Lassa fever in west africa Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Lassa fever in west africa - Coursework Example In any case, an exact clinical analysis and utilizing the board procedures, the infection is fit for being controlled or in any event, being lessened and the soundness of people tainted in the West Africa districts improved (Buchmeier, Torre and Peters, 2007). It is evaluated that passings brought about by Lassa fever in West Africa ranges between the holes of 5000 to 10,000 out of 2,000,000 instances of Lassa fever cases announced yearly. Most of the most noteworthy rates of death detailed are reported to be from West Africa. This infers for each passing caused because of Lassa fever, West Africa is the locale which is for the most part influenced. Determination of Lassa has end up being a test for the legislature and clinical officials in West African nations, accordingly making it incredibly hard to decide the death rate related with the Lassa infection (Pasqual, 2011). Also, because of trouble in the conclusion of the infection, numerous people influenced with the infection once in a while look for treatment in medical clinics or related organizations like centers. Also, the commonness of the illnesses in certain nations is brought by rodents. These spots are high hazard territories and spreading to a bigger populaces for instance Mali (Dworkin, 2011). Lassa fever is described by the postponements caused in the cell insusceptibility which is liable for fulminant viremia. The rates at which at which Lassa fever is accounted for in West African nations like Sierra Leon is 8-15 percent, Guinea4-55 percent and Nigeria 21 percent. On the other hand, in different pieces of West African nations like Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal, the instances of Lassa fever announced here are viewed as sero-inspiration. This implies instances of Lassa fever goes about as positive serum response due to the nearness of antibodies in the body. An examination of the

Right or Privelege

There has been a progressing banter for a long while now about whether social insurance is a benefit that one acquires or is a right. All through the news on TV and all through the papers and web has been a great deal of discussion about the various kinds of protections that we use to pay for clinical consideration. Those protections incorporate the new Obama Care, Medicare for the older, Medicaid for the considered poor just as standard protections that either managers or representatives pay for out of pocket.Listening to the news just as perusing in the papers and on the web all I hear and see is no different things. What I haven't seen or heard was anything about our qualities and morals as individuals. WSDL anybody believe that it is alright to let somebody pass on because of absence of medical coverage or an inappropriate protection? Everybody is diverse with their ethics and qualities however I don't believe that anybody would consent to letting somebody pass on in light of the fact that they don't have protection. I most definitely don't believe that it is directly at all and regardless of what I feel that on the off chance that somebody is sick, at that point they ought to be dealt with right away.There was a Harvard Health study done that gauges around forty-5,000 individuals a year bite the dust due to not being enough guaranteed. Not exclusively do those forty-5,000 pass on yet as indicated by an examination done by the American Journal of Medicine they evaluated sixty-two percent of liquidations are because of clinical disease and seventy-five percent of those individuals had inclusion by protection. I don't accept that social insurance ought to be viewed as a benefit. On the off chance that it were viewed as a benefit, at that point the majority of this nation populace would not have the option to bear to pay for it.With the developing number or ailment, particularly inside the old and realizing that they are on fixed salaries they need wellbeing i nclusion. I care for a stroke Health Care casualty. She was initially paying for her health care coverage out of her own pocket until her Medicare happened. With changeless inability they must be debilitated for a long time before they are secured by Medicare which I don't believe is correct either. Fortunately I had the option to get her into the Medicaid program also in light of the fact that she was unable to bear the cost of the health care coverage out of her own pocket and she needs her prescriptions which are very expensive.Imagine if the entirety of the older and debilitated needed to pay for their own drugs, they wouldn't have the option to live and work. As expressed by The Stillwater Gazette (2012), â€Å"l accept clinical consideration is a correct that a humanized nation gives its residents. I don't the correct boss. † I concur with The Stillwater Gazette, that clinical consideration is something that everybody merits since it is significant. For less blessed who can't bear to pay for their own social insurance and a ton of times can't stand to pay for inclusion through work.What happens is that it tends to â€Å"clog† the crisis rooms making it harder for the medical caretakers and specialists to think about the individuals who really need injury treatment. I have perused and known about individuals who don't have wellbeing inclusion setting off to the crisis spaces for colds, hacks and general sicknesses including this season's flu virus on the grounds that the crisis rooms can't dismiss anybody. In the event that there was a less expensive and simpler path for everybody to get clinical protection then the crisis rooms would be less packed and open and prepared for the individuals who really need it.It would then likewise help normal Mad's with their practices since they would have the option to have more patients to keep themselves in business. Passing through towns here in New Jersey I had the option to Health Care tally various specialists, even my old youth specialist, losing their clinical structures because of an absence of patients. Because of late mechanical advances our grimness rates have dropped and our death rates have expanded. Despite the fact that our innovation has propelled it has caused the expense of human services to soar our of reach for the individuals who can't bear the cost of it ND don't have wellbeing coverage.If social insurance was a correct then the forty-5,000 individuals would have endure and gotten the consideration that they required regardless of how much the expense has risen. WSDL anybody have the option to release a senior without their normal check ups and their prescriptions? I realize I wouldn't have the option to and I was unable to release my relative without hers. What they have to do is thought of a general human services plan for each and every individual who can't manage the cost of protection to cover general specialist visits, crisis care when required, eye care and furthermore dental.

Work to Be Done.

Presentation: The sonnet ‘Dad’ investigates the creator, Elaine Feinstein’s life and the emotions encompassing the death of her dad. The sonnet was composed 18 months after her father’s passing as she attempted to grapple with her sentiments of sorrow and bitterness towards losing a friend or family member. Elaine Feinstein thinks about the pictures she has of her dad. The topics that advance all through the sonnet ‘Dad’ are those of despondency for the dad she has lost, love and extraordinary distress. â€Å"Every day I grieve†, exhibits the level of misfortune the creator feels towards her father’s death.Fond recollections of her dad caring sacks of potatoes, new eggs and blossoms show the extraordinary love she feels towards her dad. She feels distress for all the beloved recollections that she has lost. Toward the beginning of the sonnet the tone is one of affection as the creator depicts the attributes of her dad, for example , his cap and his delicate substantial hand. This gives the peruser a thought that it was the point at which she was a youngster and that her father was that to secure and comfort her. In verse two the tone and mind-set is one of extraordinary melancholy and bitterness as the creator recollects how her dad turned out to be sick. you stranded: chilly, white-confronted, shivering† Gives the feeling that the man or her dad was in medical clinic with some ailment going to die. In refrain three the tone goes to one of skepticism as the creator addresses how her dad turned out to be sick. Her dedicated warrior turned out to be sick and connected to an emergency clinic screen. This implement the creator never accepted that getting sick and end up in clinic was a possibility for him. In the last refrain the disposition and tone gets one of extraordinary distress and misfortune towards the beloved recollections that she had of her father.Throughout this sonnet there are a few distinct sorts of beautiful gadgets used to upgrade the pictures of this man’s previous existence. These include: representation, illustrations, analogies and symbolism. In the principal refrain the main graceful gadget was embodiment. This was apparent in the absolute first sentence, â€Å"Your old cap harms me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  For this sentence the cap is recommended to hurt somebody giving it a human trademark implying that the sentence contains representation. It depicts the picture of a little kid wearing a cap that falls over his eyes.The motivation behind the symbolism is to show where the sonnet begins; when the creator was a kid portraying what his most punctual recollections resembled. In the second verse the most noteworthy idyllic gadget was a representation. This could be found toward the finish of the refrain, â€Å"you stranded: cool, white-confronted, shuddering. † This similitude is contrasting the man or father with a stranded whale recommending he is debilitate d or arrived at a troublesome obstruction. The picture set forward is of the dad lying in a medical clinic bed with some illness.The creator has step by step attempted to this picture, each sentence is about the author’s recollections this is an ongoing memory, dissimilar to the others which were from when the creator was more youthful. In the third verse a significant sentence for symbolism is, â€Å"What occurred, old bull, my devoted raspy voiced warrior? † The picture caught in this sentence is of somebody addressing how this could have happened to such a decided and wilful man. This proposes the now elderly person had such an impact on the storyteller/creator that they figured the elderly person would never be halted however they were demonstrated wrong.This adds to the disposition of the sonnet too. In the last refrain the most clear wonderful gadget was a comparison. In the sentence, â€Å"the earth as picked as a bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is the place the likeness is. It is looking at the earth of a grave-pit to a bed or last resting place recommending that somebody may have died. The picture got is of a burial service where they are at the purpose of bringing down the final resting place into the grave where he will rest forever. It implies that the once solid and decided ‘dad’ has surrendered. End:

Study On The Seagate Technology Buyout Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Motivation and structure of the transaction. In early 1999, Seagate was planning on major restructuring proposal with the private equity firm, Silver Lake partners L.P. The plan implied a leveraged buyout of Seagates disk drive operations, followed by the tax free acquisition of Seagates remaining assets by VERITAS Software Corporation. The choice for this two step transaction was mainly a result of Seagates 40 percent ownership of VERITASs common stock. In the previous year the share price of VERITAS increased significantly and the market value of Seagates share in VERITAS had come to substantially exceed Seagates entire market capitalization. The value gap was a result of the perceived tax liability by the market if Seagate were to sell its VERITAS stake and Seagates core disk drive operations were not fully valued in the market due to increased interest in Internet firms and cheaper data storage providers. The two-step transaction was thus believed by Seagates management to generate significant wealth gains for its shareholders. Before making their decision Seagates has to consider some alternatives to the previously described restructuring in order to address its low stock price. The company could sell the company as a whole, repurchase its own stock or sell off part of the VERITAS stake, or undertake a tax-f ree spin-off of either the disk drive business or its stake in VERITAS. We address each of these alternatives next. Seagate could choose to sell itself to other companies that may be interested. A merger or acquisition, in this case, could be either horizontal or vertical. Whereas a horizontal merger or acquisition could be beneficial for Seagate, because of the even higher market in the very competitive disk drive market, a vertical merger would be less successful as the company is already vertically integrated. However, it would be ideal for Seagate to be acquired by VERITAS as it holds 40 percent of its shares. But VERITAS was not interested in entering into the disk drive industry as management believed this was to far away from their core software business. A second alternative for the company is to sell its VERITAS stock or repurchase its own stock partially in the open market, however. However both actions proved to be ineffective. First Seagates ability to sell of VERI TAS shares was limited by a prior agreement made with VERITAS. Even if they could sell off the entire VERITAS stake, it still seems an undesirable outcome since the transactions would be taxable on both the corporate as personal accounts. Second when the company performed a repurchase it had little impact on its stock price. A tax free spin-off would imply that Seagate spins off one of its business units, the core disk drive business or the VERITAS stake as an entirely new company. However the internal revenue code, as part of the US statuary tax law, requires that both the distributing corporation and the controlled corporation must be engaged immediately after the distribution in an actively conducted trade or business for a five-year period. Furthermore it also states that the corporate divisions lacking a business purpose can not be accomplished tax free (IRS, 2003). Clearly the VERITAS stake corporation will not satisfy these conditions and thus a tax free spin-off is unlike ly. Besides the distribution must be the last resort for solving the business problem. In other words, it must be established that the business problem cannot be solved otherwise. This condition also does not hold since, as we will later see, the proposed two step transaction remains as a valid alternative. After reviewing these alternatives the proposed two step transaction seems to be baneful, mostly due to its low tax nature. As indicated in the case the stock-for-stock swap qualifies as a reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code, thus avoiding the tax implications as a swap. VERITAS will swap 109,330,300 shares for 128,059,966 shares previously owned by Seagate, and the tax advantage will be Huge as no personal or corporate taxes have to be paid on the transaction. Furthermore the decrease in total outstanding shares associated with the deal will cause earnings per share to rise, cetris paribus. In total this would be in the benefits of the VERITAS shareholders, enablin g the two stage transaction to be pursued on their behalf. Seagates shareholders also benefit from the potential restructuring program. First they will receive 109,330,300 shares that have experienced a price increase of 200 percent after the half year that followed VERITAS acquisition of Seagates Network and Storage group. Compared to the 25 percent increase over the same period of its own shares this is a significant difference. Furthermore they will receive an additional amount generated from the sale of Seagates disk drive manufacturing assets (including $765m of cash) to the Suez Acquisition Company. The benefits to be received here, and thus also the potential benefits of Silver lake Partners L.P. are thus for the main part determined by this price, which was not determined yet. Seagates employees will also benefit from the two step transaction as their incentive to perform increases significantly when the new Suez Acquisition Company is no longer tight to VERITAS performan ce. Corporate governance is now considerable tighter than in the old situation. A sincere loser of the reorganization is the government that could have gained more in taxes if one of the pre-described alternatives were chosen. Levering the buyout There are a number of benefits of leveraged buy outs. Business efficiency improvements, increased interest tax shields, change of management or improved management incentives and higher firm value are the most important possible effects. In the case Seagate an increase of the stock price was the most important target of the leveraged buyout. Before the leverage buyout Seagates stock price was more and more tied to VERITAS stock price. The performance of Seagates main business was a subordinated parameter. The trial to increase the stock price by means of selling VERITAS shares and buy own shares in the open market did not lead to the aimed target. Therefore a leveraged buyout was a possibility to lose the stock price from the performance of VERITAS. Besides of this main purpose to disconnect the stock price development from VERITAS also other positive effects of leveraged buyout could be realized, as the improvement of the market position of Seagate from a strategic and long-ter m point of view. As a consequence a higher probability to secure a positive stock price development after being on the stock market again can be attained. Another positive aspect of leveraged buyouts are taxes that can be saved through higher debts and interest that is tax-deductible. Although it should be considered that interest cannot be deducted unlimited because of interest barrier rules or earnings stripping rules. Therefore the interest only can be deducted to a certain extent, depending on the debt-to-equity ratio. There are specific regulations that differ from country to country. In case of cross-border leveraged buyouts the situation should be analyzed separately. Within the EU there is no different treatment in cross-border situations because of the freedom of establishment and the freedom of capital of the EC Treaty. A decisive argument of leveraged buyouts is the possibility that enterprises that were poorly managed before their acquisition can undergo valuable c orporate reformation when they become private. An important change in the corporate structure is often the modification and replacement of the management staff or improved management incentives. In the Seagate case Silver Lake was convinced about the abilities of the management team. Silver Lake argued that the members of the management team had over ten years of experience in the disk drive industry and underlined that it was an important condition of the deal that the six top managers were taken over. In many articles it is argued differently as a restructuring without modification of management staff is much harder and there is a stronger opposition against many unpleasant but necessary changes. As incentives the management had to convert a portion of their Seagate equity into new equity and also got some deferred compensation. The rejection of unnecessary company sectors as well as the reduction of excessive expenditures also is an important factor for the success of the deal. In the leveraged buyout market stable and predictable cash flows and significant tangible assets which can be provided as security for bank loans are positive preconditions. These are features that make an enterprise for private equity firms interesting to invest. In the 1980s and early 1990s industrial companies were strongly favored and technology business was avoided. This has changed as the technology sector has become more and more important and in the last years this sector has become increasingly more interesting for Private Equity investments (von Nell-Breuning/2010). The disk drive industry as part of the technology sector is distanced by heavy price competition, short product life cycles which are often no longer than six months and high expenditures on RD. These are features that make buyouts very risky. It makes it difficult to predict cash flows, which plays a significant role for the success of a leveraged buyout. Nevertheless Silver Lake was convinced that in gen eral the disk drive industry market development would be extremely positive and that the disk drives would be the key technological component in hardware products. It also should be taken into account that Seagate had a number of characteristics that were from a positive nature for a leveraged buyout like vertical integration for a better competitive position on the market. But also high RD while using up cash is a positive aspect to prevent market entry of smaller, less well-capitalized competitors. Another advantage of Seagate was the relatively high equity ratio compared with the technological industry. The equity ratio of Seagate was 26.6 per cent in June 1997, it was 29.6 per cent in June 1998 and in June 1999 the equity ratio constituted 23.9 per cent. The equity ratio of its competitors were lower, f.ex. the competitor Quantum HDD only had an equity ratio from about 13.5 per cent. The average equity ratio of mature industries is between 20 and 25 per cent depending on the country. Capital Structure In order to assess the capital structure of the deal and in essence the amount of debt the Luczo and the buyout team should take it is necessary to estimate the firm value. Two model are being considered for this task. The first one is the relative valuation model. The rationale for relative valuation stems from the notion that the intrinsic value of an asset is difficult to estimate. Its value can be measured by the price the market is willing to pay for its assets, based upon its characteristics. The second model being considered is the DCF model. When comparing relative valuation with DCF, one advantage over DCF is the reflection of market perceptions on the value of the company. Thus, in a perfect market, the perceptions of future prospects are already reflected in the stock price. It requires less information than DCF models and is therefore less prone to estimation errors. In addition, managers are often judged on a relative basis and relative valuation might therefore match their needs and horizons. Markets are assumed to make mistakes when pricing assets across time. DCF valuations detach themselves from market valuations and assess the fundamentals underlying the firm and its growth perspectives. Relative valuation leads to a reasonable estimate when there are many comparable assets that are priced in the market and a common variable can be applied to standardize the prices. Although the case offers some information on competitors we deem the data to be insufficient. Even more, relative valuation works best for investors that usually have relatively short investment horizons as it is rather difficult or impossible for the market to perceive long-term growth perspectives. In general a private equity investment(PE) spans on a 5 to 7 years time line meaning the PE investor has a medium to long-term investment horizon. More confidence in reasonable firm value estimation is thus assigned to the DCF valuation. The fundamentals of a company provide a pruden t basis for estimations. Assumptions for the estimations are transparent while these are rather not in the case of relative valuation. A DCF valuation can be applied to long-time horizons and is thus more applicable for investors with long-term investment perspectives. In addition, a fundamental approach might work as a catalyst that moves the price in the market towards the real value of the assets. Silver Lake Partners L.P., as the bidder for the controlling stake of the company is interested in deriving the firm value, meaning the value of the equity stake in association with debt. Cash flows coming from operating activities would therefore need to be estimated. A first step concludes in the calculation of free cash flows to firm (FCFF). The FCFF is computed based on the following assumption: The company management provides three different projections for the buyout team: The Base Case, The Upside case and The Downside Case, each differing in EBITA and Revenues values. C apital expenditures and Depreciation are to remain the same in all three cases. The values used are provided in the operating performance projections table of Seagate. The working capital(WC) is mentioned in the case as being historically equal to 0 for the industry so the change in WC is to be ignored. According to this values the FCFF can be computed. After total cash flow is calculated, it is brought back to NPV using the companys weighted average cost of capital (WACC). The WACC, which is defined by the relative cost of the companys debt and equity is also viewed as the required rate of return for the company and its investors to compensate them for the inherent risks of ownership and realization risk for projected cash flows. The value for the risk free rate and the market risk premium have been set as given by Damodaran(2010) as 3.20% and 2.05% respectively. The beta of the company is supplied by the case as 1.2. Thus we come to the value of 6% for the WACC. Based on the va lues of the FCFF and WACC computed we can now asses the present value of the firm in the years to come. By summing up this values for the required time horizon we get to the firm values for the three cases Figure 1 Firm value analysis As it can be noticed the firm values for the cases register important differences. The Upside case stands out. Comparable to this the Downside Case has a much smaller difference. In order to better account for the possibility of worse than expected, but more importantly, for better than expected performance in the company we consider that the average of the three values should be used as the firm value and as the price the buyout team should pay meaning US$2.224 billion. We have determined a purchase price of $2.22 billion that Silver Lake Partners will pay to acquire the operations of Seagate. This will be a leveraged buyout that includes two different equity sources and two different debt sources. Our proposed capital structure will consist of 79% percent equity and 21% percent debt. This structure was chosen based on the BBB three-year median rates as referenced in the case (Exhibit 11). The EBIT Interest Coverage ratio set the median value over 1997 to 1999 of 3.9x. In order to get the highest value for the firm when deciding to sell it, the PE firm will try to maintain its rating or even to improve it so it makes sense to consider the BBB value as appropriate. Even more lower rating will also mean higher interest rates for its debt. Using this value and the EBIT values provided for the case we can compute the amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year. It can be noticed in Exhibit 1 that the lowest value for EBIT is predicted in year 2000 so it makes sense to consider this value as a benchmark as the following years the performance is expected to improve. Starting from amount of interest that the firm can afford to pay every year we calculated the value of debt that the firm has to take in order to be required to pay that amount of interest. This adds up to US$468.31 meaning 21% of the price recommended for the deal. By comparing this result with the values provided in Exhibit 11 from the case it can be noticed that the firm will remain under BBB rating. The remaining 79% is to be provided by the buyout team in form of equity. It should also be considered that Silver Lake Partners L.P. will receive US$765 million by acquiring Seagate, funds that can be used as equity for the deal. Figure 2 level of debt analysis In order to better assess the impact of the three scenarios on the capital structure of the deal we also used the values computed under The Base Case, The Upside Case and The Downside Case. Again it can be noticed that the better performance predictions stand out. This is based on the possibility that in the latter years of the investment the firm will perform over the expectations even though 2000 is perceived as the same in all cases.

The Olmec Royal Compound at La Venta

The Olmec Royal Compound at La Venta: La Venta was a great Olmec city which thrived in the present-day Mexican State of Tabasco from around 1000 to 400 B.C. The city was built on a ridge, and on top of that ridge are several important buildings and complexes. Taken together, these make up the â€Å"Royal Compound† of La Venta, an extremely important ceremonial site. The Olmec Civilization: The Olmec culture is the earliest of the great Mesoamerican civilizations and is considered by many to be the mother culture of later peoples such as the Maya and the Aztecs. The Olmecs are associated with several archaeological sites, but two of their cities are considered more important than the others: San Lorenzo and La Venta. Both of these city names are modern, as the original names of these cities have been lost. The Olmecs had a complex cosmos and religion.a including a pantheon of several gods. They also had long-distance trade routes and were extremely talented artists and sculptors. With the fall of La Venta around 400 B.C. the Olmec culture collapsed, succeeded by the epi-Olmec. La Venta: La Venta was the greatest city of its day. Although there were other cultures in Mesoamerica at the time La Venta was at its apex, no other city could compare in size, influence or grandeur. A powerful ruling class could command thousands of workers for public works tasks, such as bringing huge blocks of stone many miles to be carved at Olmec workshops in the city. Priests managed the communications between this world and the supernatural planes of the gods and many thousands of common people labored in the farms and rivers to feed the growing empire. At its height, La Venta was home to thousands of people and directly controlled an area of around 200 hectares – its influence reached much further. The Great Pyramid – Complex C: La Venta is dominated by Complex C, also called the Great Pyramid. Complex C is a conical construction, made of clay, which was once a more clearly defined pyramid. It stands about 30 meters (100 feet) high and has a diameter of about 120 meters (400 feet) It is man-made of nearly 100,000 cubic meters (3.5 million cubic feet) of earth, which must have taken thousands of man-hours to accomplish, and it is the highest point of La Venta. Unfortunately, part of the top of the mound was destroyed by nearby oil operations in the 1960’s. The Olmec considered mountains sacred, and since there are no mountains nearby, it is thought by some researchers that Complex C was created to stand-in for a sacred mountain in religious ceremonies. Four stelae located at the base of the mound, with â€Å"mountain faces† on them, seem to bear out this theory (Grove). Complex A: Complex A, located at the base of the Great Pyramid to the north, is one of the most important Olmec sites ever discovered. Complex A was a religious and ceremonial complex and served as a royal necropolis as well. Complex A is home to a series of small mounds and walls, but it is what is underground that is most interesting. Five massive offerings have been found in Complex A: these are large pits which were dug out and then filled with stones, colored clay and mosaics. Many smaller offerings have been found as well, including figurines, celts, masks, jewelry and other Olmec treasures given to the gods. Five tombs have been found in the complex, and although the bodies of the occupants decomposed long ago, important objects have been found there. To the north, Complex A was guarded by three colossal heads, and several sculptures and stelae of note have been found in the complex. Complex B: To the south of the Great Pyramid, Complex B is a large plaza (referred to as Plaza B) and a series of four smaller mounds. This airy, open area was most likely a place for the Olmec people to gather to witness ceremonies that took place on or near the pyramid. Several noteworthy sculptures were found in Complex B, including a colossal head and three Olmec-style sculpted thrones. The Stirling Acropolis: The Stirling Acropolis is a massive earthen platform which dominates the eastern side of Complex B. On top are two small, circular mounds and two long, parallel mounds that some believe may be an early ballcourt. Many fragments of broken statues and monuments as well as a drainage system and basalt columns have been found in the acropolis, leading to speculation that it may have once been the royal palace where the ruler of La Venta and his family resided. It is named for American archaeologist Matthew Stirling (1896-1975) who did a great deal of important work at La Venta. Importance of the La Venta Royal Compound: The Royal Compound of La Venta is the most important section of one of the four most important Olmec sites located and excavated to date. The discoveries made there - in particular at Complex A - have changed the way we see the Ancient Olmec culture. The Olmec civilization, in turn, is very important to the study of Mesoamerican cultures. The Olmec civilization is important in that it developed independently: in the region, there are no major cultures that came before them to influence their religion, culture, etc. Societies like the Olmec, which developed on their own, are referred to as pristine civilizations and there are very few of them. There may yet be even more discoveries to make in the royal compound. Magnetometer readings of Complex C indicate there is something in there, but it has not yet been excavated. Other digs in the area may reveal more sculptures or offerings. The royal compound may yet have secrets to divulge. Sources: Coe, Michael D and Rex Koontz. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. 6th Edition. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2008 Diehl, Richard A. The Olmecs: Americas First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004. Grove, David C. Cerros Sagradas Olmecas. Trans. Elisa Ramirez. Arqueologà ­a Mexicana Vol XV - Num. 87 (Sept-Oct 2007). P. 30-35. Miller, Mary and Karl Taube. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. New York: Thames Hudson, 1993. Gonzalez Tauck, Rebecca B. El Complejo A: La Venta, Tabasco Arqueologà ­a Mexicana Vol XV - Num. 87 (Sept-Oct 2007). p. 49-54.

Qi Plan Part II Form Madison Community Hosital - 1208 Words

QI PLAN PART II JEANA BARNES HCS 589 PROFESSOR SANDBERG July 6, 2015 QI PLAN PART II – FORM MADISON COMMUNITY HOSITAL (FMCH) Focusing on improving quality service and managing care at Fort Madison Community Hospital is something they are striving to do daily. Managers also have to take in account of looking at information technology and its applications. Using these they find benchmarking and milestones. By discovering the benchmarking it will allow Fort Madison Community Hospital to better manage quality improvement so that it will be for effective daily. QI Methods Improving service in healthcare organizations by using methods that are helpful in the QI process can be challenging. There are several methods they can†¦show more content†¦Some cons of Sigma Six is that it doesn’t always provided useful skills for as far as prevention tools. Another downfall is that it can lead to overspending. Another method used by various and many organizations is product improvement. Product production improvement is preferred by improving the product more and the product will produce more. There are several quality factors that lead to patient satisfaction while patients are looking for improvements. By health care organizations such as Madison Hospital keeping up with improving their services and providing one step above their competition is key to keep patient satisfaction rates up. One advantage of using product improvement is showering customers the hospital cares about the services provided while considering their customers (or patients in this case). In addition, health care quality services also require other areas that need improvements. Such as staff training, continuing education, updating technology, and plenty more. All of these require many resources not only for improvements but for financial resources as well. Improvement on these can be a little more challenging to impr ove at any health care services. Another method known for improvement is called people-based improvement. This method provided many advantages. This method is extremely beneficial because it will include everyone from managers all the way down to the customers. People-based method

Scarlette Letter Essay Example For Students

Scarlette Letter Essay OTHER ELEMENTSSETTINGThere are two ways to talk about setting in The Scarlet Letter. One way is to look at the meaning or emotional overtones of specific places. A second and broader way is to examine the whole Puritan world in which Hawthorne has set his novel. Not just the time and place, Boston in the 1640s, but the values and beliefs that define Puritan society. THE MARKET-PLACE AND THE FOREST Far and away the most important scenes in The Scarlet Letter take place in two locations, the market-place and the forest. These are presented to us as very different places, reflecting very different human aspirations. The market-place is public. It lies at the very heart of the tiny enclave of civilization the Puritans have managed to carve out of the vast, untouched continent. The market-place contains both the church and the scaffold- institutions of law and religion. It is where criminals like Hester are punished, where penitents like Dimmesdale confess, and where men put on the faces they wear for the world. The forest, on the other hand, is dark and secret. It is where people come to let loose and be themselves. The forest track leads away from the settlement out into the wilderness where all signs of civilization vanish. The forest track is precisely the escape route from the dictates of law and religion to the promised land to the west where men can breathe free. The market-place and the forest are symbols of the choice that confronts the major characters in the novel. The choice is not as simple as it seems. For all its restraints, the market-place is safer and warmer than the forest. And you cant get into so much trouble there. In the heart of the settlement, there is the comfort of values that are shared, of laws that are laid down and respected. Above all, there is the comfort of people who care. The open air of the forest is exhilarating, but cold. Nothing is known in the wilderness, everything is up for grabs. There is no one around to stop you from goi ng to the devil. And when you do, he is right there waiting for you. THE PURITAN WORLD Surely the setting of The Scarlet Letter- the stern, joyless world of Puritan New England- is one of the grimmest on record. It is all gloom and doom. If the sun ever shines, we hardly notice. The whole place seems shrouded in black. A question comes to mind as we read the novel. Why did Hawthorne choose this dark world for his masterpiece? Perhaps we can tackle that question by asking another one. Why did Hawthorne reject the contemporary scene? Even if he chose to ignore the richly suggestive American settings of the 1820s and 30s, (the Erie Canal, for instance, or the Alamo), he had first-hand material to draw on in his own life and career. Part of the answer, of course, is that Hawthorne could write about the contemporary scene. He did write about it in The Custom House. But what he could write was comedy. The pathetic old Salemites who worked for Uncle Sam lent themselves not at all to the tr agic work he had in mind. Perhaps if Hawthorne reached back to Salem in the 1600s, he would find more figures invested with the same dark and dusky grandeur, more men and women who would speak as directly to his creative imagination. The Puritan world of the mid-17th century apparently gave Hawthorne something he badly needed- people who lived their lives to the full instead of snoring them away. In the pages of The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans emerge from the shadows of an earlier time, broad shouldered, ruddy cheeked, firm of step, and direct of speech. They were a stern people, of course, and repressive. They probably put the lid on more natural human impulses and emotions than any society before or since. But just for that reason, emotions boiled over, passions a novelist could seize at red heat. More important, the Puritans had a moral vitality never again found on the American scene. For a writer like Hawthorne, intrigued with the subject of conscience, here were people with c onscience to spare. Whatever their faults, the Puritans at least knew the difference between right and wrong. And that was the sensibility Hawthorne was after. THEMESLAW VS. NATURE We live in a permissive society. By and large, the law only bothers us when we bother the other guy. There is no law to tell us what to wear, how to think, or whom to love. In Puritan New England, life was vastly different. There, laws covered just about every aspect of life. Not surprisingly, human nature revelled against such strict supervision. Certain impulses and emotions, passion foremost among them, would not be denied. In the love of Hester and Dimmesdale, Hawthorne tells the story of one such rebellion. In a very real sense, the lovers are criminals. Their passion is a violation of the rigid Puritan civil and religious code. As wild as the forest which shelters it, the love of Hester and Dimmesdale asks us to weigh the justice of societys laws against the claims of human nature; that is, against men and womens most deeply felt desires and needs. THE INDIVIDUAL VS. SOCIETY The individual vs. society. Law vs. nature. These are really just different terms for the same basic conflict. Hawthorne is a Romantic writer with a Romantic subject: a rebel who refuses to conform to societys code. Most of us instinctively side with the rebel, the nonconformist. But society in this novel has a good deal to be said for it. It has assurance, dignity, strength. We can argue that Hester is right in her assertion that fulfillment and love are worth fighting for. And we can argue, with just as much validity, that society is right in its joyless insistence that adultery is a crime deserving of punishment. SIN AND REDEMPTION Hawthorne, as a descendant of Puritans of the deepest dye, is the heir to a strong tradition of sin. Puritan theology began with the thoroughgoing conviction of sin. After Adams fall, every man and woman was thought to be born an awful and vile sinner, who could be redeemed o nly by Gods grace (not by good deeds or by any actions which lay within human control). Now, Hawthorne is a 19th-century man of enlightenment. He is not a Puritan. Nevertheless, he is, morally speaking, something of a chip off the old block. As a writer, he is utterly immersed in sin, in the wages of sin, in the long odds on redeeming sin. The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In every case, the effect is devastating. Once these characters stumble into evil, they flounder about as if in a morass. Sin changes the sinners. It darkens their vision and weakens the spirits defenses against further temptation. And yet, sin also pays some unexpected dividends. Sin strengthens Hester. It humanizes Dimmesdale. Hawthorne, departing from his Puritan ancestors, considers the possibility that sin may be a maturing force. If sin is an encompassing shadow in the The Scarlet Letter, redemption is, at best, a fitfully sh immering light. Chillingworth never seeks redemption at all. Hester looks for it in good works, and fails to find it. Dimmesdale alone undergoes the necessary change of heart to find a doubtful peace. THE HEART VS. THE HEAD Is there really a war waging inside us between our emotions and our reason? Hawthorne thinks so, and hes pretty sure which side he wants to win. The heart leads Hester and Dimmesdale astray, but the intellect- untempered by feeling, mercy, humanity- thoroughly damns Chillingworth. Hawthorne comes down on the side of the heart. THE PUBLIC AND THE PRIVATE SELF Hawthornes Puritan New England is a world which encourages duplicity. So much is forbidden that almost everyone has something to hide. Hawthornes characters walk around in daylight with pious and sober expressions on their faces. But once they get home at night and lock the door, they pull out their secret thoughts and gloat over them like misers delighting in a hidden stash of gold. SYMBOLISMLets talk a litt le bit about what a symbol is. The common definition says that a symbol is a sign or token of something. A lion, for instance, is a symbol of courage. The bald eagle is a symbol of America. A white bridal gown is (or used to be) a symbol of purity. We take symbols like these pretty much for granted. They are a part of our everyday experience. In literature, matters are a little more complicated. Literary symbols usually dont have instantly recognizable meanings. Rather they take their meanings from the works of which they are a part. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne gives us a symbol, a red letter A whose meaning has to be deciphered. What does the scarlet letter mean? It is a question repeated by almost every character in the novel who is confronted with the blatant red token and who has to deal with it: by Hester herself, as she sits in prison, decorating the emblem with golden thread; by Reverend Wilson, who addresses the crowd at the scaffold with such terrifying references to t he scarlet A that it seems to glow red with hellfire; by Pearl, who asks about the letter so often that she threatens to drive her mother (and all of us) mad. The symbols meaning is hard to pin down because it is no passive piece of cloth, but a highly active agent. The scarlet letter provokes hostile feelings in the citizens of Boston, who shun Hester and insult her as something tainted and vile. Societys response to the letter, in turn, affects Hester. On the surface, she becomes a patient and penitential figure. She looks like someone seeking to live down the sin that the scarlet letter represents. But beneath the surface, rebellion is brewing. Societys insults make Hester angry and bitter. She becomes a scornful critic of her world. Hester takes the letter to herself. She becomes in fact the renegade she is labeled. Hester breaks free of conventional ideas and, as we see in the forest scene, she opposes Puritan truths with some devastating truths of her own. The point Hawthorne is making is that our lives are inevitably shaped by our past actions and by the signs of those actions- be they medals or badges of infamy- which we wear. Symbols like the scarlet letter shape our perceptions and our temperaments. They determine the kind of people we become. Over the years, the scarlet letter and its wearer blend into one. The letter, whatever it means, is the summation of Hesters life. But a letter is a remarkably ambiguous symbol. It can stand for any word beginning with A. Does the A stand for Adulteress, surely the intention of the magistrates who imposed it in the first place? Does it stand for Able in recognition of Hesters devotion as a nurse? Does it even mean Angel, with the consequent suggestion that Hester has risen above the society which condemned her? There is danger and excitement in the uncertainty. If we knew for sure that the A stood for Adulteress, we would have Hester neatly pegged. We would know we were supposed to condemn her. But Hawthorne is not content to let the matter rest at that. He asks us to look at Hester from other, very different, viewpoints. We are never altogether sure whether we should condemn Hester or admire her. STRUCTUREThe Scarlet Letter began life as a short story. (Hawthorne was advised to expand it into a novel, which he did.) In many respects, it retains the characteristics of a short story. The Scarlet Letter has the tightness and the economy we generally associate with the shorter fictional form. Hawthornes novel has only one plot. There are no subplots- no secondary love stories, for instance, such as you find in the novels of Jane Austen. It also has only one setting: Boston in the 1640s. Although Pearl and Hester eventually sail off to Europe, the reader is not invited to follow them there. The Scarlet Letter has only four main characters: Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl. All the other characters are really part of the historical tapestry against which the action takes place. Per haps most important of all, The Scarlet Letter has one predominating mood. For this, the lighting is largely responsible. We move in a world of darkness which is relieved only occasionally by a ray of light. (The darkness sets in early, with the beadles presence obscuring the sunshine in Chapter 2. It continues to the end of the novel, with the legend on Hesters tombstone: so somber and relieved only by one ever-glowing point of light, gloomier than the shadow.) Since Hawthornes novel is such a spare and unified work, it is curious that readers disagree about its heart or structural center. Some critics believe that the heart of the books structure is the scaffold, or penitential platform, to which Dimmesdale finally brings himself to stand by Hesters side. According to this view, the scaffold scenes alternate with the pivotal forest scenes, where the lovers confront the critical choice of escape from society or return to it. But no less an authority than Henry James (the novelists novelist and the acknowledged master of form in American fiction) disagrees. James dismisses the forest scenes- and indeed, any of the scenes where Hester plays a major part- as secondary. The Scarlet Letter, James says, is no love story. It is the story of retribution. And its center is the relationship between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, the guilty lover and the sinister husband whose sole purpose is to keep that guilt alive. Stem Cell Essay