J. Crew Company Analysis

I. Problem Definition J. Crew at Stonestown mall is having difficulty targeting San Francisco State students to shop at their store, even when J. Crew offers a 15% off discount to college students. J. Crew is a very successful brand that reaches out to young business professionals; however J. Crew, specifically at Stonestown mall, is having difficulty reaching out to the college students at San Francisco State University. J. Crew believes the students at SFSU are a smart target to reach, considering the University is located right next to the Stonestown mall. Although J. Crew believes the college students are smart target to reach, many students are unaware of the student discount they offer. Looking over J. Crew’s past marketing campaigns, they have used older looking models. When doing our research, we noticed that J. Crew’s top competitors: GAP (Banana Republic), and BCBG use younger, college age range, type of models. With this is mind, we feel that the best advertising campaign is to follow their competitors and choose younger looking models, in order to reach out to the college market. J. Crew’s competitors use fun advertising methods to reach out to a younger market. We noticed in all of GAP holiday commercials, the young models are jumping around having a good time. We get a sense of fun and playful energy from the commercial, which could draw in college students. Gap also gives off a feel of comfort, casual and trendy style in clothing for the everyday college wear. We feel that if J. Crew starts advertising with younger looking models emphasizing on basic wear of a typical college student, J. Crew may have better success at reaching out to the SFSU students. II. Advertising Objective Our main advertising objective is to gain attention of the college students. The goal of our advertising campaign is to create interest for the brand and thus to encourage college students (the target audience) to make an initial purchase of a J. Crew products. Advertisement should seek to tell the market about J. Crew’s products, emphasize the quality and fashion of the products, and last but not least build awareness of the company. We can typically employ creative advertising strategies in order to cut through other competing advertisements. III. Situational Analysis J. Crew first debuted in 1983 as a catalog only shopping experience by Arthur Cinader. Six years later he opened its first flagship store in South Street Seaport New York. J. Crew is American clothing and accessories for men and women. They recently added several line extensions such as â€Å"Crewcuts† for children ages 2-12, â€Å"J. Crew weddings and Parties†, and â€Å"J. Crew Collection† for limited edition pieces. The retailer is known for its young and preppy fashions including jeans, khaki’s, and other basics that are quite pricy and targeted to young professionals. They have 300 stores worldwide including the website and catalog. In 2003 Millard Drexler the former CEO of Gap Inc. ecame the new CEO for J. Crew by pushing service, quality and innovation to the next level. This caused so much controversy with the two companies, being that they are major competitors. J. Crew partners with the best fabric mills and craftsmen such as Jack Purcell, Timex, Thomas Mason, and Red Wing to get the best quality goods. J. Crew is continuing to exp and their retail series with specialty boutiques such as Men’s only shops that specializes in Suiting and Madewell a modernized interpretation of an American denim label founded in 1937 which targets women ages 18-40. Although we think J. Crew does good overall, the Stonestown mall wants to gain attention of the college students because they offer a student/teacher discount. The problem is many of the college students don’t shop at J. Crew because they don’t know much about it. Swot Analysis: J. Crew for the college audience Strengths †¢Over 300 stores in the United States †¢E-commerce website (convenience) †¢Discount sales ongoing †¢Multiple lines for different age categories Weaknesses †¢Too Pricey for the normal college student †¢Targeted more for the young â€Å"Business† professionals †¢No commercials aired/ Advertisements are few Opportunities Target advertisements to that particular age group †¢Possible commercial advertisement for future †¢Expand to new segments of the young market Threats †¢Increased competition of Gap Inc. †¢During the recession students do not have the luxury to spend on pricey clothing †¢Increased celebrity ad vertisement of competitors †¢More discounted sales at competitors IV. Target Audience Demographics For our advertising plan we will target young college students living in the city. These students will be mainly females, as college female students are more willing to pay good money for their clothing than male students. Because our target audience consists mostly of young college students, most will be seen as single. The typical consumer will only make about $12,000 annually or less, most with part time jobs and attending school full time. Psychographics: The psychographics of our target audience will be students living in dorms and on the campus. We will also target young adults living in apartments near college campus life. Most young students don’t mind a little shopping to help them cope with a bad grade or too much studying. These students will be found around the mall regularly and will be shopping at competing stores like GAP. These consumers will be living the college life, learning to be professional in school as well as out. They should enjoy social gatherings and night events where they can show off their style. We will target students that are often in search for discounts at high end stores, looking for long lasting quality in basic casual as well as professional clothing. They need to be able to finance their money well and buy good quality products with long durability. Profile of Typical Target Consumer †¢Female †¢18-25 years old †¢Single †¢College education †¢Part-time job †¢Aware of quality & price †¢Regular shopper †¢Sociable †¢Enjoys nightlife †¢Active in the community †¢Stylish/Fashionable †¢Full-time Student V. Consumers’ Perceptions Our consumers’ perception of the brand, J. Crew, usually entails the style they advertise in commercials and television. J. Crew can be seen as a style with practical women in finely cut business suits and overcoats. When most people visualize the company they visualize classy and professional clothing. The problem is they are not seen as the standard, like Gap, for instance, they lack the basic necessities to attract young college students. J. Crew just wants to maintain its professional status, but attract a younger crowd who are establishing their position in the real world applying and interview for jobs. When walking into the store, consumers see bright lights and a variety of fabrics and styles. The dresses range from simple around the house to dressy date-night dresses. The one-thing consumers’ can expect to see when entering J. Crew is the variety of clothing. Consumers’ can perceive clothing brands based on what they see on television, advertisements, and magazines. For instance, there was a point during the election, when Michelle Obama was wearing all J. Crew clothing. After seeing this, consumers’ then compare their own lives to the First Lady and the President. It gives off the intention that people wearing J. Crew are wealthy and extremely successful individuals. This perception is false because not everyone needs to be wealthy to afford this clothing. Many people are looking for a good way to be fashionable and professional at the same time. J. Crew provides high quality clothing for a good price. This store may seem more expensive, but price goes hand and hand with quality. College students can choose to buy cheaper clothes, but they can’t be guaranteed to last as long as higher quality fabrics. While, if they were to buy clothing from J. Crew, a high-end clothing company, their clothes would last longer and there would be no need for repurchasing products. According to youlookfab. com one of the customer’s comment on how the preppy and fashionable products were expensive, but the quality and drape were impeccable. Other opinions on J. Crew revolve around the age range of the clothing. Most people look at J. Crew as clothing for older more mature audiences. They believe it should be for women in their 40’s or older. This is a common misconception as the style is mostly for a professional look, but for a young professional style. Models often used in the J. Crew magazine, most recently, are younger looking professionals with a modern feel to them. The store has become more mainstream recently, but still continues to maintain innovative colors and ensemble combinations. J. Crew keeps their nice basics and people can often leave the house wearing their attire from head to toe. Consumers’ often perceive J. Crew as currently declining in quality and have problems with sizes and overall fit. As sizes and fit compare depending on the consumer, the fit would be made specifically for younger professionals. As for quality, our prices may have been declining, but our quality can be just as durable as before. As all retail stores were hit hard in the economy, many stores have decreased in overall price. Quality can often be an issue to those who have over worn a piece of clothing. Many customers will find J. Crew products at a rack store or a second hand store and buy them there. Even though they are usually a few years older, they still remain in good condition as if they had never been worn. This contributes to the proof of quality as well as durability in J. Crew clothing. Consumers will always find a way to agree or disagree, but the best we can do to keep those customers content is to create good quality clothing at a sufficient price, producing long lasting and stylish clothing for both professional and casual occasions. VI. The Competition Swot Analysis: GAP INC. Strengths 3,143 stores in the United States †¢518 stores Internationally (Ireland, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, France) †¢Dominants clothing market â€Å"clothes for the family† †¢Socially responsible campaigns: VOTE, (RED) aids awareness, reducing waste, and strongly concerned about supply chain †¢Lots of commercials aired daily †¢Many young celebrity endorsem ents †¢Multiple lines for different age groups (Banana, Piperlime, Old Navy, Athleta) Weakness †¢Consumers can view low prices as low quality products †¢Not fashion forward for college students more concentrated on Basics †¢Does not create a unique niche in market Opportunities †¢Continue to gain attention with popular celebrities amongst college age students †¢Continue to expand on the new denim line, with high quality fabrics †¢Started working with new upcoming designers to feature in stores at a low cost †¢Expand accessories Threats †¢H&M is a high threat for Gap Inc with low priced fashionable goods and widespread †¢Competitors lowering prices due to the economic downturn Swot Analysis: BCBG Max Azria Strengths †¢Global women’s contemporary fashion †¢9,000 stores over 45 countries and 5 continents †¢Make women look and feel beautiful Recognizable brand and customer loyalty †¢E-commerce website †¢Specializes in fashionable business attire and special occasion dresses †¢Mailers to customers> due to in-store customer database †¢Multiple lines for different age groups Weakness †¢Not to many advertisements †¢No commercials †¢Very pricy for college students Op portunities †¢Expand on advertisement †¢Expand on BCBGeneration stores (targeted to college students) and only can be found at Macy’s. Threats †¢Due to the recession consumers are looking for fashionable goods at a low price at stores such as: H&M, ZARA, and MANGO. Being mass distributed to chains such as Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Bloomingdales where they can offer sales promotions, which will deter consumers to go to actually BCBG stores. VII. The Creative Strategy A. The Single Most Compelling Benefit Our Brand Can Offer to Our Target Consumers For J. Crew, we are using a differentiation strategy using their special student discount, which makes it unique and puts it up against regular retailers whom do not offer such discounts. J. Crew offers a special student and teacher discount of fifteen percent off of all regular priced items, sale items are not included in the discount. This offer is valid for any in-store purchase until the student graduates, and all that is needed is a student identification card. In our current economic situation today, people are more conscious with their spending and hold on to tighter budgets. Luxury clothes are not as affordable as they used to be. Most consumers’ perceptions of J. Crew are that it is an expensive clothing brand. They think that they get better deals from retailers who have the same clothes for cheaper prices. As we promote J. Crew’s student discount and basic clothing items, we have a particular target market in mind. We are looking at this offer as an option or alternative for example, against the retail competition. It is an offer whose benefits are best maximized around college campuses and young professional environments. The discount solves the problem for students who want a back to school shopping spree that is easier on the budget. When we look at dollar value with regards to J. Crew, it is not just the discount itself that we are looking at but also the long-term utilization of the back to school basic items that have multi-purpose uses. So when you think of J. Crew clothing you might want to consider it as an investment, not as an expensive luxury. After all, same with any product you consider buying, you would rather put your money on quality and reliability over a cheaper product that will not last you nearly as long. What is even better about J. Crew is that it is a long term savings on your clothing budget and it will not be as affected by rising clothing prices due to its special student discount. You get more quality per dollar with J. Crew than any other clothing store. With more quality per dollar, consumers can wear their clothes for longer and consume less clothing, which means a lot of savings on their clothing budget. Consumers will feel comfortable wearing J. Crew because they know they are wearing a luxurious brand and saving money at the same time. Now consumers do not need to shop at the cheaper retailers as often as they used to and keep their money in their wallets for much longer. B. Support: Why Should College Students Shop Here? J. Crew is prominently known for being a luxurious clothing brand with higher prices. The brand features collections of men's and women's clothing, accessories, and shoes, in â€Å"classic styles† with a J. Crew â€Å"twist†. Many of the products feature luxury materials such as Italian cashmere and leather, Czech glass buttons, and British wool. J. Crew is the perfect brand to wear every day because it does the savings for you. When buying the back to school basics, you are not only using these items for a professional setting, but also in your everyday school and recreational outfits. The average college student would not normally be interested in shopping at J. Crew, but if they are informed of the college student discount and the basic clothing items that they offer, it will be more enticing to shop there. The biggest push is raising awareness of the student discount because most students are unaware of it. Since J. Crew is not advertised often, it would be most efficient to raise awareness to college students on college campuses with flyers or online through Facebook. When they become aware, it will make them interested to see what the store sells and perhaps tempt the student to visit a local store or shop online. During a visit in store or online, the consumer will notice the advertised â€Å"Back to School Basics† and special student discount emphasizing the basic clothing items. These basic clothing items will be more appealing to students who now know that they can get regular discounts on clothes that they can wear everyday for any occasion. Basic clothing items and professional items will be a great investment for the average J. Crew shopper and many others. The average J. Crew shoppers are females ranging from ages 18-49. Most of these consumers are young professionals or part of families with incomes of $60,000 and greater. The shoppers who are in the age range of 18-49 and do not necessarily have the money to regularly shop at J. Crew, should have a chance to purchase basic clothing items and young professional attire. The important idea of buying J. Crew clothing is that it can not only be worn on teachers and students at school or in everyday recreation, but also when you graduate and get a job in the real world you can still wear the clothes for casual or business attire. C. Tone of Advertising When it comes to J. Crew, consumer’s original thoughts are: expensive, elegant, and older professional. We would like to use a tone to raise awareness to college students and young professionals that would slightly alter a consumer’s thoughts. The tone that we would like to use would be young, playful, trendy, and basic. The tone would push the young professional look and â€Å"Back to Basics† slogan around back to school shopping time. J. Crew does not have commercials so implementing commercials with a young, playful, and happy tone would be most effective. These commercials would include young, professional looking adults jumping and dancing around with popular music in the background. The actors in the commercial would be wearing a mixture of basic items and professional items that are in all different colors to make the commercial appealing to the eye and promote the basics that people may not have noticed before. The idea in this would be to make J. Crew’s advertising more like GAP’s and have it start appealing to more of the college kids and young professionals. GAP’s 2009 Holiday Commercial is the perfect example of the tone J. Crew should promote. Most importantly, these advertisements and commercials need to promote money savings (such as the student/teacher discount) and â€Å"Back to School Basics†. The most important things to a college student is saving money, and looking good while doing so. If J. Crew follows this newly thought out plan, they will accomplish just that! VIII. The Creative Brief J. Crew, specifically at Stonestown mall, is having difficulty reaching out to the college students at San Francisco State University. J. Crew is mainly categorized as expensive and for an older professional. By changing their advertisement strategies to have a younger feel, we hope to gain awareness of college students at SFSU. Our advertising plan will focus on college students and young professionals. These students will be mainly females and most will be seen as single. They will make about $12,000 annually or less, most with part time jobs and attending school full time. College students usually enjoy social gatherings and night events where they can show off their style. They are looking for long lasting quality in basic casual and trendy clothes. Most college students visualize J. Crew as classy and old professional clothing. The brand is seen as expensive but college students regard J. Crew products as being high quality. The single most compelling idea we need to communicate to our target market is that fact J. Crew allows college students to wear high quality and fashionable clothes, while saving money at the same time. J. Crew is prominently known for being a luxurious clothing brand with higher prices. But the brand has also basic clothing items for the typical college student on which they can get regular discounts. Our desired brand personality/tone of J. Crew should be a young, playful, and trendy

Reading and Books Essay

Despite the vast, growing and active educational reforms continuously being modified and implemented in today’s Philippine Educational System such as MTB – MLE and K+12 education curriculum, there are still 6. 2 million Filipino youth who does not receive proper and formal education in the classroom, which includes the Out – of – school children and youth. Specifically, according to the 2010 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO) released November 2011, one out of eight Filipinos aged between 6 and 24 is an out- of- school youth(OSY). Current estimates further indicate that 7. 8 million Filipinos or 16. 2% of the population are not functionally literate. About 3. 9 million of them are out of school youth. The Philippine government defines an out –of- school youth (OSY) as someone who is not attending formal education and/or not gainfully employed in the case of youth 18 to 24 years old who have not finished college or even a technical vocational course. The government further explains that the primary reasons for these out of school youth for not attending school is poverty and lack of personal interest. On the other hand, out- of- school youth are vulnerable people who have special needs too. Nobody can deny the hard fact that education is still an extremely important factor for bringing change in the lives of these individuals. It has universally been recognized as the most powerful instrument and pre – requisite for gearing up the socio – economic development of a nation. This is why investment in education is considered to be so vital for human resource development and enhancement of the quality of manpower. In the history of humankind, there is an established fact that a certain level of literacy in population is an essential pre – requisite for precipitating the process of development in a country. It is emphasized therefore that the most active part in the socio – economic development of any country or region always consists of the adolescents. Moreover, many people have a misleading impression of the abilities and capacities of â€Å"out – of – school youth†. It is generally assumed that this group needs to re – do and re – learn the most basic literacy skills. Hence, they are marginalized and ostracized. In fact, out – of- school youths do have some experience of learning within the formal system. In addition, many of them have gained rich learning experiences from their environment and culture. Thus, basic literacy does not necessarily mean teaching literacy in its most basic forms. However, the acquired skills and knowledge need to be recognized, tapped into and enhanced. Out- of- school youths may have failed to complete their education in the formal system due to various reasons, such as socio – economic or health issues, urbanization, teacher – teaching factors or curriculum problems but UNESCO still has enumerated and emphasized the basic literacy for out – of- school youth development which involves the acquisition of the basic skills needed to cope with the complex and technological world, including IT and computer skills, communication skills – listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, critical thinking and many others. Moreover, developing the literacy of OSY’s is a complex process, which involves enhancing the knowledge and capacities that they have gained over the years and providing them with access to challenging learning opportunities. The Philippines through the initiative of the Bureau of Alternative Learning System formerly called the Bureau of Non – formal Education (BNFE) is responsible for contributing to the improvement of the poor including the out – of school youth and drop outs through literacy and continuing education programs. Its aim is to focused basic services to the more disadvantaged sections of the population to improve their welfare and contribute to human resource development. This was done to respond to the need of a more systematic and flexible approach in reaching all types of learners outside the formal school system. The Alternative Learning System (ALS) is a parallel learning system that provides a viable alternative to existing formal education instruction. It encompasses both non – formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills. Certification of learning for out – of –school youth and adults , aged 15 years and over, who are unable to gain from the formal school system and who have dropped out of formal elementary and secondary education , is ensured through the Alternative Learning System Accreditation and the Equivalency (ALS A &E) System. The system of certification is done through successful completion of the ALS and A & E test at two learning levels – elementary and secondary. Those who pass the test have to undergo counseling to explore their oppurtunities, be it a return to the formal school system or the option to enter the world of work. (UNESCO Bangkok, 2009). The ALS eSkwela program has five main learning strands: Communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving, sustainable use of resources and productivity, development of self and a sense of community, and expanding one’s world vision. Since ALS is a module-based learning system, students come in on a set time and choose a module to read. A quiz is given after each module to test their learning. Instead of teachers, facilitators are always present to answer any questions and sometimes lecturers would discuss a certain module. Apart from the major aim and objective of the system, the ALS Project was conceived to respond to many grassroots learning needs and at the same time fulfill the following key social development objectives of EFA: †¢Functional Literacy: Current estimates indicate that there are 7. 8 million Filipinos or 16. 2% of the population who are not functionally literate. About 3. 9 million of them are out of school youth. †¢Family Literacy: Many parents want to develop functional reading, writing and numeracy skills and knowledge so that they can help their children do their homework. †¢Community Participation: †¢ Continuing Education: Many people who have obtained literacy skills and want to continue learning should be given the means and tools to return to formal schooling or go on learning on their own. †¢Empowerment: Out-of-school youth and adults living in economically depressed communities need to develop communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and learning-to-learn skills and competencies which will directly help them raise their standard of living and improve their quality of life. Functional basic education should empower them with better health practices, better food, increased income, improved family life, more direct civic and community participation and more opportunities for wider life choices. It is noted that the ALS learning modules constructed by SEAMEO Innotech experts are freely chosen, used and read by the students. It is true therefore that through the skill called reading, any idea or module given to them are enlightened. On the other hand, observations show that are still many problems and issues encountered along the Reading performance and proficiency of the out – of – School Youth which includes vocabulary, comprehension, study skills and others. Even the (UIS, 2011) stated a very alarming issue that seven hundred and seventy-five million adults all over the world cannot read. Many of these OSY’s too are unemployed, underemployed adn lacks basic English language literacy skills specially reading and writing. In addition, UNESCO also emphasized that the basic English literacy skills development is too considered as a means of widening the experiences of learners and allowing them to communicate effectively in their everyday life as well as in their future lives as responsible citizens and professionals. Accordingly, woven into the framework of the basic English Literacy skills is also the development of critical thinking skills. Thinking critically would mean grasping the complexity of the world and questioning how others think in order to clarify and improve one’s own understanding. Although, schools and learning institutions clearly neglect the development of critical thinking, there is much evidence to show that students’ reading and writing abilities are linked to their ability to question facts and information. Literacy is briefly defined as the â€Å"ability to read and write†. When we think of literacy, we think of reading. But being able to read does not mean someone is necessarily a literate person. In the 21st century, literacy encompasses the skills youth and adults need to be functional in the society, including numeracy and reading and writing skills. Most learning is dependent to reading. As the learner advances in the educational ladder, more complex reading skills are required of him. Effective reading requires from an individual the ability to locate keywords in a sentence, locate the topic sentence in a paragraph and understand and interpret what is read. Reading, therefore is an important skill a child must developed in order to cope to the very fast, changing and difficulties the world offers. Of many skills it is cited that it is one of the first skill a literate person must acquire. Likewise, there were many studies and projects that responded to the many goals of ALS and UNESCO in general, specifically along the communication skills strands. One of which is the Project EASE. This study made use of a Reading Comprehension and writing composition test to assess the basic communication skills of the students. Unfortunately, there were only few qualifiers for the said program the rest did not qualify. Most of the non – qualifiers came from the lower sections where the pressure to earn was much stronger. The non – qualifier was given another chance. They were administered with an alternative cloze type of comprehension test carefully made by the SEAMEO Innotech experts. The program such as EASE was pronounced. (add facts) Another is a study on the Attributes of High School Student – qualifiers in the Accreditation and Equivalency Program (AEP) which was done as Basis for a proposed Action Program by Rarang in (1999). The study made use of the public high school students in the fourth congressional district of Pangasinan during the school year 1997 – 1998. The study was done for the purpose of creating appropriate action programs that could increase the probability of prospective PEPT examinees to qualify for promotion or year level acceleration. The result of the study revealed that out of the 86 respondents who took the 1997 PEPT only four qualified for the acceleration or promotion to the next higher level in high school. Furthermore, the research made use of the Descriptive Method with a pre and post enrollment attributes of the student – qualifier in the AEP as data gathering instrument. It was found out that there was more male drop – outs that females and their dropping age ranged from 13 to 17 years old and that before the respondents dropped out from school, the last level they completed was Grade VI. The findings of the study also revealed that the main reason for the learners dropping out is due to financial difficulty. They also vary in their performance in the last year level they attended with 89. 13% as the highest average grade and the lowest grade at 68. 25%. More so, the study discovered that the contributory factor in the acceleration and promotion of the students to the next level are their reading activities done during their free time like reading magazines, newspapers, books, pocketbooks and even their old notes. Accordingly, reading is the most important factor in achieving promotion and acceleration. Many reading researches have shown that learners and OSY’s reading skills literacy performance is always at risks. Firstly, in the second Readership Survey made by SWS survey commissioned by NBDB floated all over the Philippines revealed that reading has slightly declined in our country. Only 92 percent of the 1,200 respondents say that they read, down to two percent from the first Readership survey done in 2003. In the literacy field, comprehension is primarily identified as the goal of (Duke & Pearson, 2002; Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011). While many agrees comprehension is of utmost importance, many still argue that in this many classroom context, focusing on students’ fluency did not limit students’ development as readers, particularly for those who were asked to read aloud. The findings of this study also pointed out the importance of teachers examining the learners own perceptions about reading and reading instruction (Edwards, Martin, Protacio, & Razali,2010). Furthermore, (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Joftus, 2002) exclaimed that even among students who do graduate from highschool, inadequate reading skills are a key impediment to success in postsecondary education (American Diploma Project, 2004). Students who struggle with reading of ten lack the prerequisites to take academically challenging coursework that could lead to more wide reading and thus exposure to advanced vocabulary and content ideas (Au, 2000). The 2006 report by ACT, Inc. , Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals About College Readiness in Reading, describes even more troubling trends. Only 51% of students who took the ACT test in 2004 were ready for college-level reading demands (ACT, Inc. , 2006). The reading skill levels of the out-of-school youth population have remained  low, especially in comparison to the rising skill demands of employers. Although this report cannot summarize the changing qualifications, a number of indicators suggest a serious shortfall between the skills of out-of-school youth and job requirements. Dropouts and other out-of-school youth are reported to be unable to attain basic levels of math and reading proficiency are certainly much higher. White Paper further explains that young people leaving the educational system at 16, or more likely 19, must at least have the requisite literacy and communication skills to be employable and to be effective in life. Since reading is linked to writing, students write about what they read. Young and adults who are behind in reading and writing simply have not had as much experience reading and writing as young adults who are proficient readers and writers. Moreover, out – of- school youth who are behind have also not leaned the strategies that proficient readers and writers use to understand text and communicate their ideas in writing. This means that explicitly the strategies that proficient readers and writers use and providing guided practice are the keys to improving these skills. It has been proven that Out – of- school youth possess a broad repertoire of knowledge and skills that simply needs to be recognized, tapped into and enhanced in order for their abilities to improve. Indeed, there is a need to place a greater emphasis on developing and enhancing quality English language literacy skills training, programs and instructional materials for Out – of – School youth development. The conception of the ALS program or the Alternative Learning System is a great endeavor that caters to the needs and improvement of Out –of-School youth in the City Schools Division of Dagupan City. The ALS DEpED Dagupan City Division is one with the government in the active fulfillment of its task to reach and educate the OSY’s in the City. In fact, there have been many OSY’s who benefited from the program. Latest report says that ALS students in Region I show positive interest in this endeavor. Dagupan City Schools Division is composed of five Districts. From all over the city, there have been many Out – of –school youth coming from the 31 barangays of the city who enrolled in the said program. With the initiative of teachers and volunteers who facilitates the program, the actual teaching and learning is collectively done with the help of the module based learning materials. Furthermore, in the case study conducted by the Accreditation and Equivalency System of the Non – Formal Education Project clearly encourages service providers like educational institutions to identify and make use of variety of enriching materials both print and non – print in addition to the prescribed NFE and A & E Learning modules provided by the SEAMEO – INNOTECH. With the encouragement of the BNFE or the ALS calling to different service providers to respond and create instructional materials that the OSY’s can benefit, the researcher will study on the present Reading Comprehension Skills Levels of the Dagupeno OSY’s particularly on the Reading Comprehensions Skills Level of the ALS students presently registered and attending the regular Eskwela ALS program in the City schools division of Dagupan during the calendar year 2013– 2014 and envisions to create a Self – Learning Reading Material that will better improve and enhance the Reading Comprehension and in general proficiency of the ALS learners. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM This study aims to analyze the Reading Comprehension Skills Level of ALS students in the city schools division of Dagupan. Specifically, it will answer the following questions: 1. What is the performance of the ALS students in the reading Comprehension Test in terms of the: a. Total scores they will obtain from the Reading Comprehension Test? b. Specific scores they will obtained in the following reading Comprehension levels: Literal Reorganizational Inferential Evaluational Appreciational? 2. What is the extent of performance of the ALS students in the reading Comprehension test in terms of: a. Total scores they will obtain from the Reading Comprehension Test? scores they will obtained in the following reading Comprehension levels: Literal Reorganizational Inferential Evaluational Appreciational? 3. What instructional material will be proposed to address the reading comprehension inadequacies of the ALS students? SUBJECTS The subjects of the study will be the ALS students of the city schools division of Dagupan enrolled in the five districts of the division. There is a total of 447 ALS students in the division and they will be randomly selected from among the districts of the division. The respondents of the study will be elementary drop – outs, secondary drop – outs, non- passer of previous ALS A&E Test/s, Learners/Completers of the ALS programs and Youth and adult drop – outs. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS/ Assumptions The study will be anchored on the following assumptions: 1. The total test scores and the scores in the specific skills areas of the ALS students will reflect their reading comprehension performance. 2. The ALS students’ responses to the items in the test must truthful and accurate SCOPE AND DELIMITATION The study will be conducted to determine the reading comprehension performance and skills of the ALS students of the city schools division of Dagupan during the S. Y. 2013 – 2014. The respondents of the study will be elementary drop – outs, secondary drop – outs, non- passer of previous ALS A&E Test/s, Learners/Completers of the ALS programs and Youth and adult drop – outs in general. A constructed Reading Comprehension Test will be used as instrument in gathering data pertinent to the study. The Reading Comprehension test will be carefully validated, tabulated and interpreted to arrive at accurate and precise results that will help as basis for the creation of a self- learning reading material for ALS students. Definition of Terms The following terms are carefully defined in the context of the study to provide a common understanding and frame of reference between the researcher and the readers: Reading both a process and a product and it involves bringing the individual’s entire life experiences and thinking patterns to understand what the writer has written (Aukerman, 1981). Reading Comprehension refers to the ability to understand text read by means of constructing meaning with the use of some clues in the text and the schema or background knowledge of the reader about the text. Reading Comprehension Abilities, also referred to as reading comprehension skills, refer to the five(5) reading levels (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993) of reading comprehension, which include (1) Literal Level;(2) Reorganizational Level; (3) Inferential Level; (4) Evaluational Level; and (5) Appreciational Level. Specific Comprehension Skills refers to the specific skills that make up the different reading levels. Literal level of reading refers to the reading level that enables the students to recognized and/or recall details, main ideas, sequences, comparison, cause and effect relationships, character traits and recall author’s organization and explicitly stated information in the reading selection (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993). Reorganizational level of reading refers to the reading level that enables the student to classify or group, outline or specify, summarize and synthesize text that has been read (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993). Inferential Level of reading refers to the reading level that enables the student to infer supporting details which require the making of a hypothesis on an information that might have been included in the text; infer the main idea; infer a sequence which requires the student to make a hypothesis about what might have occurred in addition to the already explicitly stated events and making a hypothesis in events beyond completion of the text. Other skills also included are inferring, comparison, cause and effect relationships, charater traits,  author’s organization, figurative language and predicting outcomes (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993). Evaluational level of reading refers to the reading level that enables the student to make a judgment of reality and fantasy and judgment between fact and opinion (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993). Appreciational level of Reading refers to the reading level that enables the student to have emotional response to the text and determine an author’s purpose, mood, tone and point of vies (Toffelson, as cited by Tuvera, 1993). Performance is defined as a manner of functioning: the manner in which something or someone or somebody functions, operates, or behaves (Microsoft Encarta 2006. 1993 – 2005 Microsoft Corporation). In this study, it refers to the number of correct answers of the ALS students an all the specific levels of the reading comprehension test to reflect the students’ reading comprehension abilities. Extent of Performance refers to the reading comprehension abilities of the students based on a scale of scores to describe the level of reading comprehension of the ALS students. The scale will consists of three (3) levels: High , for scores equivalent to 75 percent – 100 percent; Moderate, for scores equivalent to 50 percent – 74 percent; and Low, for scores equivalent to at most 49 percent of the total point and of their points in the different specific reading comprehension skills areas. Total Scores obtained refers to the raw scores of the students which will correspond to the number of the correct answers of the ALS students in the reading comprehension test. Specific scores obtained refers to the raw scores of the learners in the different specific skill areas which correspond to the number of correct answers of the students in the specific skill areas. Self – Learning Reading Activities are activities involving processes which will enhance the reading performance and improve the five levels of reading comprehension of the ALS students . It also encourages students to gain more interest in reading with the aid of the designated activities. Analysis refers to the process of categorizing the performance of the students in the reading comprehension test in its totality and in the specific reading skills according to the extent of their performance. Out – of School Youth ALS ALS Learners ALS Implementers Conceptual Framework The objective of all readers should be comprehension of what they read. Comprehension is understanding. Understanding involves abilities to explain, interpret, apply, have perspective, empathize, and have self – knowledge (Wiggins and Mctighe,1998). Reading is both a process and a product ant it involves bringing the individual’s entire life experiences and thinking patterns to understand what the writer has written (Aukerman, 1981). When good decoders have problems with comprehension, they need help in developing language proficiency and listening comprehension. Teachers can help them develop the corresponding skills by combining vocabulary and comprehension strategy instruction with encouragement to enhance their reading of different materials Dymock, 1993). Reading comprehension can be effected by background knowledge. This concept is proved that when readers possess rich prior knowledge about the topic of a reading material, they often understand the reading material better than readers with low prior knowledge. That said, readers couldn’t always relate their world knowledge to the content of a text because they are not able to, even when they possess knowledge relevant to the information it presents. Often, they do not make inferences based on prior knowledge unless the inference are absolutely demanded to make sense of the text (Mckoon % Ratcliff, 1992). The study is anchored on the core concept that reading difficulties encountered by learners can be addressed by an appropriate learning material in the form of a self – learning reading material which will address their difficulties to be assessed using the reading comprehension test. Research Paradigm Figure 1. Paradigm of the study Figure 1 above illustrates the prerequisites in the development of a Self – Learning Reading Materail to improve the reading comprehension ability of ALS learners in the city schools division of Dagupan. CHAPTER II Review of Related Literature and Studies This chapter presents studies and literature which are seen to be significant that can give light to the completion and conduct of the research. FOREIGN Educational research has become a global enterprise, with researchers recognizing the need to be aware of educational practices in other countries. Burbules (2002) notes that this international context makes possible the sharing of knowledge and experience gained in relation to reform and evaluation in different countries. Recent studies show that seven hundred and seventy-five million adults cannot read (UIS, 2011). According to the study conducted by Glewwe and Kremer, (2006 ) a major factor in the poor reading problem is the poor quality of public schools in developing countries. Many peoples understanding of the educational production function, however, is still limited. Providing resources to schools with no other inputs rarely improves overall student performance and that if resources are paired with a larger array of inputs, students’ test scores do improve, he exclaimed. Unfortunately, the exact kind of additional support is necessary to make additional resources effective. For reading in particular, a number of studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of large comprehensive changes. Banerjee et al. (2007) studies an Indian remedial education program. The intervention itself causes students’ reading skills to improve, but because the intervention changes the educational environment along multiple dimensions – additional teachers, new pedagogical methods, new curriculum, changes to organization of the classroom, and additional resources – it is impossible to identify which components are necessary. In addition, a Case Study of Reading Instruction in a Philippine Classroom was also conducted by Protacio and Sarroub, (2013) where the reading practices in a public and high-achieving 6th grade English classroom in the Philippines were used as subjects of the study. The study utilized a four resources model, the different roles that students assume in this classroom was also clearly discussed. The students in the class are describe mainly as code breakers and text users and have limited opportunities to assume the other two roles of the four resources model. The study also provides a different view of reading, specifically a view of a culture of reading wherein higher status is given to oral reading performance rather than comprehension. The results of the study further revealed that reading is perceived as an oral performance activity by Filipino students because reading aloud is used frequently to negotiate the lack of resources in Philippine public schools. Comprehension does not matter as much to these students; rather, they are concerned with how they are perceived as oral readers in English, which is their second language. The case study findings provide a different view of reading, specifically a view of a culture of reading wherein higher status is given to oral performance rather than comprehension or fluency. The data also reveals that the predominant emphasis on oral performance satisfies only two roles or family of practices in the â€Å"four resources model of reading†: code breakers and text users. All of the students in the pilot section were not afforded opportunities by the teacher to fully engage with the four resources, as the class focused mostly on oral recitation as the main indicator for reading well. Students in this class infrequently assumed the role of meaning-makers and text analysts (Luke & Freebody, 1999; Underwood, Yoo, & Pearson, 2007). Instead, both students and teacher privileged correct pronunciation and reading correctly aloud—getting the accent right determined who the best students were in the class. Though, Philippine literacy scholars have commented on the emphasis on performance and reading aloud. Maminta (1982) discusses how reading as a subject was relegated to the background as the curriculum emphasized speech improvement with most of the class time being spent on pattern drills, mimicry, and memorization. Even though Maminta’s article focuses on speech improvement as being the emphasis three decades ago, it seems that it still characterizes classroom practice in the Philippines today. In the pilot section, the students themselves seemed to be the ones placing the emphasis on speech improvement. In the literacy field, comprehension is primarily identified as the goal of reading (Duke & Pearson, 2002; Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011). While many agrees that comprehension is of utmost importance, many still argues that in this classroom context, focusing on students’ fluency did not limit students’ development as  readers, particularly for those who were asked to read aloud. What we do feel strongly about is the importance of providing all students opportunities to assume the role of readers in this classroom by giving all students a chance to read aloud in class. However, we noticed that, sadly, this was not the case. The findings of this study also point to the importance of teachers examining their own perceptions about reading and reading instruction (Edwards, Martin, Protacio, & Razali,2010). Moreover, Reading fluency is the point at which beginning readers rely less on the phonemic decoding to recognize individual words and begin to recognize whole words, allowing for an increase in reading speed and comprehension. Meyer and Felton (1999), for example, define fluency as â€Å"the ability to read connected text rapidly, smoothly, effortlessly, and automatically with little conscious attention to the mechanics of reading, such as decoding. † Also, a study on the Effective Reading Programs for Middle and High School synthesized by Slavin, Cheung, Groff and Lake was published in 2009. This is a collection of many reading programs that systematically reviewed research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading of middle and high school students: specifically on the (1 ) reading curricula, (2) mixed-method models (methods that combine large and small-group instruction with computer activities), (3) computer-assisted instruction, and (4) instructional-process programs (methods that focus on providing teachers with extensive professional development to implement specific instructional methods). The collective synthesized study found out that students who enter high school with poor literacy skills face long odds against graduating and going on to postsecondary education or satisfying careers.

Carl Gauss Essays - Differential Geometers, Number Theorists

Carl Gauss Carl Gauss was a man who is known for making a great deal breakthroughs in the wide variety of his work in both mathematics and physics. He is responsible for immeasurable contributions to the fields of number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy, and optics, as well as many more. The concepts that he himself created have had an immense influence in many areas of the mathematic and scientific world. Carl Gauss was born Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, on the thirtieth of April, 1777, in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick (now Germany). Gauss was born into an impoverished family, raised as the only son of a bricklayer. Despite the hard living conditions, Gauss's brilliance shone through at a young age. At the age of only two years, the young Carl gradually learned from his parents how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet. Carl then set to teaching himself how to read by sounding out the combinations of the letters. Around the time that Carl was teaching himself to read aloud, he also taught himself the meanings of number symbols and learned to do arithmetical calculations. When Carl Gauss reached the age of seven, he began elementary school. His potential for brilliance was recognized immediately. Gauss's teacher Herr Buttner, had assigned the class a difficult problem of addition in which the students were to find the sum of the integers from one to one hundred. While his classmates toiled over the addition, Carl sat and pondered the question. He invented the shortcut formula on the spot, and wrote down the correct answer. Carl came to the conclusion that the sum of the integers was 50 pairs of numbers each pair summing to one hundred and one, thus simple multiplication followed and the answer could be found. This act of sheer genius was so astounding to Herr Buttner that the teacher took the young Gauss under his wing and taught him fervently on the subject of arithmetic. He paid for the best textbooks obtainable out of his own pocket and presented them to Gauss, who reportedly flashed through them. In 1788 Gauss began his education at the Gymnasium, with the assistance of his past teacher Buttner, where he learned High German and Latin. After receiving a scholarship from the Duke of Brunswick, Gauss entered Brunswick Collegium Carolinum in 1792. During his time spent at the academy Gauss independently discovered Bode's law, the binomial theorem, and the arithmetic-geometric mean, as well as the law of quadratic reciprocity and the prime number theorem. In 1795, an ambitious Gauss left Brunswick to study at Gottingen University. His teacher there was Kaestner, whom Gauss was known to often ridicule. During his entire time spent at Gottingen Gauss was known to acquire only one friend among his peers, Farkas Bolyai, whom he met in 1799 and stayed in touch with for many years. In 1798 Gauss left Gottingen without a diploma. This did not mean that his efforts spent in the university were wasted. By this time he had made on of his most important discoveries, this was the construction of a regular seventeen-gon by ruler and compasses. This was the most important advancement in this field since the time of Greek mathematics. In the summer of 1801 Gauss published his first book, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, under a gratuity from the Duke of Brunswick. The book had seven sections, each of these sections but the last, which documented his construction of the 17-gon, were devoted to number theory. In June of 1801, Zach an astronomer whom Gauss had come to know two or three years before, published the orbital positions of, Ceres, a new "small planet", otherwise know as an asteroid. Part of Zach's publication included Gauss's prediction for the orbit of this celestial body, which greatly differed from those predictions made by others. When Ceres was rediscovered it was almost exactly where Gauss had predicted it to be. Although Gauss did not disclose his methods at the time, it was found that he had used his least squares approximation method. This successful prediction started off Gauss's long involvement with the field of astronomy.On October ninth, 1805 Gauss was married to Johana Ostoff. Although Gauss lived a happy personal life for the first

Windows Communication Foundation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Windows Communication Foundation - Essay Example The essay "Windows Communication Foundation" describes the opportunities of windows communication foundation usage - the main part of the .NET Framework. Microsoft developed WCF as a set of business standards to define service communications. However basically, WCF is a small method used in new .NET, as a method of writing computer applications. However, we can take benefit of built-in characteristics service hosting, asynchronous calls, instance management, reliability, synchronization, disconnected queued calls, transaction management, security plus rising technologies similar to cloud computing, and the Windows Azure. Windows Communication foundation includes service-oriented architecture standards to uphold distributed computing where services are dedicated to clients. The clients are able to make use of multiple services, as well as services, are able to be consumed by multiple clients. Additionally, a service endpoint is the main element of a constantly obtainable service hosted by IIS, or it can be a service hosted by a system application. In addition, an endpoint can be a client of a service that requests data from a service endpoint. The communication messages are distributed as easily as a single word or character transmitted like XML, or like complex as a stream of binary data. WCF comprises the following group of features like service orientation, interoperability, multiple message patterns, service metadata, security, multiple transportations and encodings, transactions, AJAX and REST Support and extensibility.

Corrections Trend Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corrections Trend Evaluation - Essay Example In analyzing the future philosophies of corrections it is important to distinguish between the federal and state level. States have legislative power and have been able to take much broader actions in reducing their prison populations. States generally will apply one of three philosophies; relocating inmates and the use of halfway housing or community detention, allowing inmate’s credit as time served for good behavior or participation in certain programs, and modifying criminal statutes and sentencing (United States Government Accountability Office,2012, p 32). Many federal sentences are mandatory minimum sentences with no parole as the Bureau of Prisons does not have the authority to modify the inmate’s sentence. They are also without authority to move federal inmates to community corrections or transfer them to local prisons or supervised release more so than what is federally allowed. Possible future actions that are being considered by the Bureau of Prisons at the federal level are several options that policy makers have begun to consider to address the crowding in the federal system. One option is to minimize and reduce the projected size of the inmate population by reforming current sentencing laws and allowing alternatives to incarceration while also providing the Bureau of Prisons greater flexibility in sentencing. A second option is to increase the capacity of the federal system, in essence keeping up with the demand and the projected growth of the demand by the construction of new prisons, increasing staffing levels, and contracting for increased private capacity. A third option is a combination of the first two and would likely be the most successful philosophy to utilize in order to negate and reduce many of the side effects of the current and projected overcrowding. It is estimated that 60% of federal inmates are non-violent offenders. The suggestion of some is that many of these are white collar crimes and instead of

Law - Devolution Scheme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law - Devolution Scheme - Essay Example Firstly, the departmental responsibility has been divided and unsettled (House of Commons 2009). This is a clear suggestion of the downfall of the scheme. Clarification of where the responsibility of the system of devolution lies in the following things. Firstly, the coherence of the system must be maintained as a whole. The constitutional issues should be dealt with only when the need arises. Additionally, the mutual relationship between the Whitehall departments and the devolved administrations should not be replaced. Furthermore, the government of the UK should not be recentralized in the breaching of the sole purpose of devolution. Failure t act to the suggestions implicated above means that the devolution scheme will be scraped off and a federal United Kingdom created in which the responsibility of each department will be enforced in a written constitution. Questions have also risen as to whether the devolved governments, which are a part of the United Kingdom, should have indiv idual Secretaries of the State in the Cabinet (Raco 2003). The relationships which exist between the administrations which are continuing to mature, the Secretary of State’s role has continued to decrease. This has raised questions and it has created need that the separation of the offices must be put forward. Any suggestion to change the role of the Secretary of State for Wales must put in to consideration that the process is still new. If individuals Secretaries of the State are created in the cabinet, this will force the devolution scheme to be scrapped of and a federal system of government will be introduced in which individual secretaries of the states exist. According to Morelli and Seaman (2007), the devolution process of the United Kingdom in terms of both income and social inclusion does not have any income equality. An instance of the inequality in income of devolution can be seen in the two most established instances of devolution. That is Scotland and Wales. Accor ding to a survey done by the British Household Panel, its data suggests that devolution appears to have had no discernable force on inequality on income (Wright 2005). This type of weakness might also lead to a federal government or a union government. This will enable each state to concentrate on its income equality. The United Kingdom will no longer have powers to grant statutory powers to the other countries. This is an implication that a union state will have to be introduced or a federal government introduced. The issue of the constitution of the UK being an ever changing character may also result to the failure of the devolution scheme. Instead of possessing a single document, many statutes of the Parliament exist. The parliament is usually made up of the queen, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons habitually has the legislations’ weight (Bradley & Ewing 2003). If any changes are to be done to the constitution concerning the devolution schem e, all the parties involved must be questioned. In order to eradicate the fact that House of Commons and the United Kingdom legislature having all the statutory powers, this means that a union state will be introduced

There is a relationship between being a victim of cyberbullying and Essay

There is a relationship between being a victim of cyberbullying and adolescent emotional well-being - Essay Example Literature has denoted that cyber bullying potential effects upwards of 50% of all student aged individuals at some point in their lives. With such a high percentage of impact, it is reasonable to assume that tangential impacts and other causation’s can be affected as a result of this particularly negative behaviour. Litanies of studies have pointed to the fact that cyber bullying has a negative impact upon health, development, and emotional capacity. However, fewer studies have focused upon the direct linkages between cyber bullying and the overall prevalence of depression or low self-esteem.1 As such, the following analysis to engage with these variables and determine whether or not this linkage can fairly and accurately be assumed. Through an engagement with the study in question and an understanding of existing research into the field of human psychology and the impacts of bullying, it is the hope of this author that the researcher can come to a more definitive understandi ng of the impacts that these metrics have upon the student. Tangentially, an even greater hope is that a greater understanding of cyber bullying can assist the researcher in gathering key information that can ultimately be utilized to seek to diminish this type of behaviour; in light of the fact that it has an extraordinarily adverse impact upon the emotional health, outlook, development, and wellbeing of the individual. For purposes of clarity, the methodology that was employed within this particular analysis was originally gathered by Bonnie Barber in Australia. As such, the reports that she collected helped to quantify and categorize the overall levels of depression and self-esteem that were exhibited within groups of students that were both subject to cyber bullying and those that were not. The participants included within this particular data set that were

Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Business Plan - Essay Example It serves as a â€Å"bridge way† to three continents Europe, Asia and Africa. It boasts of an educated English-speaking population, moderate living costs, good airlines and telecommunication connections (US Department of State. 2007). Cyprus Financial Limited’s objectives are to make an equal and fair profit in the business-to-business and business-to-consumer financial services industry. This goal is to be reached by attaining the numbers presented in the sales forecast and financial plan topics. 1. Selling and Marketing Power – The services company’s products are made attractive in order to maintain a certain percentage of clients. CFL demonstrates a successful approach in converting its reputation into an excellent brand to ensure the conversion of its clients’ knowledge into their intellectual property, thus creating value for its clients. 2. Create multiple opportunities from a single line of expertise – Cyprus Financial Limited is able to leverage from a single pool of expertise into multiple revenue generation opportunities: business development, market development, personal financial planning, corporate management services, and tax and financial consulting. Cyprus is now living in an interesting era: the process of change from the "old economy" to the "global new economy" brings a tremendous development growth of e-commerce, mobility of capital, and liberalization to the region. Since the new global economy brings new economics, new market structures, new industry structures, and new company structures, the profile of customers has also changed. Customers have evolved from "solution demander" to "value demander," and from "clients† to â€Å"business partners†. CFL is a Private Limited Company and shall be headed by a Director, with two full time Account Managers. These account managers will handle all end-to-end processes, from sourcing clients to providing financial consultancy services, and shall report directly to the Director.

Gallery review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Gallery review - Essay Example The painting is done oil on canvas. The size of the painting is 18 3/8 inches x 21 Â ¾ inches. The overall work is proportionally correct even though the second lady who is sitting is disproportionate in structure. One cannot find out whether she is sitting on a bed sheet or if she has a comforter on her lap. The two ladies are the focal point in the portrait. The work is balanced as the painter as used dark and light colors both. However, It is noticed that the lady who is wearing the black dress has the dark background whereas the second lady is also wearing a dark dress but the background color is light which makes one wonder whether the colors schemes should be less vibrant in order to have a balanced portrait. The color schemes are vibrant. It is a very colorful image. The artist has used warm colors and tried using contrasting colors that make the characters of the painting stand out in the portrait (Gardini). One of the formal characteristics identified in the painting is that the artist has not emphasized on the hair of the two women. One can only tell that the characters are women while looking at the shape of the dresses. Moreover, the expressions of both the women are not intense. While looking at the portrait, it would be difficult to estimate the mood of the women, which should be an essential part of the painting. However, the vibrant colors are the main attraction of the portrait. The main function of the piece is to represent women in vibrant and colorful colors. It shows two women who may be enjoying a leisure time with each other in a garden or a place where there is beauty and they are thinking or talking to each other

Examine an episode of the Colbert Report through the lens of Geoffrey Essay

Examine an episode of the Colbert Report through the lens of Geoffrey Baym's article on discursive integration - Essay Example Baym examines The Daily Show as an example of this hybrid format stating how The Daily Show new format has spark a new genre, of hybrid of many, and has become an important part of the media. As a show that is packed with lots of comedy satire but still disseminates real news, The Colbert Report is a hybrid. It opens with a serious news opening, then shows him running and jump carrying a flag. Then, the camera pans to the audience, who are clapping and cheering. Similar to TDS starts of serious shows, the show then moves to some more like a late-night show with audience cheering. Typical Colbert shows include mock reportage on political events, using a strong degree of sarcasm and irony to mock traditional news programs that claim to be â€Å"fair and balanced,† but really are not. This use of satire can be favorably compared to Baym’s idea of â€Å"The Daily Show’s† John Stewart, as another show which acts to criticize the very object of culture which it is serving up to the people. Both shows use the trappings and production values of real news programs in a subversive, surreal manner. The first segment of The Colbert Report, like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, focuses on news updates on current events. Both shows share many similarities in this segment. They both incorporate a great deal of comedy satire into the news while taking aspects from both late-night shows and comedy shows (Baym, 263). Another great example of the similarities between these shows is that the hosts provide subjective nature on the subject. As Baym points out in his essay, Stewart â€Å"instead engages in subjective interrogation† going against all normal journalist standards (265). In the episode of The Colbert Report used by the current investigation, Stephen displays his subjective nature while talking to Arturo Rodriguez on immigration, or

Mary Kay ash speech outline Essay Example for Free

Mary Kay ash speech outline Essay Faith first family second and career third perseverance and dedication to these principal took Mary Kay Ash to be named the greatest female entrepreneur in American history by Baylor University (Notable biographies) a lady never reveals her age Mary Kay Date of birth unknown Excelled in school Married at 17 had three children son is now owner of the company after her death in 2001 Three things Mary Kay is most known for her generosity her legacy and her drive (Her generosity) (Mary Kay tribute) Mary Kay hoped that anyone who did business with the company would be richer for it, not only financially but also spiritually. She built her business on the golden rule and the go give spirit with honesty and integrity as cornerstones (Mary Kay tribute) (Entrepreneur ) Believing it was important to reward hard workers Mary Kay has given away over 9000 cars to their consultants, from red Grand Ams to pink Cadillacs. Mary Kay also founded the Mary Kay charitable foundation which included programs devoted to the prevention of violence against women. (Notable biographies) She helped raise money for cancer research and in 1993 she was honored with the dedication of the Mary Kay Ash Center for Cancer immunotherapy research at St. Paul medical center in Dallas (Her legacy) (Mary Kay Ash tribute). Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around their neck that says make me feel important, not only will you  succeed in business but also in life (Mary Kay Ash) This attitude That she portrayed made her known world wide Even after her death in 2001 Mary Kay was honored as the greatest female entrepreneur in American history by a panel of Business historians Mary Kays goal for providing women an unlimited opportunity for personal and financial success still drives the company today. (Mary Kay tribute) (Her drive) (Notable biographies). Her drive was her belief Womens abilities And her willingness to provide opportunities for hundreds of thousands of women worldwide (Entrepreneur website) Today there are more than 500,000 sales consultants in 29 countries, generating more than $2 billion a year When asked what her biggest accomplishment was Mary Kay said The legacy of a whole community of children who believe they can do anything in this world because they watched their mama do it

How Mary Rowlandsons Puritan Beliif Influenced Her Narrative of Her Captivity Essay Example for Free

How Mary Rowlandsons Puritan Beliif Influenced Her Narrative of Her Captivity Essay Some people are just better suited for things and situations then others. If you want a really hard math equation done maybe you should look in the depths of the library. If you need help moving into a new house and are moving heavy stuff go to the nearest weight room. Everyone, for the most part, is usually good for something. In this narrative, religion is everywhere.With verse after verse being quoted from the Bible. Some people have many Gods while most have one reining all-powerful being. In the case of Mary Rowlandson, I believe her being a puritan and having the strong puritan beliefs made her more suitable for dealing with the trails she was about to face then say a everyday church goer. Being the wife of a preacher it shows in the text Mary was solidly grounded in her faith making and well knowledgeable See more: how to start a narrative essay introduction The Puritan Belief is one that was quite popular in the colonies at that time. Major Puritan beliefs are taken seriously. A Puritan had to be a hard worker, be honest about everything and to be able to be self sufficient even though they believed that life on this earth was of little importance, that they shouldn’t worry too much because life is temporary. That all people’s faith is already predetermined from the second they were born. From Mary’s point of view she was very obedient to her husband. The Father was the backbone of Puritan households; he had control over everything and led the family financially and spiritually. In the start of Mary’s captivity she is living in Lancaster with her family when the natives attack them. Almost everyone on the village is brutally killed or wounded or taken into captivity and bargained for goods from the colonist for their lives. Mary’s family members were either killed or wounded. She witnessed the brutality of the Indians as she describes in one man in her village wounded in the ground begging for his life and the natives ripped him naked and removed all his bowels (Salisbury, p.68). Now separated from all but her very wounded daughter the natives begin to take them northwest. Eventually her daughter, Sarah, passes away from her injuries. This trail in Mary’s life for many people would spell doom. I don’t think if Mary were a devout Puritan she would have not survived the hardship of losing her daughter plus the abuse of being a captive to the natives. Even with her strong faith Mary writes about her waning faith, the bitterness in her heart and intense sadness she is feeling During this time Mary describes the natives of being like demons. Workers for the evil doings of Satan (Salisbury, p.71). That the natives are more then just enemies of war but enemies of the Christian faith and the spread of the goodness of God. Saying many times over she yearns for the company of fellow Christians. While writing this narrative Mary constantly revaluates her faith. Even saying at one point after the death of her daughter then she has not been showing the lord enough attention on the Sabbath. Saying at one time â€Å"The next day was the Sabbath: then I remembered how many Sabbaths I had lost and misspent, and how evilly I had walked in Gods sight†(Salisbury, p.74). Mary realizes that she must keep her faith if she is going to survive this ordeal. She always quotes scripture to understand or squander any obstacle she faces. Even in the smallest things she quotes scripture, while walking she simply slips a quotes a Psalm, â€Å"When my foot slipped, thy mercy, O Lord, help me up†(Salisbury, p.96). Reinforcing her puritan beliefs that God had a plan for her. That everything that was happening to her was in an already predetermined plan. God though seems from my point of view was watching over Mary. When her wounds are worsening she happens to run into a British man that had similar injuries and showed her how to heal them. During one of the Indians raids on the Medfield colony, one of the natives recovered a Bible that they allowed Mary to read(Salisbury, p.76). When she needed food somehow she found a way to get food or some was provided for her. King Philip is a tribal leader that even though the war bears his name is not so violent him-self and makes Mary’s survival chances brighter. Mary gets word from a man that her husband is alive and she gets to see her children which gives her hope that she will live with them again. All these things some small some larger made God seem present with her. Mary knows the Puritan belief requires them to be self-sufficient. She foraged for nuts and grain and started sewing to trade for either meals or goods like tobacco, which she could sell. Mary is always honest with the natives. Never ling to them about her plans or what she thought. Mary Rowlandson’s narrative on this story did show me how during rough times during the early colonies these religious puritans held strong. Though some beliefs of the new bay puritans may be drastic if seems it was the perfect religion for that time. Throughout the story Mary is tempted with signs of rescue but never truly curses God or defiles him. Personally Mary’s story is very similar to Jobs, who she quotes one or twice, in which God allows Satan to bring many hardships on him to challenge his faith because Satan believe since God blesses Job with many things when all is taken from him he will abandon God and curse him. Job never does though saying to his wife, â€Å"Shall we only except the good things from God and not the Bad?† Mary’s perseverance eventually leads to her release and she is reunited with most of her family. Her Puritan belief kept her mentally and spiritually prepared for what she had to go through and inspired her to write such a powerful story of faith and hope.

Anti-tumour Immunity through GP-100-TLR Agonist Conjugation

Anti-tumour Immunity through GP-100-TLR Agonist Conjugation Enhancing anti-tumour immunity through gp-100-TLR agonist conjugation. Introduction Soluble cancer vaccines remain an area of high interest to researchers with the ability to enhance immune responses against present cancers and induce protective immunity against future cases. In developing new vaccines finding ways to increase the immunogenicity of cancer antigens is a major challenge(1-3). The addition of Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists is one strategy which can successfully boost immune cell activation and response to cancer antigens. By stimulating TLRs, these agonists increase expression of several co-stimulatory molecules on antigen presenting cells (APCs) such as CD80/86 and CD40(4-6).They also increase tumour peptide loading onto type 1 2 Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins. Together this leads to greater activation of tumour-specific effector immune cells such as CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells resulting in increased tumour clearance via their cytotoxic activity. Vaccine formulations which have included antigen and TLR agonists as a mixture have had pro mising results with many in clinical trials(4, 7, 8). Despite this, few have assessed the effect of chemically conjugating these constituents, a strategy which could increase efficiency of both TLR activation and peptide loading onto MHC(9-12). Many conjugation strategies that do exist today capitalise on the use of pH and redox sensitive linkers. Differences in pH and redox environments intracellularly enable triggerable release of these vaccines whilst protecting antigen and agonist from degradation extracellularly where they are administered. Research into the use of Glutathione-sensitive disulphide linkers has demonstrated that the immune response to model antigen Ovalbumin'(OVA) could be increased through linkage to the TLR agonist, CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN)(10, 11). Our research aims to repeat this using both stable and reversible linkers as well as a more clinically relevant, tumour associated antigen (TAA) called gp-100 expressed on melanomas. In addition, we aim to ass ess the effectivity of different TLR agonists within conjugates including Polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) and two different classes of CpG ODNs, B and C respectively. Each of these agonists activate different signalling pathways within antigen presenting cells leading to unique cytokine profiles and T-cell responses. Poly I:C for example, is a potent activator of TLR3 which activates the TRIF pathway inducing release of type 1 interferons such as IFN Beta(6, 13, 14). This increases MHC-I expression and stimulates a Th1 type immune response which favours cell-mediated immunity including CD8+ T-cell activation. In comparison, CpG class B and C stimulate TLR 9 activating the MYD88 pathway and release of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-17. This results in enhanced CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, B cell activation and antibody production(10, 11, 15). Both types of response have potential to give clinical benefit in different ways highlighting the potential of these conju gates in tumour treatment. Finally, we will also assess how the composition of the TAA effects its presentation on MHC. To assess this, a smaller Gp-100 peptide which does not require intracellular processing will be compared to a longer peptide requiring processing. This project will assess which conjugates enhance anti-tumour responses in mice and how they achieve this looking specifically at Dendritic cell activation and CD8+ T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. Hypotheses In terms of CD8+ responses, T cell proliferation and cytokine release, I hypothesize that Poly I:C reversibly linked to processed gp-100 will be the most effective inducing a strong Th1 response and IFN-B cytokine release. This is because Poly I:C stimulates several intracellular signals in addition to TLR3 including RIG-1 and MDA-5. This would lead to increased release of proinflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-12, IL-1B and IFN-B. Specifically the release of IFN-B would induce a strong anti-viral-like Th1 T cell response through increased expression of MHC-1 molecules on APCs and inducing release of IFN-Y, TNF-A and IL-2 from CD4+ T cells. As well as this factor, TLR3 is exclusively expressed on myeloid dendritic cells, the most effective dendritic cell subset in presenting antigen, and not expressed on plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Secondly, I Hypothesize that CpG class C will induce the most cytokine production in dendritic cells including the cytokines IL-6, IL-12, IFN-A and IL-1B. CpG molecules stimulate TLR9 which is expressed in the endolysosomal compartment of plasmacytoid dendritic cells exclusively. As a dendritic cell subset, plasmacytoid DCs are well known for their proinflammatory cytokine production at levels much higher than other DC subsets. CpG class C in particular stimulates the release of IFN-a in addition to IL-6, IL-12 etc. stimulating both a Th1 response and a B cell response. Aims and objectives Aims Produce gp-100-CpG ODN and gp-100-Poly I:C reversible and stable conjugates with either processed or non-processed Gp-100 peptides Measure dendritic cell subset activation through expression of MHC-II, CD40 and CD86 molecules and cytokine release (IL-12, IL-6, IL-1B, IFN-A and IFN-B ) Measure Tumour specific T cell activation (CD4+ and CD8+), proliferation using carboxyfluorecein succinimidyl ester (CSFE) and cytokine release (IFN-Y, IL-2,TNF-A) Methods The proposed project for the year will focus on three main objectives 1) Produce gp-100-CpG ODN and gp-100-Poly I:C reversible and stable conjugates with either processed or non-processed Gp-100 peptides. First, we will modify free amino groups on the lysine residues of each gp-100 peptide (processed amino acid sequence: KVPRNQDWL vs unprocessed: CAVGALKVPRNQDWLGVPRQL) and TLR agonists (suspended in a modification buffer ph. 8). Then we will link these together with either the stable linker (HYN) or the reversible linker (HYN-SS) in a ph. 6 conjugation buffer separately. Product concentration after each individual modification step will be measured using Nanodrop1000 at 280 m after desalting excess product using vivspin 500 filter. Final product conjugation will be confirmed using the reversed phase liquid chromatograph at the School of Pharmacy which will allow us to visualise each individual product according to their differing polarities, and quantify their ratio. Our second objective is to Measure dendritic cell subset activation through expression of MHC-II, CD40 and CD86 molecules and cytokine release (IL-12, IL-6, IL-1B, IFN-B, IFN-A). To achieve this, we will isolate bone marrow cells from C57BL/6 mice and treat with GM-CSF to produce CD11c+ dendritic cells. These will then be treated with either individual TLR agonists, TLR agonist-gp100 mixtures or TLR agonist-gp100 conjugates (reversible or non-reversible). After 24hrs of treatment these cells with be stained with fluorescent antibodies for CD80, CD40, CD11C, and MHC-II, viewed on the Gallios flow cytometer in Pathology and analysed using Kaluza software. This experiment will be repeated at least three times to enable statistical analysis, which will be performed using Graph Pad prism software. Cytokine release from these cells will be measured using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for IL-6, IL-12, IFN-B and IFN-a. Our third objective is to Measure Tumour specific CD3+ T cell: activation (CD8+), proliferation (CSFE) and cytokine release (IFN-Y, IL-2). This will be achieved through isolation of splenocytes from Pmel (T-cells specific to gp-100) transgenic mice and sorting of CD8+ cells using the Automacs machine at Pathology. These cells will then be stained using CSFE and co-cultured separately with C57BL/6 BMDCs treated according to objective 2. After 72hrs cells will be analysed using the Gallios flow cytometer to measure T-cell activation (CD3+) and proliferation (CSFE). To measure cytokine release, cell cultures will undergo an ELISA for IFN-Y and IL-2. Proposed Budget Mice C57BL/6 x 10 @ $50 each$500 PMEL x 10 @ $50 each$500 Antibodies CD86-PE$300 CD11c-APC$300 CD40-PECy7$300 CD8a-APC$300 CD3-PE$300 MHC-I$300 MHC-II FITC$300 Cell culture reagents IMDM Media$400 Foetal calf serum$500 Cytokine detection Cytokine detection kit$2000 Conjugation reagents S4FB Linker$450 S-SS-4FB Linker$350 S-HYNIC cross linker$850 2-Hydrazinopyradine.dihydrochloride$450 2-Sulphobenzaldehyde$450 CpG class B$500 CpG class C$500 Poly I:C$500 Vivspin filters$200 Total$9250 References 1.Obeid JM, Hu Y, Slingluff CL. Vaccines, adjuvants and dendritic cell activators Current Status and Future Challenges. Seminars in oncology. 2015;42(4):549-61. 2.Guo C, Manjili MH, Subjeck JR, Sarkar D, Fisher PB, Wang X-Y. Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines: Past, Present and Future. Advances in cancer research. 2013;119:421-75. 3.Schlom J. Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines: Current Status and Moving Forward. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2012;104(8):599-613. 4.Kaczanowska S, Joseph AM, Davila E. TLR agonists: our best frenemy in cancer immunotherapy. Journal of leukocyte biology. 2013;93(6):847-63. 5.Pradere J-P, Dapito DH, Schwabe RF. The Yin and Yang of Toll-like Receptors in Cancer. Oncogene. 2014;33(27):3485-95. 6.Maruyama K, Selmani Z, Ishii H, Yamaguchi K. Innate immunity and cancer therapy. International immunopharmacology. 2011;11(3):350-7. 7.Iribarren K, Bloy N, Buque A, Cremer I, Eggermont A, Fridman WH, et al. Trial Watch: Immunostimulation with Toll-like receptor agonists in cancer therapy. Oncoimmunology. 2016;5(3):e1088631. 8.Dowling JK, Mansell A. Toll-like receptors: the swiss army knife of immunity and vaccine development. Clinical Translational Immunology. 2016;5(5):e85. 9.Flanary S, Hoffman AS, Stayton PS. Antigen delivery with poly(propylacrylic acid) conjugation enhances MHC-1 presentation and T-cell activation. Bioconjugate chemistry. 2009;20(2):241-8. 10.Herbath M, Szekeres Z, Kovesdi D, Papp K, Erdei A, Prechl J. Coadministration of antigen-conjugated and free CpG: effects of in vitro and in vivo interactions in a murine model. Immunology letters. 2014;160(2):178-85. 11.Kramer K, Shields NJ, Poppe V, Young SL, Walker GF. Intracellular Cleavable CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide-Antigen Conjugate Enhances Anti-tumor Immunity. Molecular Therapy. 2017;25(1):62-70. 12.Slutter B, Soema PC, Ding Z, Verheul R, Hennink W, Jiskoot W. Conjugation of ovalbumin to trimethyl chitosan improves immunogenicity of the antigen. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society. 2010;143(2):207-14. 13.Ammi R, De Waele J, Willemen Y, Van Brussel I, Schrijvers DM, Lion E, et al. Poly(I:C) as cancer vaccine adjuvant: knocking on the door of medical breakthroughs. Pharmacology therapeutics. 2015;146:120-31. 14.Cho HI, Barrios K, Lee YR, Linowski AK, Celis E. BiVax: a peptide/poly-IC subunit vaccine that mimics an acute infection elicits vast and effective anti-tumor CD8 T-cell responses. Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII. 2013;62(4):787-99. 15.Scheiermann J, Klinman DM. Clinical evaluation of CpG oligonucleotides as adjuvants for vaccines targeting infectious diseases and cancer. Vaccine. 2014;32(48):6377-89.

Karl Marx and the Ideal Society Essay -- capital communism freedom wor

Karl Marx and the Ideal Society One of the greatest debates of all time has been regarding the issue of the freedom of mankind. The one determining factor, for Marx, it that freedom is linked with class conflict. As a historian, Karl Marx traced the history of mankind by the ways in which the economy operated and the role of classes within the economy. For Marx, the biggest question that needed to be answered was â€Å"Who owns freedom?† With this in mind, Marx gives us a solution to both the issues of freedom and class conflict in his critique of capitalism and theory of communism, which is the ideal society for Marx. His theory of communism is based on the â€Å"ultimate end of human history† because there will be freedom for all humankind. Marx saw communism as the ideal society because it is "the genuine resolution of the conflict between man and man- the true resolution of the strife between existence and essence...between freedom and necessity" that capitalism fosters. Marx was also committed t o the notion that theory and action go hand in hand. Marx dismissed earlier thinkers because they (philosophers) "have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it." He also stated "Ideas cannot carry out anything at all. In order to carry out ideas men are needed who can exert practical force". However, Marx would have been appalled by the way his theory of communism was misused. It can be said, though, that Marx's theory of communism was clearly open for interpretation because he failed to offer "principles or guidelines of even the most general kind" for how the system of communism was to be fully established. It was this opportunity for interpretation that made Marx's theory of communism doomed for failure when it was used in practice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marx’s theory stems from the social conditions existing during his lifetime. This was when the industrial revolution was hitting its stride. Great technological advances were being made to the modes of production, especially in the areas of agriculture and textiles. This was the main factor that drove peasants from the countryside to find work in the cities. In addition, capitalism had emerged as the dominant form of economics. Marx contended that class is based upon the economic conditions of society. He identified class through the history of the changing modes of production. In a capital... ...leads to change. Marx certainly believed and documented this and based his theory of communism upon it. However, the gaps left in his theory have resulted in varying interpretation to what he originally envisioned. A society without class or state may very well have been achieved if his theory had given more direction as to the details for its establishment. Instead, Marx's theory has been twisted and rewritten to suit the interests of others. Perhaps the greatest problem with his theory "is that no one has tried it". Bibliography Bakunin: The Philosophy of Freedom, Brian Morris, Black Rose Books, 1993. Marxism and Class Theory, Frank Parkin, Columbia University Press, 1979. Marx: A Clear Guide, Edward Reiss, Pluto Press, 1997. Revolution and Counter-revolution in Germany, Frederick Engels, Foreign Languages Press, 1977. Capital, Karl Marx, Progress Publishers, 1971. German Ideology, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, International Publishers, 1996. European Democracies, Jurg Steiner, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1998. The Outlook: Worker-Capitalists of the World Unite, Jacob M. Schlesinger, The Wall Street Journal, Monday, November 15,1999.

Operating System Architecture :: Computers Technology Technological papers

Operating System Architecture By gaining control of computers, computer viruses, worms, trojans, software bugs, and bad people can create extraordinary damage by shutting down infrastructure, using online banking to steal money, or using robots to attack people. Our civilization is increasingly depended on computers for survival. Therefore, a fully secure operating system is essential for the society. Below is the architecture by which maximum security against viruses and other threats can be achieved. Operating system and the rest of the software should be modular. Each small module performs a function and may take parameters. For example, a web browser uses an HTML renderer to display a webpage. In turn, the HTML renderer uses a jpg-renderer to display jpg images. An e-mail program might use the same HTML renderer. The rich collection of functions (with application program interfaces) makes writing programs much easier, greatly reduces the need to write the same functionality many times, and allows the same program to work on different computers. Modularity is also essential for stability and internal security of a complex program--failure of some modules to work properly should affect only the functions the modules perform and (usually) should not cause the program to crash or become unnecessarily insecure. Moreover, proper multi-tasking (see below) ensures that a delay in a non-essential module does not excessively delay the program. While the code for a function is loaded once into the memory, multiple executions can occur simultaneously. Functions remain in memory until the memory (RAM) is about to run out; when that happens, functions least likely to be called are unloaded or put into the swap space. Each process has a set of rights and priorities. The rights include the type of resources the process can access such as what devices (speakers, networks, etc.) and files the process can access and at what permission level. For example, a process may be allowed to modify only a certain region of the monitor. A process can be denied access to a file, given a read-only access, allowed to read and append, or allowed read-write access. Ideally, each process is given just enough rights to perform all of the functions it should perform. The priorities are specified for limited resources such as the amount of memory, processing time, bandwidth, and disk space. The priorities are determined based on the importance of each process. The process managers allocate scarce resources based on the priorities.

Chronic Bladder Disorder :: Journalism Medical Medicine Papers

Chronic Bladder Disorder There are few telltale signs of what Shelly Gregory copes with on a daily basis. On closer observation, one may notice the odd way she holds the right side of her abdomen when she walks or the way she tilts her body to the side when she sits on a chair for too long. To people around her, Gregory, a 35-year-old mother of two daughters, may pass as healthy. But only those in her inner circle, including her husband and children, truly understand the pain she has to endure. â€Å"When I’m having a really bad day, it feels like there is glass in my bladder and it’s bleeding and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,† Gregory said. â€Å"It hurts so much that it makes me think that my heart is going to explode.† Gregory is one of the more than 700,000 people in the U.S. – 90 percent of them women –who is battling interstitial cystitis, a chronic disorder characterized by inflammation of the bladder that causes urinary frequency and urgency and pelvic pain. There has been relatively little advancement made on this condition since the first written reference to interstitial cystitis was made in 1836. More than a century later, there are still few clear answers to what causes this multifaceted disease or how to treat it effectively. According to epidemiological studies conducted in 1997, the disease typically afflicts white, educated women in their early to mid-40s. The spectrum of symptom severity, however, can vary from person to person. Some people experience the urge to urinate (up to 70 times per day), while others endure bladder pressure or, in severe cases, unremitting bladder pain. When doctors perform a cystoscopy – a procedure that involves inserting a thin scope inside the bladder – on certain interstitial cystitis patients they can see evidence of the disease: mucosal hemorrhaging or Hunner’s ulcers that bleed when the bladder is filled beyond capacity. People with IC have small capacity bladders that hold less than 300 ml, or approximately 1 cup. Gregory said her bladder pain started in 1992 when she developed a blood clot after giving birth to her daughter. Five years later she found out that interstitial cystitis, not the blood clot, was the culprit. Dr. Robert Moldwin, a national expert on interstitial cystitis and director of the Interstitial Cystitis Center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Hyde Park, N.Y., said despite its prevalence, doctors often misdiagnose interstitial cystitis because patients can perceive pain in one or more areas of the pelvis.