Thursday, October 31, 2019
Well logging Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Well logging - Assignment Example ards the transverse plane present, which is achieved by applying an external magnetic field that is in resonance with the precessing protons, which are polarized. The protons will then continue in their precession process, after rotation, but in a plane that is perpendicular to the aligned protons, which creates a changeable and detectable magnetic field. Dephrasing of the protons may result due to interferences resulting from the polarized magnetic field at the protonââ¬â¢s location. The dephrasing factors can then be quantified, and used to prevent further dephrasing by another time constant (T2). Focused electrons moving horizontally through the formation: Laterlogs are utilized in low-resistive muds. A focused current is made to flow horizontally by placing two guard electrodes that are located above and below the electrodeââ¬â¢s current. The central generating electrode and the guard electrodes are balanced and a sheet of current then penetrates the formation. High frequency alternating current: these logs are used in oil-based or fresh-water muds. A high frequency current flows through the transmitter when a receiver coil and transmitter coil are placed at the ends of sonde. This creates a magnetic field, which, in turn, generates an alternating current. The generated current alternates depending on formation resistivity and the quantifiable parameters are recorded in the receiver coil. Rt: is obtained by using Dual Laterlog Borehole correction (both deep and shallow laterlogs). In order to achieve this, Rs, Rm, RLLD, RLLS, Rw, and RSFL should be known. The obtained data must be calculated to substitute the following formulas: Rw: SP log is used to identify the clan sand lines and shale baseline on the SP log. Temperature is then determined to convert (Rm)Tm to (Rmf)Tf. SSP is then calculated by using the invaded resistivity Rf, and the bed thickness, h. the formula for this conversion is converting Rmf@Tf to Rmfe @ Tf, then Calculate Rwe: Rwe=
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
The Townshend Duties refer Essay Example for Free
The Townshend Duties refer Essay The Boston tea party is seen as having played a gigantic role in providing impetus to the American Revolution. It refers to an incident that happened on December 16, 1773, pitting the colonists against the British. A group of Americans from Boston pretending to be natives dropped large consignments of tea in to the ocean as a form of protests against the selective and punitive taxation; it was a culmination of anger that had been building over the British policies. Earlier in 1770, the Townshend Duties had been done away with, following concerted protests by the colonists. The Townshend Duties refer to a number of taxes introduced by Charles Townshend aimed at the colonists to finance tax cuts in England. The Townshend duties were repealed but the tea duty still remained (Hawkins, 33). To circumvent such punitive charges, the American population boycotted the British tea opting to buy the one smuggled from Portugal. This resulted to huge losses and debts to the East India Company that was importing the tea. In response to this boycott and to help the company survive, the British introduced the Tea Act. This act sought to remove taxes on tea imports. The East India Company could now import the tea and sell it at a price below the smuggled one. The boycott though persisted with most colonists refusing the temptation of buying cheaper tea, as doing so would be bowing to the British and accepting the punitive tax. The smugglers were foreseeing a big dent in their ventures and were at the forefront with the boycotting campaigns. The call no taxation without representation took a new momentum (Ketchum, Richard, 19). The Tea Act was greatly opposed with most merchants opting to send it back. In Boston however, this was not the course of action taken. The building up protests and strong opposition to the brutish taxation regimes was rife in the air. Bostonians led by a liberalist Samuel Adams, could not allow the offloading of the tea shipments and were demanding that it be taken back to England. Thomas Hutchinson, who was the governor then, was adamant that the ships had to pay the duty first. This is what prompted a group of Bostonians to secretly board the ship, emptying the contents in the sea harbour. Over three hundred chests of tea were dropped in to the harbour sparking a huge outrage back in Britain with most politicians pressing for compensation. The colonists were unapologetic and the parliament vowed to introduce even more punitive policies and hence the Intolerable Acts. Intolerable Acts refers to a number of laws introduced by the British aimed at Bostonians, in retribution for the destruction of the tea imports. It is ironical for these laws were supposed to serve as a lesson to those states that wished to put up a defiant face. However, in the real sense, they intensified resentment towards the British and helped fuel the calls to the American Revolution. The Boston tea party helped coalesce the colonist resentment and defiance against the British repressive laws and came at a time when liberalists were intensifying their clarion calls against the British. Though aimed at the Tea Act, it had an overall effect of awakening interests towards a revolution that was to take place a few years later. Works Cited Hawkins, A Retrospect of the Boston Tea Party, pp. 31-39. Ketchum, Richard, Divided Loyalties, How the American Revolution came to New York, 2002,19
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Association of IL-12ò rs3212227 and Psoriasis
Association of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and Psoriasis Title: Associations between IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism and susceptibility to psoriasis: a meta-analysis Running title: Association of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis Highlights: We performed a Meta-analysis to assess the association ofIL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. Association between IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis was proved. IL-12à ² rs3212227 is the susceptibility gene of psoriasis in Asian and European. Abstract Purpose The aim of this meta-analysis was to explore whether IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism confer susceptibility to psoriasis. Methods We performed a computerized literature search before December 2013. Review Manger 5.2 was used to perform meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was conducted on the associations between IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism and the risk of psoriasis. Results Nine studies involving 17,620 subjects were included in this meta-analysis. Significant association was found between psoriasis and IL-12à ² rs3212227 allele in all study subjects (C vs. A: OR=0.68, 95%CI =0.64-0.72, P Conclusions This meta-analysis demonstrated that the IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism is associated with the risk of psoriasis. Keywords IL-12à ², polymorphism, psoriasis, Meta-analysis, susceptibility gene Introduction Psoriasis is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory skin disease, characterized by epidermal hyperplasia and infiltration of leukocytes into the dermis and epidermis [1]. An recent systematic review [2] reported that the prevalence in children ranged from 0% (Taiwan) to 2.1% (Italy), and in adults it varied from 0.91%(United States) to 8.5% (Norway). In children, the incidence estimate reported (United States) was 40.8/100,000person-years. In adults, it varied from 78.9/100,000 person-years (United States) to 230/100,000 person-years (Italy). It reported that psoriasis occurred by the interaction between genetic and environmental factors [3] and the immune mechanism plays an essential role in the chronic development and progression of psoriasis [4]. However, until now the exact etiology and pathogenesis of psoriasis remain unclear [5]. Currently, the study of psoriasis susceptibility genes is a hot research direction. IL-12 is a kind of key cytokines involved in T cell immune [6]. It confirmed thatIL -12 is closely related to the pathogenesis of psoriasis . rs3212227 is a SNP in 3ââ¬â¢ untranslated region [7]. Tsunemi et al. [8] reported the association of rs3212227 with risk of psoriasis. Capon et al. reported that there was significant association between rs3212227 and psoriasis. It indicated that IL-12à ² rs3212227 may be one of the psoriasis susceptibility genes. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine whether IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphisms confer susceptibility to psoriasis. Methods Literature search A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Medline and Embase up to December 2013. We screened all fields by combining the term ââ¬Å"psoriasisâ⬠or ââ¬Å"psoriaticâ⬠, ââ¬Å"interleukin-12à ²Ã¢â¬ or ââ¬Å"IL-12à ²Ã¢â¬ and ââ¬Å"genetic polymorphismâ⬠or ââ¬Å"genetic variantâ⬠. Selection criteria Literatures were included in this meta-analysis if they met each of the following criteria: (1) case-control studies between patients with psoriasis (experimental group) and hospital-based or population-based individuals (control group), (2) published English literatures involving studies of association between IL-12à ² genetic polymorphism and psoriasis, and (3) having the data of genotype and frequency of allele in the experimental and control group or obtaining by computing. Studies were excluded when genotype distribution in the control group did not meet the test of hardy-weinberg equilibrium. Data extraction and quality assessment Data extraction was conducted by two reviewers independently. Disagreements between reviewers were resolved by discussion with a third investigator. From the included studies, the following data were abstracted: the first author name, year of publication, country or race, genotype distribution inthe experimental and control group, gender ratio and mean age of the subjects in the experimental and control group. In this meta-analysis, we applied the criteria based on Clark et al [9] to assess the quality of included studies. On the basis of their scores, the included studies were classified into three levels: low quality (0-4), moderate quality (5-7)and high quality (8-10). Statistical analysis Test of hardy-weinberg equilibrium [10] was conducted to ensure the quality of the included literatures before running meta-analysis. Review Manger 5.2 was used to perform meta-analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated under five genetic models: the allele model (C vs. A), the dominant model (CC+AC vs. AA), the recessive model (CC vs. AA+AC), the homozygous/additive model (CC vs. AA) and the heterozygous model (CC vs. AC). Heterogeneity was evaluated using by the chi-square-based Q statistic test [11] and I2 test with à ±12]. Subgroup analysis was performed by the difference of ethnicity. The sensitivity analysis was conducted to see the stability of pooled results by sequential omission of individual studies [13]. Funnel plots were used to assess the possibility of publication bias. Results Literature search In total, 114 potentially relevant studies were identified and screened after an initial search. Among them, 98 articles were excluded after screening based on abstracts or titles. Five out of these 16 remaining literatures were excluded because of duplicate publication. Then 2 studies were removing because there was no available data. As a result, 9 literatures were included in this meta-analysis. A flow diagram of the search process is shown in Fig.1. Characteristics of included studies The characteristics of 9 included studies [8, 14-21] were summarized in Table 1. The publication years of these studies ranged from year 2002 to 2013. A total of 17,620 subjects were involved in this meta-analysis, including 6,520 psoriasis patients and 11,150 healthy controls. The race of these subjects was Caucasian or Asian except one study in which mix racial subjects were studied. None of the SNPs had genotype frequencies that deviated significantly from Hardyââ¬âWeinberg equilibrium in these included studies. All quality scores of included studies were from 5 to 8. It showed that the included studies were moderateââ¬âhigh quality literatures in this meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of the association between IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism and psoriasis Summary results of this meta-analysis for the association between IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphism and psoriasis were shown in Table 2. For the genotype model of CC+AC vs. A, no heterogeneity (I2=57%, P=0.02) existed in the included literatures, so the random effects model was used. For the other genotype model, fixed effects model was used because of significant heterogeneity among studies. The meta-analysis results showed the highly significant association of these alleles with psoriasis (C vs. A: OR=0.68, 95%CI =0.64-0.72, PC vs. A: OR= 0.66, 95%CI =0.61-0.70, P Sensitivity analysis and publication bias Sensitivity analysis by dropping one study at a time did not indicate the dominant influence of any single study. The funnel plot showed that there was no obvious publication bias was shown in the result. Discussion In this meta-analysis, we combined data from published studies to evaluate genetic associations between polymorphisms of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. Our meta-analysis of IL-12à ² rs3212227 showed significant association of the IL-12à ² rs3212227 polymorphisms with the risk of psoriasis. Another meta-analysis [22] reported the association of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. Compared with that one, there were three the advantages of this meta-analysis. The first one was that this meta-analysis had been more recently (2013) conducted to synthesize evidence concerning the association of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. Second, furthermore subgroup analysis by ethnicity was performed and showed that the results did not varies with the difference of ethnicity. Third, the publication meta-analysis reported no heterogeneity among the included studies. Nevertheless, in this meta-analysis, heterogeneity was found among the included studies in the genotype model of CC+AC vs. AA. Ex ploring the sources of heterogeneity was useful to study the association of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. Thus, further well-designed studies need to focus on exploring the sources of heterogeneity. In the publication studies, it demonstrated that IL-12 was closely related to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. It reported that the mRNA [23]and protein expression [24] of IL-12 p40 was increased in the psoriatic skin. Efficacy was obtained by the drug therapy on immunization targets [25]. The SNP, rs3212227, is located in IL-12à ² gene [26]. The expression of IL-12 p40 was changed after import homozygous gene fragment into cell [27]. It indicated that the change of allele might cause change in the expression of IL-12p40 and affect the function of IL-12p40. Then a series of immune responses were triggered. Finally, these events would lead to the onset of psoriasis. These findings prove that IL-12à ² rs3212227 may be the susceptibility gene of psoriasis. The result of this meta-analysis provided further evidence of the association betweenthe polymorphisms of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. It reported that the occurrence of psoriasis varied according to geographic region [2]. And the family genes are difference in each region. In this meta-analysis, subgroup analysis was performed by the difference of ethnicity. However, the subjects did not contain all the population. Thus, it proved that rs3212227 is the susceptibility gene of psoriasis in Asian and European. Further studies need to be done to study the influence of ethnicity. Present study has some limitations that require specific consideration. The first one is that there is no enough data of age and sex to concern the influence of these confounding factors for the result of this meta-analysis. Second limitation is that the type of psoriasis cannot be analyzed because of the limited information. Furthermore, there are many other possible susceptibility genes, but only one of them was selected to do this meta-analysis. Conclusions In conclusion, we determined that there was significant association between the polymorphisms of IL-12à ² rs3212227 and psoriasis. IL-12à ² rs3212227 has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. For researching the pathogenesis of psoriasis, all the susceptibility genes as well as the interaction among them need to be studied in the future. References 1. Bromley SK, Larson RP, Ziegler SF, Luster AD: IL-23 Induces Atopic Dermatitis-Like Inflammation Instead of Psoriasis-Like Inflammation in CCR2-Deficient Mice. PloS one 2013, 8(3):e58196. 2. Parisi R, Symmons DP, Griffiths CE, Ashcroft DM: Global epidemiology of psoriasis: a systematic review of incidence and prevalence. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2012. 3. Naldi L: Risk Factors for Psoriasis. Current Dermatology Reports 2013, 2(1):58-65. 4. Gudjonsson J, Johnston A, Sigmundsdottir H, Valdimarsson H: Immunopathogenic mechanisms in psoriasis. Clinical Experimental Immunology 2004, 135(1):1-8. 5. Baweja P, Agarwal B, Sharma V, Alex A: Oxidant and antioxidant status in patients with Psoriasis. Indian J Applied Pure Bio Vol 2013, 28(2):143-148. 6. Lamont AG, Adorini L: IL-12: a key cytokine in immune regulation. Immunology today 1996, 17(5):214-217. 7. Hong K, Chu A, Là ºdvà ksson BR, Berg EL, Ehrhardt RO: IL-12, independently of IFN-à ³, plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of a murine psoriasis-like skin disorder. The Journal of Immunology 1999, 162(12):7480-7491. 8. Tsunemi Y, Saeki H, Nakamura K, Sekiya T, Hirai K, Fujita H, Asano N, Kishimoto M, Tanida Y, Kakinuma T: Interleukin-12 p40 gene (IL12B) 3â⬠²-untranslated region polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to atopic dermatitis and psoriasis vulgaris. Journal of dermatological science 2002, 30(2):161-166. 9. Clark MF, Baudouin SV: A systematic review of the quality of genetic association studies in human sepsis. Intensive care medicine 2006, 32(11):1706-1712. 10. Ledwina T, Gnot S: Testing for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Biometrics 1980:161-165. 11. Lau J, Ioannidis JP, Schmid CH: Quantitative synthesis in systematic reviews. Annals of internal medicine 1997, 127(9):820-826. 12. Feng R-N, Zhao C, Sun C-H, Li Y: Meta-analysis of TNF 308 G/A polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus. PloS one 2011, 6(4):e18480. 13. Liu ZH DY, Xiu LC, Pan HY, Liang Y, Zhong SQ, Liu WW, Rao SQ, Kong DL: A meta-analysis of the association between TNF-alpha -308G>A polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Han Chinese population. PloS one 2013, 8(3):e59421. 14. Capon F, Di Meglio P, Szaub J, Prescott NJ, Dunster C, Baumber L, Timms K, Gutin A, Abkevic V, Burden AD et al: Sequence variants in the genes for the interleukin-23 receptor (IL23R) and its ligand (IL12B) confer protection against psoriasis. Hum Genet 2007, 122(2):201-206. 15. Cargill M, Schrodi SJ, Chang M, Garcia VE, Brandon R, Callis KP, Matsunami N, Ardlie KG, Civello D, Catanese JJ et al: A large-scale genetic association study confirms IL12B and leads to the identification of IL23R as psoriasis-risk genes. American journal of human genetics 2007, 80(2):273-290. 16. Eiris N, Santos-Juanes J, Coto-Segura P, Gomez J, Alvarez V, Morales B, Queiro R, Diaz M, Corao AI, Lopez-Corte K et al: Resequencing of the IL12B gene in psoriasis patients with the rs6887695/rs3212227 risk genotypes. Cytokine 2012, 60(1):27-29. 17. Huffmeier U, Lascorz J, Bohm B, Lohmann J, Wendler J, Mossner R, Reich K, Traupe H, Kurrat W, Burkhardt H et al: Genetic variants of the IL-23R pathway: association with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis vulgaris, but no specific risk factor for arthritis. The Journal of investigative dermatology 2009, 129(2):355-358. 18. Nair RP, Ruether A, Stuart PE, Jenisch S, Tejasvi T, Hiremagalore R, Schreiber S, Kabelitz D, Lim HW, Voorhees JJ et al: Polymorphisms of the IL12B and IL23R genes are associated with psoriasis. The Journal of investigative dermatology 2008, 128(7):1653-1661. 19. Nair RP, Stuart PE, Kullavanijaya P, Kullavanijaya P, Tejasvi T, Voorhees JJ, Elder JT: Genetic evidence for involvement of the IL23 pathway in Thai psoriatics. Archives of dermatological research 2010, 302(2):139-143. 20. Oka A, Mabuchi T, Ikeda S, Terui T, Haida Y, Ozawa A, Yatsu K, Kulski JK, Inoko H: IL12B and IL23R gene SNPs in Japanese psoriasis. Immunogenetics 2013, 65(11):823-828. 21. Smith RL, Warren RB, Eyre S, Ho P, Ke X, Young HS, Griffiths CEM, Worthington J: Polymorphisms in the IL-12à ² and IL-23R Genes Are Associated with Psoriasis of Early Onset in a UK Cohort. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2007, 128(5):1325-1327. 22. Zhu KJ, Zhu CY, Shi G, Fan YM: Meta-analysis of IL12B polymorphisms (rs3212227, rs6887695) with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Rheumatology international 2013, 33(7):1785-1790. 23. Jiqun C, Yating T, Jiawen L, Changzheng H, Zhixiang L, Daofan L: A study on the expression of interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12 P35, P40 mRNA in the psoriatic lesions. Journal of Tongji Medical University 2001, 21(1):86-88. 24. Yawalkar N, Karlen S, Hunger R, Brand CU, Braathen LR: Expression of interleukin-12 is increased in psoriatic skin. Journal of investigative dermatology 1998, 111(6):1053-1057. 25. Oââ¬â¢Neill JL, Kalb RE: Ustekinumab in the therapy of chronic plaque psoriasis. Biologics: targets therapy 2009, 3:159. 26. Smith RL, Warren RB, Eyre S, Ho P, Ke X, Young HS, Griffiths CE, Worthington J: Polymorphisms in the IL-12à ² and IL-23R genes are associated with psoriasis of early onset in a UK cohort. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2007, 128(5):1325-1327. 27. Morahan G, Huang D, Ymer SI, Cancilla MR, Stephen K, Dabadghao P, Werther G, Tait BD, Harrison LC, Colman PG: Linkage disequilibrium of a type 1 diabetes susceptibility locus with a regulatory IL12B allele. Nature genetics 2001, 27(2):218-221. Table 1 Characteristics of included studies. Authors Year Country population Experimental group/control group score PHWE mareà ¯Ã ¼Ãâ %à ¯Ã ¼Ã¢â¬ ° age (years) n Capon F1 2007 UK European 65.4/50 52.1/- 318/288 8 >0.05 Capon F2 2007 UK European 42.4/50 44.1/49 519/528 8 >0.05 Cargill M1 2007 USA European 45.5 28 467/500 7 0.5876 Cargill M2 2007 USA European 45.5 29 498/498 7 0.9129 Eiris N 2012 Spain European 54/55 47/47 304/422 6 0.1045 Hà ¼ffmeier U 2009 Germany European 62/58 48.2/31.6 1114/937 6 >0.05 Nair RP1 2008 Germany European 360/1097 7 >0.05 Nair RP2 2008 USA European 1450/1425 7 >0.05 Nair RP3 2010 Thailand Asian 58/42 34/45 206/114 7 0.8488 Oka A 2013 Japanese Asian 560/560 8 Smith RL 2008 UK Mixed 581/4681 6 0.5815 Tsunemi Y 2002 Japanese Asian 143/100 5 0.3177 PHWEà ¯Ã ¼Ã
âthe result of the test of hardy-weinberg equilibrium Table 2 Meta-analysis of the associations between IL-12Ã ² rs3212227 polymorphisms and psoriasis Polymorphism population Test of association Test of heterogeneity OR (95%CI) p P I2 C vs. A Overall 0.68 (0.64, 0.72) 0.18 27% European 0.66 (0.61, 0.70) Asian 0.71 (0.62, 0.82) CC+AC vs. AA Overall 0.61 (0.53, 0.71) 0.02 57% European 0.62 (0.52, 0.73) Asian 0.45 (0.25, 0.82) CC vs. AC+AA Overall 0.53 (0.43, 0.66) 0.85 0% European 0.48 (0.36, 0.64) Asian 0.56 (0.36, 0.85) CC vs. AA Overall 0.46 (0.36, 0.57) 0.78 0% European 0.42 (0.31, 0.56) Asian 0.43 (0.26, 0.70) AC vs. AA Overall 0.65 (0.59, 0.71) 0.16 33% European 0.62(0.56, 0.69) Asian 0.66 (0.44, 0.98) Figure legends Fig.1 Selection of relevant publications, reasons for exclusion. Fig.2 Forest plot displaying the results of the meta-analysis on the genotype of C vs. A Fig.3 Funnel plot analysis of publication bias. ________________________________________________________________________
Friday, October 25, 2019
mortgage :: essays research papers
Mortgage Terms Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM): A mortgage with interest rates and monthly payments adjusted at regular intervals based on changes in either a national or regional index. Also called "variable-rate mortgage." Amortization: A loan payment schedule characterized by equal periodic payments that are calculated to meet current interest payments and retire the principal at the end of a fixed period (at maturity if the loan is fully amortized). Annual Percentage Rate (APR): The total yearly cost of a mortgage stated as a percentage of the loan amount; includes such items as the base interest rate, private mortgage insurance, and loan origination fee (points). Appraisal: A written analysis of the estimated value of a property prepared by a qualified appraiser. ARM Margin: The spread (or difference) between the index rate and the mortgage interest rate for an adjustable-rate mortgage. Balloon Mortgage: A mortgage in which the debt service (the regular payments of principal and interest) will not result in the complete payment of the loan by the end of the mortgage term. Cap: A provision of an ARM limiting how much the interest rate or mortgage payments may increase or decrease. Cash Reserve: A requirement of some lenders that buyers have sufficient cash remaining after closing to make the first two monthly mortgage payments. Closing: The completion of a real estate transaction that transfers rights of ownership to the buyer. Also called "settlement." Condominium: A type of property ownership within a multiunit complex in which the homeowner owns a unit and a proportionate interest in certain common areas, such as the grounds of the complex. Contingency: A condition that must be met before a contract is legally binding. Conventional Mortgage: A loan that is not insured or guaranteed by the federal government. Credit Report: A report from an independent agency that verifies a loan applicant's information on previous debts and liabilities. Deed: The legal document conveying title to a property. Down Payment: The part of the purchase price which the buyer pays in cash and does not finance with a mortgage. Earnest Money: A deposit made by the potential home buyer to show that he or she is serious about buying the house. Easement: A right of way giving persons other than the owner access to or over a property. Equity: A homeowner's financial interest in a property. Equity is the difference between the fair market value of a property and the amount still owed on the mortgage.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Types of Planning
INTRODUCTION Besides organizing, controlling and leading, planning is one of the management functions. Good planning is crucial to enable an organization to function effectively. Planning is done for two purposes, firstly as a protection to the organization and secondly to increase the affirmative levels of an organization according to C. W. Roney (Certo, 2000). As a protection to the organization, a manager can forecast the effects from each of the suggestions or alternative actions that will be carried out.Then managers will be able to ensure what needs to be done, how to carry out the actions, why it has to be done, when to do it, who should implement it with proper planning. And it is done to increase the affirmative levels of an organization. According to Fayol ââ¬â The plan of action is, at one and the same time, the result envisaged, the line of action to be followed, the stages to go through, and the methods to use. It is a kind of future picture wherein proximate events are outlined with some distinctness.Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programs from among alternatives. A plan is a predetermined course of action to achieve a specified goal. It is a statement of objectives to be achieved by certain means in the future. In short, it is a blueprint for action. Louis A Allen Management planning involves the development of forecasts, objectives, policies, programs procedures, schedules and budgets. Theo Haimann Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done.When a manager plans, he projects a course of action, for the future, attempting to achieve a consistent, co-ordinated structure of operations aimed at the desired results. Koontz Oââ¬â¢Donnell Planning is an intellectual process, the conscious determination of courses of action, the basing of decisions on purpose, acts and considered estimates. .TYPES OF PLANNING According to Dessler (2001) there are three m ain types of planning which are planning based on format, organization hierarchy and frequency of use. PLANNING BASED ON FORMATDescriptive planning is a planning written in the form of statements that state what needs to be achieved and how it is achievable for example, planning of an individualââ¬â¢s career. Budgeting is plan that stated quantitatively by using financial terms. Graphics planning is a planning that explains what needs to be achieved and how to achieve it in the form of charts. For example Gantt chart, it illustrates the time period required in order to implement an activity in the form of bar chart. PLANNING BASED ON ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY There are three levels in an organization ââ¬â top management, middle management, lower management.Top management (strategic plan) Strategic planning focuses on long-term issues for the survival, growth, and overall effectiveness of the organization. Companies need to be visionary, and must develop long-term strategies to meet changing conditions in their industries. Strategic planning involves developing a strategy to meet competition and ensure long-term survival and growth. The marketing function plays an important role in this process in that to provides information and other inputs to help in the preparation of the organizationââ¬â¢s strategic plan long term plan. Middle management (tactical plan)Tactical planning focuses their goals on a shorter time frame, usually ranging from one month to one year. Middle managers give authority and responsibility to team leaders or supervisors, after that they provide direction, necessary resources, and feedback on performance as tasks are completed. Usually they need more detailed information than top managers, but less information than team leaders and supervisors. They also use business support systems, knowledge management systems, and user productivity systems to perform their jobs. Lower management (operational plan) Lower management carries out da y-to-dayà operational plans.Operational employees primarily receive data that they need to perform their jobs day to day. In many companies, operational employees also need information to handle tasks and make decisions that were assigned to supervisors which is calledà empowerment, and gives employees more responsibility and accountability. PLANNING BASED ON FREQUENCY OF USE One time usage planning is a planning that is only used once. Specially prepared to fulfill specific purposes. For example the organization may open more than one branch, but each plan made only applicable to the specific branch only.Because it have different resources like money, manpower, customerââ¬â¢s distribution, size of the branch area etc. Standing plan is a planning that is repeatedly used. Used to manage situations that frequently arise in an organization such as employees disciplinary problems. Standing plans have three types which are policy, procedure and regulations. i. Policy Principles or general guidelines to manage situations. ii. Procedure Actions or process that must be taken if a certain situation arises. iii. Regulations Specific guidelines when taking an action. WORKPLACE HISTORYMalaysia Airline System Berhad is doing business as Malaysia Airlines since its inception as anà independent airlineà in 1987. Proudly running as the national-flag carrier of Malaysia from main home base of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with secondary hubs at Kuching and Kota Kinabalu on the second island of the Malaysian state. With a concentration of network on both regional as well as international sectors, MAS has come to be known as world renowned airlines well as a local favorite along with its subsidiary, MAS Wings, because of staff hospitality and its marketing campaigns.It has been understood that there are various issues and opportunities that are being faced to MAS. Some of these are an overstaffing problem involving more than twenty-thousand employees all o ver the world. Another one, being incurred net losses of RM 479 million by the third quarter of 2011 and at the end of the fourth quarter the airline had incurred a loss of RM 2524 million, indicating a substantial decrease from a profit of RM 234 million in the previous year. Malaysia Airlines Vision is to be the Preferred Premium Carrier by using A380 as the flagship product.To support the vision, Malaysia Airlines mission is to be the best-in-class, top 10 commercially viable airline in the Asia Pacific region that returns sustainable profits to the shareholders. Business plan updated June 2012 RECOVERY PLAN (TOP MANAGEMENT) BUILD A PROFITABLE NETWORK Malaysia Airlines will realign the network based on demand and profitability result in the termination of MAS highly unprofitable routes to South Africa and Argentina and its only destination in Latin America.Other long hauls routes that unprofitable will also be eliminated MAS will deploy aircraft optimally to suit mission and for cost effectiveness. WIN BACK CUSTOMERS Malaysia Airlines will completely revamp the commercial team to improve performance and review sales and distribution channels. MAS plans to win or gain back its premium long hauls passengers through changing its carriers. A phase-out of MAS ageing widebody aircraft will be pursued and simultaneously new passenger facilities will be introduced.By the end of 2013 the carrier will be operating only three types of modern widebody aircraftà ââ¬â A330-300s, B777-200ERs and A380s. Then MAS will put in place best-in-class revenue management to fix corporate travel business and revamp our internet booking engine. MAS will enhancing our marketing and branding efforts and grow ancillary revenues. RELENTLESS COST FOCUS Malaysia Airlines will radically improve productivity and efficiency by increased aircraft utilization. Then MAS will streamline assets and resources across group. After that MAS will review and revamp legacy rocesses and work practic es and reduce reliance on 3rdparty and in source jobs where possible. Lastly overhaul the procurement and contracting practices, and review existing contracts for greater cost savings. BRIDGE THE FUNDING GAP The funding gap that must be bridged given the aircraft deliveries of 2012. This bridge has five pillars of support: 1. Positive operating cash flow 2. New debt and leasing arrangements 3. Working capital boost via the return of pre-delivery payment deposits 4. Proceeds from potential spin-offs 5. Unwavering support of our shareholdersGAME CHANGERS (MIDDLE MANAGEMENT) i. Capture regional point-to-point traffic * Deepen and optimize regional & domestic networks * Shift focus to point-to-point traffic markets * Optimize traffic hubs in KLIA, PEN, KCH, BKI ii. Alliance and partnerships * Enter one world for greater market access, connecting traffic flows, and seamless frequent flyer arrangements * Explore collaboration and joint venture opportunities to capture new markets and cons olidate market position while reducing the financial risks of participating individually. iii. Profitable ancillary businesses Build a profitable portfolio of ancillary businesses around the core airline FOUNDATION (OPERATIONAL PLAN) i. Branded customer experience Improve product quality, including business class product offering in to match best in market and radically improve service levels at all customer service touch points also create and build on service delivery differentiation. ii. Continuous operational improvement Continuously improve processes and work practices by simplify work steps. Remove legacy practices by reduce bureaucracy. Inject innovation in solving issues and problems. iii. Winning organizationReview organization design and manpower requirements. Improve talent and succession planning. Revamp work rules to increase productivity. Reinforce performance based compensation and rewards. Rally staff through active engagement & communication. REFERENCE Dessler, (201 1, 12). Malaysia Airline Business Plan. Retrieved 03, 2013, from http://malaysiaairlines. com/content/dam/mas/master/en/pdf/corporate-info/Malaysia%20Airlines%20Business%20Plan. pdf Unknown, (2013, 06). Malaysia Airline Report. Retrieved 03, 2013, from http://www. scribd. com/doc/97200708/Malaysia-Airline-Report
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Compare three pre-20th Century poems about London Essay
I am going to compare three very different poems about London. The first poem is ââ¬ËLondonââ¬â¢ by William Blake, written around 1800. ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridgeââ¬â¢ is the second poem , by William Wordsworth, again written around 1800. The third poem by Mary Ann Evans in the mid-19th century is called ââ¬ËIn a London drawing room.ââ¬â¢ William Blake was a man of strong opinions, he was a strange person who painted horrific art and walked around naked in his garden. He was a strict Christian and wrote hymns. People disliked him for his strange ideas and strong criticism of what he felt was wrong. William Wordsworth lived in the Lake District, and wrote poems about where he live; the countryside. Whilst visiting London he wrote a poem about what he could see from Westminster bridge. Mary Ann Evans lived in London she was a tomboy by the name of George Elliot. Her father was a vicar. She moved to London to live a more interesting life. Working for a printing company she realised how mistreated women were. The story behind ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridgeââ¬â¢ is:- London looks very beautiful. Youââ¬â¢d be sad not to be impressed. Itââ¬â¢s about what Wordsworth sees from Westminster bridge. His theme is simple; He likes what he sees. London has a very different theme: William Blake lives in London and canââ¬â¢t stand it. The story is very simple the poet wanders through Londonââ¬â¢s streets thinking about what he sees. In a London drawing room also has a simple story; Mary Ann Evans is in a drawing room looking out into the street. Her theme is much more complex She talks about how London through this window is dull, grey and boring. When she says this she actually means thatââ¬â¢s how she feels inside and expresses it through her poetry. ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridgeââ¬â¢ is a sonnet because it has fourteen lines praising Londonââ¬â¢s beauty, it has only one verse. It has a regular iambic rhythm all the way through: Giving the poem a joyful sound. There is no regular rhyming pattern but some lines rhyme. London uses quatrains which means it has four equal lines into four verses. London has a regular and joyful rhythm, which is ironic because of its sad message. The rhyming follows an ACBD pattern (ââ¬ËAââ¬â¢ rhymes with line ââ¬ËCââ¬â¢-ââ¬ËBââ¬â¢ rhymes with line ââ¬ËD.) ââ¬ËIn a London drawing roomââ¬â¢ has no verses, twenty lines which have each ten syllables in them. There is no regular rhythm, because of the regular enjambment. ââ¬Å"Cutting the sky with one long line of wall Like soled Fog: Far as the eye can stretch.â⬠The enjambment causes lines to run into each other. There is no rhyme a tall in the poem. There is a lot of figurative language in ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridge.ââ¬â¢ ââ¬Å"wear The beauty of the morning; silent bare,â⬠This a personification because the city wears the beauty of the morning like a dress. ââ¬Å"The river glideth at his own sweet will:â⬠In line twelve names the river a ââ¬Ëheââ¬â¢. This poem has a lot of imagery, one of them mentions valley, rock and hill, putting the picture of the valleys, hills and rocks on the horizon. In a London drawing room too uses figurative language, ââ¬Å"The world seems one huge prison-house and court,â⬠this is a similar because the world seems to be like a prison-house. A metaphor would be, ââ¬Å"Cutting the sky with one long line of wall,â⬠this is calling the row of houses a wall cutting the sky. The figurative language in London are, ââ¬Å"The mind-forgââ¬â¢d manacles I hear.â⬠Means the people in London believe they are in manacles. The metaphor at the end of the third verse is about the old war soldiers begging outside wealthy houses, ââ¬Å"And the hapless soldierââ¬â¢s sigh Runs in blood down palace walls.â⬠In ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridgeââ¬â¢ most of the ââ¬Ëplay on wordsââ¬â¢ are to keep the rhyme and rhythm in a pattern. London plays on words quiet a lot compared with Upon Westminster bridge. At the end of the first verse there is an element of alliteration, ââ¬Å"Marks of weakness. Marks of woe,â⬠woe is a much more powerful word to use than sad plus it alliterates with weakness. The second verse uses ââ¬Ëin everyâ⬠¦.ââ¬â¢ Four times to get the point that this is serious across more strongly. â⬠The mind-forgââ¬â¢d manacles I hear,â⬠is an alliteration of the letter ââ¬ËMââ¬â¢. On the last line, the last two words are marriage and hearse (car that carries a coffin) this is called juxtaposition; because marriage is associated with beginning and hearse is associated with the end they are opposites. This is an interesting way to end the poem. The only real play on words in ââ¬Ëin a London drawing roomââ¬â¢ was the last line because the three last words are the only positive words (colour, warmth and joy) in the whole poem but just before it says ââ¬Ëwith lowest rate ofââ¬â¢. So they might be positive but sheââ¬â¢s saying there is no colour, warmth or joy. I feel London is the most effective poem. This is because I like the irony in the rhythm and rhyme which sounds happy but its meaning is sad. I also like the Juxtaposition in the last line ââ¬ËMarriage hearseââ¬â¢. He uses clever words and sentences to put down London. I donââ¬â¢t like ââ¬ËIn a London drawing roomââ¬â¢ because it drags on so as to lose its meaning. ââ¬ËUpon Westminster bridgeââ¬â¢ I quite like because its cheerful but I still prefer the way ââ¬ËLondonââ¬â¢ is written because it uses good words and clever poetry.
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