Feasibility of Telehealth Essay

Health is a vital aspect of life, which is why it is important to have an access to different health care services. The world’s population is rising radically every year; thus, the demand for quality health care services also increases. With the application of modern technology the health system has been able to accommodate this demand in many countries through the implementation of Telehealth. In Canada, accessibility and distribution of health care services is influenced by aspects like large landmass, population concentration and economy and (Sevean, et. al., 2008). The feasibility of Telehealth as an instrument for delivering health care services in Canada will be discussed in this paper, focusing on four key themes: service to rural areas, cost effectiveness, responsiveness and ease of access that will be tackled consecutively. The first paragraph after the introduction aims to give an overview on what and how Telehealth works in Canada. Central to the arguments presented in this paper is the pros of using Telehealth by means of telecommunication technologies as a substitute to the actual patient-to-health care provider interaction. Telehealth is defined by Health Canada (2000) as â€Å"the application of telecommunications and information technology to the delivery of health care and health-related services and information over large and small distances†. It is basically divided into two distinct parts: the technology being used and the persons (patient or health care provider) (Thede, 2001, para. 2). Telehealth according to Prinz, Cramer, and Englund uses four modes of telecommunication: voice-only or telephone, video images or exchange of information through digital pictures, and virtual contract or video conferencing (Background section, para. 4). Included in the Telehealth Ontario service is a contact number that you can Canadians can call 24 hours a day seven days a week. In consulting the health care provider through phone, once on the line, the health care provider, usually registered nurse, will asks the person on the other line to describe his or her health concern, the nurse will then evaluate the person’s condition and will help him or her to determine the best option available for him or her; whether to go see a doctor, admit himself or herself in an emergency room, the nurse can also advise self-care (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, 2009). Telehealth has already been incorporated in almost every medical field like Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Cardiology, Radiology and Oncology providing accuracy and more services to people. Telehealth aims to elevate the serviceability of health system by providing access for people who has a health concern anytime of any day anywhere. Telehealth provides better health service for people living in the rural areas. Canada has a large landmass with bodies of water surrounding it. The population is not equally distributed, most Canadians live in urban areas, and some smaller communities are located at rural areas and the Aboriginals mostly live in small isolated areas. In the study they conducted in 2008, Sevean, Dampier, Spadoni, Strickland and, Pilatzke found out that Canadians who live in smaller isolated community do not have an access to a quality health care because even though Canada has an excellent health services most of these health services centered on the urban areas and that is a lso why most health care professionals favor working on urban areas resulting to a shortage of health care professionals in the rural areas. In addition, specific services might only be available to large hospitals that are mostly located on big cities, forcing people in isolated communities to travel miles by land, water or air to get the medical help they need. Most road conditions in the rural areas are undeveloped increasing their inconvenience. Also, weather condition is also a great consideration in accessing health care, air and sea travel is usually cancelled during storms most roads are also inaccessible when there is a strong downpour of snow. Unavailability of help during emergencies results in fatality especially in the northern Aboriginal communities (Sevean et. al, 2008). By improving the access of health care for rural access it also decreases the mortality rate. Telehealth is designed to reduce the cost associated with the delivery of health care without compromising on the quality. Treatments and medications can be costly depending on the type and intervals plus the extra inconvenience associated with it such as travelling costs, hospital accommodations, stress, and physical limitations (Sevean et al., 2008). Included in the patient’s bill in the hospital is the room accommodation, the longer they stay at the hospital the more they have to pay. Through Telehealth, patients who underwent surgeries or had suffered illnesses have the option to check-out early and continue the recovery in their own homes; thus, lessening the costs of their hospitalization. As mentioned earlier, people who live in small isolated communities have to travel kilometers to miles in order for them to meet with their health practitioner on the cities to get medical attention or follow-up from post-recovery, through telehealth they are able to save on transportation, gas mileage and other extra expenses like parking fee. Moreover, Saqui et al, (2011) argued that telehealth consultation decreases morbidity, prevent unnecessary suboptimal costly treatment, patient transfers and travelling cost when a change in the diagnosis and treatment plan occur (Discussion Section, para. 2) Through videoconferencing, Telehealth are able to give immediate diagnosis for a patient who needs urgent care (Saqui et al., 2011). A lot of effort is involve before a patient co uld meet with his or her doctor such as making an appointment, sorting his or her schedule and so on and so forth. By the time the person with health concern meets with his or her doctor the illness might already aggravated; consequently, the health care system through Telehealth provides a quicker and more efficient way on determining the type and seriousness of the patients and illness without leaving the comfort of their homes. By contacting Telehealth as soon as a person notices some irregularities in the person’s normal body functions that indicates that he may or may not be ill, enable that person who called to act immediately preventing the illness from advancing any further or on the other hand be reassured that there’s nothing to worry about. Furthermore, Telehealth also made the monitoring on recovering patients at their homes faster, the registered nurse in-charge of monitoring the patient can guide the patient in his recovery process through a streaming media. Any concerns that may arise in the recovery process can be solved a lot quicker, the patient can leave a message or phoned and the health care provider will respond to it as soon as possible stating the fact that Telehealth service is available 24 hours a day. Moscovice and Rosenblalt (2000) that the quality of health care cannot be measured by the morbidity and mortality rates, but by the ability of the health care provider to recognize and respond to their patient immediately. One thing that proves that Telehealth is feasible in improving the delivery of health-care is its acceptability. Although Telehealth is designed mostly to cater the health care needs of people living in the rural areas and isolated communities, according to Health Canada, Telehealth service has been extended to the impoverished, the socially disadvantaged, ‘the institutionalized’ and the urban and suburban households has been added recently. The Telehealth system is tailored to improve enhance the access of the clients and their families to the health system in regards to their location, gender, age and condition. Prinz et. al, identify age as a barrier that create health discrepancy because of the limited access to health care, ‘home bound status’ and issues on transportation which is why in older patients, a branch of Telehealth called Telemonitoring is being used to provide an immediate respond in case of emergency, to allow them to stay at their homes, to lessen the risk for accidents and ‘to delay the institutionalization ( Pruski and Knops, 2005). This branch of telehealth has been proven to improve the elder’s quality of life, making the task of the caregiver easier, and lessen the elder’s admission to the hospital. The high acceptability of Telehealth comes from its ability to provide maximum support not only for the patients but also for their families. The clients feel secured because they are in a familiar environment where their families could assist them. Moreover, Telehealth has been proven to lessen the stress involve in the health care process especially for the patients with disabilities because of the reduced waiting time, omitting the need for transportation. In 2005, 100 % of the respondents in the Pediatric Surgical Telehealth Clinics survey conducted by Miller and Levesque indicated that they are satisfied in the service of Telehealth and would recommend it to others (Sevean et. al, 2008). Conclusion The four key themes of Telehealth discussed above: service to rural areas, cost effectiveness, responsiveness, and ease of access and acceptability, and the description on how Telehealth works illustrate its feasibility in delivering the health care the clients need and the advantages of using Telehealth versus the traditional way of patient-to-health care practitioners. Telehealth provides better health care services in the rural areas and isolated communities, it also lessen the cost of access to health care by decreasing the need to travel and other expenses, in addition Telehealth also provides an immediate feedback to the client or patient that is important during emergency, therefore decreases mortality and morbidity rate and lastly, it is designed for various ages, gender, disease to provide an ease of access and acceptability. Telehealth In conclusion is a more efficient way of delivering care to people through the use of various modern technologies; its feasibility has been proven. The health of future and current generations depends on the availability and efficient delivery of health care. References Office of Health and the Information Highway, Health Canada. (March 2000). Evaluating Telehealth ‘Solutions’ A Review and Synthesis of the Telehealth Evaluation Literature. Retrieved from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/pubs/ehealth-esante/2000-tele- eval/index-eng.php Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. (2009). Telehealth Program.-Ministry Program-Public Information. Retrieved from: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/telehealth/ Prinz, L., Cramer, M., Englund, A. (July-August 2008). Telehealth: A policy analysis for quality, impact on patient outcomes, and political feasibility. Nursing Outlook. 56(4), 152-158. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029655408000456 Saqui O, Chang A, McGonigle S, Purdy B, Fairholm L, Baun M, Yeung M, Rossos P, Allard J. (2007). Telehealth videoconferencing: Improving home parental nutrition parent care to rural areas of Ontario, Canada. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. 31(3), 234-239. Retrieved from: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17463150 Sevean P, Dampier S, Spadoni M, Strickland S, Pilatzke S. (2009). Patients and families experiences with video telehealth in rural/remote communities in Northern Canada. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 18(1), 2573-2579. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19694885 Thede, Linda Q. (2001). â€Å"Overview and Summary: Telehealth: Promise Or Peril?†. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 6(30). Retrieved from: www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume62001/No3Sept01/TelehealthOverview.aspx Vincent, C., Reinharz, D., Deaudelin, I., Garcieau, M. (2005).Why some Health Care Professionals Adopt Telemonitoring and Others Not?. In Pruski, A. & Knops, H (Eds.). Assistive Technology: From Virtuality to Reality. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press

Definition essay on the word “Passion” Essay

Passion is a distinct characteristic that not every person has the opportunity to experience. When one is said to have passion, that means that this person is driven and full of enthusiasm. Passion can be expressed in many different ways, and in many different situations. The dictionary has several definitions for the word â€Å"passion.† Passion is described as a powerful emotion, such as love, hate, joy, or anger. Anyone can be joyful, but when someone is passionately joyful, it takes the meaning of â€Å"joyful† to a whole new level. A person can â€Å"fly into a passion,† meaning they are experiencing intense rage and emotion. The television show â€Å"Passions† revolves around all of these emotions, therefore incorporating its title into every episode it airs. The second dictionary definition of the word â€Å"passion† elaborates much more on the powerful emotion of love. The word â€Å"passion† also refers to undying love, sexual desire, and lust. When a relationship between two people is said to be passionate, it means that they are madly, deeply in love with one another. It can also be mutual sexual desire and lust between two people who may or may not be in love with one another. An unknown individual quoted the following statement: â€Å"Passion is not having sex; passion is making love forever.† A person described as â€Å"passionate† is generally very motivated, enthusiastic, and full of life. Companies involved with advertising are incessantly looking to recruit passionate people, because their enthusiasm affects a potential customer’s decision positively in the company’s favor. F.M. Foster summarized this thought quite well when he said, â€Å"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.† Passion can also be the object of one’s enthusiasm. When a particular item or activity is one’s â€Å"passion†, it becomes not just something they like to do, but rather a part of them as a person. If a boy is passionate about hockey, it means that he lives, breathes, and sleeps hockey. It means that he spends a great deal of time not only playing hockey, but also thinking about hockey. A person’s greatest â€Å"passion† is that person’s obsession; it is, at least in their eyes, their purpose in life. A life without passion would be a life without purpose. The absence of passion means the absence of love, joy, and excitement; it also means the absence of hatred, spite, and anger. Life without passion would be meaningless, empty, and boring. Henri Fredric Amiel perhaps said it best in the following statement: â€Å"A man without passion is only a latent force, only a possibility, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks.† Life is full passion, and without it, there would be no quality of life.

Business And Environment Interaction Essay

Introduction Dealing with factors in the external environment is a crucial part of corporate survival, stability and growth.   This is especially recognized when a firm is operating internationally where barriers to entry and liability of foreignness serve as aggravation to the challenging task of responding to external forces.   The organization can remain indifferent despite environmental changes and still accumulate revenues. But as soon as its mediocrity and irresponsibility achieved their tolerance limits, the previous competitive position of the organization will likely be unreachable and eventually will drown into demise.   This issue is most alarming to Coca-Cola who is the current leader in carbonated drinks and one of the well-known brands in the soft drink industry.   Even with its current position, external forces are skilled protagonists continuously testing its current strategy and asking, â€Å"Are you capable of retaining your position?† Identification of External Forces The European market is recently observed changes in taste and preference for drinks.   The trend is less consumption of carbonated products and increasing demand for non-carbonated and still drinks.   This is happening since 1998 and a handful of research institutions confirmed this phenomenon including Mintel and Canadean.   Financial results of Coca-Cola also remained flat for its sugary product line while company report is expecting future based on the focusing expansion in its still drink. The market becomes more health-conscious and concern towards tasty but unhealthy drinks is in progress.   In addition to sugar, artificial additives and flavors are blacklisted characteristics of soft drinks for today’s consumers.   The complexity of customers especially in developed countries is a key concern for Coca-Cola as this market is less sensitive to price and are willing to pay more for healthier products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental factors have a close relation to the shift in social attitudes against carbonated drinks.   With longer hot weather lasting throughout the year as what happening in UK and other neighbouring countries, the shift to still and non-carbonated drinks will be minimal.   This is because physiological issues are stronger than self-expression and more people are willing to risks adverse effect to long-term health in return of enjoying carbonated drinks. Increased awareness of the effects of non-biodegradable products to global warming and pollution also affects the extent of the shift in preference.   Ozone-friendly packaging is an additional feature that drink products must possess to lure the market such as the use of biodegradable plastics.   With regards to bottled water manufacturers, their health advocacy and positive reception of the market is adverse affected by its adjustment to regulation of continuously decreasing of quality water in the UK.   This means that they may not be able to supply the widening market demand for healthy drinks due to scarcity of resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With pressures from social and environmental factors, soft drink manufacturers find new ways to maintain and increase their market share.   This caused motivation within the industry to conduct research and development to create soft drink products that possess hybrid features that addresses health, environmental and taste needs of the market.   Hampered by the fact that the plant and facilities of manufacturers are fixed, the importance of serving the shift in market preference is concretized as they are willing to change the current design despite increase in costs and induce change. In its website, Coca-Cola advertised its products as complete which means that drink aspects such as style, taste, innovation and health are realized.   This can be obtained by introducing new products such as vegetable drinks, drinks that have anti-oxidant properties and exotic drinks.   Innovative packaging is also an important source of product competence such as the use of biodegradable plastics for juices and dairy drinks while tetra-type of packaging has supply chain benefits with longer shelf life and efficient storage compatibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With all the efforts and financial loss shouldered by manufacturers to provide appropriate products in terms of demand, government regulation aggravates the difficulty manufacturers are facing.   Strategic opportunities such as business combinations with local companies are filled with restrictive features while merging with larger companies are confronted with antitrust law.   The contracting sales in carbonated products may force Coca-Cola to merge with competitors to save cost through elimination of repetitive processes and assets.   The need to innovate newer products may also induce others to acquire local companies that have the knowledge of market characteristics. These strategies are not easily available especially when the firm operates internationally.   Stricter quality standards can protect market leaders such as Coca-Cola from the threat of new entrants.   However, this depends on the structure and nature of political system in the host country.   For example, unethical marketing conducted by some companies labelling their cola products as â€Å"less sugar† even if the laboratory tests showed that there is substantial amount of sugar in the product.   With sound legal and political framework, market leaders such as Coca-Cola can survive the reduction in demand for carbonated products. Assessment of Implications Increased sophistication of customers will results in high product differentiation within the industry.   Traditional benefits of economies of scale achieved in the production of carbonated drinks reached its zenith due to the shift in preference.   With the lifestyle of people and technology going forward, it is unlikely that mass production of carbonated drinks will re-emerge as the industry’s business model.   Technological advancement enabled manufacturers to compete based on innovation. In contrast, only few are willing to invest heavily in research because of high risks associated with a new product in both corporate and market response.   This triggers the lucrative strategy of buying companies that offer the facilities and technical know-how.   Government regulation, on the other hand, will apply delays through litigation if not disapproval to business combinations that can impose strategic bottleneck in a company’s first mover aspiration and future profitability.   Even if allowed, merger and acquisition has a historical proof that confirms problems in pre-, during and post-merger/ acquisition phases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To further understand the implications of external forces on soft drink companies, it is necessary to study the industry’s strategic space and profit pool.   Since 2006, Europe is receiving the bulk of product introduction to address the sophisticated demands of the region in terms of nutrition and lifestyle.   A number of these products showed innovation by creating exotic and atypical flavours while packaging is made convenient for kids.   The search of value by manufacturers is present in all parts of the value chain, that is, from formulation of the drink up to the distribution of the finished good. Therefore, the usual cost-savings derived from volume-based strategy of carbonated drinks will be ineffective in present scenario.   Marketing campaigns concerning the impact of soft drinks on the heart is the current consideration of manufacturers which concretize that issue of out-of-the-manufacturing activities to derive value from the products.   As much as manufacturers want to excel in all the areas of the value chain, there are financial and structural constraints.   For example, the bottler’s margin is adversely affected whenever a client-manufacturer introduced new drinks that require new bottle design. As observed in Figure 1, innovation in the soft drink industry can maintain and attract market which is the basis of revenues.   However, the manufacturing processes and forward/ backward suppliers are the areas where the bottom-line is dictated.   Without innovation, the current structure of the industry can survive the impact of the change in consumer references.   This is especially true for carbonated drink manufacturers like Coca-Cola. Replacing the manufacturing process to introduce innovation such as non-carbonated or still drinks would require replacing also the machineries and perhaps the entire plant.   Packaging would require less acid resistance, delivery schedule would change depending on package design or expiration date and distribution networks may hesitate to carry the product awaiting positive reception.   As a result, a major source of margin of the company will be undermined due to high costs of manufacturing change.   On the other hand, if Coca-Cola remains to focus on carbonated drink, it will confront a vulnerable future earnings and market share. Differentiation strategy and innovation has a more long-run positive impact to Coca-Cola.   It is also suited for a leader in carbonated drinks and perhaps one of the most reputable beverage brands in the world.   The profit pool reveals that the carbonated products remain the highest margin and revenue contributor in the soft drink industry.   However, forecasts threatens this position with the healthy/ sugar-free products pulling substantial value followed by the same impact from non-carbonated products such as sports-energy, juice, dillutable and bottled drinks. In the long-run, those who will choose to retain a cost leadership strategy and keep large stocks of carbonated drink will face declining sales.   On the contrary, there are also disadvantages in differentiation strategy and innovation that present in regulation, challenge to marketing and transformation of traditional plant.   In an operating environment with ambiguous customer response, intense competition and restricted action, every action counts and one mistake can mean millions of investment lost.   Therefore, consideration of important issues such as creation of sustainable value including financial matters is top priorities. Consideration of Responses Vertical integration is the recent solution of Coca-Cola to address changes of external factors.   This is observed of its development of a bottling subsidiary to remain cost-effective and flexible.   This is a major step for the firm not only as traditional set-up only allows efficient bottling operations by third party suppliers but also it will avoid hindering the innovation feats of Coca-Cola such as demand of new packaging.   The fact-paced environment vulnerable to new innovation from competitors and suppliers, thus, is mitigated by this strategy.   Further, government standards such as carbon dioxide emission can be addressed through a more integrated plan. Formally, Coca-Cola has to put preference to bottling companies that are not only cheap and quality producer but also has an environmental compliance for manufacturing wastes.   With the creation of its own bottling segment, it also solves the problem of increasing government intervention in social and environmental responsibility of manufacturing firms.   Coca-Cola can spend less on environment-related and supplier search costs which impact can extend up to environmental-conscious customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vertical integration is not only noticed in the manufacturing processes of the firm but also in management structure.   Committees for marketing, strategy and innovation are considered one functioning body where the action of one has influence or can be influenced to/ by the results of other committees.   The new structure would allow a cost-efficient and integrated recognition of problem and opportunities in the environment.   Recently, the efforts of the consolidated committee are focused on the project of customer-retention to maintain leadership particularly in carbonated drinks as well as increase market share in non-carbonated drinks.    With their close collaboration, they easily identify that the issues of inactivity and obesity, low level of quality and quantity of water, change in market preference and intense rivalry have adverse effect to financial performance of the firm.   Instead of spending glamorous but baseless advertisements, the valuable budget is invested on market research which rationalized the actions of each department.   The difference in today’s environment for Coca-Cola is that its leadership is threatened and careful strategy is a must to optimize its resources amid innovation, expansion and research costs demanded by the unpredictability in the environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In its global operations, there are regions that exemplified performance growth but only a few to mention such as the Middle East and Latin American countries.   For the European market, however, the reverse is true.   This induced the firm to acquire a bottling company in Germany to provide the same cost-savings of vertical integration from its major manufacturing plants.   The strategy is a smart tactic because the decrease in revenues can be mitigated by efficiency in production and distribution.   Acquisition in foreign countries also indicated the intention of Coca-Cola to expand its product line in an international scale. The German experience, however, incidentally indicated that the cost of doing business will rise because labour and technology in the country is relatively expensive.   The good side is that quality of production and potential innovation necessary to compete in the current industry structure can magnify. As early as 2004, Coca-Cola is in a mission to integrate host country facilities for better coordination, synergy in resources and manufacturing flexibility.   In Japan, it developed a centralized value chain design to restructure the operations based on the business management and relationship traditions of companies.   In this country, where linking for long-term partnership, it is easier to conduct business when the company is implementing a strategy as a whole and based on the request of its partners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A decade from now, the soft drink industry will be dictated with high product differentiation and the company who can find valuable competency in its innovation would be the leader.   This is a path that Coca-Cola is undertaking.   Its financial depth and reputation enabled it to acquire important parts of the value chain to protect its carbonated products from significant decline and also to satisfy the innovative demand of non-carbonated and new-age drinks. It used its historical leadership position to protect its market share even tough it partially lagged innovation feats for still drinks.   Its biggest challenge, however, is to acquire a useful innovative product that can compete with new-age drinks.   Its carbonated drink surely found complacency to have at least a constant growth by vertical integration but improving on non-carbonated drink demands more work.   It is expected that in the future it is able to acquire a non-carbonated firm without intervention from government regulation.   Otherwise, it would be force to develop innovation internally which is less clear. Conclusion Coca-Cola is on the right track when it comes in attacking the external forces head-to-head.     It is diversifying its operations, integrating its resources and adopting to local needs in its quest in finding sustainable value.   There are odds such as government regulation apparent in the hardship of acquiring a vendor-made innovation in the non-carbonated product that can pump-up the stagnant financial performance of the carbonated drink. So far, however, the company is doing its share in solving the unpredictability and spontaneity of the external environment.   It is able to decode that the external forces are sometimes like domino in relation to each other.   That is, the change in one (e.g. climate change) can lead to another (e.g. change in consumer preference).   As a result, it is one step away from assuring itself that its leadership position is out of threat. Bibliography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Baird, S. & Deal, W. (2003). Consumer information Food policy Nutrition information Regulations. The Technology Teacher, 62, 43-50. Capps, O., Kim, S. & Nayga, R. (2001). Food Label Use, Self-Selectivity and Diet Quality. Journal of Consumer Affairs. 35(2), 346+. Coca-Cola Website, viewed on 2 May 2008, Dean, D. (2004). Consumer Reaction to Negative Publicity: Effects of Corporate Reputation, Response, and Responsibility for a Crisis Event. The Journal of Business Communication. 41(2), 192+. Euromonitor, viewed on 2 May 2008, Foster, F.D., and S.   Viswanathan , 1994, Strategic Trading With Asymmetrically Informed Traders and Long-Lived Information, Journal of Finance and Quantitative Analysis , 29, 499-518. Hitt, M, Hoskisson, R & Ireland 2003, Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, 5th Edition, South Western; Thomson Learning, Singapore. Kotler, P 2003, Marketing Management, 11th Edition, Prentice Hall: NJ. Navder, K. (1993). Genetically Modified Foods: A Growing Need Plant Biotechnology Can Help to Overcome the World’s Concern for Feeding Its Ever-Growing Population Food and nutrition labelling: past, present and future. School of Health Sciences. Nutraingredients Website, viewed on 2 May 2008, Proctor, T 2000, Strategic Marketing: An Introduction, Routledge, London.   

Methodology Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Insurance Underwriting Practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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The sculpture of Kuoros Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The sculpture of Kuoros - Dissertation Example The first element which relates to the cultural implications of the sculpture is from the formalism that is used.   The physical properties are representative of Athens during this time frame and what was believed to be the perfect human body.   When examining the physical properties, it can be seen that proportion is consistent throughout the piece.   The lines are the first element of this.   For example, the abdominal area has a line that goes to the legs as well as the same shape that goes to the chest.   This is done to make the body completely proportionate.   This is followed by the shapes, which are proportionate as well.   The shapes of the shoulders, chest and legs are proportionate and equal on every side to create a mathematical look to the perfect body.   While there is one leg that is slightly set back, this only adds to the appearance of having the right proportions when in motion.   The main physical look uses space to create this specific balance.   The space is used between both legs and between the stomach and arm area.   These two spaces are also proportionate and have the same amount of space used for contrast within the two regions.   The light and dark that is added into this is then able to balance with the sculpture having the light and the spaces in between each area balancing this with the dark.   Each of the regions of the body creates a sense of balance and proportion with the figure. The iconography, or symbolism, is one which is presented in this sculpture as something that is greater than or more significant. The promotion of the sculpture can be linked directly to what others would want to achieve within their life. This is close to the symbol of sublimination, which consists of cultural development that created symbols as idols and role models. Physical activities, scientific idols, artistic and ideological concepts all links to the creation of an illusion of what one can achieve within a lifetime.

The Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention Essay

The Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention - Essay Example The Human Rights Act of 1998 is an act of Parliament,whose main aim is to ensure that it gives further force the laws concerning human rights,contained in the European Convention.It gives the courts in the United Kingdom the power to deal with those issues,which might cause the citizens of this country to go to the European Court The act makes it illegal for all public bodies to take any actions or decisions which are in contravention to the European Convention on Human Rights. The only exception to this is Parliament,  because it has the legislative capacity in the United Kingdom, and should, therefore, remain sovereign. This Act requires all the courts in the United Kingdom to take into account the decisions which have been made by the court at Strasbourg, as well as to interpret the legislation of Parliament, so that their decisions can be as far as possible in compatibility with the Convention on Human Rights. It is, however, impossible to interpret an Act of Parliament to make it compatible with the provisions of the Convention, because courts are not allowed to override such acts (Kavanagh 2006, 179). Instead, all these courts are allowed to do is to issue a declaration of incompatibility so that the validity of a Parliamentary Act is not affected. One of the reasons why this Act does not affect Parliamentary Acts is because  one of its aims is to ensure that the sovereignty of Parliament is maintained in the United Kingdom, because it is the supreme legislative body (Feldman 2008, 8). However, the Act still gives individuals the option of taking their cases to the court of Strasbourg if they feel that they are not satisfied by the decisions of the local courts. The main function of the Human Rights Act is to give courts in the United Kingdom the power to deduce legislation so that it is in compatibility with the human rights as stated in the European Convention on Human Rights (Hope 1999, 185). This does not mean that the legislation is invalidated, and instead, the amendment of the legislation is permitted, at a fast pace, to ensure that they are in compatibility with the convention. The amendment does not necessarily remain permanent, and, in fact, it has been known for  Courts of Appeal to overturn such court decisions. This Act has to be implemented by all the public bodies in the United Kingdom except for Parliament. The public bodies, which are directly affected by this Act, include the central government as well as the local government. The courts are given wide powers to ensure that they are able to interpret both principal and subsidiary legislation so that they are attuned with the convention. The interpretation of these powers goes far beyond the normal statutory interpretation because they include the interpretation of legislation made in the past as well as those which are to be made in future (Satvinder 2006, 29). This interpretation ensures that the Human Rights Act is protected from being repealed by implicati on. The interpretation has been applied by courts in three different interpretations. The first of these is known as reading in, which refers to the insertion of words into a statute if it is found that there is none which appear in it. Another of these applications is known as reading out, and this refers to words being omitted from a statute if they are found to be in contravention with the European Convention. The last of these is known as reading down which refers to an  interpretation being declared to be in compliance with the convention (Gihring 2000, 203). However, if the courts find it difficult to interpret a statute so that it can be compatible to the European Convention on Human Rights, then they may issues a declaration of incompatibility, and in such cases, only higher courts have the power to make such declarations. Declarations of incompatibility are usually made

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Sustainability Reporting - Essay Example Some of the issues that concern CSR are discussed below. CSR are generally prepared by independent agencies based on the guidelines laid down in 1997 by the Global reporting Initiative (GRI). The GRI has tried to develop objective criteria that can become the basis for universally accepted reporting standards as in the case of audited financial statements. In 2006, a second set of guidelines was issued known as the G3 Reporting Framework. As of now however, companies are free to observe the GRI guidelines, as per their convenience and at different levels of accordance. As of July 2006, "just over 20 % of organizations issuing CSR reports using GRI guidelines did so at the [maximum] assurance level". Observance of GRI guidelines thus, though desirable is not enforceable and the discretion of following them in 'letter and spirit' rests with various organizations. The absence of any audit by an independent body reduces the value of a CSR, just as an un-audited financial statement of a company is of no value. However, there are many aspects of a CSR pertaining to non-financial aspects that are either, "qualitative statements about risk management and performance [or] quantitative measures that are not reliable enough to audit". Hence this aspect of a CSR is more of an opinion expressed by the company as well as the auditors, appealing more to emotion and based on individual perceptions. It is to remove this anomaly that the new G3 Reporting Framework has been compiled. Challenges of Providing Auditor Assurance The challenge of providing credibility to any CSR rests on firstly, the criteria that the management uses to prepare the CSR and secondly, the standards the auditor uses to assess the CSR. Adding to the difficulty of assessing a CSR is the fact that these reports are based on facts and figures that may be outside the area of expertise of the auditor(s). For any report to have credibility, it must be based on facts and figures and appeal to common sense. Quantitative aspects such as accident rates or amount of carbon dioxide emitted can be commented upon objectively and without bias. However, there are many other performance measures which cannot be audited, "with a high enough level of assurance to provide an opinion". In such cases, an element of subjectivity or bias in favour of the company being reported upon is likely. This probably stems from the fact that it is in the auditor's interests to seek the continued patronage of the company. More and more companies are disclosing their social and environmental performance as part of their annual financial reports. CPAs will increasingly play an important role both in preparing as well as analyzing such reports. Interestingly enough, a survey of investors and analysts revealed that as many as 90 % of the people wanted companies to include aspects such as environmental sustainability and corporate governance as part of their annual reports. This only underscores the importance of having objective criteria for measuring performance in non-financial fields in order to arrive at a true and fair view of a company based on facts and

Nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Essay

Nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Essay Example The paper would be looking at the various perspectives that could have motivated the Americans to use this weapon of mass destruction. During the WWII1, Japan joined forces with the Germany and Italy, the enemies of the Allied Forces and fought against them vigorously. It accessed several small nations like Vietnam, coastal China and in its efforts to increase its oil reserves, after the boycott of oil supply by America, its attacks and subsequent accession to Indonesia, considerably expanded its territorial rights over a large area in Pacific Ocean. This aggressive behaviour further escalated the tension between Japan and the Allied forces specially America and Britain. The war between the two intensified, leading to bloodiest attacks of Pearl Harbour by Japanese forces and invasion of Okinawa by US forces. Even though, the allied forces regained territories and reduced the Japanese influence in the Pacific, they were unable to overpower the might of Japanese forces. Hence, after the fall of Mussolini of Italy and Hitler of Germany, Japan became the sole target of the allied forces. HiroshimHiroshima was the headquarters of the Japanese army and one of the most advanced cities of Japan. It therefore became the first target of the nuclear attack by America. American President, Harry S. Truman, deliberately targeted Hiroshima because the devastation of the city and killing of a large part of the population, would, according to the American President, convincingly show the repercussions of the Japanese refusal for an amicable peace treaty (Hersey, 1989). The detonation of 'Little Man' (name of the nuclear bomb that was dropped) on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945, became a reality and created unprecedented holocaust, ever recorded in the history of mankind. It killed more than 90,000 people, maimed and injured grievously more than 30,000 and genetically damaged the surviving population. The second attack on the city of Nagasaki became significant because it was an important off shore trading centre and an important port of Japan. Though, much of the population was shifted from the mainland, 'Fat Man', the atomic bomb that was dropped on 9th August 1945, was equally devastating in its effect. About 70,000 were killed instantly and more than 60,000 injured. The total casualties in the two attacks defied the imaginations of the world. Japanese government called an immediate ceasefire and surrendered to the allied forces and signed the 'instrument of surrender' on 2nd September 1945, which officially ended the World War II. The Emperor Hirohito of Japan surrendered for the overall welfare of his people and his surrender was subject to keeping the sovereignty of the Crown intact. Japan surrendered and the WWII came to an end. Reasons cited for bombings Japan was increasingly becoming powerful and the allied forces wanted to curb the growing influence of the Japanese. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were major cities of Japan that were commercial hub. The decision to bomb the two cities had mainly two objectives. The foremost being, to establish the

Kindly read the instruction and follow it. read carefully and then Essay

Kindly read the instruction and follow it. read carefully and then start write the paper - Essay Example My mother took me to a therapist to help me deal with the pressure I was experiencing in school owing to the condition. Dealing with pressure however did not solve the underlying issues of how I felt about myself but workouts changed my life. Two years down the line, a friend suggested that I start working out to lose weight and this was the turning point and the beginning to finding solutions to the psychological torture I had undergone. At such a tender age, I enrolled in a certain fitness club in the neighborhoods and started exercising with the adults that were the majority members of the club. At the club, I met a friend who was two years older than I and this really inspired me and made me realize that I was not alone. My major goal was to lose weight and the instructor came up with a good plan that would enable me achieve my goal. The plan included my daily exercises, tasks and a diet plan that I would using from that time. It seemed quite had at the beginning and I never thought I would make it but with time I got used to the new lifestyle with workouts. Before joining the fitness club, I used to stroll with my mother every evening and considered that enough exercise for a day. However, when I joined the fitness club, my workout habits completely changed. Every morning before going to school, I would wake up and run for thirty minutes, which were the instructions from my instructor at the club. In the evening from school, I had to go straight to the gym where we engaged in various activities that could help individual lose weight. The kind of physical strain at the gym required perseverance and willingness to be there. The friend I met at the club and the instructor were the source of inspiration and they really made me put more efforts towards achieving the goal I desired. My diet and eating habits changed completely. I had to avoid eating specific types of food such as junk food. The instructions from my instructor

Muscular endurance Essay Example for Free

Muscular endurance Essay 20 shuttles running to the bleeps and the bleeps gradually get faster this shows you how well your endurance is in your muscles and your cardiovascular system. You can improve this by doing circuit training. Other tests which can be done are Cooper run which involves you running around a 400 meter track for twelve minutes to see how far you can run. This also measures your muscular endurance and how well you cardiovascular system is. The other test is the Harvard step test which is thirty steps per minute. You use your pulse to assess your fitness levels. Here are some other tests which can test the components of fitness: Muscular endurance Sit-ups, press ups and circuit training Muscular strength Bench press, chin ups, grip strength and decimetre. Flexibility Sit and reach, hyperextensions and stretches Body composition Pinch test which callipers biceps and triceps. The tests out of there that I will do is the muscular endurance and muscular strength tests. The principles of training that I might use in the six weeks are:- Specificity Which means Ill be working on specific areas. Especially areas that I am weak at. Overload This means I do more than my body can do with ease and increase the intensity of the exercise. Reversibility (if injured or ill for a long period of time) If I am out of training for a certain period of time. My bodies final result in training declines. To prevent this from occurring you need to keep training otherwise you may have reversibility. Here are some Methods of training which I could use in my six week programme. Continuous (for aerobic system). In the continuous training you walk, jog, cycle or swim at a steady pace, without rest. To overload, increase the time, distance, speed or frequency. The advantages of this method of training is its great for aerobic fitness. You dont need special equipment and its good for burning off body fat. The disadvantages of this method of training is it can be boring and it doesnt improve spring speed, which is needed for a lot of sports. It is more suited for long distance runners. The other method of training is Fartlek training. This is mainly for sprinters because of the change of speed. You can use it in many ways for example on a bike, running and skiing. Overload by increasing times, or the difficulty of the terrain. You could run up hills or threw sand or mud. The advantages of Fartlek training is good for a lot of sports because of the change of speed. You can change the mix of fast and slow work to suit your sport. The changes of pace makes it intense. The disadvantages are the coaches cant tell how hard an athlete is training. You could argue that the athlete should try his/her hardest to get more out of their training. An its easy to skip the tough buts so you need a lot of determination. Interval training In the interval training you do fast and then slow work. A good example of this is running. You can do a 30 meter sprint and then a 30 second jog. This is good for running and swimming. Each repetition of the pattern is called a rep. You must do a set of these before you can rest. This is also done in weights. You do reps in weights and you do different speeds (push the weight up fast and bring it down slow). You overload the interval training by doing more reps or sets or both or you could set less time on slow work and resting. In weights you usually increase the weight but do less reps. The advantages of this is you can mix both anaerobic and anaerobic work. It is also easy to see when you are giving up. The disadvantages are its hard t keep going and you need lots of determination. Also if you overload you increase the chances of injury because of the sudden changes. The training equipment that I will be using on my training is a weight bar with weights on the end. The bar itself ways about 10kg so whatever weights I put on the end I have to add 10kg because of the bar. I usually do my weight training with my partner Hollie. Shes a 18 year old girl and is about my level in all training that we do. I will use her as my motivation. For my sprint training I will be using a sports hall which has a lot of grip on it. This allows me to turn and change direction quickly (agility) which is the use of speed and muscular strength.

Perception Towards Successful Brand Essay Example for Free

Perception Towards Successful Brand Essay Rev. of â€Å"Building Brands Without Mass Media.† Joachimsthaler, Erich, and David A. Aaker. Harvard Business Review 3 March 2009: 4-6. Print. In this article, the authors emphasize that a company must have a clear brand identity with depth and texture so it will not convey confuse messages to customers. Also, they provide some marketing strategies for the brands to set up a clear and effective brand identity. Besides, they illustrate six companies that have a strong and clear brand identity in which The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs are examined in detail. Apart from these, they use various examples to demonstrate the operations of The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs. Last but not least, they have compared The Body Shop and Haggen-Dazs with their competitors. Lastly, they discuss the advertising methods of Haggen-Dazs in which they think the Farggi strategy that can confuse the customers the most. (Melanie) Hartman, Cathy L., and Caryn L. Beck-Dudley. â€Å"Marketing Strategies and the Search for Virtue: A Case Analysis of The Body Shop, International.† Journal of Business Ethics 20.3 (1999): 253-257. Print. In this journal, the authors use some historical examples to discuss three organizational virtues—excellence, integrity and judgment in which they think that the virtues are now defined and extended to community, membership and holism. Most importantly, they believe that the virtues are now widely applied in the companies. However, they agree with the researchers that it is difficult to theorize the concept of community. Besides, they use the founder of The Body Shop—Anita Roddick as the main example to illustrate the virtues can be utilized in a big company in multifarious aspects. (Melanie) Salver, Jessica. Brand Management in the Hotel Industry and its Potential for Achieving Customer Loyalty. Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Print. In this book, the author mainly discusses some product requirements for a brand to become successful. Although it is not her intention to suggest that a brand will not become successful without the listed requirements, she examines numerous factors that can build up a successful brand in detail, such as high and differentiated demand for product class, the product is easy to identify and product quality is easy to maintain. Also, she has used The Body Shop and McDonald as the examples to explain her factors in detail. Besides, she believes that if the brand offers a reasonable price for the customers, they will certainly buy the products. Rev. of Starbucks: Delivering Customer Service. Moon, Youngme, and John Quelch. Harvard Business Review 10 July 2006: 3-4. Print. In this book, the authors have used Starbucks as an example to evaluate the value proposition and they use â€Å"live coffee† to describe the national coffee culture of it. Also, they use three components to illustrate the branding strategy of it. For example, it imports the best coffee beans from the world, develops a close intimacy with the customer and creates a good atmosphere. Besides, they discuss the locations of the Starbucks in which they are usually located in high-traffic and high-visibility places, such as commercial centers and universities. In addition, they investigate different products and the welfares of the employees in the Starbucks. Adubato, Steve. You Are the Brand. Canada: Rutgers University Press, 2011. Print. In this book, the author uses his personal experience to show Starbucks is not an accidental brand and it does not really keep a connection with customers. However, he agrees that Starbucks has built on â€Å"comfortable† and â€Å"familiar† for him in the end of the chapter. Besides, he believes Starbucks’ reputations are built on the word of mouth from the customers and excellent services from the employees. In addition, he has cited the book from the original chairman and CEO of Starbucks to demonstrate the objectives of the company and the reasons that it starts to lose customers. Lastly, although he laments the Starbucks has become more commercial, he still enjoys his leisure time in it.

Comparative ecology of urban and rural foxes

Comparative ecology of urban and rural foxes Abstract The red fox (Vulpus vulpus) is an adaptable animal that can be found anywhere with adequate food and shelter, it is therefore not surprising that they have adapted from a rural to an urban setting. Few studies have directly compared urban and rural fox ecology. This review had two primary objectives; (1) To describe habitat utilization by urban and rural foxes and (2) to discuss the variation in their diet, population dynamics, causes of mortality, social organization and behaviour by linking these variations to differences in their habitat. Many similarities were observed between the urban and rural fox. It was concluded that the features which determine the distribution and abundance of foxes may differ depending on their habitat. The diets of urban and rural foxes are proposed to be distinguished by differences in degree rather than differences in kind. In urban areas where dense populations of foxes live in close proximity there must also be greater social involvement than in the less associated rural fox communities. Population density is important when considering the spread of epizootic diseases and the timing and degree of population dispersal. 1. Introduction Over the past century increases in human population density have escalated the process of urbanisation (Mc Kinney, 2002). Organisms are now confronted with a range of novel conditions because of the modifications of the natural environment in which they ordinarily thrive. This can potentially impact both their life cycle and patterns of behaviour (Dickman and Doncaster, 1987). In recent years the effect of urbanization on the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has been of particular interest. The concept that ecological interactions of animals may differ according to the type of habitat they occupy is not new. Differences will arise depending on the nature of the animals habitat interactions and their life history. For example, the gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and the racoon (Procyon lotor) are strongly influenced by urban variables such as proximity to houses, artificial feeders, or other physical structures (Flyger, 1970; Harris 1986). The foxs successful adjustment from a rural to an urban environment is not surprising as they are opportunistic animals that are distributed across a wide diversity of habitats. In Russia and Europe they can be found in the arctic tundra, and have been reported on sea ice 100km north of the nearest land (Harris, 1986). Foxes are to be found southwards in most European habitats. They live from western Asia to eastern Japan and southwards into the deserts of North African. Throughout most of the mainland habitats in North America the same species of fox is found (Hutchins at al, 2003). The wide distribution of the red fox, the diversity of habitats in which it can be found and the speed with which foxes have colonised areas such as Australia are all indications of its adaptability (Harris and Yalden, 2008). This review has two primary objectives: 1. To describe habitat utilization by urban and rural foxes. 2. To discuss the variation in their diet, population dynamics, causes of mortality, social organization and behaviour by linking these variations to differences in their habitat. 2. Habitat Utilization. In both urban and rural environments foxes are most abundant in diverse habitats that offer a wide variety of food and cover (Goldyn, 2003; Harris and Rayner, 1986; Mac Donald Sillero, 2004). They exercise choice in selecting a place to live within the restrictions imposed by their social behaviour (Lloyd, 1980). There are two proposed reasons for the success of the red fox across its wide distribution: 1. Size The fox is small enough to be unobtrusive, yet large enough to be able to move long distances when necessary. Therefore, it can easily colonise new areas and search areas where recourses are scattered (Harris, 1986). 2. Lack of specialization The red fox can thrive in a variety of locations as it has no particular habitat requirements (Lloyd, 1980). 2.1. Rural Habitat. The general perception of a rural habitat suitable for fox habitation is a diverse landscape consisting of scrub and woodland (Llyod, 1980). However, rural habitats also include mountains (above the treeline), moorlands, costal dunes and agricultural habitats such as arable and pastoral farmlands. Foxes have shown a marked preference for small coniferous woodlands in upland areas that are free of anthropogenic influence and afford good shelter (Goldyn, 2003). Large coniferous plantations are generally poor foraging areas for the fox; however, while ground vegetation remains they are also good habitats (Harris and Yalden, 2008). The main factor influencing the location of rural foxes is the availably and distribution of food shelter is generally not a limiting resource (Goldyn, 2003). Dens have a crucial meaning for foxes, not only as breeding places, but also as a shelter for adults during the whole year (Meia and Weber, 1993). The rural fox digs dens in a wide variety of habitats including; banks; enlarged old rabbit burrows; disused or occupied badger setts; also natural holes in rock crevices and drains (Harris 1977a; Harris 1986). Vegetative cover and water need to be within or close to denning sites for this species. They should also be located near areas with a good prey base as females seldom range more than half a mile from their dens (Hoover and Wills, 1987). In farmland areas foxes have shown a preference for denning sites that are undisturbed by humans. Wood edges and woodlots are virtually exclusive habitats where fox dens are situated (Lariviere, 1966). In farmlands adjacent to wooded areas only a minority of foxes will locate in an open habitat such as arable land. Goszozynskis study (1985) showed that in an area with 21% forest coverage; only 2% of all dens were located in open habitats. However Goldyn (2003) found that in farmlands where wood cover is lacking, foxes can successfully adapt to completely different conditions, reaching high den sites. The banks of drainage ditches, marsh banks and boundary strips between fields were also frequently used as den locations. This is indicative of the adaptable nature of the fox in a sub-optimal habitat. 2.2. Urban habitats. For the purpose of this review an urban habitat will refer to any habitat within a built up area that does not occur naturally outside it. Urban habitats include gardens, parks, wastelands, road verges, railway tracks and cemeteries (www.wildberks.co.uk). Urban habitats have become ecosystems in which mammal populations have adapted their lifestyle in order to survive. These fragmented ecosystems provide breeding sites, food and shelter for foxes (Macdonald and Newdick, 1982). In the past there has been some confusion as to which habits are important for the urban fox. It was noted by Llyod (1968) that urban foxes may live in gardens, but usually they shelter in daytime in woodlands, parks, cemeteries, and overgrown sites such as isolated building plots. Later Harris (1977a) noted that the daytime rests of most importance are quiet gardens (irrespective of size) and similar domestic habitats, he proposed that parks and public open spaces were of little importance; this is evident in Table 1. Habitat variables appear to have consistent effects on the distribution of foxes. Similar to foxes found in rural areas, the urban fox is most commonly found in areas of diverse habitat. In an urban environment diverse habitats include areas where industry, commerce or council rented housing predominate (Harris and Rayner, 1986). In London the availability of suitable habitats for daytime harbourage is an important limiting factor for the distribution of and numbers in fox populations (Harris, 1977a). Habitat Number of Specimens Percent of specimens Percent of surburban land use Resedential habitats gardens, garden sheds, cellars, houses 226 59.79 40.19 Industrial habitats sewage stations, factories, builders yards, nurseries 28 7.41 3.72 Vacant land, normally without public access 32 8.47 6.01 Parks and public open spaces 33 8.73 10.53 Hospitals 9 2.38 1.10 Allotments 20 5.29 1.29 Cemetries 10 2.65 0.74 British rail and underground lines 9 2.38 2.29 Golf courses 5 1.32 No data Sports grounds and school fields 3 0.79 2.29 Rubbish tips 2 0.53 0.59 Airports 1 0.26 1.58 Road deaths 22 Other habitats 29.67 Totals (excluding road deaths) 378 100.00 100.00 Table 1: Harris (1977a) collected and recorded the location of 400 urban fox corpses in London. This data illustrated the relative importance of the various urban habitats as daytime harbourage. It has also been suggested by several authors that railway lines may be a particularly important habitat for the urban fox. Radio-tracking in Edinburgh revealed that the types of habitats visited by foxes largely reflected their availability. Railway lines were particularly important to dog foxes as pathways between parts of their range (Treweila and Harris, 1990). In London regular disturbance is the main factor governing the distribution of dens. The majority of natal dens are situated in undisturbed habitats including under garden sheds, quiet gardens and railway embankments. Few litters are raised in dens in areas of public access; this is illustrated in Table 2 (Harris, 1977a). Rural foxes have also shown a preference for denning sites that are undisturbed by humans (Goldyn, 2003). Situation Number of Specimens Percent Under garden sheds with raised floors 36 37.1 Under concrete floors of garages, out-buildings, and raised floors of summer-houses and portable huts 10 10.3 In air-raid shelters 1 1.0 In drains 1 1.0 In banks of earth e.g. at bottom of gardens, railway embankments, etc, 29 29.9 In flat ground 9 9.3 In flower-beds, rockeries 6 6.2 In compost heaps, piles of rubbish, woodpiles 5 5.2 Total 97 100.0 Table 2: Sitting of suburban fox dens used for rearing cubs (Harris, 1977a). 3. Diet As the fox is both a predator and a scavenger, it is presented with a huge variety of prospective foods (Lloyd, 1980). Their diet depends on both location and time of year (Harris, 1986). Foxes are known to switch their diet to feed on whatever is abundant locally. They have adapted particularly well to humans by foraging in towns and hunting in areas cleared for agriculture (Hutchins at al, 2003). It is important to remember that in rural and urban areas a similar range of food types are likely to be eaten; however, the proportions will vary. For example urban foxes in London and Oxford have a broadly similar diet; Harris (1981) found that scavenged items comprised 37% of the diet of foxes in London, compared to 35% in Oxford (Doncaster et al, 1990). Foxes in Oxford ate more earthworms (27% as opposed to 12%) and fewer birds and insects (Harris, 1981; Doncaster et al, 1990). 3.1. Seasonal Variation in Diet Throughout the year vertebrates play an important role in the foxs diet across most of their range (Baker et al, 2006; Harris 1986). The proportion of different mammals in their diet will generally vary according to their location and season. For example in agricultural areas sheep (Ovis aries) are mostly eaten in winter and spring; this roughly corresponds to the lambing season which extends from January to May (Fairley, 1984). In Britain the most important mammal eaten in urban areas is the field vole (Microtus agrestis), which is more abundant in their diet during the winter months (Harris, 1986). Fruits and berries are also of seasonal importance to the fox. In the early autumn foxes include blackberries, raspberries, bilberries, cherries and hawthorn berries in their diet. They eat strawberries in great quantities during the summer months (Llyod, 1980). Lever (1959) also identified earthworms, slugs and snails as constituting a small proportion of the foxs diet in the summer months. On domestic lawns there is a more regular supply of scavenged foods and a greater availability (though not necessarily abundance) of earthworms than on rougher rural pastures (Llyod, 1980). As a result, seasonal differences in the diet of the rural fox are much more pronounced than in the urban fox, as there can be major variation at different times of the year (Harris 1986). 3.2. Scavenging In most habitats scavenging is important for the fox. In upland regions of West Scotland, where other food sources were scarce, the fox was found to scavenge in an agricultural environment. Foxes fed largely on sheep carrion and field voles (65% of mass ingested), supplemented by deer carrion, rabbits and birds (Hewson, 1984). In Ireland rural foxes were also found to scavenge on sheep afterbirths (Fairley, 1984). Scavenging is particularly important to the urban fox as it supplements its diet with a high proportion and variety of scavenged food (Doncaster et al, 1990). In the centre of cities foxes eat more scavenged food and fewer domestic pets, earthworms and wild animals than foxes found closer to the suburban fringe. (Harris, 1986) In London and Oxford scavenged food or food deliberately provided by householders accounts for over 35% of their diet (Harris, 1981; Doncaster at al, 1990). Foxes are known to raid dustbins for scraps (www.thefoxwebsite.org) and may also occasionally raid bird tables (Harris, 1986). 3.3. The fox as a predator Medium sized animals play an important role in the diet of the rural fox throughout all seasons; rabbits for example may account for up to 74% of their diet (Baker et al, 2006). In Ireland foxes tend to switch to brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) when rabbit populations are reduced by myxamatosis (Fairley, 1984). The intake of small rodents is much lower in Ireland than in Britain. It is therefore possible that rats, hares and rabbits are of greater importance to the rural Irish fox because of the restricted variety of mammalian prey, (Fairley, 1970) in particular the absence of field voles in Ireland (Lever, 1959). In agricultural environments the red fox is known to be one of the most important predators (Lloyd, 1980). A study by Conova and Rosa (1994) on the diet of foxes on agricultural land in northwest Italy found that birds and small mammals made up more than 60% of their diet. Game birds such as mallards (Anas plutyrhynchos) and pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) as well as domestic birds were preyed upon. In Brittan game birds (mainly pheasants), small mammals (predominately field voles) and large mammals comprise 11, 7 and 6% of their diet, respectively (Baker et al, 2006). In England and Ireland lambs are more susceptible to losses than poultry, this is due to the fact that they are numerous and widely dispersed and often suffer from poor husbandry and exposure to severe climatic conditions (Llyod, 1980). In the urban matrix the predatory role of fox has not been abandoned, despite the fact that lambs and wild rabbits are largely absent from their diet due to lack of availability. Instead, urban foxes prey on birds and small mammals to a greater degree than those in rural areas (Doncaster et al, 1990). Foxes are attracted to locations which have a diverse and abundant food base, whether these sources are situated in the urban ecosystem or the surrounding countryside (Dickman and Doncaster, 1987). This is emphasised by similarities in the diets of urban and rural foxes (Doncaster et al, 1990; MacDonald, 1981). The diets of urban and rural foxes are distinguished more by differences in degree than by differences in kind as some populations of rural foxes may also scavenge food from villages and farms (Doncaster et al, 1990). 4. Population Dynamics 4.1 Density Fox population density is influenced by factors such as prey availability and anthropogenic culling (Webbon et al, 2004) and varies depending on location (table 3) (Harris and Yalden, 2008). Webbon et al (2004) found that in rural hill areas, densities may be as low as 0.21 fox per km2 and peak at 2.23 foxes per km2 on arable land. High densities were positively related with areas of coniferous woodland, lowland marsh and grassland leys. In urban areas fox population density is usually higher than in similarly sized rural areas. The highest density of foxes ever recorded was 37.0 adults/km2 in North West Bristol (Baker et al, 2000). This figure was recorded immediately before an outbreak of mange. Fox Population Densities Rural (Webbon et al, 2004) Urban Habitat Number of foxes per km2 Habitat Number of Foxes per km2 Arable land 0.79 2.23 Bristol before mange outbreak (Baker et al, 2000) 37.0 Pastural land 1.39 1.88 Bristol 2.5 years after mange outbreak (Baker et al, 2000) 7.0 Marginal Upland 0.82 London (Page, 1981) 12.0 Upland 0.21 Cheltenham (Harris and Smith, 1987a) 8.96 11.2 Table 3: Population densities across urban and rural locations. 4.2. Dispersal The most important factor affecting dispersal is population density. Trewhella et al (1988) found that in areas of low fox density (rural areas) animals disperse farther than those from areas of high and medium fox density (urban areas). In very low fox density parts of Europe exceptional movements will exceed 100km: however, in Britain movements over 40 km are rare, even in hill areas where fox numbers are low (Harris and Yalden, 2008) Not only do urban foxes move shorter distances, but fewer of them actually leave the home. Trewhella et al (1988) found that by the end of their second year the final proportion of urban foxes that dispersed were 75.8% for males and 37.8% for females. The rest permanently stay on the home range where they were born. Storm et al. (1976) gathered data on rural foxes and found the proportion of foxes dispersing was somewhat higher than in Trewhellas urban study, amounting to 96% for males and 58% for females. Dispersal starts earlier in the countryside than in urban areas. Disturbance, especially by fox hunting, may be particularly important in splitting up a higher number of fox families and accelerating the dispersal of juveniles (Harris, 1986). Dispersal begins in early autumn and is largely completed by the end of the year (Storm et al., 1976). In urban areas cubs that do disperse tend to do so quite late in the season (December). This may be because most urban fox families are subject to less severe disturbance (Harris, 1986). 5. Causes of Mortality 5.1. Human induced mortalities In both urban and rural populations humans are responsible for a high proportion of fox deaths (Table 3). In urban areas road traffic is the main cause of fox mortalities (Baker et al, 2004; Harris and Smith 1987b). In 2004, 58% of fox deaths in Bristol were road deaths; the majority being killed on major category roads (e.g. motorways) (Baker et al, 2004). In rural areas the majority of deaths are caused by culling and hunting foxes. In all regions of mainland Britain there has been a steady increase in the mean number of foxes killed by gamekeepers per km2 since 1960 (Tapper 1992), with four times as many killed per km2 in 1990 as in 1960. In rural Dorset 58% of foxes were deliberately killed by hunting and culling (Reynolds and Tapper, 1995). In a survey of three rural regions in England foxes were culled in 70 95% of farms (Reynolds and Tapper, 1996). Hunting with dogs took a number of forms before the introduction of the Hunting Act in 2004. 21,000 25,000 foxes were killed annually by approximately 200 registered packs of foxhounds; with terriers digging out 55,000 dens and lurchers killing 10,000 foxes (Harris and Yalden, 2008). Urban Fox (Harris and Smith, 1987b) Rural Fox (Reynolds and Tapper, 1995) Cause of death %Killed Cause of death % Killed Road accidents 61.65 Road accidents 7 Killed deliberately by people 17.45 Killed deliberately by people 58 Disease 10.5 Disease 5 Table 3: Major causes of death for urban foxes in Bristol and rural foxes in Dorset. The figures are given as percentages and should be taken to indicate the relative importance of the different mortality factors. 5.2. Disease. Due to higher densities and closer proximity, urban foxes are more susceptible to epizootic diseases such as mange and rabies, this is evident in table 3 (Harris and Smith 1987b). Sarcoptic mange is a parasitic disease that spread across most of mainland Britain during the 1990s, this caused declines in both rural and urban fox populations (Baker et al, 2000). However this decline was more noticeable in urban areas due to higher densities of foxes. In some populations, more than 95% of individuals died. Despite this, populations are slowly recovering (www.thefoxwebsite.org). Harris (1977b) demonstrated that spinal arthritis (sponodylosis deformans), was present in a very high proportion of urban foxes, with an infection level of 34.5%. The average age of the foxes used in the study was only one year nine months. It is thought that development of this disease is related to their diet. Fox (1939) suggested that the situation in urban foxes is unusual; however this has not yet been confirmed by reference to large collections of skeletal material from other populations. 6. Social Organisation and Behaviour 6.1 Territories Davies (1978) recognises territoriality where animals are spaced further apart than would be expected from a random occupation of suitable habitats. The size of fox territory varies largely between regions, depending on their habitat. However territories of the rural fox are generally larger than their urban counterparts. In hill areas of Scotland territories can be up to 4000ha (Lockie, 1964); in rural Dorset it has been averaged at 270ha (Reynolds Tapper, 1995) and as 520ha in Sitka spruce populations (O Mahoney et al, 1999). In urban areas territories may be as small as 8.5ha, this is due to the availability of anthropogenic food sources and the higher density of foxes living in cities. In Bristol the mean territory size is 27ha (Baker et al, 2000), 39 ha in Oxford (Doncaster and Mac Donald, 1991) and 100ha in Edinburgh (Kolb, 1986). The drifting movement of territories appears to be unique among urban foxes and has been studied in Oxford. City ranges were not spatially stable over months or even weeks. They moved in step-wise extensions to encompass new areas whilst at the same time contracting other parts of the range to expel old areas. (Doncaster and Mac Donald, 1991). Movement of home ranges may be a behavioural adaptation that has developed since the invasion of foxes into urban areas. The average amount of food available in the city is usually higher than in an equivalently sized rural area, but there is also a much greater variance in food availability (Doncaster et al, 1990; MacDonald, 1981). Foxes must regularly explore new areas and re-explore old ones in order to make the optimum use of the resources in an urban environment. In a large rural home range this activity would not be viable as it would require far too much energy; however this strategy survives and prospers in cities because of the high de nsity of different habitat patches. 6.2. Relation with Humans Foxes have had a very mixed relationship with humans. They are generally unpopular with rural communities, gamekeepers, shepherds and the majority of farmers (Reynolds and Tapor, 1996). Fox culling in rural areas is undertaken by several disparate interest groups. The key reason for farmers involvement in fox culling is the protection of livestock or poultry. Similarly, gamekeepers undertake culling to protect game on relatively large farms (Llyod, 1980). In rural areas fox hunting as a sport is often of substantial interest. In some cases landowners and gamekeepers curtail their culling effort to ensure sufficient foxes are available for hunting (Heydon and Reynolds, 2000). In contrast with this, urban foxes are welcomed by most residents and are often supported through deliberate feeding by householders (www.thefoxwebsite.org). During the 1970s and 80s there was a large reduction in the number of foxes killed by the local authority, this was due to their increasing popularity in British cities such as London (Harris and Yaldin, 2008). Damage caused by foxes in urban areas is generally slight; however fox predation on domestic pets contributes to the problematic relationship between humans and foxes. In relation to his study of food preferences in urban foxes, Harris (1981b) questioned households in Bristol regarding numbers of domestic animals killed by foxes. 5,191 households took part in the survey. Of the households that owned cats only 2.7% had lost a cat to foxes, most of which were kittens. 7. Conclusion Foxes are found anywhere with adequate food and shelter; their habitat can vary widely in terms of climate and terrain, ranging from the extremes of the arctic tundra in Russia and Europe to the deserts of North Africa (Hutchins at al, 2003). Since foxes have exploited every other suitable habitat, it would be surprising if they had not become city-dwellers. Mac Donald and Nedwick (1982) have suggested that there is no strict division between rural and urban foxes; radio tracked foxes regularly commuted between urban and rural areas. Nevertheless, living in the city requires special adaptations. The features which determine the distribution and abundance of foxes may be different in urban and rural habitats. The habitats of most communities of rural foxes are determined by the availably and distribution of food and by competition for it according to the density of foxes in an area (Goldyn, 2003). In an urban environment food is not usually a limiting recourse as vast amounts of food are available for scavenging. Instead, shelter becomes a high priority and their distribution is determined by the availability of suitable daytime refuge (Harris, 1977a). The diets of urban and rural foxes are generally very similar, however the availability of these foods differ between environments. The same controversy over predation on mans livestock exists in both areas, but in urban areas cats are substituted for lambs and domestic birds for poultry (Harris, 1981, Hewson, 1984). The largest difference in their diets is the more regular supply of scavenged foods and the greater availability of earthworms on domestic lawns than on rougher rural pastures (Doncaster et al, 1990). If given the opportunity, some populations of rural foxes may also scavenge substantial proportions of their food from villages and farms. In urban areas where dense populations of foxes live in close proximity there must be greater social involvement than in the less associated rural fox communities (Baker et al, 2000; Webbon et al, 2004). The closer proximity of high density urban fox populations results in higher susceptibility to epizootic diseases than their rural counter parts (Harris and Smith, 1987b). Density also has an affect on dispersal; generally animals from low density rural areas disperse farther than those from high or medium fox density urban areas (Trewhella et al, 1988). Not only do urban foxes move shorter distances but fewer of them actually leave the home (Trewhella et al, 1988; Storm et al, 1976). In both rural and urban populations humans are responsible for the majority of fox deaths. However, they are perceived very differently in these habitats. The majority of urban fox deaths are accidental (Baker et al, 2004); they are generally welcomed and have provided people with a connection to the natural world. On the other hand, in a rural setting foxes are seen as an agricultural pest and the majority of deaths are caused by culling and hunting (Heydon and Reynolds, 2000). This review highlights the influence of urbanisation on a highly adaptable and opportunistic animal. Foxes have become incredibly proficient at eking out a living in todays world and are deeply entwined in our history and culture.This review ultimately shows that the entire way of life of the urban fox is extremely similar to that of the rural fox; any behavioural differences observed seem to fall within the known range of responses of the fox to environmental stimuli. The specifics of their divergent ecology may differ depending on the habitat they occupy; however the structures of their ecologies remain the same. 8. References Baker, P.J., Funk, S.M., Harris, S., White, P.C.L. (2000). Flexible spatial organization of urban foxes, Vlpus vulpus, befo

Women in India Essay -- Gender Roles, Misogynistic Societies, Oppressi

Historical records show evidence of a continuing trend of women across the globe becoming victims of misogynistic societies. The oppression faced by women on a continual basis has led to a fight for equal rights in each sphere of society. However, there has been limited success and more failures than one wishes to recall, and women continue to be oppressed in nearly all aspects of life, from political to personal and from public to private. It is essential to address and comprehend that the foundation for women's inequality today, is patriarchal cultures, which are majority of the time, founded on patriarchal religions. Women are not considered to be fully equal human beings deserving of the same dignity, rights, and treatment as men. Women are, instead, valued for providing sex to men — whether as wives or as prostitutes — and then for their ability to spend their entire time keeping house, preserving the family, and raising children (Cline, 2007). Most cases of inequ ality to this extent are present in third world and developing countries such as India where women are victims from birth as they are marginalized as second class citizens in the patriarchal community. The patriarchal culture of India is an excellent example of a culture where a woman has always been the sole property of her father, brother or husband without any will of her own. The majority of the time, women in India are victimized at the hands of these relatives. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, every hour that ticks by in India inflicts more brutality on women, with two rapes, two kidnappings, four molestations and seven incidents of cruelty from husbands and relatives (The Times of India, 2008). Such staggering statistics are rooted in a combina... ... involvement in disputes over dowry transactions may result in members of the woman’s own family being subject to criminal proceedings and potentially imprisoned. Moreover, police action is unlikely to stop the demands for dowry payments (Hitchcock, 2001). Married life is something that young women around the world look forward to, but for most women in India it results in being a nightmare through which they have to fight to survive. Majority of the women are brought up with very orthodox morals, so they are not very likely to ever defy the male figures in their lives even if it means that it will cost them their lives. The newlywed brides who bring with them an adequate dowry or are fortunate enough to find good in laws do not go through the horrors that some face, but could possibly have to deal with other pressures which are pushed upon them by their in laws.

Supernatural in Shakespeares Macbeth - Witches and Lady Macbeth Hold t

The Witches and Lady Macbeth Cause the Downfall of Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth shows the gradual descent of the character Macbeth into the moral abyss.  Ã‚   Macbeth's yearning for power draws him to the murder of King Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff's family. It is difficult to understand how a courageous, gentle man such as Macbeth, could be involved in such villainous activities. In truth, it was the witches and Lady Macbeth that transformed into evil Macbeth's natural desire for control and authority.   The play, Macbeth clearly illustrates that wicked intention must, in the end, produce wicked action.      Shakespeare focuses on Macbeth's courage early in the play.   For example, Duncan and the sergeant both compliment Macbeth's mental and physical bravery in Act I, Scene II.   Macbeth "carv'd out his passage"(I.ii.21) until he and the enemy general were face to face.   In the same act, the reader is told that Macbeth is brave because of his "disdaining Fortune"(I.ii.19) In addition to his quality of courage, Macbeth is also a gentle man.    Demonstrating his love and devotion for his wife, Macbeth refers to her as "his dearest partner of greatness"(I.v.11).   Lady Macbeth views his kindness as somewhat of a problem for their quest for power.   She says that Macbeth is "too full o' the milk of human kindness"(I.v.17)   to place them on the   throne of Scotland as a result of murder.      Macbeth realizes that Duncan is, in fact, a good and humble king.   Other than to fulfill self-centered desires and uncontrolled ambitions, there is no valid reason to murder him.   However, both his wife and the three witches soon pressure Macbeth to murder Duncan.   The three witches are supernatural in... ...es are ruined.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Biggins, Dennis. "Sexuality, Witchcraft, and Violence in Macbeth." Shakespeare Studies VII (1975)    Callaghan, Dympna. Woman and Gender in Renaissance Tragedy. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International, Inc., 1989    Foakes, R.A. "Images of death: ambition in Macbeth." In Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. Boston: Routledge, 1982.    Muir, Kenneth. "Introduction." In Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Routledge, 1992.    Novy, Marianne. Love's Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984    Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir. New York: Routledge, 1992.    Stallybrass, Peter. "Macbeth and Witchcraft." In Focus on Macbeth. Ed. John Russell Brown. Boston: Routledge, 1982.   

Essay --

Otto Boudet Ms. Ramirez British Literature 1600 4 December 2013 The Mind of Thomas Nashe: An Enigma Thomas Nashe is thought to be one of the world’s first picaresque writers. Although he is a picaresque writer, critics have a hard time characterizing his works due to his incoherent literary structure. Thomas Nashe has been pinned as an enigma of the literary community as his writing often portrays multiple writing styles all at once. â€Å"The Unfortunate Traveller† is the epitome of this. It is categorized as a picaresque novel, but it is a gruesome and violent story. The story is almost a paradox itself. Thomas Nashe, born in 1567, lived in the small town of Lowestroft, Suffolk. Not much is known of his early life, other than that his father was a curate and that he was baptized at his father’s church. He went on to study at the University of St. Johns at Cambridge where he acquired his bachelors degree. Little is known on whether his time at college influenced his works. After his time at college he moved to London, where he was hired by the ecclesiastical authorities to write pamphlets and essays in an attempt to discredit a man know as â€Å"Martin Marprelate† (Kinney Page 1). This alias was used by a man who was writing colloquial speeches regarding the episcopacy of the Anglican Church. Nashe might have not been one of the main contributors to the counterattack against â€Å"Martin Marprelate,† but he was able to extract a sort of writing style from the experience. After his excursion with the Anglican Church, his writing became more spontaneous and unstudied (Donno Page 1). This spontaneous and unstudied style was more prominent in his early works such as â€Å"The Anatomie of Unsertantie" and the preface of Robert Greene’s â€Å"Menapho... ...e Unfortunate Traveller.† What angered the writers the most, was the accuracy of what Thomas Nashe was saying, even if it was in a sarcastic tone. Not only did he anger authors, poets, and pamphleteers, but he also angered the British government. Although his jeers were not directed towards the government, Nashe’s use of the atrocities throughout the country was thoroughly disliked. The government believed that his rendition of the gross actions of England’s people would tarnish its reputation. Thomas Nashe is coined with being one of the world’s first picaresque writers. It is quite ironic how after centuries of debate concerning his eloquent pamphlets and gruesome narratives that he is now categorized under a satirical genre. Although he did incorporate this satire and sarcasm in many of works, it seems unjust to confine him to the one genre.

“Let Him Have It”: How does the director encourage the audience to feel sympathy for Derek and his family?

n this film â€Å"Let him have it† how does the director, Peter Medak, encourage the audience to feel sympathy for Derek Bentley and his family? Refer to three specific episodes from the film in you answer. â€Å"Let him have it† by Peter Medak is a very powerful film based on a controversial true story. The narrative is about a murder committed by Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley. Peter Medak, the Director, explained â€Å"I made this film to break hearts† and the way the scenes have been established and portrayed by the actors increase the emotional response of the viewer. The reason that this film is so effective is due to the amount of emotion and sympathy the Director portrays towards Derek Bentley. However, the film has a distinct bias towards Derek Bentley as it follows his characterisation compared to that of the other actors. Within this essay I will draw out the techniques the Director has uses to create a truly emotive production. I have chosen three episodes from the film where I believe the Director has emphasised the sympathy towards Derek and his family most effectively; the opening chapter, this depicts Derek when he was a young boy during World War II, the murder of the police officer, this is when Derek and Chris Craig attempt to break into a premises and the hanging. As the film opens it immediately provides the feeling of; sadness, sorrow, grief and unhappiness. The background to the credits are pitch black and the credits are written in old style, types set with white writing, establishing the feeling that the film is set in the past. The background music is sad, gentle and to some extent slightly emotional providing a sense of unhappiness. As the credits continue, the music gets louder and louder. This creates suspense in the audience, making the viewer believe that something is going to happen. The credits dissipate and then we can here bomb blasts, providing an indication that the first scene is going to be set during a war. This is effective because we can imagine the scene from the sound before we can view it. The first scene reveals the trauma suffered by people living in London during World War II. As the camera pans the set it shows the demolished houses and the devastated families with their personnel belongings scattered over the rubble. This creates a strong emotional response in the viewer for all of the people caught up in the air raid that has hit the street. The camera pans across a demolished house and the distraught family and then focuses into a body shot of a mother crying over her dead child. A lady calls for help, the attention is focused upon the lady shouting, â€Å"I have found him†, as they lift the rubble away, revealing Derek for the first time. The scene reveals a helpless, weak and vulnerable young boy surrounded by rubble and covered in dust. The Director increases the emotive effect of the scene by lighting the childs' face and zooming into the boy, which then reveals blood seeping out of his ear. The boy starts to shake and fit, this completed the effect the Director was aiming for, to create the initial sympathy for Derek. The trauma Derek experienced within the first scene could provide the reasons for his learning difficulties and disability. The Director has built this scene to explain to the audience what is happening to Derek and to create sympathy for him due to this incident, although at this stage it is unclear that he is suffering from. The Director has clearly identified this scene to underpin the whole film and I believe it provides a very descriptive and highly emotive start to the film. The film transports the viewer to when Derek was 19 years old, this is expertly delivered by focusing in on Derek in the rubble, followed by a close up of Derek as a teenager and pans out to show who he is with. The boys are about to break into an old persons shed, the mood is sad and sombre. The music is slow and deliberate, using the ‘miner keys' making this scene uncomfortable and provides the feeling that something bad is going to happen. Then you see the boys breaking into the old person's sheds, the lighting suggests Derek's innocence due to him being highlighted and the boys shadowed. The music gets louder and louder when the boys are vandalising the shed. Derek had no intentions of going into the old persons shed until one of the boys encouraged him, â€Å"Hoy Derek†. The Director is showing the audience how easily led and vulnerable Derek is whilst under the influence of others, which could be due to Derek's learning disability. It looks obvious throughout the scene that Derek is playing and he does not understand what he is doing wrong. He is trying to be part of the gang. During the scene Derek tries to eat the old person's supper that the other boys ruined with coffee, this is out of character for him and supports the conclusion that he is trying to fit in. When the man comes back the rest of the boys flee but Derek just freezes, he then starts fitting. This scene is powerful due to the high camera shot indicating his harmlessness and his lack of power. The Director uses this technique to establish sympathy for Derek, so you feel that he is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The scene shows how the character of Derek is fragile and how easily he gives into peer pressure. This provides the impression of weakness within his character. The Director has again uses this scene to depict the major events that affect Derek's life and sets the scene of how Derek ends up in Kingswood Approved School (a young offender's institute) and raises the question as to whether it is his fault that he is in there. The scene has a big impact on the film; the audience would not feel as much sympathy for Derek because they may think that he was ill-disciplined and badly behaved for being in the institute. In the institute the music starts slowly to create sadness in the audience, as the camera tracks through the institute to a long shot of Derek in a long narrow corridor. This makes him look alone, harmless and sad as if he is waiting to be disciplined by the Head Master of the institute. The following scene is of Derek's father and the Head Warden in the office discussing Derek's low intelligence and his disability, epilepsy. This make the audience feel sympathy for Derek because he has been categorised and is not capable of fitting into a young offenders institute. Derek needs specialist help, which he never appears to receive. After Derek is released from the Institute he takes it upon himself to become reclusive and agoraphobic probably due to this being easier than facing life and its dangers. It takes allot of persuasion by his sister, whom he loves, to overcome this feeling and become more extravert. This also provides the audience with impression that he feels unwanted because of being rejected from the school. This could have resulted in how easy it was for Derek to join Chris's gang, because he felt wanted. Prior to the scene where Derek and Chris attempt to break in to the butchers shop, Derek is portrayed as someone who is trying to fit in and that is why he takes the keys to the shop. Throughout this scene there is clear evidence that Derek does not realise the potential implications of what he is doing, he believes he was only having fun. When Derek hands over the keys to Chris he comments, â€Å"you be in charge Chris,† as if he is a child. As they jump off the bus the boys play together, just like young children. Chris then hands a knuckle duster to Derek; he takes it like a child taking a new toy from his parents. This helped establishes to the audience that Derek's intention on the roof was not to kill but to just following the gang and try to be one of them, as portrayed in the gangster movies that the boys watched at the cinemas, prior to this scene. Chris applies a great deal of peer pressure to Derek, â€Å"are we going to do this or are you going to piss off too? † this shows how easily he is led by Chris. The Director shows a family observing Chris and Derek climbing up the fence, they immediately call the police. The audience is now aware that the police are coming; it also creates suspense, as you wonder what will happen to Derek and Chris if they get caught. The Director keeps switching to the police and their movements setting the scene for what is about to happen. The viewers can see the level of police presence surrounding the boys where as Chris and Derek are completely unaware as they are playing on the roof, running around like children catching each other in a school playground. When Derek and Chris are surrounded by the police, Derek exclaims, â€Å"my dad is going to kill me†, he could not think of anything worse than being reprimanded by his father. A police officer enters the roof and Derek struggles with Chris to try to prevent him shooting him, he warns the officer that Chris has a gun. Derek does not move when he was warned to stay still by the officer. It is at this stage when a critical point of the whole film is depicted, the officer asks Chris for the gun. Derek shouts to Chris â€Å"let him have it† meaning to give the gun to the officer; however Chris shoots the officer. Throughout this scene, Derek is portrayed as trying to help. The audience can feel sympathy for Derek because when he is trying to be of assistance but is being pushed around by the police. The audience do not feel as much sympathy for the policeman as they do for Derek because the viewer does not know about the officer's background, as we do with Derek, he is not characterised. The Director makes it very clear that Derek does intend to hurt or kill anyone and has no animosity towards the police officer. The Director shows a clear bias towards Derek in the way the scene is depicted. The audience could feel some sympathy for Chris because his brother has just been sent to prison; he shouted â€Å"you gave my brother twelve years†. It is effective when the Director shows a close up of all the policemen loading up their guns, and showing Chris loading his gun with six bullets, to show how outnumbered Chris is compared to the police. When the Police Officer was murdered, the Director includes a close up of all of the faces looking at the body, Derek was shocked, sad and stunned at what Chris had committed. When Derek walks towards the body he looks physically shaken, the viewer can feels a lot of sympathy towards him because he is genuinely sorry for the policemen. Derek knelt by the policeman's side, lowering himself down to his level, to show his respects towards the policeman. As the policemen take Derek away he does not resist arrest because it was never his intention to hurt anyone, after all he was just playing, or so he thought. In the third scene I have chosen, Derek and his family are awaiting the hanging. The Director creates a large amount of sympathy towards Derek and his family throughout the final episode. Once again the lighting and camera position is used to increase the emotive effect of the scenes. After Derek is taken down, following the court case, Derek and Chris are in two different cells looking at each other, this is the first time in the film where the Director places Derek in the shade. This is because he fared worse following the court case due to his age compared to that of Chris and he is facing execution. In the scene just prior to the hanging a light is tracked from the window through to the bath full of letters showing the support received for Derek's cause. The Director again is using this effect to show Derek's innocence, this creates sympathy in the audience as they know what is about to unfold and that it is unjust. When Derek's parents were informed that he should never have been tried in a court of law because of his mental age, the audience feel pity towards him because of what he went through in court, the stress of it all, when he should never have been there in the first place. The audience feels sympathy when he says â€Å"I am not afraid to die†; it gives the impression that he has given up and accepted the fact that he will die. It also emphasises the fact that he is still a child inside. The audience feels sorry for Mr. Bentley as the letter to the Queen is his last hope of saving his son. The Director has added this scene to depict the desperation of the Bentley family. During Derek's last conversation with his family he says goodbye as if he will never see them again, he tries to stay positive when his mum and dad are around â€Å"cheerio, see you tomorrow†. The music in this scene gradually gets louder to increase the emotion between the family also increases the sympathy towards Derek and his family, especially when you realise Derek can not touch or kiss his family for the last ever time before the hanging. They then place their hands together on either side of the glass barrier. Derek dictates his last words to a prison warden because he can not write for himself, he states in his letter to his mum â€Å"I tell you what mum, the truth has to come out, and when it does a lot of people will get hurt†. As Derek dictates this the camera gradually zooms in as he signs his name showing that he is struggling to spell his name and has the handwriting of a child. The Director chooses to show a scene where Derek's dad is in his bedroom holding his toy aeroplane, waiting for a verdict, this reminds us that Derek is mentally still a child. It makes you feel sorry for Derek because he is going to be executed for a crime that he would never be able to even conceive, never mind commit. You feel like they are hanging a child, an eleven year old child. What's more, in the scene the Director uses a close up of the officer scribing for Derek, the officer has a tear in his eye, as he sees the injustice unfolding. Within the execution scene there is a close up of the clock above the fireplace in the Bentleys house, this is very effective as it symbolises Derek's life ticking away. Mr. Bentley walks out into the middle of the street making him look small and helpless, like he has given up all hope. The street looks long and lonely, a postman walks up to Mr. Bentley giving him a pat on the back saying â€Å"this is all today† this shows the contrast in letters. A couple of days before there had been hundreds of letters being delivered, but now there was only one letter. This tells the audience that even Derek's supporters have given up on the possibility of a reprieve. As the clock is ticking away the camera delivers a high shot looking down on the family in the middle of their living room, hugging each other for comfort. The high shot makes them look helpless' you feel that there is nothing they can do to help Derek now. It makes the audience feel sorry for the family as they have tried everything they could; petitions, trying to get a retrial, writing to the queen etc, but in the end nothing had worked. The Director increases the sympathy for the family when he uses a close up of them crying together for Derek. This is jucsiposed to Derek saying his pray the Director shows the grieving and scared, sad Derek, to maximise the suspense and the sympathy for him and his family. Outside of the prison, protesters are singing hymns asking for God's mercy for Derek. The Director shows this shot of all the protestors singing, in front of the huge walls of the prison and a huge solid door. This shows that the protesters can't do anything for Derek but pray, sing and hope. This is creating sympathy for Derek because it is clear that everyone is on Derek's side even the officers inside the prison and the executioner. The executioner says to Derek â€Å"everything is going to be alright† to provide him with some encouragement. When it is time for the execution a clock is ticking, this links Derek's scene to his families scene, then the clock strikes 9 o'clock and Derek's breathing becomes louder. This is creating the tension in the audience, and also showing how nervous and scared Derek is towards the execution. Derek does not struggle or shout protesting his innocence, if the director didn't show this the audience would not feel as much sympathy for him. All the prison officers stopped working and after he was hung they bowed their heads showing their sadness for Derek. The protesters are now singing hymns for him as if they were at a funeral. When Derek is hung the camera closes in on his shoes in order to try to achieve the atmosphere, yet not showing the macabre hanging. The camera pans towards the light coming from the ceiling, as if Derek was escaping from the prison and going home or towards heaven. The camera flies over Derek's town into his bedroom and down the stairs, as if he was walking towards the living room to his family. The camera makes the audience feel like Derek is now a ghost or an angle. The camera zooms in towards Derek's family together in the middle of the living room. Then over their shoulders to the clock on the mantelpiece, it stops ticking. This sequence of camera shots maximises the sympathy towards Derek and his family and creates an overwhelming feeling of injustice. The Director used multiple techniques in the film to create sympathy for Derek and his family for example; panning, high shot, low shots, close ups, body shots, etc. The music throughout the film is similar, slow and, sad using the ‘minor key' to create a slightly uncomfortable feeling. The lighting of Derek and the people around him, for example, Derek was predominantly in the light when he was around Chris, this suggests his innocence. The cumulative effect of the techniques creates a powerful, highly effective and emotive film which provides the viewer with a compulsion to keep watching and till the conclusion. After the conclusion the viewer is left with a true feeling of injustice and sadness especially when you find out it is based on a true story.