Claudius McKay

Near the beginning of the twentieth century, a Jamaican, came to New York and changed the entire path of Black people’s lifestyle. Claudius McKay became one of the major encourager of the Harlem Renaissance in 1916. The 1920’s literary advancement of the arts and literature stayed for merely ten years, but it everlastingly affected the path of African American existence in the America. (Holcomb, 57) Claudius McKay passed away in a comparative insignificance subsequent to his recognition had gradually improved, in order that he is now regarded as one of the main authors of Black literature. Life and Works Claudius McKay was born in 1889 in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica and his father and mother both were greatly valued part of the district and also of the neighboring cathedral. McKay’s brother who was a teacher near Montego Bay, taught him in the early years. When he was eighteen years old, he was interned at a furniture making shop in Brown’s Town. Although this internship was not for along period of time but it was this place where McKay actually got a chance to do a better internship of a different type. A British member of the aristocracy named Walter Jekyll, who was also an apprentice of Jamaican society, acquainted with the youthful Claude and commenced his literary schooling. As McKay remembered after many years in his biography in, â€Å"A Long Way from Home†, that it was basically Jekyll who accustomed him to an entire new world. (Schwarz, 126) Walter Jekyll understood and polished McKay’s ability writing excellent poems and he supported him in using that ability by working for his very own Jamaican language. This resulted in the publication of â€Å"Songs of Jamaica† and â€Å"Constab Ballads†. â€Å"Songs of Jamaica† was about commemoration of farmer lifestyle, to some extent following the style of Robert Burns, whereas â€Å"Constab Ballads† followed the style of Rudyard Kipling, depicting McKay’s experience of being a constable while he was in Kingston in Jamaica. (James, 131) Kingston presented McKay his foremost experience of urban lifestyle, and his foremost actual experience of racial discrimination. The dislike of the urban white people and mulatto elite classes for countryside and working-class African American was an unlikable disclosure. The most obvious racial discrimination that McKay observed in Kingston, nevertheless, was in no way Jamaican in foundation—it was brought in the shape of travelers of America. McKay was bound to know this kind of racial discrimination much more thoroughly in the coming years, which is why just after a few months in the Kingston; he gave his resignation for his job and went to America. (Schwarz, 129) In 1912, firstly he registered at Tuskegee Institution and then at Kansas State University, to learn agronomy. He planned to come back to Jamaica to assist in modernizing the isle’s farming. This plan could have been successful however for a present of few thousand dollars from an anonymous supporter that compensated McKay’s ticket to New York, where he spent his money in a restaurant. The restaurant did not survive for a long time; however McKay got a definite comfort in the activities and liveliness of the New York. For next several years he employed at different places doing different things like: bartender, fire brigadier, and lastly as a waiter. This was nonetheless, one more internship; the job where he furthermore increased the compassion for the lower class that stayed with him his entire life. From the time when he was young he had inclined tactfully in the direction of communism, and his time spent with the working class strengthened his viewpoints. (LeSeur, 35) His awareness about racial discrimination increased close with his class awareness. For the period of his work and increasing racial consciousness, he put it all in writing in the form of literature. By 1918, he started a extensive connection with Max Eastman who was the editor of a renowned journal named â€Å"The Liberator†. After that McKay started to publish poetry and articles in this avant-garde magazine, and finally turned out to be an associate editor. Later on in reaction to that year’s blood-spattered after warfare racial unrest, McKay published his famous poem â€Å"If We Must Die† in the magazine â€Å"The Liberator†. The bold manner and the open indignation of the poem attracted the African American’s, and almost immediately McKay was at the front position of African American writers. (LeSeur, 51) After that McKay experienced one more unexpected twist which played an important role in his life and work. Prior to his recently successful repute had a prospect to boom, he went to United Kingdom where he lived for one year, wrote and edited for a socialist newspaper, named â€Å"Workers’ Dreadnought†, and later on in 1920, published his primary manuscript of poems ever since the Jamaican volumes, which included â€Å"Spring in New Hampshire† and Other Poems. Then he went back to New York in the beginning of 1921 and worked for another two years for â€Å"The Liberator†, and published an excellent piece of poetry and meanwhile worked on his most important book of poetry named â€Å"Harlem Shadows†. (Hathaway, 23) When it was published in 1922, Wayne Cooper observed that by that time McKay was straight away complimented as the finest African Black poet. Yet another time he did not remain in success for a long time. By this time he was exhausted and wanted something different, particularly subsequent to an unexpected encounter with his ex-wife brought back old wound. By the end of 1922, he toured to Moscow for the Fourth Congress of the Third International. He was instantly liked by the people of Moscow and was permitted to speak to the Congress regarding the dilemma of African Americans and about the issue of racial discrimination among the communalist Party. He was welcomed like a black icon in the flesh. It appeared that he was on the brink of a hopeful career as a supporting advocate; however regardless of his achievement in Russia, he could still see himself mainly as an author. When he left Russia, he was enthusiastic about restarting what he believed the contemporary author’s appropriate role; that is: to document as fine as he may well the reality of his personal knowledge. In 1934, using the assistance of a few American associates, McKay went to New York. He wished to be of help to the African American community, nevertheless when he returned; he saw a ruined economic situation, nearly widespread African American poverty, and less unanimity amongst those writers and scholars he had look forward to work with in coming years. As far his aspiration being a writer was concerned, the â€Å"Harlem Renaissance† had ended; American black authors were no longer in vogue. (Hathaway, 26) He was unable to find a publisher for his book and also he could not find any kind of work, and decided to set up a Camp Greycourt which was a government welfare camp in a remote area of New York. Luckily, Max Eastman came and rescued him from this camp and helped him to get hold of a job with the Federal Writers’ Project. By the end of 1937 he finished up his autobiography, â€Å"A Long Way from Home†. This book did not result in a significant literary or a monetary achievement. His final piece of work known as â€Å"Harlem: Negro Metropolis† was also unsuccessful. (James, 148) A few years before his death, McKay was baptized into the Roman Catholic church. This was he appeared to have established peace in himself, although his letters disclose a lasting resentment over his group. With his new faith, however, came a fulfilling participation in Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization and the chance to continue to write. His health declined with time, and on May 22, 1948, he died due to heart attack. Conclusion Claudius McKay was the voice of the evicted, the demoralized and the discriminated. He was one of the most important poetic voices of the â€Å"Harlem Renaissance†. He was one of the top poets who had represented the discriminated people around the world. Last but not the least; he was one of the voices for worldwide self-worth and unity. Works Cited Hathaway, Heather. Caribbean Waves: Relocating Claude McKay and Paule Marshall. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. pg 23-27. Holcomb, Gary Edward. Claude McKay, Code Name Sasha: Queer Black Marxism and the Harlem Renaissance. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007. pg 56-63. James, Winston. A Fierce Hatred of Injustice: Claude McKay’s Jamaica and His Poetry of Rebellion. New York: Verso, 2000. pg 131-149. LeSeur, Geta. â€Å"Claude McKay’s Marxism.† In The Harlem Renaissance: Revaluations, edited by Amritjit Singh, William S. Shiver, and Stanley Brodwin. New York: Garland, 1989. pg 34-54. Schwarz, A. B. Christa. Gay Voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. pg 126-129..               

On The Progress Of A University Education Essay

I ‘ve been appointed as Director of concern school services which deal with Numberss of different organisations in different parts of North America. Ottawa Business School is an international school which has excelled in many assorted states and parts for decennaries now. It is considered one of the top universities in North America and is regarded as one of the universe ‘s most extremely concern schools. Its MBA plan is often ranked among the planetary top. Ottawa Business School Teachs postgraduate programmes in finance and direction for experient concern executives, Masters in Finance, Masters in Management, and PhD. It was established in 1975 as portion of bing universities such as Toronto Business Schools every bit good as Montreal Academy for Business Administration. It has close coactions with the nearby Montreal Academy and the Modern Language Centre at Ottawa ‘s College Institute. The admittances procedure at OBS is extremely selective ; doing it is one of the most competitory concern schools in the universe. The School has over 10,000 pupils in more than 30 different metropoliss and provinces. One of the most of import tools used in Ottawa Business Schools is the communicating between the different subdivisions amongst the assorted metropoliss and the communicating used between the staff members and pupils. Some agencies of communicating used in a topographic point like OBS is face to confront communicating, electronic mails, facsimile, telephones, meetings ( verbal and non-verbal communicating ) etc. OBS has about 620 educated and experienced instructors and professors with assorted backgrounds in all subdivisions. Most of the staff members have either a Masters or PhD Degree with adequate experience to learn in any concern installation. I am really delighted to be in this fantastic place. However, as clip passed, I began to detect that communicating between the fellow pupils and staff members was non every bit coherent as should be. I had to take immediate action and expression into this job. For this university to remain on the top and for the pupils and module to be in a good structured environment, communicating needed to better. Communication is critical for any organisation to win. Communication is an of import portion of instruction because the pupils have to be able to understand the message that the instructor is seeking to convey. However, I have noticed some physical barriers that have affected this. These barriers included the deficiency of listening accomplishments that the staff and pupils conveyed, and the deficiency of feedback given by the pupils to demo their apprehension. Effective hearing is one of the most of import factors in schoolroom communicating. However, in Ottawa Business School, this is a beginning of communicating job. Peoples frequently fall short hearing carefully. Besides, when people are in a dissension, they frequently ponder more on what they are traveling to state in answer to their opposition ‘s statement, comparatively than listening to their opposition ‘s words with full attending. For illustration, when a pupil and a instructor get into a small statement about school issues, one of the two might be excessively upset to even listen to what the other has to state. The consequence, once more, is misinterpretations, and frequently gratuitous rise of a struggle. Taking the clip to deeply seek the jobs at Ottawa Business Schools, I was really disquieted when I noticed that a deficiency of feedback prevailed in the schoolrooms. Working 25 old ages in the concern universe, I knew how of import it is for feedback to be given. It is indispensable as incorrect or deficiency of feedback can do many lacks in all the types and ways of communicating in general. Feedback is critical for the transmitter to be certain that the receiving system decoded his or her message in the right manner. Nevertheless, I was shocked to see the pupil ‘s engagement in some of the categories. No inquiries were being asked, by both the pupils and instructors and even when asked by instructors, the pupils did non reply. How did the instructors know that their pupils to the full understood what was being said or asked? Sadly, at that point, it besides came to my attending that, I, as the Director of this university, have non taken the clip to prosecute with my fellow pupils and cognize or be informed if they believe some of the ordinances should be altered. This was besides a cause of deficiency of feedback and communicating. These physical barriers were non the lone grounds that broke down the flow of effectual communicating in the lower degree of the organisation. A large portion of it was due to cultural barriers. Speakers frequently are non clear about what they imply, which assures that what they say will be ill-defined as good. Even when people are familiar to what they mean, they frequently do non declare it every bit clearly as they should. Furthermore, people frequently get baffled about other people ‘s messages. This is peculiarly common when people from diverse civilizations try to pass on, which may happen repeatedly in topographic points such as schools, organisations, or even assemblages. Ottawa Business School is an international society which includes a figure of different people with different nationalities and linguistic communications. I have noticed that since the civilizations are diverse here, it is simple for the same statement to denote one thing to one individual and somethi ng different to person else. Teachers are non precisely cognizant of this. For illustration, go throughing an point to person with one manus is considered extremely rude in Japan while it is acceptable in the Eastern Countries. Gestures can besides be misinterpreted. For case the O.K gesture in America and England is given to intend everything is all right, while in France it is considered an abuse. Even though it might non look as an contemptuous facet, some pupils are really cultural and this can pique them. I besides became cognizant that both instructors and pupils have predisposed ideas about behaviour based on people ‘s civilization. One of my staff members has been unjust to a group of pupils from China. They have been handling them in a unit of ammunition and biased mode. When these Chinese pupils ask inquiries in category, they do non acquire prompt replies. This has besides influenced the other pupils to handle the group of Chinese pupils in a disrespectful manner in and outside of category. The concluding barrier that came to my concern was the behavior barriers. These included the verbal and non-verbal methods. Several staff members displayed a great trade of attitude towards their pupils. They did non to the full listen to them and interrupted them while talking. When attitude got in the manner of communicating, people declined to listen to one another. Teachers have besides brought all kinds of issues to work that had nil to make with their occupation. These included personal problems, household issues and other jobs. These quandaries have put instructors under huge emphasis and due to this emphasis, I have noticed that the instructors have non been learning or listening good and have been less effectual communicators. It was my duty to get the better of these communicating jobs. I took the clip to lucubrate on each of these state of affairss and I eventually came up with sensible declarations. I held a meeting with the staff members to put some regulations and ordinances. It was really indispensable for the instructors to cognize that listening plays a really of import portion in the instruction of the fellow pupils. I made it clear to my staff members that active hearing was the chief method to get the better of the listening barrier. Active hearing is an organized manner of listening and reacting to others and concentrating full attending on the talker. When instructors interrupt the talker before allowing them finish, they are basically stating that they do n't value what they are stating. This can do pupils experience that their sentiments do non count and non take part in category. I made it clear that instructors should alter their methods in category and do certain that they respond and eng age with the pupils to demo that they are efficaciously listening. This would besides get the better of the deficiency of feedback displayed in category. Teachers should do certain that they are often inquiring inquiries and having replies. It is up to them to do certain that the pupils understand the topic. They may look into for pupils organic structure languages, manus gestures, etc. Ottawa Business School is one of the top universities in the universe. If the cultural barriers were non overcome, this university would hold a bad image to all. It was critical for the staff members to esteem other ‘s cultural and beliefs. Teachers should be proactive when nearing a new civilization. They should esteem their background. It is besides necessary to measure people on an single footing. It is of import to hedge judgement, avoid misguided beliefs, narrow positions, and immature feedbacks. Any staff member who can non accept these conditions will instantly be fired. The concluding barrier that I had to work upon to get the better of was the behavior barrier. I understand if a instructor comes to work disquieted or personally bothered by something one time or perchance twice. However, they should take duty and set their feelings aside for the twenty-four hours or try to command them. An disquieted individual tends to disregard what others are stating and are unable to show thoughts efficaciously. It was my responsibility to inform the staff about this so it does non go on once more. Taking the clip to measure the advancement of my university, I came upon the different barriers that have affected and reduced effectual communicating between the pupils and staff members. By taking action to get the better of these jobs, Ottawa Business School will hold a better environment for all. Students do non hold to be concerned about instructors non listening to them any longer, or handling them in a unit of ammunition mode or acting rough in category. Hopefully, pupils will now be more engaged in the assorted treatments and activities in category and communicate good with their schoolmates and staff members.

Promote Person Centred Approaches Essay

1.1 Person centred planning (PCP) should encompass every aspect of a service users support. Effective PCP is designed to ensure that the individual’s needs are always central when creating an effective support plan. Aspects such as an individuals goals, history, communication requirements, likes, dislikes and personal preferences should all be dutifully incorporated to create a fair, effective and unique care plan. For example, we have to respect the choices of the User. If the spiritual believes could appear not adequate for us, doesn’t mean that we are right and they are wrong. We need to do everything we can for help to promote adequate and good care for this user respecting their choices, independence and privacy. 1.2 The Care Plan is our bible. It provide all the information we need to provide the care  that the Users desire. The person is at the centre of our work, this mean we need plan and let the person to maintain their independent. Care Plans need to be review regularly to fulfil the individuals needs. Using effective care plans that apply person centres values provides the service user the chance to create a plan that it directly linked to their values and needs. Nobody likes to feel as though a generic method of care is applied when considering his or her support needs. Everyone is unique with requirements that relate exclusively to them 2.3 It is important to remain flexible when considering a service users support needs. An individual will always be changing and growing so it is important that this is reflected within their care plan. For example when I have previously supported NP goals relating to his ability to gain confidence whilst walking outside had to be met in a way that made the goal attainable. At first a goal of independent walking had been included within his IPP however any strict detail as to why and how this were to be most effectively achieved had to be assessed whilst communicating with him during our 1:1 support sessions. It turned out hat this goal was advised so that he could gain the confidence to go to work independently  without the need to get a life from his relative. As we would commonly visit the supermarket we created a method whereby the journey to the local supermarket was broken into segments where he would walk independently, slowly managing a further and further distance each week. Had I said that he should walk the entire journey by himself without breaking it down into manageable steps this goal would have not been completed. Therefore the effective completion of this goal was only attained through the needs of the individual being met on a personal level. 3.1 Mental capacity can be a complicated and ever adapting benchmark when assessing a person’s ability to do what is best for themselves. People must always be allowed to make mistakes as this will always be an inalienable human right of any individual. Ensuring that people do not put themselves or anyone else in direct  and immediate danger is the reason behind why the mental capacity act has been created. Factors such as anxiety and tiredness can affect an individuals ability to express consent which is reflective of their true needs. When a care plan is created it is always best to do it at a time and place where a service user feels relaxed and able to express their needs in a manner that is in alignment with their true feelings. For example at time times when I have supported ES he has been unable to convey a true account of his feelings due to being anxious at the time. If this is the case it is best for ES to spend some time doing relaxation exercises so that he can effectively participate in the design of his IPP. 3.3 For example when we admin Medications Stop any other activities we are doing, check and read all the information we have (care plan, MAR chart, blister pack †¦ ) Log in the LogBook. If anything happen, report immediately to line manager, inform the user and report it in the LogBook. If consent cannot be readily established an assessment of the persons capacity would need to be carried out. Firstly it would have to be considered that the individual understands what they are being asked to do, why they are being asked to do it and to what the concequences of their  choices may be. It is worth considering if they are relaxed, tired or preoccupied at this time. It can be beneficial to implement relaxation exercises to try and calm down a service user or even getting in touch with their family to ensure that their needs are fully met. If they are putting themselves or anyone else in immediate danger it can at points be necessary to contact emergency services depending on the severity of the situation. However this should always remain a the last option available when trying to diffuse a situation. 4.1 Encouraging people to do as much as possible for themselves , settings goals and task. Listening and acknowledging someone strengths and weakness. Allow individuals time to think and evolve in what they want to do. Recognising achievements however big or small they have made. If they cannot understand or make decisions by their self, the next of kin will be informed and asked. The order usually is spouses, parents, children (this may change) 5.3 Risk assessments are a vital part to an individuals care plan. It ensures that they will not be putting themselves or anyone else in danger. Whilst being an important part of any care plan they should remain as non invasive as possible to ensure that a service users retains the right to make their own choices. Certain risk assessments will contain a higher risk factor than others. It is when risks such as crossing road in a dangerous manner are enacted that the service users choice can become secondary to the fact that they are putting themselves in immediate danger. Risk factors such as ones that relate to dietary factors often have a smaller risk factor making it more possible to fully involve the service user in the decision making process when trying to effectively manage the risk in question. 5.4 Ensuring they have the correct information and know when these decision were made on their behalf. Inform them of the rights that they have. Assisting on searching of more information which that may help them make their decisions. If they would  like to make a complaint, inform them the Company policy and help them in  making the complaint if necessarily 6.1 : Personal Identity is the way we see our self and is related to our self image. This is important because it we will affect the way we feel about our self ( self esteem ) Personal Identity includes: Who we are What make us unique What are our values Physical identity Internal Identity Personals Goals 6.2 Those can be very different for different reasons but everyone can reach a good level of fulfilment. For someone could be physical or mental health. Is important that everyone knows this fact because will improve well-being and therefore our level or care. For example one person is important be eating a health meal or for another is not important. Or for an individual is important go to church but for other is more appealing watching a TV show. 6.3 When supporting an individual it is important to make sure that you can meet their needs in a way that promotes their sense of identity, self-image and self-esteem. When I have supported MC he has explained about how he has felt unfairly treated at work. This was mainly due to his lack of career progression as well a request for a transfer not being met, although having been promised. To help with this we constructed an information leaflet about his condition, which we gave to his employers so that they were fully aware of how to best interact with him. I also started communicating with his employer about getting a transfer to a branch that was closer to where he lived. As a result of this he has now been transferred closer to where he lives as well as feeling more valued as an employee. This has helped with develop his self-identity and self image through an increased sense of self worth as well as helping to improve his self-esteem. 7.1 A Risk Assessment will be done depending on the circumstances and surrounding. Like if the user live in the community or live in a care home. The risks are different in those scenarios and different actions need to be taken for make the living area safe. Risk assessments help decipher whether an individual needs 1:1 support or 2:1 support. They can also allow health  care professionals to implement safeguarding techniques to guarantee that the service user will not come into harm. This can include procedures such as giving individuals location devices if they are prone to wondering of whilst not being fully aware of their actions amongst many other advantageous practices to ensure the individuals safety. 7.2 The purpose of risk assessment is to eliminate any risk that may cause harm or loss to both service user and carer worker. However, in relation to the service user is important to remember their human rights are respected. For example the right to choose. If they are assessed also for a Mental Health Capacity and the outcome show that they are able to decide they are allow to make unwise or eccentric decisions. However it is important to identify the risk or possible outcomes, inform the Service User which will support to make a decision that will possibly involve taking some risks. 7.3 : Everyone’s circumstances could change over time in better or worse. Is important to identify any furthers changes or risks so the care plan can reflect the person immediate needs. Also people opinions and what they wants may change. Is important to keep the â€Å"person centred care approach† in mind all the times and during reviews. Also keep in mind our duty of care. the goal of effective support is help empower service users to the point where they feel able to lead an independent and rewarding life. As this is the goal of any support provider they must be aware that for one to achieve this they need to learn to manage the risks that they are subjected to in an independent manner. Therefore as a person grows and develops towards a heightened state of independence it is important to let them take control of their own lives and that means realising that risks that they may have formerly posed a threat to their well being will be withdrawn as they will know how to autonomously manage these hazards themselves.

High School Reflection Essay

Final Reflection â€Å"Without struggle there’s no progress† was the quote I looked up to through out my high school experience. As I woke up every morning I hated the fact that I had to go to Warren Easton and feel stressed about it. The only positive aspects I thought about were â€Å"you have to graduate, and prove society wrong†. From the first day I stepped into the halls of Warren Easton, I felt over worked, but very confident. The whole idea of being in high school was great, but the work that sat in my face was not. But hey, that’s high school right? At Warren Easton I had so many incredible, emotional, enjoyable, and most outrageous memories while being a student at Warren Easton. Everyday on the announcements I had to be attentive to my principle, Mrs. Medley, badger my peers about uniforms, being on time, and respecting others. If it wasn’t for Mrs. Medley and administration being there to harass us everyday of the year I wouldn’t have learned resp onsibilities, cause in reality it would have been much more worst. One solution that I will always remember from over the years of high school was how lazy I was. Being lazy from my freshman to junior year really took a toll on me once I became a senior. I was always so stressed out and overwhelmed by the work because I had to force myself to get the work done, and on time. Throughout my hectic high school years I have also grown a lot personally and socially. As a freshman I was one of the shy people that sat in the back of the library everyday. I didn’t communicate much sense I didn’t know anyone that well, but now that I am a senior I am far from shy. High school has showed me that you have to keep positive people around you no matter what because they’ll always be somebody negative around that wants to bring you down mentally telling you can’t, or you’ll never succeed. Everything that I’ve been told positively I will take it into conside ration and apply it to my life. Moreover, the most interacting and fun I had from my junior to senior year for being in the allied health program with Nurse Ferrand. In Allied health we learned about the different fields that involved medicine, interacting with patients, needles, and even drawing blood. In my senior year I got the chance to be enrolled into a nursing program at NANA (nursing assistant network association). In this program we became certified in CNA (certified nursing assistant), Phlebotomy (blood  letting or introduce fluid), and even EKG Technician (performing diagnostic tests to access the heart rhythm and rate in patients). What I like most about this program is that I will have a good job while I am in college. This program also showed me responsibility and dedication. I can honestly say the classes weren’t easy, but I managed to get my schoolwork, and nursing work done and complete on time. In conclusion, I can honestly say that high school was like a roller coaster. I’ve learned so much in these short four years, and I’m truly going to miss it dearly. I will take everything that I’ve learned and apply it to my life after I graduate. Of course I still have plenty to learn, but I feel like I have accomplished one of my first biggest accomplishments in my life. But ill always remember, â€Å"Without struggle there’s no progress†.

How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society Essay

Throughout the past 30 years, there has been much speculation about how negative hip-hop music truly is, and how it actually affects the youth. The hip-hop music of recent years has been the foundation of many controversial issues and has been illustrated negatively by the media countless times. Issues such as gun and knife crime which has escalated heavily within younger age groups in the last 15 years, especially in the USA and UK and also drug abuse, the use of marijuana being used openly within the younger generations. Hip-hop has been accused of influencing the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Hip-hip has always been stereotypically associated with violence and black crime. Due to this, older generations have always had an antagonistic outlook on the entire hip-hop genre of music. Although hip-hip music is considered negative in the eyes of many people, there is to consider various questions to have a better understanding and point of view on the controversial issue. Today we speak, dress and drive what the stars do. Where we shop and eat even the types of homes we buy is dictated by what we â€Å"hear† the celebrities are doing. That is a powerful influence over an individual adult but only imagine what type of influence this has over an impressionable pre-teen. Due to the fact that hip-hop/rap music appeals to the thirteen to eighteen year old audiences and the artists performing come from very similar backgrounds of the listeners, rap music is able to control the way that youth think. Teens and pre-teens are using their part-time job pay check to buy grills (a form of jewellery worn in the mouth) and other types of jewellery and even weapons such as knives and guns are seen as metaphorical fashion accessories for the youth, as these things are incorporated into the lyrics of hip-hop and rap music. What is hip-hop music? In order to understand the hip-hop phenomena one must first create a foundation of knowledge through learning its history. Hip-hop began from a mixture of spoken word poetry, jazz drumming, and jazz instrumentations. Hip-hop is one of the most popular genres of music out today and has been steadily growing in popularity since its rise in fame from the late 1970s. With the rise of MTV in the early 1980s, early hip-hop music was constantly being shown with TV shows such as ‘Yo! MTV raps’ and since then has been known to be one of music’s most successful art forms and has remained popular to this day. With over forty years of being around, hip-hop has grown and matured and most importantly expanded from its origin of the south Bronx in New York, to worldwide. The genre and sub culture originated in the early 1970s when a Jamaican immigrant by the name of Clive Campbell aka DJ Kool Herc, first hit the scene in the Bronx. Campbell started DJ-ing his own parties, playing soul, funk as well as R&B records on his turntable set. Herc also brought his know how of the sound system and the popular dancehall/block party scene. Graffiti art had also begun to take shape in the subways of Philadelphia in the mid 1960s. A black teenager by the name of Cornbread began tagging the subways in hopes of attracting a girl he had found feelings for; from this form of youth expression came Graffiti. Fab 5 Freddy, one of the original DJs of Hip-hop, began an art from known as scratching and popularized DJing. Hip-hop consists of four elements, ‘B-boying’ or also known as break dancing. ‘Djing’, ‘Emceeing’, and street art or more commonly known as ‘graffiti’. Djing, also known as the first element of hip-hop began when disc jockeys created beats on two turntables. The way DJs created their beats was simple yet revolutionary in an essence. The DJs would first find a portion of a song that emphasized a percussive pattern, and then looped a portion of the song to form a rhythmic pattern. This procedure is now more commonly known as sampling. With the beat or instrumental now developed, the DJ decided the music needed some accompaniment to the music such as singing or poetry. This procedure is known as rapping or Emceeing. From hip-hop spawned the sub-genre ‘Rap’ in the early 1980s. More and more artists became interested in the new form of music out of New York. In 1981, Rap gained a lot of exposure through popular shows such as 20/20 and Saturday night live. The 1990s saw even more change in the hip-hop industry. Early in the decade, artists fought for permission to sell their albums since most authorities deemed them ‘obscene’ due to the explicit content within the music. A lot which expressed sexual references towards women and talked about the use of drugs. Hip-hop music also spoke strongly about politics and poverty, artists such as Tupac and Public Enemy spoke about such issues. In the 1990s the tension that had been gathering between the west coast ‘Gangsta’ and the East coast artists has exploded and resulted in the shooting deaths of Christopher Wallace and Tupac Shakur. In the present day Hip-Hop is one of the largest and fastest growing sources of capital and has a great influence on its fans. The roles that Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop artist play in America require responsibility, however, many of the performers and labels take none. By using television and other various sorts of visual media Hip-Hop portrays less than positive stereotypes and all but influences the youth to accept these stereotypes as normal behaviour. The detrimental effect that popular Hip-Hop has doesn’t stop at the visual level. Lyrical content in songs have been dumbed down and filled with violence, sex, and drugs. For example the song â€Å"Hate Being Sober† by Chief Keef condones the use of drugs at all times and gives the impression that it is ok and cool. â€Å"While many Hip-Hop songs contain messages about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, few provide an accurate portrayal of the negative consequences of substance abuse† Negative accusations and harsh criticism has always been an issue for the hip-hop genre of music. Some of these accusations include how hip-hop influences the youth to become more misogynistic towards women by constantly having explicit content, such as racist and sexist lyrics in their music. Because of this, Hip-hop music has been criticized greatly by the media accusing the music of affecting the youth that sexism and other such forms of oppression are acceptable to society. Although the media has a major impact on how Hip-hop is viewed by the masses, their is some people who view Hip-hop differently. Famous civil rights leader Al Sharpton was asked on what he believed on this particular issue and said, â€Å"The hip-hop culture is just like electricity, it can be used negatively or positively. The same electric current that lights up your house can also electrocute you. It is the misuse of hip-hop culture to attack our women and promote violence. We must encourage the proper use of hip-hop culture. We are all influenced by the hip-hop generation. † (â€Å"Is hip-hop culture,† 2000) On a survey done to twenty-five people in the 17- 60 yrs of age range, twenty people know someone that is exposed to the Hip-hop culture and twenty-one of them believed that Hip-hop isn’t a negative art form. In Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the results from the survey done. On Figure 2, it shows that most of the people surveyed do believe that Hip-hop music has the most influence on the youth. Rap music generally depicts the lives and souls of many under privileged youths, citing depression and violence during upbringings. The youth of today’s society and in the past, take this music as a way of expression, a way of overruling everything they believe is corrupt and in their own way become corrupt themselves by not caring about the rules. Rap music can be transparently seen as a striking negative influence on today’s youth just by listening to certain songs which praise violence and the use of drugs. Take rapper Wiz Khalifa for instance. This artist is a prime example of being a huge negative influence to today’s society by the extensive amount of marijuana use, portrayed within his lyrics. The artist mentions marijuana in his songs and speaks about it in a positive way, speaking about the stimulating effects it has on him and almost making the drug sound ‘cool’ to the younger generation, making them think that smoking this drug is cool and acceptable as rapper Wiz Khalifa openly smokes it and mentions it. The number of drug references in rap music has raised six fold since the genre revolutionised pop music. Researchers who analysed the lyrics of hundreds of songs say rap has been transformed from one which warned against the dangers of drug abuse to one that routinely glorifies it. And because many of the references are coded, many parents are unaware what their children are listening to.

How Have Changes in the World Economy since 1945 Affected the Essay

How Have Changes in the World Economy since 1945 Affected the Strategies of Multinatioanl Firms - Essay Example The General Agreement on Tariff and Trade have not only made it equitable for all international players to be in equal footing with local businesses in a large market but it also made the complicated taxation and tariff levies more simple and standard. The agreement enabled international organizations or entities to sell products at competitive prices that are comparable to the locally produced items. Market discrimination will not be dictated by price but will be governed by the sophistications of the buyer’s taste and preference. Other changes in the last sixty years include added protection of the patents of multi-national corporations. Harmonisation of International Laws that would include the New York Conventions on Arbitrations that applies to contracts between parties of different nationalities and the Cape Town Treaty that specifically governs international assets of multinational companies. The increased presence and respect of the international business community to the International Court of Arbitration have made conducting business in the international market safer and more secure. The available mechanisms and remedy to attain justice if not an equitable settlement is now simpler and straightforward. World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization over the past decades have endeavoured to break down trade barriers that impedes the free flow of goods from one country to another or even between several countries in an emerging market. Its sole aim is to liberalize and supervise international train to ensure that every member country trade and transact equitably and fairly amongst its other members. It provides a framework in the negotiations and also provides an arbitration mechanism to disputes between countries. One of the basic tenets of the World Trade Organization is the Most Favoured Nation Clause that ensures that a country transacting or is engaged in commercial trade in a particular country is given the same treatment as that of its local industry and even its traditional trading partners. To illustrate: Products of multi-national companies dealing in China should have the same treatment as far as its regulation, governance and taxes are concerned with products manufactured within the China. This means that the shelf prices of imported goods should not be far from that of the locally produced products (Bossche, 2005). Multinational companies have capitalized on the new opportunity to expand its market to include the one provided by the other countries where their host or home country has a trade agreement with. The onus of the strategies of multinational companies therefore is to reach a wider market as possible to ensure that market presence for their products includes these new markets. Increased visibility as far as media exposure is concerned to ensure that goodwill and name recall is associated to positive information about the company and the product they manufacture. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is a multilateral agreement regulating international trade through the â€Å"substantial reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers and the elimination of preferences, on a reciprocal and mutually advantageous manner† (Barton, et al., 2008). This translates to the reduction of prices or the equality and standardization of tariff and tax rates to all products. The impact of which is the

What does the use of the Term Equality infer to in the Context of Essay

What does the use of the Term Equality infer to in the Context of Employment - Essay Example This is regardless of their individual race, sexual orientation, needs, belief or religion, age or gender. Equality has also been variously described as not only attempting to try and treat everyone in a right and equal manner, but trying to treat various individuals in a manner that will ensure that the general outcome will be found to be similar for all the concerned individuals (Dautrich and Yalof 2012). Importance of Equality Equality is seen to not necessarily mean that that women should now be assigned more duties pertaining to construction labor or that their male colleagues should be assigned more secretarial functions. Equality is perceived to be critically important as most individuals are seen to be not contented to be perceived as being second class citizens as a result of there being some inequality in an organization. Without proper inequality in an organization, the employees who are seen to be given less than equal treatment will eventually shut down, distance themselves and reduce their overall productivity much to the detriment of the concerned organization (Academic, 2008). In the event that a given organization fails to implement measures designed to promote equality, there can naturally develop a subsequent exclusion of some of the employees as a result of some of their working in some of the marginalized situations (Kornblum and Smith, 2012). These employees are se en to tend to feel as if they are unable to function as an active part of the organization even if this was not the organization’s original intention. Organizations can be able to achieve a measure of equality by ensuring that the employees have been ably supported to be able to easily access the organizational resources and decision making. This can be further enhanced by ensuring that the employees are valued, recognized and adequately respected within the organization. Models of Equality There are a number of different models of equality that have been develop to aid organizations in ensuring that they implement policies and procedures that will ensure that they maintain utmost equality. Some of these Equality models are seen to variously include: Equal Opportunity as Equal Share (Radical Approach) Equal Opportunity as Equal Access (Liberal Approach) Equal Opportunity as Equal Treatment (Reactionary Approach) Equal Opportunity as Equal Share (Radical Approach) The equal op portunity as equal share approach that is popularly termed as being the radical approach is seen to try and seek to make a direct intervention in the workplace practices with the sole objective of attempting to try and achieve some form of a fair distribution of rewards among the organization’s employees as is primarily measured by some established criterion of worth and moral value. The radical approach emphasizes on justice and freedom being the collective responsibility of all the individuals involved within the organization. It can thus be see the radical approach is primarily concerned with the eventual outcome of the contest as opposed to the established rules of the game (Kumra, Manfredi and Vickers, 2011), it is characterized with being more concerned with the fair distribution of the rewards achieves as opposed to being more concerned with the actual fairness of the procedure. In line with this approach, Jewson and Mason (1986) are keen to argue that although discrim ination tends to mostly affect specific individuals, it can nevertheless only be identified at the group level. In this respect, it is generally found to

The Nursing from India Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Nursing from India - Article Example I was born and brought up in India and had my schooling done in a small town with not many things to speak great about. The most passionate thing I used to enjoy in my childhood was helping sick and old people in my neighborhood. I studied bachelor of Chemistry but could not complete my final year as something came up home unexpectedly. Later I worked in Canada for nearly seven years since my marriage but always longed for becoming a nurse by profession.          There is a specific reason how my ambition to become a doctor was altered soon. I began looking forward to becoming a nurse as my mother-in-law who was living in Cedar City got bedridden all of a sudden. I was the sole individual to take care of her that time; and I did my duty well enjoying the real pleasure of nursing for the first time. I had already applied for pursuing my studies in the United States as an international student. My mother-in-law getting contented with my humble service advised me to attain the noble career of a nurse. She told me that it was the profession that would par with my excellence and therefore she wanted to see me doing that godly service. Although I have Canadian citizenship, presently I am in the U.S. as an international student looking forward to my becoming a nurse.              To my hunch-I had this obsession in my heart since my early childhood though I was not able to comprehend my feelings well that time. It is true that my mother-in-law’s advice imbued me with great zeal to follow this career. I believe that enrolling in ----------University would be the initial step toward this quest. I am greatly impressed with the peaceful ambiance and learning environment of the University as a whole. I am little skeptical of the benefit I would derive from the course and from the eminent faculties here.               I am well aware of the significance of nursing in an increasingly diverse society in multi-cultural nations these days. Since culturally competent care has become one of the dimensions of specialization for health care practitioners, I should acquire extensive knowledge about varying cultural perspectives of people of different segments.

Protection of Organizations Assets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Protection of Organizations Assets - Essay Example The first is the measurement of the actual risks to the organisation. The second part, based on the identified risks, is an audit. This is the measurement and identification of the steps that the organisation has or has not taken to meet and nullify the risks. There are however other issues that have to be considered throughout the discussion and this would be related to delineating the organisation's assets, specifying the security risks, understanding why there are security risks within an organizations and what are these risks and how these can be measured and identified. It is also necessary to understand how these security risks could be determined and what are the methods used for analysis and examination of these security risks. These are issues that have been elaborated on in this discussion and the methods for analysis of security risks are discussed in a step by step approach. This is dealt with in the methodology section and shows the various methods used for determining the risks of any business and especially the risks that have to do with security of an organization and in management and protection of assets within a business organisation or company. A literature review is drawn up here considering recent studies on risk assessment and perceived threats to a business organization. Several kinds of risks are highlighted and this would relate to security, management, information technology and privacy, operations and decision making. In a recent paper, Jones (2007) discusses the possibilities and needs of developing a framework for information security assessments in any organisation and a risk framework is essentially used to describe the components of security risk management within an organisation. The framework is also used to identify, assess and treat the risk exposure of an organisation and provides certain regulations that are used by board members, staff and management for improved communication and understanding. Risk management frameworks within an organisation provide the outline for implementation of security risk management and define the role of participants, employees and management within an organisation. The techniques supporting risk management in product development philosophy have been analyzed by Ahmed et al (2007) and a standard for product development in CE has been identified. The applicability of processes in risk management, risk identification, assessment as well as techniques for the context are considered within the risk management framework and the concept of managing risks has been gaining importance within global business focus and competition. A risk focused approach shows integration of several techniques with increased effectiveness of project management. Risk management tools are effectively used for the development of engineering and product development projects (Ahmed et al, 2007). The evaluations of risk related decisions could be driven by biases of risk propens ity and these could be categorized in terms of reference levels, assumption of accounting methods, bias or overconfidence, decision makers' perception, and desire for gratification. A study of biases can highlight decision making by executives using any representative and typical business decision. Decision makers usually face choice of several alternatives and Coleman (2007) studied decision making in several management executives and noted their attitudes and decision styles. Data were collected through electronic

Flip the Funnel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Flip the Funnel - Essay Example The majority of companies are hard pressed to find new ways of bringing their products or services to a highly-competitive marketplace that is also becoming global. Technology has made the world â€Å"flatter† as barriers to entry are lowered and competition could be just around the corner or it can be halfway around the world. Technology has bridged both distance and time much shorter. Ironically, technology has also made the world more impersonal, because people want to deal with technology instead of dealing with each other directly and personally. It has become a convenient shield to hide behind actual human interactions, although technology has its merits. The rise of computer technology, and especially the Internet, has made the world much smaller. A good number of people put too much reliance on technology, forgetting that it is only a tool to an end, and not an end in itself. This subtly askew mentality pervades the world today. This paper discusses the merits of a new mentality in the world of marketing, a game-changer of sorts, or what management and business experts term as the new paradigm. This shift has been long in coming, because most so-called marketing experts are themselves so enamored with their own ideas, views, and perspectives it made it hard for them to see the light of the day, so to speak. The entire marketing process has been likened by the author of the book to a funnel which focused on acquisition instead of retention; this is the basis for â€Å"flipping† the funnel. Discussion The marketing function has been taken for granted for so long that people have a hard time trying to think up new things, or whether what they are doing is actually right or not. It is a primary aim of the author, Mr. Joseph Jaffe, to demonstrate how many time-honored traditions in the art of marketing had been wrong in the first place, by destroying most of the assumptions or accepted wisdom in this vital part of a business entity. People had always assumed marketing is a frenetic effort to always attract new customers, that this always-new incoming horde of buyers, consumers, or customers will save a company in the long run. The assumption can only be partly right, because at some point, the point of saturation will reached and no new buyers will come in. The economic recession certainly brought to the fore the many defects of previous thinking. It is a good idea to always challenge the reasoning, assumptions, or justifications in any practice, whether in business or not. This is particularly true in the area of marketing, because so much time, money, and effort are expended on the acquisition of new customers, but as the good author had pointed out, many of these newly-acquired customers get neglected once they made a purchase and taken for granted by the company. These disgruntled customers will soon leave if ever there is another offer by the competition, displaying their lack of loyalty because they were not treated right by the previous firm. It is only right that they leave, because no one should be in the bad position of being a good customer and not given enough importance by a firm. In a good example or metaphor, the recession is like a low tide, in which rocks previously unseen are now exposed for everyone to see. During high tide (or in good economic conditions), mistakes, errors, or wrong practices are not very material but a recession forces firms to re-examine everything. The author certainly did a good

Art Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art - Article Example In developing these skills, one may reach a point at which one can recognize the cubist mess of a Picasso among the random abstract paintings of an amateur at a garage sale. However, it is better to start with more classical pieces in learning to appreciate the characteristics of true art. One such example is an oil on canvas painting executed by Emile-Jean-Horace Vernet in 1830 commonly referred to by its subject matter – Portrait of the Marchesa Cunegonda Misciattelli with Her Infant Son and His Nurse. By examining this painting, one can begin to pick out the elements of quality that make this work stand out as valuable whether it was shown in the sacred halls of a museum or in the darkened spaces of a corner coffee shop. The painting, part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the University of Arizona’s Museum of Art in Tucson, depicts the image of a woman sitting at the keyboard of a piano or similar instrument. Although her hands are on the keys, presumably in action, her attention is focused over her right shoulder on the small baby held in the arms of another young woman standing behind the first woman’s chair. The baby, seemingly wearing nothing more than the blankets swaddled around him, is reaching out toward the woman in the chair while the woman holding him has captured one of his hands in hers. The nurse also has her attention fully focused on the baby, seemingly making him the primary focus of the image. However, other elements of the painting manage to pull the attention away from this tiny person to redistribute attention throughout the available space. The distribution of attention begins with the fundamental form of the pyramid. Recognized as the most stable geometric shape, artists frequently use the pyramid form in their paintings to demonstrate stability and serenity – the concept that all things are in proper

Guy Fawkes & The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 Research Paper

Guy Fawkes & The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 - Research Paper Example The paper will therefore, outline the political and historical context of the Gunpowder plot and the effect it had to Britain’s culture. Guy Fawkes is one of the York’s known historical characters, being famous for his involvement in the failed Gunpowder plot. Guy Fawkes was a protestant by birth, born in Stone gate, York in the year 1570, after which he became a Roman Catholic after his marriage. Fawkes was the only son in his parents who lived and married in Scotto. He attended school at St. Peter’s where he received Roman Catholic influences among others. Over the years, those who knew him painted him as ‘a man of great piety’ (Fraser 2010, p. 10-15). In the year 1593, he was enlisted in the Spanish Army and in the year 1596, he participated in the capture of the Calais city by the Spanish, as their war with Henry IV of France was underway. In his service in the army, he was furnished as a bravely man and an expert in mining. In the year 1602, he moved to Madrid where he met with Kit Wright and later with Thomas Winter who enrolled him in the gunpowder plot as a useful expert and was unknown to the authority. He played his part well in the plot and behaved in courage and dignity even after his arrest. For several days, Guy Fawkes withstood torture rather than selling his fellow plotters out (MALAM, & MALAM 2008, p. 20-25). Queen Elizabeth 1 had made England one of the Protestant strongholds in Europe, in which under her reign, the Catholics had suffered because of the anti-catholic laws that had been implemented. Therefore, when she died, the Catholics had hoped that King James 1 would scrap out the laws, but as time went by, the religion became stronger and the king felt that his authority was threatened so he implemented the anti-Catholic laws again. Therefore, Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby, Thomas Percy, Thomas Wright among others

The World of the Text of Ezekiel Creates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The World of the Text of Ezekiel Creates - Essay Example ve to pay particular heed to all the essentialities while interpreting the Biblical text.2 The present study aims to make interpretation of the Book of Ezekiel by allocating special consideration to chapters 37 and 38. The above-stated chapters of the Book of Ezekiel tend to make prophecies about the future events to be taken place in the collective life of the House of Jacob.3 Chapter 37 begins with Ezekiel’s describing the Hand of the Lord4 taking him to some valley full of dead and dry bones everywhere. The Hand of the Lord signifies the powers of Almighty God; the same has also been mentioned in many places in the Bible, as the Lord has stated: â€Å"For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.5 In both of the above verses, the Hand of God represents the supreme omnipotence of the Lord. It is partly because of the very fact that hands signify the labor or toil made by almost all living creatures to achieve something constructive as well as for the fulfillment of one’s needs and desires. As a result, the description of the Hand of God reflects the acts performed by God by applying His countless powers. The verses of chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel further narrates that the Lord enquired from Ezekiel whether the dead bones could become full of life again after death; where Ezekiel maintained that only the Lord is all-Knowing, while he did not have enough knowledge about various things including reincarnation.7 At this, Ezekiel found the Lord addressing to the dry bones of the dead people, where He maintained that He would infuse life into the sinews and bones of the dead people.8 The verse mirrors the supremacy and authority attributed to the Creator of heavens and the earth, Who once had created the entire universe9, and countless creatures as well as all humans out of the absolute chaos.10 It is

SLP Time Warp Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

SLP Time Warp - Essay Example Strategic position After analysis of the market performance of the products, recommendations for price changes amongst the three products seems the most viable course of action to be taken. In this line, since the market reflected little wavering on the X5 product, its price needs to be kept constant until a well cut out market trend is observable. The market performance of the X6 reflects a steady performance and market dominance in its category. In this view, an increasing in its market price will be a wise step in maximizing its profits. The market performance of the X7, on the other hand, is not as impressive. In a bid to compete favorably with other market brands, it is in order to price it more competitively. In this regard, I would recommend a price reduction as the most workable strategy (Beverland, Napoli, & Farrelly, 2010). A detailed explanation of the decisions is only able to be explained via an in-depth analysis, at the individual level, of the three new products offere d by the company, the X5, the X6, and the X7. Product X5 The X5 has had three years run in the market and so far exhibits the lowest cost in pricing amongst the three products offered by the business. This reflects a case of plasticity on the side of the product. This translates in minimal interests in the products performance and hence the customers interest. This focuses the strategy not on an increment of the current market price but rather on the exposure and rebranding of the product so at to make it more profitable. While the current market price of $ 250 seems a reasonably fair market price, it is uncompetitive, not due to in affordability, but the reason may lie on its branding or on other factors that control consumer choices (Bivainiene, 2010). Product X6 Since its market debut 2 years back, the market performance of the product X6 has been relatively impressive. The case of the product can be described as being flat metal. Its smooth market performance is not attributable to its price but rather on the overall usefulness and performance as judged by the customers. The relative stability in the market has made the products price be quoted as $420, a figure that can be raised, albeit by a minimal margin, in a bid to maximize the profits attainable via the use of the product. The risks involved in having a large increase in price are that some customers may be willing to compromise on quality if only to have a cheaper, more affordable product irrespective of its performance. As such, any price increment needs to be done discreetly and with enough consideration to the customer if its continued good performance is to be sustained (Slotegraaf & Pauwels, 2008). Product X7 Given that the product is relatively new in the market; its market reviews may not be concrete enough from which to draw conclusive findings. The case for this product can thus be described as colored, in contrast to the plastic case of X5, and the metal case associated with X6. The relat ive immobility of this product in the market is attributable by hesitant customers who opt for better established products of the same caliber. The un-ease that results is not so much a factor of the price but rather based on the anticipated performance of the product in the market in comparison to the other already established products. The initial price, quoted at an approximate $200 serves as an entry price

Personal Statement for applying postgraduate Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

For applying postgraduate - Personal Statement Example My passion with numbers will be utilised fully when I am able to attain a better qualification with an advanced institution that places the needs of the students at the forefront as I seek to raise my viability in the job market. I am proud of my achievements so far and I continue to advance my skills at all levels to ensure that I attain my goals soonest possible. I also have a chance to expand on my skills by gaining entrance into a prestigious university like university of Birmingham. The important goal is to create a platform that will enable me as a student to maintain excellent standards and performance throughout and be a good addition to my company. I have a guarantee that University of Birmingham will be the place that I will engage accordingly in all matters concerning investment and finance, which will help me further my goals and attain my prerequisite goals. I seek to join the university so that I can also put the skills I have in place. I come with a wealth of knowledge from my internship at CNAO’s Guangzhou Resident Office during the summer break of 2013. During this period, I was able to learn more about the important audit principals, guidelines and policies that manage and formulate laws and regulations regarding auditing, the economy, and finance. I learned how to collate, analyse and check spreadsheet data, examine company accounts and financial control systems as well as gauge levels of financial risks amongst organisation. These are important aspects that investors need to understand and take into consideration before they make any investment in a company. I can prepare reports, financial statements and commentaries as well as liaise with the managerial staff when called upon to do so. During my time at CNAO, I learned valuable interpersonal skills important for the workplace, something that has been helpful to me in oth er interactions. During the

I wrote into the assignment criteria box Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

I wrote into the assignment criteria box - Essay Example orm of foreign direct investment, the companies buy controlling stakes in domestic firms and then reenergize the whole structure of the firm to make it more profitable and competitive. Their strategy have been quite simple as even a layman would believe in putting money in those areas or economy where the market if not growing at some astronomical rate but at least have a positive growth despite sluggishness (Krugman, 1998). The merger movement around the world has caused massive effect with growing rate of cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Being termed as an important tool for investment from industrial nations to developing ones, these merger and acquisition are relatively small size in if compared with mergers as compared to those in advanced countries, it gives the receiving developed nation a much needed boost to the economies of their nations. The involvement of transnational companies in the domestic market also provides the developing nation an environment of technologic al and managerial efficiency. The major bane in the growth of developing nation has been the lack of modern approach in management practices and use of technology. The indigenous research of the government and other agencies has been either lagging behind or has failed to yield any result. The need of the hour for the government is to adopt newer policies and its approach to engage transnational companies in its territory would yield higher growth in GDP and per capita income. The capability of domestic companies also gets strengthen in a pro-growth environment. As a whole the government’s agenda of creating an era of growth and prosperity gets fulfilled in various phases. The purpose of government selling its controlling state in public sector units or state enterprises is for strengthening the support system of the nation. Support system in this scenario is actually the infrastructure that would provide the base to individuals, investors and other enterprises in delving the nation

Assignment 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

1 - Assignment Example The company has been in existence since 1980. The company is well set up and its employees have an average of 8 years work experience. All of their 30 personnel have at least a college qualification. This company has their own equipments which are maintained in their site. This vendor does not respond with haste to projects but offer quality service and is averagely flexible. Upon contract agreement, they start work after 6 to 8 weeks. It employs its own equipment and can work into the night to complete the project but charge for every extra hour. In case an extra item arises a charge of 200 dollars per hour is levied with equipment if required. The company has operated from 1995. The personnel of this vendor on average have a working experience of 10 years. They have fewer employees than vendor 1, as they have 18 full time employees. All the 18 employees are as qualified as the ones for vendor 1. Just like vendor 1 they are not very quick in responding to projects. Unlike vendor 1, it is highly flexible but offer moderate quality service. It also has some of its equipment maintained in site. Upon contract agreement, they start work after 4 weeks which quicker compared to vendor 1. Vendor 2 offers a break down in its pricing and identifies what can be done in house. It can also customize and write training programs using the company’ material. In case an extra item arises a charge of 180 dollars per hour is levied with equipment if required which is less than vendor 1’s offer. The company has existed since 2000. It’s a new firm but their personnel have an average of 5 years experience. It has 10 employees who are highly qualified compared to vendor 1 and vendor 2. They respond very fast to project and are moderately flexible. The company offers acceptable quality but not outstanding. They respond a week after an agreement is reached. They can work into the night to complete the project. In case an

Counterfeiting is NOT a major problem for Branded good companies Essay

Counterfeiting is NOT a major problem for Branded good companies engaged in International Strategic Marketing - Essay Example Counterfeiting is production of goods similar to the original article; they are cheaper alternatives of the original and there may not be perceivable difference in quality (Phau, Teah & Lee, 2009). OECD (1998) defines counterfeiting as any manufacturing of a product which so closely imitates the appearance of the product of another to mislead a consumer that it is the product of another. Hence it also includes trademarks and copyrights infringements, including packaging and labeling or any other significant feature of the product. Counterfeiting is a civil offence, a criminal crime apart from being a social, political and serious economic problem (Bian & Veloutsou, 2007). However, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, 2007) the total value of counterfeit goods in 2005 was $200 billion (Gistri et al. 2009) and by 2007 it has estimated to have exceeded $500 (Phau, Teah & Lee, 2009). It is estimated that about 15% of the branded products sold across the world are counterfeit (Cross, 2006). The core target for counterfeiting brands is the luxury brands. It has increased to such proportions because of global trade and emerging new markets (Phau & Teah, 2009). Counterfeiting thrives because in some countries such as the US, their legal system protects only functionality and not designs or the style. In other countries even this level of protection is not present (Hilton, Chot & Chen, 2004). Countries like China and Hong Kong has no way to deal with counterfeiters and moreover, many times counterfeiting takes place outside the jurisdiction of a country (Nejdet, 2000). North Korea too engages in secret counterfeit printing and packaging of billions of cigarettes and drugs sold in the US (Cross, 2006). Phillips Morris has been able to trace the counterfeit version of its Marlboro brand at more than 1300 stores in the US. Such illicit activities generate more than half a billion US dollars. The counterfeiting is done so

New York City Adventure Essay Example for Free

New York City Adventure Essay My favorite trip Ive ever been on was definitely my first trip to New York City. Through the many stores and massive crowds of people I learned some important life lessons, other than how much I enjoy elbow room. The Big Apple was more that just a city to me, it was an experience, in fact, the whole trip was an experience! Whether it was the airplane ride to Manhattan, the city itself, or the Yankee game we went too, I had an amazing time. I never will forget that early morning where drove up to the Charlotte-Douglas Airport and I began my NYC journey. I walked in to see people scattered across the airport like ants after an anthill was knocked over. My parents instantly went to get our boarding passes but with all the noise it was hard to keep up. While my parents were getting a bag checked at the front desk I began to look around and I saw all the people. Little did I know how many people Id end up seeing in the next week alone! Then we began to roll our suitcases up to the security section of the airport. After just a few crazy minutes we were in the terminal area. It was hard to take in it all, but before I knew it I was boarding my plane to New York, New York! It all happened so fast, one second I was getting on a plane, the next I was sitting in a hotel looking down my window at The city that never sleeps (and with all the traffic and noise outside Im pretty sure the people here dont sleep either!). Despite my lack of sleep, early the next morning my family and I were walking through the streets of New York City. We walked through Rockefeller Center and saw some of the studios where TV shows were filmed. We went on a ferry ride to see The Statue of Liberty, which itself was a beautiful site. We ate classic foods for the area, like New York Pizza from Grand Central Station, and a hot dog from Coney Island. All together this made for the greatest day ever, and believe me I slept through the night since all that touring made me really tired! No matter how exhausted I was, I was ready to wake up and do it all again the next day! The day before we were going to take our trip back home we decided to go to a New York Yankee baseball game. I dont know that much about baseball, but It was still a great game! Though our seats werent great, we did get to see one of the most classic baseball teams do what they do best! Since I wasnt to attached to the game I got to sit back, drink my soda, and watch some good baseball. I must say the most exciting thing about the whole game didnt come till the final hours when the game went to over time. After 3 extra innings the star player slugged a ball right out of the park for the Yankees to win. It seemed like all the fans were dancing out of the stadium and it was a perfect way to end the perfect trip. We packed a lot of fun into such a short trip, sometimes ill look back and it feels like Im still in that crowded city walking the streets. With the taxis and all the unique people, Im not sure anyone could forget it! In retrospect I only wish I could have stayed longer to enjoy the trip even more! On the plane ride there, walking through the city, or sitting up high at the Yankees game, my first trip to New York City was the best trip Ive ever been on. Now I can say, one of the greatest things that ever happened to me was when I took a bite out of the Big Apple.

The Two Men in Luther Essay Example for Free

The Two Men in Luther Essay Martin Luther, a Christian theologian stated in 1520 that, â€Å"A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone†. Although at first glance, this statement appears to be a paradox. Through the understanding of Luther’s beliefs between the difference of spirituality and physicality, one can realize that this statement is not contradictory. The Catholic church believs that one needs spiritual purity, as well as the performance of Christian acts to achieve salvation. Martin Luther believed that preforming Christain deeds was godlike, but not a component of reaching salvation. In the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church believed that to achieve salvation, one must be spiritually pure, and preform a sufficient amount of good Christian acts. The concept exists to allow christains more time to preform these acts to ensure salvation. Martin Luther disagreed with the catholic church in that to reach all one has to do to reach salvation is to be spiritually pure by accepting the word of god. He felt that the Catholic Church took advantage of its followers by saying that giving money was a Christian act and that one could buy their way to heaven. Luther’s doctrines formulated a new breed a christains that believed in spirituality as the key to achieving salvation. This spiritual side of a christain was referred to as the inward man. The inward man could achieve salvation by accepting the word of god.

Pest Detection on Leafs Using Robot and Processing Labview

Pest Detection on Leafs Using Robot and Processing Labview ABSTRACT: Recent century is a full of technology. None field cant remain without the use of the technology. Agriculture is one of those fields. Agriculture is the backbone of India. Most of the scientists are doing research to increase the cultivate of crops. But one problem still exist which is a major concern of the cultivation of crop and that is crop pests. Due to these problems, The cultivation decreases and hence all the farmers and in turn the country suffers from lack of cultivation of crop. With the recent advancement in image processing and similar related techniques, it is possible to develop an autonomous system for pest classification. Early detection of pest or the initial presence of a bio aggressor is a key-point for crop management. If we are able to detect it at the initial stage, we can prevent pest on leaves without spreading all over the field, which reduces the loss of crop and money. In recent years, the development of the robots in agriculture has agriculture introduced. These robots should be capable of working 24 hours a day, in all weather condition. So if we use robots instead of farmers for detecting the pests on leafs efficiently, we can reduce the loss of crop and money. I. INTRODUCTION Agriculture is the backbone of India. Most  of the scientists are doing research to increase the cultivity of crops. But one problem still exist which is a major concern of the cultivation of crop and that is crop pests. Due to these problems, the cultivation decreases and hence all the farmers and in turn the country suffers from  lack of cultivation of crop. Different types of pesticides are there in market which are used to avoid the damage to fruit and vegetable, but the amount of pesticides to be used is not known due to which the cost as well as the environmental pollution gets affected. A strong demand now exists in many countries for non-chemical control methods for pests or diseases. Greenhouses are considered as biophysical systems with inputs, outputs and control process loops. Most of these control loops are automatized (e.g., climate and irrigation control). However no automatic methods are available which precisely and periodically detect the pests on plants. In fact, in production conditions, periodically observes plants and search for pests. This manual method is too time consuming. Diagnosis is most difficult task to perform manually as it is a function of a number of parameters such as environment, nutrient, organism etc. With the recent advancement in image processing and similar related techniques, it is possible to develop an autonomous system for pest classification. Early detection of pest or the initial presence of a bio aggressor is a key- point for crop management. The detection of biological objects as small as such insects (dimensions are about 2mm) is a real challenge, especially when considering greenhouses dimensions (10- 100m long). For this purpose different measures are undertaken such as manual observation of plants. This method does not give accurate measures. Hence automatic detection is very much important for ea rly detection of pests. Hence we have to detect the pest at the earlier stage not to spread all over the field. If we are able to detect it at the initial stage, we can prevent pest on leafs without spreading all over the field, which reduces the loss of crop and money.  In recent years, the development of robots in agriculture has introduced. These robots should be capable of working 24 hours a day, in all weather conditions. So if we use robots instead of farmers for detecting the pests on leafs efficiently, we can reduce the loss of crop and money. II.  LITERATURE  SURVEY Recent papers are describing to detect  mainly pests like aphids, whiteflies, thrips, etc using various approaches suggesting the various implementation ways as illustrated and discussed below. [1] Proposed a cognitive vision system that combines image processing, learning and knowledge-based techniques. They only detect mature stage of white fly and count the number of flies on single leaflet. They used 180 images as test dataset .among this images they tested 162 images and each image having 0 to 5 whitefly pest. They calculate false negative rate (FNR) and false positive rate (FPR) for test images with no whiteflies (class 1), at least one white fly (class 2) and for whole test set. [2] Extend implementation of the image processing algorithms and techniques to detect pests in controlled environment like greenhouse. Three kinds of typical features including size, morphological feature (shape of boundary), and color components were considered and investigated to identify the three kinds of adult insects, whiteflies, aphids and trips. [3] Promote early pest detection in green houses based on video analysis. Their goal was to define a decision support system which handles a video camera data. They implemented algorithms for detection of only two bioagressors name as white flies and aphids. The system was able to detect low infestation stages by detecting eggs of white flies thus analyzing behavior of white flies. [4] Proposed pest detection system including four steps name as color conversion, segmentation, reduction in noise and counting whiteflies. A distinct algorithm name as relative difference in pixel intensities (RDI) was proposed  for detecting pest named as white fly affecting various leaves. The algorithm not only works for greenhouse based crops but also agricultural based crops as well. The algorithm was tested over 100 images of white fly pest with an accuracy of 96%. [5] Proposed a new method of pest detection and positioning based on binocular stereo to get the location information of pest, which was used for guiding the robot to spray the pesticides automatically.[14] introduced contextual parameter tuning for adaptive image segmentation, that allows to efficiently tune algorithm parameters with respect to variations in leaf color and contrast. III.EXISTING  SYSTEM In earlier days in order to detect the pest  on leafs they used early pest detection in green houses based on video analysis. Their goal was to define a decision support system which handles a video camera data. They implemented algorithms for detection of only two bioagressors name as white flies and aphids. The system was able to detect low infestation stages by detecting eggs of white flies thus analyzing behavior of white flies. But this project has many limitations like it is time consuming process and also the output will not get accurately. So in order to eliminate these limitations ,we are going to proposed a system named pest detection on leafs by using robot and processing in LabVIEW. IV.PROPOSED  SYSTEM In this proposed system we are making  use of robots in order to take the live images from field section to monitoring section. The images taken by the robot processed and the type of disease is displayed accurately. By using this project we can get the output accurately and the type of disease. As we are making use of LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench) software ,in this software instead of text there are making use of icons in order to create the programs. compared to the other softwares this software as many advantages like it will not show any errors at the time of executing the program, whereas other softwares even a small error is there means we will not get the output showing there is some errors, it eliminates the limitations in the existing system. Once you taken the image and create the class mentioning the type of samples in LabVIEW, definitely we will get the output mentioning the type of diseases. Workload on farmers is minimized by using these type of system. By making a track for robot it will be worked properly in slippery and unequal surfaces. If we use chain instead of wheels in the field, robot can work more effectively on unequal surface of the field. Farmers dont have to go in the field because robots do their work properly and effectively. Time consumed by the robots for detecting the pest on leafs is less than mankind, which can work efficiently. Fig 1:Block Diagram V.WORKING In block diagram we are using the web camera in order to take the live pictures from field section to the monitoring section. We are using high definition web camera model number (jil-2247).This web camera takes the images of affected leaf which are caused due to pests. Generally we prefer this type of web camera because it has high flexibly, as well the cost of this type of web camera is very less. It will send  live pictures from field section to monitoring section up to 10 meters distance. We are using wired web camera and this web camera is connected to system through USB cable. This web camera is generally monitored through the system. Next we are using Arduino UNO. The Arduino Uno is a Microcontroller board based on the ATmega328 (datasheet).it has 14 digital input/output pins(of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs),6 Analog inputs,16 MHZ crystal oscillator , a USB connection , a power jack , an ICSP header , and a reset button. In this project we are making use of only 4 digital input/output pins (i.e. pin nos 8, 9, 10, 11), 5v in and Ground pin. These 4 digital pins acts as output pins and also we are making use of 5v output pin as well as ground Pin. Remaining pins we are not using in this project. These 4pins are connected to 4 relays . Relay is nothing more than a switch. A Relay is an electromechanical switch used for one or more of the four (4) purposes 1. To turn something ON. 2. To turn something or disable something. 3. To change the polarity of a wire. 4. To increase the current supply of a wire. In this project we are using four (4) relays 1. for moving forward 2. for moving backward 3. for moving left side 4. for moving right side The main use of these four relays is to move the robot either forward, backward, left side, right side. Based on our request, the particular relay will be on and move in particular direction. These four relays are connected to the two dc motors. In order to work the dc motors we need power supply, so we are using 5v battery. Based on our request the particular relay will be on and this relay will be connected to dc motors and move in a particular direction. Lastly this dc motors are connected to the wheels to rotate. Instead of wheels we can use chains ,this chains can move in even in uneven flat surfaces. This robot take the live pictures from field section to monitoring section without the use of human effort and it will finds whether the leaf had caused marks and based on the marks it will intimate the type of disease. VI.  SOFTWARE  REQUIREMENTS The following are the software requirements used  in this project i. Virtual instrumentation ii. LabVIEW Virtualinstrumentation Virtual Instrumentation is the use of  customizable software and modular measurement hardware to create user-defined measurement systems, called virtual instruments. The concept of a synthetic instrument is a subset of the virtual instrument concept. A synthetic instrument is a kind of virtual instrument that is purely software defined. A synthetic instrument performs a specific synthesis, analysis, or measurement function on completely generic, measurement agnostic hardware. Virtual instruments can still have measurement specific hardware, and tend to emphasize modular hardware approaches that facilitate this specificity. Hardware supporting synthetic instruments is by definition not specific to the measurement, nor is it necessarily (or usually) modular. Leveraging commercially available technologies, such as the PC and the analog to digital converter, virtual instrumentation has grown significantly since its inception in the late  1970s. Additionally, software packages like National Instruments Lab VIEW and other graphical programming languages helped grow adoption by making it easier for non- programmers to develop systems. LabVIEW Lab VIEW (short for Laboratory Virtual  Instrumentation Engineering Workbench) is a platform and development environment for a visual programming language from National Instruments. Originally released for the Apple Macintosh in 1986, Lab VIEW is commonly used for data acquisition, instrument control, and industrial automation on a variety of platforms including Microsoft Windows, various flavors of  UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS. The programming language used in Lab VIEW, is a dataflow language. Execution is determined by the structure of a graphical block diagram. LabVIEW programs are called virtual instruments (VIs).Controls are inputs and indicators are outputs. Each VI contains three main parts: a. Front panel How the user interacts with the VI b. Block diagram The code that controls the program In LabVIEW, you build a user interface by using a set of tools and objects. The user interface is known as the front panel. You then add code using graphical representations of functions to control the front panel objects. The block diagram contains this code. If organized properly, the block diagram resembles a flowchart. VII.  SCHEMATIC  DIAGRAMS  IN LAB  VIEW Front  Panel: When you have created a new VI or  selected an existing VI, the Front Panel and the Block Diagram for that specific VI will appear as shown in below figure In LabVIEW, you build a user interface, or front panel, with controls and indicators. Controls are knobs, push buttons, dials, and other input devices. Indicators are graphs, LEDs, and other displays. You build the front panel with controls and indicators, which are the interactive input and output terminals of the VI, respectively. Controls are knobs, push buttons, dials, and other input devices. Indicators are graphs, LEDs, and other displays. Controls simulate instrument input devices and supply data to the block diagram of the VI. Indicators simulate instrument output devices and display data the block diagram acquires or generates. Fig 2: Front Panel VIII.  BLOCK  DIAGRAM After you build the user interface, you add  code using VIs and structures to control the front panel objects. The block diagram contains this code. In some ways, the block diagram resembles a flowchart. After you build the front panel, you add code using graphical representations of functions to control the front panel objects. The block diagram contains this graphical source code. Front panel objects appear as terminals, on the block diagram. Block diagram objects include terminals, subVIs, functions, constants, structures, and wires, which transfer data among other block diagram objects. It will accompany the program for the front panel which is shown in below figure Fig 3: Block Diagram IX. WORKING Vision  Acquisition In order to detect the pest in leafs, first we have to acquire the image (i.e. take the image of any one leaf in the field).for taking the image of the leafs we require one web camera. This web camera sends live picture from field section to the monitoring section. The below figure shows the image of the affected leaf which was taken from field Fig4:  Acquiring  the  image  of the  affected leaf Vision  Assistant After acquiring the image of the  affected leaf, assist the image (i.e. mentioning the type of the disease).create a class mentioning the type of disease and take the different samples of the image and store these in particular class. The below figures shows how to create a class, the samples of the different classes and also the samples of the affected leafs created in a particular in a particular class is as shown below Fig 5: a class of the affected leaf Fig 6: Samples of the affected leaf RobotControl After creating a class and storing the samples of the affected leaf in that particular class, take photo of the another leaf which was affected by same pest in another field with the help of robot by moving either forward, backward, left side, right-side in front panel. The below figures represents the field section and monitoring section, photo taken in front panel Fig 7:Image taken with the help of robot Fig 8: Monitoring section and Field section RESULTCONCLUSION By using this project we can detect the pest on affected leafs and also we can detect two or more diseases in one particular leaf. after taking the image in front panel ,it will be displayed on the screen as image is detected and the type of disease is:.the below figure represents the result of the affected leaf mentioning whether the disease is detected or not. Figure represents the image taken for the affected leaf with the help of robot and figure represents the output of the image whether the leaf is detected or not: and also the type of disease is as mentioned in the figure INPUT: Fig 9: Image taken with the help of robot OUTPUT Fig10: screenshot showing the disease of the affected leaf We are taking the image of the affected leaf with the help of web camera using robot by moving either left side, right side, backward, downward and after processing it finds whether the disease is detected, if it is detected the type of disease is displayed on the screen. CONCLUSIONFUTURESCOPE Future scope of this type of robots are  very bright because it is very useful in agriculture and reduce the workload. It reduce the time consumed in spraying the pesticide liquid and works very effectively. It will help the farmers to do work in any season and conditions. It will reduce the danger for the farmers from different breathing and physical problems. This type of robots are being used in bicontrol of avocao posttharvest diseases. This type of robots are used for managing diseases in greenhouse crops as well as many other crops. This type of robots are also used in the  fields to detect the fruit is ripen or not and also used for many other purposes REFERENCES [1]. P. Boissard, V. Martin, S. Moisan A  Cognitive Vision Approach to Early Pest Detection in Greenhouse Crops Computer and Electronics in Agriculture Journal,  62(2):83-93, April 2008. [2]. J. Cho, J. Choi Automatic identification ofwhiteflies, aphids and thrips in greenhouse based on image analysis International journal of mathematics and computers in simulation March 27,2007. [3]. Sanjay B. Patil, Dr. Shrikant K. Bodhe Leaf disease severity measurement using image Processing International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol.3 (5),  2011, 297-301. [4]. M. T. Maliappis, K. P. Ferentinos, H. C.  Passam And A. B. Sideridis [2008] Gims: A Web based GreenhouseIntelligent Management System,World Journal of AGRICLTURAL Sciences 4(5):640-647. [5]. C. Bauch and T. Rath, Prototype of a Vision Based System for Measurements of White Fly Infestation,Institute of Horticultural and Biosystems Engineering, University of Hannover. [6]. Ganesh Bhadane, Sapana Sharma and Vijay B. Nerkar, Early Pest Identification in Agricultural Crops using Image Processing Techniques, International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering 2(2): 7782(2013). [7]. Presents an automatic method for classification of the main agents that cause damages to soybean leaflets,i.e., beetles and caterpillars using SVM classifier.[12] proposed Back propagation neural network for recognition of leaves, diseases, pests.