoms of skin rashes and lesions, hair loss and weight gain. Other symptoms such as joint pain and genital sores can cause intercourse to be painful. According to The Lupus Foundation, â€Å"if the frequency and pleasure of intimacy and sex fade, the partner without lupus may feel hurt and confused, or even resentful and angry. (2012) This would make it frustrating for both partners because the relationship that had been is now something very different. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are often able to continue working. The Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990 has helped many patients diagnosed with debilitating conditions. The Lupus Foundation comments that, â€Å"Many people with lupus are able to continue to work, although they may need to make changes in their work environment. Flexible work hours, job-sharing, and telecommuting may help you to keep working. It may be helpful to begin to make such arrangements soon after you have been diagnosed with lupus. † (2012) The fatigue and hospitalizations are the symptoms that would effect work attendance more than other symptoms of the disease. There are successful community based programs developed for patients with SLE. Self-management education is on the most important areas to focus on with any chronic condition. Teaching patients to be compliant and an active participant in their own care is extremely important in the success of the treatments. The availability of the internet has allowed patients to educate themselves and research treatments and be actively involved in support groups. The positive impact of self-education is shown in the improvement of treatment outcomes and those diagnosed with SLE are able to live longer and more normal lives. According to The Lupus Foundation, â€Å"We now know more about lupus than ever before. Dedicated researchers are on the brink of significant breakthroughs in the underlying science of the immune system, while public awareness and understanding continue to grow. Improvements in diagnosis, a greater understanding of how medications can work together to control symptoms, and increased knowledge of the effects of the disease have allowed better management of lupus over time. Today people with lupus are leading healthier lives and living longer than at any time in history. † (2012) According to the CDC, â€Å"Long gone are the days when health care providers told people with arthritis to â€Å"rest their joints†. 2012) Physical activity programs have become a very important part of treatment plans that providers put in place for their patients with SLE. Increasing strength and stamina has shown to improve the body’s ability to adjust to arthritis and joint conditions. Building up cardiovascular strength and muscle strength also helps with pain control. The CDC also states, â€Å"Scientific studies have shown that participation in moderate-intensity, low-impact physical activity improves pain, function, mood, and quality of life without worsening symptoms or disease severity. (2012) Patients with SLE tend to experience the most pain from joint and arthritis discomfort therefore becoming and remaining physically active is an effective form of treatment of the symptoms of the disease. A research project concerning SLE is the study of the role of antibodies in cognitive dysfunction in patients with SLE. The study reviewed the effects of SLE on the brain and the correlation of mild to severe cognitive impairment. There is a symptom that SLE patients experience called the â€Å"lupus fog† where the patients seem dizzy and confused. The purpose of the study is, â€Å"The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the association between cognitive dysfunction and serum anti-pentapeptide Ab. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be performed for evaluation of potentially confounding central nervous system (CNS) disease such as cerebral infarction, and of blood brain barrier breakdown by employing gadolinium enhancement. Furthermore, in participants who agree, a lumbar puncture will be performed and cerebrospinal fluid will be obtained for preliminary evaluation of the intrathecal levels of the anti-pentapeptide Ab associated with cognitive dysfunction. If the anti-pentapeptide Ab is associated with cognitive dysfunction, therapeutic interventions via NR2 receptor blockade or the blockade of the anti-pentapeptide Ab may be considered in a future study. † (2008) They are hoping to find the connections to the cognitive dysfunction so that they are able to treat these symptoms of SLE. Systemic lupus erythematosus patients have not had many new treatment options. According to The Lupus Foundation, â€Å"There have been no new treatments for lupus in the past several decades until the 2011 FDA approval of belimumab. † (2012) MedicineNet. om explains belimumab as a synthetic injectable antibody that blocks the autoimmune attack of the body on itself. It helps fight the disease and all of the debilitating symptoms. It is said that, â€Å"belimumab-treated patients experienced less activity of their SLE than those who received other SLE therapies. † (2012) The best interventions to assist in minimizing the impact of the illness is exercise and compliance with the medical plan put in place by the health care provider. The research performed for this paper shows that most SLE patients become less active and do not want to adhere to the medical plans that they should follow. Patient education is key in getting SLE patients to follow their medical regimen. Studies have proven that exercise is an excellent way to control pain and deal with the symptoms of the disease. The more education and support that the provider pushes their patients to seek the better off the patient will take care of themselves. Self-education makes the patient feel that they have a vested interest in the management of their care. They will not just depend on the provider and their care givers to make everything happen as it should. They will not just depend on medications to heal. They will help to mentally prepare themselves for their life with SLE. In conclusion, patients with SLE should understand the psychosocial aspects of their condition and help to educate their spouses and family in what to expect to happen during their lifetime. Patients should adhere to the medical plans put in place by their health care providers and educate themselves in all of their treatment options. The more educated a patient becomes about their condition the more they can assist their own bodies in dealing with the symptoms it experiences mentally and physically.

Financial Statements analysis on the basis of total comprehensive i

Financial Statements analysis on the basis of total comprehensive i As the main objective of the financial statements to reflect the economic value of a company in order external users make useful economic decision, and due to the last shocking breakthroughs in the financial system, IASB recently has worked on developing high quality set of accounting standers; International financial reporting standards (IFRS). IFRS transition has break out in 90 countries, though other countries are following. Concerning the European Union, The EU has required IFRS for the groups listed on European stock market (EU Regulation 1606/2002).The new set of standers as any new standers being introduced- has some effects on the financial reporting issues. This study is a literature review of prior studies focusing on the effect of the comprehensive income introduced by IFRS on the financial analysis, specifically one financial technique; ratio analysis. This study is presenting prior studies starting with a literature review in chapter one which is an overview of the com prehensives income discussing the definition of the comprehensive income then examines the pros and cons of the comprehensive income. Chapter two is a literature review where of the financial analysis definition and financial analysis techniques, focusing on ratio analysis technique as the most common technique being used, and as it used part of this study. Chapter three is including the main hypothesis and the core issue of the research of the effect of the comprehensive income on the financial ratios. While Chapter four is a practical example examining the hypothesis mentioned in the previous chapter. Time was one of the major limitations of this study, lack of sufficient data was a second, many studies have examined the effect of IFRS adoption, but few has gone beyond and studied its effects on key financial ratios, where none has clearly stated the direct impact of the comprehensive income on the key financial ratios. This study is an attempt to study this effect. Chapter 1: comprehensive income statement overview 1.1. Definition and Presentation of comprehensive income statement Many studies has declared that Income statement thought to be the most important statements in the financial statements. For inventors; the past income is the most important base for the future predictions and expectation for the cash flows, and so for expecting the share price and dividends. While creditors view the income statement as the borrowers ability to generate future cash flows to fulfill their financial obligations. Yet the comprehensive income statement drove its importance from the income statement importance. Comprehensive income is not a new concept; it was first introduced by FASB in 1985 in its Framework as the change in equity of a business enterprise during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from nonowner sources. Later it was introduced in the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 130, Reporting Comprehensive Income, issued by FASB in 1997, as: the change in equity [net assets] of a business enterprise during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from nonowner sources. It includes all changes in equity during a period except those resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Comprehensive income statement includes the traditional net income plus all revenues, expenses, gains and losses recognized during the period, refereed as other comprehensive income, where other comprehensive income shall be classified separately into foreign currency items, minimum pension liability adjustments, and unrealized gains and losses on certain investments in debt and equity securities. Additional classifications or additional items within current classifications may result from future accounting standards. ((SFAS) No. 130,Para 17,1997). Under IFRS comprehensive income definition has not been changed, but IFRS has modified the rules of income presentation; due to the former rules regarding the classification of other comprehensive income, where these rules has been criticized as some of other comprehensive income items have been recorded in the equity section, while others in the profit and loss statement and others were not recognized at all. A second major reason was the importance recognizing the realized and unrealized gains and losses that might continue into the future as the excepted cash flows in the futures as they are the main drive for share price. IFRS approach of income presentation a mixture of previous income reporting and fair value concept and is being applied on unrealized gains and losses meeting certain criteria. Regards the presentation of the comprehensive income statement under IAS 1, profit or loss are recognized plus other comprehensive income items, where the income statement has changed from net profit and loss to profit and loss. Entities are allowed to use the most suitable name to describe the totals as long as it give the right meaning, though IAS uses different terms, like total comprehensive income, or profit or loss. Regarding the presentation of comprehensive income, entities are allowed to choose between the presentation of a single statement, or tow statements where an income statement is including all items of profit and loss, and the second statement shows other comprehensive income items (IAS 1.81). Under IAS 1, all income and expenses should be recognized in the profit and loss, unless there is an exception (AS 1.88), under (IAS 1.89) some of items need to be recognized under other comprehensive income. IAS has as well identified the items of other comprehensive income, as the following: Changes in revaluation surplus (IAS 16 property, plant and equipment and IAS 38 intangible assets ) Actuarial gains and losses on defined benefit plans recognized in accordance with (IAS 19 employees benefit ) Gains and losses arising from translating the financial statements of a foreign operation (IAS 21 The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates) Gains and losses on re-measuring available-for-sale financial assets (IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement) The effective portion of gains and losses on hedging instruments in a cash flow hedge (IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement). Under (IAS 1.82), the minimum items should be included in the comprehensive income are: Revenues Finance costs Share of the profit or loss of associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method Tax expense Amounts from the discontinued operation include : the post-tax profit or loss and the post-tax gain or loss recognized on the disposal of the assets or disposal group(s) Profit or loss Each component of other comprehensive income classified by nature Share of the other comprehensive income of associates and joint ventures accounted for using the equity method Total comprehensive income Under (IAS 1.83) these items must also be disclosed in the statement of comprehensive income as allocations for the period: Profit or loss for the period attributable to non-controlling interests and owners of the parent Total comprehensive income attributable to non-controlling interests and owners of the parent Under (IAS 1.85) additional line items may be needed to fairly present the entitys results of operations. Under (IAS 1.87) No items may be presented in the statement of comprehensive income (or in the income statement, if separately presented) or in the notes as extraordinary items. Under (IAS 1.95) certain items must be disclosed separately either in the statement of comprehensive income or in the notes, if material, including: Write-downs of inventories to net realizable value or of property, plant and equipment to recoverable amount, as well as reversals of such write-downs Restructurings of the activities of an entity and reversals of any provisions for the costs of restructuring Disposals of items of property, plant and equipment Disposals of investments Discontinuing operations Litigation settlements Other reversals of provisions Under (IAS 1.99) expenses should be recognized either by nature or by function if an entity categorizes by function, and then additional information on the nature of expenses must be disclosed (IAS 1.104). Pros and cons of Comprehensive income : According to prior studies, Investors has the ability to process financial information regardless its location, giving this, the location of the comprehensive income will not affect the quality of information interrupted by investors. On the contrary, policy makers believe it matters, as they think the performance statement presentation is more transparent presentation as comprehensive income serves as better measurement for firm performance, where it includes all changes in net assets. The immediate recognition and direct reporting of comprehensive income items would transparently present all income flows in one statement in a timely manner, though it can be costly to some companies in certain industries (e.g. insurance industry) as they might try to hide their earning management. Another argued advantage, is comprehensive income shows value creation process and forces managers to consider external factors that affect firm value, not just internal operating ones. On the other hand, as comprehensive income contains a number of passing items possible as future events, this might cause noise and uncertainty and affect decision making process because users may take significant time to sort out temporary or irrelevant components. Following this point, proposing that comprehensive income includes irrelevant components can reduce the ability to uncover long-run performance. Chapter 2: Financial analysis overview 2.1. Definition of financial analysis and methods Though IFRS was discussed to be the one is giving more comprehensive information, it dose not include all the financial information needed to reach an excellent financial analysis. Financial statements are the source of information that present the economic value of a company to the external users. Several articles and books has defined the Financial analysis as to combine financial statement, financial notes, with other information, to evaluated the past, current, and future performance and financial position of company for the purpose of making investment, credit, and other economics decision. Financial Analysis is concerned with risk factors that might affect the future performance of a certain company. Financial analysis is concerned with different aspects of the company, in general financial analysis deals with profitability (ability to generate profit from delivering good and services), cash- flow generating ability (ability to generate cash inflows exceed cash outflows), liquidity (the ability to meet short term obligation), and solvency (the ability to meet long term obligation). In order to conduct a full, comprehensive analysis, analyst must collect information concerning economy, industry, competitors, company itself. This external information can be found as economics statistics, industry reports, and trade publication. The company provides the internal part of the information which includes the financial statements, and press releases. Financial analysis is not only about financial data which is the core of the financial analysis and provided in the four major financial statements, that provide the historical and current information; is it about the non-financial data which provide the future information. Regarding the financial data, can be founded in the four major statements: income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flow, statement of changes in owners equity. The income statement shows how much revenue the company generating during certain period and what its cost incurred. Income statement can be referred as profit and loss and its prepared on consolidated basis. Revenues, operating income, net income, and earning per share can be driven from the income statement. The balance sheet or as recently knows as the statement of financial position, shows the current financial position of the company by showing company resource (Assets), and what it owes (liability) at a specific point in time.While the (owners equity) shows the excess of assets over the liabilities, analysts could use the information stated in the statement of financial position to answer question regarding improvements concerning liquidity, and solvency, and give the statues of the company compared to its peers in the same industry. The cash flow statement classifies the cash flows into of three sections: operating activities which include items determines net income as well as day to day transactions. While investing activities includes the acquisition and disposals of long term assets. The last section is financing activities which contain activities related to obtaining or repaying capital. Cash flow statement provides information related to performance and financial position. While income statement provides the necessary information regarding the company ability to generate profit, cash flow statement provides information regarding the ability of the company to generate cash flow from running the business itself. Statement of changes in owners equity knows as statement of shareholders equity, reports the changes in the owners investments in the business, and it helps analysts in understanding the changes in the financial position. Beside the four major statements, financial notes and supplementary schedules, managements discussion and analysis, and auditors reports, provide a quite good set of extra information for further analysis. Financial analysis should be well defined as it could be preformed for different reasons and purposes. Different categories require different financial techniques, but for any purpose data must be gathered and analyzed, and all examining the company ability of generating cash and grow earnings. But as for different focuses, different techniques are used. For example, the most tow common categories are the equity analysis and the credit analysis. Equity analysis is usually preformed by the owner, and focuses on growth while the credit analysis is preformed by the creditors (banker or bond holder) and concentrates on risks associated. Defining the purpose of the financial analysis is the most important and first step in effective financial analysis as it defines the necessary financial techniques that should be used, and thus defines the type and amount of data to be collected. After defining the purpose of the financial analysis, a suitable technique should be chosen to deliver the purpose of the focus. To reach the best results, a mixture of calculations and interruptions is required. For example, it is not enough just to calculate the financial ratios, further investigation explaining the reasons behind each ratio, what each ratio means, comparing the ratios with other competitors, might give a comprehensive picture. A comparison is a must in a good evaluation, compare the company with other competitors in the industry is (common size analysis), while evaluate the company through time called (trend analysis), and (ratio analysis) is to express certain number to another in which answers some important question about the true financial position. Common size analysis is to compare a total financial statement usually income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement in relation to base like revenues or total assets. Common size analysis for the balance sheet includes: horizontal and vertical common size analysis, where horizontal common size analysis is to compare the increase or decrease in balance sheet items to previous years. Vertical common size analysis involves dividing each item in the same period total assets to come with a percentage, in the case of analyzing the income statement, items usually are divided by revenues. Trend analysis involves comparison of the financial statement of an entity over time, trend analysis usually provide information about the historical performance and growth. Cross sectional analysis compare a specific measurement of a company with the same measurement for another company. The use of graphs and analytical tools could facilities the comparison and highlight the most important facts that the analyst wants to communicate with the management. Statistics like regression analysis are used in more complicated situation where more precise information needed. Ratio analysis is one of the most famous techniques in the financial analysis where it provides information about the relationships and expectations between the financial accounts. Certain issues should be in mind while conducting ratio analysis; as mentioned before computing the ratio itself is not enough for providing a comprehensive picture about the financial performance, it only indicating what certain issues are but not explaining why they are happening, therefore further investigation going beyond the numbers is required, in compliance with full compression overtime, competitors, and industry. Second issue would be to choose the relevant ratios as ratios used for different purpose and providing certain financial information; for example ROA is an indicator of profitability, where current ratio provides information regards liquidity. Different accounting policies can misrepresent ratios; therefore adjustments across different financial statements for different companies are req uired for a meaningful analysis. There are about five main types of financial ratios; profitability, activity, liquidity, solvency, valuation ratios. Profitability ratio is measure the companys ability to generate profit from its resources, the most famous ratios in this category are: return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). While activity ratios measure how efficient the company in managing the day to day activities, inventory turnover is one example of the ratios used under this category. Third type is liquidity ratios where it deals with the company ability in meeting short term obligations, can be expressed in current ratio, while solvency ratios deals with long term obligation, debt to asset is one example of solvency ratios. Valuations ratios are used to asses the company equity, P/E ratio is used for this purpose. Ratios could be driven from the financial statements of the company or from specialized websites as Bloomberg, as these kinds of websites provide easy access to the historical data. Ratio analysis drove its importance from the information that might provide, as it gives an insight to the historical, current and future performance of the company. Though ratio analysis has its own limitation when it deals with a company operates in different industries, as the comparison become more difficult then. Another limitation would be the use of different accounting methods as comparison would be difficult unless adjustments are made, for example one company might consider account for its inventories under the FIFO method while the other account for it under the LIFO method. Using IFRS might overcome these differences if applied. 2.2. The affect of IFRS as new accounting standard on financial Ratios Financial statements are determined by business strategy, industry, and economics and affected by those as well. The difficulty of understanding the financial statements depending in the accounting procedures and polices chosen by top management. Changes in time frames, company structure, accounting methods and estimates in the company can affect the true economic value of an entity and might affect the financial analysis and thus reflect a distorted image of the company. One of the most trends that might affect the financial analysis is changing of the accounting standers, as different accounting standers might use different methods. IFRS as a new set of international accounting standers has some effects, as the adoption process is costly, complex, Although IFRS believed to improve transparency and comparability of financial statements. Besides these effects IFRS has effect on the financial statements. To understand the effects of IFRS, one should understand the major differences between IFRS standers and local GAAP standers. Several studies will be mentioned in this section, which will clarify the effect of IFRS adoption in Europe. According to Impact of International Financial Reporting Standard Adoption on key financial ratio, which has studied the effect of IFRS adaption on Europe continent represented by Finland; major differences in IFRS and Domestic accounting standers were found in the following areas: for employee benefits obligations (IAS 19), it is required to be measure at present value, where in countries like (Belgium, Denmark, Finland) such rules are do not exist, and in countries like (e.g. Austria and Germany) calculations follow tax regulations. Concerning deferred tax (IAS 12), a deferred tax liability should be recognized for all taxable temporary differences, where in countries like (Greece, Luxembourg) rules concerning the treatment of deferred tax are missing, and in countries like (France, Germany) the deferred tax is be calculated on the basis of timing differences rather than temporary differences. In addition, deferred tax assets are not required to be recognized (Austria, Belgium) , while IAS 12 requires a deferred tax asset to be recognized for all deductible temporary differences to the extent that is probable that the deductible temporary difference can be utilized . For intangible assets (IAS 38), state that an asset can be recognized when it will probably generate future benefits and when the cost of the asset can be reliably measured. For this reason, research expenditures cannot be capitalized. However, in many countries like (Germany, Italy, and Spain) research costs are allowed to be capitalized. Moreover, countries like (Finland) emphasize capitalization of development expenditures. Construction contracts (IAS 11), requires the costs and revenues of construction contracts to be recognized on a stage of completion basis, compared to countered like (Finland, Greece), recognition by the stage of completion is optional. Inventories (IAS 2), requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value, (Austria, Portugal and Spain) allows inventories to be measured at the replacement cost instead of net realizable value. Moreover, according to (Germany, Luxembourg), inventories can be valued without the production overheads, IAS 2 requires inventory to be valued at full cost. The major difference is that IFRS requires that assets impairments (IAS 36), most financial instruments (IAS 39), biological assets (IAS41), tangible and intangible fixed assets that have been acquired in a business combination (IFRS 3), pension assets (IAS 19) and share-based payment liabilities (IFRS 2) and investment property and property, plant and equipment (IAS 16) after initial recognition to be measured at fair value. On the contrary accounting practices in continental European countries have been based on historical costs but required downward valuations for permanent impairments of long-term assets. Beside fair value, depreciation of assets in accordance with continental European countries differs from that required by IFRS. As IFRS has put large weight on the presenting balance sheets at fair value, therefore it requires assets with definite useful life to be depreciated or amortized periodically and assets with indefinite useful life to be assed for impairment. However, the continental European countries also require assets with indefinite useful life to be amortized. Therefore, while IFRS requires goodwill to be assessed annually for impairment, continental European countries requires goodwill to be amortized systematically (Finland, France) or allows goodwill to be deducted immediately against equity (Germany, Greece). The study has also indicates the impact of these changes on the accounting figures. The study has indicating that the adoption of fair value accounting will probably increase the balance sheet items, and as the impairment accounting rules of continental European countries differ from those of IFRS these differences could lead to different accounting figures. As a consequence, the impact of fair value accounting adoption on accounting figures is also an empirical question since it is impossible to predict the exact impact of the adoption on accounting figures. Other studies where more specific and handled one country by itself. One of the studies titles Adoption of IFRS in Spain: Effect on the comparability and relevance of financial reporting has indicated the effect of IFRS implementation on the balance sheet, as one of the study results has indicated that on the liability side, important differences were found due to the change of debt valuation rules and a new direction for consolidation. While the major difference in the equity side was due to direct adjustments and to the indirect effect of the adjustments. Fixed assets and inventories were the only items that did not change significantly as fixed assets were valued under traditional valuation method (acquisition cost). The reason behind insignificant differences in the inventory was that Spanish usually didnt apply LIFO method which is not permitted under IFRS. IFRS adoption in Europe: the case of Germany, has stated that IFRS adoption has resulted in higher retained earning in the first year of IFRS adaption because of the conservative approach of the German GAAP (HGB). The study has also indicated that IFRS effects vary with the industry:à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry effects on non-current assets and liabilities were relatively more important, whereas in the fashion industry the effects were mostly on working capital While IFRS Adoption and Financial Statement Effects: The UK Case, has indicated that the IFRS implantation has a positive affect on the financial performance and post. IFRS implementation for the company as profitability and growth attend to be higher under IFRS. It also indicated that IFRS as high quality standers has reduced risk and improved the credibility and the borrowing bargain power of firms. It also stated that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦IFRS adoption is likely to introduce volatility in income statement and balance sheet figures. Despite the higher volatility, adopters interest cover ratio has not been adversely affected, implying that IFRS adoption would not lead to debt covenant violation or financial distress à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Chapter 3: The Impact of Comprehensive income on the financial ratios As mentioned earlier the impact of IFRS on accounting figures differs with the country that IFRS is applied in, as different countries have different accounting standers, different impacts resulted. In this section a comparison between US GAAP and IFRS will be mentioned as Deutsche bank (the particle example) mentioned later was using US GAAP. First differences of reporting comprehensive income under IFRS and different accounting standers will be mentioned followed by differences of reporting comprehensive income under IFRS and US GAAP. In the study titled Comprehensive income in Europe: valuation, prediction and conservative issues, has argued that the concept of comprehensive income does not recognize different income concepts in different industry or different firms. And financial analyst has taken into consideration these limitations and used total and unrealized asset valuations and foreign exchange to fill in the gabs. In the study titled analyzing brokers expertise: did analysts fully anticipate the impact of IFRS adoption on earnings? The European evidence Has reached to a conclusion that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦analysts were not able to correctly anticipate the effect of IFRS adoption on earnings, forecast errors being significantly associated with differences in earnings changes resulting from the compliance with the new financial reporting standardsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. While in Adoption of IFRS in Spain: Effect on the comparability and relevance of financial reporting the study has studied IFRS effects on the income statement. Major differences were found due to major differences between Spanish GAAP (SAS) or IFRS in classifying revenues and expenses for example the classification of RD expenses. Another difference is the treatment of extraordinary income, as certain extraordinary items under (SAS) were classified as operating income under IFRS reclassify under (SAS) as operating income under IFRS. The study has indicated those Cash, solvency and indebtedness ratios, as well as the return on assets and returns on equity, has varied significantly as a result of the changes in the balance sheet and income statement. In Effects Of Comprehensive Income On ROE In A Context Of Crisis: Empirical Evidence For IBEX-35 Listed Companies (2004-2008), when calculating ROE under comprehensive income compared to ROE calculated under net income, statistically significant differences were founded, which means that ROE calculated under comprehensive income, shows the market impact much more clearly and thus provide better information for users and particularly for investors. The study has also indicated that comprehensive income is an alternative measurements of corporate performance and is much more in tune with the market reality than the traditional net income. According to IAS plus report which was issued by Deloitte in 2004, the major differences between IFRS and US GAAP are listed here: As in IAS 1(reporting comprehensive income) IFRS requires the statement of changes in equity. The total of comprehensive income is permitted but not required. And define Comprehensive income as the net income plus gains and losses that are recognized directly in equity rather than in net income. While in the US GAAP requires the presentation of the total comprehensive income. Gains and losses can be presented in the income statement, statement of comprehensive income, or statement of changes in equity. Under IFRS Extraordinary items is prohibited while in US GAAP Extraordinary items are permitted but restricted to infrequent, unusual, and rare items that affect profit and loss. This act by IFRS increase transparency and limit manipulation. And that would lead to an increase in the reported income and therefore might have a significant effect of the financ ial ratios dealing with profitability. Dealing with inventory IAS2, LIFO method under IFRS is prohibited while under US GAAP is permitted. When using LIFO revaluation for inventory needed, this could result in major tax liabilities. For property, plant, and equipment (IAS 16), under IFRS revalued amount or historical cost might be used where revalued amount is fair value at date of revaluation less subsequent accumulated depreciation and impairment losses where under US GAAP it is generally required to use historical cost. Which lead to increase in book values under IFRS. Chapter 4: Practical example (the case of the Deutsche bank) In Deutsche bank transition report, (Transition Report,2006 IFRS Comparatives), The Deutsche bank net income under IFRS was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 6,070 million for the year ended December 31, 2006, an increase of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 84 million compared with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 5,986 million under U.S. GAAP. While shareholders equity under IFRS was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 32,666 million, a decrease of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 142 million as at December 31, 2006 compared to U.S. GAAP, according to the transition report. Conducting small ratio analysis limited only to the three major profitably ratios, a res

Aims Of Ethics In The It Industry Information Technology Essay

Aims Of Ethics In The It Industry Information Technology Essay Introduction According to the Larousse dictionary, Ethics are rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or members of a profession (medical ethics, IT ethics, and health ethics etc). The conduct of a person implies integrity; integrity plays an essential role in the ethical behaviour. A person with ethics act with personal code of principles, apply moral standards and respect and consideration in every situation. Information technology is the processing of data via computer, it is the use of hardware and software technology to process and distribute information in digital and other forms. Ethics in information technology refers to the code of conduct or guidelines for people working in the IT industry or using IT infrastructure. In this essay we will try to found out why is that ethics is so important to today industry, whats the role that it plays to help every business running smoothly. We will also identify what will be the impact of a non existence code of conduct in IT on the society. AIMS OF ETHICS IN THE IT INDUSTRY When talking about ethics, the more important thing to think about is personal values. Value is largely part of ethics. And you can talk about ethics without mentioning personal values and moral. The purpose of ethics in information security is not just philosophically important; it could mean the survival of a business, or an industry.   Information technology, computers and networks do not raise new ethical issues, ethical issues has always been the major part of a working environment. However the Internet does contribute a fascinating sense of anonymity; the notion that no one can see or find out what we are doing.   The main role of ethics in the IT industry is providing a firm ground basis for the use of IT whenever needed  [1]  . The IT industry is divided in different organisation body, and each body apply various codes of conducts regarding their target, the area of working and their consumers. The ethics varies depending on the academic board. There is a global code of ethics for the whole information technology but each professional board will have their own preamble code of ethics. PROFESSIONAL IT WORKER AND ETHICS An IT professional is describe as someone with a specific or specialized knowledge, and also with a long and intensive academic career. Various role applied for someone to be call an IT professional, could a, Programmers, Systems analysts, Software engineers, Database administrators, Network administrators etc There are various are where ethics come in plays when working in Information Technology; professionalism, personal integrity, privacy, law and policies, communication, system integrity, education, social responsibility. IT professionals have many different relationships that must be managed with: Employers, Clients, Suppliers, Other professionals, IT users, Society at large  [2]  . Relationships between IT Professionals and Employers IT professionals must set an example and enforce policies regarding the ethical use of IT. Software piracy is the act of illegally making copies of software or enabling others to access software to which they are not entitled. Software piracy is an area in which IT professionals can be tempted to violate laws and policies. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group that represents the worlds largest software and hardware manufacturers. Its mission is to stop the unauthorized copying of software produced by its members  [3]  . Many of the ethical issues that face IT professionals involve privacy. For example: Working as a network administrator or a network security doesnt allow you to access data on a network whenever you want to. Because of the personal ethical believe, use of data should be only and strictly for professional purpose if not there is a breach of code. Is it fair for an IT worker to access a private employee folder or email because it got the user password? Many other issues involving privacy could be raised here, it important that as an IT professional you behave with ethical conduct that regulate the work of IT. Other issues that we need to look at in the relationship between IT professional and employer is the Trade secret; Information used in business must be only within the business if not there is a breach of code of ethics In looking to those privacy issues above, it is so easy to see how one those actions above could be used in critical way to jeopardize the working environment. Many of the information gain by an IT professional could be use as a form of pressure to have a political advantage or to be used to get someone fired.  [4]   Relationships between IT Professionals and Clients IT professional provide various type of work at the hardware and software services at some cost within a given time period. According to Deb shinder network security expert, Ethical problems arise if a company recommends its own products and services to remedy problems they have detected. It is then important that a strong code of ethics need to be set up to avoid this kind situation to happen for the sake of every party.  [5]   Relationships between IT Professionals and Suppliers There need for a good relationship between supplier is very important for the long term survival of the business. It is also important to have a fair deal with suppliers each when required. Bribery should be always avoided in respect of the code of ethics.  [6]   Relationships between IT Professionals and Other Professionals Working environment is a very delicate place to be, mutual respect between each professional is vital for day to day running of the business. Professional should adopt a professional code of conduct. Some ethical issues between members of the IT profession could arise but it important that strictly respect of the code apply.  [7]   Relationships between IT Professionals and IT Users IT users are people that use any IT infrastructure everyday for different purpose. Basically is a person for whom a hardware or software product is designed. Its important to understand the user needs and capabilities to establish an ethical environment that supports ethical behaviour by users  [8]  . Relationships between IT Professionals and Society The fact that IT professional are the main people behind the technology we use, make play an important role on us and the society in general. They play a major role in the IT user life. Maintaining and respecting the code of ethics establishes is essential and vital for the society. There action can affect the society in various ways, its then important they adhere to the code of ethics and rules that are in place to maintain a coherent and free of bias society. ETHICS AND IT END USERS Ethical use of IT is a really growing concern nowadays, with the rapid growing of internet and it social network application, download, online streaming and all others available application for the internet make this area a very concern for local government and watchdog. End users are main people affected by this issue, because it so hard to have a written code of conduct of conduct that user should follow. Code of ethics here required moral and personal integrity of each user. With the rapid growth of pornography, hacking, social network attack, viruses and other related threats, it is important that each user apply some common sense moral for the simple fact that this an area that is really difficult to monitor. The main objective of the code of ethics is  to establish professional business standards that will protect and enhance the concept, the image, the credibility and the sustainability of the business. CONCLUSION The code of ethics provide guidance by establishing a set of rules and standards for the use of IT and for the behaviour to adopt when working in the IT environment or when using IT infrastructure. There are different from the law but there are made in accordance with the law. So many issues regarding the ethics in IT couldnt be raise here, the ethics in IT is a very large to develop, many IT authors have wrote books and journals to raise this issues. In our essay we have try to give an idea how ethics come in play in the working environment and for IT user.

Transportation 1788-1868 :: Free Essays Online

Transportation 1788-1868 The process of transporting convicted criminals to Australia came about as a result of Britain's defeat in the American War of Independence. With the loss of this colony, Britain also lost its primary depository for its surplus criminal population; and, for a time, these excess numbers were housed in floating jails - 'hulks' - moored on the Thames. This proved an unpopular policy and so, in 1787, a British fleet set sail to build a penal colony at Botany Bay in New South Wales - seventeen years after James Cook had landed there. Robert Hughes, in his study The Fatal Shore, describes this undertaking as 'a new colonial experiment, never tried before, not repeated since. An unexplored continent would become a jail.' The choice of New South Wales was an unusual one, for Cook had described it as barren, and A.G.L. Shaw notes in Convicts and the Colonies that 'it seemed wholly useless for trade'. It would appear that all the British government required was a place to dispose of its criminal classes and subsequently forget about them, ignoring commercial considerations. The inhospitable nature of the place seemed ideal for ne'er-do-wells, and its distant location meant that few were likely to return. Many crimes, from petty theft to murder, were deemed worthy of transportation, and there seems to have been little distinction made between types of criminal, which concerned social reformers of the time. Household Words expressed concern that 'hardened ruffians of the deepest dye were chained hand to hand, during a six month voyage, with simple country poachers, pickpockets of tender age, and sailor smugglers.' All prisoners were treated alike, and conditions were harsh; appalling living conditions, disease, hunger, floggings and general neglect were prevalent and many convicts died en route or upon arrival. However there was hope on the horizon for some prisoners; those who behaved well were hired out to emigrant farmers to become, like Dickens' Magwitch, 'sheep farmer(s), stock breeder(s) and other trades besides.' Thus convicts could make some sort of return to respectability. Not only that: those who had completed their terms were granted small plots of land, with the aim of boosting the local economy and ensuring that these undesirable - regardless of whether their crimes were 'worked out and paid for' - did not return to British shores. The response from the metropolitan centre to these emancipist settlers who flourished was one of outrage; they feared that transportation would be perceived as a great blessing by the criminal classes, rather than as a deterrent.

Gay and Lesbian Issues - Gender Identity in Gumbys Adventures :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Gay and Lesbian Issues - Gender Identity in Gumby's Adventures When Jerry Falwell's conservative paper "outted" Tinky-Winky (the purple Teletubby) as being gay, fans of the Teletubbies television series usually fell into two camps: those who supported Tinky-Winky as a positive gay character and those who maintain Tinky-Winky has no developed sexual identity. A few unfamiliar with the BBC/PBS show asked the question, "how can you even tell if Tinky-Winky's male?" Brushed off by most fans as a naive inquiry, this concern does merit discussion. How do we, as television viewers, determine gender identities for non-human characters? How is this complicated for children's characters? Sometimes obvious cues are given to viewers. For instance, Mickey and Minnie Mouse are undeniably male and female. Due to current moral standards (at the time of Mickey's and Minnie's creation, but also now), genitalia is not graphically displayed in children's programming. Of course, genitalia is only an indicator of physical identity, which may be different from the gender identity an individual accepts. Instead of physical clues, we look for other signs of masculinity and feminity. Mickey is usually a man's name, although that is not always the case. Minnie is almost always a female's name. Minnie wears a dress, thus presenting herself as female. Minnie's high-pitched voice (higher than Mickey's) also forces viewers to accept her as female. The actions of Minnie are keeping with those of traditional females. It is not "Steamboat Minnie." Minnie does not break any stereotypes. Mickey controls most of the action, receives most of the press, and is the most famous of all Disney chara cters. It is Mickey's show; Minnie's just along for the occasional cameo. But what happens when clothes are no longer an issue? None of the Teletubbies regularly wear clothes; neither do the characters of Gumby's Adventures. Yet ask any child familiar with the characters and they'll like answer that Gumby and Pokey are boys. How can they tell? How do they determine those assignments? Defining Goo Goo, from Gumby's Adventures, is Gumby's closest female friend (non-family member). Her blue body is shaped like a cross between a seal and a raindrop. Long blond hair (made of yarn) signals to most people that Goo is female; her high-pitched voice and long eyelashes usually cement the decision. While a few physical indicators exist, it is the way Goo is treated by the boys around her that truly identity her as girl and thus Other.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) lived in Florence, Italy. Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, politician, writer and perhaps one among the chief founders of political science. Since Machiavelli was a renaissance man, he acted in the capacity of a diplomat, a political philosopher, a musician, a playwright, a poet and a Florentine Republic civil servant. This paper therefore takes to ascertain the extent to which Machiavelli would consider the political ideologies of Thomas Paine, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler and Franklin D. Roosevelt as feasible or meaningful. Thomas Paine Machiavelli would find the ideas of Paine’s political postulations in Common Sense agreeable to a larger extent. This is more so because; Paine (2006) perceives the government as a punisher, and this role being a derivative of the inherent wicked nature of man. To this effect, the government would act as the restrainer of human vices. The agreeableness with Machiavelli’s ideals is that this ideology marries well with Machiavelli’s postulations about the leader being able to move fast to quash political foes so as to consolidate power (Machiavelli, 1868). It is obvious that the means of extirpating the influence of a political enemy would be state’s instruments of coercion (Paine, 2000). Karl Marx In the same vein, Machiavelli would find the Marxist ideologies propounded by Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto agreeable since: through Karl Marx’s teachings on the Class Consciousness and Antagonism, Marx explains on how the political elite, the bourgeoisie, exploits by using the state instruments and state forces, the working class (the proletariat) with the two dominant aims of: consolidating political power and ensuring profit maximization from the proletariats (Marx and Engels, 1955). This well agrees with Machiavelli’s political ideology of â€Å"The ends justifying the means†- a maxim Karl Marx crafts to buttress his argument that a ruler must use all means possible to seize and consolidate power, the killing of foes and friends alike, being inclusive of these means. Adolph Hitler Similarly, some ideas propounded by Hitler in his writings, Mein Kampf would be acceptable before Karl Marx. Hitler (1986) is reported as having posited that since the masses are always trivial and less smart, a leader should be one who is calculating, not having qualms to employ propaganda on the masses to achieve a political feat. This still underscores Machiavelli’s idea of the ends justifying the means. Similarly, Machiavelli espouses deeply the use of trickery (propaganda) to maintain power. Hitler’s plans to create more room (Lebensraum) for Germans by entering treaties with UK and Russia as an artifice to help in the recapturing of the Germany’s lost tracts of land confirms Machiavelli’s ideas that a leader must be calculating and very cunning. The cunningness behind this proposed Russia, Germany and UK treaty is that the provision would ward off Germany from the exhaustion of fighting concurrently both in the East and West (Manheim and Hitler, 1969). Franklin D. Roosevelt To a larger extent, Roosevelt’s postulations that are revealed in his inaugural speech that saw his transition from a New York governor to the 32nd US president would be considered as antithetical towards Machiavelli’s. The concept of political morality and stark allusions to values pervade all the spectra of Roosevelt’s speech. Roosevelt is spurred on by morality while Machiavelli on the other hand, political expedience. The only point Machiavelli would accept Roosevelt’s propositions is the fact that Roosevelt saw the need of broad executive powers being vested on the head of the executive in order to allow the occupant of this office deal with an invading foreign foe (Polenberg, 2000). Machiavelli talks of all the instruments at the disposal of the ruler being used to quash ruthlessly an enemy. Conclusion Nevertheless, it is important to consider that although comparing one’s political philosophy to another for scholarly proposes may remain as expedient, yet, any political philosophy has the merit to exist in its own right, provided the philosophy in picture captures the true identity of the state. It is by this virtue that al these philosophies which were advanced by Thomas Paine, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler and Franklin D. Roosevelt were considered as legitimate in the eyes of respective citizens.

Gps vs. Gis

GPS vs. GIS Global situation form (GPS) is a system that accurately determines the microscopic couch of approximatelything on Earth. GPS is a constellation of twenty dollar bill four satellites, each of which orbits Earth erstwhile every twelve hours. The U. S. Department of vindication operates and maintains these Global Positioning System satellites. to each matchless satellite contains a high clearcutness atomic clock and several transmitters that endlessly send radio signals back to Earth. These signals communicate the satellites unique designation code, health, and position in space.Global Positioning Systems and base stations units in the palm receive these satellites and use them to calculate positions. every(prenominal) Global Positioning Systems receivers collect the locations of veritable world features (represented as points, lines or areas), and some put up store descriptive data, or attributes, about these features. (1) Global positioning systems defend been fully operational since April 27, 1995. GPS have produce widely used worldwide, and a profitable tool for map making, land surviving, commerce, scientific uses, tracking and surveillance, and hobbies such as geocaching.Also, the precise time reference is used in m both applications including the scientific study of earthquakes and as a required time synchronizing method for cellular net meet protocols . (2) Geographers let GPS to be particularly useful in coding the precise location of objects. That reading can later be enters as a layer in geographic information systems. (2) Geographic randomness System (GIS) is a computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze, and display geographic date. 3) Geographic knowledge Systems allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. A Geographic Information Systems helps you answer questions a nd solve problems by facial expression at your data in a way that is quickly understood and advantageously shared. Geographic Information System applied science can be integrated into any enterprise information system framework. GIS is almost often associated with a map.A map, however, is exclusively one way you can work with geographic data in a Geographic information System, and only one type of product generated by a GIS. A GIS can provide a great deal more problem-solving capabilities than exploitation a simple mapping architectural plan or adding data to an online mapping tool. When GIS computer software was first created, it required powerful computers and vast training. Now, anyone can develop a scope map. (3) (1) www. gps. gov (2) http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/GPS (3) Rubenstein chapter 1