Animal Behaviour Questionnaire Assignment #3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Animal Behaviour Questionnaire #3 - Assignment Example The behavior of the male lions on the other hand is slightly different because, lions have the tendency of assessing each other’s manes and liked to generally engage in fights without any actual physical contact. However, the darkness of the mane exuded that it was thicker than lighter mane and therefore lend better protection in a fight (West et al,2006, p609) Therefore, the lighter maned ones rarely approached the dark maned models. Dark colored manes means the lion must be aggressive and strong therefore the weaker light colored lions steer clear of the darker maned ones to avoid chanced of confrontations. 3. The findings that indicate that the gender of a species responsible for parental care lives longer is not completely true since it cannot be accurately concluded from the length of an individual’s lifespan that prolonged lifespan was a result of parental behavior among the species. It is also inaccurate the among species which takes a long time to grow and mature, longer lifespan of the parental sex has gained selection advantage is also since a long life is beneficial for the species as a whole and not in terms of individual life spans. There may be alternate explanations for the prolonged lifespan of the parental gender than that of the non-parental gender. We may perhaps propose that among animals where the female is the care provider, the resources are first taken by the female sin order to feed the young ones of the group. The resources therefore decrease and become limited for the male members of the grout which enhances intraspecific competition for resources among the male members leading to life-shortening risks to acquire the resources for survival. On the other hand among species where the male members are responsible for giving care, the female members compete over the limited resources and

Cola Wars - The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay Example for Free

Cola Wars The Carbonated Soft Drink Industry Essay Threat of New Entry The existing players in the soft drink industry have much advantage relative to new entrants. First, supply-side economy discourages new entrants by forcing them to enter the market in large scale. CSD’s demand side benefits of scale also makes it difficult for new entrants to be accepted by the public. In 2002, a survey found that 37% of respondents chose a CSD because it is their favorite brand, while only 10% said so about bottled water. This demonstrates CSD customers’ high brand loyalty and their lack of desire to buy from new entrants. In terms of capital requirement, concentrate manufacturers only requires $25~$50 million to set up a plant that can serve the entire United States of America. Yet, new entrants may have difficulties competing with major players’ well-established brands and their large scale unrecoverable (therefore, hard to finance) spending on advertising. There is also unequal access to bottlers and retail channels for newcomers. Most bottlers are in long-term contracts with major CSD brands; also, the largest distribution channel, supermarkets, consider CSD a â€Å"big traffic draw†, thus provide little to no shelf space for newcomers. In addition, strong fear of retaliation from major players also makes newcomers hesitate to enter. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Required inputs for CSD are mostly raw materials such as caramel coloring, phosphoric or citric acid, natural flavors, caffeine, and fructose. Almost all suppliers of the CSD industry provide undifferentiated commodities and thus have little bargaining power and almost no strength to integrate forward. Bargaining Power of Buyers End consumers and retail channels can both be considered as buyers in the CSD industry. End consumers are likely to have brand loyalty to their CSD as analyzed in threat of new entry. Thus, consumers are expected to continue purchasing a brand unless there is a significant price increase or substantial change in flavor. Consequently, end consumers have little bargaining power. Retail channels, on the other hand, have more bargaining leverage since they buy CSDs in much larger quantities than end consumers. Yet, for retail channels such as supermarkets (making up almost one third of all retail volume), CSDs are considered a â€Å"big traffic draw†, thus reducing its bargaining power. In addition, fountain outlets (making up another 23.4% of retail channel) also have insignificant bargaining power since they rely on CSD companies’ heavy investment in dispensers, cups, point-of-sale advertising, and many other types of equipment. Threat of Substitutes CSDs are unique in terms of taste and properties. When a consumer craves CSD, it is difficult to find a replacement that can equally satisfy his or her desire. Even after CSD was identified as the â€Å"largest source of obesity-causing sugars in the American diet† in 2005, CSDs still â€Å"accounted for 73.1% of U.S. non-alcoholic refreshment beverage volume (down from 80.8% in 2000)† at around the same time. It is true that consumers are moving towards alternatives that have more natural flavors such as several tea-based drinks and bottled water; yet, CSD firms have quickly adapted to this shift and largely dominated the market of these alternatives. Rivalry Among Existing Competitors Even though rivalry among existing competitors Coke, Pepsi, and Cadbury Schweppes seem intense, the profitability has not been weakened. This is largely because of the high concentration of competition and their focus on promotion, advertising, and other forms of branding instead of waging large-scale price wars. In a way, the success of Coke and Pepsi required the heavy competition on these dimensions. â€Å"Without Coke, Pepsi would have a tough time being an original and lively competitor. The more successful they (Coke) are, the sharper we (Pepsi) have to be.† says Roger Enrico, former CEO of Pepsi. The CSD industry profitability lies within the Cola War itself that forces major players to improve continuously. Through Porter’s five forces analysis, it becomes clear that CSD is so profitable because of the way its industry competition is shaped: high entry barriers due to newcomers’ unfavorable supply-side economies of scale, demand-side benefits of scale, and unrecoverable advertising spending; low bargaining power of suppliers and buyers since CSD requires mainly homogeneous commodities, buyers have high brand loyalty, and retailers rely heavily on CSD firms’ investments; well handled threat of substitutes; and healthy internal rivalry that is vital to continuous improvement.

Male Versus Female: Leadership Stype Essay -- Leadership

Women have been on the search for gender equality since the passing of Title IX in 1972. The original 1972 law states that â€Å"no person in the United States shall on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance† (UCSC Title IX), later in 1987 the benefits were extended to all educational institutions, governmental entities, and private employers who accepted federal funds (UCSC Title IX). Although forty years have gone by since Title IX was initially passed, women are still fighting a daily battle for equality in the employment field. Women have made great strides in terms of the careers they choose to pursue: â€Å"According to the Women’s Bureau (2006), 118 million women comprised 46% of the total U.S. labor force† (Chavez et al 79). However, employment is still not completely unbiased and equal between males and females and much of the inequality is due to subjective terms of leadership abilities. Research has shown that males and females have developed different leadership styles, and one may be more preferable than the other for high level corporate positions. According to authors Esther Chavez, Mark Green, and Diana Garza-Ortiz, leadership can be defined as â€Å"the process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal† (Chavez et al. 79). By this definition, any person can be a leader regardless of gender, age, and other stereotypical constraints. What most of society does not consider is the different ways of being a leader and the various styles used, intentionally or not. Women tend to have more of a transformation style where as men are said ... ...nt. Works Cited Chavez, Esther; Green, Mark; and Diana Garza-Ortiz. "Leadership Style Differences Between Men and Women: A Review of the Scholarly Literature." Business Reasearch Yearbook: Global Business Perspectives. By Esther Chavez. 2nd ed. Vol. 17. Beltsville: International Graphics, 2010. 79-84. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. . Mandell, Barbara, and Shilpa Pherwani. "Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Transformational Leadership Style: A Gender Comparison." Journal of Business and Psychology 17.3 (2003): 387-404. Web. Oakley, Judith. "Gender-Based Barries to Senior Management Positions: Understanding the Scarcity of Female CEOs." Journal of Business Ethics 27.4 (2000): 321-34. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. "Samaritan Ministries." Samaritan Ministries. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. .

Fundamentalist Christians and Negative Conceptions of Dungeons & Dragons :: Christianity Religion Essays

Fundamentalist Christians and Negative Conceptions of Dungeons & Dragons This paper is an attempt to explain the negative conceptions about role-playing games, especially claims that the games are Satanic. I will be using many primary sources from the Internet, most of which are from Christian websites, to determine precisely what is being claimed about the games. I will be using more academic sources in order to try to explain where the claims are coming from. As the websites primarily focus on Dungeons & Dragons (henceforth noted as D&D), I too will focus on this game. First I will examine the most common conceptions one by one and try to determine the source of each, and then I will examine the claims as a whole to give an overall theory about them. The first claim that I’ll discuss is that D&D causes players to commit suicide. According to http://www.webzonecom.com/ccn/cults/satn10.txt, Dr. Radedki, â€Å"chairman of the National Coalition on Television Violence†, said â€Å"[t]here is no doubt in my mind that the game Dungeons and Dragons is causing young men to kill themselves and others.† A character in the Chick Tract â€Å"Dark Dungeons† commits suicide after her character dies in the game. The conception seems to be that players get so obsessed by the game, so enthralled, that when something goes wrong (like their character dying) they have difficulty dealing with the consequences. They have so much difficulty, it is claimed, that they sometimes kill themselves because of it. This claim appears to stem from a few different events. This brief history is agreed upon by a number of authors, but I am specifically using Brian Webber’s account, from http://www.voicesofunreason.com/essays/dungeonsanddragonsnotasatanicgame, and Paul Cardwell, Jr.’s article in the Skeptical Enquirer. The first event was in 1979, when a student named James Dallas Egbert III disappeared from Michigan State University’s campus. It was theorized by an investigator named William Dear that Egbert was lost in the steam tunnels under the campus, acting as a character in D&D. He was found about a month later, but his disappearance had already been highly publicized, starting a new public perception of the game. A year later Egbert committed suicide. In 1982, a boy named Irving Pulling II committed suicide.

The Burning of Rome Literary Analysis

While reading The Burning of Rome, any person with simple observation skill may perceive Tacitus’ purpose. The readers should take what he says against Nero, and try to believe everything he says so they turn against Nero. Tacitus believes the readers should think that Nero started the fire that engulfed Tome. He wants reader to think of Nero as a corrupt, manipulative human being, and overall the worst, most evil leader that ever ruled over Rome. Tacitus uses the rhetorical strategies of pathos, description, and narration as ways to help him persuade readers to believe his point. Tacitus puts pathos to good use on a number of statements and explanations. To turn readers against Nero, Tacitus evokes the emotions of hatred, pity, and sympathy when he says â€Å"The shrieks of panic stricken women, the weakness of the ages†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tacitus 327). Writing that and other sentences, the author targets the audience’s emotion of pity. He wants them to feel piteous toward the women and old men; by feeling that way, they feel hatred against Nero and somewhat convert against him; therefore they will more readily believe that he started the inferno. Tacitus also uses pathos when he says â€Å"†¦The most cruel tortures upon a body of men.† (Tacitus 327). This sentence and the more descriptive details appeal to the reader’s emotion of sympathy. The readers should feel terrible that he punished the Christians merely because they follow a disliked new religion; Nero merely used them as a scapegoat, as an effort to try and take some blame off of him. In addition to pathos, Tacitus also uses this plentiful description to influence readers to think of Nero as a corrupt, manipulative human being. He writes small stories with such vivid images, such as â€Å"†¦so much as lawn and lawns and mock wilderness.† (Tacitus 324). The author portrays Rome in all its beauty in effort to give the reader an idea of what was lost. Although mainly description, it also incorporates pathos. The readers should imagine how beautiful and lovely Rome looked before the fire, and then believe that Nero burned it down and destroyed everything they had. Tacitus’ narration of the story is more effective than his descriptions. He tells the story of the burning of Tome, while explain to reader why exactly Nero should take the blame. For example, he says â€Å"Furiously the destroying flames swept on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Tacitus 327). Tacitus narrates the burning of Rome so that the readers actually know what happened, and don’t guess at any details. He effectively tells how the fire destroyed Rome using description. The readers can imagine the entire city up in flames, and it makes them even more so against Nero, the only one accused in Tacitus’ writing. Tacitus effectively uses the rhetorical strategies such as pathos, description, and narration to persuade readers to fall into his writing objective of making readers believe that Nero started the fire. He effectively appealed to emotions, created vivid images, and told stories to move the readers on his side, making his point.

Reviewing The Development Of Social Wwork Social Work Essay Essays

Reviewing The Development Of Social Wwork Social Work Essay Essays Reviewing The Development Of Social Wwork Social Work Essay Essay Reviewing The Development Of Social Wwork Social Work Essay Essay Social Work is at an of import phase in its development as a profession non merely in the United Kingdom but around the universe. All professions must be antiphonal and proactive to altering societal and economic climes and conditions if they are to run into the demands of the people they are functioning. It is indispensable for Social Workers to be able to rehearse in conformity with societal work values and to retain a clear professional individuality, and at the same clip to be able to work efficaciously with other professional groups and bureaus. Although there are many footings used to depict working together with other professions such as joint working, inter-professional working, multi-disciplinary working and inter-agency working the term presently used by the Department of Health publications is collaborative pattern ( Whittington 2003b ) . New ways of working that crossed professional boundaries had to be created, in order to let a more flexible attack to care bringing ( Malin et al, 2002 ) . Collaboration in wellness and societal attention is a comparatively new field of survey, with the first major surveies being undertaken in the 1980s ( Roy, 2001 ) . In wellness and societal attention collaborative working is frequently referred to as Inter-professional working, as it is non merely about professionals working together. The patients, clients or service users are a cardinal portion of the squad. At its simplest the construct of coaction infers that people from different professional and academic backgrounds form a working relationship for the intent of enhanced service proviso. However, the exact nature of the partnership is likely to be contested, whilst to the full incorporate joined-up collaborative pattern has so far proven elusive. Effective communicating is an indispensable constituent of the traditional societal work functions and duties. It is hence every bit necessary for societal workers to besides hold effectual communicating accomplishments if they are to advance self-help and authorization to those whom they are supplying a service for. Lishman ( 1994 ) reminds us that attention directors and suppliers will hold to utilize a scope of communicating and interpersonal accomplishments if community attention is truly to intend attention, pick and authorization of others. Collaborative working implies: witting interaction between the parties to accomplish a common end ( Meads A ; Ashcroft, 2005 ) . It recognises both difference A ; similarity. Collaboration is a procedure by which members of different subjects portion their accomplishments and expertness to supply a better quality service to patients, clients or service users ( Hughes, Hemingway A ; Smith, 2005 ) . The sharing of information agencies both acquiring information and giving it. The act of deriving information in Social Work is an indispensable undertaking the information gained can be used for legion intents such as: Making an appraisal of demand or hazard Writing a study Planing an intercession To warrant obtaining resource The something or benefit is sometimes called collaborative advantage , and it can be seen as the fuel of collaborative working the greater the possible or existent advantage gained by all parties, the greater the degrees of energy fuelling the coaction. Harmonizing to Wilson ( 2008 ) and Hughes, Hemmingway A ; Smith ( 2005 ) inter-professional and collaborative working means sing the service user in a holistic manner, and it benefits the service user when different administrations, such as Social Workers, District Nurses, Occupational Therapists and other wellness professionals come together to supply a better service. These definitions describe collaborative working as the act of people working together toward common ends. Integrated working involves seting the service user at the centre of determination doing to run into their demands and better their lives ( Dept. Health, 2009 ) . Effective coaction and interaction will hold positive results within a on the job environment for both the squads working together and the service user. Agencies should be encouraged to portion information to guarantee that all demands of the service users are met but besides to guarantee the safety of the service user and the other squads involved. Caring for People ( Dept. Health, 1989 ) stated that successful coaction required a clear, common apprehension by every bureau of each other s duties and powers, in order to do kick how and with whom coaction should be secured. The authorities has been advancing inter-agency and collaborative working since the late 80 s which besides saw a alteration in the policies set Forth by the authoritiess and a legislative background was created to advance self-collaboration between companies. The declared purpose has been to create high quality, needs-led, coordinated services that maximised pick for the service user. ( Payne, 1995 ) . Recent events and media calls have focused collaborative working entirely on Social Work every bit stated in Pollard, Sellman A ; Senior ( 2005 ) and when viewed as a good thing , it is worthwhile to critically analyze its benefits and drawbacks. ( Leathard, 2003 ) . The old authorities set away programs to overhaul the Social Services every bit good as update the NHS. A clear indicant of this can be found in NHS Plan ( Dept. Health, 2000 ) and Overhauling the Social Services ( Dept. Health, 1998a ) . This was non in fact a new program it was portion of a turning accent stemming from the 1970s. The decease of Maria Coldwell in 1974 meant there were inquiries asked why professionals were non able to protect kids who they had identified as most at hazard. The Cleveland Inquiry 1988 resulted in the direct antonym of 1974 when the methods of the Social Services were deemed excessively rigorous and over powering, it was deemed that kids were removed from their households when there was little concrete grounds of injury or maltreatment ( Butler-Sloss, 1988 ) , with excessively much accent put on the medical sentiment. The old authorities set away programs to overhaul the Social Services every bit good as update the NHS. A clear indicant of this can be found in NHS Plan ( Dept. Health, 2000 ) and Overhauling the Social Services ( Dept. Health, 1998a ) . This was non in fact a new program it was portion of a turning accent stemming from the 1970s. The decease of Maria Coldwell in 1974 meant there were inquiries asked why professionals were non able to protect kids who they had identified as most at hazard. The Cleveland Inquiry 1988 resulted in the direct antonym of 1974 when the methods of the Social Services were deemed excessively rigorous and over powering, it was deemed that kids were removed from their households when there was little concrete grounds of injury or maltreatment ( Butler-Sloss, 1988 ) , with excessively much accent put on the medical sentiment. The Munro Report ( 2010 ) stated that other service bureaus can non and should non replace Social Worker s, but there is a demand for bureaus to prosecute professionally about kids, immature people and households on their caseloads. The Children s Act 2004 was introduced after the public enquiry into the decease of Victoria Climbie in 2000 ; the same public enquiry besides resulted in the Every Child Matters motion. The failure to join forces efficaciously was highlighted as one of many missed chances by the enquiry into the tragic decease of Victoria Climbie ( Laming, 2003 ) and Baby Peter ( Munro, 2010 ) . Expressing what you all want to accomplish in clear, outcomes-oriented linguistic communication, and being able to continually recheck those results as your work together returns, is the individual most of import key to successful coaction. However, it is really rather hard to show results in ways that are unambiguous and clearly understood by all of the possible or existent confederates. The quality of communicating is critical. Poor communicating is frequently behind many of the differences that threaten to procrastinate collaborative working relationships. Clear lines of communicating demand to be established across the establishments that make up a pool to guarantee everyone is cognizant of and is able to transport out the recognized policies and processs. Accountabilities, in peculiar, should be good defined. Engagement and engagement of service user is besides critical in the Social Work field. This after all is the chief donee of the collaborative on the job strategy and your end as a Social Worker is to run into their demands and ends. If you show the service user regard they excessively will give you a common regard which will let the Social Workers and other elements of the collaborative squad to accomplish their common ends. However donees do non hold to be cognizant that an activity is being delivered in partnership for the partnership to be successful. Regular reappraisals and users feedback can assist mensurate its impact. Collaborative advantage will be achieved when something remarkably originative is produced possibly an aim is met that no administration could hold produced on its ain and when each administration, through coaction, is able to accomplish its ain aims better than it could entirely . ( Huxham, 1996 ) . Huxham was demoing that coaction will work when it is done decently, and when we as Social Workers put aside any biass that are under lying in our working outlook and besides our personal outlook, we will work good with other Fieldss and patterns to organize a more efficient and organized service. By larning with, from and about one another practicians can understand several functions and duties, generate common trust, beef up relationships and better collaborative pattern ( Barr et al 2005 ) . To summarize and reason the development of collaborative working will doubtless necessitate a alteration in civilization and values amongst wellness and societal attention professionals ; nevertheless it is working and developing rapidly and for the better of non merely the collaborating bureaus but besides for the service users.

The Origin of Life

The Origin of Life Free Online Research Papers Dover, Pennsylvania has become the scene of yet another heated debate over the origin of life. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Americans United for Separation of Church and State brought a lawsuit before a Pennsylvania judge, last November, against the Dover, Pennsylvania School Board (Boston 35). This was the first legal step in having the theory of â€Å"intelligent design† removed completely from all state funded science classes. The origin of life has been an interesting topic for many years. It is a pressing issue among scientist, theologians, and the media, today. For hundreds of years forms of intelligent design were commonly accepted, but in 1859, Charles Darwin suggested a more naturalistic possibility of origin, evolution. This concept quickly became popularized, and today it is the most widely believed and taught theory of origin. Evolutionists believe that over billions of years everything developed from one central item. This would be very plausible if not for the fact that not all studies indicate that the universe is billions of years old. Some scientific evidence on the age of the universe may be the key to unlocking a variety of problems with the evolutionary theory. The salt in the ocean provides scientists with information to determine that the ocean could not be more than several million years old. As a mixture of salt and water enters the oceans, the content of salt increases, but as water evaporates only small amounts of the salt that entered leaves. This causes the salt content in the ocean to increase. Sir Edmond Haley was the first to propose that if the amount of salt entering, compared to the amount of salt exiting could be calculated, it would be possible to determine the age of the ocean. More recently, scientists have done studies and determined that the ocean is filled with about ‘14.7 million tons’ of salt. Scientists have also determined that about 457 million tons of salt enters the ocean each year, while only 206 million tons leave. Given this information and allowing for some amount of variation, experts have concluded that the ocean is not more than 62 million years old (Sarfati Salty Seas 16-17). Although this is an extensive period, it is not long enough for evolution to occur. Fossils have been discovered that are not consistent with the proposition of slow formation over millions of years. Discoveries that may cause problems include, whole trees buried up-right underground, throughout multiple sedimentary layers (Hovind Age of Earth). This is a dilemma for evolutionists because, if the layers of soil formed slowly, the top half of the tree would have deteriorated during the time it took for all of the layers to develop (Morris 100-101). Author, Bruce Malone, writes in his book Search for the Truth: The fossils themselves tell us neither their age nor how they became encased in the rock layers†¦Many people have been led to believe that the existence of fossils proves that millions of years have passed. In reality, fossils can form quite rapidly†¦(1) Geological evidence of rapid formation has also been discovered; a fossilized ichthyosaur ‘freeze-framed’ giving birth, provides evidence that some fossils were formed quickly. They have also discovered multiple areas that are filled with fossilized fish, which is not compatible with the idea of slow formation, because other sea creatures devour the dead fish within twenty-four hours (Wieland 9). Other examples are numerous varying from fossilized pickles to hats, but all indicate quick formation, which is not compatible with the billions-of-years philosophy (Hovind Age of Earth). The fossilization of up-right trees and ‘freeze-framed’ animals denotes the possibility that fossils were formed quickly, and that the earth is quite young. Evolutionist claim that some special formations would not be possible if the earth was not millions of years old, but this is simply not true. Some believe that stalactites and stalagmite take millions of years to form, but Kent Hovind gives numerous examples of cave formations that were formed extremely quickly in the right conditions, including a natural spring that has formed into an eighteen foot mountainous stalagmite in less than fifty years (Hovind Age of Earth). Mt. Isa, Queensland, Australia is home to a fifty year old tunnel with an abundance of cave formations throughout it. Contrary to typical teaching, a researcher from Australian has also discovered that opal can form very quickly. Len Cram simply combines the proper combination of chemicals in his home laboratory and creates opal that is undistinguishable from opal that has been mined. (Weiland 10) Geologists have also discovered inconsistencies between slow formation of the earth and the development of varying layers of rock. The layers of rock seen in a variety of places on earth, such as the Grand Canyon, contain smooth swirling patterns, which indicate that they must have formed quickly. If this had been a slow formation, the bumps and bends that geologists have uncovered should appear broken, because the pressure on the solid, rocky layers would have produced cracking, rather bending patterns (Morris 106). Various experts believe that this indicates a young universe. The amount of erosion that the earth’s surface has sustained also suggests that the earth is young. The earth had undergone such little erosions that various sedimentologists do not believe that it could be billions of years old. Water is the most common cause of erosion. Rain washes soil into the streams and rivers, which ultimately flows into the ocean. Sedimentologists have carefully calculated the amount of soil that is washed to the mouths of rivers. They have discovered that about one thousand millimeters of sediment is restrained every one thousand years. They have also determined that the average height reduction for all the continents is about sixty millimeters per one thousand years. Based on this information, researchers can determine that in 2.5 million years ninety-three miles of continent would be washed away, and in ten million years that the entire world would be leveled (Walker 19-20). The continents are eroding at such an accelerated rate that it is n ot logical to think that the earth could survive billions of years under such extreme conditions. Due to the erosion that is occurring on the surface on the earth sedimentologist can also determine that were should be loose soil in the bodies of water around the world. Each day eighty thousand tons of sediment washes down the Mississippi River ultimately dumping into the Gulf of Mexico. If indeed the earth was millions of years old, there entire Gulf of Mexico should be filled entirely with mud (Hovind Age of Earth). Each year twenty-five billions tons of sediment accumulates on the ocean floors. At this rate is would take only 12 million years to build-up what is lying of the ocean floor (Humphreys 2). The amount of sediment in each body of water around the world does not indicate the possibility of billions of years. The earth’s atmosphere provides scientists with needed information to detect the earth’s age. Evolutionists and geologists have used Carbon-14 Dating methods, or radiometric dating, to calculate the age of fossils and the age of layer in which the fossil was found. Carbon-14 is a radioactive form of carbon produced by nitrogen that has been converted by the energy from the sun (Hovind Does Carbon Prove Millions 1). Willard Libby was the first to formulate the C-14 method of dating. He speculated that because plants and animals breathe carbon dioxide, they also have C-14 fused into their bodies. The amount of C-14 could then be measured in the fossils to calculate the age. Kent Hovind describes the process saying: Extensive laboratory testing had shown that about half of the C-14 molecules will decay in 5,730 years. This is called the half-life. After another 5,730 years, half of the remaining C-14 will decay leaving only one-fourth of the original C-14. It goes from one-half to one-fourth to one-eighth, etc. In theory it would never totally disappear, but after five half lives the difference is not measurable with any degree of accuracy. (Does Carbon Prove Millions 1). Upon death the plant or animal stops taking in C-14 and the C-14 begins to decay. When fossils are dug up, geologists can determine age based on the amount of decay. This philosophy is not a problem until one considers that not only is C-14 being formed from energized nitrogen, it is also being released from the fossils (Ferrell 190). Therefore, it is impossible to tell what the historical C-14 measurement may have been. Fossilized bones from the same animals reaffirm that the C-14 dating methods are based on unproven facts. Geologists have dated these bones with as much as a twenty thousand year variation. (Hovind Age of Earth) It is understandable that many scientists consider the Carbon-14 process unpredictable and unreliable. The earth’s atmosphere also contains helium, which can generate another problem for evolutionists. Helium is continually entering the atmosphere due to the radioactive decay of thorium, radium, and uranium. According to evolutionists, this process has been occurring for billions of year. With the rate of decay at which elements are being converted, scientist predict that there should not be any components left in the rocks, yet in some places there is still 58% of the original amount found in the rocks (Sarfati Refuting Compromise 341-343). Creationist, Carl Weiland points out, â€Å"Even if God have created that world with no helium to begin with, the small amount in the atmosphere would have taken at most around two million year to accumulate (9)†. Helium provides scientists with some clues to the prospect that the earth may be young, yet many are blind to this possibility. The earth’s magnetic field provides experts with evidence proving the planets young age. Since 1845, scientists have been monitoring the earth’s magnetic field, and they realize that it is decaying. When experts consider amount of current decay and calculate backwards, they realize that only a million years ago the magnetic force would have been so powerful the earth would have vaporized (Ferrell 141). Therefore, scientists have been able to conclude that the earth could be no more than 6,000 to 7,000 years old. The earth’s rotation is causing scientist some scientists to investigate that possibility that the earth is young. Studies have shown that the rotation of the earth is slowing down. An average of one second per year is shaved off the clock because of the delay. Although this does not seem like a big deal, when the amount is traced backward a few billion years the centrifugal force would have been unbearable. The earth would also have winds speeding at 5,000 mph, when life began forming (Hovind Age of Earth). At this high speed of rotation, the earth would have flattened like a pancake, and the existence of life would have been impossible (Ferrell 139). The slowing rotation of the earth seems in indicate that the earth may be much younger than some assume. The planet, Saturn is well known for the beautiful rings that surround it, but they pose a problem for evolutionary astronomers. Saturn’s rings are composed primarily of solid ammonia, an element that has an extremely high vapor pressure. Extensive studies have shown that it is impossible to ammonia to survive several thousand years in space without vaporizing (Ferrell 130). This is the first clue that Saturn’s rings are young. These, however, is not the only planet with rings which are problematic. In addition to Saturn, the rings of Jupiter and Uranus create another problem. Astronomers have also realized that meteoroids are continually striking their rings and causing severe destruction and instability (Hovind Age of Earth). This indicates the rings could not be more than 20,000 years old (Ferrell 131). Evaluating this fact provides evidence that these planets may possible be younger than former speculation. Each planet and moon in the galaxy also provides evidence of a young earth, because of the amount of heat being putting off. Planets radiate the heat that they have received from the sun, but scientists have observed that the planets are putting off more heat than they are accumulating (Hovind Age of Earth). This indicates that if the planets were billions of years old they would have cooled millions of years ago. This however, is not the case. Two of Jupiter’s smallest moons, Io (Ferrell 131) and Ganymede, still flow continuously with molten lava, indicative of a core that is still extremely hot (Hovind Age of Earth). The amount of heat that many of the planets and their moons still have radiate helps scientists to determine that they could not be billions of years old. The star clusters and individual classes of stars in our galaxy also provide us with evidence needed to determine that the earth is still young. Star clusters are moving apart at rapid speeds, helping astronomers to establish that they must be young. If they were billions of years old, the clusters would have dissipated long ago (Ferrell 126-127). The number and size of the stars also proves a youthful age for the universe. The stars that are scattered throughout the universe are composed of a variety of gases (Malone n. pag). Over time, these gases begin to deteriorate and change colors. Kent Hovind focuses on one particular star, Cereus, in his six part video series. Former astronomers documented that Cereus was a bright red star, redder than even Mars, but today it is known as the â€Å"White Dwarf† (Hovind Age of Earth). In just two-thousand years, Cereous has suffered extreme weakening. This is because over time the star has lost mass. Cereus, nevertheless, is no t the only star to deteriorate; over time, all stars begin to depreciate and eventually disappear altogether (Ferrell 127). Since there are no new stars being formed, there should not be millions of stars left in the universe, yet there is (Hovind Age of Earth). Both star clusters and stars seem to indicate that the earth must be young. As astronomer’s search to find more information regarding the universe, they find that supernovas may create a dilemma for evolution. Regarding supernovas Bruce Malone says, â€Å"At certain times in the life of a very massive star it implodes upon itself releasing energy exceeding the output from an entire galaxy. This supernova results in a center that is so dense that it cannot collapse further, and the rest of the stellar debris spreads outward (3).† According to physical equations that scientist have formulated the debris that is left behind expands at a rate that can be calculated for thousands of years, until it has scattered so much that research equipment can no longer distinguish it from other space debris (Sarfati Refuting Evolution 42). Astronomers have grouped the spreading stellar debris into three stages. According to their research, the first stellar debris stage takes approximately three hundred years to travel seven parsecs, the second stellar debr is stage last 120,000 years, while the remnants travel one hundred parsecs, and the third stage lasts six million years while the remains move five hundred parsecs. With the observed supernova, occurring every twenty-five years astronomers should be able to observe thousands of stage three stellar debris remnants, yet there are none. Experts have also not observed enough first and second stage stellar debris remnants to indicate that the universe is billions of years old (Sarfati Refuting Compromise 347-349). Stellar debris indicates that the earth may be much younger than evolutionists assume. Comets also add to the abundance of difficulties that astronomers are facing. Comets orbit throughout the universe making frequent passes by the sun. Since the comet are mainly compose mainly of ice, when they pass close to the sun they decrease in size. Over time, the comets will deteriorate completely. Research has shown this could take about one hundred thousand years. Seeing that there are no new comets being formed, opponents of evolution believe comets are an argument for a young earth (Faulkner 264). Evolutionists believe that comets were formed at the same time as the earth. If this is the case there should be no more comets in existence, yet comets are still frequently observed scattered throughout space (Ferrell 128-129). The number of comets scattered implies that the earth could not be millions of years old. The earth’s moon also contains useful information that helps to determine the age of the earth. Scientists who have done extensive studies on the earth have determined that the moon is moving further away each year. The determined amount of recession is about 1.5 inches per year (Sarfati Refuting Evolution 5). Scientists have used this information to calculate that it would only take the moon 1.31 billion year to reach its current positions if it was at one time attached to the earth. Although this is a longer time than creationists believe, it is not enough time for evolution to have occurred. Creationists, however, have refuted the possibility of the moon ever having been attached to the earth. The gravitational force would have been too great for anything to survive (Hovind Age of Earth). The moon is receding, and because of this scientist can determine that evolution may not be correct. Research on the surface of the moon leads scientist to believe that it may not be billions of years old. The amount of dust on the surface of the moon is one indication that it may not be billions of years old. Each year about three to four ten-thousandths of an inch of dust accumulates on the surface. If the moon were billions of years old, there would be an accumulation of twenty to sixty miles. This of course is not the case, because when Apollo 11 first landed, the astronauts only discovered two to three inches. This shows that the moon is only six to eight thousand years old (Ferrell 132-133). Little accumulation on the surface of the earth indicates that the moon must not be as old as evolutionary scientists anticipate. When considering the possibility of a different age for the universe, scientists look to several sources including the shape of the Milky Way. The stars at the center of the galaxy are moving faster than the outer stars, which creates the appearance ‘arms’ that are visible from satellite pictures. Scientific evidence shows that if the universe were indeed ten billion years old like evolutionists claim, the Milky Way would appear to be nothing more than a simple disc (Humphreys 1). This change of shape would be due to the accelerated speed of the inner stars and the desiccated travel on the outer edges, which causes the blending (Hovind Age of Earth). Considering the fact that the galaxy still has well defined ‘arms’ it is possible to conclude that the universe may be much less than ten billion years old. Problems with evolution have been occurring over many years. Although some problems have been solved, new dilemmas continue to arise. Some of which have remained unsolved for many years. It is clear the universe may possibly be younger than some claim. With the young earth concept does not allot for the time evolutionist propose is needed for the universe to form. This would in turn discredit the possibility of evolution occurring. It is important to contemplate the problems that researchers have discovered involving all areas of the universe. Careful consideration must be given to the possibility that the evolutionary theory is not a proven fact, and intelligent design believers may have a justified case in there belief. Each day researchers diligently work to find the answers. It is important to seek out the truth and establish how the earth truly came into existence. The Age of the Earth. Dir. Dr. Kent Hovind. DVD. Prod. Kent Hovind. Creation Science Evangelism. Boston, Rob. â€Å"Designed for Controversy: the Religious Right’s New Creationism.† Humanist. 66.1(2006): 35-36. 11 April 2006. Faulkner, Danny. â€Å"Comets and the age of the solar system.† Technical Journal. December 1997: 264-273. 24 April 2006. Ferrell, Vance. The Evolution Cruncher. Altamont, TN. Evolution Facts Inc. 2001. Hovind, Kent. â€Å"Does Carbon Dating Prove Millions of Years Old?.† Creation Science Evangelism. 5 May 2005. < drdino.com/print.php?type=article spec=73> Humphreys, Russell. â€Å"Evidence for a Young World.† Answers in Genesis. 24 April 2006. Malone, Bruce A. Search for the Truth. Search for the Truth Publications. 2003. 13 April 2006. Morris, John D. The Young Earth. Colorado Springs, CO. Master Books Inc. 1994. Sarfati, Jonathan. Refuting Compromise. Green Forest, AR. Master Books, Inc. 2004. Sarfati, Jonathan. Refuting Evolution. Green Forest, AR. Master Books, Inc. 1999. Sarfati, Jonathan. â€Å"Salty Seas- Evidence for a Young Earth.† Creation Magazine. December 1998: 16-17. 24 April 2006 Walker, Tas. â€Å"Eroding Ages.† Creation Magazine. March 2000: 18-21. 28 April 2006. Wieland, Carl. â€Å"The Earth: How Old Does it Look?.† Creation Magazine. December 2000: 8-13. 24 April 2006. Research Papers on The Origin of LifeEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationGenetic EngineeringTwilight of the UAWResearch Process Part OneThe Spring and AutumnStandardized Testing19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use

Conjugal Visits

Conjugal Visits 5 conjugal visitation can be seen as an earned privilege as well as a control mechanism, whereby the prisoner...

Biological basis of human movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biological basis of human movement - Essay Example These types of movements are not particularly powerful movements but an important one none the less. The tibialis is responsible for ensuring that the toes are lifted properly during the act of walking. Without this, the foot would constantly drag. The gastrocnemius on the other hand is made up of two thick muscle bellies (composed of muscle fiber bunches) and is responsible for flexing the foot while the knee joint is extended. Comparatively speaking, the gastrocnemius is a larger more powerful muscle than the tibialis anterior. The gastrocnemius is composed of more fibers and contains two muscle bellies as apposed to one. To better understand theses two specific muscles, one must first establish the cellular structure of muscle tissue. Muscular tissue is considered to be contractile or possessing an elastic property, similar to a rubber band. Muscles are made up of certain types of cells called muscle "fibers". These specific types of cells are composed of what is called actin filaments and myosin filaments. It is the interconnecting or interacting of these filaments that is responsible for muscle contractions. The specific types of muscles that this lab is concerned with are called skeletal muscles. These muscles can also be called striated muscles. The term "striated" is given them due to the thread like fibers that they are composed of, which are both light and dark. The appearance of light and dark in these muscle threads is due to the actin and myosin filaments. These thread like fibers cause the muscles to appear striped or "striated". Skeletal muscles are responsible for the movement of limbs and appendages. They are attached to the long bones via tendons. It is the angle that presents between the joint and the muscle that constitutes the angle of pennation that we will be studying. In the observation of these muscles, we need to understand their structure on a cellular level in order to fully comprehend their mechanisms. It is important also to know that each of the skeletal muscles that we are observing is made up of several muscle fibers (cells). These fibers are each a long cell with some unique cellular characteristics. One of the characteristics specific to muscle fibers (cells) is the sarcolemma. The sarcolemma is the plasma membrane to the muscle fiber (cell) with some very important features. It possesses what is called T tubules which are structures specifically for penetrating the cell itself in order to make contact with the sarcoplasmic reticulum. These tubules aim to touch the sarcoplasmic reticulum without actually connecting to it. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is much like an endoplasmic reticulum but an enlarged or expanded version. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is larger or expanded in muscle fibers in order to store calcium ions. Calcium ions are imperative to the contraction of muscles. The part of the muscle fiber responsible for contraction is called the myofibril. Structures called sarcomeres are located within these myofibrils. The sarcomeres contain protein filaments which is the core reason for muscle contraction. This is basically the contraction site of the muscle. The protein filaments are composed of the two filaments mentioned earlier, actin and myosin. The interaction of actin and myosin can be explained by what is called the Sliding Filament Theory. This theory states that

Leadership Practices at Whole Foods Research Paper

Leadership Practices at Whole Foods - Research Paper Example The company, which entered the stock market in 1992, has undergone numerous tests, including lawsuits and natural disasters but has remained highly competitive. Its distinguishing niche, which also doubles as its competitive edge, is the emphasis on foods, which have not been processed in any way. The company ranks third in terms of preserving the environment. This is due to their concern for a cleaner environment (Edwards 64). This award is among several that the company has received. Despite these accolades, it has faced accusations of using its ‘natural’ slogan just for marketing. Such achievement in a company is because of first-rate leadership by the management and other positive qualities among the management and staff. Leadership styles can affect the working environment, which then affects the efficiency of the business. If the workforce feels that their opinions are of no value or their contribution is insignificant, the jobs may lack satisfaction, and consequen tly, results to poor performance. This and other scenarios are dependent on the style, structure and practice of management (Kouzes and Posner 23). Kouzes & Posner identified five practices of exemplary leadership. These included leading by example, inspiring others, questioning the status, empowering others to do and encouraging the heart. The first practice emphasizes the need for leaders to show the way to the others. It underscores the importance for leaders to portray the values they advocate for, in both word and deeds. They should be at the forefront in the battle they are fighting (Kouzes and Posner 23-42). Inspiring others connote that leaders should light up the passions of their followers. The convictions they have about different issues in the company should be communicated well to the constituents. All means should be used to make sure they hold these convictions as their own. The course of the leader should be the course for all constituents (Kouzes and Posner 43). The y should share in the enthusiasm of the leadership. It is also required of leaders to invent and adopt new strategies for dealing with problems. Great achievements have always followed creative thinkers. Leaders must be innovative in their approaches to problems. Leadership also requires decentralizing of capabilities (Kouzes and Posner 173). The achievement of the goals of the company should be met by involving all the constituents. Everyone should be viewed as part of the future of the company, and everyone’s idea should be acknowledged. Finally, leaders should be able to strengthen the weakening wills. They should instil perseverance and dedication in the face of tough times. They should uplift, for example, by rewarding variant effort (Kouzes and Posner 315). Leadership practice: Empowering people to act Execution The leadership of Whole Foods has employed several of the above leadership practices in different times, and to varied degrees. The most conspicuous of these pr actices is its emphasis on empowering people to act. The employees at whole foods are the main custodians of the company’s processes towards it goals and objectives. The company organises its staff into teams. These teams are responsible for the development of the company (Jones and Hill 288). Each retail outlet has about eight teams on charge of the various departments. The leadership emphasizes this in the process they use to hire new staff. To ensure that the new employees to be hired are of the best quality, they are first

What is the best nursing intervention to prevent urinary tract Essay

What is the best nursing intervention to prevent urinary tract infection for older people - Essay Example Very few of the nursing interventions have been studied and proven to be safe and useful to the patient. The paper will mainly focus on the best available evidencesupporting nursing interventions for the elderly that suffer from incontinence and urinary tract infections. Older people will be the main focus because of their vulnerability to infections (Miller, 2008) and the care provided to them. Definitions of both terms will be provided and an analysis of each will be done based on the best nursing interventions. Protocols and policies concerning the prevention of urinary tract infections will be looked at and of major interests will be examined from a range of countries. The subject is very important because it provides an insight into the issues concerning incontinence and urinary tract infection in the elderly adults. It also provides information of the best nursing practices that can be used in the prevention of these conditions and provide a future plan for the control and prevention of such conditions. Incontinence is a very common, disturbing and potentially immobilizing condition in the elderly or geriatric population. Incontinence can be defined as an involuntary loss of the stool or urine in adequate quantities or frequency to comprise a health and/or a social problem (Vieria, 2009). The condition is heterogeneous and it varies in severity from the occasional incidents of trickling small quantities of urine to a continuous urinary incontinence and associated fecal incontinence (Abrass, Kane and Ouslander, 2004). Older persons with incontinence are not usually severely bedridden, demented or in the nursing homes. Many of these patients in the community and in the institutions are ambulatory and their mental functioning is good (Abrass, Kane and Ouslander, 2004). Incontinence has impact on the self-esteem of the patient and there is the usual fear of soiling or wetting during a sexual intercourse and this has a

Quality Management Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Quality Management Systems - Essay Example Organisations apply various strategies and techniques for quality. Excellence is sought as a product of quality, or excellence is attained along with quality. Organisations seek Total Quality Management, used in the professional world of education, government, industries and in many other fields. Over the years, organisations have come to form the ISO 9000 Standards. This is a result of the unification of various organisations and federations throughout the world. It is a set of rules and procedures, or simply standards, for organisations to follow in their quest for excellence and quality management. Many organisations use the Standards as basis for self assessment and excellence. There are steps to follow in self-assessment. Accreditation for the ISO 9000 is an initial step, then organisations go for self-assessment, and furthermore. The steps are enumerated and explained further as we go along in this paper. The details of the ISO 9000:2000, how it evolved and is now practiced by organisations all over the world, are also explained. This study is about ISO 9000:2000 in relation to quality management systems and excellence models. ISO 9000 emphasises a supportive Quality Management Systems and excellence models, i.e. that many organisations go for ISO 9000 registration, take this as a base. ... that many organisations go for ISO 9000 registration, take this as a base. Consequently, their quality managers carry on the program of self-assessment measures using excellence models. This study researched on books and the internet about ISO 9000:2000. We focused on quality management and the goals of organisations and businesses for applying the Standards and the emphasis on Total Quality Management and excellence models. 1 Introduction This paper is based upon the power point presentation about ISO 9000:2000 Standards and its supportive relationship on quality management system and excellence models. ISO 9000 series and excellence models have specific concepts of total quality management, but as to the level of Total Quality Management maturity, they are different. We will deal in this paper the gap of the levels of TQM defined in ISO 9000 series and the excellence model. For organisations seeking for an excellence award, ISO 9000 series can become a base, and then go on with the eight steps approach, as espoused by A. van der Wiele, A.R.T. Williams, and B.G. Dale in their paper entitled, ISO 9000 Series Registration to Business Excellence: The Migratory Path. The paper itself (in pdf format) is an excellent analysis with recommendations for organisations seeking to make a base in ISO 9000 then proceed on for an award for excellence. 2 Literature Review Excellence is defined as the outstanding practice in managing the organisation and achieving results. Emphasis is on the organisation's goals and objectives in line with customer satisfaction, needs and specification.Excellence Models Many organisations adopt the concept of total quality management with self-assessment using

Breast Feeding and Prevention of Breast Cancer Research Proposal

Breast Feeding and Prevention of Breast Cancer - Research Proposal Example This was particular for BRCA1, which is one of the breast cancer faulty genes. The other one is BRCA2, and did not show any response to breast feeding, regardless of the length. Since the Swedish study, researchers have been giving contradicting results about breast cancer and breast feeding (Carlson, 2012). This means that research is ongoing to try and further elucidate whether it is a myth or a fact. This study looks at experimental research to prove the fact that breast feeding will actually offer a protective advantage against breast cancer. Objective This research draws its hypothesis on already done researches to assume that there is a protective advantage against breast cancer in breast feeding. Therefore, the main objective is to find out the truth in the allusions that the earlier researches have come up with. It focuses on evidence to prove that there is truth in breast feeding having a protective effect on breast cancer. Further, the study also intends to give mothers and would be mothers the probable duration of breast feeding that will help to check the risk of breast cancer, despite it being a very personal decision how long one plans to breast feed. Background Globally, breast cancer accounts for almost 10.4% of all the cancers among women. A large percentage of this occurs in third world countries (Goldberg, 2009). Control would be gained among women and health practitioners if it was to be detected earlier before becoming critical. This means that ignorance has been the cause of high cancer mortality rates in developing countries around the world. Screening practices and breast cancer awareness will help a great deal in enlightening people about the disease. The level of ignorance about breast... To evaluate the hypothesis of a protective advantage against breast cancer in breast feeding, the research employed a cross sectional study method by use of a structured questionnaire in a period of two months. The questionnaire covered demographic principle and breast cancer risk factors. The main objective of the research is to find out the truth in the allusions that the earlier researches have come up with. The paper focuses on evidence to prove that there is truth in breast feeding having a protective effect on breast cancer. Further, the study also intends to give mothers and would be mothers the probable duration of breast feeding that will help to check the risk of breast cancer, despite it being a very personal decision how long one plans to breast feed. Further, the results provide evidence that women breast feeding for longer periods keep themselves protected against breast cancer. Additionally, there is evidence in the fact that most women in first world countries either do not breast feed or breast feed for shorter periods, hence there is high rates of the disease in those countries. Basing on evidence, breast feeding has a significant protective effect on breast cancer. The study above proves that women who frequently breast feed reduce their risks of getting the disease significantly in comparison to women who do not breast feed. Therefore, this study confirms the hypothesis. From this study, mothers should breast feed their babies for a period of at least one year.

Quality Management Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Quality Management Systems - Essay Example Organisations apply various strategies and techniques for quality. Excellence is sought as a product of quality, or excellence is attained along with quality. Organisations seek Total Quality Management, used in the professional world of education, government, industries and in many other fields. Over the years, organisations have come to form the ISO 9000 Standards. This is a result of the unification of various organisations and federations throughout the world. It is a set of rules and procedures, or simply standards, for organisations to follow in their quest for excellence and quality management. Many organisations use the Standards as basis for self assessment and excellence. There are steps to follow in self-assessment. Accreditation for the ISO 9000 is an initial step, then organisations go for self-assessment, and furthermore. The steps are enumerated and explained further as we go along in this paper. The details of the ISO 9000:2000, how it evolved and is now practiced by organisations all over the world, are also explained. This study is about ISO 9000:2000 in relation to quality management systems and excellence models. ISO 9000 emphasises a supportive Quality Management Systems and excellence models, i.e. that many organisations go for ISO 9000 registration, take this as a base. ... that many organisations go for ISO 9000 registration, take this as a base. Consequently, their quality managers carry on the program of self-assessment measures using excellence models. This study researched on books and the internet about ISO 9000:2000. We focused on quality management and the goals of organisations and businesses for applying the Standards and the emphasis on Total Quality Management and excellence models. 1 Introduction This paper is based upon the power point presentation about ISO 9000:2000 Standards and its supportive relationship on quality management system and excellence models. ISO 9000 series and excellence models have specific concepts of total quality management, but as to the level of Total Quality Management maturity, they are different. We will deal in this paper the gap of the levels of TQM defined in ISO 9000 series and the excellence model. For organisations seeking for an excellence award, ISO 9000 series can become a base, and then go on with the eight steps approach, as espoused by A. van der Wiele, A.R.T. Williams, and B.G. Dale in their paper entitled, ISO 9000 Series Registration to Business Excellence: The Migratory Path. The paper itself (in pdf format) is an excellent analysis with recommendations for organisations seeking to make a base in ISO 9000 then proceed on for an award for excellence. 2 Literature Review Excellence is defined as the outstanding practice in managing the organisation and achieving results. Emphasis is on the organisation's goals and objectives in line with customer satisfaction, needs and specification.Excellence Models Many organisations adopt the concept of total quality management with self-assessment using

Evaluate the claim that German big business was willingly and Essay

Evaluate the claim that German big business was willingly and profitably cooperated with the Nazi regime in the exploitation of Europe, 1939-45 - Essay Example One of the stronger reactions is given to those companies which are discovered or confess to having links with the Nazi regime and from an examination of historical records as well as various other documents it seems clear that many companies willingly cooperated with the Nazis towards the exploitation of Europe. However, it can be shown that the companies had little interest in ideology or the motives of the Nazis; rather, they were interested in making money since that was their main objective. The economic background of the era is important in this respect because when the Nazis came into power, the economic situation of Germany was disastrous. High unemployment rates meant that the economy was under productive and under pressure. During this time, the economic reorganization of the state was made the responsibility of a respected banker, Hjalmar Schacht. Under his guidance, several changes were made to the economic policy and some of the first economic changes were the elimination of trade unions and establishment of the wage controls in German society (Wikipedia, 2006). These measures certainly helped the business community since trade unions had been able to strike as well as negotiate salaries on a collective basis. Needless to say businesses approved of these ideas and worked hand in hand with the Nazis to improve the economy as Hitler saw fit. The money supply to the economy was expanded with the aid of deficit spending with interest rates held firmly at 4.5%. Shell companies were setup such as the MEFO company which issued bonds but these were actually utilized to hide expenditure on arms which was a violation of the Versailles Treaty (Wikipedia, 2006). The creation of a black market was stopped simply because the Germans could send violators to concentration camps or shot after a summary trial. Imports were limited while exports were expanded leading to an overvalued mark. Despite all of these measures,

This play is really a piece of veiled social criticism, its theme on the failure of the American dream Essay Example for Free

This play is really a piece of veiled social criticism, its theme on the failure of the American dream Essay In the American dream, America is portrayed as the land of opportunity; the perfect place for everyone to live, all the stereotypical Americans are big, comfortable, rich, and altogether happy. They portray the image that through hard work, honesty and merit, they too can reach the top, have a large house, lots of money and the perfect all American family, a loving happy wife and two clever children. The play, however, could be Albees attempt to show that in many cases this American dream is unachievable and, what could appear at first to be the perfect family could, on closer examination, turn out to be something not confirming to the American dream whatsoever. This could also be Albee showing that the American dream is a perfect image, and just an image. At first sight, Martha and George appear to be as far away from the American dream and its ideals as is possible. They are constantly scrapping with each other and bickering and seem not to have a nice word to say to the other. At one point Martha quotes You see, George didnt have muchpushhe wasnt particularly aggressive. In fact, he was a sort of aa FLOP! A greatbigfatflop! Martha is portraying her husband in no uncertain terms to his colleagues. This encourages us think that no couple from the American dream scenario would do something like this. She is blatantly betraying her husband, and more importantly, destroying the happy family element of the American dream. As the play draws on, however, we find more and more evidence of a joyous marriage, hidden behind a thickened exterior from years of exercising their wits. We can find several examples of their love; the first being in the lounge shortly after the gun incident when Martha asks George to kiss her to demonstrate his affection. The second slightly more complicated issue, when she leaves with Nick and, despite no obvious signs of objection George really wishes she would reconsider the idea. At the beginning, Nick and Honey seem like the perfect all-American couple- young, attractive, on their way to success. Nicks attractiveness is portrayed in the opening dialogue between George and Martha, as she describes Nick and George remembers him as the good looking one. As the play progresses, a different couple emerges. Nick reveals himself to be cold-hearted and a bit ruthless; ready to do whatever it takes to get to the top. Honey seems silly and hopelessly inane until she reveals herself to be deeply frightened of reality, an eternal child who refuses to grow up to the responsibilities of life (as represented by childbirth). Nick comprehends George and Marthas secret, but whether he is changed by it is a question the play doesnt answer. As Martha is describing her son, Honey cries out that she wants a child, but Honeys future is ambiguous, too. Whether she will feel the same way after she has sobered up is never clarified. Nick appears to be the perfect candidate for the American dream. He is good looking, successful in his job, has the perfect all American wife, and a good outlook on life. As the plot progresses we start to see a wider perspective on Nicks life. He is not honest and we can see this in the middle scene when he is willing to further his career by sleeping with the principals daughter. This act is not worthy of any merit and he appears to not regret doing it either, definitely not a quality of the American dream hero. His wife also doesnt appear very committed to his job as she greatly begrudged having to make friends and acquaintances at Nicks previous post. She even went as far as to moan about this to her husbands colleagues, despite the fact that these were good and honest, merit-worthy ways to aid her husband in reaching the top. Martha is a large busy-bodying woman who is extremely insecure. She shows a need for love, which can easily lead to her getting hurt. In the very beginning she asks George for a kiss. When he refuses she appears to not mind but we can feel huge waves of upset coming from beneath the surface. We believe that she feels her marriage is insecure and that because she cant love herself she cant understand why George can love her. We see her, as loud boisterous and bossy but is she really? Her thick outer shell could simply be her way of preventing herself getting hurt, or it could be more simply, that she uses the attention she gets from the joking as a substitute for the love that she never got as a child. Her control over George is seen right from the beginning, she is extremely over possessive of their marriage and yet at times she appears as if she couldnt care less. Whereas all the other characters have a definite personality, which becomes more defined throughout the play, Marthas personality changes by the minute. At first she enjoys poking fun at everyone, then she doesnt and then she just collapses. We perceive this as either Albee constantly adapting her character to the changing events in the play or his way of making this character really come alive in a place true to our hearts; where we can all identify with her. George is the typical middle age college professor, married, stereotypical, but not the American dream man. He is lousy in his career and his wife is quick to point this out. He has not conformed to Marthas plans for him to become a high standing man in the university, taking over the department and eventually the college. Despite his apparent failure in his work he is a man who has certain principles and sticks with them. He doesnt however object to Marthas adultery, he hopes that even down to the very last minute, she will change her mind and not simply continue pushing to see how far she can go before George will object. We can all see however, that George is very sad when Martha has pushed beyond the point of no return and will not change her mind; he really loves her. At the end of the play he also turns out to push things too far, but this does not make a difference to our thoughts that he is more fulfilling of the American dream than Martha, Honey or Nick. Honey is a very fickle character; she simply does what suits herself best. In the first chapter of the play she admits to George that she doesnt really want children and, without telling her husband is having secret abortions. This is cruel and mean. It could bring their marriage crashing to the ground, and could also greatly upset Nick when he finds out. She is aware of this but goes ahead with the abortions anyway. Does this, the audience ask, make her an uncaring character? The answer is no, she is aware of the fact that Nick married her for her money and not love so she therefore is not 100% careful of her marriage. She drinks herself silly at the end of the first scene and then proceeds to continue drinking. An American dream character would have stopped before now, unless she is drinking to hide her sorrows or fears. In the play, the audience is aware that both Martha and Honey have social problems. Honey drinks a lot to cover, and hide from her problems and Martha puts on an outer appearance of being loud and boisterous, despite the fact she isnt. Albee has given both of these characters domineering fathers who do not conform to the American dream. Both men spent their years getting rich, not by hard work, but by stealing from the places they worked for, as we can see in these two extracts, the first from George on Marthas father; Martha has money too. I mean, her fathers been robbing this place blind for years, and the second from Nick, He spent Gods moneyand he saved his own, Neither of the fathers spent much time at home either, and neglected their daughters, using their stolen money as a substitute for love and affection. This deficiency in their childhood leads us, the audience to wonder if maybe these earlier problems are some cause for the troubles they both succumb to in their own marri ages. All the men in Albees play seem to have failed the American dream in terms of job ideals. None of them have a job where they have succeeded through honesty and loyalty. George is the only one who has been loyal, honest and hardworking, and he is still stuck in the mud at the bottom, in Marthas words, a flop. We do not find out how Marthas father got to the top; whether honest or not. We do hear, however that he takes money from the university and has failed Martha as a father, leaving us in no doubt as to what sort of person he is. Nick has failed at a previous job and has come to a new university hoping to turn over a new leaf, this might well be believed if he didnt go and sleep with the principals daughter shortly after arriving. He also explains, before sleeping with her to George that she is the most important woman in the university, the biggest goose in the gaggle, leading us to believe that maybe hes sleeping with her just for the power. Honeys father is implicated by his son-in-law to burn down churches to get money; not the sort of behaviour for a man of the American dream. Gamesmanship is one of the plays major themes and is expressed in the title of the first act, Fun and Games. Albee is emphasising the games everyone plays in life, particularly those that are harmful to us and to others. George and Marthas games have moved beyond the needs of a normal couple to chide each other for their faults. They now are capable of wounding each other deeply, as these games have become a substitute for real communication between them. In the play, their need to lash out extends to include Nick and Honey; and the party games, including Humiliate the Host, Get the Guests, Bringing Up Baby, etc, provide the framework for their marital battles. Georges decision to kill his and Marthas son provides the climactic game that may change their lives forever. Honey and Nick have no children, despite appearing, at first, to want a child. As we get inside this couple we discover that Nick is a biologist and would like children, whereas Honey is deeply afraid of having children. Honeys fear of childbirth goes as far as for her to have secret abortions without telling Nick. She confides this in George and he realises just how close to breaking point this marriage. No American dream marriage should ever be close to breaking point. Honeys secret appears only to make her marriage to Nick even more unstable, so we wonder why she doesnt tell him. As the play progresses, we can see George gently encouraging Honey to have her children instead of killing them until finally Honey announces suddenly and tearfully I want a child. This should be quite surprising to Nick, as he has assumed that she obviously wants a child, but it isnt so we think that maybe he has discovered her abortions and simply kept quiet. The imaginary child is important to the play for several reasons. On one level, it gives the play suspense, as the audience wonders why George is so insistent that the subject of the child not be mentioned. On a symbolic level, the child represents George and Marthas need to share something private amid the wreck of their marriage, even an illusion, since the thought of facing the reality of their lives is too painful. George doesnt want Martha to tell the guests about their child as we can see in some of the opening dialogue George: Just dont start in on the bit about the kid, thats all. Martha: What do you take me for? George: Much too much. Martha: Yeah? Well Ill start in on the kid if I want to. Martha: Just leave the kid out of this. George: Id advise against it, Martha. This starts us wondering about their child, who he is, where he is etc. Another possibility is that the child represents the sterility of American lives, in which the dream of the perfect child is merely an illusion, impossible to achieve in a world of adultery, alcoholism, lying, and evasion. Finally, the child acts as the catalyst in Georges last gesture against Martha, a gesture both sadistic and healing. His decision to kill the child results in Marthas realisation that reality must be faced, whatever the consequences. And the consequences for both George and Martha are, at best, uncertain. George claimed that his mother was killed accidentally, with a shotgun. We consider why he claims this to be accidental. He had the shotgun and it went off. His carrying of the shotgun was no accident. It firing may have been, but why did he have a loaded shotgun pointed at his mother? He then goes on to claim that he was driving, his learners license in his pocket when he swerved and killed his father too. These are both cases of violence in what is definitely not a perfect American dream, despite appearing to be. Honey is a fragile, gentle lady who suddenly starts shouting violence violence when provoked. Martha and George are constantly having battles of a verbal nature and goes as far as to declare all out war of verbal violence, destined to end unhappily for everyone. A true American dream sociology would contain no violence so why is it such a prominent feature in the play? Both Nick and Honey seem to want totally different things from their marriage. Nick wants children, Honey doesnt. Honey wants love, Nick doesnt give any. It is a long way from the perfect American marriage. Nicks has married for money only and he only thinks he loves Honey, as she has found out as the recipient. During George and Nicks discussions, Nick tells George about how he married Honey, he explains that he thought Honey was pregnant and he therefore married her. After the marriage however, she turned out not to be pregnant. This leads us to wonder if she really was pregnant and then had an abortion or a miscarriage or whether she was just lying to Nick; we are not told the outcome of this. Later however, when George plays Get the Guests it emerges what Nick told George and Honey is extremely is upset, reprimanding Nick, who claims he didnt mean to. This makes us contemplate; can a marriage where one half constantly does meaningless actions that upset the other seriously work? Marthas and Honeys need for love is a large element in the play. If they had been shown more love as children, maybe they wouldnt need it so much now. Marthas need from love is shown from the very beginning when they arrive and Martha asks for a kiss from George and when he refuses she asks repeatedley, then questions why he wont, fearing that their latest exercising of wits has annoyed him. As the play draws on, Martha sleeps with Nick, believing she will get love from it, when she doesnt, she is very upset. It is not difficult for us to empathise with Martha, slightly harder for us to empathise with Honey. Honey was never loved as a child and is not really loved by Nick either; this contributes to her frailness. We are led to believe that both married so they could get love, unsure of what it was and therefore unable to give it. Martha cannot understand how George could love her and believes their marriage is failing, despite the fact it isnt. When George tells Nick that the way to a mans heart is through his wifes belly Nick thinks George is joking. They talk for a bit calling the women a gaggle of geese and comparing them to The Puntas George continues to explain that sleeping around is the faculty sport and that everyone does. Surely not a good idea for a happy marriage on the American dream terms? As their conversation progresses, George encourages Nick to mount her like a goddamn dog, which Nick proceeds to do as the play unravels. When George realises that Nick is utterly serious about sleeping with his wife, he tries to give Nick some advice. Nick refuses to listen and simply mocks George who gives up after trying once more. George has been at the university a long time so when he fails to be listened to he is very upset, which could be why he later encourages Nick to sleep with Martha, in total seriousness. Because of the differences in their ages, George and Nick represent two different generations. George is generally passive, weakened by his lack of success and by Marthas constant humiliation of him. Nick is young, ambitious, and amoral; eager to get ahead by whatever means it takes. Their professions also contrast the two. A historian, George is also representative of a humanist, one who is interested in human values- in his case, with a particular interest in the past. A biologist, Nick represents both the future and the clinical, cold-hearted approach to life that threatens to rob mankind of its individuality. Albee ironically turns the tables on the characters when George is shown to be the one in control and the only one who has ever satisfied Martha. Nick, the stud, is impotent in his sexual encounter with Martha and becomes the houseboy, the subservient one. Whos afraid of Virginia Woolf is truly a portrait of humiliation and broken dreams. It is a piece of social criticism on the failure of the American dream. Albee has stated that the role of the writer is to be, axiomatically, against any society he happens to be living in, and we can certainly find evidence to prove this statement as we look at and study this play. The American dream is a state of perfection that can never be achieved. Martha and George who are happy but do not conform to the ideals and Nick and Honey who appear perfect, but under the surface are very strained. Martha is loud and boisterous but deeply unhappy, George is unsuccessful but loved and admired, Honey is unloved but delicate and beautiful, Nick is successful but not liked. All the men in the play appear unsuccessful when compared to the American dream. The games they play are not happy, or fun, but an excuse for verbal abuse. The characters are part of a society where they hold all night orgies, use violence and drink to extremes. The play is a piece of social criticism on the failure of the American dream.

User Behavior Mining in Software as a Service Environment

User Behavior Mining in Software as a Service Environment Abstract—Software as a Service (SaaS) provides software application vendors a Web based delivery model to serve large number of clients with multi-tenancy based infrastructure and application sharing architecture. With the growing of the SaaS business, data mining in the environment becomes achallenging area. In this paper, we suggest a new metric along with a few existing metrics for customer analysis in a Software as a Service environment. Keywords: Software as a Service, SaaS, Customer Behavior analysis, Data mining in SaaS Environment I. Introduction With the rapid development of Internet Technology and the application software usage, SaaS (Software as a Service) as a complete innovative model of software application delivery model is attracting more and more customers to use SaaS for reducing the software purchase and maintenance costs as it can provide on-demand application software, and the users can adjust the functions provided by services to meet changes in demand. SaaS is gaining speed with the considerable increase in the number of vendors moving into this space[1]. The SaaS model is different from a regular website model. In a regular website model, users of the software directly interact with the software application. But in the case of a SaaS model, users interact with the application through the service provider. The difference between a regular website model and a SaaS model can be shown in figure 1. Figure: 1 II. Motivation Software as a Service (SaaS) is being adopted by more and more software application vendors and enterprises [2].SaaS is beneficial for the customers in such a way that, a customer can unsubscribe from the services whenever he wants which makes it a challenge to manage customer relationships. One of the characteristics of the SaaS business model is that one SaaS service needs to serve a large number of customers, among which considerable portion are customers for whom services are offered on trial basis. As there is competition in the market, both trial and paying customers may move their business to another service provider based on their requirements. It is essential for a service provider to retain the customers from migrating to another service provider. Previous studies show that a small increase in retention rate would lead to a considerable increment in the new present value of the customers. To withstand the competition in the market, a service provider should satisfy the cust omers by understanding their current behavior and predicting their next move like if they are having any problems in using the services, how much are the customers satisfied based on the seriousness and activeness of the customers. III. Related Works A lot of work has been done in the area of analyzing the customers’ behavior on website model. Various methodologies are stated by various authors on various processes in mining the web. In [3] Sindhu P Menon and Nagaratna P Hegde, analyzed the views and methodologies stated by various authors on various processes in web mining. In [4] R. Suguna and D. Sharmila listed out work done by various authors in the web usage mining area. In [5] the authors Jiehui Ju. Et.al, gives a quick survey on SaaS. It covers key technologies in SaaS, difference between Application Software Provider and Software as a Service Provider, SaaS architecture and SaaS maturity model and the advantages that SaaS offers to small businesses. In [6], the authors Espadas et. al, presents the analysis of the impart of a set of requirements and proposes guidelines to be applied for application deployment in Software as a Service (SaaS) Environment. In [7], the authors Ning Duan, et. al, proposed an algorithm and two metrics which work with the collaboration among the users of a customer in a Software as a Service environment. IV. Problem Definition In a SaaS Environment, an effective relationship with the customer depends on how much the status of each customer is understood. In order to understand the status of a customer, it is necessary to study the behavior of ehte customer form time to time. It is necessary to predict the customers’ seriousness and activeness in using the service. This prediction may help the service providers in improving their business strategies. In a business to customer website model, the mining is done based on selected metrics like visit frequency, average depth, average stay time etc. In the case of SaaS model, there is another level of users who actually use the service. So, regular user behavior metrics may not yield accurate results in the case of SaaS model. If individual customer’s user’s behavior is studied, then the difference between the customers may be identified. A lot of research is done on user behavior analysis in regular website model but those methods used for user behavior analysis may not guarantee accurate predictions. So an extra parameter or metric is to be considered. As in the SaaS model, a tenant is the direct customer of the service provider and the actual users of the service are the users of the customers, one way to study the behavior of the customers may be by summing up the individual user’s metrics of a customer to evaluate the customer’s behavior. But this way ignore the individual differences of the behaviors of the users of a customer. In addition to these regular web usage mining metrics if collaboration among the users is also considered in the analysis of customer behavior, it may yield better results than just using the regular metrics. But previous works done in user behavior analysis in SaaS uses only collaboration metrics in the analysis which ignores almost half of the analysis data. The experiment done aims at using collaboration metrics along with another metric which works with the data not considered in the collaboration metric calculation so that all the available data is considered in user behavior prediction. V. Experiment The experiment is done in two phases, namely Data Collection Phase and Data Processing Phase. In the Data collection phase, the necessary data (like server log files, transaction history, etc) are collected. In the second phase i.e. in Data Processing phase, the actual analysis takes place. This phase is further divided into individual modules like preprocessing, pattern discovery, and pattern analysis. Preprocessing is a process of refining the sever log data and transaction history removing noise in data (if any) and populating database for further use in next modules. It includes data cleaning, user identification, session identification, transaction identification. Pattern Discovery is the process of discovering the usage patterns from the cleaned raw log data. As in this experiment, it is not regular usage patterns that are to be considered, collaboration patterns are to be considered. Regular usage patterns are the sequences of activities that are performed by the users individually. But, collaboration patterns are those that are performed by users by interaction. Collaboration patterns are not the transaction patterns rather they are the patterns of users that collaborate to perform a transaction. Definition of Collaboration: Collaboration is defined to happen when different users of a customer work on the same business object during a certain period of time. For example, in a Human Resource management SaaS service, the vacation request is submitted by a regular employee user of a customer and then is approved/rejected by manager user of the same customer. Here two users of a customer are involved in the process of granting a leave. This is called collaboration. After the raw data is cleansed, the data used for collaboration discovery may contain details of the transactions performed by the users of any tenant with tenant id(tid), user id (uid), transaction id (transaction_id) (may also be called business object id), date, time, service id (sid). In this table more than one user may be involved in the completing of a transaction. Algorithm: Collaboration User Set Identification Input: Table 1 that consists of the transaction details Output: Collaboration_Table with collaboration transaction details Initially Collaboration_Table is empty Get first record from Table 1 Insert details into Collaboration_Table While end of table 1 not reached Get next record from table 1 Search for transaction_id in collaboration_Table If found, update collaboration user set and no_of_users Else Add details to collaboration_table as new record Table 1: Sample table showing the contents of Table 1 Table 2: Sample Collaboration Table Pattern analysis plays vital role in the experiment. This module deals with the behavior analysis based on the collaboration patterns extracted above. From [7], there are two type of collaboration. They are random collaboration and repeated collaboration by certain group of users. The first type of collaboration can indicate the activeness of the customer no matter which users are involved in the collaboration process. It can be called as Active Collaboration Index (ACI). The second type of collaboration can be described by the usage patterns among the users of a customer. It can be called Patterned Collaboration Index (PCI). A high ACI value tells that a customer is actively using the SaaS service and if such a customer is still a trial customer, it probably shall be the high priority target to get it converted into paying customer. A high PCI value tells that a tenant is seriously using the SaaS service with relatively strong loyalty, cross-selling or up-selling opportunity can be explored for such a customer. The formula to calculate ACI and PCI are as follows The AppCNorm is the normalizing factor indicating collaboration characteristic of SaaS service. While some SaaS service are rich with collaborations and others may not be. In order to balance the difference among different SaaS services, this normalization factor is employed. Where Pni denotes the collaboration pattern i of customer n, N is the total number of customers, and m is the total number of patterns in customer n. supp(pni) is the support value of pattern Pni, and len(Pni) is the length of the pattern. These collaboration metrics works only with the collaboration data and neglects the remaining data which is almost half of the data. Hence another metric can be added along with the above metrics which considers the non-collaboration transactions. As the new metric is for non-collaboration transactions of a tenant, it can be called Average Usage Index (AUI). This can be calculated using the formula This AUI increases the accuracy of prediction of activeness of the customer along with ACI. VI. RESULTS For this experiment, the data created is for 100 customers of a Software as a Service provider who is providing 6 different components of an application as different services. Among these 100 customers, first 50 are taken as paid customers and the other 50 are taken as trial customers. Table 3: Summary of transactions Table 4: Sample pattern list Table 5: Sample Calculated Metrics From the above calculated values, we can observe that though T0 is a paid customer, less ACI and PCI values indicate that this customer is not using the services to the full and hence revenue generated from this particular customer is not appreciable. Rather, this customer may be planning to unsubscribe from the service and hence is an important target for the service provider to retain the customer. In the case of T45, it has high ACI value, high AUI value indicating active usage of the services and high PCI indicating that this customer is completely migrating his business onto the SaaS service generating the service provider more revenue. Among the sample trial calculated values, customer T50 is active and serious and hence, there is a high probability for this customer to convert into paid customer. On the other hand, customer T89 is not very active and is not serious indicating that he may be facing technical difficulties in using the services and hence should be helped with or is thinking to unsubscribe from the services. Table 6: Summary of Calculated metrics From the above table, for any tenant to be considered active in using the services, minimum ACI and AUI values needed are 1 and 1 respectively and minimum PCI value needed is 2. VII. Conclusion The metrics ACI and PCI are introduced in previous works done by Ning Daun, et. al in [7] which works with collaboration data and leaving the non collaboration data. In our work, a new metric is introduced AUI which considers the non collaboration data also in customer behavior analysis. Still further, frequent pattern analysis can be applied on this non collaboration data to get usage patterns and so the analysis can be further improved. VIII. References [1] Wei Sun, Xing Zhang, Chang Jie Gou, Pei Sun, Hui Su, IBM China Research Lab, Beiing 100094, â€Å"Software as a Service: Configuration and Customization Perspective† IEEE Congress on Services Part II, IEEE 2008. [2] E. Knorr, â€Å" Software as a Service: The Next Big Thing†, http://www. infoworld.com/article/06/03/20/76103_12FEsaas_1.html† [3] Sindhu P Menon, Nagaratna P Hegde, â€Å"Requisite for Web Usage Mining – A Survey†, Special Issue of International Journal of Computer Science Informatics: 2231-5292, Vol-II, Issue-1, 2, pp. 209-215. [4] R. Suguna, D. Sharmila â€Å"An Overview of Web Usage Mining†, International Conference of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887), Vol. 39, No, 13, February 2012, pp. 11 – 13. [5] Jiehui, et. al, â€Å"Research on Key Technologu=ies in SaaS†, International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Cognitive Informatics, 2010, pp. 384-387. [6] Espadas et. al, â€Å"Application Development over Software-as-a-Service platforms†, The Third International Conference on Software Engineering Advances, 2008, pp. 87-104. [7] Ning Duan, et. al, â€Å"Tenant Behavior analysis in Software as a Service Environment†: Service Operations, Logistics and Informatics (SOLI), 2011 IEEE International Conference, pp 132-137, July 2011.