Amazon Publishing What is it Like to Get Signed By Them

Amazon Publishing What is it Like to Get Signed By Them Amazon Publishing: What is it Like to Get Signed By Them? Most book sales happen on Amazon these days, so there’s something incredibly appealing about having the same company publish your book. Luckily, while Amazon’s algorithms can seem mysterious, the workings of Amazon Publishing (one of the biggest publishers today) are less vague - thanks to feedback from authors who have worked with them.This post will dive into the workings of Amazon Publishing (or APub), giving you a sneak peek of what it’s like to work with them from Natalie Barelli (whose crime novel Until I Met Her was picked up by APub’s thriller imprint), and Eliot Peper, (whose Analog series was signed by their sci-fi and fantasy imprint).And on that note, let’s learn a little more about APub and it's various imprints. Get a sneak peak into what it's like to score an #AmazonPublishing book deal. What is Amazon Publishing?Amazon Publishing is Amazon’s book publishing unit. Established in 2009, it comprises 16 imprints that publish trade fiction, non-fiction, and children’s fiction around the world.Learn more about how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.Amazon Publishing seems to be highly regarded by the authors who are signed by their imprints. Scoring a contract with them will not guarantee sales of your book, and some authors do report a flatline in purchases of their titles.Eliot Peper puts it very well when he says: â€Å"No matter what publication path you choose or who you publish with, you are in charge of your career. Always put your readers' interests before anyone else's. Start from first principles and never accept ‘this is just how things are done’ when something doesn't make sense. Build your own audience on your own terms. Be kind. Be generous. Be patient. Every artist is an entrepreneur, so embrace, understand, and grow the business of your creativity.†Have you been published by an Amazon Publishing imprint? Share your experiences with us! Or feel free to leave any questions, thoughts, or remarks in the comments below.

Kathrine Mansfeild essays

Kathrine Mansfeild essays In the story "The Doll's House" by Katrine Mansfeild she shows some of her unique writing techniques,ie how she endows objects with emotion, shows men as preditors and things been seen from a childs point of veiw. Some of the more commen techniques she uses are writing the story in a "slice of life" style and not developing the charaters or explaining them. In the doll's house little is told about the characters, only as much as we need to be told for the story to flow. For example we do not know anything of Kazia as a person or age or apperance of any of the characters. Age and other things are hinted at through-out the stroy. This is due to the story needing to be kept as short as posible and the unessersary information is Her sotries outline a single event such as the explination of the doll's house when it arrives. The doll's house is looked at in great depth we are told much more about the doll's house than Kathrine has a unique way of endowing objects with emotion. This is shown through the way she describes the lamp "The lamp was perfect,it seemed to smile at Kezia". She tells her story's from a childs point of veiw. The story's are autobiagraphical as the are the memories from her childhood. The doll's houseis seen from the perspective of Kezia in the way that everthing is noticed. Men are seen as preditors in all of Katrines story's. THe boys that are rude and unkind represent this. Also she does not name her men characters just used "he" and "him" Katrine Mansfeild is an esteemed author who had years of experiance which she wrote about in her own unique way. ...

Cigarette smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cigarette smoking - Essay Example Further, it showed that 17% of youth in university and colleges used tobacco products in 2011. It is significant to understand that cigarette smoking causes various illnesses. Therefore, unless Americans change the habit of smoking cigarette, they will eventually die because of the illnesses associated with the use of tobacco. Cigarette kills more American citizens than suicide, AIDS, illegal drugs, car accidents, and alcohol combined. For instance, cigarette smoking accounts for more than 80% of lung cancer mortalities. Cancer of the lungs is the main cause of deaths related to cancer in both women and men and is one of the difficult cancers to cure or treat. Apart from lung cancer, other health problems that cigarette smoking brings include stroke, bronchitis, and heart diseases. In addition, cigarette smoking can destroy a woman’s reproductive organs or even lead to infertility since the use of tobacco is associated with greater risk of miscarriage and decreased fertility. Cigarette smoking implies that the smoker will die young than those who do not smoke. For instance, the CDC found out that cigarette smoking shortened women smoker’s life by 14.5 years and male smokers by 13.2 years. Summarily, the effects of smoking are many in that they pose many health problems to the smoker by damaging all important body organs, which eventually leads to death. In order to curb the increasing rate of cigarette smoking, people should be educated to understand the risks of tobacco products.

Situational Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Situational Leadership - Essay Example Leadership, management, power and authority are all closely related terms and sometimes are difficult to separate and understand individually. A leader is someone who exercises influence over others. In a group, it is the performances of those acts which help the group achieve its preferred outcomes. (Cartwright & Zander, 1968)A view holds that leaders are people oriented and their main task is to inspire people. Their primary functional output is a change (Veal, 2004) and their capabilities are assessed in terms of controlling the process of this change. That is to mould and control change to suit project's objectives. Bryman (1986) offers somewhat similar views when he opines that leadership is," the creation of a vision about a desired future state which seeks to enmesh all members of an organisation in its net".Whereas managers are task and process oriented and their main task is to organize such tasks and processes. Management's main output is task done in target time at target cost. In plain language Management is assigned the task of producing and maintaining a degree of predictability & order (Veal, 2004). Leadership on the other hand assumes the function of producing change under a constantly updated schemata of direction and vision. Leadership is the process of motivating others to work to meet specific goals and objectives. Leadership is deliberately causing people-driven actions in a planned fashion for the purpose of accomplishing the leader's agenda. Qualities of a Good Leader Subsequent to identification of role of leadership in project management it is clear that leadership physically comprises of an individual or set of individuals acting on common concert and vision. A set of qualities are generally stated in support of good leadership. Such qualities helps in execution of the agenda of leadership as defined above. These qualities are stated below corresponding to their importance in an information system project: (a) A project leader must have the capability to nurture and develop a vision and a concrete sense of direction in which to lead the team on. He must make the entire team convinced of his stance of an inspired shared vision. At least he should be able to convey his vision to critical members of the project team. "Visionary leaders enable people to feel they have a real stake in the project. They empower people to experience the vision on their own (Barry, Top). Bennis explains about the leaders that "They offer people opportunities to create their own vision, to explore what the vision will mean to their jobs and lives, and to envision their future as part of the vision for the organization," (Bennis, 1997). (b) A project leader is expected to have high level of problem solving skills (Barry, Top). He may share problem-solving responsibilities with the team .As Kouzes says that a leader must have a "fresh, creative response to here-and-now opportunities," and not much concern with how others have performed them. (Kouzes, 1987).Thus he would be capable of giving new solutions to complicated problems and lead in dead

Applying for a master degree Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Applying for a master degree - Personal Statement Example My ambition developed rapidly leading me to streamline my studies towards Business and Management, particularly human resource studies. Thus, I believe further studies for a masters degree in the University will enhance my competitiveness and set me apart in my professionalism. I have experienced challenges and had opportunities during studies. However, I put extra determination to maintain and improve my scores with the aim of obtaining a chance to further my education. The efforts yield fruits with an average rating of 2.1 in core subjects. Apart from academics, I exhibit potential skills in leadership and excellent interpersonal attributes. In addition, I understand the program and curriculum details and sure that it matches with my research areas. I also acknowledge the competitiveness of the program. Nonetheless, I express pleasure that my professional aptitude and decent University record offer me a reliable certification for admission. Hence, I will appreciate your approval for admission. Finally, I give my assurance that I will optimize my chance to advance my talents. Likewise, I will be a noble ambassador and endeavor to transform people’s lives through appropriate management approaches. Kindly consider my

Activity Based Costing (ABC) Case Study: Exxonmobil

Activity Based Costing (ABC) Case Study: Exxonmobil STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT This paper presents an assessment of the set up of an activity-based costing (ABC) for Exxon Mobil, a global oil company. The discussion in the paper is structured as follows: Setting up an activity-based costing for Exxon Mobil – This first section presents an overview of activity-based costing and focuses on how such a system could be set up for Exxon Mobil. Stages involved in designing ABC systems – The second section of the paper presents the stages involved in the set up of an activity-based costing system. Selection of cost drivers – An important factor in the set up of an activity-based costing system is the selection of the cost drivers. The third section of the paper discusses this. Calculation and Examples– The fourth section presents an example calculation for the activity-based costing for Exxon Mobil. Limitations of information from ABC systems – The fifth section of the paper presents the limitations and issues in the use of activity-based costing. Conclusion – Finally, the last section summarises the arguments presented in the paper and highlights the key points to conclude the paper. A.  SETTING UP AN ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING FOR EXXON MOBIL Activity-based costing is utilised to improve business processes through behavioural, business and accounting practices, and â€Å"focuses on costs associated with activities, but also evaluates whether those activities add value, thus providing a means of understanding how to most effectively reduce costs† (Maiga Jacobs, 2003). This paper discusses specific areas that will help ExxonMobil in setting up an activity-based costing system. It is possible to set this up for ExxonMobil to drive its performance but this will require two key principles in pursuing this approach: Commitment from senior management – Setting up the ABC system will require strong commitment from senior management as there may be challenges and questions raised by different stakeholders as this approach is pursued. Transparency in measures – In addition to commitment, setting up an ABC system will also require that the organisation be transparent in its financial and operating figures in order to achieve the most benefit from implementing such a system. B.  STAGES INVOLVED IN DESIGNING ABC SYSTEMS There are several key stages that organisations need to follow in designing ABC systems in organisations. The key stages in designing ABC systems are as follows (Allott, 2004): Determine scope and key activities performed – This stage involves the development of key objectives and activities for departments and the organisation. The challenge in this stage is to ensure that there aren’t too many activities that then render the analysis as inaccurate given the detail required. Apportion direct staff time and assess the organisations’ resources required –The management within the businesses then need to assess the resources required to work on the key activities defined in the first stage. This stage requires the evaluation of where employees spent their time, as this will be apportioned as part of the ABC system. Add other direct costs – Aside from the costs related to the staff and their time, other direct costs will also need to be included as part of the analysis and measurement. Allocate department and corporate overheads and identify the key outputs produced – The outputs for the activities determined in stage one should be defined. These outputs should be largely measurable though there could be some activities that won’t have directly measurable outputs. From this, departmental and corporate overheads can then be allocated. Split into value-adding and non-value adding activities and also assess activity-level drivers and cost-input drivers – The fourth stage is to assess the value-adding and non-value-adding activities, and also the factors that cause the activity to occur which includes both activity-level drivers and cost-input drivers. The activity-level drivers are related to the frequency of the occurrence of the activities while the cost-input drivers are related to the cost of performing the activities for the organisation. Cost drivers are particularly important in designing ABC systems and the next section discusses this concept further. Calculate unit cost – Once all the measurements and factors have been defined, it is then possible to calculate the unit cost for various output measures. This will then drive the next stage. Use findings to determine improvement opportunities – In designing and implementing an ABC system, there should be well define improvement opportunities that the organisations will target. This will be based on the findings that result from the analysis and are important, as this will drive the actions of the employees and the organisation. Thus, these improvement opportunities should be initiatives that are achievable and, at the same time, could impact the performance of the organisation significantly, if achieved. The stages defined above are the high-level key stages in designing and implementing an ABC system for organisations. C.  SELECTION OF COST DRIVERS As mentioned in the previous section on the stages of designing an ABC system, the identification of cost-input drivers is important in the proper implementation of the ABC system. This section discusses the selection of cost drivers in greater detail in the context of an ABC system. Cost drivers play an important role as the objective in identifying the cost drivers is to be able to determine how the organisations can manage and control the costs effectively and make beneficial changes to how these costs drive the organisation. The end goal then is to have lower costs for the firm and better operational and financial performance which could lead to strong competitive advantages for organisations versus the competitors in a sector. There are some principles that are important in the identification of the cost drivers for an ABC system. The selection of cost drivers is important for the following reasons: Drive performance of organisation – The ABC system can be used through the cost drivers to drive the performance of the organisation. Improve internal understanding – Having the right cost drivers selected for the ABC system will enhance the understanding of the employees of the value-adding activities and be able to focus on the activities that merit the most time. Address external concerns – Finally, some external stakeholders will need to be catered to in the selection of cost drivers. The next few paragraphs show how this is important. Aside from an internal assessment of the key cost drivers for an organisation, there are also factors that could come into play. For example, one of the factors driving the selection of cost drivers is external pressure on these cost drivers. Given the increasing focus on the environment in recent years, the pressure to control and manage the environmental costs especially in industries such as the oil sector has increased with investors concerned about potential liabilities that could impact the firm and the general public, including the government, concerned about the health consequences that may result from toxic emissions and materials (Lee, 2005). These environmental costs can be significant as seen from the following examples (Lee, 2005): W. R. Grace had charges totalling US$50 million in 1998 for environmental remediation Koch Petroleum Group spent significant amounts over the course of a few years for environmental impact and refinery pollution: circa US$7 million in 1998, circa US$$8 million in 1999, and circa US$2 million in 2000 NCH Corporation charged earnings in the amount of circa US$16 million in 2000 for environmental remediation Unocal provided provisions amounting to US$22 million in 2002 for environmental remediation and lowering earnings Overall for industries such as utilities, steel and metals, oil, paper, and chemicals, which deal with environmentally-sensitive areas, estimates place â€Å"environmental expenditures to be annual spending of over 1% of revenues† Thus, with the pressure externally to manage environmental costs, this has become a cost driver that firms such as Exxon Mobil need to include in an activity-based costing system. The key reasons for including this cost driver are as follows (Lee, 2005): Environmental issues continue to be increasingly focused on by the public and environmental groups globally Environmental decision-making is thus critical and information to be able to manage and control this factor needs to be collected by the relevant firms A proactive stance in managing environmental costs can be very beneficial for firms in these environmentally-sensitive areas particularly â€Å"in terms of risk reduction, prevention of liabilities, and the preservation of firm reputation† D.  CALCULATION AND EXAMPLE In implementing an ABC system in ExxonMobil, it is important to have an initial review of what the cost drivers for Exxon Mobil could be in terms of the design of an ABC system. Before continuing on this path, a number of assumptions have to be stated: (1) this is a high level example of a calculation for ExxonMobil as an in-depth review has not been conducted to properly do an ABC system for the organisation, (2) only quick estimates are presented given that these are based on an outside-in perspective utilising existing financial reports, (3) no specific details have been provided yet by the organisation. The focus of this analysis is only on the Upstream (Oil Gas Exploration and Production) division. A review of their summary annual report indicates that the following could be the key cost drivers that Exxon Mobil would focus on for their ABC system: 2007 Canada Outside Revenue US So. America America Worldwide Production Costs 2,275 2,206 5,852 10,333 Depn and depletion 1,493 1,256 6,159 8,908 Exploration Expenses 282 273 947 1,502 Taxes 1,347 126 8,258 9,731 Income tax 2,429 1,190 23,924 27,543 Total Costs 7,826 5,051 45,140 58,017 Number of units (mn) 232 167 1,126 1,526 Unit Costs 33.70 30.16 40.09 38.03 With re-allocation Production Costs 2,048 1,985 6,300 10,333 Depn and depletion 1,493 1,256 6,159 8,908 Exploration Expenses 254 246 1,003 1,502 Taxes 1,262 118 8,351 9,731 Income tax 2,276 1,111 24,156 27,543 Total Costs 7,332 4,716 45,969 58,017 Number of units (mn) 232 167 1,126 1,526 Unit Costs 31.57 28.16 40.83 38.03 + other central costs 8.00 8.00 12.00 10.95 (per unit) Total unit costs 39.57 36.16 52.83 48.98 Revenue per unit 52.42 49.40 55.55 54.40 Profit per unit 12.85 13.24 2.72 5.42 The above calculations are based on a number of assumptions made for the purpose of showing how using an ABC system could alter the results of the performance of the regions and allow the organisation to then make better decisions. The assumptions were made up in this scenario and it could be the other way around in that the greater costs end up in the US and Canada / South America regions. The objective in showing these calculations were to highlight the impact that activity-based costing could have in generating a deeper understanding of the costs that are incorporated in the financials of organisations. The way the costs are then broken up and allocated to different cost divisions will have an impact on these divisions and the decisions made. The important aspect to consider is that the ABC system should identify the right allocation of the costs through an understanding of the time spent by the staff including other factors that the organisation may deem important in the ABC system. E.  LIMITATIONS OF INFORMATION FROM ABC SYSTEMS The limitations of information from ABC systems can be looked at in two ways: (1) limitations in establishing and implementing the ABC systems, and (2) limitations in the use of the information resulting from the ABC systems implemented in an organisation. This section looks at both of these limitations. E.1.  Limitations in establishing and implementing the ABC systems One of the key challenges in implementing an activity-based costing system is the ability to collect the correct information for the proper use of the system. Throughout the years of the use of the ABC system, a number of limitations have come to the fore. The key limitations most often cited have been the following: Subjectivity in distribution of time. A key concern of users of the ABC system was the proper distribution of time among the key activities that employees worked on, and the subjectivity in allotting the time raised some concerns and issues in the potential reliability of the system (Journal of Accountancy, 2008). In recent years, there have been improved processes which were designed to minimise the subjectivity in the distribution of time by employees, particularly with the approach used in time-driven activity-based costing with a key benefit in simplifying the process (Lambino, 2007). However, this has not been well communicated and there is still a general concern about this issue for the ABC system. Complexity of retrieving information for the ABC system. Another factor that had hampered the use of the ABC system has been the general feeling that the retrieval of information was too complex and that the input required in order to complete the process for the ABC system was too demanding (Max, 2008). Similar to the point above, there have been further developments which have tended to minimise the complexity surrounding the retrieval of the information needed for the ABC system but this has not been accepted widely though the trend is changing. The two limitations highlighted above are the key reasons that implementation of the ABC system has been limited. In organisations where the ABC system has been implemented, the two limitations identified have affected the use of information churned out by the ABC system. This is discussed further in the next part. E.2.  Limitations in the use of information resulting from ABC systems For the organisations which have made the decision to implement the ABC system, there are still limitations in the information that need to be considered as the information is utilised in the organisations’ decision-making. The key limitations are the following: Costing not an exact science. The output from the ABC system remain as estimates and are impacted by the subjectivity of some of the inputs as described in the previous part of the this section. The use of cost averages and estimates lessens the transparency of the cost and profitability information and thus results in a key limitation in the use of the ABC system (Max, 2007). Potential misuse of information. This argument is not be construed as to be done intentionally. But where the information is not properly linked between activities and processes, the potential exists to have inaccurate results which then impact on how the information is utilised (Crance, Castellano Roehm, 2001). F.  CONCLUSION It is possible to implement an ABC system for ExxonMobil. A number of conclusions and follow up steps can be highlighted: High level draft of implementing was shown to be possible. Next step is to have a proper review to follow the complete stages if the organisation were keen to go ahead. Detailed process is needed to complete an ABC system implementation – ExxonMobil will need to commit to this and assign resources in order to push the effort to have the ABC system implemented. Commitment and transparency important for the implementation – It is critical to get the buy-in and support of top management and the key managers of the organisation. Through these next steps, it is possible to move into the next stage of having the ABC approach designed for ExxonMobil and implemented in the organisation. REFERENCES Allott, A. (2004), ‘Activity-based management’, New Straits Times, 3 July 2004, [online], accessed on 11 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Crance, J., Castellano, J., Roehm, H. A. (2001), ‘SPC enhances ABC’, Industrial Management, 43(6), [online], accessed on 11 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com ExxonMobil (2007), ‘ExxonMobil: Taking on the world’s toughest challenge’, 2007 Summary Annual Report Journal of Accountancy (2008), ‘Linking Strategy to Operations’, 206 (44), [online], accessed on 11 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Lambino, C. (2008), ‘Time-Driven activity-based costing’, Government Finance Review, 23(4), [online], accessed on 9 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Lee, T. (2005), ‘Environmental issues and managerial accounting: The IFAC exposure draft’, Petroleum Accounting Financial Management Journal, 24(1), [online], accessed on 10 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Maiga, A. S., Jacobs, F. A. (2003), ‘Balanced scorecard, activity-based costing and company performance: An empirical analysis’, Journal of Managerial Issues, 15(3), [online], accessed on 10 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Max, M. (2008), ‘ABC Trends in the Banking Sector: A Practitioners Perspective’, Journal of Bank Cost Management Accounting, 21(1), [online], accessed on 10 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Max, M. (2007), ‘Leveraging Process Documentation for Time-Driven Activity Based Costing’, Journal of Bank Cost Management Accounting, 20(3), [online], accessed on 11 November from Global Factiva Database, http://factiva.com Chronic Stress: Causes, Effects and Treatments Chronic Stress: Causes, Effects and Treatments Report on Chronic Stress Introduction Stress is an unavoidable part of life. Be it at home or the workplace, different challenges arise which ultimately lead to stress. There are various types of stress related issues, one of which is chronic stress (American Psychological Association, 2015). Chronic stress is that branch of stress when there is an overwhelming response emotionally to any situation which an individual deems to be out of his or her control. This type of stress is characterized by the release of corticosteroids in the human body, especially the endocrine system which triggers the increase of stress. Though these hormones might be beneficial for a short period of time, continuous stress inducing activities can lead to a constant release of hormones which can cause fatal side effects (Bruno, 2012). Detection of chronic stress There are various methods through which chronic stress can be detected early to ensure immediate correction. Our body begins to give us various warning signals during our daily life which can be a symptom of increased stress. It affects all the functioning of our body and makes us feel unbalanced and hypersensitive (Chandola, Brunner Marmot, 2006). If a person is suffering from chronic stress, then he or she will be easily irritated or overwhelmed by any situation (Sanders, 2014). These people will be unable to concentrate on anything for long and will constantly worry about the tasks ahead of them. Also, they will feel extremely isolated and suffer from physical strain and nausea. These symptoms can also be related to other physical or psychological problems and therefore requires a full diagnosis by a doctor to be sure (Scott, 2014). Differences and similarities with other diseases Although the physical and chemical reactions to various mental disorders can be similar, there is a vast difference between them. For example, stress is similar yet different from anxiety in many ways (The Stress Management Society, 2015). Stanford University’s associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences David Spiegel says that â€Å"while the line between stress and anxiety often gets blurred, there are distinct things to be aware of-including how these emotions affect the body and the root causes of each† (Holmes, 2014). The chemical reactions that occur in our body are very similar during chronic stress and anxiety. The physical reactions that occur in our body during both stress inducing and anxiety inducing causes include an increase of heartbeats, quick breathing and tightening of muscles. Yet anxiety and stress are different in various ways. He says that while we feel chronic stress we are very much aware of the causes behind it while in anxiety we usua lly do not know what exactly we are anxious about (Holmes, 2014). Another important psychological term which is often confused with chronic stress is depression. Laura J. Martin, MD and MPH, states that the causes behind both chronic stress and depression are often the same (McEwen Lasley, 2002) Any traumatic incident in our lives, such as loss of a job or the death of a loved one, can lead to both chronic stress as well as depression. In fact, it is more likely that while chronic stress is the first response to any such life-changing situation, prolonged exposure to stress can also lead to depression. â€Å"Stress, or being stressed out, leads to behaviours and patterns that in turn can lead to chronic stress burden and increase the risk of major depression,† states Bruce McEwen, PhD (McEwen Lasley, 2002). But it has also been noted that depression and chronic stress can be caused by different reasons. Most people who are resilient towards stressful activities are quite able to carry on with their lives without becoming depressed (Segerst rom Miller, 2004). Also, people tend to become depressed even though there are little or no stressful incidents in their lives. While any one incident can cause chronic stress, it requires a combination of a few stressors to become clinically depressed (McEwen Lasley, 2002). Effects of chronic stress Effect on health: Stressful activities are always around us, yet people almost always find a way to deal with the stress. If you are stressed over a huge pile of work, deadlines to meet, a conflict with your spouse or any other incident, your body always reacts in the same way (Psychiatry, 2009). The release of stress hormones in our body helps us to respond to the chronic stress until it is resolved (Sincero, 2012). But a prolonged exposure to chronic stress can lead to a continuous flow of hormones in our body which can be harmful. It disturbs all the other systems of our body and causes a rise of blood pressure levels, increased risk of heart attacks or strokes, decrease in fertility and accelerated aging (Miller, Chen Zhou, 2007). The usual physical effects of chronic stress are pain, insomnia, loss of weight and skin conditions like eczema (Sanders, 2014). Also, Dr. Richard Weinstein, a private chiropractor and a member of the American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Nutrition and the National Institute of Chiropractic Research, says that â€Å"the adrenal glands have a nasty tendency to rebound†, which means that the physical effects of chronic stress can return â€Å"if the cause of the cortisol imbalance is not addressed.† (Weinstein, 2004) Effect on behavior: Chronic stress can lead to certain changes in our behavior pattern as well. Since chronic stress is a result of a prolonged exposure to stressors, many changes can be detected in the behavior of these people (Carthage, 2013). The patients who are suffering from chronic stress reveal particular habits and behavior, such as moodiness, irritability, agitated behavior or isolation from friends and family (Helpguide.org, 2015). These people are prone to angry outbursts and impulsive decisions and are generally unhappy about everything around them. Their eating and sleep patterns also change and they develop certain unhealthy habits like drinking alcohol, biting nails or pacing. This in turn affects their social and personal lives (Weinstein, 2004). Effect on brain: According to the recent findings of the University of California, Berkeley, it has been found that due to the excess release of hormones due to chronic stress, certain permanent changes occur in the brain which results in people becoming prone to other mental diseases (Lupien et al., 2009). After conducting a series of experiments, Daniela Kaufer, UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology, and her colleagues, have come to the conclusion that chronic stress causes the generation of more myelin-producing cells and fewer neurons than acceptable (Weinstein, 2004). This often leads to an increase of myelin or white matter in certain parts of the brain, which can cause a disruption in the critical functions of the brain like the neuronal system (Bergland, 2014) Treatment of chronic stress At one point in our lives, everybody experiences stress due to one factor or another. Since avoiding stress is completely impossible, there are certain steps that can be taken to cope with it (Breazeale, 2012). Some of them include: Consult a proper psychologist or psychiatrist and ask him to do a full evaluation if you are experiencing overwhelming situations, suicidal thoughts, etc. Seek help from a doctor and redress any new or existing health issues. Contact your friends, family, community or organization to share emotional issues and ask for help in dealing with stressful situations. Identify any symptoms that you might be going through, such as eating or sleeping disorder, anger, depression or loneliness, and try to solve these problems. Prioritise your tasks and decide what must be completed now and what you can do later. Refuse to take up any new tasks if you feel overburdened. Make a list of what you accomplished at the end of the day. Avoid spending too much time thinking about certain issues. Indulge in regular exercises daily and plan your exercising and eating activities to make sure they are balanced. Take up certain stress reducing activities like yoga, meditation etc. (Thaker et al., 2006) Conclusion Being â€Å"stressed out†, as many people would call it, and being actually stressed, both physically and mentally, is a significant issue, as highlighted in this article by the number of intricacies involved in chronic stress (Medical News Today, 2014). Whether the symptoms of stress are recent or have been continuing for a long period of time, it is important to immediately look into the problem and discover new forms and therapies to address and solve the issue (Holmes, 2014). To seek relief from the stressors, it would be better to consult a proficient therapist and examine the causes behind the stress and how to decrease it. References American Psychological Association. (2015). Understanding chronic stress. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/understanding-chronic-stress.aspx Bergland, C. (2014). Chronic Stress Can Damage Brain Structure and Connectivity. Psychology Today. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201402/chronic-stress-can-damage-brain-structure-and-connectivity Breazeale, R. (2012). Ways To Manage Chronic Stress. Psychology Today. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-face-adversity/201202/ways-manage-chronic-stress Bruno, K. (2012). The Stress-Depression Connection | Can Stress Cause Depression?. Webmd.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/stress-depression Carthage,. (2013). 11 Behavioural symptoms of stress. Are you experiencing stress?. Coaching Positive Performance. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/11-behavioural-symptoms-of-stress/ Chandola, T., Brunner, E., Marmot, M. (2006). Chronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: prospective study.Bmj,332(7540), 521-525. Helpguide.org,. (2015). Stress Symptoms, Signs, Causes: The Effects of Stress Overload and What You Can Do About It. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm Holmes, L. (2014). The Difference Between Stress And Anxiety. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/25/stress-anxiety-difference_n_4833172.html?ir=India Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition.Nature Reviews Neuroscience,10(6), 434-445. McEwen, B., Lasley, E. (2002). The end of stress as we know it. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press. Medical News Today,. (2014). What is stress? How to deal with stress. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145855.php Miller, G. E., Chen, E., Zhou, E. S. (2007). If it goes up, must it come down? Chronic stress and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in humans.Psychological bulletin,133(1), 25. Psychiatry, M. (2009). Stress Management Strategies Marks Psychiatry. Marks Psychiatry. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://markspsychiatry.com/stress-management-strategies/ Sanders, R. (2014). New evidence that chronic stress predisposes brain to mental illness. Newscenter.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/02/11/chronic-stress-predisposes-brain-to-mental-illness/ Scott, E. (2014). What Are Your Stress Symptoms?. About.com Health. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://stress.about.com/od/understandingstress/a/stress_symptoms.htm Segerstrom, S. C., Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry.Psychological bulletin,130(4), 601. Sincero, S. (2012). Three Different Kinds of Stress Acute, Episodic and Chronic. Explorable.com. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from https://explorable.com/three-different-kinds-of-stress Thaker, P. H., Han, L. Y., Kamat, A. A., Arevalo, J. M., Takahashi, R., Lu, C., Sood, A. K. (2006). Chronic stress promotes tumor growth and angiogenesis in a mouse model of ovarian carcinoma.Nature medicine,12(8), 939-944. The Stress Management Society. (2015). Common Stressors that You can Encounter Every Day. Retrieved 10 March 2015, from http://www.stress.org.uk/stress-solutions/common-stressors.aspx Weinstein, R. (2004). The stress effect. New York: Avery.

Minority Report: The Book vs the Movie Essay example -- compare/contr

It is a fool-proof system born to ensure absolute safety†¦but when it crumbles, would you go against everything it stands for just to save it? This is the platform that Philip K. Dick, author of the sci-fi short story "The Minority Report" (MR), has given us. Set in a futuristic New York City, we see Police Commissioner John A. Anderton as the founder of a promising new branch of policing: Precrime, a system that uses "Precogs" (mutated and retarded oracles) to predict all future crimes. However, the system appears to backfire when Anderton himself is accused to kill a man he's never even heard of. The movie adaptation by the same name also centers on a younger Chief Anderton, a respected employee of Precrime, predicted to murder a complete stranger who he was unaware existed. Amidst scandal, betrayal, and distrust, both Andertons must run from the justice system they've worked so hard to put in place, and admit to themselves, as well as to society, that a perfect system cannot be born of imperfect humans. Though the basis of the film's plot and major conflict stayed true to the story's, many changes were made to the personalities and roles of the characters, as well as the nature and detail of the main conflict and the sub-conflicts. Dick presents our main character, Commissioner John Anderton, as the balding, pot-bellied founder of a revolutionary new crime detection system who's been showing his years for longer than he'd care to remember. In the short story, he has just acquired a new assistant, Ed Witwer, and fears being replaced by the younger man. In the beginning, Anderton is portrayed as slightly insecure about his job (to the point of near paranoia of being set-up), as well as his importance to society, though by the e... ...d. While in MR, Anderton is trying to accept the inevitability of retiring and what may be his less useful future, in the movie, much of his struggle is with his past, and the guilt he feels. His conflicts still revolve around evading Witwer and Lamar, whether to murder to prevent murder, and his own inner turmoil. Though the similarities in the most obvious conflicts, those between Anderton and Kaplan, the protagonist and antagonist, and fate remain intact, it is obvious that Philip Dick's story has been expanded upon and the main characters made to fit the "big screen". Both stories, however, address the contradictions and repercussions of trying to encourage free will and safety in an ultimately predetermined setting, the basic moral conflict of destroying what is meant to represent a utopian security, as well as the issue of trading freedom for protection.

Albert Pujols Bio

Jose Alberto Pujols Alcantara was born on January 16 1980. He was born in the Dominican Republic and was raised there also. He was raised by his grandmother. At a young age he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a great baseball player like his father, he had a dream to play in the majors. In 1996 his family immigrated to New York City. Pujols attended Fort Osage High School as a sophomore. In his first year at Fort Osage his batting average was over . 500 and he hit 11 homeruns. He received All-State Honors. In his junior year of High School with only playing one season of high school baseball he started to attract the attention of pro scouts. In his junior year other teams avoided pitching to him as much as they could. With 55 walks in 88 at bats he still hit 8 homeruns. Now the pro scouts advised him to leave High School and find a collage that could get him better exposure. Pujols played in the All-Star game for high schoolers there he drew the attention of Maple Woods Community Collage coach Marty Kilgore. He recruited the 18-year-old star. His main priority was to increase his stock in the upcoming draft of 2000. In his first collage debut he did amazing things. He stared at short stop and batted . 461. He hit a grand slam in the regular season of future all-star Mark Buehrle. He also turned an unassisted triple play. The unassisted triple play is the rarest thing that can happen in baseball. The player turns a triple play by himself without the help of the other players. For his freshman year of collage he hit 22 homeruns and 80 RBI’s. During the Junior College World Series the scouting report on Albert Pujols said it was better to put him on base than to pitch to him. Even though they did not pitch to him anymore the Major league teams had seen enough. Among the teams watching him was the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals had been watching the hard hitting infielder the closest out of all the teams. The Cardinals selected Pujols in the 13th Round of the draft. They offered him a 10,000 dollar bonus for signing but he turned it down and decided to play in the Jayhawks League. There he joined the Hay Larks. It was 4 hours away from where he was living so he moved in with his manager and his wife. In 55 games he topped the Larks in homeruns and in batting average. At the end of the summer the Cardinals finally started to appreciate Pujols and offered him 60,000. He accepted. During the fall ball season he started to learn a new position, Third base. In the winter he returned to his home and married his wife Diadre. She already had a child named Isabella. After that moment they were never separated. In 2000 he was assigned to the Peoria Chiefs a Class A League, his new wife and Isabella followed him. At the Chief he played as their Third baseman. He was named the circuit’s top defensive man at the hot corner, with the best infield arm. During that season there was seven no hitters thrown. Still even with that Pujols finished second in the league with a . 324 batting average, and added 32 doubles, 17 home runs and 84 RBI’s. He only struck out 37 times it under just 400 at bats. The Peoria Chiefs finished under . 500 but Pujols was named League MVP. After that he made his way through the Cardinals farm league teams. He earned a promotion to the Potomac Cannons, then an affiliate of the Cardinals in the Carolina League. After a strong month by Pujols at the Double-A level the St. Louis brass wanted to see him against Triple-A talent. He was promoted again to the Memphis Redbirds, who were preparing for the Pacific Coast League playoffs. In seven games, Albert hit . 367 with two homeruns, as Memphis nipped the Albuquerque Dukes to advance to the PCL championship series. The Redbirds faced the Salt Lake Buzz, a Minnesota Twins farm team and defeated them for the PCL crown. Albert was named the league’s postseason MVP. With injuries on the Cardinals they were able to keep Pujols. To his surprise he found himself on the line-up against the Colorado Rockies playing left field. At three at bats he managed to get one hit. The next game they were on the road. The Cards traveled to Arizona, where Pujols destroyed the Diamondbacks with a homerun, three doubles and eight RBI’s in three games. Included in his offensive barrage was a ringing two-run double off Randy Johnson. In 2003 he injured his elbow, which enabled him to make long throws. He ended the season batting . 359 with 51 doubles, 43 homeruns and 124 RBI’s. He struck out just 65 times in close to 700 plate appearances. In 2005 he was put on the disabled list and missed 15 games. He started playing first base in the all-star game and has been playing first base for the Cards since then. His batting average is . 269 for this year and has hit 7 homeruns.

Lesson Before Dying Theme essays

Lesson Before Dying Theme essays Throughout many novels authors use themes to reveal the plot. Relationships, love, and loyalty are a few themes that Ernest J. Gaines used in A Lesson Before Dying. However, the most apparent theme is racism. Jefferson is sentenced to death by a white judge and jury for a crime that he did not commit. The judge did not contemplate his decision on Jeffersons fate for long. He was quick to make a decision that would affect the lives of many in Jeffersons community. Grant Wiggens was a very well educated black male who was treated unfairly in many situations because of his skin color. Grant waited on several occasions to talk to Henri Pichot. Though Pichot asked that Grant come to his house, Pichot still made him wait hours just so that he could continue talking to his white friends. When Grant went to the store to buy a radio for Jefferson he was not attended to. When he was finally helped by the sales clerk, he was quickly denied service when a white customer entered the store. Another white woman came into the store...The clerk went to see what the white woman wanted. The other woman was not buying anything; she only wanted to talk. So they stood there about ten minutes before the clerk came back to wait on me[Jefferson] (176). Though whites and blacks lived in the same town, the whites possessed the schools, churches, and movie theaters in the upskirts of town. The blacks were separated by being forced the use the services in the b ack of town. The whites had bathrooms in easily accessible places; while the blacks used the restrooms in the basement. Racism still exists today, in society. However, It is not in the extreme as it was in the early 1900s. By reading this novel and learning about the issues that the colored faced, we can help modify and change the future. ...

In Baltimore Essays

In Baltimore Essays In Baltimore Essay In Baltimore Essay Question: 1. How does Southwest Airlines compete? What are its advantages relative to other airlines? 2. The plane turnaround process requires coordination among twelve functional groups at SWA to service, in a brief period of time, an incoming plane and match it up with its new passengers and baggage for a prompt departure. Please evaluate the plane turnaround process at Baltimore resource utilization, capacity, bottlenecks, information flows, etc. How is the process working? 3. Why is the opearational performance at Baltimore eroding? What issues do you identify that require action? . What would you recommend Matt Hafner do? Answer please see attachment: 1 The competitive advantages of Southwest Airlines are as follow: A. Unique operation system Unlike its industrial rivals who used the â€Å"hub and spoke† system, Southwest Airlines established its own point-to-point system instead. Even though economic theories tell Southwest’s system should be unworkable – the shorter the flight is, the higher the setup cost per seat mile, thanks to the well-known quick and efficient turnaround process, Southwest succeeded in creating a miracle. The point-to-point system not only enables Southwest to lower its costs and make frequent flights, but also to capture a niche market and compete with other transportation like trains and buses. This is because Southwest is able to provide passengers with short-hauling flights which can be substitutes to trains and buses. Consequently, it earns a considerable profit from the expanded market size. B. Low costs Southwest is operating at a lower cost when comparing with its competitors. It minimizes its cost in four main ways: . The quick turnaround process: Southwest focuses on turning aircraft around quickly at the gate to minimize an airplane’s time on the ground. They do so by the relational coordination of their operation agents, which would be further discussed in Q2. 2. The use of a single aircraft type: Southwest uses only Boeing 737 and standardizes the cockpit configuration. These minimize additional training requirements for pilots and routinize ramp operations, which helps to save training costs and speed turnarounds at the ate. 3. The use of less-congested airports: Southwest uses such airports to avoid disrupting flight operations in those busy and high-traffic airports. 4. Cheap oil price: Southwest constantly monitors fuel prices at different airports and load fuels from places with attractive price. 5. Other practices like offering beverages and snacks instead of in-flight meals, transferring no baggage to other airlines, and open and single class seating can also help lower the operating costs. C. A productive and loyal workforce Southwest places great emphasis on hiring team players willing to go beyond their primary responsibilities. They invest substantial amounts of time selecting employees for attitude, teamwork, and service orientation, resulting in a strong corporate culture of valuing excellent customer service. Meanwhile, Southwest also strives to build a loyal workforce. It treats its employees as family members and creates an enjoyable working environment. Employees’ opinions and suggestions are listened to and respected. 2. The plane turnaround process at Baltimore is quick and efficient due to (1) Process simplification and (2) Relational coordination powered by its operation agents. The process is said to be simplified relative to other airline companies because Southwest Airlines provides no-frill services – no in-flight meals and no transfer of baggage to other airlines. These lead to time reduction in the restock of provisions, cleaning of cabin area and handling of baggage. Moreover, Southwest also adopts the open seating system to encourage early gate arrival. The two practices thus speed up the turnaround process. In addition, Southwest has increased its staffing of operations agents to a higher level than the industrial average, allowing the operations agent to play a greater role than only managing the flow of information across functional boundaries. Each individual flight is assigned to a dedicated on-site operations agent, who engages in face-to-face contact with each functional team. In so doing, the operations agents are actually engaged in relationship building, developing relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect among fellow employees to facilitate the oordination of work. This relational coordination results in greater staffing productivity. As noted in the text, the whole process took 20 minutes for flight 110 but it already took 17 minutes to deplane and board passengers, which is considered as the major bottleneck. Yet, the Baltimore Airport would find it difficult to further speed up the process since it is not considered as good customer service to hur ry passengers, especially for the Southwest culture. However, what worth noticing is the overall service level. According to the case, the scheduled turnaround times had lengthened over the past eight years and misplacement of baggage could happen during a quick turnaround. These implicitly reflect that the low staffing level in Baltimore could not catch up with its current service expansion and limited its capability to shorten turnaround time. Therefore, we would attribute the major bottleneck to the size and average tenure of its workforce. 3 The reasons for Baltimore’s deteriorating operational performance are as follow: a. Limited facility: The gates in Baltimore were reaching capacity limits and its bag sorting area had already reached its full capacity. While the former implies longer boarding time, the latter leads to longer bag handling time, with both slowing down the whole turnaround process. b. Labour shortage: Efficient turnaround process relies heavily on its employees. The tight labour market, however, forced Baltimore to have a serious labour shortage at least in short term and lead to many mandatory over-times. As a result, it led to declining productivity and slowed down the turnaround process. Moreover, the experience of employees is also crucial. With high labour turnover rate and frequent hiring, Baltimore was having a comparably inexperienced workforce. This would affect the operational performance. c. Uncontrollable passenger connections: Southwest’s connecting flights were unevenly distributed and Baltimore was one of the stations that had the greatest amount of connecting flights. The numerous connecting flights made operations become more complicated and satisfying all customers become even more difficult. As a result, flights were frequently held up for connecting passengers. Two issues should deserve much attention. They include: a. Unsatisfactory customer services: Mishandled bags and passenger complaints in Baltimore were higher than the system-wide average and its number of passenger complaints was even the highest among all stations. Limited facilities and frequent flight holdings brought inconvenience and dissatisfaction to passengers. All these were definitely undesirable especially for Southwest which built its success on passenger’s trust. These problems should be tackled as soon as possible so as to re-gain passenger’s confidence and loyalty. b. Prolonged working hours: Labour is always the most valuable asset. The lower the productivity is, the longer time the whole turnaround process takes. Prolonged working hours adversely affected the morale of employees. It ended up not only worsening operational performance but also causing discontent among workers. If the problem remained unsolved, the operational performance would further deteriorate. 4. On seeing the service deterioration at Baltimore, Matt Hafner is actually making a trade-off decision between its service expansion and service quality. There are two alternatives: 1. As Baltimore is served as a mega-station in the East Coast, rapid expansion of flights is desired to capture strong demands. Matt should exert its bargaining power to urge for facility expansion of the Baltimore Airport to cater for future expansion needs and relieve the pressures for gates and bag sorting areas. Moreover, he should shorten the hiring process or lower the hiring requirements to recruit more staff to support the addition of flights. 2. Since the staffing level at Baltimore does not support its expected service level, Matt should slow its expansion pace down so as to maintain a high service quality and hence, protect Southwest Airlines from damaging its own reputation. However, it is advised that the first option could pose these substantial risks: A. Since it requires persistent over-time on its staff, the staff morale would definitely be affected, leading to a high staff turnover rate and also deteriorated service. B. Southwest has long been surviving without laying off any of its staff. Nevertheless, given the shorten hiring process, they may fail to screen out all undesired candidates. As a result, service quality would suffer. C. The rapid expansion also poses itself to high uncertainty. For example, the 911 incident, which happened just three months afterwards, could obviously tumble the flight demands. Therefore, any large-scale investment could adversely affect quarter earnings. Therefore, it is recommended that Matt should choose the second option – striving for a stable but progressive growth. By saying so, he could suggest lengthening the connecting time for the reservation system so that it relieves the staff pressure to rush for a quick turnaround and at the same time reduces the frequency of holding flights. In return, a higher service quality could be guaranteed. Meanwhile, it is also high time to promote its services through marketing efforts and public relations to re-build public confidence towards the Southwest Airlines.

Continual support for returning veterans. Determine program success in Research Paper

Continual support for returning veterans. Determine program success in helping veterans enter the job market - Research Paper Example Together with the different health problems (PTSD, TBI, and disabilities among others) that they experience, some ultimately seek ways to reduce or hide their suffering by suicide or becoming alcoholics. There are government developed programs that offer rehabilitation, education and training programs, and in support to this, the government provides financial support to the programs and veterans after service. This document also gives the statistics of veterans’ issues on health and fatality in some states. Keywords: Veterans, Soldiers, Programs, PTSD, Homeless Veterans, Alcohol and Drugs Abuse, Troops, Treatment, Rehabilitation, Training, Military Service, Employment, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, Veterans’ Affairs, Health Care After the long and loyal service to their nations, military veterans deserve proper care and treatment back home. However short the period they served in military services battling for their countries, they all risked their lives, leaving behind their families and home places, just hoping that they will come back. Many of them lost their lives and can only be commemorated, while those who survived may have shortcomings in their lives that require to be addressed. Some do not have arms, though they can think straight and perform much better in other fields. Wars will never be over, since colonization, World War I and II, some nations are still at war with one another, and the world will need such patriotic military men and women to safeguard mankind. Terrorism is the norm of the day in this modern society, but it has been there and the soldiers have been active to combat the act that risks nations and world economies. Once the soldiers or military men retire or are kept offline the d uty due to physical or health issues, it should not mark the end of their productivity in life. Just like other people, they have an alternative of venturing into other

Autobiographical Statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Autobiographical Statement - Essay Example ects of these on families at close quarters in my native land, I was determined to get a good education and get a slice of the good things in life for myself and my family. I was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, one of the poorest countries of the world, but blessed to have a mother endowed with the grit and determination to make a better life for herself and her family. My mother brought the family over to the US in 1990 on a Certified Nursing Assistant paycheck. I was brought up by parents who are not educated, but who worked very hard and over time set up a small grocery store and restaurant. My mother’s life reminds me of a story she told me as a child about an ant who kept trying to carry a sugar cube to its den, and failed so many times but never gave up trying till it finally succeeded. I think the story is an inspiration to me even today and I go back to remembering my mother telling me the story and how it probably gave her strength in her periods of crisis. I am a single parent to two daughters. After the birth of my first daughter in 1999, I enrolled at St. Paul Community College in St. Paul, Minnesota. However, I was forced to drop out because I got no support or cooperation from my husband. I have had the misfortune of going through a traumatic relationship with an abusive and domineering husband, who would not allow me to finish college. After five years of physical, emotional and mental abuse, I decided to move to California to get away from him. In 2004, I put myself through Beauty College, completing the 1600 hours required by the state of California. In the same year, I passed my State Board Exam and became a licensed Cosmetologist. I got a job with Fantastic Sam for a couple of years while attending El Camino College in Torrance, California. In the year 2006, I plunged headlong into business. I opened my own hair salon in Gardena, CA. At first it was a wonderful feeling being my own boss and setting my own hours, working hard and studying