Cointelpro and the Assassination of Malcolm X Essay

During the early 1950’s, Malcolm X was the top spokesman for the Black Nationalist Muslim group called the Nation of Islam (NOI). As the national representative of the NOI, Malcolm X attracted the media spotlight by speaking out against the injustices that were being inflicted upon black Americans in the United States (Haley 225). Malcolm later separated from the NOI due to accusations of immoral behavior he made against his leader, Elijah Muhammad, and went on to form his own group called Muslim Mosque Inc. 323). Malcolm was assassinated February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem New York, by black gunmen who were alleged to be members of the Nation of Islam (442-443). According to the book â€Å"The Assassination of Malcolm X by George Breitman, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover made Malcolm the subject of an intensive surveillance investigation by the Counter Intelligence Program known by its acronym â€Å"Cointelpro† (13). Malcolm, as a Muslim minister in the NOI, had become a powerful speaker equipped with the oratorical skills which provided him the ability to attract large followings of black people into his new organization. However, Hoover had labeled Malcolm a â€Å"subversive† and a radical black nationalist whom he felt needed to be â€Å"neutralized† (14). What did Hoover mean by â€Å"neutralize†? And did the Nation of Islam assassinate Malcolm X, or was this a government conspiracy? These two theories will be addressed in order to answer these questions and others that have been unanswered for 48 years. Cointelpro was a FBI top secret and illegal political agency, the main agenda of which was to target specific individuals and organizations whose ideas Hoover did not agree with (Blackstock, preface vii). Even though the program was initially started in 1956 to disrupt the activities of the Communist Party of the United States, policies were secretly changed under the direction of its founder, Hoover in order to target other organizations (9). Even though the name â€Å"Counterintelligence† may imply opposition to anyone who threatens the security of the United States through espionage, the targets were not enemy spies (10). The FBI’s main objective under this program was to eliminate all â€Å"radical† political opposition inside the United States by any means necessary (10-11). When traditional methods such as harassment and prosecution failed, the Bureau resorted to illegal and unconstitutional methods by taking the law into its own hands (11). Methods such as intimidation, job loss, violence, and forging letters in order to frame members were just a few tactics used by FBI agents and police informants who had infiltrated targeted organizations (12-13). In instructions to his FBI field operatives, Hoover displayed the outright contempt that he held for the Civil Rights Movement and its black leaders (28). In one specific memo dated August 25, 1967, he explains that the purpose of the program was â€Å"to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize† the Civil Rights Movement (30). Even though the memo was revealed by Hoover in 1967, two years after Malcolm’s death, tactics had been put into action long before it was distributed as a memo to his agents (30). On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X prepared to give a speech to a crowd of approximately 400 at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York (Evanzz xiv). As he approached the rostrum, a scuffle began in the rear of the ballroom (xv). One of the men yelled â€Å"Get your hand out of my pocket. † Malcolm responded by telling the two individuals who were scuffling to â€Å"cool it† and to not get excited (xv). As Malcolm tried to calm things down, a large explosion in the back was heard from a smoke bomb, and a man sitting in the front row pulled out a double barreled sawed-off shotgun from under his long coat and fired at Malcolm, striking him in the chest (xv). As Malcolm was falling and clutching his chest, two more men rushed the stage, firing pistols at him (xv). Betty Shabazz, Malcolm’s wife, and Gene Roberts, his close friend and bodyguard came to Malcolm’s aid along with others close by (xv). Meanwhile, a crowd of Malcolm’s supporters had caught two of the fleeing assailants and were beating them until they were rescued by policemen (xvii). One of the men rescued by police was Talmadge Hayer, a black Muslim, who had a gunshot wound from one of Malcolm X’s bodyguards and was taken to the hospital across the street from the Audubon (xvi). Malcolm X was pronounced dead 15 minutes after they got him to the hospital (xvi). Who killed Malcolm X? Examine the following scenarios. Initially, it was reported by Malcolm’s guards, the New York City police and local newspapers that two men were taken into police custody (xviii). In later newspaper editions, it was changed from two men to one. No reason was given for the sudden change and no admission of a mistake ever mentioned (xv). Police vehemently denied that a second man had existed and that Hayer was the only person caught at the scene (xviii). Five days later, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson, two well-known Muslims were arrested and charged with the murder of Malcolm X, even though they had concrete alibis placing them elsewhere, evidence the prosecutor withheld at the trial (Evanzz xviii). Hayer had confessed to his involvement in Malcolm’s death and testified that Butler and Johnson were neither present nor involved in the assassination but that four other gunmen were involved (xviii-xx). The question remains to this day: Who was the mysterious second man? Why did the first police report and witnesses inside the Audubon say they saw five men who were involved in the assassination, yet only three were accused and convicted at the trial (xv, xviii)? It should also be noted that many of Malcolm’s bodyguards and aides were Muslim defectors from the Nation of Islam and would have recognized Butler and Johnson immediately and prevented them from coming in (xv). Roland Sheppard was a journalist who regularly attended Malcolm’s lectures and was also a witness to his assassination. In his article â€Å"The Assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. † he stated that he was told by one of Malcolm’s bodyguards, â€Å"You are not going to sit here today† and to move from the front row where he normally would sit. Sheppard, along with Malcolm and his group, always knew that there were police agents and informants in the audience. After Malcolm’s assassination, Sheppard was questioned at the Harlem police headquarters, where he saw a familiar face, obviously a police officer, walking freely around the office, whom â€Å"he had seen standing in the first row at the Audubon Ballroom, with other men, before the start of the meeting. This is where Hayer said he and his accomplices were sitting† (Sheppard). This was also the same row of seats Sheppard was told to move from. Sheppard also noticed that usually at Malcolm’s meetings, there would be somewhere between 30-50 uniformed police officers on site (Sheppard). But when Malcolm was assassinated, the police were nowhere to be found, even though Malcolm had warned them that an assassination attempt was imminent (Sheppard). Police officials claim that Malcolm had requested not to have police protection that day (Sheppard). However, when the police first spoke of this agreement with Malcolm, his wife, Betty Shabazz, stated that it was a lie, that Malcolm had not made the request for no police security (Sheppard). Malcolm knew from his experience with the Nation of Islam that his organization had been infiltrated by police agents who were undercover working for the government (Evanzz xxiii). But what would have shocked Malcolm the most is that his head of security and close friend Roberts, was one of them (xv). Roberts was a police agent working for New York Police Department’s Bureau of Special Services, also known as BOSSI (xxiii). This was the same bodyguard who told Sheppard to move from where he normally sits at Malcolm’s meetings. The night of the assassination, Roberts, as usual, posted guards in their proper positions and took his post as well (xv). Once Malcolm came to the rostrum and greeted the crowd with, â€Å"As-Salaam Alaikum,† Roberts subtly gave a signal that he needed to be relieved from his guard post (xv). As soon as Roberts walked away and stationed himself by the front entrance, the commotion started in the rear of the ballroom and shots were fired (xv). Is it just a coincidence that Roberts had himself relieved from the guard post and soon after, the shooting started? As Malcolm lay on the ground gasping for air, Roberts, who had changed guard post seconds before the shooting, rushed to the stage to Malcolm’s side and appeared to be administering mouth to mouth (Evanzz 295). Betty Shabazz, Malcolm’s wife, went his side and removed a piece of paper from Malcolm’s blood stained coat jacket, that had the names of the five men whom Malcolm believed were going to assassinate him (295). Finally, Malcolm was placed on a stretcher and as they started to take him to the hospital across the street, the police, who were not present during the shooting, appeared and took charge of Malcolm’s body (xvii). It is apparent to me that Roberts was there for the sole purpose of ensuring that Malcolm was dead. Was he actually giving mouth-to-mouth respirations to Malcolm? Or was he preventing him from breathing altogether? Why would Malcolm’s wife remove the paper with the names of her husband’s assassins on it and not reveal it to any of those present? Malcolm X had been under surveillance by the FBI since his release from prison in 1952 (Evanzz 28). Once Malcolm separated from Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, he started reaching out to other Black Nationalist organizations and civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. (266-267). Even though they had opposing views, both men realized they were after the same common goal but with different means of gaining it. In his letter â€Å"A Call for Unity† from Birmingham jail, King made it a point to his critics that the Negro in America had been caught up by the â€Å"Zeitgeist† (spirit of the age), and with his black brothers of Africa, and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America, and the Caribbean, the Negro in the United States is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice† (King 1303). Malcolm shared this viewpoint also, that injustice was universal, and Malcolm decided to take the plight of the American Negro to the United Nations (309). No one had ever brought the issue of racism to the United Nations before (310). This deeply disturbed Hoover and the FBI and gave them a definite reason to target Malcolm for â€Å"neutralization† (Evanzz 310). Malcolm’s fall out with Muhammad and the Nation of Islam was the catalyst needed to later help the FBI set the stage for Malcolm’s assassination (311). The question remains: who killed Malcolm X? Malcolm had initially and for good reason, thought that the Nation of Islam were plotting to take his life. After close analysis, he realized that this plot to kill him was deeper than the NOI. He expressed this to Alex Haley, who was in the process of finishing Malcolm’s autobiography, â€Å"†¦The more I keep thinking about this thing, the things that have been happening lately, I’m not all that sure it’s the Muslims, I know what they can do, and what they can’t, and they can’t do some of the stuff recently going on. Now, I’m going to tell you, the more I keep thinking about what happened to me†¦, I think I’m going to quit saying it’s the Muslims† (qtd. in Haley 438).

Management†Change Essay

Change is important to people because the world and most of the people are changing. If people do not take attention of it and refuse to change, they will be eliminated by the world. People who are fear or hesitate to change must try to step out and start to change now. People can overcome their fear of change by 3 steps; first, they must find out and confront the issues that cause them afraid of change. Then, keep your mind to think the opportunities instead of threat. After that, move on against the fear. In addition, managers must be patient to people in order for people have enough time to make any adjustment for them to adapt new things successfully. Listen to employees and counsels them with ease. To be succeeding in change, managers have to take a lot of issues into consideration. It may be hard for managers to implement change, but here are some suggestions to managers to implement change successfully. First of all, managers should have a good planning of change before they carry out. Queensland government (n. ) pointed out that successfully managing the complexity of change is virtually impossible without a robust plan that is supported by strong project management. Planning is help manager to be aware of what they want to achieve and how they going to achieve it. Secondly, managers should encourage participate. When anticipating making a change, get the team members who will be affected by that change involved early on, find out what make them afraid of change and find out the way to overcome their fear to support change (Stark, 2010). The key to change is to let go the fear—Rosanne Cash (Rick, 2011). To let go people’s fear, managers should often remind people that they are a team and nobody is alone. Managers should also let people understand clearly why they need to change; many people will resist change unless they see that the change is urgently needed and remind them the positive consequences of being change. Then, managers must be able to listen to people’s suggestion. When managers want to apply change, they should not only announce to the people. When managers intending to introduce change, the planning process should involve input from the workforce on the best way to implement the change. People ill be far more committed to the change if they see that their perceptions have been considered and with a sense of ‘ownership’ over ideas and concepts, they will embrace the change with open arms (Future prospect, n. d). Beside that, managers have to monitor the progress over time and make adjustment as necessary (Hamlin, 2011). Managers must make sur e that all the activities are helping the team change effectively otherwise, it is wasting time for people to put so much effort on activities that are not helping them to change. It will make people feel tired for changing and then lose the interest and motivation to involve in change. mployees’ right and control (Davidson et al. , 2009, p. 38). If managers change without consider politic, it may lead people hesitate of change. Thus, causes failure in change. Most of the authors agree that management is connected to another field, because in order for a manager to has a good management. Manager must understand from environment to human resources. Not only those fields which are mentioned above need to be considered, managers also need to consider about the philosophy, psychology and also anthropology According to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Karmarkar, 2012, p. 1), â€Å"Management is the art and science of preparing, organizing and directing human efforts to c ontrol the forces and utilize the material of nature for the benefit of men. † It is consider as science because management problems can be approached in ways that are rational, logical, objective and systematic. Then, it also called as art because although managers try to be scientific as possible but they must make decision and solve problems on the basis of intuition, experience, instinct and personal insights (Davidson, Simon, Woods, Griffin, 2009, p. 21). Thus, people hesitate of change is not an issue that warrants examination only in the study of management, it also in science and art field. Management science has to learn from other fields in order to understand of what people do and why they do it. One of the fields can management learn from is Sociology (Management’s connection to other field of study for principles of management, 2008). Sociology is the study of people in relationship to their fellow human beings (Robbins et al. , 2011, p. 16). The problem of sociology that link to managers is the society changes such as globalisation and cultural diversity. During the days organisation is changing towards globalization, people who are lack of confidence to change in order to compete with others will hesitate to change. Further, different culture have different attitude in their work. For an example, traditional Chinese will think that changing company bring them risk or uncertainty. In general, managers mostly need to understand the affect of social forces in any consideration of management in that society (Davidson et al. , 2009, p. 37). Further, managers have to look into economics. Economics is concerned with the allocation and distribution of scarce resources (Robbins et al. , 2011, p. 16). Economic system and economic conditions are associated in management. During bad economic conditions such as economy recession or depression, most of the people are not dare to involve in any change because they will worry that they loss what they already hold in hand in this suffer period. Thus, managers have to look into the economic condition of that period to determine whether change can be done at that particular period and have an effective result in change. In addition, the relevant field with management is political science. Political are the government institutions, attitudes and policies that affect business (Davidson et al. , 2009, p. 37). Specific topics concern to political scientists include structuring of conflict, allocating power and manipulating power for individual self interest (Robbins et al. , 2011, p. 16). Government nowadays is increasing aware to organisation’s moral and legal responsibility, this forces affect management theory in planning, organisational design, Robert F. Kennedy once said, â€Å"About twenty percent of the people are against any change. † (Stark, 2010) Why people are so afraid of change? By reading the text, the reason that individuals dislike to change is because it will replaces the known with uncertainty, it requires people to do things out of habit, people fear of losing, disagreement with the necessity to change and limited tolerance for change (Robbins, DeCenzo, Coulter, Woods, 2011, p. 193). Besides all these causes, there are more reason about why individuals dislike or afraid of change. First of all, an individual may against towards all new things (Frank Calberg Service, 2007). For an example an individual maybe complaining or refuse to learn new things. People who dislike learning or accepting new knowledge will give a lot of excuse to escape changing by saying that they have no time, no money to pay to attend courses or training (Redman, 2012). Secondly, people are self doubt (Pratt, 2012). Usually people who are self doubt mostly named themselves not good enough, not smart enough, boring, unattractive, and unlikeable, self doubt can lead them to get defensive (Fox, Sokol, 2009). People who are in self doubt situation will defense themselves do not do others thing that they never try before because they don’t have enough confidence to change (Exposing fear of change, 2011). Further, individuals who are fear of change may because they afraid the bad experience in the past repeat in their life (Radwan, 2012). Individuals who had tried to change in their past but obtained a traumatic experience of change that haunts them will affect them feel so afraid of changing. However, Dr Swaim (2011) argued that people do not afraid of change. He claimed that if people afraid of change then how to explain that there is a big changes in election victory of a little known junior senator form Illinious, Barack Hussein Obama, whose 2007based on the slogan â€Å"change we can believe in†. In addition, a psychologist and life coach Dr Suzy Green (n. d) also argued that most of the people find change is scary is just an excuse. She also claimed that individual makes excuse is because they has low confident or failure in past of changing. Secondly, old habits of individuals is ingrained and it is hard to shake off the behaviors that been developed for a long time, she explained that the excuses people make when they are not ready to tackle their behaviors need to be turned around. The movie of The Queen focuses on individual’s change and it pointed out that change request individual to give up the comfortable ways of thinking and acting. Further, comfort zone is the external environment tends to be placid or at least changes are slow or predictable and it has the ability to change (Jarret, 2009, p. 44). In another word, individual is required to give up the habits they used to be in daily life. For individual to leave their comfort zone is sounds scary to them because it will make them feel anxious (Pawlik-Kienlen, 2007). Individual will feel anxious because they afraid of failure, afraid of new things, fear of criticism and fear of discomfort (O’Callahan, 2012). In addition, Jeffery Schwartz and Sharon Begley in the article claimed that it is hard near the core of brain if habits that a person form by training and experience. Further, brain use intense energy in processing new material, this process enquiry brain to work hard to match new material. Chris Berdik (2012) agrees by saying that evaluating every new experience in detail would be tough on our brains and it would hog energy and attention that could be better used elsewhere. Furthermore, accept new things require forming new connections within the brain, which results in greater conscious effort and attention on our part People need to do their work by writing down everything but nowadays everyone is using a computer or laptop to help them finish all theirs works without any delays. Further, nowadays more companies are trying to be globalisation instead of doing business within own country to earn more profit and individual who working in that particular company gets higher salary and maybe get a chance to fly. All these changes to people in an organisation are easily to be seen and it seems like bringing them a lot of benefits. So, is it can be concluded that changing is easy to be achieved for an individual and they love to change without any hesitate? It cannot be judged shallowly, we have to look deep inside before making a conclusion. A deeper discussion will be presented in the following literary works.

Africa for Investors Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Africa for Investors - Speech or Presentation Example This paper is an informative speech about Africa. Since time in memorial we have had a perception that Africa is the darkest continent. But has anyone of you taken an initiative to research more about Africa? As I stand here I hope there is no one amongst you branding me an African ambassador. It’s just that I have visited one of the African countries and done more research about other African countries.   I have been to South Africa. Do not ask me whether I saw the lions and the monkeys because there are more to that than you can imagine. From the profound glades and mountains, the flowers, the rivers, hills and the valleys, the seas and the deserts delineate the phase of the Dark Continent.   From the beaches which thaw the coldness we experience during the winter. The heavy equatorial rainfalls and the rumbling of the summer thunders are enough to shake hell out of you. Africa is defined by unique sceneries and dramatic structures that shape out the landscape. Their str ict culture and love for visitors, is enough to send an eternal happiness down ones’ spinal cord. The quiet and calm forests bring a sense of restoration from our rather noisy environment. With all the beauty described, I still wonder why some of us have a negative attitude towards Africa! Sometimes in fear, I have been left flagger basted whether one should concede to the war-torn nations. Fear is the biggest enemy for development. In particular fear for the unknown.  Sometimes in fear, I have been left flagger basted whether one should concede to the war-torn nations. Fear is the biggest enemy for development. In particular fear for the unknown. Africa is beautiful, it is amazing and it is a good ground for investments. From my research it is true that there are some countries which suffer pain of aggressive conflict. These include; Libya, Somali, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Algeria and democratic republic of Congo. Let us now turn to the hard facts. There are about 54 nations in Africa. The countries with related conflicts do not exceed 10 in number. We are left with approximately 46 peaceful African countries. It should not be forgotten that the causes of the conflicts are simple, which might need our intervention in a more noble way. Poverty, leadership wrangles, the vast rich resources and human degradation are some of the things that leave Africans in persistent shadow of despair. For those who read the bible we are told to be our brother’s keeper. How can we be termed as children of God if we cannot empathize with the plight of our fellow people? Ladies and gentlemen, as we are gathered here facts must be told! Though it may sound implausible to the skeptics, Africa is ordained to prosper! Let us have a closer look at the some of the countries that were war-torn but peace now reigns within the nations. Despite having some few issues here and there, peace is being restored in Sudan.

Global company analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global company analysis - Research Paper Example The launch of the first transistor radio was in the late 1950’s, although it was not the first of its kind to be invented; it was however the first to be marketed out to the general public. Sony corporation has been a publicly traded company since 1958 (Akio Morita 1986). At the beginning they relied heavily on investors to help fund and operate the company. As well as the use of non-traditional marketing tools such as the hiring of regular spokespeople to use Sony products within the general public and asking them to try it. Sony managed to stay ahead of its competition by being the leaders of innovation in the electronic market. They focused their energies on inventing rather than market research, bringing the latest and newest products out on the market before there was a demand for it. Such inventions included the portable cassette player known as the â€Å"walkman†. Besides being well known for its quality in personal recording and storage devices, Sony Corporation is also the leader of quality sound systems used in major motion pictures. It is a well known global company, which offers a variety of products around the world. Sony is subdivided in two sections. The Sony Corporation is the holding and electronics portion of the organization and the Sony Group which is branched out into other sectors, such as computer, motion picture and music entertainment. ... distribution reports showed total revenue of $88,205 billion U.S dollars and according to Forbes, Sony’s current stock exchange rate is $27.58 U.S dollars, which is down by 2.30% since last year. Although the company has seen a decline in overall revenue in 2008, there has been a slow increase in sales in 2010. The sale of video gaming consoles and systems as well as the entertainment industry continues to be the company’s largest source of income. The company’s overall goal is in maintaining their reputation as leaders of technological advancements throughout its global structure. The company was originally founded on the Japanese principals of creating a â€Å"family like† atmosphere by preserving strong relationships between management and the employees. However, as the company expanded its resources on the international scale, keeping in line with the same values and principals becomes a challenge. Akio Morita believes that the only way for a company t o be successful is by its people. (Akio Morita 1986). This is the value that Sony tries to uphold throughout all its global sectors. The Sony Corporation human resources department is actively involved in group wide initiatives to help new recruits as well as existing members in enhancing their abilities and skills in order to become successful within the company. They are continuously working at implementing global strategies in order to maintain a unified goal. The Sony Group’s global initiative in developing business leaders is an important asset to the company’s overall success. In 2008, Sony implemented â€Å"global talent directors† (Sony website), their job is to seek out and train potential recruits into business leaders. To help maintain company unity, Sony also launched a job rotation program. This

Planning Alliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Planning Alliances - Essay Example The first issue is that the management teams do not have substantial approaches that guarantee comprehensive utilization of these systems. Despite the multiple advancements in technology, particularly in working with distance, management teams do not put in the necessary resources in making the best out of combined efforts in information technology. Definitely, if management focused on utilizing IT in developing strategic alliances among organizations, it would enhance their competition statures. Notably, apart from those management teams that fail in utilizing IT at all in their alliances, there are those that recognize the different management information systems and information reporting systems as essential facets of the alliances but only focus on exploiting the resources of a single organization alone. This is not only a factor of limitation but also affects the utilization factor. Combined resources in form of MISs, work teams and information technology knowledge are more efficient for alliances but management teams overlook the factors of integration and sharing in strategic partnerships. Among the core objectives of strategic alliances is using the difference to come up with an effective compromise on markets, customers, processes and culture (Thomas 2004). This aspect also applies in information technology systems. Most companies that are IT oriented insist on integration of systems and sharing of information; however, the management teams waste a lot of time and attention on approaches to minimize conflict and reach agreement. Instead of focusing on how to make the systems compatible or evaluating the integration as the main issues, the partners focus on the flaws of the opposing systems and reasons why the integration should not happen. The most efficient approach to integration of information technology in strategic alliances is putting commendable focus on execution and maintenance rather than wasting energy and time on the

Measures by which the programme for the construction of the structure Essay

Measures by which the programme for the construction of the structure could be reduced - Essay Example It also emits Carbon Dioxide which is a major air pollutant and a determining factor to global warming. The main obstacles faced by the construction industry, thus, are to convey buildings that are economic in sustaining the life quality. This goes hand in hand with time reduction on the effect of the environmental, economic, social drains that affects us in one way or another. The main focus of this document is to elaborate on the obligations, benefits and background to sustainable building construction. Ways of meeting these obligations are provided at the end. The first crucial step is to seek permission from the local authority in form of an application for change of user. This will need the approval of the local authority’s plans for the area. (IEEE, 2005).That is, whether the area is official recognized as an industrial area only or a residential area. Depending on the prevailing by-laws, the approval may be issued or not. Afterwards, we can proceed to the preliminary design of the office. That is, the floor layout of the offices required among other things. These specifications will be tailored to the client in Hong Kong. A detailed assessment of the existing building will be done to check integrity of the current building, the kind of foundation, parts of the building that are intact or need re-designing to fit in the preliminary design. This will be done with assistance of the current building’s construction team, the building inspection unit from the local authority and the proprietors of the new building. We may need to consider all renovations done previously and any recommendations from the local authority inspection unit. After the detailed assessment is performed, a provisional design is done incorporating the findings in the earlier conducted detailed assessment. The design is presented to the client for his approval and finally forwarding to the local

Requirements and specifications Literature review

Requirements and specifications - Literature review Example ng the combo of MySQL and ASP.net is to make sure that the web interface is robust, data retrieval is quick and robust, and standards can be upgraded easily (Patton, 2005). In order to provide users a perfect match, different search algorithms were taken into consideration. The best one of all the considered algorithms is Classification Tree that would match matches on the basis of their common characteristics. The algorithm is not very complex yet reliable. Users would be able to extract accurate search results just by entering keywords, which would ensure satisfaction of the users and will save their precious time. Apart from this, the problem of users being overlapped by other users in the search results will be solved by implementing the idea of creating sub profiles. Every user will be able to maintain different profiles under different categories (this feature is also available on many other websites to avoid the overlapping issue in search results). The idea of this project is to build a secure and anonymous database for the experimental social science lab at Essex. It is required to set up a whole new database, develop a web portal and an interface for the paid participants that are taking part in the social science experiments in the Essex Laboratory. Database will be filled up by the researchers themselves, as they will upload the information about the subjects whom they want to recruit. Once the database is live, those subjects who meet a certain criteria, set up by the researchers, will be notified automatically. Those subjects who are notified via auto generated emails would be able to line up their visit at the experimental lab according to the system generated schedule. The recommended database for this project is MySQL and web interface would be developed on ASP, harnessing the power of .Net framework 4.0. Upon the entrance of the subjects in the laboratory, their identity will be checked automatically from the database. They will be able to go

Effect of Exercise on Cancer Related Fatigue in Patients with Breast Essay

Effect of Exercise on Cancer Related Fatigue in Patients with Breast Cancer - Essay Example The mainstay of breast cancer care is local therapy consisting of surgery along with systemic adjuvant therapy, which includes chemotherapy, hormonal or a combination therapy. Besides major advances in managing both early and locally advanced breast cancer, patients still have to deal with severe side effects of fatigue during adjuvant therapy resulting in substantial impact on patients' quality of life (Markes, Brockow and Resch, 2006). Most cancer patients would say that fatigue is a major obstacle to functioning normally (Portenoy & Itri, 1999). Fatigue is a distinctive, dominant symptom in patients with cancer, that impacts life functional ability and occupational status. The fatigue diminishes the patient's ability to do both physical and mental tasks, as it has physical, affective, and cognitive components of the symptom (Dalakas, Mock and Hawkins, 1998). This kind of fatigue is referred as cancer-related fatigue or CRF. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) as defined by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network "is an unusual persistent, subjective sense of tiredness related to cancer treatment that interferes with usual functioning" (NCCN, 2005). Since fatigue is not directly observable in most of its forms, its importance and treatment are often overlooked (Newell, Sanson-Fisher, Girgis, & Bonaventura, 1998; Tanghe, Evers, & Parodaems, 1998). Patients suffering from cancer-related fatigue may have difficulty adhering to and completing treatment regimens. Fatigue has also been identified as the main reason patients withdraw from clinical trials. The quality of life of individuals experiencing cancer-related fatigue may be less than satisfactory. The purpose of this paper is to review literatures on the effect of exercise on fatigue in women with breast cancer and make recommendations for nursing practice and health care providers to improve care of individuals suffering from cancer-related fatigue (Visovsky and Schneider, 2003). The following electronic databases were searched Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews, Medline, Highbeam and Pubmed. Terms related to breast cancer, exercise, fatigue, cancer-related fatigue and publication type (e.g., random controlled clinical trial) were used in searching. This search strategy was modified as necessary for each database. Fatigue has been reported by 60% to 100% of patients undergoing treatment for cancer and has been identified as a research priority by the Oncology Nursing Society for a decade (Mock, Pickett, Ropka, Poniatowski and Drake, 2001). Cancer-related fatigue differs from normal tiredness by its sudden appearance, its overwhelming nature, and its refractory response to rest. While oncology nurses are well aware that fatigue is a prevalent complaint in cancer patients, the best way to assess and treat this debilitating symptom is less clear (Clark, 2001). Fatigue is one of if not the most common complaints of patients with cancer. The etiology for CRF is unknown, but is theorized to be caused from activation of proinflammatory cytokines in response to the tumor such as interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor, have been implicated in the development of cancer-related fatigue resulting in diminished skeletal muscle protein stores. This reduction in muscle protein, also

King Lear by William Shakespeare and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Essay

King Lear by William Shakespeare and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Essay Example   Some citizens have made the choice not to live this way; others are considered â€Å"savages†. Both groups are made to live separately from society, either on islands or on far-off, restricted â€Å"reservations† (Huxley 101). In contrast, the story of  King Lear, set in England in the 17th century, gives the story of King Lear, a king whose thoughts of dividing his kingdom and then living out his days with one of his loving daughters are rudely interrupted, as he begins a long, slow slide into a world of madness, while plots against him swirl as others attempt to gain power through their own devices and interests.  King Lear and his family are not the only victims in this story, as bitterness and greed cause characters around him to vie for power. Both  A Brave New World  and  King Lear, while being on the whole very different stories,  share many tragedies, including parental abandonment, madness, and exile of characters, while the tragedy and sufferin g of characters ultimately leads readers to catharsis, as those tragedies play out to their respective conclusions.   Both  A Brave New World  and  King Lear  share parental abandonment, as both stories have parents that abandon their children willingly, but for different reasons. Linda, a woman who became pregnant in the â€Å"civilized world† and eventually gave birth to John the Savage, is forced to live on the â€Å"savage reservation† due to having committed what is known in this world as an atrocity, as babies are not born, they are â€Å"decanted† (Huxley 18). She has thus become the mother of the John the Savage, but cannot deal with this reality and abandons him for drugs, wishing nothing more than the "mescal" that a man named Pope brings to her (Huxley 125).   When she is returned to what she calls the â€Å"Other Place†, she only wants the drug â€Å"soma† that is freely dispensed to the people, ravishing herself in the wond ers of taking â€Å"holiday after holiday† (Huxley 154). John the Savage, her only child, is left to make his own way, both on the reservation and after. On the reservation, he suffers as a little boy from the remarks that the other children make about his mother, and from witnessing her being beaten by women whose husbands have slept with Linda (Huxley 165). He grows up in a solitary, lonely and bewildered existence, wondering why Linda does not love him (Huxley 167). King Lear also contains parental abandonment. Cordelia, the youngest daughter of King Lear, is asked by her father to tell him how much she loves him. Cordelia, who has been contemplating whether to tell him the truth or not, refuses to lie, telling him â€Å"That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry, half my love with him, half my care and duty; sure I shall never marry like my sisters, to love my father all† (I.i.103-107). King Lear is at first shocked, but then tells everyone present: †Å"Here I disclaim all my paternal care, Propinquity and property of blood.† (I.i 115-118). Like Linda, King Lear has abandoned his child, though Lear does so not for drugs but because he does not believe that Cordelia loves him. Lear comes to regret his mistakes later, but is completely hard-hearted towards his daughter, as Linda was towards John. Fortunately, Lear finds forgiveness from Cordelia before things are

Personal Nursing Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Nursing Philosophy - Essay Example As I registered nurse, I have formulated a nursing philosophy that will guide me in my role. First, I have recognized that nursing is a profession that has its own set of rewards. To achieve this rewards I should act in a professional way, this entails a commitment to achieve excellence in patient care and ensuring that I upheld patient’s rights. I should also be ready to learn and accept corrections so that I can utilize the available resources to improve the patient’s health. As a nurse, I am committed in ensuring that the patient’s environment is conducive and will to lead to easy recovery. My philosophy also involves understanding the meta paradigm concepts of the nursing profession. These are areas of concern to the profession and these calls for proper understanding of the following concepts. First, what does nursing entail? What is my personal understanding of health? How do I maintain a good environment? And lastly how do I treat patients? As a nurse, I a m determined to integrate the required practice components in my role. Nursing also involves scientific and philosophical approach in caring for individuals who seek medical care. Nursing also involves disease prevention and management.... It is vital for patients to be consulted on various issues affecting them. Such issues include patient participation in their care, maintaining of dignity and self worth. I also believe that I have the authority to make independent decisions concerning patients care so long as it is with my scope of expertise (Daniels, 2006). This will enable me use creativity as well as knowledge to ensure that patients receive good health care. Understanding the anatomy and physiology of the human body is vital (Polifroni & Welch, 2007). Thirdly, there are two types of environments, the physical environment where health care is provided, and the internal environment, which refers to patient’s mental awareness (Fitzpatrick & Kazer, 2012). Both physical environment and mental awareness considerations are necessary for thorough patient assessment and treatment.   My philosophy as a nurse is that i should create a conducible environment to help in ensuring the patients quick recovery. I should show the patient that I care and entails connecting with the patient and forming a professional relationship. This helps in understanding the patient hence enabling me to choose things that can positively affect the patient quick recovery (Barker, 2009). As a nurse, I should be concerned about the client’s ability to handle the illness and the effect of diagnose on the client’s family (Fitzpatrick& Kazer, 2012). This will enable me to advice the patient and the immediate family on how to manage the situation. This gives the patient a good state of mind and this accelerates the patient’s recovery. Understanding the patient’s religious and cultural beliefs and their attitudes

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by William Shakespeare Essay ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a romantic comedy and one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays or stories. The main characters of this story are Oberon, Titania, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena. This story deals with marriage, family, elope and comedy. Hermia elopes with her lover Lysander to get married and Demetrius who loves Hermia follows them into while Helena, Hermia’s friend and Demetrius’ lover, follows Demetrius into the forest. Meanwhile, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies in the forest, have an argument which causes tension between them. Is the forest a magical place? Yes, it is because all the characters in the forest reconcile. The story starts off with Egeus, father of Hermia, reporting to Theseus, King of Athens at that time, that his daughter refused to obey him when he commanded his daughter to marry Demetrius, a man of a noble Athenian family. There was a strict law in the city of Athens that if a daughter refused to marry the man her father had chosen, she would be put to death. Hermia had not loved Demetrius but she loved another Athenian, Lysander. She also didn’t want to marry him because her best friend, Helena, loved Demetrius and she wanted to stay loyal. Theseus could not alter the laws the rules of his country so he could only give Hermia four days to reconsider her decision or else she would be put to death. Lysander was informed about this and proposed to Hermia that they should elope to his aunt’s house outside of Athens, where the laws were not applied. Demetrius heard of this and thus, he followed them into the forest. Helena was afraid of losing Demetrius forever so therefore she followed him into the forest. Demetrius reproached Helena for following him but Helena tried to remind him of his former love and true faith to her. Demetrius, after saying many cruel things to Helena, abandoned her while Helena still raced after him. Oberon and Titania are the King and Queen of the Fairies respectively. They were having a disagreement when Titania refused to give Oberon a changeling boy. Titania dotes over this child which makes Oberon jealous. Oberon wants to make the boy part of his entourage. Titania refuses to give the boy up, hence the conflict. They lived in the magical forest. Oberon had a counsellor, Puck. Oberon observed the conflict between Demetrius and Helena. Oberon was always friendly to true lovers and felt sorry for Helena. He reported this to Puck  and commanded him to use a piece of the purple flower, which has a ‘love-juice’, and use it on Demetrius to make him fall in love with Helena. Oberon described him as wearing Athenian clothes. Puck found a man in Athenian clothes but it turned out be Lysander who was sleeping next to Hermia. Puck poured the love-juice into his eyes and the first person he saw he would fall in love with. The next morning, Helena would find Hermia and Lysander. When Lysander woke up, he saw Helena in front of him and immediately fell in love with her. Helena was confused and then she became angry with Lysander. She thought that he was pulling a sick prank on her. Oberon and Puck soon realized what happened. Oberon scolded Puck and Puck found Demetrius asleep. Puck applied the love-juice to his eyes and when Demetrius woke up, he first saw Helena and became in love with her. Ironically, what had first started out as Lysander and Demetrius chasing Hermia with Helena left behind, now had turned into Lysander and Demetrius chasing Helena with Hermia left behind. Helena outraged, thinking it was a prank, got herself into a war of words with Hermia. Oberon and Puck observed the chaos he caused and immediately attempted to fix it. Puck wearied them out by getting them lost and removed the charm from the eyes of Lysander with an antidote to reverse the effects and forget his new love for Helena. After, everything was back to normal Hermia was with Lysander and Helena was with Demetrius. Meanwhile, Oberon, longing for the changeling boy, had poured some love-juice on Titania to make her give it up. When Oberon had returned, he found a clown sleeping next to her. He put a donkey’s head on him and Titania fell in love with the clown. Oberon seized the chance and demanded the changeling boy which she unwillingly accepted. Soon, Oberon had poured some juices of another flower and had brought her back to her senses. She immediately loathed the sight of the monster. All the couples in this story reconciled. Egeus understood Demetrius not wanting to marry his daughter but Helena and Egeus accepted the marriage between Lysander and Hermia. The forest is truly a magical place because what had started as elope, disagreements and hatred turned out be union, harmony and love.

Two Hole Paper Punch Engineering Essay

Two Hole Paper Punch Engineering Essay The product I have chosen to manufacture is the two-hole paper punch. This product is one which is widely used in homes, schools and businesses all over the world for the purpose of punching holes in paper to allow for attaching multiple sheets together in an organised fashion. Such examples of devices used in conjunction with the two-hole punch include the ring binder folder and treasury tags. Component Parts On close inspection of existing two-hole punch products similar to the one in Fig.1 it can be observed that there exists six fundamental component parts to the piece. Some of these components are used in matching pairs and for this reason they can be considered as one single part in regards to the manufacturing of the product. Therefore the component parts can be categorised in four groups as follows: Base Plate ( To which everything is attached) Lever Handel ( The whole mechanism works from the behaviour of this part) Punchers ( Creates the holes in the paper) Springs ( Resets the mechanism for next use) Possible Materials There are countless materials which could be used to make the components of this product but the question is which ones are cost effective and also offer good quality. At this point I am considering using Perspex for the lever handle and Aluminium for the base plate. Stronger materials will be needed for the puncher heads to ensure a lasting sharpness over repeated use. Stainless steel could be a possibility in this case. And the springs will need to be strong also for the same reasons of repeated use so I would consider using some other variation of steel here too. Perspex The material we now know as Perspex began life, when the first acrylic acid was produced, in 1843. Methacrylic acid was formulated in 1865 and the reaction between methacrylic acid and methanolresults in the coumpound called metyl methacylate. In 1877 Two German chemists discovered the polymerization process that turns methyl methacrylate into polymethyl methacrylate. In 1933 another German chemist named Otto Rohmpatented and registered the name PLEXIGLAS. Then in 1936 the first commercially viable production of acrylic glass began. During World War II acrylic glass was used for submarine periscopes, and windshields, canopies, and gun turrets for airplanes. From a chemical point of view it is the polymer of methyl methacrylate that is sold under the trade names of Plexiglas or Perspex. Perspex is frequently used as a light or shatter-resistant alternative to glass. It is often favoured because of its moderate properties, easy handling and processing, and low cost. However when loaded it behaves in a brittlemanner and this is especially the case when subjected to an impact force. Also when compared to glass it is more prone to scratching. Aluminium Aluminium is a silvery-white andductilemember of theboron groupofmetals. It has the symbolAl and itsatomic numberis 13. Also it is not soluble in water. Aluminium is themost abundant metalin theEarthscrust, and the third most abundant element therein, next to oxygenand silicon. It makes up approximately 8% of the Earths solid surface by weight. Aluminium is too reactive chemically to occur as a free metal naturally. Instead, it is found combined in over 270diverseminerals.The chief resource of aluminium isbauxiteore. Aluminium is remarkable for its ability to resistcorrosiondue to the phenomenon ofpassivationand the metals low density. Aluminium is a soft, durable, lightweight,malleablemetalwith visual appearance ranging from silvery to dull grey which depends on the surface texture. Aluminium is non-magnetic and non-sparking. It is also insoluble in alcohol, though in certain forms it can be soluble in water. Theyield strengthof pure aluminium is 7-11MPa, while aluminium alloyshave yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa.Aluminium has about one-third the densityandstiffnessofsteel. It isductile, and easilymachined,cast,drawnandextruded. Corrosionresistance can be excellent due to a thin surface layer ofaluminium oxidethat forms when the metal is exposed to air, effectively preventing furtheroxidation. The strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due togalvanicreactions with alloyedcopper.This corrosion resistance is also often greatly reduced when many aqueous salts are present, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. Aluminium atoms are arranged in aface-centred cubic(fcc) structure. Stainless Steel Inmetallurgystainless steel, also acknowledged asinox steelorinoxfrom French inoxidable, is defined as asteelalloywith a minimum of 10.5or 11% chromiumcontent by mass.Stainless steel does not stain, corrode, or rust as easily as regular steel (itstains less, but it is not stain-proof).It is also calledcorrosion-resistant steelorCRESwhen the alloy type and grade are not detailed. There are different grades and surface finishes of stainless steel to suit the environment to which the material will be exposed to in its lifetime. Stainless steel is used where the properties of steel, and resistance to corrosion are both required. Stainless steel differs from carbon steel by the amount of chromium present. Carbon steel rusts when exposed to air and moisture. This iron oxide film (the rust) is active and accelerates corrosion by forming more iron oxide. Stainless steels contain sufficient chromium to form a passive film of chromium oxide, which prevents further surface corrosion and blocks corrosion from spreading into the metals internal structure. Carbon Steel Carbon steel, also calledplain carbon steel, issteelwhere the mainalloyingconstituent iscarbon. Carbon steel is defined as steel that has no minimum carbon content specified. The term carbon steel may also be used in reference to steel which is notstainless steel; in this use carbon steel may include alloy steels. Steel with a low carbon content has properties similar to iron. As the carbon content rises, the metal becomes harder and stronger but lessductileand more difficult toweld. In general, higher carbon content lowers the melting point and its temperature resistance. Carbon content influences the yield strength of steel because carbon atoms fit into theinterstitialcrystallinelatticesites of thebody-centered cubic(BCC) arrangement of the iron atoms. The interstitial carbon reduces the mobility ofdislocations, which in turn has a hardening effect on the iron. To get dislocations to move, a high enough stress level must be applied in order for the dislocations to break away. This is because the interstitial carbon atoms cause some of the iron BCC lattice cells to distort. Mild and low carbon steel Mild steel is the most common form of steel because its price is relatively low while it provides material properties that are acceptable for many applications. Low carbon steel contains approximately 0.05-0.15% carbonand mild steel contains 0.16-0.29%carbon, therefore it is neither brittle norductile. Mild steel has a relatively low tensile strength, but it is cheap and malleable; surface hardness can be increased throughcarburizing. It is often used when large quantities of steel are needed, for example asstructural steel. The density of mild steel is approximately 7.85g/cm3(0.284lb/in3)and theYoungs modulusis 210,000MPa (30,000,000psi). Background Research Production Process The Objective of this section is to define the materials and examine the possible production processes for each of my four component parts. There is always more than one way to carry out a job and yet still obtain a successful result. However some methods are more cost effective than others. I wish to present multiple solutions to manufacturing each of my parts and from there choose the best balance of quality, time and economy. Base Plate Aluminium Casting The first production process option to be examined is the idea of the multiple-use-mold casting process In the permanent-mold casting process a re usable mold is machined from grey cast-iron, steel, graphite or other such material. The mold is first pre-heated, and molten metal is poured in under the action of gravity alone. After solidification, the mold is opened and, the product is removed. The mold is then reclosed and another casting is poured. Aluminium is frequently cast by this process. There are numerous advantages for this process. The mold is reusable. A good surface finish is obtained provided the mold is in good condition. Dimensional accuracy can usually be held within 0.13-.25 mm. By selectively heating or cooling various parts of the mold, or by varing the thickness of the mold wall, directional solidification can be promoted so as to produce sound, defect-free castings with the desired mechanical properties. However there are some drawbacks to this process too. The mold life depends upon a number of factors: The allow being cast. The higher the melting point, the shorter the mold life. The mold material. Grey cast iron has about the best resistance to thermal fatigue and also machines easily. Thus it is used most frequently for permanent molds. The pouring temperature. Higher pouring temperatures reduce mold life, increase shrinkage problems, and induce longer cycle times. Mold temperature. If the temperature is too low, mis runs are produced, and high temperature differences form in the mold. If the temperature is too high, excessive cycle times result, and mold erosion is aggravated. Mold complexity is often restricted because the rigid cavity has no collapsibility to compensate for the shrinkage of the casting. As a best alternative, it is common practice to open the mold and remove the casting immediately after solidification, thereby preventing any tearing that may occur on subsequent cooling-down. Permanent molds are usually headed at the beginning of a run and are then maintained at a fairly uniform temperature as a means of controlling the cooling rate of the metal being cast. Since the mold rises in temperature as a casting is poured and sufficient time is permitted for solidification, it may be necessary to provide a cool-down delay before another casting is poured. Refractory washes are often applied to the mold walls to prevent the casting from sticking and to prolong the mold life. Mold costs are generally high so that high-volume production is necessary to justify the expense. Milling Milling is a basic machining process by which a surface is generated progressively by the removal of chips from a workpiece fed into a rotating cutter in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cutter. Sometimes the workpiece remains stationary, and the cutter is fed to the work. In nearly all cases a multiple-tooth cutter is used so that the material removal rate is high. Often the the desired surface is obtained in a single pass of the cutter or work and, because very good surface finish can be obtained, milling is particularly well suited to and widely used for mass-production work. Several types of milling machines are used ranging from relatively simple and versatile machines that are used for general-purpose machining in job shops and tool-and-die work to highly specialized machines for mass production. Unquestionably, more flat surfaces are produced by milling than by any other machining process. The cutting tool used in milling is known as the milling cutter. Equally spaced peripheral teeth will intermittently engage and machine the workpiece. This is called interrupted cutting. Milling operations can be classified into two broad categories called peripheral milling and face milling. Each has many variations. In peripheral milling the surface is generated by teeth on the periphery of the cutter body. The surface is parallel to the axis of rotation of the cutter. Both flat and formed surfaces can be produced by this method, the cross section of the resulting surface corresponding to the axial contour of the cutter. This method is often called slab milling and is usually performed on horizontal spindle machines. In slab milling, the tool rotates at a certain rpm while work feeds past the tool. Water Jet Cutting Awater jet cutter or just waterjetis a machine capable of cutting intometaland other materials by means of a jet ofwaterat high velocity and pressure. The process is, in theory, the same aswater erosionfound in nature however it is greatly accelerated and concentrated. It is frequently used during manufacture of parts for machinery and other such devices. This is the preferred process when the materials involved are sensitive to the extreme temperatures that friction causes in other methods. Water jet cutting has found applications in a wide range of industries. Examples of these are mining and aerospacewhere it is used for operations such as shaping, cutting and carving. One important advantage of the water jet cutter its function to process material without interfering with the materials inherent structure as there is no heat-affected zone/ Haz. Minimizing the effects of heat allows metals to be processed without altering internal charachteristics. Water jet cutters also have the ability to produce rather detailed cuts in a material. When specialized computer software and 3-D machining tools are used, complex 3-D shapes can be created. The nozzle can be changed and adjusted to give the required cutting width. Typical abrasive cuts are made with a nozzle in the range of 1.016 to 1.27mm, but can be as narrow as 0.508mm. Non-abrasive cuts are normally 0.178 to 0.33mm, but can be as small as 0.076mm, which is roughly the width of a human hair. Small cutters ike these can make very small detail possible in a broad range of tasks. Waterjets are capable of accuracy of 0.13 mm, and repeatability to within a tolerance of 0.03 mm. Water jet cutting is a green technology.Nno hazardous waste is produced which reduces waste costs. Large pieces of recyclable scrap material are cut off using this method which would have been otherwise lost using traditional cutting methods. Waste water is usually clean enough to filter and disguard of down a normal drain. The abrasive is non-toxic and can be recycled for many uses. Water jets also avoid airborne fumes, and contaminates from cutting materials such as asbestos and fiberglass. This really benefits the work environment and greatly reduces any health problems arising from operator exposure. Lever Handel-Perspex Injection moulding Injection moulding is used to produce more thermoplastic products than any other process. Granules of raw material are fed from a hopper by gravity into a pressure chamber ahead of a plunger. As the plunger advances, the plastic is forced through a heated chamber, where it is preheated. From the preheating segment, it is forced through the torpedo section, where it is melted and super-heated to 200-300Â °C. It then leaves this section through a nozzle which seats up against the mold and allows the molten plastic to enter the closed-die cavities through suitable gates and runners. The die remains cool, so the plastic solidifies almost as soon as the mold is filled. To ensure proper filling of the cavity, the material must be forced into the mold rapidly under considerable pressure, typically 35-140 MPa. Premature solidification would cause defective products. While the mold is being opened, the part ejected, and the mold reclosed, the material for the next part is being heated in the torpedo. The complete molding process takes typically between 1 and 30 seconds and is very similar to the die-casting of molten metals. Because thermosetting plastics must be held at an elevated temperature and pressure for sufficient time to permit curing, the injection molding process must be modified for this type of polymer. In the jet molding process the polymer is preheated in the feed chamber to about 95Â °C and then is further heated to the temperature of polymerization as it passes through the nozzle. Additional time in the heated mold completes the curing process. Care must be exercised to prevent the material in the nozzle from cooling during this time and clogging the flow. Water cooling is introduced to the nozzle area as soon as the cavity is nearly filled. The water cools the material in this region and retards the hardening reaction. Because of the long cycle time, little injection molding of thermo-sets is performed. The properties can often compete with die-cast metals, provided the lower rigidity of the polymer is not objectionable. Milling The milling process is the same as before when it was discussed in relation to Aluminium. The only difference now is the material, which is Perspex. Laser cutting Laser-aided cutting has brought about a revolution in the manufacturing industries. These high-powered optical beams are used to cut through a variety of materials such as metal, wood, glass and plastic. The laser is directed at the required surface and moved around to cut the material in the desired shape. Laser cutting gives a finer finish to the end product as compared to conventional cutting methods. A typical laser beam is about 1/5th of a millimeter in width and has an intensity of 1000 to 2000 watts. Most laser cutting machines are integrated into a CAD/CAM system that helps the user design the end product on a computer before implementing it on the work piece. Laser cutting devices are proving beneficial in a wide array of industries. The plastic industry is no exception. These optic powered devices are used to cut precise shapes into plastic or acrylic sheets. The lasers can be used to cut plastics of varying thickness by simply altering the intensity of the beam. Lasers are not only used to cut through plastics but also help engrave on various surfaces. Laser plastic cutting machines bring precision and accuracy to the entire process. Since most machines are fully automated, they can perform complex cutting operations at high-speeds. The laser plastic cutting machines can also be used to cut polymers, polycarbonates and other synthetic materials such as polyesters and rubbers. The laser cutting method uses a non-contact approach when cutting the material. Due to this, the wear and tear associated with conventional methods is absent, preventing the product from any damage and deformation. The laser process also delivers a finish quality unmatched by any other process. When using laser plastic cutting machines, care should be taken to avoid the use of flammable plastics such as PVCs. These materials cannot cope with the heat generated by the laser and get damaged easily. Punches Stainless Steel Extrusion The process begins by heating the stock material. It is then loaded into the container in the press. A dummy block is placed behind it where the ram then presses on the material to push it out of the die. Afterward the extrusion is stretched in order to straighten it. If better properties are required then it may beheat treatedorcold worked. The extrusion ratio is defined as the starting cross-sectional area divided by the cross-sectional area of the final extrusion. One of the main advantages of the extrusion process is that this ratio can be very large while still producing quality parts. Hot extrusion is done at an elevated temperature to keep the material fromwork hardeningand to make it easier to push the material through the die. Most hot extrusions are done on horizontal hydraulic presses that range from 250 to 12,000 tons. Pressures range from 30 to 700MPa (4,400 to 102,000psi), therefore lubrication is required, which can be oil or graphite for lower temperature extrusions, or glass powder for higher temperature extrusions. The biggest disadvantage of this process is its cost for machinery and its upkeep. There are many different variations of extrusion equipment. They vary by four major characteristics: Movement of the extrusion with relation to the ram. If the die is held stationary and the ram moves towards it then its called direct extrusion. If the ram is held stationary and the die moves towards the ram its called indirect extrusion. The position of the press, either vertical or horizontal. The type of drive, either hydraulic or mechanical. The type of load applied, either conventional (variable) orhydrostatic. A single or twin screw auger, powered by an electric motor, or a ram, driven by hydraulic pressure (often used for steel and titanium alloys), oil pressure (for aluminum), or in other specialized processes such as rollers inside a perforated drum for the production of many simultaneous streams of material. Typical extrusion presses cost more than $100,000, whereas dies can cost up to $2000. Springs Steel The following description focuses on the manufacture of steel-alloy, coiled springs. Winding Cold winding Wire up to 0.75 in (18 mm) in diameter can be coiled at room temperature using one of two basic techniques. One consists of winding the wire around a shaft called an arbor or mandrel. This may be done on a dedicated spring-winding machine, a lathe, an electric hand drill with the mandrel secured in the chuck, or a winding machine operated by hand cranking. A guiding mechanism, such as the lead screw on a lathe, must be used to align the wire into the desired pitch (distance between successive coils) as it wraps around the mandrel. Alternatively, the wire may be coiled without a mandrel. This is generally done with a central navigation computer (CNC) machine. Examples of different types of springs. Examples of different types of springs. The wire is pushed forward over a support block toward a grooved head that deflects the wire, forcing it to bend. The head and support block can be moved relative to each other in as many as five directions to control the diameter and pitch of the spring that is being formed. For extension or torsion springs, the ends are bent into the desired loops, hooks, or straight sections after the coiling operation is completed. Hot winding Thicker wire or bar stock can be coiled into springs if the metal is heated to make it flexible. Standard industrial coiling machines can handle steel bar up to 3 in (75 mm) in diameter, and custom springs have reportedly been made from bars as much as 6 in (150 mm) thick. The steel is coiled around a mandrel while red hot. Then it is immediately removed from the coiling machine and plunged into oil to cool it quickly and harden it. At this stage, the steel is too brittle to function as a spring, and it must subsequently be tempered. Assembly Procedure Methods Quality Control Qulaity control is defined as the maintenance of standards of quality of manufactured goods. With this in mind there are a few methods i could employ in the upkeep of quality in the product choosen.

Incorporating Student Voices into Education Systems

Incorporating Student Voices into Education Systems â€Å"†¦language is the primary technology of communication.† Winch et al., 2004 6.1 Introduction to the Discussion This chapter uses its space to develop some of the issues raised by the research that has gone into the dissertation. If it is contentious, it is in order to ask questions about issues where the answers are not yet available, and develop a deeper understanding of the concepts. This includes: the reality of Student Voice as a supported and integrated concept, rather than as a manipulated concept for integration the validation of alternative education as an ideal place for Student Voice the questions of Partnerships and how this is being politically channelled whilst not perhaps given the strength of foundation it deserves and needs 6.2 Student Voice: Integration for Learning or Integration for Policy As the dissertation showed, there are strong theoretical underpinnings for the value of incorporating Student Voice into educational systems, especially when seen in a constructivist light. The surprise is that it has taken so long. However, the study has also shown that it is not always as easy as anticipated to re-format a school’s approach. There are worries and concerns surrounding the actual reality of adapting an existing system to incorporate Student Voice. There are the teachers concerns of devaluing learning at the cost of social development. There are fears about loosing control and upsetting the status quo. On the other hand, there are also those who embrace the concepts of freedom of learning choice and student contribution. As Martin, Worral, and Dutson-Steinfeld (2005) put it, it is now too late to put the lid back on Pandora’s Box. The danger is that the tide may follow the easiest path, rather than listening to the voices that are more difficult to hear. Cruddass (2001) argued that these voices may have the greatest contribution to make. After all, if Student Voice is a method of integration, it is surely fairly pointless directing it towards those who already have their avenues for communication and are well entrenched within the system, when those just outside need to be provided with a way in. It perhaps reflects some of the cultural values when it comes to who the system wants to provide a voice for and who it does not. For the Westernised education systems, changes in the socio-economic climates have brought about a: shifting balance of power, caused by information and communications technology and learners access to alternative sources of knowledge, reduced public funding, globalisation and commercial imperatives. Latchem Hanna 2001, p. 1 One could perhaps add that as the public funding has gone down, the gap has been filled by an incremental increase in policy documentation and political rhetoric. It seems that the onus is put on the schools to follow the recommendations, and increasingly to fund these demands themselves. That aside, listening to young learners, and understanding what they are communicating has most probably been a part of the repertoire of what Haberman (1995) termed star teachers long before it become encapsulated in documentation. The discussion is whether the value put on Student Voice is a passing phase or is getting the attention it so richly deserves. 6.3 Alternative Education and Student Voice This section of the discussion returns to the use of an environmental education format as a means of combining positive communication strategies through the use of different formats, such as a conservation park and school. It has taken some time for alternative educational formats to receive official consideration, and this has demanded a considerable change in mind set. For example, as more people have come to understand the necessity for a complete change with regard to the place of humans in the environment, the ideals of education driven by sustainability have become less the realm of extremists and more the essentials for good sense. If one were to take this a step further, a developed form of education such as that potentially offered by the Park could become less of an alternative, and more of a mainstream consideration. This is one reason that this dissertation has explored the environment as a means of generating attitudes and ‘raising voices’, rather than a que stioning of knowledge gained through the Activate Programs. Using the Park as the example, this study found that the Activate Programs were effective in communicating a positive attitude towards each other based on involvement with a specific environment. Rather than a sense of environmental consideration, there was a sense of connection amongst students to the Park. Although environmental knowledge was not measured, the results of working in the environment contributed to the Observational sections that informed some of this dissertation showed changes in awareness. One of the important factors was the ‘culture’ of familiarity that developed amongst those students who were regulars on the Activate programs. They developed a better understanding of the Park and knew more what to expect when they visited. This meant they not only had different expectations that those less familiar with the Park, but that they started to show a leadership and peer attitude that supported the Activate ethic. This working in the environment system, when designed carefully and driven by the right personalities, appears to strongly support the idea of a more mainstream approach to an ‘outdoor classroom’. This ‘culture of communication’, as it could be called, aims to be enabling and empowering for students. It not only encourages positive connections to develop between the students and the environment, it also gives them practical opportunities to see what they can do. This is a vitally important point for students from schools where they are all too often given information, but have no way of acting upon it in a positive and constructive way. In the Park, there is the combination of Student Voice as an over-current to the Activate activities. For example, the Lion group consists of some very challenging students who would not normally co-operate together. Yet at the Park, as the following quote shows, they do. There is a continual level of communication that seems to equate to a very different reality to the one found at school: It is very encouraging to see some of our students in this program and then see how different they are in their behaviour and attitude back in a classroom/school setting. In the classroom they can be the disruptive/troubled student and yet at the Park these same students have been the Leaders and are willing to help/show and guide new/younger student of this group. At the beginning of our program we had a hard, troubled group but as time evolved they have built relationships and furthered skills they didnt know they had. Teacher Interview 2006 Expectations were integrated with communication. Where there was insufficient communication between the Park and school staff, false expectations could be generated and this was an area that needed tightening up as it could lead to confusion. However, the outcomes for attitude have been predominantly positive. Not one teacher, student, parent or support staff wanted to see the programs stop and the majority like them as they are. 6.4 Does Parent Partnership’s Help Thanks to the SEN and Disability Act (DfES 2001), parents and carers now have avenues that will help them find out the options available for their SEN child. Parent Partnership Services (PPS) (see e.g. Worcestershire County Council’s online Parent Partnership Service) are designed to deliver statutory rights including: ..information, advice and guidance on SEN matters to allow them to make informed decisions about their child’s education. PPS can also help prevent difficulties from developing into disagreements. Rogers et al. 2006, p. 1 There are obvious advantages to a partnership approach (Roger et al.2006: Wolfendale 2002: Wolfendale Cook 1997). It enables a more holistic approach to the students’ whole learning experience and thereby includes their social and emotional status as well as the environmental and cognitive. But, as Rogers et al. (2006) show in their assessment of PPS, the methodology of integrating PPS still needs work and is highly variable. With regard to this dissertation, the discussion focuses on the positive contribution of parents and carers when they are involved with the student’s education at school whilst stopping short of advocating that teacher’s lesson plans be available to parents: Schools should make information available to parents on what they can expect from schools and individual pupils’ progress. This might include access to lesson plans and learning materials and should be available as and when parents want to access it. DfES 2006b, p. 24 If the goal is that of the ‘personalised learning’ (DfES 2006) currently advocated, with all it’s emphasis on partnership, then it may well be that teachers will have to re-evaluate what their planning is for. It would seem entirely acceptable, in deed necessary, for parents and carers involved in this partnership approach to be well acquainted with what is about to be taught. yet this sounds more and more like sending the parents back to school themselves. Perhaps the ideal is a school planning document that outlines the curriculum content and its anticipated coverage, subject to curriculum changes of course, that is specifically prepared for community involvement. The fact that Partnership is being advocated above Student Voice perhaps suggests that one format is easier to manage politically than the other. In fact, the following DfES (2006b) Figure 4 shows that pupil voice is more an element of learning an a cognitive descriptive than a part of all-round learni ng. These are just three of the issues put forward for discussion and it is anticipated that much more work will be done on these in the future. 7 CONCLUSION This study has been a learning journey in itself. The first thing the study demanded was learning to listen properly to students and not interpret what they were saying by my own standards. The added dimension of the zoological park provided a fascinating contrast with student’s styles and types of communication and how they changed at school and at the Park. The following is a brief summary of where we are now and what needs to be considered in the future. We now know that a democratic system equips students better, be they in a special school or mainstream, for a post educational reality. Part of this democratic system involves the right to speak on one’s own behalf and have one’s view listened to and, when appropriate, acted up. At its best, Student Voice works as a means of holistically integrating students in their education. Whilst Student Voice motivates, it also allows and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning. The dissertation has shown that this works at a variety of levels. In the classroom, the study identified some of the strong links between student intrinsic motivation and the power of choice. Where the student is involved in selection and method of learning, they are more likely to become and remain enthusiastic. It should go without saying that it is equally important for SEN students to have these same rights, even if the means of communication are different. This means official su pport (i.e. funding) is necessary for schools to be able to resource themselves sufficiently to cater for all Student Voices. As discussed, this issue of funding is a particularly thorny one and seems to get hidden beneath the shifting sands of politics, covered with a blanket of rhetoric and Government sponsored research. However, it is a step along the way towards changing ‘mind sets’ towards Student Voice. There is also the issue of teacher attitudes. Many teachers are more used to being heard and less familiar with the type of listening Student Voice requires. Some find it hard to validate student opinion. Despite all the research done into Student Voice, and the obviously better ‘fit’ it makes in contemporary society, there are still those who are frightened by the change in the status quo, or who’s training has not encompassed this, or who resent more official requirements. In fact, in a contemporary, humanistic and individualised paradigm, it seems increasingly strange that choice as a concept does not underpin the UK educational system. Therefore, one of the recommendations for the future has to more professional development for those teachers that need it. Teacher training itself is constantly subject to change and has the challenge of both preparing students for the reality of working in schools and establishing the current pedagogic approach. For example, it may be hard for a new teacher with a passion for listening to students to adapt to work in a more traditional school setting. With regard to settings, the dissertation showed that location and environment have a distinct impact on students. This led to the design of a new school which combined both the in-class educational formats and the outdoors activities, be those agricultural, environmental, or simply outside. In summary, the future of Student Voice and its best use in the UK educational system needs to take into consideration: Teacher training and continued support for new and existing teachers through professional development. Make the formats for student voice more user-friendly and introduce them professionally – do not expect all schools to be able to adapt their format automatically. Finance and long term support. What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Oliver Windell Holmes

A Mythical Analysis Of A Yaqui Way Of Knowledge :: essays research papers fc

A Mythical Analysis of A Yaqui Way of Knowledge In the summer of 1960 a UCLA anthropology student traveled to the southwest to do research on medicinal plants. While at a bus station, he met an extraordinary man. His name was don Juan Mateus, but I will refer to him as don Juan. Don Juan, a Yaqui "brujo" or shaman, decides to teach Carlos the "Yaqui way of knowledge." It is not known if these stories are fiction or non- fiction and many critics still debate over his writings. I interpret his books as modern mythological stories for several reasons. The "Heroic Journey Archetype" and shamanistic ideologies, and also the general moral, explainative, and philosophical content of his writings indicate that these stories can be viewed as "modern myth". Throughout Casteneda's stories you can see the "Heroic Journey Archetype". Carlos goes through a restless stage and breaks ties with his studies and professors at school. He moves forward with the help of don Juan, whose shamanic wisdom enlightens and guides Carlos along his spiritual path. He also faces death many times in his quest to become a warrior. Finally, after many years, he "passes through". This mythological archetype is one of the main reasons I believe his stories are mythical in nature. There are also many shamanistic idealogies that run throughout his stories. Views of the natural world including plant life, animal life, and elements are all personified. Everything is embodied with spirit. Concepts of reality are altered through drug induced states. Mushrooms and peyote are mainly used in rituals that don Juan uses to teach Carlos his way of knowledge: Mescalito, the "spirit" of the peyote plant, indicated to don Juan that Carlos was the "chosen" one, the person to whom don Juan should pass on his knowledge(CLC,87). Don Juan speaks of many different spirits and separate realities. His teaching's gave an explanation to man's view of existence and his ignorance resulting from attachment to the material world. Mythological proof is also found in don Juan's teachings, which compare Indian folklore, mysticism, and philosophy. Don Juan explains that there are many different planes of reality and that a warrior must detach himself with the aid of an ally. Carlos's ally is "Mescalito" or the spirit of the peyote plant. Don Juan's ally is "the little smoke"; a mixture made from hallucinogenic mushrooms. He explains that all life is made up of controlled folly and attachment to the material world causes ignorance and blindness. A warrior must learn to "see" and an ally helps achieve these states of non-ordinary "seeing." Don Juan's teachings are closely related to Buddhist philosophy.

aldous huxley :: essays research papers

Aldous Huxley was born in Surrey, England on July 26, 1894 to an illustrious family deeply rooted in England's literary and scientific tradition. Huxley's father, Leonard Huxley, was the son of Thomas Henry Huxley, a well-known biologist who gained the nickname "Darwin's bulldog" for championing Charles Darwin's evolutionary ideas. His mother, Julia Arnold, was related to the important nineteenth-century poet and essayist Matthew Arnold. Raised in this family of scientists, writers, and teachers (his father was a writer and teacher, and his mother a schoolmistress), Huxley received an excellent education, first at home, then at Eton, providing him with access to numerous fields of knowledge. Huxley was an avid student, and during his lifetime he was renowned as a generalist, an intellectual who had mastered the use of the English language but was also informed about cutting-edge developments in science and other fields. Although much of his scientific understanding was superficial—he was easily convinced of findings that remained somewhat on the fringe of mainstream science—his education at the intersection of science and literature allowed him to integrate current scientific findings into his novels and essays in a way that few other writers of his time were able to do. Aside from his education, another major influence on Huxley's life and writing was an eye disease contracted in his teenage years that left him almost blind. As a teenager Huxley had dreamed about becoming a doctor, but the degeneration of his eyesight prevented him from pursuing his chosen career. It also severely restricted the activities he could pursue. Because of his near blindness, he depended heavily on his first wife, Maria, to take care of him. Blindness and vision are motifs that permeate much of Huxley's writing. After graduating from Oxford in 1916, Huxley began to make a name for himself writing satirical pieces about the British upper class. Though these writings were skillful and gained Huxley an audience and literary name, they were generally considered to offer little depth beyond their lightweight criticisms of social manners. Huxley continued to write prolifically, working as an essayist and journalist, and publishing four volumes of poetry before beginning to work on novels. Without giving up his other writing, beginning in 1921, Huxley produced a series of novels at an astonishing rate: Crome Yellow was published in 1921, followed by Antic Hay in 1923, Those Barren Leaves in 1925, and Point Counter Point in 1928.

Drug Education Essay -- Addictions Teaching Essays

Drug Education (1) There is much controversy regarding the war on drugs in America today. It has become a growing concern for parents, educators, politicians, etc. There is no question that education can play a major role in decreasing the drug problem. But there is some disagreement over whether schools or parents are more effective in steering children away from drugs. (2) Some experts believe the schools’ anti-drug programs are effective. Two popular programs are Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Dare), and the School Program to Educate and Control Drug Abuse (SPECA). The project Dare and SPECA programs use uniformed police officers to inform students in 5th, 6th and 7th grade about the risks of drugs, and how to avoid negative peer pressure (DeJong 109). William DeJong ,who is an analyst for the Education Development Center, has prepared this study for the National Institute of Justice (Bernards 108). (3) DeJong based his studies on surveys conducted by Evaluation and Training Institute in Los Angeles. He found that students who participated in the Dare programs had improved knowledge, attitudes and self-esteem as compared to students who did not participate in the program. DeJong also conducted a study for the National Institute of Justice, which compared the effectiveness of the Dare drug program to a control group of students that did not participate in the drug program. The study followed students from sixth grade to seventh grade .He reports that students who participated in the Dare programs reported significantly lower incidences of drug use. Students also stated that they would refuse drugs using the strategies learned from the anti-drug programs. The Criminal Justice Center of the John Jay Co... ...s to me that if we could resolve the issue, we would have more agreement about -- and be more effective at -- directing limited financial resources: Should the government's money (i.e.,our money) be used to fund school programs, or to educate and help parents? Resolution might also either absolve schools of the responsibility, thereby placing more social pressure on parents to handle their children, or absolve the parents. This information could have been presented in the introductory paragraph, in a background paragraph right after the introduction, or in the conclusion. Here again, however, I need to take into consideration the circumstances of the assignment. Ms. Yoder did not choose to read or write about the drug war-- that was part of the assignment. She may not be particularly interested in the topic. That circumstance changes, of course, in Major Paper # 5.

LL Bean Essay

1. How significant (quantitatively) of a problem is the mismatch between supply and demand for LL Bean? As per the historical series and its associated statistical description (see graph below), we can observe that there is a significant spread between the A/F ratios sine the standard deviation equals 1/3 of the mean. Besides in cases, there is mismatch beyond 50% between the forecast and the actual demand. Besides the mean value shows that there is a 9% bias meaning that on average the actual is always 9% above the forecast. It should be noticed as well that there distribution is skewed to the left with higher values meaning that there is a 100% underestimation for certain items. 2. Use the provided Excel file that contains demand and forecast data for a collection of items. Suppose those are the data LL Bean will use to plan their next season. Consider an item that retails for $45 dollars and costs LL Bean $25. The liquidation price for this item will be $15. The sales forecast for this item is 12,000. What order quantity would LL Bean choose for this item? Based on the Cu/(Co+Cu) ratio that equals 20/(10+20) =0,667 and the A/F distribution, we end-up with a probability of 0,676 given the round up rule. Hence LL Bean should order 12 000 * 1,179975 = 14160 items to maximize its profit. (We used the distribution derived from the data rather than the normal distribution with the same mean and standard deviation. Indeed despite the important gaps between the different percentiles of the real distribution, we reject the hypothesis that the distribution is normal at a 5% level as per the Anderson Darling test result with p-value= 3%). 3. Assuming LL Bean manages to derive the correct forecast, what do you think about their ordering process? (You may wish to begin with Mark Fasold’s concerns at the end of the case. Also, think about Rol Fessenden’s concern about estimating contribution margin and liquidation costs). †¢ If the contribution margin and liquidations costs are wrongly assessed this has a direct consequence on the commitment order size as per the newsvendor model methods (cf. the Cu/(Co+Cu) ratio). †¢ There is a grey area in the case to know how LL Bean really assesses the number of actual for products generating a demand higher than the forecast. An overestimation of lost sales can create a bias loop since it will impact the next year order commitment by generating mechanically higher commitment orders. As per the mean (8% above 1) and the distribution that is skewed to the left, it could be inferred that there is a systematic overestimation of lost sales which may explain that there are not different common pattern across items and buyers. †¢ We can’t suggest any bias due to outlier since they mention that there have not found any specific pattern. †¢ The split between â€Å"new† and â€Å"never out† for the historical errors makes sense since both nature of articles share a common property. †¢ We recommend making use of the phone calls and orders through all selling channel to build more robust analytical data and reduce the potential bias of data used to build the A/F distribution. 4. What do you think about LL Bean’s forecasting process? Is that the best that they can do? Problems †¢ It seems unreliable and not data driven as per the use of rules of thumb and use of consensus that may reduce the weight of the expert. †¢ Forecast reconciliation issue with the bottom up (items by items) and the top down (catalog) approach forecast approach. †¢ A lot of the forecast relies on the inaccurate slash at the end of the process. †¢ Aggregation of demand for item common to different catalogs seems unclear and prone to error, there may be an overestimation of the demand forecast by double counting the expected sales (cf. catalog arriving to same customer that are considered the best i.e. buying the most). †¢ Issues with the impact of new products and cannibalization †¢ Differences observed between the aggregation Suggestions †¢ More frequent interactions between bottom up and top down approach to avoid or at least reduce the slash of the end. Such interactions could be achieved through the so-called â€Å"W† approach that implies meeting points at different levels over the process. †¢ For items common to several catalogs, consider a customer approach instead of a catalog approach to avoid counting several times the expected purchase of one customer receiving several catalogs. †¢ We recommend making use of the phone calls and orders through all selling channel to build more robust analytical data in order to improve the forecasting process. †¢ Try to find alternate sources of supply to reduce the current lead time of 9 months and allow finalizing the forecasting process closer to the sales time.