Hrm599 Essay Example

Hrm599 Essay Week 1 1. Benefit plans Employer-sponsored benefits reflect the culture and business of the organization, and plans should be crafted and selected accordingly. Think about your current (or former) organizations benefit plan. Did it help to improve the quality of your work as well as your personal life? Why or why not? Was it a generous benefits program or were there specific benefits you felt should have been included? We want more time off Today people are looking for benefits what will help them manage their work-life life-styles better. Today, with the help of technology, employer is now starting to be more capable of offering flexible options with great results. Time off, seems to be another area that, I think, needs major improvement across the whole country. The average of two weeks’ vacation is way below the standard offered in all other countries, even third world countries have mandated better time off benefits embedded in their labor laws. I feel that we Americans work too hard, with little time to be more involved in raising our kids or even taking care of ourselves. No time for soccer practice with my kinds, no time to go to the gym so I can lose some weight, no time to cook a good health meal for the family. Our lives are hassle and hassle and hassle. To me, when it comes to benefits, time off carries a lot of weight. I rather have an additional week of vacation that 5K more in my pay. Benefit plans Our company is into sales, entertainment, sports. I think it would be kinda hard to model a plan accordingly. Our plans are more designed to the type of family you have because we have a big mixture of people. We will write a custom essay sample on Hrm599 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Hrm599 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Hrm599 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer I personally am not covered so I cant really speak in terms of how it benefits my life. Of course I do have vacation time and such, which does allow me to take some to myself. One thing I think would help in my quality of work or personal life is a flexible schedule. What I do sometimes affect payroll, so I have to map out times off or half days. However there are times when I really could use off and not really need to be in, so I wouldnt mind working an extra hour each day to have a half day later, or coming in earlier so I can leave earlier. Mainly because I prefer working in teh morning. I feel it helps me stay more attentative. Benefit discussion Providing workers with paid vacation time is extremely common, and generally considered a low-cost benefit to offer. Two weeks paid leave is fairly standard for a small business in the U. S. Many companies start workers at two weeks and reward them with additional time off as they accrue seniority. Some companies will also pro-rate vacation time, so that new hires that start on or after July 1 are only offered a weeks vacation time in their first year. . Benefit Planning Process (graded)| As part of conducting a benefit plan needs assessment, a human resource professional must consider the organization’s business strategy as well as its compensation philosophy. What do you think is the next step that should be taken? What are some of the possible outcomes of a benefit plan needs assessment? depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization is | Mark Lema | 4/2 5/2012 7:11:46 AM| | I guess It depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization we are, and the industry we are. I think that if we are new start-up business in the technology industry, we might need the best talent out there; therefore our strategy should be to offer very competitive benefits to attract and retain the best. Specially if they are highly skilled and in big demand. If I were to be in the decline stage or the organization, I might have to reduce cost and offer cost effective benefits to offset the costs and minimize expenses. | | RE: depends of what stage of the life cycle of the organization is | Harpreet Sandhu | 5/4/2012 7:53:32 PM| | Modified:5/4/2012 7:54 PM | I agree with my classmates that first it all depends on what stage the organization is in. Along with this in my opinion, the immediate external environment and the changing needs of the organization are the priority too. If there is lot of external competition then the organization might need to reevaluate its benefit plans to attract, retain and reward valued employees. In order to do this, human resources should cond uct a thorough review of the current plan and gain a clear understanding of short and long term strategic and financial objectives. | What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Catherine Flynn | 4/30/2012 11:46:54 AM| | I think they need to look at the employees themselves and what their needs are. Easier for smaller companies, but even for bigger companies you can do online surveys. Finding out what the employees want is kinda imperative because you may not have similar workers. You may have some single people who dont need child care benefits, or older people who are into saving more so would really be interested in a 401k or Pension more than an FSA account necessarily. | RE: What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Lynn Peirce | 5/1/2012 12:34:40 AM| | Hi Catherine, thanks for your post. I think, as I have seen through my readings companies simply are not offering pension plans. I would rather have that than a 401K. I think compnies should use s urveys and interviews with kep personnale to see what employees really want after a needs assessment. I imagine the results would be surprising. Management always seems to be disconnected from the real hard working backbone employees. | | RE: What do you think is the next step that should be taken? | Aaron Jones | 5/1/2012 6:04:19 AM| | This is true but they should reconnect themselves so they can find out what is really going on with there employees, the hard backbone employees need to know that they are  notice for there hard work and when mangerment does   surveys and needs assessment this shows the employees that the organzation is concern about there hard working employees. | | Outcomes of an assessment | Catherine Flynn | 5/1/2012 11:18:52 AM| | Im not sure what the book says. However I would assume there could be many outcomes such as needs that might be too expensive to cover. Or perhaps not enough people want the same coverage or not enough people to meet the limit requirement for the insurance company. You can also find out that the benefit plan might not suit anyone at all and a serious change is needed. | | RE: Benefit Planning Process | Harpreet Sandhu | 5/6/2012 8:41:42 PM| | Most successful companies utilize business strategic planning to set priorities and goals for the organizations future; outcomes include short-term goals and long-term strategies. A clearly written, well designed strategic plan can align business units, divisions and employees so that the vision of the management team and the mission of the company can be fulfilled. As companies evolve and the environment changes it is critical for companies to maintain a disciplined execution of the strategic plan. However, if they are not aligned with the business strategy, are done independently, and are not linked to a multi-year strategy they can become a source of frustration and may create unintended outcomes. By adopting a strategic benefit planning process, companies can make decisions regarding their benefits and health care with significantly less stress. Addressing the changing environment of health care will be approached with a more thoughtful long-term perspective and will be tied to the values and philosophy of the   company. | benefit plan | Manqing Liu | 5/4/2012 10:36:41 PM| | There are several external environmental factors considered in strategic benefits planning: Industry prospects, economic conditions, and forecasts Employer costs for compensation and benefits Government regulation of employee benefits Changing demographics of the labor force| Next Step | Natasha Wylie | 5/11/2012 2:13:56 PM| | I think the next logical step would be for the company to  do an evaluation  in terms of both cost and employee need, to maintain a balance between direct wages and benefits. Wage increases and benefit changes independently can lead to excessive increases in payroll costs where the organization loses control of the situation. When benefits or one benefits costs are rising quickly, it impacts the organizations ability to raise other parts of the compensation package. | Week 2 discussion Role of Government (graded)| Other than the mandates of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and a few other ineffectual reporting and disclosure requirements, benefit programs were practically unregulated by the federal government. Before the major shift that came with the enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, which was primarily aimed at traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans but applicable to other employer sponsored retirement and benefit programs. What is the government’s current role in regulating the administration of employee benefits? Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? Role of the government | Aaron Jones | 5/5/2012 4:23:24 AM| | 1. * Government regulates retirement plans, health benefit coverages, unemployment insurance and workers compensation benefits. Effects * Government regulation on unemployment insurance pays benefits to the unemployed. By regulating workers compensation benefits, states can control the amount an insurer pays, the kind of drug testing it requires and whether businesses with fewer employees are exempt from these laws. With the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal government establishes standards for retirement and health coverage that private businesses must offer. Liability * In states like North Carolina, the government subjects new employers to a standard tax rate at first. Once it has determined their actual rate, the states Employment Security Commission notifies the business by letter of its liability to pay unemployment taxes. Significance * Not only do federal and state regulations on benefits guarantee certain types of coverage, they also establish minimum reporting standards and disclosure requirements for businesses that must document their compliance. Size * An expansive program, ERISA regulates benefits given to a companys current and discontinued employees. It also mandates compliance with the Newborns Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, to name a few. information from: Government Regulations on Employee Benefits | eHow. om http://www. ehow. com/facts_5554578_government-regulations-employee-benefits. html#ixzz1tzOVqKAW. | RE: Role of Government | Sylvia Privette | 5/6/2012 8:53:03 AM| | Lynn and Aaron I agree with both of you. I dont think the government intervenes enough. I believe they waited to long to help with this issue as they do with all issues. They wait  until they are out of control or the govern ment is tired of paying for the people because they are short on funds, so they attack. Had this issue been dealt with before the backlash would not be so drastic. As Aaron stated it took this particular president to do something. I look back at the wheel and the economy if you dont work for the big companies, then its difficult for the smaller ones to give great benefits. The Healthcare plan is a good one, but possible at an inconvenient time for companies financially. In response to Lynn I too believe the government should provide healthcare coverage but to the needy. If you are employed then your employer should offer heathcare and the employee should be covered, contributing or not. The government is now complaining that are not only giving health care to the needy and companies can help bare some of the cost. We all know healthcare is expensive | | RE: Role of Government | Manqing Liu | 5/12/2012 9:54:07 PM| | The governments role in the retirement income area has been dictated primarily by historical factors. Beginning in the late 19th century, the economy of the United States changed fairly rapidly from predominantly agricultural to predominantly industrial and service oriented. Coinciding with this change—and probably in response to it—the large, supportive extended family of the agricultural economy was largely replaced by smaller, more fragmented family units. The shift away from agriculture reduced the amount of economically useful work available to older people, and family structural changes reduced the amount of family support for the aged. | | RE: Role of Government | Aaron Jones | 5/7/2012 6:04:07 AM| | This is the way the system likes to operate, they will let an situation like this one get so far out of hand then have meeting about the matter and really get nothing done instead they fight on issues that they know should have been address   long before Barack Obama came along. Now that he is here he just wants do do the job he was put in office for taking care the American people and use all the funds in a wisely matter so all can live a more comfortable life. Healthcare is expensive and with the right program in place the cost can be handle if they   take the right action regarding this matter. | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? | Catherine Flynn | 5/9/2012 8:26:36 PM| | All benefits are so complex it takes a lot to work plans out, so having regulations I think is helpful. However I dont feel that the government should get more involved than they already are because I feel that they are almost trying to control what I can and cannot have, and that is what I dont agree with. I mentioned before about the Individual Mandate Clause in the new healthcare plan that is being voted on and I personally do not appreciate being told what I can and cannot buy. It should be my choice to purchase health insurance if I want it or not, and this clause is taking that choice away from me. | | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? Norma Vega | 5/9/2012 11:32:52 PM| | I think there are too little. While there are some penalties and sanctions imposed by ERISA, through the Department of Labor, these are for violations on the administration of the employee benefits programs of those who voluntarily designed employee benefits plans. How about for those who opted not to voluntarily design employee benefits plans and programs? REFERENCES:Pnd yck, Robert S. (2005). Microeconomics. Pearson Education, Inc. http://www. dol. gov/compliance/guide/erisa. htm#who | | To ensure there is fair environment for competition | Mark Lema | 5/10/2012 7:15:33 AM| In my opinion, the government’s role is to primarily set a minimum standard. As they do for the minimum wage. Then to enforce de law, and to ensure there is fair environment for competition and no monopolies are developed. Competition will drive the quality of benefits. | Government Mandates | Professor Blanco | 5/10/2012 1:12:34 PM| | Class-  Ã‚   intereesting that many of you feel that government should provide benefits. Lets take a look at that. Benefits are very expensive, we know. But why? What is driving the cost of these benefits? How do you propose the government provided benefits will be paid? | RE: Government Mandates | Crystal Johnson | 5/10/2012 4:30:08 PM| | One thing that is raising the cost of benefits is specialty drug prescriptions. Specialty drugs for   multiple sclerosis can cost $2,500 to $3,800 a month. The cost of staying alive on drugs is sky rocketing. Prescription drug companies are making a killing with their patents and over charge the public to fix erectile dysfunction or having long lashes. However, drugs that actually extend your life and true quality of life should be augmented so everyone can benefit or at least let people have reasonable access to them. I know that sex and long eye lashes are meaningful to quality of life, but not as much as asma medication or kidney cleansing  drugs for dialys patients. http://www. shrm. org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/SpecialtyDrugs. aspx | | | RE: Government Mandates | Manqing Liu | 5/11/2012 11:15:52 PM| | I found something interesting about government provided benefits: A 2008 poll of 1,400 Americans by the Cornell Survey Research Institute found that when people were asked whether they had â€Å"ever used a government social program,† 57 percent said they had not. Respondents were then asked whether they had availed themselves of any of 21 different federal policies, including Social Security, unemployment insurance, the home-mortgage-interest deduction and student loans. It turned out that 94 percent of those who had denied using programs had benefited from at least one; the average respondent had used four. http://www. nytimes. com/2011/09/20/opinion/our-hidden-government-benefits. html| | | What is the government’s current role in regulating the administration of employee benefits | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 5:43:14 PM| The  basis of ERISA is to provide protection of employee benefit rights. ERISA has a few major objectives, they are: To ensure that workers and beneficiaries receive adequate information about their plans To set standards od conduct for those managing employee benefits plans   and plan funds To determine that adequate funds are being set aside to pay promised pension benefits To ensure that workers receive pension benefits after they satisfied minimum requirements To safeguard pension benefits for workers whose pension plans are terminated | | | Do you think there is too little or too much government intervention? Why? | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 6:05:23 PM| | Im on the fence about whether there is too much government intervention in the administering of employee benefits. Im sure  that both sides could argue where oversight is needed and where there is too much involvement. Whether the oversight is handled by the government or another agency, I do believe that someone should look out for the best interest of employees, and ensure things related to benefits are handled in a proper manner. | Government Mandated Benefits (graded)| There are certain benefits that are legislatively mandated and cannot be altered or dropped by an organization for any reason other than the organization is closing its doors for good! Social Security and Medicare, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, COBRA and FMLA are all federal and state mandated programs. What do you think determines the types of programs that the  government chooses to make mandatory? Do you feel these programs are efficient and effective? Why or why not? | Government Mandated Benefits | Lynn Peirce | 5/6/2012 2:55:19 AM| | My feeling is that the U. S. economy plays a large part in determining the types of programs the government makes mandatory, in order to help and protect U. S. citizens in times of need, for example, COBRA. Some of these programs go back many years in their enactment, such as the Social Security Act of 1935, when the U. S. had the foresight to help aid in retirement of older workers (and that was post-Depression and pre-WWII). Some of these programs are efficient, such unemployment insurance (even though it should last longer), and some are not, such as Medicare (seniors still have to purchase supplemental insurance or pay out-of-pocket costs). Social Security may not even be around in another 25 years. I think these programs started out well, and the intentions are good, but they became financially strapped. See http://www. socialsecurityreform. org/problem/index. cfm. | | RE: Government Mandated Benefits | Sylvia Privette | 5/6/2012 8:06:52 PM| | I agree with both of you. The government does what it feels is necessary when monies are tight for them and for companies. The state of the economy determines in which way the wheel should turn. If it too expensive for the government then they want more from employers, however they also know that employers will want something in return i. e. , tax incentives. The government should have stepped in long ago before these problems became bigger problems. Aaron you make a good point. The government should make sure that the employees they have working in these positions are educated nough to do so. The proper training and supervision is most important. Mishandling of funds is a big issue for the government and it seems as if they need the corporations help in bailing them out financially. I am grateful for the programs that the government has mandated, however, I think the government could regulate more benefits programs. | RE: Social Security ; Government Benefits | Lynn Peirce | 5/10/2012 11:03:05 PM| | Jill, as we discussed in class, Social Security was implemented in 1935, after the Depression, and was only meant to be temporary. Since the system is already broken, and the government is trying to fix it, healthcare will be regulated by the federal government but as we discussed in class, Obamacare will have to be tweaked in order to satisfy those who are opposed to it, as well as make it more feasible to implement and operate. I imagine this will be  a nightmare. I found this great article about Social Security, written from the viewpoint of a sociologist, on the origins of Social Security and how it is being reformed: http://www2. ucsc. edu/whorulesamerica/power/social_security. tml If the current social security dliemma, is not fixed, I feel that the consequences will be dire. | Do you feel these programs are efficient and effective? Why or why not? | Natasha Wylie | 5/13/2012 7:35:53 PM| | Personally speaking I think that these programs are effective. I have used FMLA, after giving birth to my daughter. T he Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives eligible employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for the mselves or a relative suffering from a serious health condition, a newborn baby, recently adopted child or a new foster child. Also covered are emergencies that occur when a relative who is a member of the National Guard or Reserves is called to active duty. To qualify, employees must work for a covered employer for a minimum of 1,250 hours during the designated 12-month qualifying period. Its a relief to not worry about securing your position while out on FMLA. There were times when if an employee needed to be out of work for and extended period of time, there positions werent held. | Week 3 discussion Healthcare Cost Management (graded)| Many Americans benefit from the investments in healthcare; however, the recent cost growth, coupled with the economic downturn and rising national deficit, has placed a great strain on the financial systems used to finance healthcare, including private employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and public insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. What is the responsibility of individuals for the cost of their care? Are health savings accounts and high-deductible insurance policies an approach that should be expanded? What are the concerns for low-income individuals? Healthcare cost management | Aaron Jones | 5/12/2012 7:12:54 AM| | The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes a provision similar to AMA policy on individual responsibility, which is scheduled to take effect in 2014. The Congressional Budget Office predicts the ACA will expand coverage to 32 million more Americans by 2016. Several of the new benefits included in the health reform law, such as an end to coverage denials based on pre-existing conditions, are only made possible by increasing the number of Americans participating in the health insurance market. Individual responsibility for health insurance allows patients to take ownership of their health care needs, decreases the number of uninsured — now estimated at 50 million nationwide — and helps make popular insurance market reforms possible. By promoting individual responsibility and increasing the number of insured individuals, we improve the health of Americans and keep hidden costs from being passed along to all of us * HSA/HDHPs are a highly tax-advantaged savings vehicle appealing to people who have high incomes and to those who are expected to have low use of health care services. For the uninsured, these approaches are less attractive since they often have low income and neither benefit significantly from the tax advantages now have the financial assets necessary to cover the large deductibles associated with the plans. * Their ability to reduce system-wide spending is very limited. * The plans have the potential to increase segmentation of health care risk in private insurance markets unless employers set premiums to offset the healthier selection into the plans or government subsidizes the higher costs associated with the remaining non-HSA market. The plans have thus far been less attractive that prononents envisioned, the authors add, so their potentially negative ramifications on populations with high medical needs have been limited. However, they say, efforts to expand enrollment in these plans through further tax incentives, for example, could place growing financial burdens on those least able to absorb them, leading to more barriers to medical care for the low-income and the sick and fewer insurance options. www. rwjf. org/pr/product. | Healthcare Cost Management | Lynn Peirce | 5/12/2012 10:39:30 PM| I think that individuals should be responsible for their own healthcare, whenever possible and affordable, but since the economy has been so bad for so long, a lot of people go without, which places a strain on the financial systems used to finance government-managed programs. I, myself, am fortunate enough to receive Medicaid, but it was not handed to me, as one must be medically-needy (an individual can make $47,500 per y ear and receive Medicaid). There are two programs within Medicaid in New Jesey, one is the Workability Program, which I am in; the other is for people who are unable to work. Health insurance is very expensive for employers ot provide, as we have been discusssing in class the past few weeks. I feel that high-deductible policies are not the way to go, but health savings accounts may be a great option to explore. The concerns for low-income individuals are that they simply do not have the means to invest in a health-savings account, and if they dont qualify for Medicaid, they are stuck in clinic care, which doesnt really do the job. More than 60 percent of nonelderly Americans receive health-insurance (HI) coverage through employers, either as policyholders or as dependents. However, rising health-care costs are leading many to question the long-term viability of the employer-based insurance system. Concerns about the economic burden of providing HI are particularly acute for small businesses, which are both less likely than larger firms to offer HI and more sensitive to price when deciding to offer insurance. Small firms may have difficulty containing costs due to their limited bargaining power and their inability to hire experts skilled in negotiating with insurance companies. Further, while few recent studies have systematically explored differences in the quality of HI plans that small and large firms offer, small firms may offer health plans of lower quality (http://www. rand. org/pubs/technical_reports/TR559. html). | Healthcare Cost Management | Norma Vega | 5/13/2012 11:20:31 PM| | I would say it depends on the institution. There are great medical facilities all over the US but many are closing down because of different law violations. I think it is a mix of both money and helping patients though. The good facilities I think concentrate on the genuinely helping people part from top down. As they hire staff, I would hope that is one requirement they look for while in the interview process. I think with a good staff and employees that truly care and provide excellent service are the ones that are successful and make more money. | The importance of becoming a smart consumer | Mark Lema | 5/15/2012 1:30:07 PM| | Becoming a smart consumer is a must when it comes to utilizing your healthcare benefits. The high cost of benefits is not under the control of employers, therefore, employer have no option but to offer all other   possible options to reduce the cost of healthcare and minimize the passing of that cost to their employees. Unfortunately, there is very little employers can do. As they cost for healthcare increases, employer have to become more creative in developing a healthcare pla that will not upset employees and   that will not place the company on bankruptcy. HSA and FSA type of accounts are some of those alternatives that employer use to help employees better manage their healthcare costs. Unfortunately, the lack of understanding how these plans work, and the fact that it requires a lot of time andn preparation to comply with the processes  and submit receipts, has pushed back many current and potential participants. In my case these option do help. My wife, who is the smart one, fully understands the procedures and requirements of HASs and FSAs and has save us   in the last years 100’s of dollars in healthcare costs, this dedication and full understanding of my family healthcare needs, has by far offset the time-burden it requires to manage them. | | What are the concerns for low-income individuals? | Catherine Flynn | 5/16/2012 5:17:20 PM| | For low income families its a big struggle to be able to afford insurance. Sometimes it can even be something that they just dont think about cause it may not be the firs thing on their mind. When youre worrying about other bills, that could take precedent over insurance. Until someone gets sick, then you realize that on top of all the bills, you need money for when you or your child is sick or needs hospital care. For my family when I was growing up, we knew insurance was important because I was a pretty sick kid, so I was always needing doctor visits and medicines, and of course ER visits since I was also clumsy. Then my mothers health started to decline as I got older. So having some sort of insurance was extremely important and I always knew that its beneficial to have some type of funds available should emergencies occur. When I was in college there were a few years I had to go without benefits. Today and even then I felt extremely lucky I didnt get sick because if I had I would have had a lot of bills. Not only because of that but because My mother and I had assistance, Im very grateful for it. However not everyone has that, and not everyone is eligible for it because they work. But their salaries may not be enough to get them health care, so they have the option of finding a job that might offer benefits, or get a second job to try and get a plan on their own. It can be very difficult, and its something you need to ask yourself. Are you going to try your hardest to protect yourself with insurance, or are you going to risk it? I think it depends alot on each persons circumstances. | What are the concerns for low-income individuals? | Michael McArdle | 5/18/2012 10:43:39 AM| | Personally I just feel that low-income people are in trouble of never being able to affo

Mis †Walmart Essay Example

Mis – Walmart Essay Example Mis – Walmart Essay Mis – Walmart Essay Introduction A Management information system ( MIS ) is a system or procedure that provides information needed to pull off organisations efficaciously. Management information system gives the concern directors the information that they need to do determinations. Early concern computing machines were used for simple operations such as tracking stock list. charge. gross revenues. or paysheet informations. with small item or construction but now yearss it has been replaced by the advanced techniques like ERP. EPM. SCM and SAP. Management information systems are distinguishable from regular information systems in that they are used to analyse other information systems applied in operational activities in the organisation. History OF WALLMART Sam Walton who is a man of affairs from ARKANASAS. get down his bearer with retail industry and started working on June 3. 1940. On July 2 1962 he opened first walmart price reduction metropolis shop located in ARKANASAS. Walmart is one of the most technically advanced companies in the universe and ground behind this is handiness of accurate and up to day of the month information which intern a footing of its growing in the market. And for roll uping the accurate information on clip it is necessary that direction should continuously reexamine the information. which is possible merely by an integrated direction system. Walmart became one of the first companies in retail sector to utilize MIS. MIS IN DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANISATION: 1. Operations: In the universe of retailing. Wal-Mart has what is considered to be the most sophisticated distribution system called Retail Link. This system connects each shop with central offices and over 2. 000 providers so that they will neer run out of or hold excessively much stock list. Wal-Mart bends over their stock list more than any other retail shop. The current challenge exists with providing their abroad shops. particularly while this is the country that they are concentrating on turning. In order to go more efficient abroad. Wal-Mart has started is on Customss Brokering division to take attention of its planetary procurance. which saves them brokering and freight forwarding fees. and besides gives them more control. They have besides started to request strongly that their providers besides be physically located in the states where Wal-Mart is to better provide them. Procurement of stuff Walmart is a majority buyer and they follow centralised purchased system. so the company straight procure the stuffs from makers therefore extinguishing all the mediators and jobbers. This is indispensable to cut down the cost and offer best pricing. They foremost find out the possible provider and so after acquiring monetary values from everyone the will make up ones mind eventually harmonizing to the cost construction of the offer. For expeditiously pull offing this information wall marketplace uses EDI theoretical account ( electronic informations interchange ) it is fundamentally a computing machine based system of walmart in this system the computing machines of providers and sellers are connected with walmart. EDI enables supplier to download purchase order along with shop to hive away gross revenues information related to their merchandise like no of merchandise sold. no. of merchandise received. As provider receives the information about gross revenues of assorted merchandise s. the provider shipped the needed goods to different walmart distribution Centres. Basically it is a high velocity integrating system between provider and walmart and which is really helpful in doing the procedure fast and efficient. Transportation system A company owned transit system besides assists Wal-Martin transporting goods from warehouse to hive away in less than 48 hours. This allows Wal-Mart to refill the shelves 4 times faster than its competition. Wal-Mart owns the largest and most sophisticated computing machine system in the private sector. It uses a MPP ( massively parallel processor ) computing machine system to track stock and motion which keeps it abreast of fast alterations in the market. Information related to gross revenues and stock list is disseminated visits advanced satellite communications system. MPP is fundamentally used to track the motion of goods and stock degree and information for this is transmitted through advanced orbiter communicating system. So when the information about motion of goods is transmitted it automatically bring forth the information and base on balls it on to transit section and from there the logistic installation is ensured. Inventory direction Wal-Mart invested to a great extent in IT A ; communicating system to efficaciously track gross revenues and ware stock lists in shops across all the mercantile establishments in the state. For this company needs to hold first-class communicating system. And Walmart is utilizing the technique of PRETTY DARN QUICK DISPLAY ( PDQ ) TECHNIQUE. In this technique the company asked its providers to transport goods inshore-ready shows called reasonably darn quick ( PDQ ) shows. Goods were packed in PDQ shows that arrived at the shops ready to be boarded on the racks. WalMart’s employees could straight replace the empty racks at the shops with to the full packed racks. alternatively of replenishing each and every point at the racks. HUB AND SPOK SYSTEM – in the early1970s. Wal-Mart became one of the first retailing companies in the universe to centralise its distribution system. open uping the retail hub-andspoke system. Under the system. goods were centrally ordered. assembled at a monolithic warehouse. known as distribution centre · ( hub ) . from where they were dispatched to the person shops ( radius ) . The hub and radius system enabled Wal-Mart to accomplish important cost advantages by the centralised buying of goods in immense measures. And besides the used of RFID engineering ( radio frequence designation ) this technique is used to replace the saloon cryptography technique and increase the efficiency of employees because with this employees are no longer requires to physically scan the saloon codification therefore it better efficiency and cut down the stock outs. Reordering Wal-Mart built an automated reordering system associating computing machines between Procter A ; Gamble ( P A ; G ) and its shops and distribution Centres. The computing machine system sends a signal from a shop to P A ; G placing an point low in stock. It so sends a resupply order. via orbiter. to the nearest P A ; G mill. which so ships the point to a Wal-Mart distribution Centre or straight to the shop. This interaction between Wal-Mart and P A ; G is a win-win proposition because with better coordination. P A ; G can take down its costs and go through some of the nest eggs on to Wal-Mart. Thus walmart is expeditiously utilizing the MIS to accomplish efficiency and cost minimisation. 2. Selling FUNCTION ( MIS ) Selling activities are directed toward be aftering. advancing. and selling goods and services to fulfill the demands of clients and the aims of the organisation. Marketing information systems support determination doing sing the selling mix. These include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Product Price Place Promotion Beginnings of Data and Information for Selling: Boundary-Spanning and Transaction Processing Subsystems A selling information system relies on external information to a far greater grade than other organisational information systems. It includes two subsystems designed for boundary crossing – conveying into the house informations and information about the market place. The aim of marketing research is to roll up informations on the existent clients and the possible clients. known as chances. The designation of the demands of the client is a cardinal starting point for entire quality direction ( TQM ) . Electronic commercialism on the WEB makes it easy to roll up statistics on existent purchaser behavior. Marketing research package supports statistical analysis of informations. It enables the house to correlate purchaser behavior with really elaborate geographic variables. demographic variables. and psychographic variables. Marketing ( competitory ) intelligence is responsible for the assemblage and reading of informations sing the firm’s rivals. and for the airing of the competitory information to the appropriate users. Most of the rival information comes from corporate one-year studies. media-tracking services. and from studies purchased from external suppliers. including online database services. The Internet has become a major beginning of competitory intelligence. Marketing Mix Subsystems The selling mix subsystems support determination doing sing merchandise debut. pricing. publicity ( advertisement and personal merchandising ) . and distribution. These determinations are integrated into the gross revenues prognosis and selling programs against which the ongoing gross revenues consequences are compared. Merchandise Subsystem The merchandise subsystem helps to be after the debut of new merchandises. Continually conveying new merchandises to market is critical in today’s competitory environment of rapid alteration. Although determinations sing the debut of new merchandises are unstructured. information systems support this procedure in several ways: ? ? ? ? ? Professional support systems assist interior decorators in their cognition work DSSs are used to measure proposed new merchandises With a DSS. a selling director can hit the desirableness of a new merchandise. Electronic meeting systems help convey the expertness of people dispersed in infinite and clip to bear on the job Information derived from marketing intelligence and research is critical in measuring new merchandise thoughts. Topographic point Subsystem The topographic point subsystem assists the determination shapers in doing the merchandise available to the client at the right topographic point at the right clip. The topographic point subsystem helps be after the distribution channels for the merchandise and track their public presentation. The usage of information engineering has dramatically increased the handiness of information on merchandise motion in the distribution channel. Promotion Subsystem The publicity subsystem is frequently the most luxuriant in the selling information system. since it supports both personal merchandising and advertisement. Media choice bundles assist in choosing a mix of avenues to carry the possible buyer. including direct mail. telecasting. print media. and the electronic media such as the Internet and the WEB in peculiar. The effectivity of the selected media mix is monitored and its composing is continually adjusted. Database selling relies on the accretion and usage of extended databases to section potency clients and make squad with individualized promotional information. The function of telemarketing. selling over the telephone. has increased. Telemarketing calls are good supported by information engineering. Gross saless direction is exhaustively supported with information engineering. Customer profitableness analysis helps place high-profit and high-growth clients and aim selling attempts in order to retain and develop these histories. Gross saless force mechanization involves fiting sales representative with portable computing machines tied into the corporate information systems. This gives the sales representative instantaneous entree to information and frees them from the coverage paperwork. This increases selling clip and the degree of public presentation. Access to corporate databases is sometimes accompanied by entree to corporate expertness ; either by being able to reach the experts or by utilizing adept systems that help stipulate the merchandise meeting client demands. Monetary value Subsystem Pricing determinations find a grade of support from DSSs and entree to databases that contain industry monetary values. These extremely unstructured determinations are made in chase of the companies pricing aims. General schemes range from net income maximization to waiving a portion of the net income in order to increase a market portion. Information systems provide an chance to finely section client groups. and bear down different monetary values depending on the combination of merchandises and services provided. every bit good as the fortunes of the sale dealing. Gross saless Forecasting Based on the planned selling mix and outstanding orders. gross revenues are forecast and a full selling program is developed. Sale prediction is an country where any quantitative methods employed must be tempered with human penetration and experience. The existent gross revenues will depend to a big grade on the kineticss of the environment. Qualitative techniques are by and large used for environmental prediction – an effort to foretell the societal. economic. legal. and technological environment in which the company will seek to recognize its programs. Gross saless calculating utilizations legion techniques. which include: ? ? ? Group determination doing techniques are used to arouse wide adept sentiment Scenario analysis in which each scenario in this procedure is a plausible hereafter environment Extrapolation of tendencies and rhythms through a time-series analysis. 3. Finance For the financial twelvemonth stoping January 31. 2011. Wal-Mart reported a net income of $ 15. 4 billion on $ 422 billion of gross with a 24. 7 percent gross net income border. The corporation’s international operations accounted for $ 109. 2 billion. or 26. 1 per centum. of entire gross revenues. It is the world’s 18th largest public corporation. harmonizing to the Forbes Global 2000 list. and the largest public corporation when ranked by gross. Walmart on an mean hire about 10000 employees every twelvemonth and on opening every individual shop Walmart employees 300 new employees. Their chief beginning of financess is there gross revenues and basic outgo goes on constructing new shops and employees salary. Job Hierarchy at Wal-Mart Human Resources Wal-Mart is the largest non-government employer in the universe. They realize that turnover is high in retail. but that their associates are one of their most of import assets. Their written policy sing associates is as follows: they are encouraged to keep the highest criterions of honestness. morality. and concern ethics . In order to go a Wal-Mart associate. campaigners must take a multiple-choice trial and choose what are considered the appropriate Wal-Mart responses in order to be hired. Due to the fact that Wal-Mart strives to maintain their costs low. they do non offer high rewards. They exist on many parttime and impermanent workers. do non offer these employees benefits. and do non pay their employees plenty to populate on. Wal-Mart has a 20-30 % cost advantage over competition. as their labour is non nonionized. Besides facing current judicial proceeding for non paying employees for overtime there are and have been several instances sing favoritism on the footing of gender ( female ) that females are frequently non hired or promoted to be directors.

Differences and similarities between the British and the Norwegian Term Paper

Differences and similarities between the British and the Norwegian school system from a perspective of social structure - Term Paper Example Norway, a limited monarchy with a parliamentary democracy has adopted an education system that is reflective on its social ideals and the nature of administration in the country. In this paper, the education structures of England and Norway will discussed from a social perspective, providing the significance of each, the similarities and the differences (Aldrich, Dean & Gordon, 2013). Schools provide an exemplary example of a social setting made up of the teachers, the students and the school administrators together with the parents whose roles are to shape the educational experience of students. As a result, the structure of schools in England and wales attempt to understand the social dynamics of the learning environment and the roles of the key stakeholders. The informal organisations of schools in these countries are influenced by the size of the students’ population and its homogeneity. The social structure of schools is therefore influenced by a number of factors which are dependent on the social arrangement within the countries. Factors such as age, the grade levels taught and the training program for educational and the roles of the parents influence the nature of the structure (Kehm, Michelsen & Vabo, 2010). England and Norway have different school structures with both beginning from early childhood education all the way to universities with different years in between. In England, the education structure is divided into five with early years, primary, secondary, further education and finally higher education, taking at least 15 years to complete. Since 2010, England introduced a compulsory early childhood education for kids aged three and four years, a program that is coordinated and funded by the government. As a result, the kids are entitled to at least 15 hours free nursery education for 38 weeks in every year until they are ready and

Writing Fundmentals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Writing Fundmentals - Essay Example In the first paragraph, Ruth Winter is only five years old. After a year, she joins school in the second paragraph, and she is now six years old. The third paragraph in this essay is set during the summer of  the authors  second grade, which means that Winter is seven years old, and a few months shy off eight years. The fourth paragraph in the essay is set when Winter is in her third grade of school, which puts her age at eight years. In the fifth paragraph, Winter is ten years old while she attains the age of eleven years and she is in  her high school education in the sixth paragraph. In the final paragraph, Winter is eighteen years old. The article by Roach may be a little disturbing, but it is also fascinating in the same breathe. In this case, the author visits a medical facility where dead bodies are donated for research. Roach uses humor to explain the crucial role that these dead bodies play  since  surgeons use them to practice  before an actual brain surgery, which highlights the critical role of the heads of the dead bodies in surgical procedures to save

Tribal gaming Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tribal gaming - Assignment Example In the absence of tribal gaming, reservations can still be effective in terms of reducing the rate of poverty, decreasing the rate of unemployment, and increasing the tribal’s income. However, reservations economies are systematically underdeveloped because most of them are located in poor regions of a country. Due to their limited resources, income and ready access to nearby markets, most of the reservations economies remain underdeveloped. Tribal gaming strategies are commonly used to gradually improve their overall socio-economic conditions of each tribe (i.e. improved literacy rate, better access to education, higher employment rates and higher income, etc.). To ensure that tribal communities are able to maintain their cultural values and practices despite the process of economic modernization, most of the tribal governments are creating a framework that aims to strengthen the cultural background, education, and identity of the tribal nations. Through the use of cultural revitalization strategies, it is possible to preserve or maintain the cultural values and practices of the all tribal communities without the need to adversely affect their economic growth. The tribal gaming investments reflected the underlying cultural values of the tribal people because of its â€Å"spillover effects†. Since people living in tribal lands are socially and economically benefiting from tribal gaming investments, there is a strong possibility wherein cultural values and beliefs of tribal people on gaming can be altered accordingly. It means that some people from the tribes could accept gambling as something that is normal.

3-Methylglutaconic Aciduria Research

3-Methylglutaconic Aciduria Research A distinct type of 3-methylglutaconic aciduria due to a mutation in the Translocase of Inner Mitochondrial Membrane 50 (TIMM50) gene Abstract BACKGROUND: 3-methylglutaconic aciduria biochemically characterized by increased urinary excretion of 3-methylglutaconic acid result from defective leucine metabolism and disorders affecting mitochondrial function though in many cases the cause remains unknown. Recently mutations in mitochondrial TIMM50 gene has been reported in four patients from two unrelated families. We report additional mutations in TIMM50 gene in 6 individuals from two unrelated consanguineous families with a distinctive type of 3-methylglutaconic aciduria. METHODS:Â  We report on three patients of South Asian ancestry with intractable epilepsy, microcephaly, developmental delay, visual deficit spastic quadriplegia and three Caucasian patients of eastern European origin with intellectual disability with or without seizure. Metabolic testing revealed mild lactic acidosis and excretion of large amount of 3-methylglutaconic acid in urine in all patients. Full exome sequencing was performed using genomic DNA isolated from one surviving patient, two healthy siblings and both parents of South Asian family. Exome sequencing was also performed for Caucasian patients of eastern European origin. RESULTS:Â  Exome sequencing identified two homozygous mutation Gly372Ser and Iso392Thr mutations in the gene TIMM50. There were no other candidate alterations in exome that could explain the phenotype in the proband. The mutations are located in the conserved C-terminal domain of the Tim50 protein that interacts with the N-terminal domain of the Tim23 protein in the intermembrane space and regulates mitochondrial protein import of presequence-containing polypeptides Both parents are heterozygous. CONCLUSION: Given the phenotypic similarilty of the patients from two unrelated families and an earlier report of mutations in additional family, we conclude that TIMM50 gene mutation results in a novel mitochondrial disorder with 3-methyl glutaconic aciduria. INTRODUCTION 3-methylglutaconic aciduria (MGCA), an increase in urinary 3-methylglutaconic acid or 3-methylglutaric acid, can be a nonspecific finding in mitochondrial disorders, organic aciduria, urea cycles disease, neuromuscular disorders. but is a consistent abnormality of 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase deficiency and patients with mutations in TAZ, SERAC1, OPA3, DNAJC19 and TMEM70 gene1. These genes all encode mitochondrial membrane or membrane related proteins. In 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase deficiency due to mutation in AUH gene , 3-methylglutaconic acid derives from 3-methylglutaconyl CoA (3MG CoA), an intermediate in leucine catabolism1. It has been proposed that in other disorders, 3-methylglutaconic acid derives from aberrant isoprenoid shunting from cytosol to mitochondria via mevalonate pathway or redirection of mitochondrial acetyl CoA toward production of 3MGA due to an increase in the intra-mitochondrial NADH/NAD+ ratio resulting from mutation induced impairment in electron transport chain or Kreb cycle function 2. Examples of mitochondrial include Barth syndrome, a cardioskeletal myopathy with neutropenia, abnormal mitochondria and MGCA. Barth syndrome is caused by X-linked recessive mutations in the TAZ gene which encodes the mitochondrial membrane localized transacylase involved in the maturation of cardiolipin. Autosomal recessive mutations in the OPA3 gene (OMIM: 606580), the mouse ortholog of which encodes a mitochondrial inner membrane protein of unknown function, cause MGCA3 (OMIM: 258501), a neuroopthalmologic syndrome characterized by early-onset bilateral optic atrophy and later-onset spasticity, extrapyramidal dysfunction and cognitive deficit. MGCA5 (OMIM: 610198) is yet another form of MGCA caused by autosomal recessive mutations in the DNAJC19 gene (OMIM: 608977) and in addition to increased urinary excretion of 3-methylglutaconic acid, patients present with infancy or childhood onset dilated cardiomyopathy, microcytic anemia, mild muscle weakness and ataxia. Many patients die of cardiac failure. The DNAJC19 gene encodes the human homolog of the yeast Tim14 which is a part of the Tim23 mitochondrial protein import machinery and hasbeen shown to interact with the mtHsp70 in an ATP-dependent manner to regulate Tim23 function (Davey, 2006). WE report a distinct type of 3-methylglutaconic aciduria resulting from a mutation in mitochondrial TIMM50 gene in 3 sibs from a consanguineous family. We initially reported these xases in abstract form. Recently two different mutations in mitochondrial TIMM50 gene have been reported in four patients with 3 methylglutaconic aciduria, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability and lactic acidosis. Subjects Family 1 Family 1 has three affected sibs of South Asian ancestry with intractable epilepsy, microcephaly, developmental delay, visual deficit spastic quadriplegia. Two affected sibs died unexpectedly when they were visiting families in a remote area of a South Asian country. Metabolic testing had revealed large amount of 3-methylglutaconic acid in urine in all three affected sibs. The patients have a healthy brother and a healthy sister. Mother and father are first cousins. Detailed clinical history, imaging, EEG and metabolic testing were obtained for all affected persons. Full exome sequencing was performed using genomic DNA isolated from one surviving patient, two healthy siblings and both parents. Patient IV-1. Patient IV-1 was the first born child of the parents and was born at 36 weeks gestation after a normal pregnancy and delivery. Her weight at birth was 1.99 kg. Her weight, height and head circumference were always below 5th centile. She also had asthma and frequent episodes of pneumonia presumably due to aspiration, but the family refused G-tube placement. She was severely delayed. She never sat, stand or spoke. She has poor head control, truncal hypotonia but very brisk tendon jerks and sustained clonus. Funduscopy revealed bilateral optic atrophy. She developed seizures at 1 year of age. EEG revealed multifocal spikes arising from both hemispheres. She was treated with phenobarbital and Zonegran but family was noncompliant with medications. She continued to have daily myoclonic jerks. MRI at 2.5 and 5 years of age showed increased T2 signal in basal ganglia and periventricular white matter, brain atrophy, prominent ventricle, increased extraxial fluid. Normal liver en zymes and blood count, normal blood and CSF glucose and a serum ammonia of 21. Several serum lactate levels were mildly elevated. Lactate 2.8, 4.5 (Pyruvate 0.23), 5.4 (normal 0.7 to 2.1) Lactate to pyruvate ratio 20:1. Urine organic acid analysis revealed very high lactic acid, 3-methylglutaconic acid, and 3-methylglutaric acid. Muscle biopsy revealed only scattered atrophic muscle fibers on electron microscopy. Respiratory chain enzyme activities were within normal limits. She died at 7.5 years of age apparently due to complications from an infection while she was visiting families in a remote area of a South Asian country. Patient IV-4 was twin A born at 36 weeks gestation after an uncomplicated twin pregnancy. Her weight, height and head circumference were always below 5th centile. She was severely delayed. She never sat, stand or spoke. She has poor head control, truncal hypotonia but very increased reflexes and spasticity in the limbs. At nine-month-of age, she started to experience several episodes of eye fluttering and body jerking. Her EEG reved slow background, poor sleep architecture and frequent multifocal spike and sharp wave activities coming from both the left and right hemispheres. Her seizures were treated with Zonegran and was poorly controlled but parents refused more aggressive treatment of seizures. Metabolic testing revealed mild elevation of lactate and moderate increase of 3 methylglutaconic, 3 methylglutaric acids in urine. A brain MRI at 11-month-of age revealed diffuse volume loss supratentorially with prominent sulci and extraaxial fluid spaces, mild enlargement of the ventricl es and patchy signal abnormalities in the basal ganglia bilaterally, especially involving the caudate nuclei and putamen. On spectroscopy with voxel placed in the right basal ganglia with short and long TE, there was a lactate peak which inverted on long TE spectrum. Also, the NAA peak was low with NAA to creatinine being 1.15 on short echo and 1.29 on long echo spectrum. Also, the choline was elevated with choline/creatine ratio being 1.00 on short echo and 1.41 on long echo images. She died at 1.5 years of age apparently due to complications of an infection while she was visiting families in a remote area of a South Asian country. Patient IV-5 is a 13 year old female of South Asian ancestry, with 3-methylglutaconic aciduria intractable epilepsy, microcephaly, developmental delay, visual deficit and spastic quadriplegia. She was born at 36 weeks gestation after an uncomplicated twin pregnancy. She was twin B and stayed in NICU for 18 days for feeding issues. Her weight was 1.4 kg and she was not intubated. Patient first presented with seizures at 3 months of age with eyelid fluter and jerking of extremities. Her initial EEG revealed multifoal spikes. Initial biochemical evaluation revealed normal serum and CSF glucose, normal ammonia and liver enzymes. Serum lactate and CSF lactate 4.24 mmol were mildly elevated . Lactate was 2.7. Ammonia 25. Serum amino increased alanine 43.6 micromol/dl (9.9-34.5). Csf lactate 4.24 mmol. CSF alanine 7 micromol/dl (0.6 -4.7). There were also mild elevations of serum and CSF valine, leucine, isoleucine and alanine and lysine. Urine organic analysis revealed moderate increase of 3 methylglutaconic, 3 methylglutaric, glutaric, adipic, suberic, and sebacic acids. MRI of brain at 11 months of age revealed severe atrophic changes involving gray and white matter, predominantly of the cerebrum. Grossly abnormal signal is seen in the basal ganglia, particularly the caudate nucleus and the putamen with relative sparing of the globus pallidus and thalamus. A recent MRI (at age 13 years) reveals severe but stable atrophic changes of the gray and white matter of the supra and infratentorial brain, stable white matter changes of the putamen, caudate nucleus and periventricular white matter, Scattered diffusion restriction in the retrotrigonal white matter, compatible with active demyelination and atrophic changes of the optic nerves. Her seizures were treated with with Keppra, Lamictal, Zonegran and Onfi. She also receives carnitine. She continues to have brief episodes of whole body stiffening each week, but the family was also not very compliant with medications. He r current EEG shows slow background for age, poorly formed sleep spindles indicatvie of diffuse neuronal dysfunction, frequent multifocal interictal spike and wave suggests increased risk of seizures arising from multiple foci and hypsarrhythmia in sleep . She has failure to thrive despite G-tube feeding. At 12 years of age, G-tube was placed due to history of aspirations. Height, weight and head circumference below 5th centile. She is severely delayed. She is nonverbal and never learned to sit independently, stand or walk. She recognizes family members, responds to their voice and looks and smiles at them. Her fundoscopy shows mild optic atrophy. She has bilateral esotropia and dysconjugate gaze. She has poor head control and truncal hypotonia, but her limbs are spastic and her tendon reflexes are very brisk. Family 2 Patient V:1 was the first son of Caucasian consanguineous parents (IV:4 and IV:5) of Eastern European origin. Within the context of an organic acid and amino acid study in young and adult subjects with non-syndromic developmental delay and intellectual disability, he was investigated at the age of 17 years and presented with a developmental language disorder (involving semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic components of the linguistic system), emotional and communicative problems (fearful, aggressive, and loner), and hyperactivity. On neuropsychological testing he showed a short attention span. The child was born at term after an uneventful pregnancy and his birth weight was 2.9 kg. At 4 months of age he was affected by myoclonic jerks that were controlled by administration of valproic acid and lamotrigine. Developmental delay was observed starting from the middle of the first year of life, accompanied by decreased muscle tone. He could walk without support only at 6 years. At last medi cal exam, the patient showed a reduced muscle mass (height 148 cm, Z-score 3.43; weight 38 kg, Z-score 4.21; BMI 17.1 kg/m2, Z-score 2.02) and a head circumference of 51 cm (Z-score 2.76). Due to refusal of parents, no brain imaging studies could be performed. Fundoscopic examination was normal. Laboratory tests, including creatine phosphokinase (CPK), liver enzymes and plasma amino acids, were normal. The profile of urinary organic acids showed a large peak of 3-methylglutaconic acid (113 mmol/mol creatine) and a slightly increased level of 3-methylglutaric acid (17 mmol/mol creatinine). Patient V:3 was the younger brother of V:1, the third child of IV:4 and IV:5. He was investigated at the age of 11 years and presented with a clinical phenotype (developmental delay and intellectual and behavioral disorder) similar to that of his brother. The pregnancy and early postnatal course was unremarkable and birth weight was 3.1 kg. At 3 months he received valproic acid and lamotrigine to control tonic seizures with sudden stiffening movements of arms and legs. The boy walked independently at 4 years. When he was 9 years, his growing parameters were: height 119 cm (Z-score 2.47), weight 22 kg (Z-score 1.91), BMI 15.5 kg/m2 (Z-score 0.38), and head circumference 48 cm (Z-score 3.52). Neuropsychological exam revealed mental retardation and impaired communicative skills, including poor language abilities (few repetitive words with no sentences). Occasionally, the patient is aggressive. Ophthalmologic examination revealed left esotropia. High levels of 3-methylglutaconic acid (15 5 mmol/mol creatine) were identified in urine, together with smaller amounts of 3-methylglutaric acid (22 mmol/mol creatinine). Patient V:5 was the second son of consanguineous parents (IV:9 and IV:10) related to those of patients V:1 and V:3. The girl was delivered by cesarean section because of growth arrest at 37 week. The neonate showed no external malformations. Birth weight was 2.1 kg. In the following years, the clinical phenotype was characterized by delayed developmental milestones, nocturnal enuresis, severe cognitive impairment, speech retardation, and lack of communicative skills. Results of the electroencephalogram were normal. No brain imaging data are available. On a few occasions, levels of ammonia and lactic acid were found to be slightly elevated, but these results could not be confirmed by repeated blood analyses. Plasma levels of amino acids are within normal range. Fundoscopic examination was normal up to 7 years, but since then there is evidence of mild bilateral optic atrophy. Urine levels of of 3-methylglutaconic acid and 3-methylglutaric acid were 176 mmol/mol creatine and 29 mmol/mol creatinine, respectively. DISCUSSION Deleterious Nature of the TIMM50 gene alteration: TIMM50 NM_001001563 c.1114G>A p.G372S The p.G372S variant (also known as c.1114G>A), located in coding exon 9 of the TIMM50 gene, results from a G to A substitution at nucleotide position 1114. The glycine at codon 372 is replaced by serine, an amino acid with somewhat similar properties. The alteration is not observed in healthy cohorts: Based on data from the NHLBI Exome Sequencing Project (ESP), the TIMM50 c.1114G>A alteration was not observed among 6,503 individuals tested. Allele frequency data for this nucleotide position are not currently available from the 1000 Genomes Project and the alteration is not currently listed in the Database of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (dbSNP). Though some variants may appear to be rare due to database-specific ethnic underrepresentation, rare missense alleles commonly exhibit a deleterious effect on protein function (Kryukov, 2007; Tennessen, 2012). The altered amino acid is conserved throughout evolution: The G372 amino acid position is completely conserved in eukaryotes all th e way from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to humans (Mokranjac, 2003). The alteration is predicted deleterious by in silico models: The p.G372S alteration is predicted to be probably damaging and deleterious by PolyPhen and SIFT in silico analyses, respectively. The amino acid is located in a functionally important protein domain: The p.G372S alteration is located in the conserved C-terminal domain of the Tim50 protein that interacts with the N-terminal domain of the Tim23 protein in the inter membrane space and regulates mitochondrial protein import of presequence-containing polypeptides (Geissler, 2002; Yamamoto, 2002; Guo, 2004). The alteration cosegregated with disease in the family herein: Co-segregation analysis revealed that this alteration is present in a heterozygous form in the mother, father and brother, and absent in the sister. Based on the available evidence, the TIMM50 c.1114G>A (p.G372S) alteration is classified as a likely pathogenic mutation. The TIMM50 gene is not currently known to underlie Mendelian disease (aka clinically novel). The TIMM50 gene function is consistent with the probands clinical presentation: The Translocase of Inner Mitochondrial Membrane 50 (TIMM50) gene (OMIM: 607381) is located on human chromosome 19q13.2 and consists of 11 exons. It encodes the Tim50 protein, a 353 amino acid 40 kDA homolog of the yeast Tim50 protein that functions as an integral part of the mitochondrial Tim23 protein import machinery by linking protein translocation across the outer and inner mitochondrial membranes. This interaction was confirmed by the coprecipitation of Tim50 with an antibody against Tim23 (Geissler, 2002; Yamamoto, 2002; Guo, 2004). The authors further confirmed that the C-terminal domain of Tim50 is located in the inter-membrane space (IMS) where it stably binds to the segment of Tim23 that spans the IMS and regulates its function. Nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins are synthesized in the cytosol and subsequently imported into the mitochondria through the function of translocators, the TOM complex of the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM), and the Tim23 and Tim22 complexes of the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) (Jensen, 2002). While the Tim22 complex is involved in the transport and insertion of proteins lacking the presequence into the inner membrane, the Tim23 complex is required to process and insert presequence-containing precursor proteins. The IMM generates a proton motive force that is critical for cellular energy synthesis (Stock, 2000) and the permeability barrier of the IMM needs to be maintained during the transport of proteins through the pore-forming Tim23 protein associated with other IMM proteins such as Tim14 (human DNAJC19), Tim17, Tim21, Tim44 and Tim50. Using various yeast IMM protein mutants, Meinecke et al. (2006) demonstrated that tim17 and tim21 mutant mitochondria displayed membra ne potential values that were comparable to wild type mitochondria, whereas tim50 mutant mitochondria showed a drastic reduction of the membrane potential. Further functional studies revealed that the Tim23 channel is tightly regulated by Tim50 in its inactive state to maintain the IMM permeability barrier and is opened only when presequence-containing polypeptide chains need to be translocated into the mitochondrial matrix or the inter membrane space (IMS). Loss of Tim50 function in yeast led to cellular growth arrest and reduced cell viability (Mokranjac, 2003). Knockdown to Tim50 expression in cultured human cells using RNA mediated interference resulted in an increase in the release of cytochrome c and apoptosis in response to cell death stimuli (Guo, 2004). A 50 kDa isoform of the human mitochondrial TIM50, TIM50a, consisting of 456 amino acids has been found to localize in nuclear speckles, specifically in the Cajal bodies, and interact with small nuclear ribonuclear proteins (snRNPs), the coilin protein and the Survival of Motor Neurons (SMN) protein (Xu, 2005) which has been implicated in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). The protein sequences of the mitochondrial TIM50 and the nuclear TIM50a are identical with the exception of additional 103 amino acids at the N-terminal of TIM50a that are the result of an alternative translational start sequence. This additional N-terminal sequence in TIM50a is thought to contain a putative nuclear localization sequence that allows the Tim50a isoform to display a nucleus specific localization. Based on their results, Xu et al. hypothesized that Tim50a might be involved in the regulation of snRNP biogenesis and possibly the function of the nuclear SMN protein encoded by the SMN1 gene. One of our patien ts had mulsle biopsy. Although there were atrophic changes, no neuropthic pattern was seen. Reference List (1) Wortmann SB, Kluijtmans LA, Rodenburg RJ et al. 3-Methylglutaconic acidurialessons from 50 genes and 977 patients. J Inherit Metab Dis 2013;36:913-921. (2) Ikon N, Ryan RO. On the origin of 3-methylglutaconic acid in disorders of mitochondrial energy metabolism. J Inherit Metab Dis 2016;39:749-756. Legends Legend to Figure 1 Five-generations pedigree of the family with mild 3-methylglutaconic aciduria in which the TIMM50 p.(Ile293Thr) was identified. Subjects V:1, V:3, and V:5 (filled symbols) are patients suffering from intellectual disability and increased urinary excretion of 3-methylglutaconic acid. They are born to consanguineous parents and homozygous for the TIMM50 c.1011T>C mutation predicting the replacement of isoleucine 293 with threonine in the encoded protein. The mutation was inherited by a common ancestor (either I:1 or I:2) and has been identified in the heterozygous state in the clinically and biochemically unaffected subjects III:3, III:4, III:9, IV:2, IV:4; IV:5; IV:9, IV:10, and V:2.

Buddhism Essay examples -- Papers Religion India Essays Religious

Buddhism Works Cited Missing Buddhism is the religion of about one eighth of the world's people (Gaer 27). Buddhism is the name for a complex system of beliefs developed around the teachings of a single man. The Buddha, whose name was Siddhartha Gautama, lived 2,500 years ago in India. There are now dozens of different schools of Buddhist philosophy throughout Asia. These schools, or sects, have different writings and languages and have grown up in different cultures. There is no one single "Bible" of Buddhism, but all Buddhists share some basic beliefs. Buddhism is a Western word. The religion is known in the East as the Buddha-Dharma, or the teachings of the Buddha (Kelen 10). These teachings, based on his personal experience of Enlightenment, or Awakening, form the foundation of Buddhism. For every Buddhist the religion is both a discipline and a body of beliefs: that is, Buddhists share beliefs about the nature of the world and how to act within it. Budh in the Indian Sanskrit language means "to wake up, to know." Buddha means "the Awakened or Enlightened One," and all Buddhist teachings try to share the Buddha's experience of awakening to truth. Having led an â€Å"indulgent life as a young man,† (Stryk 15) Siddhartha Gautama decided to pursue â€Å"a course of bitter self-denialâ€Å"(Stryk 18). Yet he felt that this brought him no closer to the truth he sought than the rich life he had led. One day he felt close to reaching his truth, and he sat down under a tree now known as the Bo tree. There he attained the bliss and knowledge he had been seeking. Legend has it that, though tempted by evil demons, he sat quietly under the tree for 49 days. This became known as the Immovable Spot. Once Siddhartha Gautama was ... ... have achieved Nirvana, total bliss† (Kelen 90). He is shown as calm and loving, usually with a soft smile and radiant energy ( Kelen 93). Some scenes show the Buddha at key moments of his life, for example, sitting under the Bo tree. Others illustrate his teachings. There is a story that tells of the Buddha offering his body as food for a hungry mother tiger and her cubs because he felt that all life was sacred. This scene is a popular visual theme in the cave temples of China and Japan. Other Buddhist paintings illustrate the sacred writings, as stained glass windows were created to illustrate the Bible in many Christian churches. Since Buddhists believe that anyone can be on the path toward Enlightenment, these visual images of the Buddha along his own path are a helpful addition to the writings that people study. They make the texts more personal and inviting.

Not Your Grandfather’s Farm

Imagine a world where the food you ate was secretly replace with a factory created artificial replica. In this world the imitation food looks, smells and tastes like the original, sometimes even better. Most of this fake food including the meat was made up of only a few plant-based materials and a gang of chemicals. Also, imagine it would slowly kill you trough a range of horrible dieses. We currently live in this bizarre world. America's food industry is one of its deepest, darkest, best-kept secrets. When we think of a farm we picture scenes from Charlotte's Web. Not warehouses with ten thousand chickens, or dairy cows ankle-deep in ordure, huddled together under tin sheds in blistering heat. We picture the cows grazing on grass. Not eating formulas made of poultry waste and orange peels. The way food is produced is so over looked that it takes an outbreak of some sort to focus our eyes on problems beyond the grocery store shelves. Naturally, capitalism produces a natural pressure toward efficiency. In the meat industry this has led to the factory farm. Every effort is bent toward maximizing the output of meat and minimizing the cost. As a result, â€Å"The U. S. agricultural industry can now produce un- limited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices† (32). The food that factory farms produced is cheap in terms of monetary value. However, it comes at a high cost. The mass production of farm animals effects the environment, economy, and human health. Inevitably, intensive animal agriculture depletes valuable natural resources. Instead of being eaten by people, the vast majority of grain harvested in the U. S. is fed to farm animals. This wasteful and inefficient practice has forced agribusiness to exploit vast stretches of land. Forests, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems and wildlife habitats have been decimated and turned into crop and grazing land. Scarce fossil fuels, groundwater, and topsoil resources that took millenniums to develop are now disappearing. In addition, industrialized farms are threatening the well being of rural communities throughout the U. S. , and citizens are increasingly working to block their construction in order to prevent pollution and protect the quality of life. Family farms have been the core of agrarian culture for thousands of years, providing the opportunity to connect with the land and to live in tune with the seasons and the weather. Traditional farmers don't produce more than the carrying capacity of the land. They understand the condition of the soil and its ability to sustain various crops from season to season. They commonly produce and save their own seeds, a practice that has helped small farms maintain the integrity of crops, and allow hardier, diverse strains of plants to prosper. Contrasting this, industrial farms use a few strains of high yielding crops, an approach that threatens genetic diversity and often leads to chemical dependency. Short-term efficiency and profitability, rather than long-term sustainability drives the factory farming model. It externalizes costs, such as pollution clean up and health care services, onto others in the community. Neighbors of industrial operations have experienced health problems ranging from chronic asthma to neurological damage. Furthermore, the meat, poultry, dairy and egg industries employ technological short cuts to maximize production. Under these conditions, virulent pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics are emerging. These new super germs, whose evolution is traced directly to the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming, have the potential to cause yet unknown human suffering. Millions of Americans are infected, and thousands die every year from contaminated animal food products. Despite repeated warnings from consumer advocates, the United States Department of Agriculture's meat inspection system remains grossly inadequate, and consumers are now being told to expect animal products to be tainted. Meanwhile, the agribusiness industry, rather than advising consumers to curb their intake of animal products, has devised extreme measures of overcooking and antibiotics. This helps consumers avoid the dangers of animal products and maintain their gross over-consumption of meat and dairy In conclusion, it seems like some appalling conspiracy straight from the pages of a George Orwell novel. Yet factory farming is not plot to manipulate the masses. It's not only of our making, but it also made us. Cheap food accounts for American prosperity. We spend less of our annual incomes on food than any other nation. According to Walsh, â€Å"Americans spend less than 10% of their incomes on food† (33). There are various hazards that stem from our cost efficient food. Consequently, they are the price of the American way of life. Maybe they are telling us that it is time to change.

Paper Proposal Research

Paper Proposal Research Paper Proposal Research Paper Proposal Research: Think before Writing Writing of a paper proposal is the first step you should take before getting down to your paper project. You may wonder whether it is really necessary to write this paper proposal. Yes, it is! But it should be noticed that many students do not understand why they have to write any additional papers except their assignment paper. So, lets explain you the issue. Actually, you support your prospective paper project by writing a paper proposal. You should convince your audience that the topic your have chosen is actual. Besides, you should prove that it is not studied completely; that is why your investigation is worth making. Thus, you see that the success of your paper project depends on a paper proposal considerably. That is why you should think over your paper proposal well and make a kind of paper proposal research. That means that you should think over what points you will highlight in your paper proposal and in what way you will put them. Paper Proposal Research Writing Steps Speaking about the paper proposal research one can point out the following steps you should take to write a convincing paper proposal: Topic. It is obvious that any paper proposal research should begin with studying of the topic you are going to write your paper project on. What kind of study should it be? You should answer the following questions:What are the matter points of the topic? Is the chosen topic actual? Who investigated it before? Of course, you should also provide the background information in your paper proposal. So, you should study informational materials on the topic properly. Literature. You should review informational sources that your paper will be based on. State works of researchers who investigated the issue. This part of your paper proposal research should prove that, firstly, your project has the solid basis and, secondly, you have already studied some information on the topic. Research question. What ex actly are you going to study? You should determine a point of the topic that is the most interesting for you and state it in your paper proposal. Methodology. In what way are you going to make your investigation? You should determine what methods you will apply in your study. Forecasts. How can you catch the interest of your audience? Of course, by making some predictions. So, what results of your study do you expect? Giving some forecasts at the end of your paper proposal will make it intriguing. Paper Proposal Research: Get Help! Thus, these are the main steps of the paper proposal research that will help you write a good paper proposal. If you have any difficulties with your paper project proposal writing, you may look for help in any paper project proposal sample placed in the Internet or contact us! We guarantee you professional help!

Pancho Villa essays

Pancho Villa essays Doroteo Aranga learned to hate aristocratic Dons, who worked he and many other Mexicans like slaves, Doroteo Aranga also known as Pancho villa hated aristocratic because he made them work like animals all day long with little to eat. Even more so, he hated ignorance within the Mexican people that allowed such injustices. At the young age of fifteen, Aranga came home to find his mother trying to prevent the rape of his sister. Aranga shot the man and fled to the Sierra Madre for the next fifteen years, marking him as a fugitive for the first time. It was then that he changed his name from Doroteo Aranga to Francisco "Pancho" Villa, a man he greatly admired. Upon the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1911 against the Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz, Villa offered his services to the rebel leader Francisco I. Madero. During Maderos administration, he served under the Mexican general Victoriano Huerta, who sentenced him to death for insubordination. With his victories attracting attention in the United States, Villa escaped to the United States. President Woodrow Wilsons military advisor, General Scott, argued that the U.S. should support Pancho Villa, because he would become "the George Washington of Mexico." In August of 1914, General Pershing met Villa for the first time in El Paso, Texas and was impressed with his cooperative composure; Pancho Villa then came to the conclusion that the U.S. would acknowledge him as Mexicos leader. Following the assassination of Madero and the assumption of power by Huerta in 1913, he returned to join the opposition under the revolutionary Venustiano Carranza. Using "hit and run" tactics, he gained control of northern Mexico, including Mexico City. As a result, his powerful fighting force became "La Division Del Norte." The two men soon became enemies, however, and when Carranza seized power in 1914, Villa led the rebellion against him. By April of 1915, Villa had set ...

Invent a term that defines a personality type (such as soccer mom or Essay

Invent a term that defines a personality type (such as soccer mom or helicopter parent) - Essay Example It is based upon 2 different words -- a sponge and a kid. A sponge is a highly absorbent material that seems to keep on taking everything that is given to it without ever giving anything back. A kid is a child who is solely reliant in his parents for his existence. In the case of a Sponge Kid, I define that person to be over the age of 18, still living with his parents, without any regular source of income, and still receiving an allowance from his parents. Normally, an American child is considered to be capable of earning his own income and providing for his needs such as food and housing by the time that he or she turns the legal age of 18. There was a time when the children of that age automatically moved out because they went to college out of state and therefore had to fend for themselves. But times have gotten tougher for everyone and parents can no longer afford to help pay their child's tuition fee if the child opts to attend college out of state. In such situations, the now young adult child finds himself attending either a community college or a vocational school. He or she is no longer required to move out of the house due to the proximity of their parent's residence to their educational institution. Additionally. the money that the parents save on tuition fees trickles down to the child who now continues to receive an allowance from his parents. Giving the child the idea that he does not have to work nor help pay for the expenses around the house. Time was when a child could continue to live in his parent's house only if he agreed to pay some small token of rent at the very least upon turning 18. Parents no longer expect that of their kids these days because of the current economic climate in the country. I have a cousin who is now 21 and still jobless. As far as we all know, he had managed to complete a business degree at the local community college but he has yet to put his theoretical know-how to actual use. He still lives in the same house with his parents, in the same bedroom that he has occupied since the day that they brought him home from the hospital. Every time he is asked why he still does not have a job, he simply replies, â€Å"The economy just doesn't have any job to offer right now. It's not like I am not looking.† Not that he is to blame for his situation. His parents have not helped him become a more mature and responsible individual by their actions either. They have cuddled him and provided for all his needs without question. They claim to understand that he needs time to â€Å"get his groove† and â€Å"find that perfect job†. By supporting all his needs from a bed to sleep on, to the money in his pocket, they have helped create the perfect sponge child. A child who takes and takes from his parents without ever feeling the need to provide for himself nor reciprocate the act of kindness and financial help that his parents extend towards him because they â€Å"understand his situationâ₠¬ . A Sponge Kid is not to be confused with a Boomerang kid who actually leaves his parents home but finds himself returning to the family home due to certain financial difficulties. Boomerang Kids actually have lives independent of their parents and some of them, like in the case of my sibling, return home to save on money but actually contribute financially to the household in whatever capacity they can. In other words,

Psycho (the movie) Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Alfred Hitchcock's Contribution To Cinema - Essay Example Aristotle, in the Poetics, while attempted to provide definition of tragedy, provided a great deal of emphasis over purgation of â€Å"pity† and â€Å"fear† and as a tragedy effectively provides an emotional outlet to such human sensibilities, is also capable of attaining appreciation of the audience: â€Å"Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious and complete, and which has some greatness about it. It imitates in words with pleasant accompaniments, each type belonging separately to the different parts of the work. It imitates people performing actions and does not rely on narration. It achieves, through pity and fear, the catharsis of these sorts of feelings† (Aristotle; Cited in Shields 385). Despite the fact that context of the topic of discussion does not really provide sufficient scope to evaluate that how successful the movie Psycho (1960) is as a tragedy, however, relevance of this definition seems quite evident as explicit evidence can be cited, indicating the fact that behind development of a successful commercial film, Hitchcock has relied considerably on the features of purgation as well as providing attention over psychological state of the audience, as pointed out in the classical definition itself. It would be wrong if the success of the Psycho is evaluated entirely from the commercial perspective. The director, in an interview though, has admitted that the film was made on a budget of â€Å"eight hundred thousand dollars† and till the date of interview â€Å"it has grossed some fifteen million dollars† (Hitchcock; Kolker 21), however, it cannot be denied that in order to attain such a great success from artistic, aesthetic and commercial perspective the directorial ingeniousness regarding the art of filmmaking and perceiving audience’s psychology played a very vital part.