Saturday, August 31, 2019

Technology and Crime

Criminal Law Research Paper Whenever a new technology is found, like a double-edged sword, it often brings both more convenient life and possibility of danger in which potential exploitation of gap that might occur in its initial developing stage. For the past 20 years, computer related technologies and industry have been continuously advancing at radical speeds that greatly changed our way of life. The introduction of internet and digitalization of data has saved us enormous time and work required otherwise would have been wasted. On the other hand, however, it aided whole new types of property offences that are distinct from traditional ones to arise which posses’ difficulties in dealing with them by traditional way of approaching property offences. The main difficulties are, first, ‘Offences that were traditionally committed as interpersonal offences can now be committed at extreme distances and without the personal involvement of any victim. Second, the object of such offences may not amount to larcenable property or, indeed, property at all. [1] Examples of these crimes include, electronic funds transfer crime, electronic money laundering, [2]counterfeiting, and software piracy. [3] Contrary to traditional property offences, computers coupled with telecommunications technology enables offenders not to leave any traces of usual biological evidence in interpersonal offences such as finger prints or hair that could lead to the offender through forensic tests. Even if the police traced back the co mputer that the fund transfer crime was originated, the actual offender would be uncertain if it’s located in internet cafe which is used by numerous customers. This anonymity is considered the major attraction for offenders with advanced computer skills to commit such crimes. This paper will discuss the effectiveness of the current law in protecting the people from the new treats and possible policies or methods that could be implemented by authorities to combat this matter. ::The Current Doctrine and issues:: It is obvious to find that property rights have been the most important feature in our society since the beginning of the civilisation as the oldest written law, the Code of Hammurabi[4] which dates back to 1750 BC, contains codes that protected individual property. Protection of ownership encourages people to work at their full potential in return for increase in their wealth and power that gives satisfaction and security. If such protection was absent, stealing and damaging personal possessions to satisfy the needs and wants would have been occasional and we might not have been able to achieve the standard of living and the social security we enjoy now. Under the current common law system, properties are protected by both case law and statutes. Obviously regarding the history of development, there are countless case laws relating to property matter. Statutes are also implemented in order to provide protection of the rights for aiding the courts if the kind of the offence is the new one and there are no relevant authorities available for judges to rely on. Those protections have been building onto one and another from strong foundations and nowadays physical property protection by the law seems quite drastic. However the dawn of the digital age introduced a whole new range of offences that cannot be categorised by traditional methods. ::Absence of Specific victim or damage:: What would be the damage to the bank if their internet banking facility has been used for electronic money laundering? There is no person harmed or any physical property damage done to the bank. When a personal computer which happens to belong to a CEO is hacked and confidential information about a report that is not intended for releasing to the public that predicts a shape rise in share prices caused by exceptional performance is retrieved by the hacker and he/she and his/her friends make millions of dollars based on that information, is it possible to measure the damage? Or does it even exist? As exampled, some new types of illegal acts do not create specific victim or damage or the both. In order to regulate these treats, the definition of property has been extended to ones that take forms of electronic data and even to intellectual ones. By recognising such properties it is now possible to identify the damage incurred and the victim which enables us to enforce the traditional doctrine of property offences approach. To reward the victims for the damages they suffered under the civil law and to prosecute the offender and enforce penalties under the criminal law. :Types of new offences:: Hacking and intrusion into a computer system is the most common form of computer based crime, hackers usually commit this offence in order to gain confidential information or to inspect the level of security measures in place for preparation of other offence[5]. Rarely, some hackers attempt to break into a system that’s guarded by strong security system and dam age the system itself just to demonstrate the ability of him or her self. This kind of act is also known as electronic vandalism[6]. The next most common offence is the intellectual property offences such as breaching copy rights by making illegal duplicate of intellectual property, for example, books, movies, music and games. This type of offence is becoming more and more ordinary as the fast broadband internet access’s being available to most of the households enabling such illegally copied materials to be circulated and distributed at fast rate even crossing borders without any obstruction. Electronic funds transfer crime and electronic money laundering are also major crimes that are becoming increasingly difficult to regulate with traditional counter measures. :Traditional Countermeasures:: Most common methods often chosen by the government is to take legislative and administrative action to deal with the problem before it gets out of hand. Russell emphasises in his journal ‘This method to criminalise has, however, a number of dangers. First, is the difficulty, noted by Dunning (1982, pp. 293-4), of over-codifying behaviour: one does not want to enact a new provision every time a new permutation of criminal behaviour arises. Ideally, the elasticity of a common law system will supply the omissions of the legislature but there are limits to which our judiciary will, and indeed can, go. ’[7], that there are limits in legislative and administrative approach that the society can take as legitimate. There is also the fundamental problem of difficulty when trying to battle the new offences with the traditional approach in quantifying the offences[8] since the nature and characteristics of the offences often leave no trace at all and also authorities might not disclose the information because of embarrassment or commercial inconvenience. Deceptive quantifying which makes the policy makers to take distorted view of the seriousness of the issue is also the problem. For example, ‘a pursuit of a US$0. 75 accounting error in a computer account led to the unravelling of an international espionage ring. ’[9] Event like this confuses the decision makers in deciding the level or degree of regulation should be imposed. Originality of the crime also creates great challenge to the authorities, globalization of networks and widespread of the internet permits offenders to stay in their own country and commit crime in the systems of foreign country. This poses exorbitant difficulties in determining the place of the occurrence of the crime in order to decide which prosecution authority should be handing the matter and where to collect and present evidence to. ::Possible Alternative methods of Prevention:: There are several proposed ways for the government to deal with the problem. Restricting the availability of new technologies themselves, or restricting certain people from possessing and using new technologies and so on†¦ Probably the most fundamental solution of all, considering the possibility of misuse of the technology, the researchers and developers in the initial stage of the process should apply crime prevention measures that prevents misuse of such vulnerable technologies and if the cost is too high to carry out the modification the government should always consider to subsidise the process because the cost of exploitation of the weakness of the technology might be even greater. But there is also possibility that those precautions implemented could be compromised and the additional development costs vaporised. The break of the DVD movie title encryption and area code protection by hackers and crackers which introduced Dvix is the good example of it. The next best cost effective way is commercial solution[10]. Various needs to protect one’s electronic assets from possible attackers would generate considerable market demand for electronic and informational security. Companies with expertise of those matters would grow and it would provide professional advices, helps and protection with reasonable fee that would be far more less than it would cost for individual demanders to develop such systems. Also from the demand for assuring the compensation for the damages caused electronically, new insurance policies would emerge and protect the losses incurred. When dealing with technologies that are developed for military or investigative use, it is best for the government to take action that prevents possession and use of those technologies by possible offenders. Such as code breaker program designed for military operations should be restricted for the use of the purposes intended only, to achieve that, it is best to isolate the program in selected systems that are not connected to the internet. However if the technology developed found to be viable for use by the public to improve their standard of life, it should be considered that more benefit would be realised by making it public depending on specific technology. A super fast speed satellite communication intended for space crafts would be viable to use for the faster internet connection than conventional technology. But it might also make it possible for hackers to get into the satellite’s control system and disable it causing extravagant disaster thus making the technologies availability restrictive is important. Those alternatives and traditional methods may stop offenders from commission of crime but it may also encourage imitating one as well. A news report that the government is banning all child pornography sites may attract people’s attention and they might try search that kind of sites since the anonymity of access which increases the demand for viewing such material that results growth of pornography sites. :Conclusion:: Implementing the traditional approaches to deal with new emerging types of crime involving new technologies does seem to work when the new type of crime shows some fundamental similarities with already existing crimes such as causing harm whether electronic or physical or financial. Since such offences are opposed by the society and could easily be crimina lised by legislation or administrative means without difficulty. Nevertheless, quantifying and implementing the right policy or legislation is too difficult because of exterritorial issues and lack of statistics. However, as the technologies used for commission of crime advances, so does the technologies used to investigate, exam, and share information with the public and the rest of the world which aids authorities in combating using traditional approaches. Mechanisms for surveillance and detection, blocking devices, and technologies of restraint and incapacitation could also be adopted to backup the weak points of the traditional approach. Yet, while implementing those mechanisms the authority should consider possibilities of infringe of privacy right. The use of â€Å"high-tech† means of restraint might well lead to fundamental changes in police practice. Easily available technological fixes may tempt reliance to the extent that traditional law enforcement skills become neglected due to their inconvenience and community relations will be overlooked and discarded. There would also be other social impacts of crime prevention technologies. It may include disproportionate use of restraint technologies against disadvantaged groups, such as people who are unable to afford security technologies. And a shift in the burden of crime to those prospective victims may occur. Nonetheless, it would look like a miscalculation if we are to back off from developing and researching new technologies for crime prevention and control simply because they may be used inappropriately. â€Å"The telephones, indeed, the wheel, have criminal applications, technologies in the hands of responsible, accountable professionals can enhance liberty, rather than threaten it,† Dr Grabosky said. Technology and Crime Control insists on that the direction of ultimate benefits of new crime prevention technologies to the public, their development and use should be based on thorough consultation and extensive testing, and those who use them should be appropriately trained and supervised. The authors of the journals conclude that there is not one fit-to-all overall solution to these new kinds of emerging crime due to the varied nature of computer-related criminal conducts. They suggest, however, that technological and market solutions will be just as, if not more, important as law enforcement. With the invisible hands of the market the authorities should be able to find the optimal way of combating the new crimes sided by new technology. Bibliography 1. Brown et al, Criminal Laws, The Federation Press 2. P Grabosky & R Smith, Crime in the Digital Age: Controlling Telecommunications and Cyberspace Illegalities, the Federation Press (1998) 3. Russell Smith, Criminal Exploitation of New Technologies AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No93 (July 1998) 4. New millennium Doosan English Encyclopaedia No11 Doosan cooperation (2000) 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997, Recorded Crime, Australia 1996, ABS Catalogue No. 4510. 0, AGPS, Canberra (1998), Yearbook Australia, ABS Catalogue No. 1301. 0, AGPS, Canberra. 6. P. N. Grabosky, Russell G. Smith, Paul Wright, Crime and Telecommunications AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 59 (August 1996) 7. Russell G. Smith, Stealing Telecommunications Services AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 54 (April 1996) 8. Peter Grabosky, Technology & Crime Control, AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 78 (January 1998) ———————– 1] Brown et al, Criminal Laws, The Federation Press pg 1058 [2] P Grabosky & R Smith, Crime in the Digital Age: Controlling Telecommunications and Cyberspace Illegalities (1998) The Federation Press chapter 1 [3] Russell Smith, Criminal Exploitation of New Technologies AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No93 (July 1998) pg 3 [4] Fo und in 1901 by French explorers in the Old Persian Capital of Shush (Susa), contains 282 codes consisting of criminal commercial, individual property laws – New millennium Doosan English Encyclopaedia No11 Doosan cooperation (2000) pg. 54 [5] Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997, Recorded Crime, Australia 1996, ABS Catalogue No. 4510. 0, AGPS, Canberra (1998), Yearbook Australia, ABS Catalogue No. 1301. 0, AGPS, Canberra. [6] P. N. Grabosky, Russell G. Smith, Paul Wright, Crime and Telecommunications AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 59 (August 1996) pg 2 to 3 [7] Russell G. Smith, Stealing Telecommunications Services AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 54 (April 1996) pg 3 [8] [9] P. N. Grabosky, Russell G. Smith, Paul Wright, Crime and Telecommunications AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 59 (August 1996) pg 3 [10] P. N. Grabosky, Russell G. Smith, Paul Wright, Crime and Telecommunications AIC Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No 59 (August 1996) pg 5

Friday, August 30, 2019

Snort

Snort system softwareBy:College:Course:Professor:Date:AbstractThere has been a battle of supremacy among tech giants for quite a long; one company is always trying to outsmart the other. Positively speaking we can say that this has led to many innovations that have come in handy to make the customers navigations easy (morris-2014). Looking at it from the customers' eye, selection of good software has been a daunting task as most of them are brilliant if not classic. Selection of an operating is quite easy technology gurus but the situation is different for customers that are drawn to a product just because of peer reference or it popularity. Most of them end up being disappointed with their acquired systems after they underperform or demand other requirements to function. It is this battle that has led to specialization of the products in the technology industry, a keen analysis will show that some operating systems perform brilliantly in one field but fail in another; one is good in programming but moderate in its internet speed and vice versa. This research should be an eye opener for the operating system customers; before they pack bucks to go shopping for an OS they should know the precise features that they want their OS to have and hence need to do detailed digging to avoid confusion and later frustrations. Well, the most common operating system is windows; banking on popularity, but Linux is also catching up. Mac is out of question in this research as it only operates on Apple devices and if one owns the device then he has no option but stick to Mac operating system. On that point, I will be focusing on windows and Linux software in a bid to prove my point clear. The comparisons between these two should clearly show that one is superior to the other; I back the Linux system. To add a mint of credibility I will be sourcing for information from trustworthy online sites and scholarly articles that speak in favor of Linux. This will do away with bias and give the reader relevant insights. In the result section I will be showing that, truly there are benefits of Linux over windows software. In the discussion part I will highlight the requirements to run Linux, its file system location, instructions to run it and give examples of companies that use Linux to prove my point. IntroductionLinux was developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. It is a free open source open source operating system that allows users customize their own source code additional to main source code of Linux. It can be used on any device, smartphone, gaming consoles, e-books and desktops, however, it is mainly used as a server because of its openness and easy functionality. A common distribution of linux is the kernel; this is the central operating system component and link between a software application and its data. Other distributions are; downloading tools, system utilities, programs. It also comes in handy when installing or uninstalling updates. The ability of Linux to allow easy data manipulation and have resizable folders, buttons, windows and icons has made a preferred OS over its competitors as web developers use it to train themselves. Its robustness, scalability and flexibility have also made it a base OS for giant companies (gagne-2014). Some of it outstanding benefits are; open source nature, this allows it users to see the codes and make modifications. Community support system, this enables the user to reach share his problems to the Linux community and solutions be offered without waiting for experts. Reliability, it runs smoothly with no delays and reboot commands. Free to use, the customers can access it freely and even run it without subscriptions. Privacy does not pop out additional tools or make commands for information collection. Best for programming, allows a variety of programming applications like c/c++, python, perl and java to run on the OS.Research MethodsI used internet articles and scholarly reviews to build on my case. I mainly focused on the ones that explained the advantages that Linux has and disadvantages of windows. I also read ones that said the advantages of windows over linux. I aggregated the results of one party one party over the other and also summed the disadvantages of one case over the latter. This is the method I used so as to not look biased. I sourced the installation instructions from Linux and Windows official sites so that to give detailed steps and prove which one was simple to install and run and which had additional requirements for the process to begin. Results I discovered that windows has 13 steps to installation of the main and will require an antivirus before you begin to run the operating system. Windows also has a variety of products that are only fit to certain types of devices depending on the year it was manufactured and the storage space on the device. Linux on the other hand has 11 steps that can be downed to 6 and does not need an antivirus installation before it starts running. This feature reduces cost. This proves that Linux is way cheaper and way easy to control than windows. DiscussionThe steps after installation are not essential if you only need the Linux OS to be doing simple tasks like typing and doing calculation (dubey-2016). There also minimal requirements needed to run Linux on your device, they are;2GHz dual core processor2GiB system memory25 GB hard drive space, that can hold a USB stick, memory card on external driveVGA that has 1024 by 768 screen resolutionDVD/ CD or USB port for installer mediaInternet access ( optional)The requirements to install it on your desired servers are also less compared to windows;Processor should be 300MHz by 86 or above RAM should be 256MiB or above Disk space of 1.5GB or aboveMonitor cable and graphic card of 640 by 480 CD driveSystem files or log files are located in the directory of the software; there are different log files for different applications on the system. The most common files are history files that contain installation and removal information. In the directory you can view it at apt then history.logOther file destinations in the directory are;Installer, log files created during installationKern.log, kernel information like errors and warningsAlternatives.log, set of history on alternatives set by different packagesXorg.org, details on graphic driver that includes it warnings and failuresApport.log, saves information about number of crashes the OS has experiencedInstructions to install your Linux software are simple;Download the OS from Ubuntu site, this ensures it is authenticBurn the OS on a CD, memory card or flash diskPartition the computer's hard driveInsert your installer to the specific portRestart your device and wait for Linux installation window to appearSelect the language on the BIOS and click installCheck both boxes for preparing to install Ubuntu and continueCheck erase disk and install Ubuntu, click install nowFollow th e prompts to set location and time and enter your user informationSelect log in information and restart the computerSelect Ubuntu and press enterConclusion War lines were drawn on the technology industry floor when there was emergence of software and the situation tensed further when modifications were being done on the systems. All fronts have diehards and sycophants to vehemently prove their sides stronger but we must all agree that there are specific tasks that on OS performs better than the other; it is on this truce that I have proved that Linux has a better understanding of its customer base and it is by far the best as it offers simpler and more efficient tools over its arch rival. It is sad that a company's supremacy is always measured by its net sales and popularity but the judges ignore its suitability and fail to account for the grumbles from the customers. Truth be said, it is this ratings that lead to misleading of more customers. Linux efficiency and supremacy can be proved by giant companies that run on it; facebook, Google, Amazon, McDonalds, twitter, IBM, DELL, NASA and even the American submarines (das-2014). This clientele proves the point that Linux has a high level of privacy, is fast, can be modified to feed specific needs, cannot easily crash, is inexpensive and holds a large amount of data. Thumb rule of any manufacturing company should be; allow customers get the value for their money but meeting their specific needs. What is the need of getting of acquiring an operating system that is not long lasting or one that will need regular updates for it to function? That is how I conclude that Linux is by far much better than Windows operating system.ReferencesLA Morris- 2014Multi-OS (operating system) boot via mobile deviceG Gagne- 2014Operating system conceptsSK Dubey- 2016Implementation of operating system selection using AHP- entropy modelD Das- 2014Performance measurement and management model of data generation and writing time.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Job dissatisfaction Essay

1.What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong? In this case, there are few symptoms clearly stated that something has gone wrong for this company. These symptoms can be classified into two main areas; one is the negative feedback from the customers and another one if from its own employee’s job dissatisfaction. As stated in this case, the customer services business has grown doubled in the past five years as the advancement of technology allowed employees to investigate most software and hardware system faults from the center through remote monitoring. However, as the business grows, there are possibility of increasing work load and pressure that causes the rise of those negative feedbacks from both customers and employees. First of all, the symptoms that suggested something had gone wrong includes the company was unable to live up through their customer’s expectation. This is shown by the increasing complaints regarding poor quality service by customers. Customers have commented that employees seem indifferent to the client’s problem, not enthusiastic in assisting and helping them. Besides, they also commented that they are receiving slow response to their problem where solving their issue requires the involvement of more than one department. This might due to poor procedure flow. Moreover, their customer also commented that employees are lacking of knowledge regarding client’s unique information technology system infrastructure. There are more symptoms being detected in employee side which include increased in employee resignations above industry average and employee referrals become rare. Employees are complaining about monotonous work where the work is lacking in variety and interest. Employees also commented that they are disconnected from the consequences of their work, where the outcome of their service is not made known to them. Conflicts that frequently occur among employees with different departments also a symptom that showing appropriate action must be taken by the management. Employees also complaining about the stress level are increasing when serving dissatisfied clients. It is clearly that the company is experiencing some growth; however, the management needs to find a solution to solve the arising issue where their employees are lacking of motivation in their job. However, the executive team’s decision to raise pay rates for its customer service staff and the vested profit-sharing plan does not improve the employees’ work performance or customers’ satisfaction. 2.What are the main causes of these symptoms? The main cause of these symptoms is the lack of motivation among customer service employees. As according to the results of employee survey and informal comments given by employees, we can conclude that most of the employees do not meet their job satisfaction. This is the main factor for the lack of engagement in doing their task, ended with poor performance in their customer service. The work effectiveness is strongly affected by employees’ work motivation and job satisfaction. The lack of motivation among customer service staff is caused by several factors which include the boredom from monotonous work, feels disconnected from the consequences of their work, conflicts with other departments and the stress serving unhappy clients. All of the above causes are leading to job dissatisfaction among employees which then driving poor quality service to their customers. They are lacking of common goal in their task. The relation between those factors and motivation level among employees can be explained by the Job Characteristic Model. According to Job Characteristic Model, five core job dimensions, skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback from job, produce three psychological states among employees and lead to higher level of internal work motivation, job satisfaction and work effectiveness. From the employee survey and informal comments, it is clear that the job is lack of variety and lacking of feedback from job. In addition, problem within the structure of the company causing conflicts between departments. This might due to lack of proper channel of communication from the time of query have been made by customer and the ticket is issued until the problem has been resolved. Besides, high quit  rate and lower productivity among new employees is another reason causing poor quality service to customers. The overall scenario does not improve but turned worst instead when the management takes the wrong approach in solving the problem by rising employees pay. The problem and causes of the poor quality service is not been analyzed and identified, thus there is no positive impact by just rising pay rates to customer service staff. This can be further discussed as ineffectiveness of reward. The reward given is not linked to the work performance; as the results, employees do not experience the positive emotions even when they receive higher pay or incentive from the vested profit-sharing plan. 3.What actions should Yakka Tech executives take to correct these problems? Yakka Tech executives should take few actions in order to correct these problems. These actions mainly focus on three parts, first is on boosting up employees job satisfaction to increase their job motivation. Secondly, the management should implement a better and more organize system for the flow of query between departments. Thirdly, the Yakka Tech executives should reconstruct the reward system in order to improve reward effectiveness. These problems must be properly addressed and analyzed before the company implements new solutions. Management shall gather more information regarding the factors causing employees job dissatisfaction which results in poor quality service. Productivity among employees is strongly related to their job engagement and job motivation. As in this case, the executives should establish a goal setting plan in order to help employees have a clear goal on their job which help in motivating the employees. By setting a precise goal can also help to motivate employees to stay in track. In addition, the executives can establish a feedback system to promote communication between management and staff. Set a regular employee survey, group meetings or other feedback system to enable employees to share their thoughts to the management. This is to allow the management to detect those areas that need improvement to have better employee engagement. An organized system is vital in any organization in order to promote smooth work flow. Yakka Tech should implement a better and more organize system to solve the communication problem between departments and the flow of query between departments. A clear procedure of work flow should be set and made known to all departments that involve in addressing customer’s problem. Moreover, adequate training for new employees and ongoing training for employee is important. This is to keep employees skills up-to-date and increase productivity. Reconstruct the reward system to promote reward effectiveness. The rates of pay do not increase productivity, but employee engagement does. The executives should come out a better incentive scheme to motivate their employees. For example, reward is given to employee who receives good comment from their customer or annual bonus is given to the team when the complaints rate is lower than the benchmark. The reward given should be always linked to the employee performance and the management should provide relevant reward the valued by their employee.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Rubric Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rubric - Research Paper Example These consist of authentically designed criteria to gauge a learner’s work. Most often, these are given before the task so the students can base their performance on the given standards. It can also be used in any subject as well as in most kinds of learning activities. Though rubrics have various styles, there are some common features. They have objectives, scale, and dimension (Stevens & Levi, 2005). A rubric states the task that needs to be done. Basically, it describes the desired performance or behaviour. Moreover, it utilizes a range in evaluating students’ outputs. This may be in a form of grades, ranks of success, or points of achievement. Lastly, the dimensions of the task are pointed out such as the necessary skills and knowledge involved. â€Å"You’ll find that rubrics can inform and improve your teaching. The criteria you use to determine a high level or excellent performance provide directions for your teaching and goals for your students. Rubrics can be time savers. With some practice, you should be able to make some assessment in just a few minutes after reading or examining a student’s work product† (Fiderer, 1999, p.6). Rubrics have a number of benefits. With this tool, students can have a better understanding of what is expected of them. Thus, they can enhance their performance by having a clearer framework. In the same light, the teacher can enrich his assessment skills by being more objective. The rubrics can aid in evaluating with more consistency. A rubric is also an excellent source of feedback regarding the teacher’s instruction. In addition, it can decrease the amount of time spent on checking papers and appraising output since the criteria make decision making faster. In designing a rubric, there are four key stages. These are reflecting, listing, grouping and labelling, and application (Fiderer, 1999). Firstly, the teacher has to think about the learning goals that the students have to achieve. He

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 38

Ethics - Essay Example If every individual would lie to get a loan, then the process would fall apart lending the maxim impossible. Such acts are perfomative contradiction since they undermine the basis for their existence. The humanitarian principle suggests that pertains to the notion of saving life and alleviating suffering. It is mostly related to an emergency response whether during war, natural or man made disasters. They govern how individuals respond in a humanitarian way. Thus, the principle of humanity is one of the humanitarian principles. It states that individuals should always treat human beings as an end and not as means. Treating individuals as means is treating them to achieve our own goals (Shafer-Landau, The ethical life, 2014). Treating as an end is dealing with individuals with the respect they deserve. The principle, however, fails to give us advice on how to determine what people deserve. According to The Principle of utility, our actions or behaviors are morally right as long as they promote happiness and pleasure. Such actions are wrong if they tend to promote unhappiness and even pain. It is associated with hedonism since a hedonist only believes in the feelings of pleasure and pain. Such feelings are biological experiences involving human’s central nervous system and controlled by the cerebral cortex. Human beings experience pleasure whenever they perform certain acts that fulfill their biological functions including eating or drinking. Pleasure is also experienced in the event of performing various intellectual activities including reading. Sometimes, pleasure is experienced by doing the right thing. Pain on the other hand is experienced when such functions are left unfulfilled. Many utilitarian believe that pleasure and pain can be quantified. Thus, the main interest here is acting in private interest as opposed to public interest as long as individuals are gaining pleasure and pain. An example that can bring about the conflicting sides of all the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Judaism - Essay Example These beliefs basically constitute a significant part of â€Å"The Thirteen Principles of Faith† which is the heart of the Torah according to Maimonides, the Jewish philosopher and rabbi who compiled and referred to it as â€Å"Shloshah Asar Ikkarim† in Hebrew (Maimonides). Talmud, being the central text of Judaism or the most essential collection of the Jewish oral tradition, necessitates for its rabbinic substance to be put in translation from written principles and thought into actual behavior by each Jew. Through â€Å"The Thirteen Principles of Faith†, the Jews acknowledge the existence of one Creator who, in perfect unity or singularity, is considered the ‘primary cause’ of all that exists. Moreover, God is absolute, non-corporeal, and eternal by nature so that it is an imperative principle for the Jews to worship this same God alone and cast off the rest which are false gods. While the prophet Moses is regarded by the Jews as highly crucial in conveying the chief prophecy and the â€Å"Ten Commandments† of God, the revelation at Mt. Sinai is taken as a profoundly valuable occurrence in which Hashem (God) revealed in front of 600,000 Jews at the foot of the mountain that He chose these people to comprise His nation. By â€Å"The Thirteen Principles of Faith†, the Torah is further believed to possess divine origin and immutability. The omniscience and providence of God as well as the divine reward and retribution are altogether inclusive of the core principles of Judaism which similarly hold in great account the Jewish faith upon the coming of the ‘Messiah’ and the resurrection of the dead. On the other hand, the dispersal of the Jewish people from their ancestral homeland which is widely known as the ‘Diaspora’ began the time when a population of Jews were exiled from Israel by their Babylonian conquerors in the 6th

Monday, August 26, 2019

The effect of oil and gas to Qatar's economy Research Paper

The effect of oil and gas to Qatar's economy - Research Paper Example s from exporting various products, every industrial giant within these nations consume massive amount of oil in order to maintain smooth functionality in the operations and thus contribute to the overall economic development of the nations. In terms of Qatar’s economic condition and position, recent reports project that the nation experiences a real growth rate of about 5.5 % and is ranked 44th position in terms of world ranking. The per capita income of this nation was $102,100 in terms of world ranking till the year 2013. Observably, the nations is ranked 3rd in terms of gross national savings, 19th in terms of crude oil production and 6th in terms of natural gas production (Central Intelligence Agency, â€Å"The World Factbook† ). By taking into concern the findings of this particular study, the null hypothesis to be tested in this study will be, â€Å"The oil and gas segment has no considerable impact on Qatar’s economy has been validated†. Research Evaluation Technique. The information accumulated from the research work certainly helps in determining the validity of the above-depicted null hypothesis. It can be affirmed that the research question is mainly structured with the intention of understanding that how oil and gas sector being the primary sector in the Qatari economy impose extensive impact specifically on the governments’ revenue earnings, governmental export process, economic liquidity rate and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation. It would be vital to mention in this similar concern that the above-portrayed null hypothesis has been designed in such a way so that there occurs a high possibility of getting it rejected at the time when the findings of the research are revealed. This literature review section has been formulated completely depending upon the secondary data sources. This method implemented for literature review in this study includes the effective evaluation of the various online journals, reports and government websites.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

What is International Marketing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is International Marketing - Coursework Example and the management has configured its successful entry into major Asian countries such as China, and European countries such as France (Zou, & Fu, 2011:60). Joe’s Ice Cream has functioning manufacturing facilities overseas, and there are ongoing coordinating successful marketing strategies across the globe. Joe’s Ice Cream marketers must look forward to understanding the current and potential environment that their product can do well (Bennett, 2008:102). In reviewing its situational strategies, Joe’s Ice Cream has its strengths to exploit (Leeds Metropolitan University 2010: 12). The superior technology has given Joe’s Ice Cream a better platform to meet their growing customers’ desire for ice cream in myriad ways. This has ensured that its competitors cannot imitate their current technology hence retaining Joe’s Ice Cream as a unique brand in the market. Instead of targeting only its current market, Joe’s Ice Cream is required to keep on targeting new markets and customers internationally in order to grow their business. In addition, Joe’s Ice Cream is a strong brand name, which has boosted and created a major strength to the company (Czinkota, & Ronkainen, 2013:150). The company has continually exploited this brand through charging hi gher prices for their products as customers continue to place higher additional value in the discrete brand of Joe’s Ice Cream. Because of the strong management tactics and their ability to make use of cost advantage maneuvers, Joe’s Ice Cream continues to expand in the international market as a unique company. On another level, Joe’s Ice Cream has an unmatched opportunity through the availability of the fragmented market. The management has been able to fragment its international markets, hence creating diverse opportunities for the sale of Joe’s Ice Cream and its products (Keillor, 2007:70). In addition, this has expanded and increased its market share opening the window for a sustainable cost advantage.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Business Research Methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Research Methods - Assignment Example These forms of study are mainly undertaken before conducting a more extensive study that will provide concrete answers to the researcher’s questions. Utilisation of this research design, therefore, is limited to areas in which there is limited knowledge as the researcher seeks to develop background information on the topic being explored. Within the business profession, exploratory research focuses on discovering business ideas rather than provision of statistically accurate data. It can provide a company with a definition of issues pertaining alternative courses of action and even prioritization of areas for further research. This design mainly utilises open ended questions and can be able to provide ideas that might not have been thought. The utilisation of the open ended questions however becomes a basic shortfall of the research design since the information collected could be extensively varied and analysis becomes difficult as it cannot be grouped. Description research seeks to provide information and describes situations based on scientific observation (Saunders & Lewis 2012). The fundamental reasons behind utilisation of scientific observations are the provision of accurate and precise information on the topics being investigated. In seeking to get this level of accuracy and precision scientific methods are utilised in statistically analysing the collected data. This research is limited by the complexity of the processes involved in undertaking the analysis of data being presented. Unlike the exploratory design, descriptive study is generally structured and pre-planned. This ensures that the information gathered within the process can be statistically inferred on a given population like the workforce of the company. The fundamental idea behind the utilisation of descriptive research design is defining, opinions, attitudes and behaviours of a group of people in a better and more informed manner

Friday, August 23, 2019

Analysis of Ideology in a Chosen Film - Girl Interrupted Essay

Analysis of Ideology in a Chosen Film - Girl Interrupted - Essay Example She is weak, she finds herself drawn to same sex, and depressed. During her stay in the psychiatric hospital, Susanna becomes friend with other ward-mates; a group of different women who are faced with different mental disorders. Susanna’s real life journey in finding her identity, purpose of her being and coping with her personality disorders. The story of the movie holds different themes and set of ideologies in it. Each theme tells the viewer of the reality, a different yet bitter truth that is faced by majority of the young generation and everyday life of a person who has no focus and no direction in life and how world and the society stands against that downtrodden soul. This is a true story of Susanna Kaysen which was earlier published in the form of a book under the same title. However, Susanna has tried her level best to communicate with the audience directly about the problems she was faced with in her life through this movie. This movie unveils the different hidden l ayers in the personality of a young teenager girl which represents the overall young generation and their suffering in a very well directed manner. ... ot deny the fact that culture is the basic key element in the establishment of a society however; our culture has failed to give the rights and the proper status to the young generation which has left them unfocused, directionless and depressed with a blur future. It has been clearly shown in the movie that those young children who do not get enough love from their homes and attention from their parents become the victim of confusion, distress and with the passage of time their personalities become shattered. Strong language has been used in the film which shows that how mentally unstable women use language as a medium to vent out their emotions and feelings of hate and betrayal. It is a common fact that those children who do not get attention from home become use to of using strong language in their daily life because they lack the sense of respect and grace for others and for themselves. This film describes the role of parents in this regard that how their attitude can push their c hild into insanity. It is important to understand that female children are more prone to adopt compulsive personality as compare to males. Gender Exploitation: As the title of the movie says, â€Å"Girl Interrupted,† this movie revolves around the story of a female which is a victim of gender exploitation by the society and also by the culture. It is important to understand that women are the victim of discrimination; they are provided with limited choices with no significant importance given to them by the society. In today’s world, women are faced with prejudices and gender bias by majority of groups present in the society. Similarly, in the movie Susanna is shown as a weak gender which is the victim of inequality, betrayal and harassment. Majority of women are faced with mental stress

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay Example for Free

Difference Between Leadership and Management Essay What is leadership? What is management? Leadership and management are two words that are considered synonymous but describe two distinct concepts. Both are needed in a successful organization. Leadership and management together will build and maintain a successful organization. Interest in leadership in the American culture increased in the early twentieth century and continues to development in context. Behavioral theories evolved to today’s transformational leadership and visionary leadership. All the theories are attempting to identify leadership traits and behaviors. Leadership Term Paper: Excerpt If the role of situations is vital in matters of self-control, how much more significant must it be in connection with social control and leadership. If character varies from situation to situation, then it is fair to assume that leadership likewise varies. Consistency of behavior is doubtless a leadership trait, but behavior may vary according to situations, even on the part of any person. A person may be generally consistent in some situations and inconsistent in others. It is apparently necessary, therefore, to study situations in relation to personality reactions in order to account for ability, or for failure, to lead. Leadership Term Papers: Excerpt Situational leadership often explains leadership unevenness. A person may use leadership technique in a situation for which it is not intended with the result that it does not work well, or it fails. Every after dinner speaker has told more than one joke which he thought appropriate but which fell flat, because there were situational factors that the speaker did not suspect. Whenever a situation contains factors that a leader does not take into consideration, his leadership is endangered. A wise leader knows his situations, or else his leadership displays much unevenness. Leadership Research Paper: Excerpt The situational nature of leadership explains why a leader sometimes seems to contradict himself and to act like a hypocrite even though he loathes hypocrisy. It often happens, as any leader in an administrative position can testify, that a person may act sincerely and honestly in each of two different situations and find that he has contradicted himself, simply because the two situations are contradictory in certain particulars. Loyalty in one situation may contradict loyalty in another. A leader who desires to please is especially subject to this dilemma. Leadership vs. Management There are several distinctions between thoughts of management and leadership; some of the key points are discussed below. I believe that effective management ceases to reach its potential without respected leadership. Although leadership and management are necessary ingredients to creating actualized organizations. 1.Management implements the structures and tasks to create a holistic team of productive employees, while leadership sets the vision and creates an atmosphere where the teams commit to the mission and are encouraged to reach their potential. Management is more of a hands-on approach to ensure leaderships vision and strategy is in congruence with the companies operations. One of the goals of management is to ensure the organization effectively deploys of resources. One of the major goals of leadership is to assist customers and employees to understand the values and mission of the organization while having the responsibility of ensuring those constituencies are committed to the organizations value offering. I feel that leadership responsibility is to identify what the change initiatives need to be in conjunction with employees, customers and suppliers while managements responsibility is to ensure effective implementation of those initiatives. According to Senge; profound change initiatives invariability lead people to a heightened sense of meaning and aspiration. Leadership has the responsibility to ensure the opportunity for meaning and aspiration occur within the organization, great leaders strive to continually inspire such. Management has the opportunity to see to it that meaning and aspiration is actually being achieved while leadership creates the atmosphere for it to thrive. 1.Management challenges the vision of the company, which was created by leadership as to ensure the desired results are being achieved, while leadership identifies continual opportunities for a greater vision. According to Nonaka (quoted from Dance of Change), â€Å"A company is not a machine but a living organism. Much like an individual, it can have a collective sense of identity and shared purpose†¦ a shared understanding of what the company stands for†. Leadership must create opportunities for that shared vision and collective sense of identity to emerge. Leadership can inspire this to happen through management developing initiatives within cross-department relationship building and teamwork building. Management has the responsibility to ensure this takes place while leadership sets the strategy and places the goals high on the corporate agenda. Leadership sets the priorities, while management gets the priorities done. Among many other tasks, Leadership has the responsibility to: 1.Develop an overall strategic vision for the organization or team 2.In conjunction with the organization, drive the desired results 3.Enable an atmosphere which encourages cross-functional teamwork 4.Be in-touch with the organization at all levels 5.Asks the high-level questions and ensures the answers are understood by all in the organization 6.Encourages the organization to explore alternatives and better ways of doing business 7.Assists the organization to see the big picture In contrast among other tasks, management has the following responsibilities: 1.Management includes the actual coordination of processes and work-flows 2.Includes the process of evaluating resources, assessment and measurement of various pieces throughout the organizations 3.Management includes ensuring that all feedback, comments, and innovative change initiative ideas are brought to the forefront of the decision making process 4.Seeks to make the planning process a more successful endeavor 5.Helps to implement the answers to the big questions into best practices for the organization The Role of Leadership in Strategy The role of leadership in strategy includes many facets some that are tangible and some that are not. For example the role of leadership in strategy is to determine what the big picture is and to ensure the organization has a plan for discovering those answers to the big questions. I believe the role of leadership in developing strategy is to create many areas of possibility for the organization and to create an atmosphere where employees feel committed to creating those possibilities. The example provided by Senge about what was happening in South Africa in the early 1990s is a great one. Leadership of South Africa was trying to develop a set of alternative stories about what might happen in South Africa. They came together and developed several stories and tried to examine what the country will look like in the future. Leadership in fact, was trying to shape and define the story and to have this story be as positive as possible for the country. I believe the same high-level story development is the main responsibility of leadership in strategy for an organization at all levels. The role is for the leadership to define how they want the company to interact in the world and to develop a story that is much bigger than the organization. This story must be believed by all participants in the organization and must be walked the talk by leadership. For example the role of leadership in defining one of the key tenants for Whole Foods is â€Å"We Sell the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available†. The role of leadership in developing this strategy is key to the companies fundamental belief system, and many of the employees and customers are committed to this strategy. The role of leadership is to create the vision and ensure it is in real congruence with the organizational realty. How is leadership critical to realizing strategy? I believe without leadership, strategy cannot be truly realized for a sustainable period. For example if there lacks a person or people who rise above and create the vision and see to it, that it is a manifestation throughout the organization, the strategy will be lost at sea. The waves of business cycles and changing resources will ensure the strategy is tossed and turned and will not go on a path toward true-fulfillment of the highest levels of success. Leadership sets the stage for strategy by asking the core questions, shaping the vision, and allowing for an atmosphere, which encourages the awareness and commitment to the strategy. Leadership is critical: 1.It creates a vessel for continuous improvement and adaptation of strategy 1.Ensures the proper questions are asked and answered 2.Creates an atmosphere for growth and change 3.Demonstrates effective behavior 4.Tries to get the highest potential out of resources 5.Creates the strategic vision 6.Brings together key aspects of the strategy The world we live in is changing at an alarming rate as a result of all the new discoveries that have been made over the years. These new discoveries have been aided by the availability of better learning facilities and equipment. These were not available in the early days. As scientists continue to discover and invent new equipment, the world is adapting them and incorporating them in the societies. As a result, the world we are living in is heavily dependent on inventions and machines to carry out tasks. Moreover, as a result of the advanced technology, people are getting more intelligent hence they are able carry out more researches of their own as well as make their own new inventions. In the medical world this has eased management as well as other treatment methods such as surgery.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Iraq and Palestine Essay Example for Free

Iraq and Palestine Essay Since 2003, after the four devastating years of Iraq invasion, Bill Moyers’ journal on â€Å"Buying the War† stabbed to grasp the mainstream US media held responsible for its connivance in advertising the ‘war on Iraq’ to the public of US. Moyers recognized how the US media, with the main role of ‘The New York Times’, yielded to fiscal and political stress, gave ways to an environment of nationalism and trepidation of terrorism, and naively reported bogus US government assertions. Sadly, despite all the terrible results of 60 years of Israelis bullying the Palestinians, there is still no major movement to grab the US mainstream media held answerable for an equivalent, incredible failure in covering Israelis and Palestinians conflict and for its involvement in the U. S. naive backing for Israel. Moyers’ study of the US media breakdown on Iraq was costly, yet imperfect. He elucidated that to instigate the assault on Iraq â€Å"high officials†¦ needed a compliant press, to pass on their propaganda as news and cheer them on. our press largely surrendered its independence and skepticism to join with our government in marching to war. † Bob Simon of CBS put in plain words to Moyers that the U. S. administration used selling skills to put up war for sale: â€Å"Just repeat it and repeat it and repeat it†¦ Keep that drumming going. † Media columnist Norman Solomon informed Moyers that he thought these [news] managers were scared stiff of being called yielding on terrorism. Moyers gave many instances of ‘The New York Times’ conveying fake shrewdness on Iraq to the public of US. However, still Moyers stated that the now villainous ‘neoconservatives’ had long sought to change the Middle East, starting with the exclusion of Saddam Hussein, Moyers passed over a central reason for why the administration’s case for war echoed with both the US media as well as public. It was based in broadly-held typecasts about Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East, statements which are also necessary to realize US policy in Israel and Palestine. In his classic 1978 book â€Å"Orientalism†, Palestinian-American scholar Edward Sa’id asserted: The Western understanding of Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East is a product of colonialism, and that Westerners outlook the East as innately substandard and reliant on salvation. The US case for ‘war in Iraq’ hinged on orientalists statements that the Middle East was an undistinguished province of Arabs and Muslims who, lacking any history account or valid complaints, are overcome by an illogically aggressive nature as well as loathing of the West, Israel,’ freedom and democracy’ (Edward Sa’id 1978). Though Moyers didn’t, the neo-cons repeatedly sketched the relationship between Iraq and Israel, stating: â€Å"The way towards Jerusalem crosses Baghdad†. And in Israel, the other main settlement in â€Å"the war on terror,† chauvinistic philosophy and politically spoiled intelligence are also hard-pressed by the administration and gullibly reported by US media channels like ‘The New York Times’ – as, an April 11, 2007 Times news article by Isabel Kershner titled improvable assertions by Israel’s Shin Bet that it had disenchanted a huge Hamas suicide-bombing planned for Passover. The article mainly overlooked Palestinian rebuffs reported on the same day in the Israeli paper Ha’aretz Daily. The Shin Bet assertion appeared to value uncertainty considering the Palestinian refutations and Hamas’ verdict two years ago to stop the progress of sweeping attacks. Certainly, Hamas’ implication on such a huge-scale bombing plan would have approached at a fitting moment for Israel. Following the 16 months throughout which 27 Israelis were murdered by Palestinians, the lowest sum in over 6 years, Israel is thrashing about to stop the breakup of the global boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority and to see off continual peace proposals from the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League. The Israeli administration has been feeding the media narratives saying that the calm is a trick, which Hamas is making use of it to support and prepare invasions and that Israel will then be enforced to rise a major attack of Gaza soon. The Times has published at least 4 other articles rumbling these Israeli administration claims since March 2007 .

Principles of Sterilisation in Microbiology

Principles of Sterilisation in Microbiology Moist and dry heat How are microorganisms destroyed by moist heat? By dry heat? Moist: Destroys the structure and organisms by destroying with heat. The combination of steam and pressure, the temperature is usually 121 °C and 15 lbs. per inch for thirty minutes. Dry: Kills organisms using oxidation methods. Most resistant of the spores requires a temperature of 121 °C for around two hours Are some microorganisms more resistant to heat than others? Why? Endospores are extremely resistant to heat because they have a tougher coat and a low moisture content. Additionally, they have a large amount of calcium and dipicolinic acid that helps to protect them from heat. Is moist heat more effective than dry heat? Why? The National Library of Medicine states, â€Å"Moist heat penetrates faster than dry heat† (Medicine, 2015). Moist heat penetrates the molecules, additionally, the water molecules conduct heat much better than air. Why does dry heat require higher temperatures for longer time periods to sterilize than does moist heat? Because water is a better conductor than air, therefore the dry heat does not penetrate as well. What is the relationship of time to temperature in heat sterilization? Explain. Basically the higher the temperature the less time needed. The autoclave Define the principles of sterilization with an autoclave and with a dry heat oven. An autoclave sterilizes using high pressurized steam heat that is made by high temperature boiling water and pressure. The steam vibrations destroy the microorganisms. Judelson states, â€Å"Autoclaving generally involves heating in saturated steam under a pressure of approximately 15 psi, to achieve a chamber temperature of a least 121 °C (250 °F)—but industry, other combinations of time and temperature are sometimes used† (Judelson, 2015). Dry heat ovens subject the microorganisms to high temperatures and destroy the bacteria’s by drying them out and basically sterilizing them from the outside to the inside by heat and no water. Unlike an autoclave which is one piece of equipment, dry heat can include a hot air oven, incineration, radiation, microwave, Bunsen burner and flaming. What pressure, temperature, and time are used in routine autoclaving? With the combination of steam and pressure, the temperature is usually at 121 °C and 15 lbs. per inch for thirty minutes (Kenneth Todar, 2015). What factors determine the time period necessary for steam-pressure sterilization? Dry-heat oven sterilization? The combination of temperature and time are what decides the actual time. Accordint to Mazhar Hussain, â€Å"The thermal death time is the time required to kill all the bacteria in a particular culture at a specified temperature. Both TDP and TDT are useful guidelines that indicate the severity of treatment required to kill a given population of bacteria† (Hussian, 2015). With dry heat the materials play an important factor. Why is it necessary to use bacteriologic controls to monitor heat- sterilization techniques? They are necessary to ensure that the autoclave is working properly and efficiently. They are place throughout the autoclave to ensure a complete testing of the autoclave. When running an endospore control of autoclaving technique, why is one endospore preparation incubated without heating? The control is used to ensure that the spores are destroyed effectively and that there are no problems with the machine. Primary media for isolation of microorganisms Define a differential medium and discuss its purpose. Morello taught us that a differential media has one or more components that are used by some types of microorganisms and yet not others. (Morello, Granato, Morton, 2013) This a will allow an individual to tell the differences of a colony based on the colonies characteristics (i.e. shape, color or pattern). Define a selective medium and describe its uses. Selective media choses one type of microorganisms and then suppresses the others while not inhibiting their ability to actually grow. MacConkey’s agar would be a selective media as it selects gram negative bacteria and yet inhibits gram positive bacteria. Why is MacConkey agar selective as well as differential? According to Austin Community College, â€Å"MacConkey Agar (MAC) is a selective and differential medium designed to isolate and differentiate enterics based on their ability to ferment lactose, by using bile salts and crystal violet inhibit the growth of Gram positive organisms and lactose provides a source of fermentable carbohydrate, allowing for differentiation† (ACC, 2015). Why is blood agar useful as a primary isolation medium? Blood agar would be a differential media because of its ability to destroy hemoglobin and red blood cells. What is the major difference between Modified Thayer-Martin (MTM) and chocolate agar? When would you use MTM rather than chocolate agar? Modified Thayer-Martin is a selective medium that is for gram negative microorganisms that has both a medium and antibiotics, whereas chocolate agar is a non-selective medium. Modified Thayer-Martin is only used when the culture ordered is from the genital area or for sexually transmitted diseases, whereas chocolate is used for many different types of cultures. Metabolic activities of bacteria What is the color of phenol red at an acid pH? Yellow is the color below 7.0 pH. What is the function of a Durham tube? A Durham tube contains a small inverted tube that is used for trapping the gasses that are formed when the broth inside is incubated. (Morello, Granato, Morton, 2013) Why is iodine used to detect starch hydrolysis? When the iodine dissolves with a solution of potassium, it will to turn a purple or blackish color due to the interaction with starch. How is indole produced in SIM medium? How is it detected? Hardy Diagnostics states, â€Å"The ingredients in SIM Medium enable the determination of three activities by which enteric bacteria can be differentiated; sodium thiosulfate and ferrous ammonium sulfate are indicators of hydrogen sulfide production and the ferrous ammonium sulfate reacts with H2S gas to produce ferrous sulfide, a black precipitate, additionally the casein peptone is rich in tryptophan, which is attacked by certain microorganisms resulting in the production of indole† (Diagnostics, 2015). Following the incubation period, the indole is detected with the addition of the reagents. Therefore the detection of the motility is due to the semisolid nature of the medium. How is hydrogen sulfide demonstrated in this medium? The hydrogen sulfide is detected after the production of ferrous sulfide when ferrous ammonium sulfate has reacted with H2S gas. What is the advantage of viewing mold structures in a transparent tape preparation? Southern University of Illinois states, â€Å"The advantage of transparent tape preparation is it allows the fungal structures to be viewed without disrupting the characteristics of their morphology† (Illinois, 2015) What fungus can be identified reliably by using the germ tube test? Morello taught us that â€Å"Candida albicans is the most common yeast found using the germ test and is an important cause of human infection† (Morello, Granato, Morton, 2013) Name three stains or reagents that may be used to facilitate the microscopic detection of fungi in clinical samples. Potassium hydroxide Calcofluor white India Ink Wright, Giemsa, or Diff-Quikstains Gram stain What is the main advantage of using the slide culture technique for identifying molds? It is a fast way to prepare, identify and examine fungal colonies. It makes it easier to study with little disturbances. According to Amrita, â€Å"Fungi are identified mostly by close examination of its morphology and the characteristics it possess† (Amrita, 2015). What is an opportunistic pathogen? Name three fungal specimens. It is a pathogen that takes advantage of an individual that has a compromised immunity system. Candidiasis, Apergillosis and Cryptococcosis Protozoa and animal parasites Describe the basic structures of protozoa. Can these same structures be seen in bacteria using a light microscope? The structure of protozoa is a single celled organisms with a true nucleus with chromosomes and surrounded by a membranous envelope. Additionally, Professor Anderson of Columbia University states, â€Å"They also have other internal cellular structures known as organelles that perform the many physiological functions needed to maintain the life of the organism and these organelles include mitochondria that break down nutrient molecules during respiration to produce energy for the cell† (Anderson, 2015). Are any parasitic diseases directly communicable from person to person? If so, how are they transmitted? What kinds of precautions should be taken in caring for persons with directly transmissible parasitic infections? Yes, but most have to have a host to be transferred. Lice for and an example is a parasite that can jump from one individual to another. Additionally, if someone is infected and does not use proper cleaning/washing of hands they can introduce a parasite through the preparation of food. Washing of hands and using precautionary techniques is the best way to prevent the contamination or spreading of parasites. What parasitic forms can be seen in the feces of a patient with hookworm? Eggs can be seen in hookworm, Eggs and body parts can be seen in tapeworm, in cryptosporidiosis the parasite can be seen, in trichinosis, the doctor will look for the antibodies of the roundworm. (Merck, 2015) What parasitic forms can be seen in the blood of a patient with African sleeping sickness? Filariasis? Amebiasis? In the blood of an individual with African sleeping sickness, the T. b. rhodesiense parasites can be found. In Filariasis, According to The Center for Disease Control (CDC), â€Å"The adult worms only live in the human lymph system† (CDC, 2015). For Amebiasis The Center for Disease Control also states that, â€Å"Diagnosis can be difficult because other parasites can look very similar toE. histolyticawhen seen under a microscope† (CDC, 2015), but the cysts can be seen in the stools/feces of an infected person. What is meant by the â€Å"life cycle† of a parasite? What importance does it have to those who take care of patients with parasitic diseases? The life cycle depends on the parasite, there are stages, the parasite infects a host, feeds off of the host and lays eggs. Sometimes the eggs hatch and sometimes the y turn into cysts. The eggs, cysts and sometimes parts of the body are then transferred out of the body through fecal matter, or sometimes infected blood. When this happens they then go onto the next host and the cycle repeats. The main importance is protection and cleanliness. Proper use of protective wear and then washing of the hands and any surfaces that may have been contaminated are the primary rules for the containment of spreading parasites. References ACC, A. C. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from http://www.austincc.edu/microbugz/macconkey_agar.php Amrita, U. o. (2015, January 13). Amrita. Retrieved from http://amrita.vlab.co.in/?sub=3brch=76sim=693cnt=2 Anderson, P. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from protozoa.uga.edu/education/students/for_students_sop_web_ora CDC. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lymphaticfilariasis/ Diagnostics, H. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from https://catalog.hardydiagnostics.com/cp_prod/Content/hugo/SIMMedium.htm Hussian, M. (2015, January 12). Retrieved from http://microbiologyon-line.blogspot.com/2009_08_02_archive.html Illinois, S. U. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/~cbwilso/250myco1_032.htm Judelson, H. (2015, January 8). Retrieved from http://oomyceteworld.net/protocols/autoclave operation.pdf Kenneth Todar, P. (2015, January 8). Retrieved from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/control.html Medicine, N. L. (2015, January 12). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3808259/ Merck. (2015, January 13). Retrieved from http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/infections/parasitic_infections/hookworm_infection.html Morello, J., Granato, P., Morton, V. (2013). , Paul Granato, and Verna Morton. In Microbiology: Applications to Patient Care, 11th Editio (p. 111). McGraw-Hill.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Advance involves loss :: essays research papers

It has been said that â€Å"Any Advance involves some loss†. This is in fact true because life is a learning process, where if nothing is lost nothing is learned. Mistakes are made and people learn from them. In life things are lost but something will always come from it. There have been many events in history and in literature that prove this saying right. In order for they’re to be an advance, or for something to be gained there are costs of sacrifices to be made but in the end the result is usually beneficial.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In between 1861 and 1865 there was a Civil War in the United Sates of America between the North and South in which the South wanted to secede from the Union. The civil war ended with a human cost of over half a million lives and untold amounts of property. It was a brutal conflict. Reuniting the nation proved to be a long and difficult task. The North’s victory meant that Lincolns goal of keeping the nation whole was achieved. He looked to restore peace and harmony. â€Å"The Emancipation Proclamation† of 1803 had announced the North would abolish slavery in the rebelling states. Lincoln planned to have the rebel states pass laws abolishing slavery, but since the states took no action congress moved. In December 1865, the states ratified the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun†, Lorraine Hansberry, the younger family was not a very wealthy one. Their financial troubles caused for tension and discontent. An event in this play changed the lives of the Younger’s forever, when a check of $10, 000 arrived. This money comes form the hard work of Mr. Younger, husband of Mama, in this play who worked long hard hours to provide his family with this check after his death. It took the Death of Mr. Younger, and his strenuous work he did all of his life to receive this check. With this check the family could now move into a comfortable living space, and help them live life easier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, in order to gain something one must lose something. Advance involves loss :: essays research papers It has been said that â€Å"Any Advance involves some loss†. This is in fact true because life is a learning process, where if nothing is lost nothing is learned. Mistakes are made and people learn from them. In life things are lost but something will always come from it. There have been many events in history and in literature that prove this saying right. In order for they’re to be an advance, or for something to be gained there are costs of sacrifices to be made but in the end the result is usually beneficial.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In between 1861 and 1865 there was a Civil War in the United Sates of America between the North and South in which the South wanted to secede from the Union. The civil war ended with a human cost of over half a million lives and untold amounts of property. It was a brutal conflict. Reuniting the nation proved to be a long and difficult task. The North’s victory meant that Lincolns goal of keeping the nation whole was achieved. He looked to restore peace and harmony. â€Å"The Emancipation Proclamation† of 1803 had announced the North would abolish slavery in the rebelling states. Lincoln planned to have the rebel states pass laws abolishing slavery, but since the states took no action congress moved. In December 1865, the states ratified the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun†, Lorraine Hansberry, the younger family was not a very wealthy one. Their financial troubles caused for tension and discontent. An event in this play changed the lives of the Younger’s forever, when a check of $10, 000 arrived. This money comes form the hard work of Mr. Younger, husband of Mama, in this play who worked long hard hours to provide his family with this check after his death. It took the Death of Mr. Younger, and his strenuous work he did all of his life to receive this check. With this check the family could now move into a comfortable living space, and help them live life easier.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, in order to gain something one must lose something.

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Carnivore project :: essays research papers

The Carnivore Invasion "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 The current use and regulations of the F.B.I. surveillance tool known as Carnivore need to be revised in such a way that it will no longer be able to copy the e-mails of unsuspecting Americans. Most Americans are not even aware of the existence of the Carnivore project. The ignorance of the American people is understandable; the government has gone to great lengths to ensure secrecy when it comes to the details of the Carnivore project. The purpose of this paper is to bring to light exactly how the Federal Burro of Investigation (FBI) has invaded the privacy of a countless number of Americans. Once the severe flaws of the Carnivore system have been outlined, this paper will describe what laws need to be changed to make the Carnivore project even reasonable. The FBI designed the Carnivore system to capture email communications of a criminal suspect. The information extracted from the suspect’s e-mails is then used as evidence against the suspect. In this simple explanation the Carnivore system appears to be an effective tool against crime. Unfortunately most issues in this world cannot be explained in two sentences. The process of implementing the Carnivore system begins with a court order for a full content-wiretap (Tyson 2). Once a court order has been issued the FBI is required to request that the suspects Internet Service Provider (ISP) is willing/able to copy all of the e-mails to and from the suspects address. The initial request made by the FBI to allow the ISP to copy the suspect’s e-mails is to ensure that the FBI has tried to meet the â€Å"best evidence† rule (Graham 8). The â€Å"best evidence† rule simply states that the FBI has to obtain evidence in the best way possible. If the ISP is able to copy the suspect’s e-mails directly, it is considered better evidence. If the ISP declines the FBI’s request then the FBI is allowed to install the Carnivore system onto the suspect’s ISP (Graham 6). Why would an ISP decline assistance? ISPs are concerned about the privacy of their customers. For example, Earthlink testified before the Carnivore Commi ttee saying that what the FBI was asking them to do â€Å".

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Hmos: Making A Killing Essay -- essays research papers

FACT: Currently 46 million Americans live without any health care insurance whatsoever. FACT: The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not provide health care insurance for all of its citizens. FACT: The United States spends more money per person on health care than any other nation in the world. FACT: The World Health Care Organization has ranked the United States 37th in the world regarding the health care a country provides for its people. FACT: No country in the history of the earth has provided universal health care coverage for all its citizens under a private health care insurance system. The facts stated above are not only embarrassing and frightening; they are simply unacceptable. How our country, which takes great pleasure in calling itself â€Å"The World’s Only Superpower†, is unable to provide health care for all its citizens is unfathomable. The citizens of countries in Western Europe have benefited from universal health care polices for almost 40 to 50 years now. Why can’t all of the citizens in America enjoy the same benefits? Especially, at a time our country is in the midst of its greatest economic boom to date. The answer is simple enough. What stands between the citizens of America and a fair, equal and effective national health care policy is one basic human emotion, or lack there of, greed. There is a huge disparity in the distribution of health care in America. Most notably between rich and poor but also between the races. 11 percent of the white population lives without health insurance. That is already a troubling number but it pales in comparison to the 21 percent of African-Americans, 21 percent of Asian-Americans and 33 percent of Hispanic-Americans that lack proper health care insurance. Lack of coverage is not the only problem in our current privatized health care system. There are also huge problems in the coverage for prescription drugs, dental, vision and hearing care, mental health care, preventive care for children, and treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Health care in our nation should be provided directly by the federal government under what is known as a â€Å"single-payer† health care system. It is a program that would cover Americans from â€Å"the cradle to the grave†. In our current system, hundreds of billions of dollars go to insurance company overheads, unnecessary administrati... ...hat come along with any extended stay at a medical facility. Vice President Gore says he is in favor of â€Å"step by step† movement towards universal heath care; the same universal health care that he and President Clinton both promised to provide to all Americans 8 years ago in 1992. Since 1992, there has been an 11 million person increase in Americans without any health insurance at all. Sounds more like a step backwards than a step towards universal care for all. The only candidate that stands firmly behind a single-payer system, the only candidate who stands courageously in the destructive path of Big Business, the only candidate who is willing to take a stand, draw a line in the sand, and declare once and for all that health care is a basic innate human right is the Green Party Nominee, Ralph Nader. The Declaration of Independence states that all people have the rights to â€Å"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness†. Do you think that our founding fathers who didn’t have available to them the amazing health care treatments and techniques that we now have available to us would want us to reserve their benefits only for the rich? If asked the same question what is your response?

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Coase(1972) †durable and monopoly[2] Essay

R. H. COASE Universityof ChicagoLaw School that A SSUME a supplier owns the total stock of a completely durable good. At what price will he sell it? To take a concrete example, assume that one person owns all the land in the United States and, to simplify the analysis, that all land is of uniform quality. Assume also that the landowner is not able to work the land himself, that ownership of land yields no utility and that there are no costs involved in disposing of the land. If there were a large number of landownersand the price were competitively determined, the price would be that at which the amount demandedwas equal to the amount of land in the United States. If we imagine this fixed supply of land to be various amounts either greater or smaller, and then discover what the competitively determinedprice would be, we can trace out the demand schedule for American land. Assume that this demand schedule is DD and that from this a marginal revenue schedule, MR, has been derived. Both schedules are shown in Figure I. Let the total amount of land in existence be OQ. Then, if the price were competitively determined,the price would be OB (see Figure I). We now have to determine the price which the monopolistic landowner would charge for a unit of land in the assumed conditions. The diagramwould seem to suggest (and has, I believe, suggested to some) that such a monopolistic landownerwould charge the price OA, would sell the quantity of land OM, thus maximising his receipts, and would hold off the market the quantity of land, MQ. But suppose that he did this. MQ land and money equal to OA X OM would be in the possession of the original landowner while OM land would be owned by others. In these circumstances, why should the original landownercontinue to hold MQ off the market? The original landownercould obviously improve his position by selling more land since he could by this means acquire more money. It is true that this would reduce the value of the land OM owned by those who had previously bought land from him-but the loss would fall on them, not on him. If the same assumption about his behaviour was made as before, he would then sell part of MQ. But this is not the end of the story, since some of MQ would still remain unsold. The process would continue as long as the original landowner retained any land, that is, until OQ had been sold. And if there were no costs of disposing of the land, the whole process would take place in the twinkling of an eye. 143 144 THE JOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS Figure D I z mj A † _ o Q : D 0 M Q QUANTITY MR It might be objected to this supposedbehaviourunder which land is sold in separate transactions involving blocks of land, probably of diminishing size, that it would be even better if the landowner sold the land by infinitesimal units, thus maximising his total revenue. But this is neither here nor there. Whatever the intermediatesteps are assumed to be, OQ land will be sold. And given that OQ is going to be sold, the value of a unit of land is going to be OB and given this, no buyer of land will pay more than OB for it. Although the demand schedule may be correctly drawn in that, if the quantity of land is OM, the price would be OA, the landownerwould find himself in the position that, if he were charged more than OB, he would sell nothing. The demand schedule facing the original landowner would be infinitely elastic at the competitive price and this even though he was the sole supplier. With complete durability, the price becomes independent of the number of suppliers and is thus always equal to the competitive price. DURABILITYAND MONOPOLY 145 How could the landowner avoid this result? He could do this and obtain the price OA from the sale of OM land by making special contractual arrangements with the purchasersof land by which, as a condition of sale, he agreed to hold unsold in perpetuity the quantity of land MQ. Alternatively, he could agree to buy back any land that was offered to him in the future at a price just under OA, thus making it against his interest to sell more than OM land. Another way in which essentially the same result could be obtained would be for the landowner not to sell the land but to lease it for relatively short periods of time. It would then be comparatively easy for him to assure lessees that no increasein supply will occur during the lease period either by entering into all leases at the same point in time, or by announcing that he would not change the rental price during the lease period or by agreeing to adjust the prices charged to existing lessees if a lower charge is made to others during the lease period. In any case, even if such contractual arrangementscannot be made, lessees have some reason to believe that the landownerwill not, in fact, lease more than OM land by charging lower prices for some of the unutilised land (after having entered into contracts at OA) because it would not be in his self-interest to do so. With this kind of leasing, the total earnings of the landowner depend largely on the rents at which land can be leased in future periods and the yield from these rents will tend to be higher the greater the confidence the lessees have that the amount of land leased during the lease period will not be more than OM. That confidence would obviously be weakened and the rent that could be charged in future reduced, if extra land above OM is leased during the current lease period. It is this which would tend to give lessees confidence that such extra land will not be leased. Of course, the negotiating of such rental contracts for short periods for each piece of land might be extremely costly and indeed might be so costly as to offset the gain in revenue from the limitation in the amount of land utilised. But, if not too costly, leasing would tend to ensure that only OM land was utilised. Another alternative would be for the landowner to give MQ land to someone who is less concernedabout money-makingthan he is. For example, the landowner might donate MQ land to the government to be used â€Å"in the public interest†. Some such contractual or institutional arrangementsas these would enable the landowner to charge the monopoly price. But in the absence of such arrangements,the price charged will be the competitive price. It may be thought that this argument does not apply if the permanently durable good is produced by a monopolist supplier rather than being part of nature. But this is not so. Assume that the demand schedule for this good is DD, representingthe present value of its future services for various quantities of the good. Assume that it is produced by a single firm and that marginal costs are constant. MR representsthe marginal revenue schedule and MC the 146 THE JOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS marginalcost schedule. All schedulesare shown in Figure II. Cost and demand conditions are assumed to remain the same in the future. In effect, this means that if the competitive output, OQ, is produced originally, nothing will be producedin later periods. A similar argument to that used in the case of the landowner will demonstrate that the price that this producer will charge (assuming outright sale) will not be OA, the apparentmonopolyprice, but will be OB, since the demand for his output of this good is infinitely elastic at this price up to the output OQ. Again, it is possible to introduce conditions into the contract for sale which would avoid this. An agreement not to produce any more of the good afterOM has been produced,an offer to buy back the good at any time in the future at a price just under OB, or the use of leasing rather than outright sale, would all have the effect of making it possible to charge OA (just as similararrangementswould enable the monopolist landowner to achieve the monopoly price). Figure 1T A QB CL MC 0 /l M IA ! Q M-r-rvMR ~U-lM 11 I DURABILITYAND MONOPOLY 147 Some of these arrangementsmay not be legally enforceableand, in any case, are likely to involve additional costs as against those incurredin outright sale. There is, however, an alternative which was not available to the hypothetical landownerand that is to make the good less durable. This may raise the costs of providing the stream of services affordedby the durable good, may result in charges over the future which have a present value greater than OA and a supply of services less than that affordedby OM of the durable good. Profits will also be less than they would be if this firm could sell OM at price OA. But this is not a real alternative in the absence of the various contractual arrangementsmentioned. If the durable good is produced, the output will be OQ at price OB. If a less durable good is produced, a higher price can be charged because consumers do not have to fear an increase in supply if they buy at the monopoly price. The productionof a less durable good as against a more durable good is very similar to a policy of leasing since, by making the good less durable,the producersells the services providedby the good for short periods of time (because the good wears out) whereas in leasing the same result is achieved by selling the services of a given durable good in short period segments. The reason why making a good less durable enables a producer to charge higher prices than he could if the good were extremely durable is that it makes it in his self-interest not to increase supply since, if he did this, it would tend to lead consumers to believe that he might do this again in the future, a belief which would make it impossible for him to charge the monopoly price (as was explained in the case of land for leasing). Another circumstance reinforces the conclusion that making a good less durable will enable the monopolist producer to charge a higher price. What a consumer has to fear is an increasein supply during the period in which he (or someone to whom he transfers the good) is deriving services from the good. The less durable the good, the shorter is this period. But the shorter the period that the supplierhas in which to increase supply, the greater will be the additional costs of increasing supply. Lessened durability reduces the gain from an increase in supply and thus reduces the likelihood that it will occur. The analysis up to this point has proceededon the assumption that marginal costs were constant for the durable good. It needs modification if marginal costs rise with increases in the rate of output. With constant marginal costs, production would take place in the first period and would then cease. With rising marginalcosts, productionwould extend over a period of time, although, since price would fall as the stock of the durable good increased, the rate of production would decrease as time passed. Since sales occur sequentially, in setting the price in later periods, the producer will not take into account the fall in the value of the existing stock (which is, of course, owned by others). To this extent the behaviourof the producerwill inevitably be com- 148 THE JOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS petitive in character and the stock (and price) will move towards the competitive level. Because of this, consumers will pay less (and the producer’s profits will be less), than they would if, throughan agreementas to the total quantity that could be produced or an agreement on a re-purchaseprice or through the use of leasing, production were limited to the monopoly output. Reducing the durability of the good is an alternative policy which might be more profitable (as was argued in the case of constant marginal costs). There is an additional element introduced by the fact that production will continue over a period of time. The producerwill have to consider the effect his actions have on the expectations of consumersabout his actions in future periods. He can in general be counted upon to refrain from expanding output when any gain that he might make through disappointingconsumers’expectations (if they thought he would restrict production) would be less than the loss he would suffer in future from not fulfilling them. However, there is no reason why conditions should not be such that it would always pay to disappoint consumers’expectations of a restrictionin output (if they held such expectations) and in such circumstances,output in all periods would be such as to make marginalcost equal to price (if some of the arrangementsmentioned earlierwere not used). This result is particularly likely since, in the assumed conditions of rising marginal costs, prices and production will decline over time. Even in conditions in which the producer would not wish to disappoint consumers’expectations of a restrictionin production, it is by no means easy to say how things would work out in practice since neither the producer nor the consumers would necessarily have clear, or the same, ideas about the future. A full analysis of this situation would be very complicated but could not affect the main contention of this note, that with durability some contractualor institutional arrangementof the type mentioned earlier may be a less costly and perhaps the only way of achieving a monopoly price or that reduceddurability may prove to be a better way out of the difficulty. Oneother qualification should be mentioned. The analysis up to this point has assumed that demand and cost conditions remained unchanged, in effect, that the economy was in a stationary state. The present value of any given amountof the durablegood will always take into account future demands,but if demand remains the same, the present value of its future services (for any givenamount of the durablegood) will remain the same as time passes. However,with increasing demands present values will rise and future production will be greater than has been assumed (with constant marginal costs there willbe some future productionas against none). This enhances the importance ofthe considerationsdiscussed in the previous paragraph,since the future loss fromnot restricting output will tend to be greater. Whether the expected increasein demand would be sufficient to lead the producer to restrict output DURABILITYAND MONOPOLY 149 in earlier periods depends on its extent, on the rate of discount, on the nature of the cost schedule, on whether costs are expected to increase in the meantime (and by how much) and on the confidencewith which these views about the future are held. An expected increase in demand may or may not obviate the need for the contractual arrangementsmentioned earlier (or a reduction in durability) if the monopolist producer of a durable good is to secure the monopoly price. The business practices which I have suggested as devices which a monopolist supplier might use to cope with the problem of durability may, of course, be adopted for reasons which have nothing to do with my argument. A land developer, in selling land on which houses are to be built, may agree to hold neighbouringland off the market to improve the amenities; the supplier of a durable good may agree to buy it back at some specified price in the future because consumers are willing to pay for this reduction in risk; leasing is often a less costly way for the consumer to obtain the services of a durable good; a reduction in durability may enable a supplier to provide a given stream of services at lower cost. Even when these practices are adopted to avoid the consequencesof durability on demand, they are not necessarily undesirable-an agreementnot to produce more than a certain quantity may be a necessary condition in the competitive supply of a durable good for which marginalcost is less than average cost. Nevertheless, these business practices, including reduced durability, may be essential elements in securing a monopolistic price. However, these practices have their costs and they may not, in fact, always be feasible. Furthermore,some of the contractual arrangements will not be enforceable over a long period. In such circumstances, the competitive outcome may be achieved even if there is but a single supplier.