Bullying in the Elementry School Essay

Every day we face situations that affect our diary to live. The children have a beautiful daily beginning, until they come to their school environment. There they found truly friends, but also children who damage them. The school harassment or â€Å"bullying† is a social problem that affects the majority of the children in our country and the world. The school harassment is the intimidation that a child creates, with power or force and aggression on one or more children to call the attention or simply to avoid to be one more. The â€Å"bullying† since better it is known refers to any act of physical or verbal aggression that it realizes one or more children against his homonyms. At the global level there is a phenomenon that affects the education of children and young people. This is manifested within the centers of education and has been for decades a serious problem that can bring repercussions to the students. Garcia (2011) indicates that the bullying cause serious damage to the mental and physical health in the people involved. It is inferred that the bullying is a problem, to the extent that we see as the students identify to this as an evil that harm permanently or part. Another reason is that it breaks with the expectations of society, which searches for a good school environment and therefore, it becomes an antisocial behavior reprehensible. To learn this behavior we must begin with the main participant, the aggressor. The aggressor is usually mostly feel need to dominate, are impulsive, show little empathy and are presented as people physically stronger. Olweus (1980) reaffirmed that it is natural to assume that they have developed a certain degree of hostility toward the environment, such feelings and impulses can make injure or harm to others causing them satisfaction. The aggressors may be people who work, study or provide services within the school and its grounds. We emphasize that the aggressor is not only the student but that involves other people. The spectator is an indirect aggressor, which according to Trautmann (2008), is the hearing of the aggressor and in which the aggressor is stimulated or inhibited by them. Any type of attacker can reach express violence with direct contact, psychological, emotional and the use of technology. These, the aggressor and the spectator or cooperator assault to another person, the victim, which suffers from all the aggressions. Galvez (2008), mentions that the victims usually are children that do not have the resources or skills to react, are little sociable, sensitive and fragile. Children who suffer from bullying are rejected by the other students and live in constant search of acceptance. These behaviors can have serious consequences for the physical and mental health of the victim permanently or part. From the right to education, physical, mental and the life, is that I am looking for studying this phenomenon as a social problem so that, identify their mode of operation, how to treat it and prevent it. Bullying The term bullying (Olweus, 1978) is now common in the literature on the topic of bullying among schoolchildren, to refer the situation of sustained violence, mental or physical, guided by an individual or by a group, directed at another individual in the group, who cannot defend themselves. The problem, being a new phenomenon, if it adopts new dimensions and it is worrying that our industrialized society that seems to have reached a certain level of welfare, employment of abuse and violence in school environments, paradoxically being detected ever so more alarmingly early age. The analysis of the problem offers some things to consider. It can be verbal, physical or psychosocial. Sometimes presents socially acceptable ways such as competitiveness academic, sports, social success, which in itself makes others feel inferior. It is necessarily repetitive behavior and causes pain at the time of the attack and sustained, to create an expectation on the victim of being white future attacks it is characterized by the dominance of the powerful over the weak in any context. The dynamic character bullying is â€Å"expansive† since its inception; a specific episode of abuse happens to be an assiduous dynamics of exclusion, violence and impaired socialization. It comes as a group phenomenon, from the moment that requires the support of the group and therefore, must be within the network of relationships that it is generated. Ramirez (2002) mentions that bullying is usually violent events among students and on occasion, there have been reports of violence by individuals outside the classroom to students. They identify certain behaviors as other forms of violence that affect the relationship between students and teachers, such as absenteeism, lack of participation and punctuality. It should be noted that in many of the cases, a student’s absences constant victim of harassment are to avoid being attacked, mocked at school and choose not to go to the classroom. Being one of the most common characteristics a victim of bullying. Areas affected by bullying Professor Dan Olweus was initiated investigations on the subject of bullying. At the beginning of 1970, Olweus began their investigations within schools in Norway, presenting a problem about assaults on persons; it is noteworthy that the institution had no interest on the subject. It was not until the 1980s that three young people between 10 and 14 years old committed suicide as a result of the activity of aggression upon them by their peers, thus arousing the attention of educational institutions on the problem. Education it is essential for the progress of a person and the country, also that it is a constitutional right. This phenomenon happens in all centers of education and in all its facets. Obviously affect the education of students to large scale and their mental, physical and emotional health. Because of this, it is vital that you consider this phenomenon as a problem and identify ways to treat it and prevent it. To achieve this, we must attack its root, which is located within the school facilities. It is important to study the bullying at the family level, since education starts at home, teaching behaviors to avoid that children create behavior hostile or conversely, too quiet. Also of utmost importance that the family is in constant orientation in order to keep your children from bullying and be able to identify when they are victims of this. Rodrigo (2004) says that family relations continue to be a relevant element in the analysis of behavior and lifestyle of the teenager. Aviles (2002) indicates that both the structural aspects of the educational institution and its dynamics are very important in explaining and, above all, prevent abuses among equals at the school. Polanin (2012) suggests that researchers and administrators of the school should consider the implementation of programs that focus on the supplementary behavior of transient bullying intervention and prevention programs. Cepeda, Pacheco, Garcia and Piraquive (2008), indicate that to learn if there is bullying, we must recognize that there is a relationship of power, power-submission, by one or more assailants on the victim and if the aggression has been consecutively. Attacks could be physical with some degree of aggression or psychological. Salmivalli (1999), comments that the aggressor is classified into two types, the predominantly dominant with antisocial tendency and the antisocial predominantly related to a low self-esteem. Recent research Del Prado (2011) notes that there has always been bullying and that many of the victims are marked for life. He mentions that according to statistics, 12 out of 100 students suffer bullying by peers. It indicates that victims choose to suffer isolation and a terrible fear of going back to school, clinging to silence as his only witness. Also infers that contrary to myth, the aggressor is not always bigger and stronger. This can be any child with low self-esteem need to get attention from their peers. He advises that we must ensure that the victim signals show how, insulation, etc. depressive symptoms. It concludes that a good interaction of the institution and parents is crucial in preventing this phenomenon, but that happened is the responsibility of the school. Traulsen (2011) this has been a drastic change of bullying. One of the new ways is cyber bullying, which is committed to social networks or technological means. Indicates that bullying can occur because of race, color, religion, sexual preference etc†¦ The victim did not reach the necessary maturity, fails to adequately address this situation. It is difficult for parents to detect that your child is being targeted because they tend to isolate themselves and hide the facts. For this family, school and government are essential to help combat this evil. The author infers that it is time to take drastic action against this phenomenon that is often taken for granted, so that in this way we ensure viable and proper education. Martinez (2005) investigated bullying and specific problems or patterns that occur in schools. The author conducted a review of the main conflicts of bullying, with the purpose of investigating and detecting possible solutions. We mentioned some factors that influence antisocial behavior as social inequality, the media, the motivation of the student and others. Refer some of antisocial behaviors that arise in the school as classroom disruption, indiscipline, vandalism, physical violence, psychological, social and in some cases, sexual assault. The conclusion is that using any direct remedy to remedy the phenomenon, beyond programs and techniques will be effective in resolving this conflict. Barcelo (2011) indicates that violence in the family learned and interactions with the environment influence bullying. He reports that for us to understand this phenomenon, teachers need to see this phenomenon as one of violence. Defines bullying as a type of violence where there are three participants who consist of the offender, victim and the spectators. The stalker uses different types of techniques from physical, verbal, psychological, social and racial harassment. As a result, the victim feels isolated and sometimes even can lead to dropout, suicide or retaliate against the aggressor to death. From here you have the need to intervene with this phenomenon and use punitive methods to the aggressor. And finally work with the victim, improving self-esteem and school environment. Teresa (2010) indicates that in the phenomenon of bullying are direct and indirect aggressors. Live is one who commits indirect aggression and has been the viewer. Mostly the harasser is narcissistic and needs of people who support or encourage them to commit their acts. Here is where the participation of the viewer aggressor, who plays a double role. On the one hand supports the harasser but the other is solidarity with the victim. This becomes a stalker and manipulator. Mention other accomplice’s classification called conscious or unconscious, the first known his actions and still participates. The second is usually a person close to the stalker who acts without realizing the facts. Study concludes that there are certain to classify accurately, what kinds of people are bullies. What if it could be located, is that bullies mostly come from the upper class. Methods to assess bullying Arzoz (2011) in his Thesis Analysis of the Situation and Proposed Intervention in an Education Center recommends an evaluation of intervention programs and techniques carried out in schools about bullying. He argues that it should take an individualized program in each school that meets the needs of them and take into account existing features. He points out that there is a shortage of technical or individualized treatments with students. Refers to the method of questionnaire on campuses is a good tool to detect bullying and work on time or remedy in cases where necessary. On the other hand emphasizes the validity of the method Pikas and teaching social skills as a factor in prevention. The author concludes that having prevention programs, we would reduce the phenomenon in question. Garcia (2011) states that as bullying phenomenon. This postulates that the lack of values, economics, drugs, among others, may be determining factors for violence in the perpetrator arises. Also emphasizes the serious damage this phenomenon generated on both sides: bully-victim, and that the best strategy is prevention. For this, we have developed a program that is based on parameter to the prevention and students involved in bullying. Within the prevention distinguishes three lines starring: education in emotions, feelings and values in cooperative group work and democratic management of coexistence. In the situation of students involved have proposed six programs which are: a) conflict resolution, b) peer support, c) quality circles d) development programs empathy, e) and f assertiveness programs ) the Pikas method. Emphasizes that despite the myths no spend this very worrying phenomenon that prevails in all schools at all levels.

Leaders in the States’ Rights Debate Essay

John Caldwell Calhoun was born the 4th child, and 3rd son, of Patrick and Martha Calhoun on March 18, 1782 in the backwoods of Abbeville, South Carolina. His father got really sick when he was just 17 years old. He was forced to quit school and work on the family farm. Eventually though with help from his brothers, he returned to school. He graduated with a degree from Yale College, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1804. After studying law at the Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut, he was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1807. Calhoun married Floride Bonneau Calhoun, a first cousin once removed in January 1811. They had 16 children in 18 years. Three of the children died at birth. He settled his family in Pendleton, South Carolina, on a plantation that they named Fort Hill. He split his attention between his 3 loves politics, farming, and family. Although he did not have much, if any at all, charisma or charm, Calhoun was brilliant at public speaking and kept everything very organized, and after his election to Congress in 1808 he immediately became a leader of the â€Å"war hawks. † He became a State Representative in 1808 and in 1811 was elected United States Representative until 1817. From there he served as Secretary of War for President Monroe until 1825. Things heated up in the early 1830s over federal tariffs: Calhoun said that states could veto federal laws, earning him the nickname of â€Å"Arch Nullifier,† and Jackson threatened to use the army if South Carolina forced the issue. Calhoun than resigned as Jackson’s vice president, this was in 1832. He than became a U. S. senator, then briefly served as Secretary of State under President Tyler from 1844-1849. Finally he served in the Senate again until his death in 1850. Henry Clay was born to the Reverend John and Elizabeth Hudson Clay on April 12, 1777. He was the 7th of 9 children for his proud parents. He was born and raised in a half frame, 2 story house at the Clay homestead in Hanover County, Virginia. This was well above average home for a Virginia farmer of that time. His father, whom they called â€Å"Sir John† was a Baptist minister. He died four years after Henry was born. He left all the boys two slaves each and gave his wife eighteen slaves and 464 acres of land. It was not long before she married Capt. Henry Watkins, who loved his stepchildren like they were his own. Watkins packed up his family and moved them all to Richmond, Virginia. He and Elizabeth had seven children to add to the nine she had already her 1st husband John Clay. Henry soon was hired as a shop assistant in Richmond. His stepfather got Clay a guaranteed in the office of the Court of Chancery where he showed he had a good hand for the law. He made a friend by the name of George Wythe who had a bad hand. He hired Clay to be his secretary because of his neat handwriting. The chancellor decided Clay had a future and arranged a position for him with the Virginia attorney general Robert Brooke. Clay ended up in studies at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, studying under George Wythe. He received a formal legal education. Clay prepared for the bar, and was admitted in 1797. In 1803 Clay was elected to be the representative of Fayette County in the Kentucky General Assembly. Clay’s influence in Kentucky state politics was awesome enough that he elected by the Kentucky legislature into the Senate seat. He was elected the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1807. Than in 1810, United States Senator Buckner Thruston resigned and Clay was again appointed to fill his seat. He was in favor of strong state rights and very much against slavery but did want to save the union. Hence The Missouri Compromise. Robert Young Hayne was born on a rice plantation in St. Paul’s Parish, Colleton District, South Carolina on November 10, 1791. He studied at the Law Office of Langdon Cheves in Charleston, South Carolina. He was a respected American attorney, political leader, and spokesman for the South. In November 1812 he was admitted to the bar. He soon had his own large practice. During the War of 1812 against Great Britain, he was captain in the Third South Carolina Regiment. But that did not last very long. He was also a member of the South Carolina state legislature from 1814 to 1818. He served as Speaker of the House in the later year. He was the South Carolina attorney-general from 1818 to 1822. Than in 1823 was elected to the United States Senate. He was a Democrat. His first wife, Frances Henrietta Pinckney, passed away in 1820. After that he married Rebecca Brewton Alston, daughter of William Alston. Her father gave her a lot on lower King Street. Haynes built them a house on that lot. It remained in the family until 1863. Haynes is best remembered for his debate with Daniel Webster, where he set forth a doctrine of nullification. This said that by the power of the State itself, that the federal Tariff of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and herefore null and void within the boundaries of South Carolina. He was completely against the Tariff of 1832 He was a member of the South Carolina Nullification Convention of November 1832, and reported that the nullification passed by that body on the November 24. After resigning from the Senate in 1832, he was Governor of South Carolina from December 1832 to December 1 834, and while in that position took a strong stand against President Andrew Jackson, though he was more conservative than many of the other people against it in his state. He was later president of the Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Railway from 1837 to 1839. Robert Young Hayne died in Asheville, North Carolina on September 24, 1839. His nephew, Paul Hamilton Hayne, was a poet who in 1878 published a book on the life of Senator Hayne. Andrew Jackson was born to Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson on March 15, 1767. This was only two years after they had emigrated from Ireland. He was born in the Waxhaws region. It is on the border of North and South Carolina. Jackson had two older brothers, Hugh and Robert. Their father died in an accident in February 1767, at the age of 29, three weeks before Jackson was born. The house that Jackson’s parents lived in is now preserved as the Andrew Jackson Centre and is open to the public. Jackson had a poor education in the local schools. At only 13 he joined a local militia as a courier during the American Revolutionary War. His oldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion during the Battle of Stono Ferry, on June 20, 1779. They other 2 boys were kidnapped by the British and held as prisoners. They were not given much food while locked away. Jackson refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the man slashed at the youth with a sword, giving him scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. They also got smallpox while being held. Their mother secured their freedom and Robert died just a few days later on April 27, 1781. His mother died from smallpox in November 1781. Jackson was left all alone at only 14. His entire immediate family had died from hardships during the war; he blamed the British. In 1781, Jackson worked for a time in a saddle-maker’s shop. Later, he taught school and studied law in Salisbury, North Carolina. In 1787, he was admitted to the bar, and moved to Jonesborough, North Carolina. Though his legal education was not the best, he knew enough to be a country lawyer on the frontier. Because he was not from a distinguished family, he had to prove himself. It didn’t take long before he prospered in the law world. He was a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood Jackson was elected its U. S. Representative. In 1797, he was elected U. S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican. He resigned in less than a year. He served a judge in the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798-1808. When he was elected president in 1829, and again in 1832, he was the very first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Daniel Webster was born to Ebenezer and Abigail Webster on January 18, 1782 in Salisbury, New Hampshire. Him and his 9 other brothers a sisters were raised on his families farm, just a small piece of land belonging to his father. Daniel was not a healthy kid. Because of this his family tended to baby him. He was not made to do any farm work. He went to school at Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. After high school he attended Dartmouth College. After he graduated from Dartmouth he was apprenticed to the lawyer Thomas W. Thompson. Because of lack of money at home, Webster was forced to resign and become a schoolmaster. This was very common back than. In 1802 he became the headmaster of the Fryeburg Academy, Maine, for only one year. After this he left New Hampshire and got employment in Boston under the very well known attorney Christopher Gore in 1804. In 1805 Webster was accepted into the bar and returned to New Hampshire to set up a practice in Boscawen. Webster took an interest in politics. In 1813 he became a member of the U. S. House of Representatives of New Hampshire, where he served until 1817. He was the 14th US Secretary of State from 1841-1843. Afterwards he became a member of the U. S. House of Representatives of Massachusetts from 1823-1827. In 1845 he was elected Massachusetts United States Senator till 1850. Than he became the 19th U. S. Secretary of State from 1850-1852. Webster favored the union and federalism. He represented at least four clients against states’ interests before the US Supreme Court – and won every case.

A Review On A Movie Carpool

A Review On A Movie Carpool â€Å"Carpool† begins with a man rushing to get ready for an important business meeting. His wife asks him to drive their children to school after picking up the others in their carpool. He grudgingly does so, and the first crime of the movie occurs shortly afterwards at only eight minutes in. We see one of the man’s neighbors, an old man, gardening, and as they drive by we can see he is only wearing a shirt. It is noted by the main character that his neighbor is an elderly man who is forgetful, and we can ascertain that the man is likely suffering from some form of dementia or something similar. However, nearly all states their own variation of indecent exposure laws (with the exception of Vermont), which their neighbor has clearly violated. It is, however, extremely unlikely that this would lead to a conviction, as it would be hard to prove that the old man was not simply forgetful or confused. It is also mentioned in the movie that the neighbor had survived three str okes; this would almost certainly free him from any criminal liability in the matter. As the movie progresses, the man has picked up three of the children and is still driving to the school, but is frustrated at their complaining, as they are hungry. He decides to stop at a bakery to buy food for them so that they will be quiet during the rest of the trip. However, when he attempts to pay for the food, at nineteen minutes in, two armed gunmen enter with handguns and rob the bakery. Armed robbery of any establishment – be it a bank, or a bakery – is a very serious offense that typically, for a first time offender, results in at least five to ten years in prison. If these men were to be caught it would almost certainly result in a conviction as any crime that involves deadly weapons is taken very seriously. It is likely that they would face charges of robbery and also charges for weapons possession. In the moments following the robbery, there is some confusion, as multiple shoppers in the bakery pull out weapons on the robbers. A police officer enters, and points his gun at one of the shoppers that appears to be an armed robber, telling him to drop his weapon. He acts belligerently, first pointing his handgun at the officer, and then pointing it at the main character, and then taking him as a hostage and stealing his car – all with the money from the robbery. There are a multitude of charges that could follow the beginning of these actions, ranging from the more minor misuse of a firearm to the more major assault or attempted assault with a deadly weapon. He would also face some sort of robbery charge for taking off with the money. A Chicago man named Charles Lemle allegedly pointed a gun at police officers on New Year ’s Day in 2014 and received three counts of aggravated assault towards a police officer. Pointing a gun at a police officer is a very serious crime that would certainly lead to a prosecution and a felony charge. The taking of a hostage would likely result in kidnapping or a lesser but similar charge, and the theft of the automobile would simply tack on to the multitude of charges. It is revealed to the hostage-taker shortly after he has driven the car that there are children in it (5 kids), and it would be likely that a kidnapping charge would be added for each of them. All in all this man would be facing a very lengthy prison term. At about 30 minutes into the film the two original robbers head to the house of the man that left with the money from the bakery. At the bakery, they had stolen his wallet and thusly found his address, which they headed to. After finding the house, they break in, only to be greeted by an angry woman that kicks them out of her house. For entering the home without being allowed to, they would face a breaking-and-entering charge, or even a burglary charge. This would largely depend on whether or not the lady called the police and decided to press charges. At this point in the movie the man that took off from the bakery with the money from the robbery, took hostages, and stole a car, is evading the police in a series of car chases in the stolen car. Some of these chases end with the pursuing police crashing, which could easily lead to him being liable for their death or injury. He would, at the very least, certainly face a charge for evading police if caught. As he continues to evade the police he eventually manages to get the car inside of a shopping mall. It is illegal to drive a car inside a shopping mall, and doing so would result in some sort of reckless driving / public disturbance charge. The officers arrive at the shopping mall to find that the suspect has been stopped by a meter maid that has been pursuing the suspect for a parking violation. She’s holding him at gunpoint with a deadly weapon. The officer that was at the bakery steps in and tells her that he’s got it covered, when she points the weapon at him and tells him to back off. In this case, she’s committing the same crime that was committed earlier in the bakery; that is; pointing a deadly weapon at an officer. This could easily lead to an assault charge against her. The likelihood of this happening, however, is not high, as she doesn’t appear to be trying very hard to coerce the police officer. A crime is committed by her, but it’s not very obvious, and the police officer being threatened doesn’t look very threatened. But while this is happening, the main character of the film begins fleeing in the car in the hopes of still being able to make it to his business meeting. He commits the same crime of driving through the shopping mall – the first crime he commits in the movie – but, while doing so, he endangers the lives of many shoppers as he dodges and swerves around them in the car. This could incur an assault with a motor vehicle charge, or even a mayhem charge against him, both of which would make him a felon. But as he is doing this, he decides to exit the shopping mall by driving through a glass fixture on the second floor. He destroys it with the car, which is also against the law, as this is destruction of property. The severity of this charge would likely depend on the dollar figure placed on the damage. It would be extremely likely that the main character would face prosecution for these acts because he could have simply stayed in the car, but instead chose to drive off with it. It is important to note that the hostage-taker the police have been chasing over the course of the movie manages to get back in the car, effectively making the main character now an accomplice, as he gets his kidnapper out of the hands of the police as a getaway driver. For this, he would face charges of aiding a criminal, and almost certainly a charge for impeding the police. The main character of the film drops Franklin (the hostage-taker) off where he wanted to go. So far, he has made a conscious decision to help Franklin; he has certainly aided him in not only evading the police but also in getting across town. This would incur very serious charges and likely leave both of them as felons. But, at this point, the very first robbers in the movie return to get their money from Franklin, brandishing guns and effectively robbing him. Again, armed robbery – twice in one day. However, a melee breaks out between all four characters, and the two robbers are subdued. They would likely face robbery and other related charges for this – it’s still illegal to rob thieves, after all. That is the last crime committed in the movie, and, judging from the severity and frequency of the crimes, all the adults that broke the law in the movie would be serving very extensive prison terms.

Analyse the critical HR actions multinational corporations should take Essay

Analyse the critical HR actions multinational corporations should take to facilitate expatriate adjustmen - Essay Example Whenever a company grows from national to multinational (MNC) to global it has to face new challenges such as organizational culture, workforce diversity, expatriates etc. These issues are unavoidable, inevitable in fact they need to be welcomed and handled properly and effectively for the overall growth and benefit of the company. This paper aims at exploring who exactly are expatriates? Are they really unavoidable and irreplaceable with the local talent? What difficulties expatriates face in acclimatizing and proving their worth? What are the chances of success? How enticing and lucrative it is to take expatriate assignment? Do the benefits outweigh the difficulties? Do only expatriates need adjustment or their fellow local colleagues as well? Why many multinational companies opt for Expatriates instead of hiring new staff in the foreign country? What steps the HR department can take in order to help facilitate the expats adjustment to the new culture, country and way of life. What is the role and responsibilities of HR in making this adjustment as quick efficient and effective as possible? It also includes a study of expatriate cycle which typically includes selection, assignment and repatriation, remuneration and evaluation of their success and failure. Expatriates why are they needed? Whenever a company decides to operate in foreign lands some very obvious differences arise between domestic HRM and International HRM. One very important aspect of international HRM is moving staff across national boundaries with international assignments in various roles to firm’s foreign operations. Such foreign employees are called expatriates. An expatriate can be defined as a individual residing and working momentarily in a country other than their resident nation, employees who have been shifted out of their home base into some other area of firm’s foreign operations. There are three categories of employees in international firms: Host country nationals (H CNs) Parent country nationals (PCNs) Third country nationals (TCNs) PCNs are always expatriates and TCNs are also expatriates but HCNs can become expatriates if they are transferred into parent company operations outside their home country. 1(Peter J 2008) International Assignment creates expatriates HCNs HCNs National border PCNs PCNs TCNs National border The need for expatriates is not questionable for most of the MNE’s . Expatriate have the required technical skill, knowledge and expertise to supervise, assist and monitor local operations. Most of the negativity associated with expatriates is because of the high cost involved. Still most of the MNE’s believe in the cadre of high performance expatriates and are in search of people who are ready for an international business career. What they need to do is to motivate these people to perform well and while capitalizing on their skills improve their outlook and prepare them for their foreign assignment. 2(Daniels, 2007 ) Foreign assignments can be beneficial both for the person and the company. For the individual the following benefits can be seen. 3(K. Aswathappa, 2008) Increased experience of working with different cultures, personnel and work / life styles, this will make the employee more marketable and will improve his outlook. The expatriate is most likely to benefit from tax reductions. Most organizations offer their employees an expat package which

Entrepreneur Start up Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Entrepreneur Start up Process - Essay Example ation and research. It identifies you to your customers and allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors. When starting to look for a business name, business owners needs to firstly identify the business type if it is a product or service etc. Then they start to search for business name and narrow the search by making a list of the best names and sharing the list with others. Before selecting a name the owner should consider the following factors: Choose a name that has meaning for your target market Use a descriptive name to advertise your product or service Try not to have the name be restrictive Think about how the name looks Plan for all uses of your business name After that check the availability of the name in Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) website and if it isavailably start the registration process by registering your business name with Australian Taxation office (ATO). Then go to the Office of Fair Trading or visit their website to fill i n the application of registering a business name. The business name should be memorable, available, and allows your company to grow. Please note: â€Å"When setting up your business, if you choose to operate as a sole trader, partnership or a trust, and not as a company, then you will have to register your business name in the state or territory in which you’ll operate. If your business name includes your or your partner’s, first name and surname, then you don’t need to register your business name.† Choosing a Business Location Figure 3: Business Location The right location can be critical to the success of your business and poor decisions are usually difficult and expensive to overcome. Therefore, after deciding what type of business you’re going to run, who’s your business trying to target and what is your business trying to target such as companies, universities. After evaluating the business type, audience, and market target, you can sta rt searching for business locations. However, your most important consideration in choosing a location is your ability to satisfy your target market. Market: Market information is a key for a business success. If an owner is unaware of the customer choice, taste, market trends, market approaches, and customer management skills, the business would not be able to generate sufficient or required volume of sale and would be losing its customer base in the long run. Competitors: The information of competitors and their business strategies are highly critical for business success. By knowing the market policies and discount offers provided by the competitors to the customers, the owners of the business become

Tax Refund for Nonresident Aliens Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Tax Refund for Nonresident Aliens - Case Study Example Very few are aware that they are overpaying the taxes. Credits and deductions that they are eligible for either under a bipartite international treaty or under US laws are not being properly utilized. The main reason is their limited understanding regarding US tax laws and secondly, many of them do not file the returns. No filing of the returns means no possibility of any refunds. The endeavour has been to understand these complexities, which has piled up unclaimed overpaid taxes with IRS. It would be appropriate to note that in view of the vastness of the subject effort has been put toward depicting the main issues in a generalized way rather than any specifics to the issue involved. Dates of Co-op Assignment: August 30 -December 9, 2010 On interaction with many non-resident aliens, I came to know that many of them were not very clear on the various tax-related matter, on personal income taxes. They belonged to the varied nationalities. They were not aware of some important US tax requirements. At times, they do not file tax returns or filed them incorrectly, which results in a lot of overpaid tax and the substantial amount goes unclaimed in the refund. †¢ Those people who have come under non-resident visa (J, F, Q or M category) in the US they are statutorily required to file a 1040NR Tax Return in physical form. These are known as US non-resident income tax return. They cannot file e-return or online returns. H1B visa falls in the category of non-immigrant visa. If H1B visa holder is recognized as Resident alien then he is required to file the tax return like any other US citizen, otherwise, they are required to file 1040NR tax return form only. It has been found that most nonresidents miss to file a return or file it incorrectly. It has been further noted that there is a large amount of unclaimed taxes by nonresidents who refrain from filing tax returns. They are under the impression that since the employer has withheld tax amount their obligations are over and they are not aware that they have paid more than what is required by the law.  Ã‚  

The Suicide of Willy Loman Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Suicide of Willy Loman - Research Paper Example As an elderly male, he fits into a category that has a lot of suicidal cases. Willy reveals that he has lost his purpose and has placed his hopes on his sons, meaning his life should be ended so that the insurance money gives them a chance. Willy Loman takes his life because he is depressed, he has lost his job and his hope for his own future, and believes that in ending his life he is giving his sons a future through the life insurance company. According to Cafferty and Lerner, â€Å"When we meet Willy at the beginning of the play, he is worn-out, sad, and confused† (90). Willy has gone through a series of events that have made him feel like he is out of options. He has always seen his life as it should have been, rather than as it has been, and regrets what he could not accomplish, while also blaming everyone else for the reasons that he never achieved what he felt he should have achieved. It seems that Willy has always been sad and frustrated. He envies others and is never happy with his own life. Something as simple as the refrigerator that his neighbor owns brings him a great deal of unhappiness, as he feels his own one does not equal that level of quality he expects. He says, â€Å"I told you we should’ve bought a well-advertised machine. Charley bought a General Electric and it’s twenty years old, and it’s still good, that son of a bitch† (Miller 56-57). ... Biff says, â€Å"I’m thirty-four years old, I oughta be makin’ my future. That’s when I come running home. And now, I get here and I don’t know what to do with myself. [after a pause] I’ve always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here I know that all I’ve done is waste my life† (Miller and Sterling 52). Cafferty and Lerner state that â€Å"The sons, Biff and Happy, inherit their fathers worst qualities, the various tensions between them leave plenty of scope for all sorts of analysis†, which is evident in this statement by Biff. Biff cannot be satisfied by his work because he reflects the expectations that Loman has about making money (82). Because Biff witnessed his father having an affair while he was still in high school, the way he idolized his father was shattered, leaving him adrift in the world and picking up on the worst of Willy’s sense of failure. According to Gale, â€Å"The betra yal resonated with Biff his whole life and created a sense of distrust between father and son†. This distrust deflated Biff’s sense of self, as he had framed his life through Willy’s beliefs. When he saw his father as imperfect, those beliefs dissolved. He became the part of Willy that could not find the key to success. Willy has aged past his dreams now, his depression is a common problem amongst older adults, as he has past the point of being able to chase most of his dreams. He now looks towards his sons to carry on his hopes. By killing himself, he believes to support their futures. Scogin states that â€Å"Older adults have the highest rates of suicide of any age group, and this is particularly pronounced among men". Willy represents some of the reasons for the sense of

SAPP week 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SAPP week 2 - Assignment Example Dennis accepts the gift to show he appreciates the understanding. On the next scene, Dennis is waiting in the rain for David (Cusack), the man with the UV protection. It is evident that Dennis has started to like Cusack. Later, Cusack gives Dennis a second visit where he brings him a pair of antiglare glasses. He explains that the glasses helps cut down the glare in Dennis’ ongoing battle with the sun. Dennis is delightful of the gift. The next scene shows Cusack and Dennis playing with a ball where Dennis is still in the box but not fully covered as usual. Cusack throws the ball at a short distance such that Dennis has to get out of the box to reach out for the ball (Boy In a Box, 2010). Cusack uses an understanding form of communication, where he takes in what Dennis tells him as if he knows what he means. He doesn’t disapprove what Dennis claims even if it is not true or real. Cusack uses empathic communication to bond with Dennis, showing him how much he understand what he goes through. He uses the gifts to show empathy to Dennis. Also, his facial expressions while talking with Dennis shows a deep understanding and concern. For example, when Dennis gets out of the box for the first time, he shows a delightful facial expression to show how happy he is to see Dennis. In the article ‘the juggler’s brain,’ Carr explains the main benefits and drawbacks of using the internet. He mainly focuses on the disadvantages rather than the benefits. The internet provides us with instant access to a wide library of information; it enables the ease of sorting through the libraries to get what we are searching for or similar to it. However, it also diminishes our ability to learn in depth, subjects for ourselves, to develop within our thoughts (Carr, 2010). First, I understand that reading hypertext document minimizes general comprehension.

The Two Dominant Political Parties in the United States of America Essay

The Two Dominant Political Parties in the United States of America - Essay Example The federalist also insisted that the government should be run by "best people" or the elite and not by the common people. They supported the executive branch of the government. The Republicans wanted strict and inflexible interpretation of the institution and opposed central government. They proposed that the government lessen its intervention to economy and give the power to the state because they desired more involvement of the people. They also support legislature to formulate laws in governing the populace. Federalists admired the British and wanted to copy the aristocracy of Great Britain. The Republicans favored France. The Federalists' suppression of freedom of press and speech was strongly opposed by the Republicans. There were some similarities of these two political parties. To promote their policies and ideologies, the Federalists created Gazette of the United States and the Republican set up the National Gazette. This increased the involvement of the people, dividing further the Americans. Both parties supported foreign countries: the Federalist for Great Britain and the Republican for France.

Forces for expansion of Atlantic world and relation to North American Essay

Forces for expansion of Atlantic world and relation to North American colonial history - Essay Example The avenues created by the so launched project created the pathways for the Europeans to migrate into the Americas right from the sixteenth century, they then fought and defeated the native populations and even went to an extent to ensure they were extinct by devouring them completely. These were facilitated by the need for these populations to create and establish European agricultural and urban settlement schemes. Furthermore, the European powers were driven by the urge to impose upon the subjects’ rules and regulations on commerce and trade, land owning and the general political life (Linebaugh, Peter, and Marcus 2000 pg.43). These are the fundamental factors that lead to the transformation of the old world according to the historical fundamentals into the so called new world and hence the Atlantic world. The creation of the Atlantic world was also characterized by the creation of the empires. These were facilitated by the urge and zeal by which commerce and trade was expanding from Europe to America. Other factors being the movement of the population for religious freedom, escape from oppression, adventure with the largest majority of the Europeans moving in search of economic empowerment through the search for economic opportunities (Linebaugh, Peter, and Marcus 2000 pg.67). Therefore, the Europeans immigrants in America attained their settlements through a connection between Europe and America as a result of trade or commerce; this is evident due to the yearly growth in commerce both extensively and in a quite complex manner. These also intensified with the sharp increase in demand for labor in the new world characterized by commerce fueling expansion of trade hence increased migration from the old world to the new world. Increased commerce also became the cause of the increase in slavery in the Americas hence the growth in slave trade between the European America and Africa and these draws us to the fact that the Atlantic world was not only inclusion of the Europe and America but also Africa (Linebaugh, Peter, and Marcus 2000 pg.93). The other major factor that was binding to the Atlantic world is religion. The majority of the American settlers carried their Christian religions from Europe which they maintained. While the Catholics maintained their close ties to the Vatican in Rome where they originated, the Protestants who were the majority in North America were closely linked to their European counterparts. Religion through new ideas and movement spread across the Atlantic like bushfire resulting into the movement of the great revival of the into America, it is important to note that the ideas and movements we are talking about originated from Europe. For example, the great evangelist George Whitefield propelled the movement of the â€Å"Great Awakeningà ¢â‚¬  form great Britain to America in quite a large chunk. The

The first description of Scrooge emphasises Essay Example for Free

The first description of Scrooge emphasises Essay In his visit from Marley, Scrooge is told that he has a chance and hope of escaping the same terrible fate that he himself has suffered. Marley is covered in chains which represent his greed during his time on earth and he explains to Scrooge that charity, mercy, forbearance and benevolence should have been and now should be his business in order to redeem his selfish past. Marleys visit as the first ghost represents the beginning of Scrooges change of his ways and it shows Scrooge the possibility of his own redemption. The second Ghost to visit Scrooge, the Ghost of Christmas past, takes him back to when he worked as an apprentice for his first employer Fezziwig. Scrooge is able to see a Christmas party held by his kind hearted boss and during this time he forgets the presence of the ghost as he is immersed in the atmosphere created by his generous employer. During the whole party Scrooges Heart and soul were in the scene. However the audience is reminded of Scrooges lack of generosity and greed before Scrooge realises that he has the responsibility to make his hard working employees happy. This is shown when Dickens explains that whilst Scrooge was speaking unconsciously he believed that the party was a great expense for giving happiness and that only with the power of money could Fezziwig make his guests happy. On the second ghosts visit Scrooge also sees himself with his first love Bella and sees that he sacrificed love for money which he now regrets as he realises his own judgment was wrong. At this point in the novel the audience is shown how Scrooge may be beginning to consider the importance of change. Scrooge is then visited by the ghost of Christmas present who shows him the Cratchits family at Christmas. On this visit Scrooge sees that he is partially responsible for the Cratchits familys welfare as he is the employer of Bob and this makes Scrooge realise the importance of sharing his own wealth and giving. Scrooge also realises that the poor make do with the little money they have but are still able to enjoy themselves and be happy. During the third ghosts visit Scrooge begins to show concern about tiny Tims welfare as he can see that the malnourished child is obviously ill and he therefore asks the ghost to tell him with and interest he had never felt before Whether tiny Tim will live. The ghost explains to Scrooge that if he does not change in the future tiny Tim will die and then repeats Scrooges words said about decreasing the surplus population. Upon hearing these words Scrooge is instantly full of remorse and this again shows the audience how Scrooges views on the poorer-nation have changed drastically since the fist three ghosts visits. Scrooges regret is then later doubled as even though he had been a cruel employer Bob thanked him for the familys tiny Christmas feast. After realising the importance of family after seeing how Bob Cratchit spent his Christmas Scrooge visited his nephew Fred and Scrooge who was embarrassed of his previous arrogance was surprised to be greeted by nephew extremely happy to see him. At this point in the novel Scrooge can see that people who should see him as a terrible person were happy to see him ,he therefore enjoys a wonderful party knowing that he is now not alone and he then sees the true value of a family who loves one another. Whilst being visited by the ghost of Christmas present the ghost presents scrooge from the folding of its robe with two children: wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. Scrooge asks the ghost if they have no refuge and again he is confronted with the words he said about the poor before his ghostly visits which Scrooge now obviously regrets. Dickens includes this as it makes the audience believe Scrooge is now changing for the better to benefit not only him, but the poorer nation as well. Finally Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Christmas yet to come who informs Scrooge that he will die a lonely death with no concern from anyone else unless he changes his views on money and social classes. On hearing this news Scrooge proclaims that he is not the man he was and at this point the reader will also believe this as Scrooges attitude has changed as the visits from ghost progressed. He truly wants to be a different man and change for the better, not just to secure his own fate but also Tiny Tims. At the end of the novel Scrooges attitude towards money and social classes has changed greatly he believes he will live in the past present and future, take nothing for granted and be the kind hearted man that his business partner Jacob Marley wanted him to be. He is now extremely happy with his own situation with money but also willing to help others that are not so well off like his employee Bob Cratchit who he donated the Christmas turkey to as an act of good will and the charity collector.

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation Essay Example for Free

Google Inc. is an American multinational corporation Essay These include search, cloud computing, software, and online advertising technologies. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords. Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D. students at Stanford University. Together they own about 16 percent of its shares. They incorporated Google as a privately held company on September 4, 1998. An initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. Its mission statement from the outset was to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful, and its unofficial slogan was Dont be evil. In 2006 Google moved to headquarters in Mountain View, California, nicknamed the Googleplex. Rapid growth since incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions and partnerships beyond Googles core search engine. It offers online productivity software including email, an office suite, and social networking . Desktop products include applications for web browsing, organizing and editing photos, and instant messaging. The company leads the development of the Android mobile operating system and the browser-only Chrome OS for a netbook known as a Chromebook. Google has moved increasingly into communications hardware: it partners with major electronics manufacturers in production of its high-end Nexus devices and acquired Motorola Mobility in May 2012. In 2012, a fiber-optic infrastructure was installed in Kansas City to facilitate a Google Fiber broadband service. The corporation has been estimated to run more than one million servers in data centers around the world and to process over one billion search requests and about 24 petabytes of user-generated data each day. In December 2012 Alexa listed google.com as the most visited website in the world. Numerous Google sites in other languages figure in the top one hundred, as do several other Google-owned sites such as YouTube and Blogger. Its market dominance has led to criticism over issues including copyright, censorship, and privacy. History Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford University in Stanford, California. While conventional search engines ranked results by counting how many times the search terms appeared on the page, the two theorized about a  better system that analyzed the relationships between websites. They called this new technology PageRank; it determined a websites relevance by the number of pages, and the importance of those pages, that linked back to the original site. A small search engine called RankDex from IDD Information Services designed by Robin Li was, since 1996, already exploring a similar strategy for site-scoring and page ranking. The technology in RankDex would be patented and used later when Li founded Baidu in China. Page and Brin originally nicknamed their new search engine BackRub, because the system checked backlinks to estimate the importance of a site. Eventually, they changed the name to Google, originating from a misspelling of the word googol, the number one followed by one hundred zeros, which was picked to signify that the search engine was intended to provide large quantities of information. Originally, Google ran under Stanford Universitys website, with the domains google.stanford.edu and z.stanford.edu. The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997, and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998. It was based in a friends . In January 2013, Google announced it had earned $50 billion in annual revenue for the year of 2012. This marked the first time the company had reached this feat, topping their 2011 total of $38 billion. Financing and initial public offering The first funding for Google was an August 1998 contribution of from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given before Google was incorporated. Early in 1999, while graduate students, Brin and Page decided that the search engine they had developed was taking up too much time and distracting their academic pursuits. They went to Excite CEO George Bell and offered to sell it to him for $1 million. He rejected the offer and later criticized Vinod Khosla, one of Excites venture capitalists, after he negotiated Brin and Page down to $750,000. On June 7, 1999, a $25 million round of funding was announced, with major investors including the venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Sequoia Capital. The company offered 19,605,052 shares at a price of $85 per share. Shares were sold in an online auction format using a system built by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, underwriters for the deal. The sale of $1.67 billion gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. The vast majority  of the 271 million shares remained under the control of Google, and many Google employees became instant paper millionaires. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited because it owned 8.4 million shares of Google before the IPO took place. There were concerns that Googles IPO would lead to changes in company culture. Reasons ranged from shareholder pressure for employee benefit reductions to the fact that many company executives would become instant paper millionaires. As a reply to this concern, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised in a report to potential investors that the IPO would not change the companys culture. In 2005, articles in The New York Times and other sources began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy. In an effort to maintain the companys unique culture, Google designated a Chief Culture Officer, who also serves as the Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Chief Culture Officer is to develop and maintain the culture and work on ways to keep true to the core values that the company was founded on: a flat organization with a collaborative environment. Google has also faced allegations of sexism and ageism from former employees. The stock performed well after the IPO, with shares hitting $700 for the first time on October 31, 2007, primarily because of strong sales and earnings in the online advertising market. The surge in stock price was fueled mainly by individual investors, as opposed to large institutional investors and mutual funds. The next year, against Page and Brins initial opposition toward an advertising-funded search engine, Google began selling advertisements associated with search keywords. When the company changed names to Overture Services, it sued Google over alleged infringements of the companys pay-per-click and bidding patents. Overture Services would later be bought by Yahoo! and renamed Yahoo! Search Marketing. The case was then settled out of court; Google agreed to issue shares of common stock to Yahoo! in exchange for a perpetual license. In 2001, Google received a patent for its PageRank mechanism. The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. In 2003, after outgrowing two other locations, the company leased an office complex from Silicon Graphics at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. The complex became known as the Googleplex, a play on the word googolplex, the number one followed by a googol zeroes. The Googleplex interiors were designed by Clive Wilkinson Architects. Three  years later, Google bought the property from SGI for $319 million. By that time, the name Google had found its way into everyday language, causing the verb google to be added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, denoted as to use the Google search engine to obtain information on the Internet. 2013 onward Google announced the launch of a new company called Calico on September 19, 2013, which will be led by Apple chairman Arthur Levinson. In the official public statement, Page explained that the health and wellbeing company will focus on the challenge of ageing and associated diseases. As of September 2013, Google operates 70 offices in more than 40 countries. Google celebrated its 15-year anniversary on September 27, 2013, although it has used other dates for its official birthday. The reason for the choice of September 27 remains unclear, and a dispute with rival search engine Yahoo! Search in 2005 has been suggested as the cause. The Alliance for Affordable Internet was launched in October 2013 and Google is part of the coalition of public and private organisations that also includes Facebook, Intel and Microsoft. Led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable so that access is broadened in the developing world, where only 31% of people are online. Google will help to decrease internet access prices so that they fall below the UN Broadband Commissions worldwide target of 5% of monthly income. The corporations consolidated revenue for the third quarter of 2013 is reported in mid-October 2013 as US$14.89 billion, a 12 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. Googles Internet business was responsible for US$10.8 billion of this total, with an increase in the number of users clicks on advertisements. Acquisitions and partnerships Since 2001, Google has acquired many companies, primarily small venture capital-funded firms. In 2004, Google acquired Keyhole, Inc. The start-up company developed a product called Earth Viewer that gave a three-dimensional view of the Earth. Google renamed the service to Google Earth in 2005. Google acquired Urchin Software in April 2005, using their Urchin on Demand product to create Google Analytics in 2006. In October 2006, Google announced that it had acquired the video-sharing site YouTube  for US$1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13, 2006. Google does not provide detailed figures for YouTubes running costs, and YouTubes revenues in 2007 were noted as not material in a regulatory filing. In June 2008, a Forbes magazine article projected the 2008 YouTube revenue at US$200 million, noting progress in advertising sales. On April 13, 2007, Google reached an agreement to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, giving Google valuable relationships that DoubleClick had with Web publishers and advertising agencies. Later that same year, Google purchased GrandCentral for $50 million. The site would later be changed over to Google Voice. On August 5, 2009, Google bought out its first public company, purchasing video software maker On2 Technologies for $106.5 million. Google also acquired Aardvark, a social network search engine, for $50 million, and commented on its internal blog, were looking forward to collaborating to see where we can take it. In April 2010, Google announced it had acquired a hardware startup, Agnilux. In addition to the many companies Google has purchased, the company has partnered with other organizations for research, advertising, and other activities. In 2005, Google partnered with NASA Ames Research Center to build of offices. The offices would be used for research projects involving large-scale data management, nanotechnology, distributed computing, and the entrepreneurial space industry. Google entered into a partnership with Sun Microsystems in October 2005 to help share and distribute each others technologies. The company also partnered with AOL to enhance each others video search services. Googles 2005 partnerships also included financing the new .mobi top-level domain for mobile devices, along with other companies including Microsoft, Nokia, and Ericsson. Google would later launch AdSense for Mobile, taking advantage of the emerging mobile advertising market. Increasing its advertising reach even further, Google and Fox Interactive Media of News Corporation entered into a $900 million agreement to provide search and advertising on the then-popular social networking site MySpace. In 2007, Google began sponsoring NORAD Tracks Santa, displacing former sponsor AOL. NORAD Tracks Santa purports to follow Santa Claus progress on Christmas Eve, using Google Earth to track Santa in 3-D for the first time. Google-owned YouTube gave NORAD Tracks Santa its own channel. In 2008, Google developed a partnership with GeoEye to launch a satellite providing  Google with high-resolution imagery for Google Earth. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 6, 2008. Google also announced in 2008 that it was hosting an archive of Life Magazines photographs. Some of the images in the archive were never published in the magazine. The photos were watermarked and originally had copyright notices posted on all photos, regardless of public domain status. In 2010, Google Energy made its first investment in a renewable energy project, putting $38.8 million into two wind farms in North Dakota. The company announced the two locations will generate 169.5 megawatts of power, enough to supply 55,000 homes. The farms, which were developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will reduce fossil fuel use in the region and return profits. NextEra Energy Resources sold Google a twenty-percent stake in the project to get funding for its development. In February 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FERC granted Google an authorization to buy and sell energy at market rates. The order specifically states that Google Energy—a subsidiary of Google—holds the rights for the sale of energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates, but acknowledges that neither Google Energy nor its affiliates own or control any generation or transmission facilities. The corporation exercised this authorization in September 2013 when it announced that it will purchase all of the electricity produced by the not-yet-built 240-megawatt Happy Hereford wind farm. Also in 2010, Google purchased Global IP Solutions, a Norway-based company that provides web-based teleconferencing and other related services. This acquisition enabled Google to add telephone-style services to its list of products. On May 27, 2010, Google announced it had also closed the acquisition of the mobile ad network AdMob. This occurred days after the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into the purchase. Google acquired the company for an undisclosed amount. In July 2010, Google signed an agreement with an Iowa wind farm to buy 114 megawatts of energy for 20 years. On April 4, 2011, The Globe and Mail reported that Google bid $900 million for six thousand Nortel Networks patents. On August 15, 2011, Google made its largest-ever acquisition to-date when announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion subject to approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. In a post on Googles blog, Google Chief Executive and co-founder Larry Page revealed that the acquisition was a  strategic move to strengthen Googles patent portfolio. The companys Android operating system has come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, as Apple and Microsoft have sued Android device makers such as HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. The merger was completed on the May 22, 2012, after the approval of Peoples Republic of China. This purchase was made in part to help Google gain Motorolas considerable patent portfolio on mobile phones and wireless technologies to help protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with other companies, mainly Apple and Microsoft After the acquisition closed, Google began to restructure the Motorola business to fit Googles strategy. On August 13, 2012, Google announced plans to layoff 4000 Motorola Mobility employees. On December 10, 2012, Google sold the manufacturing operations of Motorola Mobility to Flextronics for $75 million. As a part of the agreement, Flextronics will manufacture undisclosed Android and other mobile devices. On December 19, 2012, Google sold the Motorola Home business division of Motorola Mobility to Arris Group for $2.35 billion in a cash-and-stock transaction. As a part of this deal, Google acquired a 15.7% stake in Arris Group valued at $300 million. On June 5, 2012, Google announced it acquired Quickoffice, a company widely known for their mobile productivity suite for both iOS and Android. Google plans to integrate Quickoffices technology into its own product suite. On February 6, 2013, Google announced it had acquired Channel Intelligence for $125 million. Channel Intelligence, a technology company that helps customers buy products online, is active globally in 31 different countries and works with over 850 retailers. Google will use this technology to enhance its e-commerce business. The official confirmation of Googles acquisition of the Israel-based startup Waze occurred in June 2013. Waze is promoted as a community-based traffic and navigation app. Following the acquisition of Waze, Google submitted a 10-Q filing with the Securities Exchange Commission that revealed that the corporation spent US$1.3 billion on acquisitions during the first half of 2013. The filing also revealed that the Waze acquisition cost Google US$966 million, instead of the US$1.1 billion figure that was initially presented in media sources. The 2012 acquisition of WIMM Labs, a company that previously made an Android-powered smartwatch, was confirmed in August 2013. As of August 31, 2013, Google has not publicly commented on the news concerning WIMM Labs. The acquisition of  Flutter, a creator of hand gesture recognition technology, was confirmed by the corporation in early October 2013. The reported price is US$40 million and Google spokesperson stated: Were really impressed by the Flutter teams ability to design new technology based on cutting-edge research. Flutters technology allows users to enact hand gestures to control navigation for apps such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Winamp. Google data centers As of 2011, Google Inc. owned and operated six data centers across the U.S., plus one in Finland and another in Belgium. On September 28, 2011, the company announced plans to build three data centers at a cost of more than $200 million in Asia and purchased the land for them. Google said they will be operational within two years. Products and services Advertising For the 2006 fiscal year, the company reported $10.492 billion in total advertising revenues and only $112 million in licensing and other revenues. In 2011, 96% of Googles revenue was derived from its advertising programs. Using technology from the company DoubleClick, Google can determine user interests and target advertisements so they are relevant to their context and the user that is viewing them. Google Analytics allows website owners to track where and how people use their website, for example by examining click rates for all the links on a page. Google advertisements can be placed on third-party websites in a two-part program. Googles AdWords allows advertisers to display their advertisements in the Google content network, through either a cost-per-click or cost-per-view scheme. The sister service, Google AdSense, allows website owners to display these advertisements on their website and earn money every time ads are clicked. One of the criticisms of this program is the possibility of click fraud, which occurs when a person or automated script clicks on advertisements without being interested in the product, causing the advertiser to pay money to Google unduly. Industry reports in 2006 claimed that approximately 14 to 20 percent of clicks were fraudulent or invalid. In February 2003, Google stopped showing the advertisements of Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting a major cruise ships sewage treatment practices. Google cited its editorialpolicy at the time, stating Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations. The policy was later changed. In June 2008, Google reached an advertising agreement with Yahoo!, which would have allowed Yahoo! to feature Google advertisements on its web pages. The alliance between the two companies was never completely realized because of antitrust concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice. As a result, Google pulled out of the deal in November 2008. In an attempt to advertise its own products, Google launched a website called Demo Slam, developed to demonstrate technology demos of Google Products. Search engine According to market research published by comScore in November 2009, Google Search is the dominant search engine in the United States market, with a market share of 65.6%. Google indexes billions of web pages, so that users can search for the information they desire through the use of keywords and operators. In 2003, The New York Times complained about Googles indexing, claiming that Googles caching of content on its site infringed its copyright for the content. In this case, the United States District Court of Nevada ruled in favor of Google in Field v. Google and Parker v. Google. The publication 2600: The Hacker Quarterly has compiled a list of words that the web giants new instant search feature will not search. Google Watch has criticized Googles PageRank algorithms, saying that they discriminate against new websites and favor established sites. The site has also alleged that there are connections between Google and the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. Google also hosts Google Books. The company began scanning books and uploading limited previews, and full books where allowed, into its new book search engine. The Authors Guild, a group that represents 8,000 U.S. authors, filed a class action suit in a New York City federal court against Google in 2005 over this service. Google replied that it is in compliance with all existing and historical applications of copyright laws regarding books. Google eventually reached a revised settlement in 2009 to limit its scans to books from the U.S., the UK, Australia, and Canada. Furthermore, the Paris Civil Court ruled against Google in late 2009, asking it to remove the works of La Martinià ¨re from its database. In competition with Amazon.com, Google sells digital versions  of new books. On July 21, 2010, in response to Bing, Google updated its image search to display a streaming sequence of thumbnails that enlarge when pointed at. Though web searches still appear in a batch per page format, on July 23, 2010, dictionary definitions for certain English words began appearing above the linked results for web searches. The Hummingbird update to the Google search engine was announced in September 2013. The update was introduced over the month prior to the announcement and allows users ask the search engine a question in natural language rather than entering keywords into the search box. Productivity tools Gmail, a free webmail service provided by Google, was launched as an invitation-only beta program on April 1, 2004, The service was upgraded from beta status on July 7, 2009, at which time it had 146 million users monthly. The service was the first online email service with one gigabyte of storage. It was also the first to keep emails from the same conversation together in one thread, similar to an Internet forum. The service offers over 15 GB of free storage, shared with other Google Apps, with additional storage ranging from 20 GB to 16 TB available for per 1 GB per year. Gmail uses AJAX, a programming technique that allows web pages to be interactive without refreshing the browser. Steve Ballmer, Liz Figueroa, Mark Rasch, and the editors of Google Watch have criticised the privacy of Gmail, but Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements. In 2004, Google started opensource software project hosting, called Google Code, which allows developers to download incomplete programs at no charge. Google Docs, another part of Googles productivity suite, allows users to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in an online environment, similar to Microsoft Word. The service was originally called Writely, but was obtained by Google on March 9, 2006, and was released as an invitation-only preview. On June 6 after the acquisition, Google created an experimental spreadsheet editing program, which was combined with Google Docs on October 10. Enterprise products Google Search Appliance was launched in February 2002, targeted toward providing search technology for larger organizations. Google Apps allows  organizations to bring Googles web application offerings, such as Gmail and Google Docs, into their own domains. The service is available in several editions: a basic free edition, Google Apps for Business, Google Apps for Education, and Google Apps for Government. In the same year Google Apps was launched, Google acquired Postini and proceeded to integrate the companys security technologies into Google Apps under the name Google Postini Services. Other products Google Translate is a server-side machine translation service, which can translate between 35 different languages. The software uses corpus linguistics techniques, where the program learns from professionally translated documents, specifically UN and European Parliament proceedings. Google launched its Google News service in 2002, an automated service which summarizes news articles from various websites. In March 2005, Agence France Presse sued Google for copyright infringement in federal court in the District of Columbia, a case which Google settled for an undisclosed amount in a pact that included a license of the full text of AFP articles for use on Google News. In 2006, Google made a bid to offer free wireless broadband access throughout the city of San Francisco along with Internet service provider EarthLink. Large telecommunications companies such as Comcast and Verizon opposed the efforts, claiming it was unfair competition and that cities would be violating their commitments to offer local monopolies to these companies. In his testimony before Congress on network neutrality in 2006, Googles Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf blamed the tactics on the fact that nearly half of all consumers lack choice in broadband providers. Google currently offers free wi-fi access in its hometown of Mountain View, California. In 2010, Google announced the Google Fiber project with plans to build an ultra-high-speed broadband network for 50,000 to 500,000 customers in one or more American cities. On March 30, 2011, Google announced that Kansas City, Kansas would be the first community where the new network would be deployed. In July 2012, Google completed the construction of a fiber-optic broadband internet network infrastructure in Kansas City, and after building an infrastructure, Google announced pricing for Google Fiber. The service will offer three options including a free broadband internet option, a 1Gbit/s internet option for $70 per month, and a version that  includes television service for $120 per month. The project, called Android, turned out not to be a phone but an operating system for mobile devices, which Google acquired and then released as an open source project under the Apache 2.0 license. Google provides a software development kit for developers so applications can be created to be run on Android-based phones. In September 2008, T-Mobile released the G1, the first Android-based phone. On January 5, 2010, Google released an Android phone under its own company name called the Nexus One. A report in July 2013 stated that Googles share of the global smartphone market, led by Samsung products, was 64% in March 2013. Other projects Google has worked on include a new collaborative communication service, a web browser, and a mobile operating system. The first of these was first announced on May 27, 2009. The company described Google Wave as a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. The service is Googles email redesigned, with realtime editing, the ability to embed audio, video, and other media, and extensions that further enhance the communication experience. Google Wave was initially in a developers preview, where interested users had to be invited to test the service, but was released to the general public on May 19, 2010, at Googles I/O keynote. On September 1, 2008, Google pre-announced the upcoming availability of Google Chrome, an open source web browser, which was then released on September 2, 2008. On July 7, 2009, Google announced Google Chrome OS, an open source Linux-based operating system that includes only a web browser and is designed to log users into their Google account. Google Goggles is a mobile application available on Android and iOS used for image recognition and non-text-based search. In addition to scanning QR codes, the app can recognize historic landmarks, import business cards, and solve Sudoku puzzles. While Goggles could originally identify people as well, Google has limited that functionality as a privacy protection. In 2011, Google announced Google Wallet, a mobile application for wireless payments. In late June 2011, Google soft-launched a social networking service called Google+. On July 14, 2011, Google announced that Google+ had reached 10 million users just two weeks after it was launched in this limited trial phase. After four weeks in operation, it reached 25 million users. At a launch event on July 24, 2013 in San Francisco, U.S., a newer version of the Nexus 7 Google tablet device was released to the public, alongside the  Chromecast dongle that allows users to stream YouTube and Netflix videos via smartphones. In 2013 Google launched Google Shopping Express, a delivery service initially available only in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Moto X  Speaking at the D11 conference in Palos Verdes, U.S. in late May 2013, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside, a former Google employee, announced that a new mobile device will be built by his company, which is wholly owned by Google, at a 500,000 square-feet facility in Texas, U.S. formerly used by the Nokia company. The facility will employ 2,000 people by August 2013 and the new phone, named the Moto X, will be available to the public in October 2013. The Moto X features Google Now software, and an array of sensors and two microprocessors that will mean that users can â€Å"interact with in very different ways than you can with other devices,† in the words of Woodside. Media reports suggest that the phone will be able to activate functions preemptively based on an awareness of what the user is doing at any given moment. Corporate affairs and culture On Fortune magazines list of best companies to work for, Google ranked first in 2007, 2008 and 2012 and fourth in 2009 and 2010. Google was also nominated in 2010 to be the worlds most attractive employer to graduating students in the Universum Communications talent attraction index. Googles corporate philosophy includes principles such as you can make money without doing evil, you can be serious without a suit, and work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun. Employees After the companys IPO, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt requested that their base salary be cut to $1. Subsequent offers by the company to increase their salaries have been turned down, primarily because their main compensation continues to come from owning stock in Google. Before 2004, Schmidt made $250,000 per year, and Page and Brin each received an annual salary of $150,000. In 2007 and early 2008, several top executives left Google. In October 2007, former chief financial officer of YouTube Gideon Yu joined Facebook along with Benjamin Ling, a high-ranking engineer. In March 2008, Sheryl Sandberg, then vice-president of global online sales and operations, began her position as chief operating officer  of Facebook. At the same time, Ash ElDifrawi, formerly head of brand advertising, left to become chief marketing officer of Netshops. On April 4, 2011, Larry Page became CEO and Eric Schmidt became Executive Chairman of Google. In July 2012, Googles first female employee, Marissa Mayer, left Google to become Yahoo!s CEO. As a motivation technique, Google uses a policy often called Innovation Time Off, where Google engineers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. Some of Googles newer services, such as Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors. In a talk at Stanford University, Marissa Mayer, Googles Vice President of Search Products and User Experience until July 2012, showed that half of all new product launches at the time had originated from the Innovation Time Off. Googleplex  Googles headquarters in Mountain View, California, is referred to as the Googleplex, a play on words on the number googolplex and the headquarters itself being a complex of buildings. The lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, old server clusters, and a projection of search queries on the wall. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, table football, a baby grand piano, a billiard table, and ping pong. In addition to the recreation room, there are snack rooms stocked with various foods and drinks, with special emphasis placed on nutrition. Free food is available to employees 24/7, with paid vending machines prorated favoring nutritional value. In 2006, Google moved into of office space in New York City, at 111 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. The office was specially designed and built for Google and houses its largest advertising sales team, which has been instrumental in securing large partnerships. As of February 2012, a significant engineering team is based in New York City, and has been responsible for more than 100 engineering projects, including Google Maps, Google Spreadsheets. As of September 2013, Googles East Coast office is located at 76 Ninth Ave, New York City, New York. In November 2006, Google opened offices on Carnegie Mellons campus in Pittsburgh, focusing on shopping-related advertisement coding and smartphone applications and  programs. By late 2006, Google also established a new headquarters for its AdWords division in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Other office locations in the U.S. include Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York City; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Reston, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Furthermore, Google has several international offices. In October 2006, the company announced plans to install thousands of solar panels to provide up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough to satisfy approximately 30% of the campus energy needs. The system will be the largest solar power system constructed on a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world. The idea of trimming lawns using goats originated from R. J. Widlar, an engineer who worked for National Semiconductor. Google has faced accusations in Harpers Magazine of being an energy glutton. The company was accused of employing its Dont be evil motto and its public energy-saving campaigns to cover up or make up for the massive amounts of energy its servers require. Easter eggs and April Fools Day jokes Google has a tradition of creating April Fools Day jokes. On April 1, 2000, Google MentalPlex allegedly featured the use of mental power to search the web. In 2007, Google announced a free Internet service called TiSP, or Toilet Internet Service Provider, where one obtained a connection by flushing one end of a fiber-optic cable down their toilet. Also in 2007, Googles Gmail page displayed an announcement for Gmail Paper, allowing users to have email messages printed and shipped to them. In 2008, Google announced Gmail Custom time where users could change the time that the email was sent. In 2010, Google changed its company name to Topeka in honor of Topeka, Kansas, whose mayor changed the citys name to Google for a short amount of time in an attempt to sway Googles decision in its new Google Fiber Project. In 2011, Google announced Gmail Motion, an interactive way of controlling Gmail and the computer with body movements via the users webcam. Googles services contain easter eggs, such as the Swedish Chefs Bork bork bork, Pig Latin, Hacker or leetspeak, Elmer Fudd, Pirate, and Klingon as language selections for its search engine. The search engine calculator provides the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the  Universe, and Everything from Douglas Adams The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. When searching the word recursion, the spell-checkers result for the properly spelled word is exactly the same word, creating a recursive link. When searching for the word anagram, meaning a rearrangement of letters from one word to form other valid words, Googles suggestion feature displays Did you mean: nag a ram? In Google Maps, searching for directions between places separated by large bodies of water, such as Los Angeles and Tokyo, results in instructions to kayak across the Pacific Ocean. During FIFA World Cup 2010, search queries including World Cup and FIFA caused the Goooogle page indicator at the bottom of every result page to read Gooooal! instead. Philanthropy In 2004, Google formed the not-for-profit philanthropic Google.org, with a start-up fund of $1 billion. The mission of the organization is to create awareness about climate change, global public health, and global poverty. One of its first projects was to develop a viable plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can attain 100 miles per gallon. Google hired Larry Brilliant as the programs executive director in 2004, and the current director is Megan Smith. In 2008 Google announced its project 10100 which accepted ideas for how to help the community and then allowed Google users to vote on their favorites. After two years of silence, during which many wondered what had happened to the program, Google revealed the winners of the project, giving a total of ten million dollars to various ideas ranging from non-profit organizations that promote education to a website that intends to make all legal documents public and online. In 2011, Google donated 1 million euros to International Mathematical Olympiad to support the next five annual International Mathematical Olympiads . On July 2012, Google launched a Legalize Love campaign in support of gay rights. Tax avoidance   Google uses various tax avoidance strategies. Out of the five largest American technology companies it pays the lowest taxes to the countries of origin of its revenues. The company accomplishes this partly by licensing technology through subsidiaries in Ireland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Netherlands. This has reportedly sparked a French investigation into Googles transfer pricing practices. Following criticism of the amount of  corporate taxes that Google paid in the United Kingdom, Chairman Eric Schmidt said, Its called capitalism. We are proudly capitalistic. During the same December 2012 interview Schmidt confirmed that the company had no intention of paying more to the UK exchequer. In 2013, Schmidt responded to questions about taxes paid in the UK by pointing to the advertising fees Google charged UK companies as a source of economic growth. Google Vice president Matt Brittin testified to the Public Accounts Committee of the UK house of commons that his UK sales team made no sales and hence owed no sales taxes to the UK. Environment Since 2007, Google has aimed for carbon neutrality in regard to its operations. In June 2013, the Washington Post reported that Google had donated US$50,000 to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank. In July 2013, it was reported that Google had hosted a fundraising event for Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who has called climate change a hoax. See also Comparison of web search engines Criticism of Google Dont Be Evil Google Google Balloon Internet Google Catalogs Google China Google Chrome Experiments Google logo Google platform Google Ventures – venture capital fund Google X Google+ Googlebot – web crawler Googlization List of Google domains List of mergers and acquisitions by Google Ungoogleable References External links not add links at the Internet Archive at Hoovers Bibliography: Wikipedia

Science of Epidemiology

Science of Epidemiology Edward Truelove EPIDEMIOLOGY Introduction This assignment will identify and explain what epidemiology is and describe how epidemiologists collect and analyse specific data. It will then identify a number of aspects of the science and then look a disease and see how epidemiologists data was used to influence health promotion. What is Epidemiology? Epidemiology is the ‘science concerned with the study of the factors determining and influencing the frequency and distribution of disease, injury, and other health-related events and their causes in a defined human population. Also, the sum of knowledge gained in such a study. There are two main types of Epidemiology. The first one is descriptive which describes the occurrence of the disease according to people, place and time and the second is analytic which determines the causation, risk factors for health, disease and association. Descriptive epidemiology describes and investigates the scale of the problem. This is the amount of people that have developed or caught the disease over a specified period. e.g. in 2004 there were 44,659 cases of newly diagnosed breast cancer in the UK. From this epidemiologists would look at the prevalence, the number of people that have the disease or condition at any particular time. e.g. the number of people who are regular smokers within a specified time period. The next factor is to look at how the condition is spread. This is done by analysing categories such as age, gender, socioeconomic class and ethnicity e.g. women from lower social classes are much more likely to smoke than women in higher social classes. Examples of questions asked to collect this data are as follows: What are the health problems? How many people are affected? Who is affected? Which communities are affected and why? What are the trends? Answers to these questions can indicate if primary prevention is possible and it can show the seriousness of the problem and how individuals and communities may be affected. Analytical epidemiology aims to answer the question, why did it happen? This is done by identifying and determining the causes and risk factors for health and disease. Comparisons have to be made between groups with or without the disease and between groups exposed and not exposed to a possible causal factor. Causation can show if there is a link from a certain disease to environmental influences, lifestyle or socioeconomic factors. To find the cause, epidemiologists can use inferential statistics to draw inferences about apopulationfrom arandom sample. From analysing the results and assessing the risks, a link between events and contributory factors can be draw and this can vary from negligible to high. Assessing the needs and analysing the data The first step in planning health promotion is to assess the needs and this consists of two elements. Firstly are the health service needs, which are determined from health data such as occurrence, frequency, mortality and morbidity. Secondly is the community determined needs covering issues that individuals and communities have brought to the attention of the local authority, politicians and letters etc. Sometimes these two elements overlap but it is important to identify which are priorities for communities. Health data is analysed according to who has been affected and this shows which communities are affected the most so that resources can be allocated. From this information about prevention begin. Prevention Primary prevention consists of trying to keep people healthy and free from disease such as immunization and encouragement of healthy lifestyles. Secondary prevention tries to identify the disease and persuade people to go for treatment at the earliest opportunity. Examples could be a cough that could lead to tuberculosis or a fever that could lead to influenza. In some conditions once the disease has developed it can often be too late, so one of the key roles of health promotion is to encourage screening i.e. breast cancer. Tertiary prevention involves actions if the disease has become very serious. This is to promote recovery and focus on rehabilitation to help speed the recovery. An example of primary prevention would be lung cancer as it is know what causes it, but it is not suitable for breast cancer as the causes are not yet known. Prevention can only take place if the causes can be established. Causes Epidemiologists need to establish causes and to look at many factors such as the environment, society and individuals. They also need to find out what causes the cause as there can be a whole chain of causal factors triggering a chain of events. These study designs are used for finding out possible causes, although they do not prove causal relationships as they just look at associations. There are two types of analytical study designs. The first is group one which are used for finding out possible causes. Ecological studies compare studies of a particular disease in different communities to try to ascertain the cause. Cross-sectional studies sample a section of society at one particular time to see if there are common characteristics between people. Case control studies compare a sample of people with a disease to a sample without and a conclusion can be drawn to see if characteristics are more likely to be found in people with the disease. Group two analytical studies are stronger design studies which are used to provide evidence for causal relationships. Cohort studies, also known as prospective or longitudinal studies are when a large sample of the population is followed over a long period of time to monitor their lifestyle and exposure to the risks. From this, the incidence of the disease can be followed to look for causal risks. Examples of this are following a sample of the population for fifty years to see if there is a link between smoking and lung cancer. Intervention study involves exposing a random selection of people to a health promotion trial to find out if the if intervention has health benefits and then to compare the results to a group of people who have not. Results can be analysed to establish if there are key variable such as income, age, distribution, etc. Relative or attributable risk provides a measure of the strength of a causal relationship. Decisions can be made from this as to how many lives c ould be saved if the causal factor was removed. Epidemiologists have also to work out which are confounding factors, ones that can appear to be associated with a disease but are not a causal. From all the information and studies undertaken there has to be a systematic review to identify which studies have strong conclusions. From the evidence, reasons can be worked out for showing the causes of health problems and disease and an action plan for health promotion can be set out. Epidemiology is an essential key discipline in health promotion and unless the specific factors that cause a health problem are identified, action cannot be taken to prevent it and promote health. Swine flu and Epidemiology What are the health problems? In the case of swine flu, dry cough, sore throat, headache and fatigue are the most common associated symptoms. Typically patients will have a fever over 38C. Most people recover in a week without any specific treatment. How many are affected In swine flu the number of cases in the UK rose quickly after the first established cases in Scotland. By May 312009, there were 252 confirmed cases in the UK.Seventy of these had been to Mexico or the US seven days prior to infection, and 178 reported that they had not been abroad. Who is affected? In the case of swine flu, in the first months of its outbreak in the UK, it mostly affected young people, and was most commonly spread through contact at schools. These findingsare based on an analysis ofthe first 252 cases of the disease diagnosed in the UK after news of the virus broke What are the trends? Of the 168 who contracted the infection it was established the likely place of viral transmission: 60% had been acquired in school; 25% from a household environment; 8% in the community; 1% (two cases) acquired in the workplace; Less than 1% (one case) in a healthcare environment; 5% acquired elsewhere. (nhs.uk) Which communities are affected and why? People of all genders and ages, including infants and the elderly were developing the disease equally. Due to a larger proportion of younger people travelling abroad and being in contact with younger people, the average age of the first 252 infected people was 20 years. Of the 178 first cases in the UK, 22% reported contact with someone who had developed the infection overseas (secondary infection) and 70% reported contact with a secondary case. 7% were not aware that they had contacted anyone (nhs.uk) Influence on health promotion The disease was first identified in Mexico in April 2009 and quickly spread round the globe. Initially the HNS had to make the public aware of the health problems through the media and do everything to contain the disease such as closing schools. After a while it was classed as a pandemic and moved from a containment status to treatment status. Generally the disease was fairly mild and was usually more serious in patients with other health problems. Part of the health promotion campaign was to offer antiviral medicines, Tamiflu or Relenza. Another step was to identify who and which communities are affected, and those people that are in high risk groups, as they are more likely to develop to complications. Vulnerable people are those who have lung disease, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, neurological disease and diabetes. Also at risk are people who have had drug treatment, pregnant women, people over 65 and children under five. A health promotion campaign through the Television and media was used to make these particular groups aware of the potential risks. Swine flu vaccination began in October 2009 The NHS issued information to the public to stop the disease spreading such as good respiratory and hand hygiene i.e. sneezing into a tissue and putting it a bin and to wash your hands and work surfaces at home regularly. Other public health information includes a National Pandemic Flu website and telephone number for the public to call for any information. The public were asked to call their GP if they had flu like symptoms and particularly if they had a serious condition that weakens your immune system, if they are pregnant, have a sick child under one or if the condition suddenly gets worse. The Service assesses the symptoms and if required will provide authorisation to collect antiviral medicine. Carers also have been identified as at risk as they come into contact with the most vulnerable in the community and steps have been taken in the second phase of vaccination to protected them from the risk of infection Conclusion The science of epidemiology involves elements of biology, social sciences and ecology and it is therefore it is a bio-social-environmental science focusing on disease in populations. Epidemiology is a key discipline in Health Promotion as is analyses specific factors of a disease. From this data action can be taken to prevent the disease spreading and promote health i.e. smoking and lung cancer, asbestos and cancer, alcohol and liver disease. However, mistakes can be made as some diseases such as heart disease have many influential factors including diet, exercise, smoking, blood pressure and genetic history. Epidemiology is a population science and investigations of health problems in populations have been very important for public health. Its techniques in examining the disease patterns between populations have been widely applied and there is no consensus of the best means to measure health. As epidemiology is a study of populations it does not tailor health promotion needs for the individual and quite often complicated data and government health warnings such ‘eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day can be largely ignored by a sceptical public, and therefore destructive activities still persist. This report has identified what epidemiology is and explained how epidemiologists assess the spread of illness and analyse data collected. It has also listed aspects of epidemiology and stated how they have an influence on health promotion. References Cancer Research (2009) [Online], Available at: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/lung/incidence/index.htm 1 ( (Accessed 22 Nov 2009) Hubley, H. and Copeman, J. (2008) Practical Health Promotion, Polity Press: Cambridge. Naidoo, J. and Wills, J. (2009) Foundations for Health Promotion, 3rd Edn, Bailliere Tindall: London. Naidoo, J. and Wills, J. (2008) Public Health and Health Promotion, 2nd Edn, Bailliere Tindall: London. NHS (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/07July/Pages/Swinefluearlyepidemiology.aspx 1 (Accessed 2 Dec 2009) NHS (2009), [Online], Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pandemic-flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx?WT.srch=1 (Accessed 2 Dec 2009)